Daniel Negreanu To Stop Giving Poker Lessons

There's a famous scene in the World War II movie "Patton" where tank forces commanded by U.S. General George Patton and German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel are engaged in a battle in North Africa.

Patton correctly predicts the strategy and tactics Rommel is to use and thus wins the battle easily.

Afterwards, Patton gleefully explains how he bested Rommel, declaring, "I read your book!"

Yes, prior to World War II, Rommel, a briliant military strategist and tactician nicknamed the "Desert Fox," had written a book spelling out in detail his philosophy on modern tank warfare.

The "Desert Fox" had no idea he'd later be outfoxed by an American general who had read the book.

Some years later, a similar thing happened to poker legend Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson.

Brunson, one of the first stars of poker, was one of the first winners of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, and the first back-to-back winner, winning it in 1976 and 1977.

Impressed with his success, a book publisher offered Brunson big bucks to write a book about his strategies, tactics, philosophies and secrets of poker.

Brunson bit and the result was the hugely popular and highly educational 1979 poker tome "Super System."

Unfortunately for "Texas Dolly," however, he later regretted writing the book, saying he lost his playing advantage over other poker players after revealing the secret strategies that made him a champion.

Because competitors, thanks to the book, could now predict how Brunson would play any given situation, Brunson said he had to completely change his style of play in order to regain his advantage.

It appears, however, that he never fully regained that advantage, as he never won another WSOP Main Event.

Now another top poker pro, Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu, is seeing the light, and realizing that sometimes it's best to keep your big fat mouth shut.

The crafty Canadian, who gives poker lessons, for a fee, wrote on his blog (online diary) the other day that he is considering not giving lessons any more because he thinks giving away all his poker-playing secrets may not be such a great idea.

Ya think, Danny boy?

Negreanu wrote on his blog at Full Contact Poker (www.fullcontactpoker.com) that, starting in 2009, "I'll be doing a lot less teaching. People are already getting better and just giving away my secrets is starting to feel like a bad idea. Not because I don't think I'll be able to win, but more a case of, why should I? Seriously, for like 10 years now I've been doing that and I'm not so sure I want to any more. I've done enough."

And why the change of heart?

Because, Negreanu wrote, "I'm going to be a bit more selfish in terms of looking out for numero uno."

Don't you just love it when a Canadian of Romanian extraction who lives in the U.S. tries to impress us with his Spanish?

If he really wants to look out for numero uno, though, ditching the poker lessons won't be enough.

Negreanu has also written a book on poker and writes a syndicated newspaper column about poker.

He'll have to ax the writing career, too, if he really wants to keep his secrets secret.

Thomas Somach, www.pokerhelper.com