I was just reading about how Patrick Antonius just won the largest online pot ever. Antonius, for those of you that may not know, is a Full Tilt Pro and is currently engaged in the Tom Dwan Challenge. Antonius happens to be one of the best online poker players in the world. While Texas Hold’em is what he typically plays live Antonius is also a very good Omaha player as well. As I have watched Dwan and Antonius go back and forth I started wondering about what it really proves. Seriously, I am not sure that playing at the highest stakes possible necessarily means you are the most “skilled” poker player.

What it indicates to me is that both players choose to play at nose bleed stakes to prove they are the best. The fact of the matter is that both Dwan and Antonius could have done this challenge playing at far lower stakes if they so desired and still come to the same conclusion after fifty-thousand hands.

So my question to you is this:

Can you measure a players skill strictly because of the stakes they play?