Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (Part 1 of 6)
Taking care of business in the world outside the WSOP … still undecided about whether to play in the WSOP turbo bounty

My alarm goes off at 8:30 a.m.

First thing I do is call my real estate broker who has updates he needs to discuss about the possible sale of not one but two of my office buildings. Once done with that discussion, I check my text messages. One tenant has an ant problem. Another tenant has a water heater problem in their suite. I call my building engineer, inform him of the issues and ask him take care of them. Then I text the tenants to advise them that the problems will be dealt with.

Then I contemplate whether I want to play in today’s WSOP turbo bounty event.

The case against playing: I am very tired. I don’t like turbo tournaments. I don’t like bounty tournaments.

The case for playing: Today is my last day to be able to play.

If I want to be a real tough guy, I can say, “I’ll sleep when I die.” I’m not feeling like a tough guy right now. If I had failed to cash in a 2025 WSOP event I would probably chase for a result in this tournament, but because I have already cashed this year -- have I mentioned that I cashed? I just want to make sure that you remember that I cashed -- I decide to go back to sleep, see what time I wake up and I’ll decide at that time whether I’ll play the turbo bounty.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (Part 2 of 6)
I make the decision that my WSOP is done … hitting the poker wall

When I wake up, it is 12:00 noon. Decision made. Late registering by 2+ hours for a turbo seems just plain stupid. My WSOP is done.

I check my phone for text messages and see that LVL’s Big Whale reached out at 9:30 am: “Hello. This is Big Whale. Assume you are playing the tournament soon?”

I text back: “Hi, I ended up being too tired to play. If you want to meet up, my day is open. Let me know what your schedule looks like.”

I check out Pokernews and I see that Ramaswamy Pyloore is the chip leader heading into the final table of the Colossus (he finished in second place). The name does not mean anything to me, but the picture is very familiar. We shared a table for a brief period of time during this WSOP. I don’t recall which event it was, but it was not a starting table. One of us got moved to the other’s table. I think it was my second table on Day 2 of the Colossus, but I’m not 100% certain. I don’t think Pyloore factored in to my trip report. All I remember about him is at the time I thought he had a stern poker face when he was in a hand.

About this time, I have an epiphany about the fact that my WSOP is over without me playing in the turbo bounty currently being played. Actually, I have two epiphanies.

The first is that this is very similar to almost the exact same stage as my WSOP 2024 one year ago. The day after I got knocked out of my last WSOP bracelet tourney in 2024 I played in a Daily Deepstack in the Normandy Room. I almost instantly regretted being in that event. Part of the reason is that the Normandy Room was blazing hot all day. But in hindsight I think a big reason I felt like I wanted out is I had hit the poker wall. Given that I feel the exact same thing at the same stage this year, I think it means that 12 days of poker is my outer limit of what I can handle. The good news is that this summer I recognized the symptoms before I signed up for a tournament I probably would have crashed and burned in. Unless this was meant to be the tournament I would run hotter than the sun and win the whole darn thing, in which case it was a terrible decision. No way to know for sure, but I strongly suspect I made the right decision.

The second epiphany is that I have stopped playing poker at the perfect moment for a different reason. The last hand I played in 2025 WSOP was my bust-out hand in the $800 NLH 8-handed tournament. That was when I opened with 10-10, got jammed on by a big stack, read the situation and deduced that my opponent was making a move and didn’t have me dominated. It turned out he had A-2. I called for my tournament life with something far short of the nuts and was right. Plus, I did so with tens, which is the hand that has historically baffled me. This is progress. There was no Hollywood ending as I my significant lead in the hand evaporated on an unfriendly flop. But I’m choosing not to be results oriented. Yeah, I got knocked out, but I made a great call. Or at least a call I think was great. I think that qualifies as ending my WSOP on a high note.

Only after reading this thread did I realize you have never visited Downtown before. If I had known that, I would have suggested for you to head down and meet me there 😀

But maybe next year. I am definitely tempted to go again next summer, unless any drastic life changes happens in the meantime.

My expectation is I will be WSOP bound in 2026. If our dates align you are hired to be my Fremont Street guide.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (Part 3 of 6)
It doesn’t have to be a lost day … Bacchanal Buffet

I knock around my hotel room for a while without any real idea how to spend my day. I do shower, but that is my only accomplishment so far today. Around 3:00 I get an idea. The only thing I have eaten today is a yogurt. Rather than waste my entire final day in Las Vegas doing nothing, I will see about going to a Vegas buffet. May as well shoot for the top. I go online and find out that Bacchanal Buffet is not booked up for another hour-and-a-half or so. I head downstairs, order a cab and next thing you know I am at Caesars Palace. I walk up to the Bacchanal, announce I have no reservation, and they say come on in.

There is no line, and I am quickly brought to a table for one. I drop my hoodie on a chair, and I then take a walk around, eyeballing every serving station to get the lay of the land. I then march over to where I always assumed I would start out at … the seafood.

I load my plate high with crab legs, crab claws, lobster claws and shrimp. Naturally, melted butter as well.

The waitress stops by and asks for my drink order. I ask if they have Dr Pepper. If you’ve been reading this year’s trip report, you won’t be surprised to learn that the answer is no. She says they have Pepsi products. I slum it and order a Pepsi.

The crab legs are tasty, although they are difficult to crack open. It is a lot of work for not a ton of meat in each unit. The crab claws are good, as is the shrimp. The lobster claws are tasteless.

I plow my way through the food quickly. No need to rest. I am ready for plate #2. I get more crab legs with butter, a seared scallop and prime rib with horseradish sauce.

Insert picture 8731

The seared scallop is outstanding. The best thing I will eat. The prime rib is solid.

At this time, I hear a heavyset man with an East Coast accent a couple of tables over complaining to the waitress that they only have Pepsi product soft drinks. He says, “Nobody likes Pepsi.” I don’t disagree, but the guy needs to turn down the outrage by about 100%. Later Mr. Demanding will complain that he doesn’t have a straw only to have the waitress point to a spot on the table where she previously placed one. He does not apologize.

While this is going on, I have made fast work of plate #2.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (Part 4 of 6)
Bacchanal Buffet Continued … Las Vegas claims another victim … I make an unwanted friend

Now I rest for a bit. Gotta pace myself. Which is something the short Asian man at the table next to me has not done. He is in a heap. Moaning. His wife and a third wheel look on in concern. There are a whole bunch of empty plates and an empty bottle of Macallan on the table. The man in the heap has laid down and taken his shoes off. He has overindulged, although it’s not clear to me if he has overindulged in food or drink. Probably both.

A couple of Bacchanal staff members scurry over to check on Asian Man in a Heap. I view this as a good time to check out the desserts. I fill up a plate with more desserts than I can possibly finish. The plan is to have a taste of everything. I am hopeful the Bacchanal staff members prod Asian Man in a Heap to put his shoes back on by the time I return to my table.

As is the case with pretty much everything on my first two food runs, everything is solid but nothing is memorable.

As I am working my way through the dessert taste test, Mr. Demanding decides to chat me up now that the table between ours has been vacated by Asian Man in a Heap and the rest of his party.

Mr. Demanding tells me that he has the Bacchanal chef heating up the chilled lobster claws for him. I can tell that Mr. Demanding feels like The Big Man because this is being done for him. I respond that when I ate the chilled lobster claws earlier, it was extremely bland so maybe heating it up will help. It becomes apparent that each of us shares the opinion that this buffet works because of its volume, but nothing is oh my God great.

The fact that I share his opinion is very exciting to Mr. Demanding. He now decides that I am his new best friend. For no apparent reason he tells me what his grandfather and father used to do for a living. He then tells me he has lived in Las Vegas for almost 20 years. He complains there are no deals in Las Vegas like in the old days. Finally, he stops talking about himself and asks where I am from. When I say Chicago, he informs me that he had a lengthy work trip there sometime in the past year, and he thinks the food there is overrated. This leads to a long description of everywhere he ate in Chicago that failed to please him. I tell him about my favorite seafood restaurant and suggest he try it the next time work takes him there.

The chef brings Mr. Demanding the steamed lobster claws. Mr. Demanding is so happy that he has received VIP service. He goes on and on and on about I don’t even remember what. I’d like to escape, but I am too stuffed. When enough time passes, I am ready to get up and head out. I tell Mr. Demanding that I hope he has a good night and I leave.

Tuesday, June 10 (Part 5 of 6)
Bacchanal photo dump

I have a vague recollection of another thread in LVL where someone asked for lots of Bacchanal photos, so here you go. What follows are all the pictures I didn’t use in my prior posts on the Bacchanal buffet:

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (Part 6 of 6)
Walking off the buffet enroute to the ParisShoe … Martin Kabrhel is still yammering away … Nick Schulman with a fantastic line directed at Ben Yu … I cash out at the WSOP cage … a simple request turns out to not be so simple

As I get to the Caesars Palace entrance, I decide against a cab back to my hotel (the Signature) for two reasons. First of all, I have to walk off this feeling of having eaten a bit too much. Second, I need to go to the Paris to cash out the money that is in my WSOP+ account. Since I cashed a tournament, made a Day 2, lasted longer in some instances that the re-entry deadline, and lastly was too tired to play today, I have a lot of money left in my account that would have been emptied out if I had to fire every bullet without cashing anything. Since I am coming from Caesars, I enter through the Horseshoe escalator rather than my usual Paris Hotel entryway. Before I go to the Paris to cash out, I poke my head in to the Events Center in the Horseshoe.

Before I even get into the Events Center, I can hear Martin Kabrhel yammering away nonstop. I walk up to his table and it is a never-ending assault on the ears. Alex Foxen is playing at the same table. I contemplate the look of sheer terror that would be on the face of the skinny Kabrhel were he to say the wrong thing to Foxen, a powerful looking former college football player. I have seen (and heard) the Kabrhel show the night before. I didn’t find it enjoyable the first time, so no need to subject myself to it again.

Instead, I walk over to the star-studded final table of the $10K 2-7 Lowball Draw tournament, which includes Daniel Negreanu, Nick Schulman, Ben Yu, Chad Eveslage, Dan Smith, etc. (plus Oscar Johansson who I believe is friends with someone who does trip reports in LVL). At one point, Ben Yu stands up and starts removing his pants so he can get down to a pair of shorts. Schulman says, “Ben, I must say I was thrown for a moment until I realized the layering situation.”

And with that, I have a story, so I decide to head over to the Paris to cash out. When I get there, I ask the person standing guard over the first room where you go to deposit your money (and where you used to go to register for a tournament before kiosks and now the WSOP+ app made this unnecessary). I say I want to cash out, and I am directed to the payout room one door down. I get there and am directed to skip the initial payout line and go straight to the line for the cages. There is no line and I tell the person in charge what I am there for, and she directs me to a specific cage number. I go there, and that person directs me to go to a second cage number. I go there and that person directs me to a third cage number. I go there and that person directs me to go back to the cage number I just came from. I explain that I just came from that cage number, and they directed me to this cage number. I feel like the ball in a pinball machine. The person behind the cage looks perplexed, but he finally says he can help me.

I tell him I am here to do two things. I would like to get a printout of all of my buy-ins and my one payout for tax purposes (so I don’t have to pay taxes on my one cash), and I want to cash out. The guy in the cage says he will cash me out first. I am certain the answer will be no, but I ask anyway if I can get a check. He tells me the answer is no, it’s cash only. I find this odd. Why do they want to make people walk around with so much cash, which seems unsafe? I don’t ask him this, but I don’t see what the big deal would be to cut a check. But if the answer is no, the answer is no. The guy counts the cash out amount in front of me. Then he goes somewhere to run it through a cash counter. Then he comes back, and he counts the money out in front of me again. I ask him if I can have an envelope to put it in. He goes somewhere, comes back, and he says, “Here you go, an official WSOP cash out envelope,” and he hands me a completely blank envelope. And the cage has a sense of humor.

Next, I ask for a printout of all my WSOP entry fees. He seems a bit confused by this. He fiddles around on his screen. Apparently, their system has so many columns that if they print my information it will have to be reduced in size so much to include them all that it won’t be readable. He can’t figure out what to do. He eventually calls his supervisor over for help. They struggle to find a solution. Eventually they figure it out. They print it out for me and … there is nothing on it that is official looking. Nothing that has a WSOP logo on it. It looks like something I would type up. I ask about this, saying it is for me to give to my accountant so I don’t have to pay taxes on my cash. They can’t resolve this. I am thinking, doesn’t everyone ask for this when their series is over? I don’t say that, of course. Unable to come up with the answer to this conundrum, they send me to the player services desk. Yeah, they think, that’s the solution, send him to someone else. They seem pleased with their ingenuity. But I am a well-behaved poker player, so I go where they tell me to go. At first when I describe to player services what I am trying to accomplish, the man who is helping me says he’s not sure he'll be able to accomplish what I want (I start get that ball in the pinball machine feeling once again), but pretty quickly he finds a solution. Problem solved. I have completed my final poker act of WSOP 2025.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Heading home

Time to head home. Poker summer camp is over for me. I wake up, deal with a work issue, shower, shave, etc.

Time to pack. And by pack, I mean I take the two piles of worn clothes that have accumulated and dump it all in the suitcase. Packing just took less than a minute.

Time to check out. Fill the car with gas. Drive to the rental car return. Take a tram to where I check my suitcase. Take another tram to where my gate is located. Check in to the United Club.

Time to eat. I don’t much care for the heavy-duty food choices at the United Club. Plus, it pops in to my head that it remains to be seen just how much of the weight I lost pre-WSOP that I have gained back from all of the bad eating I have done at the WSOP. Back to being disciplined. I opt for a salad and some hummus. They don’t have Dr Pepper, so I just drink ice water.

I head to my gate. Leaving Las Vegas.

Time to finish the rough drafts for my trip report. I am close to current, but I still have some writing to do. I end up writing the entire flight home.

Time to edit my trip report rough drafts? Not in Las Vegas and not on my flight to Chicago. Editing will have to be done once I am back home. My rough drafts of my 2024 WSOP were just a shade over 60,000 words. It looks like I will be just over 73,000 words this year. That’s almost the length of a fiction novel. Editing is going to take some time.

Thursday, June 12, 2025 (Part 1 of 3)
Magical elves were busy overnight

I returned home somewhat late at night. I leave my suitcase by the garage door. Too tired to deal with it tonight. When I wake up in the morning, I go downstairs to the suitcase. It is empty. Even better, all of the clothes have been washed and folded or put on hangars.

It’s like magic.

Thursday, June 12, 2025 (Part 2 of 3)
The conclusion of Operation Weight Loss

As you will recall, I started Operation Weight Loss because my weight was nearing my 200.0 pounds number that I consider the line in the sand of unacceptable. My weight was 195.4 pounds. With the WSOP nearing, I knew I would be eating very badly in Las Vegas. I decided I needed to lose some weight so that I would have a cushion in order that I could eat guilt free at the WSOP.

I gave myself 12 days to lose 5.4 pounds before I left for Las Vegas. The target was 190.0 pounds. When weigh-in day arrived, I was shocked to see that I had lost 12.1 pounds as the scale read 183.3 pounds.

That obviously gave me the green light to eat whatever I wanted during the almost two weeks I spent at the WSOP. Today I will weigh myself to see how much of the lost weight I put pack on.

Mrs. rppoker says that from looking at me, she thinks I have not put that much weight back on. I know how I ate in Las Vegas and I am skeptical.

I get on the scale, and it reads …

… 186.8 pounds.

I am very pleasantly surprised. Mrs. rppoker knows of what she speaks. I only gained 3.5 pounds while in Las Vegas. This can’t be right. I step off the scale, it resets to 0.0, and I get back on. Sure enough, the scale sticks to its guns. It still reads 186.8 pounds.

I take the win.

Thursday, June 12, 2025 (Part 3 of 3)
It’s about time!

Astro is very happy that I am home.

I may be done playing in the 2025 WSOP, but I'm not done writing about it. Starting tomorrow ... final thoughts. Lots and lots and lots of final thoughts.

Final Thoughts: Part 1 of 17
More

I started my 2025 WSOP trip report by saying my goal this time around was “more.” I didn’t specify exactly what “more” would be, but the bar was my 2024 WSOP when I min cashed with scraps when the money bubble burst. More then would seemingly require either two cashes or one cash with a more impressive run than in 2024 when I folded for a bit after the money bubble burst and then in the first hand I played I busted out of the tournament.

This year I once again cashed once, but it was a far more significant run. Unlike 2024 when I cashed but did not bag, this year I cashed and bagged. That qualifies as more.

Unlike in 2024 when I busted out fairly quickly after the bubble burst, this time around I had more playability and I also lasted much longer. I entered Day 2 with a little over 8 BBs. That’s not a ton of chips, but it’s not sheer and total desperation either. Unlike in 2024 when I did not ladder up at all, in 2025 I made a handful of pay jumps. While the cash payout from those pay jumps is extremely minor, it still qualifies as more.

Unlike in 2024 when I lasted maybe 15 minutes after the bubble burst, in 2025 I lasted for I believe in the ball park of four additional levels. That qualifies as more.

There are also other examples of “more” that I can point to. While I don’t take anywhere near enough GTO approved spots, I definitely took more of them than I did in 2024. My studying helped, but it still has a long way to go. Still, this qualifies as more.

And finally, perhaps the biggest example of more was the social component of my WSOP. In both 2019 and 2024 I did not know a single soul at the WSOP, which made for very isolated experiences. In 2025 I made it a point to meet up with a number of 2+2 LVL members at the WSOP. That was “a lot more.” But more on that a bit later.

Final Thoughts: Part 2 of 17
I am a one-hit wonder no more

In 2024 I cashed for the first time at the WSOP. If I never cashed again, I would still feel somewhat satisfied given the extremely low volume of poker I play. I would have been a one-hit wonder. And proud of it.

The concept of a one-hit wonder is most significant in the music industry. Some examples include Macarena by Los Del Rio, Come on Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred, Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men, and the list goes on forever.

If I were meant to be a one-hit wonder, I would have been OK with it, because it still means I accomplished something.

But now I’ve cashed at the WSOP a second time. And while a second time is not validation of greatness, it’s more than one. As the musical group Three Dog Night sing in the song One: “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Cue the music.

My first cash now has company. A companion. A running mate. A sidekick. A brother in arms. Batman now has Robin.

And finally, not only have I cashed twice, but I have done so in consecutive years. It’s not like there was a decade between cashes. Back to back, baby. It’s not Mark Newhouse making Main Event Final Tables in back-to-back years, but it’s still a trend. A tiny, short trend, but it’s still a trend. And I don’t think it’s an entirely insignificant trend when you consider how few events I have played in the last two WSOPs along with the fact that I have almost no volume of tournament play the rest of the year. I think I have played in seven bracelet events the past two WSOPs, and I’ve cashed in two of them. That seems ahead of expectation even for players far more experienced than me.

I am sure my accomplishment is nothing more than a novelty to pros who play the circuit. They probably want to pat me on the head, say “Good boy,” and give me a treat. I get it. But when you consider what I originally set out to do against all reasonable odds, I think what I have accomplished is extremely unexpected. In all honesty, when I started out, I thought the chance was very real that I would never cash at the WSOP. Making the top 15% is really, really difficult.

I only played in three WSOP bracelet events this summer, and I made the top 6% in one of them. Of course, that still isn’t a very big cash. I don’t care. Two WSOP cashes in my short poker career? I’ll take it. It’s more than I ever dreamed of. If I get run over by a bus tomorrow, I sincerely hope my obituary includes the sentence, “A fan of tournament poker, he cashed on two occasions in World Series of Poker events.”

Unless of course I manage to add to that number in future years if I manage to avoid runaway buses. That would be even better. Will I get stuck on two, or is it two and counting? You’ll just have to check back a year from now to find out.

Thank you once again for a thoroughly enjoyable, vicariously thrilling, LV trip report. Your stories have encouraged me to maybe enter an open event next year as I'll have time between my sixth Seniors and my debut Super Seniors. If the schedule order is similar, the Millionaire Maker would fit nicely, but the Battle of the Ages might be an apt alternative, since if I don't survive Day 1, it's just another Seniors with faster levels.

P.S. - I'm also a two-hit wonder with one underpaid deep run who aspires to write anywhere near as well as you do.

Final Thoughts: Part 3 of 17
Poker friends

Normally, I am something of an introvert. I am not the life of the party. While I am well-versed in a wide variety of subjects and am extremely capable of carrying on a conversation, for the most part I like to keep my inner circle of people small. I am not quick to talk to someone new. I hate small talk with someone whose interests don’t align with mine. Mrs. rppoker is the way, way, way more social person of the two of us. Put us on an airplane and she is 100% certain to get involved in a conversation with the stranger seated next to her. Me? I open up my book immediately and read the entire flight with zero conversation with the neighboring stranger.

Outside of family, my world tends to break down into really good friends who share common interests and everyone else. I don’t tend to be big on casual acquaintances.

But for this WSOP I decided to step outside my usual comfort zone. You see, in my 2019 and 2024 WSOP I did not know a single soul. Even for an introvert this was way too isolated. I decided to see if I could do something about it in 2025.

I posted a thread on 2+2 in the LVL section for people to indicate when they would be at the WSOP with the goal of possible meetups. Then I reached out to people with the same schedule as me to see if they wanted to get together.

Oriole-Lion took me up on the offer. We met one night at Beer Park for drinks (both of us) and food (for him). We met another night at the casino bar of a hotel he was on a cash game wait list and had a drink (him) and something to eat (me). We had so much in common away from the game that it didn’t matter that I am a tournament player while he is primarily a cash game guy. We agreed that next year we will try to check each other’s possible WSOP schedule to see if we can make our trips overlap in 2026.

DogFace and I met up for 30 minutes one night when I was done playing and he had a half hour of free time before he was going to jump into a WSOP satellite. We met just outside the tournament area for his event and had a really nice poker conversation.

I was able to meet GoIrish for about 20 minutes before the start of one of my tournaments and had a nice conversation. His tournament event started later than mine did that day. We were going to try to meet up for dinner that night if we were both knocked out of our tournaments. We probably would have, except he fell asleep by accident later that night (the combination of arriving late the night before and then a tournament to play caused him to understandably crash). I suspect we will make it work in a future WSOP.

TonySoprano9 and I played in the same tournament at the very end of my WSOP and the very beginning of his WSOP. We met up on two tournament breaks and, after we both got knocked out, we had an extremely enjoyable dinner at Mon Ami Gabi.

I almost connected with Big Whale, but this was my turn to fall asleep unintentionally. A half hour before I was supposed to play in my last tourney, Big Whale texted me to ask if I was still going to be playing in the 10 a.m. start. Unfortunately, I had woken up an hour earlier and determined I was too tired to play and fell back asleep until 12 noon. By the time I woke up and saw Big Whale’s text, he was deeply immersed in his own poker journey while fighting jet lag and we weren’t able to connect. I feel confident we will do so someday.

The point of all of this is to say that you can meet people from LVL with just a little effort. Thanks to modern technology it is somewhat easy if you PM each other, exchange phone numbers and then text each other to keep one another apprised of your respective poker schedules and try to meet up. Yes, it doesn’t always work if one person goes deep in a tournament or the other person is in a juicy cash game. But it is worth the effort.

Whether it is the ability to get someone else’s opinion as to how you played a poker hand or situation (TonySoprano9 was spot on in sensing my need to expand hands I should be defending with from the big blind), or simply an opportunity to meet someone with a like-minded love of poker, it is worth doing. At least it was for me.

Sure, being social made it a little more difficult to get my rough drafts done each night for my trip report, or made it so I had to wake up a little earlier than I would otherwise do so we could meet before the start of a tournament, but I am glad I did it.

Agreed, except not limited to LVL.

I've met people through the forums at poker, or just when I'm passing by their area (or they, mine). Exchange PMs, if scheduling allows, meet up. It's been a great experience for me.

Well, so far. Whoever's next, don't mess up my streak! 😀

Final Thoughts: Part 4 of 17
Analysis of my bust-out hands

If anyone disagrees with any of my analysis, I am all ears. If you see any trends that are concerning, let me hear it. No need to hold back.

……

Event #10, $600 No-Limit Hold’Em Deep Stack (June 1, 2025)

Bullet 1
Someone limps, I have 2-4 suited in the small blind and call, and the BB calls. Harmless enough start. The flop comes 3-3-6. It goes check, check, check. There is a 2 on the turn that eliminates any flush draw. The 2 hits my hand, but really only nudges it, and It goes check, check, check. Still harmless. The river is a 2. I now have a full house. No one has shown any aggression in this hand, so I have to start building the pot. To my surprise, the big blind now raises.

And this is where I get stupid. Calling would not be unreasonable. I have a full house. It’s hard to do well in a tournament if I fold to the first sign of aggression when I have a boat. But I don’t take my time. All I am seeing is that I have a full house. I raise. He goes all-in. I call. He turns over 3-5 for flopped trips and a better rivered full house. I am out.

Analysis: I played this terribly. Yes, it was really bad luck that the run out gave me an inferior full house that lost to a better full house in blind versus blind carnage. But I overplayed my hand. Villain was in the BB and absolutely could have a 3. There was not a need to be this recklessly overaggressive.

Bullet 2
The player to my immediate right bets 4,200. I have A-Q offsuit. I go all-in. I get called by the original bettor. He has J-J. A coin flip. I am historically not great at coin flips. If I win, I will be just a shade over average stack in the tournament according to the tournament monitor. I do not improve, and I lose the flip.

Analysis: The cards played themselves. You have to win coin flips.

……….

WSOP Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE

My stack got decimated just a bit earlier when my K-K ran into A-A.

With only 6+ big blinds, I need to find a decent hand and go with it. Preferably quickly. My first hand at my new table is good enough. I look down at As-10s. I am first to act in middle position and I go all-in. I get called by 10-10. I am out. There are 347 players remaining out of 1,222, so the money bubble was still a long way away.

Analysis: I think this is perfectly reasonable. I am really low on chips. I am first into the pot with holdings that while not super premium are more than good enough to go with. We weren’t that close to the money so it was important to push hard for chips.

……

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) Bullet 1

I have 4.5 BBs. It folds to me in the small blind, and I look down at 7d-8s. It’s not much, but at least it is connected. I go all-in with pretty much zero fold equity. The big blind is second in chips at the table, and he calls my pittance of a bet with 5c-10c. At least my cards are live. I don’t improve, which isn’t a bad thing since I can now re-enter and shoot up to 50,000 chips.

Analysis: Not a great pair of cards, but there is some connectivity. I am mega low on chips. I need to get them in. It folds to me in the SB, so a case can be made that going all-in light is reasonable. When I get called, I have two live cards against the BB’s almost equally awful holdings. Plus, I can re-enter still. I have no problem with this hand as played.

……….

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) Bullet 2
End of Level 11: 64,500 chips.

Level 12
1,500/3,000/3,000

The Weakest Player at the Table goes all-in for 47,500 chips. It strikes me as an unnecessarily large all-in bet in relation to the blinds, so I put him on less than a premium hand. I surmise that he wouldn’t bet this big with aces since he’d want action. I have A-Q. I suppose he might bet A-K this way, but I don’t think so. If he has it, he has it. But I don’t think he has it. I think I am well ahead of his holdings. I go all-in for 64,500 chips. It turns out that The Weakest Player at the Table has A-9. I was right. I am ahead. Just one problem. The player two to my left wakes up with Q-Q, and he goes all-in. It’s a pot in excess of 175,000 chips. I am behind but I still have outs. Unfortunately, The Weakest Player at the Table has one of the aces I need. I don’t improve, and I’m out of the tournament.

Analysis: I think I made an excellent read that I was ahead of the range of the original all-in bet. My call was correct and I would have won a bunch of chips except for the fact that a player still to act woke up with a huge hand. I am fine with how I played this hand.

……..

Venetian $800 No Limit Hold’em Ultimate Stack Tournament

I am down to about 10 big blinds, and the blinds are about to hit me again. I really need to find a hand to go with. From UTG+1, I look down at As-4s. A weak ace is near bottom of range I will be willing to go with. The fact that it is suited makes it barely good enough. All-in. Villain turns over Ac-Ah.

Analysis: I think this is bottom of range to go all-in with. Given that I was UTG+1 with 10BBs, a case might be made for folding. But I felt I needed to be willing to die in order that I might live. We weren’t close to the money. I need to either steal chips or try to get a double up. I chose to go with it. Even if I were up against K-K I’d still have had a live A. It was unfortunate to run into A-A. I am OK with this play, but it was close.

…….

The Colossus, Day 2 (June 8, 2022)
Level 21
10,000/25,000/25,000

I’m in the money. The pay jumps are really, really flat and will remain that way for quite some time. I have just under 8 BBs. I am UTG+2 and get dealt K-Q. I go all-in. It’s not a hand you play huge early in a tournament, but the blinds are killing me deep into the tournament. I’m hoping to steal the blinds. Unfortunately, villain has K-K. I am poker roadkill.

Analysis: I have no problem with how I played this. This is as good a hand as I can hope to get before the blinds decimate me even more. I still have some fold equity. I am first into the pot with K-Q, although I think I might need to call it off if someone had bet before me. If villain has J-J, 10-10, 9-9 I am happy to have a coin flip that can potentially double me up and give me some room to breathe. It is just unlucky to run into a monster.

…….

WSOP $800 NLH 8-handed (June 6, 2025)
Level 13
1,500/3,000/3,000

I am dealt 10-10 in the small blind. It folds to me. I raise to 9,000. Villain, who may now be table chip leader, puts me all-in. I’m not a believer, but I take my time. His raise is way too big. If he has aces, he raises smaller so I don’t fold. The size of the bet is designed to make me go away. He has seen people jam on my opening bets frequently and I have been backing down with hands like K-J off suit. I am convinced villain is doing this with the expectation that I will back down. While it is possible that we may be flipping, I am convinced that he does not raise so massive if he truly has the goods. I think he is weak not strong. I call. He turns over A-2 off suit. He hits his A on the flop.

Analysis: I made a difficult but correct call, recognizing the table dynamic and what villain was trying to do. I have made a proper call without having anything close to the nuts. I think I played this really well. The decision was correct. The flop was unkind.

Most of those seem pretty standard. I'll reply to the ones that seem borderline or notable.

When I read this HH, I almost puked. You hit it on the head in your assessment, but I think your takeaway is incomplete.

You effectively made a bluff catcher. I wouldn't even think of it as "I have a full house". You don't "have to start building the pot". Without knowing much about table dynamics and (I think) it was relatively early in the tourney, IMO all you can do is check/call a smallish bet and be happy if you snap someone off. Even a decent sized bet you'd probably rather fold and just move on. This is a classic "win a small pot or lose a massive one". Zero chance if the pot gets to any decent size you're good short of playing against an absolute spew tard.

Guilty as charged. I did not try to defend my play when I originally posted the HH, and I won't try to defend it now. It was complete and utter poker brain meltdown. My penance for such a catastrophically stupid play is that I have posted it here for a second time.

It would have been appropriate for the WSOP to lock me in the stocks on public display so other poker players could walk by, mock me and throw spoiled vegetables at me.

I apologize to the poker universe for besmirching the great game of No Limit Hold'em.

Final Thoughts: Part 5 of 17
Fatigue

Earlier this year Phil Hellmuth made headlines when he complained about the unfairness of the WSOP Main Event becoming an endurance contest. He said it was unfair to much older players.

Me reaction to that at the time was that this was true. My reaction to that also was, too bad.

Yes, it’s an endurance contest. That’s part of what makes it so unique. That’s why it is so difficult to win. If it doesn’t match up to your skill set? OK, go play in something that does. It’s like the Olympics in track and field or swimming. Lots of different events that cover entirely different distances.

As for it being unfair to much older players, well guess what. There are lots of different things that are unfair to much older people. It’s why even Tom Brady couldn’t play professional football forever. It’s why CEOs eventually lose their fastball in the business world. It’s why lawyers eventually reach a point where they can’t keep up with the max billable hours grind.

I am 63. I don’t feel I’ve lost my fastball in the business world yet. But I know that day will come at some point. I hope I am self-aware enough to recognize it when it starts to occur. It’s why I am in the process of selling off my most time-intensive office buildings.

So, while I don’t agree with Hellmuth pushing for the WSOP to be more seniors friendly, I can say that I believe there is something to what he is saying about him feeling a difference becoming more notable at his age (approximately two years younger than me).

I will do this through the lens of my experiences at the WSOP. To be clear, I am not comparing myself to Phil Hellmuth as a poker player. That would be laughable.

But I can provide a little insight into the toll a WSOP poker tournament takes on a player in our age group. Specifically, let’s discuss a quote from Hellmuth when he first made his complaints about the Main Event being an unfair endurance test. One of his comments about why he was going to skip the 2025 Main Event (he later changed his mind) was, “It’s just too tough. People always tell me, ‘Phil, you could play seven days in a row.’ Yeah? Try it. Try getting up and playing from noon to midnight for seven days straight – it’s exhausting.”

Now, I have no experience playing the Main Event. So, I can’t comment on that much deeper run. Instead, I will discuss just one long, full day at a WSOP event. In 2019 (when I was 57 years old) I bagged chips in the Big 50. Day 2 was the following day. My recollection is that when we bagged chips, I was not at all tired. My recollection is that when I woke up the next day, I was not at all tired or run down. Now maybe, I have just forgotten, but I don’t think so. I think I was fine the next day. If I recall, the start time was not early so maybe that helped.

Now, compare that to my 2025 WSOP (when I am 63 years old). I bagged chips in the Colossus, flight 1B. When play ended, I was considerably more tired than I was six years earlier when bagging chips. And the day after bagging in the Colossus I was still wrecked. I did not play anything. I felt like I was running on fumes the entire day. I couldn’t even bring myself to shower until around 8:00 pm. Even the day after when I played in a Venetian event, I was still slightly fatigued. The difference was considerably more difficult at age 63 than it was at age 57.

Does this mean I expect the WSOP to change the rules to make it more seniors friendly? Absolutely not. I have resisted people’s suggestions that I play in WSOP seniors events, because I want to test myself against the young guns. I want the biggest challenge possible.

So, do I think Hellmuth is right to want the WSOP to be more seniors friendly? I do not. If you want to compete against the very best you can’t expect special consideration. If you want something more senior friendly then I think you play in seniors events. At least that’s how I view it from my perspective as a 63-year-old.

Do I think Hellmuth is correct that the WSOP becomes an even bigger challenge when you hit your 60s? Yes, based upon my limited experience, I believe that the fatigue becomes more real than ever at that age demographic.

Final Thoughts: Part 6 of 17
The temperature at the WSOP

The way poker players have to dress at the WSOP is just plain weird. We surely are the only people who go to Las Vegas to freeze our a$$es off. I played at the Horseshoe Ballroom the entire time I was at the WSOP in 2025. I had to wear a hoodie every single day I played. At one point I said to the player next to me in a tournament, “If you see my hands shaking, it’s because I’m really cold. It’s not a tell.” He nodded in understanding. The players I talked to who played in both the Paris and Horseshoe Ballrooms said the Paris was even colder.

I get that they need to keep the room from overheating from so many players in such a small space. But isn’t there some way to make it just a little cool rather than the Arctic levels it gets to? And when the ballroom starts to empty out or if it suddenly fills up, isn’t there someone who should be in charge to adjust the thermostat accordingly.

Plus, it is a shock to the system when you get knocked out of a tournament and exit these North Pole environments, walk outside and get blasted by the 100-degree inferno that is Las Vegas in June. The massive change in temperature is jarring to the system.

The huge swing in temperature reminds me of the year after I graduated from college. The Michigan basketball team had back-to-back games at Northwestern and at Wisconsin. A bunch of my friends were going to come to Chicago to hang out and go to both games. On the day of the Northwestern game, a brutal cold front hit Chicago with significant icy wind blasts. I think it was something like 50 or 60 degrees below zero with the wind chill. One of my college roommates was now a sports writer who worked for a newspaper in Florida. When he left Florida it was something like 60 degrees. The poor guy landed in Chicago, and he’d lost over 100 degrees. You’ve never seen someone as miserable as he was (he didn’t even own a winter coat).

I just don’t get why the WSOP can’t figure out a reasonable room temperature. They figured out an app this year that has eliminated the two-hour re-entry lines of the past. Setting the thermostat at a reasonable temperature seems like it should be a much easier dilemma to solve.

Instead of being rppoker at the WSOP, I felt more like rpeskimo.

Is there a colder place than a WSOP poker room in Las Vegas? Moments after I write this (while flying home), I look up at the airline computer screen right in front of me and it says that we are at 37,003 feet altitude and the outside temperature is -63 degrees. OK, fine. The WSOP is not the coldest place possible, but I think you get the point.

Final Thoughts: Part 7 of 17
Too close to utter disaster, yet just far enough away to be safe

I seem to be something of a magnet to terror. Or maybe I should say I tend to be very close to disaster. Close enough for it to be scary. Not close enough to be impacted, fortunately.

As I am sure you all know, there was a shooting during the 2025 WSOP with two fatalities outside the Bellagio fountain show area. I was at the WSOP at the time but fortunately out of harm’s way. Earlier in my WSOP, prior to the shooting, I was at Beer Park with oriole-lion overlooking the Bellagio Fountains. And the day after the shooting occurred, TonySoprano9 and I were eating at the outside area of Mon Ami Gabi which looks straight at the Bellagio fountains.

A few years ago, there was a mass shooting at the July 4 parade of my hometown. When my kids were younger, we went to this parade every year and typically sat either exactly at or close to the area where the mass shooter unleashed massive blasts of gunfire. Only the variance of time kept me from being there. If my kids were younger, I would have been there. If my kids were older and had young children of their own, I think there is a good chance we might have been there.

Back in my sports writing days, I was in California to cover a Monday Night Football game. A day or two before the game, the news broke that a terrorist plot to bomb a bridge had been sniffed out and stopped. I think it was a bridge I would have taken to get to the game.

When Mrs. rppoker and I had been married for about a year, we took a vacation to Italy. We were scheduled to visit a famous museum. When we got there, we were informed that the museum was closed because it had been bombed the day before.

The nearness of these events is pretty eerie.