Well, the topic is about thoughts on Boywonder. I gave my honest thoughts which are that it's kinda strange that he is in theology because my honest opinion is that theology is not worth the time of intelligent people who think clearly (Boywonder seems to be such person judging from what he writes).
I don't wanna start discussion about it, it's just a thought which appeared in my mind when I was reading his posts here and on Leggo. I think it's on topic and probably some other people also find it interesting.

As to his video. I enjoyed it a lot but I also felt my usual disappointment that he really don't know anything new about the game. He is just better than other at applying known concepts. I always have this idea that there is somewhere some new way of thinking/analysing poker. Every new good player I get to know or see in video convinces me that there is not such thing, at least not now in 6max NLHE.

i would agree with this sentiment, there are clear diminished returns after you have watched lots of videos (assuming you are paying attention/taking notes/asking questions of the instructors and playing lots on your own) and have ascended to 600 or 1kNL (talking about cash games specifically). you should prob get coaching or play more or devour hands/theory like a locust with other players.

but there are some obvious exceptions. whenever cts or FWF or aejones or jman make videos (or some of the other guys previously discussed in these threads --- there are a lot of guys in the industry who really care about the quality and originality of vids, and there are many who don't and just churn them out to make their $, these are some of the guys who care and who would be ashamed to put out a stale video), those videos are really good and entertaining and the nuggets are universal. if you are beating mid stakes and can't be bothered to subscribe to all the training sites just for these videos (even if they only come out once a month even) then you are a huge nit!!! :-D (the value is insane - what, $1500/year max? and most sites have mechanisms where you can directly talk to the instructors about their videos? and it's a tax write-off?).

with that said if you're trying to get to 3/6NL, or learn PLO, and haven't consumed tons of videos yet - there is no better resource (as of now) IMO

There is no holy grail punter. How you analyze poker is the path you take. I don't think there is some magical destination though, only novel paths to reach the ultimate destination. Poker is a performance activity, not an intellectual one. The repeated application of sound thinking process and concepts makes money. Guys like leatherass, boywonder are under-rated by good players, but what they achieve is HARD for the average player. The latter is why coaching, training sites, etc exist.

Yeah, how true that is. I remember playing chess as a child (I was quite strong player in juniors). When I started the game seemed to be deep and all about strategic ideas. After a while of playing it all comes down to who calculates deeper and who makes less silly mistakes (also who prepares openings better). It was very disappointing and main reason I stopped playing. It was the same in bridge and now in poker. It's probably the same in all human activities. if you are above amateur level it's all about performance, not about ideas.

So you're disappointed that there's nothing more to poker then what you see huh? Now your outlook on life makes sense to me. ..feeling like there should be something greater out there, but just can't find it.

maybe he studied it discern proper manipulation of the less intelligent??

this is very true almost noone that plays 10 20 25/50 regularly now and beats it is making vids.
All the vids that do come out on nlh are pretty bad even guys like irockhoes and cts seem like they wouldnt beat a table of good 25 50 regs anymore

phil galfond is probably an exception

i suppose I should have mentioned that my comments were limited to holdem videos for midstakes+ players being void of any new useful information but I like to make broad sweeping generalizations when I'm drunkie

This is a false disctinction. Teachers perform in front of their classes. Judges earn their living from making sound judgments. I can understand the rest of what you say. Maybe you were feeling poetic when you wrote the above bolded phrase?

i read a while back when all the buzz was about this guy that his stats were like 27/9 any truth to that?

Right on. Makes me think of what Max Weber wrote about the Iron Cage of Rational Calculation.

"No one knows who will live in this cage in the future, or whether at the end of this tremendous development entirely new prophets will arise, or there will be a great rebirth of old ideas and ideals or, if neither, mechanized petrification embellished with a sort of convulsive self-importance. For of the last stage of this cultural development, it might well be truly said: 'Specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart; this nullity imagines that it has obtained a level of civilization never before achieved'"

obv

from his Cage thread:

sum1 asks how NalleH knows that BW is Bucuster, this is what he replays:

btw, there a guy on 2+2 called bu-cu-ster, location: stockholm

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/members/117332/

bu-cu-ster's last post date: 5-28-2008
boywonder join date: 6-11-2008

So his secret is that he's a shortstacking, halfstacking total bumhunter? Probably was a bad idea for him to start a thread criticizing other coaches for misrepresenting themselves and their ability when he has been misrepresenting himself big time if this is true.

If I was paying $475 an hour for coaching from him and he never thought to tell me that he actually makes his cash short/halfstacking and bumhunting I would feel ripped off. Like I would have no problem if told me during coaching that halfstacking and bumhunting are the key to making money, I'd think 'great, I'm gonna focus on that so' - but if he didn't divulge that extremely relevant info and kept up the illusion he was a standard 100bb player who is better than and makes money off the other regs, he is in scammer territory.

He still has a very impressive winrate and you have to respect that. It's just that it's very hypocritical to be coming down on other coaches when he has been less than honest himself - if he is indeed bucuster.

The witch hunt continues.