It's interesting that you picked a picture of Doyle. To me, he represents the perfect Hold 'em player. He hasn't been winning as much lately, but I put that down to the size of the field and the quality of the players. There are a lot of good players out there but he is the best.

Reading Doyle's books you get a good sense of why he is not a man that you would want to have against you in a real game. He started his poker career in the days that poker was illegal; he experienced shakedowns, beatings, and police intimidation. Those sorts of things make for a hard character and a tough read. When you are playing face to face, hardness is a definite factor - I think that it makes it easier for a person to suppress, or at the very least hide, their emotions. The grizzled veterans, therefore, are the men and women of whom one should be afraid.

In an online poker game, however, strategy is different. When you can't see faces, the only way a person can bluff is with money. There are less opportunities to spot tells, you have to learn to read a player's style - the old pros can play unpredictably, but it is the young guys who have unpredictability down to a science.

If I were playing online, I would be more concerned about people with a higher understanding of mathematics, than veteran poker players. Chris Ferguson and his PhD in game theory, and amazing ability to perform complex mental calculations, would be the person that would frighten me online.

To be fair, he has proved that he can put those skills to very good use in a live game, but I don't think I would feel as nervous as if I was getting stared down by Brunson.