Hachem: Poker is Dying

[tazer]

I noticed a significant drop in poker players around me when the govt shut down FT. Just was something that turned people away I felt like, but you can never truly get away from the game and eventually people will crawl back to it. I know I have!

 

[zEric7x]

I can agree with his comment on being somewhat anti social. I just cant bring myself to tell somebody nice hand or something like that after suck outs. At best I can just not say anything at all.

I just don't say very much at all honestly but I did chat a bit live. It was harder to just flat ignore people when I am siting with them.

 

[pokabank]

I think his comments hold true because he is a world champion and a true ambassador to the game of poker. I think with his experience at a professional level he has seen the game change in a negative way over the past ten years, and he is expressing his honest viewpoints.

I just love playing and if I ever get on his level of play I may understand better what he is referring too. But cmon, why does everybody always compare money to the winning of the bracelet. I would much rather have a boatload of money than be called poker champion.

 

[OzExorcist]

I can agree with his comment on being somewhat anti social. I just cant bring myself to tell somebody nice hand or something like that after suck outs. At best I can just not say anything at all.

I just don't say very much at all honestly but I did chat a bit live. It was harder to just flat ignore people when I am siting with them.

FWIW, I think those comments were mostly directed at live players - live poker is certainly where Joe Hachem started and where he made his name, and as far as I know he's still predominantly a live player.

Online I think it's perfectly fine to be quiet / not say much - a lot of people have the chat facility turned off anyway. As long as you're not in the chat window berrating people you're probably doing fine.

Live is a different matter though: pulling your hoodie up and never saying a word to the people you're literally sitting next to isn't very social, and it's likely to scare the casual players away.

 

[sylpoker1]

I always enjoy listening to Joe Hachem and hearing his opnions about poker. He makes some intersting comments sometimes, that other people dont always talk about.I don.t think poker is really dying,, but its defo in a downswing the last cple of years, but can always change in the future too.

 

[pokabank]

Aussie Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!

 

[PokahAA]

Till I see the regular 60K GTD PS tournaments becomes over 100K prize pool tournament after everybody registered (with more than 10000 players), there is no problem with poker. Poker is getting more popular year by year even if some governments try to ban it...

Governments are trying to ban Poker .
My government new law with starting date 01.01.2015 says : Macedonian Online players will cannot play online games for real money , because our foreign Currency ( money) are going out from our country and they will make our Macedonian sport betting and maybe poker platforms. But this is not sure yet because 30-40 % of the people are gamblers i think.

 

[Carl Trooper]

Poker is dying because of a lot of what you all mentioned.

Re-entries are terrible after a certain amount. I think 1 re-entry should be the max. People will huge bankrolls are obviously favored in this type of tourney, and personally, the guy who enters 5 times and wins to me is not a winner.

Online regulations in the states has def. diminished poker.

Once the US figures out a federal bill, there will be another poker boom.

The reason poker took off in 03 - 06 was because a bunch of random people to the general public were winning. Poker was new and exciting for all and gave the image that anyone can win. Now with recent years of hoodies + big headphones and no talking, it is less appealing to the general public. If it wants to gain mainstream success ever again, we will need it to be more of a casual but still competitive game which I do not see happening.

 

[rifflemao]

I get some of Hachem's points, but I think there is still plenty of interest near the bottom, at least in tournaments. I live in a relatively small town (Tyler, TX) and the WPT amateur league seems to be thriving here in local restaurants, and recent big winners from my hometown in the Choctaw Durant WSOPC are no doubt generating lots of local interest that will fill up tables in nearby future events.

Every time a regular guy like Jerry Yang wins big, it tends to spark a lot of dreams because we expect the better players to win instead. So even if they disappear with the money, they are to some extent an ambassador for the game by default.

I can understand that the view from the top looks different though, and Hachem has certainly seen a lot more of that than most.

 

[Leo 50]

online poker has indeed suffered since Black Friday but I play a lot of live Poker
and I still see full poker rooms with decent waiting lists around CA and NV.
Joe may not like what has happened
(I know I don’t, I still want to be able to play online)
but I seriously doubt poker is ‘dying'

Just my 2¢

 

[Cephas]

Actually I could only listen to about half of his rambling. I never did like him. Not for any particular reason, just a bit too arrogant for me. We all are different and would act differently under unusual circumstances. Winning the wsop Main event would be unusual.
Poker is not dying. I think it needs to re-invent itself. Promote. Make some free entries into tournaments. Something.

 

[Boriska797]

And I think that a poker grows! The amount of persons interested to play a poker increases every day! And a game very interesting for people.

 

[RickH1983]

I do agree that poker is dying...Atleast in the US. I used to be able to play high limits for days in end. Now I am lucky to find a game online or anything above 1/3 at the casino. There are alot more land based casinos in the US. I think this has caused the competition to be spread to thin. Also the recession in the US didnt help either. I am sure the game will be back to what it was around the time of Moneymaker era as online gambling returns to the US and when the economy gets back to what it was.

 

[Tulipaneiro]

In my country poker dying, but when i look for other coutries i think it still alive.

 

[trolaAa]

Did you know that the forbidden fruit is most delicious.....Get it ?

 

[John A]

Back when poker wasn't dying lol, we loved to have Hachem in our cash games on pokerstars. Oh yeah...

 

[Mr Sandbag]

Pretty much agree with everything he said besides "poker is dying." I don't think it is dying, but it has at least plateaued.

"They don't wanna know what his check/raising range is. They don't give a sh*t."

^That says it all.

Recreational players don't care about ranges, equity, bet sizing, etc., and they don't want to watch nine guys in hoodies and sunglasses play for an hour without saying a word. Pro sports are popular around the world because of over-the-top personalities and highlight reel plays. Poker should be rising exponentially in popularity because, unlike other sports, anyone can and should be able to play with the pros. But the new generation of "pros" consists of young players who grind 16 tables and millions of hands online rather than playing with and talking to poker fans in brick-and-mortars. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that. I just doubt that a computer screen, software HUD, and playing alone at home appeals to the general public much at all.

 

[OzExorcist]

FWIW I think it's really just the not talking thing that doesn't gel with the general public - wearing a hoodie and sunglasses is actually something they expect from at least some of the poker players they watch.

Exhibit A: Phil Laak. Because hugely popular with the Average Joe poker viewer despite the fact that he routinely wore a hoodie and sunglasses that covered up his whole face, and he was a pretty boring nit when it came to actually playing poker. But he could (and did) talk, and that's what endeared him to people.

Exhibit B: Phil Hellmuth. Rarely actually wore a hoodie, but may as well have. Always in sunglasses and usually a big jacket at the table, boring as hell when he's actually in a hand... and again, actually pretty boring when it comes to the style of poker he plays. But he can dodge bullets from idiots from Northern Europe baby, so he's popular.

 

[magicius]

Imagine if there are no huds,no tracking shizzle and fancy programs...
Would poker be better than?

Sent from my HTC Desire X using Tapatalk

 

[StorkMerriam]

Imagine if there are no huds,no tracking shizzle and fancy programs...
Would poker be better than?

Sent from my HTC Desire X using Tapatalk

If that is the case , we should all switch to unibet - No Huds - No Tracking - Chage your Profile Three times a day - Remain anonymous . Rec players should flood these sites and get away from the hud , tracking , pros. I doubt it will happen , but for what it is worth I'am giving it a try ...................

 

[Lheticus]

I haven't actually watched the video, but I don't care what names he drops as examples of people "killing the sport"...none of those names are bigger lucky donks than Darvin "I always hit my outs"-freaking-moon-the-fact-you're-trying-to-play-well Moon.

 

[otari]

I kind of agree with what hes saying. People need to have more fun while playing.

 

[OzExorcist]

I haven't actually watched the video, but I don't care what names he drops as examples of people "killing the sport"...none of those names are bigger lucky donks than Darvin "I always hit my outs"-freaking-moon-the-fact-you're-trying-to-play-well Moon.

Funnily enough, Darvin Moon doesn't get mentioned. But as bad as his play was, he was actually pretty good for poker - DUCY?

 

[jazzaxe]

Seems like the variety of games is dying. I play Stud at Bovada occassionally, but we only have a couple of tables active at any time. I loved playing HORSE, and other limit games, but everyone wants to play all-in poker, which I think is less profitable in the long run. The other sites I play on have even less. Maybe when it becomes easier for US players to play, it will improve.

 

[Zin]

Legalizing online poker in the USA will help the game of poker tremendously.