[grandgnu]

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Why is the market getting worse and worse for the players?

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The problem is oversaturation. It's kind of like all the reality tv shows that sprang up after the success of a few shows. Then EVERYONE wanted to get into the business of reality tv.

But then they started scripting the "reality" and there was just too much garbage for most people to wade through. So the majority of these shows sink and only a handful of tried n' true ones actually bring in the ratings.


Likewise with the poker market. As soon as it took off, everyone and their brother was trying to find a way to cash in. So there's too many choices out there, too much market saturation.

I love to pick on Tony G poker, simply because of the ridiculous "gallery" of hammy Tony G pictures that they offer. I mean, who came up with that garbage? What person actually thought it was a good idea?

But there's a million more of those sites out there, everyone's shouting "look at me!" but most of the products are sub-par, and that hurts the entire market across the board.

Look at poker on tv. Everyone and their brother has a show now, but the majority of the shows are poor quality featuring no-names that no one wants to see. The Boston vs. NY Poker Challenge was god-awful, with all these cringe-inducing "characters". Helmuth taking over Celebrity Poker Showdown was the final nail in that coffin. Joe Rogan ruined The Man Show, etc.

As for the decrease in promotions, well, it's market demand. The legislation issues from the U.S. have caused a great deal of upheaval in the poker market, so the sites that are still accepting U.S. players don't have the competition that they used to have, and don't feel the pressure to stand out significantly.

I live in New England, and the closest casino to me is Foxwoods. Their poker room is awful. Poorly managed, icky rake, so-so dealers, etc. This is because they have no incentive to take care of poker players. They have zero competition and would rather you're dumping money into their slot machines anyway.

So yes, the online poker industry, heck, poker in general is on a bit of a downswing from the boom years. But, I think in time things will work out with the legislation issues in the U.S. and you'll see another good upswing.

But it's also tied into the televised poker industry as well. If there's a lack of quality shows and tons of garbage instead, then viewers are going to be turned off and less likely to want to play.

High Stakes Poker on GSN is great, but it's not on a network that has the exposure you'd find with a major network.

The WPT and WSOP shows have had issues with less "name" players at final tables (although that may change with decreased signups at this years WSOP, so pro's have a better shot of rising to the top and final tabling, which could make the final tables more watchable)

And I've always had an issue with the WPT broadcasts because they can be hard to distinguish what year the event took place, and if you've already seen that one or not some of the times.