Will Kassouf is a lot smarter than most pro or good reg players give him credit for, as a lot of you cannot see beyond academic theory.

He has brought a more human and interesting side to poker this year so sponsors should be climbing over each other to sponsor him.

Furthermore he conducts himself well in an ambassadorial off the table sense which is want sponsors want.

Players who don't get this are only focusing on what he does on the felt, and which they can neither handle nor get a mental grip of.

Will Kassouf's success and impact this year is as much as anything else an eye opener to just how boring, sterile and robot like the vast majority of pro poker players are.

I get it that boring, sterile and robotic makes money but it is neither exciting to watch for a spectator nor is it particularly appealing for a sponsor.

By the way, he was already a sponsored pro by the London/Gibraltar Superstack Series before his big score in Vegas, so they saw something in him from all three angles, a good player, a person who conducts himself well off the table, and a person who creates interest and excitement.

Hie deserves all the good things coming to him because he did things his own way despite hordes of sheep openly or behind his back ridiculing him with their condescending air of superiority.

Sponsoring him has to be one of the biggest no-brainers in the history of mankind.

Backing him, one might look at slightly differently because you'd need to know exactly how he plays to completely evaluate how +EV he is in any given tournament, but you know one thing for sure, that he will give it his heart and soul, that much is obvious.

Cool story bro

He probably also has a huge advantage in unlimited re-entry events due to his big bankroll.

Sage Donkey,

Interesting post, unfortunately, stopped reading after the bold due to the lack of professionalism in your writing skills. As a poster, if you want to hold my attention in the future you will need to proof read what you write. By the way, have you ever heard of paragraphs? Not every sentence needs a new line as sometimes you can combine it all together. All the best.

TarantulaG

Bingo! He showed foresight and great negotiating skills to cut such a deal.
Like a boss, indeed.

Was a Boss fan since I saw him on ESPN.

Bigger Boss Fan now.

Going by the live updates, sounds like he had a clock called on him quite a number of times. It is this part of his play that needs to be addressed by TDs if others start to copy his stalling antics.

Bawce

What's his stars SN... not going through 62 pages

I finished 3'rd in the tournament. It's quite obvious that his style is malicious (although pretty good for TV/fun/etc), the simple example being that if you would replicate him and his behavior on the final table, my best guess would be that there would be played approximately five hands per hour, as he has to tank for several minutes to deliver all his one-liners and ask his opponents several questions each hand - which seems pretty pointless, as people are smart enough not to respond to anyone that has such a good talking game. He's breaking the rules all the time, and gets away with it - not a very noble style of playing poker in my opinion. The trip was pretty intensive for me, as i was playing non-stop, although the only time i got a headache was during that final table, and it was probably due to not getting any mental breaks at all, as you'll have to listen to his **** non-stop while at the table. Either way, congrats to him with the score - just thought i'd give my input.

One can't argue with any of your input, thoughts or experiences, but the bottom line is that he is to some degree defeating you, or at minimum gaining some kind of otherwise absent edge, by using psychological warfare, and because he was awarded the trophy and the prize money it would seem that he has done so by breaking no rules.

If you are unhappy about it, as you appear to be, then you need to either lobby for a change in some of the rules, or in the meantime find a counter strategy, some of which I have suggested in either this or another thread.

Until you find a counter strategy or the rules are adjusted Will will (Will will!) keep on doing what he is doing as it is working for him. Even if you do, I think you will find that he counters your counter.

I am pretty sure this is what he did in the WSOP ME. Once he was banned (threatened with multiple round penalties) for "excessive" speech play, he simply switched his method of psychological warfare to tanking. If the TD had taken the tanking option away from him I am sure he would have found something else. I think he may have 5 different layers of psychological attack, only two of which we have seen so far.

I believe that all he is doing is finding edges where other players are not finding them, and most if not all players have been unable thus far to find a counter strategy.

Many congrats on a fantastic result for you, something brilliant that I have come nowhere near achieving myself in poker.

Kassouf confirmed non samurai

SageDonkey,

Quite simply put, much of your shortcomings stem from inability to write effectively. Paragraphs are your friend.

Also I do not think "brillant" means what you think it means, or at least, in my opinion, someone like you is incapable of providing such an analysis until they show a level of education that allows them to do so. Spend more time working on your poker game and less time idolizing will kassof (he is going to be fine). Good luck and if you need any help or direction with either your writing or poker game feel free to pm me. I'll see what I can do for a misled patriot such as yourself. All the best.

I hope for the sake of your happiness in life that your post above is sarcasm, and not genuine stupidity.

P.S. Will Kassouf deserves a helluva lot of praise for his achievements in 2016. Very few appear to be publicly giving him praise, be it through jealousy or the mistaken belief that they are still better than him and play the game "in the proper way", so yes I am giving him a repetition of praise to compensate for this. I have also advised players that they should try to find a counter strategy to his speech play, that I have picked up some tells on him, and that I would like to beat him when I play him in PLO cash games at The Vic Casino in London! So it is not "I love Will", or patriotism, it is I love what he has done, the way he has done it, and that he has showed up a lot of the pro poker playing community clique for what they really are...... a bunch of self-entitled moaning p***ies.

Here is a third paragraph for you.

Sage, you just wrote the longest paragraph ever, so we could say that Tarantula to some degree defeated you.

Go away, you miserable joy nit.