The Poker Boom Is Gone. Really. (1 Viewer)

Puggy

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We started playing poker monthly in 2005. The games were good for many years. Great friends, beer, good food. And best of all, good poker STT's. For years. Then people started getting married. And breeding. No more poker, not so often. About three years ago we were forced to start playing only every other month. Then came my divorce. STT's stopped. Group split. This year we have played cash games for three times only, with 5-6 people. Luckily all from our former group of players. This Saturday, only one guy will show up. So, we'll play cash game heads-up, drink beer, get drunk. And either one of us will lose all of his money to the other one. Hope the winner will be me.

Where/How does this all end? Next year we might be playing checkers with play money.
 
It's all down to online poker getting shut down in the US. P* and FT don't really see any value in sponsoring televised poker anymore, and without televised poker interest drops and homegames shut down.

It's sad but true... :(
 
Luckily we still have online poker here. I wish you all US folks could have it too.
 
We started playing poker monthly in 2005. The games were good for many years. Great friends, beer, good food. And best of all, good poker STT's. For years. Then people started getting married. And breeding. No more poker, not so often. About three years ago we were forced to start playing only every other month. Then came my divorce. STT's stopped. Group split. This year we have played cash games for three times only, with 5-6 people. Luckily all from our former group of players. This Saturday, only one guy will show up. So, we'll play cash game heads-up, drink beer, get drunk. And either one of us will lose all of his money to the other one. Hope the winner will be me.

Where/How does this all end? Next year we might be playing checkers with play money.

I'm not so sure. Maybe you took all their money and your action dried up. :)
 
I kind of thought the death of online poker helped home games around here in Michigan. People want to play, and it forced them out of their basement and into mine! We are lucky to have a good player base of people I really like a lot around here.
 
I am sorry to hear that. Sometime heads up poker is really fun with a good friend. I played a deep stack heads up game last night for 20 bucks with a friend. Shot the shit and listened to music. We he had a hand that we couldnt believe!... Board - Q5J 5 Q and we both held Q5. Got a good laugh at that when I called his all in and chopped.

My game currently is booming. I am holding a 2 table deepstack this Sat night. I got a full 18 registered within 72 hours. Im really working hard though on recruiting always.. Right now I have a pool of about 115 to invite each game ever 2 weeks.

Hopefully things pick up for you!
 
Might want to do home game listings in your area and see if that helps you net some players.
 
Spikeithard hit the nail on the head -- Always Be Recruiting! Every game is either growing or dying. Most don't recognize the symptoms of a dying game. If there is no source for new players, your game is on life support. In some cases, a single life event can destroy it. Sometimes a single life event can start a downward spiral from which the game won't recover. By life event, I mean one player moves, changes jobs or hours, has a significant change in a relationship, has a child, kid goes off to college, has to care for aging parent, has parent die and is tied up with administering affairs, dies, etc.

Our group attendance has been down about 30% this year, but we are getting new players in. I've just had to work a little harder at it.
 
When I moved to Scotland I didn't know anyone, had no friends.

I opened up a pub/bar game and advertised locally, via social media and local events sites.

This way the poker players come to you.

I spent a long time trying to convert my friends to the church of gambol, and it only really stuck with a few of them.

Newcomers enjoyed the bar game and brought along their friends.

Inside a year it grew into a pool of 30+ regs, all great people, always up for additional games.

The key difference is that rather it being a group of people that I wanted to play poker (my friends) it was a group of people who wanted to play poker who came along. Who quickly became poker-playing friends.

The added bonus of hosting a game on neutral territory is you can vet the randoms before you invite them into your home.

And because you bring in a lot of trade, you can get paid by the venue too.

Unsure what your local laws are like but this route worked for me! :)
 
Since 2009 I have my home game group. At the beginning we were 10 but after some years we drop to 6-7 who joined regulary. On our member list we still have 12 players who pay the annuale membership fee. This Saturday we have our general meeting and 8 players will show up. I still have hope that we get back to 10 regulars and maybe having some women would be good for the game too.
 
@Toby: Thanks. Great idea. Now I have to find some china clays for the possible first games. Hmmmmm....Josh! Here I come.
 
@Toby: Thanks. Great idea. Now I have to find some china clays for the possible first games. Hmmmmm....Josh! Here I come.

I used my ASMs. #bestpubgameevah

I built an STT in no time doing this. 3 tables inside a year. Worked like a charm for Glasgow. :)
 
Lol Black Cat ASMs for the bar crowd. Like having a caviar and champagne buffet for the homeless.

Only I knew the truth of how excellent they were... Exactly how I imagine how being a superhero/having a secret identity feels like. Chipman!

Actually, the guy who took over my Glasgow game is thinking about pushing the button on his first set of customs. Will encourage him to post here.

They are a good crew. Some of them got the chip thang. :)
 
WSOP Colossus tourney had a field of over 22,000 entries......................I don't think poker is dead. I just attended a group via Meetup.com this past weekend that had fourteen players for a NL Hold Em tourney. Of course, I can't speak for Finland (except that I guess Conan O'Brien is a golden god there)
 
Many people argue that the Moneymaker boom ended around 2008, but poker isn't dried up and never will be. We played stud every Wednesday from 1996 to 2002'ish and todays player pool is still 100x bigger than what we had to draw from back then. Comparing poker 2015 vs 2005, well shit yeah its different. Everyone played Holdem in 2005 but that was an anomaly.

Sometimes geography and social circles limit people to what games they know about or what players are around but games are out there.
 
There are more local games than I can think to attend. Guess us Michiganders have it going good for us.
 
Teach new games, Holdem is soooooo boring and mindless in my opinion

If you are hosting a holdem loving group, play your usual Holdem but mix in a few rounds of something new for lower stakes so people can learn.
I have done this earlier when we played only STT's. In cash games now (that seldom we get to play) we play dealer's choice and one of these: NLHE, LHE, PLO, PLO/8, 7Stud, 5Stud, Razz. People who still play cash have learned them well.
 
The good news for people in this forum is that once the poker boom happens again, youll have the chips, cards, tables, setups, etc, to start the best games in town
 
Frankly the poker 'splosion of the early 2000's was never sustainable long term. It was so main stream for a while that you couldn't turn around without seeing it. I think the current level of interest is still collectively very high though.
 
Hope your games pick up Pasi, need to see action shots of your colony club set when they arrive.
 
Chin up lil' buckaroo. The game is great. Popularity and interest will peak and trough. It will catch fire again my friend. No worries.
 
Only I knew the truth of how excellent they were... Exactly how I imagine how being a superhero/having a secret identity feels like. Chipman!

Actually, the guy who took over my Glasgow game is thinking about pushing the button on his first set of customs. Will encourage him to post here.

They are a good crew. Some of them got the chip thang. :)

Question - did anyone ever pocket your ASM chips as a souvenir?
 

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