|
Underrated
Dan Harrington is probably the most underrated player in the game, though it's finally dawning on people just what he's accomplished. But I don't think it's the absolute most spectacular thing in the history of the game or the series. Two things bother me...first, that he doesn't seem to have the "ultimate killer instinct" of a Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey or even Layne Flack. I think he's a masterful tight/aggressive player who gets to the final table the old fashioned way (by just playing solid, fundamental poker and letting everyone else's mistakes propel him along). I'm just not convinced that when he needs to become the hunter rather than the gatherer, he has the chops to do that. I could be wrong, and frankly I hope that I am because I do admire him as a player.
The other thing that bothers me is that we'll never know just how good Stu Ungar really could have been, or what else he could have accomplished even in today's environment. For that reason, it's going to be hard to trump what he DID accomplish, in my book. I also believe that while the sheer numbers of participants has grown dramatically, the quality of player has decreased just as dramatically...so Stu won when poker players were poker players and not Gus Hansen/Chris Moneymaker/Mattias Andersen types.
|