Friday, May 27, 2005

Online poker is a rattlesnake

Interesting article in Sports Illustrated on online poker in Thursday's issue, looking at how many of us (particular the college kids) win and lose large sums of money at our computers. I had one of those crazy experiences last night that falls right in with this issue. I had just taken a $300 beating at the local $5-$10 game, suffering drawout after drawout from the many donks in Tuscaloosa, when I decided to log on to Noble Poker at 1 a.m. this morning. I put my $500 bankroll on the site into a short handed $10-$20 game and proceeded to get down to my last dollars, winning an all-in at about 2:30 a.m. Ninety minutes later I had $1,200.

Now, I'm not one to complain about a $700 session win, but it's a bit scary to think how quick and easy it was to go from $500 to $0 to $1,200. As I said to a co-worker this morning, "That goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week." There are a ton of players in these games that have no business, either financially or experience wise, participating. It's nice to turn a big profit for yourself, but you have to wonder how many lives are being ruined in the process.

5 comments:

Heafy said...

"It's nice to turn a big profit for yourself, but you have to wonder how many lives are being ruined in the process."
I have thought of this before, and the chance that I may be taking someones rent money at some stage, but I justify it like this:
If you go out to a bar and get madly drunk and then try to drive home and have an accident on the way home, I say it is your fault and not the bar's. Every body must take responsibility for their own actions. When I take money to the table, I have to be able to afford to loose every last cent of it, otherwise I don't play.

TuscaloosaJohnny said...

I certainly don't disagree with you heafy, but I also take into consideration the impulsive nature of people, including myself. It's easy to go brain dead and blow a bunch of money in a short period online. Plus, there are some instances in society where people are not blamed for their own mistakes, i.e. guilty of murder by reason of insanity. Agree or not, it is what it is.

Anonymous said...

money can go fast in 10/20 limit and faster in no limit. after saying that i must say that i don't play for high stakes online. i do sometimes at casinos where i know who im playing against. online you dont know for sure if 2 of the people at the table isn't the same person or two friends playing side by side on two computers. i play at noble also but only low limits. im terrible at no limit but do ok in no limit tournaments.

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Home Site said...

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The internet is my world on it more then I watch TV also the best place to get into a card game, but I think it's best played with friends at home ...I heard on the news the US government want to crack down on online gaming,give me a break will you ....I have created a site free poker .Hey ! washington stay away for my internet !! Got to go on to the rest of the internet later...