Are Your Ready To Play?
As the Main Event approaches, players planning to attend are honing their skills in a variety of ways. I was recently asked: “How should one prepare for the Main Event?” After all, this is a multi-day event that requires thousands of decisions and lots of stamina to make it to the fi nal table.
So I respond: “How do you think the professional players prepare?” The answers vary, but usually sound like this: “Study up on the statistics of the game”; “Re-read poker books”; “Play online as much as possible”; or “Watch previous episodes of the WSOP.”
I suppose all of these are fi ne answers, but the one element I usually fi nd missing is how they will improve their ability to read tells. After an uncomfortable moment, as I point to myself, they visibly understand that they left out an important part of their preparation: reading tells and perfecting the art of bluffi ng. At that instant, I usually see enough tells of discomfort (looking down, lip biting, chin tucked in, or neck touching) to realize they have not thought this through.
So with the big event coming up less than a month away, here is my list of must-dos to prepare for the big tournament:
1. Get yourself a good book on nonverbal communications (poker tells) and make a list of the most common ones you see.
Reinforcing this information will help you remember them during tournament play. Whether you use my books (Read ’em and Reap or What Every Body is Saying) or one like Mike Caro’s, review the material as though you were studying for a test. After all, you are cramming for the most expensive test in your life.
2. Go to a poker room at a casino and get used to the ambiance.
With poker rooms across the country, you have the opportunity to get a feel for the tables, the banter, the noise, and the distractions. Remember that whatever you experience in this room will be even more intense at the big event. The fear factor or pucker factor, whichever you use, will be heightened. Concentrating in this environment is not for everyone. I know it is remedial, but learning to concentrate will let you observe others and concentrate without being derailed by all the chattering and bullying you will encounter. If you are susceptible to these distractions, fi nd out before you lay down $10,000.00.
3. Acknowledge that being a good observer of tells requires effort on your part.
So take at least an hour every few days to watch people playing poker. I know it’s tough not to be at the table yourself, but be strong you can do it. For every fi ve hours you play, you should set apart one hour, at least, to observe others at play. Study the behaviors you notice and analyze them to improve your own game.
People often ask me how I learned to read people so easily. Quite simply, I work hard, really hard, at studying others. Recently I was at Harrah’s in Atlantic City, and I spent over six hours watching the tables, trying to break the “code” for each player. I make my observations a game. I try to discover the glaring tells that each player exhibits for comfort/discomfort and intentions. Knowing that these factors are the most important for poker, it is clear that watching tables is not time wasted, but time invested. I prefer this observation method to just playing at a table because I get to see more players, in many more hands, and from many different angles.
4. Concentrate on picking up tells without being noticed.
In other words, learn to observe unobtrusively. When we stare at someone, as often happens at the tables, what we see is a performance that is crafted for us. However, when we observe inconspicuously, behavior tends to be more honest. This can be achieved by avoiding eye contact and by discreetly looking over at other players to catch them at their most honest selves. Invest in a good pair of sunglasses to further deceive your observation. A baseball cap is helpful, too.
5. Assess how much information you are giving away at the table.
At the WSOP, you are going up against players who are experts at evincing information from you (e.g., an online player vs. live game player) and who have developed skills in reading nonverbals. Now is the time to get ready by working on revealing less information. For years now, I have preached concealing and not revealing. Players who have adopted this philosophy, including Phil Hellmuth, have become ever more diffi cult to read. I still see a lot of players very loose with their bodies; their faces uncovered and their arms and hands attracting attention. Develop a repertoire during play that is so routine, so lacking in tells, that you become invisible. You won’t be a lot of fun, but at least your bankroll will stay where it belongs. The time to practice this is now, not the day of the tournament. Good practice makes for good play.
6. Part of getting ready for the big tournament is having a quiver full of tricks that include false tells.
Once again, the day of the tournament should not be the fi rst day that you put these to use. False tells should be practiced early and often so you can see which ones work best and which ones fi zzle out. Like a good comedian, you want to try these at a small venue to see how well they are received before you use them at the big tournament. Your home game is a great place to start; and as you gain confi dence, larger venues begin to call your name.
7. During the last few days before the tournament make sure you are healthy, eat well, get plenty of exercise, and stay well hydrated.
Players often get headaches in Vegas because of dehydration, so be warned. View this as an athletic event. The tired, the sick, the weak don’t do well in tournaments.
Why so much emphasis on health? Tournament play is hard work. Work, not play. You are in a card room for over ten hours a day (if you are lucky). You need to be mentally and physically ready. When it comes to nonverbals, we are best at observing when we are rested. The more fatigued we are, the worse we will be at focus and observation. That also means avoiding alcohol, which is a CNS depressant that inhibits our ability to observe.
When tired or fatigued, we don’t realize all the nonverbal cues (tells) we give away. Look at people leaving work after a long shift. Everything shows on their faces because they are, in part, too tired to mask their weariness. It is often easier to read tells at the fi nal table of a tournament than in the beginning, and that is because the invigorated have the stamina to read tells and to hide them. After days of play and thousands of decisions, exhaustion is probably the number-one occupational hazard of tournament players.
So what are you waiting for? With just weeks to go, start now and get ready for the premier event in poker by preparing both physically and mentally. As the dealers often say, “Good luck, everyone.”
