Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJacob
No limit razz doesn't seem like that terrible of an idea.
Again, would you really consider investing money into Razz, (far less NL Razz) in preference to say, Stud, as a cardroom operator, or tourney innovator? I don't get it, and I don't think that would run well with a casino or online provider, or investors, if you put that down as your intended strategy if you were looking for a job, or backing, even if Holdem didn't exist. In mixed games (so I heard, somewhere in Anecdote-town) some players routinely sit out when Razz is dealt. I don't think anyone does that when NL Holdem, or even Stud, is dealt, and there must surely be reasons for that. And as one expert put it, he loves it when the Razz rotation comes around. not because he likes the game itself one bit - he doesn't - but because most players are completely hopeless at it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJacob
Part of the reason NLHE is so popular is how well it plays as a tournament game.
I agree 100%, maybe more. ;-). The tournament qualities of different games are not equal, and NLHE is by far the best tournament game on the list.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJacob
Concern yourself less with what has historically been popular or what is currently popular and more with what games might play well as tournaments. In the end that is what makes people play them or not play them.
It's certainly a major factor, but that is what I am putting forward: NL Stud with a flip is an excellent seven-card NL game, and 7-card NL games account for about 95% of tournament action, or whatever the proportion is. That's why it would be the natural choice for the ME if Holdem was not available.
I have to consider aspects of the historical market, because if you don't understand history, you have little or no chance of fully understanding the current situation, or of looking ahead. Unfortunately, perhaps the greatest lesson to be taken from poker history is that the most obvious ideas can take centuries to be absorbed into poker, or even transferred from one bluffing game, or poker variation to another: for instance, the 400 year gap between the invention of Poch, and the invention of Draw, and the complete absence of "spare" hole-cards in Stud and it's variations, even though they have proved successful in the flop games, ie, in omaha, as well as producing a variety of playable games like the pineapples, and others. Knowing that makes puts the delay in recognition of the value of the two-card flip, and the four-rounds of betting, and the use of five upcards, into perspective.
Thanks for your comments, and I'm glad to know that not everyone thinks the success of NLHE is a random event.