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Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom.

08-27-2012 , 06:28 AM
New Team FTP: durrrr, isildur, galfond. Almost a lock. Probably Ivey, Antonius and Gus back. Maybe Ziigmund.

I smell action.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 06:36 AM
I wonder who has staked him...
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 06:42 AM
Great read!
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 06:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Astyanax
Don't argue with me, speak to Nicholas Taleb. It's difficult to take your comment seriously when you offered no argument to the contrary. I love the internet for those one liners. I don't believe I said I was smart. Although I suppose using every known measure, I'm smarter than you. I hate myself for saying that.
I would love to hear all those measures you know! Your post is just so laughable that it is amazing it isn't a level.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 06:49 AM
Reading about Isildur feels like reading a dirty magazine.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:00 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by insidemanpoker
I would love to hear all those measures you know! Your post is just so laughable that it is amazing it isn't a level.
I'll only come off as a dckhead. Good luck to you sir.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:10 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Astyanax
I'll only come off as a dckhead. Good luck to you sir.
Hmm, I would venture to say most would rather come off as that than as dumb. But I don't discriminate and I certainly like dumb people more than mean people so let's stay friends!
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Astyanax
Great article but I disagree with this



I see this term bandied about constantly within the poker world. Success in poker has nothing to do with intelligence. There are thousands of successful poker players who are thick as pig ****. Survivorship bias dictates that those winning believe it is to do with intelligence and whilst they often have little education (not that education is the only measure/far from it), they say they have 'street/smarts or natural intelligence'. Consider this: Alan Sugar was days from going broke due to a bad deal. 30 years later a muilti-millionaire he believes he is incredibly intelligent and often refers to his 'street smarts'. The same situation faced someone who is now homeless on the streets. He probably hasn't uttered the word 'intelligent' for twenty years.

Similarly, there are thousands of intelligent people who are total failures at poker. Of course, there are no stats to back this up, but if we take generally accepted barometers of intelligence, poker players don't fit the bill. As for Isildur, intelligent is certainly not something I would use to describe him. 'It’s hard to explain what specifically I mean' because you have no idea if he is intelligent. Reason would dictate that he is the opposite for jizzing his bankroll away, being unable to quit/invest and playing three of the best players in the world all at the same time. This is not 'smart' play. And if you believe that he cares little for money; and is in it for the conquering of the game, he hasn't done this either.

I'm not even a hater. I think Isildur is a product of extreme randomness, who goes on random swings.
You're assuming a lot of things incorrectly.

First, you're assuming that intelligence comes with patience and experience. It doesn't, and in fact, highly intelligent people tend to have extremely heightened emotional reactions...meaning that the pleasure they feel from gambling (or sex, or solving math problems etc) is higher than a normal person would feel, and the anger they feel when something goes wrong (as in tilt) will also be higher than normal. The younger and more "raw" the person is...the more you will see this. So Isildur's obsession with crushing people and overwhelming tilt-fests don't conflict with his brain's calculating ability at all.

Secondly, you're making some bad assumptions about how people develop. Our first experiences are the biggest factors in shaping us, and they will often override lessons we learn later. There's a period in life where the brain knows nothing, and must rely on others who have survived and so is evolutionarily programmed to accept things it is taught far more than an adult would. It's why so many adults, even highly intelligent ones, can't shake irrational things they were taught in Sunday School when they were too young to judge it. It also explains why Isildur throws his whole bankroll down in sessions...it's how he started playing and the habit is deeply-ingrained and will be difficult or impossible to change.

Lastly, you're assuming that Isildur's goal is to simply win money. It's much more likely that his goal is to simply feel pleasure, which for him is probably crushing people at poker. The money comes along with it, but when the money-making conflicts with is primary goal, he chooses the primary goal.

These things might also explain why Bobby Fischer became a raging anti-semite and despite his high-genius-level intelligence (he wasn't worldly or experienced, and it was probably an outlet for the offense he felt at a few people he knew early in life who unwittingly offended his highly-sensitive mind and happened to be Jewish, and he displayed the same pattern of behavior in believing the Russian chess players were pre-arranging all of chess and then later in cheering 9/11 and wanting the entire USA to be wiped out).

...and why Phil Ivey plays craps (he started out playing all the casino games in Atlantic City so the habit is ingrained, and his goal in life isn't only to win money, it's to do what he enjoys which includes rolling dice at -EV).

...and why Stu Ungar drugged himself to death. (highly sensitive to pleasure, and the goal of feeling good trumped the goal of making money or even living to see his daughter grow up)

All of these men have or had genius-level IQ's, and showed patterns of behavior that by your measure wouldn't make sense, but viewed through a different lens, hopefully it does, as does Blom's behavior given his similarly genius-level intelligence.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by insidemanpoker
Hmm, I would venture to say most would rather come off as that than as dumb. But I don't discriminate and I certainly like dumb people more than mean people so let's stay friends!
cool
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:22 AM
Quote:
New Team FTP: durrrr, isildur, galfond. Almost a lock. Probably Ivey, Antonius and Gus back. Maybe Ziigmund.

that would be so sick

isildur galfond ziigmund jeans

I dont even get why those arent sponsored yet,and a bunch of others are
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:27 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by EGarrett
You're assuming a lot of things incorrectly.

First, you're assuming that intelligence comes with patience and experience. It doesn't, and in fact, highly intelligent people tend to have extremely heightened emotional reactions...meaning that the pleasure they feel from gambling (or sex, or solving math problems etc) is higher than a normal person would feel, and the anger they feel when something goes wrong (as in tilt) will also be higher than normal. The younger and more "raw" the person is...the more you will see this. So Isildur's obsession with crushing people and overwhelming tilt-fests don't conflict with his brain's calculating ability at all.

Secondly, you're making some bad assumptions about how people develop. Our first experiences are the biggest factors in shaping us, and they will often override lessons we learn later. There's a period in life where the brain knows nothing, and must rely on others who have survived and so is evolutionarily programmed to accept things it is taught far more than an adult would. It's why so many adults, even highly intelligent ones, can't shake irrational things they were taught in Sunday School when they were too young to judge it. It also explains why Isildur throws his whole bankroll down in sessions...it's how he started playing and the habit is deeply-ingrained and will be difficult or impossible to change.

Lastly, you're assuming that Isildur's goal is to simply win money. It's much more likely that his goal is to simply feel pleasure, which for him is probably crushing people at poker. The money comes along with it, but when the money-making conflicts with is primary goal, he chooses the primary goal.

These things might also explain why Bobby Fischer became a raging anti-semite and despite his high-genius-level intelligence (he wasn't worldly or experienced, and it was probably an outlet for the offense he felt at a few people he knew early in life who unwittingly offended his highly-sensitive mind and happened to be Jewish, and he displayed the same pattern of behavior in believing the Russian chess players were pre-arranging all of chess and then later in cheering 9/11 and wanting the entire USA to be wiped out).

...and why Phil Ivey plays craps (he started out playing all the casino games in Atlantic City so the habit is ingrained, and his goal in life isn't only to win money, it's to do what he enjoys which includes rolling dice at -EV).

...and why Stu Ungar drugged himself to death. (highly sensitive to pleasure, and the goal of feeling good trumped the goal of making money or even living to see his daughter grow up)

All of these men have or had genius-level IQ's, and showed patterns of behavior that by your measure wouldn't make sense, but viewed through a different lens, hopefully it does, as does Blom's behavior given his similarly genius-level intelligence.
I can't be bothered to get into a long-winded argument. Your post makes a lot of sense, except for the wholesale lack of consideration for sample size. There are many people with high IQs who do stupid things. We get it. That doesn't negate the fact that intelligence has nothing to do with poker. Stupid people win EPTs, clever people are in the gutter and vice versa. If you can't appreciate there is an element of randomness to poker, I don't know what to tell you.

Quote:
All of these men have or had genius-level IQ's, and showed patterns of behavior that by your measure wouldn't make sense, but viewed through a different lens, hopefully it does, as does Blom's behavior given his similarly genius-level intelligence.
Ok, let's do it this way. Name one thing Blom has accomplished that is evidence of a genius-level intelligence. Will you pick?

'Holding his own against the best players in the world but not making nearly as much as the average 25/50 grinder who isn't talked about'

'He has been balling and busto many times.' Swings are not evidence of intelligence.

'Picking up a new game very quickly and adjusting'. I suppose Ashton Eaton is the most intelligent person of all time, as he quickly understood how to pole vault when he is a runner. Also sample size.

My only point throughout all this: Intelligence is not linked to success in poker. Those who are winning will believe it is. Blom's success (if you can call it that - is he up? Does he owe?' cannot be proven to be linked to intelligence. It's not exactly a groundbreaking statement. Don't understand the hate. Maybe I am dumb!
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:43 AM
Quote:
Can he avoid games he’s not familiar with until he’s practiced at lower stakes?
Didn't gandolf drop a few mill trying to learn Tripledraw at nosebleeds?
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:53 AM
Like i told you kids, isildur is the biggest talent ever and is a worldclass plo player.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:56 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Astyanax
I can't be bothered to get into a long-winded argument. Your post makes a lot of sense, except for the wholesale lack of consideration for sample size. There are many people with high IQs who do stupid things. We get it. That doesn't negate the fact that intelligence has nothing to do with poker. Stupid people win EPTs, clever people are in the gutter and vice versa. If you can't appreciate there is an element of randomness to poker, I don't know what to tell you.
The less you know, the less certain a judgement can be. But we aren't THAT much in the dark here. You have to look at everything put together. We know that Blom was one of, if not the, most feared regulars on iPoker and the Euro sites long before he came to Full Tilt. We also know that in a short period of time in November and December, he played as many or more hands than anyone else had played in the entire year. A 500,000 hand sample size is a 500,000 hand sample size no matter if it was played over the course of 2 years or over the course of 2 months, and I've never heard anyone claim that he was hugely over EV in that time, though it would be easy to find out. We also know that five people who are high stakes heads-up players have battled him, and described him as "uncannily perceptive" (Dogishead), "unlike anything I've played against and really takes me out of my comfort zone in a lot of situations," (Haxton), " "An interesting opponent. Very, very dangerous." (Antonius) and "If he stuck to No Limit, he'd send everyone broke, I promise you." (Luke Schwartz) And now we have Galfond echoing the same things and clearly stating that he is highly-intelligent.

I could link you to those various articles and blog posts, but I assumed you and most everyone else had read them already. This is a lot of data and opinions, from people who both won and lost to him. Does it make it a fact that his brain calculates at X-level? Of course not, but you shouldn't say we don't have much to go on.

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'Holding his own against the best players in the world but not making nearly as much as the average 25/50 grinder who isn't talked about'
His goal isn't to make money. Please make an effort to understand what people are saying to you.

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'He has been balling and busto many times.' Swings are not evidence of intelligence.
They aren't evidence of stupidity either. Stu Ungar was broke and rich many times over.

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'Picking up a new game very quickly and adjusting'. I suppose Ashton Eaton is the most intelligent person of all time, as he quickly understood how to pole vault when he is a runner. Also sample size.
Pole vaulting is a physical activity. That example is totally irrelevant.

Quote:
My only point throughout all this: Intelligence is not linked to success in poker.
But it's linked to success in figuring out the game and other people's strategies.

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Those who are winning will believe it is. Blom's success (if you can call it that - is he up? Does he owe?' cannot be proven to be linked to intelligence.
This is a logical fallacy. Just because something can't be proven doesn't mean you can't examine information and determine what is and isn't likely. If you pull out bad arguments like this and let yourself believe them, you can become convinced of many things that are untrue or even dangerous to believe ("yeah okay, maybe I can't PROVE that my neighbor is a government spy and must be killed, but you can't prove he's NOT!")

Please make an effort to hear me out.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 07:59 AM
Great read. Galfond writes as well as anyone about highstakes poker.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:02 AM
If your not able to understand that isildur is supersmart, then you gotta be stupid yourself.
Astynax, please do something else your level is pretty boring, its like saying Kasparov is unintelligent aswell.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by EGarrett
The less you know, the less certain a judgement can be. But we aren't THAT much in the dark here. You have to look at everything put together. We know that Blom was one of, if not the, most feared regulars on iPoker and the Euro sites long before he came to Full Tilt. We also know that in a short period of time in November and December, he played as many or more hands than anyone else had played in the entire year. A 500,000 hand sample size is a 500,000 hand sample size no matter if it was played over the course of 2 years or over the course of 2 months, and I've never heard anyone claim that he was hugely over EV in that time, though it would be easy to find out. We also know that five people who are high stakes heads-up players have battled him, and described him as "uncannily perceptive" (Dogishead), "unlike anything I've played against and really takes me out of my comfort zone in a lot of situations," (Haxton), " "An interesting opponent. Very, very dangerous." (Antonius) and "If he stuck to No Limit, he'd send everyone broke, I promise you." (Luke Schwartz) And now we have Galfond echoing the same things and clearly stating that he is highly-intelligent.

I could link you to those various articles and blog posts, but I assumed you and most everyone else had read them already. This is a lot of data and opinions, from people who both won and lost to him. Does it make it a fact that his brain calculates at X-level? Of course not, but you shouldn't say we don't have much to go on.

His goal isn't to make money. Please make an effort to understand what people are saying to you.

They aren't evidence of stupidity either. Stu Ungar was broke and rich many times over.

Pole vaulting is a physical activity. That example is totally irrelevant.

But it's linked to success in figuring out the game and other people's strategies.

This is a logical fallacy. Just because something can't be proven doesn't mean you can't examine information and determine what is and isn't likely. If you pull out bad arguments like this and let yourself believe them, you can become convinced of many things that are untrue or even dangerous to believe ("yeah okay, maybe I can't PROVE that my neighbor is a government spy and must be killed, but you can't prove he's NOT!")

Please make an effort to hear me out.
+1 you owned Astynax pretty hard, now time for Asynax to leave the thread.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:05 AM
great read. Thanks for sharing this. I love Isildur and i love Phil Galfond too, such a humble guy.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:13 AM
ISILDUR1 BLOG RESPONSE TO PHIL GALFOND

If you play or follow online poker, just seeing the name “OMGClayAiken″ evokes a strong emotional ‘what a closet bumhunting nit’ response. He first became known for being Daniel Negreanu’s suspected love child, as well as being Tom Dwan’s BFF, but also for dominating HS NLHE+2 cards after grinding his roll up with strict bankroll management and never taking shots. Let’s start there.

From what I assume was a relatively small deposit onto Full Tilt, OMGClayAiken slowly amassed his entire roll by moving up the levels, never taking shots, and check raising AAxx on almost every board playing HUNL+2 cards. Much of this money was made playing $300/600 and $500/1000 HUNL+2 cards against none other than me, the great Isildur1.

Personally I went on to challenge myself in ways that we still have never seen in online poker. Seared in my memory is the image of me nine-tabling $500/1000 against Dwan, Ivey, and Antonius all at the same time. I crushed their souls, especially Dwan’s, the pleasure I got from him folding my overbet bluffs and calling my overbet rivers with the nuts was just beautiful. I swung up and down, creating some amazing action for the fanboys. It was the first time in my life that I felt like I didn’t give a **** about the money, I just wanted to own these FTP conmen. I couldn’t wait to grab my seat and destroy these nits but I didn’t have furniture in those days, my entire roll was on FT so I just played on the floor.



I focused on HU NLHE but once I built up my bankroll, most of it from the overrated Dwan, I started taking on opponents at HUNL+2 cards, a game which was like No limit except it was Pot Limit-which was basically the same thing and I got 2 extra cards. The damage I was doing to these fools with 2 cards, with 4 cards the possibilities were endless. Unfortunately for the fanboys, I ran ridiculously below EV in many of these games. EV is a term the nits use, so I thought I would add it in, I think it stands for easy value. My roll disintegrated rapidly mostly in one long HUNL+ 2 cards session against Brian Hastings, who the pros regarded as one of the strongest HUNL+2 cards players around, but who was actually sharing hand histories with Townsend and Cole South. They probably played me together. And I still had to run 4 million under easy value before they could bust me. In all my poker career I’ve never seen a fish hit so many rivers it was just sick. But whatever. Townsend and Cole South are busto now, and Hastings will never be as beautiful as me.

Over the coming year, I was a proper degen, winning millions, losing millions, creating more action with the bumhunters than had ever been seen before. The largest losing day in my career (though who keeps count) occurred HU vs. OMGClayAiken, at the $300/600 and $500/1000 HUNL+2 cards tables. I quickly learnt this was Phil Galfond. The biggest secret snake of all bumhunters. He would wait around all day, watching me destroy the fish with my aggressive style and then after 27 hour session he’d ask for 6 tables of HU. Galfond was such a nit. You could practically put him on his exact hand pre flop. I countered this by shoving any pair on any board even when he had AAxx. It gave me such joy to spike one of my other cards for 2 pair, I didn’t care how much of my roll I lost trying to achieve it. I still practice this tactic nowadays.

Fast forward to the end of 2010, Pokerstars signed me, cos they knew I’d bring the fan boys and that I was almost broke. The downside was I had to reveal my identity and play that cross dresser Elky in a heads up match. After I crushed him, Stars added my Avatar to the site, slightly alluring stare and all. It wasn’t long before the fanboys flocked.



Since then, I’ve played more hands with Galfond than I have with any other player over the full length of my career (6-8 tabling HU adds up pretty quickly).
Given that Galfond is the 5/6th most talked about player in online poker, I frequently get asked about him. For all of those who don’t compete at his stakes, who watch his incredibly nitty play style and his zero swings to match, it’s very easy to tell actually how much of a NL+2 cards nit Galfond really is. I think I’m as qualified as any to shed some light on this for you.

When I first played HUNL+2 cards against Galfond back on FTP, he was a nit. A really boring poker player. I was already world class at NLHE, but I had just started playing a game that was the same as NL only with 2 extra cards. I shoved any pair into a huge pot, spiked 2 pairs against AAxx. It tilted the nits something fierce. Galfond was able to play a relatively tight style, and get a lot of money in with with top set, with straight and flush redraws. When Galfond shoved all in, I knew I was crushed, but I thought what the hell, let me suck out on this nit just once.

Even while he was being such a nit, many signs of his true fanboyness came through. It’s hard to explain what specifically I mean, or how I could tell, but just trust me. I could tell that I was playing with a huge fanboy of myself.

Black Friday hit, but that didin’t affect me, when I had the manies, I continued to degen.

At the end of last year, once Galfond and I started playing on Stars, I was shocked by how far his NLHU+2 cards game had come in terms of nittiness. He was now only playing 4 cards in a row, double flush only or AA and occasionally KK. Not only had he corrected none of the leaks I’d seen earlier he decreased his opening range to just a few hands, but he was playing a style that completely crushed me when we were all in going to the river. I should have thought about adjusting but I didn’t, I just wanted to get lucky against him and drive him to tilt. Something I do often because I am so great and get so unlucky. Galfond still feels he has an edge against me but who cares, I just play for fun.

It turns out I was right.

By early 2012, Galfond was the most known online HUNL+2 cards nit. He never had a losing session. When I play him he takes my roll, no questions asked.
Now he’s one of three opponents that I play with who always show up when I am rolled and sleep depraved. The others are Jeans and Sauce. And occasionally Ziggy when he’s rolled. But he’s such a nit nowadays.

This summer in Las Vegas, I finally had the chance to meet Galfond. He begged me for my number for ages, I knew it was just so he could get some kind of edge and because he was a fanboy and though I was dubious I relented. And though the first time we met was in the poker room, I had the chance to hang out with him a few times over the course of the series.

The first thing that stood out to me was how short he was. The second was the image in my head of OMGClayAiken (the passive, nitty, likeable dude) being shattered to pieces. It wasn’t. Phil emanates complete fanboy culture when you meet him. He’s one of those guys that you can instantly tell is a bumhunter. Always looking for an edge. His questions-questions demeanour made me sick. Trying to find out about my game so he can find an edge when we next played. Yeah, it’s fair to say, Galfond was quite boring.
After hanging out only a few times, Galfond and his ****** buddy Andre (yes Andre) Robl (who I have never actually seen win live) kept begging me to go to Vancouver. The dudes probably wanted me to play on their accounts to gain some kind of edge. Mostly I think they just wanted to get in my pants. I feel like I need to avoid these dudes at all costs and get me some hookers immediately.

Over the time we spent together, Galfond was just constantly asking me about my game, does he think I am ******ed? Some fun facts: I don’t use poker databases, they are for cheats and I play the game the way it was meant to be played. And I don’t watch Phil’s training videos. That always feature him slow playing the nut flush against me, waiting for the board to pair, cos he knows I’ll shove when that happens and he can call off and be right 95.69% of the time. According to him. He’s such a nit.

The main thing that came across to me was that Galfond was into me. My impression from talking to him was that he genuinely cares about me. I know some people say they don’t care… but they care. I’m sure Galfond does. He plays poker because he wants to know me and have fun with me.

If you could have heard him describe playing the $50k 8-game WSOP event, which included all the games and he knew how to be a nit in them all. He was so focused on not tilting and not making any mistakes. I just had fun and was winning the thing until I couldn’t be bothered anymore and wanted some hookers. I busted around 12th or 13th. I didn’t care. Stars were rolling me.



I’m not at all jealous about the fact Galfond makes money. He does it in a style that makes me puke. I am degen. I’m in it for the fanboys.

Galfonds friend (not Robl) played in a 3 handed $100/$200 PLO game with me this summer and told Galfond a story about a hand from that night. I was facing a large river bet in a medium sized pot, and instantly folded. As the dealer started to pass the chips the other way, I checked to see if I had correctly folded my full house. I had. Galfond’s friend was a nit. He definitely had the quads. I remarked ‘I always fold full houses’.

I had folded a full house noticing the board paired on the river. When Galfond’s nit friend fired, I assumed he had the quads, so insta folded. BOOM!

I explained to Galfond over dinner one night (he’d lit candles-WTF?!) that I like to make my decisions instantly so that I don’t question my first instinct. Folding full houses happens in that ******ed HUNL+2 cards game quite a lot.

I never fold a winner. But I never fold a loser either. Let’s just get the money in the middle and see what happens eh?! Money means nothing to me.

Why? Because if I don’t fold winners or losers, I’ll never be left wondering ‘what if?!’ I say just get in there, see what happens. “It’s just money.”

My passion for the game is my biggest strength as a player. Galfond told me he likes to play with the biggest fish in the world, especially after they’ve played 24 hours straight.
Galfond said playing against tough players is one of the greatest ways to improve. Which is strange because he never does, he just bumhunts in a shrewd way, always looking for an edge, a real pros nit.

When you start thinking about the money involved, it inhibits your ability to play your best. That’s why I don’t. Money means nothing to me. I shove with almost any 2 or 4 cards. People who approach poker purely as a job, for the financial reasons, are not real players in my opinions, just nits, if they care about the money, they’ll never get to their true degen potential. They just care about database. I care about my fanboy base.
My passion is also my biggest weakness. Since I don’t care about the money, I stay up for hours playing anyone, I don’t give a ****. Some people, like Galfond selectively choose what games to play in. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sauce and Galfond share my bankroll. The worst kind of nits.

I’ll play any game. O8, 2-7, snap. And I’ll play the best. And I’ll crush their souls. Temporarily of course, as they always win it back. But the thought of owning these so called greats for just a moment in time, is what lights the fire in my belly, because I know in time, I will go on a sick heater that will relieve Galfond of 2-3 million of my cash. He’s just holding it for me.

I can’t really see any faults in my NLHE+2 cards game. I’m very very good postflop and my love of playing big pots makes me put in vast amounts of money with almost any 4 cards and hoping to get lucky with many marginal hands. In a 6 handed game, if they are in there with me they undoubtedly have AAXX or 10JQK etc so if I know their holdings how can I lose?!

On top of this, I definitely tilt often after losing a large amount. When tilting in a 6-max game (or even a HU game), I know my results get hurt quite a bit. But I don’t care, this is what the fanboys love the most. Me tilting all my money off and getting unlucky in the process. I wouldn’t change that for anything.

If you’re wondering why I’m posting this publicly, potentially helping one of my most frequent opponents get an edge, I’ve told Galfond personally all this before, and they were things that he already knew. I’ve told him that I’m happy to be honest with him about why I think he’s a nit and wrong. In fact, Galfond doesn’t talk to me about his game at all. Just about my game. To get an edge. Fishy fishy fishcake.

The majority of my high stakes opponents have put more work into their games away from the tables than I have. Who cares? I don’t study the pokerz. The reason I’m still able to compete with them is that they hate putting vast amounts of money in the pot pre flop and when I pot every street it makes them feel like a baseball bat is been permanently inserted in their rectum. That makes me smile.

In my opinion, Phil Galfond is a NLHE+2 cards nit.

He doesn’t impress me at all – he’s such a nit. Frankly, I’m not a Galfond fan. You just can’t respect anyone who has built up his roll moving up the levels and never taking shots.

So what does Galfond’s future in poker look like? With his uber tight NLHE+2 cards style he’ll continue to take my roll month after month and whatever other fish come on his radar.

Personally, I believe that Galfond, will always make money from poker. The community love his training videos, he’s a secret midnight bumhunter and I will definitely be attending his wedding, when Tom and him decide the time is right. For now though I want to degen.

So that’s the question. Do I wanna plug the holes in my game? Can I avoid games I’m not familiar with until I’ve practiced at lower stakes? Can I tighten up my 6-max NLHE+2 cards game? Can I exercise some bankroll management and not put my whole roll on the line consistently?

The answer: No.


Last edited by jjjjudas; 08-27-2012 at 08:23 AM.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:37 AM
Great post judas, That wedding hahaha

Last edited by sagoland; 08-27-2012 at 09:00 AM.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:41 AM
^holy **** lol
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:49 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by A_C_Slater
I mean look at Norway, they gave that guy that killed like 78 people only a 12 year sentence. In America you get that for a baggie of coke.
Not exactly
It's 20+ years prison and after that he will have to live the rest of his life in some other facility where he will be locked up.
/derail
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:50 AM
Judas = GOAT
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:53 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by loser_but_dontmind
If your not able to understand that isildur is supersmart, then you gotta be stupid yourself.
Astynax, please do something else your level is pretty boring, its like saying Kasparov is unintelligent aswell.
At least I can win this argument. If I don't think Isildur is supersmart, I am stupid?

Kasparov is extremely intelligent. Poker is similar to chess now? I think we've had this debate...

EGarret, you debate very well. And I am big enough to admit that you raise some points I can't refute. And I have also been through some definitions of intelligence, the criteria of which Isildur meets in parts. However, you haven't convinced me Isildur is likely to be super-intelligent/ or the testimony of some whose careers themselves maybe governed by randomness counts for anything. I am adamant that high stakes poker is governed by randomness. Is Krantz dumb? Did he get dumber when losing? All those who were on top of the world believed they were the best only for randomness to kick in. Maybe he wasn't intelligent in the first place?

I haven't heard one person on this forum ever say Luke Schwartz is intelligent. Funny that, since I believe he has won more than Isildur lifetime and possesses much of the same perceived skill set. People pick and choose.


Anyway, I'll leave it there.
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote
08-27-2012 , 08:56 AM
jjjjudas: LOL

seriously, you're single-handedly making this into a multiple-start thread!
Phil Galfond blog post about Viktor Blom. Quote

      
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