Paul Phua With Dan Colman: AI, Tells, and The Trouble With Online Poker

If it’s expert advice or analysis you’re after, then they don’t come much more expert than Dan Colman, the 26-year old star who has amassed almost $30million in tournament earnings – and this week he joined Macau poker supremo Paul Phua for his latest Poker School ‘In Conversation’ with slot.

As mentioned previously, the multi-billionaire businessman and poker fanatic has access to most of the big name pros, many of whom play the nosebleed games in the ‘Vegas of the East’ and are happy to share some of their expertise with Phua.

Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and Phil Ivey have already joined Phua in the studio, so Colman rounds off a remarkable trio of the world’s best and most exciting players – this week explaining to Phua how he thinks online poker is in its death throes because of artificial Intelligence, but believes that live poker has a long and healthy life ahead of it.

“I think the way the online poker game works is that it puts recreational players at a severe disadvantage,” explains Colman, adding that “Everything is very unfair for the recreational player the way the online environment is these days.”

Whether you agree with this assessment or not, Colman’s words ought to be taken seriously – he was the first player to ever clear $1million (before rakeback) playing hyper-turbo SNG’s, and even back then he was bemoaning the likely future fate of some online games.

His chat with Phua this week clarified his thoughts, Dan stating:

“I think online poker will die down as a result of computers and machines playing. I think this will come in the next one, two, three years. It’s already happening in some game formats.”

It’s not all doom and gloom from big Daniel, however.

“For live poker, I don’t see it really impacting the games all that much,” he states, finishing “I think live poker will certainly survive long after online is dead.”

Their discussion of tournament play is quite interesting, Phua recalling how he only last a few minutes before Colman busted him out of the Monte Carlo high Roller final table, but Colman also has some kind words for his elder,  recalling how well the Malay-born businessman played.

Colman’s $15million scoop of the 2014 Big One for One Drop may be the biggest-ever live cash, and it’s a drop in the ocean compared to Phua’s reputed fortune, but Phua acknowledges he still has a lot to learn about the differences between cash game play and the tournament set-up – knowledge which he draws from Colman’s beasting of the high-roller scene over the years.

Short-stack play, bubble-play, aggression factors all make their way into the lively conversation, with Colman admitting that:

“Live tournaments will always draw people for the sake of a huge top prize. It’s more gamble-y!”

Paul Phua’s website is starting to look like the real deal, the promises of great content coming true – and the great thing about his friendships with the top players in the world is… you get to hear snippets of gossip and tall tales from the game’s biggest names.

For example, Phua recalls how online legend Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates instantly changed his game after finding out how many ‘tells’ his opponents had on him when he made the transition to the live game! This transition, says Colman, is one of the most difficult things for young players, but to hear the whole story check the ‘In Conversation’ piece out for yourself!