(Starting something with numerous caveats isn't exactly the strongest of writing practices, but here we are. I am but one single solitary monkey, who knows none of you bloggers very well at all, who very often is wrong, and has the capacity to insert my head in my ass very frequently. So keep that in mind. The real intent of this is to thank people for all of the hard work they poured into blogs in the last year. While I could simply stick to that and everyone would be happy, I think that's cheating. One of my goals in 2006 is to be more honest, especially in situations when it can actually do someone more good than simply sitting there and keeping my mouth shut.)
2005 was an interesting year for poker blogs, and the bloggers behind them. I think you'd have to conclude it was a pretty damn successful year, with bloggers landing real live paying gigs, traveling the world to cover major tournaments, playing and cashing in WSOP events, and dropping many, many hammers on unsuspecting fools. Two WPBT events were held in Vegas, both drawing more degenerate folks than the previous one. Lots of blogger tournaments were organized and held, including satellites that sent bloggers to WSOP events. Many friendships and connections were made that would otherwise never have existed. Perhaps more amazingly, everyone continued to get along really well. Which is no small feat, especially when bringing together a fairly motley crew of degenerate types who like to gamble.
It's hard to quantify, but I think that the phenomenon of poker blogs in general gained more respect in 2005, becoming a bit more legitimate. Or, you know, less gay. Poker sites began to take notice of the blogging phenomenon, including hiring bloggers, sponsoring blogs, offering freerolls and other promotions, and in general being more proactive about seeking out advertising relationships with bloggers. The scale seemed to tip slightly away from the general notion that blogs about poker are largely an exercise in vanity by amateur players and swing towards the inkling of recognition that Hey, some of these bloggers not only play poker well but they can also write.
I honestly have no clue if we saw growth in the overall number of poker blogs. My guess would be yes, but that it tapered off towards the last half of the year. I could be completely wrong here, as I'm just going on my general impression of how many blogs I added during the year, when I became aware of them and added them, etc. Needless to say, I've got nearly 300 poker blogs in Bloglines these days, and find it hard to imagine that there were more than that when 2005 began.
So that's all the good stuff. Which brings us to, well, the not good stuff. I won't say "bad", because it isn't, but I think there are a few areas in which 2005 could have been a better year for poker bloggers.
I don't know a subtle way of saying this, but we really need to work on getting our shit organized. As the blogging phenomenon in general becomes more legitimized, so too do the opportunities offered to bloggers, especially bloggers in industries that have very high profit margins/customer or sale. Like, you know, online poker.
Simply put, we're well-positioned to use our collective audience and reach to secure advertising deals and/or sponsorships by online poker sites. Add up all the unique visitors of all the poker blogs and take that number to the ten largest poker sites, and see what the highest bid is for, to buy up all the ad placement on all the blogs for a month. It would be a very, very large number.
But we continue to ignore that possibility, all doing our own little thing, with some people putting up affiliate banners and links, some choosing not to, and in general ignoring the possibility that we could actually make money from all these blogs, collectively. We fall all over ourselves thanking PokerStars when they offer a freeroll for bloggers, yet we provide them with advertising that would, if purchased in an organized market, cost them far more than what they spent on prizes.
I don't mean to sound ungrateful, as I'm not. I'm just saying that we need to stop viewing ourselves as marginalized citizens of the poker world, happy to get a few scraps tossed to us here and there. That's bullshit. And the sad truth is that unless we step up and demand it, collectively, we're only going to get more table scraps in the future. And table scraps are better than no table scraps, don't get me wrong, but there's no reason to accept that, not now, when we could be sitting at the table ourselves.
On a slightly related note, I don't think that 2005 was a good year for poker blogs as far as spreading and disseminating knowledge. We get high, high marks for half of the blog equation, which is connecting and building beneficial, rewarding social structures. The highest marks possibility. But we get pretty damn low marks as far as actually helping people play better poker.
I'll be the first to admit, though, that for many people the social aspect is always going to be more valuable than increasing your BB/100. And, honestly, even I can admit that it probably should be the case. Money is just money and there are many, many things you can't put a price tag on. I get that.
That said, there's no reason you can't have both. People far too often fall back on the crutch of "I'd post some strategy stuff but other people do such a better job and I really don't know what I'm doing anyway, blah blah blah." And to that I have to cry bullshit.
Everyone has something valuable to share, that could help other people play better poker. Even posting the most jacked-up, wrong-headed strategy in the world has value, especially if it generates discussion. That's the whole point of this blog thing, as far as getting things out there, even if it's rough, even if you decide 3 months later that damn, I was really clueless when I wrote that. You learn more by being wrong than being right, and there's no shame in being "exposed" as having chinks in your armor and not, in fact, being the world's most perfect, infallible poker player.
I look back on some things I've posted here and just absolutely cringe. That's the point. That's the reason we all have these damn poker blogs anyway. The whole idea that any one thing can always be perfectly right, as far as poker goes, is wrong-headed to begin with, as so many situations are fluid and change depending on the circumstances. So don't just sit on the sidelines, waiting for the handful of people that post strategy stuff these days to actually post strategy stuff.
With all that babbling out of the way, now it's time to really stir up trouble.
Best Poker Blogs of 2005
1) Tao of Poker: Usually you have to choose between volume or quality, but not so with Pauly, as you get both. It definitely helps to be able to do the blog thing full time and get paid for it, but that's sort of a chicken-egg argument, as only a top-notch blogger would get the chance to do that, anyway. Pauly gets big props for mixing in all sorts of other themes and content, including personal stuff that many of us shy monkeys steer well clear of.
2) Poker Grub: Grubby gets the nod here for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is living the Vegas life and honestly reporting the results, even when they aren't fun to report. He's also a damn good writer, includes poker strategy from time to time, and is willing to let people into his life.
3) Guinness and Poker: Yeah, yeah, huge surprise, but you have to give the wee man his props. Even if you bitch and moan and claim that 90% of the content is aggregated these days, at least he's willing to do that, which can itself be a shit-ton of work. Throw in all of the organizational work Iggy did, both in the virtual and real worlds, and this is a no-brainer.
Most Disappointing Poker Blogs of 2005
1) Guinness and Poker: Bet you didn't see that coming. With greatness comes great responsibility and expectations, and I can't help but feeling disappointed in general with the fact that Iggy keeps offering so few windows into the poker strategy side of things. Yeah, I know, it's -EV to take the time to teach people to play better poker but come on matey, toss a few more bones our way.
2) The Cards Speak: Again, I'm risking angering the poker blogger gods, but this is for the same reasons above. 'Tis a very good blog, indeed, but I kept finding myself wishing that Henry had more time to post more, as in the past, and was frustrated with a good number of the infrequent posts that appeared, as they mainly seemed recaps of previous stuff that was posted for the sake of checking in. Yes, I know, I'm a greedy asshole, always demanding more and more, ignoring real-world issues like job demands and what-not.
3) The Poker Chronicles: Broken record, as it's the same refrain as above, but I wish Matt would post more strategy as in the past.
Most Dedicated Poker Blogs of 2005
1) Nickelanddimes: Drizz keeps bringing it each and every day, mixing in poker content, life content, and all sorts of other good stuff. And all this despite holding a day job, like so many of us monkeys. Just don't rely on his teaser or parlay picks.
2) FeliciaLee: Despite many reasons not to, Felicia continues to contribute all sorts of poker content, strategy, and general commentary. Like Pauly, it helps to not have to punch a timeclock every day, but she's been doing it for years, for absolutely no reason other than to educate other people about poker in general.
3) Tao of Poker and Poker Prof's Poker Blog: These sort of sleep in the same bed, so I'm including them as a pair. Hard to beat either the frequency of posts or the depth of content, including coverage of actual real live poker events, sometimes under non-optimal conditions.
Best New Poker Blogs of 2005
1) The Obituarium: Metrosexual tendencies aside (and the technical fact that he posted for a few months in late 2004), Speaker gets much credit for regularly posting lots of juicy poker content, as well as other engaging insights into life in general. Plus he has good taste in literature.
2) Poker with WillWonka: Gets the nod here for lots of poker content, lots of stats, strategy, and the willingness to question and share all sorts of results, both good and bad.
3) threebet33: This one is slightly cheating, I think, as I seem to remember this was a pre-existing blog that stretched back pre-2005, but I'm including it anyway. Regular, well-written insights into a mid/high-stakes world in Vegas that many of us simply dream of.
Most Thoughtful, Literate Poker Blogs of 2005
1) Poker Perspectives - Maudie's Poker Blog: Maudie's not only a damn good writer but she tackles the juncture between life and poker in a way many of us shy away from. Plus she can apparently take a steel chair shot to the head without blinking.
2) BG: Again, a damn good writer who isn't scared to let people into his life. Also likely wins the award for most literate blogger who can also find his way around a wine list.
3) Up for Poker: Nearly every post is well-written, with the trio touching on all sorts of issues large and small, poker and non-poker related.
Most Entertaining Poker Blogs of 2005
1) SirWaffle: Just when you think he's settled down and the insanity is over, it begins again.
2) Bobby Bracelet: Despite his single-minded quest to type the word "junk" more times than any other human in the history of human people, Bobby Bracelet still manages to entertain, mixing in trusty standards such as nut cancer as well as showing the fearless ability to also mock the handicapped and disabled.
3) DeadMoneyInc: Ambien hallucinations and repo man tales are a powerfully entertaining combination, indeed. Just post more in the future and stop making me jealous about you just won $172,178 in ten minutes playing on Titan.
Best Poker Strategy Blogs of 2005
1) DoubleAs: He disappeared a bit from time to time, especially as far as strategy posts, but he's definitely still at the head of the class, as far as successful players that take the time for -EV pursuits such as posting and responding to questions about poker strategy.
2) The Cards Speak: Even if the volume was down and the content slightly recycled, Henry still posts some of the best poker strategy out there.
3) Donkey hunter: Likely a surprising choice, but one of the few bloggers willing to devote the time to discussing strategy in light of actual hands, using real-world situations to illustrate both his thought process in various situations and strategic concepts as a whole.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Monday, January 02, 2006
More Bangs, Less Whimpers
Maybe I should go to work drunk tomorrow. Otherwise I'm not sure how I'm going to get through the day. I've always been envious of people who take long vacations and come back to work energized. Me, I just seem to hate going back even more the longer I'm off.
First full week of playing mucho poker went well. Really well. The encouraging thing is that I'm not even running all that particularly well, especially the last few days. I have to say I'm pretty intrigued with the whole propping thing. It may not last, as those programs apparently come and go pretty frequently, but between the two sites I'm propping at I should be able to clear $2,000-$2,500/month in just prop payments, assuming everything maintains the status quo. Which is encouraging in and of itself, but it's also relatively low variance, as that doesn't require playing any higher than 10/20. The fact that a lot of it is heads-up and three-handed play does amp up the variance, but not so much when you're churning through tons and tons of hands, as things tend to smooth back out somewhat.
It's interesting, too, how quickly your perspective can change. A month ago I would have cringed at the thought of playing 10/20 heads-up but now I almost prefer it over full ring, as it's easier to punish lemurs for being stupid. 'Tis frustrating, though, when people pull hit and runs, taking a big pot or two early and then immediately fleeing the table. It also sucks a bit as far as propping rules that you have to get up and leave the table when it fills, as sometimes you're stuck but have no choice but to get up and leave the table. Which actually might not be the worst thing, come to think about it.
Going to try to keep my nose to the grindstone and play as much as humanly possible, especially while I still have the safety net of the day job, as far as psychological freedom to not overly worry about producing good poke rresults, plus to pad the bankroll as much as possible for Escape from Monkeytraz on March 15.
First full week of playing mucho poker went well. Really well. The encouraging thing is that I'm not even running all that particularly well, especially the last few days. I have to say I'm pretty intrigued with the whole propping thing. It may not last, as those programs apparently come and go pretty frequently, but between the two sites I'm propping at I should be able to clear $2,000-$2,500/month in just prop payments, assuming everything maintains the status quo. Which is encouraging in and of itself, but it's also relatively low variance, as that doesn't require playing any higher than 10/20. The fact that a lot of it is heads-up and three-handed play does amp up the variance, but not so much when you're churning through tons and tons of hands, as things tend to smooth back out somewhat.
It's interesting, too, how quickly your perspective can change. A month ago I would have cringed at the thought of playing 10/20 heads-up but now I almost prefer it over full ring, as it's easier to punish lemurs for being stupid. 'Tis frustrating, though, when people pull hit and runs, taking a big pot or two early and then immediately fleeing the table. It also sucks a bit as far as propping rules that you have to get up and leave the table when it fills, as sometimes you're stuck but have no choice but to get up and leave the table. Which actually might not be the worst thing, come to think about it.
Going to try to keep my nose to the grindstone and play as much as humanly possible, especially while I still have the safety net of the day job, as far as psychological freedom to not overly worry about producing good poke rresults, plus to pad the bankroll as much as possible for Escape from Monkeytraz on March 15.
2005 Review: The Poker Sites
2005 was an odd year in many ways, as far as the poker cosmos goes. Many new sites piled into the fray, but we didn't really see much consolidation (or at least much tangible consolidation, since most acquired sites continued to run their operations as a stand-along room under new ownership).
To be honest, I'd have to say it was a disappointing year, in a larger sense, as 2005 promised to be the year that sites finally got it, improving their software and stepping up their player retention and customer service efforts, realizing that the huge growth would slow and that as the industry matured they'd be under much more pressure to satisfy and retain customers.
With a few exceptions, that didn't really happen. At all. If anything the general level of service and responsiveness regressed, with some sites (looking at Party and Empire) taking some serious steps backwards, as far as pissing off customers for no apparent reason.
I don't think it's simply a coincidence that both those companies floated IPOs in the last year on the LSE, which was another major trend for 2005. A decent amount of ink was spilled about online gaming companies beginning the process of legitimization, moving to public exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange. Which was pretty inevitable, really, and the more interesting part is that pretty much all the companies that floated shares are still sitting on the cash it generated, refraining from using the funds to acquire other properties, as many expected.
Long story short, not much changed in 2005, when it was all said and done. While many new sites popped up, they were are largely the same old book, with just a slightly different cover (literally, in many cases, as far as the majority of new sites being skins of existing sites). The online poker industry by and large still doesn't get the importance of customer service and player retention, nor are they doing much to improve interfaces that are only marginally functional to begin with. We ended the year still pretty much stuck in "Hey, dude, we're making lots of money so who cares" mode.
Because everybody loves lists, here's my take on a few of the highs and lows of 2005.
Most Improved Sites:
1) FullTilt: This one's a no-brainer, and no, it's not because 128,182 bloggers work there. Honestly, I didn't think FullTilt was going to make it at the beginning of the year, as they seemed to have entered the game too late as a stand-alone site and appeared doomed to die a slow, lingering low-traffic death.
They managed to keep attracting players, though, and actually *gasp* seem to understand that adding new features is a good thing, such as Mac clients, hand histories, Razz, and satellites for some of the earlier WSOP events that most other sites completely ignored. They also understood early on that players *gasp* like to play with well-known poker pros, and that making that fact visible might *gasp* help retain customers.
2) PokerStars: Stars continued to cater to its bread and butter, offering innovative tournament formats instead of just standing pat. They also understood that Hey, gee, maybe that whole blog thing would be a relatively inexpensive way of marketing the site, and actually put their money where their mouths were, as far as investing marketing dollars in poker blogs (something FullTilt obviously did, as well).
PokerStars also seemed to finally understand that hey, high volume players know the score, as far as what their potential rewards should be worth, and are rolling out a VIP program that actually fairly compensates players for their contributed rake. This shouldn't be a noteworthy thing, but sadly it is, since the model adopted by 90% of the sites out there is Hey, thanks for contributing $2,175 in rake last month, here's a beanie hat or a t-shirt that only fits a 5 year old child.
3) InterPoker: A bit of a stretch here, but their software client did improve slightly, and they continued to offer a monthly bonus to players. They also get props on the invisible back end, as far as offering an affiliate program that actually *gasps* is willing to eat certain costs that the vast majority of programs expect affiliates to absorb.
Least Improved Sites (aka Sites that Went to Hell):
1) Party: Enjoy that current marketshare, guys and gals, because you're doomed to lose it if you continue down the path you embarked on. Incomprehensible support and blatant jerking around of licensees and affiliates doesn't help. While adding the ability to quickly lose money at blackjack is progress of sorts, as far as your client goes, you still haven't addressed basic issues with your software that have existed for YEARS. See above kudos for Stars as far as offering a rewards program that actually *gasp* rewards players.
2) Empire: Part of this isn't your fault, as far as Party pulling the plug on your networked player base, but you're not helping matters. Rescinding player bonuses that you offered (inadvertently or not) isn't a smart move, especially when your rake is sufficient enough to offset much of the cost. Closing accounts for "bonus abuse" is particularly stupid, as you could simply flag those accounts and not offer them future promotions, if you felt they were abusing your bonuses. Slipping in token $10 bonuses before offering larger bonuses to customers is outright shadiness, as the only reason you do that is to trap people into playing more rake hands in order to clear the bonus they were actually depositing for.
3) UltimateBet: Again, this is pretty harsh, as UB really did nothing to deserve this, as their customer service is reasonable, offerings are reasonable, all that jazz. They just really didn't do anything to improve, on any front, largely simply standing pat with what they have. This is more a case of disappointment via unrealized potential, as they could be right there with the FullTilt's and PokerStars of the world, pushing the envelope and actually listening to what players want, stealing market share from Party, instead of simply rolling out the same old thing.
Best New Sites
1) None. Seriously. While some new skins appeared that offer nice bonuses (such as Bayou Poker, a PR skin), most of the truly new sites that opened were largely flops. GamesGrid seemed promising but they're just not getting any traffic. PokerShare looked cool but they got the plugged yanked on them before really getting rolling. PokerMountain never achieved more than PokerBumpIntheRoad status.
Best Promotions
1) PokerStars: Even though they completely dropped the ball on actually producing the prizes side of things, the freeroll for poker bloggers has to rank at the top of the list (and no, I'm not just biased towards poker blogs). Not only is it a player-friendly promotion, but they got a shit-ton of promotional mileage and link pop out of it, with beaucoup blogs talking about it and linking to it. Add in their ongoing reload bonuses and VIP program and this one is a no-brainer.
2) FullTilt: Actually providing unique promotions like the Bracelet Race satellites and the ability to win a piece of pros' action at the WSOP goes a long, long way. Yeah, it's getting to be a tired refrain, but actually approaching promotions and rewards from a player's point of view, as far as what appeals to them, is a wonderful thing.
3) TruePoker: This one's an odd choice, as the site is pretty low traffic and flies under the radar, but they did a promo last year where they agreed to pony up an entry into the WSOP Main Event for a player who played a kajillion hands on their site. I forget the actual details as far as number of hands, but I remember it being essentially break-even (or even slightly profitable) for the site, as far as the rake generated by the player vs. the $10K for a WSOP Main Event entry. The player posted updates on 2+2, True got tons of publicity, everyone went home happy. Moral of the story is that successful promotions (for both players and sites) don't necessarily have to be of the here's a $100 bonus now go play 1000 raked hands variety.
Best Eye Candy
1) Bodog: Game, set, and match.
2) Nine.com: Giving Bodog a run for their money.
To be honest, I'd have to say it was a disappointing year, in a larger sense, as 2005 promised to be the year that sites finally got it, improving their software and stepping up their player retention and customer service efforts, realizing that the huge growth would slow and that as the industry matured they'd be under much more pressure to satisfy and retain customers.
With a few exceptions, that didn't really happen. At all. If anything the general level of service and responsiveness regressed, with some sites (looking at Party and Empire) taking some serious steps backwards, as far as pissing off customers for no apparent reason.
I don't think it's simply a coincidence that both those companies floated IPOs in the last year on the LSE, which was another major trend for 2005. A decent amount of ink was spilled about online gaming companies beginning the process of legitimization, moving to public exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange. Which was pretty inevitable, really, and the more interesting part is that pretty much all the companies that floated shares are still sitting on the cash it generated, refraining from using the funds to acquire other properties, as many expected.
Long story short, not much changed in 2005, when it was all said and done. While many new sites popped up, they were are largely the same old book, with just a slightly different cover (literally, in many cases, as far as the majority of new sites being skins of existing sites). The online poker industry by and large still doesn't get the importance of customer service and player retention, nor are they doing much to improve interfaces that are only marginally functional to begin with. We ended the year still pretty much stuck in "Hey, dude, we're making lots of money so who cares" mode.
Because everybody loves lists, here's my take on a few of the highs and lows of 2005.
Most Improved Sites:
1) FullTilt: This one's a no-brainer, and no, it's not because 128,182 bloggers work there. Honestly, I didn't think FullTilt was going to make it at the beginning of the year, as they seemed to have entered the game too late as a stand-alone site and appeared doomed to die a slow, lingering low-traffic death.
They managed to keep attracting players, though, and actually *gasp* seem to understand that adding new features is a good thing, such as Mac clients, hand histories, Razz, and satellites for some of the earlier WSOP events that most other sites completely ignored. They also understood early on that players *gasp* like to play with well-known poker pros, and that making that fact visible might *gasp* help retain customers.
2) PokerStars: Stars continued to cater to its bread and butter, offering innovative tournament formats instead of just standing pat. They also understood that Hey, gee, maybe that whole blog thing would be a relatively inexpensive way of marketing the site, and actually put their money where their mouths were, as far as investing marketing dollars in poker blogs (something FullTilt obviously did, as well).
PokerStars also seemed to finally understand that hey, high volume players know the score, as far as what their potential rewards should be worth, and are rolling out a VIP program that actually fairly compensates players for their contributed rake. This shouldn't be a noteworthy thing, but sadly it is, since the model adopted by 90% of the sites out there is Hey, thanks for contributing $2,175 in rake last month, here's a beanie hat or a t-shirt that only fits a 5 year old child.
3) InterPoker: A bit of a stretch here, but their software client did improve slightly, and they continued to offer a monthly bonus to players. They also get props on the invisible back end, as far as offering an affiliate program that actually *gasps* is willing to eat certain costs that the vast majority of programs expect affiliates to absorb.
Least Improved Sites (aka Sites that Went to Hell):
1) Party: Enjoy that current marketshare, guys and gals, because you're doomed to lose it if you continue down the path you embarked on. Incomprehensible support and blatant jerking around of licensees and affiliates doesn't help. While adding the ability to quickly lose money at blackjack is progress of sorts, as far as your client goes, you still haven't addressed basic issues with your software that have existed for YEARS. See above kudos for Stars as far as offering a rewards program that actually *gasp* rewards players.
2) Empire: Part of this isn't your fault, as far as Party pulling the plug on your networked player base, but you're not helping matters. Rescinding player bonuses that you offered (inadvertently or not) isn't a smart move, especially when your rake is sufficient enough to offset much of the cost. Closing accounts for "bonus abuse" is particularly stupid, as you could simply flag those accounts and not offer them future promotions, if you felt they were abusing your bonuses. Slipping in token $10 bonuses before offering larger bonuses to customers is outright shadiness, as the only reason you do that is to trap people into playing more rake hands in order to clear the bonus they were actually depositing for.
3) UltimateBet: Again, this is pretty harsh, as UB really did nothing to deserve this, as their customer service is reasonable, offerings are reasonable, all that jazz. They just really didn't do anything to improve, on any front, largely simply standing pat with what they have. This is more a case of disappointment via unrealized potential, as they could be right there with the FullTilt's and PokerStars of the world, pushing the envelope and actually listening to what players want, stealing market share from Party, instead of simply rolling out the same old thing.
Best New Sites
1) None. Seriously. While some new skins appeared that offer nice bonuses (such as Bayou Poker, a PR skin), most of the truly new sites that opened were largely flops. GamesGrid seemed promising but they're just not getting any traffic. PokerShare looked cool but they got the plugged yanked on them before really getting rolling. PokerMountain never achieved more than PokerBumpIntheRoad status.
Best Promotions
1) PokerStars: Even though they completely dropped the ball on actually producing the prizes side of things, the freeroll for poker bloggers has to rank at the top of the list (and no, I'm not just biased towards poker blogs). Not only is it a player-friendly promotion, but they got a shit-ton of promotional mileage and link pop out of it, with beaucoup blogs talking about it and linking to it. Add in their ongoing reload bonuses and VIP program and this one is a no-brainer.
2) FullTilt: Actually providing unique promotions like the Bracelet Race satellites and the ability to win a piece of pros' action at the WSOP goes a long, long way. Yeah, it's getting to be a tired refrain, but actually approaching promotions and rewards from a player's point of view, as far as what appeals to them, is a wonderful thing.
3) TruePoker: This one's an odd choice, as the site is pretty low traffic and flies under the radar, but they did a promo last year where they agreed to pony up an entry into the WSOP Main Event for a player who played a kajillion hands on their site. I forget the actual details as far as number of hands, but I remember it being essentially break-even (or even slightly profitable) for the site, as far as the rake generated by the player vs. the $10K for a WSOP Main Event entry. The player posted updates on 2+2, True got tons of publicity, everyone went home happy. Moral of the story is that successful promotions (for both players and sites) don't necessarily have to be of the here's a $100 bonus now go play 1000 raked hands variety.
Best Eye Candy
1) Bodog: Game, set, and match.
2) Nine.com: Giving Bodog a run for their money.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
2006 and Beyond
2005 was a pretty damn good year, any way you slice it. ScurvyWife and I had a lot of fun in Year 1 of the whole marriage thing, poker treated me well, and all my little side ventures started adding up into something appreciable. The ony negative thing was the day job continued to spiral into suckitude, but it's dumb to complain about that, since, umm, nothing is forcing me to go there.
I eclipsed most of my monetary poker goals around June or so, so that one gets a checkmark. I'm a better player, so that gets a checkmark. I didn't really expand my expertise to other games, though, so that one I flunk. I'm marginally capable at more games, but I didn't really buckle down and focus on anything or build up and sort of expertise.
As far as 2006 poker goals, I'm probably going to keep it simple. $50,000 in poker profits and playing in at least one WSOP event (almost definitely Event #4, as it's not only Limit HE but it's also on mah burfday.) I might play more events, depending on how things roll, but that one's pretty much penciled in.
That's pretty much all I've got. It's a bit mercenary to just focus on the bottom line and only use that as a benchmark for success or failure, but if you get down to brass tacks I don't think too many people are in this poker thing for the warm, fuzzy feeling of playing good poker, with no concern for whether they win or lose money.
Happy New Year and best o' luck to everyone in 2006.
I eclipsed most of my monetary poker goals around June or so, so that one gets a checkmark. I'm a better player, so that gets a checkmark. I didn't really expand my expertise to other games, though, so that one I flunk. I'm marginally capable at more games, but I didn't really buckle down and focus on anything or build up and sort of expertise.
As far as 2006 poker goals, I'm probably going to keep it simple. $50,000 in poker profits and playing in at least one WSOP event (almost definitely Event #4, as it's not only Limit HE but it's also on mah burfday.) I might play more events, depending on how things roll, but that one's pretty much penciled in.
That's pretty much all I've got. It's a bit mercenary to just focus on the bottom line and only use that as a benchmark for success or failure, but if you get down to brass tacks I don't think too many people are in this poker thing for the warm, fuzzy feeling of playing good poker, with no concern for whether they win or lose money.
Happy New Year and best o' luck to everyone in 2006.
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