Monday, November 9, 2009

Darvin Moon FTW!

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints for your ultimate achievements. - Napoleon Hill

Go Darvin! While I have nothing against Joe Cada and also wish him well, I am pulling for the Moon Man.

While we hear a lot about the recent influx of young talent, and there is certainly no disputing the volume of young players we are currently experiencing nor many of their recent accomplishments, poker is an old guys game. Poker is about outsmarting/outlasting/outthinking/outplaying your opponents while sitting across a table - and that is what old guys do. It is what old guys have been doing for a long time. When knowledge, experience, wisdom, and cunning are what's needed, you need an old guy. Old guys are no match for young guys in football, baseball, basketball, etc. Those games are about physical strength and stamina first, and mental strength and stamina second. Poker is the other way around. Old guys are supposed to beat young guys at poker.

Besides, if Joe Cada does not win, it isn't going to slow down the onslaught of young guns at all. They will continue to pour in by the thousands and that is fine. Nothing is likely to deter that and we wouldn't want anything to do so. However, what is going to keep the older amateurs rolling in? Thousands of regular guys buy in every year and are often considered "dead money". However, year after year, one of them rises to the top despite the prevailing notion that they never had a chance. That is good for poker in general and also good for the World Series of Poker. A win by Moon perpetuates the rags to riches dream of an everyman. A regular guy that plays poker with buddies rather than for a living who goes to the WSOP and wins it all or at least comes close. Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Steve Dannenman, Jerry Yang, Dennis Phillips, and Darvin Moon are all great for the game in the sense that they truly keep the dream alive.