Quote:
Originally Posted by Polarbear1955
I tend to think NLHE will survive as compared to limit the poorer player has much more chance. In limit with 100bbs each a bad player has no meaningful chance against an AI playing perfect GTO. In NL with a two word strategy(all in every hand) they are underdogs but win roughly 30ish%. Hard to find a game where a 3 year old knowing only two words is only a 7-3 dog to the best player in the world.
I tend to disagree, not because anything you said is wrong, but because many bad players will not see it that way. IMO, NLHE is only the predominant form of poker because the current poker boom stems from the WSOP main event TV broadcasts, and that is the form of poker in that event. Anyone watching those broadcasts who thinks “that looks fun, and I could probably do that and win some money” is
A. Probably delusional
B. Looking to play the game he saw on TV.
What they are not thinking is “Gee I have a better chance of winning this type of game than I would if I played limit (or some other format).” In fact, a true beginner who actually has a choice, which in many areas there is no choice, might look at a NL table vs a limit table and think “I am probably going to lose, but I will lose a lot less and be able to play longer on the money I have if I play the limit game.”
Think of it this way: essentially everybody is a bad blackjack player, and has no chance of winning long term. There still are a lot more blackjack players than poker players though. The ability to win long term just does not enter into most people’s thought processes. I am sure that is true of beginning poker players — they are just looking for another gambling game.