ev question for Greg Raymer

I know this is likely to be mostly a guess on your part, but what do you think the EV is for the top 1,5 and 10% players in


A) $100 and less tournaments


b) $2-500


c) $1000


And, is the ev in the best tournament for a skillful player as high as twice the ev for the worst? Is the former either omaha/8 or stud/8 or NL holdem, and the latter limit holdem? Thanks if you or anyone else would care to take a stab at this.

Could you reword your questions? I'm not answering at this time because I'm not 100% sure exactly what the questions are.


Here's a reason why.


If I'm in the top 10% of a typical $100 buyin tourney, I may not be the same player as somebody who's in the top 10% of a typical $1000 buyin event. So, when you say 10%, do you mean the same group for each buyin, or different groups for each buyin?


You can see where else there are possible ambiguities.


Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Sorry for the confusion; your question makes sense. I'm wondering what the evs are for each percentile at each buy-in level:


100 2-500 1000

99% 3xbuy 2.5 2


95 2 1.5 1


90 1.5 1 .5


Of course these numbers are just to fill space on the chart. Assume at each buy-in level the percentiles reflect the abilities for individuals at that level only.

Sorry, but these numbers you laid out aren't clear to me either.


Use words. Full sentences. No shortcuts, tables, or anything. Even then, I'm getting the feeling any answer I might posit is going to be just a guess, and not one with a lot of reliability.


Actually, here's your answer.


The rule of thumb I've often heard is that a great tourney player will win about twice as much as the buyin on average. So, if the buyin is $100 + $20, the great player will average a return of $200, for a profit of $80.


I really don't know where the cutoff is for a great player. Probably around the top 5%, but it could be 10% or 2%.


I doubt anything more specific will have any real value. The guessing is too big a factor.


later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)