About

ABOUT ‘DON’T LISTEN TO PHIL HELLMUTH’

BY PAUL HOPPE AND DUSTY SCHMIDT

What if many of the fundamental “truths” you’ve heard about poker turned out to be false?

Recognize any of these commonly held beliefs?

  • Preflop play doesn’t matter that much.
  • The key to getting paid off is playing loose so no one can put you on a hand.
  • Bigger 3-bets get more folds.
  • Calling is weak.
  • You have to bet this flop because you don’t want to give up.

There is certainly an element of truth to some of these statements, but by and large they are big misconceptions. Perhaps this shouldn’t bother us because, as poker pros, we profit off the mistakes of others. But when we see so many high-level players making so many fundamental mistakes in their games, and having those moves endorsed by television announcers, it’s enough to make us scream, “Stop! That’s not how it’s done!”

This book focuses on correcting the greatest fallacies in poker. There are an astonishing number of them, providing our common understanding of the game with an incredibly shaky foundation. This did not come entirely as a surprise.

Like many new players, we struggled to sift through all the competing voices. One author would say this, another would say that. For Dusty, it took more than 3 million hands to generate an income that exceeded the sum total of his bonuses.

Hoping to give our readers a better leg up than we had, we systematically take on what we recognize as flawed advice. The two of us have combed through more than four decades of conventional poker wisdom.  No one is spared: world champions, on-air commentators or other flavors of the month. Not even we are excluded from our criticism. One by one, we challenge each misconception, taking on what we feel are the top 50 ways to lose at poker. By proving these misconceptions false, we think we benefit our readers in such a way that, by implementing these newfound understandings, they can become more profitable tomorrow.

We want this book to ultimately function as a FactCheck.org or “MythBusters” for poker. We hope you’ll come to look at us as watchdogs out to protect your interests by questioning the powers that be.

As we did in our previous books, Treat Your Poker Like A Business and Way of the Poker Warrior, in this book we cover the game’s most frequent scenarios, seeking to provide solutions to situations that arise every 10 minutes rather than once a month. Our criteria for choosing misconceptions were simple. Are they costing people money, and can we prove it? We hope to relate with our readers, letting them know that the scenario that’s vexing them now once did the same to us.

Unlike our previous books, this is a comprehensive manual that aims to troubleshoot the poker process from the top down, complete with hand analyses and a reader quiz at book’s end.

The process of writing this book has led us to think about coaching. Golfers don’t have 10 swing coaches. Baseball players don’t have 10 hitting coaches. Football teams don’t have 10 offensive coordinators. But in poker, we tend to entertain advice from all comers, which leads to confusion and a fragmented playing style. Why do we do this?

Profit motive.

Poker advice is one part technical or mechanical, and one part investment tip. All of us are looking for that hot lead that will get us ahead of the competition. It’s certainly understandable. But with this wider mesh, we’re letting in some voices that don’t deserve to be there.

In sports and money management, ascension through the coaching/advising ranks is mostly a meritocracy. The rubber inevitably meets the road. Your pedigree might have gotten you in the door. But there’ll be no place to hide when they tally the wins and losses. This is not yet the case in poker, where instructional straw men are still hiding in plain sight.

This is because about seven years ago, poker experienced exponential growth that was virtually unprecedented in any sport.

When the World Series of Poker started in 1971, everyone started at the final table and the participants voted to determine who won. Even at its pre-2003 height, the main event included far fewer players than it does today. You didn’t need to be the best player in the world to win. You only had to be the best player in Las Vegas.

Then in 2003, ESPN made the brilliant decision to install hole-card cameras in the tables. An accountant named Chris Moneymaker won the event, and that’s when things got interesting. It was great fortune meeting great opportunity: the masterstroke of letting the audience know more than the players, fused with an amateur with a Hollywood surname. Poker went from being 10 times more boring than golf to being 10 times more popular in an instant.

Within three years, the number of World Series of Poker entrants rose tenfold, from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006, with each person willing to lay down a $10,000 entry fee for the privilege.

It was at this point where poker stardom took on the look of Creationism rather than Evolution. TV execs came looking for stars, and Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, et al, were the big names of the day. They managed to be standing at the right place at the right time when the guys with cameras asked, “Hey, you want to be famous?”

These anointed ones made their bones at a period in poker that was much like golf in 1910, when you could win the U.S. Open shooting 20 over par while drunk on the back nine. Even so, poker books, DVDs and announcing gigs followed for these guys, all proffering instruction that might not have been that good in the first place and hasn’t really changed in seven years. Today they are offering commentary on a game that has moved on without them.

Listening to their advice today, we feel like we’re hearing Lee Iacocca profess that his 1988 K-cars remain superior to modern-day models with front-wheel drive and computer-assisted design. Germs of advice that were either misguided to begin with, or were OK in small doses but not large ones, have metastasized into bloated edicts that never deserved to be sacred. Like perfume, a little bit of this advice was fine, but too much of it is odorous.

A lot of this issue comes down to how poker is played. Once upon a time, check/raising was thought of as unethical because it was deceitful. Now, not check/raising is referred to as “donk” betting, as in, “You’re a donkey for betting there instead of check/raising.” The point is, the game evolves. Players must evolve with it or perish.

We think it’s time to tip these sacred cows, to set fire to these paper lions. If we want to make seismic gains in our profitability, all of us need to question the fundamental things we think we know about poker.

  • “Checking and folding the flop is weak.” Not necessarily.
  • “Always C-bet the same amount.” Not without considering the board texture and how your opponent will respond to different sizes.
  • “Save the small bets for the kiddie game.” Not even close.
  • “Great players never fold the best hand.” It’s impossible to win without ever folding the best hand.
  • “Raise to find out where you stand.” A classic Hellmuth-ism, and a total misconception.
  • “The key to No Limit Hold ‘em is to put a man to a decision for all his chips.” There’s a lot right about this one from Doyle Brunson, but a lot wrong, as well.
  • “You are either a passive player or an aggressive one.” Style is no substitute for thinking. A good player makes the most profitable decision regardless of whether it’s passive or aggressive.

Part of determining what’s really right and wrong in the poker lexicon will start with you winnowing down the number of voices in your head and organizing the learning process. In choosing a coach, we’re huge believers in following someone who is or has been a big winner in the game you’re playing.

Should this player be an online player or a live one? You can become great playing either. We’re online players and might be perceived as biased, but the fact is we have the luxury of establishing our credentials faster.

Online can put up graphs that no mathematician can argue with. We’re able to play more hands in a month than a live player can in a year; thus in 12 months of poker per year, we get in more than a decade worth of hands relative to a live player.

Are we saying that we know more about the game than many, if not most, of the authorities out there? Well, yes. Fortunately we are up to the challenge of proving it, as we think we do in the pages that follow.

In any case, it’s our belief that we need to question the voices in our heads. We’re talking about an evolution, people.

ABOUT ‘WAY OF THE POKER WARRIOR’

A first-of-its-kind written work, Paul Hoppe’s ‘Way of the Poker Warrior‘ represents a fascinating achievement in the poker genre. Hoppe, who is both a fourth-degree black belt and a respected mid-stakes Limit Holdem pro, effortlessly blends Eastern philosophy with theories about poker — a game born of the Wild West — in creating a book infused with passion and innovation.

In Way of the Poker Warrior, Hoppe expertly employs a martial arts narrative in explaining a revolutionary and comprehensive approach to poker. Hoppe surprises by taking what could have simply been a book about ethereal analogies, and instead grounds his theories with in-depth analysis, including 29 hand examples taken from Limit and No Limit Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha and multi-table tournaments. The book’s three sections show how to develop skills, employ those skills, and live a life of conviction like a true poker warrior.

Hoppe also skillfully applies his hard-won martial arts knowledge to game theory, balance and heads-up play. His goal is to help readers achieve relaxed focus and calm intensity, making poker more enjoyable as well as more profitable.

ABOUT PAUL ‘GIANTBUDDHA’ HOPPE

Author Paul “GiantBuddha” Hoppe is a skilled martial-arts practitioner as well as an acclaimed poker player and coach. In July 2010, he released his first book, Way of the Poker Warrior, to critical acclaim worldwide.

Hoppe is a fourth-degree black belt with Taekwon-Do International, which qualifies him as a “master.” He has taught martial arts for nine years — roughly as long as he’s been a black belt. For two years, he was the head instructor of a Dojang in Times Square.

As a poker professional, Hoppe is known for his very detailed and efficient combo analysis. He played live poker professionally from 1999-2000. This included $20/$40 Limit Holdem and Seven Card Stud, some Omaha 8 and Stud 8, and $5/$10 No Limit. After several years away from the game, he returned to poker in Feb. 2006 with a $100 deposit bonus. He built his bankroll from that free $100 into a six-figure income, going from $.50/$1 to $10/$20, $15/$30, and $30/$60, which he plays today.

Hoppe has maintained a very solid 1.5BB/100 win rate over the last 30 months. His Heads Up win rate is 5BB/100. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, he was able to double his poker income from the previous year. He’s known as a versatile player, mixing Limit, No Limit, Omaha, Stud, and Triple Draw.

In Spring 2010, Hoppe staged a 28-day Grind-a-thon, during which time he played poker, then recorded a Hand of the Day video and a video blog every day. He made $30,000 in profits and raised $3,000 for cancer and autism charities.

He has coached poker for more than two years, including about 50 private students, and is the Limit Holdem Studio Head at DragTheBar.com, for which he has made more than 75 videos.

As a writer, Hoppe has published strategy articles in Card Player and WPT magazine, as well as an article on Internet poker legislation and legal issues. He authors a popular blog, Wandering Path of a Zen Madman, which you can find on giantbuddhapoker.com. He is also a popular strategy-forum poster.

Hoppe is a talented musician as well, and currently plays guitar for the New York band Villain’s Lament, for which he writes music and lyrics.