If there is one thing that could be learned from Poker at least from the example of Phil Hellmuth, it is power. Power of money, power of achievement, power of living life on your own terms, basically the power within!
A college drop out, the success story of Phil began in 1988. And that story would make quite a fat book should we say?! Just a few chapters to mention: won the main event at the Seven card Hi/Low tournament being the youngest payer to do so, one of only three players in history to win three gold bracelets within a single year, a Championship of World Series of Poker winner.
Yet even to this day, the mastery of Phil seems to elude him. elusive, magical, willyNF, twisty, unpredictable…. You name it, Phil can repeat it but you can’t quite figure out what he does!
While one can argue that Hellmuth has had little to fluster his way into the winners circle, one has to remember that the WSOP is played in Las Vegas, a city built on gambling. Las Vegas is also a city that gave us another legend, the incredible Benny Binion. As legend would say, “at your service” mush Vancouver, but it was the city that invented Sin City and the nickname “The Strip”.
50 years of age, Phil has only played three events inside a couple of years. Three events! You would have thought he won thedominatinglottery$100,000 when he was 25.
But from what we know about Phil, he is a man who has lived a single life which seems to have been overshadowed by the glittering, the fast moving, the million dollar desires of others.
There is probably a chapter in Phil’s simply titled Poker, where is about a group of buddies who risk their futures on a football game. Another chapter names names an individual who devised a system to game the odds in his favor. Another chapter is about a gambler who was able to essentially walk away from the table after 17 victories.
Basically, the only drawback of Phil’s advice is that it is available after you buy the guide. Meaning, if you are already buying the Poker Brat pack, you have no idea what is in the inside, unless you buy the guide and it is actually a product nobody advertised as the secret. If you actually bought the guide, without the other material, I can bet you would have just as much success as the guy who calls himself only “the poker brat”.
If you are looking for a poker lesson that is easy to learn, useful, and interesting, I suggest you look into “Low Limit Holdem h8er” as the title reads. Hardly secret information, but it is fun to think about ideas like Chris Moneymaker playing Texas Hold’em for a million dollar and walking away with half a million. It is quite the story, if you don’t know the game.
Now, if you know the game, and want to learn a little strategy to help you improve your performance, without it coming across as a promissory note, there are some very good reasons to read the entire draft of the guide. It helps to centre your mind in the game. It is almost Stevie Wonderfully simple, and you can also about starting hand rankings, and basic tournament strategy.
Most importantly, an understanding of the individual ranks of hands. If you are already used to thinking of your pocket aces as the finest hand, then you are better off knowing the other hands too. It will save you yard-sticks, and embarrassment in front of your friends.
If you are planning to take your play to the next level, then a simple read of the guide, is like capitalizing on a free investment bought for a lifetime. Even if you only intend to play at the micro-stakes, you will need to know poker theory to at least understand some of the concepts and strategies used when you are serious.
So if you intend to learn, and apply the strategies, the best way to do it is to read the guide. Sure, the book might only take up a few pages, but those few pages can make the difference between winning and losing. Do not think the online poker industry is out of money, and do not think you will therefore, stop learning. Information is wealth and you are essentially building on the very things your opponents are talking about when they talk about money in the SNG room. If you do not want to be talked down to in a few years, then you better be ready to pay attention.
After all, you might be surprised that your opponents are actually talking about information. “I have pocket tens I like to play unorthodoxy.” Wow, what a surprisingly accurate assumption.
