Poker Room

[JHolmes763]

Is the poker room a part of the community or a service to the community?

The former would imply that playing cards, shoot'n the shit, trading your winnings of cigars back and forth, etc. with your BOTL is equal to posting in the forum part of the community. Just two different ways to contribute and do your part. Obviously there are more people in the forum part of the community, so the more active you are there, the better.

The later would imply that the forum is the community and things like the poker room & chat (if it existed) are services provided to active members of the community who post in the forums. The forums are what makes the community and the rest is ancillary.

I'd lean more towards the first option with an (*) asterisk don't be surprised or upset if not a whole lot of people in the forum recognize you.

It's a self-regulated community, though, where majority, seniority and finally Rod rules. So I'm curious what others think.

---John Holmes...

 

[CigarStone]

We have a poker room? And chat too?

 

[Dsav101]

I feel like it is a part of the community, same as the chat. I rarely get into the chatroom, but I can bet the same guys are there. Same way for the most part with the poker room. There is a group of us that are there alot, and we hang out and do all that stuff. We play for sticks not to get rich or anything, but rather just to make it a bit more interesting. The most we play per game is 2 prems. I feel like that is not a huge stake at all. I enjoy seeing the guys there and chatting the same as I bet the Chat guys do. Just my personal .02 on it though!

Don

 

[slcraiders]

I am with Don. It is part of the community by virtue of being a component of the community. Service to me implies paying for something (not always- but usually). We have gone as far as offering to pay to keep the room up to Rod because we would rather play here than any of the millions of other poker websites. The fact that we want to play here says that we want to be among fellow BOTL- hence; community. Rod has repeatedly and graciously refused payment and funds the site through CP merch sales etc. I, for one. have purchased several hats and shirts to contribute in the only way I know how.

It is a community in the sense that we chat about cigars while playing. We have used it as a springboard to surprise other players with bonus cigars, wish list fulfillments, and flat out knock you on the ass bombs. Some of us have gotten to know each other well, call each other, and even send themed packages to each other that go well beyond cigars. You are not going to get that at pokerstars.com

I agree that people can abuse this "part" of the community by trying to actually gain sticks as their only motivation for playing. I also agree that there are several facets of being involved in a community- therefore being here only to play poker goes against the spirit of that definition. I will also say that for it to be a bigger part of the community, it needs to be more inclusive. Playing for premiums all the time is not going to draw in a large percentage of people. I propose something like a premium night, a non premium night (this is what we used to play for regularly when I first started playing a couple years ago and we had twice as many regulars then), and a free play night. I would play for free. Why not? It is a game I love to play- and to do it amongst fellow smokers makes it that much the better!

 

[grateful1]

JH, take a look back at the posts in this thread. Read some of the early ones.

From what I gather, it was a pay for feature....for members of CP.

Then Rod had it be part of just joining.

It seems that the poker room is a part of CP....a 'game room'.

It's when someone comes in and say just 'tops intro threads'..then trys to sell stuff...well, I don't think that would be considered an 'active' member. Most of the threads that talk about being 'active' seem to have the word 'contribute' closely associated with it. Does just playing poker contribute to the community?

In relation to the dk fellow....it wasn't just a matter of staying in the poker room and playing and doing well(although that should garner attention among those playing!!), it was also the deletion of a opeing post...and it happened to be a sale(one which he stated were high prices for the smokes - was he profiteering...we may never know).

So, the question may be: Does just playing poker contribute to the community?

Whether it's a service or part of is moot. It's the actions around it.

Just 2 more of my cents!

 

[Devil Doc]

Gary, help me out here, is this guy a consistent winner in the poker room. Perhaps a shark taking advantage of the amateurs in the poker room? Cause if he is, that would really piss me off.

Doc.

 

[grateful1]

Gary, help me out here, is this guy a consistent winner in the poker room. Perhaps a shark taking advantage of the amateurs in the poker room? Cause if he is, that would really piss me off.

Doc.

For now Doc, I'll defer to him:
(2 Members: grateful1, dkprlp)

 

[dkprlp]

Is having an intelligent discussion over a game of poker with people with similar interests ( cigars & poker )NOT contributing ??

 

[Gonz]

Is having an intelligent discussion over a game of poker with people with similar interests ( cigars & poker )NOT contributing ??

You seem to be real good at avoiding the questions asked of you? Why is that? Are you trying to hide something?

I have my suspicions that as Doc asked, this dk dude is somewhat of a shark and is just here to win sticks off of CP members. When looking back over his 200+ posts that are starting poker games, I seem to recall his name as the winner much more often than not, but I'd have to double check those stats.

Then on top of that there's a questionable sale where he deletes the first post so we won't know what he's trying to do. Was he perhaps selling off poker winnings back to the community? Would that be frowned upon, or since he won the sticks they are his to do what he wants with?

Dammit, I did it again, I'm just railing on this dk guy and getting this thread off topic.



Dk - answer the question asked of you. It's that simple.



For my opinion on poker at CP, it should be a privilege for people who actually are part of the community as a whole, not just the poker room.

 

[Napa_Smokes]

For my opinion on poker at CP, it should be a privilege for people who actually are part of the community as a whole, not just the poker room.

I couldn't have put it better myself Gonz.

I would like to see games played for free so some of us who don't know how to play or are not very good at it have a chance to learn.

 

[grateful1]

For my opinion on poker at CP, it should be a privilege for people who actually are part of the community as a whole, not just the poker room.

I couldn't have put it better myself Gonz.

I would like to see games played for free so some of us who don't know how to play or are not very good at it have a chance to learn.

There use to be a 'training' table...but that was at a cost.

 

[TBaGZ]

If all you do is play poker here you are contributing NOTHING. imo

 

[Rod]

Is having an intelligent discussion over a game of poker with people with similar interests ( cigars & poker )NOT contributing ??

You seem to be real good at avoiding the questions asked of you? Why is that? Are you trying to hide something?

I have my suspicions that as Doc asked, this dk dude is somewhat of a shark and is just here to win sticks off of CP members. When looking back over his 200+ posts that are starting poker games, I seem to recall his name as the winner much more often than not, but I'd have to double check those stats.

Then on top of that there's a questionable sale where he deletes the first post so we won't know what he's trying to do. Was he perhaps selling off poker winnings back to the community? Would that be frowned upon, or since he won the sticks they are his to do what he wants with?

Dammit, I did it again, I'm just railing on this dk guy and getting this thread off topic.



Dk - answer the question asked of you. It's that simple.



For my opinion on poker at CP, it should be a privilege for people who actually are part of the community as a whole, not just the poker room.

I sure hope not.

 

[JHolmes763]

So, the question may be: Does just playing poker contribute to the community?

That's essentially what I asked. If it's a part of the community, then the answer is yes. If it's a service to the community, then the answer is no.

Thanks for sharing your opinions Dsav101, slcraiders, dkprlp, Napa_Smokes, TBaGZ, and, I guess, Gonz (at least your last sentence was useful to the discussion).

---John Holmes...

 

[gregor22]

As far as being part of the community, yes, I think that it is because there are a number of members that play consistantly. Just like reading and posting the Pipe Room forum, CP Saloon, and Sports sub-forum. Does every member go to every forum? That answer is no.

Is it a service to the community, again that answer is yes, because it allows members to play poker in a closed environment. If the service wasn't there, members would have to play on any of the other poker sites out there.

As members of CP, we all have choices on what we do. I, personally, hesitate to play against the regular players. I'm not experienced enough to play against these guys. That does not limit my choices, though. I could post something to the effect of "Beginner Game Thursday, no sticks involved" and hope that the regular players respect the membership to not play in that game.

 

[grateful1]

So, the question may be: Does just playing poker contribute to the community?

That's essentially what I asked. If it's a part of the community, then the answer is yes. If it's a service to the community, then the answer is no.

Thanks for sharing your opinions Dsav101, slcraiders, dkprlp, Napa_Smokes, TBaGZ, and, I guess, Gonz (at least your last sentence was useful to the discussion).

---John Holmes...

Regardless of if it being 'part of' or 'a service': Does just playing poker contribute to the community?

After the anwser from that is set, the answer to other questions falls into place.

What is a contributing member? It seems to be someone who takes part in more than one aspect of the forum. If that's not correct...I'm open to examples.

 

[JHolmes763]

Does just playing poker contribute to the community?

Yes, imo.

 

[CigarStone]

There seems to be a good deal of discussion about poker of late, most of it in a negative light. Granted, I do not play poker on line, although I love to play in person where I can see my opponents (all of them), so my opinion may be biased........but why don't we let one of our wiz-kids set up a poker site where you can play for cigars?

As Gary pointed out here, and I asked in another related thread where there is an impending melt-down, if 90% of your involvement with CP is to play poker, are you a BOTL or are you using CP as a poker outlet? If it's the latter, I have to ask why you are using CP? Is there something about CP's poker site that makes it an easy mark as opposed to the plethora of on line hold-em sites.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I realize poker in general is more popular than ever, but the poker room here raises some questions, at least for me.

The community is by and large, very good at self moderating and taking care of the membership. The problem I see is that the poker players represent a much smaller percentage of the membership at large, and as such, it seems the "self moderating" doesn't function as well. A new forum member is chided gently to post an intro post, and their posts are seen by the community at large. Feedback is provided as the membership deems necessary. It's not perfect, but it works very well. While I don't know that it's happened, it would seem perfectly possible for a new guy to register, wait a week or two, and head straight to the poker room with no interaction with the community. This opens up all kinds of possibilities, many of which aren't good.

Also, the poker room seems to be a constant source of drama. The worst possible kind. Guys get in over their head and fail to meet their end of the bargain for one reason or another and off it goes. Sure, trades go bad but I would say percentage wise, the poker room generates far more than it's share of bad trades, bad feelings, and unnecessary drama.

Face to face, over the table, with a beverage and a cigar a good game is a good time for all involved. But, given the history of the room, I have to wonder out loud if the benefits outweigh the risk and headaches.

One guys opinion - B.B.S.

Edited to add - In the interest of "full disclosure", I haven't played poker online in our room and don't intend to, here or elsewhere.

 

[CigarStone]

I realize poker in general is more popular than ever, but the poker room here raises some questions, at least for me.

The community is by and large, very good at self moderating and taking care of the membership. The problem I see is that the poker players represent a much smaller percentage of the membership at large, and as such, it seems the "self moderating" doesn't function as well. A new forum member is chided gently to post an intro post, and their posts are seen by the community at large. Feedback is provided as the membership deems necessary. It's not perfect, but it works very well. While I don't know that it's happened, it would seem perfectly possible for a new guy to register, wait a week or two, and head straight to the poker room with no interaction with the community. This opens up all kinds of possibilities, many of which aren't good.

Also, the poker room seems to be a constant source of drama. The worst possible kind. Guys get in over their head and fail to meet their end of the bargain for one reason or another and off it goes. Sure, trades go bad but I would say percentage wise, the poker room generates far more than it's share of bad trades, bad feelings, and unnecessary drama.

Face to face, over the table, with a beverage and a cigar a good game is a good time for all involved. But, given the history of the room, I have to wonder out loud if the benefits outweigh the risk and headaches.

One guys opinion - B.B.S.

Edited to add - In the interest of "full disclosure", I haven't played poker online in our room and don't intend to, here or elsewhere.

Well put!

As I asked in another "poker room" thread, why don't we let one of our wiz-kids create a web site where people can play for cigars and separate the function from CP?