Its Over!! . . . Now Back to Business

I'm sure you have all been at the edge of your seats wondering what happened to Neal Gersony's company. Did it sell? Did the purchase fall through? Well it's good news. On December 24th, CEU.com was sold for cash. We do have a few small clean up issues regarding a shareholder who believes we may have booked his share ownership wrong. (It never seems to end.) But the money has been sent out and I'm now the proud owner of no shares of CEU.com and a resigned Board Member to boot.

The first few days after the sale have been a bit hazy. I've been at it for so long. There is a loss of groundedness feeling that has left me feeling like a drifting soul in an endless universe. But isn't that we actually are anyway? Am I not feeling the true feelings of "humanness?" I can do what I want now, I suppose, though the money won't last forever. Its not the big bucks (less then a million) that you hear about in the business pages of The New York Times. But it is reassuring to know there is a big cushion there for my four kids and wife.

So what's next? Well its time to fulfill some of my dreams. We are looking into living on an island off the coast of New Jersey (something I've always wanted to try). I plan to take up sailing. Do some traveling; NYC tomorrow; Philadelphia in a few weeks; Arizona at the end of January; LA in February; Florida in March; a big trip with my middle daughter in April . . . I also plan on getting back into the tournament circuit a little bit - mostly concentrating on Atlantic City + maybe the Main Event (except I usually go camping in the Adirondacks in July). Also might do some painting/sculpture as well as write of course. I have a second novel in the works as well as a detailed "Anatomy of a Tech Start-up" nonfiction book that is just underway.

As one of my favorite running backs of all time said after his retirement, Calvin Hill. "Life is a smorgasbord. You finish one item, its time to try something else." I'm ready to try some new things.

As far as venturing goes, I have an idea for operating a sailing and motor boat co-ownership program on Brigantine Island. I have a ways to go on that one. I also am planning some major additions to my poker course site - stay tuned. Be well all.

Couldn't be Closer to Closing

I never like to go more than a week without blogging. Need to keep regularity in my life and those of my readers. But this week, things really started heating up with the sale of my Internet company.

Its been an emotional roller coaster like you wouldn't believe. The CEO wants to stay on, then he doesn't, then he wants to consult. My senior IT guy doesn't like the Non-Compete contract. The buyers are throwing deadlines at us. People are making promises that aren't being kept. OhMyGoshness . . .

I now have to deal with my closest colleague who is purporting something that isn't. Excuse the vagueness, but these are very confidential and touchy proceedings and I don't want to disclose anything I shouldn't be. It's the nature of the beast. You should be satisfied that you are getting this much. After everything is all said and done, I'll provide you with some of the juicy details.

But my philosophy continues to be - take the high road. Fore go some cash, add on some risk . . . whatever. If my mind is free of negativity its worth it.

The good news is that I was told today that we have a very good chance of closing before Xmas and what a Merry Christmas (even though I'm Jewish) it could be this year. Mazel Tov Jesus!

Going With the Flow

I'm not one who generally likes to follow the crowd. In fact, I mostly look for reasons and excuses to go my own way. I think its genetic. But I've learned that when it comes to certain things in business and poker, going with the flow is an absolute necessary for success as well as your mental health.

In poker, one is often tempted to step out and push hands that shouldn't be pushed. Your tempted to make the "big bet" call when deep down, you know its a bad idea. This can be especially tempting when you're running bad and you are cravng a win. You want that money back that has been draining out of your bankroll, but that money is lost forever. You need to stay disciplined and develop your table image and look for that ideal bluffing situation as it manifests itself organically. You can and will make new money, but never think you going to get old money back.

So you need to stay in the flow of the game, especially in the case of tournament poker. Let things develop. Make low risk bluffs. Splash around. Have fun. Think over and over in your head - Let the tournament come to me. Let the tournament come to me. Of course i get into this in great detail in my poker courses.

In business, transactions have lives of their own. Many deadlines will be set. Very few will actually be made. That's because, the pace of the negotiation or the application or the whatever is in the hands of more than one person and each will have his or her own pace, motivations and manner of handling a deal. And then you have the lawyers. Don't get me started on this topic. These guys are motivated on a whole separate criteria. Billable hours, anal investigation and overkill contingency issues. But sometimes they surprise me and they are actually in synch with the players in the deal. But never, ever, let the lawyers take the lead in a deal. (I'll get more into this another time.)

The reason I bring this up is that the closing date for the sale of my company has come and gone. It was suppose to be December 4th. Now I could sweat and grind my teeth and make lots of phone calls and email inquiries. But I've learned over the years that all these things are counterproductive. Best to sit back and let the deal take the curvy, roundabout course it will inevitably take. In another words - go with the flow. At this point you should have done the work already - the terms have been agreed to, both sides are motivated to complete the transaction, the lawyers have incentives to move things forward, but have no say in how the deal is constructed. It'll happen. If doesn't, it's probably better that way. There was probably a flaw. It's as if your partner (or yourself) had a miscarriage. There was a flaw in development. It wasn't going to be viable. It wasn't meant to be. If its early term - let it go. However, if its very late term, such as my deal, a miscarriage would be a tough nut to swallow. Our latest hurdle, was employment contracts. It caused delays. But it has been worked out and we're heading down the stretch. Everyone wants to close before the first of the year. Who knows where the capital gains tax rate will go in the future. The only thing that we know for sure is that it will go up.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Anticipation

I can't help it if I'm an optimistic kind of guy. Everything, it seems to me, has an upside and a downside (well almost anything). So I always try to find that good piece and focus on that when presented with a situation.

Latey, for instance, I've been on pins and needles about my Internet company. Well its not all mine, but I am the founder and I own the biggest chunk. Anyway, we have a buyer. But we've had this buyer for going on 13 months. Its amazing how these things can get dragged out. If I hear the phrase "due diligence" one more time, I think I'll have a conniption.

At the present time, we are in the home stretch. We've leaped many a hurdle. We are suppose to close on December 4th. But as everyone seems to take great pleasure in reminding me, many things can still go wrong. So what am I suppose to do. I'm not a good multiplexer, so its hard for me to start my next projects - real estate and another book. I do keep my poker learning web site current and updated, however. But its very hard to concentrate when this huge milestone in my life is dangling in front of me, drifting in and out of sight.

But I found the silver lining - enjoy the state of anticipation. It is, after all, a great feeling - often surpassing the thrill of the thing actually happening. Its just a hard concept to get your arms around. So I've meditated on past good things that have happened to me and tried to recreate my emotions prior to the consummation of said event. My conclusion is that its all about the dream. Whether it happens or not (I shouldn't say that - it is going to happen), I think about the travel I'll be doing with my wife, I get excited about playing in some big poker tournaments, I look forward to spending more time with my eldest two daughters, about getting an RV and heading to Canada, about studying the real estate market and making some super shrewd investments. This makes me happy. I've had some happy days just anticipating. Even if it doesn't happen (knock on wood), I have accomplished a very important thing in just being happy for a period of time. After all, happiness and contentment is a state of mind. The richest person in the world can be miserable, while a poverty stricken Chilean can be ecstatic.

This method of thinking about the world suits me. That's why I play poker, especially poker tournaments. I may not make the money time after time, but each time I miss I know it will make that eventual win that much sweeter.

By the way, I am also anticipating a great Thanksgiving this year. Most of my family seem to be getting together for a few days. Hope you have a good one too. Pleasant thoughts to all.

"How" over "How Much"

We all want money. Right? Count me in. In our American world, money is very important. It buys a lot of great stuff. Most of us are focused like a laser on getting as much of it as we can. But a much overlooked aspect of accumulating money is not just the "how much can we get?" but the "how do we get it?"

The knee jerk reaction is: "Who cares? As long as we get it and the more the better." But if you really think about it, the "How" may be more important.

Lets start with the trust-fund, rich kids of the world. Because the money was simply dumped on them, most of them (there are exceptions of course) drift about, looking for excitement through drugs or sex or other high risk behaviors. They don't have the motivation to go out and develop themselves and as a result, many of them are not what I would call happy. They don't reach their potential.

Then you have the lottery winners. If you ever read about what happens to these people after they made their big cash, a majority of them end up in all kinds of trouble, lots of problems and more than a few suicides.

Finally you have the greedy businessperson. They try to screw over anyone and everyone in order to maximize their take on any transaction. They push the limits of legal behavior and, to them, ethics is an academic word only. If you can get away with it, its OK. I'd argue many of these people may put on a facade of happiness with all their material possessions amidst their circle of like-minded "friends." But I'd argue that they are in a constant struggle with their conscience. They seek out therapy. They rationalize. But what's done is done. They can never turn back their misdeeds which become clearer and clearer to them as they approach their inevitable demise.

I'd argue that making a nest egg through honest hard work and effort in which you treat everyone you come into contact with in a fair and open manner should be the goal for everyone. Of course, we really need that first $40,000 every year to survive, especially if you have a family to support. But as that number rises, the money becomes less and less a necessity and more of "an extra." When you start to reach the nosebleed status of making millions and millions, it becomes merely a status symbol - a scorecard. When it comes down to it, our mental state is much more important than the size of our house. It's infinitely worth it to nurture your honest and straight-dealing reputation over striving for money at any cost. Having respect as a result of the quality of your character is an invaluable commodity. It doesn't come easy. Many shortcuts will present themselves. Be a poker player and get a "read" on where each road will potentially lead. You may not get filthy rich, but you'll be happier and more content. After all, who would want to be Russ Hamilton or Bernie Madoff. Keep it.

Phew!

I didn't want to leave any of you hanging. My daughter is going to be fine. The lump on her neck had no melanoma, lymphoma or any cancer of any kind. It's what is called a reactive lymph node. Easily treatable. I made camping plans with her to celebrate. We're also goin' into the big apple next weekend.

It's amazing how everything pales in comparison to the health of our kids. Now I can focus on the last days before the closing of the sale of my company. I'm going to meet the new owners today for lunch. Ciao.

Was George Right?

Lately one episode of "Seinfeld" has been ringing in my ears. I can't remember much about it except that something good had just happened to George and he becomes very nervous and paranoid. His reasoning was that, nothing good happens just by itself. It is always accompanied by a bad even that is as bad as the good event is good.

I laughed along with everyone else. "That's a good one, George. That George, what a flake."

But yesterday, I had some very good news. I can't go into it now, but I promise to reveal it in a future post. I'm all smiles and having a good time chatting to my buddies at the company I founded, when I get a call. It's my ex-wife - who only calls me directly when something bad has happened to one of my daughters. I can't bear to answer, so I send it to voice male. After my cold sweat subsides (her name and voice always seem to do that to me), I check the message. My #2 daughter has a suspicious lump on her neck. My good news paled in comparison to this shock. This 17 year old is the happiest, most upbeat, well adjusted (and talented and smart and . . .[I could keep going on]) person I have ever known. I immediately call her and she's taking it like a trooper. They did a biopsy and we'll know more on Monday. I know it is just an inflamed cyst or swollen lymph node and nothing more. I reassure her. We joke around like we always do. Everything is going to be fine.

Being the Other Person

In poker, some of the most important skills have nothing to do with cards. One such skill is the ability to transport your consciousness into the body and spirit of another person. The poker player becomes the other player. As hard as that sounds to do, its actually very logical and a common skill among top tier players. In fact, how often have you looked at a hand that you may have just been observing and you thought; "Its obvious he had that hand. What other hand would he have played like that."

Sure its much easier to understand a hand once you see the cards at the end, but the skill of putting a player on a hand is not some mystical skill that requires ESP or a sixth sense. Its a two fold process. You use logic to determine what the range of hands could be. Then you fit that logic with the capabilities and style of the player(s) involved. The result is often a very few number of possible hands that are likely. As you become a better player, you'll start to incorporate more personality traits, more setting specific facts and there is actually no end to how good you can be at this. That is why even the best players claim that they are still improving all the time. Of course I talk about this extensively and provide exercises in my online poker courses.

This skill is also a critical skill in business. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I'm involved in some long and tedious negotiations regarding the sale of an Internet company I founded ten years ago. It surprises me how weak many business people are in this critical skill. I think it is ego more than anything else that keeps people from trying to put themselves in the other persons shoes. The hardest thing for many people is the process of letting go of all your wants, needs, tendencies and personal characteristics. These traits are what make us who we are. Its like letting go of the self. But this must be done before you can refill the now empty vessel with the traits of the other person. This takes practice and a will. Then you have to have the faith in yourself to follow through on the resulting read.

This is not what they teach in Business School. I should know after two business degrees and 15 years of university teaching experience. What would really be useful for the budding and mature businessman and woman is an intense course in reading an opponent in poker. The only way to get into the head of your competitor, vender, buyer or customer is to get out of your own first. I'm in the process of setting up a Poker/Business Skills Conference in Vegas in the near future. It'll be the business training of the future. See you there.

Poker/Life/Happiness

I saw an interesting thing at the poker table I had never seen before. A young, conservative-looking fellow was about to sit down at the table, but before he did, he clutched a cross that was hanging around his neck, looked skyward, closed his eyes, kissed his icon and genuflected.

Did this guy serious think that the gods would favor him now that he blessed himself or whatever he did? Lets get something straight here. There are no poker gods. Nothing but probabilities determines winners in any given session and, in the long run, you need to know what you're doing if you want to come out ahead.

This is not to say that I eschew the spiritual. Absolutely not. Although I'm Jewish, I've always found myself most comfortable with the Buddhist approach. Peace and harmony must be found from within. All things go in cycles and are interconnected. Things are never too good or too bad. Moderation. Acceptance. Humbleness. Almost an indifference leads to true contentment.

Think of it this way. There are six important aspects of our life; (1) Relationships; (2) Our Health; (3) The health of those whom we love; (4) Career; (5) Financial; (6) Art (or hobbies, art and passions). Hardly ever, if ever, will all these parts of our life be going great at the same time. Some will go well, while other flounder. Even within each category, we'll have sub-aspects that are going well and sub-aspects that are hurtin'. Accept that this is how things are. Work on what needs working, but don't sweat the bad stuff.

For me, poker has been a tough road to hoe as of late. I'm feelin' like poor Utah in Vegas. I get kings, someones got aces. I hit a straight, someones got a higher straight. Sometimes it goes like that. Its the nature of probabilities. They are streaky. But if something isn't goin' well, consider it as an opportunity. The 'ol lemonade from lemons way of thinking. Now when I go to the poker room, I'm very focused on lowering my risk at the cost of winning a big hand. I'm practicing low risk poker. For example, instead of raising just enough to keep one caller in when I've got pocket aces, I now go all in. I'll take the small win during a cold spell. I'm workin' on the low risk gear. Keeping all gears in tip top shape will only help your game. Also, I take this opportunity to focus on bad streaks for a new course on my poker education site.

But as it so happens, one of my weak relationships has improved markedly. I don't think I did anything different (I may have without realizing it.), but things just suddenly got warmer and happier.

Also, as I mentioned in the last entry, my first business is close to being sold which would be a boost for my financial situation and for my career goals. I'll give you an update on this soon as the lawyer cloud drifts away.

I hope most of your six aspects are doing well.

So you want to Start a Company

I haven't talked much at all about the company I started many moons ago. Since things have been heating up there recently, its been on my cranial front burner.

First some background. for those of you who are interested in starting your own business and for the just curious. I was a professor in a business school at a small, regional, New England university in 1994 when I walked into my office and my computer had sprouted speakers. I played around with some sound files and with PowerPoint and immediately felt that this was the learning tool of the future. You could put any kind of image on the screen and have a friendly voice explain things to you. You could play the class over and over again until you got it. The professor needed to just record his lecture once and from then on would only need to add updates and improvements.

Fast forward to 2001. I was pretty much burned out on academic life. One introductory class I had taught 50 times. So I lined up some investors and set out to create an online company that delivered continuing education credit to insurance agents. It was a slow and arduous journey.

Today we have two potential offers for the company. In two or three months this long adventure may finally be over. I won't suddenly become rich, but at least I won't have to worry about how to pay for college for my four offspring. But it's never over until the check has cleared the bank and at least three or four more steps remain before that happens. I'll keep you posted.

What I wanted to talk about here are the most important lessons I've learned from this process. If anyone is interested in the full story, I'll be writing a book about the whole experience. Stay tuned for that. Anyway, here are the lessons that stand out for me at this point.

1. Hook up with someone who has been through the process before AND who is highly ethical. You'll need him/her all through the journey. I was SO lucky to find an initial investor/co-founder who turned out to be the most honest and honorable person I have ever met.
   
2. Never give up. Whenever you run into a road block, you should think; "What are my options for solving this problem?" Not; "Oh no, this isn't going to work."
3. Keep your costs as low as possible.
4. Pay attention to your corporate legal papers. Little things that don't seem important in your Shareholders Agreement, often are HUGE later on (like now for me).
5. Let things simmer. After you implement something new, don't rush to judgment. Give things some time. It'll also give you some down time to do something else. It'll also help you to avoid popping a blood vessel. Burn out is a big problem.

In the end, nothing is more career satisfying or just plain fun for me then creating an entity from nothing. Actually hiring people. Seeing that first sale. Watching things grow. Actually taking a salary. I tried to enjoy every step along the way.

However, what continues to amaze me is the greed in which many people are trapped. I, unfortunately, got some greedy %*$#& involved who turned out to not care about anything except themselves. These unhappy people were the biggest disappointment for me. People who I thought were decent turned out to be something else. That's the biggest reason why I'm praying I cash out now. Greedy, unhappy people are no fun to deal with and if its not fun - I don't want to do it.

Dalton Trumbo

If you missed it, you must see the PBS documentary about Dalton Trumbo. He was a screenwriter, a magnificent screenwriter from the 1950s. But more importantly, the man had ideals and he refused to surrender his values at, what turned out to be, great personal cost. But this blog isn't really about Dalton Trumbo. It's about Edward Lewis.

Mr. Tumbo was accused of being a communist by McCarthy in the early 50s. He refused to cooperate with the Unamerican Committee. He accused McCarthy and his henchmen as setting up a concentration camp for writers. Dalton was sent to jail for two years and then blackballed from his profession. He struggled mightly financially and socially. His friends were afraid to be seen with him. His 8 year old daughter was harrassed at her school to the point that she had to be pulled from the school. A treasure trove of Dalton's letters were recently discovered and are the most moving pieces of writing I have ever read.

But what I really found fascinating was the interview with Edward Lewis, the fine film producer who was 90 years old. This man had made tremendous amounts of money, won numerous awards for his films and had a wonderful marriage and several very successful offspring. He was ruminating with the interviewer about his life and said (I'm paraphrasing):

"As one gets toward the end of one's life, one spends a lot of time looking back at what they did over that time that they can say they are really proud of. Even though I lived an almost idealic life in so many ways, by far and away, the most proud moment in my life was when I insisted that Dalton Trumbo be listed in the credits for the movie Spartacus. Everyone said not to do it. He was toxic. He was blackballed. But the man wrote the screenplay and I demanded that he be given his due credit. It was the first movie after he was blackballed that he was given credit for. Nothing in my life compares to this act I did which I did just because I thought it was the right thing to do."

Its so easy to get caught up in the whole American dream shtick of trying to accumulate as much money as possible at any cost. But when it comes down to it, the only thing that really matters is the good that you do in the world. Make money - sure. But whenever you get an opportunity to do the right thing just for the sake of doing the right thing, grab it. You'll be a much happier person for it.

Tourney #2

So I finished 15th in the $340 event. Next was the $2000 event. Again in this tournament I was not getting playable starting cards through the first five hours. In many ways, I find this to be not such a horrible thing. It forces me to throw away a lot of hands and since it was a deep stack tournament, I had plenty of time to be patient. It was a good time to develop the proper table image. In this case - tight. Most times, eventually, you start to get some hands and you start to hit a few flops.

My patience paid off in spades. I hit a set and Mr. Aggressive went all in ahead of me. Big win. Then I was getting paid off with some big pairs. Very few times I was called after the flop. Then as we floated down to thirty players, I hit card dead territory. Something we all hit at one point or another. Then I just got caught. My 400,000 in chips had drifted down to $260,000 and I knew I had to make something happen, if my cards didn't improve on their own. So I'm in the small blind, one of the tighter players who had a lot of chips, but uncharacteristically, was playing a lot of hands was on the button. Its folded around to him and he makes a standard 3X raise or $75,000. I've got 88 (remember that hand last tournament?). I really don't have a choice in my mind. There's a good chance the button is weak or not strong enough to call a big raise. I go all in. He instacalls and shows me AA. I lose. I'm out in 22 place but I win $5000.

Recapping my efforts in these two tournaments;I finished 15 and 22nd and I netted $7000. I very good week. But I was really pleased with was my play, especially in the Mega. I was able to tread water very nicely during a prolonged card dead phase. I picked the proper times to steal and developed a perfect table image. It wasn't about the cards at all. It was about creating a proper pacing; playing the player and keeping an eye on average chip stack and other indicators. But most importantly it was about picking the moments to raise in which it was virtually impossible for my opponents to call if they didn't have a very narrow number of hands. This is so critical in professional tournament play. My risk control was allowing me to build up a stack without (or rarely) risking my chips through to the river. Again, in my courses, I spell this out in great detail.

I love tournament poker the most because it is existing in time-space continuum. Its about seeing the world as it exists, evaluating each moment in relative terms and evaluating choices and making the proper one in this best manner. Its almost important as how you bet as how much and when to bet.

Now I'm sitting in my hotel room in Atlantic City. Another deep stack tom'w. I hope I continue my focus. Especially since my cash game has been killing me lately. But that too will pass.

Back to the Felt

After some fun in the sun and all kinds of hassles with my business, CEU.com, which we are trying to sell (more later), I'm back blogging. The way it is suppose to be. Not only that, but I'm going to talk about what we all love - poker. Live-in-the-moment Poker!

It was great to be back in live tournament play. I played two events at Foxwoods and I thought I might be a bit rusty since I haven't been in a real event for about five months.

So first I enter the $340 event which attracts 1093 entries. For the first six hours, I got very poor cards and worked hard to tread water. The longer I could survive with crap hands, the better chance I'll have when the mother load of starting cards comes in. At one point my 15,000 starting stack was down to under 4000. I skanked my way back up to 9000 or so when I went on a mini-rush. I get pocket aces and made a standard 3X raise. I got one caller. An old guy with a lot of chips who didn't seem to know what he was doing (I just moved to the table). It was gift time when the flop came out 6-6-A. He checks. I check. Turn puts 2 diamonds out there. He bets 3,000. I call. Diamond on river. He goes all in with his flush and I, of course, call. When you get situations like that, you can see why making big, strategic lay downs is important (more on that and plenty more on my courses). I got two more courtesy double ups. Another weak player goes all in for 15X. I have AA again. He has 8-8. (I would feel his pain later.) A few hands later, I'm peeling back one ace and I hear; "I'm all in." The woman had over $100,000. I peeled back another ace. "I call." She had A-4 of hearts. The flop brought a 3 and a 2. The turn brought a second heart. It's never easy. But I won and was now table chip leader.

I cruised into the money. Picked up a lot of chips around the bubble. Now we were down to two tables. I had about $420,000 in chips. Just before a break I get 4-4 in the cutoff. The BB is $30,000. I raise to $100,000. The SB goes all in for another $120,000 to me. This was a sucky position. I knew I had to call. He was getting low and would certainly push with A - (any high card). So I figured I was a slight favorite. And I couldn't just abandon my children out there. So I called. He did indeed have AK. So I was happy, but my happiness did not last long when a K hit on the flop. Now I was short and the blinds were going up to 20K; 40K. I got my stack back up to $380,00, but we were in push or fold territory. I decided to fold 9-9 when an early "all in" was called by the guy on my right. It turned out to be AK against AJ and I would have tripled up!!! Instead I went all in with 8-8 and was called by pocket AA. I finished 14. Remember 1093 started. Cashed $2399.

I'll tell you all about the Mega Stack Challenge ($2000) next time.

The End of Jobs

No this isn't a blog about the charismatic CEO of Apple Computer. Its about work. Rather how we work. The need for workers. The end of an era.

Today it was announced that worker productivity increased 6.4%. The largest increase in six years. So what's the big deal. People are working harder to keep their jobs, you may think. That's a good thing or, at worst, a minor economic statistic. Right? I suppose it depends on your point of view. Lets look more closely at this paradigm-shifting trend.

Back when I was studying for my doctorate in Management of Technology, I learned that as new technologies are introduced into the marketplace, efficiencies increase. Incrementally, it became relatively easy for four workers to produce what it took 5 workers to produce in the past. The new workers had better tools. It was expected. Historically, this was a very good thing. Companies became more profitable. Stock prices went up. We could produce more food, goods and services to meet the needs of an ever growing population. But now we have reached a level of automation which is allowing companies to produce more with a relatively sparse work force.

I have experienced this phenomena first hand. In 1999, I founded a company called CEU.com, an Internet education company that provided continuing education courses and credit to insurance professionals. We had about five employees at first and served, on average, 200 customers a month. Today we have seven employees and we service 2000 customers a month. If and when it grows to service 20,000 customers a month, the company will only need ten or eleven employees to keep things humming.

Lets look at this on a macro scale. If other companies are also finding the Internet and other technologies are allowing them to meet demand with exponentially fewer workers, then the need for humans in the workplace will decline overall at an alarming rate. Suddenly, efficiency is going to create a massive social problem. The US, in essence, will need, not the approximately 100 million jobs it provides today, but at best, 50 million or even less.

The minds of economics always assumed that there would be a migration of factory jobs to the service sector and that has been born out. No need to worry. Although most politicians focus on the migration of jobs overseas, its really automation and the corresponding productivity increases that are causing this decline. But worry we must. Now the service industry is finding all kinds of savings through the use of technology. There are fast food restaurants that are completely automated. Education can happen much more efficiently over the web (e.g. CEU.com). Even health care can provide on line diagnosis and treatment through remote medical servicing. Then you have online pharmacies and other management efficiencies as well. Of course we'll still need nurses, school teachers, doctors and lawyers in great numbers, but not in the kind of numbers we required in the past. Beyond a doubt, the net number of jobs needed will decline markedly. This current economic recovery could be the first "job shock" of many to come.

Lets extrapolate out what this will mean from a social and economic perspective. Most manual labor jobs will disappear. Many professional jobs will decline as well. Think programmers (surprisingly IT work will decline as do-it-yourself programs predominate), editors (book and news media), managers in general and, most obviously, journalists. Think what must be going through the mind of a 2009 graduate from a Journalism program. She applies for work and finds hordes of experienced out-of-work journalist competing for the trickle of low paying jobs.

In the future, "a real job" cannot be made available for every qualified individual. A job can no longer be the center of our lives since so many of us will not have one. It can no longer be the source for our health care, material needs, retirement nest egg or the way we spend most of our time.

Now is the time to begin thinking about a country in which only half of the working age people are needed to do the jobs that need to be done. What then will the other half do? I do not presuppose to have the solution. But it will mean that Laissez faire capitalism, as we know it, will no longer work. It will had run its course. Money will become more and more concentrated in the hands of the relatively few owners and controllers of the means of production. Does this language bring to mind any images. How about Karl Marx? What goes around, comes around.

World Series of Poker Reflections

The World Series of Poker for 2009 has come and gone. Its now being shown on ESPN on Tuesday nights.

There were some interesting developments this year. The most interesting was the re-emergence of Phil Ivey. For true fans of poker and for the serious player, there should be nothing better than seeing the most skilled player in the world succeed in big time tournament play. To the inexperienced eye, it looks like luck, luck, luck - all over the place. But the key to poker success is getting and keeping those sometimes slight edges over the competition. It so good to see that this one player is showing the world that poker is a skill game.

For those of you who don't follow this closely, Phil Ivey has won two tournaments (bracelets) at this years World Series. But the truly amazing thing is that he made the final table of the Main Event as well. Do you realize how difficult that is? 6500+ entries. Eight days of playing. Not only that, but he hit a serious swoon in the later rounds and had to fight back to get into contention. He has made so much money in poker (and betting on himself) that he tipped the dealers the entire $90,000+ prize money he won in his first victory.

It goes to show that if you work at your game. Keep looking for leaks and trying to improve every session, you too could be a regular big winner at the tables. In the long term, poker has nothing to do with luck. Did I say that already? Check out my courses if you want more detail.

30,000 Days

For most people, 30,000 days is a long life. Think about it, you'll go through 30,000 days, one-by-one, and then its over (we'll save the "what happens to you after you die" chat for another time). You'll wake up 30,000 times ( or thereabouts) and you'll go to sleep 30,001 times.

Now lets break that down. For the first 7,000 days you are young and, hopefully, care-free. But many of us struggle with our youth. What are we going to do with our life? Will I ever meet the perfect mate? Blah Blah Blah. For the most part, however, I'd like to think most of us just enjoyed being young.

Then at the end, lets say our last 7,000 days, we're old. Things don't work as well as they used to. We've seen and heard quite a bit, so we are a little jaded and almost always stuck in our ways. Look at old grandpa sittin' in his chair watching The Price is Right. Nothing seems new and exciting anymore. Lets face it, in some ways, a human is like a car. The best miles are the first 7,000. The worst miles are the last 7,000.

Now in between we work. We work hard because we are told that you need to save for retirement. You need to work to have health care insurance, pay for the kids college and the mortgage and other things as well, but I'd like to focus on this saving for retirement ridiculousness. You are telling me that I should work away in my prime days (16,000 days) so I'll have money for the worst 7,000 days of my life? A time when I don't really want to do much. Maybe a little travel. A little gardening perhaps. Not too much though, that back isn't what it used to be. And those hips, always sore. So we are supposed to, in a way, sacrifice our happiness during our prime 16,000 days so we can have money when the 'ol bod is starting to break down? I hear of kids in their early twenties putting money away for retirement. Putting trips and fun on hold so they can have money during their broken down years. What the . .? Are they crazy?

Let me offer an alternative. I'll call it the John Mellencamp father's world view (since I heard that this is what he preached to his son). We try as hard as we can to enjoy every day that we can. Of course, not every day is a good day. But we make it our first priority to enjoy each and every day to the maximum extent possible. Then, on our 30,000 day, we can look back and say; "You know. I had good days 26,500 of those 30,000 days. That's not bad." Bonk. Out go the lights. If you stick to the popular model, you'd be lucky to score a 10,000 because you may be doing a job you don't like for most of you're life, then you'll be too old to max out on enjoyment in those later days.

Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't be "responsible." That you shouldn't strive hard to reach heights. You should. But I think in doing so, many have taken their eye off the ball. If you're not having fun, what's the point?

So come on every one, lets try to get that score up. You can do it. Lets start right now. What did you do that was fun today?

Your Own TV Show

Here's a hypothetical for you.

You have your own TV show. On that show you show off all your talents. You may recite some poetry. You may tell a story or two. Perhaps you play a musical instrument. Guests with complementary talents also participate. The show starts out crude, but over the course of twenty five years, the show is refined and you are pleased. Then you are tapped on the shoulder.

Its the Chief Technician. He says, "I don't rightly know how to tell you this; but you see those cameras over there." You glance at the cameras that have been religiously recording your weekly show for twenty five years and you nod. "Well those cameras don't work. Never have. Your show was never broadcasted. Well gotta go. Don't want to keep the missus waiting." He leaves. You sit down in a daze.

Then two bedraggled looking gentlemen come up to you. "Sir, you don't know us, but I'm Elmer and this here is Floyd. We clean up around here. We just wanted you to know that we so look forward to your show every week. Don't tell no one. But we stop cleaning and sit over there yonder and watch your show every week. Never missed a one for twenty five years." Floyd grinned widely just before they shook my hand with a little half bow and then walked off.

Now a pessimistic man would have just sat there and cried I'm sure for wasting his creative life away on a show that was never shown. A hopeless man would have cried harder. But an optimist would have been happy that his show brought joy into the hearts of two men and it really didn't matter if two people enjoyed the show or two million liked it. Is it about getting as many people as possible to see your work? Or is it internal? You did it. It was something that you could be proud of and, as a bonus, two others liked it very much. Do we do it for others or do we do it for ourselves?

Emily Dickinson comes to mind. She wrote all of her poetry on scraps of paper and folded them up and stuffed them into a dresser drawer. She never sent them to anyone. No one ever read them, as far as we can tell, while she was alive. Then fifty years after her death they are discovered, published and , well, you know the rest.

Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick and as far as he knew it was a commercial failure. It wasn't until sixty years later that some academic brought it to life and it is now an American classic of course.

I'm not sure where I come down on this exercise in existential crisis. I do know I get a great feeling when a stranger comes up to me and tells me how much he enjoyed my novel. I suppose if only one person read my book and liked it, that would be enough. At least it should be. Shouldn't it?

Nixon/Frost

I was greatly interested to check out the movie "Frost/Nixon." But before I watched the movie, I went back and watched the original annotated interview. It was fascinating. But I thought David Frost was just one step away from really hitting the home run. Nixon admitted that "mistakes were made." But he framed it in a way that was not illegal or immoral. All Frost had to do, in my opinion, was ask Nixon what exactly were those mistakes.

In the movie, Langella (the actor) is much more contrite than Nixon actually was. But the movie was enjoyable. Sheen was perfect as Frost. The underlying conflict is brought out well. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I went back on line and found some additional clips from the original interviews.

Now I was never a "Nixon-phile" in any sense of the word. But I was fascinated by one of Nixon's responses about life in general. He talked about how wanting to be rich and spend your life playing golf or fishing or hunting and going to parties was misguided. He said that life was about struggle. it was about trying something and working hard to make a vision happen. It was about being constructive. It was about being creative. People talked to much and thought too little.

I couldn't be in more agreement with our former president. I see many people who are good at poker for example. The are able to make enough money to get by and even afford some extras in life. But they aren't creating anything. They aren't pushing themselves to be constructive. In the end, they will not be happy. Everyone has talents and abilities. But these traits need to be developed. Need to work at them. Take a chance, a calculated chance, of course. Try to do something and see what happens. It almost doesn't matter if you are successful or not. Try. Try. Try. If you don't, you'll wish you did.

When it cones down to it, risk is not as risky as you think. You at least gave it a shot and it'll be something you'll be glad you did. I guarantee it.

Heater!

I'm now officially on a heater. What's a heater? It means whatever move I seem to make, whatever play I decide to do, everything always seems to work out. I played everyday this last week and each day I won over $1500. Hey I need the money to fund my web site as well as pay the bills at home.

This wave of cash got me thinking as I was perusing the New York Times Book Review Section. A couple of books came out about the workplace. Discussing how people feel about their work. How they value all the time they spend on the job. In very few cases did anyone ever say that they love their work so much that they would do it for no pay (lets assume their basic needs were met somehow). That got me thinking about poker. I love the game. I'd play it for pennies if that was the only game in town. But I can make serious money flopping in poker rooms. Each of the last four years I've made over $75,000. One year I made over $190,000. So here I am thinking, if I can make enough money at poker to meet my family's relatively normal financial needs, I can spend the rest of my time really enjoying life's basic and exotic pleasures.

What would you do if you didn't have to worry about where the money was coming from? For me it's all about spending time with my four kids; 19, 17, 3 and 10 months. Like the time I took them ( I only had two at the time) cross country in a 24 foot RV. Now I'm thinking about taking a longer trip in a smaller Type B class RV. We'll go down to Florida in November, spend time with the parental units then continue to Key West. After the holidays, we'd hug the gulf coast and make our way all the way to San Diego as slow as molasses. Be there by February. Then we'll store the RV and take a cruise ship to Baja. Stay down there in a rented villa for say six weeks. Then we cruise back and jump back into the RV and hug the Pacific Coast all the way up to Alaska. We'll get to Fairbanks by mid July. Then we'll whine our way back through the Canadian Rockies and get back home in Connecticut by September. That's my dream. Does that make me irresponsible? Shouldn't I be slaving away at a high pace at some job or activity because thats what we're all suppose to do? Excuse me, but I'm gonna live. If I can swing it (I can't at this point), I'm gonna savor every moment with my three daughters and one son. When I'm ready to die, I want to be able to honestly say to myself that I enjoyed this journey we call life. I didn't just go along with the crowd. I didn't save for "retirement." I lived. I may have risked as well, but I enjoyed it.

For those of you who read Poker Slam, you know all this already. I'll keep you updated on how things turn out.

Zen Poker

I love the concept of Zen. Its everywhere. Its other worldly, but its something we experience and witness all the time.

When a typist zips across the keyboard at 100 words of minute. He's experiencing Zen. When a cabinet maker cuts a plank of maple, she's experiencing Zen. When a major league batter hits the ball, he's in Zen.

The mind becomes blank. The body takes over. A flow comes over you. Things become crystal clear. You can almost see the results before they happen. A peaceful feeling permeates. A focus relaxation is achieved. I love it. I just love it.

And, of course, Zen happens in poker. It just happened to me yesterday as a matter of fact. It was like each of the players had their hole cards pasted on their chest face out. I KNEW what everybody was holding. You know what they are going to do. You know if you have are ahead or behind. I wasn't reading tells. I wasn't thinking about the betting patterns. I just knew. As a result, I had a big winning day.

Its really hard to intellectualize what is happening when Zen is occurring. Practicing an art, game or sport has something to do with it surely. By training the body and mind to react rather than think, Zen is developed. But its more than that. Things come together. You're in a zone. The Zen Zone. Maybe it has something to do with intercepting brain waves. Being at one with all the signals. Being a super receptor. You're apart of the world rather than an observer. An intricate piece of the puzzle. Your letting yourself go. Someone or something else is at the controls.

When it happens, its a great experience. And when it happens at poker you feel like a mind reader - a mind reader with a few more dollars in his pocket.

The Library - Good Bye Old Friend

Before sunrise at most Buddhist Temples an artist will carefully create a work of art out of colored sand. He or she will work for hours creating a composition of exceptional beauty carefully arranging the sand almost grain by grain. Upon completion, the artist places the work in front of the main entrance. Within minutes it is ruined by the in and outgoing traffic.

The purpose of this activity is to embrace temporariness. The only state that truly exists. Everything, even suns and planets, exist for a period of time, then they die. Nothing is permanent.

I love this concept. In today's modern world, we are constantly trying to hold on to things. It causes us stress and anxiety, because you can never really hold on to anything very long. It all goes. One way or another. Rather than fighting the inevitable, we, like the Buddhists, would find life more satisfying if we could learn to accept how things are.

Capitalism is a somewhat Buddhist construct because it allows companies to die and new ones to be born. It constantly revitalizes itself. This cyclicality has come to be known as creative destruction. To me, it is the key aspect to why, economically speaking, Capitalism works best.

Now lets consider libraries. I've always loved libraries. Now that I'm a writer, I love them even more. But, unfortunately, the useful life of libraries is coming to an end. Good bye old friend, I'll miss you.

Why? In the digital age where all the books of the world could fit on a device that fits in a briefcase, the need to house huge piles of bound paper is anachronistic. You want a book. Simply download it wirelessly to your ebook reader and you got a book. Libraries waste all kinds of natural resources - paper, energy etc. It doesn't make sense to have these lovely warehouses all over the place to store copies of tomes that are being stored in hundreds, if not thousands, of other places. Time to move on. Wipe those tears away and get over it.

My hope is that libraries are transformed into something else altogether. Something that we need and is useful - community and study centers. Many libraries are making the transition, but I think they need to step up the pace. The inevitable is the inevitable and getting with the program rather than fighting it is in everyone's best interest.

Here is one approach I like. A small library in Iowa has stopped purchasing books and periodicals. Its purging itself of all the old, unread books from its shelves. A select number of books are kept on around the perimeter as an interior decorating device. Good. Good. Then they are dividing all the space up into individual cavities and group rooms with one large community area. It provides wireless access, printers, ebook readers, helpful tech and content experts and most importantly to me, real comfortable chairs. Writing groups, book clubs and other meetings are set up on a calender that is, of course, accessable on line. One employee is in charge of scheduling lectures and readings and various artful activities. Discussion areas are encouraged in lounge-like areas. Coffee and drinks are available. Snacks and light meals too. Great job Iowa!

By vacating an old institutional concept that has little or no viability, we can solve a major problem that our digital world has spawned - lack of human interaction. I guess, if you want, you can still call it a library, but that would be like calling an eagle a horse. By calling it what it is, people will go there because they'll know what it is. Hey you marketing experts out there - come up with a name. Millions work on their own. If they could have a place to go to do their work and get the resources they need and the human contact they crave, it will be utilized and flourish. Maybe even be profitable.

This is not something anyone will need to go out and push for (though I wish they would). It'll happen on its own, one way or another. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I for one would like another place to go to run my businesses and write my stories. Iowa here I come.

The Great Speech

I've never been one of those zealot pro-Americans. Love it or leave it. America as center of the world. etc. In fact, I've always felt more at one with the European world then with my own country. But now, finally, we have a man who personifies all that this country is, but hasn't been for so many years.

If you haven't watched or listened to President Obama's speech from last Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, I urge you to spend 55 minutes to be truly proud of America and all she stands for. I think it will go down in history as one of the greatest overtures an American president has ever made to a sector of the world, in this case, the Muslim community. He is humble. He is respectful. At the same time, he is hard hitting and to the point. By putting his views out there and making a super salient case that is in everybody's self interest, he invites anyone to make a counter arguement. Beutifully done, Mr. President. Bravo.

What continues to drive me crazy, is the response his speech got in the U.S. mainstream media. All I saw were articles about how he uses the Internet so well to promote himself. Who gives a damn about that, man? Talk about the content!

On the other hand, I continue to applaud my country for having the strength and the fortitude to elect a black man as president of the United States. In some ways, I don't think it has really sunk in. We have an African-American holding the highest office in the land. It almost means that the days of racial discrimination are over. How can anyone now, point at the US and say, "You discriminate against minorities." Fine, if you believe that, go tell it to our black president. The symbolism alone could change the world. But guess what, on top of his physical characteristics, he's the smartest man ever to hold that office in my lifetime. What a combination. The man is taking the high road and remaining open to anyone who has another "way." If you can prove that another "way" is better then his way, I have no doubts, he will change course. No more hyperbole. No more party shanagins. No more power plays. Just a strict meritocracy of ideas.

I've heard fellow citizens say things like, "oh he's just another overly smart Harvard-type, who makes good speeches." So are you saying you don't want to have the smartest possible president you can have who values the rule of law, moral responsibilities and peace? That's like saying, "I don't want that guy to bat clean-up, he's too good a hitter." Clear your head and think anew. We all find it easier to fall back into old ways of thinking. America's self interest. Military might. Political wins. But those days are over (Thank God). Now we must think in terms of empathy, giving before taking and realizing that our own way of life is not the only valid way to live.

I would even go so far as to say that, Barack Obama's understanding of the world was symbolized and manifested in his ability and love for the game of poker. In poker, you absolutely must put yourself into the other person's shoes if you want to win. You must see the world through their eyes. If you don't, in the end, you will lose and in today's tumultuous world there is much more at stake then a few chips.

Plato, Pain and Poker

Pain and pleasure are funny things. No one likes pain and everyone (as far as I know) likes pleasure, but you really can't have one without the other. Think about your right ankle for a minute. It feels fine (hopefully), but its not really giving you pleasure. However, if it was shackled for days with a metal chain that was digging into your skin you'd be feeling pain. When the shackle was taken off you'd feel incredible pleasure. This situation is how Plato starts out his famous work known as The Last Days of Socrates. Socrates makes a very convincing case that pleasure can not really exist without pain. Its the contrast, not the state itself that creates pleasure and its brother, happiness.

It seems to me that Plato must have played poker (or the Greek equivalent). We poker players feel a lot of pain - especially in tournaments. We get so close only to lose to a weak player who makes a bad play so many times. We enter a tournament and lose. We enter another tournament and lose again. But if you play well and don't give up, sooner or later you're going to go deep and eventually win. When that happens, the pleasure is far greater than all that pain we experienced up to that point. Its ecstasy. Its like the gods love us. We feel at one with the universe. OK, maybe that's a bit much. But the point is that all that hardship allows us to feel this high degree of happiness we couldn't otherwise experience.

The same thing occurs with entrepreneurs. You fork out lots of money for a long time to create and build a business. For the longest time you get nothing in return. Roadblocks. Fighting entrenched competition. Fear of losing everything. It ain't for everyone. Its tough. Its stressful. But when you finally get those first customers. You get some positive feedback. You keep improving your product or service, flashes of success suddenly appear. Its a great feeling. I've known one successful entrepreneur who told me, the most important thing in starting a business is persistence. Don't give up. Keep trying to improve your product or service and in the end, you'll be successful. Too many people throw in the towel too early. Don't be afraid of pain. In the end, it's the only way you can feel the triumph of success on a whole other plane.

Stick with it, my friend, and everything will be alright.

Making the Final Table

There is no greater feeling than making the final table of a poker tournament. Its the result of hours and hours of play. Usually you've played in numerous other tournaments struggling to make the money and more often getting eliminated on some bad beat of some kind. But when you've finally made a final table, all that pain is transformed into a wonderful bliss of the spirit.

So now that you've made it, what is the best course of action. The first thing I'd say to keep in mind is forget about all those televised final tables that you've seen on TV. Players are making herculean calls with A4 or 33 and sucking out. Others are making gigantic bluffs against big stacks. etc. Remember that they are only showing selective (usually wild) hands that are not the bread and butter of success.

The key things that I cover in my courses on playing the final table are (1) your chip stack, (2) your relative position, (3) the blind structure, (4) your goals, and (5) your opponents profile.

On top of these factors, you must keep in mind that the cards are going to dictate much (not all) of the action and you must continue to let the tournament come to you. The exception to this rule is if you are playing a short stack. If you only have 7 big blinds or less, be ready to gamble. So lets talk about short stack play first.

Before you sit down be sure to carefully analyze the chip stack situation. If you are ninth (last) in chips, think in terms of having nothing to lose. Most of the time the final results closely mirror the chip stack proportions. That is, the chip leader is most likely to win and the ninth place player (you in this case) is most likely to finish 9th. Realize that if you are able to move up three or four notches, you did a great job.

As a consequence, you do not have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for AA or KK. You gotta play hard while you still have some fold equity. If you win without a caller you can add as much as 25% to your stack and that gets leveraged substantially if you double up in subsequent hands. So you are not only looking to get a playable hand, you are also looking to find a good opportunity to get your money in.

Here are the basics. Don't look to do battle with anyone who has raised ahead of you, unless you have a premium hand. The only exception to this is if you are in the blinds or on the button and you have an ace or king and a loose player raises in late position. There is a good chance that you are ahead. If he decides to gamble and call and you are indeed ahead, that's fine. But there is a good chance that he'll fold and give you a nice pot uncontested - and that's even better.

But mostly you are looking to move in - all in - if you are folded around to and there are four or less players left to act. In this case you may not even choose to look at your cards at all (just pretend to) because if you do get called, the most likely scenario is that your cards are live and you're only a 60/40 dog. You're going to have to gamble. Get that into your head. The absolute worst thing you could do is to get blinded off. The number one rule of short stack play is: Thou shalt not get blinded off. Remember that your opponents don't know what you have and a big bet to them immediately means strength. It might surprise you to see what people will fold in these situations. After all, they want to move up the pay scale as well. Amateurs will tend to tighten up and experienced players are not going to want to risk flop, turn and river.

So these are the very basics. In my course, I get into the nitty gritty in detail. But whatever happens, enjoy the experience. It may be a long time before you make another final table.

I'll talk about playing larger stacks in later posts. I now you can't wait for that.

LIVE and FREE Poker Course Previews

An important announcement regarding my poker courses at PokerSlamU.com.

Drum roll please . . . . . . . . . . . You can now access any or all of our courses for FREE! Not the whole course of course, but a free preview. It took a lot of quality programming from my webmaster, but its done and up and running.

I'd greatly appreciate feedback as to any aspect of the courses, the web site or the registration system. That's how you improve. Keep taking advice and making it better and better, just like poker skills.

That's all. Just a quick announcement to those who are interested. Peace.

Poker Skills/Life Skills

I know poker is just a card game to most people, but to the real enthusiast, poker skills are some of the most useful skills one can attain. I'm not really sure why this particular game mirrors the skills one needs in life better than all the others, but it does.

First of all, to be a fine poker player you can't worry about the last hand. No matter how bad that beat was, just as no matter how unfairly you were treated in the office. That was then and it, in a sense, no longer matters. If you dwell on the past. If you let the past effect your judgment going forward, you will be weakened. We call it "tilting." And it happens all the time. One bad beat. Another bad call. Leads to an overaggressive play. Before you know it, ipso facto, your broke or felted as we say in the biz.

At the same time, you can't be thinking about future hands. You may be down and you want to get back to, at least even, but if you force the action, you'll lose that ephemeral feel for the table. You acted before you developed the proper table image. Unless you get lucky, and sometimes you do get rewarded for making a bad play, you are going to lose. Its all about patience (especially in tournaments). Its all about picking the precisely best moment to do the precisely correct play. Its a surer bet and, in the long run, will lead to success.

In poker, you are forced to consider the present over all other time phases. It isn't easy. You want to get that win. You want to be in the mix, not on the sidelines. But your time will come. As the old joke goes; "Patience, Jackass, patience."

The other overwhelming concept about poker that I love is that it boils down our economic life to the bare essentials. I know something you don't know. You know something I don't know. I need to try to figure out what you know, before you do it to me. The overriding key situation is when we both got ziltch. In that case, the one who shows some testicular fortitude, some, but not too much, well thought out aggression, will win. You win those pots, or at least win most of those pots, and you'll make a lot of money playing poker. You better be one confident son of a bitch to play my game.

The game is me against you. Mano a mano. Bjorn against Utah. Bring on the cards. I'm gonna kick your ass.

Bluffing

I've just finished an 85 minute course on playing the middle phase of a poker tournament. The more I thought about it and talked to my fellow pros, we all came to the same conclusion - Its all about bluffing.

I also found out that teaching someone how to bluff is not very straightforward. Some people are born to bluff and they need to learn to tone it down. But mostly, the human beast is very cautious. We probably picked up the trait as we saw a fellow primate make a poor decision, such as eat a hard red berry, or fail to check for mountain lions as he walked a winding trail. In any case, we tend to not take chances and be wary of what we do. In poker, this can be a problem.

The way I decided to best get people to feel comfortable making bluffs was to first review, in great detail, the best times to bluff. I came up with my top six. The #1 best time to bluff is known and utilized regularly by all good players. In fact, I didn't have to discuss this one at all because I have a full 60 minute course on it - the continuation bet. #2 on the bluff parade is the position bluff. If everyone in the hand checks to you, more times than not they got nada - a very good time to put in a bet. I review a group of simulated hands showing these bluffs and the other four situations with analysis on my web site.

The next thing I talk about is not the bluff itself, but the hands leading up to the bluff. You need to create the right image - tight and ABC. I would say 40% of making a good bluff can directly be attributed to the hands you already played. Which also involves the chemistry of the table, your profile of your opponents and momentum. Bluffs are not something that should be over used because they are very high risk. When your mojo is working, you're feeling confident and cool. This leads me to the next most important factor - your demeanor. Then finally chip stack, overall strategy and goals need to go into the overall bluff percentage you want to hit.

There was so much to cover, I'll need to add another course on advanced bluffing methods. Who'd have thought there was so much involved in throwing your chips in a pot when you have nothing. Go figure.

Balancing Act: Life as in Poker

I think unconsciously, we are all making decisions on a sliding scale. There are always extremes and we are always adjusting how we live, act and relate based on our mood, our goals, our upbringing etc. For example, there is work and family. How much should we focus on our work and how much time should we spend with our family? In the short term, there is a drive to be at work and make as much money as we can. Be successful. Be rich. But in the long term, we find out that accumulating excess cash at the expense of spending time with our family is an empty pursuit. Not many people on their deathbed say; "I wish I spent more time at the office."

On the other hand, we do need to make enough to ensure our family's security and to achieve some personal satisfaction. So we slide our actions on the "Family/Work scale" that works best for us.

We also have scales relative to Eat/Starve. Friends/No friends. Organize/disorganize. Exercise/relax. etc. Life is a big balancing act where we try to keep things just right. When things are out of balance, we can fall down the evil road of drugs, alcohol or infidelity or some other unhappy failing.

Personally I do yoga once a week. Been doing it now for 22 years and haven't missed a week. Besides working wonders on my weak back, it gives me a chance to reflect on the balances in my life. Many times we are unaware of the scale and we fall into these ruts. I don't say I completely "unskew" my ruts (far from it), but I use that meditative time to make some adjustments.

Poker works almost the exact same way. I'm currently working on a course on Tournament Play during the middle phase. A good player carefully slides each scale in a dynamic way as new information and situations change. For example, in tournament poker it is absolutely critical that you make moves (bluff or semi-bluff). How often you do so is the sliding scale. You may slide toward bluffing a lot if: prior attempts were successful; you are the chip leader; your opponents are playing passive (ABC) poker; good opportunities keep presenting themselves; you haven't been getting good starting cards etc. The good player keeps changing his or her bluff percentage based on everything in his or her poker universe. The weak player plays the same way every time. Being aware in poker and acting on what you perceive leads to success in the long term. And guess what? It's all about the long term.

Poker Think

Often in the poker room, a player will come up to me and ask; "Did I do the right thing?" Then he or she goes on to describe a particular hand, the betting etc. I reassure them that they played it fine (which they usually did). Now that I have these intensive poker courses, I get inquiries from people who ask me something like; if you have AK and a player goes all in ahead of you, do you call? I sent them a response that essentially amounts to; "it depends."

My real feeling about these scenario interactions is that if you ask a question like that; you're not getting it. You're not thinking like a successful poker player. Poker is a game where you not only need to take a myriad of factors into account when you consider what to do, but you also need to work hard to NOT play hands the same time every time. Deception is a HUGE factor in being a quality player. You're trying to throw your opponents off. You're trying to get in their head. Frustrate them. How in the world could you possibly do that if you play hands by way of some formula. Can't be done.

Also, the world of quality poker is a world of probabilities. A very tricky world. You take into account the probability that you have the best hand. The chances of hitting a draw. The chances your opponent will fold. This all makes poker so interesting. So you need to keep a running sense in your head how often you performed certain moves and try to keep your proportion within a prescribed success range. As I've been thinking about poker and poker strategy, I figured a dozen or so detailed courses. But it wasn't even close. First one needs so to understand poker think. Then one needs to know how to play basic (ABC) poker. Then all the standard situations need to be reviewed and analyzed. That just lays the groundwork. Now we need to get into tournament poker. Then live, cash poker. Then advanced moves. By the time I was done, it was clear 60 to 70 hours (courses) of instruction would be necessary. I'm up to 13 courses on the site and I'm having a ball reaching back into my pedagogic grab bag and creating all kinds of content, exercises and interactions. At least 50 more on on the drawing board and are coming available at a rate of about 3 every two weeks. (That's why I'm offering unlimited access now for only $4.99/month. The offer is only available for the next few months or so. The price will be much higher later on.)

If you decide you want to be a great poker player, expect to put in hours and hours of study, work and practice. Some say you need ten years to get to the highest levels. I think you can get there much faster. But you have to be focused and motivated. But most importantly, you gotta love to play the game.

Looking at the World Differently

Ever since I've made the jump to playing poker for at least part of my income, I've noticed some very interesting effects on my general life outlook.

First of all, I see money in a very different way. Since it comes and goes in waves, it has lost much of its significance to me. By that, I mean for example, I hired this book promoter (Kennata) a few months back to set up some book signings. Kennata could notta do anything right. She turned out to be totally incompetent and I pretty much lost all the money I paid her and she took 100 of my books and never returned them. In the past, I would have been very disturbed and resentful and I would have pulled out all the stops to get my money back. Now. I say, "Darn, $3200 down the drain. That sucks." I move on. It's like I had a real bad day at the tables. Everything is compared to a day at the tables. I get a tax refund check for $4500. Nice. A good day at the tables. Money is coming into my pocket and leaving it far more frequently than before. It's the way of the poker pro. I think this is a positive change in my world view. I see money more clearly for what it is. It isn't the be all or end all for my existence. Far from it. Just the makings of a bad day or a good day. No big deal. I can now focus on the really important things in life. Time. Family. Friends. Creating. Art.

I think it has also forced me to be much more aware of the moment. Just as Utah becomes existential in the tropical wilderness, I've become more attuned to the present. For example, every time I get a nice payoff from a tournament or big cash win, I use a formula for the disbursement of my winnings. Let's say I just won $10,000. Of that I take 25% ($2,500) and put it away. I use another $2,500 for everyday expenses. Another quarter is reinvested into my poker bankroll. And, most importantly, I spend $2500 right away on something fun, something I can enjoy that very moment, usually with my wife and family. Once I took my wife on a two week trip to Italy. Another time I bought a big flat screen TV. A cruise. Refinished our basement. A cross country trip in a monster RV. Five days in St. Lucia. All in the last five years or so. Poker has allowed me to enjoy the journey. To experience, savor and relish all the steps along the way and not sweat the small stuff. Thanks poker, you've opened my eyes.

NInes (Ughh!)

For the last few weeks the circus has been in town. Foxwoods, my home casino, has been hosting its semiannual major tournament. In the Spring, its called the Foxwoods Classic. I've been able to finally fit in a few events into my schedule. And of the three tournaments I played so far I kept running into these damn pocket nines. Unlike our smiling friend in the picture, pocket nines did not win me any first place trophies.

There are many plays in tournaments poker where you have to be bisexual (you can go either way). Pocket nines seems to present those situations more often than not. Let me give you the lowdown.

Here I am minding my own business at the $1500 buy-in event. I'm not getting any cards, but with guile and aggression I'm staying pat. We started with $7000 in chips and I have about $6200 and we are three or four hours in and playing the 200/400 level. I'm on the big blind with - you guessed it - pocket nines. The first guy to act has about $18,000 in chips and has been getting good cards. Not stepping out very much that I could tell. He raises to $1100. Less than the standard 3X, so its likely he has a good pocket pair or AK. Possibly AQ. The cutoff calls and I call. I mean I have to at least call. I could raise and see where I'm at, but that is really risky now that the standard has been set. Plus I'd be opening up the betting for more action preflop. I'd either have to go all in or put more than 50% of my chips in the middle. Just to see where I was at? I don't think so. The 80% play (see my courses for more on the 80% play) is to call.

So here comes the flop. 7H....4C....2D. So, without a nine coming out, this is about the best flop I could hope for. The problem is that my read is that this under-the-gun guy has me beat with a bigger pocket pair. I could bet out. Nothing wrong with a $1500 bet. But what am I going to do if I get raised all in for my last $3600? I gotta call and I gotta be beat. If not by the under-the-gun guy than by Mr. Cut-off. So I check and hope it gets checked around. Nope. The original raiser makes it $2600 to go. Cut-off folds. I gotta put in 50% of my stack to call. 100% just to make a min raise. Tough. Tough. Tough. What was I hoping for? You can go either way on this one. Shove or fold. Use and trust your read. My read was: he had me beat. I mucked. Later, I saw him get kind of frisky with borderline hands and I can't be sure my read was right. But he did mention to his buddy that he had pocket aces earlier and got only a little action. Could that have been this hand? We'll never know. I fought through three quarters of the field and finally succumbed when I tried to steal and was called in two places. I lost and was out.

Then in the $1000 event I got even deeper into the tournament. There was about 20% of the field left. Again I'm way below average in chips. I got about $9000 when we started with $6000. I'm under-the-gun with....right, pocket nines. Not a lot of decision here. Gotta shove. I did. The very next guy called me with queens and out the door I flew.

In tournament poker, you go as far as the cards will take you. You can't win or even make the money just by bluffing and stealing your way in. You have to win a few easy pots with the best hand. Keep the odds in your favor and everything works out in the long run. Winning at poker, tournaments and cash is all about the long run. But please, easy on the pocket nines.