The top 13 Super Saiyan transformations in DBZ. 13. Future Trunks first transformation
This scene wasn't very exciting but it provided us with some background knowledge of Future Trunk's world.
12. Gohan SS2 at World Martial Arts Tournament
The first time (most likely) that Gohan turns SS2 since his battle with Cell. It was kind of predictable and standard but the scene did revive the spark we had when Gohan first transformed into SS2.
11. Vegeta approaches ascended Super Saiyan
Lots of people would say that he becomes an ascended Saiyan here but I disagree. As Cell points out to Trunks, Vegeta purposely held back his power because he had not yet found a way to get around the (speed) limitations of an ascended Saiyan.
10. Trunks becomes an ascended Saiyan
Trunks reaches the level of ascended Saiyan but it does him more harm than good. Even though the scene is amazing in both animation and music, its significance can be questioned.
9. Vegeta's first transformation
Vegeta's struggles and pride make this a pivotal moment in the series. We knew it would be coming eventually. After witnessing the transformation of Goku and future Trunks, Vegeta's one seems quite ordinary in comparison.
8. Goten's a super Saiyan!
I really didn't like the idea that Goten could turn super Saiyan. There was no explanation for it. There was no heartache, struggle nor a need. However, admittedly, when Goten turns super Saiyan we were all feeling amazed.
7. Trunk's a super saiyan!
The only reason that Trunk's transformation rates higher than Goten's is because of Vegeta's priceless line:
"When was it that the transformation to the legendary warrior of the saiyan race was reduced to a child's play thing?"
6. Mysterious super saiyan
This is possibly one of the most wtf-moments in DBZ. None of us could explain the sudden appearance of this mysterious super Saiyan and the implications that this would have on the series.
5. Gotenks SS3
Even though we had already witnessed Goku becoming a SS3, this was still a significant and unbelievable scene. Had it not been for Gotenks SS3 transformation, Piccolo and Gotenks would have been trapped in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for eternity.
4. Gohan's first transformation
Gohan brings to forth all his latent frustration towards being a helpless, little kid. No one expected this coming and we all felt inspired when Gohan ascended to the 'legendary warrior of the saiyan race'.
3. Goku becomes a SS3
The build up to this moment is what makes it one of the best transformations of all time. Goku (to Babidi and Buu): Just wait... Piccolo: Has he really found a way to surpass an ascended Saiyan? Is that possible?
2. Gohan SS2
After the death of android 16 something snaps within Gohan and we witness the hidden powers that Goku was telling us about. Gohan's frustrations towards not being able to help his friends manifest itself in the transformation to a super Saiyan 2. It is truly a sight to behold.
1. Goku, the Saiyan of legends
Was there any doubt? Goku's first transformation to a super Saiyan is the most significant in the entire series. The build up towards this moment is just insane. The use and direction of music by Bruce Faulconer to increase suspense and adrenaline is perfect. The voice acting by Sean Schemmel is top notch and goes well with the animation which effectively illustrates that something big is coming. Thus, Goku's first super Saiyan transformation claims the number spot in the greatest super saiyan transformations of all time.
There is no doubt that Vegeta has the most epic lines in all of Dragon Ball Z. His speeches and soliloquies about his heritage, pride and struggles continue to inspire Dragon Ball Z fans around the world to this day. Here I present to you, Vegeta''s greatest speeches:
It's just a game... play to win
In his dying breath Vegeta explains to Goku about the destruction of planet Vegeta and the Saiyan race at the hands of Frieza. We witness a vulnerable side of the Saiyan prince.
What do you know of meaningless?!
Vegeta brings to the forth his latent anger about his past, his shame and Goku's supremacy. His greatest speech ever? If not, it's pretty damn close.
Then something just snapped... something inside of me
Vegeta describes the struggles of becoming a super saiyan.
I live by my strength alone
Vegeta explains to Goku why he let himself fall under Babidi's spell. I like the speech but I couldn't really comprehend the idea that Vegeta would allow himself to be subjected to something like this.
Every breath you take is an assault to my honor
Vegeta vs. Goku. Nothing else to be said.
You've made me proud, my son
The ultimate act of redemption; Vegeta sacrifices himself to save his loved ones. We witness a touching side to the Saiyan prince.
You're better than me Kakarot... you are the best
Vegeta comes to the realisation that Goku's skills surpass his.
Cell has crossed me for the last time!
Vegeta goes crazy after Cell knocks out Trunks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feel free to comment; more DBZ posts should be coming soon.
This refers to the scene in Casino Royale where Bond scoops up a 115 million dollar pot. In this scene many things occur which just don't happen in real life and have simply been put in in order to create suspense and adrenaline.
First of all, the biggest pot ever won online was for 1.3 million (between Patrik Antonius and Viktor Blom) 115 million dollar pots just don't happen. That being said, in 2006 a billionaire businessman named Andy Beal challenged the world's best poker players in a series of heads up matches at stakes $50,000/$100,000. However the poker players had to pool their money together in order to put up the $10 million to play against him.
Anyway, going back to the Casino Royale Scene, the hand itself is absolutely ridiculous. In this four-way contested pot there was a A-high flush, a full house, a bigger full house and a straight flush. I can safely (without embarrassment) say that out of the trillions of hands played all around the world since the creation of hold'em, that no hand to this extremity has happened. The odds of this are so astronomical we might as well say it is impossible.
And also there's some etiquette issues and technicalities but I'll save that for another time.
Rounders
Rounders is a 1998 film starring Matt Damon; it wasn't too bad if you want to check it out.
The first annoying part was when Damon told his friend that he got'outplayed' by Teddy KGB in one particular hand.
The use of the word outplayed is absolutely incorrect. It is almost always incorrect to lay down a full house (except when there is trips on the board or you are only using one card from your hand to make a full house). In particular this is a heads up pot but even in multi-way pots it is very rare to hear of someone folding a full house. It is statistically wrong to fold a full house because there are so many hands in his range that you beat. He was not 'outplayed', we simply call that a cooler.
Also in this hand, he sat down at the $300/$600 table that Chan was playing and and bought in for $6000 (I believe), which is 10 big blinds (bb). He says he was playing real tight until this one hand where he decides to 5-bet bluff Chan. If he was playing tight then we can assume that his stack was, at best, stable (if not decreasing). Assuming the standard preflop raise is 3bb and a standard 3bet is 9bb then its obvious that Damon only had just enough for a standard 3bet, making it impossible to get to 5bets.
And finally this hand; skipping all preflop action, Damon folds top two pair to a single bet. Folding top two pair in a heads up game is stupid. Many high stakes players would happily get all there money in with just top pair (and rightly so). Even in multi-way pots top two pair is (for the majority of cases) a justifiable all-in. Damon then makes a comment like "I'm not gonna draw against a made hand". Even if he knows KGB has the straight he can still call if he's getting the expressed odds to hit his full house and there's also the factor of implied odds.
We are all degenerates and junkies
If you go to local casinos and bars there will probably be people there who are drinkers, smokers and just out to have a fun time or satisfy there cravings to gamble. This paints quite a negative picture of poker. If you look at professionals (or even lots of recreational players) you'll see that these people are quite civilised and entered the game of poker because it turned out to be a profitable situation (not to satisfy cravings). Actually a lot of high stakes poker players don't even touch games such as blackjack, craps, etc because in the long term the house will always win.
Also there are many players such as Bill Chen, Chris Ferguson, Brian Hastings, Vanessa Selbst that are in the fields of maths, computer science, economics and law respectively. I don't know them very well but I'm sure they didn't start playing poker and continue playing simply because they are degenerates.
Zynga poker
And to conclude my overly long rant is the facebook phenomenon that is Zynga poker. For the most part I believe that the game of poker has been translated well onto the virtual felt. Its efficient, convenient and the animations are nice. It's a good break from real money.
However there are a few things I noticed which aren't quite right. First of all if the pot hasn't been raised preflop and it comes back to the big blind and he decides he's going to check it, he can click the check button. For now it's all right. However a millisecond later under the user's display picture shows the word, "call". Wow that puts me on tilt more than you can imagine. What are you calling? The pot hasn't even been raised. It seems they only got it half right.
Secondly, when it gets to the flop suppose someone wants to open the pot (make the first bet). You have no choice but to click the 'raise' button and watch the word 'raise' show under your display picture. To get straight to the point it should be called a 'bet'. Put simply, in order for a raise to be possible, there must have been an initial bet, i.e a raise can not exist without a bet. So the next time your friend opens the pot and declares a 'raise' just call him a facebook fish.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just type tl;dr and that would be greatly appreciated.
I thought this would be an appropriate first post as it was a question posed to me by a friend a few days ago.
For anyone who hasn't studied the game in depth or played it in some sort of serious fashion, then it is understandable that they would be oblivious (not sure if i used that word correctly) to the amount of skill in poker.
First of all (completely ignoring the mathematical aspects) poker is a game of information gathering. We should be analysing our opponents' hand ranges (a set of hands he would play in such a manner) and our own perceived hand ranges. Above that we have to consider our position and those relative to us, game flow, table image, tendencies, etc. Unfortunately at the beginning we're not aware of these things. All we think about is the cards in our hands and the cards on the board. The more information a player gathers and uses, the more proficient he/she is at the game.
Moving along, Sklansky's fundamental theorem of poker states that poker is a game of incomplete information in which you can make optimal decisions based on any given scenario. Mathematically we can express this as expected value. If a fish puts in his whole stack with bottom pair and rivers trips then we can't argue that that is luck. However if he always puts money in mathematically unfavourable spots he will lose in the long run. No one can escape the math. If he only has a 18% chance of winning he might hit it two, three or four times in a row but in the long run he will lose money. The bottom line is if we have the knowledge and skills to put ourselves in mathematically favourable positions then we will win in the long run.
If I were asked for the composition of poker as the factors of luck and skill i would say that it is composed of 65% skill and 35% luck. 35% luck because we can in no way determine our preflop hands and the cards that come on the board. However I believe its 65% skill as we get to choose the most (mathematically) profitable spots to put our money in with exception of the blinds where we are forced to put money in.
Feel free to comment
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For further reading I would suggest the following articles:
Freakonomics - Poker: Skill vs. Chance
Pokernews - Dutch professor cites poker as a skill game
