MMIAs

PokerStars is starting to annoy me. A Massively Multi-tabling Inconsiderate Asshat (MMIA) sat at my table again last night. I searched on him and found he was on 15 tables. There was another one consistently delaying the game too, but he was smart enough to remove himself from search so I couldn't tell at a glance how many tables he was on.

I hate running to the local authority figure to tattle, but this is really out of control. So I wrote support again. This time I got a reply that was basically polite but had clear overtones of snottiness telling me that they'd already told me there was nothing they could do. Except one of the previous emails said they'd contact the MMIA and tell him to dial it back a couple notches, and that's exactly what I wanted them to do.

I fully realize PokerStars most likely doesn't care in the least what happens at the $0.01/$0.02 tables. They offer them only in the hopes people will gain confidence there and eventually move up to a level where the rake actually makes them some money. But if the agonizing slowness of play annoys the players sufficiently, they'll be taking their action somewhere else. As of this moment of annoyance with PokerStars, that's my plan. I'll build The Quest bankroll at the PokerStars micro-limit tables until I can afford to take my action elsewhere. I'm sure PokerStars will be crushed at this news.

I'm also wondering if I might not do more good joining the dark side rather than trying to defeat it. While my official Quest bankroll won't support it, my actual PokerStars bankroll would let me sit at every $0.01/$0.02 table they have. If a couple people fired up as many tables as the software allows I'm sure the hands per hour rate could easily drop to the 10-15 range. Perhaps that would convince PokerStars this is something that deserves their attention.

I'm sure I won't do it. It just annoys the hell out of me when I see something that's clearly not right and the people in charge appear indifferent.

I suggested to PokerStars that one way to address this is to reduce the time bank by five seconds for every table over four. If you want to play ten tables, that's fine, but you better be able to take your action in the 35 (or 18 on fast tables) seconds you have available or your hand will be folded. This at least provides some kind of penalty for firing up more tables than you can handle and annoying the other players with your slowness. Let me know if you have other innovative ideas on this.

The Quest did not go well last night. A retelling would involve a lot of bad beat stories, so I'll just sum it up as one stupid play, several idiots chasing and hitting four-outers at the river, and a long, slow comeback from early losses. I had battled back to being down just $0.50 on the night, but ended up losing another $1 before calling it quits.

The graph has shifted to weekly rather than daily updates so this loss is not yet reflected. And I have the weekend to make up for it.