Paul Rubin wrote:
"pawnstormCA" writes:
The 2004 WSOP Champion is a middle-aged, balding, overweight patent
attorney who walked away with $5,000,000 from a single event. The 2003
WSOP Champion is a 20-something CPA named Moneymaker whose only
previous experience was playing Poker on the Internet, and he won
around $2,500,000.

You describe those guys as if their experience meant nothing. In fact
they are both very good players. Moneymaker winning the WSOP after
getting started on the internet is sort of as if someone won Wijk aan
Zee after first spending years on ICC, studying chess and gradually
getting stronger until he could consistently beat grandmasters online,
but not playing in any OTB events. That would be surprising but not
inconceivable.

I totally agree. A year of experience in the internet is comparable to
a player with 5 years of experience solely in a B&M casino. The games
in the net are way faster, so Raymer and Moneymaker have seen quite a
few hands and situations, which were more than enough to win the big
event.