The Gambler(s)
The May issue of Washington Monthly contained an article title "Jack of Smarts," by Justin Peters purporting to explain the sudden popularity of poker. Naturally, some poker bloggers weighed in with their opinions on the piece. And naturally, I can't resist adding my own $0.02.
First of all, I agree with Mr. Cole that the current 'poker boom' is not due as Mr. Peters states, to the movies and the internet, but to television. Specifically, the keyhole cameras that allow viewers to see what cards the players are holding. Previously televised poker was as exciting as watching porcupines mate; now I know of plenty of people who don't even play that tune into the Travel Channel to watch The World Poker Tour. To quote Mr. Cole directly:
Mr. Peters goes to a lot of trouble to try and explain why poker is so popular among the 'Internet generation' because "Every generation gambles, but how they gamble says something about the spirit of the age. We'll leave aside his delusion that the poker craze is somehow limited to or the sole province of the 'Internet generation' and move to some his explanations for the game's appeal, such as...
..or better yet:
This is a whole of gibberish to explain something very obvious. Oddly enough, Mr. Peters touches on this explanation in a way:
People's dads - or granddads - also drank martinis. Wore fedoras. Watched black and white movies. And so on... it's really very simple. Poker has always been an exciting, absorbing game, just as martinis have always been a very fine drink. Just because younger generations may occasionally forget these fact or deliberately ignore them (after all if dad likes something, it can't be cool) does not make them any less true. The new manner of televising poker simply reminded a lot of people - and not just the 'Internet generation' - of this truth.
First of all, I agree with Mr. Cole that the current 'poker boom' is not due as Mr. Peters states, to the movies and the internet, but to television. Specifically, the keyhole cameras that allow viewers to see what cards the players are holding. Previously televised poker was as exciting as watching porcupines mate; now I know of plenty of people who don't even play that tune into the Travel Channel to watch The World Poker Tour. To quote Mr. Cole directly:
I am as big a fan of the internet as anyone, but claiming the internet caused the increase in popularity is as silly as the rest of the psychological nonsense in Peters piece. The interest was caused by the television, and the internet merely provided an outlet to fulfill the thirst for the game.
Mr. Peters goes to a lot of trouble to try and explain why poker is so popular among the 'Internet generation' because "Every generation gambles, but how they gamble says something about the spirit of the age. We'll leave aside his delusion that the poker craze is somehow limited to or the sole province of the 'Internet generation' and move to some his explanations for the game's appeal, such as...
The answer may be that the popular image of the game has undergone a subtle recasting--one with a great attraction to ironic youngsters like me who find in the game the same slightly glamorous, slightly seedy, go-getter spirit that characterized the Internet boom.
..or better yet:
The myth and aura of the game have perhaps never before been in such perfect accord with the aspirations of a generation. In the post-tech-boom years, the archetype of male success and cool mixes laddish cockiness and financial acumen.
This is a whole of gibberish to explain something very obvious. Oddly enough, Mr. Peters touches on this explanation in a way:
...no one looked for glory or drama in modern poker anymore. To callow youth like me, the game looked like just another thing that Babbitty men did, like the Rotary club, or golf. People's dads played poker.
People's dads - or granddads - also drank martinis. Wore fedoras. Watched black and white movies. And so on... it's really very simple. Poker has always been an exciting, absorbing game, just as martinis have always been a very fine drink. Just because younger generations may occasionally forget these fact or deliberately ignore them (after all if dad likes something, it can't be cool) does not make them any less true. The new manner of televising poker simply reminded a lot of people - and not just the 'Internet generation' - of this truth.
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