World Poker Players Conference

The World Poker Players Conference at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas recently was a special day for poker. Many of the top players and writers in poker shared their knowledge with nearly 300 participants. This event was created and brought to the poker world by Card Player Cruises. I'm certain that the participants would agree that the value of attending was tremendous. Look for this event to grow in popularity (as it should).

Mike "The Mad Genius" Caro emceed the conference. I believe that he is the finest poker educator in the world, especially in a "live" setting. He is enthusiastic, knowledgeable, energetic, and an outstanding presenter. If you ever get a chance to go to any of Mike Caro's seminars/conferences, do so, you won't regret it.

The conference's first speakers were the highly respected brother/sister combo of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke. They represent the cream of successful high-stakes players. I don't think there is any question that they are the best-playing brother/sister combination in poker history. They are also extremely intelligent and were willing to share their top tips in their presentation: "Playing High-Stakes Poker." They did a marvelous job.

Next up were Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher (of Card Player Cruises). Their topic was "Preparing to Play." Linda and Jan are two dedicated poker people who continually try to be a benefit to poker in many ways. As always, they did a superb job at the conference.

Andy Glazer, Lou Krieger, and I were the next set of speakers. Our topic was "Playing the Game." Andy and Lou have the best voices in poker. They were also tough acts to follow, as each made very informative presentations. (As a side note, do yourself a favor and get Lou Krieger's books. I think he relates poker information incredibly well, which was obvious at the conference.) It was an honor to speak on this panel with these guys.

After a delightful lunch and roast of former World Champion Russ Hamilton, the seminar resumed with a sensational presentation, "Tournament Poker," by Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. Naturally, with the trophies these guys have put on their shelves in the past few years, everyone was all ears. Phil discussed the intricacies of tournament play in no-limit hold'em, and Daniel handled limit hold'em. Believe me, these guys were great.

Mike Caro then did a one-hour presentation of his own that was really terrific. After the "Mad Genius," the next session was "Best Poker Tips," presented by the above-mentioned speakers as well as Erik Seidel, Roy Cooke, Vince Burgio, Jenny Kaye, and Marsha Waggoner. This session was quick, fun, and very educational.

A question-and-answer session then followed. All of the speakers and attendees stayed on for quite a while after the conference was scheduled to end. In fact, everyone loved the question-and-answer session so much that no one wanted to leave. We stayed until it was time to start the tournament at 7 p.m. After hearing Daniel speak, I was pumped for the $100 limit hold'em tournament that night (one rebuy). Out of 270 players, I got lucky and managed to "chop" it, and picked up $8,500 – proof positive that it pays to go to seminars.

I was honored to be a part of this conference. It was one of the most informative poker seminars in history. It's a tribute to all of the speakers that they volunteered to give their time, money (travel costs), and best information to this seminar. Players do care, and like to give something back to poker.

All in all, it was a great day for poker. Those who were there will tell you the same thing. They will also tell you that regardless of your level of poker skill (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), you would have benefited greatly from attending the 2001 World Poker Players Conference.

If you missed this year's conference, I recommend that you register early for next year's. Take care.