Everyone is abuzz about the World Series of Poker. Trips have been planned and, at every game, the “when are you going out?” conversation comes up at least a few times. Many players will be making their first trip to the series and it seems like a lot of people have chosen this year as the time to make the leap and play in a bracelet event. “Any advice for me? I’m going out to play in a few weeks” is something I’ve heard many times in the last month.

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My biggest tip is to not be intimidated and to enjoy the experience. But to get a little more specific than that, I dig into what event they are playing and what their goals are. It seems like most first-timers pick the $1,000 and $1,500 buy-in Hold’em events, which makes a lot of sense. There are plenty of them to choose from, they have smaller buy-ins so players don’t have to come up with too much cash to play, and they make great WSOP entry-level tournaments.

The bad news about picking these tournaments as your first WSOP experience is that there is a good chance you will be left wandering around the Rio convention area before you knock the chill off the cushion of your seat. In a $1,000 Hold’em event, you start with only 3,000 in chips and it is pretty easy to end up with all of the chips in the middle before you know it.

With the large fields and short stacks, the eliminations start from the get-go and never slow down. So, if you are going into one of these tournaments, be mentally prepared to be all-in early on and potentially be eliminated before the first break. To do well in these events, you are going to have to get chips early and often; that means putting yourself at risk.

While getting some experience out of the tournaments is worthwhile, in smaller buy-in events, you have to be willing to take some chances early on or you are going to find yourself at the 200/400 blind level with no chips, no chance, and still feeling like you just heard the “shuffle up and deal” announcement.

If you go in knowing that you may have to take a coin flip early on to you give yourself a shot, then these events can be a lot of fun. You can get some chips early and then start taking advantage of the short stacks and less experienced players who make up so much of the field.

The next thing I like to point out is also even more relevant in the smaller buy-in tournaments: be aware of the stack sizes at your table. There will be short stacks from the first level on and you have to be aware of what tricky situations you can end up in if you raise and one of those stacks moves in. You don’t want to be recklessly gambling with sub-par hands. If you aren’t paying attention to the stacks around you, it is easy to risk a decent part of your stack with a hand you would rather not get that many chips in the middle with.

The good news is there are tournaments every day and plenty of things going on around the WSOP and in Las Vegas in general. Take your shot in a WSOP event, but don’t play scared; if you happen to bust out early, that’s okay. The field gets cut down quickly and some of the best players in the world find themselves on the rail in no time. You can tee up another WSOP event if you have the time and bankroll, find one of many smaller side events to play in, hunt out a juicy cash game, play satellites, or just generally take in the WSOP experience.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities for poker media businesses. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.

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