The countdown to the 2026 WSOP starts here. 100 bracelets. The world's best players. And PokerOrg will be on the floor from start to finish.
Thomas Boivin is a high-stakes tournament professional and coach. He cashed for $2,290,000 for a fifth-place finish at the 2025 WSOP Paradise $250K event. Thomas recently joined Octopi Poker as a high-performance coach.
How do you prepare for the long summer in Vegas at the WSOP?
I believe it’s a year-round commitment to be in the absolute optimal state to play. You don't start the day before and hope you're going to have everything 100% figured out.
As the WSOP approaches, I'm definitely getting even more disciplined and strict about my habits: nutrition, workouts, and sleep. But it's not that different from what I do throughout the year.
Are there any specific things you do for WSOP prep?
I would say one thing I've started doing recently is working on what I can control. I hire experts to assist me. I recently hired a few coaches who have their own zones of genius.
That way, I can invest in myself and really do everything I can to perform, not just show up and hope I'm going to win something.
Some people may think that a player at your level doesn’t need to seek out various coaches.
There must be an expert out there who is so brilliant at what he does that they can fast-track one area of your life, whether it's your health, cognitive performance, ambitions, business skills, or your love relationship. For me, it has yielded a hermetic return.
I'm humble enough to know that I don’t know everything, and my coaches are going to completely rock my world. I have many big ambitions and dreams in poker and my life.
Weight lifting and cold plunges
What are some of the physical aspects of your prep?
I love weightlifting and going to the gym. It gives me some kind of brain clarity and stamina for many, many hours that I hardly find in any other activity. And I'm also really addicted to rock climbing.
For recovery, I’ll include the sauna, a cold plunge, and a flotation tank. All those things are important because you have to recover to push the next day again.
You just signed on to work with the innovative training site – Octopi Poker. Can you share more about your decision to join their team?
Firstly, it’s the quality of the team. When you are working with A-level players, there's nothing that compares to that.
They also have an amazing tech team, the world's best coders. Then you have Victoria Livschitz, who is a super badass businesswoman. Then of course, you have Stevie Chidwick, who's the top goat in the game.
That team made me feel like we can actually do anything we set our minds to. Their ambitions are very big and bold. They want to transform the industry and reinvent poker coaching and poker learning.
Why are you so passionate about poker?
Through my coaching, that work led me to dive deep down to understand that, and I then made a few big decisions. For example, when I started playing Tritons two years ago, it was a very reflective decision. It was exactly all about why I play poker, why I love poker. I discovered the root of why I play.
I want to feel alive. I want to feel challenged. I want to connect with people with whom I resonate. That is usually high-stakes, high-performing players and entrepreneurs who have reached a high level of performance and are just having fun with poker.
Thomas Boivin: The quickfire round
Follow Thomas on X . For more info on his Mastermind Group visit their website. And check out Boivin's beyond the solver training at OctopiPoker.
The 2026 WSOP starts on May 26 and runs through August 5, when the Main Event champion will be crowned.
Featured image courtesy of PokerStars/Rachel Kay Winter.
