dissapointed in so called pro's

I play somewhat frequently in the Sunday night tournies on UB now called the Poker HO buyin and freeroll (used to be ran by and frequently played in by Annie Duke). They get occasional Pro's to play I assume usually from associations with Annie and UB such as Annie Duke, Holywood Dave, TiffanyMichelle, Poker HO, etc. and they list their names in a different color then everyone else so you always know who the pro's are vs the joe's like me. They have gotten fairly big lately - tonight had 85 players for the $5 buyin ($100 added) and ~ 250 for the freeroll ($50 added). So usually while I am playing if I am not on a table against them I will call up their table and watch them play you know hoping to maybe learn something, which I thought was a major reason for these forum backed tournies (theirs is RoundersRadio). I have watched Annie on her tables many times and she has always treated everyone the same, pro's and joes's, and never seemed to disrespect the joe's. You actually could learn a few things as she would chat about her game, her last move, your game, etc., while she played some great poker. My experience with Poker HO has been the same. Tonight they had a pro named WiscoMurry. What a total bad joke. He jumps into a quick lead in chips so I called up his table to watch how he played and he is just going allin every single hand - I mean every single hand - and just getting lucky. 4-2 and flop 3 4's. J-4 and flop 3 J's, etc. And making comments like "sigh" as if how boring it is playing against the poor joe's. It would be funny but I am thinking how pissed I would be trying to play good poker and getting knocked out by this idiot. I mean the joes are playing by the book calling him with AA, KK, AK, etc but getting sucked out on right and left. Finally, and I mean it was rediculous how long this went on, the table starts calling him with multiple callers and he gets knocked out. I expect play like that in a freeroll but it seemed disrespectful to me for a so called "pro" to do it in a $5 buyin obviously full of joe's just trying to have fun or learn. I guess it was just like a freeroll to him but I took it as disrespect from a pro to all the joe's like me who play in them. Maybe I should not be surprised by disapointing pro's especially after watching Scotty Nguyen on ESPN win the WSOP HORSE as a beligerent drunk. Oh well -theres my rant on that - I guess its all part of poker. It did make me respect Annie Duke alot more.

[Nadi]

Totally agree.. I was on a table with him in that game and it was a joke. If he was "bored" then he should have just sat out.

[jsawe]

pro slang for professional, noun, a person having impressive competence in a particular activity.


Seems like soemone was inappropriately designated.

[UIIIU]

i dont know a guy who's made almost 300k over the last yr on online poker i would say he might be appropriately titled. Now i am going to guess this guys ego is through the roof and if he was for some reason contractually obligated to play in this tournament i would say Id do the same thing and not take it seriously at all but if he just registered for the hell of it and did this well then i would have to classify him as a d bag

Hey UIIIU,

As I stated Annie Duke has made millions and doesnt treat low limit players that way. So some pro's like Annie are Pros with a capital P (all Positive attributes) and others like this character are pro's in money made only, and can have some big negatives. He has every right to behave as a d-bag if he wants to, just as you do since you said you would do the same thing, but the rest of us have just as much right to call him out for it. Hey, it is still a free country last time I checked. And I am sure he couldn't care less what me or any other low limit nickel dime player thinks. I am just posting some observations.

Coincidentally I called up his battle of the hosts table Monday when he was playing VGER in the semi final. He would pop on, make a couple of big bets to get ahead, and then just be absent for long periods of time while VGER would just keep hitting the bet button to his auto folds. Wisco eventually lost again but just seemed amazingly disrespectful again. VGER asked him at one point what he was doing after VGER pulled ahead more then 3 to 1 during one of his lengthy absencses and he said he had to make it even - ha,ha. Very inspirational. Maybe its part of his grand plan to create an image of just a total nut job capable of doing anything on a poker table but why do it with low limit players he will never play in the big tournies? I just seems to me to be unnecessarily rude and disrepectful to the low limit players. I don't know the guy - just my observations of the two times I have watched this big 300k pro play. Like I said it was disapointing to me but I guess part of my poker education on what to expect from some of the various high rollers.

[UIIIU]

im not saying it was a classy move but the fact that it makes him "inappropriately titled" is rediculous hes clearly proven he can play poker at top levels and as far as im concerned he's not a pro in communications, or human resources he's pro at poker which means he has the skills to beat the game if he chooses to obv he wasnt taking the game seriously and he was just messing around, but really it just baffles me who cry about this stuff hes giving an extra 5 bux to the pot of the tourny, he's clearly not gonna win the thing ya he might get lucky on a few ppl but really do u want him to play his A game where u are 10x more likely to lose to him?

and u know calling me a d bag because of my opinion is real classy too, ill play ya whenever u want and wont go all in every hand if u like.

if poker everyone but me went all in every hand i wouldnt do anything but play poker and watch the steady flow of income.

I did not call you a dbag - YOU called yourself one indirectly by saying YOU would call him a dbag for choosing to play that way, but you said YOU might do the same so I was just indirectly agreeing with you. I dislike freerolls because you see that mode of play all the time in the early rounds of freerolls - I just dont expect it in $5 buyins since that is high stakes for players like me at this point in time. I am not embarassed to say that - it is just a fact. Although lately it seems $5 is becoming more the norm then the exception, and I've noticed a few forums promoting $10 buyins - funny - some are even referring to them as high stakes. I am sure we will face off eventually in one of these NDB games so when we do put your game face on and GL - LOL.

[UIIIU]

im pretty sure i did not call myself a dbag directly or indirectly i said if he was contractually obligated to play this tourny i would do the same thing and wouldnt classify myself or whatever pro u were talking about a dbag, but if he just signed up for the tourny just to mess around then he would be an ass which i never said i would do unless maybe it was a rebuy

We will just have to agree to disagree. I think whoever plays that way and for what ever reason is a d-bag (donkey bag). GL on the tables.

[kardmania]

Just a few thoughts.

I am presuming based on geography that the Pro WIs Murray was hooked up to the same cerebus server as me. He was getting disconnected the same times I was getting unplugged. This is a guess on my part but it sure is peculiar the way we both unhooked the same times.

Point two when a "pro" makes $300,000 per annum this means he has generated those dollars in revenues. I am not sure to what extent these dollars are netted out......entry fees, travel, lodging, and so forth. The other huge factor is whether there is a sponsor or 10 sponsors.

Obviously, the strategy used by the pro was effective. People are still talking about it and he irritated a ton of players. Good poker is getting players to make moves that they would not ordinarily make. Taking players out of their comfort zone is good poker.