Looking Forward to the WSOP

by The Poker Academy | Published: May 14, '15

Every year I look forward to the WSOP. This year is no different. I usually start looking for the house I rent for the summer about the time the schedule comes out. So by now, that has been squared away for a long time.

Most people look at the schedule and pick out the events they are planning to play. I think about that a little bit differently. I know I will play 25 or more events, and there are only a few that I am unlikely to play. I am comfortable and feel plenty competitive in all the different disciplines. I also know I will be playing poker almost every day during the WSOP. I usually take a break and go home over Father’s Day weekend. And I will usually take the day off before the main event. Otherwise, there will be some half days, but I am pretty much playing every day.

So I play to play the noon tournament every day unless I have a reason not to. Those reasons include things like:

Being in Day 2 of an event from the day before (or the final table)

I plan to play late in a good cash game (I make that choice each night depending on the game I am in, and how much I like the tournament at noon the next day. Sometimes I decide to just play the afternoon tournament.)

About once a week, I try to relax for half a day. I usually try and do that when there is an afternoon tournament I would rather play. Sometimes I play golf; sometimes I take my kids to putt-putt or just hang around the house and swim with them.

Most of my days start at the Rio. I play my tournament until I bag or run out of chips. The days I survive, I head home for a good night’s sleep. The days I run out of chips, I usually go looking for a cash game. I start by seeing what is going on at the Rio, then I will check Bravo or text some friends to see what games are going at Bellagio or Aria.

When I play cash, I try to get in the best game I can get in. I am comfortable playing most games; Limit or NL hold-em, PLO or the mix games. I just try and play where I think I have the highest expectancy. About once a week, my wife will bring the kids down, and we all have dinner together.

Then I get up the next day and do it again…

Rick Fuller and Rep Porter are content creators and instructors at ThePokerAcademy.com.

Fuller has been a professional poker player for more than a decade. He has made four final tables at the WSOP, two in no-limit Hold’em, one in razz, and one in Omaha eight-or-better. Rick is a gifted communicator and teacher, actively involved in poker education for the past decade, teaching poker to thousands of students around the world. A former Police Officer, Rick is an adventure junkie, a private pilot, a skydiver with hundreds of jumps, and a certified SCUBA diver. He currently resides in Washington State.

Porter is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner with over $2.4 million in tournament winnings. He won his first bracelet in 2008 in six-handed no-limit hold’em and his second bracelet in 2011 in razz. He also finished 12th in the 2013 Main Event, taking home $573,204. Rep is a graduate of the University of Washington and worked as an equity options trader. Rep has played poker professionally for 17 years.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the ownership or management of CardPlayer.com.