NFL Reid Option: Week 13

by Sammy Reid (SammyReid) Last Updated 2017-12-04 01:42:32 Premium Content Part of the product Core4

Each week, Sammy Reid will break down each position in detail, pinpointing his favorite plays at various salary ranges. Who should we be focusing our core on this week? Read below to find out!

Week 13

We thought we were so enlightened. We went about our business with an aura of arrogance, certain in the knowledge that we were at the top of the evolutionary mountain. All that had come before us, those that did it the old way, were beneath us.

By we, I mean online poker players. Sure, the godfathers of the game had cut their chops on real felt, and it was expected of us to speak about players like Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss with reverence. But the truth was that while we respected what they had done for the game, we didn’t respect the antiquated way they played anymore. They were dinosaurs destined for extinction.

Really, poker was a completely different game online than it was live. Sure, the rules were the same, but it was so much more sophisticated on the virtual felt. Online players balanced frequencies and sizing on all of their betting lines. Playing game theory optimal and understanding the intricacies of the ICM chip model in tournaments was standard practice. We studied our opponents’ 3-bet percentages and aggression factors. If you didn’t know this stuff, you’d get smoked in even a $1/$2 game online. Meanwhile, you could beat the $5/$5 live games at your local casino as long as you weren’t a complete donkey.

Even within the online poker community, there was a division between groups. Cash game players looked down upon the tournament players, because cash games were seen as more deep and intricate, and luck played less of a role in the final outcome. Even if you played both formats, chances were that you identified more with one group or the other.