Any theories for this?

[Saxatilis]

So many pros on television are asian, but almost no one is from asia in online poker,how do you explain this?

[SplawnDarts]

Because net access is limited in some highly populated parts of asia, but gamboool isn't?

[belloc]

Um, seriously?

Okay, I haven't fed a troll lately. How about because "Asian" means two different things in your question: "of Asian ancestry" or "currently a citizen of an Asian country".

So J.C. Tran (for example) is of Asian descent, and so when you look at him on TV you think, "Oh, he's Asian". But if you see him playing on Stars and click on his avatar, it will say he's from L.A., which means he's "not currently a citizen of an Asian country".

[NMcNasty]

Asians aren't good with computers.


hmmm

[AKQJ10]

Or producing cars.

Or generating astronomical growth rates for their countries' economies.

But yeah, belloc is right. I want to know why Romanian-Canadians do so well on TV poker relative to the Romanian-Canadian population online.

[Mike]

Ditto, especially in China. The Governement monitors every post coming out of the country. They occasionally shut down the 'net' to the west because the posts have strayed to far from approved topics. Secondly the internet is a prvilege reserved for the few.

I am also sure poker and the party line do not mix. One poker player disappearing in a county of a billion is not going to be misses.

[Michael Fish]

I've lived in China, Japan and Korea so I know a bit about this.

Gambling does happen behind closed doors and is generaly run by the Triad. Definately not mainstream at all in the way we are used to it.

In both Mainland China and Korea due to the laws, you can't expect poker to become a known game hence the lack of players. I Import poker tables and other equipment from china and hell my suppliers don't know hold'em is, let alone how to play!

I lived in the UK before and I remember how hard it was to get a game here. Most people didn't have any idea how to play and that was only five or six years ago. Mainstream marketing from online pokerooms went to fuel the player base here a great deal, and that's never going to happen in china or korea.

Of course in China there's the Great Firewall and that's not going to help matters much. I didn't play online at all during my time there but i can assume that IP addresses and google searches are filter in the same way i found a lot of the "China sensitive" information to be.

I don't know much about this in Japan but I've heard there's a small poker scene out there, more than likely a bit shadey.

The japanese market is certainly online pokers biggest shot at establishing a new player base in Asia. I know that 888 are starting to focus a lot more on this market than they used to. I'm sure that with the legislative changes in the US many more of the major players will invest heavily in developing the market there over the next 4 or 5 years.

[World Jugador]

I'm living in Korea right now. There are casinos here, but in all but one or two Koreans are forbidden by law from playing in them. They are for foreigners only. As a result, the vast majority of poker players tend to be Korean Americans from Los Angeles or New York. I'm about the only non-Asian at the table, which at first was intimidating. I'd rather play online than at a casino in Seoul, however. The rake is pretty high capped at 10,000 won (about $11) so unless I find a game in the ballpark of $30/60 or higher I usually go home. There's also a Korean Professional Poker Tour or something like that. I don't remember the exact name or website, but once again its not too big since only foreigners are permitted to play.

[monkover]

[ QUOTE ]
Um, seriously?

Okay, I haven't fed a troll lately. How about because "Asian" means two different things in your question: "of Asian ancestry" or "currently a citizen of an Asian country".

So J.C. Tran (for example) is of Asian descent, and so when you look at him on TV you think, "Oh, he's Asian". But if you see him playing on Stars and click on his avatar, it will say he's from L.A., which means he's "not currently a citizen of an Asian country".

[/ QUOTE ]

[Joe O]

If Barry isn't being careful, soon the poker world will be overrun by half-Asians.