What is a balanced poker player?
Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, and other places that have legalized gambling, are packed with people who have chosen to make gambling -- especially poker -- their major source of income. Some of them have done remarkably well at their profession, while others have fallen by the wayside.
I have received emails from members of this website who are interested in quitting their jobs, pulling up stakes, and moving to Las Vegas. They think they are good and they want to test their luck at becoming a professional player.
My advice to them is always the same: it isn't as easy as it looks. Be careful what you wish for.
Las Vegas or any gambling city is full of temptations that could strip a person of his bankroll, his dream and his ability to earn a living. Being or trying to be a professional gambler can also destroy relationships and weaken family ties. It is not a decision you should make lightly.
During my many years as a poker player and magazine writer covering the World Series of Poker and other major gambling events, I have found very few balanced poker players who actually made a success of what they were doing, and here are just a few of them:
Doyle Brunson ranks near the top of the list. Oklahoma Johnny Hale is right up there, along with Phil Hellmuth, who may be one of the most balanced poker players I know.
For beginners, Hellmuth is married to a psychiatrist at Stanford University. He and his wife, Katherine, have two children and he lives a very stable family life. With Phil, family comes first and poker comes second.
Hellmuth has won over $21 million playing poker. In personal interviews with me, he smilingly admitted or at least claimed, 'I am one of the luckiest people alive.'
He has missed major poker tournaments in order to attend important family events, like a Little League baseball game that one of his kids was playing in. Once in Europe, he was competing in a big poker tournament. While he was concerned about the outcome, he readily accepted the possibility that he would be knocked out. No matter. His sister was competing in a bicycle race in Italy and Hellmuth had already decided to travel to the country to cheer his sister on if he lost all his chips.
Phil has played poker and blackjack throughout Europe as well as the United States -- Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, London and Cardiff, Wales. When he arrives at his destination, no matter how long he has been awake, he always goes on a 30-minute run to work himself into shape for the tournament.
'The run makes up for the lack of sleep,' he said. It pumps oxygen into his brain, clears his head, and makes it possible for him to play good, meaningful poker for five or six hours. After that, he retires to his hotel room for a night of good solid sleep.
Hellmuth has been criticized by poker critics and fellow players for his antics at the poker table. Nicknamed, 'the Poker Brat,' he has been known to scream at foes when they call his raises with poor hands. He sulks, he steams, but he always bounces back. He doesn't let a bad beat keep him down for long, reasoning, 'Hey, it's only poker.'
He has an uncanny sixth sense for knowing when he is beat. Hellmuth has laid down big hands like A-K suited or even pocket kings in tournaments or cash games when he feels he is beat. Rarely has he been wrong.
He likes it when a player keeps raising him, knowing it is only a matter of time before he catches a trap hand that will break that player. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, Phil rakes in a big pot that can make the difference in a tournament.
During his early years as a tournament poker player, Hellmuth played like he was the Tiger Woods of the game. It seemed everything he did turned out right. He outdrew so many opponents that it unnerved them and they would throw away even high pairs because of his aggressive moves.
He even taught his wife, Kathy, how to play poker and actually played against her in tournaments during the early years of their marriage. In a 44-player limit Hold'em tournament on an Indian reservation, all the players were eliminated except Phil and his wife. Hellmuth suggested they stop playing and split the prize money, $1,600 for first place, $900 for second.
‘Honey, the money's all going to the bank account,' Phil said. 'Do you want to just stop playing right now?'
'Not a chance,' she said. 'Let's play for the title, Hubby,' she added. They went on and Phil admits, 'I was dumb enough to beat her that day. I won, but I didn't win if you know what I mean.'
She played in another couple of tournaments, including a women's event at the Bicycle Club where she finished fourth. That ended her poker career. She is content to let Phil do the playing while she stays busy in her professional practice and raising their children.
Being a balanced poker player means you keep your priorities in order. Family first. Finances second. Poker third. It keeps families together and makes everybody happy.
Hellmuth never forgot a poker game his wife played in at Nora's, a poker friendly bar in Madison, WI, where they were living before moving out West. It was a $5-10 cash game and a postal worker named, Bruce, who was a friend, got into a pot with Kathy. Bruce raised with K-10 of diamonds and his wife called with A-Q in the small blind. The flop came Ad-As-Qs, giving her a full house.
Bruce hit a straight when the jack of diamonds fell on fourth street. They got into a raising war. The last card was the king of diamonds, giving him a royal flush. Kathy bet out and Bruce raised with the last of his chips. When he turned over his hand, she said, 'Nice cards.'
Phil exploded.
'Honey, that was the worst bad beat I have ever seen,' he said. ‘What a brutal beat.'
She just shrugged it off while Hellmuth raged like a volcano. She stayed balanced while her husband was on tilt. It's a lesson to be learned by everyone who plays poker.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
