The economy in the United States has made a wider dividing line in the poker players out there. There are still the people with plenty of disposable money out there that will gamble at poker no matter what. But the other people have been divided.
Before the economic slump and the housing market crash, many people were more apt to just go to places like Atlantic City or Las Vegas on a whim and try their hands at gamboling. They weren’t good at it but it was a vacation where they could possibly win back some of the costs. Today you see hardly anyone doing this type of gambling in poker or any other form of the sport.
Today people are more apt to try to bet what little money they have in an effort to win enough to pay off a large portion of the bills that they have accumulated or the mortgage. They often know that there is little hope of them actually managing to do that but there is little hope for them the way it is so you can only push these people so far and when they are faced with the bank getting everything if they do nothing or trying anything, no matter how desperate to get enough money to stay afloat. Most people would opt to take a chance, however slim and remote and hope for the best.
The numbers are down at all the major casinos and the big gambling towns have seen a steady decrease in revenue and an increase in crime. Poker used to be a huge portion of the profits that a casino would take in on a daily basis. That has been dropping steadily and at the rate of decline, the only way that these huge gambling houses are likely to survive is by finding a way to shift the odds of winning towards the consumer.
If a poker player such as Daniel Negreanu knows that he has a one in twenty five chance of winning he is a lot less likely to gamble than if he has a one in ten shot. The casinos are starting to realize this and they are adding more incentives for folks to visit and hopefully part with the money they have. This includes more, better and less expensive entertainment, flights and food and drink and by all indications will eventually include a higher win rate if the economy does not turn around quickly.
Poker has been a staple of life in this country as far back as we can remember and there will likely be poker and establishments that offer that activity far in to the future. What is unclear is what effect the economy will have on the end result and just who is going to come out of the downfall in a solvent basis.
You will likely still see weekend poker games at homes with lots of beer and pizza to keep people happy and to feed the need that humans have to bet on the cards.