In 2003 when ESPN began covering the World Series of Poker, we should have seen it coming. But just because ESPN decides to cover an event on TV, doesn't necessarily make it an overnight craze.
I feel like it all began that fateful year when Chris Moneymaker rose to fame by qualifying for the WSOP in a $40 satellite event. He then went on to win the tournament on national television. His success story had every average Joe wanting to be the next Chris Moneymaker.
The poker boom had officially began. Over the next year, major V networks competed for a piece of the poker pie. We saw celebrity poker tournaments, smaller WSOP events, World Poker Tour events, and many more being shown on television. Teenagers were getting into poker and having games in their basements. It was as if all of the sudden poker was all around you.
This went on for a few years but has since died down. Although the popularity of poker has died down, it is still being shown on TV all over the world. We have seen may players come and go in the limelight.
The last blow to poker was the UIGEA. This was passed on September 30th 2006. This put limits on the banking involved with online gaming. I won't go into much detail, but more can be read about the UIEGA can be found at Gambling and the Law.
So what is next for the poker world? We can certainly hope that poker will be regulated in the US and playing online will be accepted. One might be able to speculate that US based casinos will be entering the online market if this regulation occurs. Maybe we can all place bets on which major online poker room gets bought out by a major US casino? :-)