Teaching when to hold ’em

Poker instructor moved to share his knowledge
by amateurs flinging their cash away

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Theo Psihogios

Age: 32

Occupation: Poker instructor

Bio: Recently laid off from his IT gig and taking a summer break from his volunteer duties feeding homeless folk at the Old Brewery Mission, this Fabreville heartbreaker only decided to start giving poker lessons a few short months ago. “I see so many amateurs out there just giving their money away at these poker tournaments they’re never going to win. So I figured it would be a good investment for some of these people to take poker lessons with me, where I’ll show them the fundamentals of the game and help them nurture a better understanding of it so they don’t keep losing all their money all the time.” He drives a 2000 Buick Regal.

His credentials: “For starters, the lessons I’m giving are for amateur players. I’m a pretty decent player. I’m not saying I’m the best out there or anything, but I’ve been pretty seriously into poker for about five years now, playing maybe four or five nights a week for the past couple of years. Am I what you’d call a professional? I dunno, to call yourself a professional you’d really have had to have won some major tournaments. But I usually finish, if not in the money, then within the last 10 or 15 players—which I’ve been doing consistently for a while now. So that’s pretty good, but remember, that’s on a Montreal scale. Everybody thinks they’re good until they go to Vegas or something, where there are real pros, and then they really see just how good they are.”

Are there many underground poker rooms in Montreal anymore, after the authorities went out of their way to shut them all down a few years ago? “There’s still a few underground places in Montreal, but I don’t generally go to them. You know, underground places are usually run by, um, how can I put this… shady characters. So I generally prefer to stay away from those rooms.”

Isn’t this recent Texas Hold ’Em craze the greatest thing ever so far as seasoned players like him are concerned, at least with respect to their wallets? “Absolutely.”

How much of poker is sheer luck anyway? “It’s probably about 35 per cent luck, the rest is skill. Poker is almost like science, there’s so many things to factor in when you’re playing it.”

What a lesson with Theo will set you back: $50 an hour. Contact him via greekwiz11@hotmail.com.

How many lessons will the average person need before they can comfortably give up their day job to become a full-time gambler? “I don’t know about giving up your day job, but to start competing in tournaments, ones ranging from, say, $60 to $200, I’d say five lessons ought to get you into the comfort zone, making the right moves, getting your timing right—and it’s all about timing in poker. Another thing to remember is to leave your emotions at the door. If you, say, get all pissed off after losing a hand or two, people are going to jump all over that and use it against you. I use that against competitors all the time.”

Last book read: The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch.

Musical preferences: John Mayer, Timbaland, Madonna.

Words of wisdom: “Listen to your gut, don’t second-guess yourself.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net