Getting Ready for the UBOC 2
Posted: 2007-10-30 09:39:28
Ultimate Bet will be having their online championship in December and now is a good time to plan for this event. This event will have a variety of different games and will not only be no limit Hold'em.
This might be a good time to:
Brush up on your other games and when the time arrives you will not be as rusty as your opponents.
Read and try to gain knowledge about all you can about these different games you don't play as often, we all know knowledge is key. I suggest you learn from proven professionals not just poker players who like to write books.
Plan in advance the dates and events you want to play, Write in on your calendar alone with the starting times so you will not miss the event(s) you wish to play.
Play the satellites for these events. This is a much cheaper way of entering your tournaments you choose to play and also super practice. I believe you should earn your way into the bigger buy-in tourneys if money is an issue. Great thing about playing online is there will be many satellites and you can win these many times and get credited tourney dollars and use these tourney dollars for any tourney you desire on the site.
Get use to playing bigger fields. Even if you have to play at a smaller level of buy-in tourney than you are use to. These tourneys can last for many hours, if you are lucky, some players who are not use to playing for this length of time should consider playing a few other tourneys to get a better insight on what it truly takes to go from a larger field through the bubble period and what you might expect as your see your table get short handed and it gets close to the final table.
Play lots of sit and goes. As most of you well know, the majority of the money paid out is at the final table, and the big money is usually in the top 3 spots. It's very important you get a good feel about the range of hands you need to play short handed as opposed to a full 10 handed table. You can get this experience playing tons of sit and goes.
Don't be afraid to go for the big money win. Playing in the past 2 weeks on UB's $200,000 guarantee I got 11th , bubbling the final table and 91st, bubbling the money payout of $300 for 90th place. I could of played much more conservative and gone up the pay scale at the cost of having very little chance of giving myself the chance of winning the $45,000 for first place. I know in the long run I am much better off going for the top 3 spots where the big money is. I am often playing against other players who have satellited their way in and getting in the money is a good win for them. They will often play very careful and fold very playable hands to ensure they barely make the money with very few chips. I love these types of players, and will try and help them with their wish of making the money while I gather up all the chips possible they are willing to let go just to try and make it until everyone is in the money. You can spot these players from a mile away, they like to play slow and wait for others to get knocked out on other tables. They don't often realize that they are putting a target on themselves saying "Please steal my blinds" and "I don't care to gamble until I get into the money". Take advantage of these types of players and increase your stack.
Get mentally prepared. This will be a long fight and just like in boxing and you will probably have to take many hits along the way if you want to be a champion. It's how you overcome these hits and bad beats that will often make the big difference in the long run. Over many hours of playing many people get tired and will eventually start playing bad. Take advantage of this, be as rested as possible. For me I don't like to eat big before a long tourney, I like to eat light and not ever feel full while playing, that will make you tired and will usually cost you in the later stages of the tourney.
If you have questions PLEASE feel free to ask us online, Use the Ultimate Buddy feature on the main page of UB and find one of the online pros and we would love to help you better your game. We will also be doing Bluff Radio live as the events are playing, this is a super opportunity to call in and ask serious questions of Phil and Annie along with online team members.
Good Luck to all the UB'ers
Shawn Rice
