I arrive at The Bicycle Casino at about 9:30 p.m., hoping that I can watch Mo Fathipour, the Top Section host, play on Live at the Bike, a live streaming webcast of cash poker games. I am just a spectator looking on from the rail. I make eye contact with a cameraman I know, and I get waved into the isolated broadcast booth. I am now in a dimly lit small room with the two commentators, Bart Hansen and Bostin Christopher, who are talking about the live action with about a dozen TV monitors, including nine holecard cameras. At this point, I realize that I'm watching the action as it plays out, and I know what everyone is holding!
I think I entered somewhere between the Twilight Zone and the Wonderful World of Oz. Several hands play out and then I hear, "Last hand of the night." It's only 9:50 p.m.! The show goes until 10 p.m.; I want to see more. I am then informed that there is a delay of 5-10 minutes on the broadcast to preserve the integrity of the game. The delay ensures that no player can receive information from the outside about a hand that is currently in play. The cameras stop and the studio lights dim. Mo is racking up his chips as he talks to the other players and lets them know that he will join them later.
The game is moved to a conventional table from the special Live at the Bike table, and Mo is taking a break to talk with me.
The interview begins, and I am about to learn what it means to be a PPP - professional poker player - and I'm going to hear it from one of the best in Southern California.
Jay Siegel: What are some of the differences between a professional tournament player and a professional cash-game player?
Mo Fathipour: In my opinion, the chance of a good cash-game player not going broke is greater than that of a good tournament player, who will end up broke several times in his career. The good cash-game player will gradually build his bankroll. The variance of his wins and losses will be very low compared to his tournament-playing counterpart.
JS: How much luck is involved in tournament play?
MF: I believe that tournament winning is 80 percent luck and 20 percent skill, and cash-game earning is 80 percent skill and 20 percent luck. Tournaments force good players to take greater risks by raising the blinds continually. These calculated risks occur much more frequently in tournaments than in a constant-blind-level cash game. The risks taken often require the best hand to hold up for all of the chips. They also make it necessary for a player to outdraw his opponent when he runs into a better hand.
Taking these risks is simply not necessary in a cash game, so a good player can be more selective about choosing which opponents he will do battle with in a pot. It also enables a good player to be more selective on preflop hands and preflop betting.
The cash-game player also can reach inside his pocket and keep himself in the game. The tournament player can no longer continue once he gets felted in a freezeout tournament.
JS: How do you handle bad beats?
MF: As a host, I used to feel bad and sorry for the players, but then I realized that it's part of the nature of poker, giving a bad beat and taking a bad beat. I want the players to feel good about their playing, so that they will continue to play at the table.
JS: You are the Top Section host at The Bicycle Casino. What does that job entail?
MF: I take good care of my players; they are my number-one priority. I want them to feel at home and comfortable in my game. In order to accommodate them, some of my responsibilities to them will often include providing drinks, limousine service, food, massages, and other gifts on a regular basis. These duties are important in order to maintain our goal of providing excellent service, and they are a part of my job. Since I enjoy playing poker and making new friends a great deal, being a host at the Bike is the perfect job for me.
JS: What is a typical work day for you?
MF: Once I finish studying in the morning, I am on my way to work, making 25 to 35 calls to players, either to just keep in touch and say hello, or to let them know about a game I'm going to host. Oftentimes I am making arrangements for limos or rooms, or handling any other details a big player may require in order to get to the casino and play in my game. I have a list of approximately 200 players I call on regularly. I speak to some of these players every day.
Upon arrival at the casino, I make a few more phone calls and prepare to start the high-limit games that will last into the next day. I'll play in those games, and the same process starts up all over again the next day.
JS: What three tips would you give a poker player who wants to improve his game?
MF: 1. Educate yourself and try to play every day.
2. Review key hands/decisions with a peer.
3. Manage your money.
1. Educate yourself and try to play every day. If you don't make No. 1 work, you don't need to worry about No. 2 and No. 3. Spending a few hours a day studying books on poker strategy should improve your game. David Sklansky has written some helpful books.
In order to meet your goal, it is necessary for you to continue to improve your knowledge of the game and apply the knowledge you have gained. Combining self-improvement with playing every day will help you to become a top player. It's a simple theory, but it also requires a great deal of focus and work.
2. Review how you played key hands with a friend who plays well. Keep your mind open to other possible ways to play the hand. Be careful that you don't discuss "right or wrong" ways to play the hand, but look at "different" ways to play it out. Also, realize that the cards are a small piece of the information needed to make a good decision. Make sure that you are putting your opponents on a hand and look for physical tells and betting patterns. Remember who has bluffed and who has seen you bluff.
3. Manage your money. Track your sessions! Your winnings are not a gift - they are the tools of your trade. You will not be able to work without them. You can be an "A+" player but a "B-" money manager, and you will eventually and inevitably go broke. However, if you are a "B-" player but an "A+" money manager, you will be successful and will always have a bankroll to play in the game. For a professional poker player, this aspect of the business is usually the determining factor in success or failure.
JS: Do you treat poker as a business or an occupation?
MF: It's a business. But instead of a big investment up front, you really need very little to begin. Your brain is your investment. All of your knowledge is going to build your business. You need some money to start, but you had better have the knowledge and experience to succeed as a professional.
I read in one of Sklansky's books that you need to document 3,000 consecutive hours of live play to determine whether you can play professionally. If after 3,000 hours you can make enough to cover your current salary, you can quit your job and be a successful professional poker player. I played 6,000 hours before I got the confidence to take that step. The reality is that most players don't show any winnings within that time period. They just aren't good enough yet. But, they can improve if they choose.
JS: I've heard that cash-game play is more post-flop than tournament play. Are you a post-flop player?
MF: Definitely. I can play almost any two cards preflop. After the flop, I'm going to read the player and his actions, as well as the texture of the flop. I know the players well enough to know what they are going to do and how they will react. I usually decide to enter a pot based on who is already in the pot or who is likely to join me.
I play the player much more than I play the cards. Position is not as important to me in a cash game as it is in a tournament. For example, when I am in a pot with Mike, one of the most aggressive players at the Bike, I don't care what position I am in. I read him and try to outplay him every time. I know that I cannot beat him every hand, but I do believe I've been ahead in the last 1,000 pots we've played together.
JS: You've said that your wife is your best supporter. Aside from poker, how did you get so lucky in life?
MF: When I started playing poker, I made a deal with my wife that I would play only one night a week. When I saw that I was frequently winning, I wanted to play two nights a week. I made an offer to my wife that if I could play two nights a week, I would give her $50 to spend in any way she wanted. She agreed, and after enjoying her new wealth for about a month or so, she approached me and asked if I wanted to play three nights a week - for another $50.
She asked
me! So, three nights turned into five nights a week, and eventually there was enough money coming in not to worry too much about a budget.
JS: Do you ever hear, "You spend too much time at the office"?
MF: No. My wife, Farideh, and my family know that I am a winning player and I love to play poker. They see that I devote my personal time to them on my days off. They know that they own me on the weekends and we always do things together. We go out to the movies, cook dinner at home, or go shopping. They decide what to do, and I am always there for them. My wife's friends have asked her how she tolerates my playing poker five nights a week. Her response is, "Why would I interfere with something that he is so good at and enjoys so much? And at the same time, he is able to provide a great life for us."
JS: Do your daughters tell their friends that their dad is a professional poker player?
MF: Yes, they are proud of that. Some people get confused with the difference between a professional gambler and a professional poker player; I am the latter. My oldest daughter, at age 16, wrote a poem about me titled
Me, My Daddy, and Poker. It is the most valuable thing that I own.
JS: What was your background before you became a professional poker player?
MF: I graduated in 1978 with a bachelor of science degree in electronics in England. I met my wife and we were married in my home country. I then came to the United States and took a job as a manager of an X-ray equipment company. This company installed and serviced X-ray machines at hospitals and medical offices. In 2003, I retired from that career and began playing professionally on a full-time basis.
JS: You're a
Live at the Bike celebrity. Do people recognize you outside of the Bike?
MF: As a matter of fact, yes. Several people approached me at Bellagio this year and talked to me as if they knew me. I didn't recognize them and was confused at first. I finally realized that these people have watched me on
Live at the Bike.
I love talking to poker players about the game. There are many people who watch
Live at the Bike and tell me that they have improved their game by seeing us play and hearing the commentary.
JS: How has
Live at the Bike helped your game?
MF: I review and study every hour of
Live at the Bike footage that I have played in, and when people I usually play with are on. I study my opponents more than my own play. I look for tells, betting patterns, weaknesses, or any other information that I can use in the next game I am in. I review my own hands, but I usually go over the key hands of the evening before I get a chance to review the
LATB video.
Live at the Bike is such a valuable tool in the "educational" part of improving your game. You get to see how different people play, and how the same person can mix up his game so that no one can predict his holdings. This is better than a book, because it reflects the current real-world conditions of a cash game. These are today's players in today's games. The conditions are constantly changing. New players enter the game, players go broke, and new styles emerge.
Live at the Bike is a great way to stay on top of these trends.
JS: What big names have you played against at the Bike?
MF: I've played against the best, such as Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Mel Judah, Stan Goldstein, Kenna James, Johnny Chan, Hassan Habib, to name a few. Many of the top players make it to the Bike for the big tournaments, and are eager to play in our big game.
JS: Are you concerned about people watching
Live at the Bike and seeing how you play?
MF: No. It works out better for me. For one, other players see how I play, and then I'll switch gears or mix it up on them, and they don't know what to think. I also get to show off the "Action Mo" moves on
LATB, and that saves time trying to develop my action image at the table. Players expect me to always be the action player.
Secondly, the most frequent thing that people notice when watching me on
LATB is that I can change gears without notice. This makes me unpredictable, and very difficult to exploit.
I do, however, try to determine if people have watched me or not through casual table talk.
JS: How can I get into the big Live at the Bike game?
MF: That's easy. Bring some cash and we'll find you a seat. I actually want to put this challenge out there for everyone: If you want to play a big game ($10,000 minimum buy-in), get ahold of me at the Bike and I'll schedule and fill a ninehanded game for you.
JS: How do you know that you are playing at the top of your game?
MF: The best way to describe it is to compare it to city traffic. Everyone is on the road in his own car, with visibility of about 200 feet in two dimensions. Imagine having a car that could fly about 100 feet in the air. You would have the ability to view the traffic problems lying ahead for you and other drivers. You would see several routes to your destination and easily be able to take the best route.
But the best thing about your perspective is that the other drivers think you are down there with them. They do not consider the possibility that you may see things that they cannot see. That's how I feel when I'm on top of my game, and that's the advantage that most top players have over good and average players.
JS: What's next?
MF: I'll be playing in the Tuesday night heads-up matches at the Bike. This is a $1,080 buy-in game, with $1,000 in starting chips. Players winning two out of three at the first level will move on to the next level.
The good news is that this level of success is achievable for all of us. Focus, hard work, and willingness to recognize your weaknesses are simple but not effortless traits that you must possess to make this happen.
Look for Mo at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, only minutes from downtown Los Angeles; and visit www.thebike.com. 
