Everything I’ve been seeing and reading about public live poker games over the last few years has been pretty sad to see.
The reality is, poaching players from public games has been going on forever. In fact, that’s how most private games get started. JRB used to poach players from Aria to play in his game in Ivey’s Room, and Allen Keating used to do the same thing at Bellagio and Aria. It just is what it is when casinos allow these private games to exist.
Even before private games were widely recognized or openly allowed in casinos, we were basically doing the same thing. We’d get a group together, change the blinds to something different from the other games running, tip the floor, and all show up at the same time with a seat saved for the VIP.
A perfect example was the “Willy Game” at the Wynn. Another was the “Zach Game” that used to run at the Wynn and Venetian, although I never played in that one. Zach was originally poached from a 5/10 game at Aria that eventually turned into a 10/20.
I really think the only way to combat this is to stop allowing private games in casinos altogether and don’t allow the floor to accept tips over $5.
The ironic part is that private games originally became popular because of how miserable some public games had become. You had players trying to squeeze out every possible edge, barely saying a word, and making it painfully obvious they were only there to extract money without contributing anything to the game. Naturally, recreational players started looking for somewhere else to play.
I could be wrong, but I feel like most professional players understand by now that making the game enjoyable is part of being a winning player. If nobody wants to play with you, that directly affects your win rate.
So just ban private games in casinos and make public games great again.
I also think home games will eventually become less appealing as players become more aware of just how many ways there are to cheat these days, not to mention the credit risks involved.
It probably takes a few years for everything to sort itself out organically, and there will definitely be some growing pains. But in the long run, I think the entire live poker economy would be much healthier because of it.
If you’re wondering what it’s like in Vegas nowadays, when it comes to public games bigger than a $5/$10NL game.. Here’s a story of what happened last night.
After seeing a small wait list forming, I tried to start a public $10/$20NL game at the Wynn.