by John "The Scientist" Hayes

There is no better way to learn about poker than by listening to the advice of those who teach it professionally. So this column begins a new series: interviews with successful poker mentors/instructors. Our first interviewee is the former Dean at Poker School Online, Al Spath, who has been teaching poker for 20-plus years, both online and in live sessions in Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, California, and Nevada (the latter two only by specially arranged contract). Al Spath is one of the first to create a poker curriculum course for Harford Community College in 2008.

by John "The Scientist" Hayes
 
On Friday night September 16 at 7 p.m. 653 players converged on the 2nd-floor tournament playing area hoping to grab the $10K Guaranteed Prize Pool at the Commerce Casino in City of Commerce, CA. I was one of those players. Over 1200 players initially signed up on Facebook.

The structure was a $60 buy-in (no rebuys), 10K in starting chips, twenty-minute levels, and 2-hour rounds. This particular tournament structure provides a great game for beginners, recreational players, and aspiring pros because it helps them get their feet wet in tournament play without having to commit too much cash or time.

“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not watching you.”
 
Black Friday changed the way a lot of us play poker.
 
I enjoy and give full credit to online poker: it is an excellent training-ground—the place to learn the game and begin to understand betting patterns, where you can use tools like PokerEdge, Sharkscope, and Hold’em Manager, not to mention a handy little sheet of paper with hand rankings and percentages you can post next to your monitor.
 
But from the start of my poker career I have maintained that the authentic poker player is the live cash game player.
 

The Terms of The $500 Poker Challenge: Start with $500 and build your poker bankroll over one year into a substantial bankroll. You may only play live games in casinos and poker rooms; no online or home games. This is Part 10 of the $500 Poker Challenge. Two more articles to go before the end of this series.

Terms of the $500 Poker Challenge: Start with $500 and build your poker bankroll over one year into a substantial bankroll. You may only play live games in casinos and poker rooms; no online or home games.

Ninety percent of hand-analysis should be about our errors. We usually learn more from our bad play than we do from our victories.

Terms of the $500 Poker Challenge: Start with $500 and build your poker bankroll over one year into a substantial bankroll. You may only play live games in casinos and poker rooms; no online or home games.

Uninformed players tend to consider chess a game of skill and poker a game of chance. I disagree. Poker and chess are both games of skill, and at a very high master/championship level, both are games of chance, but with very different tactical characteristics.

The Terms of “the $500 Poker Challenge: Start with $500 and build a substantial poker bankroll within one year. You may only play live games in casinos and poker rooms; no online or home games.
 
In my last column you heard the sad but true story about how I busted out in Las Vegas—all because I was “too big for my britches” and thought I could ignore my instincts. I want to thank those of you who sent emails with sympathy and tips and especially all of you who had the courage to admit you’ve seriously busted out too.
 

Our story begins in Vermont, as I prepare for my assault on the Las Vegas poker tables. My friend Joe Verga, an astute businessman, told me I must follow my instincts: “Listening to your instincts means knowing how and when to play the player and knowing when to take your winnings and quit.”
 
Armed with this advice, and with my bankroll, I travel back to Las Vegas and hook up with another friend; let’s call him Mr. Clean.
 

The Terms: Start with $500 and build a substantial poker bankroll over within one year. You may only play live games in casinos and poker rooms; no online or home games.
 
My conclusion, reported in my last column “Location, Location,” leads me to return to Las Vegas to grind out a living playing poker.
 

The Terms of the $500 Poker Challenge: Start with $500 and build your poker bankroll over a period of one year into a substantial bankroll. You may only play live games in casinos and poker rooms; no online or home games.
 
In business, location is critical for success, whether it is real estate or a doughnut shop. Playing poker seriously is, or can be, a business. So today’s column is about optimal locations for playing poker.