In the last issue we discussed honesty and how it relates to money management habits. Now we'll take a look at why and how it must be a part of your self evaluation as well. First of all, you need to be realistic about clarifying your level of play, because each player category calls for different strategies and limits.

When I'm coaching, I generally use the following titles to define my students.
1. Novice
2. Poker Hobbyist
3 Casual Semi-Pro
4. Serious Semi-Pro
5. Professional

There's an old saying that reads, "To thine own self be true." This is a must in poker because we need to evaluate ourselves on a daily basis to succeed. There are two key issues we must confront honestly. The first is money management, or our lack of it, and the next is our poker skill level.

Yes, there are herds of them out there in Pokerland, and I'm sure you've all had recent run-ins with players who call all bets with bottom pair and stay with a gut shot because they felt it was coming, or the nut who won't fold pocket deuces when ace-big-big hits the board.

Sadly, there are times when those donkeys and donkettes will catch a deuce runner and kick your behind with those big legs!

Lewis Black, best known for his regular segment "Back in Black" on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," will perform his hilarious stand-up comedy for the first time inside the Danny Gans Theatre at The Mirage August 30 at 10 p.m. and August 31 at 9 p.m.

A friend called me the other night to tell me the following story. He had played for 9 hours and couldn't make a hand hold up. He had pocket aces cracked, straights beaten by flushes, and full houses beat by bigger full houses! He went on and on with examples of bad players that called him and outdrew him no matter how much he bet. Obviously, he bought in several times.

"What did you change?" I asked. "Nothing," he said," I only played the best hands and the best positions!".

"THAT, was your mistake!"

Have you ever turned your hand over at the river because no one else did? Did the last player to turn his hand over have the winning hand? This irritating practice has happened to all of us at one time or another. It's called Slow Rolling, and is one of the most annoying moves a player can make. There are players that seem to get a kick out of doing this repeatedly.

HAVE you noticed how often the television poker hosts refer to players as amateurs?

Have you also noticed the negative connotation they give to the word? It's as if it is something dirty and needs to be washed off!

That's what a young kid told me the other day, as he racked up a 4/8 Hold'em table. He couldn't miss a hand, and had killed 5 pots in a row just before I left the table. Two days later, he was hanging around the poker room trying to borrow the buy-in to a $35 tournament! I said no.

He said he was a good investment because I saw him win $600 that day. Since he brought it up, I asked him what happened to the money. He related that he was in a game with some crazy players that played everything and he couldn't protect his good hands. He felt he was the victim of some bad luck.

After you have studied the great books available on poker strategy, I believe the best tool you can utilize is a winning table image. The beauty of it is that since people are so varied, there are many images that will work well at a poker table. Let's look at our options.

1. Rock
2. Loose Cannon
3. Lucky
4. Unlucky
5. Scared
6. Tricky
7. Actor
8. Fish
9. Calling Station
10 Solid

Before I start, let me clarify what I consider home games. These are poker games that are put on for profit by someone other than a licensed casino. it is not your brother Billy Bob and the family, playing poker in the parlor for a few bucks. It certainly isn't your buddies that get together once in a while to play a game, drink some beer and buy pizza! Those are social games where you may lose a few bucks, but you're glad you're there with all your close friends etc.