Of course he's great, but is he top 5 in the world great at CAP? We know he is at PLO and draw games, and he used to be at NLHE deep.

i think he can play anything top 5

It's hard to beat someone if you're merely trying to replicate him. I won't say much because I never play CAP. Bu it seem unlikely that someone who play solely on a ridiculous amount of talent can beat math/strategy wizards at those games. A guy like him wants to be able to outplay you, not push small equity edges that are nearly impossible to calculate yourself.

I think that makes him more of a boss. He'll play anyone at any game, and still manages to be super tough everywhere.

Pay for education. School fee.

In an interview he stated that he never used any type of hud, never read any book about poker, just started off playing, basically. You also must not forget that natural talent is a broad concept. An idiot savant can count a box full of matches within nano-seconds, but when we ask him how he does it, he can't answer.

Because players that know him and have talked strategy said it.
Of course they could be wrong, but he is one of few players who doesn't try to play a GTO style, and he's said he doesn't use stuff like a HUD.

He learned the draw games so quickly, though. That has to be impossible without some kind of training by someone else.

As a society we put emphasize on the importance of being able to do great things with little effort. We idolize our sports heros and talk about their natural talents, we make a big deal about savants who can play a piano piece after only having heard it once, our movies and TV shows are about the hero who just goes out and does it, he doesnt have to work at it. We worship these feats because basically we all wish somehow we had that same ability. Being able to do something effortlessly at at a world class level with out doing any work at all would truly be a wonderful thing! 

The truth tho is that we don't see the insane amount of hard work that our sports heros put in away from the field, we dont see the countless hours someone like Victor has put in away from the table. And sadly as a society we dont romanticize the blood and sweat that goes into achieving something at a very high level, we just romanticize the "gifted" athlete. Its sad really because it distorts our view of what really is possible with hard work, and it cheapens their actual accomplishment. We even sabotoge ourselves to appear more gifted. There are tons of studies and books out now talking about how its bad to praise a child for being smart, because instead of learning to work hard, they just learn to avoid putting themselves in a position to make a mistake so that they dont appear "stupid". Thats so counter productive to what it takes to actually achieve that its mortifying. We are never going to hear a story about Victor spending all night crunching numbers and diligiently doing math away from the table, because we dont want to hear that story, and he doesnt want us to hear that story. We want him to be the "gifted" player who doesnt use a hud who doesnt work away from the tables, who just shows up and crushes. We want the illusion that its possible to be the best in the world at something on just natural ability, because collectively we all think work sucks and we wish we didnt have to do it. We wish we could just sit down and play bethoven.

 insane amount of hard work- yes for anything !

i wouldn't question tho if its without a hud and math, hours and  hours playing multiple tables for years make up for math with experience and trial and error no numbers can help you same way

That is all true, but the amazing thing is that Viktor has achieved so much solely from working very, very hard, and having talent.
I'd actually love to know how good he could get if he had the approach of someone like Ike Haxton.

he wouldn't have time to play as much ^^

Maybe Isildur is Gametheory!?

lol

At high-stakes the edges are so slim that seemingly small details become infinitely more important.  It's not enough to just say "I saw this x/r a few times yesterday so I know how he plays."  I'm not trying to suggest that without a HUD most players are hopeless, but they do provide a tremendous advantage to those are willing to set up and use it properly.

Valid points. Unless he does use a HUD, do maths, study off the table, member of every training site, watches other regs and studies them taking copious notes, meditates regularly, and has a personal assistant next to him who removes him from the table whenever he starts to tilt even the slightest amount.

Perhaps he is leveling us. He could have the most advanced HUD known to mankind! Or maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist...

:D

I asked the same thing a few lines above.

People gave some answers, but i would still distrusting about this. I know a lot of mid high stakes players that usually said that they dont study the game but they actually do.

Maybe WCGrider should put his money where his mouth is.

Yeah, he denies action to everyone.....................

He plays the top regs at every game. Up until a week ago, he was the biggest winner of the year.

He certainly is not a tighter

He said he was up 12 million on the euro sites at his peak.

Add sponsorship from FT etc. And tourbament winnings.

You're talking about the thread starter, aren't you?

That is possibly the sickest man alive.  Like for real he may be sick to do something like that.  As in he may have bumped his head at some point.  Amazing how he does these things and doesn't get fleeced.