Where do you rate winning the WSOP?

[Poker Jon]

Hey all,

Haven't posted for ages, but just wanted to find out where the poker playing fraternity rated Hachem's feat of defeating 5,619 people willing to part with $10,000 and sit for 7 days playing poker - to me it is a pretty mean feat!

However, where do we rate it among other sporting accomplishments??

[Poker Jon]

FWIW - Lance Armstrong takes it for me at the moment, although Niclaus is close for prolonged superiority!

[Poker Jon]

Looks like the flack has come my way.

My point with this post, is that, can anybody name another sport where the person who wins the event has to play his/her event for 7 days solid at least 12 hours a day (84 hours in a week for those who don't want to do the maths).

1) You need mental strength to rival any chess player
2) the physical strength to not fall asleep/keep awake/alert
3) Intellectual ability to think and analyse situations quickly

These three attributes alone are tough enough to do for any sort of prolonged period, but to do them for 7 days continuously is a huge feat and something I think is worthy of mention among the other great sporting acheivements of our time.

I will also make a bold statement now:

No player from this day forth, will win the WSOP big one twice in their lifetime! Ever! Period!

What do you reckon to that?

Jon

[einbert]

[ QUOTE ]
1) You need mental strength to rival any chess player
2) the physical strength to not fall asleep/keep awake/alert
3) Intellectual ability to think and analyse situations quickly

[/ QUOTE ]

You do know who came in second right?

In case you missed it:
[ QUOTE ]

Steve Dannenmann has the button, he raises to $700,000, and Hachem calls. The flop comes 6h-5d-4d, Hachem checks, Dannenmann bets $700,000, Hachem raises to $1,700,000, and Dannenmann calls. The turn card is the As, Hachem bets $2,000,000, and Dannenmann slowly raises to $5,000,000, Hachem reraises all in, and Dannenmann immediately calls. Hachem shows 7c-3s (seven-high straight), while Dannenman has Ad-3c (top pair). Dannenmann needs to catch a seven on the river to chop the pot with equal straights.

[/ QUOTE ]
from cardplayer.com

[Arnfinn Madsen]

[ QUOTE ]

My point with this post, is that, can anybody name another sport where the person who wins the event has to play his/her event for 7 days solid at least 12 hours a day (84 hours in a week for those who don't want to do the maths).


[/ QUOTE ]

Tour de France lasts 21 days [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[Poker Jon]

I agree in terms of length of days, but you don't have to concentrate for the length of time you do in poker.

I agree though that Lance is amazing, and in my book is the greatest athlete of all time!

[WackityWhiz]

what a joke, somebody had to win this years wsop, and that person shouldn't be automatically put in a group of athletes that you have in your poll.

dumb, just dumb

[KenProspero]

[ QUOTE ]
I will also make a bold statement now:

No player from this day forth, will win the WSOP big one twice in their lifetime! Ever! Period!

[/ QUOTE ]

If I thought there would be a way to collect, I'd make this bet --

Starting with the 2006 WSOP ME and running through the 2036 ME, at least one player will win the ME more than once.

In other words wipe the slate clean, forget about past wins, someone will win at least twice in the next 30 years.

For a variety of reasons, I think that it's a near certainty.

[TransientR]

[ QUOTE ]
Looks like the flack has come my way.

My point with this post, is that, can anybody name another sport where the person who wins the event has to play his/her event for 7 days solid at least 12 hours a day (84 hours in a week for those who don't want to do the maths).

1) You need mental strength to rival any chess player
2) the physical strength to not fall asleep/keep awake/alert
3) Intellectual ability to think and analyse situations quickly

These three attributes alone are tough enough to do for any sort of prolonged period, but to do them for 7 days continuously is a huge feat and something I think is worthy of mention among the other great sporting acheivements of our time.

I will also make a bold statement now:

No player from this day forth, will win the WSOP big one twice in their lifetime! Ever! Period!

What do you reckon to that?

Jon

[/ QUOTE ]

1. I don't think you "need the mental strength" to rival any chess player. Most hands you fold, in chess you have to move.

2. "Physical strength" please. Sitting on your ass for hours at a time is not at all comparable physically to what Lance Armstrong has to do in any stage of the Tour. I'm sure Lance could easily sit and play poker nearly forever without fatigue. If you subjected the competitors at the WSOP to a Tour time trial, no less a mountain climb, better have a fleet of ambulances on hand to haul away the dead and dying [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

3. Yes in poker you have to analyze situations quickly, certainly compared to chess, but perhaps that is just because most plays in poker do not need to be analyzed in the depth that many chess plays require. I do think nerve and psychological cunning plays a major part in separating the best poker players from the rest. I don't think the math of poker, the importance of position, pot odds, implied pot odds, etc., is anything a reasonably intelligent person can't master with decent effort.

I think winning the WSOP is a great achievement, but considering the luck factor in the game, the winner is unlikely to be the best player in the world, while for the other sporting achievements you cite, there is no doubt that the winning person is the best there is.

Frank

[ononimo]

you're asking where we rate the winner of a single championship event against several sporting icons who have each established long track records of winning at the highest level possible?

um, let me get back to you on that one.