Stealing A Poker/ Fight Question From Giant Buddha

[SGspecial]

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If anyone has the edge, I think it is very slight. Pretty much a crapshoot. Except for the Razz guy, those players suck.

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Speaking as the best Razz player in the world, I know I would have NO shot at besting the other experts in a tournament like this, even having some experience and skill in the other games. Probably the guy with the advantage would be the S/8 player for the reasons many others have stated.

One thing to consider tho is how would you play the games you have no experience in? My guess is tight/aggressive so you're almost sure you have the best hand to start and don't want to get chased down cheaply. Which games would you have the smallest DISadvantage in playing this type of strategy?

[RubbishCards]

If the games are rotating on a time limit, the holdem player has an advantage because he gets to play significantly more hands, seeing as ALL o/8 hands go to the river and the stud games have an extra round of betting. I don't know if that means he wins though.

[Deorum]

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If the games are rotating on a time limit, the holdem player has an advantage because he gets to play significantly more hands, seeing as ALL o/8 hands go to the river and the stud games have an extra round of betting. I don't know if that means he wins though.

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That's a good point. In addition, I think the flop players would have to take more time to figure out what was going on in the hand during a stud game than the stud players would during flop games. This includes things as simple as figuring out where the action is to things as complicated as attempting to read hands.

[gtrunner57]

One thing I have not seen anyone mention is which game creates the largest pot sizes. The best player at the game that creates the largest pots would probably win the tournament.

Since I have actually only played Hold'em and Stud before, I am not aware of how often Stud/Eight and Omaha/Eight's pots are split, but pot size might factor into those games' best players not winning the tournament.

[jogger08152]

The guy who was best at whichever game has the smallest coefficient of luck (probably hold'em or stud) would be the favorite, simply because it would be easier for him to get lucky and beat the others in their games, than it would be for them to do the same to him in his.

[jogger08152]

As a corrolary to this, the Razz and Omaha guys should be the biggest "dogs".

[SplawnDarts]

H and E are very subtle, difficult games. O and R are very mechanical although the number of people who misplay both is frightening. S is somewhere in the middle.

By virtue of the fact that they've mastered H or E, those two guys are going to be very good thinkers. The H guy is probably going to be a particular outlier because the H player population is so large. On that basis, I believe H has the best inate mental ability to understand the other games.

However, E has far and away the most transferable skills:
- stud format, position, the effects of antes, etc.
- hi/low understanding and board reading
- near-familiarity with razz and stud
- practice playing pairs against a board (since that's often the hi side of E)

I think E comes out ahead - as usual useful skills and experience trumps intelligence. However, it would be much closer if they both read a strategy book ahead of time.

[tolbiny]

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I can't believe so many of you missed diablo's response, which nailed it.

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The reasoning in the vollyball thread was that such a small percentage of top atheletes tried vollyball that given time they would be eclisped by better athletes who then practiced the game. The HORSE tourney is going on now without the extra years for preparation, so having more potential doesn't come into play nearly as much. In this situation the Stud/8 player has experience which helps him in multiple games. So he will be # 1 at stud8, #2 at Stud, #2 at Razz, # 2 at Ohmaha if its H/L, and tied for #5 3 ways Ohmaha high only and tied 3 ways for 5th in HE.
The HE Player is #1 HE, #2 Ohmaha (#3 Ohmaha h/l) and #5 in the other three. The STud players have an enormous advantage playing 3 games structured in their favor while the HE and Ohmaha players end up playing 3 games as big dogs to 3 strong players. They are going to get eaten alive in those situations.

[Will in New Have]

The best Stud8 player is going to have a very good handle on Stud and Razz a pretty good idea about how to play O8. That leaves LHE, where luck might be with him. The flop game specialists are going to have a problem with the fact that position isn't a constant in the stud games.

The Stud8 player.

[Will in New Have]

Holdem is very popular with -EV players because their negative edge is smaller. The edge of great players over their near-peers is a different matter, however, and you might be correct if the five guys simply sat down at a table against one another.