Multi-table players
I've seen the video of Khan playing 20+ tournaments at once (
sharkscope has him losing over $50k).
I've played well over 5,000 sngs on
pokerstars over the last two years. Most of them one or two at a time.
What I have noticed is the increasing number of people not playing 5 or 10 tournaments at a time, but 20 or 30 at once.
When I first started playing on Pokerstars, I would encounter 3 or 4 of these players a day. Now, it's 3 or 4 in almost every tourney.
Take some time for yourself. Open up just about any sng that has a $20 buy in or more. They normally play in the 9 or 18 player turbos.
You will find a large number of "players" in 15, 20 or even 30+ tournaments at once (the most I've found is someone who was in 38 tournaments at a single time with sharkscope profits nearly $200k.
Amazing huh? A "person" who is able to study betting patterns, hand selection, read opponents and make excellent poker decisions to the extent that they could make almost $200,000 playing $20 buy in tournaments.
Again, don't take my word for it. Open up a few tournaments and sharkscope them for yourself.
You'll find player after player in 20 or more tournaments, ALL making exceptional profits for the level they are playing.
Watch them play for a while and you'll notice some amazing things.
Play against them when you get the chance. Watch how often they raise you when you have nothing and fold pre-flop when you have a monster.
Bad beats happen in poker, without a doubt.
Bad beats happen more often with
online poker. People are more likely to saw "screw it" push all in with their bs hand and hope they hit, knowing they can crack open a beer and start their next tourney.
If you just drove an hour to play in a home game, or flew to Vegas or AC to play in a tourney, you might be less inclinded to call off all your chips with k/2 off suite which magically cracks the "horrible player who whines about site being rigged" going all in with their pocket aces.
Bad beats happen, that's the nature of the game.
But watching player, after player, after player... all playing 20 or more tournaments at once, ALL making INCREDIBLE profits, thousands, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands playing $20 or $30 buy in tournaments is too much to believe.
Are their poker savaants our there who can do it?
Sure, it may be possible if you are remarkably gifted.
After all, what should seperate the online professional capable of making so much money? Wouldn't it be their ability to study their opponents betting patterns? Watching the cards when showdowns occur to get a better idea of the hands being played in certain positions?
Pull up ANY player in 20 or more tournaments at once and you'll find someone making a TON of cash in relation to the size of touraments they are playing.
Again, don't take my word for it. Look at a few of them yourself and make up your own mind.