Has the economic downturn effected the money you spend on poker?

[aaron1005]

I know some people will say yes, but I actually seem to think that the credit crunch hasn't actually made a difference to most people.

But all this has affected the amount of money I spend online and in the casino, because you're looking after the pennies?

[Raiser]

I know some people will say yes, but I actually seem to think that the credit crunch hasn't actually made a difference to most people.

But all this has affected the amount of money I spend online and in the casino, because you're looking after the pennies?

Of course it has. The interest rates have been drinking for the past 5 years and now the hangover is kicking in.

Those with a healthy bank roll wont suffer too much, expecially if they have been playing in euros and transferring it back to sterling. I would also imagine they are trying to keep the online euro bankroll to a minimum and withdrawing it out as much as possible but tyring to balance keeping a big enough bankroll so they dont have to reload!.

I think the players that have been effected the most is the social players who dont have a bank roll and effectively 'pay as they play'. I for one havent played online for 6 weeks now.... although thats more down to not having the time but the times i have had the urge i cant justify spending (i.e.) £20 when it only gets you about 20e just cause iam bored!!

[Dice Man]

I nominate this aaron1005's best ever thread.

Personally, I have cut down my poker playing but it hasn't had much to do with the credit crunch, and I expect to recommence gambling at some point. I think that gambling will reduce in the next year as a result of the credit crunch, but only indirectly. I actually don't really believe the recession is a recession. It'll just be a year or two without boom. People are talking as if we are all going to be suffering hard times but the world will continue to improve over the next year. The credit crunch is mostly in people's heads and not in the real world. As Roosevelt said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." The media has caused people to think it is worse than it is, and their fear is causing it to really be worse because they stop investing and stop spending.

[Raiser]

I nominate this aaron1005's best ever thread.

Personally, I have cut down my poker playing but it hasn't had much to do with the credit crunch, and I expect to recommence gambling at some point. I think that gambling will reduce in the next year as a result of the credit crunch, but only indirectly. I actually don't really believe the recession is a recession. It'll just be a year or two without boom. People are talking as if we are all going to be suffering hard times but the world will continue to improve over the next year. The credit crunch is mostly in people's heads and not in the real world. As Roosevelt said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." The media has caused people to think it is worse than it is, and their fear is causing it to really be worse because they stop investing and stop spending.

I will reply to this post properly later as iam off to play squash...

The post will go something along the lines of stop chatting shit! lol

[PokerWoody]

I was worried the games might dry up a bit, but they haven't. In fact they seem to be even better.

[Professor]

I nominate this aaron1005's best ever thread.

Personally, I have cut down my poker playing but it hasn't had much to do with the credit crunch, and I expect to recommence gambling at some point. I think that gambling will reduce in the next year as a result of the credit crunch, but only indirectly. I actually don't really believe the recession is a recession. It'll just be a year or two without boom. People are talking as if we are all going to be suffering hard times but the world will continue to improve over the next year. The credit crunch is mostly in people's heads and not in the real world. As Roosevelt said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." The media has caused people to think it is worse than it is, and their fear is causing it to really be worse because they stop investing and stop spending.

And all the job losses, including many sponsored poker pro`s?
Of course there is no recession Dice how stupid of us all.

[Barnfather]

And all the job losses, including many sponsored poker pro`s?
Of course there is no recession Dice how stupid of us all.

To be fair, I can see where he is coming from although I think he is wrong on one major point.

There clearly IS a recession. Believe me, I worked in Financial Services and lost my job a few months ago after working at the company for eight years. Trying to find another job was an education - from starting off with a decent number of IT management roles in various industries, each day the number seemed to get less and less. I subscribe to several job sites who email me every day with vacancies. There now hasn't been a single one in my area for the last two weeks. Something I have never seen before.

Luckily I have managed to find myself a new job, albeit on a slightly lower salary. But its a job.

But there is some truth (I believe) in the media's perpetuation of the 'credit crunch'. I strongly believe that if it wasn't plastered across the media day in day out, months ago, then some companies would have kept doing business as usual and whilst there may still have been a recession, I don't think it would perhaps be as deep as it is now. Certainly, there are a lot of companies who are letting staff go, merely to 'tighten their belts in the current economic climate' rather than because they are actually in trouble.

Put another way - if the media saturated the world with positive stories of how the recession was over for the next couple of months, then I think a lot of firms would relax and start doing business as usual - causing things to flatten out a bit. That won't happen though, obviously.

So, is there a recession - yes, obviously. Is it media perpetuated? Probably.

As for Poker, its not affected me too much. I used some of my time out of work to really get into my game, read books and play a lot online. I'm having to curb things a bit now I'm back in work, but I'm trying to play in SNGs every night when I get home and obviously a bit more on weekends - as well as a nightly game at DTD.

I can't see the online poker community suffering too much - after all, for many it is an addiction. But I can see places like Vegas suffering a lot...I think its already happening over there, with hotel prices being slashed and new building work put on hold. Thats because it is not only a gambling destination but an expensive holiday for most people, and with the credit crunch, expensive holidays is one area that IS being cut down on

[TylerStroud]

Agree with Raiser about it being all down to bankroll. PLaying in EU and USD is looking to be much more valuable now the way the pound is going! And if you have a healthy bankroll on your PCUK account then shipping a ton of Euros is gonna be good times.

Im playing more socially at the moment and it really does put the frighteners on you as i might wanna make a small $50 deposit on a site to play a few games with some friends or something and what would normally have been £30 tops is now £35-£40. It all adds up.

I thought the games may dry up the same as Woody - I thought the donks wouldnt be able to play the midnight €3k anymore and just all in the first hand because they cant afford to piss money away! How wrong i was...

[Dice Man]

I don't know how many of the posts in this thread are levels. The credit crunch is going to be a minor blip in the long term. In one hundred years time it will probably only appear in footnotes in histories of the 21st century. Most experts are forecasting that it will only take 2 years to recover from it. Nobody is going to riot or starve in those two years because you can get cheesecakes from Iceland for 50p. People are sitting on tons of money thinking that they're poor when they're not. People still have loads of disposable income. The world is in better condition now (as far as humans are concerned) than at any other time, and has over time never fallen off that curve (even WWI and WWII are blips on that curve).

[Dice Man]

Are you trying to re-level me? Because I'm not leveling in this thread. I'll bet you £1000 to 1000 cheesecakes (they are £1 BTW, not 50p) that both money and cheesecakes still exist in January 2039.