Cost Savings Ideas For Tournament Players

Attention weekend warriors, recreational players, and aspiring semi-professionals within the poker world. My name is Jonathan Green, I’m a semi-professional player originally from Schenectady, NY, now living in Las Vegas, NV. My mantra with respect to poker is simple. Never forget that study, focus, reflection, and commitment to improvement on one’s game are the keys to remaining in action not only today, but twenty years from now. Vacations and weekends have provided me the opportunity to travel the poker tournament circuit the last eight years to study the game I have come to love. The lessons I have learned along the way will serve to better inform and educate our poker community members. I am passionate about the long term growth and sustainability of the poker world, and look forward to having a positive impact on the game and our community.

Anyone who has spent time on the tournament trail knows that expenses and bankrolls must be managed at every tournament stop to thrive and survive for the long haul. The cost of hotels, high-priced casino food, gas, tolls, plane tickets, ever increasing tournament entry fees, and tournament buy-ins all add up quickly. Here are five easy to remember tips on how to manage and control your costs when traveling from tournament venue to venue. This advice will benefit everyone from the first-time amateur to the grizzled veteran tournament grinder.

Book your trip as early as possible: Casinos often have a discounted poker room rate on hotel rooms during the tournament events for a limited number of players on a first come, first served basis, so act quickly. Most hotels allow you to cancel your room at no charge up to twenty-four hours before your scheduled check-in, so book it early, and cancel if need be. Same goes for plane tickets, as the earlier you book, the more likely you are to lock in a better price.

Consider playing the circuit with a traveling partner or multiple partners: Many players recognize the obvious value of traveling with other players to share in the fixed expenses that accompany any trip. To be able to cut your hotel, tolls, and gas bills in half or better adds up to significant cost savings over the course of the year to the tune of thousands of dollars.

The pure math is worthy of note, but this would be a gross oversimplification because the expected social value, the camaraderie, and the free flow of poker concepts and ideas to be experienced on a poker excursion are invaluable. Long rides to various casinos in the middle of nowhere are made educational through the retelling of hands played from the last event. The ability to discuss key situations you faced or witnessed at the table during a dinner break is invaluable. A loud cheering section if you make the final table doesn’t hurt. This item provides someone to listen to the inevitable bad beat stories, since it was always the other guy who made such a terrible play right on the money bubble. Do not overlook the social and emotional advantage tournament players gain when they are supported at events by traveling partners.

Plan out your cash needs for the trip: I have found it helps to actually sit down with a pen and paper and write down the days I am going to be traveling, the expected cost of getting to and from the casino, the number of days I will be playing tournaments or cash games and the cash flow implications of various scenarios I might expect to face based on previous experiences on the circuit. I try to be conservative because one of the easiest ways of running up costs in a casino is having to use the ATM machines. These casino ATM machines charge the customer anywhere from one percent to over twenty-five percent depending on the amount withdrawn, so emergencies only here, avoid the temptation to get more cash from the ATM. Either you didn’t plan your cash flow needs well, are running badly, playing badly, or worse yet, are planning on pit gambling with that money. Better think of a good story to tell your better half so they don’t go on tilt as you attempt to justify your bad choices.

Become familiar with the concepts of deal making in tournament poker: If you are not educated about your options, it is easy to get sweet talked into a mediocre or bad deal, and this ultimately translates into an impact to your wallet. A “save” is a deal where the remaining players agree to a predetermined amount to be “saved” or locked up, per remaining player, and the rest of the prize pool is then played for as determined by the remaining players. A “chop” occurs when the remaining players agree to stop the tournament, and divide the prize money according to a structured distribution of the remaining prize pool as determined by the remaining players. A “swap” or a “trade” is where players take a percentage of each other in a single tournament or create an existing deal over many tournaments. Be careful to discuss tax implications before you agree to a swap or trade percentages with other people, as different players have various ideas of what is fair or to be expected with regards to this issue. You may hear a player say to another competitor, “would you like to swap five percent?” Another concept to be mindful of is selling portions of your tournament stake in an event to others. I have always been encouraged to ask for a minimum of a ten percent mark-up when selling a portion of my tournament to help cover the expenses associated with playing in the tournament. I think it makes sense psychologically to ask for a mark-up, if nothing more than to impress upon the person you are asking to take a stake in your tournament that you think you are worth it! Beware of the psychological impact of accepting money from another player or person as a stake in your tournament. I speak from experience when I tell you it is easy to allow distracting feelings and thoughts to enter your mind when it is not just you who has a vested interest in the outcome of your tournament.

Some people play better when others have a stake in the action, and other people get off their game since they are worried about pleasing the other party in the transaction. I would encourage tournament players new to these concepts to ask lots of questions of your opponents, dealers, and tournament floor staff as they learn the ins and outs of deal making in tournament poker. Don’t be afraid to ask a few more questions if you are unsure of anything before agreeing to a deal so everyone thoroughly understands the terms and conditions of the deal and all parties to the deal are on the same page. Remember, if you don’t think about these concepts before the time comes to implement a course of action, you are simply costing yourself money.

Get engaged with your fellow players and casino staff at the various venues: Most poker rooms and players are very receptive to feedback, both positive and negative if presented appropriately. If there is a way to create a more positive player experience, most poker rooms and staff will listen and try to make it happen. If your local poker room used to spread a nice buffet for the players for breakfast and lunch during tournaments, but now does not provide this service, voice your concerns to the poker and hotel staff. I personally think the poker tournament scene would benefit greatly from increasing payouts from traditionally ten percent of the field to closer to twenty percent of the field, so when I go to events, I approach the tournament director and have a five minute conversation about my thoughts and ideas. The takeaway here is to speak up and not be afraid to voice your opinion because the more players who communicate their wants and needs to casino staff, the more casinos will listen to our collective voice. At the end of the day, the art of saving money and managing costs on the tournament trail is just as much about managing other people and managing your own expectations as it is actual dollars and cents. ♠

Jonathan Green is a Commercial Manager for the General Electric Company and a semi-professional poker player, currently living in Las Vegas, NV. Jonathan spent 2004-2011 living and playing on the east coast tournament trail, with annual trips to the WSOP since 2007. In between tournaments, Jonathan can be found playing middle limit mixed cash games in L.A. and Vegas. All feedback is welcome at: [email protected].