Poker hierarchy and islands of ability
Marcus Bateman
/
Marcus Bateman /
18 November 2009 /
Leave a Comment
Always try and think about what island you occupy, it may be that a short move to a new environment could drastically improve your win rate
One of the greatest features of high stakes poker (and one of the things that makes it such an exciting world to play in or observe) is that you have constantly changing hierarchies. Much like how empire's rise and fall, poker is full of players who arrived and beat everyone on offer, only to be slowly or suddenly ground down by a new generation of players.
Sometimes this can take a matter of days, such as the epic heads up battle between Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and 'Isildur1' that we have just witnessed; and other times it can take months, such as the legendary match between Johnny Moss and Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder; but change is endless and unrelenting in poker, and looking at how and why it happens is a very interesting area for any aspiring player.
Critical to understanding how this happens is to understand how poker evolves. Poker evolves on separated islands, as players are always restricted to the players they have access to by something.
Whether it is an American unable to play on certain sites because of the UIGEA, a live player unwilling to travel beyond their local card room for family reasons, or simply a group of buddies who only play in a home game together, poker evolves in isolated pockets for the most part, even in the current internet age that unites so many players.
Each of these islands is effectively an arms race between the players on the island for who can be best. Just as how evolution happens in the natural environment, different islands produce different strategies and mechanisms to be successful in that particular game, resulting in a rich and diverse set of strategies and tactics, with one player dominant and at the top of the food chain on that particular island.
What is interesting about this island phenomenon is when two islands that were previously separate collide. Here, suddenly two top dogs who were both very successful on their particular island are suddenly be confronted with somebody new, with the result that one player will be out gunned by the other in their future games over domination of the new island, with the result simply depending on whose island had a stronger arms race before they met.
'The king is dead. Long live the king' as the old political saying goes.
Now that two islands have met, a new hierarchy is established, and a new style of play is seen to be the best. This player will dominate, until a challenger comes from a new island and either wins and becomes the new king, or loses and has to return to the environment where they were dominant.
Always try and think about what island you occupy, it may be that a short move to a new environment could drastically improve your win rate; and conversely, if you can find exceptionally weak islands to play on, you want to try and stick on them as long as possible.
Related entries
Isildur1 continues to dominate
Arms races
Being the table captain
Get Valueback at Betfair Poker
Read More Poker
The Floating Explosion
One of the key changes that has affected all games in the last twelve months or so has been the massive increase in the number of players refusing to believe flop bets. It used to be the case that weak...
Flatting with aces in PLO
This is one of the hardest things to drill into good Hold'em players when they start playing Pot Limit Omaha - learning to flat with aces in many situations. Although there is certainly a time and a place to flat...
How to play a good or bad card on the turn or river
Most players are aware of how 'good' or 'bad' a card can be on the turn or river in Hold'em or Omaha. Good cards can throw up great bluffing opportunities, make your hand much safer to proceed with, or make...
The Three Poker Sites Who May Have Messed It Up For Everyone
For anyone who talked about how softened the internet generation were to gambling compared to the old Texan road players, the events of the last few weeks in poker have certainly hardened everyone who may have not seen the darker...
