Just dont bust out early with unimproved AA or KK. That would be GAY.

On a more serious note, read all the books you can on Tournament strategy. I've heard Championship NLHE by Mcevoy and Cloutier is a good one and harrinton on holdem is prolly the best.

Focus. Dont drink while you are there. You need your mind sharp, remember is a shot at 7-10million bucks!, not to mention the glory . If you find yourself earlier in a table full of rocks, steal lots of pots and prepare to fold to any resistance. Dont bluff EVER at the early stages of the tournament. If you put all you r chips in, it'd better be a good hand.

At the early stages, there will be lots of people busting out with bad hands, it is important not to want to take part with marginal hands, since a bad beat is more likely if you are holding, for example, 8-6, in a 8-6-3 board vs. KK.

I havent participated in a huge tournament. I am not a good tournament player but those are some guidelines I took from a post by Johnny Chan on his forums. They all sound pretty logical to me...

Disclaimer: I'm 20 and have never entered the WSOP ME. I do however believe to have a very terrific understanding of poker on a fundamental level. I have entered a $1000+ live tournament before, FWIW.


I'm gonna say don't let the significance of the event affect you. Palman said not doing this was detrimental to him.

I mean, it is just a poker tournament. Good poker is good poker is good poker is good poker. Play it like you would any other tournament. Go broke with AA on an 863 flop if you normally would. Don't fold to the guy's three bet all in just because it's the WSOP ME. If you would normally call against this type of player expecting TT-KK, then gosh darnit, put your chips in here too.

If a superstar is in your table, remember back to Rocky 3 when he's in the corner and Chubs tells him "He's just a man rock. Be more man than him." Because it's true. Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world. But he is still a human, and he can and will make exploitable mistakes. Don't be intimidated, but don't be stupid and try and make a stand just because you don't wanna be "that amateur that gets bullied around."

Call someone during breaks. Have fun. Don't wear sunglasses and an ipod. When you bust out, be it a bad beat or otherwise, simply tap the table, say nice hand, good luck guys, and walk away like a gentlemen.

Play for what your goal is. If you won your seat in a satellite and normally play in much much smaller games, and simply making it to day two would mean a lot to you, than fuck it, play to get to day 2. You once read that good tournament players get very loose and aggressive on the bubble and increase their stacks a lot. Guess what, those guys want to win and not just cash. If the $10,000 means a lot to you, fold your way into the money and be proud that you cashed in the biggest tournament in the history of poker.