Rob Yong, the respected owner of land and online poker room Dusk Til Dawn, opined on his blog this week that for a variety of reasons the popularity boom in poker is probably behind us now, and the time has come for the industry to settle down and grow steadily.
Yong shares the view of many industry executives today that the emphasis going forward must be on the recreational player rather than professional predators looking for easy victories at the virtual tables.
“The poker world needs online poker to make an extra effort to encourage new people to try this amazing game you can play at any age and [that] gives you the opportunity meet so many new and interesting people,” Yong writes, opining that online companies will shape the future of the game.
Giving a few tips on how the online industry should tackle the move to a more recreational player-friendly environment, Yong suggests that removing the problem of bots, HUDs, professional poker-tracking and data-mining; ensuring that cheaters are punished and seen to be punished; and demonstrating that games are fair and transparent are important objectives.
He urges operators to “…show us the RNG stats on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, display them in your poker lobby, give us absolute confirmation that we were just unlucky! I know the auditors check the RNG’s for all of the online poker companies, but we don’t read the annual audit report. It would be a simple task to publish the last x million RNG hand results.”
He is also in tune with current moves against “bum-hunting” – the practice of professional players occupying seats but not playing, awaiting the appearance of an inexperienced player to pounce on, and suggests restrictions on multi-tabling.
“I feel sick to my stomach when I see a player go bust and then the other 5 players just sit out until he reloads,” says Yong, noting the ‘ridiculous’ waiting lists when a weaker player has a decent stack in front of him at the cash game table.
He also appeals for stronger control over language, comments and etiquette at the virtual tables, where too often aggressive or frustrated players let it all hang out, discrediting themselves and the game and polluting the playing environment.
Yong intends putting his money where his mouth is at DTD, he says.