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.