[StellarWind]

Certain players seem to have a very special gift that I recognize but am unable to pin down.

This gift is a natural ability to sense the weaknesses in their opponent's game and then shift their own style to exploit those weaknesses. The consequences of this ability are:

1. Otherwise talented opponents make an unnatural number of mistakes.

2. These mistakes and the constant stream of uncomfortable situations often trigger loss of confidence and even tilt in the victim.

3. Hero is rarely put to the full test from a technical perspective. Everything becomes about the victim and his problems. In this fashion the Hero protects the technical leaks in his own game.

4. The gifted one is often perceived as lucky because his opponents make excessive mistakes while his own play doesn't stand up to paper analysis. Of course the victim's discomfort is not on the paper.

I've seen this phenomena at the chess table many times and it is very disconcerting. Players whose results far exceed the objective quality of their moves. Former world champion Emmanual Lasker was famous for this gift.

I've also seen it playing bridge. Michael Cappelletti Sr. (yes, the well-known poker author is also a bridge expert) is uncanny at this. He always knows the right time to do the "wrong" thing.

A major difference between poker and bridge or chess is that this talent seems to be much more powerful at poker. Technically inferior bridge and chess experts do not exist. Yet it is very clear from reading these forums that many quite successful poker players have really serious leaks in their games. Clearly other factors are compensating in a major way.

Now I am not saying that the true stars of poker are leaking all over the place. But given the apparent ability of the gift to overcome major shortcomings in mediocre players, it may well be that it is absolutely devastating in the hands of someone who doesn't have these technical weaknesses to overcome. The lore of poker is full of larger-than-life players who could routinely dominate tables. Mere technical skill doesn't explain this, especially at limit.