Will the poker bubble burst? We are used to seeing passing fads come and go, examples include The South Sea and the dotcom bubbles. But poker is built on sounder foundations, especially in the United States. The sport is much more popular than any other there. The only real threat is that certain extremely conservatives elements will get their way and ban gambling online within the borders of the US. Well, we know what happened when they banned alcohol and they still haven’t recovered from that ill-advised social experiment.

No doubt, in due course the game will reach a plateau of popularity and then may go into slow decline. On the other hand there may be a tremendous leap forward if the sport ever attracts sponsorship outside the gambling industry.