It isn't just poker. There's been a trend for more working and middle class people to have to work longer hours for the same amount of money.

In the past couple of years, real wage growth (which is adjusted for inflation) has slowed. While this is the wrong place to speculate about why that has occurred, the trend makes me wonder if the decreased poker action I have noticed in the past two years has been part of a long-term trend or a short-term blip reacting to ephemeral economic/political conditions that might change.

This may not be true at the smallest stakes, but I wonder if there has been a slowdown at 5/T and higher due to Bitcoin going down.

Poker may or may not be dying. Mostly, I just don't think we have good data for how much hysteresis the poker boom will have had in affecting the poker economy. If you are a poker pro, it's probably wiser to search for a more diverse income source so you are not reliant solely on poker. I don't think it will be horrible as a secondary source of income for people with "real" jobs, provided you are good enough and properly bankrolled.

Maybe its time to switch to PLO?

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don't think PLO will ever have the same appeal to the general public, 's too complicated. NLHE is straightforward and very easy to pick up.

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LOL. I've been playing NLHE for twenty years, and I still feel like I don't really know what I'm doing.

Few can appreciate the notion that making the "right" decisions can still lose most of the times.

Bryan Clark. The latest survey is here.

https://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/...inter-2019.php

Using the LV strip as a proxy, the number of tables are down 20-25% off the peak. However, about 40% of the poker in LV is played off the strip. The Orleans is consistently in the top 3 room for number of tables. If you take the increase in off strip poker tables, the total number of tables in LV hasn't declined since 2015. Add in all the states that now allow poker to be played, it is fair to say that live poker is still going strong, but more diverse.

That said, the online world is a completely different situation.

I've only played NL 1/2 but at the two rooms I play at I know never to show up between 5 am and 5 pm as the games are so tight it's pretty pointless.

I only am a rec but I think people should remember (that when it's not your actual job) the game can be a total blast to play. Admittedly, I have a low thrill seeking personality.

One of the old pros blames Omaha as he thinks its caused countless recs to go broke and give up.

Don't you play at Maryland Live? Isn't that one of the hottest rooms in the country?

Of course it's dying, not that there was ever any great upside in poker. Virtually everyone in poker is broke including most of the big names you see on TV. I'm not sure why you'd feel the need to play poker for money rather than enjoying your retirement. You might as well just keep your job.

If we're talking NLHE then I'd argue that the times it's a total blast to play are few and far between and should continue to decrease as players become more and more robotic. The game's biggest flaw is that it is EXTREMELY slow placed. Other entertainment options are far more enjoyable. The only thing poker really has going for it is the gambling aspect which is the real reason most recs keep coming back to it.

@AB & poke

No guys, I was saying it's easy to LEARN to play. Very difficult to master obv...

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the fact is that the wide avialibility of information on the internet has made poker a harder game to beat.when i started playing seriously in the late eighties information was harder to obtain. i read and digested supersystem and theory of poker along with holdem for advanced players and was unbeatable for many years. as strategy info became widespread due to the web that changed.the transition to nlhe also requires a much deeper bankroll.

Blackjack basic strategy?

Full-pay Deuces Wild video poker machines

I've given myself a one year ban for commenting on about poker hands, but I don't think this counts. Forgive me powers from above.
Yes, poker has become very hard. As a rec player, I used to win most times I played. Now, I feel I'm a better player than I was years ago, and I'm struggling. Well, let's just call it variance. I don't play a ton to be able to determine yet one direction or the other.
The point is, I now am starting to think, maybe I was also doing it for the money? Maybe I was fooling myself all these years, saying to myself, that I'm in it for the fun?
Is poker dying? The poker rooms where I play are still pretty busy but, all I know is that I, a rec, intend to take a couple weeks off from poker. Sorry sharks.
I'll be following my new passion. Anybody up for some sports betting?

I want to expand on my first post. I can't imagine poker ever dying out. It's been around for over a hundred years. It will continue to exist,in one form or another, for many more years to come.
Having said that I realize, from what I've read so far, that this conversation is more about poker dying out as a viable profession.
Like I said before, it's becoming tougher and tougher, in general, and I imagine for someone trying to use poker as a living.
I've been asked questions at the poker table that I've never heard before. For example, I make a raise and villain will ask, "how much are you playing?" More and more people today are more awards of some basic concepts that they weren't before.
Now, poker is a game of skill but there's no denying that luck also plays a factor. And the more skilled these player's become, even if they are still losing players, the more it will reduce the edge of the professional poker players, thus making it more and more difficult.
But what makes a pro and should someone only be considered a pro if he only makes a living from poker? After all, why do pro's really play poker? To make a living , or lot's of money I guess. So poker is really just an end to a means. If a pro had a secondary income and wasn't making his living exclusively from poker, would he not be considered a pro?
Many of the high stakes poker players we know of have other sources of income. I read in Brunsons biography that he has multiple rental properties that his wife helps him run.
Or maybe sports betting? Well, I'm no pro so I think I've written enough on the matter. I gotta go now to the casino to collect my sports bet winnings.

Very pretty post for like poker game