Poker News: Million V Cruise Seminar Tidbits

Monday, May 29, 2006

Million V Cruise Seminar Tidbits

During the Party Poker Million V cruise, there were several types of free seminars given by various professionals - from digital camera and digital darkroom operations to working with different computer programs, and of course, two poker seminars. The first poker seminar focused on Hold'em and was presented by a collection of pros who shared multiple tidbits of valuable poker wisdom; the pros were Mark Gregorich, Gavin Smith, Barry Tannenbaum and Mark Tenner. The second poker seminar was on Omaha/8 with Mark Tenner. Mark's book, Winning Omaha/8 Poker, co-authored by Lou Krieger, is reviewed in the Bookshelf section of this issue.

Poker Seminar Highlights...

In an article several years ago, Linda Johnson gave an overview of a World Poker Players Conference where both Gregorich and Tenner spoke: "Mark Gregorich reminded me of Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (but without the mental disorder.)" Linda went on to say that Tenner and Gregorich "were both awesome." Her statements are very relevant to this recent seminar.

During the cruise seminar, Gregorich stressed how so many players tend to overrate A-K:

"An A-K up against a 7-6 suited is not even a two-to-one favorite. In fact, since most people overplay A-K, and you can get away from the 7-6, you will probably lose more (not pots, but dollars) to the 7-6 than the 7-6 will lose to you. When holding an A-K and you have not improved by the river, if the other hand checks to you, don't try and bluff. Just go ahead and check... Don't bluff on the end with an Ace high.

"Have an idea what you want to accomplish with A-K. The most important strategy is to get heads-up. If you can see a flop heads-up, you may be a two-to-one favorite.

"You don't want to re-raise the tightest guy at the table when he raises. He probably has the better hand."

Barry Tannenbaum, a poker journalist and coach, left us with these jewels:

"“The GAP Theory - it takes a better hand to call a raise than to make a raise. Who wins the guy with the best hand or the best draw? Generally, the best draw. This is the only sport where the guy who finishes second loses a lot... except maybe boxing."

"Limit Hold'em is a game of small edges. In limit, you win an extra bet here and there, or save a bet here or there. In No-Limit, your objective is to get your chips into the pot with the best of it."

Among other insights, Gavin Smith, who has won a WPT event and numerous other tournaments, shared this:

"My style of play is unorthodox. I play a lot of pots. Tight play does not win tournaments. To win tournaments, you must play a lot of small pots, which will keep your opponents guessing. When I've got a lot of chips in the pot, I will have a big hand. If you want to be one of the ones not guessing, keep your opponents guessing."

"Hold'em is all about position. If you are last to act, you have the hammer. If I just call with a plethora of hands in the last-to-act position, then I can use a sneak attack."

Mark Tenner, poker author and co-owner of Card Player Cruises, commented:

"There are several top poker players who do what Gavin's talking about: Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson."

"There are five actions at a poker table: check, bet, fold, call, raise. Four are good, and one is bad. Calling is bad. Take "call" out of your options, and you will become a better poker player. By removing the call, it will take you out of a defensive position. When you call, you are not making anyone guess."

2006 Copyright Gaming & Media Consultants, LLC
Written by Donna Blevins and Gregory Weitzel.
Printed with permission from American Poker Player Magazine.

posted by Poker Player at Million V Cruise Seminar Tidbits

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