benhoug 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I guess it's not a groundbreaking revelation, but after 3 or so years of upward momentum I feel like poker jumped the shark this month, and it's headed downhill from here. There's the legislation to consider, all the WSOP ****-ups (2 tourneys in a row have had major problems), and the dealer unrest. Add to that a lot of home games have dried up b/c the fish got sick of losing to the same people every week, small stakes online games becoming tougher to beat and the total saturation of the marketplace. Don't get me wrong, poker will still be around and in the public eye for a while, but I predict a downward trend. In 5 years the main event will be back down to somewhere between Moneymaker and Raymer numbers, not in the tens of thousands. Link to post Share on other sites
No_Neck 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I guess it's not a groundbreaking revelation, but after 3 or so years of upward momentum I feel like poker jumped the shark this month, and it's headed downhill from here. There's the legislation to consider, all the WSOP ****-ups (2 tourneys in a row have had major problems), and the dealer unrest. Add to that a lot of home games have dried up b/c the fish got sick of losing to the same people every week, small stakes online games becoming tougher to beat and the total saturation of the marketplace. Don't get me wrong, poker will still be around and in the public eye for a while, but I predict a downward trend. In 5 years the main event will be back down to somewhere between Moneymaker and Raymer numbers, not in the tens of thousands.Jumping the shark? you guys have some crazy saying out in the midwest. Link to post Share on other sites
benhoug 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 Jumping the shark? you guys have some crazy saying out in the midwest.It's a Fonzi reference from Happy Days. I don't think it's particularly midwestern, just old.http://www.jumptheshark.com/ Link to post Share on other sites
Scott3705 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Tons of people are going to disagree with you, but I tend to agree. We're not going back to pre-Varkoni or anything like that, but we're going to see a downward trend in players, interest, TV endorsements, etc. Link to post Share on other sites
Jayvis 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 "Jump The Shark" jumped the shark a long time ago. Although the owner of jumptheshark.com recently sold the site to TV Guide for a million+plus. The guy that sold it is a regular on the Howard Stern Show.But anyways, this argument has been brought up time and time again. The only way to know how poker will go is to just wait. Link to post Share on other sites
Mercury69 3 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Poker is just like the stock market. There will be surges and drop offs, plateaus, valleys and peaks. Ups and downs. How shall I say...ins and outs.Something like it, yes? Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtydutch 9 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 The expression “jump the shark” had jumped the shark. It did do years ago when ever asshole who gets VH1 decided it would be clever to use it. Link to post Share on other sites
WolvenASE 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I used to agree completely, but when Mike Matusow was still doing The Circuit, Josh Arieh came on, and when asked if Poker was going back down, Josh said something that changed the way I had thought about it."People turn 21 every day." Link to post Share on other sites
epistemic 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 It's really interesting how people have these "conceptions" of things, when they're talking about a million disparate instances of some non-homogenous thing we call the "poker world," which in reality is made up of a game that is simply being played more than it was five years ago.Thanks for the revelation. Link to post Share on other sites
No_Neck 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I used to agree completely, but when Mike Matusow was still doing The Circuit, Josh Arieh came on, and when asked if Poker was going back down, Josh said something that changed the way I had thought about it."People turn 21 every day."There are people out there that think they to can win a poker tournament, and turn 10k into 7 million, never underestimate the publics ability desire to get money for no work. Link to post Share on other sites
Stealth Beagle 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I used to agree completely, but when Mike Matusow was still doing The Circuit, Josh Arieh came on, and when asked if Poker was going back down, Josh said something that changed the way I had thought about it."People turn 21 every day."That is a great point. This is the first real generation of teenagers that have had such a huge exposure to poker before they could legally even play and that must be breeding a new batch of up and coming poker superstar wannabes. Put it this way: I'm not that old (30's) and although I have played poker since I was a kid, in college I still had to explain to people exactly what this weird game called "Texas Hold 'Em" was all about.Poker isn't going anywhere. People said it had peaked last year, and the year before that. Harrah's might eventually get their act together, run the WSOP the right way, and make it more popular than ever. Just wait until a few years down the road when they own that entire block on the east side of the strip and refurbish old places like the Flamingo and the IP--the WSOP will become a multi-site event even bigger than what we have now. Link to post Share on other sites
MasterLJ 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 All that is old becomes new again.Fall out and lose your chance at a poker resurgence 10 years from now.I will continue to play the stakes I can beat from here on out. Link to post Share on other sites
mtdesmoines 2 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Hmmm. World population growing ... equals: need for clothing growing need for housing growing need for food growing need for medicine growing need for entertainment growing need for poker growing Link to post Share on other sites
RodReynolds 94 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 The expression “jump the shark” had jumped the shark. It did do years ago when ever asshole who gets VH1 decided it would be clever to use it.Pointing out that the expression "jump the shark" jumped the shark jumped the shark two posts before yours.RodReynolds, you're pretty clever. Link to post Share on other sites
benhoug 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 The WSOP schedule is so terrible this year that the value of these bracelets has been watered down so much the "prestige" just isn't quite there. Aside from that, I'm on the phones right now with the people at Harrah's and if that doesn't go well my next call is Nevada Gaming Commision. I'll also be using my syndicated newspaper column to let the world know how Harrah's is destroying the WSOP.DN certainly doesn't think things are going in the right direction... Link to post Share on other sites
anselm 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 From everything I've read and heard, there are thousands of kids playing poker... 7-year-olds gambling for toys (wasn't this in the latest Bluff? can't remember). Thousands of pimply thirteen-year-old boys in their parents basement trying to bluff with T2o. You're looking at another decade before these children hit the sites and casinos and there's a pretty good chance they're going to bring a lot of expendable income with them. Link to post Share on other sites
DB10-2 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 i've been saying this around L.A. for the past few months, and nobody here agrees with me. i still think it's true, though. even if some totally random donk wins this year's main event, which is virtually guaranteed, i just don't think there are going to be that many more people willing to lose $25-$10,000 learning poker. i started about a year and a half ago and am lucky to be mathematically inclined, observant, and good at reading people. i've made a few grand playing predominantly home games since i started, and already i've seen a downturn in the number of new people who want to start or continue playing. Link to post Share on other sites
nutzbuster 7 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Poker ain't goin' NO WHERE. Link to post Share on other sites
DB10-2 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 this is fallacy. i played with GI joes when i was 7. by 17 i had given them up. Link to post Share on other sites
jarrodhenry 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I don't think poker has jumped the shark.I think what we knew of poker is dead. I think that the new poker will be flashier, ritzier, more .. publicized. People have discovered they can make a LOT of money off poker.. and not just playing it, but hosting it.. The WSOP is a huge money maker for Harrahs, because Donk's scrape together $10000 or put it on a Credit Card to play in it. Other casinos will realize the same thing.Who cares how many people play in it.. each additional player is $10,000. Poker's not jumped the shark. But the day of thoughtful poker play gauranteeing you'll go far might be gone. People (in general, not poker players) love the drama that is created on TV when a 2-9 beats big slick and some heavy hitter goes down. That's the type of thing this new "Commercial Poker" will focus on. Link to post Share on other sites
WolvenASE 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 To make a follow up of my last post, I know that poker is -really- big in high schools and grade schools. My little brother said he sees kids playing in the library, in the hallway, on the lunch tables, and almost every area he goes to. So obviously this wave will filter out the hardcore players with the big dreams from the bandwagon riders. Once they run their race, the new generation of teenagers will see them and say "Oh hey, that guy made $8 million playing poker, that sounds so easy, I think I'mma do it!". I think that, if anything, the overall playerbase will lose just a very small amount of players as people realize they're losing more money than they are winning, but poker will always, always have the ability to carry out a large following now that it's been so exposed, and the quick thrill of getting rich quick will always excite new people to try the game. Link to post Share on other sites
XX44466XX 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US. Link to post Share on other sites
DudeSurprise 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Poker ain't goin' NO WHERE. Bonesaw is READY! Link to post Share on other sites
Whatever 1 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Poker isn't going anywhere. People said it had peaked last year, and the year before that.Exactly. I see more people online than ever before. The sites are sending many more people to the main event this year than they did the year before. There's tons of 19 year-olds playing in the off shore WPT events. This is only the 1st wave. Link to post Share on other sites
Lee2k 0 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 its probably hit its peak but i dont see it as a fad, It'll be around forever Link to post Share on other sites
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