Poker is experiencing a renaissance of late and, while some believe that the online gambling industry is fueling that renaissance, it would probably be more accurate to say that poker is fueling the growth of the online gambling industry. In fact, among experts on the online gambling industry, online poker is the hottest topic around as well as viewed as the current guarantor of future growth for Internet gambling. In short, the popularity of Internet poker is tremendous and there is still great potential for even greater worldwide popularity and interest in Internet poker.

Industry analysts estimate that the amount of money gambled over the Internet on online poker websites has exceeded sixty billion U.S. dollars this year and 75 percent of industry experts predict that the global annual commission, or rake as it is sometimes called, will be more than four billion U.S. dollars in the next two to three years. Also in the next two to three years, online poker, according to more than sixty percent of online gambling industry experts, will dominate all other Internet gambling games.

Another reason that poker has experienced such a fantastic global rebirth is the increasing number of successful television shows that feature poker matches and tournaments. The World Series of Poker on ESPN, Celebrity Poker on Bravo, and European Poker Tour on Eurosport are just a few examples of successful poker television coverage.

Within the global business and financial arena, the status of online poker has also gone up. Sportingbet, for example, one of the major online gambling firms in the UK, just bought poker website, Paradise Poker. Sportingbet paid 300 million US dollars for the site, which may seem a bit exorbitant for a site launched only six years ago, but more than 53 percent of the industry experts surveyed, believe that 300 million US dollars was an appropriate price to pay.

Studies also point out, however, that with growing competition and decreasing revenues per player, the online poker market will become tougher in the future. Studies also point to Europe as the place to go for geographical expansion with 52 percent of industry experts believing that Europe offers the greatest potential for online poker in the future. PartyPoker, for example, one of the market leaders in the online gambling industry, has plans to make its’ presence known on television throughout Europe in the very near future and already operates its website in two different languages; one in English and the other in German.