Sort of calling it a day
I have finally decided to take a rest from all serious online poker. I'm gradually unwinding the finances of the various moneys on Pokerstars (in euros, dollars and sterling) and on Party. I've ordered a Neteller Mastercard so that I can withdraw a few thousand from that account when I am over in Las Vegas. I'll play the occasional tournament, maybe single-table some PLO $50 buy in, or triple-draw, or Badugi. But there's no intention to go for any of the rakeback or, indeed, to keep any record of profit/loss. All pure recreation.
I had a good run, Ten years is a far longer shelf-life than most people manage with online poker. But I'm down this calendar year (about $600) and I'm down over the past 12 months (about the same).Sure, I've run bad, jsut as I ran well in 2009. But the games are getting tougher and they are going to continue getting tougher still. The margins are thin to non-existent. Losing less than you are paying in rake is no way to to pay the wage bill.
In pure geekiness, I have a record of where my winnings have come from over the years. I could probably compare this with the hands played for a win-rate per 100, but I won't bother.
Stars: +$15,850
Party: +$31,890
Full Tilt: +$2,300
Paradise: +$10,073
Virgin: +$598
Empire (Party skin) +$1,124
Gutshot: +$632
Stan James: +$1,856
Noble Poker: +$644
Bugsy's: +$186
Ultimate: +$3,647
BetFred: +$5,681
NoIQ: +$4,344
Pacific: +$13,354
Littlewoods: +2,753
And in Sterling
Betfair: + £1,440
Poker In Europe: + £40
Ladbrokes: + £372
All in all it comes out at a gain of $97,903. (£60,810 at current exchange rates), with various other bits and ieces accounting for any discrepancies.
It's clear that much of the big wins of 2008 and 2009 were a result of two things -- the dreadful players on Pacific and Littlewoods for a short period, before they went broke and that particular pond was overfished --- and, secondly, an influx of people who had lost their jobs, had a sizeable redundancy package, were pehaps winners at weekends online and suddenly decided that they could become professionals, without realizing how different the midweek game is from a Friday night.
Come about May 2010 there was an increasing influx of Eastern Europeans, many of whom I remain convinced are colluding, who were hardly ever easy money. Interestingly, as the game gains greater penetration in Russia, I have detected a few fish. But my enthusiasm for it all was completely dead. And I have little time for any of the opposition. There's not an ounce of poker personality in any of them. They are closer to Magic players, even if most of them have not come up via Magic.
The apotheosis of what I hate in only poker is an SNG supernova elite called Pacific in PB, or something like that. He is actually a hero to many of the 2+2 posters, which shows what a bunch of sad sacks most of them are. He grinds out a gazillion hyper-turbos a day. He's created his own software to highlight "decisions" as he knocks out 48 tables at a time and makes every other player's life a misery. He had previously been one of the Blackjack pros that hit casinos. He's just a mathematician and a programmer. He's not a poker player as I want to play it.
I don't object to this. It's no less "real" poker than the poker I play (just as the poker I play is far removed from the live game of 30 hands an hour). But it removes any degree of enjoyment when I am playing. The only fun I could find would be at significantly higher stakes (at least $5-$10) and I reckon that at that level (online) I would either be outclassed or unable to cope with the volatility. Indeed, if I am going to play $10-$20 NL, I might as well start playing live again.
Year-by-year:
2001: £1,419
2002: £1,702
2003: £2,761
2004: £3,133
2005: £7,121
2006: £4,235
2007: £7,405
2008: £11,089
2009: £18,556
2010 £9,202
2011: minus £400
So, never really enough to make an indpendent living, but quite enough to make life a little bit more comfortable.
I actually did reach +$100,000 at the end of August, but September was horrible and, after a promising start, I had a terrible few days at $1-$2 NL at the end of October
It was actually only a $1,000 downswing in two sessions, which is well within standard deviation. But the hand where all the money went in with AA vs KK on a 7-high flop, and opponent hit his K on the river, just made me say "oh, why do I bother". I would have started running well again, no doubt, but I stopped enjoying it quite a while ago. It had become a burden on my time, and I'm really looking to using up all of that freed up time on other stuff.
___________
I had a good run, Ten years is a far longer shelf-life than most people manage with online poker. But I'm down this calendar year (about $600) and I'm down over the past 12 months (about the same).Sure, I've run bad, jsut as I ran well in 2009. But the games are getting tougher and they are going to continue getting tougher still. The margins are thin to non-existent. Losing less than you are paying in rake is no way to to pay the wage bill.
In pure geekiness, I have a record of where my winnings have come from over the years. I could probably compare this with the hands played for a win-rate per 100, but I won't bother.
Stars: +$15,850
Party: +$31,890
Full Tilt: +$2,300
Paradise: +$10,073
Virgin: +$598
Empire (Party skin) +$1,124
Gutshot: +$632
Stan James: +$1,856
Noble Poker: +$644
Bugsy's: +$186
Ultimate: +$3,647
BetFred: +$5,681
NoIQ: +$4,344
Pacific: +$13,354
Littlewoods: +2,753
And in Sterling
Betfair: + £1,440
Poker In Europe: + £40
Ladbrokes: + £372
All in all it comes out at a gain of $97,903. (£60,810 at current exchange rates), with various other bits and ieces accounting for any discrepancies.
It's clear that much of the big wins of 2008 and 2009 were a result of two things -- the dreadful players on Pacific and Littlewoods for a short period, before they went broke and that particular pond was overfished --- and, secondly, an influx of people who had lost their jobs, had a sizeable redundancy package, were pehaps winners at weekends online and suddenly decided that they could become professionals, without realizing how different the midweek game is from a Friday night.
Come about May 2010 there was an increasing influx of Eastern Europeans, many of whom I remain convinced are colluding, who were hardly ever easy money. Interestingly, as the game gains greater penetration in Russia, I have detected a few fish. But my enthusiasm for it all was completely dead. And I have little time for any of the opposition. There's not an ounce of poker personality in any of them. They are closer to Magic players, even if most of them have not come up via Magic.
The apotheosis of what I hate in only poker is an SNG supernova elite called Pacific in PB, or something like that. He is actually a hero to many of the 2+2 posters, which shows what a bunch of sad sacks most of them are. He grinds out a gazillion hyper-turbos a day. He's created his own software to highlight "decisions" as he knocks out 48 tables at a time and makes every other player's life a misery. He had previously been one of the Blackjack pros that hit casinos. He's just a mathematician and a programmer. He's not a poker player as I want to play it.
I don't object to this. It's no less "real" poker than the poker I play (just as the poker I play is far removed from the live game of 30 hands an hour). But it removes any degree of enjoyment when I am playing. The only fun I could find would be at significantly higher stakes (at least $5-$10) and I reckon that at that level (online) I would either be outclassed or unable to cope with the volatility. Indeed, if I am going to play $10-$20 NL, I might as well start playing live again.
Year-by-year:
2001: £1,419
2002: £1,702
2003: £2,761
2004: £3,133
2005: £7,121
2006: £4,235
2007: £7,405
2008: £11,089
2009: £18,556
2010 £9,202
2011: minus £400
So, never really enough to make an indpendent living, but quite enough to make life a little bit more comfortable.
I actually did reach +$100,000 at the end of August, but September was horrible and, after a promising start, I had a terrible few days at $1-$2 NL at the end of October
It was actually only a $1,000 downswing in two sessions, which is well within standard deviation. But the hand where all the money went in with AA vs KK on a 7-high flop, and opponent hit his K on the river, just made me say "oh, why do I bother". I would have started running well again, no doubt, but I stopped enjoying it quite a while ago. It had become a burden on my time, and I'm really looking to using up all of that freed up time on other stuff.
___________