Has TV ruined all other forms of poker other than Hold 'em?

[posterak]

5 Years ago, if a casino in Vegas even had a poker room, they MIGHT have had only 1 limit hold 'em table and the others would be 7-stud.

Now every casino has a poker room and you can't find anything but hold 'em.

Trying to get a list going for anything other than hold 'em (Omaha, O/8, Stud or Stud hi/low), is like searching for the Holy Grail.

I wonder if these players, who only know poker from TV, even know how to play other games or if they even exist.

What do you think?

[DangerMouse]

No I think eventually other forms of poker will become more popular and you`ll start to see them in casinos. Omaha is a very popular game in Europe and it`s the game a lot of pros are playing online. With the big buy-in HORSE tourneys becoming more prevalent that may encourage online players to try other games.

Once the online players are there you`ll start to see them in land based games. It might be a few years though, it really depends if the TV companies start to show some omaha or HORSE tourneys.

[MTLdon]

I think its help open the door.Once you try hold em your bound to want to explore other games.

[Wade79]

I am not so sure. At present when I log on to poker.com the first place I go is the 5 card draw tables then I work my way back to the holdem ones. Maybe it is the time I play but there is rarely a single person in anything other than holdem.

Sure this is indicitive of only one online poker room but I feel that the majority of people won't ever look beyond holdem unless other games do become more televised.

I also think that the amount of published material whether it be hard copy or on the net is so biased towards holdem that finding out the rules let alone some solid strategy for the less popular games is a challenge. They require a bit more effort on the part of the player and for the most part I think alot of players that play nowadays in the low lomit tables aren't in for the long haul.

However I am not in the casino/live game scene because of where I live so these are just my thoughts without much to back them up...:o

[skinski]

Yeah...with all the craze being on hold'em it's very hard to get the noobs interested in the old games . I find it very hard to get folk to even try the game of draw . They go on and on about suck-outs , and don't realize that with draw poker there is no such thing .

[canadiana33]

Well, maybe TV has ruined poker for you because you like playing other games besides holdem, but the only reason I started playing was because I saw it on television and I thought it looked like a fun game.

I've played a little bit of Omaha and Stud and although they're fun they're just not as fun as NL holdem.

I like playing tourneys, and the thing I like most about NL holdem is that you have to play almost perfectly to get a win. One thing that can be a little annoying playing holdem is getting deep into pots with noobs that hit on the river but that's just part of the game.

[kanyezee/crazyyesdumbno]

I like the triple draw varieties, but you cant find action there. If you are looking for those sort of games you have to go go the bigger sites that have them and have players there.

And sadly this is not poker.com/carbon

[cerberi]

Im sure interest will grow in time,just needs a little more encouragement.

[posterak]

I would like to see some Omaha on Tv.

[dshowgina]

i'd like to see more porker performance in TV, such as Omaha, 5 cards
or some secrets to win!

[NookieMonster]

"i'd like to see more porker performance in TV, such as Omaha, 5 cards
or some secrets to win!"


"porker performance" = Swine Lake :D

[PokerAddictz]

Hold'em is only popular because it is easy to learn, and easy to make correct decisions in the blink of an eye... the other games are much too hard to know what to do and when to do it...

My 2 cents!
http://www.winatpokernow.com

[player5000]

I think there are alot of on line players who ONLY know holdem. I grew up playing everything but holdem. As far as tv goes, hold'em works well because it's very simple to understand and it's fast. I enjoy playing the other games but trying to fill an Omaha8 table online is tough. I do believe they will increase in popularity, after a while.

I like that poker.com has included these games in their freeroll schedual. Of course since they are freerolls they are also incredibly frustrating. :)

[Hansen_Fan]

Just speaking for myself here....

Currently I only play Limit and NL. Some of the other games interest me (esp. OMAHA), but I don't feel like learning 3,4 or 5 different games at once. I'd rather concentrate on limit and NL and get better at them. If I get to the point where I can consistently make a few bucks, maybe then I'll expand my game - until then I won't spread myself out.

[DangerMouse]

It may just be me but I think learning other games helps improve your overall game, because playing the other variations really makes you think. We all play NLHE and I think sometimes we play pretty much on auto-pilot, you can`t do that with 7 card stud or omaha/om8

[NookieMonster]

I agree. I think I've become a better NLHE player by branching out into other games. Playing HORSE is fun, and I think it has the potential to be the next big TV craze.

However, I don't think any kind of stud or limit game will ever get much TV exposure on its own. The visual, play-along aspect of HE trumps the stud games, and the psychological aspects of NL add the excitement that limit games lack. And unfortunately, omaha is very difficult to follow on TV.

[Mr. Pink]

Not just any hold'em. It must be no limit hold'em, otherwise masses aren't interested. And there are several reasons for that.

First of all, as posterak pointed out, that is game that has been made popular through TV tournaments. But the other reason is that it appears to be a simple game. Compared to stud game, for example, one does not have to make any attempts at trying to remember what cards were folded. Compared to Omaha there aren't that many possibilities and combinations the average Joe should rack his brains over. Compare to 5-card draw one does not have to wait for Jacks or Better to open the pot (one can just go all-in). Compared to 5-card stud hold'em offers more action (which requires less patience). And compared to limit hold'em there is apparently less math involved and things happen faster. When you don't know what to do you just say "all in" and hope for the best.

Basically I agree with what PokerAddictz says:

Hold'em is only popular because it is easy to learn, and easy to make correct decisions in the blink of an eye... the other games are much too hard to know what to do and when to do it...

One exception is 5-card stud. If you read a couple of paragraphs of text in some of the old poker strategy books, you can learn how to play a winning 5-card stud game. Then all you have to do is go after players that haven't been informed. But the problem is, nowadays you can hardly find anyone that will agree to play that game. And the main reason is that it is a game of high cards and high pairs, so it requires patience and discipline to sit through "boring" rounds where apparently not much is happening.

I also agree with what NookieMonste said:

...I don't think any kind of stud or limit game will ever get much TV exposure on its own...

TV has to be sensational and the way you make it sensational is to toss millions around, do a lot of all-ins and play a game that doesn't appear to be complicated to follow.

[NookieMonster]

"A minute to learn, a lifetime to master" -- That says it all about NLHE's popularity, whether on TV, online, or live.

I wonder though .... if Rounders had been about omaha and "overnight sensation" Chris Moneymaker -(insert joke here)- had won his bracelet playing omaha ... would omaha be the TV game du jour?

[Mr. Pink]

Omaha lacks the simplicity of No Limit Texas Hold'em. Even Limit Texas Hold'em is not the right game for the masses because it is not sensational enough, and requires more discipline to play.

[Farha's Son]

Any promotion for poker is good promotion. I feel that it can only lead to the desire of people to learn more than just NLH, although that will be the first game 90% of people will attempt to learn first. With the vast variety of poker games now available at these poker sites, I believe that the tv exposure to NLH will ultimately lead to people learning more and more games.

[Porkrind]

We need lots and lots of Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Split. That would be the best next big poker game to explode. Lots of action, huge pots, gut wrenching beats and horrific nut lows to tick of the crowds.
:) :) :)

[ak2009]

TV help cultivate the fertile field of poker newbie’s who get their first indoctrination of poker watching the various poker tournaments series on TV.NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is one such event which has actually got me into the playing arena.

Texas Hold'em is a simple game to learn and maybe thats why the masses have adopted it. But other variants also have been able to piggy back on hold'ems popularity

[pokerknave]

In reply to the original post, I think if it wasn't for TV and especially the camera under the table there wouldn't be the poker scene we have. In my poker league the beginners 18 months ago are already looking to experiment with variations such as Omaha.

[Porkrind]

Which is strange that ESPN will only cover the No Limit Hold Em events for TV this year. The only exception will be the 50K HORSE but even then the final table has to be NLHE.

Thinking about it I find it hilarious that the big stories for WSOP 2009 are Lumkin, Lisandro and Ivey winning multiple bracelets in events ESPN does not own the coverage on.

[skinski]

Sure would be nice to see them cover some of the other games. Maybe one day they will.....

[gosgirl]

I think that the amount of published material whether it be hard copy or on the net is so biased towards holdem that finding out the rules let alone some solid strategy for the less popular games is a challenge.

[BennyG]

i think that omaha is too complicated for TV. Hold'em is simple enough for the wide national TV.

[skinski]

i think that omaha is too complicated for TV. Hold'em is simple enough for the wide national TV.I think you just may be right.