Payout Woes of Pool and Poker

Well, I have to admit I didn't see this coming.  Poker players complaining about payouts?  Whhhaaaat?

I thought poker was a breathe of fresh air, embraced with big, open arms, and a rising sport loved by all.  Turns out poker is more like pool than I thought!

I related pool and poker many times in my blog, but I always wrote from the persepctive of a competitor - same mental toughness needed, dealing with crappy opponents, etc.

Today, is a whole new flavor of comparing the two sports.

Turns out poker is getting the same complaints as pool in regards to payouts.  Here is the article I am referring to:  https://www.pokernews.com/news/2019/12/maurice-hawkins-lobs-criticism-at-wsop-circuit-36134.htm

In this article, poker pro Maurice Hawkins talks about several things, but here is the section of the article that reminds me of pool.  Does it for you, too?

Too Many Spots Paid

"I think the biggest concern with many people who are playing the WSOP Circuit, which is paying 15%, is that you have to get in the top percentile in order to actually min-cash or double your money on the Circuit right now," says Hawkins.

"Basically, you have to get in the top seven percent to double your money. While that may not be problematic to the people that are playing it, the reason the numbers are going down is because the likelihood of doubling your money is slimmer."

Hawkins believes the circumstance is creating a dynamic in which people cannot be equitable playing poker unless they are elite players — in other words, one in which the recreational player will never turn a profit.

"Therefore, we're going to lose that player forever," Hawkins believes. "We need to get the payouts to where it's double the buy-in back to 10 percent. You can take the extra five percent along the bottom end and increase the top a little bit more."

"The allure of poker was when the top prize was life-changing. It's just not working for a player to travel for a week when you're not even doubling your money when you min-cash. With overhead, it's a negative-equitable situation for you. I feel like it needs to be said. I know it probably can't be changed this year, but they need to get back to what made poker beautiful," he says.

Maurice Hawkins is expressing the exact complaints billiard Tournament Directors hear the most from the pros and top players: payouts!

I could go on and on (and on) about my thoughts and experiences regarding payouts from the point of view as a Tournament Director and an amateur pool player, but I am going to try and stop writing novels (which is keeping me from blogging more). So, I deleted 4 paragraphs (yes, four, lol) and will shorten this baby up for you all so you can get to other things in your day.

The one difference with what Maurice states above, is in regard to recreational players. While he believes poker players will NOT keep playing because the money they may win is not a lot.  IMHO, recreational pool players love if we even barley tip-toe into the prize fund.

And that is because he is correct about poker:

"The allure of poker was when the top prize was life-changing. It's just not working for a player to travel for a week when you're not even doubling your money when you min-cash. With overhead, it's a negative-equitable situation for you."

Alas, this is opposite of pool.  I mean, we WANT it to be life-changing payouts, but billiards is not.

And, the majority of pool players do not break even when we go to tournaments, right?  gas, food, hotel, entry fee, beverages, and if we do cash... did we even turn a little profit?

Enjoy your day, folks!  P.S. Get your holiday shopping done!