Of course it’s important, but everything around it at the WSOP makes it a huge success or a huge disappointment. If you already gained some good results during the WSOP, you will automatically play better during the next event. But even if the WSOP is not going in the right direction, you’ll get your chances. Always remember to bring 7 suits for all the 7 days of the main event!

I always had a sort of schedule in my head that I wanted to work out. Playing aggressively in certain situations for example. If it works, then I’m cruising towards to my end goal without taking unnecessary risks. This schedule also kept me sharp during the WSOP.  But the road towards the main event wasn’t always that easy.

In the beginning of the World Series Of Poker I didn’t felt that well. In the Rio, were I slept the first 11 days, prevailed the legionella virus. I didn’t felt very comfortable staying there and after 11 days I went to The Palms where I felt more comfortable. In the first days I was very impressed by al the “new school” pokerplayers and I didn’t play at the top level.

When I arrived at the Palms I felt more comfortable and I started to play better and better. I was more relaxed, had more fun at the tables and slowly got deeper in the tournaments. I still wasn’t very excited about my game. In the mean time I tried to play some cashgames or satellites to improve my game step by step.

At that time I just wanted to have fun at the pokertables for a reasonable buy-in with players that had fun at the tables. I started to play a cashgame session with some guys who had so much fun at the table. They were singing and laughing, just what I needed. They asked me if I wanted to sing too and we were laughing and had so much fun that night. This is what I love about Poker. And it was exactly what I needed. After a few hours the Casino asked us if we could low or voices because we’re interrupting the other cashgame tables. Apparently the “having a good time” wasn’t appreciated by the crew.

This wouldn’t happen at Dusk Till Down where all the live events of partypoker take place. At Dusk Till Down they’re fair and correct but “having a good time” is their main focus. That’s the goal that every pokerplayer should try to accomplish in my opinion.

It was time for the greatest pokershow on earth.. the Main Event at the WSOP. At day 2 I almost busted when I lost some big pots and saw my chips disappearing right in front of me. I went from 82k to 9k real quick. It wouldn’t bust on day 2 already right? Luckily I won the next 4 hands and was back at 71k chips. At that time I was more focused then I’ve ever been! In the meantime I got some good news from back home. The music band from my son Gravity Circus had released 5 songs of their new album and with 3 of those songs they participated in the FTM top 100! It gave me huge confidence  and kept reminding myself that everything is possible as long as you believe in it. “Keep the faith” as Rob Yong would say.

In the days between I also went exploring the city with the partypoker team. We went to the Poker Hall Of Fame and ended in a bar downtown with some great live music. I didn’t make it too late because I needed to play at the top of my level again the next days. It was a great day and my batteries were fully loaded again to kick some ass the next days!

Most of you have read my updates on my social media channels and saw that my stack went from bigstack to shortstack and the other way around. The last day I was one of the shortstacks but accomplished to finish as 23th. I lost with A8 vs JJ preflop all-in unfortunately.

After all I was very satisfied with my game at the main event. The tactic I used in the main event seemed to work. The new generation pokerplayers are much more aggressive in general and are prepared to take huge risks in some spots. I think that I’ve shown that you can get deep in a tournament when you keep your patience and don’t take unnecessary risks.

This is my poker schedule for the rest of the year:

10th – 14th August @ Kings – German Poker Championships

4th – 14th September @ Sochi – Millions Russia

18th – 24th September TBC @ DTD – partypoker Million UK

–        Dates TBC but likely to be around then.

17th – 26th November @ Punta Cana – Caribbean Poker Party

1st – 15th December @ Prague – partypoker Million Prague

–        Dates TBC but likely to be around then.

I want to thank every single of you for the support I received the last couple of weeks! It really has been astonishing to see all the support from all over the world. It gave me real confidence and it shows that I’m on the right track! I think that John Hesp is a great example that having fun at the pokertable can be one of your strongest force!

As always I’ll try to keep you updated on my social media channels about everything that is interesting for you and partypoker.

Greetings,

Marcel