Quick Tips For Preparing For The WSOP

Written by: Scott Lum

Poker Summer Camp starts now! For those who are headed to the WSOP, I put together a quick checklist of things to do and simple strategies to tweak before you fly down. I helped produce the content for several of RecPoker’s WSOP Prep Podcasts so check them out if you have time, but here’s a summary:

Tournament Prep:

Download the WSOP+ app to your phone. It’s mandatory but will be super helpful for registering and avoiding the long lines. You can fund it and pay for tournaments using PayPal for no fees and save yourself hours of standing in a registration line. You’ll need to validate your ID once you arrive and make sure to get your Ceasars Rewards card if you don’t have one.

Make sure you have your Enhanced Driver’s License or Real ID before you head for the airport.

Check out the WSOP schedule to plan your budget and calendar: WSOP Tournaments & Event Schedule

Download Poker Atlas and Bravo Live mobile apps to find non-WSOP tournaments and cash games throughout town. Cash game waiting lists will be super long, so you can use the apps to see which poker rooms have the shortest wait times, and you can get on the list up to an hour before you arrive.

There are 3 major ballrooms: Paris Convention Ctr where you’ll register and play many of the events, Horseshoe Event Ctr where some of the bigger events are held, and the Horseshoe Ballrooms (up escalator to the right of the poker room) for daily deepstacks and satellites.

If you’re new to the WSOP, or it’s been a while, it’s good to know the rules

Registration: WSOP 2025 Registration | WSOP.com

2025 WSOP Tournament Rules: 2025-WSOP-Tournament-Rules.pdf

TDA (Tournament Director’s Association): TDA Poker Rules – Poker Tournament Directors AssociationPoker Tournament Directors Association

MTT Prep – WSOP tournaments can last 10-12 hours long:

Things to consider bringing with you: Reusable water bottle, healthy snacks, prepare for extreme heat and freezing (sometimes warm) ballrooms, cellphone charger, etc.

Come early to map out breakfast before the tournament starts and where to get in and out quickly during the 75-min dinner break.

With 90% males playing, the restroom lines will be long on the 20min breaks. Map out restrooms farther away which will have much shorter waiting times.

Make sure to get the proper sleep. I know it’s Vegas, but you need to stay sharp when you play. Know how your body responds to big meals, carbs, sugary drinks, caffeine and alcohol.

Strategic Adjustments for WSOP

Stop limping – if your hand is good enough to play, it’s good enough to open-raise with. Skilled players will attack limps. Learn to play less passive and prioritize aggressiveness. Anticipate more 3-betting, so learn your 3-bet defense ranges.

Learn optimal playable ranges. Use a tool like Floptimal.com to train yourself on opening ranges by each position and by stack sizes. Learn ranges for UTG/HJ/CO/Btn/SB/BB. Then, learn ranges for 100bb/50bb/25bb/15bb/10bb. This is one of the most important skills to prevent you from playing too many weak hands and making yourself vulnerable to good players.

Study how to play the various stages of a tournament. When we play 15-min blind levels the stages of a tournament blend together, but when playing 30-60-min blinds the strategic differences between Early/Accumulation/Bubble/Post-Bubble/Final Table become much more pronounced.

As you approach the Bubble and the Final Table, understanding ICM (Independent Chip Model) becomes critical to making it into the money and running deep. Study ICM concepts on YouTube or other training content before you play these big $$$ tournaments. Pay close attention on how ICM impacts your ranges and your play when you’re a large/medium/short stack.

Profile the players at your table and create exploits based on their weaknesses and tendencies. Stop treating poker like a fun card game. You can still be friendly, but it’s a strategic game which requires you to outplay your opponents.

Prioritize playing from position. It’s very difficult to play with skilled players when you’re out of position. Be especially careful playing with marginal hands (even top pairs) OOP in a multi-way pot. When you do have position, play your range aggressively and find opportunities to steal.

Pay close attention to board textures postflop. Does the board favor the preflop raiser (AK3) or the caller from the big blind (9s8d6s) – Even if you have an overpair, be careful if the board heavily favors the caller and they’re showing lots of aggression. Learn to play to dry/wet/connected boards and determine which preflop player has the nut advantage based on the board texture. Also, plan ahead on the flop how you’ll play a dynamic board which can change with flush and straights.

Practice mindset – minimize tilt and play your A-game more often. Find techniques to keep focus on the opponents’ tendencies and on the action and minimize distractions.

Have fun! Yes, many of the players will be more skilled, the buy-ins are higher, some of the fields will have more than 15,000 players, BUT you’re playing the WSOP baby! Learn from the best players at your table, notice how the game differs from our games back home and find ways to incorporate these new skills into your game, and chat with others from across the country and around the globe.

I’ve had several players ask for tips for playing in Vegas – the best tip is to play your game. But these are just a few things you can work on before you leave. Don’t try to overhaul your game just before you go. Make minor tweaks which you can practice many times in our local tournaments, so you feel comfortable using these strategies real-time in a game.

If you have questions, ask them in the comments below or on Discord so we can share our insights together.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on X (@dachiwaiian) and Discord.

Let me know if you find this content valuable and what topics you’d like me to explore further.

Check out more insightful blogs from Scott Lum:

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