Excuse the long hiatus from
blogging as of late. I really do not have any excuses as to why I
haven't done a blog in a while, but lets not focus on the past and
instead look towards the present and future.
The most exciting time of
the year for a poker player is almost upon us. For a professional
player, how successful your year is can be determined over the next 2
½ months. With so many tournaments and side action taking place
withing a 2-3 square mile area, almost every poker player in the
world will be in Las Vegas for some, if not all of the WSOP. I have
finally locked up all my plans for the summer and am setting some
goals and rules for my self on how I will have a successful summer.
After my debacle of a
summer last year, the first thing I sought to change was my housing
situation for the summer. While I still don't want to stay in a hotel
for 6 weeks, I have chosen to stay in a smaller/ quieter housing
setting with 2 local Seattle grinders. I choose these 2 guys as
roommates mainly because of their dedication to the game. They both
are very good thinking players and I know we will all motivate our
selves into putting in the most hours possible this summer. We rented
a nice, but very affordable 3 bedroom town home about 15 minutes from
the Rio. The main reason I still choose to stay in a house over a
hotel is cooking. I still try to eat as healthy as possible for most
of my meals and staying in a hotel makes the nearly impossible. I
feel that staying in a non-party atmosphere house will keep me
focused on my goals for the summer and give me the best opportunity
to leave Vegas with my head up knowing I gave it everything I had
this summer.
I feel that one of the more
important things for me this summer is to get into a solid daily
routine. For me, this routine will focus mainly around poker, health,
fitness and golf. On days when I play tournaments at the Rio (12 pm
starts) my routine will consist of waking up around 8:30 – 9am and
getting a good healthy breakfast in. I will need to be in the gym by
about 9:30 or 9:45 at the latest for a good hour long lifting and or
cardio session. Leave our condo by 11:30 to ensure that I am not
missing any hands of poker. Another key part to my routine I believe
will be going home on dinner breaks. With 90 minute long breaks as
long as I get away from the table 1-2 minutes early to beat the line
to the parking lot, I cant have about 30 minutes at home to cook and
eat while allowing 30 minutes of transportation each way. I feel that
getting out of the casino during breaks is a good way for me to clear
my mind of poker for a little bit and also allow myself to refocus
for the 5-6 hours that still remain in the day. The other part of my
routine involves the night before events. I am going to be very
strict on no drinking the night before events. I want to be in bed by
1 or 130am at the latest to allow a good nights rest. I am playing
less events this year and want to be mentally and physically prepared
for each one. On non-tournament days I will hopefully be able to get
out on the golf course in the mornings before it gets to hot. Having
a lot of non tournament days this year is great for me as I can grind
the side action and make my own money off of my backing deal.
For those that I have read
my blog in the past, you are well aware that I have made health and
fitness a very important part of my life over the last two years. I
feel that these two things are essential for me to perform at my peak
at the WSOP this summer. No more eating giant filling meals during
dinner breaks that will leave me in a food coma for the last 5-6
hours of the tournament. One of the biggest / most underrated aspects
of playing your best poker is being able to have 100% mental focus
while at the table. Eating light meals frequently and packing healthy
snacks in my bag such as protein shakes / bars, fruit, nuts etc will
give me the best chance of reaching my peak mental focus while
playing. As for working out, I have always found / know that when I
work out first thing in the morning or right before I play poker I
always play better. My energy level is way higher throughout the day
and thus I play better. I pick up more reads on my opponents, I pick
up more betting patterns etc. That is why I will make a very strong
effort to hit the gym every morning this summer before tournaments.
One of the biggest changes
that I will be making this WSOP (My 3rd) is playing less
events. The previous two years I focused more on volume than quality
of play. I believe I played 30+ events both years. I feel both years
it led to me not putting max effort and focus into each event since
there was “Always another tournament at 5pm”. This year I am
cutting back my schedule to about 18 events (2-3 / week). My hope is
that this will keep me focused and excited to play and put forth my
effort in each event. This schedule also gives me the opportunity to
put max time in to side action at the WSOP. On non-tournament days
you will see me grinding SNGS, Megas, and Cash games. This will give
me the best opportunity to have a winning summer.
A lot of people ask me
about game selection at the WSOP. Since there are so many options of
what to play, sometimes it is hard to choose. Most of my side action
time will be spent playing Single Table Sit and Goes and Cash Games.
The 2-$500 sngs are gold mines and have been my bread and butter the
last couple of years at the WSOP. I plan to continue that this year.
I will also be playing a lot of my usual 2-5nl and some 1-2 to 5-5
PLO. I also want to play some more mixed games, so if a good 20-40 O8
or Stud8 game etc pop up than I will jump in that.
Last, but not least, I will
list some of my Goals / Expectations / Rules for the summer that will
give me the best opportunity to succeed. I want these goals to be
things that I can control. You wont see goals of “win a bracelet or
make a final table” because a lot of times those are out of your
control due to variance.
300+ Hours of poker (6
weeks x 50 hours / week).
Gym minimum 5 days /
week. Mandatory on tournament mornings.
Eat healthy and
minimize my eating out meals to 1-2 / week
Stick to my bread and
butter buy ins don’t stretch my bankroll to far.
Record all expenses to
the T
Record hands and
discuss with roommates
Update Blog weekly
My Schedule of events. You
can follow updates on my twitter @ Twitter.com/mcmattopoker AS you
can see I am only playing NL Holdem Events. This is because I believe
my hourly rate is higher playing side action then mixed game
tournaments since I have not quite yet polished off those games.
WSOP Event # 9A: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em re-entry day 1a on June 2, 2012.
WSOP Event # 9B: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em re-entry day 1b on June 2, 2012.
WSOP Event # 14: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em Shootout on June 6, 2012.
WSOP Event # 16: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em/ Six Handed on June 7, 2012.
WSOP Event # 19: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em on June 9, 2012.
WSOP Event # 21: $1,000 No
Limit Hold’em on June 10, 2012.
WSOP Event # 23: $3,000 No
Limit Hold’em/ Six Handed on June 11, 2012.
WSOP Event # 31: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em on June 16, 2012.
WSOP Event # 33: $1,000 No
Limit Hold’em on June 17, 2012.
WSOP Event # 38: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em on June 20, 2012.
WSOP Event # 41: $3,000 No
Limit Hold’em on June 22, 2012.
WSOP Event # 43: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em on June 23, 2012.
WSOP Event # 44: $1,000 No
Limit Hold’em on June 24, 2012.
WSOP Event $ 46: $2,500 No
Limit Hold’em on June 25, 2012.
WSOP Event # 53: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em on June 30, 2012.
WSOP Event # 54: $1,000 No
Limit Hold’em on July 1, 2012.
WSOP Event # 56: $1,500 No
Limit Hold’em on July 2, 2012.
WSOP Event # 59A: $1,000 No
Limit Hold’em re-entry day 1a on July 4, 2012.
WSOP Event # 59B: $1,000 No
Limit Hold’em re-entry day 1b on July 5, 2012.
WSOP Event # 58C: $10,000
World Championship No Limit Hold’em on July 9,
2011.
