I'd class myself as a recreational player, and probably someone pros would want to play with. I used to play cash games around England but found after a few years of great fun, that the new players I would be sitting with just became incredibly dull. I'm sure they are nice people but it wasn't what I wanted from a night out. People rarely drank anything and 90% of the table talk was hand analysis and talk of value ranges and online tournament schedules. This isn't necessarily a dig at younger players as even older players are at it as well I've noticed. I'm in my mid 30s for a sense of perspective.
Consequently I just stopped playing in the UK unless it is a private game where I know who is playing. I'll still play in Vegas or Ireland and make annual trips specifically for that purpose where I find the game far more fun and people take it less seriously.
The question is how many people like me think this way? If it's just me then obviously it's not an issue.
Yep same boat for me - pretty rare I play live now. Partly because of increased family commitments, but partly because it just isn't much fun any more. Sure, the fact the games are harder doesn't help - but it wouldn't be so bad if when you lost you had some fun in the process! The only times I do play live now really is when I'm going with a mate so at least we can chat even if no one else is keen (and we don't talk poker hands...) Or to go along to a PKR Live event or Sky Poker Tour where people genuinely go to enjoy themselves regardless of the result.
I wonder if the stake levels in cash games plays a part also. Pretty tough to find a live game lower than £1/£1 which is fairly chunky for a novice, especially if they've experienced quite how little action they get for the "minimum" buy-in they always get told about to entice them in.
Every month or two I now have a home game but find that even at the 25p/25p level we play some friends/family find it a bit steep once the action heats up a bit later on. Maybe the casinos could do with experimenting with some low stakes tables almost as loss leaders to encourage new players into the game. Not sure how you'd manage who was allowed to play in the games though - newbies given a pass for 10 sessions or something?
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