Paul Phua With Dan Colman: Three Key Tips on Poker Strategy

(Photo: Bluff.com)

Paul Phua Poker is fast-becoming a ‘go to’ site for quick and useful tips from the world’s very best players, and this week sees the 2nd part of his chat with Dan Colman, a player ranked 3rd in lifetime tournament earnings and formerly an online beast at the highest levels.

Phua’s ‘In Conversation with…’ videos have seen him interviewing Phil Ivey and Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, as well as some high-earning lesser-known local talents from the Macau nosebleed cash-games and tournament high-rollers.

What we have in this edition is Colman explaining his views on being a ‘big stack bully’, changing up your game and how to spot and fix your own weaknesses – a trio of specific areas in the game which his views on are well worth listening to.

Bully boy tactics

Colman’s tactics in tournaments are, of course, dependent on a lot of factors.

“If there’s a big pay jump and my stack is pretty short I might have to really be cautious and try to advance up the pay ladder," he tells Phua.

Naturally, someone who has won over $30million in tournament play didn’t get there by inching his way up the pay ladder - knowing when to apply serious pressure is a skill in every poker master’s arsenal.

"But when you have a big stack you can just put on a lot of pressure and win a lot of pots uncontested," says Colman, both he and Phua agreeing that it’s a lot of fun to bully.

“Sometimes, too, it gets to a point in the tournament where the table knows you are being a bully and just getting away with murder, but they can’t do anything because the payouts are in such a way.”

Changing your style

Colman understands full well that being able to mix up your game is vitally important – a predictable player might make it to the highest level but he won’t stay there.

“Versus some people I do want to switch it up every now and then, and zig when they think I’m going to zag, but then, versus other players I like to just try and stay as balanced as I can and try to not let them be able to exploit anything I’m doing,” says Colman, while Phua is a firm believer in continually learning.

Phua’s secret?

“Keep working hard. Even when you are successful, you work hard to improve your game. You know, there’s so much, you can never stop learning in poker. Spend hours, put more hours into your game, then you will see the results.”

Being first and foremost a highly successful businessman and coming late to poker as a serious game, Paul Phua is well aware of the weaknesses in his game – and his site is a testament to his own work ethic at ironing out these flaws.

Weaknesses and friends

“I think to be able to know what your weaknesses are… and to admit that you have a weakness, is quite critical,” he confesses, and Colman expands on this:

“The game is always evolving and you have to stay with it, you have to stay learning, stay hungry, and if you don’t do that then your game does have weak spots.”

Colman’s view that “having friends that are very good players and even better than you,” to discuss poker hands with is a sure-fire tip for improvement and it’s a running theme in Phua’s excellent interview series – quick tips which require deep thought or work from you, the player.

And if you want to know Phua’s thoughts on the new and exciting variant of short-decked poker you’ll have to check out the new video yourself – again it’s well worth investing time, and it’s free!