**** TJ's 2026 WSOP Trip! ...And Continued Sundry Poker Adventures ****

tough spot tj
curious in the moment if your equity equation to call or fold included the viability of your short stack after folding

I would think he had it and is being a dick to you. Move on

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I am reluctant to offer analysis to a much better player than I am, but doesn't villain only have to be bluffing/losing to you a pretty small percentage of the time for your smallish remaining chips to make a +EV call?

This is entirely possible, he seemed dickish.

That did play a role. I still had almost 25 bb after folding, which isn’t great, but I’m not scared to play at that depth.

It really is a fantastic structure, you can come back from a lot. Late reg is open until the first level of Day 2.

And I did find the right spot to get it in… just couldn’t win the 60/40. These things happen.

Yes, you’re absolutely right about that. It was bad process due to awkward sizing.

I bet the 23k on the river, to get value from straights, or whatever. But when he shoved, that’s when I made the read that I was beat.

Whether that was right or wrong, ah well who knows. I’m proud I’m a player that’s capable of making and acting on a read like that.

Tomorrow’s a new day, and I can start completely fresh.

A Vegas poker player seeming dickish? In my experience they are all the salt of the earth!

Erring on the side of caution with a still playable stack is never wrong in my book.

1,000% this.
I don't believe anyone when they talk about their holdings.
Cards speak, People lie.

The PLO session was annoying, -1k.

I bought in for the 1k cap, and got a full double on the second hand. It was a great, splashy game.

Then a little later, I got involved in a 4way preflop all in with AKJT and one suit. Nobody had AAxx, so I guess I had enough equity there to make it okay, but I didn’t win. About a 2k pot.

Played a while longer, then I think I steadily lost focus. I make a set of 6’s in position on a two heart board in a raised pot, and go bombs away on the flop over the cbet. The turn is the K of hearts, and he checked. I checked back, and then the river is the 4th heart, an ace… and he open ripped.

I remember thinking at the time that since the K and the A of flushes came on the turn and river, that should discount the possibility of a flush draw. Plus, I checked back the turn on the very loud flush card that came. I must have looked scared of it.

I talked myself into a call, but it really should have been a fold. He did have the massive 9-high flush, and I guess he checked the turn to me because he made it, but it wasn’t the nuts.

Bad payoff by me.

So I didn’t go deeper, despite it being a pretty good game. I was done with poker for the day.

I’m watching the rest of this basketball game now, then I’ll get to bed at a reasonable hour to fire Flight D tomorrow.

Slept great, walked to IHOP for breakfast.

Got the breakfast sampler, with New York Cheesecake pancakes, a vanilla iced coffee, and orange juice.

It was $35, filled me up right.

Next stop, Horseshoe!

Ready to fire Flight D.

My table is right under the air conditioning vent, and it’s already pretty cold in here.

Hopefully that won’t make me too uncomfortable, because I’m ready to settle in for a long day.

Let’s get it!

Wow.

Just like that, I’m busted, in the second orbit of the first level.

I had AA, my opponent had JJ, jack high flop. He checkraised the turn, and my Baluga Theorem warning lights were going off… but I continued anyway.

The river paired the bottom card of the board, so I called the shove, thinking I’m beating all the two pair combos.

Erg….

10 million in the prize pool…

Ok fk it I’m firing one more bullet.

this is going to be the special bullet

First break, this third bullet hasn’t fared much better, as I’m already in pushbotting territory, with 17k.

The big hand was missing an 18 out combo draw in a 3bet pot. I had A5s, and bricked the draw against TT on 8s-6-4s-3.

I guess I was fortunate not to go broke there.

This is even a much better table. I have position on two players that are loose, passive, and bad.

Not giving up and punting, though. I’m gonna find the right spot to get it in, and give it my best to spin it up.

Well, I found the right spot.

I limp/jammed from UTG with just AA. Up against A4s, so it’s really hard to be a much bigger mathematical favorite in any preflop all in situation in hold’em. But he backdoored the flush.

When you bust twice with aces, it’s just not your day.

I’m not really tilted by that. I found the right spot, the results were always out of my control.

Now, PLO.

Passed by Chris Moneymaker in the halls of Paris on the way to the cash room.

Gave him a fist bump, told him I appreciate everything he’s done for poker.

That was pretty cool.

That was nice of you to recognize Moneymaker.

Too bad to hear about the last bust. Can't get it in a whole lot better.

PLO will be better.

Much better.

rough duo of deuling paired aces robusto stories

resist the urge

It started out bad, but thankfully turned back around, eventually.

Bought in for 1k, and steadily lost some more. AND managed to lose with AAxx. I’d pot it preflop, the flop would come raggedy queen high, I’d continue, and get check/shoved on by a set of queens. That happened twice, the recipient was the same guy. Fortunately I didn’t stack off with either of them.

In for 2k from topping up, which was my stop loss. Then, sure enough, I pick up AA94 with no suits, which, to be clear, is not an exceptionally great hand. But due to my relative position, I could limp/reraise a committing amount preflop.

Got it in three ways, and it FINALLY held up. Back to about even.

That big pot loosened the table up. I potted after several limpers with AKJT and one suit… which apparently jiggled the r*tard switch of one guy, who gets almost 1k in preflop vs me with rags, and I won.

Made for a moderately impressive chip castle, even though most of this was mine already:

+875 on the session, which felt good to be back from the brink.

Gonna grab a bite, then reevaluate for a nightcap session.

“Jiggled the r*tard switch” is damn gold.

Adding that to my vernacular stat.

It’s a great expression, though somewhat problematic, because some find that term very offensive.

But it’s so perfectly descriptive of when that happens at a poker table.

I went to Guy Fieri’s Flavortown to grab a bite. I forget who it was, but somebody’s trip report once featured a scathing review of the service they received here.

I haven’t yet had an AWFUL experience… I just really like their brisket mac n cheese.

Definitely pricier than it should be, though, like most of Las Vegas these days. Plus two ($18) Guinness tall boys, it came to $70.

I feel full, refreshed, and refocused.

Back for more PLO.

The nightcap went well, +1k.

The game broke, though, on account of a run of three absolute butchers of a dealer on three consecutive downs.

I mean, I get it. The sheer size and scope of the WSOP means there will always be inexperienced dealers. But even given that, some dealers simply aren’t ready to control a game when they’re dealing cash PLO.

So it pains me a little bit to get back to my Airbnb at sunset, on a Saturday night in Las Vegas. But I want to be fresh for the start of the tournament tomorrow, the $500 Freezeout.

So that’s what I did.

Looks delish and that is a delicious and filling combo alongside the Guinness. Not sure I would be refreshed nor focused after that tho [emoji1787]

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Sick mural. It perfectly encapsulates the chaos and strangeness that Vegas (and especially the WSOP)
are.

Great call staying in the arts district. Great local food options.

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There are probably others more fundamentally sound than me who may disagree, but IMO, I would have gone bigger on the turn with 12K (2/3 to 3/4 Pot) with intention to call off a jam on the turn, and if not, to set us up to jam the river ourselves for like 36K into what would then be a pot of I believe about 40K (like you leave yourself almost a pot size bet). IMO, this is better for many reasons including polarizing our range a bit more on the river and of course it protects us from exactly what happens here, where we get shoved on in a spot where it appears we can almost never be good, and where we are left with some fold equity - maybe in the end if we play it this way sure he calls and shows us the bad news, but he also could "sigh call" with something like QJ. KQdd AQx etc.