When I was struggling to find the next best move and looking at his last move, he said "beginner players let stronger players lead them around the board because they don't understand the strength of their own position."

I have not seen this guy on BP in a year just another wholesaler that appears to be a one and one player.

I've seen some of you are musicians as well but for those of you who are not (or once were) and are curious how in the world can a trumpet player make it in the real estate business, I've written a blog post on my life as a musician and how it translates to real estate.

I run into this all the time, the major player's in the metroplex usually don't service the northern parts of even Denton County at times.

I'd bet you'd have more of a chance of finding say 10 people to knock down smaller deals than the 1 person who could knock down the entire deal.So many people claim to be able to fund a deal no issue no matter the size "if it's good enough" but I find that hard to believe and rarely see examples from it unless it's an established player...

The platform may allow investment by accredited investors only or be open to almost anyoneEach has advantages and disadvantages.The portals that allow anyone to post a deal have not been very successful and they will probably remain a fringe categoryMany investors are familiar with the big players in the industry that provide access to deals sponsored by numerous parties.As an example of a single sponsor platform I will use our own.In the last two years we crowdfunded/syndicated 26 real estate debt deals, raising just over $46,000,000.00 and two months ago completed our first equity raise, raising $1,700,000.00.Additionally, we did a co raise with a major real estate debt crowdfunding portal that was primarily residential and wanted to move into the commercial space.I will tell you that despite many similarities, no two portals operate the same, and there are major differences in deal type, vetting, costs, risks, returns, and transparancy.Keep watching this arena.

are there key players in various regions? 

A handyman is a critical player in your RE team .

Seems to me like the big players have learned from previous mistakes@Wayne BrooksBingo. 

Also, try attending local real estate meetups to see who the players are and what the strategies are that would work better for you.