Poker and Twitter
Right behind the fame and success that every poker player seeks is the desire to have a voice. It is a core human desire to want to be heard and feel like what we say matters. One of the best places to develop a following where they can have an impact is the social media powerhouse Twitter. Utilizing Twitter’s instant, filter-less environment to express themselves 140 characters at a time, Tweeting allows everyone to share their playing results, communicate with friends or share pics, links and opinions.
For any fan of the poker, we are drawn to certain poker players, whether they are big poker celebrities or just players we admire. We enjoy watching them on TV. We enjoy seeing their poker results when reported on poker news sites. We enjoy reading their occasional blogs. Unfortunately, each of these opportunities are occasional, selective and filtered by editors, producers and publicists.
If you follow poker pros on Twitter, you can read the pros updates coming to you directly at unmatched speeds. You can read all their tournament updates and hand histories they choose to share. You can read of their bust-outs and resulting vents, or their jubilation at each win. You can hear what they are doing in their lives through their updates, pictures they share, where they are eating or where they are going. As a Twitter follower, you can live vicariously through them essentially done anonymously without them ever knowing. You can even contact or reply to them, despite the fact they are unlikely to know you even existed or had desired your response. It is that access and responsiveness that drives Twitter.
For those looking to follow the top poker pros on Twitter, I’ve listed the top 25 most followed poker pros (each has more than 17,000 followers)
25 Most Followed Poker Pros
- @joesebok (Joe Sebok) – Former UB pro, son of Poker Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein, and early Twitter adherent.
- @texdolly (Doyle Brunson) – 77-year-old Godfather of poker.
- @RealKidPoker (Daniel Negreanu) – Extremely popular, opinionated and influential poker pro.
- @phil_hellmuth (Phil Hellmuth) – 11 time WSOP bracelet winner.
- @philivey (Phil Ivey) – Considered top all around player in the world, rarely tweets.
- @tom_dwan (Tom Dwan) – Top young online and live high stakes poker pro rarely tweets.
- @badams78 (Brandon Adams) – Harvard professor and poker pro that spends more time on economic issues.
- @themouthmatusow (Mike Matusow) – The outspoken poker pro is more sedate now that he’s a family guy.
- @realphillaak (Phil Laak) – Personable top “Unibomber” pro who’s long time girlfriend is Jennifer Tilly.
- @barrygreenstein (Barry Greenstein) – Poker Hall of Famer and charitable contributor.
- @AnnieDuke (Annie Duke) – Epic Poker League commissioner, author and pro who’s brother is Howard Lederer.
- @Erik_Seidel (Erik Seidel) – All time tournament money winner with dry wit.
- @VanessaRousso (Vanessa Rousso) – PokerStars pro, GoDaddy girl, and wife of poker pro Chad Brown.
- @Howard_Lederer (Howard Lederer) – Poker pro and former CEO of Full Tilt Poker, sister is Annie Duke.
- @MagicAntonio (Antonio Esfandiari) – Popular “The Magician” poker pro.
- @REALJenHarman (Jennifer Harman-Traniello) – Top female cash game player and wife of poker pro Marco Traniello.
- @JasonMercier (Jason Mercier) – Young Top tournament specialist and PokerStars pro.
- @BrokeLivingJRB (Jean-Robert Bellande) – Infamous bankroll busting, fast living, poker celeb.
- @edogpoker (Erick Lindgren) – top poker pro and husband of poker pro Erica Schoenberg .
- @philgalfond (Phil Galfond) – Top young online cash game specialist.
- @liv_boeree (Liv Boeree) – PokerStars pro and top English tournament player.
- @annette_15 (Annette Obrestad) – Top young Norwegian female poker pro.
- @luckboxjuanda (John Juanda) – Top tournament pro.
- @Andy_Bloch (Andy Bloch) – Established poker pro and technology fan.
- @HuckleberrySeed (Huck Seed) – WSOP Main Event winner.
The next five most popular:
- @Patrik_Antonius (Patrik Antonius) – Monaco based top high stakes cash game pro.
- @olegsmith (Gavin Smith) – Personable Canadian poker pro.
- @JonathanDuhamel (Jonathan Duhamel) 2010 WSOP Main Event winner.
- @AllenCunningham (Allen Cunningham) – Respected tournament pro.
- @GusHansen (Gus Hansen) – The Great Dane is a high stakes PLO beast.
Selecting Who To Follow
Selecting a few of the most recognizable names to follow is often a good start to your Twitter experience. The reality is that some of the best tweeters are less recognizable names. Some will be mentioned or promoted in various tweets, but a good place is to search who the people who you respect and enjoy are following. To have an interesting stream, you want to build a diversity of people with varied interests in common with yours. Having many people who tweet the same information or only talk about the same thing always can make for a very boring Twitter and cluttered Twitter stream.
Types of Tweeting
Each pro brings a different approach to their tweeting. Some tweet many times a day, while others rarely if ever tweet. The pros employ different ways of expressing themselves on Twitter. I’ve listed the eight common ways that poker pros tweet.
- Reporting – These tweets report their chip stacks, hand details, bust outs/results, and tournament details.
- Self-descriptive – These tweets share what they are doing, where they are going, what are they eating, what are they experiencing.
- Conversational – These tweets are conversations or messages between two or more people, much like a private conversation but in public. Each utilizes @username that allows you to click the name to try to follow the conversation and responses. The banter can be serious or humorous.
- Promotional – These tweets promote their various business, personal, and sponsorship relationships to their followers.
- Sharing – These retweets pass along links, pics and information they think their followers will find interesting.
- Suggestions – People like to suggest other people for you to follow, whether they are friends or other respected players or people in poker that deserve more attention. Fridays is a particularly popular day when they employ (using #FF before their @username) to recommend worthy people to follow.
- Questioning – People will ask for help or advice on a particular subject #throwoutanidea
- Inspirational – In a game that suffers swings with many highs and lows, many players like to share inspirational quotes of one kind or another.
Twitter Dynamic
One of the appeals of Twitter is that it is ultra-democratic. Everyone is given the same 140 characters to say what they want. Only the numbers of followers you have who might read your tweet differs. In the poker world you find all types; some brag, some promote, some converse, some inform, some entertain. As a follower you get to go along for the ride, hanging on their every tweet from the anonymity of your computer or smart phone.
One dynamic unique to Twitter is the suspension of our usually cautious Internet sensibilities. Whereas we are used to being deluged by email, spam and links that we have learned to be skeptical, ignore and rarely click, on Twitter there is often a suspension of belief as you revel, gasp or laugh at each brief peek into the pro’s lives. To the credit of Twitter, I have yet to see any malicious direct twitter picture download links.
Wrap-up
There is no denying that our inner voyeuristic tendencies are a big driver for the popularity of Twitter. It’s rare in today’s complicated and information cluttered world that we are able to cut out the media institutions and hear unfiltered information from our preferred celebrities. But Twitter is such a compelling communication and social networking forum because it is diverse. It delivers information faster than any other medium. It has an uncensored approach that limits you in your depth, but not the subject of your expression. Twitter is a great way to become more involved and versed in the real money poker world by following informed and entertaining personalities in the industry.
