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They are legends in the card games of poker, the greatest poker players in the world. Between them they hold an astounding 14 WSOP bracelets, 4 WPT titles and 2 WSOP rings. They are the Poker Pro's, and you can watch them now on All Africa Poker Channel DSTV 121. To give you an idea of some of the advice they give in their series, "Learning from the Pro's", currently running on DSTV 121, read on.
Chris Ferguson, as many refer to as Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, is not only famous for his impressive poker skills but also for his antics off the table. His trademark trick of throwing a card from 10 feet and cutting a carrot in half, is not only fascinating but impressive. Chris has 5 WSOP bracelets and 2 WSOP rings so he knows what he's talking about when he says one essential element of playing winning poker is forcing your opponents to make difficult decisions. Raising is almost always better than calling.
Phil Ivey, who is considered the best poker player in the world, was named Bluff Magazine's Player of the Year for 2005. He earned that title by becoming the youngest player to win 5 WSOP bracelets, which is a great feat in itself, but he did it all before his 30th birthday.
Howard Lederer "The Professor" has lived up to his nick name, his poker accomplishments include 2 WSOP bracelets, 2 Hall of Fames titles, 3 Bellagio titles and was named the 2003 WPT Player of the Year. Lederer offers this advice to players who are starting their poker career, don't play too many hands in the beginning and fold too many hands at the end. Don't worry so much about your hand and focus on reading your opponent(s).
Jennifer Harman is one of the world's best female poker players. With two 2 WSOP Bracelets, the first she won in 2000 and won the second in 2002. She is the only woman in the world with two bracelets in the open events. She believes that being a winning player isn't only about playing good cards - it's also about making good decisions. When you're winning, other players fear you; allowing you to bluff more as a losing player is scared to get involved with a winning player. Quit when they are losing. You have to remember that there will always be another poker game -- if not tomorrow, then the day after, or the week after.
Gus Hansen is the only player to win three WPT titles, and most recently the coveted Aussie Millions 2007 title. "The Great Dane" was a world-class backgammon player before discovering poker. His tip for playing poker is that in the early stages of a large tournament, you'll have a lot of chips compared to the size of the blinds. You should try to slowly build your stack, you don't need to double up quickly and you don't want to commit a lot of chips to the pot unless you're pretty certain you know where you stand.
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