Jim Reid is The Rec — a recreational player with a lifelong love of poker, a member of the PokerOrg Player Advisory Board and the host of the popular RecPoker podcast.
Jim has some advice to share for other recreational players taking their shot at the World Series of Poker this summer, including the importance of preparation and how to give yourself the best chance of success.
So, having read parts one (the tournaments) and two (what to eat and where to sleep) of The Rec’s Guide to the 2025 WSOP, you know where you are staying, some places to eat and spend your breaks, and of course what tournaments you are hoping to play.
Now, here are my best tips for making the most out of your WSOP experience, from before you leave the house to your first hand in Las Vegas.
Before you leave
Make a plan for your money. You’re heading down to play some tournaments, and will likely need at least a few thousand dollars to work with at the tables. You can wire it to the cage in advance, load a WSOP tournament account online, carry cash in your pocket, or rent a safety deposit box right at the cage.
The tournament account is nice because you can skip the registration lines and print your tournament slips at the kiosks, but there is also a registration area reserved for folks that use the safety deposit boxes, so there are multiple ways to save some time each day.
Pack your day-to-day essential comfort items. We start and end every day in our hotel room, so I like to make mine as comfy as I can. For me that means coffee in the morning, so I check a bag at the airport (ugh) and bring a small French press and an electric kettle to help me wake up right without leaving the room (as well as a butter knife to spread my PB&Js: you know, just the essentials!).
For the same reason, I always pack a couple of binder clips to keep those pesky blinds drawn in the morning, to keep the light out while I am trying to sleep.
When Mrs. BLUFFSTORINI travels with me on poker trips, we make dinner rezzos for two every night, but if I am going deep in a tournament she has to eat without me, tears of loneliness running down her cheeks (I assume).
If you bring a companion, make sure they understand they might be alone a lot, but they can really help you if you ARE running well: picking up food, bringing you something from the room — anything that saves you time or mental bandwidth at the table is a big help!
Arrive early
Speaking of mental bandwidth: rushing sucks, and you want to feel cool and collected when the cards start flying. It will be tempting to save a few bucks by flying down the morning of your first tournament, but do yourself a favor and arrive the day before for less stress. There are also a few things you can square away before it’s tourney time, ideally even by visiting the venue the night before you play.
Make sure you have a player’s card, or a loyalty card for the casino — they will quickly print you off a new one at the hospitality counter if you’ve left it behind. Additionally, the WSOP requires you to ‘validate’ your ID before you can register for your first tournament of the series, and this happens in a different room than the registration cage, so give yourself time for that.
When it IS time to register, you will get three paper slips for each tournament. One is for the dealer (it’s the one with DEALER printed in huge letters on the front) and they won’t let you play without it. The other two you should hold onto for your taxes in case you win big.
If you are carrying cash in your pocket, consider registering for multiple tournaments in advance, as long as they don’t conflict with each other. You can always unregister for free later if you make a Day 3, and in the meantime you are carrying a dealer slip instead of a wad of cash in your pocket.
Finally, take a walk around the tournament area. Note the washroom locations. Often the closest one is a madhouse, but maybe there’s one just a 2-minute walk away — that’s your winner, right there, the line will be much shorter, and you get to stretch your legs a little there and back.
Also, scope out the meal options in the area, and approach each day of playing with a plan for what you are going to eat and drink, and when. You can always change your mind, but don’t waste that brainspace at the tables.
What to pack at the tables
Once you start playing, consider your hands filthy so if you have food to eat, instead of nuts or trail mix try something like a banana or a granola bar that has a wrapper you can put your grubby paws on.
Bring a water bottle — often there will be a water cooler nearby you can refill at — as well as a wad of small bills for tipping: drinks are free at the tables but it’s customary to drop a buck or two for the service.
It can be cool in the casino, so you’ll need a warm layer to keep you comfy at the tables, even in the summertime, and at least one phone charger is a must. A power bank is also a good idea — you might find yourself at a table that you can charge from, but not every table will offer that.
I also recommend using something as a card protector, to help keep your hand secure. You can always use a chip, but I like to bring my RecPoker shot glass! And whether you use them or not, you may want to bring a pair of headphones or earbuds - just in case you end up at Will Kassouf’s table.
Lastly, you should always have a way to record your hands for later review, an app on your phone, a notebook, whatever works for you; something is better than nothing, so do your future self a favor and take accurate notes you can learn from.
So, that was part three of this three-part series, but it feels like there's even more that The Rec could share.
Don't worry, we've got a fourth bonus part, coming this Monday, looking at what happens when it's time to actually play a WSOP event!
Additional images courtesy of Jim Reid/Ivan Calderon/Unsplash.
