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"Poker"

What is the nation's sudden overwhelming fascination with this game?

It's been all over the internet for a few months, and now it's all over the TV in various forms.

I know you can win cash prizes and so on, blah blah ad infinitum. But people have been winning (and losing) fortunes in poker games for decades, if not centuries.

It's not a new game by any stretch of the imagination, so why are we suddenly seeing it everywhere?

It's just being advertised/commericialised (sp?). Although, I enjoy the odd hand of poker - I've made about £20 in total, which I think is good, as it's usually a "Quids in" round.

lcarus wrote:

> Only in real life. You lose a lot with the online version.
-----


Yeah, I only play for fake money online.. and thats only when im bored. But I dont lose lots. Also, thats not to say you dont lose lots of money in live play, its just the same... but playing live (with mates or in tourneys) is the best.

Poker is a good game to play with mates, for low amounts of money. It's definitely due to the rise of online poker and subsequently poker on TV, but once people start playing poker, there's no reason to stop.

kukgv wrote:
It is an exciting/fun game.
>

Only in real life. You lose a lot with the online version.

I think Sky have got a lot to do with it...........

Since its put on TV more now, more people see it and understand the game. Its so damn easy you cant help but learn. Then with the incentive of winning money, people want to play... so tell mates and stuff... etc. It is an exciting/fun game.

Pretty simple really.

You big fat loser.

It's due to the rise of online poker, which has given the industry a massive expansion and increase in total net worth. As for TV coverage; it should go away soon, as with wrestling, which had a comeback in the late 90's.


RoJ wrote:
> Because people are fickle. Take cricket, no-one cares until England
> do well and then "OMG NICE ONE LADS". If they lose next
> year we'll never hear about it.

Not entirely true. Due to the nature of the game, it's just not appealing nor fun to watch if one side are 400 without loss, while having smashed the other team for a low figure. It's because most of these matches in this series were close, topsy turvy ones that maintained audience appeal. Though of course there are the bootlickers who just go with the crowd because the back page of The Sun made them "patriotic".

I don't play Poker, never have and probably never wil.

But it's a pretty good game to watch on TV late at night...

I don't think people are fickle - just happy to see our national teams do well for a change.

I never followed rugby, but was happy we won the World Cup... I didn't take it up as a passtime, though, and I've never watched a game since.

Same with the cricket.

Same every 4 years with the numerous other sports which roll around with the Olympics.

It's just nice to see an English/British team or individual do well in something. We're usually so crap in these things that we take the chance to celebrate whenever we can!

Like everything else, if you keep trying and failing, you eventually get fed up. If rugby and cricket (or any other sport) want to keep the public interest, the national teams need to make sure they win things consistently.

Now if only the useless berks in the footy team could give us something to be proud of for a little while!

Because people are fickle. Take cricket, no-one cares until England do well and then "OMG NICE ONE LADS". If they lose next year we'll never hear about it.

Edit: Newspapers are largely to blame, with all their stupid hype. "The Day Henman Hill became Murray Mount!" and crappy little lines like that. Henman always was crap, yet every year "Can Tiger Tim do it this time?" Tiger Tim, the most feeble nickname ever.