looking for general info/advice/wisdom for 1st time at WSOP

[bwana devil]

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A couple things to remember about playing in the ME.

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good post. sounds like it's the simple things to consider. these are the types of things it's nice to remember.

thanks for contributing.

bwana

[Lawman007]

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Is Huckster Huck Seed?

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Yes, he is.

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How cool is that? The OP asks for advice for a first timer at the WSOP and a World Champion shows up to give him some. This forum is so great. Thanks for your input, Huck! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[wiz_apprentice]

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I would definitely recommend NOT to read any strategy books right before the tournament. Books screw up your game and take quite some time to digest what works and what doesn't.

Just play a lot of tournaments, play deep-stack tournaments available online, live tournaments if you have any available locally. Reading 2+2 deep-stack threads might be of value.

As for breaks - you better map out available restrooms before the tournament, because lines will be huge. Bring bottled water and energy bars to the table. It can be pretty cold inside the cardroom, so you might want to have something with long sleeves in your bag just in case.

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I agree with kutuz_off on most of his post with a couple of adjustments:

1. I agree on not reading a NEW poker book just before the ME. Rereading an old book to "brush up" on a few points of your game is probably ok. (If reviewing an old poker book messes you up, then don't read a poker book.)

2. I'd suggest bringing some bottle water(drink it first) & other drinks like Gatorade. Since you won't have a fridge around, the water will get warm and not taste very good.

3. Energy bars(and/or fruit). Bring a variety of things. If you don't, you'll likely stop eating what you brought with you. Those days get long and you need to eat to keep your energy level up.

[huge]

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A couple things to remember about playing in the ME.
1. The structure. This is not your weekly home tournament this is the world championship. The blinds start low and you have a big stack. See flops as cheap as possible, and do not fall in love with pocket aces or kings. I have busted so may people in main event by flopping sets to take out their big pocket pairs. Get away from the hand if you played it like ABC poker and you have to commit a large amount of chips on the river.

2. Do not let yourself be tagged as someone who can be bullied. Defend your blinds against name players or you will be a target for the duration.

3. Use the break times wisely. (restroom, eating, mediatate, etc.)

4. If you go deep get plenty of rest. You can only be on your A game if you are prepared mentally and physically. A lot of amatuers underestimate the length of the day. It is very diffacult to play your best poker all day long.

Hope the above helps and maybe I will see you at the final table.
Huck

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Wow ... umm ... thanks (hands shaking, voice stammering - I'll try to get all my trembling around famous players out of the way NOW before I sit down with them).

I especially appreciate the advice about defending blinds against top/name players. I think I'm reasonably good about that in general, but it seems like a good idea to make a real effort to send that message early if I'm at a table with a bigshot aggro player.

Would you (Huck) be willing to talk about how you size up an unknown player at the ME? Is there anything other than the obvious that makes you decide "OK I can abuse this guy" or "maybe I need to be careful with this one"?


Thanks for your reply to my post (and all the others - you little people matter to me too!) I've been sort of hoping and not hoping to run into big names at the tables, and it's nice to have a run-in on 2+2 in a situation where I don't have a pile of chips at stake. (My closest brush so far has been busting Paul Magriel out of a tournament at Caesar's earlier this year - man was he fun to have at the table)

See you at the FT,
-huge

[huge]

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I would definitely recommend NOT to read any strategy books right before the tournament. Books screw up your game and take quite some time to digest what works and what doesn't.

Just play a lot of tournaments, play deep-stack tournaments available online, live tournaments if you have any available locally. Reading 2+2 deep-stack threads might be of value.

As for breaks - you better map out available restrooms before the tournament, because lines will be huge. Bring bottled water and energy bars to the table. It can be pretty cold inside the cardroom, so you might want to have something with long sleeves in your bag just in case.

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I agree with kutuz_off on most of his post with a couple of adjustments:

1. I agree on not reading a NEW poker book just before the ME. Rereading an old book to "brush up" on a few points of your game is probably ok. (If reviewing an old poker book messes you up, then don't read a poker book.)

2. I'd suggest bringing some bottle water(drink it first) & other drinks like Gatorade. Since you won't have a fridge around, the water will get warm and not taste very good.

3. Energy bars(and/or fruit). Bring a variety of things. If you don't, you'll likely stop eating what you brought with you. Those days get long and you need to eat to keep your energy level up.

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I think I agree about new reading vs re-reading. I'm reading a couple of new books now ("Kill Phil" and "Beyond Tells"), but I think in the couple of weeks before the ME I'll just do some reviewing of my stand-bys (HoH, Gordon's Green Book & maybe Caro). If there are other titles people particularly recommend (new or old), let's hear 'em...

thanks for all the input, especially about water/gatorade, variety of food, warm clothing, etc - it's that kind of stuff that I just would have no idea about.

-huge

[greg nice]

re: food

can you order food or otherwise buy it and bring it to the table? or are you limited to bringing your own?

[Roswell]

Huckster,

You were pretty sure that Furlong would fold, right? I think almost everyone in the world would have thrown away A3 in that spot.

[burningyen]

Here's what I learned from my experience last year (my first and possibly last WSOP main event unless I start running better in satellites):

1) Practice playing deep stack poker. The Sunday $10k on Bugsy's Club uses the same chip structure as the WSOP main event (10k starting stacks, starting blinds at 25/50).

2) Read Caro's book of tells and practice playing long sessions live as much as possible.

3) Get used to the fact that most of even the best players will bust out on Day 1, that you will have to gamble and that anything can happen, bad or good. Just concentrate on the things you can control and play great poker.

4) Don't forget how little money you have invested in the event. It is a psychological edge you have over some "pros" who are not adequately bankrolled for the event.

5) Do not load up on caffeine early on. You will crash later in the day when things really start to get hairy.

5) Exercise, especially cardio.

6) Win coinflips.

[stan1541]

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6) Win coinflips.

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Did you have any specific ideas on this one? Cause if you do, I would pay greatly to learn!!!!

[po-Jay-to]

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6) Win coinflips.

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Did you have any specific ideas on this one? Cause if you do, I would pay greatly to learn!!!!

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Corollary to #6:
If you find yourself with the worst of it...Suckout.
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