I cannot believe how close we are to World Series time once again. Maybe when you turn thirty then time flies faster or so they say! I get asked every year if I am going to Las Vegas for the series and I give the same answer every year……no….will not be going and have never even been to Vegas. There will be no change in this stance either unless I fancy a holiday at some future point in time. I play cash games and even then my average session length is about three hours and I have got used to that over the past few years.
I don’t even think that I would have the stamina for a long tournament these days over several days and playing poker for twelve hour days. So I don’t think that I would be +EV going to the series and I would be playing exclusively in the cash games. However how do you compensate for being able to multi-table online? The fact of the matter is that you can’t and even though the live games during WSOP time are known to be soft, you would have to play at considerably higher levels to compensate for the drop in action.
The ring games at 888 poker usually average out at around 70 hands per hour due to the time banks constantly being activated. However that is colossal compared to the average 25 hands per hour that you get in ring games. In fact if you play dealers choice and see a lot of Seven stud and Omaha on a slow table with a slow dealer then you may be lucky to see as many as that. As I have aged then my risk profile has changed as it does when you have more to lose.
As you become older then you obviously have less time to compile money and the consequences of losing what you have become more severe. It is very difficult for any pro that hasn’t been active for a while to just jump in and play high stakes games constantly and stay in them. However I much prefer the more sedate levels these days and I play poker more for recreation than professionally. However many people still see me as a pro but I don’t see myself as one anymore. While I may be a recreational player in my own mind, I am still fiercely serious about the game.
I still study as hard as I have always done and I have undertaken a refresher course this year to drag my weak mind-set back into sync. Your poker game is in a constant state of shift and this is something that you are going to have to recognise. I lost my ego some time ago and that was the biggest move that I have made in the last five years. When you stop trying to be a baller and become more laid back then the game becomes easier.
I think as human beings then we have a strong tendency to complicate things and make life more difficult for ourselves…….I certainly know that I do. These days when I play poker than I really am indifferent to if I win or lose and all I care about these days is the professional level pride that I get in playing very well.
Funnily enough when I stopped being an out and out “pro” then my game became more professional. In fact the weird thing is that I am more of a “pro” now that I have stopped being a full time pro than I ever was when I was a pro….confused……so am I J
Carl “The Dean” Sampson is a professional poker player at 888 poker and you can also see Carl on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/115053726433255054649/posts
