So its that time of year again and I've booked my trip to Vegas to play in some World Series of Poker events.  Two will be coming with me this year and we're set to leave early morning on June 20th and come back on the 28th.  At the moment I'm still not 100% sure in which tournaments I'll be playing.  While I'm there they have three $1500 NL Holdem events going on and also a couple $2000 and $3000 dollar events.  Last year I played a couple of the $1500 events, although enjoying them quite a bit there were a lot of players in these tournaments.. upwards around 2500-3000 people.  This obviously makes the tournaments that much tougher having to get through so many players, where as the larger buy-in tournaments get about 1000 people or less.  So right now I'm going to go down there, see how I'm feeling and decide then.

As for preparation goes I really don't get too worked up over it.  I believe in my game and abilities and just have to trust I'll play the best I can.  Playing online tournaments with large fields undoubtedly gives me an edge over non-online players, mind you a large percentage of the players at the World Series do play online as well.  There is no doubt in my mind that you cannot be a complete poker player if you don't play online.  You have to play online!  This day and age you can't be a top professional tournament player without playing online.  There's just no comparison when playing tournaments online with fields over 1000 people or even 500 people on a regular basis, being able to see more then 1000X the amount of hands then a person who just plays live.  Most of the top online tournament players in the world are taking the live tournament scene by storm right now.  If you check out www.pocketfives.com you'll see the top online players and these guys are truly incredible to say the least.  So I feel very comfortable going to Vegas and playing in tournaments this large, everyday online I play these types of tournaments.  Knowing when to change gears at certain times, opening up when I need to, tightening up during particular stages are all things I practice regularly online which makes me feel very comfortable for the WSOP.  I've never really talked about the whole luck vs. skill topic in poker in any of my blogs because it is quite a large topic to cover.  But running well in these tournaments are an absolute must and something you don't have control over.  Unfortunately taking bad beats in tournaments of this size just can't happen if you want to win.  You need all your hands to hold up and need to win coin flips... sucking out sometimes doesn't hurt either!

As for the duration of these tournament goes, being in good shape and being healthy is a big advantage I have.  I keep myself in good shape and eat pretty clean.  For those who don't know besides being a poker player, I am a personal trainer.  I've had to put it aside for now being so busy with poker but that's what I did go to school for and I'll always keep that with me.  So I've added a few more cardiovascular work-outs in my routine to help me more in sitting in a tournament for 12+ hours.  All the tournaments start at 12 noon so I'm going to do my best to get a work-out and/or run in before each tournament.  Doing that gives me an opportunity to really clear my mind and focus on my game plan for the tournament.  It also gives me more physical and mental energy for when I'm playing.  I'm going to try and eat as clean as possible when I'm there so I feel 100% to play the best poker I can.

When we arrive in Vegas I'm going to update my blog daily, so you'll be able to know what tournaments I'm playing, how I'm doing, how I'm feeling etc.  I'm going to try and write another blog before I leave next Wednesday but if I don't get the chance stay tuned then and hopefully I'm writing some good news!