Poker Forum

I appreciate your comments about pros adapting to the game; however, I think you'll find the big difference this year is the structure of the tournament. The directors of the WSOP have consulted several established professional players. Daniel Negreanu is a very proud member of this group (courtesy his blog at fullcontactpoker.com). Such input from these players has adapted the tournament structure to enable these guys to play more of their game. Smallball poker has been a very familiar strategy this year, from what I can see in the live reviews. All the pros have to do now, which is easier said than done, is to see more community cards with the amateurs and proceed from there. These new structures are very beneficial to the professional players and has very much boosted their success rate. The fact that there are more higher buy in events also helps the pros as the amateur player finds himself outnumbered at any table he sits at for these high events. Anybody can bust Phil Ivey, but good luck to them if they wish to continuation bet Lindgren, Negreanu, and any of the other pros seated at their table with them.