So I have ten minutes between classes and I'm bored so I decide to donk around at some HU nlhe. I'm not great at HU since I play pretty much 6 max and any decent HU reg should have an edge on me. I like trying new things out though so I thought "hey I'll play 10 min of HU and donk around." Anyway, I see a "red name pro" sitting at a 1-2nl HU table and I think "cool, it'd be fun to play against a red name and try out my limited HU skills." So I sit down at the table with him, and after 1-2 hands without any action he leaves the table. I search him and he's not sitting at any tables. So I think "oh maybe he got disconnected or something." A few minutes later I see him sitting at a 1-2nl table and I sit down. He sits out before posting his blind. The following chat ensues (I'm BamYeah and the 'red name pro' is Jeremiah Smith obviously):


BamYeah: Why won't you play me?
BamYeah: I wanna play with the pros
Jeremiah Smith: bc i have seen u play
BamYeah: When have we ever played together?
Jeremiah Smith: u will kill me
Jeremiah Smith: we havent
Jeremiah Smith: but i have seen u play
Jeremiah Smith: i am a noob
BamYeah: Furthermore, you're a FTP pro. Shouldn't you not refuse action from a 1-2 reg?
Jeremiah Smith: not actually a pro
Jeremiah Smith: just a "friend"
Jeremiah Smith: i dont want to be rude
Jeremiah Smith: but im not going to play you
Jeremiah Smith: sorry
BamYeah: Fair enough. But I don't ever play HU. You definitely have an edge on me. I just wanna play with the pros
Jeremiah Smith: whatever
BamYeah: Are "friends of FTP" supposed to be bum hunters?
BamYeah: Seems like a bad trait for even a "friend of FTP"
Jeremiah Smith: pretty sure i can play whoever i want
Jeremiah Smith: or dont want
BamYeah: I agree, just seems like a bad precedent. Fair enough though. GL

Anyway everything he says is correct. Yeah he can play whoever he wants and whatever stakes he wants, but something about it just seems lame. I don't really play above 1-2 or 2-4 and even though I get to stack Hans Vogel or Lynette Chan every once in a while at 6-max, I don't really ever get to test my skills against a FTP red name pro in a HU match at limits that I can afford to play. So yes he's abiding by the terms of FTP in not playing me, but it seems kinda lame for a red name pro to refuse action from me. I'm just a 1-2nl 6 max grinder. Are the quality of some of these pros so low that they're unwilling to play a 1-2 reg at HU (which isn't even my game)? Just seems kinda lame for a FTP red name to be a bumhunter at ssnl HU.

So this probably isn't threadworthy but just thought I might post this and see what you guys' thoughts are on this. Flame away if necessary. I know there's nothing "technically wrong" with the situation, but something about it kinda bugged me.

I don't normally comment on spelling and grammar and word usage of people on the internet, but I'm pretty sure that's the most effective use of the word "precedent" I have ever seen. Also OP, thinly veiled brag etc etc.

Well considering that the idea of an FTP Red Pro has become a huge joke in general, I'm not sure I see a problem here.

lol I saw him sitting at 50nl, sat in and he quit within 10 hands, I lol'd at a red pro literally bumhunting small stakes

sounds really strange..but perhaps the friends of FTP arenT that well paid
he probably cant afford to risk money

100% rake back... then no soup for you!

It's this guy, the blogger that had the early chip lead in the Main Event.



My limited interactions with him haven't been that great, he's kind of a dink. I guess he does production work for the Full Tilt Academy, nothing wrong with refusing action, although saying that he's "seen you play" to me means "I somehow have mined hands on you in my HEM."

That's just fkd up thing to do for a red pro, especially if he gets payed $/h for playing.

yeah this guy doesnt play anyone.

ur excessive use of smileys bothers me

as does this "Friend" of FTP

But im pretty sure we can expect a change in the HU format of FTP soon enough.... Maybe a rush poker for HU?

Also, OP did you let him know you were only giving him 10 minutes of action? That's kind of a dink move too.

nice ptr bam

it's your own fault if you think red pros are supposed to be good

Full disclosure, Smith is a buddy of mine, but I don't really see what the big deal is. Like you said, it's not against any sort of rules to refuse to play someone because you think they are better then you, and honestly it seems like good sense to not play someone who you think will beat you.

I mean, I understand that red pros should be held to a higher standard on most things because they are representing the site, but isn't game selection a hallmark of good poker players?

altough it sounds kinda lame i kinda agree with him

this


OP i'm sure if Ivey or Durrrr stalked you at 1/2 and sit with you every time you sat you would get pissed too.

I'm in my first year of med school, so yeah I'm kind of perpetually on edge.

hehe thanks I guess.

Yeah I suppose a lot of the 'red name pros' are regfish that luckboxed their way to a final table of some donkament. Still it just seemed a bit ridiculous to me that a red name pro is unwilling to play any reg that normally plays the limit he's playing.

I know right? Why should he even be a red pro if he's bum hunting small and micro stakes hu nl? He's getting paid to play on the site so that your us 'normies' can play a zomg 'red name pro!' Isn't he, in a way, not doing what he's paid to do?

Agreed. It's not like I'm Durrrr or Antonius or anything. I'm a 1-2 reg and most likely always will be lol.

If he had actually been willing to play me yes I was going to tell him what my time constraints were.

Thanks

Touche. His hourly rate from FTP should easily cover his time spent playing what is at worst a neutral EV match for him.

I agree and disagree with the second part of the bolded section (and fully agree with the first). Yes game selection is the hallmark of a good poker player, but if you're good enough to be signed to FTP, you should be good enough to not have to bumhunt ssnl. If you're a red name pro. You should be good enough to play any reg at that limit (I guess this is too high a standard for the FTP red names). Furthermore, as I mentioned above, he's being paid (or getting significant benefits) for his red name status. This status comes with the responsibility of upholding the intent of FTP which is to provide a site where average poker players can "learn, chat, and play with the pros." It would seem to me that by bum-hunting small stakes he's very clearly going against the FTP motto. I'm open to counter arguments on this of course.

Ok, so if he's unwilling to play me. Should I be a 'red name pro' at FTP?

no because he's not a pro.

If you want a red name on FTP then get on t.v. a couple of times and go ask for one. It doesn't mater if your good or not its just so that people can see you on t.v. and then go sign up at FTP to "chat" with somebody that is on t.v.

If Ashton Kutcher wanted to be a ftp friend he could. It's not about skill y'know.

You know what I mean.



I mean obviously I know how people get red name status. It just seems ridiculous to me that any 'red name' would be bum hunting ssnl hu. As I said before, it seems to go against the environment that FTP is trying to create and seems to go against their reason for signing him in the first place. I know that there's nothing technically wrong with what he's doing, it just kinda seems like bull **** that FTP would have this kinda player as a 'red name' representative of their site.

Don Cheadle has a red name

oxymoron IMO

It just comes off like you're butt hurt because you wanted to play an easy opponent and are making up rules. If you think red pros should have to play anyone at any time, up to how high? Obviously I'm sure you think that if Haseeb is sitting at 100/200nl hu and Durrr sat down, he could refuse that match. How high is high enough to start game selecting? Also, how long should Smith be forced to sit with you? 10 minutes? An hour? Until you are ready to leave? What if he loses a BI, can he leave then?

Smith seems to be upholding the motto just fine. You learned from him (learned about game selection). He was obviously polite to you and chatted with you. And I know for a fact that he plays tournaments, so I'm sure you are more than welcome to register for those tournaments and play with him.

The argument of "he has money so he should have to play me" is petty and is tantamount to begging.

I wonder what rating algorithm PTR could be using to make yours so low