Yes, the Chronicle spouts-off often about the glaring differences between Real (live) Poker and Not-Real (online Cozen) poker, and this article is no different. However, we are asking for legit clarification from anyone as to why Daniel Negreanu would ever agree to the heads-up challenge terms currently in play.
Like him or not (we do); DNegs is a strong high-stakes live game player, he is good at reading people, is strongly opinionated, often scrutinized, and a good poker ambassador. He is able to articulate reasoning behind his opinions in a rational manner (even if he is wrong), and most of the time he thinks through problems and comes up with a reasonable solution.
This time, however, we think he made a serious blunder. He only thought part-of-the-way through the problem and failed to come to a logical conclusion. DNegs negotiated terms – very specific terms – about the use of HUDs and other Cozen aids (ergo not Real Poker) so limited that there had to be some sort of inspection to assure that neither party was using them. This helped level the playing field just a tish in Daniel’s favor. But, it was just a tish, not a full center bubble. Polk is an online-heads up specialist. Polk uses every cozen aid available and relies on a high volume of hands to get his win-rate above the norm. Negreanu relies on reads, table dynamics, and a wealth of experience in live, real poker.
Both are legit, but they are apples and oranges. Why in the world didn’t DNEGS negotiate more Real Poker into this challenge? Why agree to such a massive disadvantage? Akin to Polk being a world class figure skater and DNegs being a pro hockey player: why would Negreanu agree to 30 figure skating competitions, and just one hockey game? Yes, they both take place on the ice, but…..
If anyone can ‘splain this to us, we would appreciate it. We are sure this has been addressed somewhere, on some site, on some social media ~ we just can’t find it.
Related topic: Watching a poker stream of a computer screen is not in the least bit entertaining for longer than 5 minutes, once. It does not matter who is narrating it (okay, maybe @Stapes). If DNegs wants more followers, to bring more people to poker, to draw in the casual player (let’s keep poker lucrative), there MUST be at least some live – table interaction. So there’s that , too.
Fin
Flynn
One word: Ego