'We get burnt out' - Christina Gollins on the challenges of the WSOP

Christina 'Baby Shark' Gollins is a popular and outspoken player on the tournament circuit. She won the 2024 WSOP-C Commerce Casino $600 NLH event for $105,444. Gollins has two WSOP Circuit rings and more than $1,000,000 in career cashes.

Recently, PokerOrg welcomed Christina as a new member of our Player Advisory Board. We asked her thoughts on the upcoming World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer.

What events were your favorites at last year's WSOP? And which ones are you looking forward to this summer?

My favorite is the very first event, the $5K freeze-out. Historically, I have done well in that event.

Why do you think that is?

I know why: it's because it's the very first tournament. If I played the Bounty Event as the very first tournament, I'd go deep in that one. It's because I reset and take a break before the series begins.

They should put the f**king Main Event as the first event; then my ass would go deep.

The WSOP in Las Vegas is a one-of-a-kind experience, but has some unique challenges.

Is this because your fitness routine and diet are on point leading up to the start of the WSOP?

My diet stays consistent because I have to be skinny my entire life. My Asian mom will rip me a new one and tell me that I'm going to die of a heart attack at 40 if I get fat. So, my diet is pure all year. But I do meditate a lot more leading up to the events.

What else do you do to prepare for the grind?

I started diving into frequencies. I'm going to sound like such a f**king weirdo. But here goes. The more I learn about different things, the more I try to embrace them.

It’s all about the energy. I do think that there's something to all of that. I’m doing my best to harness positive energy at the table. But getting off track, getting tilted, and having a bad dealer change is so easy (that's actually a thing: a bad dealer change). And then you can get super sidetracked and lose all your chips.

Please explain. We’re intrigued.

When I have my headphones on at the table, I'm listening to a high vibration of 800Hz. I'm trying to focus on harnessing the positive energy the entire session. You would think that with that thumping in the background, it'd be really annoying, but it's actually just very relaxing.

What do you hope to see new on the schedule this year?

I'd like to see the One Drop event back. I'd also like to see more $5K events. The WSOP has the softest $5K events. I can do without the bounties events, to be honest.

Now that the WSOP is under GGpoker ownership, are you expecting things to be different or business as usual?

I’m expecting things to be better. I'm hoping they will run things slightly differently than the WSOP has in the past. I don’t want to play 10-handed. Hopefully, they will have chargers and maybe cup holders on their tables.

What's your biggest pet peeve about the WSOP in past years?

Sorry, but I have a lot of pet peeves. This could be its own five-hour rant [laughs]. The 10 players at the tables need to stop. The fact that they can never restart on time for day twos and threes is not good; it’s a struggle. And color-ups are a struggle.

What really sucks is those long hours are a huge strain on our bodies. That’s why I got a f**king slipped disc last year, two weeks into the series. My body f**king literally gave out on me.

Sometimes, you’re at the property for 14 hours. And if you go deep in a tournament and it's a three or four-day tournament, it’s hard to get enough sleep for your body to recover.

If you go deep in two tournaments side by side, your body cannot handle that kind of pressure. It's insane. It’s tough on the players. We get burnt out.

What do you think you did much better last year than most players?

You have to be able to prep your meals. If you don’t do that properly, you must buy a ridiculously expensive meal outside.

For the last three years, I hired somebody from Whole Foods to drop off food daily at Horseshoe for us.  I would order a high-protein smoothie with vegetables. And I also got a meal on the side.

I got that delivered every single day consistently at noon. The smoothie was my breakfast. Then, on the next break, I had my food. I could wait until dinner to have a healthy-ish meal, perhaps around the property. You have to be able to anticipate the long hours.

I would also recommend some stretching now and then. It gets your deep breathing going and those waves of endorphins happening.

Follow Christina on Instagram and X.

^{Featured image courtesy of Omar Sader}