Julia and Maia are both legends in their own way

Wednesday nights on the Travel Channel for the newest WPT show

Pillow fighting with the lingerie-clad Bodog models at the WSOP Gambling Lifestyle Expo before the Main Event

Before solvers ruined the magic and mystery of the game

2004. More specifically, May of 2004. All downhill since then.

Weren't a true MTT grinder if you didn't, probably around that time I realised this wasn't 'the dream'

I’m in the minority… (and perhaps golden age can’t be current by definition) but I feel we are in a golden age of poker. Especially for live plo games which have never been more plentiful and action packed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOoSGR_1qSk

When you didn't have a choice on where you were seated
having to click the time bank to activate it

Last week at parx

LOL,


POTY

Hallinggoll days whenever that was

I started on pokerworld in late 2007, it was a very small American site, most people never heard of it, lost maybe 200 USD then i started play on pacific poker(AKA 888 poker), nl25 games were very soft, i deposited 50 USD and turned it to 1000 in maybe 15 days, i had bad luck one day, i decided to play some Blackjack game on that software, lost all the money in that account I started playing poker seriously on Everest Poker since July,2008, bought PT3 and even downloaded some coaching videos, i made like 1700USD in my first month by playing NL50, i was kinda bad but games were really easy, pretty much everyone today can beat those games. One day, i heard there was a thing called rake back, i was like "oh, if there was more money to be made then why not?" I started playing on Boss media network, the site i played on was Poker Heaven, it was in late August, 2008, i guess. I spent 2 years on Boss Media, i played from Nl50-Nl150 euro tables(back then 1euro=2TRY and i played at NL300 TRY table a lot), i started playing on pokerstars.fr in August, 2010, that site was a fish tank back then, i mean, boss media was easy, POKERSTARS.FR was even easier in 2010(especially for NL1000 games), i made like 10k my first month there(only played like 9k hands, played NL200, 400 and 1000, yeah, i had never even tried NL1000 before that, i took a shot and realised i could beat the game).

I think the earlier, the easier, i heard someone who could only play ABC poker, no bluffing, not even skilled made 20K USD a month in 2004, just crazy, i also know an old unemployed women who barely knew the poker rules made 6k USD a month by clearing the bonuses offered by the poker sites.. My golden age for poker wasnt even half sweet, but i still wish to have that again.

when did you start playing?

Johnny Moss vs Nick the Greek

+1 to pokerworld. Its where I learned to play while in college

Back when they first started, I emailed Paradise and said they should really start offering tournaments and they replied saying they didn't believe people would ever want to play tournaments online

LOL, I wish I still had that email. Party Poker proved them wrong rather quickly and Paradise faded into oblivion

I tried to go pro in 98' before the boom when all you could play was limit poker; I ended up leaving Las Vegas with my tail between my legs after about a month but still loved poker and tried to play whenever I could.

Then I discovered Planet Poker online (the first online poker site IIRC) and everyone was so bad that I was now winning playing part time on my couch after work, I was getting checks for $3-4K monthly for the first year or so but the gap closed quickly and so did whatever edge I had.

The big debate when online started was over whether it was safe or not and old-timers swore they'd never play online. I said if its rigged, they're doing a shitty job because I'm getting paid monthly and never looked back after my first deposit of $100

I peaked in 2006 winning a WSOP ME package on Bodog with 2011 and the UIEGA being the final nail for me, its nothing like it once was and never will be.

What a time to be alive and experience the boom from its inception and before.

I cant think of anything else that boomed so big and never reached the potential it should have with sponsorship and a mainstream following like Golf, etc. To me its faded and lost the fascination that captivated so many and I think part of that is due to the newness wearing off but moreso because the US killed online poker stymying its ability to grow with internet poker serving as a feeder for live tourneys with huge prize pools that would attract large audiences on TV.

Plus the natural evolution of the game created far superior players but those skills displayed on TV dont hold a candle entertainment wise to the skills the road gamblers had where they had to be able to entertain the sheep while they sheered them. The personalities that came out of the old school, road gambler era are what fascinated me and brought me to the game.

I can respect the talent and abilities of the current pros but they're like watching paint dry in comparison

When there were poker sites everywhereÂ… pokerroom, absolute, paradise, party (omg!), bodog, UB, full tilt and stars

2p2 was a wealth of knowledge and energy. You never mentioned 2p2 at the table you just said “Sup bro” and that was code to the other player you were a “trout.”

Watching Brainwashed final table like 3 Sunday 1MM guarantees in 6 weeks or something and probably winning 1-2 of them.

Watching Jason strassa (strassa2) win around 400k in a Sunday tourney and then sit at 100-200 limit as he decompressed with his new found wealth (my interpretation) at 18 or whatever he was.

BlackCar drama that was JJProdigy multiaccounting on party and then Bonomo getting busted right after with like 6-7 accounts

Reading a durrr response to a river decision in a hand that I never forgot which was “If he’s bad fold, if he’s good call, if he’s really good raise!”

Hallingol battling every night at 10-20 on stars and the whole table being crazy deep because stars had a rebuy glitch where you could double or triple rebuy at one time.

Playing the nightly $10R which was Chief911Â’s bread and butter tourney for a while

The $3 rebuy on stars that had like $6-7k up top

Making final tables and posting in real time on 2p2 “what is a fair chop?”

Gigabet destroying a weekend worth of tournaments and winning 100k on his way to legend status.

Winning my first party steps tourney for 2k from a $5 buyin

A classic 2p2 post from either garret or galfond or someone else that having two unpaired hole cards was better than an overpair because you could make 2 pair which better than one pair, lol. It was an obvious troll post but it attracted super serious donks who would berate the op. Such a wonderful classic if someone can dig it up.

Vanessa Selbst 4 or 5b jamming 52s in a tourney and all the attention it received

Weed brownies and 200-400nl when krantz was living in Vegas with some other players and was playing PA on ftp and said “Go wake up, Emil!” That video doesn’t exist online anymore but for those of us that remember the laughter when he flopped trips got allin, the silence as the river card came out, and the explosion of laughter afterwards, will always make you smile.

Grimstarr running up a bankroll to 800k+ and then dusting it off and becoming the scourge of the community as he would sit 200-400 and 400-800 and raise the big blind and sit out. It’s where the term “Grimmed” comes from and shined a magnifying glass on blind vs blind etiquette when you are heads up (if the table breaks and you’re hu and you raise the bb from the sb and your opponent folds and you’re not going to play hu, you owe the guy your bb on the next hand! (Don’t forget this youngsters)

Foxwoodsfiend going to AC and winning $80K+ playing 25-50 and taking a limo back to the city (awesome trip report)

The rapdurrr house

Going to Vegas and railing David (raptor517) playing high stakes against Vince van Patton (and others) knowing he was like 18 and using a fake id.

Whitelime, MDMA, krantz, FWF, gman and others filling HS NL with awesome content.

Playing poker at the Bellagio and saying to the table, “Oh ****! That’s Tom Durrrr Dwan right there” and no one knowing who the **** he was, lol. He was talking to Viffer right outside of Bobby’s Room.

Watching guy laliberte getting crushed at high stakes NL by the Dang brothers, durrrr and galfond.

When Stars had 250,000 players online on a Sunday and 20-30 tables of NL200 running.

2p2 shitting on pocket 5Â’s in terms of knowledge and content- we were so much than them.

When limit holdem was solved.

2p2 was an incredible place to be from 2004-2008. Met cool guys in Vegas, learned how to play this amazing game, laughed, felt connected to a movement and energy that was addictive.

Ziggmund!!!!

And so much moreÂ…

2004 in casinos but played home games since 99-00… I remember calling Foxwoods to ask if they had poker in 2004.

If golden age means in the past only then I guess 2005-2007 was the golden age.. poker stars full tilt ultimate bet etc.

But honestly had my biggest wins in the last couple weeks in live cash.

At fw it was rare to get one plo game started for years it was iffy every day. Then slowly but surely the cap structure changed and now they get 1-3 games of 2-5plo per day and sometimes a 5-Tplo. Rarely even a T-25plo.

Yeah, back then half of the tables were limit holdem game lol

Early to mid naughties

I think people were a lot worse at live cash plo 5 or so years ago than they are now but there are definitely more plo games around these days.

I keep telling myself I need to check out Foxwoods plo but still haven't.

You started a couple of years before me but totally agree with it's nothing like it was and never will be.

It's just such a different word and technology has changed poker so much.

They could legalize online poker tomorrow in all 50 states and it will be nothing like the early to mid 2000s.

Online maybe 2006- stars getting shut down. Live maybe now or during Corona.

Not to mention everyone pretty much sucked back then so people could win while they were learning by just playing tight and gaining a bit of knowledge when and where they could find it.

Now if the US legalized and were exposed to the rest of the planet, they'd get annihilated until they got a grasp of the game. Even then, they'd probably be a loser and if not a loser, not a big enough winner to have dreams of going pro or justify the effort to master the game beyond simply enjoying the fun game aspect.

Many of the people who were considered great back then would probably considered fish by most competent players today

The streets were literally paved with gold and the smart folks Hoovered up as much as they could, socked it away and went on to bigger and better things

when i became a decent winning player.

Devilfish winning Season 1 of Late Night Poker back in 1999. Back on that first season of Late Night Poker, hardly any of the regs described themselves as poker pro's. It was all like,

'In seat 5 is Simon Trumper. Simon owns a drainage company in Guildford.

Absolutely epic and sparked the poker boom in the UK. Also paved the way for the WPT and WSOP broadcasts a few years later in the USA.