Poker is uniquely positioned in the wider context of online gambling. A game that has been popular for centuries, it had a period of change when the internet came along and took poker to new heights and changed the way people played the game altogether. Mobile technology then came along and changed things further, so what sort of innovations might we see in the future, and how may things change when even more technology is available to us?
Modern Day, Real-Time Poker Innovations
Digital poker now benefits from having a truly global market, which brings together thousands of poker enthusiasts, fans, and players. Given that there are dozens of poker variations, some more popular than others, it’s never been easier for fans of specific, niche online poker variants to find like-minded gamblers and test their skills against each other online. Poker games are very popular as some people enjoy the balance of strategy that they incorporate.
However, not content to just simply lay back on the success of the last couple of decades, new payment methods like cryptocurrency casino gaming have permeated the poker industry, too. They are starting to appeal to a new type of poker player. An online crypto casino operates like a traditional casino does – but the innovation lies within the underlying blockchain technology that makes each transaction publicly transparent and viewable and can’t be amended or altered.
This cryptography means that all transactions are secure and negates the need for a third party to oversee or guarantee security in the middle like a bank does. Although cryptocurrency casinos only make up a small percentage of the industry at the moment, many analysts believe they could be on the verge of erupting into the mainstream – especially as the adoption of Bitcoin continues to grow as it has been.
Given the increased demand and visibility in crypto assets, online cryptocurrency casinos are in one of the strongest positions to highlight actual use cases to those who might be new to blockchain technology and want to sample how it actually works using products they already understand.
Building Community & Knowledge
While cryptocurrency casinos are likely to become a growing trend in years to come, social networking sites and online forums have continued to bring people together and cultivate organic communities of people looking to learn more about poker or sharpen their skills against people online.
While odds calculator tools for different poker variants, from Omaha to Texas Hold’Em, have helped bolster these communities online, trends that point to new forms of media, such as podcasts and TikTok influencers, have kept the interest fresh and provided hyper-specific content for poker fans and players to enjoy.
As these pathways become the dominant forces in digital advertising, expect to see marketing innovations and trends centered on short-form video media, from YouTube and Instagram shorts to TikToks and poker podcasts.
The Next Big Poker Innovation?
It feels like blockchain casino gaming is the next big thing to happen in online gambling, but at the risk of sounding cliche, AI, and VR will continue to grow their influence in the sector as well. Virtual Reality (VR) casinos have been in the conversation for a while and could be something that happens in the future in gaming in general, as we already see some VR games on the market.
It picked up momentum when Mark Zuckerburg first pivoted toward the technology, as just like cryptocurrency casinos, one of the clearest use cases for VR that could lead to mass adoption is via the gaming medium. He hasn’t reneged on this switch despite it not receiving the initial response he had hoped. His continued, multi-billion dollar investment is starting to pay some dividends. Still, ultimately, it means there’ll be some sort of change with casino gaming if technology companies continue driving copious amounts of capital into it.
Artificial Intelligence is essentially the same as VR in terms of uptake. It is possible we’ll see prominent changes in the poker gaming world enacted by one or both of these technologies.
Conclusion
It might seem entirely predictable that the next significant changes in casino and poker gaming will be because of AI, VR, and blockchain, as all the signs are there. It’s part of a wider pull of society that is leading it in this direction–online casino gaming was the same once upon a time.
Although the convenience and cost-effectiveness were more evident, it took a string of prominent companies to put their money where their mouth is and invest massively in digital solutions for online casino gaming to realize its potential. With similar relative amounts flooding into these technologies, you’d have to imagine that the same playbook will unfold throughout the rest of this decade.