David's Ability to think....

[1800GAMBLER]

Also, Dave is a very competitive person there's no way he wouldn't want to beat that game. Yet, 1. he loves to feel great about his intelligence and 2. his main source of income is book sales, if he tried to beat 2k/4k can couldn't that would be a serious damage to both of those.

I wonder want he thinks about the BarryG quote, 'beating our game is worth millions, so anyone who could beat it would be doing it rather than making books/dvds etc'

[anduril]

[ QUOTE ]
Also, Dave is a very competitive person there's no way he wouldn't want to beat that game. Yet, 1. he loves to feel great about his intelligence and 2. his main source of income is book sales, if he tried to beat 2k/4k can couldn't that would be a serious damage to both of those.

I wonder want he thinks about the BarryG quote, 'beating our game is worth millions, so anyone who could beat it would be doing it rather than making books/dvds etc'

[/ QUOTE ]

In Vegas at Bellagio this past weekend, I saw 4k/8k 4 handed with Ivey, Brunson, Greenstein, and I think Eli Elezra. Then I saw Sklansky tooling a bunch of no names in the upper section while getting up every so often to check the sportsbook, which he seemed more interested in. I think I like David's situation better.

[curtains]

[ QUOTE ]
you would think the world's premiere poker theorist would be playing at higher stakes.

granted beating the 300-600 is nice. but beating it for 1.5 BB/hr or whatever stat you wish to use is only 900/hr.

whereas if you are beating the 2000-4000 game for even 1/6th that rate (.25 bb/hr) it would be more profitable at 1000/hr.

for someone who says that there are thousands of players "just below" the best in the world, why do you think your edge would drop to such a degree.

something just doesn't add up there david. so i suppose we should just apply occam's razor to the question of "why isn't david sklansky playing and beating the big game?"

and of course the answer would be: he can't.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like any post that includes the phrase "only 900 an hour"

[Crispy86]

[ QUOTE ]
Also, Dave is a very competitive person there's no way he wouldn't want to beat that game. Yet, 1. he loves to feel great about his intelligence and 2. his main source of income is book sales, if he tried to beat 2k/4k can couldn't that would be a serious damage to both of those.

I wonder want he thinks about the BarryG quote, 'beating our game is worth millions, so anyone who could beat it would be doing it rather than making books/dvds etc'

[/ QUOTE ]

Since Greenstein's book is due out, is one to presume he is no longer beating the game?

[Ezcheeze]

My Opinion:

If Sklansky jumped into higher limit games than he plays right now he would be a loser. However, I believe if he invested almost all of his time and energy into beating these games then theres a good chance he would be able to.

It seems to me what has occrured is Sklansky is at a stalemate. In order to become a winner in the higher limits he would have to invest so much time and energy that he'd have nothing left for anything else for a long time (at least a few months if not years). And on top of this there is no gaurantee hed be a winner even after investing significant time and money (though I do think theres a good chance he would be a winner).

Another detering factor would have to be that even if he became a winner in a full game environment (say 5 or more players) hed still be a loser when the game got shorthanded agianst the best players in the game (like Ivery and Greenstein in the 4k/8k). This situation comes up very often so he'd be forced to greatly reduce the time he plays in the game or wait for others to show up knowing hes a loser until they do.

In Phil Ivey's interview with cardplayer he claimed he plays 50-90 hours a week. That's just how much he plays, imagine how much extra time he deticates away from the table to theory, player profiles, etc. He clearly has significant natural ability (as does Sklansky) but a big part of what separates him from the lower limit players is simply the amount of time, effort, and work he puts into what he does.

[Prevaricator]

Did all of Kane's posts just come back from the dead?

[Alex/Mugaaz]

I have a hard time seeing someone beating the upper limit games for 1bb+ an hour. I doubt anyone claims a winrate of that.

I don't see why people care one way or another. Even if it was proven he couldn't beat that game, so what? I don't care one way or the oter, his books are by far the best. I don't care if he can't beat a $4-$8 PP game, what kind of shirts he wears, or if he prefers boxers to briefs. It's completely meaningless.

Doyle supposedly beats the 4k-8k, but so what. His book while entertaining was almost meaningless.

If Sklansky writes a book on how to beat the 4k-8k, then his ability to beat it himself is relevant, otherwise who cares.

[Oluwafemi]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a hard time seeing someone beating the upper limit games for 1bb+ an hour. I doubt anyone claims a winrate of that.

I don't see why people care one way or another. Even if it was proven he couldn't beat that game, so what? I don't care one way or the oter, his books are by far the best. I don't care if he can't beat a $4-$8 PP game, what kind of shirts he wears, or if he prefers boxers to briefs. It's completely meaningless.

Doyle supposedly beats the 4k-8k, but so what. His book while entertaining was almost meaningless.

If Sklansky writes a book on how to beat the 4k-8k, then his ability to beat it himself is relevant, otherwise who cares.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
If Sklansky writes a book on how to beat the 4k-8k, then his ability to beat it himself is relevant, otherwise who cares.

[/ QUOTE ]

how much sense does this make? [ QUOTE ]
pause

[/ QUOTE ]

about as much sense as a numbskull thinking he can get into MIT because of affirmative action.

if you're gonna write a book on how to beat the 4K/8K game and you can't beat it yourself, then WHY did you write it in the first place? the only people qualified to write about beating the big game are the players who have played in it over an extended time period and have beat it, PERIOD!

[Alex/Mugaaz]

Um, he has never written one, hence it doesn't matter if he can or not.

His books are valid to the mid high levels. He beats these on a regular basis, which proves he at least knows how. Did you misread what I typed maybe?

There will by definition never be a book that will teach you how to beat the hardest game.

[JohnG]

The higher you go, the more difficult it is to find a honest game.