WSP Season 7 is over

Last night saw the last tournament in the Wall Street Poker season 7 series. Congrats to Darko who won the season with a healthy 70+ percent rating.

As a result of many factors, including the state of the economy, burnout and others, I will be stopping the concept of the Wall Street Poker 'season'. Games will still continue, but the $2 rake for the single table tourneys will no longer be a factor.

I've been wondering for a while why this season has been so slow in terms of getting players. There have been a few reasons I can think of:

1. The economy sucks - More than a few of my regular players are out of work and so playing poker doesn't seem to be a priority.

2. Burnout - Some of the regular players have stopped playing at the rate they had been over the last several years. Trips to AC are not as frequent and trips to underground card rooms are also rarer.

3. Normal turnover - Lots of the players who frequent my table have either gotten engaged, moved out of state, or had children in the past few months. These family pressures have stopped their poker habit, or at least slowed it down. I have not made a real effort to backfill their loss.

In my estimation, it takes about 25-35 regular players (regular being defined as twice a month) to be able to actively fill 11 seats twice a week. While I used to have that many regulars, we are down to a handful now and it is showing. The good news is that I've recently tapped into a source which might get more players in. The bad news is that my own burnout is showing. But perhaps when the games start flowing again and I start working and things return to a relative normalcy, then maybe the old bloodlust will rise and the passion will return. Until then, I'm relying on my trip to the mid-west next week to get be excited about poker again.