Playing Poker with my Brother

For me poker is more than a hobby. Almost every waking moment that I am not working, eating or sleeping either playing poker, watching poker on TV, reading about poker, and yes even when I am sleeping I dream about poker.


For the past few months I have been dabbling into the realm of teaching poker, specifically teaching my brother Kyle how to play tournament no limit Hold’em. He has been doing pretty well on the donk-fest that passes itself off as poker on FaceBook.

Yesterday was the first test of my teaching ability as Kyle and family came to town to celebrate the New Year with us. This would be his first ever live tournament and his first tournament with real money on the line (all be it was only $55, still...). I must say he did my proud. We played in the 10am tournament at the M Resort Casino. There were 36 entries and to make a long poker story short, we both made the final table. Kyle went out in 9th when his must shove move with K 2 (with an M of 1.5) was trumped by the UTG (and am M of approx 5) that had K J. I followed shortly finishing in 7th when I shoved (with an M of 2) with 8 8 and was called by the BB who had J 8. It was looking pretty good for me (66.9% vs. 33.1% pre-flop) but alas there was a Jack on the flop and the case 8 was nowhere to be found.

I was extremely pleased with Kyle's play. We specifically asked to be set at separate tables to start and on his first hand he (claims) had A A. We had specifically talked about what he should do if he had A A on the very first hand. He said he would fold it, I said if he had A A even on the first hand he should raise, re-raise, and re-re-raise until he couldn't raise anymore and if he couldn't he should seriously consider not playing. Well he did the right thing. He raised and everyone folded. He also had the distinction of be the first person to knock someone out of the tournament.

Before the second break I had gotten extremely lucky when with only $1800 left on the BB. The guy in the hijack position raised to $1500, the Button called the small blind folded and I looked down to K K. I pushed and both players made the extra $300 call. There was a K on the flop and I coasted into a triple up

By the time the second the second break came both of us were getting short. I had 12 BB, Kyle had 6 BB. It was time for some short stack strategy coaching and Kyle did it perfectly. When we dropped to 2 tables they randomly put Kyle on my immediate right. And what happened should have been predicted. Kyle moved all in, I look down at A 8. With less than 10 BB any Ace is pretty much a shove, unless someone has already raised before me. It was time to see if the teacher would take his own advice. I didn't. Since I was in the BB and had money out there I pushed as well. Kyle turned over A 9! DOMINATED!!! The student was going to take out the teacher in his very first tournament. However I got lucky again, the board paired twice and we ended up splitting the pot. Two or three hands later we condensed to the final table.

So the teaching thing... I have already completed a curriculum outline, and book list and a study guide. I have taken on a new student as well. When they are ready for me to say who it is I will but in the mean time their identity will remain safely anonymous.

2010 is going to be the year of Poker for me with much more poker coming. The Bellagio\WPT Championship is coming up, the 2010 WSOP schedule has been announced and I am hoping to play in 3 - 6 events depending on my satellite results, and after yesterday's tournament I think the competition at the M is pretty soft.

If you are interested in a graphic 2010 WSOP schedule, I have built a spreadsheet that outlines all of the events, and scheduled satellites for the entire tournament. I would be happy to share it with anyone interested.

Craig