Playing against Large Tournament Fields (WSOP events)

If you are looking to become a poker professional or gain respect for your poker play, you have to win a WSOP bracelet or two. The more events you run deep in the more credibility you gain. As most players know the World Series of Poker is the mecca of poker tournament schedules. Every year players come from around the globe to compete for their shot at a bracelet. To get the bracelet in today’s poker world is one of the absolute most difficult feats to accomplish. The fields are massive and the players are good. To navigate a large tournament field you will need to have a number of things going well for you as well as confidence and endurance.

Confidence and Endurance

Live poker tournaments take a long time to finish and truly are the most grueling game relating to poker today. The first thing you need to have when approaching a large tournament field is confidence. Without confidence in your play, you will have virtually no chance against the young guns or top professionals today. The aggressive nature of most young poker players today and the confidence that both young and older players gain is only taken down when they get outplayed in a pot or lose a big hand. The mental makeup of all poker players is pretty similar when it comes down to it. The best players in the world all know that they are the best and they always want to be the best.

The competitive nature of poker tournaments shows who has what it takes. Also, you must have endurance when it comes to poker as odd as that sounds. You have to take care of your mind and body when you play big poker tournaments simply because of how long they take and how much a poker tournament takes out of you. People who don’t play poker tournaments regularly don’t appreciate how hard it is to win one, but it is very hard and it gets harder every day. More players learn the game and more players master the game. The endurance factor also involves avoiding tilt. Tilt can come from numerous things and it is why you always have to bring your best game to a poker table. If you don’t you could lose your stack in a poker tournament pretty easily.

Setting Goals

In large tournament fields you have to set short term goals and look to reach those goals throughout the tournament. If you don’t have goals and just look to play and see what happens, you have the wrong mindset for a big poker tournament. Some good goals to set are to have chips at the end of the day or just to make it to day 2. After you make day 2 then you should look to make it to day 3. As you build confidence and accomplish some short term goals set by yourself, you will have an easier time folding hands in tough spots or going for it when you feel you are ahead. You will always need to be on an even keel during a poker tournament because you could lose one hand, set yourself on tilt and throw your buy-in away.

You never want this to happen, but it could happen to anyone. Even the best players out there go on tilt from time to time. When you set goals for yourself it will always make life easier in general because it gives you something to work for, and also it gives you motivation to be better and always do your best. In poker tournaments you have to want it to get it, it doesn’t happen overnight, it comes in time.