Thanks a lot Roy for putting time into that post. Much appreciated.

Thx, Roy. On the one hand, I'm glad that Stars sign the right people who actually work hard to promote poker in general and not just put money in their own pockets like the hated Lock pros. On the other hand, even despite the fact that the pros are beneficial to poker popularity in general, they're working with a certain 'shop' and its interests. And I doubt if it's beneficial to other existing players; in Lock's case, I'm sure that the 'pros' are absolutely worthless while ordinary customers are unhappy; in Stars' case, I yet doubt.

I think that one of the reasons for the current reg-infestation of Stars is their poker-oriented model - the one that made them so big and dominating. Recreationals looking at pros' success want to become pros themselves and will most likely put some effort into studying. Another model is recruiting players from sportsbooks and casinos, treating poker rather as another form of gambling than a game of skill, and it's working well. Hopefully, Stars have started to understand it and buy land-based casinos. The Atlantic in New Jersey is an especially good acquisition, a good shot at the future US market.

Belarus is one of the most winning countries because tournament poker is promoted as a sport and a game of skill there. Promote poker as a game of luck, requiring no hard studies, or only a bit of study like in 'poker schools' of small networks that satisfy recs enough but don't give knowledge. Concentrate rather on bringing new clueless players than teaching existing ones and narrowing the skill gap, and you'll save the game. I've clicked the link to PokerSchoolOnline and saw an article on table selection there - it's so awful It seems that what Stars are doing now is printing regs for themselves or, even worse, other networks. /rant

Hate to interrupt all this high level discussion, with something a little more low brow, but will anyway:

OMG! 660bb pot at PLOlz 25:

PokerStars - $0.25 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $81.08
SB: $25.80
BB: $22.85
UTG: $23.02
MP: $72.01
CO: $25.26

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has Q 4 7 Q

fold, MP raises to $0.75, fold, Hero calls $0.75, fold, BB raises to $3.10, MP calls $2.35, Hero calls $2.35

Flop: ($9.40, 3 players) Q 2 9
BB bets $5.75, MP raises to $16.25, Hero raises to $63.48, BB calls $14.00 and is all-in, MP raises to $68.91 and is all-in, Hero calls $5.43

Turn: ($166.97, 3 players) 3

River: ($166.97, 3 players) 4

MP shows K K 9 9 (Three of a Kind, Nines) (Pre 32%, Flop 18%, Turn 8%)
Hero shows Q 4 7 Q (Three of a Kind, Queens) (Pre 28%, Flop 69%, Turn 86%)
BB shows A 3 T A (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 40%, Flop 13%, Turn 6%)
Hero wins $164.97

$0.10/$0.20 Pot Limit Omaha Hi
6 Players

Stacks:
UTG slickrick11 ($46.11) 231bb
UTG+1 Hero ($39.08) 195bb
CO mirkovic1111 ($11.97) 60bb
BTN reddragon664 ($4.29) 21bb
SB KASTOPRAV ($29.70) 149bb
BB AndyIvey ($21.72) 109bb

Pre-Flop: ($0.30, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 8 A A 10


1 fold, Hero raises to $1, mirkovic1111 calls $0.80, 1 fold, KASTOPRAV calls $0.90, AndyIvey calls $0.80




Flop: 4 Q J ($3.80, 4 players)
KASTOPRAV bets $0.40

1 fold, Hero calls $0.40, mirkovic1111 calls $0.40





Turn: K ($5.00, 3 players)

KASTOPRAV bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40, mirkovic1111 calls $0.40





River: J ($6.20, 3 players)
KASTOPRAV bets $3.25, Hero raises to $10.60






mirkovic1111 folds, KASTOPRAV goes all-in $27.90


, Hero calls $17.30





Final Pot: $62
KASTOPRAV shows
J K J Q
Hero shows
8 A A 10

Hero wins $59.30 (net +$29.60)



KASTOPRAV lost $29.70
AndyIvey lost $1
mirkovic1111 lost $1.60

Get yourself out there. Start a blog and make it good. Tweet. Post a lot on forums. If you speak another language/live in an emerging market area then promote the game well there and you've got a leg up. Do something the stands out and differentiates you from one of the other thousands of professional players out there.

I did submit an application a few years ago, I can't recall if I submitted more than one. I think it was just one. Also when it was submitted I didn't have a blog or anything and didn't hear anything back. It was probably a couple of years after that that they contacted me and showed their interest / asked if I would be interested in team online. They were looking to add an Australian Team Online pro and there were quite a few on a short list (maybe 8-10). It took about 4-6 months before they chose me and the contract got signed and I was "announced" etc.

Yeah you're definitely not the first or only person to notice or mention something like that about Tony. I've had a bit of contact with him and heard a lot of the stories out there about him and none of it was good or in line with the overall ideals of Stars. Joe on the other hand is a really nice guy and comes off well and did WONDERS for poker, especially in Australia. Stars signing him and having him as a part of the team were excellent decisions imo.

I get what you're saying but I disagree with your outlook that poker as a game of skill is bad and that teaching people to get better is a bad thing.

There are many different "types" of people who play poker (way too many to list). Speaking of online poker specifically there are still a tonne. Some are gamblers and play it to gamble and they will always play and deposit and enjoy their time online. They have disposable income and are (hopefully) responsibly gambling with a portion of their money they're comfortable trading for the enjoyment and thrill they receive. Obviously it's naive not to think or expect there to be problem gamblers out there too who are depositing and losing way above their means -- there are, and they are good for Stars and regs alike, and they will probably always be around. Stars (and online sites/casinos in general) are getting more responsible in offering responsible gambling assistance to such people and from a moral and ethical standpoint I think that's a great thing. Obviously purely from a poker profit perspective I would want every other person in the world to deposit their life savings and go broke online - but that's a terrible thing and I don't think any/many poker pros actually want to "bust" people IRL. We prefer to play a game we love with others who love the game and try to be better than them - some opponents are pros or semi-pros like us and others are recreational players who play as a part of a balanced life. In an ideal world anyway.

Okay I got pretty off topic there. Bringing it back, there will always be these players. Offering training and tips to them might improve their game a little but I doubt too many if any are going to turn into break-even players (and increasingly harder thing to be) let alone winning players or regs. The time and work required is too large and they just want to gamble.

Then there's another set of players - the pros. Probably most people reading this now fall into this category. Some might be full time pros, some might be part-time pros and some might just play occasionally but we're all aware of strategy, twoplustwo, training sites, books, and all that. If anyone wants to get better then they will and they know how to. There is an absurd amount of information out there for anyone really willing to put in the work. It now comes down to each individual and a) how much work they're willing to put in and b) what their ceiling is for how good they can be. There are definitely some people out there who will NEVER be a winning player, others who will NEVER beat 5/10+ and so on and so forth. That's not to say these people aren't intelligent - just that poker requires a very specific set of skills and emotional balance that not everyone has. A lot of these people are very successful in other areas of life.

Lastly there's the set of players who enjoy poker and like to play every now and then. They like the challenge of the game and knowing that they can improve and get better. They WANT to get better. They're not great, and they know it, and they know they're losing players. They make a deposit every now and then and try to "run it up" again, or use good BR management to turn their deposit into a holiday or new TV or what have you. I think it's important for these players to know that the game is one of skill and that there is some information out there for them to improve. It's unlikely that they'll ever be killers, or will improve dramatically overnight based on one article or video or even a hundred of them. But there's hope for them, and they will show some improvement, and most of all improving at poker is FUN. When you learn more (the effectiveness of a check-raise, of 3betting, of folding bad hands UTG, anything) you get some enjoyment out of the game. Then you want to practice all these things over and over. There are far more people in the world who don't have the specific skills (and/or time) required to become even breakeven regs, and they will likely forever be losing players. But they enjoy the game and are happy to deposit every now and then to test their skills, improve a little, and try to get better. If we all of a sudden pretend that there is no skill in poker and/or that they have no hope of winning there's a good chance these people will stop playing. We're not talking about someone who likes to play roulette every week - we're talking about someone who grew up playing chess or gin rummy or another game that has skill that they enjoy.

Anyway to sum up gamblers are obviously good for the site but don't discount the value of losing players who are trying to improve their game. Most will never become even break-even regs. And those who get close so that variance allows them to win for reasonable lengths of time / reasonable amounts of money will be far more likely to continue to deposit (more than they withdraw) than those who just lose lose lose. We want these people on our site - it is our job as professional players to stay ahead of them and to improve our game more than they improve theirs. I don't think that's hard for most people reading this now, and I think any new number of players who fall into the category I'm talking about can only be good for the game(s).

Roy,

Any correlation between you becoming a team online pro and the fewer blog posts?

i think you give way too much credit for poker players' (in general) work ethic regarding working and developing their poker skills and soft skills.

Not particularly, mostly coincidence. I go through phases when it comes to blogging and there have just been more lulls lately. I definitely feel particularly lazy b/c of my lack of blog posts recently, need to fix that!

Better more LOLZ than lulls.

Roy, do you have to be playing at least a specific limit (like 200PLO) to have a chance at Team Online ?

No.

IIRC clarkkent89 and DaWarsaw mainly plays micros, so no.

GO FK URSELF SAN DIEGO ( ROn Burgundy voice)

PokerStars - $1 PL Hi (6 max) ZOOM - Omaha - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $100.00
Hero (SB): $100.00
BB: $99.50
UTG: $85.31
MP: $81.01
CO: $58.67

Hero posts SB $0.50, BB posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero has T K 5 K

UTG calls $1.00, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks

Flop: ($3.00, 3 players) 6 J K
Hero bets $2.00, BB calls $2.00, fold

Turn: ($7.00, 2 players) 3
Hero bets $6.00, BB raises to $24.68, Hero raises to $80.72, BB raises to $96.50 and is all-in, Hero calls $15.78

River: ($200.00, 2 players) 6

Hero shows T K 5 K (Full House, Kings full of Sixes) (Pre 64%, Flop 91%, Turn 97%)
BB shows 7 6 6 3 (Four of a Kind, Sixes) (Pre 36%, Flop 9%, Turn 3%)
BB wins $197.20

just short of a christmas miracle that i am actually up money this month

right, i forgot i played a lot with DaWarsaw in the past, tks

very nice posts roy, thx !

No problem!

Think I just made my personal rebuy record on satellites. Played four of them and think I made at least 60 rb's total.

Should've just bought the ticket?

What would be the accomplishment in that?

a penny saved is a penny earned

pish posh

No, as others have said there are a few members who play low/micro stakes. You do have to be a winning player though.

Njaah, those were some 1 $ etc. satellites. Feels good when you "can" just shove every hand and see what happens. And like heh said, doesn't feel the same..

does having a mustache give any bonus points ?

Only if it is of epic proportions.