During the last few years e-Sports has continued to develop and grow. Prize money has reached new heights and a few gamers were actually able to earn a living through gaming. Recently, a new phrase has been floating around the e-Sport scene: Online Poker!
When you hear the words like “Straight”, “Flush” or “All-In”, you may just think about your favorite card game, “Poker”. The popularity of Poker has grown exponentially over the last couple of years. Online Poker's popularity has, in turn, been fueled by the growth of the Internet. Last year's winner of the WSOP Main-Event, Jerry Yang, received US$ 8 million.
Time and again you hear about players who have quit their lucrative gaming careers for the persuit of Poker and are now making more money than ever imagined. The most well known examples are 
LakermaN (Quake3), 
TillerMaN (Warcraft3) and 
Elky (Starcraft), who now all live comfortably with 6 figure incomes earned through Poker.
The best known example is Oskar “LakermaN” Ljungstroem. The young Swede was one of the best Quake1 players worldwide. After beating the German Quake Legend SK-Kane at the TrueGamers invitation tournament and after a short visit with Quake3, he changed his game again and became a professional Poker player. In spring 2004, an interview was released in which Oskar declared having won more than $100,000 in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, his Poker earnings are estimated to be more than $1,000, 000.
Poker is now inseparable from e-Sports. Just visit any well-known offline tournament and you will see that after the game is over and the mice are resting, the cards and chips are brought out. Very quickly you find a group to play with, which turns out to be the “who's who” of e-Sports, whether Fox, Socrates, Zero4 or Element, we know them all. We may ask ourselves, why so many top players are fascinated by Poker. First of all, the money obviously plays a huge role. However, there appears to be other reasons why so many gamers are fascinated by Poker.
Successful Poker playing and successful gaming have much in common. To quote Fatal1ty, "Practice, practice, practice..." is required in both areas. If you want to be successful in gaming, you have to sit in front of a computer for hours and train. The same goes for online Poker. Gamers are already in their natural environment when they make the switch to online Poker. Successful gamers are especially used to hard work and can reach their peak on any given day. The one-on-one competition against fellow players is also found in Poker.
Lakerman said in an interview that there are two important things players have to have in Poker and gaming, if they want to be successful. First a certain degree of intelligence is needed to be able to understand and apply the tactics by Quake3 and the strategies in Poker. Second, players must be able to handle stress to reduce errors. An error in gaming can cost a player the match and in Poker, a large sum of money.
The general public opinion that poker is just gambling is not true. Poker is a realtime strategy game with a short-term luck factor. It is easy to learn but hard to master. To master Poker it takes strategical thinking, willpower, discipline and quick reactions. These skills are all needed in e-Sports. That is probably the reason why the world's largest online Poker school, PokerStrategy.com (
link),
was founded by the former Starcraft pro [pG]Korn.
But how far will this development go? Will we see more and more gamers drift away from the e-Sports scene?
The well known columnist Carmac recently wrote an article about World of Warcraft in which he says that Poker is an e-Sport epidemic. More and more players are overcome by the WoW addiction and are leaving their gaming careers and team spirit by the wayside. Is the same trend possible with Poker? We can breathe a sigh of relief, for there are many more e-Athletes that have completely switched to Poker instead of continuing to do both.
WoW is an indisputable time eater, where the player is basically chained to the computer. At the start of a player's poker "career" the required amount of time for training and building a bankroll is also great. However, playing longer often means winning more. Once you have reached the higher limits. The player can earn more money in less time. This makes Poker a great free time activity. Players can decide when they want to play, and they are not bound by other players.
At the end of the day, everyone must decide for themselves what they favor. Wandering around a fantasy world for six hours long with a virtual character or playing an equally fascinating game for six hours and earning a lot of money. The fun factor is certainly bigger in WoW, but what's about the money?
Poker will accompany e-Sports well into the future and it will also play an even more significant role in time. Especially in Europe, the attention to Poker will grow as a result of the overseas influence and the Poker boom.
About PokerStrategy.com
PokerStrategy is the biggest Poker school in the world. They offer their members a free and complete Poker (Texas Hold'em) education. All beginners receive free $50+$100 to begin their Poker careers. They do not have to deposit their own money. The education is absolutely free and without obligation. Players are not financially or legally bound, in any manner.
PokerStrategy offers a wide range of learning material with which players can learn to play Poker successfully, step by step. The mathematical-strategic and psychological foundations of Pokerstrategy allow for long-term profitable plays. Typical “for fun" players are not their target group.
PokerStrategy offers you:
Free education without having to pay anything (You receive up to $50+ $100 free starting capital!)
ｷExtensive, high-quality learning material on fixed and no limit Texas Hold'em
ｷProfessional live coaching with successful professional Poker players at all limits
ｷGenerous monthly bonus payments for experienced players.
ｷFree analyzing software
ｷAccess to comprehensive discussion forums
ｷAnd much more!
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