Many gaming historians consider 1970 to be a critical turning point in the history of the game of poker.  Beginning that year, a series of developments led to the game becoming much more popular than it had been previously.  According to some poker historians and other industry experts, there were four key events which began in 1970 and ended at the turn of the century, which launched a dramatic new (or renewed) interest in the game of poker.  They were:

1.    After the debut of the “World Series of Poker” (WSOP) in 1970, we witnessed the birth of modern day tournament play in the US.

2.    In the late 1970’s, the very first series of poker strategy books began appearing on the shelves of major book retailers throughout the entire world.  “Caro’s Book of Poker Tells” written by Mike Caro and “The Theory of Poker” by David Sklansky were two of the most famous.

3.    During the 1990’s, casino and poker gambling blazed a trail across the US from Las Vegas, Nevada to Atlantic City, New Jersey, which is still one of the most popular gambling destinations on the east coast.

4.    Finally, when British television debuted “Late Night Poker” in 1999, the game of poker was introduced to millions of Europeans for the first time.

However, despite the events mentioned above, none would have the impact that the poker industry witnessed at the turn of the century.  The game was introduced in mass to the World Wide Web with online poker.  Video poker was an immediate hit and is now played by millions every day.