[Micturition Man]

I kinda hate these threads but how can you keep away?

The one core fact that I think should be kept in mind in the internet v. live players argument is that, at least until recently, the money was WAY better online than live unless you were playing like 4k-8k.

When Rugby was playing mega stakes live not long ago he said in his blog that one reason he disliked live was that he could play for effectively more money in much greater comfort online. And he meant it.

So if online poker is potentially more profitable, the burden is on the live players to explain why they are taking the lower paying route. In the absence of any contrary explanation it seems reasonable to assume that either the live players need softer games, or they're not that serious about money.

That's why it annoys the hell out of me when some live player says some [censored] like "YO MR. ONLINE WHY DON'T YOU COME DOWN TO MY 50/100 GAME AND SHOW ME WHAT'S WHAT" when the online player in question might be used to multitabling 200/400.

It's like one boxer calling another boxer out to play thumb war.

However all that being said, it does seem like online poker is drying up to the point that there is or will be more EV in reasonably high live games than in online games. (Assuming no change on the legal front.)

So it is less and less fair to view live players with the air of skepticism bordering on disdain that many of us used to.

A few years ago if you played live only you pretty much had to be a mediocre player or someone who didn't care about maximizing his EV. In the near future the live players may be the ones booking the biggest yearly wins.