The Hendon Mob (THM) recently announced that it would now add results from major online festivals to their database, though they also made clear that only those with real names would be added, and that online scores would not count towards GPI points and would not affect money rankings.
While they essentially have the same foundation, both live and online poker have unique elements, making them distinct from each other.
Taking into account differences in game styles, location, and other factors, it’s only reasonable to have separate databases for results from the live and online tournament circuits.
It also eliminates unnecessary confusion which could potentially arise if both results are combined in the same list. But COVID-19 happened, and this means major changes have to be made.
The worldwide lockdowns forced the closure of the traditionally vibrant live poker scene, with casino and poker rooms shut down since March. As a result, major live poker festivals had to be postponed or cancelled, or moved to the virtual felts, as was the case with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT).
Since both festivals are traditionally held live and just transitioned online due to the pandemic, many players have been asking whether or not their latest results would be added to The Hendon Mob, despite the action taking place at the virtual felts. THM initially refused, but after careful consideration of the current situation, it eventually agreed to add online results. Had they decided to stick to live results, they wouldn’t have anything to report on until at least the end of 2020.
Lists Can Still Be Improved
THM’s latest decision actually makes a lot of sense as it will enable them to adapt to the new normal and continue what they’ve been doing since the year 2000.
But here’s the question: Should THM now change their current tagline? When you visit their website, you’ll be welcomed with the words “The Largest Live Poker Database” located at the top of the front page. Some think THM should just stick to exclusively reporting live tournament results as PocketFives.com already has an existing database for online stats.
At the moment, THM is posting online results under the same list of live results, which some find quite confusing when searching for specific tournament stats. To fix this issue, THM can just add maybe a separate page for online results, or add some symbols and buttons that would make it easier for players to distinguish which results are live or online.
