Are the consistent MMT players really that good?

[Desdia72]

i can't really speak for any other site because i exclusively play at Pokerstars, but it's like the same guys are either cashing, making the final table, or winning the tourney. i'm fully aware of the skill factor, but considering the number of MMTs they do well in, i'm like, "DAMN!!" it can't be that much skill in the world. these guys are blessed with good fortune that hits at the right time and impeccable luck. i remember the first hand i played against Hamman (one of the players on the Pokerstars TLB) where i was dealt a hand like A Q and lost at the showdwon to his 7 6 offsuit (he was dealt a fullhouse). i'm not salty because he won the hand and a bunch of my chips, i was more salty with how, just when he needed it, he got dealt a nut hand holding crap preflop. he went on to make the final table.

are these guys really that good or do the Poker GODS bless them more often than us mere poker mortals? people talk about 50% ITM being unsustainable in the long run playing SNGs but these guys seem to cash in MTTs as if the were playing exactly that, SNGs.

is it the competition they play against? is it being able to navigate large player fields through superior play? do they play A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] or K [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] more differently than you average JoeSmoe?

the floor is now open for friendly discussion.

*note, i have about 4 cashes in MMTs with my highest being 14th (i've had way more success with SNGs) and i also made the final table of a 500 FPP satellite, winning a spot into the PS's weekly $250,000 Guaranteed NL tourney. i also busted out TheBeat (Pete Giordano) in a $10 rebuy tourney when he was in that famous "GO/ALL-IN/WITH/ANYTHING/DURING/
THE/REBUY/PERIOD" crash and burn style.*

[curmudgeon]

Most of the PS leaderboard players just play a LOT of tourneys. They aren't really that much better, but they do have to get lucky to win.......just like most players do!

[whiskeytown]

a few of them are good...some not so.. - it's astounding to me though how many players I played two yrs ago who are on the TLB now have early notes in them like "loosie as a goosie" or "sushi-san"

me thinks many of the TLB are from the Gus Hanson school of poker - and I've noticed (and so has Jesse May) that guys like Erik123 and other from Sweden seem to be kicking major ass lately - a lot of young Swedish players seem to be running over tourneys the way Russians ran over chess...

this is his live tourney observation though...so it's not cheating/online colusion...

but yeah...enter a 1000 player tourney sometime....get to within 1 table of the money and get 70 TLB points

do that for every 1 buck tourney at PS, that's almost 700 right there per week

RB

[Desdia72]

[ QUOTE ]
a few of them are good...some not so.. - it's astounding to me though how many players I played two yrs ago who are on the TLB now have early notes in them like "loosie as a goosie" or "sushi-san"

me thinks many of the TLB are from the Gus Hanson school of poker - and I've noticed (and so has Jesse May) that guys like Erik123 and other from Sweden seem to be kicking major ass lately - a lot of young Swedish players seem to be running over tourneys the way Russians ran over chess...

this is his live tourney observation though...so it's not cheating/online colusion...

but yeah...enter a 1000 player tourney sometime....get to within 1 table of the money and get 70 TLB points

do that for every 1 buck tourney at PS, that's almost 700 right there per week

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm with you on those Swedish cats. in Erik Sagstrom's (Erik123) hometown of LINKOPING, there seems to be a horde of players like LelleP, thegiant, and others flooding PS tourneys. makes me think back to that article on Men Nguyen and the Vietnamese Poker Cartel.

[curmudgeon]

Certainly many good players enter the same tournament multiple times through different accounts.

[Desdia72]

[ QUOTE ]
Certainly many good players enter the same tournament multiple times through different accounts.

[/ QUOTE ]

well, Erik must have several. there are other players from the same city like Jose and Magic Swede who have done good in MTTs too.

[whiskeytown]

and the ones with consistantly good results in live tourneys...they must enter the tourneys multiple times under different names too, right?

just a little transparent with your jealousy there, - only a tinny winsey bit. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[Desdia72]

[ QUOTE ]
and the ones with consistantly good results in live tourneys...they must enter the tourneys multiple times under different names too, right?

just a little transparent with your jealousy there, - only a tinny winsey bit. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not jealous, not even a little bit. i don't know how the multiple usernames/accounts work and i don't care, that's for the websites to police. but we all know, the simple fact of playing on a computer can make a whole lot of things possible, as opposed to live play.

anyways, this is not about a discussion of possible illegalities, collusion, or conspiracy theories. this is a discussion on great, online MMT players.

[RFJ]

The game is called holdem, but the real game is knowing when to foldem. Great players know when to fold great cards and know when to hold on to garbage. Weak players will hold onto great cards when the board says fold em. If he made a boat with 7 6 off suit that means the board had either two 7's or 6's. I don't know how the betting went, but if he was willing to risk all his chips bells in your head should have been ringing that he already had your pair beat with trips or boat. The good players will save his chips here in this case and fold his AQ. He will save those chips he would have lost in this hand and double them up on the next hand when he has the edge. If your lucky then yes you make a lot of chips. Only with skill can you save your chips. Great players know how to play the board. Whether it's great cards in your hand or garbage in your hands. It is only as good as what's on board. Of course when you do have a good hand you have to make a good bet to get ride of the garbage people will come in with.

[Sundevils21]

RFJ=Phil Hellmuth???