Today’s poker world sees very little distinction between online and live players. Once two very separate entities, the groups commonly switch back and forth between playing both versions of the game.

Those who rose to fame over the Internet are taking to the land-based poker tournaments while players who built their bankroll in live play supplement it with online sessions.

And it’s become pretty clear that, in its short existence, online poker has caught up to the popularity of live poker. However, things weren’t always this way since online poker was once looked at as the lesser of the two worlds. 

The old view of online poker

Back in the late 1990’s, online poker was in its infancy and online rooms were still working the bugs and kinks out of their software. Most games were slow and frustrating to play and most of the people playing them had very little knowledge of the game. As famous poker pro Erick Lindgren once said of the scene, “Back then, nobody new anything and they were just terrible.  I saw a guy lose $10,000 at $20/$40 in a couple of hours.  It was laughable.” 

And most people’s view of online poker was laughable too since the skill level was very low. Professional players who had made names for themselves in the big land-based tournaments had little respect for online players back in those days. The live pros that did play online poker did it to earn extra money on top of their live winnings. And things would remain like this for several years too until the poker boom came.

As most people will attest to, a small-time accountant named Chris Moneymaker was the person who led the online poker boom. Moneymaker made headlines everywhere when he won the 2003 World Series of Poker and the $2,500,000 first place prize. However, it wasn’t the win itself that people were talking about but rather the way he won the tournament.

What was truly amazing was that Moneymaker bought into an online satellite for $39 and eventually won his $10,000 WSOP seat this way. What ensued after the Moneymaker victory stories was what led online poker to new heights.

Thousands of people began signing up at online poker rooms across the world hoping to be the next Chris Moneymaker. And while the majority of people didn’t experience the same success as Moneymaker, a number of very successful players spawned from this boom.

Poker strategy articles also increased in volume during this time which gave people unlimited access to a wealth of poker information. With the giant infusion of new and talented players into the game, online poker would never be the same again.

The chance at quick riches and an independent lifestyle is quite alluring to people in all walks of life. And to many, online poker was the ticket to this dream since big money wasn’t hard to come by on the cyber felts. Suddenly, more and more people began realizing that poker could be a legitimate career choice if one’s skills were up to the task.

It wasn’t long before online poker tables began filling up with lawyers, teachers, construction workers, college dropouts…..basically every type of person you could think of. People that were once headed on traditional paths were casting their former life aside for the chance to grind on the poker tables.

Tom “durrrr” Dwan became the poster child for this epidemic when he was a student at the University of Boston. In between English classes, Dwan found his true calling in the world of online poker when he started winning low stakes Sit & Go tournaments. Eventually, Dwan realized that mastering the English language would never be as profitable to him as online poker.

In just four years, the man some simply refer to as durrrr spun an initial $50 bankroll into millions of dollars and international fame. And even though not everyone makes it as big as Dwan, there are plenty of other people that can attribute their accumulated wealth to online poker.       

Even with the massive improvement seen in online poker over the years, many of the game’s most respected names still subscribed to the theory that online pros were somehow inferior. In a way, it was really like the establishment rejecting new comers by discounting their accomplishments and doubting their skills. However, there would be no more doubts after the 2008 WSOP when thousands of players who had built their reputation in cyberspace stormed poker’s biggest stage looking for riches.

Plenty of no name Internet players held their own with live pros who’d literally written the book on how to play the game. And in the end, it was an online player from Denmark named Peter Eastgate who came out on top in the WSOP’s Main Event and won the second largest amount ever at $9,100,000. In winning poker’s biggest prize, the 22 year-old who built his bankroll from playing small online tournaments and cash games also earned another victory for online poker.