The Internationality of Poker

I was playing a No-Limit Hold ‘em Tourney on FullTilt recently and was struck by the international flair that poker has – especially online. It struck me as the first table I was at had me as the only American. The rest of the players consisted of a Spaniard, Croat, Australian, Greek, two Ukrainians and a player each from Switzerland and the Phillipines.

As we continued to play the tournament I was ultimately moved to two more tables (before finally busting out). Americans were never in the majority on any of the tables (including replacements being moved in after others busted out).

My second table eventually saw the most players from the U.S. overall (with several getting moved in after eliminations) with me and 5 others, but it included a Dutchman, Russian, Brit, Latvian, Italian, Austrian and two Germans while I was there.

In the end – through three tables and a good chunk of the tournament I saw the following representation:

United States: 9 (including me) Germany – 3
Russia – 2
Ukraine – 2
Netherlands – 2
And, 1 each from:
Australia Austria
Croatia
Greece
Italy
Finland
Latvia
New Zealand Phillipines
Spain
Switzerland
U.K.
Total players: 30 – 9 from U.S., 21 from the World

It’s truly amazing how widely spread the popularity of poker has reached. And, another upside is that I can occasionally practiced my Czech (though I try not to do that for too long so no complains about “English Only” at the table).

Take a look next time you’re online – my guess is you’ll see an veritable international bazaar.

Check out our latest podcast – Episode 101 – with Poker News, MN Music Segment featuring the Melismatics and a Classic Replay (Missouri Chip). The Upper Midwest’s ONLY poker podcast.