As I head into the 2011 WSOP main event I am reminded of something that it takes to succeed in poker.  After playing the most tournaments I have during the WSOP, about 25 events, I realize how strong you have to be mentally to be consistent with your play.  I’m not talking about consistent results because as a poker player I am not results oriented, and neither should you be.  I’m talking about being able to play your A game day in day out.  That’s all we can strive for as poker players, and the results hopefully, will take care of themselves.

In tournaments it’s taxing to play 10 hrs+ and have nothing to show for it.  Imagine that happening 10 times over a month.  That happened to me this WSOP.  The very 1st 3 events I played over 10 hrs and busted.  I bubbled 2 other tournaments after making day 2, one within 15 spots of the money, another within 8 spots.  Remember these are 2000+ player fields so getting within 100 of the money and busting is an emotional letdown.

Even more trying is making it in the money, making a deep run and busting.  I have a 44th place finish (of 1920), 62nd place finish (of 1734), and a 42nd place finish (of 2890).  My avg. cash in those events was $9000.  Sounds nice, but the avg. 1st place payout was $580k.  Even tougher to swallow is that I had stacks near or at my bustouts.  I’ll talk about my runs and some hands next time but I’ll just say that 2 of’em I lost with way the best of it and the other one I made a big hero call (that was probably a fold) and was wrong.

Now for some cashing is good enough but as a pro, and as someone that’s played poker for a long time, I won’t settle for anything less than a first.  Maybe scoring 6 figures won’t make me feel as bad.  Even with my cashes totaling $27k I am still down about $28k for the WSOP.  It just shows you how you need to make the final table or better just to make any kind of money playing tournaments over the long run.

Let’s not forget about the other  12 or so tournaments I busted on day 1, then having to come back the day and start all over.  It really starts to wear you down.  Maybe my age plays a part, but I don’t think much because I have a lot of energy and I like to think I’m young at heart.  Even so I made mistakes here and there and if I were to grade my overall play relative to my skill level  I would give myself a B+.

Although I said we can’t be results oriented, we’re all humans and we can’t help but look at our results at the WSOP.  Mine’s a little disappointing, yeah, but I’m more disappointed in that I didn’t play my A game consistently.  What led to this though?  I have more experience than most, more knowledge and understanding of the game than most, and better emotional control than most.

Well I think, as I mentioned from the start, that I had mental breakdowns that led to small mistakes during my play.  In other words, my mental fortitude showed cracks.  It was a combination of things that led to this.  The daily grind, the deep runs, the bustouts, the lack of sleep sometimes, and just everything that’s associated with playing tournaments every day.

I came into the WSOP as prepared as ever so lack of preparation isn’t an excuse.  I was confident and felt like I could make a big mark this year.  Sure sometimes lady luck just doesn’t comply but I worry about things I can control.  

This leads me to say that in order to succeed in poker over the long run, you really need to have the mental fortitude to play your A game all the time.  Besides have a solid foundation of the game, great tilt control, awareness, you really need to be strong mentally, especially during a month of tournaments, especially at the WSOP where everything is magnified.   You have to be able to shrug off a beat that busts you out of a tournament in the late stages.  For almost all it’s not easy, but if you can flick it off like lint on your shoulder, then you are well on your way as a poker player.   Hopefully I can heed my own advice and give myself an A the next time.

**Note, I can up my grade to an A- or better w/ a great showing at the WSOP main event that starts for me in a couple of days, again not based on results, but based on how I play.