As you know, if you read this blog at all, I am very much a student of the game. I read books, I watch online training videos, I participate in strategy forums and... well, I write quite a bit about teh pokerz in this blog as well.
For about five years now I have wanted to attend a World Series of Poker Academy event. I have also considered a WPT Boot Camp. It seems to me that it would be a great way to get some extra poker knowledge and also have a lot of fun really diving into the strategies of the game, picking the brains of people who have had amazing results.
But always, the timing was off for me. Whatever weekend an Academy fell on, I always had something else planned or some kind of obligation. Last year, finally, I saw an event scheduled in Los Angeles on a weekend that didn't appear to have any conflicts. Also, the lead pro was to be Brian Rast, a fantastic player with outstanding tournament results and multiple bracelets, including one for the 50K Poker Players Championship in the WSOP. Sign me up!
I managed also to score a substantial discount, which brought the price down from $1600 to just over 1K for two full days of immersive training. While at first glance this may seem like a lot, it really is a tremendous value for the amount of time you get with not only Mr. Rast, but his fellow pros such as 3 bracelet winner and onetime WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen, who is hilarious as well as super poker smart, Gavin Griffin - also a bracelet winner with nearly 5 million in live tournament winnings, and two other very capable tournament specialists including the delightful Melanie Weisner, who has been on the international circuit in recent years and is a fun firecracker presence at the table.
I arrived a bit early and got in line to check in, when who should walk past me but one of the semi-regulars from my home game! Walter was here! He didn't see me so I texted him in line, we had a good laugh when we realized that the secret was out! I was glad that I would have someone to commiserate with over the weekend.
Checking in was a breeze, the nice lady at the counter, Lindsay, recognized my name simply because I had corresponded with her so many times over the years. She was glad I finally made it and made me feel welcome. Her boisterous colleague Ace got me a huge bag of cool SWAG (hat, patch, pens, water bottle, fun novelty items and a very nice sweater that fits great) and I took a seat. Walter sat down as my neighbor and we chatted a bit; turns out, this was his second Academy, he went to one in Vegas in 2008. He told me that it was a great experience, and that even though he already knew maybe 90% of what they had taught, it was that extra 10% that was WAY worth it.
The Academy was broken into two sections - a lecture from Brian Rast and live "hand labs" which was essentially a simulated tournament with an instructor (one of the pros) dealing and critiquing hands.
I felt like I did actually get a lot out of Rast's lecture, much more than 10% of the material was indeed new to me, probably about 20% overall, which was great - but even better than that for me, Rast's talk was absolutely a very satisfying affirmation of my game and my efforts over the past half a decade. When he would ask a question to the class, I typically knew it - when he would posit a hypothetical situation, I almost always knew the correct line or at least the arguments for it. Rast was great at being very detailed and at the same time very clear on some tricky topics like hand ranges and combinatorics.
He was also exceedingly patient and gracious with what I thought were some not so great questions - but he always found a way to direct them towards a productive path of discussion, so it never felt that any of the students were wasting our time, which they easily could have.
A couple of things, the new stuff for me - or if not new, at least a new perspective:
One item that kind of blew my mind on the second day lecture had to do with the concept of "blockers" and the value of 3 betting with any ace in position. When Rast really broke it down, it was illuminating as to why relentless aggression in position reigns supreme in NLHE tournaments.
Another topic towards the end of the first day that was very gratifying to go over - the value of 3 betting from the small blind. It was a great relief to hear the reasoning behind this, as I thought I was going crazy over the last 2 years seeing so much 3 betting from the small blind; no, it does really exist and there are actual mathematical reasons for it.
Also very satisfying to hear it confirmed, not only by Rast in the lecture, but by the other pros in the labs, that pocket pairs when they hit a set are indeed massively powerful and your only concern (except for the wettest of boards after 4th street) should be getting your chips in.
Related to this, it was EXTREMELY satisfying to hear in the labs, instructor after instructor telling players things like "You need to get it in here. You need to shove. Why bet so large and then fold?"
This is how I've approached the game for years - I have always seen the big picture of my tournament equity. My rule of thumb has been, if I am committing 25% of my stack or more with a bet, I should just shove. I'm not giving up so much and then folding. Turns out, 25% is too much. Rast puts that limit at 15%, the other instructors line up with this as well, with only one of them saying that you could push it to 20%.
Player after player in my hand lab would get their bet sizing wrong. I did too on occasion, but mostly because I was nervous. In my head I really did know before they even said something if I had done it wrong. One of the most satisfying moments for me of the entire weekend was with Melanie Weisner, when she was trying to explain to the fellow on my right that why his massive overbet of the pot with top pair good kicker was incorrect - she struggled a little bit in clarifying why it was bad and said so... "I'm not being clear here... your bet means you are...." she paused, I chimed in "Winning the minimum and losing the maximum?" "Yes!" she exclaimed "Thank you!" This is a concept that I've known for a number of years now, and it made me feel super good to know that I am on the right page with this very common leak.
So yes, if you couldn't tell, the hand labs were my favorite part. We would play the hand, and players who folded would keep their mucked cards on the rail. At the end of the hand all of the cards got turned up, and we all learned from the pro what went right and what went wrong.
My lab had one player at the table who was a genuine fish by the name of John. A perfectly nice person I'm sure, but a Bike regular who I've played with before who has zero clue on bet sizing and typically plays to lose the maximum. I have seen him accumulate a massive stack only to spew it all off on several occasions; it was interesting to see what he held in this hand lab, as he proceeded to do what he does.
At first I was a bit irritated, as John played nearly every hand, but I took it as an opportunity to think about how to deal with someone so loose, especially when he seems to be hitting most of his hands. Turns out I was more understanding than the instructors. Brian Rast on the second day lost it a little bit with John's luck boxing. He didn't raise his voice, but he was fairly irritated - "No, this is a bad hand that you shouldn't be playing" John tried to interject and Brian cut him off "Look, you guys are paying me a lot of money to learn, there is no justification for playing K6 out of position, even with a big stack... it's wrong, it's ugly. Don't do it." It was great to hear him go to town a bit, not mean at all, but definitely assertive. And it was also reassuring that even a LAG like Brian, who is a stone cold killer at the table and strikes fear into the hearts of amateurs like me, does indeed still hold that garbage OOP is inexcusable even when deep or against a table of fishes.
We also had a tournament on Saturday night, about 50 players and prizes for the top 3 including a trip to Vegas for first and a chance to win 5K in World Series buy ins for 2014. It was a good time, and I enjoyed playing and even talking a bit of poker as I normally would never do out in the wild. Hey, we were there to learn right? I might have misplayed my exit hand, but truthfully, at the final table I knew I needed to more than double up to have a chance at 1st place which was the only prize really worth having. I made a very good read on my opponents, they were super light, and I did get my money in with very live cards as a slight underdog to the one guy with the weak ace. Oh well. EDIT: I just ran my hand in an odds calculator, and my hand KQos was actually a tiny favorite when the money went in. I had KhQd which was 35.11% to win, the other guys had As3c which was only 33.5% and 79ss which was 30.95%. I RULE.
Overall, for me, this was a great experience. I would highly recommend it to most of my poker playing friends - especially those who are cognizant of their own leaks and are able to listen and apply what they have learned. It truly is one of those experiences that you can get a lot out of, IF you put effort into it. I could very easily see a regular from the Bike or Commerce, arrogant or inattentive or both, zoning out in the lectures and arguing with the pros in the hand labs and walking away thinking that it wasn't worth it; but it would take a special brand of idiot to come away from the WSOP Academy with this attitude.
I am super stoked that I went and very excited to review my notes and apply what I have learned in my next poker session - unfortunately I probably won't get to play for another couple of weeks but oh well.
I had originally hoped to try and satellite into the WSOP Circuit main event at the Bike this weekend, but my schedule is simply too busy. Hopefully I will be able to partake in a day 1 flight of Mega Millions 9 which runs right after the circuit.
