As it turns out , getting leathered in Spearmint Rhino until the wee hours the night before, isn’t the best preparation for an intensive one-on-one session

There’s been a change of plan this month. With both John and I in Las Vegas for the World Series, I’ve arranged a face-to-face training session with my mentor in his suite at the Wynn.

To be honest, this training session is much needed. I’m meeting Dr John in an attempt to remedy a severe case of ‘Dontbelieveyouitis’. It’s a hideous disease I caught while on holiday in Italy last month. When I returned home before heading out to Vegas, I managed to successfully ‘call off’ a whole day’s worth of buy-ins (0) by playing way below my A-game, and stacking off with top pair to obvious overpairs on at least a couple of occasions.

Strip poker

As it turns out, getting leathered in Spearmint Rhino until the wee hours the night before isn’t the best preparation for an intensive one-on-one session. While John is explaining the intricacies of a certain situation, I’m wondering how much warning I need to give in case I need to make a dash to his bathroom. It’s not the most auspicious of starts. In fact, all I can ponder is what the hell John must be thinking he’s let himself in for as every comment he makes is met by a confused look from me.

Patience, it seems, must be one of his greatest virtues. Indeed, he’s had a tough time out here in Vegas himself, having made three final tables in the Bellagio Cup tournaments – finishing 10th, ninth and eighth respectively – but suffering a horrible time in the WSOP events and an even worse time at the cash tables. Despite this JT is still fairly upbeat as he rips into my game and, having drilled into me the importance of the continuation bet, he now waxes lyrical about its sneaky brother – the ‘turn continuation bet’.

But surely that implies not betting the flop, which goes against his previous advice, doesn’t it? Apparently not. If the other guy is calling light and overvaluing draws or overcards (and you still only have Nine-high) then waiting until the turn, when there isn’t much left to help an opponent, can be a better spot to pick up an orphan pot. To steal an overused football phrase, at the end of the day you do whatever you need to do to get the job done.

Catching on

Despite my hungover state John’s words obviously filter in because I take to the Vegas cash tables with a vengeance. I manage to get full buy-ins (0-0) in pre-flop with Jacks against Nines, with A-K dominating A-Q, and then with Jacks again when I snap-call a drunk yank’s 7-2 re-shove. They’re all beautiful – until the board delivers bad beats and suckouts galore. Needless to say, it’s a little annoying.

Unfortunately, it seems apparent from my first few sessions back in the UK that you do indeed take the weather with you. I grind out a few buy-ins, but each time I get knocked back, such as when I get big hands like Q-Q in against A-Q (and lose) or miss every out on an up-and- down straight flush draw.

By the end of the month I’m up just 5, which equates to around two big blinds for every 100 hands dealt. It’s hardly going to allow me to live the life of Riley. That said, I feel that I’m still making the correct decisions – the majority of the time anyway – and that this is just variance biting my backside to make sure I don’t get complacent next time I win a race.

With that in mind, I’m feeling focused and ready to embrace a new, fresh month of poker – of betting and raising everyone I encounter. I just hope the poker gods hear my prayers this time.