In the past I have been called out a few times for not contributing any actual poker content. The main reason I stay out of most poker discussions is because I know that my amateur approach and point of view aren’t worth much to those here that play for a living. I prefer to just sit back, read and learn.
Over the last three years my playing has greatly declined. Due to the lack of a casino anywhere near Boise and the difficulties of getting money on and off poker sites, I started to lose interest. Although I still played in regular homes games with friends and made regular trips to Vegas, I stopped playing online completely. Since I only play for recreation, I stopped once it became more work than fun.
I recently decided to start playing online again and have not been thrilled with the result. Online I mainly like to play STTs or medium sized tournaments (NLH or Stud). Since I have been out of the game for so long I at first thought I was just really rusty. But after a few weeks I am starting to realize that the style of tournaments has changed a lot in the past few years. It seems the same guys that I use to laugh at for playing like complete donks, are now dominating the tables. I am not sure if I have just ran into a lot them lately and it is not the norm, but I am finding more and more players that toss huge bets out on the table and chase nothing hands hoping to either scare everyone else off or catch cards. This normally wouldn’t bother me, but when they do it every single hand its ridiculous. I played a STT the other night were I couldn’t see a flop with out calling 10x bb.
Now, I recognize that it IS a strategy that apparently works for some. I am not denying that, but for me it has taken all the fun and skill out of poker. Its turned tournaments into nothing but card catching contests. I know I could change my style of play to accommodate them, but I am just too plain stubborn and don’t want to. I don’t respect it and I don’t want to change because of it. This may be an issue that only really affects lower limits, like what I play. I hope so because I would hate to see this become the norm amongst career players.
My opinion would probably be very different if I played for a living. But as a strictly recreational player I find online nlh to be a joke. I do want to start playing more again so I have decided to buckle down and actually learn lh. I admittedly have sucked at it in the past, so any and all advice is welcome.
So …. next time some one wants to comment on how I never post poker content you might want to remember this whiny, self indulgent, bad beat bitchfest of a post/blog. My staying out of poker discussions may not be such a bad thing.