Best Poker Player

“THE BEST POKER PLAYER I'VE EVEN SEEN.."

Nearly any time you hear a poker player begin a story with the line that titles this essay, you should be skeptical. Now, when the person referred to has demonstrated some staying power by maintaining a reputation as a top player (perhaps only in a certain area) for a number of years, or is a well known player, consistently acknowledged as one of the best, then the story may actually have some credibility. Over the years, however, I have heard many stories of this sort about players whom I have never heard of. In no instance that I can think of, did this supposed great player ever emerge to become another Chip Reese or Ray Zee.

I have even heard stories like this about players in my own area. They were players who did not frequent the same cardrooms I did, but as they were supposed to e so good, I assumed that would eventually run across them, or would continue to hear their names mentioned. This has not happened. So what becomes of these supposed great, though unknown players? To a knowledgeable player the answer should be clear. These stories typically single out someone who plays with a certain style a poker playing style that involves playing hands and playing them very fast. The player described is usually thought to be able to win tremendous amounts of money through extreme aggression and incredible hand reading skills.

The problem is that such a fast style is just not characteristics of the great players in live games. Though some forms of poker allow for the play of a few more hands than others, in limit poker, the players who win the most in the long run tend to play with a fundamental poker, aggressive, but generally prudent style. This is not to say that there are no exceptions. Certainly some of the very few in number. Moreover, I would argue that those among the top long term money winners who do lean more in this direction are not as loose/fast as many would like to believe. When you read a credible poker author’s contention that the best players can play more hands than those less skilled, you should not jump to the conclusion that this means these players sit their and play as many hands as the average player at the table.

They don’t. They play significantly more than the very tight, unimaginative “rocks”, but fewer than the typical unschooled recreational player. (*Mason Malmuth points out that this is especially so in holdem). Of course they also play them much better. Players who do play lots of hands with an extremely aggressive style will sometimes have amazing winning streaks. This is to be expected. They play with a highly fluctuating style, so they sometimes have impressive upward fluctuating style, so they sometimes have impressive upward fluctuations. These swings can last longer than you might realize, especially when the player is skilled in other areas of the online poker game. But, without exception, reality eventually slaps them in the face. Because their style is fundamentally flawed, their results eventually approach their true expectation – which is not great, and is often ultimately negative.(*For more on essentially the same players see “Sizing Up Those Flashes” in Sklansky’s Poker, Gaming & Life.)

Thus, the reason you may hear about a player who is supposed to be unbelievably good, only to notice over time that this person never emerges to become better known, even within a limited area, is that the player you heard about is broke and, perhaps, out of the game. This is a common occurrence. Why do so many poker players point to one of these rather loose, fast players when they try to identify a great player, even the best they’ve ever seen? I have a little theory about that. I believe that these freewheeling, aggressive player support a wish (Poker Digest, Vol 1, # 11, p.31) He asserts that expert holdem play does not allow for as much loosening of starting standards as expert play in some other forms of poker held by many players. Many players wish that it might be possible to play that way and win. They wish that they could do it.

And when they see someone appearing to do it, it gives them hope that just maybe they can. Wouldn’t it be fun, after all, to be able to play lots of hands and to run over the games, reading your opponents so well that you win far more than a normal good player’s share of pots while avoiding trouble with uncanny consistency? How nice it would be to score big win after big win and achieve hourly rates well in excess of what is supposed to be possible. I think this is what typical players dream of doing. That is their long range goal. If they could never identify anyone who appeared to have such abilities, they would have to conclude that may be their dream was based on fallacious
thinking, that maybe it was not a possibility. And that would be a painful loss, a loss of hope. Thus illusory heroes of poker are created in the minds of those whose study of the game has been insufficient.

"The Best Player I' ve Ever Seen " / The Hit and Run Follies / An Illusory Winner /
On Randomness, Rushes, Hot Seats, and Bad Luck Dealers / Bad Beat? Think Again

Why Learn to Beat Tougher Games? / Practicing Game Preservation
Short-Handed Play: Don’t Miss out / How I Learned Poker: Part I
How I Learned Poker : Part II