Third Man Walking No. 73: On Private Games and Cash Game Poker's Identity Crisis

Your correspondent contemplates cash-game poker's identity crisis as more and more games go private. What do the increasing number of private games tell us about what players want poker to be? And how have pros and other serious players contributed to the downfall of public games?

0:48 Is poker fundamentally a competitive activity or a friendly gambling pastime?
5:05 How pros are dependent upon recreational players
7:14 How the pandemic changed many players' attitudes
11:07 Private games in casinos
14:47 Other reasons players' attitudes towards pros have changed over time
17:11 How pros have driven recreational players away
22:32 What good is it to be "the best" at poker?

FORUM DISCUSSION: