Poker’s ability to transcend its core audience and reach beyond it is arguably its most valuable feature. Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen online casinos expand their audience. While there is still clearly a serious market for conventional poker, the emergence of online poker has attracted many new players and created dynamics that have helped fuel the growth of various subdivisions.

Within these different subdivisions, there’s the emergence of cryptocurrency ideas, which have helped poker players deal directly with platforms or poker rooms they like, removing the need for extensive banking checks and KYC.

Those who access poker sites can see that the fabric of the game is the same; it’s just the currency that changes. Ignition Poker Australia uses this design, with players connecting their own wallets to the casino and sending the money peer-to-peer.

While Bitcoin and blockchain gaming have helped bolster the digital presence of online poker within the broader poker umbrella, without other markets, it simply wouldn’t have grown at the speed it has. One of the most underrated aspects of this is global streaming, how it is leveraged to market the top tournaments to those with an interest in the card-based classic.

Harnessing The Digital Revolution

When online poker first started to eat into the market share of the conventional game, there weren’t too many people who felt that it was a serious contender. In hindsight, of course, this is a hell of a hill to die on. Back in the early 2000s, though, it wasn’t; the internet was expensive, far fewer people had access to home PCs, and many people were far more reluctant to enter their card information into the then-unknown abyss of the World Wide Web.

Push the dial forward two decades, and what do we have? Social media is the primary route for innovative marketing ideas in the world of casino gaming. As you can see in the link below, fusing memes from popular TV shows with poker strategy is one of the countless ways that casino bosses have aimed to find a global audience.

 

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As with the traditional market, some gain more traction than others. But with so many people now glued to their phones, social media is the main frontier – a dynamic that has established itself quickly and crystallized at the very top of the gaming marketing world.

This is reflected in the figures, with global gaming marketing set to swell from $16 billion to $22 billion by 2030. Streaming plays an enormous role in this, especially YouTube, which is a hive of activity for poker players, those who love the game, and passionate communities who enjoy talking strategy – a prime customer base for those looking to sell poker products and services.

Finding A Bespoke Market

The bespoke nature of global streaming has meant that all types of poker media can find their audience, rather than having to go looking for it, as was often the case in the days before the internet. The bespoke market now comes looking for them. This has, of course, led to market saturation, as well as some pretty mundane and boring podcasts – although we’re not in the business of naming and shaming.

Gone are the days of watching the WSOP on TV once a year, only to find no information about it for months. Social media and streaming sites have blown open these doors, and you only have to observe the online buzz in recent WSOP tournaments to see how much this market is now determined by what is going on online.

Even if the tournament is still streamed via traditional channels, it feels like only a matter of time before one of the big streaming companies gets the WSOP rights and broadcasts it live across the globe. It’s a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

Poker Communities & Good Practice

As we have already pointed out, streaming services create an environment where poker lovers can get together online to discuss strategy and how they play.

For many people, being connected to these communities can help them bolster their skills and ensure they remain within the time and deposit limit framework they set themselves.

Poker influencers and those who partner with some of the biggest names in the industry must also ensure that they adhere to responsible gambling protocols. While the market might be expanding at a phenomenal rate, and there are more poker platforms and content creators out there than ever before, never lose sight of the importance of time and deposit limits.

Final Thoughts

It seems as though we are still in the nascent stage of poker and streaming – the potential is definitely still there. If a big streaming company gets the live rights to the WSOP, this could again inject a new lease of life into poker.

It will help bring in more eyes, sponsorships, and cultivate a market where creators and influencers tied into the poker gaming market can maximize their reach. While a few factors still need to push poker into the streaming market, it feels increasingly likely that this shift will happen at some point between now and the end of the decade.