Are They Wrong About Vietcong?
The online poker community begins to resemble the kids' playground as opinionated vietcong01 discussion becomes the flavour of the week...
4 January 2007 by Philip Tuck
A player attracting a lot of controversy about both their results and style of play is Juan Barros, aka, “Vietcong01". Regularly berated on online forums for his unique playing style, he has still managed to take down some of the biggest tourneys on the net, winning the Poker Stars Sunday Million in July ‘07 - as well as many deep runs in the Poker Stars 1k.He certainly attracts some strong feelings. PocketFives user “Jack Tupp” writes:
“I don't even consider him a real poker player, sorry if that offends anyone. But that b/s he pulls is ridic.”
Other players seem to be arguing his corner more, PocketFives user “Improved” writes a pretty sterling defence of him (click here), arguing that his style may well be unconventional, but that he must be doing something right to have secured such results.
Other big and widely discussed online names have gotten involved; Annette_15 claiming that she did not understand his success, and SCTrojans firstly joining the general consensus of a rather less than flattering view of vietcong01’s ability, but later adding this clarification:
“There’s a misunderstanding on pocketfives. When the better players say Vietcong is terrible, we don't mean terrible compared to the average poker player, we mean terrible compared to people with comparable results. He’s actually quite good if you compare him to the average poker player.”
He certainly seems to generate some really strong feelings. Snide comments seem to be the order of the day, with many players making comments which are pretty out of line. PocketFives user “Jennings7" writes:
“Ron Paul is the Vietcong01 of the political world. Everyone wants to talk about him because he is different and interesting, but people in the know realize he is just a flash in the pan whack job who will fade in time.”
One thing no one can doubt about Vietcong01 is his raw aggression. We only have to look at this play to see quite how much pressure he often tries to put on the other top players (click here). We should bear in mind that aggression goes a long way in tournament poker; many plays that look awful on the face of it often have a lot more going on beneath the surface.
PocketFives user “KCKyle” makes an interesting comment in a discussion about another hand Vietcong01 played (click here), writing:
“I fold...for someone who is horrible people sure have trouble playing him...”.
This sums Vietcong01 up in many ways - in poker money talks - and he has sure pulled in a lot of big cashes. You cannot simply consistently fluke your way deep in big tournament after big tournament.
Whatever you think of his pre flop calls and big flop moves, Vietcong01 is clearly a big winner in tournament poker. It’s a shame that a player employing a different and instinct based style has drawn so much abuse for his results and playing style - poker will always be a game in flux - the only bottom line in this game is profit, not how you play. Only the future will show quite how good Vietcong01 actually is - at the moment it is looking bright.
04/01/08
vietcong01 (left)