WSOP Countdown
Howdy, CSP fans! It's been awhile. I hate to say that I've been "busy" because that implies an inability to prioritize my objectives. "Productive" is a better word choice. I've been making some lifestyle changes to improve my overall health and well-being.
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to regulate my sleep schedule to optimize performance and reduce my dependence on caffeine. So far so good. Sleeping eight hours a night has done wonders for my clarity throughout the day. The insane coffee, espresso, RedBull binges have been eliminated.
I've also been making a concerted effort to eat better. Lately my diet has included a lot of hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken, blackened fish, and vegetables. These changes have worked synergistically to boost my energy levels and allow me to start hitting the gym again.
Poker players live very sedentary lives and I've realized that the gym is a must. Senior year of high school I weighed 230lbs with 6% body fat. In the last five years, I've shrunk to 195lbs with 8% body fat. That's still relatively healthy in comparison to most Americans, but I'm sure I can do better.
For the last six weeks I've been hitting the gym Monday, Wednesday, Friday to jog/bike/stretch and slowly rebuild my aerobic base. Last week I added some light anaerobic activities. Now my goal is to get back up to 210lbs before the WSOP.
As you can see, I've started my WSOP prep early this year. I'm confident that sleeping well, eating right, exercising, and coaching a steady stream of CSP students will have a direct impact on my performance this summer. I plan on playing a full schedule.
Right now it looks like I'm going to take a little road trip out to Vegas before the series. This idea has a lot of benefits. There are a bunch of places that I've never been to along the way. For instance, I've never been to Jacksonville, Panama City, New Orleans, or Houston. I'd also like to play some cash at Talking Stix and brave the Grand Canyon Skywalk, before heading off to Vegas.
I have a few thoughts on WSOP schedule this year...
The Colossus structure is a joke and I won't be participating.
I feel the same way about the $1,000 Top Up Turbo.
The Millionaire Maker and Monster Stack are super high value events.
I love the 90-minute levels in the $1,500 Summer Solstice event.
Finally! A PLO/PLO8/Big O mix in Event #53 is an awesome idea.
The $1,000 Tag Team event looks like a lot of fun and I hope it gets great coverage.
50K starting in the Main Event is great but what's the deal with skipping early levels?
I like that the $1,111 Little One is AFTER the Main.
Overall, I like the schedule changes and I'm excited.
The events on the strip will also be great...
The WPT500 at Aria is one of the best sub-$1K events all year.
The Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza III has a ton of hidden value.
Planet Hollywood and the Golden Nugget have some cool small stakes events.
Besides tournaments, festivities will include...
Celebratory trips to Omnia.
EDC Las Vegas!
Desert Skydiving: Gringo Loco Edition. Care to join me?
After the series, the plan is to declare war on LA cash games since SoFlo games are notoriously sad during the summer. Of course, I will be coaching students, producing training content, and blogging about my adventures throughout. Shoot me an email if you need help prepping. See you this summer!
