If poker is dying, here's how to fix it

Hey CCers,

In case you haven't been following the poker news over the last day or so, 2005 wsop Main Event champ Joe Hachem came out with a video interview in which he lamented that the game of poker is dying and that professional players weren't doing enough for the game as ambassadors.

He's got "the whole poker world" talking about it right now, as the video has gone viral.

As a huge fan and lover of the game of poker, his words certainly hit home, so I tried to think of an innovative idea for how to "revive" the game of poker, if in fact it is "dying".

Hachem's video interview is embedded in my post. My idea is definitely riding a wave of popularity thus far, with the article having been linked to by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla.

http://cardplayerlifestyle.com/guaranteed-way-revive-dying-game-poker/

What do you think? If you like the idea for how to infuse the game of poker with a good amount of buss, I encourage you to support it and spread the word.

A swell of grassroots support from a great poker community like Cardschat could only be a good thing for the game.

Thanks,

Robbie

it is a threat and yes things need to be done. However this is natural the fact is its natural economics as an industry provides high returns more people head into it, this causes the returns to become less as the industry becomes more saturated until it levels off.

The fact is a professional poker player can win more money then there intelligence and abilities can command almost anywhere else. naturally this leads to many other like minded individuals realising this and heading into it.

Therefore the games become more reg infested poorer competition leaves quicker and the games get harder it is nearly impossible to find anyone beating games with higher then 5% roi at anything above $5 level anymore.

I think the answer is clear get everything you can out of the industry now, before its to late. because yes I don't think its a question of weather the poker industry will die off but rather a question of when it will.

some things that could be done to slow the death of it though.

1. gambling sites that offer things like roulette and black jack giving people bonuses that are specifically related to poker. eg so many spins get so much free for poker, the ipoker network have been seen to be touching on this.

2.large jack pots highlighted regularly look at the activity on the pokerstars network when they offer there 100billion milestone promotions and things like. random hands highly advertised awarding huge jack pots, and jackpot sit and goes. the prices could be awarded as very high for the stake levels and yet barely affect the sites income at all.

heres an example
an a 10 euro double or nothing game on ipoker the site takes 90 euro cent per player. six players per table =6*0.9 =5.4 euros. now if the site were to award 1000 euros spread amongst the 3 winning players say 1 in every 10000 games they would have taken 54000 euros but given back 1000 that's just over 1.85% rake back equivalent. they give 30% to the highest volume players, and much less to casual players with good advertising and a lot of hype this would encourage much more casual players the regs would see it as a small bit extra but not really anything to sing about however the fish it would generate would be great.

poker stars is already latching onto this sought of idea just not on a regular basis.

3. reduced rake due to advertising funding, simple the sites can drop the rake thus maintain the profit line and eating up the fish slower by selling advertising does anyone really care if we make more money but a nike logo is in the centre of the table?

4. push ups basically you can win tickets to higher stakes if 1 game in 400 they awarded one of the players a ticket to the higher level they would have taken 2160 euros. however they would have given away only 20 euros that's just under 1% rakeback equivalent.

would these promotions work on the regular players the grinders earning there income from it probably not theyd see through it as barely adding a few % though still adds up, would it work on the semi serious/casual players that make a small profit and play occasionally but nothing serious? probably not. would it work on the fish and casual players absolutely especially if they had a rolling jackpot paying out huge sums.

yes I calculate these ideas based on the games Im playing but they can be adapted to any game.

we also need more advertising of people who made large amounts the idea this could be them etc.

that's just the tip of the iceberg sites just need to be creative.

With half the worlds population involed at a very limited level. The poker world needs to identify ways to get more women involed.

rugby0 said:

With half the worlds population involed at a very limited level. The poker world needs to identify ways to get more women involed.

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100%...can you imagine the effect that a great woman poker ambassador would have!?

poker will never eva die dude

angadmath92 said:

poker will never eva die dude

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Sure as hell hope not!

But so as not to take the words out of context, I don't think Hachem meant that the game itself is going to disappear. Even those "fish" he mentions in the video repeatedly won't stop playing poker altogether... they'll just go back to their home games.

I think what he meant is that the "excitement for the game" is dying. Recreational players aren't coming out of the woodwork as much to take shots in live and online casino settings because they feel they're being bumhunted, as opposed to welcomed.

In any event, obviously the pros have their work cut out for them interms of changing their attitude and being better ambassadors for the game. That said, as I proposed in my article, there's also plenty that could be done to increase the general poker playing public's excitement for the game...

There will always be a poker game to play that is for sure

In your article, you state that:

"The person need not even be a winning player and certainly wouldn’t need to have a track record of huge tournament successes as 'validation' – just an insatiable love and passion for the game."

I disagree. I really think that a person has to have a track record of success in order to be credible as an ambassasdor.

IvanShovski said:

In your article, you state that:

"The person need not even be a winning player and certainly wouldn’t need to have a track record of huge tournament successes as 'validation' – just an insatiable love and passion for the game."

I disagree. I really think that a person has to have a track record of success in order to be credible as an ambassasdor.

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Thanks for reading Ivan. I suppose that's a fair point. The main point I was trying to stress is that their record at the table should be far less important than their love and passion for the game. That sort of thing is something that can get people excited about it. The fact thatpoker pro X has won millions doesn't necessarily get me more excited about poker

Regards

Sorry we(the younger generation) are very competitive and like to win. Who plays a game to lose? Losing is not fun. Since poker is a game where there is a skill gap there will always be fish and pros. Its just the way it is.

You could also argue that the average American has less money to "blow" these days and people are not really wanting to gamble it away.

IPlay said:

Sorry we(the younger generation) are very competitive and like to win. Who plays a game to lose? Losing is not fun. Since poker is a game where there is a skill gap there will always be fish and pros. Its just the way it is.

You could also argue that the average American has less money to "blow" these days and people are not really wanting to gamble it away.

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This is a big part of it but also the US players a limited as to deposit/withdraw method , soon as that gets better you'll see things change IMO
Gate

IPlay said:

Sorry we(the younger generation) are very competitive and like to win. Who plays a game to lose? Losing is not fun. Since poker is a game where there is a skill gap there will always be fish and pros. Its just the way it is.

You could also argue that the average American has less money to "blow" these days and people are not really wanting to gamble it away.

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Of course! I don't think anyone out there wants to send the message of "start blowing your money and trying to spew and lose to worse players... but on the other hand it couldn't hurt to simultaneously try to make the game fun and entertaining and "give the bad players good bang for their buck"...

I think the state of poker right now is like any ecosystem. As the game grew in popularity over the last 15 years, many new players were attracted to the game.

Now that the system has matured there are 2 big issues, 1. Some of the people that got into the game figured out they could make a living off of it, so we have more pros. 2. The US had tons of recreational players that weren't willing to try and get back in the game after BF.

There are too many predators and not enough food supply for them. It's not that the game is dying, it's that it is on a downswing. Unfortunately for the pros/predators, most of them won't be able to earn the living that they used to. So they will have to find other sources of income, which will take up their time. When that starts to happen, it will be painful for quite a few people, but as things balance, it will become easier for the average players to start making money again, and they will slow start to come back. Everyone likes to play when they are winning, but most people won't stick with a game when they rarely have success.

I don´t think is dying but the restritions that governaments are putting out can harm the online game.Europe some countries are closing the market(Spain,france and Italy)for the natives (fr vs fr;it vs it)if this expands to other countries it could hurt the game as much as the US ban

avjul66 said:

I don´t think is dying but the restritions that governaments are putting out can harm the online game.Europe some countries are closing the market(Spain,France and Italy)for the natives (fr vs fr;it vs it)if this expands to other countries it could hurt the game as much as the US ban

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For sure! That kind of stuff is called "ring fencing" and is motivated by pure national government greed. Unfortunately all these governments are incapable of working together and certainly don't have players' or operators' best interests in mind when making their laws :-(

first up the law makers have to get convinced that poker is so much more than luck and gambling that is the big advertisement against poker

skrsh76 said:

first up the law makers have to get convinced that poker is so much more than luck and gambling that is the big advertisement against poker

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Here here! We should get them all to visit Nevada, where everyone there already knows the truth

Robbie Strazynski said:

Here here! We should get them all to visit Nevada, where everyone there already knows the truth

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Agreed. There is no better solution than getting them to good ol' Las Vegas.

Poker is a way more than gambling, some people just can't get it...

Just a few of my thoughts, I don't think tournaments will suffer as much as cash games. Also I don't think live games will feel the slow down as much as online poker. It still amazes me how many people here in the USA think on line poker is against the law.

As for online poker, I think Bovada has the right answer. No names, I know I feel safer (threat of being eaten alive by a shark) playing there. Anyway y'all take care.

Once online poker becomes more regulated across the U.S, I think another boom is likely to happen.