Just like to point out, that for a thread described as a 'cesspool', 'bunch of haters', 'nut low' and all sorts of things, everyone has been pretty respectful of Trooper and his situation.

Not quite.

someone didnt see the nuked posts

Have been to 4 meet up games (2 in Austin and 2 in San Antonio). One of the Austin dealers said he knows that the vloggers don't get paid other than hotel/flight. I find this extremely hard to believe considering the value they bring in these MUGs. If it's true (doubtful) they're really screwing up.

I will say, I've had several conversations with Brad and he's a great dude. Pretty much exactly as he comes across on his vlogs. He's friendly and engaging with everyone in a low key type of way. Not loud at all, very chill. He walks up to anybody when he's away from the table and just talks to them, which I really respect.

Andrew is much more quiet, and will sit silently at the table unless someone speaks to him first. I was playing at a table with him the other day at the MUG and was giving a ton of action and talking with everyone at the table (table was very soft and I'm a reg so I typically do this so the recreational players have a good time), and people were enjoying themselves. I talked to Andrew a few times, but they were mostly one-sided with me asking questions and him seeming nice and responding, but the conversation would hit a dead end and he went back to being quiet. This MUG didn't have alcohol so it's possible being 100% sober he's not very social while playing. When he would walk away from the table, he seemed to open up a bit more talking with people and socializing so this is likely just how he is at the tables. I'm not criticizing at all, just relaying my experience with him.

Johnnie, only got to his S.A. MUG for the tournament, and didn't get a chance to meet him but did observe from afar and have friends relay to me their experience. Genuine guy and for sure by far the best vlogger in terms of skill. Very friendly and another guy that is basically exactly how you'd expect him to be personality-wise if you've watched him on youtube. He's got more swagger and confidence being in a room of people who are there to see him, but not at all in a douchey way. Just a cool dude.

Hotel and flight is a pretty good deal for them. Win-win

If they are only getting flight + hotel (+ food comps I assume too) then they are getting royally ****ed by the casinos.

Not really

"Nice" read on Brad and Johnny. What casino do you play poker at? Lol

The casinos probably feel that letting them film in the casino is a huge concession by the casino.

It is very possible. I watch hands between other folks at the table and generally can identify someone involved who plays their hand much better than would I in the same circumstances .... or at least close enough to give me some confidence I understand how good they are in that hand.

I would treat consistently good players as if they are pros, even at $1-2 or $1-3. I think it is worthwhile to credit everyone initially with being as good as you, unless or until they mess up in an identifiable way or do something REALLY well or at least consistently play well and better than you would.

I've been playing live for 40+ years because I consider it recreation. What is more important than identifying who is confirmed better than you is to identify players who make blatant, exploitable errors they may repeat against you in future hands.

(I play only low stakes NL cash live, it doesn't take watching for long to figure out who is messing up at the table. Give it up to an hour, if you can't or don't see someone mess-up, pick up.... that game is too solid, unless you are looking for lessons that day.

Knowing your rank on the player food chain is key to survival and enjoyment from poker long term. )

Someone needs to come in and squash the MUG revenue received by the casino.

Feel free to leave out actual financial detail but at least let us know if there’s some rakeback per table, only food and hotel and flight or what.

Seems like there’s no way it’s worth it just for flight and hotel.

I’d think it would be easier to just charge an appearance fee. “My 5/10 hourly is $100. I’ll stay for 8 hours. Plus travel hassle sand misc expenses, let’s call it $1000/ for the night.”

Then show previous meetup game numbers.

Free flight and hotel + great vlog publicity + their hourly vs. recs (if they're really pros) seems like a great score to me.

Next time I sell my house, I'll tell the realtor "You won't be getting your 6% fee, instead I'll chip in for the gas you used to drive to and from your office, I'll give you a few bucks for the paper that you had to buy to do the paperwork and then I'll put in a good word to my friends."

Plus new vlog material that theyd otherwise had to pay good money for to get

You have convinced me that you are terrible at analogies

Casino probably pay them some fee on top of their hotel/flight out of their marketing budget. That being said, poker isnt their biggest revenue generator (they probably hope those that show up also play other games) so more then a few K per person would surprise me

Compared to the additional rake the casino takes home even after the minimal expenses like flight and unused rooms?

No way

I wouldn’t be doing this for just a flight and hotel room. I agree it’s great publicity for their YouTube channels, unless they have much bigger plans with social media- seems like something not worth the time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Poker is not on par with the oil or pharmaceutical industries. This isn’t even on the same level as a WSOP champion hosted charity poker tournament.

Perspective. Casino operators for the most part understand marketing as it relates to the bottom line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lord of Analogies.

You didn’t even try.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'll just use their Maryland trip as an example:


Poker vloggers are not flying across the country, to bounce around as many of the 20+ tables they have essentially filled for the location that they can possibly muster in 6-8 hours, while splashing around way more than usual, for room and airfare.

The End.

Maybe he really, really did. Lol

Great point. As both Brad and Neeme mentioned multiple times when going to a new table, they don’t have good reads on players so they have suboptimal information to make decisions on. That can be -ev in the long run, although the softness of these meetup games may cancel some of that out.

Agreed. If Trooper is getting a cut of the rake at the Westgate for 1 or 2 tables, you can be sure that Neeme/Owen/Vibes are getting a similar or better deal for the 20+ tables worth of rake they helped generate.