Quote:
Originally Posted by feel wrath
It’s how large the variance is vs the skill difference and how life changing the money could be.
Most heads up battles come down to the luck of the cards far more than skill. Of course skill is a part of it but why have $xxx on a coin flip if you don’t have to?
Also it’s an anomaly of poker vs most other sports that the money involved was actually put in by the players which I think does make a difference
It would be my guess though that many sportspeople would chop prize money if a) they were allowed and b) it was life changing.
Also fyi boxers don’t fight for prize money - that’s already sorted in advance. Their $$ reward for winning is what they can earn for the next fight
Well said. Poker is ultimately not a pure meritocracy. As much as the WSOP wants to use the "world champion" terminology, you are not the world champion of poker because you binked one $10k. Even if you played great to get there, you are just a (probably very good) player who got (probably very) lucky.
We talk about how poker is appealing because you can sit down and play with the best. I could never buy my way into an NBA game to face off against LeBron, but I can register for a WSOP event and possibly be seated with Phil Ivey. If I ran really good and got lucky, maybe I could even BEAT him. That's a departure from pure meritocracies. If I played LeBron in a hundred 1-on-1 games, I would lose every single match unless he tore a ligament. He would have absolute control of the outcome.
A poker player never has absolute control of the outcome. There's an understanding that even if you do everything right, there are going be runouts where you crash and burn. There is no mechanic in golf or boxing where you can make a hole-in-one shot and suddenly be given a triple bogey, or land a huge uppercut and be punched in the face as your reward. Therefore it makes a lot more sense to hedge in poker than it does in those other activities. You can be the best player at your table, but you still have limited control over the outcome.
Now combine that element of randomness with another variable feel wrath alluded to: poker players pay their own way into events (or are staked) and generally don't benefit from lucrative sponsorships. Most of them are not rich. Some may even be deep in make up. So when they finally get that hot run and are in position to lock up a huge payday, it may make sense for them to take the guaranteed money. This is especially true in huge events where the multiplier can be crazy. The Main Event final table is a spot most people will never get back to ever again after the first time, so if you're in that spot, maybe you just want to lock up the cash instead of risking extra millions on a few dozen or hundred hands of random card distribution. The money in these spots is usually a lot more life-changing for a random poker player than for an already-loaded PGA golfer, NFL QB, or undisputed champion boxer. They have the luxury of playing for glory because they are already set for life.