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Statistically Speaking

By launchpoker, Jan 23, 2008
Statistically Speaking


  The World Poker Tour seems to like to think of itself on the same level with leagues like the NFL, NHL, MLB, and the NBA. This may or may not be true. Let's face it, all the poker players who participate in the WPT combined don't have the arrest record to match the Cincinnati Bengals, or even the impressive one put up by the NBA's Ron Artest. On the other side of the coin though, they do have better television ratings than the NHL and a large percentage of televised baseball games, so maybe they can be mentioned in the same breath with the big boys.



  To further this image, they are now starting to collect the sort of statistics on players that get all the fantasy sports geeks so fired up. Though it is true that nobody will probably be able to buy a Mike "The Mouth" Matusow bubble gum card anytime soon, you may be able to see where he ranks in the new "Aggression Index".



  Usually when the subject of poker statistics comes up, a large segment of audience starts thinking about how Shana Hiatt would statistically rank if they were ever given access to her while they were holding a measuring tape. We are not talking about those kinds of stats though. According to Steve Lipscomb, chief executive officer of the WPT: "We're going to develop statistics that will allow you to compare one win against another. The first stats you're going to get are rather basic, telling you what your ranking is based on the strength of field. All we have now are the http://www.launchpoker.com/sp/wsop/ bracelets, but some of those are smaller buy in events. If you won a World Series of Poker tournament years ago with 150 people in it, how does that compare to a WPT event with 500 people in it? This will tell you."



  This is no passing fancy for Lipscomb who believes comprehensive stats will further cement the legitimacy of the WPT as a proper sports league. The company charged with collecting the stats is Stats LLC. These folks collect all statistical data for the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, so they should have some interesting offerings for the poker enthusiast.



  The availability of comprehensive stats will give fans of the game reference points when they compare today's players with people like Benny Binion, and help spark some lively debate. Of course the first person who suggests using the stats to start a fantasy poker league should be banned from playing poker at all. Most of us have had quite enough of that sort of thing.