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Is the game on life support?

This question has come up in poker discussions of late – is the game dying?  At risk of busting out a well-known cliche, many professionals and other regulars would tell you that reports of poker’s death are premature.  And who can argue? (well someone always can)  The world series of poker that ended in November, with the boost of a famous face in Phil Ivey seated at the final table, brought in increased interest from around the world.

First off, the assumption that poker is dying because maybe – maybe – it’s lost a little television steam is wildly inaccurate.  If anything, poker is growing at a strong rate.  We, in the U.S., don’t see this as prominently, however, because of the unlawful gaming act and the clamps it puts down on the game flourishing in this country.  If and when that goes away, you can expect the game to explode again.  Whether that’s good or bad, of course, is a debate for another discussion.

But the fact remains that some of the soft players that came in after Chris Moneymaker made every schmo think they could win the WSOP are finally realizing that their destiny is to work in a cubicle and not over green felt for the rest of their lives.  I’m surprised it took this many years for it to happen, but stubborn men die hard.  So they may not be coming in by the hundreds of thousands anymore, but there will always be suckers or “fish” to give their money to those of us who know what we’re doing – or at least think we’ve studied and played enough to know what we’re doing.

On the other side of the fence, there are good arguments that point out hard-to-ignore facts about a poker slide in popularity.  One is certainly the economy.  Less expectable income means fewer chips thrown around at the poker table.  Most responsible people won’t gamble if they don’t have anything to gamble with.  Poker has proven that it’s not recession-proof, unlike alcohol and video games.

Others blame the explosion of the no-limit game for slowly killing what poker used to be.  In “the old days,” there was primarily limit games, which meant a fish would lose some money and go home, but come back to fight again.  This spread the wealth around more, and didn’t dishearten a potential regular contributor from ever showing his face again.  Now, an upstart player (fish or legitimate), can lose his whole bankroll in one hand, and you never hear from him again.  Some would shrug their shoulders, some would say that’s bad for the game.

And finally, just worth consideration, is the fact that casinos bank more from low limit than high or no-limit games.  So the general big-money trend isn’t exactly great for them, either.

So poker probably isn’t dying, but it may have a touch of the swine flu, depending on whom you ask.  My advice is not to worry about the popularity of the game.  If the online rooms you attend are still full, or the casino you frequent is still packed with cigarette smoke, enjoy yourself and keep doing your thing.  Poker has been around the block a few times, it can handle a recession or two.