Vegas Game Plan

It's less than 2 weeks till I travel back to Las Vegas for the WSOP. The "series" is actually well under way. Often the term "World Series" is used to denote the main event itself - the $10k World Championship No Limit Hold'em tournament. But, in fact, the series is indeed a series of events - there are 54 in this year's poker-fest.

We are on about event 30 right now.

As far as WSOP events are concerned, I will play at least one NLH event - the smaller buy-ins are $1,500 or $2k. Those are going to have enormous fields, no doubt. Last year when I played I think there were 3,000+ runners. This year, in event#2, there were 3,929 starters. This was a record for any tournament except the main event. Even then, it was the 4th biggest tournament field of any kind, ever.

There are countless gutshotters already over there, some doing rather well. Several cash-finishes in the WSOP events including a hugely impressive 2nd place in that event #2 for James Akenhead - a long-standing regular at the club.

My aim will be to finish in the money. This is not easy, obviously, but it is not a ridiculous goal either. Previously I have finished in the top20% and been about 2 hours away from the critical phase. If I do get close to the money then I will certainly play to cash rather than to give myself the best chance at a high finish. That is not optimal long-term play but until such time as I have a money finish in one of these larger events (be it WSOP or EPT or GUKPT etc) then I want to hit that milestone before I look at other goals.

I will not be buying into the main event. Even though I do not have to worry about time off work to play it, and even though I could afford the entry, I still do not think the time is right to invest $10k and potentially many days in what is extremely likely to result in $0.

Having said that, I have won a super-satellite seat with gutshot.com so on 2nd July I will be playing to win a seat. If I succeed, I will play day 1B on July 4th, I think. If I make it through day1 then I will need to change my return flight.

Outside WSOP, there are excellent tournament festivals going on at The Venetian, Caesar's, Binion's and elsewhere. Very likely I will try some of these - which will typically be $300 - $1000 type buy-ins. Many people also believe the structures are far superior to the WSOP. However, the fields are probably stronger and of course they can't match the WSOP for headline-value should you cash.

I do plan to try stepping up to $5/10 cash games. I was a winner in April in the $1/2 and $2/5 cash and I feel it's time to give the bigger limits a shot.

In theory I have plenty of time on this trip so I will probably try to get as far as downtime (Binion's) and maybe try some other games (like Razz). Having said that, I know from experience that the time whizzes by.

I'd like to bank another in-profit trip but playing a tournament-heavy schedule obviously means there is a good chance of failing to cash in any and racking up a big "bill" in terms of entries. Playing cash to make up these losses is the plan, but clearly that is not guaranteed !

I have not been doing well in live cash games in the UK - although, ironically, I believe Las Vegas games are significantly easier to beat (although I certainly have never tested this at $5/10 !)