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 you’re done with this book, I’m sure you’ll 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 guy…but before I get out of your way and let you get to the actual book you’ve 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, you’ll 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 can’t 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, that’s going to be really, really funny. I promise.)
Ding! I got called off the bench…to play against infamous tournament sensation and 2005 European Poker Tour Champion Noah “Exclusive” Boeken. I was terrified.
Ring…ring…ring…
“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.
“…so I accepted the opportunity to play, and then I found out that I’m playing against Exclusive.”
There was an uncharacteristic silence while John thought.
Finally, he said, “Noah Boeken?”
“Yes. Do you think you could help prepare me for the match?”
John immediately replied, “Of course. I’ll email you the chapter on heads up play from Killer Poker Online/2 right now. Call me when you’re done and we’ll go from there.”
A weight lifted from my shoulders. “Thank you! I owe you several beers.”
John laughed and hung up. A few minutes later, I printed out chapter 8, sat beneath a giant Chinese elm tree in my backyard, and began to study.
A few hours later, I was in John’s office. We talked for an hour or so, and just as he did at Bellagio, John patiently answered all the questions I had, even when his answers gently indicated that I’d asked the dumbest questions in the history of the world.
“So,” John said to me while I scratched his dog Ranger’s ears, “how about if we log onto UltimateBet, and you can sweat me while I play a match? Then, we can log onto PokerStars, and I’ll sweat you while you play a match.”
I agreed and got to watch John put his Killer Poker Online into action. He talked me through each hand, discussed why he made the moves he did, and built a nice chip lead against his opponent. Then, just when victory seemed ensured, he took a horrible, horrible, horrible beat that crippled him. Two or three hands later, he was busted.
Just like me, way back when we met at Bellagio.
“Dude! That was so weak!” I said.
John shrugged his shoulders. “No,” he said, calmly, “that’s poker. Now you play.”
So I did. John never told me what to do, but critiqued each play I made, gently and not so gently…I felt like a quarterback getting a private lesson from Joe Montana or a baseball player learning from Ted Williams.
And so it was, with John standing at my back, that mordred_88 called my all in bet and caught runner-runner to make a straight and bust my A-K.
“This isn’t exactly filling me with confidence,” I said. “Maybe I should just offer Exclusive a chop on the second hand.”
We laughed together.
“Okay,” said John, “now let’s play against each other.”
“What a world we live in,” I said. “Here we are, sitting not four feet from each other, surrounded by poker chips and cards, and we’re going to play online.”
He offered, “If you’d rather, we can play a more traditional game.”
“Are you kidding me?” I said. “Screw that! Let the computer handle all the heavy lifting!”
Ten minutes later, Wil_Wheaton faced off against JVorhaus in a $5+.50 online grudge match.
As we played, I used the techniques, psychology, and philosophy John had taught me. I felt confident, in control, and powerful.
John, of course, used the same techniques, psychology, and philosophy, and twenty minutes later, we were still nearly even in chips. Imagine a football game, played entirely between the forty yard lines, if you need a visual.
“It’s like I’m playing a me-bot,” John said.
“This will be the longest heads up match in the history of online poker,” I said.
We continued to fight it out, and eventually I won.
I typed gg into the chat box.
“You did not just type into the chat box, when we’re in the same room,” he said.
I typed yes i did. lol into the chat box.
“Okay, let’s play again,” he said.
We started a new match, and I used John’s techniques, psychology, and philosophy to defeat him again. My confidence climbed up one more notch. Maybe I can give Exclusive a run for his money after all, I thought.
We ended up playing two more times and split them.
Then, “Mister Cowboy Wil,” John said graciously, “I have to let you go.”
It was the proudest moment of my life.
“I feel like I came to the feet of the master and snatched the pebble from your hand,” I said.
John just smiled, and I instantly felt terrible and stupid. Terrible, if I had actually out-played him and now I was gloating; stupid if he’d taken it easy on me to increase my confidence when it mattered.
“I’m really happy that I could help you,” he said. “Play as much as you can between now and Sunday, and call me the moment you win.”
“Or when I’m knocked out,” I said.
“No,” John said. “Call me the moment you win.”
I smiled. “Okay, I will.”
Over the next few days, emboldened by my success in our matches, and using the techniques, psychology, and philosophy John taught me, I went 9-3 in heads up matches online. When I sat down to play Noah Boeken the following Sunday, I expected to feel terrified, hesitant, and outmatched. Instead, I felt confident, in control, and powerful. Noah and I battled back and forth for 190 hands. I used John’s techniques, psychology, and