What happened to the principle of give and take

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

There is a lot of wisdom in those words and I am pretty sure a lot of people will remember who actually said that ... for all others, it was John F. Kennedy. Obviously there is by far more within this statement and it reveals one of the most critical developments in our current society ... and it has not gotten better since those words have been said many years ago, it has become a lot worse. The vast majority takes everything for granted and doesn't care how much work and effort is behind all the things in our life that we get provided by someone else.

I am not sure if it's part of the human nature, it for sure isn't for me (at least as far as I am aware) and I usually try to look behind everything that is offered to me, I don't just expect it as granted because I stumbled over it. The problem in our current society is that most people do and think they are entitled to get everything just because they exist.

It is one of the biggest issues in the current world of online poker forums and pretty much every forum has the same problem (there are just a handful of exceptions): People try to get everything for free or without having to put much effort into it. If there is free money up for grabs, be it in a sponsorship, Freerolls or added cash ... they want it and they expect to get it because they are a member of the forum that is putting up those offers. They don't care how much work behind is necessary in order to offer all that, they just want it and get mad when that is not the case ... the circumstances why it isn't available for them don't really matter. People just love to complain and they enjoy it.

Let's look at some examples here on Pokerspace and I will leave the Free Money Deals out here because that's a story for itself ;) I have seen a few complaints about the Indy League prizes and games not being hosted anymore - well, nothing in life is for free and even the death will cost your life.Did you ever ask yourself why the prizes and the hosted games change once in a while? Or do you just think they have to be there because they always been? Surprise ... that's not the case!

How do you think all those offers actually work? We send an email to the poker site and ask them for free stuff and they are more than happy to provide all we want without expecting anything in return? Online poker is a business and despite the general economical crisis still one of the most successful branches ... yet there is a decrease in the overall traffic and the big boom from a few years ago does not exist anymore. It is much harder to still offer the same promotions and this obviously also has an effect on all the forums out there in the cyber world.

The poker site put the free money and all the promotions up for the forums and offer them to the players because they expect more real money activity and traffic in return ... but there is a certain point where they check if the overall stats have increased and if that is not the case, how can you expect them to still sponsor the same prizes. That doesn't really make much sense right? Yet, the vast majority takes all that for granted and wants more ... if possible for free or without having to put any effort into it like playing for real money and meeting certain requirements.

You know what? Sorry but it doesn't work like that ... most of the time you have to earn it in order to receive something and it is the same thing in almost all areas of your real life as well. So why do you actually take all this for granted at online poker? Or do you expect to get paid for your job when you sit at the office and don't do anything? If that is the case, wake up ... it's a daydream.

DoylesRoom for example hosted the Freerolls for quite a while, but there was barely any real money activity because the members that cashed were either not tracked (well can't blame anyone when the account existed before, sh1t happens) or didn't use the winnings at the real money tables.

The participants in the added cash BuyIn tournaments are pretty much the same and we barely ever get more than 40 players in a regular weekly cash BuyIn. Most of the time it's the same members that cash and they don't play after that either, in fact most withdraw it. Just imagine how much more you could get out of that free money though when you put it to use on a tracked account ... you could get Rakeback or PS Points as you play. You could even earn the VIP status for the next month or purchase it with the winnings ... and it doesn't take much to do so.

Normally I am no cashgame player, I grew up as MTT and SNG player ... in July I just tried "for fun" and played some cash on 3 tracked accounts (Rio, PowerPoker, UltimateBet) to see how hard it is to meet the requirements for the VIP in the following month. I didn't play higher than NL25 and not more than 4 tables ... and within 7 days in total and 2-3 hours per session I actually made it. I didn't grind like crazy, it was some part time fun after work and I was surprised how easy it actually was.

I realize though that many either don't have the funds or it's complicated for them to deposit with the current situation in the United States ... but that is by far no excuse for the constant b1tching and complaints when they don't get something for free. And the worst part is ... it's not getting better, it's getting worse and that is disgusting. If you want something, be prepared that you will have to do something in return to earn it. 

Many people all over the world can't afford the luxury to waste their time and moan about this stuff, because they have more important issues in their life that deserve by far more attention. And we all are adults as well, just because we are not face to face on the internet and can hide behind a username and a funny avatar does not give us the right to forget our manners and the values that our parents taught us.

A lot of people appreciate this place here and are glad they have found it ... but it takes a lot to maintain the site and we have to provide a certain real money activity / traffic to continue getting the chance to offer all those games in return. It doesn't work because people say they love Pokerspace ... the poker sites don't care about the forum posts or the social blogs and how the people interact with each other. It is also a poker forum and a business ... so I gonna end this "constructive rant" with the slightly adjusted statement from John F. Kennedy.

"And so, my fellow Pokerspacers, ask not what your forum can do for you; ask what you can do for your forum."

Thanks for your attention.

zedmaster84
moderator and co admin aka busy bee and "can fix all problems" guy