2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now

nickw

I came here in 2007 and have played on and off since, I won't be playing any more as the game simply isn't fun these days. I only play tournaments where chucking 54 suited from the blind is considered great play, you feel you have to call and every time it destroys your stack, it used to be back in the day with 5 bb's you could chuck anything that position but now the games a joke and effectively bingo, there is no point playing carefully and patiently at all. I play here occasionally as I'm aware that there are a lot of bad players here but it seems there is just no skill factor in the game any more and it is more about luck than any thing else. Don't get me started on variance either because thats just a bs way of justifying losing money. I'm enjoying Skys sport bet offers so will use Sky gaming for that but its bye bye poker for me, no fun and no point.

hhyftrftdr

Ok. Take care.

nickw

In Response to Re: 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

Ok. Take care.
Posted by hhyftrftdr

Cheers, sorry for the rant. To make my point clear anyway the guy chucked 54 from the small blind, fair enough  5 bb's or whatever but he had a decent stack, just get sick of the same thing every game after playing patiently- like I say you feel obligated to call every time. I think what decided me to quit was some random in the chat box saying 'John' (not his real name) is a great player, enoughs enough. I will always stand up for peoples right to play poker but for me these days the fun has gone right out of the game and its really a very boring way to lose money.

FCHD

Comes from someone after calling an all in shove from GaryQQQ blind-on-blind with less than 10BB and very likely to have live cards against a call from the BB. Just a bad loser.

MP33

In general poker has changed since 2007 but thats not exclusive to Sky. Can,t see your point. Just seems your saying - your sick of playing bad players - which doesn,t make sense to me ( and probably most ppl )

gerardirl

Sorry you feel like  that nick. I rarely play tournaments cause as you know you not only have to play well but you also need alot of luck. Have you tried playing dyms? I presume your a holdem player so I would recommend you try a few holdem dyms and see how you get on?

Ger

Phantom66

Cant really believe one hand is making you give up on poker?

If you are a bit disillusioned but know it can be enjoyable I would suggest taking a bit of time away from the tables then try a new game and set yourself a challenge.

Maybe give 6max a try - they work for me - more play than a DYM and you get rewarded for 1st which is always a better buzz than folding into 3rd place for a DYM.

salazar

MTTs on sky are mostly bounty hunters and people will play them loose, especially if they can take a head prize. If I have a big stack and losing won't hurt me too much, then I'll call an all-in with just about anything. If I have two live cards then I'm very happy. It may be that people aren't playing badly but that you aren't adapting to the game that's being played.

Still, if you aren't enjoying the game then you should stop playing. No one is forced to play, we play because we enjoy it and to hopefully win a little money. If you are doing neither then maybe a break is the best thing. I took one for a few months and I think it was the best thing for me.

GaryQQQ

Just seen this. I was the villain in that hand, didn't have the chatbox open.

In a Speed tournament with 9BB effective stacks and a level increase imminent it was a totally standard blind vs blind shove. I stand by my play 100%. Am I a bad player? Check out my results and decide for yourself.

If you don't believe me Nick tell me what your calling range is and I'll go through the maths.

Good luck to you whatever you decide to do.

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
GaryQQQ	Small blind		200.00	200.00	3482.50
nickw	Big blind		400.00	600.00	9390.00
	Your hole cards	5 4
FCHD	Fold
richpark06	Fold
huggi	Fold
mogster3	Fold
GaryQQQ	All-in		3482.50	4082.50	0.00
nickw	Call		3282.50	7365.00	6107.50
GaryQQQ	Show	5 4
nickw	Show	10 J
Flop
		A Q 2
Turn
		9
River
		5
GaryQQQ	Win	Pair of 5s	7365.00		7365.00

salazar

Looks pretty standard to me Gary. Blind on blind, less than 10 big blinds, ship it in. You don't need a good hand to push, you need one to call

FCHD

Exactly what I was trying to tell the original poster in the chat box, He wouldn't have it though.

jonjo75

This makes me laugh. We have someone down my local casino exactly the same who says how can you go allin with that? When you try explaining you only have 10 bigs and you still have just enough to get a fold he goes blank and just can not get it.
To him and people like the OP only the cards you are holding are important so there is no point trying to explain because they wont understand.

Leeroy546

I guess the point to be made is that it's far better to play against bad players than good players. If you are playing against an 'agg fish' you just need to tighten up your game and wait for the big hand to double through with. Of course in an MTT you have to get some action at some point and the nature of the game means that you have to take more risks, but if you don't like it stick to cash tables, identify the weaker players, and wait for the big hands to play with. It's a far easier strategy than playing against strong opponents.

Leeroy546

Plus I'm not sure why you called that shove with TJ off.

Slykllist

In Response to 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

I came here in 2007 and have played on and off since, I won't be playing any more as the game simply isn't fun these days. I only play tournaments where chucking 54 suited from the blind is considered great play, you feel you have to call and every time it destroys your stack, it used to be back in the day with 5 bb's you could chuck anything that position but now the games a joke and effectively bingo, there is no point playing carefully and patiently at all. I play here occasionally as I'm aware that there are a lot of bad players here but it seems there is just no skill factor in the game any more and it is more about luck than any thing else. Don't get me started on variance either because thats just a bs way of justifying losing money. I'm enjoying Skys sport bet offers so will use Sky gaming for that but its bye bye poker for me, no fun and no point.
Posted by nickw

Do you realise how ridiculous this sounds?  You're right it's not variance, if you're consistently losing to these bad players, maybe your game needs some improvement?  

unknown_username

In Response to Re: 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

Plus I'm not sure why you called that shove with TJ off.
Posted by Leeroy546

pretty much this

hhyftrftdr

Is that the hand that has sent OP off the rails?! 

Not shipping 54s there would be bad IMO. We can just let J10 go as well. 

Any tournament player worth their salt shoves blind on blind in this spot. Apart from Ivan, who might min raise fold.

DoubleAAA

Sorry to say but the call is not good unless you know Gary is shipping at least 70% of hands (did you know?) .  Absolutely nothing wrong with Garry's play here.

Matt237

Yeah agree with others, Shove is fine, The call isn't. Good luck though.

unknown_username

play blackjack it,ll be easier for you when you lose.seriously if you,re not enjoying it pack it in,the hand above is standard play

Tikay10

In Response to 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

I came here in 2007 and have played on and off since, I won't be playing any more as the game simply isn't fun these days. I only play tournaments where chucking 54 suited from the blind is considered great play, you feel you have to call and every time it destroys your stack, it used to be back in the day with 5 bb's you could chuck anything that position but now the games a joke and effectively bingo, there is no point playing carefully and patiently at all. I play here occasionally as I'm aware that there are a lot of bad players here but it seems there is just no skill factor in the game any more and it is more about luck than any thing else. Don't get me started on variance either because thats just a bs way of justifying losing money. I'm enjoying Skys sport bet offers so will use Sky gaming for that but its bye bye poker for me, no fun and no point.
Posted by nickw

Hi Nick,

Sorry to hear that.

MTT's can be brutal, with high variance. Have you considered other formats? Cash, DYM's? The variance in these is FAR less.

As to the play (5-4), & given the stack sizes, the play of your Opponent was 100% correct. This is a fact, which can be justified by the maths, not an opinion.
 
We must differentiate between what we can CALL with, & what we can BET with. They are VERY different things.

If you & 5-4 man (GaryQQQ, a very accomplished player) were to swap seats, you'd be correct to shove with J-10, & he'd be correct to fold the 5-4.

There is a world of diffference between those two situations.
 
I hope you soon feel better about the game, wherever you decide to play it.      

GCDF

I think the TJ call is fine, if you believe the SB was at it, which he was, good call sir. 

He has to shove with his stack size. Standard.

So you didnt win this paticular hand, thats poker.

Ice_Tiger

In Response to Re: 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

Just seen this. I was the villain in that hand, didn't have the chatbox open. In a Speed tournament with 9BB effective stacks and a level increase imminent it was a totally standard blind vs blind shove. I stand by my play 100%. Am I a bad player? Check out my results and decide for yourself. If you don't believe me Nick tell me what your calling range is and I'll go through the maths. Good luck to you whatever you decide to do. Player Action Cards Amount Pot Balance GaryQQQ Small blind   200.00 200.00 3482.50 nickw Big blind   400.00 600.00 9390.00   Your hole cards 5 4       FCHD Fold         richpark06 Fold         huggi Fold         mogster3 Fold         GaryQQQ All-in   3482.50 4082.50 0.00 nickw Call   3282.50 7365.00 6107.50 GaryQQQ Show 5 4       nickw Show 10 J       Flop     A Q 2       Turn     9       River     5       GaryQQQ Win Pair of 5s 7365.00   7365.00
Posted by GaryQQQ

The shove here is standard. You have good equity.

The call is a fairly poor call though.

You can usually spot the poor players. They bleat in the chat box & often threaten to leave the site.

DOHHHHHHH

In Response to Re: 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

I think the TJ call is fine, if you believe the SB was at it, which he was, good call sir.  He has to shove with his stack size. Standard. So you didnt win this paticular hand, thats poker.
Posted by GCDF

+1. It might be a fold against a lot of players but id we have recognised our opponent is competent (from the tone of the post, we probably haven't) then I think we're very close to getting the right price to call, factor in the dreaded 'bounty equity' and I think we're just about there.

Certainly not far off even if it's a marginal fold (icm bla bla)

Looks like good poker all round to me

NoseyBonk

In Response to 2007-2014 enjoyed the poker but the games not fun now:

I came here in 2007 and have played on and off since, I won't be playing any more as the game simply isn't fun these days. I only play tournaments where chucking 54 suited from the blind is considered great play, you feel you have to call and every time it destroys your stack, it used to be back in the day with 5 bb's you could chuck anything that position but now the games a joke and effectively bingo, there is no point playing carefully and patiently at all. I play here occasionally as I'm aware that there are a lot of bad players here but it seems there is just no skill factor in the game any more and it is more about luck than any thing else. Don't get me started on variance either because thats just a bs way of justifying losing money. I'm enjoying Skys sport bet offers so will use Sky gaming for that but its bye bye poker for me, no fun and no point.
Posted by nickw

Hi Nick,

It isn't, because variance (or LUCK as it's called outside of poker) is either good OR bad, so it can also earn you money.

Slipwater

Nah.

Standard shove.

...but, you seriously call off 40% of your stack with J10 off and winge about it? 

You still have twenty-five bigs behind. What are you doing?

Try not to let the bounty dazzle you.

Enut

Sorry to see that you are unhappy with how this hand ran out but if you have been playing for 7 years and have tried to improve your game during that time then you must be able to see that he can jam with ANY 2 cards in that position and is probably right to do so. Your call with J 10 is far more debatable than his jam, in my humble opinion.

In this case however you were ahead when all the chips went in but then the poker gods (i.e variance) dictated that you did not win that hand. If you played that hand over and over you would end up winning. That is all we are trying to do with poker, get our money in good more often than not and get the maximum we can when we are favorite to win a hand.

If you feel like you should take a break then do so. It's amazing what a few days/weeks away can do for your enjoyment of the game. Enjoy whatever you decide to do.

p.s. I took a month away from the game some time ago. In my first tournament back I was knocked out of the main event on Sky when my QUADS were beaten by better quads, which was especially ironic as I said to myself 'he's going to have better quads here' . What did I do? I laughed. It happens.