Balbomb Poker Blog

I think a common misconception is that the WSOP is only about 100+ tournaments, and the strategy for what tournaments to play whether at the WSOP or other rooms around town. Well a similar strategy is necessary for cash game players, because every year is different. There was a year where the games online were just so dry, that I ended up playing more live cash in a month than I have in 5 or 6 years combined. There are some years where the action is so slow early on in the day that not playing and resting or getting some fun in would be far more valuable than playing before 5pm. Some years, the bad players only have enough money online to play for the first week or two of the series, so maximizing those hours is critical.

I think a key part in being a successful cash game player during the world series is to institute a plan, but then be very flexible about maximizing your hourly effort. Another key is to not allow the first week or two to determine your whole series. I had one particularly bad WSOP where I played an insane amount of hours, and was just above break even for the first 10 days. This was such a horrible drain on me mentally that I never fully recovered even though having a bad 10 days simply happens to everyone. The start of my plan will be to grind like crazy on wsop.com, but I have also scouted out games on coinpoker and wpt if I feel like the games are not attracting new fun players. Another important aspect is to try to keep outside interference to a minimum. As we get older, life becomes in a lot of ways harder and more complicated. This is the time to truly focus, don’t let bad thoughts or stress enter your head because performing at my best during these two months is likely the most important time I will have all year.

My current schedule typically goes something like this: run errands and then play 3 hours starting between 10 and noon. I then like to make lunch, play a second session, try to take a quick nap, make dinner and then play till the games dry up late at night. These late night sessions really take on a meaning of their own. There will be more players in town that have spent the day grinding tournies and are not in the right mindset to dominate online cash, and that is where I need to capitalize. I also need to recognize when the games are not amazing late at night, call it an early night, hang out with my English bulldog Blueberry and get some needed rest.

In my next blog I will go over goals that I have for the next almost 2 months.

Salud!