After watching more and more of the final table, and the quality of the play with the three remaining players (well, now two, hehe), I've come to realize that even had Newhouse had lasted longer than he did, I think he would have been outclassed by Van Hoof, Stephensen and Jacobson.
These three guys play very solid and don't make a lot of mistakes, whereas with Newhizzle, he plays more spewy and certainly was very fortunate to have built the stack he did during the days leading up to the final table (flopping two pair with 94, turning a set a couple of different times after being behind on the flop). Given that though, to be able to navigate through the fields in two straight years is incredible, and you don't accomplish what he did by being a bad player. He's a very good player, but perhaps not at the same level fundamentally as the guys left.
I think the way the game is now, I think amateurs are such huge underdogs. I mean, case and point with Jerry Yang. Do you REALLY think he would stand a chance against these guys? Or even Jamie Gold? Though with Gold, he just hit everything that he did play (though I think he would have a hard time getting paid off like he did back then). Of course, back then, there was no access on a delay to hole cards.
With how the game is now, true amateurs probably have almost no chance of winning the Main Event.
It will be sad once the tournament is over, this is definitely my favorite time of the year, and I'm a huge fan of the live stream even though people like me, if I ever was in that position, probably wouldn't stand a chance.
PS - What's the deal with Hellmuth's hair? Dude needs a haircut, it just looks so messy, though that's just my personal opinion and others may not mind it.
1) I think Newhizzle plays almost entirely LHE and possibly huge limit mixed games at the commerce. He doesn't grind NLH Tournaments or really even play that many throughout the yr. Jacobson plays zillions and zillions of big buyin ones live, so I would expect him to be a lot more seasoned....
The other two may be PLO grinders, but that is still big bet poker, and honestly, most PLO regs started off by playing NLH and crossed over to find softer games, action or just because they preferred that game. Either way their background is much more applicable to NLH donkmaments than big limit triple draw or even holdem. Limit is just a different animal.
Mark is a great poker player, world class. He probably is a level below world class in tournaments, but still VERY dangerous IF he got a big stack. He could definitely take the ME down with a lot of luck. Getting dealt `10 10 to QQ in a steal position is pretty disastrous in shallow NLH.......I think he could avoid going broke, but a lot of people couldn't.
2) A lot of the reason that an amateur has a hard time now is the structure is almost too good. An amateur has a much better shot if they average stacks a shallower. 3 handed after like 14 hours of a FT they still were very deep (~60BB+) for tournament play. The pros lobbied for and got this advantage, and the result is a much more pro-heavy FT. I am not arguing for or against the present structure; it just is what it is. At least a clown like Yang can't win anymore....he was/is a player not even capable of beating 2/5 in most places. As much as I hated Gold's personality, I have to admit, for the time, his play was quite excellent. This was like 8 yrs ago or something; the game was massively less aggressive/developed.
3) There are lots of big tournaments to watch and follow. Go on
pokerstars website and watch EPT's....the level of play in them is quite high generally as well. We need to develop a grand slam of poker.
Aussie Millions
WSOP Vegas
EPT Grand Final
Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure
SHRPO?
4) I actually thought Hellmuth looked great. That is the youngest he has looked in like a decade. You remind me of people who say they don't like the scruffy look right now; sorry, go to any metro area outside the S.E. in America and everyone under 40 that can pretty much is rocking a beard or some scuff.
Some super conservative people (Not politically..) seem to always look down on long hair/facial hair, and I will never know why. Now, personally I think long hair only looks good on certain older men, and if you are thinning it's a definite no-no, but...hey, it looked ok on Phil. He looked a lot better side by side than Daniel with his hair plugs, and an outfit a bit too trendy/young for a 40 yr old. Plus Daniel looked like a baby besides two relative large humans.