Re: Is Going Broke Necessary?
The old pros did not have many of the advantages that you/we have and enjoy today.
They started in cash games before there was an internet (I know most of you guys don't believe it but some of us remember manual tune black and white TVs with only a few channels). They played in cash games without the advatage of micro games - you learned at 5/10 limits and quickly swam or sank.
Most of the older players do not come from backgrounds that are advataged as many of the posters here. They didn't have parents supporting them in school while they chased girls, drank and played cards.
When I look at the number of foreign born players and their backgrounds I am reminded of the early days of professional football - back before there was money in it. If poker had not caught on big these players would be playing each other in small tournaments with only the WSOP having a major payoff. Go back and check the numbers of entrants in the WPT season #1 tournaments and compare the numbers to today - just three years later.
As Brunson has said many times: these young players have seen more hands in a year then we saw in a career. In 1980 no one 4 tabled for 12 hours a day. You one tabled in a dirty, smoke filled room trying to beat the tourists out of a few bucks.
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