Why Gamers Are Making the Jump To Online Poker Platforms

Online gambling has exploded in the past decade. This global industry is on track to generate revenues of almost $450 million in 2025, and Business Research Insights predicts that poker is one of its main drivers. This famed Pune-based consultancy firm approximates that online poker pulled in $107 billion in revenues last year and that this sector is on track to double in size by 2023.

While casino gaming and sports betting remotely draw more global interest, those two spheres are not as appealing to fans of video games as poker. Casino products are entirely chance-based, and despite what some people may claim, no one can get so good at them that they ensure they will continuously profit.

All outcomes are random, and the best one can hope for is lowering the operator’s house edge via proper bankroll management and implementing optimal strategy in games that allow this. Sports betting, on the other hand, requires vast knowledge and data analytics.

Poker differs from most popular gambling forms because it features a skill element. Because of this, it gets classified differently from a legal perspective and is not available at most land-based casinos. Since video games are all about sharpening one's ability, it is clear why online poker and video gaming are merging.

How Gaming Skills Translate

Without question, video games, regardless of genre, teach people to focus, implement strategic thinking, boost reaction times, etc. However, some feature aspects make the gamers who are heavily into them adapt to poker seamlessly.

For example, strategy titles like StarCraft II demand resource management and decision-making under pressure. That correlates well with managing a poker bankroll and deciding when to bluff. Strategy games, in particular, are very puzzle-like in that gamers have to think several steps ahead. They are not only reactionary like first-person shooters. 

Still, even fast-paced FPS titles like Call of Duty or Fortnite can train players to assess risks and act swiftly, which can mirror poker’s need to evaluate odds in seconds in high-pressure scenarios. The latter element is super vital, as the psychological edge gamers develop for staying calm under pressure and anticipating opponents' behavior can be a virtual or physical game-changer at most card gambling tables.

Much of the camaraderie in online gaming communities is super similar to the one in the virtual poker arena, whether inside chat rooms at online real money poker hubs, forums, and on social media. Gamers can instantly feel at home at a card site, as poker’s social side matches what is present in World of Warcraft guilds or visible on Dota 2 discords. Streaming has elevated this, as viewership of card gambling has increased in recent years and has done a lot to attract new players to this landscape.

Ecosystem Overlap

Online gambling, in general, implements many tech fads, including ones that are driving the video game industry. Gamification has entered Internet gambling in a big way, with leaderboards, achievement badges, and even loot boxes found at many online casinos. Poker has not gone all-in on this trend but has incorporated parts of it, as this has been unavoidable.

Moreover, virtual reality, which is making slow headway in the video game realm, is finding a home in online gambling, especially poker, as PokerVR and Vegas Infinity by PokerStars have managed to craft immersive poker rooms where players interact as avatars for a greater level of engagement.

Lastly, on this topic, we will add that enjoying poker on a smartphone is the dominant way most individuals take in the game nowadays, and the gameplay of the apps that facilitate this is almost identical to the ones in famous social poker games that have been around going back to the late 2000s. Zynga Poker, for instance.

The sphere is also making great use of blockchain tech, something that most experienced gamblers are familiar with, making newer crypto gambling sites appear to be a natural extension of the video gaming ecosystem, which is adding financial (in-game) incentives to get people to stay and play.

The Cultural Crossover

In the past, poker had a high cultural presence, especially in the media, as it appealed to adults, and it could be more easily marketed. But with the internet and social media now, pop culture has gravitated toward video games far more. They are not only mainstream but an inescapable part of modern life.

Twitch has served as one cultural bridge between these two arenas, with gamers turned poker pros like Lex Veldhuis blending gaming and poker content.

Gaming conventions, like the arcade and table-top-oriented PAX, increasingly feature poker tournaments. Organizations like the WPT sponsor such events and see them as a tool to get more people to hop the fence and start playing poker.

Decentralized virtual worlds like Decentraland are also doing their part, as this browser platform’s open world is home to ICE Poker, a digital establishment in the vein of famed casinos where users with a wearable NFT can play cards using an in-platform currency called $ICE.