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| Poor Showings by ESPN Promo Winners; What seems to be the Problem?? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 9 2007, 10:36 AM (346 Views) | |
| ohiogirlie74 | Jul 9 2007, 10:36 AM Post #1 |
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On the button!
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For the last few Big Tourney Buy-In promotions, ESPN has sent a less-than-ready individual to the felt. (Maybe.) You read in magazines and blogs about online players laying serious smackdown on some pros in those events, and yet...our representatives can't seem to get it done. The updates on "smagma," or Leroy, indicated that initially, he was off to a good start...Yay....and then donked off his chips overvaluing some trappy hands. I read that his AK lost to KJ when a J flopped (I think without a K), and that his AQ lost to QQ when the board didn't deliver an Ace or better. Complete meltdown in 2 hands. I've done that. But, I wasn't sitting in the $10k Main Event at the time. The guy we sent last year did as bad if not worse, and even my buddy Waugh (Kahlil34) didn't do so hot in his USPC game [which he attributes to being green, and I'm fully confident that he'd fare much better now that he's had much more practice]. We just saw another promo winner last night that not many (if any) have ever heard of, and who I personally witnessed make some shady calls/bets. Which reminds me, how on Earth did TTech_Ben not win last night?!?!! He won the recent poker league outright, had the best average score for any player registered in the Sunday Q's, probably some other notable finishes I can't remember at the moment, and has been playing generally perfect poker for MONTHS. Including last night! He plays well and plays often, and would have been a fantastic representative of the Club. I can think of 10 others that really should have been at the final table, at LEAST. (WTG Mithrall, by the way, nice job. I knew you'd finish strong.) What do you guys think the problem is? Do the final tournaments at ESPN favor noobs, trolls, and dumb luck? Are online players in general too clueless in live play to have what it takes? Would a promo winner benefit from some pre-tourney tutoring? Am I just bitter because I couldn't make the cut? I really don't get it. I definitely worry that if ESPN Poker Club can't deliver a better player SOON, that big tourneys are going to be cut right out of the budget for prizes. Why invest 10k+ if you can't get any real PR out of it? I think a future promo should include an essay contest first. Explain why the heck you deserve to play, why ESPN should foot your bill, why anyone would let you in a tournament...and then let a "final" play out with the top 100-200 winners from that. Hahahaha. |
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| wild | Jul 9 2007, 11:32 PM Post #2 |
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On the button!
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You have to remember that several of the "name" pros were out before our winner. We are talking about people who pay the bills based on the outcome of the cards. Our people make it based on the ability to hold down a steady job and grind it out day after day and week after week in the wierdest poker environment known to man. After our Joe blow makes it he is thrust into a fishbowl with the brightest spotlight in the sport aimed at them. I don't really expect our winner to make it much further than they do. Of course I would definatly be able to do better Also a nother point to consider is have we sent a champion who has any live play experience to anything? Online and live are 2 entirely different beast. |
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| TheMonkeydeSade/nh_gg_gl_fu | Jul 10 2007, 06:56 AM Post #3 |
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On the button!
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Yes they are! Have to completely change gears in live games. The play is much calmer in the opening hands as people try to build stacks. I play at the casinos in Indiana 2 to 3 times A month anymore. So far I'm in the profit zone. |
| Punching through the Bozone, one Ignoranus at A time!#BLOCK^_^DATA##BLOCKv_vDATA# | |
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| ohiogirlie74 | Jul 10 2007, 09:09 AM Post #4 |
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On the button!
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Online and live are radically different. Agree. Is it that simple? I suppose. Oh, and, seriously -- no disrespect meant whatsoever to the guys who went into the Fishbowl as promo winners. I know that they outlasted some very very "big name" pro's, and that is cool enough to tell the grandkids. Heck, being a statistic in any poker almanac is cool enough. Heck, getting an enormous hotdog for $1 on the strip is cool enough. So, I guess seat winners from other poker sites, the ones they always call 'phenoms' and do 'who is this guy!?' stories about are "online pro's" that play way more than anyone in the world would ever care to play ESPN, and thus have infinitely more practice and are way better than we could ever get. Ok, I see now. Makes sense. Bubble burst. Way too optimistic of me....I need to cut down on Disney movies. Sighhhhhhhhh. |
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| wild | Jul 10 2007, 03:22 PM Post #5 |
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On the button!
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Nope but after thinking about it Itoday I believe our winner would do better in one of the smaller buyin/ smaller stack tournys. How many chips does a player start with in a final at the E? How many total chips are in play? How fast do our blinds rise? We are not training players for a 20,000 stack tourny with hour long blinds. We are teaching people to play small stack, fast blind poker. The Champion we crown has not been groomed to play in the biggest big one. Deej commented on this a loooong time ago. I thought he was nuts at the time but I believe now that he was right. Secretly this is why I was elated to find NLOP offering buyins to the smaller faster events. It is the brand of NLH that we have learned to play. On the NLOP subject I pulled another final table in a Weekly championship there last night (monday) I should have won the damn thing but I'll take my 10th and my deck of cards. The tv would have been nice though. |
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| ohiogirlie74 | Jul 10 2007, 04:03 PM Post #6 |
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On the button!
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PLUS...I thought I posted this earlier, but I must have changed my mind, got a phone call or...well, saw something shiny. I think it would be MONUMENTALLY more fun to send 3 or 4 winners to a smaller buyin event, like the $1500 NL or heck...$1500 event of winners' choice (like omaha? sure! Stud? knock yourself out!) than one poor schlep to the 10K arena. The fact that they could commisserate together and hang out and bond, and whatnot is added coolness. Throw in a buffet dinner for all of 'em...Sigfried and Roy tickets...still a substantial savings to the ESPNPC. I remember now....I couldn't decide on the right spelling of schlep. You can win TV's at NLOP? Nice. |
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| :rocklawr | Jul 10 2007, 04:34 PM Post #7 |
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Eye in the Sky!
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Deej and I said that to AJ 2 years ago...I'm sure we weren't the only ones. Of course at the time AJ thought he could get 10 seats to the main event so you can see how delusional he was. In fairness to the winners at ESPN who made it to the main event, the odds of anyone placing are very low considering how many players show up. Combine that with the earlier comments on online vs live and it is just a matter of getting lucky. Alot of the online players who make it far play for big money and often. ESPN is just a free site. If I equated my skill level in live poker to how I fair at ESPN then I should be playing tiddly winks instead. Of course many of you feel I should be playing tiddly winks as well....so TTTTTHHHHPPPPPPPTTTTTTT to you! |
| "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward." | |
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| RomansTen13 | Jul 13 2007, 12:43 AM Post #8 |
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On the button!
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My brother from another mother - we need to set something up - I too an in profit making during the tournaments at Caesars Indiana. Have not played as often as I like, but good tims none the less. Message me here next time you are heading there. Romans 10:13 |
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10:17 AM Jul 11