Does Poker Need An Image Change?

Happy New Year everyone hope you all had great celebrations. 2012 is here and omg... isn't it freaking weird? Back in 1999 I thought everyone would be having butler robots and flying cars or something by now. Wait... I think I might have been highly influenced by something to think this way?!

So I've noticed on Pokerstars that they have a campaign named "We Are Poker". Check out the advert;

Well to some of us this might seem like a bit of a random campaign, but it really does seem like the timing of this is quite significant. Poker has had a bat rep in 2011. Black Friday on April 15 causing online poker to be banned in USA as the government swooped in unannounced and decided to make a statement that they will fight against online gambling. Of course, from our points of view, it seemed like an overly aggressive move, as all big online poker companies would have complied anyways.

The scandals of Full Tilt Poker emerged, as players credits were not banked, and we all realised what a badly run company it was. This did not help the cause. Run by not just poker players, but gamblers who could loan money as they pleased and sell rakeback Red Pro Accounts.

The truth is that because the internet was such a new thing, there had been no regulations in place to cover the scenario of online gamblnig. It did not exist before. On top of that, governments did not even think that it would become as big as it has, and didn't think it would be worthwhile for the tax dollars to contribute.

However, since Moneymaker's WSOP win in 2003 the people who play poker has changed. From smartly dressed casino gambler, its now the average Joe, and now moreso online mathematical [young] geniuses who essentially are gamers playing this "video game" for money. But this is not a worldwide image.And the old stereotype of a poker player being no different to a roulette or craps player is still in the forefront of most people's minds who have not seen any poker recently.

Unfortunately, most of those people with the lack of understanding about online poker and just what the current scene in poker is in general... are people in power. And now, regulations are blindly being put in all around the world, regardless of real understanding of the subject. So Pokerstars' campaign "We Are Poker" is something to hopefully change that. I'm not saying that the ads or the advertising campaign itself is good/bad/effective etc... still to early to say... but its *something*...

The Community

I hate to always harp on about Starcraft/Online Poker comparisons, but it truly is a contrast between what I see as 2012 the booming year of Starcraft (and eSports) and the opposite for Poker.

One thing I notice is the complete positivity and openness to the improvement of everyone whatever skill level. On top of that there are fantastic people who are influential in the community, who all pretty much started out without money/fame on the mind... but for the pure love of what they're interested in. These people, who most are casters, are involved in the big tournaments, the changes to the scene, and are in constant feedback with the community. It seems everyone is on the same page for wanting to improve the scene and make it bigger and better.

Now lets look at the poker comparison. Who are these influential people? The Poker Pros? Not really... They're just... well famous? Do they add anything into the community from their own free will? Or are they paid by poker sites to promote them or have some other money ulterior motive?

Poker is a very "selfish" game in that we think about no.1 first. Us. Me. Money for me. You have to pay to learn... asking questions on 2p2 means you have to deal with many many people who aren't good players and berate lack of knowledge. Day9 uses the the positive slogan of "Be a better gamer"... but we don't see anything like "Be a better poker player" anywhere, or any kinda show like his for our community. 

Maybe the money has gone to our heads. Bad players are not learning newbies or maybe the less serious casual players, but labelled as FISH, the ATM machines for us. Maybe the money has ruined the community for we are simply people who enjoy a game for what it is... a game and that's what it should be. In the Starcraft community its clear that they like the game and that is the one clear motivation for why they play. In poker we are all dreamers... thinking of the glitz and the glam, the bundles of cash, the sponsorship, the "respect" from the community (judged by your ROI%)... it cant be healthy for us as normal people, it cant be good for the community.

I can see that this is a little blast into the poker scene. It may be that I could be wrong. But this is just what I see and feel. Is our community a welcoming community to all new players regardless of skill level? Are we just HAVING FUN? These are questions that I feel like we need to ask ourselves. The new players coming in are declining... we cant just blame Black Friday. This is something where we can conclude, as we look at winnings of each previous year going up (ironically my hypercritical way of judging the traffic of new players). Where does this leave is now... and the future? Only time will tell...

I just hope that we all remember, that this is a game that we should play because its FUN. We should encourage others to play it, because its FUN. We shouldn't berate other players because they are having FUN. For gods sake stop being so damn elitist (even if its valid) and encourage people to play. We need them... or our favourite card game will slowly die out from our interest.