hey guys,

i've been a lurker here for a while, first post. I play on the party network under the names Bluffman997, Bluffman887 and Bluffman85, Bluffman86. I play mostly 15-30, $200 SNGs and occasionally 30-60.

I think you bring up a good point about good players failing. A few times my BR was just stuck at 5K and I couldn't seem to go anywhere and was seriously considering quitting. It took me a couple of shots before I was finally able to beat 15-30 consistently and have a sufficient BR to never go broke at this level.

My main concern is this, poker is a zero sum game. Nothing is created, for every winner, there must be a loser. How long can online poker be sustainable? Ie, when people stop signing up and depositing money, are we all just going to get slowly raked to death?

Also, in terms of high limit poker (300-600 and up), is it safe to assume everyone playing there is at an equal skill level? If we assume that, who are the winners and who are the losers? Is it jsut a matter of who's running hotter? At the 4K-8K "Big Game" in Bellagio where the big names play, who's winning and who's losing?