NEGREANU AND CO. OPEN UP THE PLAYBOOK AT POKERVT.COM

"I'm giving you everything I know about Texas Hold 'Em," says four-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, in his video introduction to PokerVT.com. "I'm opening up my entire playbook and letting you take whatever it is you want." To better appreciate the magnitude of this offer just imagine Roger Federer offering a recreational tennis player lessons in groundstrokes and volleying,. ...that is if Federer were an impish Canadian with an ability to read men's souls. "You'll get a much deeper understanding of how to play the game," he continues, as if the first salvo weren't enough. "It's like we're practically sitting across the table from each other... analyzing the good, the bad, and the ugly plays." Once you actually sign up for PokerVT's unique brand of training, you'll find that those words could not be truer.

Poker VT - "Virtual Training with the Pros" - is divided up into four sections, each offering a different angle on just how to beat No Limit Texas Hold 'Em.

Section One is NEGREANU'S CUSTOM COURSE ON HOLD 'EM, and it begins slowly enough. Daniel's Tips offers general nuggets of wisdom, from the power of aggression to some common rookie mistakes. There's a Q&A With Daniel section, where members of his FullContactPoker online forum submit questions to be answered by Daniel himself. The Rules & Etiquette section details the basics of gameplay to those completely new to the game, while the Beginner's Strategy section will show those same novice players how to walk before they learn how to run, with tips and techniques for going deeper in tournaments and lasting longer in home games.

If the above sections represent the "it takes a minute to learn" half of that oft-quoted maxim about Texas Hold 'Em, then the Small Ball section is where you'll begin your quest to take a "lifetime to master" the game. In this section there are over 50 short (3-5 minute) videos detailing every aspect of a Hold 'Em hand. Professor Negreanu talks directly to you, the student, beginning with preflop play, and shows with great philosophical detail, the minimal risk and maximum reward methods to his madness. You won't learn how to play Big Slick here, necessarily,but you will learn how to play when your opponent has Big Slick, and has missed the flop. Hammering home concepts about small bet sizes, flop play, and utilizing your position, Negreanu quickly proves that his style works, and is easy to learn. If you have a deep-stack tournament coming up on your schedule, then a tutorial in Small Ball will turn you from dead money into a threat to win.

Section Two, NEGREANU'S HAND ANALYSIS, takes a sharp left-turn from the previous section. What began as a dry lecture on theory (made entertaining by sprinkles of Daniel's cheerfulness), now moves into the practical realm. Daniel and Co. have set up a cash game, bringing together a mix of raw amateurs and seasoned professionals (including, most notably, WSOP Main Event runner-up Paul Wasicka). Hands are played in real-time, and analysis is offered in several different ways. In the Real Time Thought Process section, each player wears sound-dampening headphones, so that the other players at the table can't hear when they speak out loud about their inner thoughts on how and why they plan on playing their hands. It's quite telling when one compares how an amateur plays ("The only reason I'm playing this hand is because it's my favourite hand," says one hopeless greenhorn, limping in from early position with jack-eight offsuit, "in our home game it's called 'June Bug'"), with the precise and calculated thought processes of a professional. Watching Kirk Morrison set up an opponent, and then steal the pot on the turn, is a thing of beauty. Especially since we get a chance to hear his thoughts throughout the process. Similarly, the Private Games section shows these same players playing their hands, but without the headphones. A snippet of Negreanu analysis is the only commentary, but that's more than good enough.

In the Classic Hands section, Daniel runs through (at last count) fifteen well-known televised hands, and details just what the pros were (or weren't) thinking, that a newer player might not grasp. Anyone who remembers seeing Daniel lose a huge pot holding sixes full to Gus Hansen's turned quad fives will gain a new appreciation for what first seemed like a bad beat. Daniel discusses representing hands, playing the turn, and betting for value with expert insight. Having the hands play out in graphical mode, rather than using the original video (presumably for copyright reasons) is a bit of a drawback, ut it takes nothing away from the quality of the analysis.

Taking the information from the theoretical to the extremely theoretical, the next section, KNOW THE MATH: PLAY WINNING POKER, features Professor Charley Swayne, "who has taught seminars on statistics and probability all over the country". Prof. Swayne has dedicated much of his research to the study of poker math. "You don't have to be known as a math player," he's quoted as saying, "but you have to know the math to be a player." His seminar, which goes way beyond simple pot odds calculations, is essential for anyone looking to become a long-term winning player. And for those of you daunted by the prospect of sitting through even a single math lecture, don't fret: Professor Swayne is as much a character as Daniel himself. Don't let the glasses and pocket protector scare you off of learning some essential information.

The section ONLINE POKER INSTRUCTION FROM WINNING ONLINE PROS gathers together a group of long-time winning players, all with respected reputations in the online poker community. The big name here is Annette Oberstad, known as Annette_15 online and the reigning World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion offline (all by the tender age of 18). Annette's contributions to the site have been limited so far, but that promises to change. The real workhorse, in her stead, is Adam Junglen, a player who has scored major tournament victories all over the internet, including the PokerStars Sunday Million, which is presented here in all its hand-by-hand glory. Junglen is a born teacher with a laidback style that's simple in presentation but deep in content. Rounding out the team are JC "PrtyPsux" Alvarado and Justin "Boosted J" Smith, each with something to add - and a differing style - to help you beat both tournaments and cash games.

Daniel himself contributes some videos, playing ring games as high as $200/$400 (for that time, way off in the future, when your Poker VT training has really swelled your bankroll). He's also involved in the true gem of this section, a $5000 heads-up sit-n-go played against Adam Junglen, in the REAL TIME THOUGHT PROCESS WITH ONLINE STRATEGY section. Both players' hole cards are shown, and their thoughts, unknown to the other, are recorded in real time. It's fascinating listening to the two play the 'what-does-he-think-I-think-he-has game' while you, the viewer, can see what they actually do have.

Once you've finished the training, you can round out your Poker VT experience by taking the N-SPAT (Negreanu-Swayne Poker Aptitude Test) to see just how much you've absorbed, while tracking your progress over time. Or, for a bit of frivolity, check out the GAMES section, where you can see how well you spot the best hand in D's Nuts, or practice your poker speak with Poker Jargon.

As with any new site, there are still some wrinkles to be ironed out. For one thing, the site, with its sparkling graphics, can be a bit of a chore to load. This becomes doubly-problematic when you're trying to follow one course or another, and are sent back to the main list, instead of the next section in that course. Navigating can be difficult and time-consuming while you're constantly waiting for the next page to come up. Also, the WHAT'S NEW section, which could easily have including links to the latest available content, is nothing more than a text list, but it's realistic to assume that this will be enhanced over time as the site grows.

But all that can be easily overlooked when one considers the quality of the poker content found herein. PokerVT.com bills itself as a "virtual training" site. But spend some time with Daniel and his crew of instructors and you'll find the training is nothing if not very real.