Getting ready for the World Series of Poker (WSOP)

If you have qualified for the WSOP are you wondering what you should do next? The practical next step would be to practice. You don't want to make a stupid mistake at the WSOP that will knock you out. When you practice for the World series of poker keep in mind that practicing will build your confidence to make the right choices and it will keep you off of the tilt.

Three types of games you need to learn when practicing for WSOP:

First, you need to find a brick and mortar casino and play there for a few days. You don't need to find a tournament or a no limit game. You just need to get in the habit of using real chips and improving upon your poker face. If you don't have a casino around you then you should get some of your buddies to come over and play some texas holdem with you. Try to keep the beer to a minimum as you need to have a fresh mind.

If you are a online poker player that never sees a live poker table then you need to make sure you don't get the jitters when you get to the WSOP. You need to practice at as many live tables as you can possibly play at, whether it be friends or casinos. Although there have been a few players that have won WSOP without even playing a live table ever. Chris Moneymaker played in the 2003 World series of poker and won without ever playing at a live table beforehand. I would suggest at least two sessions of live poker at the bare minimum though. As your luck might not be as good as Chris's.

Secondly, try practicing at large multi-table tournaments. You maybe able to find a few brick and mortar casinos offering these types of tournaments but it would probably be best to just find some online tournaments.

The World Series of Poker should have over 5,000 poker players. Of course, the winner will be very lucky to pound out this many poker players, even with the best skills will be dominated by a lucky hand. To win you need to have lady luck on your side, be extremely aggressive and be willing to risk all your chips using one hand to have a chance to win the tournament. Folding your way through the tournament will only make you lose slower, you must be aggressive and bluff a few times.

A brick and mortar casino with 100+ players is not large enough a tournament to get the real feel for the WSOP. This is why we suggest you find some online tournaments to practice with. You frequently be tested with a large online tournament because the types of situations are ones you will run into at the World Series of Poker. You will learn the most difficult part of the technical skills when you play online tournaments, you will need this to win the world championship of poker.

A brick-and-mortar tournament with 100 players will not resemble this type of tournament as much as a large, online tournament that has thousands of players. A large, online tournament will put you in the type of situations that you will frequently see at the WSOP. It will teach you the type of technical skills that you will need to win the world championship.

Lastly, try finding some good single table tournaments. Getting to the final table at the WSOP would probably be the luckiest thing that ever happened to you but if did happen then you need to be prepared. Learning the style of single table tournaments will help you know the situations that may arise when you are trying to win the millions of dollars on the table. The first two steps of this article is more important than this one, but you need to be prepared for anything that could come your way.

Good luck and godspeed

Dan G.