I’ve been thinking alot about the current state of poker and the future. This post is partly inspired by the article I linked last time, seen on Anskypoker.com- http://www.anskypoker.com/2010/02/the-poker-life-cycle/
The world of online poker is a declining one…not only because of the population setback (there are less players coming into the game, poker is no longer the new ‘fad’, etc) but also an increase in poker information available. While fish are always going to be fish (those who choose to not pursue strategy and will remain poor players for their entire life), the wealth of information out there has grown tremendously the past few years.
Looking at the micro limits, players now have:
-training sites
-Forums (and their stickies/etc)
-Coaching
-etc
There has been a tremendous move towards staking- midstakes+ players want to get many horses, stake dozens of smaller staked players and generate that ultimate goal of passive income. With the staking often comes support from the stakee (usually hand advice) and the lower limit players become better.
All of a sudden, we now have dozens of smaller staked guys moving through the limits/beating some of the micro limits, players who probably never would have before.
Obviously there is still an abundance of fish (especially at the lower limits)…but the mid/high staked games are getting tougher as time passes.
Headsup is another factor in the poker economy. Why sit with 4 other good players and 1 fish when you can have the fish all to yourself? Headsup has been a lucrative enterprise for many players the past few years…but with it has brought the element of ‘bum hunting’ (only playing fish) to an extreme measure…some people will sit out if you raise preflop…the very idea of that extremity makes me sick. Sure, everyone is a relative bum hunter to some degree (in that we will rarely give up medium-large edges to our opponents when playing)…but when someone sits out because he sees a 3-bet preflop, what a joke.
Headsup has led to a relative decline in action the past few years…people sit 5 tables+ at a time and the poker lobbies are filled with hundreds of people waiting for action. Fish bust fast, since a good player’s edge is magnified largely by only playing one person.
I imagine that the micro games are evolving as well. The last time I played 25nl in a serious sense was probably 2005…and while I’m a bit out of touch with those games, I have seen that 3-betting light/etc is commonplace, something that would have never been seen back then.
Games are evolving, players are getting better…fish are losing faster, regulars on all levels are getting better, and Howard Lederer is sitting back rubbing his hands together while his minions pile his cash. As fish experience less success at the bottom, it slows their progression to the higher limits (MSNL+). I would not recommend trying to play poker right now, at least until China gets in this shit….then we’ll have a ton of degenerates helping our games!