ON THE BUTTON: Dealing With WSOP Jitters

Discipline will be crucial at the WSOP Main Event where getting to the last table will take two weeks

July 18, 2006

By Nick Lanteri
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

The moment has nearly arrived.

It’s 24 hours until I sit down and play my first WSOP event and I’m trying to calm my nerves by doing some work. It’s Monday and I’m on the strip in Vegas with a great view, and writing a poker column about the WSOP Main Event the day before I fork over $1,500 to take a shot at a first-place prize of $700,000 in Event No. 27 against 2,000 or more opponents.

Yeah, I know, good luck with that, right?

It’s not the Main Event, but it might as well be for me. I’ll talk more about the $10,000 buy-in (which begins July 28) in a moment. If you plan on playing in this year’s Main Event, or qualified online, you’ll want to read on. I’m going to talk about strategy, blinds structure and the overall format of the tournament.

But if you‘re a poker player, is there a better time to be in Vegas than right now? My wife and I were over at the Rio Sunday night watching Phil Hellmuth try to win his 10th World Series of Poker bracelet (he made it to the final table in an Omaha high/low tournament late Sunday). We also spotted Doyle Brunson and Gus Hanson enter the Bellagio together on their way to “the Big Game,” where they routinely lay in the biggest cash game in town. Oh, and the consigliore himself, Robert Duvall, walked past us in the Bellagio (what the hell, I don’t get a chance to name drop too often).

I also hope to run into Team Bodog’s David Williams and congratulate him on winning his first WSOP bracelet, which he accomplished in a seven-card stud event.

Remember Joe Hachem? On Sunday night we also saw the 2005 Main Event winner playing in a cash game at the Rio with Antonio Esfandiari, and there was an obscene amount of money on the table. Why not? Hachem won $7 million in last year’s Main Event and then proved it was no fluke by nearly winning another bracelet this year (he lost heads-up to Dutch Boyd in an earlier event).

WSOP MAIN EVENT: Tighten up early

Can Hachem repeat? Of course it’s a long shot. This year’s Main Event is going to be nuts. Even more nuts than last year, if that’s possible. First of all, the number of entrants is jumping to 8,000 (mostly amateurs who won a seat online), which is 2,500 more than last year. Also, the tournament is expected to last for two weeks, which will be a tremendous grind for those fortunate enough to get in the money and then continue playing for a chance at the final table.

If you’re playing in the Main Event, you must keep in mind that you will start with $10,000 in tournament chips with Level I blinds at 25-50. The blinds increase every two hours. Wow! No wonder Hellmuth doesn’t show up for three hours after the cards are in the air. With blinds so low to start, it will be tough to double up quick. By playing a lot of hands early, you’re only jeopardizing your entire stack.

The key is to tighten up early, unless the table is playing tighter than a drum. If you want to hang around and give yourself a chance later when the blinds go up, then don’t be fooled into playing marginal hands early in the tournament just because you have 10,000 chips to start. Write it down if you have to, and then reach for the piece of paper at the table a few times as a reminder. DO NOT play hands like A-9 or A-10 offsuit in early position, and especially fold weak aces regardless of position.

Pocket pairs are a different story. You must raise with high and middle pockets, especially if it’s folded to you preflop, in order to get the blinds out of the hand. Try to see a flop cheaply with low pocket pairs, because they can be a big score if the set comes. A raise and a re-raise to you before the flop with low pockets is tricky, you’ll want to muck it most often unless you’re the big stack and can afford to see the flop.

The key to hanging around and surviving, though, besides needing luck that your best hands will hold up, is this: Will you be disciplined enough to make that tough fold? Can you throw away ace-king after missing the flop? That’s not easy for most players. Can you lay down pocket jacks preflop when the big stack puts you all-in after you’ve raised the bet four times? Live to fight another day with pocket jacks, unless you’re below the chips-stack average and are already pot committed.

Most importantly, if you won your seat online, go there and have fun. Win or lose, cash or no cash, it’s going to be an amazing experience, one that will make you feel as if you’re on a rollercoaster.

Enjoy the ride.

PHOTO: David Williams is feeling good after winning his first WSOP bracelet. (Bodog Nation photo).

Nick Lanteri is a freelance writer based in Long Island, N.Y. His poker column appears monthly in Bodog Nation.