Depends. I can’t speak for ultra high stakes but usually you know or other ppl in the poker community know most of the players in the game, the hosts reputation etc, so if it’s a long running game, cheating is a very minor concern.
A whale losing big on credit and suddenly not being able to pay is much larger concern.
And I guess games do get robbed from time to time, so there’s always a small chance of that. My game in Perth got hit for over 100k by 3 guys with machetes (there was no security whatsoever). Fortunately this was a few weeks after I left
I think this stream was ultimately good for poker because it showed that amateurs have a chance against pros. The type of pro I would want against this lineup is someone who is popular but overrated and is more likely than equally well-known pros to book a loss.
I’ve been lucky enough to only play games with strong dealers, the worst is when a player gets stuck and can’t pay so ends up dealing the game for a bit.
I rarely get invited to these games unless they’re PLO because the city is small enough they need enough players to fill a game. Some local whale lost $13k at a 1/2 game last week for example.
The local games here were largely centered around Peter Nygard, the now disgraced billionaire arrested for trafficking and a local businessman named Larry. I got you play v Nygard once and Larry still plays but it’s largely just the same people fleecing them who don’t want to share.
He adjusted correctly to the game, though, for those taking note. Mostly that is, he gambled a bit more than he had to/should have, but maybe just felt like he needed to VPIP a bit more for the stream.
The old Tom would’ve been mixing it up a lot more, overbet shoving if he sensed weakness,etc. Noone really wants to see a quiet, half asleep person playing ABC poker, even if it is a solid strategy for the lineup.
Overbet shoving would have been suicide. No one was folding in that game for the most part of they got a piece of the flop.
Dwan was fine. He gambled enough to not be Phil, but there was no way you can outplay that lineup - you really just needed to wait for hands and hope they hold (but not be too obvious a nit like Phil that people could actually find a fold).
Beast value betting 3rd pair on a 4 straight board, getting called for $25k by Phil then getting berated was so ridiculous. I love that these guys just made fun of him, perfect response.
If you’re a poker pro with supposedly millions in cash game winnings I’d think there were be some sort of obligation to gamble it up with people going all in pre with any 2 cards on a live stream. It’d even be +EV to do so. I played on a live stream in Houston with like 20 ppl watching and didn’t want to look like a big nit lol. Durr and Helmuth are lame AF.
