I was part of the Poker Boom, I punted and Rec'd it up. Made some big scores for the level I was at, at the time though now I look at Poker and I don't recognize it. After watching everything from amateurs to pros grind through various Media. Seeing all the new tools, learning curbs... vs say 20 years ago where 10-25-50 books and some discipline could teach you all you needed but now you need to be an autistic solver I don't see where the future of on-line poker has a lot of hope. I don't see new kids like Tom Dwan or Chris Moneymaker going to come out of the woodwork and become overnight successes(well maybe more Moneymakers if anyone) I see a high stakes poker. A detachment from the average man and the middle aged man and high end poker.

All that being said I watched a young man bink a 600k score from a relatively modest earnings. Though a guy buried in Solvers and an incredibly devoted man whose whole life is poker... Now these guys are fitness fanatics and 20 years ago a good deal of poker players were couch potatoes.

I wonder does anyone have a similar take on things? I am an older fella and I am not exactly what I'd call the most intelligent person with math and or the kind work that is required to master some of the concepts in poker at least(not easily) it would require time. Older eyes and a weaker ability to concentrate shows me all the leaks in my game vs these kids that do incredible things.

I see all sorts of Players grinding out. Every level and some down -15k and some grinding endlessly to stay in the game and are at a modest professional level. I see some that are above the pack and they're usually the youth, the strong, the math/advanced new age players. I wonder if that's why most older players are not MTT players on-line.

All this take is purely subjective I have to say it's all very incredible to watch. BOY I wish they'd of kept Poker in America through the past 13 years! The one thing that appears Universal is Rec/Semi Earning/Etc... most won't last and even those with modest success today/tomorrow... Unless they just love to play Poker cause the nature of it will change so vastly unless you're playing Live. I see endless BR Challenges and Players that just disappear into another thing and Poker was a Hobby/Challenge for them. Cause I think now it's that HARD! I mean incredibly hard... and the successful and honest pro I asked totally agreed, I mean cash maybe different but MTTs LOL he suggested don't bother. Of course I wonder, some new guys have to take of the reigns. One day...

I played during the boom and the main achievement was not becoming a loser. Probably have no business in real money online anymore, for the reasons you mentioned. Will check though if live play MTT could still have something to offer, no devices there. And I can sit and wait, if knowing it's profitable on average.

I remember discovering Pacific Poker circa 2004 lol and over the years pre BF binked a few decent token tourneys on FTP, but I cannot fathom how much the landscape of online poker has changed since 2011 and needless to say the online game passed my by and I'm okay with that.

I grind out a decent hourly as a live LLHE rec fish and that's where I've settled in at, and IMO I don't think anything would be any different if black Friday didn't happen. Software would probably evolve at the same or higher rate to beat the online game.

It's more professionalised now. Which was always going to happen.

Live poker is booming. That is where the money is in 2023. Online cash games are pretty tough and they aren't getting any easier in the future.

Yeah live poker is still ridiculously soft. That's ultimately where the money is gonna be unless hell freezes over and the USA manages to put together a nationwide only player pool for online, which I would say is closer to never happening than happening.

Poker requires basically middle school level math.

Poker, like everything else, has evolved with technology. In golf, every pro now has a dietician, a personal trainer, a chef, a swing coach, a mental game coach and access to every shot they've hit with launch angle, spin rate, ball speed, etc. Same with basketball, football, etc. We have access to more data and computers that can process that data faster.

It is a natural evolution of all things as new fresh minds get brought to it.

These players may primarily use a solver to study but it doesn't mean they play like a solver. I dunno, it sounds like you are intimated or something. You likely have access to the same exact tools all these players are using that you play in the low and mid stakes.

Online, likely has a shorter timeline because it accelerates the speed at which recreational players can lose their money. It's why most sites have done things like remove HU or Pokerstars limiting the # of tables you can play.

Live will always be around and it's still incredibly soft. Also, the games will go private as well to survive.

Tennis in the olden times was available to an average so so fit guy or girl with a little talent. Today if you're not born 6ft1 185 lbs of lean muscle and some money you probably won't ever be a tennis player. Got to afford a Tennis School... If you don't have innate mental toughness and talent with a work ethic you're doomed. Then even then, lucky if you make 100k a year on the circuit as only a small % of people make a living in tennis. I was a great tennis player, started at 8. Probably my best hope was 1st rounds at Wimbledon. That is a minority of tennis players.

I see a ton of tiny Cash Game Grinders. I see a lot of people making money off promos/a few K sideline/Rakeback and leaderboard grinders/Lucky one time binkers who even quit... I see a handful of truly gifted successful Poker Pros that are new. Can anyone do what they do? With the same recipe probably. Can we even count how many new successful pros there are? less than 1% of the total population ... half a 1%(similar to tennis players) I can name about 100

If you aren't born into an upper middle class family or above as a tennis player your odds of succeding are even less as well. So many people quit because their parents can't afford to take them on the road to the junior tornies or they can't afford the high level coaching that might have given them a chance at going way further.

But yes poker is also tough in that way. Even those who can make say 50-100K from it a year are probably doing so by playing in unsavoury hours in smelly casinos or private games these days and would have it easier working a 9 to 5, especially if they want a family etc. So it's not surprising that those who can earn much more than that are very professional, focused, fit and generally much more 'onto it' than the boom era degen pros were.

Poker has always been meritocratic, will always be. New styles of play, new trends, people feeling left behind as it changes from the thing that sucked us in in the first place. In this way, it is much like art, fashion, film, sports, etc etc.

Low stakes mtts are horrendous, people just don't want to do any studying, but basically anyone should be able to beat sub $50 ABI.

Making 30k a year isn't that hard, but yeah it's nothing these days, 50k is managable but you have to work like a regular job (40+ hours), beyond that you are definitely gonna need to take it seriously

if you're in a 1st world country, playing poker for anything under 100k a year is probably a bad idea

It bothers me that a bottom 1% run will cause every player to not amount to anything.

lol, bottom 1% run in life probably means you die at like 21, does it bother you

I played 10-20-40 cash this summer at WSOP just a little bit and games was pretty good, nothing to crazy, same old vibes. Friends that I meet were playing 10k at Wynn and they were laughing that this is just become easier that 10 years ago. I lived with a friend that in his 30s and all he doing is drinking alcohol and going to night clubs, he doing some work, but nothing that I would consider as a lot and he was happy about the games.
Also in Macau 100-200hkd is always was very good games and they are still is.
In some small eastern european country not at capital city with 200k population I constantly hear stories, like at some period in time for like a year here and there was something like 5-10, but super deep stakes and some one would made a fortune.
So my conclusion is that you a little bit pessimistic, bro, poker a live and well.
P.S. Poker will last no longer then 2 years.

A ton of how poker is doing is based off the economy. do people have extra cash, that is when there are recs, and good games.

I'm also an Early 2000s OG Poker MoneyBoomer™

My take on this topic is pretty simple. I came to a point in my life where I realized that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze, in terms of doing what some of these younger folks are doing. Perhaps it is for them, but not for me.

So I am content with largely avoiding cash games because although 1/3 live is a pretty easy game, I'm not trying to grind out X bb per hr.

Nope, I've fully embraced being the Early 2000s OG Poker MoneyBoomer™ who hopes to sunrun a big MTT one day.

I recreationally play some live tourneys that have large payouts at the top end and if it isn't my day, it isn't my day. I study and still re-read my 2+2 books from time to time to sharpen up.

That's what poker has become to me and I am okay with it. People like me are good for the game I suppose.

Great idea for a thread, good writing. Some people are just luckier than others, let's face the facts.

where is your blog?? ;-p

Really love your posting. People mostly have no clue until they do some research what goes into regularly winning enough to make the juice worth the squeeze. The kind of poker terminology these days and accompanying study sounds more like avionics than poker. Cause people are doing whatever they can to scratch out an edge over their competition which includes in the not too distant future the possibility that RTA/Bots will get advanced and on-line poker will be unplayable. So if you're a crusher today I don't about what will be tomorrow. I get an aura of autism from the most successful players and that's no insult. They are remarkable.

Live poker LOL traveling and sitting on your bum for 12 hours, eating out all the time, hotels, the open roads or air travel. I think this is for some people and I have to admit it looks incredibly fun. I do think in this regard you don't need be a Cyborg. Especially in lower stakes. . .

That elusive 1 MTT bink say for 100k-1 Million. Or less, or more I think is the hope for a lot of people. If you have necessarily talent it's not impossible.

(I watch a guy who made 20k on Iggy Poker and enjoys it, it appears recreational for him and not his job, I'm sure there a lot of these players. I admire that people still enjoy this and they can still do this also, reliving a dream but millions now a days, from nadda after 20ish? Heh I doubt it)

I agree with everything the OP wrote. I started playing online poker back in 1998, it was a totally different game back then. I barely play anymore, as I got tired of constantly losing. Instead, I picked up the electric guitar (again), and have become much better than I ever thought I would.

I am a fan of watching the new thinking player GTO high rollers go at it but admittedly i think it has very little application to a standard 100bb tournament; there just might be some extra steps to getting the stacks in the middle.

"In this way, it is much like art, fashion, film, sports, etc etc"

Generalization of the year, perhaps the GOAT, Generalization Of All Time.