'Tis the season to be jolly

I've spoken to several folks who play for a living. The MTT grinders who are out there on the circuit with no real "hard" address. When interviewing these folks, the last question always comes down to , "so what's next".

It seems that between the last major events in January, most tend to take time off until the WSOP. This doesn't mean that they are playing exclusively in the WSOP. They tend to hit up some of the deepstack tourneys at the Venetian or other casinos in Vegas that offer a good structure and a good payout.

That's not to say that they aren't playing anything from Feb thru June. But their travel is cut to almost nothing. Other casinos are out there offering as much as they can, and the only one I know of that gets the life pro on a plane is the Borgata $500k gaurantee. That one comes up in a few weeks and always gets the best out there. Their super deepstack makes it tasty and just unavoidable for those who pay the bills with tourney cashes.

After interviewing the likes of Eric Lynch, and Allen Kessler I thought, and posed the question. Is there a season to poker? That is, a specific amount to time that is dedicated to just not playing anything. And is it the same for most of the pros. The recognizable ones that is.

That question is hard to answer, said Eric. It's a matter of personal preferrance. Since most travel in the same packs, it could be argued that it is the case. Is it a pointless question? Of course it is. For those who are spectators.

But for those out there trying to earn their way into poker stardom, I think it's a good strategy to employ when picking your tournaments and how to spend your bankroll. Let's say there is a defineable poker season. You know that certain events are going to be riddled with most of the guys and gals out there who are doing this for a living. You also know when most of them are going to be relaxing.

You should be able to look at certain events and see a better value based on not only the structure, but on how competitive the field will be. Anything that gives you more of an edge.
Tournament poker has become so much more prevelant over the last 6 years that more things need to be considered in order to increase your competitive advantage.

Tournament poker has also seen a huge change over the last few years as well. When it started to come into its peak, you could find a $10k event every week. The trend seems to be taking smaller buy-ins with much better structures. There are indications that not only is the change welcome, but a change that will continue.

10k events seem to be going the way of the dodo bird. They are increasingly seeing smaller fields, sans the WSOP main event, mainly due in part because of the expense. The touring player likes to see value, and paying 10k for each event just doesn't do it anymore with 500 + fields. Especially when they can play a super deep stack $3k event with a prize pool of 2 million. They understand those fields will be chock full of donkeys ready to place put tourney life on the line with a draw and 150 big blinds.

I guess the point is that there are many different things to consider in the current state of tournament poker. The best are doing such things.

Now because most of us homebound mothers and fathers and recluses are sitting in front of a computer most of the time button mashing three outers, and Aces into the likes of made hands, and under pairs. So I don't know that this will translate well or mean anything to most of the readership here in Riggs land. I just had nothing else to write about!