Author: horse-racing-free-tips

Some people can just blow you away with their achievements and Andrew (Andy) Bloch is one such fellow. Andy could give anyone an inferiority complex by just reading about him. Firstly, Andy has not one, but two electrical engineering degrees from MIT. He has participated in advanced designing of computer chips, has a law degree from Harvard no less, and is a successful stock trader.

And no one can top Andy when it comes to multi-tasking. Poker is just one of his myriad interests, a BIG interest, mind you, but not enough of an interest to cause him to neglect his other pursuits. In fact, he participated in his very first World Series of Poker event while still in law school and undergoing vigorous study sessions.

This guy is so amazing, that within just a year of his poker beginnings in 1992, he had already developed the skills and confidence to enter a $100 entry fee no-limit Texas Hold ’em tournament. And let’s not stop there. Andy is an accomplished Blackjack player as well, and was even featured in a documentary about card-counting called “The Hot Shoe.’

Andy lives in Las Vegas and has thus far finished in the money ten times in World Series of Poker tournaments. Although he has not as yet won a WSOP bracelet, he twice finished in third place in two World Poker Tour final tables in the WPT’s first season, and has seven money finishes thus far in overall WPT competition.At Foxwoods Andy finished first in a seven-card stud meet.

Andy was the winner in the Ultimate Poker Challenge’s second season. The Ultimate Poker Challenge being a series of weekly poker tournaments which act as super-satellites into the series semi-finals.

Bloch participated in the longest heads-up battle in WSOP history, when, in the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. Event he fell to second place behind David “Chip” Reese after the competitors had played a grueling 286 hands.

Never one for idle time, Andy has recently been recruited as one of a team of professionals that have joined Full Tilt Poker, an online poker cardroom that debuted in 2004. Andy now plays regularly on the site, joined by such top-notch players as Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon and Mike Matusow among others.

Andy hails from Orange, Connecticut, and developed an interest in card playing when just a youngster while playing with family and friends. That interest has developed into a lucrative profession, as Andy has thus far earned over a million dollars without once having to revert to his law degree.

One of the most controversial players in the world of poker, Phil Hellmuth, Jr. is often known by the not-so-affectionate moniker of “The Poker Brat.” But while his antics at the table have been known to ruffle a few feathers, Hellmuth has also been one of the most dominating players over the course of his career. In fact, many fans of the game view him as the face of professional poker, especially Texas Hold ’em.

Born July 16th, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin, Phillip J. Hellmuth, Jr. was the oldest of five children. Being the son of a successful university assistant dean, Phil excelled in school and looked poised to follow in his father’s academic footsteps. Fate, however, had other plans.

Phil enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, and it was here that his poker career got off the ground. He was initially invited to play in cash poker games at the student union, but soon found that the low-dollar games didn’t present enough of a challenge. Months later, he was competing against professors and other members of the campus community in $100 buy-in games. Hellmuth did so well that he was able to pay off his student loans and still have a $20,000 bankroll left over. At this point, he dropped out of college in his junior year and became a professional poker player.

In 1989, the 24-year-old Hellmuth defeated Johnny Chan to become the youngest champion of the World Series of Poker main event. As of 2006, he has won an impressive nine World Series of Poker bracelets (bracelets are awarded to tournament winners), all in the Texas Hold ’em events. He was the season three champion of Late Night Poker, and he defeated Chris Ferguson in 2005 to win the inaugural National Heads-Up Poker Championship. As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $7,200,000.

His World Series of Poker accomplishments include: first place finishes in The Championship Event in 1989, Limit Hold ’em in 1992, 1993, and 2003, two No Limit Hold ’em events in 1993, one in 2001, and one in 2003, and Pot Limit Hold ’em in 1997.

However, for all his accomplishments, Phil has yet to win at the final table of a World Poker Tour event. He finished fourth at the Lucky Chances event (season one) and third at Foxwoods (season two). No doubt, this brings a smile to the face of his detractors.

Hellmuth is also involved in many ventures away from the card table. He frequently contributes to Card Player Magazine, as well as having penned Play Poker like the Pros, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws, Poker Brat (which was on the best-seller list for a month), and The Greatest Poker Hands Ever Played. He has also made several instructional videos, including Phil Hellmuth’s Million Dollar Poker Secrets. He is a spokesperson for the Ultimate Bet online poker room, and has been collaborating with Oakley on a signature line of sunglasses (no doubt, to compliment his signature line of clothing). Phil also writes a syndicated column which is printed in over 40 U.S. newspapers.

When he’s not traveling around the world playing poker, Hellmuth makes his home in Palo Alto, California with his wife Katherine (a psychiatrist at Stanford University) and two sons, Phillip III and Nicholas. His favorite food is salmon, while his favorite music and movies range from Pearl Jam and The American President to The Rolling Stones and The Matrix.

He estimates that his skill at poker and fondness for self-promotion may earn him as much as $400,000,000 in his lifetime. Then again, would you expect anything less from the face of modern professional poker?

Phil Hellmuth can come off as a cocky guy, but let’s face it he has something to be cocky about. Hellmuth has won a record breaking eleven bracelets all in Hold ‘Em mind you. Although he has said statements like “If luck weren’t involved, I guess I’d win every one” you can’t help but appreciate his skill. The “poker brat” as he known has written a book titled Play Poker like the Pros. His book is not exactly what I would call helpful. It is boastful and unhelpful for the most part.

For starters I can do without the long-winded I am so great speech. Too much of the book was dedicated to reminding you why you should take his advice, probably to recompense for the bitter taste his antics leave in your mouth. The book goes into detail about his successful career and his conservative playing style. None of this of course helps the reader. If he and his editors felt it necessary to discuss this then they should have put it in the preface.

Hellmuth makes a big to do about pre-flop choices. He urges players to hold on to pairs, because they can mostly end up profitable. Well, thank goodness for those saps taking his advice, because they are making me money. Hellmuth’s disciples are predictable creatures. In a game of instinct you cannot stick to a procedure. Hellmuth’s instruction cause players to develop distinct playing habits and makes them easy to pick off.

In addition to misguiding new players Hellmuth just down right decides to not inform them at all about the techniques that really make you money. Hellmuth as well as the other poker greats all derive their success from being able to read their opponents. The ability to urge on competition when they have a weak hand and scare them off when they have a strong hand is the powerful secret that he keeps to himself.

Hellmuth’s advice contradicts itself constantly. He gives you a series of scenarios similar to, “if you get hand A you should never fold at stage C, unless a player has hand B.” Which is a issue, because how are you supposed to what hand a player has. The book is filled with “what the heck” moments.

The book does have a small section where Hellmuth compares different kinds of playing styles to animals. It is quite a chuckle that this man considers himself some kind of poker Zen master distributing animal characteristics to playing styles like kung-fu styles.

The most annoying part of his book is the constant interruptions. Hellmuth will be in the middle of explaining an aspect of limit hold’em and he starts giving you a story about no-limit hold’em. His tales of poker pros usually have nothing to do with the advice he was giving to you, and if it is in correlation it usually contradicts what he was telling you to do.

If you want to buy a book on how to play poker please don’t buy this book, because it is a story about Hellmuth’s career and his big win and poker pro friends.