[innerpeace]

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and its ridiculous to think that the only part great about aba is his analytical skills and that his "instincts" aren't on the level of kenny tran(lol)

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while both players might rely on their instincts, their instincts are honed in much different ways. aba seems to be much more analytic, and his instincts have been likely been honed by going over tons of hands, thinking about opponent betting patterns, and making many equity calculations. kenny makes excellent live reads based on many subtle cues - though honestly i haven't played very many live hours with kenny. i have played more with phil ivey and both almost seem like they are privy to more information than other people at the table. i can't think of a single online player that might be capable of making these types of reads.

online reads are mostly based on the history with the opponent, betting patterns and some timing tells. live reads are based on a whole lot more. that allows the best live players to narrow down their opponent's range giving them the opportunity to potentially make more profitable decisions. this skill is critical on the river when pots are the biggest and hands can be more defined. live games also play much more deep stacked and bigger, making decisions on later streets even more critical than you might see in online games.