World Poker Tour - Battle for the Season Pass II, Part 4
We woke up on Monday morning and off to Breakfast we went. It was held in the Rainforest Theatre. After breakfast all of the pros were asked to speak for about 5 minutes giving everybody some advice. I did not take notes, but Donna did. Here are her notes:Hi Folks…
In addition to all of Bob’s observations and experiences, I thought I’d share with you some of the advice given by the “PROS” in this morning’s Welcome Session. I will also add that I am actually sitting poolside with a pina colada in a coconut shell beside my mouse pad! Yes, I’m being glanced at by my fellow sun worshipers – but hey I’ll take this one for the team. After all, it’s a rough job, but someone has to do it!
Jean-Robert Bellande - To be honest, he was the first speaker and I hadn’t started taking notes yet so all I can remember is that he was on the hit tv reality show “Survivor” and that Mike Matusow (pronounced SO - not SOW - W is silent) interrupted him a LOT!
Mike Binger– Mike stressed getting sleep/exercise and eatting right. He feels this will help you have a clear mind. Basically, do whatever it is that helps you clear your mind!
Nick Binger – Mike’s brother, Nick, stressed table awareness. We’ve all been in situations where we made a stupid move because we were not paying attention to the table. (Ask Bob about turning up his pocket A’s last night!
Nick Brancato – Nick feels the biggest tells you can get on your opponents is their betting patterns. This is especially true with the players that have a consistent style/system of betting.
At this point, the Pros were asked:
What advice would you give a player that you backed by purchasing
their $10K seat in a major tournament?
Lee Childs – Lee suggests you keep an open mind, and remember the basics. He dubs himself as a “regular guy” with a passion for poker to someone who has cashed in. He feels he can most closely relate to the attendees.
TJ Cloutier – (All right before I begin with TJ’s advice, I will admit, TJ is one of my favorite’s here!) He indicated survival is crucial. Surviving more levels equals more of a chance to win. Don’t bluff idiots. Keep your eye on the prize. Be mentally sharp. He also stated he would not want the player he backed to make probe bets – he feels that is a “waste” of chips. Obviously that is much different from what other pros say. It just goes to show there is no right or wrong way to play poker – even the pros who are teaching the same camp cannot agree on the same style!
Bill Chen– Observe your opponents tells in their preflop decisions. Always raise 2.5 to 3 times and don’t overload yourself so much with trying to gather opponent information that you lose your own focus.
John D’Agostino – Do what makes you comfortable – play YOUR style within the flow of the game.
Shannon Elizabeth – Observe opponents habits off-table. What do they normally do and what do they do when they are nervous – i.e. does a woman always play with her necklace or is that just a nervous habit? Observation of how they act off-table can give you a lot of information at the table.
Clonie Gowen– I’ll fess up, I really was not a Clonie fan after meeting her here last year. With that being said, she is really different this year. She now has a wonderful aura about her and she is so open. Her advice to the question posed, was the actual situation when Chris Fergurson backed her in a tournament in which she ended up against Umberto Cianfanelli. She admitted to feeling VERY intimidated by him and Chris wouldn’t give her any advice. After finally cornering him, Chris said “just keeping doing what you’re doing”. She felt this statement from Chris was key because he didn’t break her confidence! She said you need to put egos aside and play stack strategy. You need to find a way to get your mind into the game even if your neck hurts, or you have a headache or you just suffered a bad beat. Learn to let things go, as quickly as you can. Clonie also feels you create your own luck.
John Freiberg – John’s advice was to not let chip stacks intimidate you. Focus on your own stack. Play your table as if it were a single table tournament.
Kristy Gazes – Kristy’s advice included having fun, keep the chips moving, take your time, don’t be intimidated, don’t think or speak negatively, and to stay in the flow of the moment.
Kenna James - Kenna has a great aura about him. His advice inlcuded playing with no fear. If you sense something, don’t be afraid to act on it. Prepare a game plan before getting to the table and be willing to lie it on the line.
Chip Jett – Chip is very down to earth and a “nice guy”. His advice is to avoid early confrontations. People will do silly and/or stupid things at the end of the day – take advantage of that and try to be the last one to do something stupid!
Karina Jett – Karina’s first piece of advice, was something I can directly relate to. She needs more sleep than the average person and it was crucial to come to the table well rested. Stay positive and eat right the day before. She advised the women to take advantage of their table image and to always put the other person in the decision making position. She advises against taking a long time to think. Go with instinct. If you think long, you think wrong. Avoid tunnel vision, always consider your opponent’s hands and luck favors the prepared – Be Prepared!
Tom McEvoy – Don’t EVER give up! Even if you are the short stack early you still have time to come back. The quote I liked the best was his and it is: “Bets saved are just as important as bets played”. Don’t go broke with two kings, be willing to lay them down and don’t put in more than 5% of your chip stack, preflop.
Mike Matasow – Mike advises that table image is EVERYTHING! Know exactly who is at your table and know how you have to play that table. Try your hardest and try to never play a coin flip - try to find a better spot to make a move.
Vanessa Rousso - Vanessa is the instructor of the Game Theory Camp that WPT offers. Bob wants to attend this one day clinic and just listening to “Lady Maverick” makes it abundantly clear that it would definitely be worth any poker player’s time and money to enroll in this camp! She has her Economic Degree from Duke University and is currently enrolled in law school. She defines poker as a game with incomplete information and the more information you can gather the more it will increase your edge. Even before the game starts, arrive at the table early and observe your opponents as they arrive. They may think you are distracted getting settled, when you are really observing them! Simple questions that will help you obtain information include what they do for a living? How is it they came to play in this tournament? Are they wearing poker apparel? Did they win their seat? Are they a sponsored player? Vanessa said there are two categories in which to put players – the systemic player (accountants, teachers, well coiffed folks, detail oriented - i.e. ME) and out of the box players (entrepreneurs, doctors, laid back folks - i.e. BOB). She also went on to say that if a systemic player ALWAYS plays systemically and doesn’t learn to alter their game, they almost will never win. Vanessa advises there are three main qualities to poker players. In one of the qualities you have to be a “genius”, in the second you have to be “solid” in the third you are most likely “weak”. The three qualities she refers to are “strategic thinking ability”; “executing ability” (regardless of how hard it might be, have to be able to make the big lay downs just as comfortably as making the big calls. The third is not people reading and/or psychology (as Bob and I anticipated) it is “money management ability”. Keeping your bankroll into account and knowing how to play within your limits, not above them.
Perhaps by sharing this will encourage you in some small way!
Donna
Now, back to Bob:
After the pros spoke, we had lunch, then we did the live learning labs. When I go to WPT Boot camps, the live learning labs are always my favorite part. What it involves is you get a table of people with a pro dealing. The pro deals the cards, and you play the hand as you would in a tournament. They give you scenarios (beginning of a tournament, mid-stage of a tournemant, end of a tournament, etc) and after the hand plays out, everybody turns up their cards and they give constructive analysis of how the hand played out. They point out your mistakes, where things should have been played differently, or whatever comments they have. Discussion is definitely encouraged, so it is quite a bit of fun. The other thing that makes this part interesting is that there is really no right or wrong way to play poker. Every professional plays differently (look at Gus Hansen and Howard Lederer for example), so the opinions are all over the place. Each pro deals for about 30 minutes, then they switch tables. This way, you get the opinions of several pros. Today, I had Shannon Elizabeth, John-Robert Bellande, and Chip Jett.
During the session, Shannon Elizabeth told us that Annie Duke was her personal trainer. Chip Jett was just downright cool. He complimented me on my play.
When the live learning labs were over, there was a cocktail party & dinner by the pool. Cash games were also going on. I played 2/5 NL and won a few hundred.
Here is a brief overview of the schedule for the rest of the week:
Tuesday:
Labs + single table tournament in the evening.
If you win your single table tournament, you win 3 nights at Cable Beach Resort + entry into a $50,000 freeroll (this is like the one Donna and I came to in September). Of course, there will be cash games going on as well.
Wednesday:
Main tournament starts and goes all day
Thursday:
Main tournment continues.
Bust out tournament starts after lunch.
Both tournaments play to the final table.
Friday
Both final tables play to completion.
The neat thing is that the tournments will be “broadcast” on WorldPokerTour.com on the live blog updates. Hopefully you guys will be able to follow me on the live blog updates on Friday at the final table 
Alright, that is it for today. Tune back in tomorrow for more info!