01 Apr 11
Opinion: KidPoker vs Isildur1 Was Not a Tie
In this guest article, Cardrunners editor Matt Kaufman argues that Isildur1 won the overall match in the last Superstar Showdown and it was not a tie. Why? Read on to find out!
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| Isildur1 should have plenty of reasons to smile after this series |
Match of the century? Not really
When it was first formally announced that Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu would face Viktor "Isildur1" Blom in two consecutive SuperStar Showdowns, PokerStars hyped it as if it were the match of the century.The PokerStars Blog even said "this two-part Ali-Frazier battle has been in the offing for some time." Ali-Frazier? Really? Let's examine the statement.
I think we can all readily accept that Isildur1 and Negreanu are world-class poker players. Isildur1 made an enormous splash in the online nosebleed games last year, and Negreanu sits in second place on the all-time live tournament earnings list.
While it would be totally reasonable to argue that Daniel is the best live tournament player in the world, let's not forget what this competition was in: 4-tabling 2,500 hands of 50/100 heads-up No Limit Hold'em. As of today (after both matches), this is what Negreanu's high stakes online results look like:
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| Graph courtesy of Highstakesdb |
Negreanu out of his league? No, just in a different league
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| Negreanu is a great player, but this format was not favoring him |
Each of the past two weekends, Negreanu and Blom finally played, and to the shock of railbirds everywhere, Negreanu managed to win the second match.
PokerStars can say that the sessions finished with a record of 1-1, and Isildur1 can't claim otherwise. He can, however, go out and buy a luxury car with the true result of this "tie."
In their first meeting, Negreanu didn't even make it the full 2,500 hands before losing the entirety of his $150k. In their second meeting, Negreanu lost about $120k before staging an epic comeback to finish with $26,500 of Isildur1's money. To do the math for you, Isildur1 is $123,500 richer between the two sessions. In my opinion, he is the winner of the matches - this was no tie.
I will give credit where it is due, however, and applaud Daniel for his performance. Very few people (myself included) thought he could win either of these meetings, and he played far better than anyone anticipated in the second session. Perhaps he and Isildur1 aren't deserving of an Ali-Frazier comparison just yet, but Negreanu proved to the world that he can spar with anyone.
#1
deVall3y, 01 Apr 11 16:33
I like this article. dn is a cool player and he is pokerstar's precious precious super-star, but he is no match for isildur in multi table online HU cash#2
Hahaownedlolz, 01 Apr 11 18:21
Rather pointless article.. he's saying a whole lot that everyone knew already.#3
Tim64, 01 Apr 11 18:29
"shodown", line 2#4
apd1020, 01 Apr 11 18:59
There has to be a way to get a durrrr vs Isuldur1 match going...#5
bertstoelen, 01 Apr 11 19:20
"Negreanu playing Isildur1 at 4 tables of 50/100 heads-up is more like if Pelé played Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game of basketball." VERY good comparison. However, you act like 5000 hands is enough to know that isildur1 is far better. off course we know, but in the article it's like after the match, we knew for sure who was the best. off course not, 5000 hands is not enough. also, negreanu said that he ran 80k under all in EV,so he didn't do it all that bad#6
gadget51, 01 Apr 11 20:43
Experience v talent? Both have talent, so experience wins? Talent wins? Pff, this means nada. GG both anyway.P.S. who is the best in the worls? Ali or frazier? ER....duh!
In this match? none can compare to either, so silly. Hype only.
#7
goldchess, 01 Apr 11 21:18
As for Isildur's high stakes online results... oh wait :D#8
fruitcake1, 01 Apr 11 21:21
winner is the one with the most money overall unless I'm wrong?I quit watching when Negraneau was down to about 20 %, Isildurs amazing suckouts were hard to watch anyway.
magine my surprise when next day I heard Negranaue finished ahead?
couldn't even believe what was hearing.
- amazing comeback by KidPoker
#9
tokyoaces, 02 Apr 11 08:06
This is about as dumb as saying a 1-1 football match isn't a tie because the other team had more shots on goals.The rules of the game were clear and they both won a match each. Some random employees opinion doesn't change facts.
#10
AKM247, 02 Apr 11 08:34
ummm - not just a random employee's opinion, $123,500 up is winning imo. The rules were great for the promo but Poker is about winning money#11
Hahaownedlolz, 02 Apr 11 09:30
what the f does it matter anyway? you realise isildur1's win/loss in these SSS is completly trivial right? the only thing that matters is the $ won.#12
ryuuu, 02 Apr 11 10:56
So true i think that saying isildur had lost two of his showdowns is pretty stupid since he obviously won the neagreau challange.#13
Scarmaker, 02 Apr 11 12:11
#9 - That's simply wrong. In football, 1 win + 1 loss always means 1:1 & 3 pts. In poker, if u "win" 1 session a "lose" the other, it can mean anything. You can be down or up whatever amount of $$$, so the fact that you have "won" or "lost" a certain session doesn't matter at all. No one says "last month, I won 7 and lost 3, so it was a good month", cause it doesn't give u a clue about most and in fact only important thing in poker - how much money did he earn or lost. Therefore, Isildur is definitely a huge winner here.