Robert "Chipburner" Turner has been playing and winning big since 1978, and is Poker Manager for the Normandie Casino in Gardena, CA. A poker industry icon, he introduced the game of Omaha into Nevada, and No-Limit into California when it was legalized. Robert is the only poker player to win an all around championship in four different decades, and was inducted into the Senior Poker Hall of Fame in 1999 alongside T.J. Cloutier and Kenny Flaton.

Robert discussed cheating and collusion in an interview with Mike Carro.  Here’s just part of what he had to say.

When you play at a poker site online, ask them how they are protecting you from collusion.  There is software out there that will track players like Poker-edge.com

It will tell you who is tight, and who plays loose.  It will tell your strengths, weaknesses, style, and other statistics.  It will even color code opponents.  It borders on cheating, but other players are using it so you need to be prepared.  It is a tremendous advantage.  Ethically, it is kind of in that grey area.

Some sites ban this software by checking to see if it is being used, but for those of you playing online poker, you should be aware that the software is out there and being used.  When you find the same two players who are showing up on your table, you are probably being colluded.  They could be friends, but probably not.  You have something to worry about. Poker tracker software will help you track these people and stay away from them.

Charlie Shoten shared his insight on focusing the mind and staying in the zone at the poker table with Mike Caro in a pre-conference interview.  Here is some of what he shared. 

At age 65 I was a break even poker player and had never played no limit Hold ‘Em, because I couldn’t hold my focus or stay in the zone for a long period of time.  I had always played limit, because you could make a lot of brilliant moves and a lot of mistakes and still stay in the game. 

What I came up with that turned everything around was the tools and strategies to bring my game up a level and to play no limit.  The tools I developed enhanced my ability to maintain focus through an entire poker tournament and be in the zone at the table.  As a result, from 2002 to 2003 I actually got to 19 final tables, 4 seconds, and 4 firsts. 

What I did was developed tools and a strategy.  The tool I developed was my ten commitments.  I used them to take control of my mind each time it was my turn.  I determined if I was distracted and unable to make my best decision in the past, because of bad thoughts implanted by outside forces that interfered with my decision making process, then I could implant this in my own mind. 

My sixth commitment is the best example:  “I am calm confident and clear, wait for my best choice to appear, considering all my choices and the consequences of each.”  I cemented that mantra in my mind by saying over and over again, so that I don’t even have to think about it now.  I read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, and he says the mind works like the soil.  It will return in same abundance whatever we plant whether it is night shade or corn.  But, he missed one important thing.  My mind had already been implanted by poisonous thoughts either by outside forces or thoughts I created from neglect and abuse.  I decided to take control of my mind by being proactive, rather than positive thinking effort to get rid of obstacles that were sabotaging my game and my life.

You have to clear those things out so they never come back again before going to the table.  Embrace the feeling you had at time it happened.  When you take a better attitude to the table, you will be more successful.  Why are people like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan so successful?  Because they can maintain their focus. 

Hear more of Charlie’s interview at http://www.2007cppc.com/#shoten.

Here’s what else Susie Isaacs, poker pro and presenter at the California Poker Players Conference, told us about the importance of knowing your position.

Players that don’t take position into account are at a serious disadvantage.  It will cost them money in the long run if they don’t pay attention to the position and who is doing what, when, and where.  The last position is the best position, because you know what everyone else is going to do.  There are times in that hand I’m talking about that you’re going to want to follow from late position, because someone raised on early position.

Two face cards become more and more powerful as players fold.  So, you can play them more easily and more aggressively.  I would play big pairs in early position, and most of the time I am going to raise with a big pair.  However, I won’t raise if want to mix my play up.  If I can tell by body language or hand motions that a very aggressive player is going to come in swinging, I’ll call.  Then I’ll come up over the top of him.  I’ll take advantage of early position and let others load the table. 

Remember, no limit Hold ‘Em is a game of traps.

Hear more of Susie’s interviews at http://www.2007cppc.com/#isaacs. 

In 2003 Charlie Shoten was ranked among the Top Ten players by Card Player Magazine, with 19 final tables, four wins and four seconds. Since then, Charlie's Lifetime recorded tournament earnings have risen to $1.3 million with 70 final tables including 16 1st- and 12 2nd-place finishes.
He's the author of the book "No-limit Life," winner of the finalist best book award for 2005 from USABookNews.com in the category of - not poker or gaming, but Psychology/Mental Health. He's also published nearly 50 articles in Poker Player Newspaper on the subject of poker and mind clearing.
Here is what he had to say to Mike Caro about using your past experiences.

You are walking down a dark alley and hear a sound that you ignore and you keep going, then you get mugged!  That was a valuable experience.  If it happens again, and you hear a noise, you are going run like hell.  You applied your previous experience to the current situation. 

It’s the same thing at the poker table.  When I’m at a hand, my unconscious mind will automatically take me to a similar experience.  Instincts tell you whether you have a good feeling or bad feeling about the current play based on your past experience.  If you are paying attention and taking in all the information at table, then you can make a good decision based on your instincts. 

Instincts come through feelings.  It is important to relate past experiences to your current play at the table.  How many people say, instinct told me to do A, but I did B.  Even when you know you are beat, you still throw money in, because you are ignoring your instincts.  You can avoid that by accessing your experiences.

Hear more of Charlie’s interview at http://www.2007cppc.com/#shoten.

Susie Isaacs discussed the importance of position in poker with Mike Caro prior to the California Poker Players Conference in October.  You can hear her entire interview at http://www.2007cppc.com/#isaacs. 

One of the mistakes that both experienced and new poker players make is playing like a robot.  They will take any two paints like a King/Queen, Jack/King, or Jack/Queen and play it the same from any position.  That is not the way to play winning poker.  There are times in early position you should dumb the hand, there are times from the middle position you may want to call or open with a raise, and there are times from late position you may want to raise or re-raise depending on who you are playing against.

According to Russell Fox, presenter at this year’s First Annual California Poker Players Conference, the answer is yes.  Most pros do, but frankly they are better post flop players and get away with it.  This is because the average person that they are playing against can’t handle the situation. 

Also, the pros know the value of position.  Even if their hand is marginal or sub-marginal they’re typically doing it in position giving them outs. 

In games like Omaha you want to play tight and play hands that have discernable edges.  In other games, professionals should also play conservatively on hands they enter pots with, but they can make up some ground simply by outplaying opponents on subsequent rounds of betting.

In addition, if everyone else is playing tight, which is rare in a casino poker games, you can play more loosely.  In a Southern California game, which typically more loose, the tight player is going to be the winner.

You can get more information by listening to the rest of Mike Caro’s interview with Russell Fox at http://www.2007cppc.com/#fox.

Here is the best tax tip that Russell Fox thinks everyone should know!  You have to keep a log of your results. 

It is an IRS requirement to record wins and losses, but by keeping records, you’ll also know what games you’ve been winning and which games you’ve been losing.  That way you can play in ones you’ve been winning more and avoid the games you’ve been losing.  In theory, this should improve your results.  After all, the goal is to win as much as possible and lose as little as possible. 

Also note other interesting things that happen during the game.  Take player notes.  Very few players keep logs, so you’ll have an advantage.  You’ll be one step ahead, because you’ll have an understanding of your own game.  You do two things at once.

The IRS is a backwards agency.  When you’re playing live, they require that a diary be contemporaneously written, meaning that they want you to track it as you win and lose.  An Excel spreadsheet will not hold up in tax court, but a written log will. 

Investing in a small 99 cent notebook is deductible for pros, and for amateurs, it’s a good 99 cent investment.  It is required for live play.  Record keeping on a computer is not enough under IRS regulations.  It has been ruled that written log has to be written.  It does not mean done on a computer. 

Once you’ve got a written log you can put the numbers into excel and crunch them to get a hold on your game.  You can manipulate the data to see where you are winning and losing.  Then you can play where you are winning a lot more.

Russell Fox was one of the presenters at the First Annual California Poker Players Conference.  He is one of the country’s experts in the area of gambling and taxes.  Here is his number one recommendation to increasing win rates.

Once you’re sitting at table, besides learning people and taking note on what’s going on, the most important thing you can do is hold. 

Many people like the active player.  The more you play, the more pots you’re in, and the more you chance you take of losing your money.  It’s better for the average player to play the old way of tight and aggressive.  When you do that, you’ll be folding a lot of your hands. 

If you have a game like Omaha, there are few winning hands.  The tight aggressive players will be the winners.  For Hold ‘Em you can play more games because of nature of the game, but over time, the loose players tend to be the players that have lost the most money.

Here more of Russell’s interview and his tips at http://www.2007cppc.com/#fox.

There are not just one buy tournaments out there.  There are also re-buy tournaments.  Sometimes re-buy tournaments are worth playing, because there is a huge guarantee for small buy in.  It’s worth it – If you feel there are enough players, and enough money in the pool.  If a tournament is $100 for the buy in and the top guarantee is $100,000.  Getting that may be worth two or three hundred dollars. 

Don’t do the re-buy late into the tournament.  Do it as soon as you sit at the table.  It makes a lot of sense, because when you re-buy late in the tournament, you are doing it for the same price as you would at the beginning.  But, now there are so many chips out there it doesn’t make a difference.

It’s like being at the bottom of the mountain, and you have to catch up to everyone else climbing to the top.  You can do it, but it’s tough.  For example, Barbara Enright plays an online game that has an $11 buy in with a $10 re-buy.  She recommends getting $1500 in chips and doing the re-buy as soon as you are in.  That way if you double up you are at $3000, and if you triple up you are at $9000.  That can take you a long way to winning the $55,000 pot. 

That’s why you want to do it early.  If you didn’t re-buy in the beginning, you’d only have $4500 after tripling up.

However, in general, Barbara doesn’t like re-buy tournaments, because sometimes it’s a deep pocket contest.  If it’s a $1000 buy in and re-buy with some people re-buying 20 – 30 times over.  Other people just can’t afford that.  It defeats the purpose of the tournament.  If they keep doubling up, they can make it, but it’s tough.

Sometimes re-buy tournaments aren’t worth it, but the pot is appealing.  If you do re-buy, do it in the beginning to get an advantage.

Hear more of Barbara and Mike’s interview at http://www.2007cppc.com/#enright.

Studying what your opponent does is very important, but knowing what you do is equally important.  There are players that have seen you play before, and they are studying you as much as you are studying them.

Don’t look at all of them as donkeys.  They could be dangerous.  For instance, Barbara Enright noted that sometimes her opponents see her as a loose player, because she gets more aggressive as she gets more chips.  She will play more hands as she gets more chips. 

Her opponents used to check-raise her a lot, but now know they what to think of her, so she will change her play.  She is not going to let them check-raise her.  She will check right behind them if she doesn’t have a hand.  She won’t give them the opportunity to get her.

Don’t just study your opponents and remember what they’ve done in the past, realize that they know you.  You can sometimes tell at a table by the comments that are made what your opponents expectations are of you. 

It is all a part of setting the stage for future plays in a tournament.  Do it from the beginning.  Most world class players set the stage from the beginning. 

Hear more of Barbara and Mike’s interview at http://www.2007cppc.com/#enright.