The Future Of Online Poker

[RALF_AK]

online poker is gaining more and more fans every day and growing at an impressive speed... I believe we will reach a point where six out of every ten people on the planet will be online poker players in the next few years.

 

[Argonaut]

Living in Maryland, surrounded by several of the few States where online poker is legal, I am mildly optimistic that I will be able to play for money someday.

 

[Fosterbio]

There was an experiment where an AI played at a table with only NL10K regulars (with the warning and consent of the regulars), and the AI beat them to smithereens. This is what concerns the superiority of a machine over a person (even regulars of such heights), but it is good that this was a single experiment. As a rule, the security services of the rooms fight bots, thereby protecting the reputation of their establishment, and players who notice suspicious actions send reports. I think there will never be a single pool ("thanks" to Full Tilt and similar establishments). But in general, I think nothing will change: the administration gets profit (rake), the regulars get profit (winnings), the fish gets profit (fun), everyone is happy. In other words, this suits me quite well

 

[VictorOd]

The future of poker is likely to see a blend of live and online slow (unless there are will be another global quarantine) growth. Challenges include regulatory hurdles and ensuring fair play with the rise of AI tools. A truly global online poker room like pre-Black Friday is not possible, because it depends on regulatory alignment across major markets. AI-powered tools will raise skill ceilings, but also risk homogenizing strategies unless operators enforce stricter policies against real-time assistance.

 

[armoko]

Honestly, I would like to see a single global poker room in the future instead of the hundreds that exist right now. For a poker player, it would definitely be much easier to have just one App. However, I don’t think this will happen anytime soon.

 

[maronza1]

The future of online poker is doomed since the introduction of AI. One day the poker rooms will be in total control by the AIs and some may create AI programs to cheat, and so the possibility of RNG getting hacked is pretty high

 

[hobojim1247]

Ai will be another way for thieves to use to steal money, There will always be a challenge to keep the games fair. As far as the future of poker , there will always be people who want to play. I plan to play both online and live until I cannot play.

 

[seiya1989]

Online poker will continue to exist for a long time, you will surely see some changes with new technologies, but it is like everything in life, it always continues to evolve.

 

[Sebbour]

How do you see the future of poker evolving? What challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the game? Will we ever see a global online poker room like we had pre black Friday? How will AI powered tools affect game play?

I had to go and check some data before answering this question. So, current world record for most people playing (not logged in - but playing) on an online site is held by pokerstars with 307016 players in 2009.

Most players at an internet poker room

www.guinnessworldrecords.com

Then our planet had around 6,8 billion people living on it. Now there is around 8,2 billion people living.

So, my assumption is that this record is going to be broken sooner or later. But the exponential growth rate in players which happened from 2003-2004 up to 2011 is unlikely to happen again.

I can see two challenges that are the biggest factors today. Legislation, which is preventing players playing online poker from bigger markets (such as USA) and use of various software by players. If some online poker room (such as GGPoker or Pokerstars) could guarantee that it is any software free from players side (so that he needs to make a decision with his own mind without any outside help) it would attract more players on it.

I know it is unlikely (players nowadays can use two separate computers - one on which they are playing online and the other one which is used for analysis only (and the data is only sent from logged computer to the other) but still possible. - now that I'm writing this it sounds more and more like an utopia

Anyway, If those two "obstacles" (legislation worldwide and software analysis freedom) gets out of the way at the same time that could bring more players at a faster rate than from period 2003, 04-2011.

 

[olejean]

I don't think there will be only one global online poker room. Rivalry and marketing haven't been canceled yet. There will always be supporters of certain poker rooms. In addition, the nuance of regulation by law and access to poker rooms is important for every country.

 

[jaymfc]

Trump will legalize online poker for states to decide and about thirty states will legalize and regulate it.
then we will have the next poker boom so many new faces and unskilled players everybody will be raking in the cash.
online poker sites will triple, brick-and-mortar poker rooms will flourish in all legal jurisdictions.
skilled poker players will rejoice and live happily ever after.

 

[edenman1]

I think online poker will continue for many years to come. Hopefully they deal with the AI issue, and I believe they will

 

[Morghulies]

It is very nice to read all these posts and seeing the different viewpoints of many forum members. I got to a few very thought provoking insights. Love to be part of this community so far. I see a tendency, that many people are accepting AI to change the whole ecosphere about the good old game of Poker. And this is something, I do really not appreciate. It is totally OK for me, to use AI for offline training away from an online or live game. Just to get better at the game. But as soon as it is used as a bot or real time assistance, it is just an unfair advantage and killing the game. At this point, the detection of bots and RTA turns out to become harder and harder. AI is capable of so many things, that you can even imagine to have a notebook beside the online client that is connected to a GTO and hands database and capable of recording the live tables giving exact hints to a given situation at the table. Maybe not yet, but give the hackers some time, and such almost undetectable stuff might be around. Using AI for countering the misuse of it is also a good thing. On the verge of VR Poker, this might be a chance for the industry, if they manage to build good immersive VR Poker rooms that can handle the RTA, bot and AI challenge. Imagine having an almost live person to person experience from the cozy place at your home, knowing that you are competing against other real persons, and not any bots. At this point, you could even see kind of a competitive field for online casinos in delivering better and better experience for their VIP and high roller customers. I truly hope to see the VR WCOOP one day. Regarding the question if we will see a global Poker room like before the Black Friday again, I am not sure, but willing to keep up the hope, we will see this in the future. Strongly depending on the regulations in place especially in the United States. If the US manages to find a solution to legalize playing Poker in all the states again, this would be the starting point for such a place. Overall, I see a landscape with big opportunities and big problems alike. Fighting the bots and AI RTA is the first step. If the rooms miss out on strictly ban and fight them, online Poker will have a hard time in the future.