The Best Poker Player
A question that often comes
up in interviews with professional poker players,
magazines, and table side talk is, "Who is the best
poker player in the world?". I was intrigued with Barry
Greenstein's analysis in Ace on the River in
which he eventually comes to the conclusion that no one
really is and that all we can do as poker players is
make the best decisions as often as possible. That is
probably the best answer, but I'll try to analyze the
question based on my own opinions and experiences.
When thinking of the best
players in the world, many poker fans think of those
that are given the most exposure. These days, that's in
the form of televised tournaments thus big tournament
winners like Gus Hansen, Michael Mizrachi, or Antonio
Esfandiari at the heart of WPT airings receive a lot of
attention. It's well-deserved attention because of their
accomplishments against huge fields, but does that make
them the best? Poker outlets like CardPlayer Magazine
try to name a Player of the Year and nominate the best
overall player, but can they really gauge the entire
poker population through tournament points? Do they go
inside private high-stakes games to see who is a
consistent winner?
Players like David Williams,
Greg Raymer, and Dan Harrington are mostly tournament
specialists. While they have excellent skills at reading
their opponents, playing the right cards at the right
time, and adjusting to tournament blind structures, do
they do as well in cash games? The top tournament
players who bust out of big events are usually the best
prey for high-stakes side game pros. Cash games contain
the real money in the poker world with sometimes
millions of dollars being exchanged nightly at the
biggest poker games in Vegas. The winnings that a top
player can earn in these side games makes tournament
prizes look paltry. Yet excellent tournament players
often struggle in cash games. Their personality and
poker strategy is often much too suited for tournaments
to beat the toughest players in high-limit games. A
player who mostly excels in one (albeit important)
aspect of poker probably shouldn't be considered "the
best".
At the same time, one could
also make the argument that strictly side game players
don't excel at all forms of poker. However, I don't
believe that the playing fields are even. Overall, I
would tend to say that cash games require more skill
than tournaments because of the structure. In cash games
you're playing with your own money with fixed blinds
having to constantly make good decisions in order to
make a profit. Tournaments only ever force players to
lose their initial buy-in. Also, the sometimes insane
blind structure in tournaments makes luck a much more
important factor. Any player can get lucky for a day or
a few days in a tournament, but ring games often favor
the skilled much more.
If I had to name names, I
would probably choose a player who consistently had an
edge in both tournaments and side game such as Phil
Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Johnny Chan, Barry
Greenstein, or Daniel Negreanu. These players have shown
that they can make a more-than-comfortable living at the
top cash games but still dominate tournaments when they
take a "pay cut" and enter a few major events on the
circuit. These players all do well in mixed games, make
a ton of money, and can handle any situation at the
poker table. Also, these players don't seem to have a
large amount of personal vices that might deteriorate
their overall game.
But who is really the best?
I think that I'll have to agree with Barry on this one
and say that no one really is. It is a somewhat futile
thing to figure out, although I have named a short list
of players whom I would choose if I had to. Although,
who can really decide who has an edge over you or me?
What should the qualifications be? Heads-up matches?
Money? Fame? Tournament wins? WSOP bracelets? The fact
is that anyone can win on any given day in poker and
that will continue to be the beauty of the game.
Back
to Poker Players.
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