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Advice for what to expect at WSOP

- Posted by Adam B 2010-06-22 12:41:05
- So I'm coming out to Vegas for my first WSOP (Event 54).
  Are there any World Series vets on here who have advice on what to expect during the tournament? And by "what to expect" I mean anything along the lines of the following...
  - Player attitudes
  - Lines/waits/delays
  - Floor behaviors/actions/requirements you don't hear about or see on ESPN
  - Popular hangouts for food/events/games
  - Secret/quiet hideaways for food/events/games
  - What to bring or not bring to the games
  - Handling your winnings (especially if you don't draw on a bank in LV)
  ...or anything else you might think of.
  A specific question to kick things off: I'm staying at Bally's, which at least looks like it's "just down the road" from the Rio. Walkable? Connected by monorail? Or take a cab?
- Posted by Frederic 2010-06-22 18:43:53
- Echoing on your request, I am interested too as I'll be at the Event 49 on Monday, my first.
  My deltas: I stay at the Rio, and I don't really expect to face the "Handling your winnings" issue! ;-)
  Cheers!
  Fred
- Posted by E 2010-06-24 18:17:34
- Bally's to Rio is not walkable. The good news is that there is a free shuttle brom Bally's to Rio if you are not willing to pay $10 for taxi.
- Posted by Jason M 2010-06-24 18:37:47
- I'll give you a quick brain dump:
  - most players are generally not rude at all, but don't expect them to chat it up
  - play is tight and aggressive; most pots are just raise and take it or raise then call then somebody bets and takes it on the floe
  - if you have non-melting snacks like a granola bar, bring them (breaks are only 20 mins every two hours and dinner isn't until 7ish
  - if you are staying at e Rio, eating at the Sao Paolu cafe is decent, but you should get down there at 10:30am to be safe
  - bring some ones to tip the cocktail waitresses/ers to stay hydrated
  - try to figure out the order that tables break down and play accordingly; being able to start a fresh table image can be useful, or knowing you are at your table for 12 hours means you can really build one up
  - go to the registration desk the day before to pick up your ticket so you don't have to wait in line the morning of
  - a lot of the players are rookies and/or are very nervous, so just imagine that they are all in their underwear and you'll be fine
  - day one will take 12 hours, so be prepared to stay focused
  - play each player differently; remember that in their mind, everything revolves around them; pay attention to how they perceive you; take advantage of all this to figure out what's going on
  - they moved the cafeteria indoors this year, and it's decent; McFadden's all they way back by the Masquerade tower is a good place to run for your dinner break, but get there quickly!
  - if you are confused about anything, ASK THE DEALER; you are paying for a service; don't be embarrassed
  - the Rio will wire money for you (or give you cash or chips or stick your money in a safe deposit box here); if you want to wire, you need your account number
  - take the cab, and if they don't ask, let them know you want to be dropped off at the poker area
  This is Adrian and my third year here, and there weren't a lot of surprises this time around. Adrian went deepish yesterday (490th out of 2521) but I went out in the first round with top two pair when my opponent rivered a higher two pair. Last Saturday I had the cards to go far, but I made a few errors and was forced to play more aggressively with a shorter stack and missed my nut flush draw.
  The biggest learning this time is that although a lot more people are using continuation bets (and therefore check-raises) and other "advanced moves" (like floating the flop), there are still some really terrible players that do things that just don't make sense. Usually you can sniff it out, but it definitely makes it tough. I need to think about this more, but it seems the best place to make money (aside from coolering your opponent) is to take pots away with raises and reraises against the right opponents.
  Good luck, and let us know how you do!
- Posted by Tony Gags 2010-06-24 19:48:53
- Great advice J. All perfect. Id actually walk over to Mcfaddens on the other side of the casino at dinner break. Good food, lots of options, and you will avoid the rush. JUst dont eat heavy so you aren't tired coming back.
- Posted by Adam B 2010-06-27 15:03:30
- Thanks everyone. This is exactly the kind of been-there-before stuff I wanted. Keep it up, I don't start playing until July 2. ;)
  I've also found a new source for similar information, although I don't know how long it's going to be up online.
  I get emails sometimes from LasVegasAdvisor.com, and I usually ignore them because the site's pretty cheesy and all buy-my-book-now, but they just set up a specific poker subsite called LVAPoker.com. Blair Rodman, the author of the Kill Phil poker books, is posting excerpts from a new book which deal specifically with prepping newcomers to the WSOP. These excerpts look like they're up to date with the 2010 tournament, and he also has a report from the first few weeks of the tournament on how it's running so far. Good stuff for us donkeys and fish. ;)
  http://www.lvapoker.com/archivearticle.cfm?id=18
  The link takes you to the first of 4 "What to expect" articles, and it has links to the rest as well as Rodman's first in-tourney report. This first one's more of a history of the WSOP, parts 2-4 are more substantive. Note that I don't think you can copy-and-paste stuff, it's in some sort of Flash-based presentation format.
  (I'm not affiliated with either of these LVA sites, I just get stuff from them and figured I'd pass along something that helped me, in order to help others.)
- Posted by Frederic 2010-06-27 23:37:19
- Thanks Jason and all!
  Well, just arrived in Vegas - the Rio is real cool, btw - and followed the advice to register at the WSOP early. Good move: some guys (in front of me, some foreigners) have real troubles in the process, and that was a zoo, despite the fact nothing was going on.
  "Nothing" is not fair: the Tournament of Champion is going full swing, and it was way fun to see the TV table with Doyle, Negreanu, Esfandiari, Lederer, Duke, Elky, Ashem, Cloutier. At other tables, Scotty, Helmuth, Mike the Mouth (jeeze, does he talks!! plus he was in front of Helmuth, that was a blast!) Chan, Jesus Ferguson, Joe Cada, Jennifer Harman...
  Will try and post some updates tomorrow - I start at noon, Pavillion Green, Table 183, seat 7 - or get my son Thomas to post them for me!
  Cheers!
- Posted by MarkNelson 2010-06-28 16:29:40
- Good luck!
- Posted by bvk 2010-06-28 20:04:38
- good luck Fred!
  i like the 'imagine everyone in their underwear,' tip, although that could be downright scary at your average poker tournament. a 'sport' with athlete's it aint :)
- Posted by Frederic 2010-06-29 00:36:45
- OK, won't need anybody's help to post updates: I'm out.
  Got a rough start: early in round 2, my button-raise with QTh saw the BB calling. Just calling, a pretty active player so far. On AQ9 flop, he checks, I c-bet my second-pair and a flat calls. Turn is another A, he checks, me too, as I am a bit suspicious now. River is another Q, I make a full-house, not that changes anything: he bets about pot-size after long thoughts, I made a crying call and he turns a baby ace, for a higher full-house. Darn.
  Card dead the following hour or so, I finally get something playable, an AQ in the SB. Get a limper, I raise, and get a call. Flop is Queen high, I check, he bets, I reraise all-in and he calls: he had AQ too and we chop. Darn.
  Final hand of Round #3 75/150 (and of my WSOP adventure): I am SB and there is only one raise to 450 in mid-position. I reraise all-in with my last 1,850 and a pocket jacks. BB folds but the raiser instacalled, and showed Aces. Flop brought no light, and here I am. Darn!
  Will have more time to spend with the family!
- Posted by Jason M 2010-06-29 15:43:21
- Hi Frederic, I'm sorry to hear that :( That sounds like a pretty rough tournament. Sometimes there just isn't a whole lot you can do.
- Posted by Tony Gags 2010-06-29 16:05:33
- Jason M said:
  Hi Frederic, I'm sorry to hear that :( That sounds like a pretty rough tournament. Sometimes there just isn't a whole lot you can do.
  WSOP is all or nothing deal. Worst tourny to go out of by far. Get em next time

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