Online Poker Must Evolve Alongside the Rest of the Gaming World, But How? – State-Journal.com

There are few games as long-lasting and widely valued as poker. Its rules, history, and the professionals themselves all command a certain level of respect from amateur players, fans, and relative outsiders alike, and the place it holds in popular culture ensures that it will never fall back into obscurity, as so many games have done over the years.

To be sure, one of the most powerful forces that has been continuously driving it forward is the online gaming industry, which first took this seminal game into its clutches back in the 90s shortly after the advent of the world wide web and transformed it into what was, at the time, an incredibly futuristic and high-tech version of the game.

By todays standards, of course, those earliest digitalisations would seem incredibly primitive but that neednt matter, as the incredible popularity of the genre of online poker ensured that it never fell behind the forward thrust of the rest of the online gaming industry, and that it continues to impress and inspire both professionals and newcomers alike.

Still, the gaming industry does not stand still, and the coming years will no doubt see plenty more advancements in the realm of PC, console, and mobile game development. So, how can online Poker ensure that it weathers yet another storm of progress? Read more below.

Preserve the Ecosystem

Watching the professionals play their hands is, for many, an inspiration; being beaten time and time again by the professionals is an almost unanimous recipe for defeat and, eventually, relinquishment. A good poker site will not grow complacent over the divide between professional and amateur; instead, they will facilitate a healthy, sustainable ecosystem for all players.

The popular site GGPoker.com is paradigmatic of this; while they represent a home for many of the worlds most notable poker players, such as Daniel Negreanu and Fedor Holz, it also remains one of the most accessible and widely enjoyed sites in existence.

By prioritising pros who wish to see the industry grow, things naturally fall into place, and amateurs have the opportunity to be inspired and challenged by the professionals, rather than bullied away from the game altogether.

Follow the Rise of the Mobile

While much of the world of online poker remains distinct from the wider trends that exist within mainstream gaming, it cannot distance itself entirely from the ebb and flow of player movements. That is to say that, while players will continue to flock to online poker despite the changes occurring in the wider realm, the only way to ensure the continuity of the genres growth is by embracing player trends wherever possible.

The most notable example of this lies, of course, in the increasing significance of mobile gaming. Cloud-based streaming services and renewed interest in mobile app development owing, in all likelihood, to the new wave of power hungry, 5G ready devices making their way onto the shelves mean that more and more of us are going to be spending an increasing amount of time gaming on our phones.

This is a remarkable market to capture and, already, many of the worlds leading poker sites have embraced mobile development in order to stake their claim on it. A desire to keep improving, augmenting, and streamlining their mobile services will, however, prove integral to maintaining a pattern of growth over the coming years.

Continue to Prioritise Player Security

This one is relevant to the entire gaming industry, not just the genre of online poker. In recent years, some of the worlds most well-known and trusted companies have fallen prey to significant and costly cyber-attacks and the real victims of those attacks have been users who trusted these sites with their sensitive data.

As users grow increasingly wary of services vulnerabilities, then, one of the only ways the online poker industry can hope to sustain itself is by investing into stronger and more rigorous measures that protect the players, and ensure that the enjoyment of the game is not spoiled by concerns over their private lives.

Transparency, and the ability to go above and beyond the bare minimum, will remain the cornerstones for any successful online poker site in the coming years.

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Online Poker Must Evolve Alongside the Rest of the Gaming World, But How? - State-Journal.com