Did you have a good World Series? Great. I’m happy for you.
But if you’re like many people who did not have a terrific World Series, let’s discuss some drills you can run before next year to make yourself a more complete player and hopefully give yourself a better chance to run deep in tournaments.
1. Practice playing with a willingness to re-enter
A lot of players put themselves behind the eight ball because they enter re-entry tournaments in Las Vegas while telling themselves they will only buy in for one bullet.
The problem is that the other players who are willing to re-enter eventually sense that you are not going to stack off. That means they get to try more bluffs than you get to try.
Additionally, if you try to bluff them and they are wrong, they can just re-enter. You do not have that backup plan available.
That puts you at a real disadvantage.
Before next year’s series, when you play a tournament, tell yourself before you buy in, 'Okay, I have to be willing to fire four entries in this event.'
If you do not end up using all four entries, great. But you need to practice being willing to press more with combo draws. You need to practice going for super thin value. You need to practice using bigger bets.
Get used to playing like you have ammunition.
2. Start 3-betting more from the big blind
Almost everybody calls way too much out of the big blind and then does not play that spot very well.
There is a lot of great strategy content out there about flatting more from the big blind and check-raising more from that position. But I want you to try something different.
Start 3-betting large out of the big blind more often and see how often you can get folds postflop. You will find it striking how often people call you preflop and then have no plan after the flop, even though they are in position.
This is one of the most undervalued situations in the game today.
Most players have not studied it enough, and they become uncomfortable very quickly. That is exactly the kind of spot you want to attack.
3. Go for thinner value when flush draws miss
Most of America is pretty angry right now, and if they see a draw has missed on the board while they hold any kind of value hand, that is exactly what they want to put you on.
A missed draw.
And once they decide that is what you have, they are going to call way too much.
If you have been betting half pot or two-thirds pot on those rivers, you need to start testing larger sizings and see what you can get away with.
I do not know the players in your area. Maybe the most they will call is three-quarters pot. Maybe they will call pot. Maybe they will even call all-in. That is for you to figure out.
But you will never find the ceiling if you keep using the same comfortable sizing every time.
4. Track how many of your hero calls are actually correct
Start keeping track of how many of your hero calls are actually right.
There are some people who have the gift. They can pick off bluffs regularly. But most people are not picking off bluffs regularly because most people do not bluff enough.
If you are consistently calling and then being shown the winner, that is something you need to know about yourself before next year’s WSOP.
You cannot fix what you do not track. Write the hands down. Record the situation. Note the player type. Note the line they took. Note whether you were calling because the logic made sense or because you were frustrated.
That information will tell you a lot.
5. Track how often your bluffs work
Again, some people have the gift. They have uncanny timing for when people are likely to fold.
But a lot of players just spew chips when they are tilted, then later tell themselves, 'Well, it was still a good bluff. I just got unlucky that he picked up a hand.'
Maybe. But maybe not.
If you start tracking what happens during all of your bluffs, and then review those hands over a few months, you are going to find out whether you are actually a good bluffer or whether that is something you need to work on before next year’s World Series.
Track the board, the player type, the stack sizes, the sizing you used, and whether your line made sense.
Over time, the truth will become obvious.
Alex Fitzgerald is a best-selling author published by D&B Poker. Check out Alex’s most recent book, ‘How to Beat Players Who Never Fold.’
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