tldr obviously but what do you think about the fact that he supports the party that passed UIGEA? also you seem mad bro be less mad k thnx

You didn't read it? I go to all the trouble to make quality posts every time and you don't read them? That's just not right, brother, not right at all. Anyway I don't really care what party Mason supports and I'm certainly not mad. I am, in fact, a jolly fellow, the life of the party for real.

Here's my critique of Mason's OP, fwiw. He says that if a poker player has a low opinion of Trump, that he's a dimwitted, narcissistic, brash, unqualified, self-worshipping believer of idiocies of his own making and laughed at and manipulated by the rest of the world and that THIS time a single person might actually seriously harm the USA then he should consider re-thinking that position bec the player will make some amount of money. I wouldn't change my mind as regards that orange clown for any amount of money.

Then, again, it's said that everyone has their price so I'll back off on that last part a bit.

Whether or not the trump economy is good for poker is dwarfed in importance by whether or not people want to play poker. In the modern economy i expect poker will be replaced by other more "fun" distractions.

Nevertheless I suspect unmitigated capitalism is bad for the market in the long run. capitalism is only good in so far as it serves peoples ability to be productive and happy. It is unquestionable that free markets are better than what we had before 1950's. but free markets as a religion paves the road for facism in america more than moderation and satisfactory outcomes for individuals. We had free markets 100 years ago. trading was slower then but i believe comparable to todays golden age of free markets.

Aaaand Adelson is completely ignored. The top Republican donor next to the Kochs is diametrically opposed to online poker. No possible defense, so just skip it.

???

Unfortunately, I actually did read it. You came in here, upset that people were personally attacking Mason, to post the, uh, counterpoint (???) that in your experience live poker players are *******s.

What the ****? Did you you have an aneurysm or something?

It's possible but a) gambling can be addictive, and b) there aren't many popular competitive outlets where a fool/amateur can beat an expert and be left with the illusion of being skilled. That doesn't happen in chess or basketball.

Tell me you don't look forward to reading my take on any topic. Be honest.

Bolded is pretty Lol, and as usual it's amazing to see someone who claims to be all about the free market advocating regulations that would effectively destroy an entire industry.

The second part is equally as funny. Here's a radical thought along the same lines: why not have the insurance provider act as a non profit? That should have the added benefit not only of covering more people but also keeping costs down because the insurer doesn't take out money from the pool. Then everyone could get their insurance from that non-profit and everyone would be covered.

It would be as though there were only one entity paying for everyone's health care.

I tend to think this is almost certainly true, and I can't imagine it changing even if most people see their disposable income start to rise. The only way I can see this changing is if games were completely flooded with new players. The only hope I'd have for that happening is if online poker was declared completely legal in the US (or at least in the majority of US states), but honestly I don't know how interested the average person would be this time around. It's also clear that GOP administrations are completely opposed to online poker legalization, while dem administrations at best just don't care. I just don't understand how someone can care about the state of poker in general while supporting republicans, it really just doesn't make any sense.

Move over second place, Trump's economy comes thundering in to the top two slots in less than a week!

Such great news!

3 out of the top 10, all in just one week of Trump's tremendous leadership.

Hi Mason! A few thoughts.

One of the things we do at Two Plus Two is to think about how poker is doing. The better it’s doing, the more books we should print, the more new titles we can take on, the more investment we can put into our website, and so on. Also, from a player’s perspective, the better poker does, the better the games will be, and the better the games are the more money the people we cater to will make. So what’s our current prediction? And why do we feel this way?

Good idea. There are probably several objective metrics you will point towards in drawing your conclusion; poker room traffic, poker site page views, things like that. Right?

Well, our prediction is simple. We think the games over the next two or three years will get better and better, and if you’re a good poker player today, it’ll seem like you’re an even better poker player tomorrow because your expectation should rise. So why is this?


Big prediction in the face of a decade of stagnation and a hostile government re: online poker - I'm hooked!

The answer is simple. The economy is great, and I subscribe to the idea that it’s only going to continue improving. Of course, this creates much disposable income which many people will use for entertainment and poker/gambling is certainly one form of entertainment for many people.


Wait, what? You've made a controversial prediction, "it (the economy, not defined) is only going to continue improving," provided no support for that prediction whatsoever, assumed it as true, then made another unsupported assumption regarding the distribution of economic benefits and therefore poker game quality? Seems like a stretch, but let's continue...

This brings us to the heart of the matter. On our website, we have many posters who literally hate President Donald Trump. But from a poker perspective, his economic policies, and this includes the tax cut which most people will benefit from, the elimination of numerous regulations, the effort to attract more investment into the United States, the current increase in many salaries as well as bonuses, and so on will, in my opinion, literally mean that we should see a growth in poker like we haven’t seen since the early days of the poker boom. (Well, that’s probably an exaggeration, but if you’re reading this you should get the point.)


Putting aside that this is written at a third grade level, what? What regulations, exactly? What specific policies has Trump enacted that attract more investment in the United States? It's interesting you bring up the poker boom; it ended when Republicans effectively banned online poker, so I'm puzzled as to why you would continue to support them.

There’s another thing that appears to be happening; this economic boom is spreading all over the world. It won’t be just the United States where the poker games improve dramatically. It will be most everywhere.

What?

So for all you poker playing Trump haters out there, my advice is to think again.

Why would I do that? He's a racist, sexist, narcissistic moron. The fact that you overlook these things makes me wonder if you are drawn to the GOP by something other than their effect on the "poker economy."

Best,
RM

(Well, that’s probably an exaggeration, but if you’re reading this you should get the point.)

Hmmm, I'm thinking I probably get the point.

So for all you poker playing Trump haters out there, my advice is to think again.

Yupyup, I get it. *wink* *nod*

well that was my best effort i guess ill just watch some gay porn now since no one cares.

Is Mason ever gonna explain why the party of UIGEA and Sheldon Adelson is secretly pro poker?

Mason seems to plugin that blocks the name Sheldon Adelson, and a few sentences on either side of it, from appearing on his computer.

Wasn't Adelson the biggest sole contributor to the Trump campaign?

You mean you're confused as to why he thinks republicans are the greatest people ever despite what had to cost him a **** ton of money with UIGEA and various other gambling bans they've done in other states?

I assumed he was trolling about the poker games will improve over the next few years worldwide part because I doubt there's a single person other than him on this board who thinks that.

So the responses are attacking in three general ways:

TRUMP fiscal policy is at best slightly damaging to the economy and at worst a disaster for the economy.

Online poker growth will not be affected by an economy growing at an increased rate. Live poker growth is inconsequential to the overall poker economy I.E. online poker is what really maters.

Mason is ignorant and foolish.

It could be worse. Mason could be you.

Also what we’ve learned in this thread is that regulations have zero economic impact.

Hidden Costs of Regulations

Note that those are not mutually exclusive and your characterization on live poker does not seem accurate. Also, you missed the attack that, even if the economy improves due to Trump, and that improvement is "good for poker", Trump still lowers overall expected value.

Asking Mason which specific regulations Trump has rolled back that will help poker is not the same as whatever intellectually dishonest misinterpretive strawman you’re building here.

No, I'd say at best it's good for the economy but in that best case scenario it will also greatly increase inequality. Whether even that best case scenario would have a significant positive effect on poker games is debatable.

Eh, this is maybe a fair criticism, but I don't think it is controversial to say that the positive impact from a legalization of online poker would be far and away greater than any possible positive impact from a good general economy.

This one seems correct from the posts I've seen.

Uh, this does not seem like an accurate characterization of the posts in this thread, considering that much of the attacking of Mason focuses on the fact that he supports the party that destroyed online poker through "regulation". Which is also the party least likely to lessen or remove the impact of this disastrous regulation.