Black Belt Poker Academy
The other week I attended the Black Belt Poker Academy, 6 hours of seminars and live hand analysis, followed by entry into a £50 freezeout. This was put together and run by Black Belt Poker, which is run by Neil Channing and Nik Persaud, and hosted by The Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. At the back of the large poker room is a small, secluded room with 3 tables. The guys had set up a projector for the lectures, and overall it was a good space for the 17 of us and the 4 guys from Black Belt Poker – Alex Rousso and Hugh Kirton joining Neil & Nik.
The Lectures
Each of the 4 guys had a presentation of their own: Alex Rousso kicked off with a talk about ‘meta-learning’ – how we learn, what sources we use and how we absorb information. He also strayed into the area of tells, which proved to be very popular and a bit of theme for him thru the rest of the day. He also suggested a reading list, including Joe Navarro’s book “Read ‘Em and Reap” which I have since bought and would recommend to anyone.
Following Alex was Nik Persaud with a talk about the fundamentals of the game. By that I don’t mean “poker for novices” – he is referring to David Sklansly’s phrase about the ‘Fundamental Theory of Poker”:
- Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.
So Nik was focussed on how to examine what is going on at the table in order to pounce on your opponents mistakes, while minimising your own. He engaged well with the attendees, asking questions and getting people involved.
The third presentation was by Hugh Kirton and was about different levels of thinking in poker, with Level 1 thinking being “what are my cards?”, Level 2 being “what does my opponent have?”, Level 3 being “what does my opponent think I have?” and so on. It is interesting how the same hand plays out with these differing levels of analysis, and the key is that you really need to be playing 1 level better than your opponent – if you are 2, 3 or more levels ahead of him then basically you’ll find yourself over-thinking your decisions.
Lastly, Neil Channing wrapped things up with an entertaining talk dissecting major hands he has played on televised events. These were definitely not standard, but were very revealing about Nick’s thought processes, his analysis of different players in the hands, and how he reaches his decisions.
Live Hand Analysis
In between the presentations we split up into 3 tables of 6 players or so, with each table being dealt by one of the Black Belt guys. They dealt, we played, and throughout the hands our actions and behaviour were analysed by the dealer, and ourselves. In the half hour so that we did these there was only really time for 2 or 3 hands, but it was fasscinating and invaluable stuff, one of the highlights in fact. Being able play a hand and have it dissected by a pro, pointing out what you may have missed, validating your actions or suggesting others, is a rare and valuable way to examine your game and your own thought processes.
My two sessions were dealt by Alex and Neil respectively. Alex focussed on player behaviour and tells, which was great, and very new knowledge for a lot of us. Neil focussed more on putting people on hand ranges to match their actions, and again it was very revealing. I was fortunate to be involved in 2 big hands, one in each session, and in both cases it appeared that I played the hands pretty well. This kind of validation is confidence building, and something I was hoping for. At the same time, during Nik’s presentation, I answered a question incorrectly, (or correctly, but for the wrong reason), and thus gave me something to reflect upon.
The £50 Freezeout
The tournament had about 50 players and was self-dealt, which is a shame for such a big casino. it was also a bit crap-shooty, but nevertheless, the one thing you really want to do after talking about poker for 6 hours is play the game, so the idea fo buying us into this as part of the fee for the day was brilliant. There was also a prize for whoever lasted longest from the 17 Academy participants – buy-in to London Live, an excellent tournament by Black Belt Poker that will take place in May. I didn’t get far enough for that, but I will be entering this tournament anyway, it looks great and the chance to play against a few of these guys will be a great sharpener before the WSOP in June.
After I busted from the tournament I hung around in the bar at The Vic and chatted to a few members of Black Belt Poker, people who play on the site and make up the community there, and Neil, who was sitting around and chatting while waiting for a cash game to begin. I have to say they are all great guys. Neil and the gang are very genuine in their interest in helping to develop players, and their focus on the live game makes for a very refreshing change to the endless focus on online poker.
The Site
Just to say a couple of things about Black Belt Poker themselves. As you may know, I’m not one for playing online, but this site offers much more than just another online poker destination. There are a lot of great, well-written and in-depth articles about everything from news, features about poker thru the years and training. They have focussed on getting a ‘community’ feel to their site, and I think it’s worked. I will definitely be signing up, setting up a profile and checking out the forums, even if I don’t actually play.
The Verdict
A hugely enjoyable day. I was hoping the day would help me examine my game again, give me some new perspective and help me get back some form I felt I had lost a bit. The Academy has certainly done that, and I feel very much energised to play again, and can’t wait for upcoming tournaments and, of course, the WSOP. There is also a 2-day bootcamp in May, which will be more advanced and have some 1-1 time, and I may well do that too if I can find the time.
Well done Black Belt Poker.