S
SolaRoe
Enthusiast
Silver Level
Well, after exactly 70 10-man $3 SnGs on Party, I'm down about $33, or 11 buyins+entry fees. I'm being helped out by a $15 cashout-restricted bonus and the first $6.25 tranche of a release-restricted bonus or I'd be down about $55, more than the $50 I deposited. I found that my performance goes in streaks; I can go as many as 13 SnGs without placing in the money, and then finish 1st two SnGs in a row. Overall I'm ITM between 22% and 30% of the time, but I'm slowly bleeding red anyway.
I've been doing some research on Full Tilt, which is supposed to come back online around November 6th (although maybe not for Americans; it says "in some countries"). Supposedly, about 30% of Full Tilt players were profitable before Full Tilt lost its license. There should have been a huge outcry from millions of players saying "where's my money?", but in fact barely anyone said a word. Only a few top online pros complained in public about having thousands of dollars tied up on Full Tilt. This suggests to me that the percentage of profitable players is wildly exaggerated in popular poker culture. It's possible that nearly nobody makes a profit playing onlline poker. That makes me feel far less alone, because, if everybody loses, then it makes sense that I'm losing too.
So I guess what I'm looking at is online poker as an entertainment expense, just like anything else that costs you money instead of making you money. It's now about five full days since I started playing, and playing has passed my time enjoyably. If I'm losing $55 every five days, then that prorates to $77 per week or $341 per 31-day month. Family men can spend $250 taking their wife and kids to one single hockey game in this city, so it's like I'm taking my nonexistent family to one hockey game each month. The expense is not unreasonable for someone who can afford it. I'll just have to figure out what I can afford. I might end up playing poker in five-day bursts about three times each month. It'll still be a fun way to kill time.
I've been doing some research on Full Tilt, which is supposed to come back online around November 6th (although maybe not for Americans; it says "in some countries"). Supposedly, about 30% of Full Tilt players were profitable before Full Tilt lost its license. There should have been a huge outcry from millions of players saying "where's my money?", but in fact barely anyone said a word. Only a few top online pros complained in public about having thousands of dollars tied up on Full Tilt. This suggests to me that the percentage of profitable players is wildly exaggerated in popular poker culture. It's possible that nearly nobody makes a profit playing onlline poker. That makes me feel far less alone, because, if everybody loses, then it makes sense that I'm losing too.
So I guess what I'm looking at is online poker as an entertainment expense, just like anything else that costs you money instead of making you money. It's now about five full days since I started playing, and playing has passed my time enjoyably. If I'm losing $55 every five days, then that prorates to $77 per week or $341 per 31-day month. Family men can spend $250 taking their wife and kids to one single hockey game in this city, so it's like I'm taking my nonexistent family to one hockey game each month. The expense is not unreasonable for someone who can afford it. I'll just have to figure out what I can afford. I might end up playing poker in five-day bursts about three times each month. It'll still be a fun way to kill time.