Game changer.b

ALTiltYou

Hi Neil. 

I've been a fan of yours since I first started playing poker for real money about 6-7 years ago. You, John duthie, Vicky crown and Robert romenanello were the first British poker players I had heard of. 

My question is how do you think the game has changed and do you think it come to the advantage of (no offence intended) of the younger generation for MTTS. 

What I am trying to say is, you, John duthie, Phil Ivey used to dominate tournaments. Then it went to the likes of jake Cody, Matt Perry, JP. Now it's sick younger guys like fedor and Phillip gruisem that are dominating. Do you think it's the game changing that has impacted the age range that dominates or just a coincidence? 

NChanning

 Thanks for those kind words.

 The game has definitely changed a lot over the last 20 years. I think you can put the changes down to "Rounders", in the UK Late Night Poker and in the States a massive spike when the WPT became a regular thing on the Travel Channel, Moneymaker winning the WSOP main event in 2003 after playing an online satellite and turning $50 into $2m, the rise of the EPT and TV poker 6-max events being on TV in the UK regularly, Black Friday and the US leaving the market, the whole Full Tilt debacle and the rise of Stars...I definitely missed a few things out there but I do think if you track the numbers of people playing they will spike and fall due to those things. When the player numbers jump upwards generally the game is easier as there are less pros relative to the number of recreationals that are needed to "feed them". If the total of players go down it takes longer for the number of pros to drop, (it's easier for a recreational to quit poker...if you are a pro you need to find something else to do). The pros start to cannibalise themselves and the weaker pros don't survive...the games get harder.

 The short answer is it's got much harder and people that have a choice about what they do may decide that poker isn't going to be as profitable as other opportunities they may have...so John Duthie has gone back to TV directing right now, Vicky is busy doing "Only Connect" and having a lovely baby and Phil Ivey is one of the biggest and smartest sports gamblers in the world right now. All three do still play though, John was at the WSOP this year, Vicky and I played a couple of weeks ago and Phil Ivey still turns up if the game is big enough. You can add to that list Roland who was at the WSOP for the main this year for the first time in ages and Luke Schwartz who was n the Vic yesterday but who has made the move into sports betting.
 
 Roberto just got a new sponsorship deal, Matt Perrins was playing a tournament that I was in at the Vic last night, Jake is still sponsored and playing a lot of big events but he's married with a kid now and JP basically commutes to Macau to play cash for about six weeks then come home, get the smoke from his lungs have a rest and fly back.

 You are right though. The tour can be a grind. It does sound lovely to fly all around the world but a lot of the places on the EPT are a total rip off with huge hotel costs and bad food and the poker often means long waiting lists and highly raked cash games. The better games are often in Asia, America and Australia but that involves living on a plane. For people who make the choice of having a family life that isn't ideal. I think the life of a tournament pro is basically a young-man's game.

 Personally I much prefer to play a few online games each week and I was very pleased that the Vic added a £1000 8-max nlh monthly to their schedule. I generally love the idea of playing a GUKPT where you can turn £1000 into £50,000 but I hate the idea of spending another three or four days in Bolton, Walsall, Luton or Newcastle...no offence to those places but the events often might as well be on the moon for all you see of the town. If you add three nights in a hotel and an expensive train ticket before you've even entered the tournament it's really not worth going.

 If I can get my live fix in London once a month that would suit me and throw in a couple of cash games here or there and the WSOP once a year plus some nice UKOPS events on Sky and the Roller every week and I'm very happy.

 That young Fedor is amazing though.