The Tao of Poker by Larry W. Phillips (RULE 255)

[reo]

Wondering what were your opinions were on this rule . . .

. . . it's from "The Tao of Poker" by Larry W. Phillips.

This rule is located on page 170. Do you believe it?

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Rule 255: An above-average grasp of the game, backed by large amounts of money, will often triumph over great expertise operating on a limited bankroll.

A B+ grasp of the game, wedded to great sums of money, makes for a dangerous opponent. It is often the case that a B+ game and an A+ bank account will triumph over an A+ game and a D+ bank account.

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That's all he mentions for that rule.

- Reo

[Reef]

well duh, variance happens.

But. I think an A+ game with B+ bank acct triumphs over a B+ game with A+ bank acct

[AaronBrown]

This is absurd.

In a tournament, a pretty good player with a big stack might be favored over a short-stacked expert. But the expert still expects to win chips every hand from the pretty good player. The more chips the pretty good player has, the more chips the expert expects to win.

Having a large stack does not make you dangerous, in cash games or tournaments. It does allow you to play dangerously, because you can survive losses. That kind of play will increase the expected return to the expert, but it also (if the pretty good player does it right) will increase his chance of going broke. But the expert will welcome it all the same.

A player with a big bankroll does the opposite of scare me.

[cardcounter0]

As you can see from some the replies, people do not understand variance.

You can have a perfect A+ game, play perfectly, do everything right -- and if you happen to be on the wrong side of variance -- with a D+ bankroll you will go broke, and the other guy with the B+ game with the A+ bankroll wins.