The poker calendar, thankfully for those of us who play the game for a living, is a packed one. We can argue all day about whether or not poker counts as a sport (my personal opinion is ‘no’, if only because the dictionary definition of a sport involves physical exertion), but there can be no denying that conventional professional sports tend to operate with a much more rigid structure.
Play begins at a certain time in the year, teams or players compete X, Y or Z number of times during the season, and the season ends when they’re done. After that, there’s an off-season, where the players get to rest and recuperate, and it all begins again a few months later. Each sport takes its place in the calendar, and we grow accustomed to specific events occurring at specific times.
Lately, it has occurred to me that poker players may benefit from deliberately inventing a ‘season’ for themselves. The natural ebb and flow of a poker player’s career involves periods of intense effort and periods of downtime, just like an athlete, and in order to manage the ups and downs effectively, it can be beneficial to plan one’s time as if we were competing athletically.
It stands to reason that the poker season should either begin or end with the WSOP in Las Vegas. Logically, it seems better to place it at the end, since players tend to spend all year preparing for it and looking forward to it – let’s take a look at what the poker ‘season’ looks like if we adopt such a structure.
August through October
For professionals, the first quarter of the year tends to include multiple live events. The WPT, EPT and SHRPO series all have events taking place, as well as other regional tours in the US such as the MSPT, HPT and AUPT. The Triton High Roller series events in Montenegro and Jeju and the Poker Masters at the Aria provide opportunities for the nosebleed players, while WCOOP in September is one of the biggest online events of the year.
Recreational players might find themselves spinning their wheels a little during this time – particularly those who made the trip to Vegas for the WSOP and came back with a new set of goals for the coming year. It can be hard to gain any significant momentum in improving your game when you’re still trying to make the most of your summer vacation.
As a consequence, this period tends to be more of a reflective one for many developing players. It’s fairly common for players to take time off during this period, since next year’s WSOP is still a long way off, and many of the goals they set at the beginning of the year will have taken on a new context.
November through January
This tends to be the quietest period of the year for poker in general, with both professionals and recreational players taking time away from the game to enjoy the holiday period. However, both sets of players will usually come back to the game with a new set of goals for the new year, and so January tends to provide a rapid shift in the landscape for many players.
With the PCA and Aussie Millions being two of the biggest live events on the calendar, players looking to start the year off with a bang might find themselves playing a lot of poker right off the bat. Having re-dedicated themselves to the game in advance of their next WSOP, many players will seek out coaching or join a new training site – in fact, as a coach I can attest that January is one of the busiest times for a coach to receive new applicants.
If you’re one of these players, recognize that any improvements to your game are going to take time to really be implemented – it’s not necessarily reasonable to expect your game to transform in the space of six or seven months, from December or January to June or July. In fact, you should be more focused on preparing for the specific types of events you plan to play, and if need be, on selling action for those events way in advance, rather than trying to overhaul your entire game plan.
February through April
At this stage, most professionals will already have their WSOP plans booked. The schedule is published, alongside most of the side event schedules, and Kenny ‘SpaceyFCB’ Hallaert has published his annual spreadsheet of Vegas events (thanks Kenny!). Recreational players will be planning their trips to Vegas, and looking to get in as much improvement as they can before they take their shot at glory.
If you’re in the latter category, do your homework – plan where you’re going to stay, which events you’ll play, and how you’ll prepare. You should know the bulk of your poker schedule for the summer at least by the end of April – this will give you a month or more to make specific preparations.
This tends to be one of the most intense periods for players to work on their game. Taking time off ahead of the WSOP can be important, however, so I would encourage players not to get so caught up trying to spend every minute improving that they burn out before Vegas. There are plenty of good live events to play at this time, but the pros who live out of a suitcase and can’t wait for their travels to be over are the ones who find the Vegas grind the toughest.
May through July
This is where it all comes to a head. SCOOP in May, and the WSOP right afterwards in June and July. With so much poker to be played, both pros and recs alike can find themselves almost drowning in poker decisions – where to stay, where to play, how many bullets to fire, what strategy to adopt, etc. The key to mastering the summer schedule is to understand your limits and capabilities, and to build an easily-repeatable routine for yourself. A solid routine is the foundation of a successful summer – no matter whether you’re travelling to play SCOOP, staying at home to grind, or making your way out to Vegas, if you simply expect to be able to show up and play your best with minimal preparation, you’ll be disappointed.
Clearly, the WSOP is the culmination of the poker season – it’s where we all find out if that hard work we put in during the year was really as effective as it seemed. While it’s important not to be results-oriented, it’s also hard to recover from such an intense period of grinding no matter how good or bad your results were – as a consequence, once mid-July hits and the schedule winds down, it’s important to take time to evaluate.
As a pro, this will be one of your few periods of downtime during the year. You won’t get a more peaceful period as a pro than the two weeks at the end of July. As a recreational player, go ahead and enjoy your summer plans, and remember that poker will still be there when you come back. No matter the role poker plays in your life, navigating the poker season effectively comes down to a matter of work-life balance, and of understanding the natural shifts in our motivation and mindset throughout the year.
Poker will probably never have a ‘season’ in the way professional sports do. It runs all year round, and I’m sure we all hope that aspect doesn’t go away any time soon. But as individuals trying to succeed in a competitive realm, applying some kind of structure to our experience of poker throughout the year can help with everything, from goal setting to mental game planning and beyond. Even if your calendar differs from the one here and doesn’t revolve around the WSOP, I encourage you to harness the power of defining your poker season and training for it accordingly.
