Illustration by Steve Yeates
When Dennis Phillips made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker (wsop.com) in ’08, we knew he was one of ours by his signature Cardinals cap. The poker pro has advice for novices planning to enter the WSOP Circuit Event at Lumière Place—where amateurs are welcome—from March 20 through 31.
What to bring: “Poker tournaments can be long and mentally taxing,” Phillips says. “You could be at the same table for hours and hours, so a lot of guys bring a backpack with bananas, yogurt, raisins—easy snacks you can eat at the table.” A good-luck charm, like a lucky hat, is just fine, too.
How to dress: “Casinos are kept on the cool side,” Phillips says. “The professional poker players are the ones wearing the long-sleeve shirts.” What about all those poker-playing dudes in sunglasses? “They can help,” he says. “Some people don’t realize how many tells they have in their body. A good rule of thumb for the novice is the ‘anti-gravity rule,’ meaning that any time something goes up, like straightening your back or raising your eyebrows, that’s a general tell that someone has a good hand.”
How to bluff: “The first thing you need to do is get down your routine,” said Phillips. “Hold the cards in the same hand and position every time. For novices, you can play at home and watch a friend and have a friend watch you, and see if you can pick up on each other’s tells. A few other poker players and I have identified over 120 tells on other people.”
How to bet: “You can’t win the tournament on the first day, but you can definitely lose it,” Phillips advises. “You don’t have to be aggressive… The guys who get excited and overbet are the guys who are talking about how their pair of queens got beat out at the bar, while the rest of us are still playing.”
When to fold: “You will find that the pros fold more often than the amateurs,” Phillips instructs. “Novices think, ‘Well, it’s only gonna cost me $50 or $100 to take a chance, so I’ll try it.’ After half a dozen hands, half your chips are gone.”
How to spot a cheater: “The biggest way people cheat is called collusion,” Phillips says. “That’s where two or three friends work together. If everyone at the table is on a first-name basis except you, go find another table.”
How to benefit, even if you lose: “This game teaches you patience,” Phillips says. “If you don’t have any patience, go play poker for a while. You’ll either get patience, or you’ll go broke.”
