lmao at Annie Duke

[Deorum]

[ QUOTE ]
With all due respect to you, I think it diminishes the term 'world class' if it is attainable in only 6 months. I think that in any discipline whether its poker or basketball or chess or ship-building or anything else, it takes at the very least 5 years of intense study to become 'world class.' JMHO.

[/ QUOTE ]

World class status, or any status for that matter, is
determined by ability and skill, not time spent. The
experience gained through hours played builds and tempers
ability and skill, but status is measured through these two
abilities, not what it took to learn them.

[BarronVangorToth]

[ QUOTE ]
"(Ben Affleck) has become world class, absolutly world class".

hahahahahahahahahaha

[/ QUOTE ]


While no one would consider him the best poker player in the world -- or even in the Top 10 -- he certainly now MUST be considered in that category of "world class" with his recent preformances and quantum leaps in game play. He is a phenomenal player and, outside of poker, a genuinely nice guy from all that I've read (which is quite a bit, as he is, without question, also my favorite actor).

Plus he RULED in "Phantoms."


Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com

[turnipmonster]

this is just my opinion obviously, but if you can become world class at something after doing it for a year or two, whatever that something is must not really be very difficult, and thus the title world class doesn't really mean all that much.

also, there seems to be a lot of short term luck in tournaments. seems like it would take quite a while to determine whether or not someone is really good at them.

--turnipmonster

[pipes]

He was massively outchipped in celebrity poker but beat Ben headsup.

[HUSKER'66]

[ QUOTE ]


Quote:
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Would you say Ted Lawson is a world class player? He also has won a tour event. If Affleck begins cashing at the same rate as some of the other "World Class Players", I will also believe he is one.


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Ted Lawson has never won any "tour" event. Nice try though.




[/ QUOTE ]

If by "tour" he means WPT then your correct. If he means any tournament on the poker "tour" in general, then he's got ya. Lawson won a WSOP Omaha event this year.

Husker

[bwana devil]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you think that implies he believes Affleck is a "really good" player, but just not quite "world class"--or do you think it implies he finds Duke's contention utterly ridiculous?

[/ QUOTE ]

Really excellent post. I wish I were so eloquent. I think you summed up the issue perfectly and anyone else not speaking directly to what you address is missing the point entirely.

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Quote:
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Would you say Ted Lawson is a world class player? He also has won a tour event. If Affleck begins cashing at the same rate as some of the other "World Class Players", I will also believe he is one.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Ted Lawson has never won any "tour" event. Nice try though.




[/ QUOTE ]

If by "tour" he means WPT then your correct. If he means any tournament on the poker "tour" in general, then he's got ya. Lawson won a WSOP Omaha event this year.

Husker

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i'm well aware of that, in fact i knew exactly what he was talking about when he said it. however, i doubt anyone thinks a $10k buy in main event tourney is the same as a $2k buy in undercard event. he is calling it a "tour" event, like it is something incredibly incredible compared to all other poker tourneys.

[Lazymeatball]

[ QUOTE ]
While no one would consider him the best poker player in the world -- or even in the Top 10 -- he certainly now MUST be considered in that category of "world class" with his recent preformances and quantum leaps in game play. He is a phenomenal player and, outside of poker, a genuinely nice guy from all that I've read (which is quite a bit, as he is, without question, also my favorite actor).

[/ QUOTE ]


You seriously think he is in the category of world class players based on winning a 90 person tournament? That's his only public accomplishment as far as I know. There are hundreds of players with greater accomplishments than he competing for this nomenclature. i don't know his play personally, but if people say he's good, I'll listen, but he's going to need to show me a good track record over a longer period of time (i dunno, 10 years?)to be a WCP.

Basically, Like Chris Moneymaker, he's unproven. He's only been playing on a noticeable level for, I dunno, a couple years. The swings in tournament poker are huge, and it's going to take some time before we know if Affleck is any good or not.


As for his acting, his track record has long been established, and he stinks! [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

[MaxPower]

Professional poker players like Annie know where their bread is buttered. You will never hear them say a bad word about the high rollers or celebrities who play against them.

If Ben is a World Class Tournament player, that is great. Being smart and getting tutoring from Annie and other pros would certainly be one way to get there.

If he is a terrible poker player, these pros will do nothing but compliment him in public because they want him to play in their game.

I'm sure that most of the top pros are now generating more incoming from outside projects than from actually playing the game. It is in their best interest to keep the poker boom going and discouraging rich celebrities from playing the game does not serve that goal.

Annie is smart. She knows that the real money is not made from playing poker. I don't know whether she is being completely honest about Affleck being a world class player (he seemed to play a solid game when I saw him on the celebrity show), but she is doing the smart thing.

[Tosh]

[ QUOTE ]
Why is that funny? He has become world class. He won the California State Championship which is a 10k buy-in NL event. I would call that world class. I would put him up against most players in the world and bet on him.

Annie Duke

[/ QUOTE ]

Its just a case of the definition. For me to be world class you have to be the asbolute best in your field. If I was asked the question I would never list more than a dozen players I defined as world class. I don't think people can argue anymore than Ben is not a very very good player, but world class? Well not for me anyway.