If you’ve paid attention to Poker Twitter recently, you may have noticed the banter has changed a bit because of the recent Bitcoin plunge.
Many poker players are invested in cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin. And when the market was thriving, some seemed more focused on that than poker.
Things Don’t Always Go as Planned
But that has changed in recent months for obvious reasons. The crypto market is struggling, to say the least. Bitcoin opened on Tuesday morning at just north of $3,300, nearly $2,600 better than two years ago on the same day. That’s the good news.
The bad news is most investors didn’t get involved until a year ago or sooner. On December 11, 2017, Bitcoin reached $17,399. Just six days later, the virtual coin hit an all-time high value of $19,870.
At the time, Poker Twitter was buzzing about the potential of the coin. Would it continue rising and possibly reach $100,000 someday? That’s what some experts felt. So, few sold high, anticipating a get-rich-quick investment. Many didn’t want to make what we’ll call a “Barry Greenstein mistake.”
The PokerStars pro and Poker Hall of Famer said earlier this year on Joey Ingram’s podcast that had he not sold off his Amazon shares a decade ago, he’d be a billionaire now. What if Bitcoin and other virtual coins continued rising in value at the pace of Amazon? Poker players saw the upside and didn’t want to miss out on potentially creating a comfortable nest egg.
But for those who began investing over the past year – which covers most poker players on social media – the returns have been terrible. A $19,000 investment just over a year ago is now valued at around $3,300. The net loss is worth more than a WSOP Main Event buy-in.
Immediately after Bitcoin peaked at a shade below $20,000, the coin went downhill. Throughout 2018, Bitcoin slowly declined, rising in value occasionally only to again take a plunge. March 8 was the last day the price exceeded five-figures.
Bitcoin Plunge Changes Poker Twitter Banter
Doug Polk has been a crypto enthusiast the past couple of years. He even created what became a popular YouTube channel on the subject. But even he hasn’t tweeted about crypto since he made a sarcastic comment about the Bitcoin plunge on November 24.
Might have to do another Bankroll Challenge where I turn whatever I have left of my money into something just moderately depressing$BTC
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) November 24, 2018
Less than a year ago, Poker Twitter unofficially became Crypto Twitter. Many who weren’t invested found it annoying. But Twitter was a great forum for investors to share advice and brag about gains.
Now that crypto is collapsing, Poker Twitter is back. The posts have gone from investment advice to chip stack reports. Few seem in the mood to discuss crypto these days, for some unknown reason (sarcasm).
