Why do you guys think some players have their stats blocked? Do you think it's safe to assume they are a bad player? At the higher stakes could it be a means to provoke action. This obviously would only be the best HU players that are having trouble getting action and even then it really doesn't make sense cause they can just sit whoever they want.
I blocked mine for two reasons, firstly i am bad and dont have an issue admitting it, I wouldnt join this site if i was great. Secondly i was spending so much time checking out my scope and looking at my swings that i think it was influencing my play. Now i just ignore it and take every game as it comes.
cheers
Oli
I'm sure there is also a small element of people that don't use SS & IIRC you had to ship a small contribution to SS to prove it was you & they reveraled your stats.
I should probably add it was this post that kind of inspired me to block myself on there, i found that i was having really good runs at around 10% roi and then whenever i reached the top of my chart i would kind of choke and go on autopilot thinking i was gods gift and spew it all back. I think it really has helped me to just play each game at a time and focus on winning the game as opposed to how im doing overall.
I obviously have fear of failure issues :)
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/58/heads-up-nl/poobah-post-you-suck-poker-671391/index4.html
People that block their stats seem to have more stubborn leaks in my experience. Many of them are actually solid (some even small winners at the mid stakes) but they always seem to have a few big leaks.
That's a general statement obviously, but a player knowing about Sharkscope usually eliminates them from the "absolutely clueless about poker" category, stress "usually" too.
In high stakes, I think it might make sense for a winner to block their stats. They will get more action overall probably when they sit first. Sitting 2nd works of course, but that can be done as equally with or without blocked stats.
The advantage of sitting 1st with blocked stats is that some marginal winning regulars may sit you, or some winners you want to play may rematch you longer than otherwise, if they saw your great stats.
Overall, probably doesn't make a huge difference either way. If you think you NEED to block your stats, you should probably do some inner searching, as that could be a sign of something going on which is negative to making profit in this game.