Will the Popularity of Online Gaming Continue in 2022?
Online poker has grown in popularity since the turn of the century. We have all lived through a challenging time recently with the pandemic but one industry that has stayed strong and, in some cases, even grown, is online gambling.
Enjoying a great game of poker around a table with friends or in a land-based casino is a fantastic experience but that was taken away during the worst period of the pandemic. However, online casinos continued to operate as normal and online poker tournaments continued to be played. Those who were already regularly playing online poker continued but new players emerged online. Those who could no longer attend casinos or play with family and friends turned to the online poker world.
The question is, will the popularity of online poker continue in 2022?
The fact you can sit at home and play poker, with a real dealer and against other players from around the world is tremendous. That is never going to change and those who love playing online poker events are going to continue doing so in 2022 and beyond. The prize money available for online poker tournaments is incredible and a World Series of Poker Online main event has seen a total prize pool of over $27 million. With huge sums of money like this available for online poker players, the popularity of the game is going to continue in 2022.
However, much like any other industry, online poker needs to keep evolving and using innovative technology to develop. Players want something new and virtual and augmented reality could be what attracts new people to online poker in 2022. You only have to look at the success of Pokémon Go when it hit the market in 2016, to understand how augmented reality can work and attract players. Imagine being able to walk the streets of Las Vegas from the comfort of your own home and walk into the poker room of your choice, it would be impressive. The technology is available for this to become reality and one can only imagine the number of people who would like to get involved.
Not all online poker games have to be played against other human beings and video poker is a good example. Video poker is played is a similar way to online slots and the best place to play pokies will have a broad selection of video poker games. Continuing to expand the variants of video poker games will be crucial to maintaining the popularity of online poker. While having similarities to slots, also known as pokies, video poker does have an element of skill. You must decide how to play the cards you are dealt and try and produce the optimum hand with the cards you have available.
The inclusion of digital currencies will be another key factor in the continued popularity of online poker in 2022. We have already witnessed the introduction of cryptocurrency poker websites and they are sure to rise in popularity over the next few years.