During the World Series of Poker, I talked with a number of pros about the problems that so many online qualifiers had playing Big Slick during the early blind levels. It seemed to us that a huge percentage of the field - we estimated as much as 70 percent - was more than willing to go broke with this hand if they hit a pair on the flop.

In the 18 months that I've been playing poker at Full Tilt Poker, the one question I am asked most often is a variation on the following:

"Hey Paul? What are you doing in this $10-$20 No-Limit game? Ivey, J-dags, and Matusow are at the $25-$50 No-Limit table, and E-dog is playing in the $50-$100 Limit game. Why don't you join them?"

I was at my first World Series of Poker in 2002, talking to a player who had made the final table the year before. He told me something I've never forgotten, and it's helped me ever since.