With the NBA season over, I have a 1 month window where I find I CAN sneak down to the WSOP and play a little poker, alternatively I go play online on WSOP.com. I try to play a few live tournaments a year, however it gets harder each year to find the time. Ideally, you want to play the softest field you can find, that means I'm targeting the "OVER 50 Seniors Event" and perhaps a few WSOP main event qualifiers.
One of my biggest disagreements in tournament play is the desire the pros have for "a good structure". Pros LOVE a long tournament (which makes sense, since the more team spent playing, the higher the skill level, and the higher the ROI). However, this comes at a great cost.........the time value of money. I would much rather play 3 fast tournaments than one slow one by example. The extreme example would be a $1,500 buy in tournament that lasted a month. This would be a terrible tournament to play in, but a great ROI for a gifted player........
I've always found it pays to be a weekend night Owl in your Poker. The live games on a Friday Night at 2am are almost always WAY better than what you find on a Tuesday afternoon..........now at The WSOP there are ALWAYS good games (bad players), but the later you play, the better, and the weekends really bring out the recreational players.
Re: Online play, be careful out there! The level of play is LIGHT YEARS better than live. I would say a typical .25/.50 NL online WSOP table has the same level of players as a 2/5 or even 5/10 LIVE table. A telling sobering observation is there are many pros multi-tabling playing 2/4, 1/2, and even down to .25/.50 levels simultaneously during the day online (there simply is not enough action at the often empty higher tables). If you are a recreational player, you simply have to consider playing VERY low to have a chance online.
A nice perk of playing WSOP online are the bonus/promos/freerolls. Currently, under the summer2015 code, you get a $1,000 bonus for a $1,000 deposit.......YES you have to play ALOT to earn that bonus and clear it, but it really adds up. Further, you accumlulate points that will get you essentially some rake back WSOP cash points, AND you will earn a Platinum and Diamond Card status, which carry very nice perks including not having to wait in line when playing live.
Jessica Welman is up and running at Pregame.com, and should you have ANY poker questions, I'm confident with her impressive poker resume (former Managing editor of Bluff Magazine and WSOP.com, and tons of other high level Poker experience) she can answer ANY poker question you have....be warned, if you are playing online at WSOP, you may run into her at the tables!
Getting back to sports, I'm working on the MLB Thursday Card, and doing my work for Friday Night WNBA.
An intriguing game will be Chicago at Atlanta Friday Night. It is Native American Fan Appreciation night (Shoni Shimmel is Native American Indian). This sets up an interesting dynamic as Shoni reported to camp this year overweight and out of shape, and she is hurting the team. Surely she will get more minutes Will she put in a massive effort in this one game, maybe? I would LOVE to find a prop and bet 'over' on points for this game (lol, that won't be up). I HAD to chuckle as Atl was getting POUNDED by Indiana Tuesday, and the Dream announcers said "Shoni was Soooooo busy with speaking engagements and commitments during the off season she slipped out of shape". ummmm ok. The Atlanta Dream Season is turning into a nightmare due to terrible guard play YTD......
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