Online Poker in the Current Economic Crisis

Everywhere the news is reporting a complete economic crisis. Banks are failing, stocks are plunging, housing markets are a mess and people have stopped splurging on many things. How will this affect online poker?Just because the economy is in bad shape does not mean all sectors are failing. For example, video game and console manufacturers are reporting record sales. Why is this? It is because people spend a little money upfront and they can play for free for a long time. They don’t have to spend any gas money to be entertained. Online poker enjoys that same luxury.If you are on a mailing list for any casinos or follow the industry you know that Las Vegas is hurting. They are giving away the place to lure players in. This is because on top of the poor economy airfares and gas prices have skyrocketed. Also people are reluctant to take time off of work during these hard times. This makes it harder for players to travel, especially to an expensive destination like Las Vegas. In past poor economies were actually good for brick and mortar casinos, high energy prices seem to be to blame for that not being the case this time around. This does not mean people have stopped gambling though.Online poker and all online gambling are perfect fits for this economy. Players don’t have to spend time traveling, spend gas money, or take any time off work to enjoy their past time. Since so many rakeback players are at the very least break even players it is also a hobby that costs them little, if any money and of course there are pros that make their living off poker. In my opinion online poker will easily survive, if not grow in these dire times. People are still going to play poker and online poker has made that so convenient for players compared to their alternatives that I think the entire industry will continue to flourish.