Why nobody Twitch streams high stakes cash
It would be a hit with the audience but for a nosebleed cash game player to stream on Twitch would (most likely) be more trouble than it's worth.
It’s an interesting time for poker. The nosebleed cash games are really quiet but the Super High Roller tournaments are thriving. Last week we saw Doug Polk and Jason Mercier (with Jason Somerville) stream the $102,000 WCOOP Super High Roller despite the fact that it was such a huge informational disadvantage for them to do so.
Right now with WCOOP on the numbers for poker on Twitch have been strong and competing with the regular eSports you see online. Clearly it is the big money on offer which piques the gamers' interest. Yet we rarely see anyone playing what we would consider nosebleed stakes poker on Twitch.
If there was ever a form of poker that would explode on YouTube or Twitch, it is nosebleed cash games. The gaming community really pays attention to poker when there is big money at stake and one of the most common questions asked by newbies in the chatbox is “is this for real money?”
So any streamer who regularly broadcast with $10,000 or even $100,000 on the table at any one time would likely attract huge audiences. Understandably, however, there is little incentive for any of them to do so.
Informational disadvantage
When you are playing for six-figure pots then getting a big stream, advertising or donations from a platform like Twitch is not exactly alluring. More importantly giving away your secrets is of way more cost than any benefits that come your way.
The reason for this is simple, the player pool in high stakes games is very small. Streaming tournaments is usually of little consequence because the fields are in their hundreds if not thousands, even when it is the larger events like the Sunday Million or WCOOP. The chances of someone at your table being able to reliably use your stream against you is quite low, especially because you won’t bump into them again all that often (and when you do you won’t remember each other half the time).
Contrast that with the nosebleed scene and using the recent $102,000 WCOOP as an example. There were only 24 entries (four re-entries) in that event and everyone playing was clearly both very good and likely played a lot with each other. If you streamed that event then the percentage of players likely to be watching and playing against you would be massive. Maybe more importantly you will probably meet the same 10-20 guys at the cash game tables and the next EPT Super High Roller event. You could even win the event but still have the information you give out used against you in a meaningful way in future events.
You could, of course, give out misinformation and use this against your opponents, but it is not possible to change your entire game completely every time you play. To some extent you would unwittingly give away something you wish you hadn’t.
Just for the hell of it
It was cool watching Jason Mercier and Jason Somerville stream the event together but I got the distinct impression Mr Mercier didn’t really want to be there. It may well be because he was in the zone and focussing on the poker, but I got the impression he wasn’t entirely loving the disadvantage he put himself at.
It was very brave of Doug Polk to also stream the event. He too is a regular at the nosebleed games but (from what I have seen) he has been mostly streaming the regular MTTs and smaller stakes games, not the big cash games.
So the incentives are not there but one glimmer of hope is that not everyone is motivated entirely by money. Many players have relished the challenge of streaming their games and giving away information, citing the fact that the next evolution of the game is adapting to this new level of transparency. Others are motivated simply by the fame and plaudits that come with it.
There was once a time that players considered under-the-table hole card cameras to be too much of an informational giveaway, now they are a common part of the game. Anonymity and staying under-the-radar are key skills in high stakes cash but it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a talented young cash game player tear up the script and stream the biggest cash games just for the hell of it at some point in the future.
Will we ever see a nosebleed cash pro stream regularly on Twitch? Would it be popular on the site with non-poker players? Let us know in the comments.
