Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Barry and Daniel vs. the Math Kids

OK, so Isaac Haxton officially pissed off Barry Greenstein by insulting his stepson Joe Sebok. Here is how things basically went down (the cliff notes version) Barry, in a recent podcast basically insulted Isaac and lumped him in with a lot of other internet players he calls the "Math Kids". Math kids basically use the math as their guide and as long as the math was right they feel justified in the decisions they made. Barry, who apparently has a degree in Math theory suggested that most people are using the math wrong and applying it in situations where a better alternative could be used. In doing so Barry picked up a surprising advocate in Daniel Negreanu. Barry and Daniel have been known to disagree on many topics. Apparently one thing that unifies live players is their criticism of math players or internet players. Daniel's suggestion was that in gambling so large in one instance, even if mathematically you did the right thing you are losing long term expectation (at least that is my shortened view). Facing that deluge few people came to Isaac's side but the argument of live players vs. online players continues on. Personally I think all the sides have a decent point; it is just a matter of style. If you are a good post flop player small ball might be to your liking but there is no shortage of players that gain big stacks by taking small edges and when that is working for you it can make a huge difference. Apparently with little poker to play in exotic locales the big names in poker prefer to debate the merits of poker styles over wakeboarding. Sources: Barry's blog on Poker Road and Two plus Two forums
Tags: Articles   Daniel Negreanu   Barry Greenstein   Joe Sebok  

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