Black Friday - did it make poker easier?

[PaxMundi]

Why would you assume more good players come from America ? the player pool getting smaller also means less fish. I would assume America has as many fish as the UK and it's far larger. So i would love those fish back in the game on the main sites. The micros are about the same as they were 15 year ago , the truth is most people dont study the game that indepth to get that good at it.

 

[freestocks]

The poker sites were giving away more money back then too. Chris Moneymaker made everyone think they had a shot.

 

[Darth_Moola]

Black Friday

This is a yes and no kind of answer. Less people does mean less competition, but it also means less weak competition. The information has only increased meaning the people who still play are not only dedicated but can play better. This means that the advantage goes way down. Like in football. It's insanely popular and well informed, but because there are so many players theres also so much weak competition. If you reduced the players but still kept up the information. There would be less competition, but you'd all be at a similar level. The more people there are the more variance in skill there can be and the more likely there will be outliers who are just really bad.

 

[Red0nkulousAK]

I don't know about easier but it made it a pain in the ass for us Americans

 

[lcid86]

It eliminated a lot of the weaker players in the US. Anything that reduces volume, decreases the casual player and makes the competition tougher.

 

[Intellikill]

honestly I would say it is barely starting to feel close to pre black friday in America with WPN being so large and running these huge online series again and again.

 

[whyndam]

Why would you assume more good players come from America ? the player pool getting smaller also means less fish. I would assume America has as many fish as the UK and it's far larger. So i would love those fish back in the game on the main sites. The micros are about the same as they were 15 year ago , the truth is most people dont study the game that indepth to get that good at it.

I think if the UK were taken out of the picture now it would certainly make it easier too. You always lose some fish in the process but obviously loads of great players too. America in particular since poker is part of US culture, gathering with friends for a home game. While in the UK meeting at a pub, watching football is more common. And if they do gamble it's normally betting on horses, football etc rather than poker.

People say you get a lot more fish if you switch languages and play in French poker rooms or perhaps other languages, so clearly the game is dominated by English natives which means USA, UK, Australia, canada etc. With two of those out of the picture it's got to have had an impact on the difficulty.

Anyway my point here really with this thread though is to challenge all the comments I see everywhere which are seemingly uncontested, which is that black friday made poker tougher. I see top poker players in their youtube tutorials saying this like it's a known fact when clearly it's not even correct. Unless they preface the statement with "for those living in America..." it's certainly not correct.

 

[mitroff]

The poker sites were giving away more money back then too. Chris Moneymaker made everyone think they had a shot.

Ramón Colillas will probably be the new Moneymaker and pokerstars will help him in this.

 

[Zvezda kz]

I think all this concerns mainly professional poker players or semi-professional players)) who earn poker or try to do it.
It absolutely does not affect everything else. And this is the bulk of online poker players.

 

[FanatsLV]

Never was afraid from competition so it's just made all poker community sad

 

[Lastsmoke]

It was definitely a set back but online poker is making a big come back imo

 

[Lastsmoke]

This is 1 of those topics that doesn't really have a right answer

 

[ANATOLII1981]

poker competition

The competition in poker rooms is influenced by many different circumstances. Of course, if there are fewer players from countries where the overall level of the game participants is high enough. And those who most often find themselves in all sorts of cash prizes. And where the players of a particular country are famous for their high and frequent victories and visits to the final table. It is clear that the fewer such players, the better. Or when at this time they have a night and the number of participants is sharply reduced. It is also important in which countries there are restrictions poker, which ones exactly - how will they affect the overall gameplay and so on.In Russia, for example, it’s best to play tournaments and poker on Fridays.)))) Because many people, after 5 days of work, allow themselves to relax a little and take alcohol before the weekend, thus reducing their chances of a good winning the game. And on Sunday the situation is just the opposite, on his last day off everyone is sober, sober and serious. So, there is a lot on what the competition in the game depends on and what influences it.:eek2::eek2::eek2:

 

[whyndam]

The competition in poker rooms is influenced by many different circumstances. Of course, if there are fewer players from countries where the overall level of the game participants is high enough. And those who most often find themselves in all sorts of cash prizes. And where the players of a particular country are famous for their high and frequent victories and visits to the final table. It is clear that the fewer such players, the better.

Yes well said, that's the point I was trying to get across from the beginning. If you look at the top earning pro rankings it's overwhelmingly USA so having them out of their picture to be honest must be huge. Maybe there is a rise of Europeans in recent years since the USA are out of the way and added to that the ease of learning these days but without Black Friday I'm sure it would be total no win situation. The best players would simple be exchanging big blinds.

 

[brainstorm213]

No, to my mind it makes poker more difficult

 

[throughstruggle]

I don’t think it would be better if several thousand US players join Pokerstar’s general pool. In tournaments it will be more difficult to break through. Let it remain as it is.

 

[MrPokerVerse]

Not sure if the players are better or worse. Percentage wise, of good and bad players, it seems to be the same. What got worse, is the waiting for SnGs and small field MTT to fill. Always enjoyed the 45 and 90 person MTT. Those have all but gone away or better have a Snickers cause not going any where for awhile.

 

[bowlerman]

As an American, It is way too difficult to deposit

 

[djasset]

i would think less players generally equals better players. but i think in the US, by having to jump through so many hoops to play and withdraw, when your site could be shut down at any time, makes me think you have to be pretty into poker to put up with it all.

 

[pjokay]

I do not think Black Friday made poker easier. There are still a huge amount of countries that can play poker online. Countries that banned online poker ban both the casual and top ranking players. While countries like America are greatly affected I do not think it affects the average online game. In general poker is generally got a lot harder with more players using huds and researching more.

 

[SirRaytard]

Competition

I see people talking a lot about Poker being so much tougher these days and often they mention Black Friday but I'm not sure how it makes poker tougher or whether that's really what they mean. I guess it depends where you are, but surely if for example you live in the UK and Poker can be played online with no restrictions then having less US players, Australian players and whatever other countries have Poker restrictions should surely make it easier? I mean less competition right?

I know it's gotten tougher besides this but from this point of view, if that is your circumstance I would have thought competition would have gone down at least to some extent.

I think so many people are starting to have interest in playing poker which means more competition, right? Idk it seems like there is a lot of poker players out there now

 

[Pablo22]

It is a lot tougher to win these days. Less recreational players and better strategies.

 

[TheniT]

I think the game has become more difficult in recent times, but I think this is cyclical and that soon we will be in a good time to play poker I believe the crypto coins helped in this change.