World Series of Poker Tips and Take-Aways

I mentioned about three weeks back how my plans this summer will be a little different from the past half-dozen. After spending either all or most of the last six WSOPs out in Las Vegas, I’ll be sticking close to the farm this time around. Am working with PokerNews again, but will be doing so from home by writing articles and helping in other ways besides live reporting.

As the kickoff approaches (the first events come next Tuesday) and folks start tweeting about their trips into the Nevada desert, I’m starting to feel a little misgiving about not going out. Gonna miss reuniting with everyone and working alongside all of the great folks.

I’ve said it before here in various ways, but when it comes to work environments, those summers at the WSOP have been among the best I’ve had the good fortune to experience. The hours are crazy long, and there’s a significant degree of monotony when it comes to certain elements of the job. But the excitement of being part of it all is real, as is the level of mutual we’re-all-in-this-together support among colleagues and others that exceeds any other work situation I’ve known.

Meanwhile, as I also mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’m finding myself paying a lot more attention to the WSOP this time during the lead-up than has been the case the last few years. Kind of paradoxical, perhaps, but I feel like I’m more tuned in to the schedule and more ready to follow things closely once they get underway.

Over on Learn.PokerNews we’ve been running a series of articles for players heading out to play at the World Series of Poker for the first time. I’ve enjoyed reading these and I think they contain a good variety of advice with very little overlap. Here are those articles with links:

Five Tips for Playing Your First WSOP Event (Rich Ryan)

Make a World Series of Poker Day 2? Study Those Table Draws (Rich Ryan)

It Gets Better: The Story of a Not-So-Successful WSOP Debut (Robert Woolley)

3 Important Points to Consider When Making Your First WSOP Trip (Nate Meyvis)

Preparing To Play the World Series of Poker (Chad Holloway)

Five Tips for Playing Single Table Satellites at the WSOP (Carlos Welch)

Playing in the WSOP? Be Psychologically Prepared (Dr. Tricia Cardner)

Alson’s Advice to WSOP First-Timers: Let the Game Come to You (Peter Alson)

Like I say, there’s a lot of decent -- different -- tips in those articles, and a lot of them apply not just to WSOP events but to any live tournament, especially for those who haven’t experienced playing live tourneys before.

Hard not to get excited about the WSOP while reading them, too -- even for those of us who aren’t going to be there.