Preparing for Major Online Tournament Series

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It’s that time of year again, and the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is just around the corner. Two weeks filled with huge tournaments, huge prize pools, and fancy gold watches for the winners. Anyone who plays MTTs for a living is probably going to be grinding very hard over the next two weeks, and anyone who plays recreationally is probably going to be taking some shots at higher stakes or even taking days off work to grind longer sessions. It’s make or break time for many people – some guys will go broke, and some will get rich.

So what can you do during this period to maximise your chances of being in the latter group, and not the former? Well, it’s important to remember that any decision which is probably a good one outside of SCOOP is also a good one inside SCOOP – the rules of the game don’t change, and the principles of how to be successful don’t change either. But there are some small nuances in approach which are necessary when dealing with the unique circumstances that a major series such as SCOOP or WCOOP brings with it.

Everything in moderation – yes, it’s important to grind harder than usual during a major series to take advantage of the softer fields and bigger prize pools, but you can’t grind 24/7. If you try to play every single event on every single day, you’ll burn out very quickly.

Plan your days off – if you’re a professional who wants to grind most of the days during the two weeks, it’s a good idea to look at the tournament schedule for the series and identify the days where there are missable events. It might be a Monday where the only tournaments are in mixed games that you don’t play, or a day where you’d like to play but the tournament you had in mind starts at an impractically late hour for your time zone. Either way, very few guys can grind 15 sessions in a row.

Optimise your setup – if you’re going to be playing lots of longer sessions than you usually do, make it easy on yourself. Ideally do it on a desktop PC instead of a laptop, have adequate food and drinks at the ready, get comfortable in a chair that isn’t going to damage your spine, and use programs like F.lux to minimise the impact of looking at your screen for long periods. Many people are accustomed to this, but some aren’t, and you don’t want your eyes hurting when you make that big final table after an 8-hour session.

Don’t skip the Low buyins – this is specific to SCOOP, because WCOOP only has one level, but the SCOOP-L level is a must-play if you’re playing any other version of the events. If you think you’re +EV in a $215 tournament, then skipping its $27 equivalent is just burning money. Don’t let your ego prevent you from jumping in the low-stakes events.

Don’t fixate on the money or the watch – this is appropriate for any tournament, but don’t let the prize money blind you. You might find yourself in a $27 tournament with $50k for the winner, but it’s just like any other tournament. You might make a final table where you really, really want that winner’s watch, but if you don’t make the right decisions and forget about the victory itself, you won’t get there.

Try out some mixed games – if you’re a recreational player, SCOOP is a great time to try out some low-stakes events in games you don’t often play, like PLO8 or NL Single Draw. These games are fun, they’re low-pressure at the low stakes because no-one else is good at them either, and they can help expand your understanding of many of the poker principles that can make you a better Holdem player.

Get some exercise and sleep – it’s really important not to let your usual workout regime or sleep pattern collapse completely during a major series, because these are two of the most important habits to keep up with at all times as a poker player. If you’re tired, lethargic or tense, you won’t play your best. Sometimes you might be up late if you make a deep run, but if that happens, make sure you catch up that sleep as soon as possible.

Add some small field tourneys – the variance in SCOOP tournaments is pretty crazy. With fields of 10,000 players or more in many events, the chances of making a final table are slim. So it’s important to supplement your SCOOP schedule with a few more small-field tourneys than you usually would, and offset the possibility of losing a significant chunk of your bankroll.

Go easy on shot-taking – everyone wants to take shots at higher buyins during a time when the fields are softer, but once again, the principle of ‘everything in moderation’ is highly relevant. If you play every $215 Holdem event you can find, you might find your bankroll disappearing before your eyes.

Don’t forego other sites – if you’re the kind of player who plays for a living and/or grinds multiple sites during the average session, then remember that during SCOOP, many people are so focused on the tournaments available on Stars that they drop all other sites out of their schedule. This isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but it does mean that whatever games you usually play on sites like Full Tilt Poker, 888, Party Poker or others, may be a little softer than they usually would be. This can be a great opportunity to make some money, because after all, money’s the same no matter where you make it.

Consider selling pieces – if you’re really set on playing higher buyins than you usually would, and you have a record of success to prove to others that you’re a good investment, then consider finding a place online to sell pieces of your action and get yourself into some of those higher buyins. Many people are interested in investing in players throughout major tournament series, because it represents the same opportunity for them as it does for you – a chance to make more money.

Finally, have fun! – major tournament series are the most fun you can have playing online tournaments. All the recreational players come out, the fields are soft, and there are tournaments for everyone. Don’t let the small chance of making big money dominate your thinking, and remember to enjoy the process and let the cards fall where they may!