Ok, very interesting stuff.

What we're seeing here is a generation transition. So many young kids, relatively new to the game, are looking for some magic formula to becoming a huge winner. I mean nothing derogatory against young kids as many of us [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] (I'm 30) are very sharp when it comes to a thinking game like poker. I do, however know the magic formula and I'll be happy to share it at the end. But first, I'd like to address this changing of the times issue.

A winning style is comprised of much more than just "today's numbers" or "last year's numbers". Hold'em has been around for a long time and there are ZERO brand new concepts, plays or ideas that any of us can take the credit for. All we do is find new ways to phrase or talk about them.

For example:

15 years ago, this "LAGtard" "Donked" both the flop and turn at me with "Air" and then "Sexyed" the river when he connected.
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS....back then was he was this crazy who nut who kept betting into me with nothing and then check raised the river when he got there.

Sorry if I got carried away with the illustration. My point is:
The game doesn't change; only the language does.

People have been recycling all of the same moves since the game started. Great players use every bit of information to their advantage whether it was last decade, last year, last month or last night.


As far as winning is concerned....

VPIP (as well as all other stats) isn't something we create a style around or play our hands according to -- it is merely a RESULT of adaptation. The poker player who makes the most money isn't the one who chooses the best "style of play". He's the one who makes the most correct decisions....and if that results in a 30/20 statistic, so be it.

Nikla deserves the credit that he is given for his ability to make the most correct decisions. Trying to emulate his exact numbers in order to achieve his winrate could spell DISASTER. His 30/20 is a result of those decisions based on the games he played, the players he played against, and the situations he encountered in them. Although similar scenarios will present themselves over time, each one is unique in itself and needs to addressed with the highest EV play at that particular moment. Nikla does this better than anyone I've heard of or seen, and THAT'S what makes him the best, not his VPIP.


Thanks ___1___ for bringing this back up. I love theory posts and I'll take them over hand history posts any day of the year.


P.S. MAGIC FORMULA TO WINNING THE MOST -- Be right more than everyone else. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]