I started to think about this as I think Stefan is currently the best NLHU player.

I wonder what are the qualities in Russians that make them so great in many stategic games? Is it the constant need to be able to maneuver with corruption and that in Russian culture there exists 3-4 different words for truth and lie and these all have different meaning. So Russians learn at a very young age to be very calculative in their actions?

Also all the Russians I have met are braver and more creative than the average person from the other Northern / Central European countries.

If I think Brazilian great players (mainly MTT), they are very creative and aggressive.

What cultural / sociological/ x factors you think there are that people may not think about when considering what makes each countries top players so great? Of courae the individual characteristics matter the most but whatin the country’s culture etc could create that?

I have seen remarkable results when Vietnameese yell out “Du maaa” before going all in.

italian have red race car

The equatorial countries feel the sun's rays more directly and consequentially have healthier levels of vitamin D - which benefits brain health.

and russia doesn't have this levels of vitamin D perks, so they're mad about it and it leads them to playing more aggressive

I'm pretty sure in Germany they take all of their intelligent, anti social young males, train them in poker and send them to the US around WSOP.

Does "du maaa" translate to "ah yin?"

I love how this turned into huge troll forest. Reminds me of the good old days of 2+2. Maybe thread has potential?

portugal starts them at a young age, and has the most "poker prodigies"

nah, historically Sweden, Norway and Finland have had the most prodigies relative to their country's population. the average skill level of them is crazy high, i really wonder why tbh, good education system and competitive lifestyle/culture i'd guess

English love the fish n Chips so always hunting chips from a young age

There is zero chance of getting serious answers to such an absurd question. Would either be troll answers or nothing

I like these anwers more than serious ones, the fish and chips one had me giggling like a little girl.

Table talk for Aussies - our main contributor on NVG being the prime example

Japanese are good at folding bc origami

France is good at surrendering pots

Egypt good at building chip stacks

Colombians are good at long sessions (somehow they can always stay awake not sure why)

Not been following online much the past few years but the Finnish were almost certainly the best p4p nation at high stakes cash at one point.

They have produced Antonius, Zigmund, LarsLuzak, Jeans89, EEE27 etc with a population of only 5m.

In contrast my country (Scotland) has a similar population size but I can only think of Mafews and BigBlindBets who have had good success at high stakes cash.

Also worth noting Finland was part of the Russian Empire so may have similar traits.

OK you're winning

canada is pretty good at mtts they like sharing money

Nice.

I'm pissed at myself for not thinking of this. I was surrounded by origami as a kid as many of my older relatives were way into it.

'Tis a shame they don't play tourneys more often. They're great finishers.

Italians are great because they eat spaghetti

This is stupid because their "chips" aren't even chips, they are fries

A+

Fries and chips are different