By Scott Huff
How can you learn how to play world-class poker in one weekend? The short answer is, you probably can't. You could take Texas banking billionaire Andy Beal's approach, and challenge the top professionals in the world to a series of $1 million freeze-outs. But how many people can really afford to do that? You could enter a major poker tournament, but with today's fields, the $10,000 entry fee doesn't even guarantee you will be sitting within 100 yards of a top-tier pro. Well, now there is a place you can go to help speed up that learning curve, and guarantee you'll have something to show for it: Camp Hellmuth.
The inaugural Camp Hellmuth took place August 18-21 in Las Vegas. Whether you were a student of the game or a fan of the man, Camp Hellmuth offered a unique opportunity for poker players of all skill levels to learn and rub shoulders with one of the biggest names in poker - and his friends. Fellow poker professionals Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Shulman, Jeff Shulman, John Bonetti, Thomas "Thunder" Keller, T.J. Cloutier, David Williams, and Johnny Chan joined Hellmuth for the four-day affair, which included parties, tutorials, and lots of poker.
The $2,999 registration fee included three nights at Caesar's Palace and entry into all events, including a seat in a $26,000 tournament.
The camp's participants were invited to indulge in some of Sin City's best night life, including the event welcome party at Pure, one of the hottest clubs in Las Vegas. The party featured an open bar along with the full nightclub experience.
Hopefully, the campers didn't indulge too much, as class was in session early Friday morning. Camp Hellmuth offered a poker education in two parts. Lectures, with question-and-answer sessions, were held in the event center at Caesar's Palace. While the live poker action, consisting of two multi-table tournaments and a ton of side action sit-and-gos, was held at the world-famous Binion's Gambling Hall in downtown Las Vegas.
Each day started with three lectures on a variety of topics related to Texas hold'em, both tournament and cash game play.
Hellmuth and Bonetti covered bankroll management, betting strategy, rebuy tournaments, and poker instincts. Hellmuth was honest and candid in his lecture, even addressing some of the less glamorous aspects of the poker lifestyle. He said to attendees who were thinking of making poker their profession, "You will go broke. Can you handle it?," and followed by warning against the self-destructive behaviors that often befall poker pros when they lose their bankrolls, among them alcohol and drug abuse.
Cloutier, one of the most successful tournament players of all time, gave his 21 tips for Texas hold'em. The tips, all spelled out in his trademark informal style, ranged from stealing blinds ("If you're stealing, you're stealing. I'll flat steal with seven-deuce offsuit.") to table etiquette ("Be a gentleman. Don't be an idiot."). He even mixed in a few embarrassing anecdotes about Hellmuth, to the crowd's enjoyment.
Esfandiari spoke about important concepts for tournament and cash game play, such as the ability to fold big hands and the importance of aggressive play in tournament poker. He, along with all of the other pros and campers, brought a very positive vibe to the weekend, "Poker is a beautiful game," Esfandiari said, "and it's an honor to be part of the learning curve. Life is good."
Keller, known for crushing high limit games on Ultimatebet.com (one of the Camp's sponsors), focused his lecture on internet poker.
However, it was former F.B.I director Joe Navarro who seemed to steal the show. His lecture on human behavior and its relationship to tells prompted even Cloutier and Hellmuth to take two pages of notes a piece. The information in Navarro's lecture came from extensive behavioral research, and may soon supplant much of the prevailing knowledge on reading players at the poker table.
After the lectures, players were bused downtown to Binion's for some live action poker. On day one, Benny's Bullpen housed the 170 plus campers for a $200 freeze-out. The $9,000 first prize was heavily contested, with Hellmuth, Esfandiari, Bonetti, Cloutier, and Barry Shulman all taking part in the event. Of course, the pros were not allowed to take home the money themselves. Instead they acted as "spoilers" for many campers who were sent to the rail at their hands. For those campers who succeeded in besting the pros, there was a handsome reward: A brand new pair of Oakley Thumps shades was placed as a bounty on each "camp counselor's" head. All of the bounties were claimed, as none of the pros made it past day one competition.
Running commentary on all-ins and key hands was provided by Hellmuth and National Heads-Up Poker Championship commentator Ali Nejad. The two made quite a team, and added a relaxed vibe to the tournament action. They also kept the other players abreast of the side-bets, such as the $500 last longer between Hellmuth and Esfandiari (Hellmuth won, as he was the last pro standing) and the back-and-forth among the pros (like when Cloutier, referring to Esfandiari's past as a magician and his subsequent success as a poker pro, teased, "I remember when Antonio was entertainment at a party. Now we're entertainment at his party."). Esfandiari showed that he hadn't lost that magic by performing an impressive card trick for his table mates before tournament play began.
Hellmuth also used the microphone to offer some poker lessons during play. On occasion, Hellmuth would flip his cards face up, and describe a situation, and provide the rationale behind a play that he made, for everyone's benefit. In fact, the pros were required to expose their winning hole cards at a hand's conclusion, whether it was a called hand or not. Hellmuth's knowledge and enthusiasm were contagious, and surely helped many players to improve their game throughout the course of the weekend. Max Drucker of Santa Barbara, California was one of the many campers who enjoyed the mix of competition and education, "I've read all of their books, but this enables me to ask them questions, and see them in action."
Hellmuth was not surprised by the positive response, stating, "I really believe the camp will help everyone. I believe if you are one of the top 100 players in the world, you probably shouldn't come. But beginning and intermediate players can benefit [from the camp]. Beginners probably most."
The tournament action on day two was a freeroll, with the winners receiving a free package for the next Camp Hellmuth.
As it is with many poker tournaments, the side action was bigger than the main event. Binion's helped spread sit-and-gos ranging from $45 all the way up to a $1,000 heads-up freeze-out, contested between Bonetti and one of the people responsible for producing the Camp Hellmuth DVD, Houston Curtis. To the surprise of many, Curtis emerged victorious over World Series of Poker bracelet winner Bonetti. Drucker and high-stakes limit hold'em player Nejad played a freeze-out of their own for $500 that also ended with the camper getting the best of it.
The final evening put the "fantasy" in fantasy camp. Campers were treated to a gourmet banquet at Caesar's. Those fortunate or skilled enough to make the final table in the $26,000 tournament battled it out on a raised stage, while special guest Johnny Chan and the rest of the Camp Hellmuth participants looked on. The action was projected onto a big screen via a live video feed, and was commentated by Hellmuth himself as part of the evening's entertainment. Jay Berger of Atlanta, Georgia was crowned champion after about two hours of play.
Although a date has not been set for the next Camp Hellmuth, many more are sure to occur, because Phil and the gang sent home a bunch of "happy campers."
