With the recent explosion of interest in poker, it is easy to forget that poker is a social game. We see the high stakes World Series of Poker episodes replayed over and over on ESPN. The Travel Channel features regular showings of The World Poker Tour. The shows are filled with sunglasses and stone cold stare downs. Watching pros such as Doyle Brunson and Howard Lederer make studied moves on the felt is great fun. We secretly dream of bluffing Johnny Chan out of a huge pot.

The good news is, there's a place that we can try such feats of derring do. That place is right here-the internet. There are online game rooms of every shape and size. It's no problem finding a game.

The bad news for many of us is, this quest is taking much of the fun out of playing poker. Sure, it's easy to find a game online. Trouble is there's just not much interaction with the other players at a typical online table. The other players are anonymous. This can lead to a silent table at best and a downright obnoxious table at worst.

For most of us playing poker is meant to be a relaxing pastime. You know, a Friday night with friends after the work week. A number of websites are trying to put this social aspect back into online poker. For instance, Home Run Poker, is a site where fans of baseball that like to play poker can meet and arrange private games at set times. This way you get to meet and become friends with people from all over the world that share a common interest with you.

If making poker fun again sounds good to you there are a number of actions you can take. Find a community, such as Home Run Poker, where others that share your interest gather. A great place to find such sites is in the blogging community. If you can not find such a group, you might want to start participating with a group whose interests are somewhat similiar to yours. For example, any sports site would be a good match if you are a sports fan. You would probably soon find folks that enjoy your favorite sport, too.

If all else fails, start up your own community. It's easy to do with a little time and research. You'll be rewarded with many new friends and you'll always have a fun game of poker to look forward too. Let's make online poker fun again.