Lessons to Be Learned From a Billionaire’s Approach to the Game

By Chris “Fox” Wallace

Some of the most fascinating people in the world of high-stakes poker aren’t famous for their poker skills, but for their success in business and the amounts of money they made before they started playing poker. Ultra-high stakes regular Guy Laliberte’ has been a feature online as well as in huge live games for years, and isn’t likely to burn through his estimated $2.5 billion fortune anytime soon. Richard “Quiet Lion” Brodie made his money as the original creator of Microsoft Word, but to the poker world he is known as a strong limit player who was a Full Tilt pro until Black Friday shut down the site.

Even Hustler owner Larry Flynt and L.A. Lakers owner Jerry Buss regularly play high stakes with the best players in the world, and there have always been rumors of professional athletes and other rich men being driven by their competitive side to play against the best in the world at the highest stakes.

The most well documented case of a wealthy player taking on the best in the world is covered in the excellent book The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King by Michael Craig. Craig’s book covers the story of Texas Billionaire Andy Beal and his one-on-one limit hold’em matches against the best players in the world at stakes so high even the players were nervous.

Recently, I had the chance to talk with another wealthy businessman who has played high with the best. My fellow Minnesotan John Morgan was the founder of Winthrop Business Resources Corporation and currently serves as the CEO of Winmark Corporation, a company with a market cap of nearly two hundred million dollars. John often plays in local tournaments, and I have heard him called a billionaire on multiple occasions, though I don’t know if that claim is exaggerated.

What is clear is that John is a man of great means, the kind of man who talks about significant quantities of money as if it was pocket change. As a very blue collar kind of guy, John never treats money as if it is unimportant, nor does he seem to throw it away at the tables, even in tournaments that are much too small to matter to a man of his considerable net worth. I’ve played tournaments as small as $60 with Mr. Morgan, and he plays to win even at the smallest buy-ins. The money may not matter, but he does want to win.

John once played all night in a  tournament a few weeks before Christmas, managed a deep run, and dropped his entire payout into the dealer’s tip box. This story really tells us a lot about John Morgan. He didn’t care about a few thousand dollars, but he certainly cared about winning and about the competition. This is a common theme among these wealthy men who find a fresh challenge in poker: They need to compete and they don’t care how much it costs.

When I heard that he played in the $100,000 buy-in WPT Super High Roller event at the Bellagio, I had to hear about it, and my first piece of research before we spoke was to check the roster of entrants in the event. The 29 players reads like a who’s who of the best players on the planet, with just a few non-pros in the field and not a fish to be found.

John speaks of the $100,000 as if it is simply enough money to make the other players really care about trying to beat him. I have to wonder if the rumors that he is in fact a billionaire (that’s with a b) are true.

In our half-hour conversation, John never once mentioned the money, something very rare when a conversation is focused on a poker tournament. He only talked about the players, the game, and the competition. I assumed that a fierce competitive drive is what brings this type of man to the table, and I’m sure that’s part of it, but what John talked about wasn’t competition, it was how much fun he had and how well he was treated by the other players.

After playing with him numerous times and talking to him as well, I can tell you that John Morgan is no fool, but he was well aware of the fact that he was not a favorite in this field. He knew they saw him as a weak spot, and though he plays well, he was certainly not at the skill level of the world-class players that filled most of the seats in this event. Even though they saw him as a source of income, the players were friendly, and John says players like Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu were receptive and respectful.

There’s a lesson in this, both for pros and aspiring pros and for those of us who simply love the game.

The pros can learn by taking notice of how the players treated John when he entered this big event and sat down at a table surrounded by world-class competition. They were friendly, pleasant, and talkative, treating him as an equal and welcoming him to the table. They know that if they make this experience an unpleasant one, and treat the non-pros in the field with contempt, that they will never see them again. A $100,000 buy-in with just big-name pros in it wouldn’t be good for any of them.

This is why we defend the fish at the tables, even in a small cash game. It’s why we try not to tell them they played a hand badly or disparage their skill level. It is why we treat the tables as if we are in the entertainment business rather than attacking the weak players and treating them with contempt. This only makes them play better or leave, and those are the two things we don’t want them to do.

Just because someone isn’t as good as you is not a reason to treat him with contempt – he may have different priorities than you. In fact, if you think poker skill is the most important thing in life, their priorities may be more correct than yours!

If you play the game for fun, and it’s entertainment for you, then we can learn something from these wealthy men who buy into tournaments with such fierce competition. They try to win – the game wouldn’t be any fun if they weren’t competing – but when they don’t win they rarely stomp away from the table or berate their opponents. They treat their time at the tables as recreation and they enjoy themselves.

So whether you are playing for a living, or just visiting the tables for a night out of the house, the game isn’t worth playing if you aren’t enjoying it.

Buy Chris’ new book on no-limit hold’em at http:www.nolimitbook.com and check out his new site at pushfoldcharts.com.