As you can see, in 2004, 2005 and 2006, searches for poker related keywords spiked right around the World Series of Poker. Relatively speaking, the spike in interest is quite pronounced as searches from all over the world access Google to find out who is taking home a bracelet.

The other reason that poker related keywords likely spike in the summer is that school is out, and you have many high school and college students playing poker, sometimes for their summer jobs. When school is in session, there is less time for poker. The beginning of the World Series of Poker coincides with the end of school for the year, which likely combines to create the big spikes in traffic that you see here.

With the UIGEA now in place, it will be interesting to see if the spike in poker related traffic can make previous years, especially 2005 when Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker. Based on the traffic numbers this past weekend on Pokerstars, I wouldn't be surprised. Poker just can not be stopped.

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