John Vorhaus - Killer Poker Online 2: Advanced Strategies for Crushing the Internet Game

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and hit 2 to speed dial my wife. The call connected, but went straight to voice mail. Hi, this is Anne, my wifes recorded voice said. Im sorry I missed your call, but

I hit the pound key and spoke after the beep: Hey, its me. I busted out. Call me when you get the message.

After two days at the 2005 World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio, two days spent playing the best poker of my life against the toughest field of professional players Ive ever seen in one place, Id taken a terrible beat at the hands of an internet player, and two hands later, took another one at the hands of Annie Duke. I went from seventh in chips to staring into Lake Bellagio in a matter of minutes. Such is the reality of no limit tournament poker.

I closed my phone, shoved it deep into my pocket, and stared into the lake. A few minutes later, a fellow poker player gave me a Newcastle Brown Ale. You look like you could use it, she said.

I thanked her, put the bottle to my lips, and drank. I leaned on the rail and resumed staring into the lake. Suddenly, Con Te Partiro boomed and the Bellagio fountains came to life. While they danced, a hand gently tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around. Yes?

The hand belonged to a kind-faced woman who said, I just saw you bust out. Im so sorry.

I shrugged my shoulders. Wallowing in misery is every poker players privilege, as long as we keep the details of our bad beats to ourselves.

Thanks.

Would you be willing to talk to John Vorhaus?

John Vorhaus, I thought, where have I heard that name before?

Johns a journalist and the author of Killer Poker .

I wondered if she was just continuing her thought, or if I had a big, fat tell that let her right into my mind.

Of course! I thought. Ryan gave me Killer Poker for my birthday last year.

Sure, I said. But give me a few minutes to compose myself, okay?

Of course, she said. Well be inside when youre ready.

She walked back into the Fontana Room, and I looked at the lake, the fountains, the Eiffel Tower across The Stripanything to remove the image of two hideous queens hitting the flop from my mind.

A few minutes (and a couple more Newcastles) later, I walked back into the room. I glanced at my chips, neatly stacked in front of Mr. Bust Wils Kings, and found the kind-faced woman. She stood next to an equally kind-faced man. He wore wire-rimmed glasses and a khaki vest. He made notes as Phil Ivey and Greg Raymer raised and reraised each other preflop. If he hadnt been wearing an UltimateBet cap, I never would have pegged him for a poker writer. He looked more like a war correspondent from Vietnam or El Salvador.

Iveys been beating up this table for hours, he whispered to her. Raymer just came over the top of him for about 30,000.

Raymer put on his trademark Fossilman glasses and rested his chin on his hand. Ivey thought for a long time, before he tapped the felt and mucked his cards with an almost imperceptible nod to Greg.

After a lifetime in the entertainment industry, its very difficult for me to get star struck, but as I stood there, in the Fontana Room at Bellagio, and watched the 2004 World Series of Poker champion lock horns with one of the games rising stars, goosebumps rose on my arms. Imagine standing on the field during the Super Bowl or sitting on the bench during the NBA finals (or, if youve bought this book, standing in the Fontana Room at Bellagio during the WPT Championship) and youll have an approximation of how I felt.

The hand having ended, the man in khaki turned to me and extended his hand.

Hi, Im John Vorhaus, he said.

We shook hands.

Youve met my wife, Maxx Duffy, he said, with a nod to the kind-faced woman.

Yes, I said, as the first genuine smile in hours spread across my face. Somewhere in the back of my mind, in that place I describe as The Monkey Brain, I knew that Id just met two kindred spirits who were going to become lifelong friends.

Im blogging this for UltimateBet, John said. Would you mind talking to me about the tournament?

Id be happy to, I said.

We walked back outside, and I told John my bad beat story. He listened and took notes, and Ill never forget how we ended the conversation: Hey, I would have played both those hands exactly the same way.

Really? I said.

Oh yeah, but sometimes you do everything right and the other guy still catches a four-outer to crush you, he said. Thats poker.

Later that night, I had dinner with John and Maxx. The following day, we traded hand histories and chip counts as we covered the tournament; he for UltimateBet, and me for what I hope will ultimately become my version of Positively Fifth Street or Big Deal . Over the next five days, as we cemented our friendship, John took me under his wing and willingly answered every question I asked, no matter how stupid, about poker, journalism, poker journalism, and anything else that came into my fragile, eggshell mind. I came to realize that John Vorhaus is the living embodiment of chapter 81 of the Tao Te Ching , which says in part:

The sage never tries to store things up.

The more he does for others, the more he has.

The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.

When youre done with this book, Im sure youll agree that John never stores anything up. Within its pages (and its companion Killer Poker volumes), John will be to you what he has become to me: teacher, mentor, critic, and friend.

Okay, so now you know what I know: John is a great guybut before I get out of your way and let you get to the actual book youve paid to read, I would like to give an example of what a great teacher he is.

I am a member of Team PokerStars, a group of poker players that includes Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier, Evelyn Ng, and Tom McEvoy. (I, like you, also marvel at how I managed to sneak my way into this incredible company. Maybe when you finish this book, youll come and replace me.)

Once a week, Tom faces off in a heads up match with the PokerStars player who has accumulated the most points on the PokerStars Tournament Leader Board. From time to time, Tom cant play, and another member of Team PokerStars gets the call to play in his place.

Where do you think this is going?

>>

(When you get to the fourth page of the introduction, thats going to be really, really funny. I promise.)

Ding! I got called off the benchto play against infamous tournament sensation and 2005 European Poker Tour Champion Noah Exclusive Boeken. I was terrified.

Ringringring

Come on, John, pick up! Pick up!

Rin Hey, Cowboy Wil!

Hey, JV.

I dispensed with the usual friendly chatter about the things we both love: baseball, our dogs, movies, and our wives. I got right to the point.