GiftofGab, Spirit Rock, Hassan Slask etc.

[cero_z]

Hi fimbul,

I promise you this is not personal, but WTF are you talking about, man?

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These players who are truly beating the biggest and hardest games never seem to come from poker communities.

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OK; 2 of the 3 named in your OP's subject most certainly DO come from poker communities. Prahlad was one of the most active members of RGP (ever heard of that forum?) at the same time as Jesus Ferguson and Howard Lederer were active there. This was only a few years ago; you are young.

Gift of Gab posted a lot here in the past; one can only assume that he lurked when he wasn't posting. I don't know about the Scandanavian dude, but see the next paragraph.

Finally, there are many "poker communities" that are off your radar (I mean ones even more obscure than the top-secret RGP). Everywhere there is serious poker played, there are groups of players who bounce ideas off each other and push each other to become better. I know this is true in Sweden, I know it's true in Madison, WI, I know it's true in Charlottesville, VA. Diablo plays in the Bay Area, right? He's friends with Tommy Angelo; think they ever talk about poker?

If your premise wasn't completely faulty to begin with, I think a reasonable answer would be that the ability to rise to the very top of poker is derived mostly from extreme talent. These super-talented players would probably do even better if they studied, but they possess skills that you can't learn from books, and this is what sets them apart. This is how the players from older generations (who didn't have access to good books and who haven't subsequently read any) continue to succeed against poker's "new breed" of math wonk.