Daniel Negreanu is the top MTT NLH player in the world

[zaxx19]

Evaluate this statement....

I, for one, have had him as my #1 for the entire time ive followed poker...a whopping 6.5 months. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Other nominees(no particular order):
1)Jon Juanda - Perhaps 1b in my book. Excellent consistent results. A top 3 player.

2)Seidel- Always a threat. Yr seems to be getting better all the time.

3) Flack- Many NLH players tout him as a NLH1 guru. Goond results lately. Dangerous as any player at a final table. perhaps the most feared player in the circuit.

4)Cloutier- All time top 5 NLH MTT player with Brunson and Ungar ..perhaps chan....hellmuth.

5)Hanson- 2ND best WPT player ever. Dangerous style. Fearless at moving chips. The future of NLH??

5)Ivey- Best instincts of the bunch. Good shot at 2003 main even title until fat accountant with cheap oakleys sucked out. One of the top poker players in the world. If he concentrated on MTT probably would dominate?

6) Brunson- Still a factor prove so in WSOP and in his recent big buy in victory.

7)Allen Cunningham- Wild card of my group. Damn good player. Young. Consistent. Seems due to blow up soon imho.

8)Hellmuth- Say what you will he has a ton of bracelts in holdem. Isnt concentrating as much on tourneys as business. Still a damn good player and poker mind. Yes he whines...but yes his is usually the best hand.

9)Pham- On complete fire lately. Has a ton of respect from fellow players. Needs to show results more consistently to be a TOP player.

10)Lederer- Hasnt really shown me he is a top MTT player. Great poker mind. Best poker analyst on the planet(it isnt even close) Amazing high limit ring game player. Amazing abassador for poker, pure class act. I just wish he had a few more titles....Of course his bank account is still huge so what does he care.

11) Greenstein- If he actually cared about his MTT results...can u imagine how good he would be??

12)Hassan Habib. Not insanely good but damn consistent. Can change gears well, and makes huge bluffs for all his chips.

Others.. Martin Dekniff, Alan Goehring, Huck Seed, Scotty Nguyen, Men Nguyen, Marcel Luske, Hennigan, Harrington

Did I miss somebody really obvious(im sure i did)
Who else woul yu add as a TOP TOP player??

[AngryCola]

"Did I miss somebody really obvious"

Greg Raymer. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[zaxx19]

No, I suppose I didnt.......

[Rushmore]

I think you're selling Ivey a little short. Right now, if I'm sitting there, it's Ivey I don't want to see.

Negreanu is unbelievably tough. But he will give you all of his chips on a bad read and/or get too involved if he makes a play preflop/on the flop. He sometimes can't put the brakes on.

Juanda is very similar. He's often totally read-dependent for a large chunk of his chips.

Seidel is definitely scary. He's right up there, and I don't see any weaknesses.

Flack is a little flighty, but tough as nails. He's always betting, so it's tough to pick your spots against him.

T.J. is incredible, obviously, but he made the single worst raise I have seen a top pro make (see Poker Superstars, vs. Hansen), so I can't put him ahead of Ivey either.

And Hansen, well, as aggressive and dangerous as he is, there is no moment at the table where he is not in serious danger of zigging when he oughta be zagging and give you all of his chips (which, by the way, he amassed with this aggressive style). The same can be said for most players, but especially of Gus Hansen.

So, to me, all-around, it's Ivey, right up there with Negreanu.

Of course, I am only judging by a combination of results and televised evidence, so there could be a gap or two.

[AJo Go All In]

huh? your thesis makes no sense to me. the reason ivey is so feared is because he is just as aggressive if not more aggressive than all those other guys. he could also dump you all his chips on a bad bluff.

[zaxx19]

He is entering all the major ones and winning often. Seems like a winning combo to me lol.

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
huh? your thesis makes no sense to me. the reason ivey is so feared is because he is just as aggressive if not more aggressive than all those other guys. he could also dump you all his chips on a bad bluff.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess that at this point, he seems less reckless. Aggressive, yes. Just not recklessly so. Hansen, Negreanu, Juanda, and Flack all seem a bit more reckless to me.

But again, just going by results/televised hands.

I'm sorry my thesis didn't make any sense. I am so ashamed.

[kenberman]

You must have played a lot with these guys to know so much about them.

[UMTerp]

Why does everyone always say this? Who cares if you played with them or not? Did you guys play with Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, John Elway, or Johnny Untias? But I bet you still sit around with your buddies and argue about who's the greatest baseball player of all time and who's the greatest quarterback of all time. This is the same thing - pretty much a worthless post when all is said and done, but still fun to talk about if you're a "fan".

And I don't see how Negreanu couldn't be #1 at the moment if you're ranking players. Ivey probably shoots back near the top when he wins another big one, but he didn't play enough tourneys this year to merit the "Current #1" title...

[kenberman]

[ QUOTE ]
Why does everyone always say this? Who cares if you played with them or not? Did you guys play with Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, John Elway, or Johnny Untias? But I bet you still sit around with your buddies and argue about who's the greatest baseball player of all time and who's the greatest quarterback of all time. This is the same thing - pretty much a worthless post when all is said and done, but still fun to talk about if you're a "fan".

[/ QUOTE ]

The big difference between arguing about the "greatest hitter in baseball" (or similar sports topic) and the "greatest current tournament play" is very simple: the amount of information available to you, the debater.

As a Red Sox fan, I can sit down and watch every single pitch of every game they play this year. With DirectTV, anybody can watch every play (as their free time allows) of the NFL season, and therefore have in depth knowledge of every player of every team.

As a poker fan, I can watch WPT, or other televised events. These programs conveniently cut down a multi-day tournament into a few hours, choosing what they want to show about each player. Not every player plays in every tournament, and certainly doesn't make a televised appearance in every tournament they play in.

Therefore, the amount of hands you see on TV of Barry G., for instance, is far less than 1% of the hands he will play this year. You know far less about him and his style than a dedicated baseball fan knows about Curt Schilling.

Simply put, unless you play in games with these guys, you really don't know a lot about them.