The HSP "Fish"

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

I don't mean fish in the sense that they're actually bad players, because no one in that game is anything less than highly skilled (or very rich so that it doesn't matter). What I mean is, where is a lot of the money for these players coming from in High Stakes Poker?

Obviously, we have:
Bob Stupak
Jerry Buss
Fred Chamanara
Amir Nasiri

But all of them are so rich that they can just play for fun. Among actual professionals, I would consider these guys some of the "worse" players that the others managed to exploit.

The Grinder (was surprised to see him play like such a nit)
Amnon Filipi (suspect he was playing over his head)
Mike Matusow (can you say blow-up?)
Phil Hellmuth (sooooo unimpressive in a cash game)
Eli Elezra (the guy is good, but way outclassed)

Now I know a lot of people willthink these last two are controversial, but...

Sammy Farha (he is a pure action junkie and the better players know how to get his money)
Gus Hansen (although he nailed Daniel with that cooler, notice how excited everyone was to have him in the game... another action junkie)


Any others? Agreement/disagreement? (before anyone says Daniel, remember how many absolutely crappy situations he got into in addition to all those bets he donked off on the river)

[LeafsFan1122]

I don't have any real backup but I heard somewhere (probably in a poker article of some sort) that Eli Elezra is the HSP "fish".

As you previously stated, obviously 95% of the players on there are highly skilled and clearly know what they're doing but if my memory serves me right, rumour has it that Elezra is the #1 HSP donk.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

I also forgot Corey Zeidman, the biggest weak-tight nit on the face of the planet (great Stud player, though).

[supafrey]

Judging someone like Eli Elezra that plays pretty much daily with the same crew of people over a televised 5k hands (I'm being generous here, although it was probably much, much less) is beyond useless.

[UrAteUp]

I think this goes back to the old saying "Any given day...". To say Eli is a fish is a bad statement. The guy can play some great poker most days. Sure he has his off times when he tries to get aggressive with some off kilter hands, but who doesn't amoung pros and amateurs alike. Can anyone here honeslty say they haven't?

As for the rich boys playing poker. I think you under estimate guy like Buss. Ole Jerry plays in some of the biggest poker games in the country and does well. I am sure some of these others do as well. If not, well you have to have someone fund the winners.