So what makes The U.S. Poker Tour such a force for the ... ]]> Two things come to mind when most people think of poker; a smoke-filled back room or basement and a bunch of beer-guzzling, back-alley degenerates. This perception of poker is not without justification. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago that those two preconceptions of the poker world were often true. The poker world continues to grow and expand with new ventures like The U.S. Poker Tour and poker getting into retail with everything from clothing to energy drinks.

In the poker world today, things have changed. Poker, as it has always been, is a game of skill and the younger generations are realizing that, becoming more skillful at the game means more consistent performance and profit. Yes, it’s true, you can actually play this game for a living if you are good enough. The stakes have gotten so high in the famed World Series of Poker (WSOP), that you could actually play in one tournament and make a lifetime worth of money. It doesn’t even seem plausible that someone could do that in a poker game, but that’s just what Jamie Gold did last year in the final event of the WSOP, taking home $12 million for his efforts. Wow!

So who are the business-side players in this huge growth cycle for poker. The most well-known has already been mentioned, The World Series of Poker, an event that started in the early 70’s with just a few players and now draws more than 8,000 players for its final event alone. A more recent influence has been The World Poker Tour (WPT), catering primarily to existing professional poker players and celebrities in a glitzy, Hollywood-produced vision of the game. The newest player on the scene is The U.S. Poker Tour (USPT), a company that could quickly rise to the top of the poker world by catering to the everyday poker player, a group that makes up more than 80% of the poker market in the U.S.

So what makes The U.S. Poker Tour such a force for the future? Consistency. USPT offers players something that is lacking in events across the country, fair and consistent blind structures, payout structures, and rules. No matter where a player goes to participate in a USPT tournament, everything other than the location is the same. You would think that this would have already been the case in such prolific sport, but it definitely not. U.S. casinos and poker rooms nationwide are looking to The U.S. Poker Tour to provide that structure and many have already enlisted, even though the tour will not kick off until June and will not host their first major event until August.

Poker is most certainly a growing business, offering opportunity for players and businesses alike. With such a large influx of new poker players in the 18-25 age demographic, the growth of the sport is not likely to end anytime soon. New players are springing up everywhere, it seems, and people are even forming home poker clubs and poker leagues (no, seriously, just like a bowling league). For all of the negative things that a few people may say about the game, one thing is certain…

Poker is here to stay.