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Playing 4 Keeps™ Gaming Newsletter for Winners Celebrating Ten Years!
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™ A Gaming News Letter For Winners August 2005 Volume 7 Issue 8 Copyright ©2005 Michael Vernon
"Luck Has Nothing To Do With It When You Are Playing 4 Keeps!"
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Energy Tells All... Winds of Change... Craps Fest October in Las Vegas 2005 Scheduled Events Playing 4 Keeps Books Coming Events ***************************************************************
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A while back, I wrote that I was taking up Texas Hold’em for my next game. I have long believed that the things I know about metaphysics and reading energy would be most powerful when applied in a poker game. Of course, knowing how to play poker ultimately comes first. I have been studying and practicing Texas Hold’em at home. The more I learned, the more I realized how complicated this seemingly simple game really is to comprehend. At first, I felt overwhelmed by this discovery. Now, I have come to accept it as good news. I recently made an even more important discovery. Texas Hold’em masquerades as a simple game. I discovered that Texas Hold’em players take the game for granted, and fail to learn the complexities of it. I guess I should not be surprised. After all, the biggest weakness for most gamblers is their lack of gaming knowledge. This common thread of playing with incomplete information has provided me with a huge advantage in my early poker career. My foe is no longer the odds dictated by the casino. My foe is the player sitting across from me, "raising" into my full house. Their weakness is ego, playing with emotion and lack of information. Meanwhile, I play my hand and my opponent like a violin. My strength is in my investment, learning the game. My advantage is in perceiving my foe’s weakness. Never underestimate your opponent, and at the same time, don’t make them bigger than they really are. This is one of the lessons from my gaming workshops. As a player, you must have the confidence and the where-with-all to buffer the intimidation that is meant to overwhelm you. The largeness of the casino and the egos and self importance of the players can make you feel small. Make your energy bigger before entering the game knowing that you will face this intimidation. Play with the certainty and with the power of your convictions. Control as much of the game as you can by controlling the things inside you that are susceptible to outside influences, such as ego and emotion. Being able to touch into the feelings and emotions of another player is an advanced skill, which goes beyond that of recognizing a player’s "tell". A tell is something a player does consistently that provides information about that player. An example of a tell would be an indication of when they have a good hand or that they are perhaps bluffing. Now, I am not ready for World Series Poker, but I cannot hold back from sharing my short history of poker. Last summer I played in two tournaments at the Cannery in Las Vegas. I played in one live $2/$4 game before that. Last month, while teaching workshops in Las Vegas, Beau, "Dice Coach", Parker encouraged me to try a $2/$4 Texas Hold’em game. I played and I won. The next night I played again and I won. The third night Dice Coach suggested that I try the $4/$8 game. Again, I won. The following afternoon I entered a tournament at the Rio Casino along with Deborah "Soft Touch" Garcia. Out of about 80 players, I made it to the two last tables, finishing 16th. Before my demise, I managed to take the $1,500 buy-in to $9,900. I only played six hands and won five of them. I have to say that I had the energy thing going extremely well that afternoon. The last time out, I played a no-limit game. I did not win but I learned from two expensive mistakes. I am a quick study. I’ll not be going all-in on an ace high straight again, without double checking the board, making sure that the fifth card for the straight is there: I was breaking one of my rules about playing tired. I am not making an excuse. I am just exposing the fact that I am still learning. Twice, I won back my losses, and could have escaped unscathed, but I didn’t. I eventually surrendered the game to a loss and exhaustion, at two o’clock in the morning. I was having that much fun. I got carried away, almost trance like. I was lost in the emotion of chasing the game. Even the Dice Coach gave me the polite advice to call it a night when I was back to even and I ignored it. A few games do not make a person a poker authority. It may seem silly to you if it seems I am attempting to be one! My point is to provide the example of what my o’l teacher Stuart Wilde use to speak of as the "quickening" and the use of "Turbo Thought". I recognized the familiar feeling that confirmed that I was "switched on" for the wins. The energy is always true and it is not something that discriminates because of the game you are playing. When I know, I know! Energy is universal. Information provided from the perception of energy is applicable to everything and everyone. My experience at the poker table confirmed for me what I suspected, "knowing what others do not, seeing what others cannot", provides me with an edge for advantage play. I am not planning to add Texas Hold’em to my list of classes, but the experience does empower me with another string to the bow made of those things that I am already teaching and I know to be true. Confirmation is the key for empowerment and confidence. My experience confirmed my expectations for the use of applied metaphysics playing Texas Hold’em. I know that accepting something that is not tangible, like the energy of a game, is a bit of a hard sell. The mix of math and metaphysics seems more at odds than equal and essential pillars of the game. At the same time, it shows the balance that is required for gaming. When it comes to life lessons, and demonstrating the metaphysical energy in our lives, I know of no better place to have a spiritual experience than in a casino. Balance and energy awareness can be the most powerful advantage and spiritual epiphany for a player. Winds of Change… Because of the rule changes for blackjack, I found it nearly impossible to find a playable $5 game in Las Vegas during my recent Blackjack for Winners™ workshop in Las Vegas. The prevalent restrictions from casino to casino prohibited me from allowing my clients to engage in the unfair games. It feels as though casinos are trying to phase out the game of blackjack. The Golden Nugget recently removed all the tables from what used to be the hand held blackjack pit. Missing now are maybe sixteen blackjack tables, replaced with machines. I saw similar changes at other casinos just a few weeks ago. Higher minimum bet games offer somewhat better conditions and, as a result, I am suggesting to players considering my Blackjack for Winners™ program, that they should be bankrolled and comfortable playing at a $25 minimum, or higher, game. There simply is no $5 game worthy of play in Las Vegas. Will technology take over the games, as we know them? There are those professing that "precision shooters" will destroy craps, for example. I personally do not believe that for one second, from personal experience. I am more concerned with the elimination of the human element from the games, through technology. The Rio Casino, in Las Vegas, now has computer monitors for each roulette player surrounding the familiar wheel and ball. Players punch in their bets on the computer. There are no chips for the croupier to handle and the game moves along at a faster pace. I don’t care for roulette, so this matters little to me. However, it has a feeling of things to come, perhaps for the other table games. Out of the 1.03 billion dollars, Las Vegas casinos won last April, $800 million of it was a result of machine play. On a personal note… Recently, due to a family emergency, I made a temporary move to Pueblo, Colorado. I still claim Taos as my home. However, because of the unexpected and abrupt change, my immediate plans for more gaming classes are in limbo. Please be patient as I sort things out. I am making decisions and soon will have new information posted at the Playing 4 Keeps™ web site. In addition to my regular workshops, I do intend to participate during Craps Fest this October and Dice Coach is asking me to schedule our next Dice Busters™ experience soon. Those of you who have sent me email about classes will receive a personal reply from me as soon as I have new dates for classes.
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*************************************************************** Testimonials from P4K Seminar Participants
Blackjack Players Craps Players
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Playing 4 Keeps™ enriches a player's experience to become a consistent winner. My commitment to you is empowerment. Learning to employ discipline creates confidence and strengthens intention through metaphysical lessons. I empower students by showing them how to avoid losing sessions. Most importantly I create metaphors that link the knowledge of casino games to winning ways in "the game of life". Michael Vernon ***************************************************************
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