WSOP Goals

"OK, let's see if I've got this straight: A player who has never been to a WSOP festival before, coming for the entire six-plus weeks?
"Yeah, I've got some advice – you're crazy. Maybe a couple of weeks at the beginning, or a couple at the end. Maybe. I've been to the WSOP about 10 times, and I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to cope."
- Joe Beevers, Hendon Mob

"If you've never been before, then going for the whole thing is probably a mistake. You need to get used to this, otherwise you may be easily overwhelmed and burn yourself out trying to do too much, and end up costing yourself money. Even for many pros, for whom the WSOP is the make-it-or-break-it time of year, there's too much pressure. They either hit it big, or they lose a bundle. And there are always more losers than winners in poker."
- Greg Raymer

I got these quotes from espn.com's "Jackpot Jay" Lovinger, who writes a crappy column on Page 2. Reading them reminded me how intense this whole experience is going to be, and that I can't set unreasonable expectations for my first World Series. I've been thinking a lot about my goals for the Series.

One goal I have is to make a final table. Making a final table would really legitimize my name in the poker world and open a lot of doors (potential staking and sponsorship opportunities) for the future. Obviously if I make a televised final table these doors would open even wider (and then I could give a concrete answer to the question I get the most - "so when are you going to be on tv?")

I really don't have financial goals for this WSOP. If I lose 40k, so be it. I'm confident I can rebuild.

Instead my goal is to conduct myself as a professional. This means behaving profesionally at the table, and preparing myself to play my best when I'm not at the table. Analyzing each and every hand I play and trying to determine if I could have played it better is also a big part of this.

It's also a goal of mine to end the Series as a better player than I am today. I feel like my strategy is excellent but I am concerned about the "physical" aspects of the game, especially giving off tells. I'm also not great at picking up on the tells of other players and aim to improve on both of these aspects. I feel that if I can improve on the physical parts of the game I will be unstoppable.

My number one goal though is to have the best time of my life. I've been looking forward to playing at the World Series for years, and believe this is what I was born to do. Two days to go.