Teaching Poker

By Daniel Negreanu

Fresh off a win at the World Series of Poker in '98, I had a newfound confidence in my own abilities. I went on a tear right after that, winning a tournament in four consecutive events from L.A. to Vegas. I was running well, playing well, and extremely confident that "my way" was the right way. After all, it seemed as though everything I did worked, so I assumed it would be easy to teach people to do the same.

I had many friends at the time who came to me for poker advice. My typical response was either raise, reraise, check-raise, or bet. You see, I learned something valuable from the successes I was having in the tournaments. Aggressiveness was essential for me to succeed. I needed to push, push, push in order to be optimally effective. I had to throw caution to the wind and go all out to the finish line.

Little did I know at the time that my perception of "perfect strategy" was a little off. Don't get me wrong, I was right about aggressiveness being an important part of any poker game, but I failed to see that there were also effective alternatives. So, in actuality, I wasn't giving my friends the best advice I could give them, after all.

There was one friend in particular whom I may have steered in the wrong direction as a result of my advice. Her name is Evelyn Ng, and I met her in Toronto when I was about 17 years old, right around the same time I started playing poker.

Anyway, Evelyn was having some trouble adjusting to playing in Las Vegas. She'd played in Toronto for years, and did extremely well. Of course, the games in Toronto were much softer than those in Las Vegas, so it wasn't surprising that she'd need some time to get adjusted. She had all the tools to beat the games in Vegas, but unfortunately she had a terrible tutor - me.

Poker is an interesting game, in that the correct decision for me may not be the best decision for you. Why? There are several reasons, but the most important one is clearly table image.

My table image was that of a wild, crazy, young, hotshot player. There was a fear that I sensed in my opponents: "Don't bluff that kid, he's nuts," or, "I'm not getting involved with that maniac." Inadvertently, my aggressiveness caused many of my opponents to play incorrectly against me. Could I profit from this image? Yes. But, what if I were a beautiful 6-foot Asian female with a model-type figure? Would the same things be as effective? Maybe. However, could there be an even better way to profit from that table image?

Well, I've never been able to experience what it is like to play poker as a beautiful female, but it became obvious that what worked for me wasn't working for her.

It occurred to me later that she may be better off exploiting her image in a different way. Maybe she could get away with a timely bluff here and there. Or, maybe she could get a free card with as little as a smile. Either way, it was clear that the information I was giving her was flawed, simply because it didn't complement her strengths or her table image.

Of course, there were other reasons that it didn't work for her, as well. The more hands you play, the more difficult decisions you'll be forced to make, thus creating more opportunities to make mistakes. Without much practice playing lots of marginal hands, it's no surprise that her results were negatively affected. She was used to playing rather conservatively, and I was recommending getting more involved in marginal situations. That's a tough transition for anyone, and I later learned that the transition wasn't necessary in order for her to play winning poker.

Luckily, Evelyn became an accomplished player all by herself. She found her niche and has her own style of play that is effective and comfortable for her.

Although I was a failure as a poker tutor, I took a lot out of the whole experience. I learned that when it comes to teaching poker, you can teach fundamentals. And there are ways you can teach discipline, and even focus.

On the other hand, you can't teach instinct. You can't teach creativity. You can't teach table image. You can, however, help people with suggestions on how to exploit their preferred table image. Evelyn was unique to me because she didn't want to play every hand. Most people prefer being part of the action, but Evelyn was more comfortable waiting her turn and minimizing her fluctuation.

I assume that it has a lot to do with the makeup of a person. If you are aggressive by nature, you'll likely want to play poker that way. If you are a little more passive by nature, you'll likely play a more conservative style. Regardless, there is a place in poker for both of these approaches, as both can be effective. Obviously, I fall into the aggressive category, but there are many successful players out there, like Kathy Liebert and T.J. Cloutier, who take a more careful, deliberate approach to winning.

So, the next time you give your buddies poker advice, remember that there are many factors to think about. Rather than just telling them to do what you do, consider how different a situation is with them playing the hand instead of you.

When giving advice, you are better off giving solid, fundamentally sound advice that people can apply regardless of their table image or skill level. People ask me for no-limit hold'em advice all the time, but I'm sure that if I told them how I'd play a hand, they'd get a strange look on their faces, thinking, "What in the world is he talking about?" Just ask Kathy Liebert; I know that thought has crossed her mind on numerous occasions when we've discussed poker! So, I try to avoid all of that. Instead, I tell people what I think the "proper" play is rather than the maniacal play that I might make!