beanstalk
Enthusiast
Silver Level
The revelation: poker site marketing dramatically skews our perception as to what a pro poker player actually looks like.
The question: Who are the best players in the world, really?
The Full Tilt Scandal has made public some truths about who attains fame in poker (and to a large extent who is considered "the best"). Over half of the pros I grew up admiring probably weren't very good at poker (relative to the best online players of 2012). Loans from FTP kept them in high stakes online games even if they were net losers. High stakes televised cash game attendees were in many cases fully sponsored by poker sites. What's stunning in FTP's case is that this marketing bravado was financed with player money. We all aspired to be Phil Ivey, but in the most literal sense we we're shipping money to FTP to support the Ivey myth. Ivey is good, but is he real? No. His level of wealth and fame is impossible for a non-owner of a poker site to attain. If sites were to put forth actual pros (non-sponsored) as role models, I'm not sure new players would buy-in to the dream.
So who are the true best-in-the-world players?:ridinghor
The question: Who are the best players in the world, really?
The Full Tilt Scandal has made public some truths about who attains fame in poker (and to a large extent who is considered "the best"). Over half of the pros I grew up admiring probably weren't very good at poker (relative to the best online players of 2012). Loans from FTP kept them in high stakes online games even if they were net losers. High stakes televised cash game attendees were in many cases fully sponsored by poker sites. What's stunning in FTP's case is that this marketing bravado was financed with player money. We all aspired to be Phil Ivey, but in the most literal sense we we're shipping money to FTP to support the Ivey myth. Ivey is good, but is he real? No. His level of wealth and fame is impossible for a non-owner of a poker site to attain. If sites were to put forth actual pros (non-sponsored) as role models, I'm not sure new players would buy-in to the dream.
So who are the true best-in-the-world players?:ridinghor