Winner / Loser. Success / Failure.  Fame / Obscurity. Rich / Broke.

Visceral contrast.  The first words evoke visions of grandeur -- the hoisting of the trophy, the victory lap, the acceptance speech.  The second summon images of destitution, arrest, pitifulness, squalor.

The truth is, there isn't much separating those that experience the thrill of victory and those that suffer from the agony of defeat.  Very often, making the "right decision" gets the "wrong result" -- and vice versa. There is a a healthy dose of luck and good timing associated with nearly every success story.

I've often theorized that if I could go back in time and change any ten river cards for any poker player in history, I could change a "lifetime loser" into one of the world's biggest winners, and I could change the world's biggest lifetime winners into penniless losers.

The 9 of clubs making a flush instead of the 3 of hearts -- a whiff.  A King on the river for the Ace-King to beat pocket Queens.  

It wouldn't take much and it wouldn't be all that difficult to pick the "key hands" that reverse the course of history.  Enough early bad beats in a career and there is no doubt many of the greatest players would be broke and out of the game.  The supremely talented player that suffered just a few too many "bubbles" early on and went broke before his talent could see him through?  He'd be wearing the World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet.  No problem.

When all the money is in the middle and the river card has yet to be dealt, the outcome is out of your control.  If you avoid taking the bad beat, everyone thinks you are a genius.  If you get a little unlucky, it is the "loser" tag.  Very few will know that you had way the best of it.  Very few will care.  All that will be reported and remembered is the "result"  -- the winners and the losers.  That is very unfortunate.

I used to love Las Vegas.  I lived there for many years, down on the strip and later off in the suburbs.  As my poker playing days winded down, I haven't spent much significant time there.

I just got back from a week at Caeser's Palace, and I have to say, Vegas has changed quite a bit, and not for the better.  A few observations:

* Caeser's Palace has seen much better days.  The rooms were terrible and dated.  The ambiance was dead and decaying.  Bathroom fixtures coming away from the walls.  Dirty carpets.  Ridiculously long waits for customer service of any kind.  There is a reason that Caeser's is $24+ billion in debt, I suppose.

* Poker is pretty dead at Caeser's.  This was CES week, one of the biggest conventions in Vegas with more than 150,000 people in town for the show.  And yet, on most weeknights, there were fewer than 3 tables running.  Sad.  Some of the pit bosses there said that was similar across some of the other properties.  I was at the Rio for a few days as well and they had exactly ZERO games running.  That casino was even more of a wreck than Caeser's.

* I don't miss the smoke at all.  After a few days in the place, I could really feel the dirty air.

* The price gouging starts to grate on you as soon as you land and never stops.  Vegas used to be a relatively good value, but now, it is nothing but a money-sucking vacuum giving little back to those who visit.

• $12 for a Keurig coffee pack in the room
  
• $4.50 for an iced tea
• $24.99 for internet service -- per day
• $24 for a crappy omelette and coffee at the diner

* No one seems to care at all about WSOP.com or online poker.  I took the opportunity to ask nearly 50 different poker room players if they had played online.  Despite the signage on every table, bulletin board, room key, I found only 1-2 that had tried it.  They had nothing but terrible things to say about the software and experience.  The outsourcing of the poker software to 888 is clearly ridiculous.  How does the WSOP not own its own platform and software?

* More and more of the table games are being dealt by computer.  You know, the cute video of the blackjack dealer calling the action, etc.  It removes all the personality from the game.  I can't see why in the world people would pick such a sterile, unsatisfying experience.

* The Forum shops were completely empty and deserted.  During CES week.  I did quite a bit of walking the mall for exercise and it was rare to see a shop with any sort of traffic.  I have no idea how those stores stay in business.


A few, small positive notes:

* Gordon Ramsey's new restaurant and pub at Caeser's is really great.  Friendly, great food, (almost) reasonable price but good value compared to the other restaurants in the joint (Mesa Grill, Nobu, etc).

* The poker room staff is still as competent and friendly as ever.  That is one of the best run poker rooms in the city.  It is a real shame that they don't have many games to manage.

When I left home for Georgia Tech, my mom explicitly warned me about the perils of the card game, Bridge.  "It just about ruined my life, I got so addicted," she said.  She made me promise to stay away from the game.  It wasn't a tough sell.  Bridge seemed like a game for old people.  And, it didn't seem like a path to meeting girls, either, not that there were that many around the GT campus back then anyway.

About two weeks into classes, I wandered into the student center, and lo and behold, there was a bridge game going on with about 4-5 tables in play.  I had an hour to kill in between classes, so I sat down and watched. Seven hours later, I had skipped all my classes, missed basketball practice, and had three bridge books in my backpack on loan from the bridge club.

25 years later, and I still completely love the game.  I think about it all the time.  I dream bridge hands.  I can still remember every "big hand" I played a few years ago when I won my second (and much more important) national title. I read bridge books and magazines.  I constantly work on my game.

Bridge is, by far, the most complex and nuanced card game I've ever played.  Poker is tiddlywinks in comparison.  It is a perfect blend of math, psychology, strategic planning, creativity, and, most importantly, communication.

See, bridge is a partnership game: you always play with a partner.  During the play, you're constantly communicating in code -- a code that you and your partner will work on for years if not decades.  There are partnerships that have been playing together and working on their system for 40+ years.  Their "system notes" are hundreds of pages long.

It is this partnership aspect that makes the game so much fun.  Not only do you have to play well yourself, you have to work to ensure that your partner plays well.

Today, I'm spending an hour watching the Polish Premiere League match -- in real time -- on a site called BridgeBase.  Watching and studying the best players in the world is a great way to learn.

I'm going to be talking more about bridge and introducing some of the mechanics of the game in future blog posts this year.  I sincerely hope you find the game as interesting and attractive as I have.

Next week, I have the distinct honor of teaching Tim Ferris (the "4-hour man") poker for a week for his awesome new television show, "The Tim Ferris Experiment".  In this show, Tim goes from zero to hero by taking lessons in some subject for a week and intensely focusing on improvement.  For instance, in the first episode, he takes drum lessons from Stewart Copeland (drummer for the Police) for a week and then, miraculously, performs on stage with Foreigner.  Quite impressive.

I've been thinking quite extensively on how to go about my 168 hour sprint with Tim to give him the biggest chance at improvement.  Complicating matters is the fact the 1 week of intense lessons has to be boiled down to 23 minutes of airtime.  I wanted to frame his lessons with a pithy, accurate, single sentence.  Here is what I've come up with:

Play your position and your opponents, not your cards.

Sound positional play.
Pay attention to opponents ranges.
Pick on the weak.

I think if he can master these concepts, I can get him about 80% of the way to proficiency.  Sure, there is some math, pot odds, etc.  That is all fine, and I'll be teaching that stuff too.  But, I think that one concept is really the essence of playing good, solid, winning poker.

So, what do you think?  Can you think of a more accurate encapsulation?  If so, please share it.  Lessons start Monday morning.  If you're down at Caeser's poker room this week, come by and say hello.  I'll be at the table next to Tim working with him on his game.  My prediction: He'll be easy money until about Tuesday afternoon, and then you won't want to play against him.

Phil Gordon

I'm embarrassed.  It's been 25 months since my last post.  That is unacceptable.

In 2014, I'll have a modest, achievable goal:  3 or more blogs a week.

Topics I'll likely try to cover are the things currently near and dear to me:

* Family -- My boys, Xander (5) and Zachary (4) are such a joy.  I'm really having fun trying to challenge them.  Being a good dad is my most important work.

* Mobile Gaming -- Jawfish has some interesting challenges in store.  Last year was interesting, to say the least.  We launched a bunch of games on our platform and got a little traction, but not enough to help me close a venture deal.  The gaming landscape has changed considerably since we started two years ago -- user acquisition is a real challenge.

* Poker -- while "retired" officially from playing, I think there are still plenty of things I can add.  I want to start a weekly Google Hangout to talk poker.  I miss my weekly radio show on ESPN radio.  I want to bring some of that back.

* Bridge -- you may not know, but I've been a huge fan of the game for almost 30 years now.  I've won quite a few important tournaments, and now I find myself addicted yet again.  It is a beautiful, nuanced game.  I hope to share some of my passion for the game with you in the blog.

* And, new pursuits -- I've got some ideas for things I want to tackle in the new year.  I'm thinking about trying to learn to play guitar with "Rocksmith" -- any one out there have a suggestion for a good mid-range guitar to buy for this purpose?  I've never played a note on one and have no idea where to start.


Game on.  2014 should be a blast.

Phil Gordon