When taking a look at world sports and competitions, poker never really seems to get the recognition it deserves for pulling in a crowd and participants from a collection of nations around the world.
It is a story of a game that has captured the minds and imaginations of those from countries that may not be able to celebrate their national team's success in football, but when they look at their countrymen on the poker felts, they have something to cheer about.
The World Cup is one of the world's biggest sporting competitions. It is on par, if not more popular than the Olympics, and it creates billions in revenue from sponsorship deals, TV rights and merchandise.
That's not to mention the fact that the World Cup stimulates the services industries in many countries around the world as those supporting their country flock to the local bars to watch their country in action, or get over to the off license in order to follow the matches with a beer while sat in the comfort of their own home.
It truly is an amazing sporting event that comes around only every four years. However, there is another event out there that is not so well televised or publicised that also grabs the attention of viewers round the world.
The World Series of Poker has been around since the 1970s, and as it began opening its tournament doors, the increase in the events popularity has been continuously growing.
Poker may not be a competition that is as widely recognised as football, as after all it is not in the school curriculum as football is, but it is an up and coming phenomenon that attracts as many if not more nationalities than the FIFA World Cup conjures up.
One thing is for sure, and that is the WSOP still has room to grow and improve.
Since 1930 the Football World Cup has been going strong with the exception of a few years break due to World War One and Two.
In spite of a few minor hic ups, it still has a forty year advantage on the WSOP. In 1930 the total attendance to the World Cup was 590,549. Since then the highest recorded attendance was 3,587,538, attracting seven times more people than the first event.
Let's take a look at poker. When the first WSOP main event tournament was played, it was with just six players mainly from the US.
Over 35 years on and in 2006 there were 8,773 players from all over the world.
The list of countries participating is too long to even share here, whereas the World Cup's Main Event is played with a total of 36 nations. What's more impressive is the WSOP's growth far outweighs the World Cup's growth, so in the future it wouldn't be too farfetched to say events could attract up to and over 3 million.
Currently the WSOP plays around 60 tournaments over two weeks, so with 3 million people attending the event, the WSOP could be playing over 200 tournaments over an extended period of time, potentially making it one of the largest global events we've seen.
Poker's free poker online sites and the fact anyone can play the game at any age has brought the game up into international recognition, and it could one day be more popular than football!
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It is a story of a game that has captured the minds and imaginations of those from countries that may not be able to celebrate their national team's success in football, but when they look at their countrymen on the poker felts, they have something to cheer about.
The World Cup is one of the world's biggest sporting competitions. It is on par, if not more popular than the Olympics, and it creates billions in revenue from sponsorship deals, TV rights and merchandise.
That's not to mention the fact that the World Cup stimulates the services industries in many countries around the world as those supporting their country flock to the local bars to watch their country in action, or get over to the off license in order to follow the matches with a beer while sat in the comfort of their own home.
It truly is an amazing sporting event that comes around only every four years. However, there is another event out there that is not so well televised or publicised that also grabs the attention of viewers round the world.
The World Series of Poker has been around since the 1970s, and as it began opening its tournament doors, the increase in the events popularity has been continuously growing.
Poker may not be a competition that is as widely recognised as football, as after all it is not in the school curriculum as football is, but it is an up and coming phenomenon that attracts as many if not more nationalities than the FIFA World Cup conjures up.
One thing is for sure, and that is the WSOP still has room to grow and improve.
Since 1930 the Football World Cup has been going strong with the exception of a few years break due to World War One and Two.
In spite of a few minor hic ups, it still has a forty year advantage on the WSOP. In 1930 the total attendance to the World Cup was 590,549. Since then the highest recorded attendance was 3,587,538, attracting seven times more people than the first event.
Let's take a look at poker. When the first WSOP main event tournament was played, it was with just six players mainly from the US.
Over 35 years on and in 2006 there were 8,773 players from all over the world.
The list of countries participating is too long to even share here, whereas the World Cup's Main Event is played with a total of 36 nations. What's more impressive is the WSOP's growth far outweighs the World Cup's growth, so in the future it wouldn't be too farfetched to say events could attract up to and over 3 million.
Currently the WSOP plays around 60 tournaments over two weeks, so with 3 million people attending the event, the WSOP could be playing over 200 tournaments over an extended period of time, potentially making it one of the largest global events we've seen.
Poker's free poker online sites and the fact anyone can play the game at any age has brought the game up into international recognition, and it could one day be more popular than football!
