Paul Phua Poker School Top Tips

(Photo: WSOP.com)

It’s rare in poker that several top-class players will share their views on the same subject of improving your game, but Paul Phua’s Poker school has become the go-to site for the best advice for those looking to climb the poker Olympus, and this week we have a new face joining the Phua ranks – Timofey ‘Trueteller’ Kuznetsov.

‘Trueteller’ as he is known on online has been beasting the game for years, and his live results are not too shabby either, with almost $3million in tournament earnings when he hits the non-virtual felt, so he’s a man worth listening to – free advice from one of the game’s elite players.

The truth, the whole truth…

“I think you can only start considering playing poker professionally now if you have, like, a real passion for the game,” he says in the latest installment of the bite-sized ‘Top Tips’ series – and although we may all fee we have a love and desire for poker, the Russian star lives up to his nickname, telling the plain truth when he states:

“It’s, like, no easy money anymore in poker, l would say, no free money.”

Now that isn’t a doom and gloom statement by any means, Kuznetsov qualifying it by adding:

“The main, main, main thing - if you have passion and you work a little bit in the right direction then it will be OK.” However, he insists: “You cannot get good by playing, like, 50 hours a month; like, no shot.”

Well, you can’t argue with that really – it needs to be said and it’s great advice, just one of many slices of top-pro tips which can be found on the site. In fact this week sees three of the leading players sharing their secrets for beginners, as Kuznetsov is joined by Wai Kin Yong and Winfred Yu.

(Photo: Cardplayer.com)

Macau messages

Yong, as with many of the Macau-based poker crew, is a name which you may not have heard much of but is well-known to those who are looking to take the game to a new level – and he insists that if you get the chance “talk to people that you think play better than you.”

He adds the important message:

“Listen and always learn from your mistakes. Never think that it’s just bad luck, because l think poker involves more skill than luck in the long term,” something which beginner and intermediate players tend to forget in the heat of battle.

Yu knows what’s best for beginners

At the top levels of the Macau poker world, playing in the Big Game along with Phua and the likes of Phil Ivey, Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Dan ‘jungleman’ Cates and a host of others, is the Poker Club King President and CEO Winfred Yu.

Yu has definitely have taken Yong’s advice to heart over the years, the opportunity to learn from the elite players boosting his own skills manifold – but he returns to the basics for his own ‘top tips’ for beginners – starting hands first and foremost!

Imploring us “not to be tricky, picking group A, that means better cards like Ace-King, play Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, pocket pairs, bigger suited connectors – King-Queen suited, King-Jack suited – those kinds of hands for beginners.”

Now this may sound obvious, but there is a caveat – and his second tip of the week for Paul Phua’s Poker School is… position, position, position!

Describing it as “one of the most important things about this game”, Yu explains that beginners have “play a little bit more selectively with your hands,” when in early position, more premium hands.

(Photo: Pokerstars.jp)

“A lot of people are thinking ‘Wow! How can l fold two face cards?’ like Jack-Queen, King-10. Those are not premium hands for early positions and especially inexperienced players!”

He re-iterates to get the point across:

“This game is all about… positions and where you are", and gives his third tip of the day:

“Take time, do your decision making, be concentrated and try to read what other players have… try to remember the history of the hands up in play, and analyse from that. I think those are the three important elements that take you to become a better player.”

As ever, it’s an excellent refresher for beginners, and from players who have been there and still remember how they improved all the way up to their world-class status. Take the opportunity to follow in their footsteps – subscribe for free and get your weekly dose of poker’s top tips from the best, courtesy of Phua’s school.