Aussie Millions:The Road to Mastery

This morning there was another chance for the online qualifiers to learn from the Howard “The Professor” Lederer started the day’s activities by giving a talk with the title The Road to Poker Mastery: A Different Path. Following his talk there was a Q&A session with an all-star panel that included Gus Hansen, Steve Zolotow, Clonie Gowen, Ben Roberts, Steve Brecher, Mark Vos, David Chiu, Robert Mizrachi, John Juanda, and David Singer.

This was an amazing opportunity to pick the brains for the game’s best thinkers.

Howard ‘The Professor’ Lederer giving some poker lessons

Borrowing heavily for Eastern philosophies, Howard said there are four stages in the path to poker mastery. He introduced each stage with a quote from an Eastern philosopher.

Stage 1: Beginner. “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few.”

For the beginner, Howard stressed that having fun while playing is the most important thing. You won’t have the desire to grow and improve if there isn’t true enjoyment of the activity.

He implored players to play all different forms of poker, not just No Limit Hold ‘em. By playing different games, a beginner will learn the skills that he can then apply to other games. For example, by playing Pot-Limit Omaha the player will see the true importance of position, and by playing Stud, he’ll see just how vital it is to get free cards. Further, when a player experiments in all the different games, he has the opportunity to discover the game for which he has the greatest gift. A player may concentrate on Hold ‘em with out ever learning that his greatest edge is in Omaha-8.

Stage 2: Student. “[The student] is now forced to admit he is at the mercy of everyone who is stronger, more nimble…”

A true student is one who understands that there are better players than he. He’s willing to learn from those around him. A good student learns not only from the better players, but also from lesser players who possess skills or knowledge that he does not.

He offered a partial reading list for students that includes, Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players (Sklansky and Malmouth), Theory of Poker (Sklansky), Super/System 1/2 (Brunson, et. al.), Harrington on Hold’em 1,2,3 (Harrington).

Howard suggested that students read 10 pages of a book at a time, then try to apply that knowledge in their next few session. You get better incrementally, he said, by adding things to your game piece after piece after piece.

He also believes in learning by moving up in stakes. The better players who beat the higher limits have a lot to teach. Moving up is a slow and difficult process that requires good money management, but it’s well worth the effort.

Stage 3: Expert. “He who has a 100 miles to walk should reckon that 90 is half the journey.”

The best players, the true experts, never stop learning. He noted that in his early years of playing, learned a ton from some friends he met in New York’s Mayfair club. The players included Erik Seidel, Jay Heimowitz, Steve Zolotow, Dan Harrington and Jason Lester.

Stage 4: Master. “If one wishes to be master, he must transcend technique.”

Poker is a lifetime journey and true mastery is impossible. To make this point, he told two contrasting stories. The first story concerned a novice player who was at a $3/$6 limit table years ago. Howard was at lunch with the guy, who had a great afternoon, winning $500. The player told Howard that he thought he had played a perfect session of poker. Howard replied that in his life he didn’t think he’d played a perfect 15 minutes of poker.

The second story concerned Phil Ivey. After winning a very tough tournament, Phil couldn’t crack a smile when interviewed for TV. Howard said to Phil that he might try to enjoy his accomplishment But Phil replied, “I couldn’t keep from thinking about how bad I played.”

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After Howard’s talk, the panel took questions covering a wide array of subjects. One qualifier wondered whether it was bad etiquette to ask to see another player’s mucked hand. Steve Brecher noted that this is an anti-collusion rule.

Most on the panel agreed that this was terrible etiquette and might lead to some undesired results. A weak player might get offended and decide to leave a cash game. Or other players may decide that turnabout’s fair play and ask to see your cards at the conclusion of every hand.

Further discussion of etiquette concerned shaking a player’s hand upon busting. Both Gus Hansen and Howard said that they weren’t keen on shaking hands in the early portions of a tournament. That’s more of a final table thing, they said.

Matt Savage, who moderated the discussion, asked the panel how they’d feel if they found out they were at a particularly tough table. One of the starting tables today includes Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Evelyn Ng, and Kathy Leibert. At another table, there will be only one player sitting between Mike Matusow and Tony G. Yikes.

Howard said that being at one of these tables might not be all bad. Phil Ivey has been playing a ton of golf since he’s been here, and in the early stages of the tournament is likely thinking that if he busts early he’ll be able to get in 18 holes.