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One could certainly argue that 2005 was the most significant year in poker
history, as a number of amazing things happened. It was a landmark year for the
growth of online poker, entrants in major events, logo wear and sponsorship for
players, televised events, charity poker tournaments, and the success of the
poker industry in general.

Let’s start with this astonishing fact: One
poker tournament had a prize pool of more than $56 million, with $7.5 million
going to the winner! For many years, only one person a year made a million
dollars in a poker tournament, but in 2005, 30 players became millionaires in
poker tournaments (highlighted by the nine guys who made a million dollars or
more in the main event of the World Series of Poker).

And what can you
say about the growth of online poker in 2005? There have been very few
businesses in the world (if any) that have grown as fast and been as successful
as online poker. How’s this for openers? The industry leader, PartyPoker.com,
was launched in August 2001, and PartyGaming went public on the London Stock
Exchange in June 2005 for $9 billion! Yes, that’s billion!

The poker
world was “hot” in 2005. New poker rooms continued to sprout up and existing
rooms had record earnings last year. And don’t look for that trend to change. A
number of video games, new books, DVDs, and other educational materials were
revealed in the past year. In addition, numerous poker-related businesses, such
as instructional seminars like WPT Boot Camp, were launched in
2005.

There was record-smashing attendance in World Poker Tour events and
the WSOP. Incredibly, only one event in the four-year history of the WPT has
declined in attendance from the previous year, and it didn’t decline by much.
That was in Paris, and in my view, it happened only because the WSOP backed its
event up a few months and the Paris event came right on the heels of it. Many
players were simply “pokered out.”

There were lots of outstanding
performances by players during the year. First and foremost, hats off to Joe
Hachem of Australia, who won the cat’s meow, the main event at the WSOP. Hachem
captured the prestigious title of world champion of poker and $7.5 million! And
you can look for poker’s popularity to increase worldwide because a foreigner
won that title. Estimates are that poker has already expanded tenfold in
Australia.

Speaking of top performances at the WSOP, 72-year-old Doyle
Brunson captured his 10th bracelet, breaking the three-way tie between Doyle,
Phil Hellmuth, and Johnny Chan. Then, not to be outdone, Chan captured his 10th
title in the very next event he played. “Wow” is all you can say about those
performances.

Perhaps the most prestigious award at the WSOP (among the
players, anyway) is that of best all-around player. That distinction went to top
pro Allen Cunningham. And Mark Seif gets a tip of the hat, as he was the only
player to win multiple events at the 2005 WSOP.

As for the ladies,
Jennifer Tilly became the queen of poker in 2005 because of her win at the WSOP,
as well as capturing the “Ladies Night” title on the World Poker Tour. This
Academy Award-nominated actress (Best Actress nomination for Bullets Over
Broadway) has taken to the green felt like a duck to water. She can
play!

Lots of players did well in 2005, but honorable mention goes to
those who cashed for big paydays on multiple occasions. That includes guys like
Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Minh Ly, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi,
Michael Gracz, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Freddy Deeb, John Phan, Tony Ma, and
Kido Pham.

As for top performances on the World Poker Tour, 26-year-old
Tuan Le deserves a round of applause. Tuan captured the WPT World Championship
(his second WPT title) and became the all-time leading money winner on the World
Poker Tour with more than $4.4 million!

Youth certainly prevailed on the
WPT in 2005. It started in Tunica in January when 23-year-old John Stolzmann won
the World Poker Open title and more than $1.4 million. The 24-year-olds then
took over. In February, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi won the L.A. Poker
Classic and more than $1.8 million, and in March, Michael Gracz captured the
PartyPoker Million and $1.5 million. In October, 20-year-old Josh Schlein was
the turn of a card away from winning the Aruba Poker Classic, and in November,
21-year-old Nick Schulman became the youngest WPT champion in history when he
won the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods and more than $2.1 million.

With a
number of guys in their 20s becoming poker millionaires, is it any wonder that
so many young people are playing poker?

All is well in the poker world.
Happy new year!

Source : CardPlayer