There’s less than a month to go until the start of the WPT World Championship at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, which will have the largest guaranteed prize pool ever for a live tournament: $15,000,000.
Many players have already paid their entry fee, while others have won satellites at the Wynn Casino. Still others have won packages valued at $12K on the WPT Global platform or in numerous contests held on social media.
One of these winners was Dr. Josef Strazynski, who was chosen by gamer and author Amanda Botfeld in one of her Twitter contests. Cardplayer Lifestyle founder Robbie Strazynski will be on site in Las Vegas covering his own father at the tournament! Here’s the recently published video interview with Dr. Joe.
In this article, we’ll share some advice with those who plan to play the tournament and do not have much experience playing live. We also have some tips for those who are still looking to qualify.
Satellites
There are many ways to qualify for the tournament. If you live outside the United States and want to qualify for the WPT World Championship online, you should take advantage of WPT Global’s step format satellites.
If you are looking for some advice on satellite strategy, there are only two current books on the subject, but both are highly recommended. One of them is “Poker Satellite Strategy” (2019) by Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter, which talks about the post-flop game, the first stages, the mental game, and the final stages of satellites.
The other is “Poker Satellite Success!” (2021) by Bernard Lee, who qualified for the 2005 WSOP Main Event via satellite, and finished 13th, winning $400K. Paul Seaton recently wrote a very positive review of Bernard’s book.
Poker Training Programs
The fastest and most complete way to study and improve as a poker player is to enroll in a poker training program. One that I tried and highly recommend is Learn WPT.
Poker training programs have several advantages, including the convenience of studying from home, being able to interact with professional players, and choosing the subjects you want to study in depth. So whether it’s with LearnWPT or one of the other great poker training sites out there, it’s hard to go wrong putting in a little study time.
Poker Podcasts
Another way to study is to listen to poker podcasts. There’s a wide variety of programs, but the ones that will help you the most are those that provide strategy analysis and interviews with recognized players on the circuit. Podcasts are ideal for listening in your free time, while playing online, or when you are exercising or traveling.
Poker Videos
Watching poker videos is another way to prepare for the tournament. On YouTube, there are thousands of free videos on a wide variety of poker topics. You can also watch tournaments that have been played on the World Poker Tour. It is important to create a YouTube filter to ensure that you are watching videos that are current and from a reliable source. And of course, there’s plenty of great poker to watch on PokerGO.
Poker Strategy Books
Reading poker books, specifically live tournament strategy books, is another way you can prepare for the WPT World Championship. Plenty of top poker coaches and experts such as Jonathan Little, Alex Fitzgerald, and Andrew Brokos have written widely-acclaimed poker strategy books. If you have a long trip to Las Vegas with layovers a good poker strategy book is the ideal companion.
Poker Coaching
Personalized coaching is the most expensive study option, but the one that will likely serve you best, as you will be able to choose which topics to discuss with an experienced player. It is a worthwhile investment if you want to prepare seriously.
Play Poker!
The last tip is the simplest: play and practice at the felt! Whether online or live, playing will give you practice in different scenarios and stages of tournaments. The WPT World Championship has a starting stack of 200 big blinds, so playing tournaments with similar starting stacks would be ideal.
Let’s study and prepare! As Seneca said: “Good luck comes when preparation meets opportunity”. 🍀
