Once the Cadillac of poker, Texas hold'em poker has become a beige Volvo. Double-barrels these turns but not those turns. Big blind checks, player bets these flops but not those flops. Indeed, in many ways the mechanics of the game have become as predictable dancing to the cha cha slide. 'Poker's become a dance where everyone knows the moves,' he lamented.
It had become a bit stale, he thought, and it was hard to disagree. While discussing poker strategy and talking over some hand histories, Rich lamented the current state of the no-limit hold'em metagame.
Last year, my friend and old PokerNews colleague Rich Ryan stayed with me for a few days over the summer so he could fire the $1,500 Millionaire Maker at the World Series of Poker.