Joey Ingram Poker Life Podcast: Rob Yong's Edition

Author
Vargoso
Published
7/12/2020
Updated
9/20/2021

Joey Ingram is not only a PLO legend but also a famous creator of poker content. His "Poker Life" podcast was very much followed, but he stopped making new videos for almost a year. Now he decided to record again, and his first guess was Rob Yong, who talked about his open letter to MTT players, WSOP online, and his prospects for the future.

Rob-Yong-Podcast-Ingram

Rob Yong vs. MTTs reentries

Recently Rob shared an open letter to MTT players appealing to them on what he calls a significant risk for the online industry. On the podcast, he referred to the subject and explained his point of view.

According to him, everyone in the poker industry is guilty because a race was created for having the biggest prizes and guarantees, and everyone followed, no matter the cost. 

If you're expecting someone to enter a $1k tournament ten times, then do a $10k tournament. Don't milk the players with 15 entries. Don't lie the player because pros and stables can fire 15 bullets, and amateurs can't. Who wants to play surrounded by hyenas?

WSOP Online is the same old nonsense online

Rob stated that he had a dialogue with the WSOP organizers for partypoker to host the WSOP Online; his idea was to copy the schedule online and do the same tournaments for the players.

They were waiting for the contracts, but then they realized that partypoker couldn't host an authentic series, so they pulled out.

Yong knew that PokerStars and GGNetwork were bidding on the series, but was surprised when the second one made the announcement. 

Unfortunately, the final result is disappointing, because it keeps feeding the same industry problem: endless day-ones, reentries, etc. It was a big opportunity for the whole world to prove that the industry can host prestigious events.

Then he finished saying that he never opened an account at GGPoker. Nevertheless, he decided to postpone the main event of the WPT World Online Championships so as not clash with WSOP ME.

I hope WSOP Online is a massive success. It will be good for everyone. What does success mean? New players coming to the games, people saying I won a bracelet, and I did it online. The better big brands like WSOP do, the better small companies do

PokerStars will suffer in the future: Bitcoin and unregulated sites

Yong and Ingram discussed the success of GGPoker Network with the forecast for partypoker and PokerStars. Rob said GG came with a "Full Tilt Poker" offer, opening its doors in many countries. He was clear stating that as GVC Holdings owned partypoker, they will never offer games in unregulated markets as GG or PokerStars do.

GGNetwork attends more countries than PokerStars, but in Yong's opinion, they can fight each other, and partypoker should focus on doing the right things.

Rob shared that party had big plans for the US market, and that was the main reason they didn't expand to gray markets, but he was honest and say that he had no problem with poker rooms accepting Chinese or American grinders.

With Bitcoin, more poker rooms will come in the future. I think GG can hurt PokerStars badly, and they may focus only on casino and sports betting. More operators like GG will come in the next years; unregulated gambling with crypto is a big threat to regulated companies. Bitcoin changes everything. Bitcoin means the government can't stop players.

Real money poker apps and future prospects

Rob was clear about real money poker apps like PPPoker: once poker is regulated in the US, apps will die. Messages 24/7, people who are not paying out, it's very demanding, and the games must be audited, the random number generators must be certified, etc.

Yong shared that his wife was pregnant with their second child and that he wasn't sure for how long he will continue working in the poker industry.

Then Ingram asked Rob what he thought of uncapped rake games on GGNetwork. Yong stated that transparency was important, if the players agreed to play under certain conditions that is fine.

All rake must be beatable. It's all about being transparent. Uncapped rake it not beatable.

At the end of the interview, they discussed how the poker rooms are behaving now, and Yong asked Ingram about his scoring for business vs. poker care:

  • PokerStars: 1/5
  • ACR: 3-4/5
  • GGPoker: 1/5 for Omaha, 5/5 for tournaments
  • party: 5/5
  • WSOP: 1/5

The result is curious because Ingram gives the world's largest brands the worst ranking. 

Conclusion

The online poker industry needs leaders to do the right thing and lead the way, small companies cannot make a difference; big brands must do their best.

According to Yong, it's possible to have an amazing business with poker, as it will work as an acquisition tool to be in a unique position surrounded by casinos and sports betting.

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