A Love Letter to Our @spl Community
Hello friends!
@bethalea here… I’ve been talking - like with my VOICE! - to some of our favorite SPL members lately and doing so has really made something crystal clear to me…
@spl Is The Greatest Community on Steemit!
Why, you may ask? Well, first and foremost, together we are engaged in an activity that isfun! We are playing together! What can be more wonderful and pure than that? Yes, we are often frustrated and tensions have been known to run high, but for the most part we meet up daily and have FUN with each other.
Poker is a Social Game
Of course there are some people who come to the table and don’t talk to anyone. Whether it’s @christ2169 who is, more often than not, playing on his phone and can’t chat or someone like @blackvapor who simply isn’t a big talker… all the way to yours truly who can’t seem to STOP talking, we are a community. I know I can go to you for advice, like I do to poor @nicnas, @dontstopmenow and @steeminator3000; we can be each others support system on Steemit.
Being on a physical, AFK poker table is more obviously social than online games, when so many of us may be playing more than one table at a time or multitasking in other ways. At this point, however, I know these players pretty well. I know about people’s dogs, their kids, their school... and sometimes I remember how to react when @lebekons shoves all in (FLEE! Is the answer. Run.) I know to fear and respect @jonsnow1983 ‘s play and I know that sometimes @bigPchef gets bored and I can take advantage.
We’re friends, a community of individuals from every part of this planet, from different religions and political ideologies and we play. It’s magical.
Some History of Online Poker
In 2003, Chris Moneymaker earned a ticket to the World Series of Poker while playing poker online and suddenly, any of us could do the same...or so it seemed. Soon, online poker saw a huge rise in numbers of people playing for a few reasons. First of all, more and more people had access to the online poker sites like Paradise Poker, PokerStars and Full Tilt to name a few. There were more numbers of sites but most importantly, they were seen as ‘valid’ and safe.
Suddenly (to me, anyway) in 2011, the Department of Justice seized the domain names of the biggest and most trusted poker sites effectively halting online poker in the United States. I can tell you from personal experience that this was a crushing blow to those of us who depended on online poker to support our families. Mine wasn’t the only one.
It was difficult for us to recover from this judgement. Financially, but emotionally as well. I hated online poker for years after the DOJ judgement. It wasn’t until my husband mentioned there was a poker community on Steemit that I began to thaw. Once I played and got to know the people, I realized how much I missed the game; the fun involved and the natural, immediate community that forms around the table.
In Conclusion
I love you guys. I love the players I’ve known for months and I love the new people who bring their own amazing stories and game to the tables. Thank you for playing with me, for fighting with me and for teaching me every day how to be a better human. Thank you for sharing yourselves and your stories with me and each other.
Catch you on the felt!
Yours, @bethalea
We need to promote more those Chatting meetings in order to know each other a bit more, maybe host our own radio show in the future? @spl it's definitely what a REAL community is supposed to be and honestly, there are no words to describe all the precious time I had/have/wil have with all of you guys!
agreed, fun times
right?? it's just too much fun, which I am a HUGE fan of... ;) I want to talk about your post idea... will you be around in a few hours to chat?
xo, so glad you are here ;)
what a great idea, a radio show or something.... and you know I agree, this is really the best time. xoxo!
I want a debate talk show, I use to do a biweekly radio forum in high school, I'll try dig up some links!
I love how often our community chats especially during games.
Truly an epic poker community! wish I had more time these days to join in on all the action.
hey @agr8buzz! it really HAS been a minute, hasn't it!?!? get back over here, the play is getting soooo good! ;) hope you and yours are happy and healthy my friend, see you soon I hope!
xo, b!
resteeming ... remember that next time you try to bluff me lol ! Love this blog...
hahahaha, i'll try ;)
We love you too
aw, JP... 😊
you going to be around to chat in a few hours? I have some work to do but I hope we can get together!
xoxoxo
Love to
Multitasking is the only way to play poker. :D
Your love letter is awesome @bethalea; I am glad you are part of this community.
lol, right?😉
me too, @guyfawkes4-20. I got to meet YOU.
xoxoxo
Steem Fest 3 darling, Steem Fest 3. ;)
Soon we will grow to see you in more tourneys! Miss ya on the tables
Yeah, it would be great if I could play more. Besides the Fiddy50's I can play the Saturday one but I always fall asleep till that one starts. :))
Slowly the community will grow, though we already have a strong group of diverse people from all over.
Yes, we do. I could dare to say that I love the community more than the poker itself and I adore the poker. :)
The community is what has me
Very nice @bethalea! Everybody who is involved in the @spl knows it is the best thing on steemit. Not just all the fun (or sometimes brutal depending on your draws) poker games we have every single effin day, but it is also a great opportunity to meet new people here. I follow a bunch of folks I've discovered through the SPL that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise. Hell I'm here in Pennsylvania and have a poker team with @davor27 and @jsock from Spain. That's pretty cool. (Team DJC in case you didn't know, we bring war to team poker play.)
Grifos is currently in 3rd so expect a tough battle from us as well!
ohhhh the brutal beats... you're not kidding, chops! And I've done the same, followed a BUNCH of people I found through spl.😊
One of the greatest things is how we have people from EVERYWHERE almost... Russia, India, Nigeria, Algeria, Spain... dude. I just realized how long that list is and my mind is blown.
I'm glad I get the chance to know you and so many others... good luck on that team challenge thing! Oh wait! I have a present for you, I nearly forgot!
hahhahaaa xoxo!
What a present. That's like putting coal in my stocking.
awww
but i love you!
Like a baby loves a diaper! xoxo!
This group is by far the most talented collectively playing freerolls I have ever seen. And great people to boot.
True, there is some serious poker taking place.
Potplucker is a heavy strategist
I enjoy playing with this community the most.
we were just talking about how intense the play is, even though it's a freeroll! I think we've gotten more serious as time has passed. Of course there are always going to be the maniacs (thank goodness! 😉 ) but there is also some serious poker going on!
You're Team Tequila Sunrise, right?
Yep, the three of us can't seem to meet up on the final table yet. 2 of us just met up on the ft during hu play. Good times
I have so much fun everytime I play .. glad you don't have a read on me good enough to mention 😁
All bull no moo!
hahaha, or maybe that's what I WANT you to think.... :insert eye waggle:
It's always fun to play with you, see you soon I'm sure!!
Trying to register but it says “invalid input username” when I just use my username as on Steemit. Any tips? Love to play! Thanks for sharing this blog to point me to it!
Did you join the discord channel yet? Join and ask for @bethalea. She will help you get set up.
Thank you, I just followed the link in @bethalea s page, so I will try again tomorrow and be sure to follow the right steps and ask for help. Goodnight!
hey! I'm glad @chops316 was able to get to you before I was! I'm sure we'll be able to figure out your user name issue. It could be too long or if you are trying to put the @ symbol in front, it may be that, too. Anyway, hit me up when you come in, I'll try to help or - as you can see! - this community isn't shy about helping, so don't worry!
Can't wait to play!
b.
So looking forward to it. I will give it another try in a minute and let you know. Thanks so much!
So I haven’t joined any community yet, is this needed to play poker at lucksacks, the link in your bio?
No! You dont have to have joined another community! We are simply trying to make sure you/everyone who plays at lucksacks is a good Steemian... Hopefully you haven't come into contact with any yet, but there are people here who try to scam places like lucksacks, so we are avoiding them... Come to the discord, register on lucksacks!
Sounds perfect, and I will keep an eye out to not get scammed, thank you for that extra tip!
My username (like on Steemit and Twitter) must have been too long, but registration has worked out now, choosing a different username. So I will just wait for confirmation and see you at the table! Thank you for your patience :)
Woot!! Anytime, see you soon!