PROJECT POKER | Enjoying the pre-season

The WSOP is over. The late summer is kind of a down time for poker until the European Poker Tour starts back. It’s about a six-week stretch without too much going on. The break is good, but I spent it trying to stay active, too, so I could be ready when things picked back up again.
To keep fresh I played online, including in the WCOOP Challenge recently where I picked up a small cash in one event. I finished third in the Bigger $162 on PokerStars not long ago for a little over $25,000, too, which was nice.
I also decided to play in a regional tournament series in Belgium, the Wallonie Series of Poker. The series is hosted by the Casino of Namur, which is the land-based partner of PokerStars in Belgium, so playing there feels like playing with a home court advantage. The main event (€550) and the High Roller (€1,000) are right up my alley. I came in second in the High Roller, losing to my good friend Guy Goossens. So I can safely say that this visit was a success.
During this period I tried to establish a more “normal” schedule when it came to balancing playing and enjoying life away from the tables. As a poker player, our hours sometimes force us to have long nights and get a little disconnected from reality because you’re awake when people are sleeping and sleeping when people are awake. For these weeks I’ve been getting up at 7:30 a.m. each morning with my girlfriend so we can have breakfast together. I’m also trying to be productive in the mornings and get business done. Then I’ll play in the afternoons until my girlfriend comes home and we can spend time together again.
As a poker pro your schedule is often similar to being in the entertainment business. A lot of times you have to work nights and on the weekends, because that’s our “prime time” when the best games are happening. I’ve been taking advantage of being able to regulate my schedule during this down period, trying to balance playing when it is profitable with having a social life outside of poker, too.
In a way, the weeks before the EPT started again were a little like the “preseason”, sort of like what the NBA does before it gets going again. Or you might compare playing in minor events as being like playing “friendly” matches in soccer, a way to keep in “shape” before the bigger buy-in events return.
Some people might disagree, but I think of poker as very much like a sport — and an intense one, at that — and you always have to be mentally and physically ready, even during the periods when you’re playing less. It’s vacation time, but you still don’t want to get out of practice because when the schedule ramps up again you want to have kept up your game so you can get back into the zone and not make too many mistakes. If you haven’t played at all for two months, you can get rusty and lose your feel.
I’m definitely glad now that poker’s “regular season” has now well and truly started. I’m glad also that I enjoyed and got the most of the “preseason” weeks, too.

by Christophe De Meulder