PROJECT POKER : Finite energy, infinite possibilities

I have recently gone on a short trip to Guernsey, which I discovered is just 20 km from France even though it is a British Crown Dependency. The weather was very nice, too, which also might make you forget that it’s so close to England! Just a beautiful little island, very laid back. It reminded me a little of Monte Carlo insofar as it’s a small place but there is still a lot going on.
I’m now relaxing before going to Las Vegas for the WSOP, which is where I’ll likely be by the time you read this. Speaking of relaxing, I’ll be playing a lot but I’ll be giving myself a chance to relax and enjoy myself, too.
In the past I used to play many days in a row without a break, but I’ve discovered over the years it’s much better not to overexert yourself. It’s easy to get lost in poker if you come to the table without a plan for how long you are going to play and with some idea of when you’ll be stepping away.
My approach is always to take one tournament at a time, and not go to the WSOP thinking about playing as many tournaments as I can. That’s just not a good approach for always playing your A-game and being focused and just plain feeling well.
Of course, young guys with lots of energy feel like they’ve got an endless supply and can play all day every day and go out at night, too. There’s so much to do in Las Vegas − shows, restaurants, and of course lots of other ways to gamble your money away. But I know that for me to do my best I need to know there’s a beginning and an end and that I’ll be focused for the entire time I’m playing.
I can see it at the tables, especially in long tournaments, when players are exhausted and as a result aren’t thinking clearly or don’t even appear to care as much about making good decisions. They take chances more often and don’t play a smart game. So I always do what I can to avoid putting myself in that same circumstance.
Of all the times I’ve gone to the WSOP, aside from my first time going, I’ve only come away a loser one time and that was after having a pretty unlucky series. But otherwise I’ve come out on top, and I attribute that to having planned a careful schedule which lets me play as well as I can every time I buy into an event.
The energy you have is finite − it’s like a stack of chips, and you have to conserve it by playing it intelligently. You can keep calling it off with small pairs if you want, or take other unnecessary chances, but more often than not you’ll end up with a shorter stack and make it more difficult to be successful.
It’s better not to play every hand, to fold sometimes, just like it’s better not to play every single tournament that comes along, but to measure the situation and pick the ones in which you’ll have the best chance of doing well.

Marcel Luske