Awhile back, there was thread like, "What else are you good at?"  or something like that.  I remember being surprised how many people thought they were good at cards.  

I really like cards, I  mean, I REALLY like cards.  To bad for me I am not REALLY good.  I do like playing though.

The two groups I use to play with (one was a group of seminarians, honestly, and the other some teachers) recently broke up so now I am kinda left with my seasonal jaunt to Atlantic City and a sporadic game here and there.  I am jonesing....

I don't like playing online because there is very little kabitzing and what you do get is generally pretty dumb. I like playing with people I know and can tease and stuff like that.

What I was thinking was maybe we could set up a night and play online.  Money isn't really an issue ( I would want to play for it but I think the amount should be low)  I just want to play.

Couple of Questions:

1. Is anyone interested?
2. I think a bunch of the online sites got shut down, are there any left where you can set up a private tournament?

At pokerstars, you can still set up private tournaments, but only play money.

I got ticked off at pokerstars, collected about 10,000 hands worth of statistics, and there is significantly less than a 0.1% chance that that site is entirely on the level.  There is clearly some clustering involved in their shuffling.  Pre-flop odds are neutered almost 50% back to the mean.  In other words, if a hand should be 70/30 it will actually play, on average, more like 62/38.  If it should be about 80/20, it'll look like 68/32.  If anybody wants more details I can provide them, but suffice it to say that if you play on that site you should definitely play your draws more aggressively than you normally would.

Where do /did you debate?

DAHS = Delta Atlantic High School ???

Samething at Full Tilt. Only once have I seen Aces cracked. Once in maybe 10,000 hands. Come on.  I see Quads once or twice a week. Really? Pairs on the flop? Common place. I play alot of pre flop cards because of it that I would normally throw away (10/2, Q/7, k/5, etc...)

Full tilt is still up and running, but no money games. They have about $100 of mine an account that I may not see again. F...ing government. That is why I am a Libertairian.

Full Tilt and Pokerstars reached an agreement with the DOJ whereby they get their site back but have agreed to completely pull out of the US market for good. The other sites that are still up and running are no doubt on borrowed time seeing as they are basically perpetrating the same fraud regarding deposits.

Full Tilt still not allowing account refunds.

looks like bodog is still up.   ONe of the sites is suing the US, it sounds like they have a legitimate case.

mormons don't say bullshit

I've noticed that at PokerStars too.  Guys stupidly chase way more than they should, even when I have them slaughtered, and they no doubt always hit their flush or straight on the river.  Perhaps they've figured out how to game the system.

As for FullTilt, one thing I've seen a lot of is guys having absolutely nothing after the flop, and then turning and rivering two cards that give them a ridiculous long-shot straight.  Never in my life have I seen so many players two cards from a straight after  flop, and then get them both.

My experience is that these sites encourage "bingo" poker. I can't count the number of times I've lost against runner-runner long shots, on Poker Stars and Full Tilt, (I think Full Tilt is worse). My guess is the more bad players that can cash in, the more bad players it attracts. I've also seen it enough times playing live, that I rarely even play anymore. Too many chasers, and it only takes one of them to ruin your whole tournament.

I'd be interested to find out if the pros see a difference.  It seems to me a lot more play cash games now, or single table tournaments, outside of the WSOP.  I wonder if they've found it harder to keep making money (endorsements excluded) at the rate they once did, with all these mavericks in tournaments now who think a flush draw is the greatest hand they can flop.

I'm sure they see a difference.You can only imagine how hard it must be for these guys when there are hordes of dopes out there who want nothing better in their life than to "bust" one of them out. All you have to do is look at the Final Tables of WSOP in the last couple of years. Very few pros, and none have won I don't think since Joe Hashem in '06.

" I think a bunch of the online sites got shut down, are there any left where you can set up a private tournament? "

The sites are still up they just aren't playing for $$$.  I have friends at Pokerstars still setting up tournaments.  They'll play like a $50 buy-in.  Everybody sends their money to one person (via paypal).  Setup tourney, play tourney and pay out.  Avoids the site cut also.  $50 + $5 becomes $50.

That's an excellent idea cbaltz, please count me in if it ever gets up an running.