Poker Reviews

10 years ago, Poker in Asia was a virtually unknown commodity and you couldn’t pick out a poker player from a crowd. Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t play the game, or at the very least, doesn’t know how it works.

While it was popular across America — specifically in California — and some parts of Europe, poker remained in the dark among Asian countries. For a long time, land-based companies have expressed interest in pursuing the Asian market but have been largely unsuccessful in part because most of these countries – with the exception of Macau – banned any form of gambling. As a result, poker remained a Western game, completely detached from the East.

10 years later and it’s a different story altogether.

It’s no secret that poker’s popularity experienced an unprecedented surge with the introduction of online poker. Not only that but broadcasts of the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour introduced the game to millions of casual viewers.

But most importantly, poker’s introduction to Asia happened because the countries slowly began to open its collective arms to land-based and on-line gambling.

The allure of Asia as a poker crazy region comes as no surprise considering almost half of the world’s population can be found there. China and India alone comprise almost 2.5 billion people when combined and that’s not even counting Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines — densely populated countries in their own right. With all these people starting to get familiarized with the game and the attraction that comes with it, it was only a matter of time before poker games and poker tournaments exploded in the region.

And now, to say that Texas Hold ‘Em, unquestionably the most popular type of poker, is being played everywhere is a vast understatement. Poker rooms are sprouting like full-blown seeds all over Asia. Macau, a baccarat-dominated country, is slowly beginning to experience the thrill that is poker. In recent years, it has hosted numerous poker tournaments including the Asian Poker Tour Macau 2008. Incidentally, the APT now has its very own poker room at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino.

Even in the Philippines, poker is growing faster than you can say, “All-In!” The country has hosted its fair share of tournaments not the least of which is the Asian Poker Tour. As a matter of fact, the success of last year’s APT tournament – which drew well over 316 poker players from all over the world – has resulted in the APT holding another tournament to kick off its 2009 season. The Asian Poker Tour Philippines 2009 will be held from January 27 to February 1, 2009 at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel and it is widely expected that some of the best poker players from around the world will participate in the event.

Asian poker players have also become instrumental in the propagation of poker in Asia. Some of the best poker players in the world, including Johnny Chan, Men “The Master” Nguyen, JC Tran, Nam Le, Steve Sung, Quinn Do, David Rheem and Kwang Soo Lee all trace their roots in Asia and their impact in the world poker scene hasn’t gone unnoticed.

With the meteoric rise of poker in Asia, it only seems inevitable that more and more of the future top players of poker will come from the region. It’s a testament to a game that only ten years ago was not even an afterthought. From the darkness of obscurity, poker has risen to become one of the most popular games in Asia.

With the way things are going, it’s a safe bet that poker is far from reaching its peak popularity and that’s good news, not only for Asia, but for the entire world.

There are hundreds of poker rooms on the Internet serving millions of customers throughout the world. Since the game of poker has become one of the main sporting activities on television, people everywhere are now familiar with the varieties of poker and how the best players in the business manage their game. Many of the world’s best poker players got their start online in poker rooms. They were able to gain seats at prestigious professional events, such as the World Series of Poker.

The best way to become an accomplished poker player is through practice. Now, if you learn by competing in tournaments online, you could lose quite a bit of money in the process. If you’re smart, you can find a less costly way to improve your poker prowess, and that’s by playing on free poker sites. Free poker sites offer you the opportunity to play the most popular variety of poker games by studying the rules of the game first, and then practicing what you have learned.

When you play poker online on free poker sites, you can take ample advantage of the tutorials that are offered, while preparing yourself to compete in poker tournament play online. The World Series of Poker originated in Reno, Nevada in 1968, and it has been a fan favourite ever since. It is the epitome of poker honours, and the winner is embraced as a World Poker Champ.

When you play poker online at free poker sites, you are gaining the experience it takes to become a champion. You don’t need to spend too much time in training in order to rise rapidly in the sport of poker. For example, Jerry Yang is a recent winner of the World Series of Poker, which is the ultimate event of the professional poker tour. Jerry won the championship despite having less than two years experience in the game of poker.

The same success can belong to you. All you need to do is practice your craft, and the best way to hone your skills is to play poker online at free poker sites. In this manner, you will be gaining an education in the game of poker without spending any of your own money, and you will learn the tricks to increase your winnings.