Chad and Vanessa's WSOP Checklist

Many of you have player the WSOP before. So, in making your plan for this year’s WSOP, it is important to recognize what you learned from your past WSOP experiences. For starters, we recommend that all of you who played last year be honest with yourselves and write down the things you think you did poorly. Then document what you will do differently this year.

Chad: For me, although I had a great WSOP with eight cashes overall, I did poorly in the fi rst couple of weeks by not cashing in any events. The reason was simple: In the small buy-ins I didn’t go in to play my A game. I fi gured that if I didn’t build a big stack early, I could go play the very lucrative cash games. So this year my plan is to treat the smaller events as though they were the bigger by-ins. They are bracelet events and so I am going to treat them as such.

Vanessa: Last year I did really well leading into and coming out of the World Series… but I couldn’t seem to get anything going at all during the WSOP itself. I think that is because I took on a lot of side projects during the Series that distracted me. Also, I had a lot of personal things going on during that time which led to further distractions. This year, I plan to avoid this problem by making a conscious attempt to put the WSOP fi rst and foremost among my priorities. I also plan to seriously limit the number of additional projects that I take on concurrently.

When you are fi nished refl ecting on your past WSOP experiences, it is time to look forward and create a very specifi c goal for this year. We believe this will help you focus all of your energy most effi ciently towards succeeding at that goal — and will also force you to prioritize what is important to you, be it quantity of cashes, going deep, overall ROI, and so on.

Chad: For me, I have two goals. Fist, I want to try to break the record I tied last year (most cashes at the WSOP). Also, I would like to fi nally win a bracelet rather than get second (again!).

Vanessa: I would like to cash as often as possible. I think poker is a numbers game — and the more I cash, the more often I give myself a chance to have great success at the Series.

If you are like us and plan on playing as many events as possible, you will require endurance both mentally and physically. Nonetheless, a lot d of poker players tend to skimp on the physical preparation that is needed to give themselves the best shot at success. Although we are all different in what is best for us when it comes to diet and exercise, here are a few suggestions about what helps us. You can then tweak these ideas to fi t your own needs.

Exercise: Sitting at the poker table all day is not exactly the best way to take care of your body. We try to hit the gym regularly throughout the year to help us stay healthy despite all the germs we come into contact with at the tables. We like to work out almost every day in the weeks leading up to the start of the WSOP, because we realize that once it begins, we won’t be able to work out at our normal intervals. So, we try to be in our best shape at the beginning so we don’t feel totally out of whack once we start missing workouts due to the high number of tournaments we are playing.

Sleep: Sleep is the most important thing during the WSOP. If you’re like us, you need between seven (like Vanessa) and eight (like Chad) hours of sleep per night. It is important to budget your time wisely so that you prioritize sleep above all else. For instance, if you don’t get to sleep until 3am one night, a workout will not be in the cards for the next day (since you will have barely enough time to get to sleep and then make the tournament on time). Without sleep, you risk your performance during the tournaments — and that’s what it’s all about, right?

Chad: What you can do, if you get knocked out of the fi rst event early in the day, is have your gym stuff with you if you’re not staying at the RIO. They have a very nice gym and spa, so you can work out and shower there in time to be ready for the 5pm event.

Diet: Another thing that is extremely important is to eat properly. For us, eating small portions of mostly protein and some complex carbs every 2 1/2 hours keeps our blood sugar level and, as a result, gives us the maximum energy we will need for the marathon of the WSOP. We usually bring a protein bar and a piece of fruit with us every day for snacks between meals.

Go Shopping: It is important to get to the store every once in a while to stock up on the healthy foods you plan to eat during the Series. That way you are not left at the mercy of the RIO to provide you a healthy meal (which is, trust us, not something you want to do!).

Be on your Best Behavior: We make a conscious effort ahead of time to avoid partying during the Series for the most part. If you are taking a couple of days off, then by all means party away — a little fun once in a while and in moderation will actually help you.

But, by and large, if you plan on playing the next day, pass on the invites from your friends to hit the clubs.

Insomnia: A lot of poker player have trouble falling asleep after a long day of play because they keep playing that day’s hands over and over again in their minds. We deal with this by watching a movie or TV show before we go to sleep. We’ve been buying serialized television show seasons (like 24, Prison Break, Sleeper Cell, Jericho, and Lost) and working our way through them night after night as if we were watching one long movie. We fi nd that this helps to erase all the poker hands of the day from our thoughts so that we can have a deep and restful night’s sleep.

Running Bad: It is okay to take a break! You need to be honest with yourself — if you are going into a tourney feeling negative like you know you’re going to lose due to another bad beat, maybe it is best to take a couple of days off. We know you have your goals, but you are far better served to miss a couple of events and come back strong playing your A game than by playing your B or C game the whole way through just to play a couple of extra events.

Finally, we want to conclude by reminding you all that it is a truly a privilege to be able to partake in such an exciting event— so treat it as such and be appreciative of the experience. We hope you enjoy these tips during the WSOP this year, and we wish you all the luck in the world!