Of course poker coaches are gonna come here and say how great poker is and how juicy the games are.

They need to perpetrate the scheme as long as they can, so they can have ''students''

The reality is that poker is predatory gambling. You guys prey on the weaknesses of others. When amaya took your rakeback you guys became the prey.

Then you guys saying you where going on a streak, that was funny.

No offense but if online poker had the same competition as any other market than things would be way different. It seems like you don't understand that the game of Monopoly is kinda in effect at this point. There isn't much competition so there is just consumers getting screwed. If you don't see that then you don't understand the market and your words are rather transparently uneducated about the subject.

Maybe going back to judging the taste of different lollypops is your game.

Let me guess another coach?

Coaching might have been the best job I ever had. Getting paid a bunch of money to talk/write about something that I really liked to talk/write about without any of the stress and variance of playing.

And if me coaching years ago helped to make the games more difficult for whiny people who can’t deal with the fact that they are ten years late to the party? I’ll take that one, too.

Instead of trying to discredit the posters, why not debate their points? And Gzesh or I, a coach? LOL.

Not sure what your point is, or what it has to do with your anti-coach rant.

I mean, most people who have the right personality traits to become a pro and to play reasonably high stakes online (which means putting in a lot of work) can in most cases find other types of employment/other business opportunities which will pay at least as much or more, have a higher ceiling of earnings and at the same time be a lot more fulfilling mentally.

For a lot of people grinding it out in lower income countries, poker makes a lot more sense. If someone relatively well-off wants to donk off some money, doing so at NL5, NL10 or NL25 makes more sense than punting at NL200 or higher, while for someone living in a country where the average wage is maybe USD500, it makes sense to grind these low stakes for USD1000+/month without the added stress of ****ty working conditions etc.

Then there are the gamblers, degens etc (and certainly a part of pros fit this bill) but that is a totally different story.

^ This

At one point poker was #2 behind NFL on TV most watched "sports"

Ten years too late to the party? More like the players are getting ****ed by legislation. It's a legislative gangbang cuz the govts want there cut.

While the op is posting about the ever declining prospects of the US online pro, as a rec enthusiast I can say that I'm equally depressed about the prospects to resume casual online play on a regular basis. I remember the good old days of the early 2000's when sites were plentiful and the player pool was large and nicely distributed. I enjoyed great 35-110 dollar buy in freezeouts on sites where there would be 100-250 ish players - and a really nice cash game selection etc - I could easily play several tournaments a week while balancing a full time job and know that I'd have a shot to turn 70-80 bucks into a few thousand in a reasonable time frame (IE not 10-50 dollar tournaments on poker stars with thousands of runners) players weren't really using HUD's the way they are now and basically depositing and withdrawing was super easy.

In addition to needing new legislation to legalize it in the US,combing player pools in the states etc, in order to bring back more rec enthusiasts like myself, there needs to be strategy around types of events (like more freezeouts less re-entry) and more rules that benefit those of us who have a clue but don't have time to study 10-20 hours per week or aren't interested in using HUD's etc

the rake is an issue that is obviously relevant to pro's only - even as a serious reg I don't care about it as I am playing for fun much less frequently these days but without sweeping legislation and some format changes I can't imagine a major revival

Games started to get tougher long before Black Friday.

My first WSOP in 2009 I was shocked how bad 2/5 players were and friends who had been there before told me how much better the games in 2005-2007 were. Two years later you already had recreational players 3bet hands other than AA both live and at NL100 online.

U.S. legislation happened long before Black Friday. Several large sites left the U.S. market as soon as UIGEA passed 2006. The truly clueless recreational players left with them, with most assuming it was illegal to even play poker online.

LOL. Sorry guy, the games were amazing until around BF time. Cant imagine holding this opinion without quitting in 2006, and/or being pretty terrible at the game.

But did you know back then that your best job ever would contribute in some way to games getting more difficult?

Getting paid 'a bunch of money' to do something you already enjoyed must have been quite tough to give up. Or did the well run dry?

I don't think coaching was near the detriment to poker as many seem to think but not really sure what your point is. Not whining just curious.

like i always say.. unless youre trying to luck box on stars a big mtt, which might in itself even be pointless, there is no point to playing online poker. 2 4 and 3 6 are like 25 50 live. sngs arent even soft anymore. whales have moved on to live, etc..

People already complained that “teaching the fish” would kill the games but I didn’t really agree with that. I thought that most players who were looking for coaching already had made the step from being totally clueless to actively trying to improve their game and that they would find another way to do so. Besides that, I always knew I wasn’t in it for the long run anyway.

I already had decided to do something more meaningful with my life once I finish grad school. Started to enjoy playing again after not doing it for a living anymore.

I was few years rec with few hundred mtts/year and hours of cash/week, what killed games was said many times: huds, seating scripts, multitabling of people who have zero interest in playing poker. Now I play on some local sportsbook, it's flash app so huds or scripts are most likely out, but not anonymous tables are annoying enough, as few pathetic regs are obviously sharing notes. I am aware that it's not popular opinion on this site, but solution is quite clear.

huds did ruin poker. the games on microgaming, with not being to get info in pots youre not in, are way better. its just cashing out thats a whore.

Bots?!