Poker Players Staying Positive Amidst Bitcoin Price Plunge

The price of Bitcoin has plunged dramatically since reaching a peak of $19,140 on December 19, 2017. As of today, its price stands at $3,919, with other crypto currencies suffering even greater losses. This includes Ethereum falling from an all-time high of $1,400 to its current value of $112, and Litecoin plunging from more than $400 to just $30.

On the plus side, those poker players entering the market early last year would have realized some major gains at one point. On the other hand, anyone going according to the HODL (Hold On for Dear Life) axiom would have seen their profits disappear just as swiftly since the end of 2017. Furthermore, anyone entering near its peak would have seen their investments sliced by around 90%. Still, many investors, as well as bystanders, have been able to find some humor in the cryptocurrency selloff, as you would expect from a bunch of adversity handling poker players.

Doug Polk Backtracks

One of the poker pros investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in a big way was 3-times WSPOP bracelet winner Doug Polk. The player even launched an extremely popular YouTube channel on the topic which subsequently attracted around 200,000 subscribers.

In his videos, Polk was a big believer in the future of cryptocurrencies and holding the investment long term. Since the meltdown, however, Polk has released just four videos and seems to have backtracked on his earlier statement that “trying to time the market will be on average an inferior strategy.” As he subsequently tweeted on Nov.20:

“Well it looks like the haters were right, it turned out bitcoin was a total scam and was worth nothing all along. Well except for the thousands of dollars each one costs, but yeah essentially worthless.”

Dan Cates Late To Party

While Doug Polk got into cryptos at an early stage, others have not been so fortunate. Dan “Jungleman” Cates, for instance, said that he purchased Bitcoin last December when it was priced at around $19,000. Making light of the situation, Cates tweeted on Nov.23:

“BTC is crashing and I bought some at the top. This sucks a lot but can’t sell, damn. Just too crazy to do that. Now it would be really crazy to buy some real low despite big losses, who could be that insane? ME! I might be that insane! Hahahaha”

Shall I Stay Or Go?

Many cryptocurrency investors have been wrestling with whether or not to take whatever profits they still have off the table, or alternatively cut their losses all together. The drastic situation was highlighted by Canadian pro Mike McDonald, who recently pointed out that “11 months ago $BCH had a larger market cap than $BTC does today”. This then prompted the following amusing question by Geoffrey Tomes:

“Do you have odds on how many poker players are going to come out of retirement in 2019?”

Once upon a time, owning a Bitcoin was beyond the reach of ordinary investors. Now that is all rapidly changing, however, Jamie Kerstetter pondered the the fast moving landscape, tweeting:

“You know it’s bad when people like me can almost afford a bitcoin.”

Losing Money No Joke

Despite the humor, many players will certainly have been badly stung by the cryptocurrency market’s dramatic reversal of fortunes. They will also be faced with the difficult decision on how to proceed from here.

After falling to $3,550 over the past few days, Bitcoin has since jumped back to as high as $3,900. Whether this bounce has any legs remains to be seen, though. According to some analysts, speculators may be just “buying in order to cover their positions,” and the market could presently be just experiencing a “dead cat bounce.”