How much harder have the games gotten since Fristgate?

[PartyGirlUK]

Lots of people seem to think that possible earn rates are way down, I havent actually noticed the games getting any tougher at all, would love to hear thoughts on this.

[ALawPoker]

There probably hasn't been much effect yet because players haven't had enough time to bust themselves. If the sites do not come out with easy ways for losing players to reload, it will undoubtedly have some effect. There are still some ways to get money online, and plenty of options for players in other countries, so hopefully the effect isn't too drastic. If a new e-wallet comes out and sticks the course, I imagine it would be tough to see a huge change unless the government ups the ante (criminally charges players, etc.)

[Webster]

It all depends. The sites that Americans can play are the same - however. The fact that we are forced to play against OTHER Americans is what is making some lose more.

American sites are MUCH tighter then the outside world games. I'm not saying one country is better then the next - just that American sites ar tight aggressive while outside of American sites are much more looks and passive.

[NL Newbie]

Table selection is hard, higher % of MTTing tags it seems. Still surplus fish and bad tags, but meh.

[johnnyrocket]

ALAW nailed it, still the same cuz they havent one busto

[johnnyrocket]

if laws get even worse and more people cant deposit then yes it will become a way tougher game, hopefully it remains not too hard to deposit.

[Webster]

One thing that is happening is that while the players that are NOW playing are OK, many NEW players will not go online and find other things to do.

So fish will bust out sooner or later and leave the game and potential new fish will not even try!

[Frond]

The games don't seem too much tougher but the traffic is way for sure. That is way obvious

[Peoples Elbow]

I'm just a SS grinder, used to be when I would take my shots at NL200 and higher and get busted up, stepping back down to NL50 or NL100 was like printing money. The majority of the crowd down there was a beautiful 45/10 or even worse.

I've got a ton of datamined hands on Stars, and now if I 8-table NL50, at least half of the guys are your classic 20/15/3 cardrunner clones, light 3-betting the sh*t out of eachother preflop and playing smart position poker.

What really blows as some have already hit on here, is that there are virtually NO new fish in the game. It's been said over and over, the only way to keep a game healthy is to have a constant influx of new players - both good and bad. However, that's just not happening any more.

<u>The most disturbing part:</u>

I was in Vegas last week for vacation and played a ton of 1/2 and 2/5 NL all over the strip. I mostly just listened, but so much of the banter was:

'Well now that online poker's illegal I've been playing B&amp;M more'

'Well maybe you can still play but I don't want to get arrested for money laundering or an illegal wire transfer so I don't want to mess with it'

'Man if Neteller is illegal now and their CEO went to prison I don't want any part of it!'

'With all of these companies shutting down and people being arrested, I don't want my money to just be seized by the government!'



These are the guys that are the lifeblood of our game, and they're DONE depositing and playing online. Most of them are finishing up what money they have in their accounts and that will be it. And God... do I wish they wouldn't, cause you should see how bad they are! [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

<u>Conclusion:</u> We all know what's happening, U.S. is going to keep leaning on everybody in the online world until online poker is completely shut down for us, and then the process (which will take years) of outlining how to regulate and tax the sh*t out of it will be figured out. THEN we get all of the fish we love so much back from the beautiful party poker days of 2-3 years ago.

Yes you can still make good money online, it's just a lot harder and is pretty frustrating considering how easy it used to be! [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I just hope this spurs more B&amp;M growth in the meantime because millions are still itching to play, and a live $2/5 NL game is easier than a Stars 6-max $100 NL - Sad but true! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[KingDan]

Much higher % of regs, MSNL