Pokerati loves to indulge in some unscientific polling … and we have a new one up on the righthand sidebar if you haven’t already noticed. This time we are looking for “the next big thing.” When you think about it, if poker has been anything, it was the first unbridled, boom-market economy of the 21st century. That time has now passed for poker, so presumably something else will take its place.

But we’re not just looking for what will be big — I am pretty sure I was wrong when I declared darts anything close to the next poker — we’re also looking for new niches fueled by a profitable confluence of the internet, TV, hard technology, and live engagement. (Because when that happens, you can also expect a lot of laws and politics to come into play.) To this day, I don’t see why tournament fishing — particularly with the use of “hook cams” that allow you to watch fish contemplating taking the bait — hasn’t taken off. But that probably has more to do with the business behind it all than the thrilling nature of the sport itself.

Anyhow, would love to hear what you think … not just so we can mentally masturbate to the concept of a blog about whatever wins … but moreso because its always refreshing to remember what’s going on outside the poker world that isn’t war.