Phil Helmuth's Pump 'em or Dump 'em theory, and the ice coolness of Steve Wynn show both sides of how to win with poker....
STANDARD RAISE THEORY Whatever you may think of Phil Hellmuth’s “Mouth”, when he talks strictly about poker tactics, you have to admire the man’s certainty and conviction. He recently confided that he has ten starting hands for no-limit Texas Hold’em which he finds acceptable. They are: Ace-Ace, King-King, Queen-Queen, Jack-Jack, Ace-King, Ten-Ten, Nine-Nine, Eight-Eight, Seven-Seven and Ace Queen. Under most circumstances he’s prepared to play these hands from any position and doesn’t like to get involved in a game without one of his top ten pairings arriving at the first deal. Hence his famous “Pump ‘em or dump ‘em!” mantra. Hellmuth claims he almost always bets three times the big blind if he lands one of these ten starting hands. Phil believes in what he calls the “standard raise” because it makes it extremely difficult for opposing players to tell what you’re holding. “Sometimes I use the standard raise to steal the occasional big pot!” It’s hard to argue against this tactic. If you demonstrate a standard response most of the time, players are almost always going to fall for the occasional stolen pot because they can’t guess when it’s going to happen. Trying to do so with someone like Phil would be like playing Russian Roulette with your chip stack.
WYNN-ING CAN BE EXPENSIVE Unless you have a serious retina condition like billionaire gaming tycoon Steve Wynn, it’s an eye opener to read how he managed to slam his elbow through his own $128,000,000 Picasso whilst flailing his arms about during a debate on the picture’s finer qualities. There is however a wider lesson here for gamblers in how to take a “loss” well. No screams of fury from Mr Wynn. No blame dealt out to minions. Just a calm recognition of a bad move at the wrong time. Steve politely informed his fellow billionaire who had agreed to buy the painting that he was released from any obligation. He then phoned his wife, who was only vaguely interested, and then presumably continued to peer at his specially magnified closed circuit TV screens showing blurred images of thousands of punters pouring dollars back into his immense coffers. Wynn owns the biggest hotel in Las Vegas (inventively named after himself) and has been a formative figure in many of the Strip’s more extravagant four thousand room gaming monuments. Industry estimates suggest he will earn back the value of the painting in less than two years and that repairs to the Picasso may not in fact reduce its value that much after all. The WYNN hotel poker room is one of the biggest and best in Vegas and most nights is probably playing host to at least one high roller capable of affording a slightly vandalised masterpiece. Don’t be jealous. Would you swap an incurable, rare eye condition for a massive fortune? Near blindness for a billion? Nor would I. Lady Luck distributes her favours in even measure to us all, eventually. That’s why I love poker. You’ll get your share of luck over time, but gaining the edge is entirely up to you.
