Interview with Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael (Part 2)
Charles Hawk: What are your predictions about the future of online poker? Are still confident that it will be very profitable in next years for many regs?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: I think online poker will still be profitable for many years to come. You need to put in more work off the tables than you used to, but I haven’t seen anything that makes me think the games wont be very profitable for many regs going forward. Things change over time and you just need to be ready and willing to adapt to the changes that come.
Charles Hawk: From the positive side: maybe Amaya's policy to re-work “poker as a game of skill” into “poker as a fun leisure acitivity” could be good for regs in the longterm and the online poker overral in a way that will attract alot of new recreationals and the poker market overrall will rise again? What are your thoughts?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: I see why Amaya are looking to improve the recreational playing experience and from a business stand point it makes a lot of sense for them to do that. It most likely will attract a lot of new recreational players to their site, but due to the increased number of none poker formats and services they are providing it’s hard to know if this will be of benefit to the regs over the long term.
Charles Hawk: Do you think Amaya would be happy if 80% of regs would give up poker?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: I’m not sure if they’d be happy as such, it appears to me that they don’t really care either way. If they do end up pushing regs away then it leaves the door open for another site such as partypoker to fill the void and they appear to already be making steps to do that. This can only be a good thing for online poker in the long run, Pokerstars have had so much of a dominate market share that they’ve been able to get away with perhaps neglecting some of the things that got them in that position.
Charles Hawk: Have you tried power up poker? Have you saw it? What do you think about this innovation?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: I’ve not tried power up poker though I have heard about it. Personally I’m not a fan but I imagine it might bring in more recreational players who enjoy the gaming experience over pure poker strategy. How the regs take to that game will be interesting to watch. Whether it is innovative and gets more players interested in poker or is another step away from traditional poker games only time will tell.
Charles Hawk: What is the situation in 500/1ks now comparing with a year or few ago? How top regs are doing profitwise? How about action (across all poker rooms, including euro sites).
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: Well a few years ago it was a war zone as the old guard were on the way out and there was a lot of jostling for positions at the top. It’s settled down now so the top regs will be doing well profit wise as there is a lot less battling than in previous years. Action on pokerstars has decreased a small amount over the years but most regs counter that by just playing more euro sites.
Charles Hawk: After introducing Spins and removing rakeback, what is the situation with competition now in top levels? Maybe its even easier to get in to 500+ stakes now since reg wars in theory should be softer due to bigger -EV to both sides warring each other?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: Introducing spins saw a slight decrease in fish volume and removing rake back has made reg battling less appealing. With rake back now pretty much gone, it means you need a bigger skill advantage to be able to shoot higher but on the counter side when you do have an advantage you will likely have to play less games as the burn rate is higher for defenders. Prolonged reg wars were standard in the past as a way to deter others from trying to shoot, that might not be the case now and groups may be more inclined to let strong shooters in quicker.
Charles Hawk: What can you say about using bots in husngs or even AI in poker? First of all is it reallity or just a possibility? If you would be a pokerroom owner, what actions would you take to avoid AI into poker? What can you suggest to poker rooms to make better jobs eliminating bots or illegal “additional help”?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: Over the last few years, AI capabilities have increased dramatically which will continue to pose problems for poker sites. Poker rooms should be very suspicious of new accounts appearing and playing highstakes and should act quickly on banning such accounts. Accounts that go from very low volume to full time playing hours overnight at higher stakes than they previously played would be an instant flag. They could use an approach similar to the athlete biological passport that gets used in sports to catch these, where they could have an algorithm that monitors all markers for each player and any drastic increases (i.e playing 3x more volume at 3x higher stake) would flag.
Charles Hawk: What could you wish to others fellow husng regs who are planning to stay at the top for as long as they can? What tips/advices can you give to them?
Adam "adamc1988" Carmichael: Make sure you are putting work in on and off the tables. In order to have a long playing career at the top you need to make looking after your mind and body a priority or you will end up burnt out after a few years full time grinding. Always be seeking to make improvements in your game at the tables, you shouldn’t be satisfied until you are one of the biggest earners at your level and have one of the better reg games. Things will change over time so be ready to adapt.