If you have been following along with my life goals, you would probably know that one of my aims is to become a winning tournament poker player. However, because I prefer to focus on one goal at a time, most of my time this year was spent preparing for my main goal of 2017: competing in amateur boxing competitions. Improving my Poker skills and making progress towards my poker goals has not been a priority this year. Nevertheless, when the World Series of Poker 2017 rolled around, my friends started booking flights and making plans. Unable to resist the fun, I decided I could take a few days off and jump in on the degeneracy. #teamdegen out in full force WSOP Tips and Poker Learnings Every time I come out to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, it’s always a tremendous learning experience. Unlike last year’s World Series of Poker trip, this year’s trip was (thankfully) much more focused on poker. Below, I document a few WSOP tips I’ve learned which you may find helpful. This also serve as a nice reminder for the future me. Stay at the Rio if poker is your main focus This year we booked rooms at the Rio, which I much preferred over the rooms we had at The Cosmopolitan last year. Staying at the Rio allowed us to focus much more on playing poker. With the myriad of distractions that Las Vegas can provide, this is especially helpful. Picture from Rio Las Vegas Website Although much of Las Vegas is only an Uber ride away, you’ll be surprised by how much you will appreciate the convenience of being able to walk upstairs to your room. Whenever we wanted to rest and recharge, we could go back to our rooms and relax, change, nap, or shower if necessary. Perhaps next year we’ll experiment with booking one room at the Rio for poker, and then another room on the Strip. Handle Tilt appropriately While in Vegas, I found myself rarely tilting over ‘bad beats’. Instead, I often fell prey to exhaustion tilt and hunger tilt. Tilting is a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy – Wikipedia On days when I wasn’t playing in a poker tournament, I would grind single table tournaments back to back from morning to late afternoon. I did so in a very unhealthy way, often skipping meals, and getting no rest in between tables. I started to realize that by my 4th or 5th table I would start making very poor plays. My hunger and exhaustion clouded my judgment, and as a result, I made numerous -EV decisions. Clearly, I should have taken a break to recover mentally, ate some food, and maybe even got a work out in. Recognize when you start playing poorly and make adjustments as necessary You always want to play in your most optimal condition. Recognize when you start getting frustrated, or make sub-optimal plays, and analyze what you can do to bring yourself back to your peak condition. Let others be the ones to play on tilt and lose money. Chop to lock up equity in high variance situations* *This tip applies mostly to single table tournaments, as well as satellites. Most of the time while at the WSOP I play single table tournaments (STT’s).  The structure of the single table tournaments at the WSOP (fast levels, all the winnings go to one player, small starting stack), results in a variety of high variance situations. I normally recommend you try to chop the winnings when you get towards the final few for two main reasons: Lock up equity you’ve spent time earning Even if you play well in an STT, the high variance involved can often lead to zero winnings. So trying to lock in some monetary gains as you reach the end game is always a good call. During my latest trip to the WSOP, I should have tried harder to chop the winnings with the last 1-2 players at my table. Chopping would have allowed me to realize ~$1200-1400 worth of equity. Instead, I decided to take the high variance route which, combined with a few bad beats, ultimately gave me a zero return. Decrease the variance in your bankroll by chopping when it’s fair and makes sense to do so. Save time and look for more + EV situations When you chop the winnings you save time and get to focus on additional +EV opportunities. The players you face towards the end of a single table tournament are likely to be stronger players. In these situations, chopping the pot will allow you to end the game prematurely, allowing you to focus your time on another STT with weaker players. Chop pots, and look for easier fish to fry. Chop pots, and look for easier fish to fry. Pot chopping is a blend of negotiation and persuasion. So work on these skills. Having a thorough understanding of ICM is also extremely helpful. One pot chopping technique you can use with unequal chip stacks and two players left is to have both players take 30% of the winnings. From there, you can then play for the remaining 40%. (These percentages can vary depending on the situation). Additional WSOP tips + advice Below are a few miscellaneous tips (of varying importance) that are helpful to keep in mind. Treat your body properly Make sure you treat your body properly. Get enough sleep every night, hydrate, and ensure you eat your veggies. It can be easy to forget to take care of yourself while in Las Vegas. Always aim to play poker in your optimal condition. Grind up a bankroll early Firing multiple $500-1000+ bullets into poker tournaments can be quite rough on your bankroll. Therefore, try starting your poker trip by playing satellites, single table tournaments, and/or cash games. Look for weaker fields where you can lock in some monetary gains. Treat it [...]

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