Could You Be Kid Poker's Next Protégé? The Teacher Prepares for His Next Lesson

According to Greek mythology, Mentor, son of Alcumus, became friends with the legendary Odysseus. Soon thereafter, the Trojan War erupted and Odysseus was called to battle on the day his son was born. Before he left for war, Odysseus appointed Mentor to raise his son while he fought. For a long time, it was Mentor who raised Telemachus, not Odysseus.



Although you may wonder what Greek mythology has to do with poker, especially considering that poker legends are a far cry from the heroes of Greek mythology, one constant holds true: A mentor is an invaluable asset who can help a student achieve lofty goals.



In poker, having a mentor can make the difference between spending life as a fish or swimming at the top of the food chain. Just ask players like former Card Player Player of the Year David "The Dragon" Pham, 2006 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Max Pescatori, 2006 World Poker Tour winner Nam Le, WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith, and 2006 World Series of Poker Champion Jamie Gold. All have sought the advice of more experienced players, and look how far that advice has propelled their games.



To many people, having a poker mentor may seem like a luxury that they either don't have access to or can't afford. But there is hope, thanks to an innovative concept from Daniel Negreanu and the people behind FullContactPoker.



How the Dream Contest Became a Reality


One of the more recent entries into the online poker business was FullContactPoker. Started in December of 2005, the site now averages 16,000-18,000 players per day. In order to help drive traffic to the site, Negreanu and company came up with the highly successful Protégé promotion, in which the winning player would get paid entry into four $10,000 buy-in professional poker events and tutoring from Negreanu throughout the winner's four-tournament adventure.



According to Negreanu, the Protégé concept came from him and several people involved with the FullContactPoker site. "For me, the inspiration came from receiving so many e-mails wanting help. They would often say, 'I'm really good. I just need some help. Please take me under your wing and teach me how to play. I promise I'll do well.' I thought that it would be great to give these people a chance to actually win my tutoring as a prize," he said. Soon thereafter, the Protégé concept became a reality.



For "Kid Poker," the underlying thoughts behind the contest were very similar to those of fantasy sports. Negreanu, who is a self-professed fantasy buff, was excited that this was his chance to draft a rookie and watch him turn into a true player. "In fantasy play, one of the most fun things to do is to get a real good young player and watch him blossom into a really good player. I translated that to poker. I took this guy (Brian Fidler) and helped him improve his play. Just watching him play in tournaments is like watching your favorite fantasy pick grow. With Brian, I got to do that firsthand," he said.

The First Protégé



When the final table of the first Protégé contest took place in Toronto, Negreanu was rightfully nervous. "Executing the live event and a live final table was really stressful. Not knowing if it was going to work was tough. Plus, not all of the players at the final table were that good. It was a little scary in that for the next four months, this person was going to be my friend and we were going to spend a lot of time together.



In the end, it was Stamford, Connecticut's Brian Fidler, one of FullContactPoker's community, who went on to win Negreanu's first Protégé contest and blaze a path for the Protégé No. 2 winner. The 27-year-old Fidler, who had been playing poker for only three years, had never dreamed that he would eventually win a chance to learn the game he loves from one of poker's living legends and take home close to a quarter-of-a-million dollars in the process, but it happened, thanks to this extravagant contest.



While under Negreanu's tutelage, Fidler put the poker community on notice when he rebounded from a quick exit in the WPT championship event at the Mirage and finished second in the World Series of Poker Lake Tahoe Tournament Circuit event. In Tahoe, his $10,000 entry translated into a $206,800 cash out for this crafty Connecticut native.



Although Fidler was a relative unknown to both the poker world and Negreanu, it wasn't long before the teacher saw sparks of his pupil's capabilities. "He had a lot of emotional stability and a decent understanding of the game. It was more about helping him develop the confidence necessary to win," he said. Through a combination of game theory and actual hand breakdowns, Fidler was able to develop his game to the point where he was able to bag a final-table appearance and a big payday.



For the duration of the time he spent with Negreanu, the student and the teacher often talked about the game regardless of the activity taking place at the time. "During every tournament, we spent time together before, during, and afterward. It was so great, because at one point he just became part of the poker world. He was going out, living the life, and having fun. For the second Protégé, I'm definitely going to spend some more time trying to hit home some hard-core poker principles," he said.



Some pros play a full tournament schedule and never win. Negreanu said that for Brian to win $200,000 in just his second event was "unreal." "I was so proud of him, and at the same time so devastated for him," he recalled. "He was the chip leader going to the final table. How unbelievable is that? Unfortunately, his first taste of success ended on kind of a sour note. I could see it on his face. He was really disappointed. I think he felt like he disappointed me because he made a couple of mistakes when he went heads up and didn't do some of the things we talked about. It's a tough way to get initiated into the poker world. You taste victory, but it kind of feels like defeat."



When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear



When asked about the importance of the protégé concept in general in the modern game of poker, Negreanu responded that to be good, it takes more than just your own learning. "I think that when you are starting out, you don't necessarily have to have a mentor, but you have to have a core group – a group of friends whom you can bounce ideas off with each other.



For Negreanu, his group was comprised of today's hottest players, like John Juanda, Allen Cunningham, and Phil Ivey. To this group, life was as much about poker as it was about having fun. "We would go on the road and have dinner together. Poker would come up in our discussions. Allen would say something about how he played a hand and we would all chime in. You look at that group and we all got better because of each other. I would say that in order to get to the top, you need more people around you or you need someone who knows how to show you the nuances. To learn them yourself would just take so much longer," Negreanu said.



With more than $7 million in lifetime tournament winnings, three WSOP bracelets, and Card Player's 2004 Player of the Year trophy on his mantel, Negreanu is still humble and realizes that he was lucky in developing these relationships.



"When I started out as a player and first came to Las Vegas, I had a very short bankroll. It would have been great if someone had taken me under his wing. Todd Brunson gave me a chance once when he took a piece of me in a tournament. I won the event and got a World Series bracelet out of it. That gave me a great boost of confidence," he said.



Negreanu has a deep affinity for the regular players who don't have million-dollar bankrolls and WSOP gold. "I guess I just remember what it was like being on the fan side of things. I felt that with the Protégé idea, I could make this a reality for one of them and help him become a really good poker player," he said.



Negreanu's close relationship with the general public, especially the online community, is one of the key reasons for the success of the first contest, and for FullContactPoker's success as a whole. "I've been active online and in chat rooms for quite a long time," he stated. "FullContactPoker, which was a fan site and became a big forum, just kept growing and growing to the point where we had more than 100,000 people coming a month. It is great."



According to Negreanu, he's not the one who attracts the players; it is the warm and receptive environment that keeps drawing new fans from around the world. "It's the community itself that really created the new FullContactPoker site. The people were there already in the forum, but were playing on other sites. So, we offered a place for them to play with the new site. It's a real family atmosphere. There is even a group of players who call themselves the 'FCP Army.' They have a long thread in the forums and basically chat with each other during work. This group of 40 to 50 people go on trips together five or six times a year. I really love the family-like environment."



What Lessons Did the Teacher Learn?



According to Negreanu, the first Protégé contest was a learning experience for him, as well. "For me, it's great, too. When I'm teaching somebody the principles of poker or something about the game, it reinforces things in my mind that I don't always think about. While I was teaching Brian, I was getting better myself. I was rethinking the game and relearning the concepts while working things out with him," he said.



Now, with the first Protégé under his belt, Negreanu is ready to take on a new student, and he is well on his way, as the Protégé No. 2 contest is well under way. "All the knowledge I gained from the first Protégé has really prepared me for the second one, especially when it comes to teaching. This time around, I won't be winging it as much. I know how I'm going to put my lessons together and what sort of things I'm going to do with them," he said.



One thing Negreanu picked up from his first experience with the Protégé is that location means everything. In a nod to warmer climates, the final-table competitors for this next Protégé contest will face off in the Bahamas, and can expect to have a time to remember.



"This one is going to be so fun. In the first Protégé, we all went out and partied the night before at a nightclub, and then partied after the event. The Bahamas is going to be a little more of the same. The resort is gorgeous. The players, even if they don't win the Protégé contest, will walk away having had a great time."



In Negreanu's mind, he's ready to drop science – and his protégé had better be ready to move to the head of the class. "Brian Fidler, when it was all said and done, listened to what I had to say. I know some of it sounded weird, maybe even strange, but he listened and won himself almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars. If you trust in what I'm teaching you, you can do the same."

Remaining Ways to Qualify to Be Daniel Negreanu's Next Protégé



There are six ways left to qualify for a spot at the final table of Daniel Negreanu's Protégé No. 2 contest, taking place in the Bahamas. If you want your shot at being Negreanu's next "Grasshopper," make sure to read the dates for final entry below. Go to FullContactPoker.com for full contest details.

1. FullContactPoker Classic: To qualify for this Protégé seat, a player must be the highest-ranked player participating in the final $5,000 plus $200 event in the $5 million Poker Classic. When the field gets down to 45 remaining players, the top performer in the Poker Classic tournament series will be awarded seat No.2 in the Protégé No. 2 final live event.

2. Top 1,000 Monthly Leader Board: The 1,000 players who play the most real-money ring-game hands during each of the remaining qualifying periods are eligible to play in the seat No. 8 qualifiers. The top three finishers from each qualifier will move on to the nine-player final qualifier on Nov. 6, with the winner earning seat No. 8 in the Protégé No. 2 live event.

3. Weekly Sunday Qualifier: This is a popular carry-over from the first edition of the Protégé that the site decided to offer the second time around. The top three finishers from each qualifier will move on to the 36-player seat No. 6 final qualifier. The winner of this 36-player final qualifier will earn seat No. 6 in the Protégé No. 2 live event.

4. Top 250 Monthly Leader Board: The 250 players who play the most real-money ring-game hands during each of the three qualifying periods are eligible to play in the seat No. 7 qualifiers. The top three finishers from each qualifier will then move on to the nine-player final qualifier on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. EST. The winner will earn Seat No. 7 in the Protégé No. 2 live event.

5. Red Hot Poker Tour – TOC Winner: In a nod to Negreanu's native home of Canada, the final seat is available via the Red Hot Poker Tour (RHPT). This group coordinates weekly (non-cash) poker events at bars and restaurants in Ontario, Canada, and tracks its members' poker-playing success.



6. The High-Roller Qualifier: For bankrolls of various sizes, players can qualify for as little as $7. They then have to conquer the three stages of qualification, or they can simply buy in directly to the weekly $300 plus $20 third stage. The winner of each $300 tournament will then move on to the 10-player seat No. 5 final qualifier. The winner of this 10-player final qualifier will earn seat No. 5 in Negreanu's Protégé No. 2 live event.

Kid Poker's First Pupil



Brian Fidler won the first Protégé contest. This lucky guy got to hang out with and learn from Daniel Negreanu. He also got his entry paid into four $10,000 buy-in events and turned one of them into a cash out worth more than $200,000 in just his second event. Here's an inside look at Fidler and his experience of a lifetime.



How old are you?

27



What do you do for a living?

I'm an accountant at Pequot Capital.



Where do you live?

Stamford, Connecticut



How long have you been playing poker?
About three years.



How did you win your seat?

I qualified for one of the freerolls because I played a lot on FullContactPoker. I went on to win my way to the final table and eventually came out the winner.



What was it like winning the Protégé contest?

It was really unbelievable. Just making it to the final table alone was amazing, because the real hard part of the contest was winning the Internet qualifiers.



How was it working with Daniel?

Oh man, he's a ball. Working with him was probably the most valuable thing I've ever been a part of. The time I did spend with him during tournaments and sending e-mails back and forth really changed the way I think about the game. You can't put a price on what I learned.



How did Daniel help you?
He was willing to share everything he knows with me. Anything he was thinking, he told me without hesitation. Whether it was about my play, someone else's, or his play, he let me in on what was happening. Whatever is on his mind, he's going to tell you, and you don't get that very much.



He also helped me to change my game strategy a little bit. I'm trying to play more pots, keep pots small, and play "small ball" against my opponents. It's a great way to build up chips. I find myself now playing cash games and tournaments always trying to be the table captain by raising the most hands and getting involved in a lot of pots.



What was the experience like?

I'm kind of bummed out now that my tenure is over. I'll never have a summer that was as fun as this whole thing. There's no comparison to playing with the best in the world. Sitting next to Dan Harrington or Barry Greenstein was so cool. It didn't matter whether I got to beat them in a pot. Just knowing the history of the guys sitting next to me was amazing. I also got to hang out with a lot of the players in Las Vegas, and we had some good times, to say the least.



What was your favorite moment of the journey?
Just taking part in the World Series of Poker main event was a huge thrill. I played on the third day of day one. It was so chaotic. I can't imagine that they did it three more times. It was unreal how many people were willing to put $10,000 down to play. Everybody wants to play. It was great.



What was it like finishing second and winning more than $200,000?

It was kind of disappointing. I'm really pleased with how I played in Tahoe, but it was really hard finishing second. I went to the final table with a pretty good chip lead and had almost the same amount when it went heads up. It just didn't work out. Finishing in second place only made me want to work harder on my game. Don't get me wrong, the tournament was amazing, and I got to sit with some big-name players. Second place is great and I paid off my student loans, but it is so hard to come so close to getting that ring.