Online Poker & The Streaming Boom

What started as just a fun way to broadcast games to friends or teach others how to improve has grown into something much more. Now there are streamers sponsored by poker sites, poker software providers, and various others inside and outside of the industry. It’s a rather unique way to connect with users in a fun and casual way, often on a much deeper level than more traditional methods.

Sites have long sponsored players, but the pool was extremely limited to those with a certain image and enough television appearances. Long-time grinders will likely remember this story of a successful player being denied simply because of his appearance and age, which gives a revealing glimpse behind the scenes of this process. Highly recommended as it is quite an entertaining read.

Now there are no gatekeepers, it simply comes down to what the wider poker community finds worthy of viewing. Many of the popular streamers aren’t even playing the ultra-high stakes cash games or most prestigious tournaments.

They’re giving viewers a more realistic picture of the day-to-day grind and emotional rollercoaster ride that poker often entails. The many hours of studying only to bubble a tournament due to a bad play by an opponent. And the unexpected sweetness of redemption when they finally navigate to a big tournament win.

Viewers are brought along on these wild rides and experience the full range of emotions, sometimes as much or more than the streamers themselves. It adds a whole new dimension to poker and is very interesting to see which directions it takes in the future. Advertisers in and around the gambling industry would be wise to pay close attention to the streaming aspect of poker. We are seeing the same transition to crypto trading streams, is sports betting next?