Focused on Bankroll
Saturday, January 3, 2009 - Contender
I focused primarily on live, No Limit ring games with Phil. I haven’t played much live. Perhaps my biggest weakness has been not picking up information visually at the live games. Phil gave me some suggestions to follow in live games, which I believe are going to help me. His advice was different, and easier for me to comprehend than much of the advise on utilizing visual stimuli in the popular poker books.
Phil’s approach to bankroll management and how much to buy in for at a table is different than many successful players. He advised me that protecting the bankroll is perhaps most important, and that it is not necessary to buy in for the maximum amount. I agree with this more conservative approach.
Phil has a reputation of sometimes losing focus and going on tilt. If this is true, it would only be for the very short term. However, for the long term, his record indicates, that he is generally extremely well focused, prepared, and consistent. Almost two decades of consistently being one of the very best would appear to make him the most successful tournament player of the past twenty years. A few players have had great success for a period of a few years, but few, if any players have been able to be as consistently successful as Phil. For example, as well as Daniel Negreanu, a poker player I admire, is currently playing, it will be a great challenge for him to maintain his focus for two decades and to continue to play at a very high level.
I knew I would enjoy meeting Phil, but the lesson was much more productive than I expected it could be for one telephone session. Of course, in one lesson, I couldn’t be taught how to play poker, but his advice and general approach to poker was very helpful to me, particularly for live play.
Tags: live play, No limit ring games, Phil Hellmuth, poker advice, poker books, poker lessons, Poker Strategy
