Years ago, I developed a special Lessons Learned program for the Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center. The idea was to help Air Force contractors and major subcontractors avoid errors that had previously occurred on other programs, to prevent costly program/mission losses, plus subsequent corrective actions. The Air Force Manufacturing Problem Prevention Program (MP3) has saved literally billions of tax-payer dollars. (I received an award from a professional engineering society for this contribution.)

Hiding your feelings and playing your cards close to the vest are necessary to succeed at poker.

Living your life, hopefully, should be very different.

Expressing your true feelings and being honest and open with your friends and those in your life you love are the traits that make your life rich and worth living. I have made the conscious decision, at my ripe young age of 68, to step out of my poker mode and share from my heart my life, my hopes, my dreams and my ideas in this article. I do ask for an exception to this when you meet me at the poker table.

No-limit poker is much more complicated than limit poker. If analyzing when to bet, raise, call, or fold with precisely which hands in exactly what situations isn't enough to keep you busy, try adding the option to choose the size of your bets and raises. That's no-limit.

And I can tell you with absolute certainty that this makes finding the right decision significantly harder. I know, because I've programmed both limit and no-limit. What's the perfect bet? Is it moving all-in, $300, $5,000, what? And let's say it's about $300. Is $325 a little better or a little worse?

Boulder Station Hotel-Casino is one of the Station Casino's families of off-strip Las Vegas casinos. Located on the Boulder Strip at the junction of US-95 and Boulder Highway, Boulder Station was aimed at the Las Vegas local's market but quickly became a favorite with Las Vegas visitors. The modern open design featuring high, vaulted ceilings painted to resemble a blue sky with puffy white clouds adds to the casino's appeal and luxurious up-scale atmosphere.

Several different prominent members of the media and poker community compile Player of the Year rankings, usually based on the players' tournament performances during a particular calendar year. ESPN does in association with Bluff magazine, as do Card Player and TopPair magazines, and the International Poker Federation, or IPF.

Even Phil Hellmuth computes his Poker Champion of the Year rankings that appear in ALL IN magazine, but more on that later. Poker Player is wise enough not to get involved, as doing so can be the basis for some controversy, as you will see below.

I just spent a week playing poker in Las Vegas. What a great time. I stayed at the Orleans Casino, off the strip. They provide a beautiful room at a reasonable price - around $50 a night with the poker player's rate.

It used to be that the Orleans spread a $1-5 stud game and had two stud tournaments a week: a Stud8 and a Stud high event. Not anymore. I had to go elsewhere for my stud fix.

My cell phone buzzed. It was Hank Roberts, an Army buddy from Nam. "What's up, Hank? You still hustling real estate in the Valley?"

"Hi, Joe. Matter of fact I am-and doing well. How are you?"

"I'm fine and dandy. So what's up? You didn't call just to inquire about my health."

"Ah, you're so perceptive, Joe. You're right; I'm calling on you as a poker expert."

"Not confusing me with Mike Caro, are you?"

"Hell, I don't even know him, but you have more poker savvy than anyone I do know."

"My dubious credentials aside, what's this all about?"

Mike Caro left Los Angeles a little over four years ago to retire to the Ozarks and live the life of a hermit. He spent two years researching places in the United States that could provide friendly, caring people, lakes and forests full of fish and animals, seasonal, mild weather, and a focus on low crime. The Ozarks scored highly in his search for the perfect place.

I am finding that most poker players do very little to help improve their overall game. A huge majority believe that they'll miraculously improve simply by logging lots of hours playing online, dabbling in home games, and taking a few trips to the casino each year. While time at the tables is indeed an important factor, it is not always an optimal or effective means to personal poker betterment. I always try to encourage poker players to seek out alternate means of poker training. I compare this mentality to that of a coach of any sports team.

So it doesn't matter, if you are 19 or a 105, discipline is a practice, you gain it through experience and practice.

Playing the right cards in the hole I find, is thee, most important part of the game, don't play manure cards, that's why you're losing dumb, dumb. I'm the first, number one and biggest dumb, dumb, so don't think I am only addressing YOU. Yeah you! Have patience, wait, read, talk, eat, wait for the right cards, you know what they are; you know which ones you should play, wait, then, ATTACK.