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Learning To Spend Money And Waste Time At The WSOP Academy

You can learn to play poker.

You can learn to play poker in a classroom, just as you can learn to drive a car in a dodgem, learn to be an astronaut by playing a game of Space Invaders and learn to be great at tennis by eating strawberries at Wimbledon.

In the Olympus Ballroom at the Caesars Indiana Hotel & Casino, the WSOP Academy is teaching people to play poker.

It's a WSOP Academy poker camp.

Hayley Hintze watches the students check in. Their eyes are trained on an overhead screen above a podium.

Alex Outhred, a poker pro of less-than-awesome pedigree, is your host. Looking at his poker record - one televised World Poker Tour final table - the Poker Anorak recalls to mind the graffiti words facing him when he first addressed a class of students: "Those who can do, those who can't teach."

One other teacher of pokology is Joe Navarro, the FBI behavioural analysis specialist. Mr Navaorr is a man who stares at people for a living.

Sat in class, the students await instruction.

Outhred has a pointer. He has a screen. He uses the pointer to point to things on the screen. He makes pointzzzz. Students are encouraged to ask questionzzzzz. It'zzzz very interezzzting...

Happily, the pupils eventually do get to play poker. The pros deal hands and take players' through them. In the time it takes to grow a field of corn, a hand is played. If this is poker, give me chess any day.

If you want to pay money to learn how to play poker for money, then the WSOP Academy is just the thing. If you would prefer to learn poker by playing poker, then you can do what Americans cannot - you can play online.

And Betfair will give you a bonus...

• Poker
• Poker Anorak