World Poker Tour - WPT Commentary

The World Poker Tour - Commentary from a regular poker player

The World Poker Tour has been one of the greatest things that could have ever happened to poker. Poker isn't exactly unpopular in America, but only until recently has it become the stuff of front page news: getting articles in Salon, The New York Times and Wall Street Weekly to name a few. Not bad for a poker show on the Travel Channel. It seems no matter where I go these days, someone is getting into poker because of the World Poker Tour or at least knows about the World Poker Tour. To know poker is to be in the "in" today. Now the Europeans are getting into the fray as well with the up and coming European Poker Tour.

However, things were really different when I started playing serious poker a number of years ago. I'm no poker vet by any standards, because I've only been playing poker for about 3 years now, which by comparison makes me look like a fish in the real poker world. Most poker players have been playing for dozens of years and are long-time regulars at the casinos they play at. However, even though I've been playing a relatively short amount of time, I wouldn't go as far as actually calling myself a fish. In fact, when I sit down at a table, I'm usually pretty confident that I'll be one of the best players at that table at the limits I play at.

Though I'm a primarily online player now, my recent trips to the casinos has been interesting. I end up seeing a lot of young guys there, something that I'm not accustomed to. Some of them are very solid players, but the majority of them appear quite new to poker, based on their play. Nothing against young players, because I'm only 24 myself, but it's obvious these guys don't have a clue. There's a lot of this going on online too, where the tables are getting filled with players who are just swinging wildly. It becomes pretty obvious then, that all of this must somehow deal with the World Poker Tour.

I must say immediately that I think it is fantastic that poker is becoming more popular. However, unlike the hard nosed, cut throat poker player, I do have a soft spot in me that hates seeing even the fool lose his money. And oh yes, the fools are being parted with the money as we speak. This is part of the reason I run this site; simply to share that I've been there too, but my poker lessons weren't nearly expensive as some that I see delivered on a daily basis in the casinos and on Party Poker, charter member of the World Poker Tour and home of Mike Sexton.

Thinking about playing like the World Poker Tour Pros?

If you want to start your career as a serious poker player, the two best things you can do now is to stop trying to learn poker strategy by watching the World Poker Tour and forgetting you ever watched the movie Rounders.

In regards to the World Poker Tour, the poker you see on TV is not the poker you'll likely be playing in real life. Maybe down the road, but not anything you'll be starting out with. In regards to the movie Rounders, if you don't know what I'm talking about, Rounders was/is an incredibly popular movie with guys my age that introduced them into the world of poker. It's a great movie, I own it too, but it adds a level of mystique and flair to being the killer card shark that is just fantasy. Matt Damon in Rounders is like David Carradine to Kung Fu - it's just entertainment. In fact, most poker players don't even use the term 'rounder' - and doing so will tag you as a fish. Again, good for inspiration - bad for poker lessons.

Onto a bit more information about the World Poker Tour. No-limit games at the professional level as shown on the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker is a completely different ball game than that of average ring games. Any experienced player easily know this, but not your novice or beginning player. So through no fault of their own, beginning poker players watching the WPT think they are learning poker tricks from the pros, when in fact they are watching plays that should only be left to the pros and experienced poker players. I think this would explain why I see hands like A2o, 22 and K3s being pre-flop raised and trained to the river by players in limit games. These are players who otherwise normally hold playable hands but suddenly go crazy with a marginal hand. Simply bad play aside, it seems to happen too much to dismiss as overly aggressive or bad play. These players believe their hand is good and it closely mimics that play one would see in no-limit as televised on the World Poker Tour.

With players like Alan Gehrig and Gus Hansen who play 25o and other interesting hands, it sends quite the wrong message for the novice player (note, I have nothing against Alan and Gus - and in fact actually have immense fun watching then play on the WPT). Unfortunately, new players who don't know any better try to mimic this play in normal poker games and get killed. Truth to the story too, some players that do well on the World Poker Tour get creamed in the real-money games. Not only is there a big difference in No-Limit and Limit poker, there'a also differences between real money poker and tournament poker.

A quick lesson is that pocket pairs get weaker the more people there are in the game. In a heads up game, pocket pairs are strong. In a normal poker game, any pockets less than a QQ or JJ is asking for trouble if you don't know what you're doing. Someone is bound to hit a higher pair and you're going to be the one trying to out draw them. What are your chances to make a set (three of a kind) if you hold pockets? 13% - so while it's possible to make your set, you're *almost* always better off folding if you don't make a set on the flop when you hold small pockets. In a heads up game, Ax (Ace/Anything) is pretty good, but when it comes to a normal game, only AT+ (Ace/Ten or above) good, because now you have to worry about your kicker card, since there's a much greater risk of someone holding AJ, AQ or AK, which will make you pay dearly.

Here are cards that will make you money in the long run:

Pocket AA through 66

T9 suited or better

Any two faces

A4 suited or better

Some quick percentages and odds for making your hand on the river after the flop:

Chance to hit a flush (when needing one more of that suit): 35% or 1.9:1

Chance to hit an open ended straight: 31.5% or 2.2:1

Chance to turn your set into a full house: 22% or 3.5:1

Chance to turn one pair into two pair: 21% or 3.7:1

Chance to hit a gut shot straight: 16.5% or 7:1

Change to turn pockets into trips: 8.5% or 11:1

As you can see, most of your odds are usually not the greatest. Poker isn't just about winning, it's about learning how not to lose. That's what makes a real winner. So, for anyone who may come stumbling across the page or plays on Party Poker as a direct result of the World Poker Tour - don't try learning from TV! Grab a good book like The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (one of the most solid books in poker) or Winning Low-Limit Hold'em (highly recommended for beginners) by Lee Jones and then sit down at the tables.

More about the World Poker Tour:
   About the World Poker Tour
   2004 World Poker Tour Season

Of course, what would the World Poker Tour be without.. Shana Hiatt Pictures!
(Shana is also a hostess for Party Poker, who I was able to meet on the Party Poker Million cruise. She's even hotter in real life!)