Mike is presenting six seminars at the Rio during the World Series of Poker and playing in some of the events.
Poker personality, columnist, and WSOP Media director Nolan Dalla has been introducing Mike and regaled the audience with a tale about Mike from 15 years ago.
Mike was giving a seminar at a restaurant, and as occasionally befalls such events, the audio equipment went on the blink.
Mike usually manages to discover a way to make the most of a bad situation. This time he led the seminar audience outside onto a balcony and climbed on a ledge to address that crowd of poker players.
Wild. Mike is aware that he presents a rather wild image, but imagine the Mad Genius atop a ledge, on a roof, in the moonlight, his hair in its usual disarray, waving his arms about and speaking loudly to his audience. A worried security guard asked Nolan, "Do you think he's going to jump?" What a sight that must have been!
Today at the Rio. Well, today wasn't much different than 15 years ago, except the ledge, moon, and non-working equipment was gone. Mike was prancing across the Rio's stage, hair standing on end, waving his hands in the air and directing his audience to shout the number of the upcoming tip and they did so enthusiastically, waiting for Mike to disclose the next tip in the countdown. Some of those tips were:
Poker is a business in which you get paid by the hour. It's similar to other businesses in that you want your customers to be happy, not uncomfortable.
• Don't attempt to steal a pot after a frequent bluffer checks. You're too often facing a calling or raising hand.
• If you average a big gain per attempt by calling, you're not calling often enough. You're probably not taking advantage of many other calls that would be worth less and bring your average gain down, but still add to your overall profit.
• In limit poker, you are going to lose most of the time if you call the last bet with a marginally strong hand. But Mike advises calling anyway. You only need to win once in a while to show a profit.
• Opponents staring away are dangerous adversaries. They're pretending not to care about your actions, but they often are preparing to raise! Players staring at their hands are ones you want to attack, as they frequently are holding weak hands.
• You shouldn't do anything to discourage a bet you expect to call-even if you're hoping the opponent won't bet. You'll only stop that opponent from betting weak hands or bluffing actions you don't want to discourage if you intend to call.
• If you're in middle position, in a limit poker game, you should rarely raise on the final betting round unless you have an impressive power hand.
As always, Mike completed the seminar with his famous, "I'm a lucky player. A powerful winning force surrounds me."
Doyle. After the seminar there was a Q & A with Doyle Brunson that gave the audience a much anticipated opportunity to question him.
Doyle was asked about young online players and was quick to say that, "they are pretty darn good," as they have the advantage of being able to play 8 to 10 hours a day. He said that with the advent new, young, online players, winning a bracelet is more challenging.
Doyle drew the seminar to a close when he said that many young players today are trying to impress opponents and are susceptible to what Mike calls fancy play syndrome, or FPS. Despite his reputation for aggressive tournament play, Doyle confided that he actually plays "ABC poker, a little too tight; yes, but I win!"
The next four seminars are set for June 13, 14, 27, and 28, at the Rio.
Diane McHaffie is Director of Operations at Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. Her diverse career spans banking, promoting financial seminars and raising white-tailed deer. Contact her at diane@caro.com.
