Losing low limit players online: who are they?

Xellos · #1 01-31-2006, 03:04 AM

For some reason I think about this all the time. I just can't put my finger on what type of people play low limits online with a blatantly awful and losing game. I personally don't get what kind of enjoyment someone could get with sitting down with $50 or something and just throwing it away when they could get a video game that lasts much longer or a lot of delicious turkey sandwiches. This is partially due to me being obsessive with everything I do and forcing myself to do it as well as I possibly can.

Does anyone here have any insight as to what groups generally compose the player base of losers in small stakes online? 12 year olds that used parent's credit card? College kids that saw Moneymaker win WSOP? Fat balding 30 year olds that haven't been outside in a month? High school kids that won some freeroll? Retarded people? Dutch hookers?

The only person I knew that was a big loser in small games online was the same age as me (20), but his game was just a crappy weak-tight one. I'm more interested in who the 75/50/5 maniacs and the 90/4/.1 loose passives are.

Biggle10 · #2 01-31-2006, 03:19 AM

My friend who falls into the 90/4/.1 category - "There's no thrill or excitement in folding all the time. That's not fun."

MathEconomist · #3 01-31-2006, 03:33 AM

Most of them are people for whom these amounts of money aren't terribly meaningful. They may or may not know that they're really losing players (as opposed to just unlucky), but they don't understand how fundamentally flawed their play is. Several I've met talk about tons of individual hands as though if they'd just called down that one guy who was "probably bluffing" (as if there's actually much bluffing at these limits) or folded that hand just one street earlier, etc and of course there's always the bad beats then they'd be winners. So basically, they're playing for entertainment because they find the game fun and exciting and they think they can win (this is reinforced by the frequent large winning sessions these types of players experience) but they don't realize just how fundamentally bad they are.

And some of them really don't care about the money at all and are just blowing off steam. It's true you could buy a video game for 50 bucks, but on the other hand, it's just a night out for a lot of people. And people don't really value their money like that anyway.

tom10167 · #4 01-31-2006, 03:57 AM

It's not them I don't understand, it's the people at 10-20, 20-40, and............ 75-150 that just BLOWS MY MIND.

trumpman84 · #5 01-31-2006, 03:59 AM

I'm willing to bet 1/2 of losing players think they are winning players on a bad run, or they make up their losses in bonuses therefore think they are winning players. The other 1/2 are bad and don't really care or they play for entertainment.

CMonkey · #6 01-31-2006, 04:16 AM

Others have basically hit the nail on the head. For a number of people, the fun in gambling is measured in the actual playing with the prospect of winning a pot, not in BB/hr. Calling a preflop raise with T7o to hit a five-outer on the river and take down a pot is exciting and fun. Raising like a maniac and making the game crazy is fun. Mucking 75% - 80% of your hands without seeing a flop for hours on end is not much fun in itself.

For some people, the joy of merely playing, of being able simply to participate, is worth the $50 , $100, or what have you.

Put another way, say you were suddenly blessed with the gift of good starting cards. In addition to your normal distribution of good hands, you received rather marginal starting cards instead of the hands that would normally go straight into the muck (instead of 72o, you might get A8o, for instance). You could magically see most flops without substantially altering your win rate. Would you want to be in every hand or would you still only play your normal starting hands?

RiKDayToN · #7 01-31-2006, 04:58 AM

FWIW, I have a roomate that lossed hundreds online. He is a delusional, alien looking midget that thinks he's a "9" that can get any girl. Thinks he is a genious but failed business algebra. Of course blames (insert online poker site here)/bad beats for his losses, and still thinks he can play w/ anyone in the world. I am sure this is an extreme of typical low limit donk, but I bet a good number of them are retarded college kids.

The Truth · #8 01-31-2006, 06:23 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I'm willing to bet 1/2 of losing players think they are winning players on a bad run, or they make up their losses in bonuses therefore think they are winning players. The other 1/2 are bad and don't really care or they play for entertainment.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is higher than 1/2

hencole · #9 01-31-2006, 07:03 AM

My mates who are generally loosing low stakes online players do it for a number of reasons:

They enjoy the game (therefore they enjoy playing lots of pots)
To blow off steam
To gamble (they gamble on other things so poker is no different)
They put together a nice run and think they are better than they are
They look at the short term (winning a big pot is more important than winning in the long term)

I don't really understand though given the reasons they play that they have no interest in playing better. They play a few times a week both online and live and will loose money in the long term (not huge amounts as they aren't terrible). Given the amount of time they spend playing I try to educate them to play better. I tell them to have a read of a couple of books, think about pot odds more than they do, reavluate why they are raising etc and to have a look at 2+2. None of them take this advice. We'll be playing a home game and a hand will come up. Afterwards in a non-patronising manner I will go over the hand with them asking them their thought process and how I think they could improve their play in that situation. They don't want to know and seem almost convinced I'nm trying to decieve them in how to play. Usually I get responses like 'It just felt like the right thing to do'. I guess the main thing is that they look to the short term and don't have the patience to find out that poker is potentially much more fun and sattisfying if you win lots of money.

DrVanNostrin · #10 01-31-2006, 08:33 AM

[ QUOTE ]
FWIW, I have a roomate that lossed hundreds online. He is a delusional, alien looking midget that thinks he's a "9" that can get any girl. Thinks he is a genious but failed business algebra. Of course blames (insert online poker site here)/bad beats for his losses, and still thinks he can play w/ anyone in the world. I am sure this is an extreme of typical low limit donk, but I bet a good number of them are retarded college kids.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think that's my old roommate. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

FWIW, I always wondered the same thing; then I went to a casino. Go to a casino and you'll have your answer.