I’ll be playing in my second WSOP this year, which will be my tenth major live poker festival. I love playing live because of the extra factors involved. Some of you will be playing at this year’s WSOP for the first time and might be feeling a little nervous about the whole experience. So are you ready for Vegas?

Feeling nervous before a major event is both natural and helpful. Any successful public speaker will tell you that they generally feel nervous before a speech. Nerves help focus the mind, but you need to know what you should be focused on and being ready to play at a major poker festival includes careful preparation, good execution, and a little analysis. <READMORE>

The preparation side is actually quite easy, but it’s surprising how many players don’t do it. Basically you should get to know the venue, the rules, and as much about your opponents as possible before you start play. I’ll usually review the tournament structure and local rules one or two days before the event starts. If possible I’ll also visit the venue to get accustomed to the seating arrangements, layout, and importantly, the location of the restrooms.

Once I’ve gotten hold of the structure of the tournament, I’ll do a little pre-game analysis to determine my opening strategy for the tournament. If we have plenty of chips and a slow blind structure, I’ll plan on playing differently than if we don’t have many chips and/or a fast blind structure. Note, however, that this will determine only my opening strategy and I’ll be ready to adjust given a significant change in circumstances like becoming short-stacked early-on or finding myself at a table of maniacs (or a table of rocks).

If it’s your first time at a major live event, then review and understand the rules very carefully. Live beginners need to be careful of things like string bets, verbal commitments, and declaring/sizing their raises. One of the most common mistakes is putting in a single large chip (intending to raise); without a verbal declaration, this is a call. For more experienced players, make sure you understand the chat rules: some tournaments allow discussion of potential hands in play while others do not. Get this wrong and you could be on a costly penalty.

Some tournaments publish the first day draw the night before the event starts, or on the morning a few hours before play begins. If so then there is valuable information right there that you can use before you start play. If you don’t know them already, Google each of your opponents and you’ll learn some useful information, such as who is a pro and who’s hot recently.

So, on to the starting day of the tournament. You’ve prepared well; you’re well rested and raring to go. Before you leave your hotel room, don’t forget all those things you might need on the day, including a jacket, a hat, sunglasses, water, energy drinks, snacks, a notebook, a pen, your ipod, your cellphone, cash/credit cards, and photo ID. Even if you’re staying at the Rio, it’s a good 20 minute round trip back to your room if you forget anything.

Get there early, at least 30 minutes before play is due to begin, or even earlier if you still have to register or get a seat draw. If any of your opponents sits down at the table early or is just hanging around, strike up a conversation. You’re doing this to be friendly, of course, but you’re also trying to gain some information on their strategy or outlook without giving away any information about your own.

Before you know it, the tournament director is announcing “shuffle up and deal,” and you’re off. Well, compared to multi-tabling six tables while watching TV, surfing the web, and conducting three IM conversations, this is not exactly a day at the races. You might find it all a bit slow and find yourself trying to catch a glimpse of the Milwaukee Beer Girls just to ease the boredom. Do not fall into this trap.

There is so much you can be doing with all that spare brain power. Chances are you are going to be sitting with most of these opponents for the next several hours, so pay attention. Observe everything, follow every hand, and take a mental note of which cards your opponents showed, how they bet, and what was their body language and demeanor. After a while, start to put people on hands before they show them, and if you’ve been paying attention, you might be surprised at how accurate this can be. Most live players don’t mix up their game enough and become predictable. You’ll also discover which ones are mixing up their game, as they’ll be harder to read.

Not only will all this information prove very useful when you get to play a hand; the time will fly by once you’re focused solely on what’s going on in the game. It may take a while, but eventually you will get into a big hand where, for example, you have AhAd and your opponent bets strongly into you on a scary flop like KsTsTd. If it’s early, you have plenty of chips, and you haven’t got a good read on the guy, maybe you should let it go (because you don’t want to get involved in a big pot early without being positive about having the best hand). If, however, you’ve observed this guy carefully, picked up some tells from his betting patterns and/or body language, and all this information makes you truly feel that you have the best hand, then you’ve reached the point in time where the most important live poker tip you can ever learn comes into play:

• Have no fear!

Make your move and be prepared to die with it. If your read tells you he has AK or KQ, you’re going all the way with this hand, but as a solid favorite.

Once you’ve realised how much information you can pick up by observing your opponents, you should also be able to imagine how much information they’re trying to pick-up from you. When I played at my first major live event a little over a year ago, I was worried that my lack of live experience would make me easy to read by seasoned live players.

My first defense against this was to try to look like it wasn’t my first live experience. Image matters at the poker table, and giving off a professional demeanor by wearing good clothes and carrying yourself with confidence may make some players wary of messing with you. My second defense was to wear sunglasses, not so much to hide my eyes as to enable me to observe others with confidence.

Your best defense, however, may be the simplest one to enact: don’t give away free information. Don’t show your cards or your emotions unless you’ve a very good reason to do so. I rarely show my cards live, but on one occasion, after raising or reraising the small blind from the big blind three times in a row, I showed him my 84o after he open folded ATo for the sole reason that I knew this would tilt the guy. His face went bright red, he started talking incessantly, and he had titled off the rest of his chips within minutes.

No matter how careful you are, however, everyone has tells either in their betting patterns, their body language, or both. If you don’t mix up your game, your observant opponents will exploit these tells. Mixing up your game in a live setting doesn’t just mean playing your cards differently; it means mixing up your body language. One of the best defenses against an observant opponent is the occasional fake tell. For example, adopting stony silence usually indicates a strong hand whereas jabbering away usually indicates weakness. If you know you’re guilty of this type of tell, start jabbering away every now and again when you’re strong.

Playing at major live tournaments is great fun but requires some different skills and techniques than online play. Prepare and execute well, and you’ll be ready for Vegas. I hope to see some of you there!

Stuart “Zpaceman” Taylor is a professional poker player and Guest Pro at online poker training site www.cardrunners.com.
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