poker, any fans?

[Diff-chan]

Uh no. Apparently you don't realize that a tourny isn't a "big game" and cash games can be just as monetarily rewarding. Why do you feel the need to be such an asshole when you have absolutely no place in this thread? Why shit on it if you have nothing to add?

01. I enjoy poker.
02. Youre a tool.
03. The Colts suck and Manning is gonna choke late in the year, holla!

There's a million variations you can play and they're all very simple. But being able to read your opponent, use probability to your advantage, figure out the best possible hand at the given moment and compare it to yours, bluff, read bluffs, use your history for the night to your advantage, do something you normally don't do to keep your opponents guessing on just what your play style is, learn the tendencies for each game (like in anaconda flushes are common) etc. There's so much strategy, it's a total blast.

if youre a brainy type, study game theory. You can learn a lot about poker strategies from it. Obviously you dont need to know anything about GT to be good (I doubt many people on WSOP know what a Nash Equilibrium is) but it cant hurt.

[Mman]

The harder I think about poker, the worse I do. Game theory is not something that I think would help me (but it is interesting).

[StriderKyo]

It's sick. I never played poker before this year, then a friend got me into it and now I might play 2-3 times a week - $20-40 on weeknights, maybe as much as $100 on weekends. It's all my friends want to do anymore. My limit game is terrible, but I'm up overall in no limit, which is what I stick to most of the time. My biggest night was $500 (all figures Canadian, mind you). I'm playing in a 2 table tourney this weekend; 1st prize is $800.

A couple of friends of mine are insane enough to do this for a living. My friend Gary's actually managed to pay for a condo in two years - he plays three 30/60 tables at a time online, & spends like 12 hours at a go in casinos. He's actually played a bunch of well known pros - I met Daniel Negreanu through him, who's from Toronto, and his best story is when he actually bluffed a few hands out of Johnny Chan. If my game's improved enough (and I've got the cash), I want to try hitting Vegas with him some time next year.

[warnpro]

Believe it or not, one year ago I did not even know how to play Texas Hold'em and now it is my primary source of income, has been for the past 6 months or so.

I play online, maybe about 30 hours a week. The downside is, I am SO SO sick of poker from playing so much, but it is so profitable that I put in my hours every week online, just to make money.
I multi table No Limit games ($200 buy in) and am amazed by how much you can make. I've been average about $30 an hour over the past few months.

I'm not a great player, it's just right now the current climate is such that there are so many awful players who have no idea what they are doing, some of them practically give me their money.

Tournaments are fun, and so is playing live, but online poker has become mind numbingly boring, I just see it as a way to make money.

[lithium]

I've never played online. It seems like a huge chunk of the game would be missing. I'm pretty shy and understated, as my friends well know, so I tend to very subtly try to look just a little nervous or what not to influence my opponents, which usually works. That's the best part of it IMO.

[Burky]

Online would suck, as a huge part of it is about bluffing, and besides it's a social event.
It would be like going out drinking with your friends, but just going to a chat room instead at your own homes with a beer on the table.
Pointless really.

[Yoshi]

So in other words, you choke when the big game comes around.

Fitting that youre a Colts fan.

As a tribute...

LAWWWL

[Atlas]

My personal favourite is 7 car draw.
During the hurricane that is all my family did - play penny poker.

[Doc Holliday]

It would be like going out drinking with your friends, but just going to a chat room instead at your own homes with a beer on the table.
Pointless really.

Wait... isn't that TNL's mission statement?

[Timber]

I'd never heard of Texas Hold'em until early this summer when my bro started watching it on TV every day. At first I thought it didn't look fun and kinda ignored it. Then he got me started on PartyPoker.com and got me to join in on a few 10 man tournaments with his friends. Now I'm hooked. I suck when I'm playing online for the most part, haven't lost a ton but haven't turned a profit either. But I've been doing great at live games, winning about 3/4's of the games I get into. I wish I knew more people who played so I could play more often. I've heard that there are charity games around here with top prizes at around $3,000 so I'm gonna check that out here soon.

And how many people on here play on PartyPoker.com? A TNL tournament would be cool. We did a few play money ones with people from Neomega and it was cool but I'd much rather play for real.