Prepping For The Majors
When you take a look at the poker calendar, the obvious stretch of May through July typically catches everyone’s eye. The World Series of Poker each year is the place that all poker players want to be at that time, and for the select nine, a repeat visit to Las Vegas in November is the ultimate prize. However, during September the online poker players have their own special time at PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker. At the WCOOP, bracelets are awarded to the champions and even though they’re won online, they are almost as special. I own one of each type, but let me tell you that the most important thing to realize when preparing for both sets of tournaments is that there actually shouldn’t be much of a difference at all.
Whether you’re playing the $10,000 Main Event of the WSOP, the $5,200 Main Event of the WCOOP, or a preliminary event in either series, the same necessities are important. First, taking care of yourself should be a priority. Make sure that you are well rested because if you’re not ready physically, it’ll be hard for you to keep up mentally. A live poker tournament will always have a printed structure sheet for an estimate, and online is no different. While field sizes may be far larger online, you can still estimate the length of time you will play by determining (in a No Limit Hold‘em tournament) at what level there will be 100 big blinds left on the table. While that is just an estimate, it holds pretty true. For other games (especially Limit), there may be fewer blinds on the table when the last hand is dealt, so it may take a bit longer to finish. No matter how long it takes, you need to be ready to play your A-game from beginning to end.
Whether you’re in Las Vegas in a hotel or sitting in your house, you need to know that if you decide to play one of these big events, you’re going to be occupied for quite a while. Having enough stamina for both types of events is pivotal if you’d like to succeed, so you must determine if these lengthy events are even an option for you. If you have problem with stamina and focus in either venue, the best idea might be not to play. If you can’t focus when you really need to, you aren’t playing optimally and will probably make a major mistake. If you’re playing your C-game after the third level, you’ve got a problem.
Breaks factor in when discussing poker stamina. At the WCOOP or any major online tournament, there’s no dinner break. There’s no fifteen-minute respite like at the WSOP where you can take a quick walk, go to the bathroom, get a drink and do whatever else you need to do. Online, you’ve got five minutes to pull yourself together. If you live in a big enough house, that might not be enough to go to the bathroom, head down to the kitchen for a drink or snack and come back! Taking that to further extremes, during the WSOP this year players played approximately eight to twelve hours a day (depending on the event) plus a dinner break. At the WCOOP, you could be sitting down for up to eighteen hours a day with one fifteen-minute break in addition to the hourly five-minute breaks. Talk about tough playing conditions even inside your own home!
Besides the actual length of time, I typically advocate that playing online isn’t fundamentally different than playing live. The essence of poker is that you need to play perfect and make the best possible decisions time after time. Many good players who have great results on the live felt might not be truly great poker players. However, they have the ultimate equalizer – they can read tells. The live player can put a player on a hand so effectively with live tells that it permits them to make fundamental mistakes (with respect to proper basic poker strategy) but still succeed. However, when you try to compete online, you can’t use your abilities regarding physical tells to succeed. You must be a great poker player, and truly understand and execute proper poker strategy.
Opponents online aren’t transparent enough. There’s no body language, no physical tells, and it’s not like you can type something in the chat box that will effectively manipulate your opponent. Nor are they going to say things in the chat box that serve as tells for you to read. Sometimes you can use timing tells to help read your opponent’s hand, as well as create fake timing tells of your own to induce a response from your opponents, but picking up betting patterns, gauging the aggressiveness of your opponents, and simply playing good basic strategy are your best weapons online.
Even though many of the WCOOP buy-ins are far less than a WSOP buy-in, it’s also important to remember that you should always be playing your best no matter that the buyin. I don’t do anything different to prepare for a $530 online tournament versus an $11 online tournament and that’s an important issue. Keep focused on making the right decisions and don’t think for a minute that one venue is easier than the other. The same applies at the WSOP. Keep your opinions reserved for each table until you can make a judgment based on observation.
I wish you luck in either venue as you play for a world championship bracelet. Remember that preparation is key, but understanding your limitations and doing everything to overcome them is what truly makes a champion. If you need some additional help, the WSOP Academy is coming to a casino near you.
