The poker school was last weekend at WinStar Casino. It was a two day seminar of lectures, labs and a tournament. The academy professors were three professional poker players: Greg Raymer, Michael Gracz and Bernard Lee. The 35 or so academy students were from all over North America and I was one of 9 women.
My favorite part was the poker lab.
The poker lab was a frightening and educational experience. A poker professional would sit down at a table full of students, deal a hand and then watch the play. At the end everyone would flip over their cards and one by one defend their play.
Holy crap.
Let me just say that this was not only an eye-opening experience about how I play, but was a bit shocking to see the thought processes of other players.
So, how did I fare? Before I give you a few tips that I picked up, I want to mention that I was very proud of myself for not bursting into tears at any point during the weekend.
There is no crying in poker.
So here is how it went.
Michael Gracz gently reminded me that King – Jack is really not a premium hand even if it is suited after I called an all-in bet out of position and lost…
Greg Raymer commented I might have over-raised at 5 x the big blind…
Bernard Lee sat next to me for about 30 seconds during play and identified a huge tell…
I figure if I can remember my position, my cards, the pot odds, the implied odds, the reverse implied odds, the number of outs, the rule of 2, the rule of 4, how my opponents play, any tells they show, the amount I should raise, the amount I should re-raise, when to check, when to check-raise, when to fold, what cards are good in which position, how each of these elements might change at different levels of the tournament and recall this all within a 5 second pause after I look at my cards with a straight face and without moving my hands then I should be good.
Really good.
Until that time it might be in my best interest not to wear my WSOP Academy baseball cap when playing in tournaments…
My amazing weekend adventure started over a month ago when during our 17th anniversary dinner my husband handed me an envelope. I opened it and read that I would be attending the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Academy and then tried to contain my excitement in the super fancy restaurant. It was nearly as hard as sitting quietly at a poker table when holding pocket aces.
*deep calming breaths*
*control body movements carefully*
Welcome to Kids Activities!
My name is Holly Homer & I am the Dallas mom of three boys…
She is very cute. Men and woman have in all likelihood been gambling on this or that since the beginning of time, mostly for the sheer pleasure and excitement of it all…..
http://www.championofpoker.com/
I love your necklace.
(i read your words, too – good for you! I would have been so nervous!)