Fame
There was a time when the greatest fame a poker player could achieve was by also being a gunslinger. However, ever since some nobody accountant from Nashville named Chris Moneymaker (and how could a guy with that name not be good at poker?) turned a $40 online entry fee into $2.5 million by winning the WSOP Main Event in 2003, poker players have become quasi-celebrities.
Thanks to a combination of high-stakes competition, massive personalities (*cough* egos *cough*), million-dollar winnings, and a lucrative television contract, poker is at least as popular as the secondary sports of tennis, golf, and soccer (sorry, guys).
Now casual players turn into total fanboys and girls when they have a chance to have their picture taken with Daniel Negreanu or get their shirt signed by Phil Hellmuth. Even movie star poker players like Ben Affleck are in awe of the poker legends they play with (and lose to). Some people even take a sick sense of pleasure in getting taken out of a tournament by one of the big names in the biz.
The opportunity for fame is definitely there, but few achieve it—especially nowadays, when the luster of the 2000s is beginning to wear off and excitement about the game is much more muted. The association between poker and celebrity may be on the decline. You could find yourself winning bundles of money and taking down major tournaments, only to find that hardly anyone cares.
If a player wins a million dollars on TV and no one watches, was it really ever on TV?