WCOOP prep and study

This morning I had my first proper look at the upcoming WCOOP schedule which starts this Sunday 30th August (with Phase 1s already running). Currently, I estimate I will play my first events on the 2nd September which also happens to be my birthday. Happy Birthday me! The first weekend didn't grab me at all and I think I will skip it for a few reasons. Firstly, I still feel quite rusty - not shockingly so, just about as rusty as you might expect after not playing a single hand of poker for 1 month during the summer. Not only have I felt a little rusty, I also have not felt "in the zone" yet and have been struggling to stay as focused as usual with 10+ tables. Secondly, the intention is to play most of the series and to do so at my best - so skipping the start doesn't seem like the worst idea if it helps me feel fresher for the bulk of the series. In addition, the Main Event looks exceedingly good just like Mr. Kipling Almond slices, so if I am fresher for the final weekend then that must be a good thing right? It also appears that my ABI is going to increase gradually as the series continues due to the events I am likely to play, so once again staying fresher for the higher buy-ins seems reasonable to me.  Overall, I am probably maxing out at my B game currently, so I need to sort that out.

I was dealt a big dose of reality yesterday during a mammoth 2.5hr review session where I streamed an entire HH from a $33 PKO which I final tabled. Needless to say, I made some incredibly large pre flop mistakes especially with regards to calling off for bounties. I was shocked at how terrible I was in some of these spots. In a way, it felt good to identify an area for intensive study very quickly. During the FT there at least 5 spots where I was quite shaky with my ranges and to be fair to the chat they agreed the spots where tough too. Overall, I think a good few hours on PKO pre flop will do the world of good pre WCOOP. All that being said, yesterday was nice as I managed to chop the Big $82 for around $650 for a slight winning session.

Before the series kicks off I will aim to refresh myself with a checklist something like this:

100bb both srp and 3-Bet pots with specific focus on sizing strategies -high priority (partially because I played 10-20k cash hands pre holiday which has slightly thrown me off MTT ranges).

50bb both srp and 3-Bet pots - high priority

40bb both srp and 3-Bet pots- high priority
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30bb both srp and 3-Bet pots -medium priority

20bb srp -medium priority

Final table pre flop -high priority

PKO preflop - super high priority
 
Today I will take off to do some chores and go to the gym. I will attempt to review the hands I marked from yesterday which I didn't get round to last night.

As the quest to sharpen up continues, I will be grinding a full session tomorrow (streaming live on twitch starting at around 10am GMT+3). After the grind I will go into a no-delay study session. Now I've got some chores to do yay...