Poker pro Will Ma is teaching a three week course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) titled “How to Win at Texas Hold’em Poker”. The for credit course is graded on a pass/fail basis. To pass, students need to earn 10 points in play-money online poker tournaments. In the slides for the first lecture, Ma states that he does not wish to fail anyone and that anyone unable to earn 10 points can submit a report explaining how they “attempted many tournaments but got unlucky” and they will be passed.

The course consists of eight total 90-minute lectures. Topics to be covered include myths of poker, preflop ranges, bet sizing, implied odds, variance, and risk management. All slides from the lectures will be available here at the course homepage. Additionally, it appears Ma will be posting the lectures to YouTube. A video of the first lecture is already available.

Mike ‘timex’ McDonald is slated to guest lecture next week during the seminar’s final two sessions. The students who perform near the top of the class in the online play-money standings will be awarded prizes ranging from private coaching from McDonald, Cole South, Tom Marchese, and others to copies of poker strategy books.

In an interview with CardRunners, Ma stated that upon completing the course, he hopes students will be proficient enough to beat $3 SNGs and $.05-$.10 no-limit cash games.