Empty Seats – A thought-provoking method of dealing with huge tournament fields

The time has come for the biggest event of the year, and with the explosion of poker over the past couple of years, 2005 has brought with it some enormous fields for the World Series of Poker. I am not going to try to predict any exact numbers for the upcoming events, but I will tell you that the Rio's "poker room" looks more like a poker stadium! When I first walked into this room, I was astonished by the endless sea of tables and chairs. What an amazing sight this was – and the thought of the place being packed with eager poker players was exciting. As I tried my best to get prepared for this year's WSOP events, the one factor that kept popping up to the top of my list was how to deal with a huge field. It seemed that this would be the key to success in the 2005 WSOP.

As I recall my past experiences in tournaments with fields of more than 800 players, there is a common theme to my memories. Basically, everything from the beginning of the tournament right up until there are about 40 players left is all a big blur. Normally, I would say that playing in a "blur" is not a good thing, but I think there must be something to be said for it. I can remember my success in these tournaments being determined in large part by my mind's ability to disregard the concept of time. What I mean is, I wasn't wearing a watch, constantly thinking of how many hours I had been sitting there and when the next break was coming. I let myself drift away and paid no attention to time at all.

I did lots of other things to "trick" my mind, as well. One thing that I believed was vital to my success was never wondering how many players were left. I always made it a point to keep my head down and concentrate on my table alone. I never stood up and looked around the room to see the hundreds and hundreds of other players. I tricked myself into thinking I was playing in a never-ending one-table tournament. Unlike every other tournament, I never counted my chips. I didn't try to figure out what the average stack size was at any time or try to find out how my stack compared to those in the rest of the field. I worried about my table only and how my stack compared to the other nine players' stacks at my table. If my stack got short compared to those at my table or compared to the blinds and antes, I got more aggressive. If I had accumulated enough chips to be in control at my table, I did just that. I made all of my adjustments with only my table as a guide. This really kept me focused and did just enough to warp my perception of time, enabling me to stay in a euphoric state of mind.

When you walk into a poker room filled with thousands of players, why worry and allow any negativity into your mind? Just sit down and start to study the others at your table. Try to do things in the tournament that you normally would not do. I don't advise changing how you play your cards, but I do recommend changing up a few things. For instance, when you go on a 15-minute break, leave the table without counting your stack. There are still 1,200 players left, so who cares if you have $2,000 or $2,800? When you see your buddies during the break, just say, "I'm still in!" Do everything you can to pay no attention to the usual factors that might otherwise seem important. Just let it flow! Somewhere along the line, you will feel this "flow," and before you know it, you will be sitting in a room full of empty chairs and tables.