Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream
At the age of 62 (AARP members unite!), I have decided that I will write a trip report for my 2024 trek to the World Ser
From the cell phone camera of rpphotographer
$10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
Mike Matusow Final Table
Head's Up:
Nick Guagenti versus Chino Rheem
From the cell phone camera of rpphotographer
Putting her all into a poker massage
$50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 8-Handed, Late Day 1
WSOP Dogs of the Day
Chip shuffling has gotten a little old. I debit sometimes, specifically when In a hand, but I feel like I have arthritis in my right hand now and I cant do it very much. My left hand is fine
Do it*. And for the record, old just for me. But im completely fine with it and while I noticed the sound as a bystander, I didn't while playing. I think that's a pretty weak way to think rrpoker and others.
I am back home now. I spent a couple of hours working on my trip report while in the United Club in the Las Vegas airport. And then I wrote nonstop the entire flight home (other than the ascent and descent).
And with that, I have finished my WSOP 2025 rough draft . My rough draft last year was 60,201 words. My rough draft this year is 61,465 words. I’ve got a lot to edit. To put it in perspective, I believe a fiction novel is typically 70,000-100,000 words.
Once we landed, we had to sit idle for a while waiting for our gate to clear. While that was taking place I was devouring all of the other trip reports running on LVL and, yikes, I noticed my phone was almost out of charge. I had to stop reading or else I wouldn't be able to call my driver to tell him to come get me once I get my suitcase. Close call.
I got home fairly late and talked with Mrs. rppoker for a bit. Once she fell asleep, I started editing the trip report and got maybe a quarter of the way through it.
Give me a couple of days and then I’ll be ready to start posting.
Lots of interesting poker. Lots of interesting stories. Lots of interesting characters.
A number of meet ups with LVL TR writers (and unfortunately a couple that we couldn't get schedules to align).
Plenty of food content (including Bacchanal Buffet). Plenty of Dr Pepper (and yet I kept getting rebuffed when ordering my favorite drink). Plenty of variance (both good and bad) and massive collisions (A-A vs K-K vs Q-Q; full house vs full house in a battle of the blinds; A-A vs A-A).
A couple of near disasters away from the WSOP poker tables (a major problem with my room safe; I temporarily lose my credit card but a mad dash across town around 3:00 a.m. saves the day).
My first tournament at the Venetian where my starting table is almost entirely people who bagged in Flight 1A or 1B of the WSOP's Colossus and are waiting for Day 2 to come along.
And most importantly, I cashed in a WSOP event for the second consecutive year (and this time I got to play a bunch during Day 2).
I played at a table for a little bit with the guy who finished second in the Colossus, but I remember almost nothing about him.
Of the players with six WSOP bracelets or more, the player I think is most likely to add another in 2025 is Nick Schulman. He probably won’t be the only one, but if I only get to choose one player, he’s my pick. It’s amazing that one person can be so amazing as both a commentator and as a player. He’s the coolest dude in poker.
I called it.
Nick Schulman Secures Seventh Bracelet in Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship ($497,356)
I called it.
Nick Schulman Secures Seventh Bracelet in Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship ($497,356)
NL Deuce Single Draw should be renamed the Nick Schulman Invitational. Man oh man is he ever good at that game.
Trip report housekeeping: I’ve written this previously, but just some reminders as we embark upon the written part of my 2025 WSOP. I often don’t mention the suits of cards. This is because they were not relevant to the hand. If the suits matter – say there is a flush draw that becomes significant to the hand – then I mention it. Sometimes I don’t include bet sizing because either it is a standard amount or because I didn’t write it down, but if the sizing is important to the hand I try to include it (i.e. a polarizing pot-sized river bet, a blocker bet on the turn, etc.). All of what is soon to follow has already happened and is being posted after the fact and not in real time/same day reporting. Lastly, I am a low volume recreational player with a writing background from back in the day. I try to be as honest as possible with hand reporting. If I screw up badly, I still describe the disaster that took place. I think the trip report reads better if it is honest as opposed to me only trying to make myself look good. I am fine with people making suggestions as to how I could have played a hand better (I have thick skin), but I am not going to do a huge back-and-forth debate of a hand since I think that will take away from the flow of the trip report. But I am open to constructive criticism.
With housekeeping out of the way, it’s time to have rpphotographer tag out and bring rppoker into the ring. Pictures (mostly, but not entirely) out, words (massively) in. We go back in time to just before rppoker leaves for Las Vegas. Music for rppoker ring walk entrance is coming …
HERE … WE … GO … AGAIN …
♫ ♬ ♩ ♪
Here we go again
Here we go-go-go to the temple of consumption
Get your gear and start to spend
Here we go-go-go with a total dedication …
♫ ♬ ♩ ♪
My WSOP 2025 manifesto
The wait is finally (almost) out of the way. The studying is done (for now). The planning is completed. The anticipation is over. It’s time to get to the airport, and get on a plane headed to Vegas with no idea what awaits.
Yes, I know what awaits in terms of what to expect at the WSOP having participated in 2019 and 2024. But no idea what results await me. Maybe I get punished. Maybe I find glory. Maybe it is somewhere in between. Maybe covers a lot of ground.
In the meantime, let’s take stock of where I’ve been (a question I can answer with absolute certainty), where I currently am (a question which I can answer if I can be trusted to look in the mirror and make an honest assessment), and where I hope to be when my series is done (no idea, I don’t have a crystal ball).
To answer the questions of the above paragraph I am going to incorporate inspirational/iconic quotes from famous people, as well as some famous videos. Yeah, it’s a gimmick, but the gimmick will make this more fun to write, and hopefully from your perspective more fun to read.
So, let’s start with where I’ve been.
In 2019, my initial WSOP, I was just happy to be there. No illusions about winning a bracelet. Just happy to be part of the circus. Although … in one of my 2019 WSOP tournaments I was close to making the money. It was the Big 50. I bagged and made it to Day 2. I could have probably folded my way to a min cash. Instead, I got it all in with QQ versus AA. The flop saw a glorious Q in the window only to be run down by an A out the door. I didn’t find the one-outer, and I was out. I was so close. WSOP, I almost had you.
Not really of course. I was like Brian in The Fast & The Furious when he races against Dom for the first time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=930a0cHe...
Dom: “What are you smiling about?”
Brian: “Dude, I almost had you!”
Dom: “You almost had me? You never had me! You never had your car! Granny shiftin', not double clutchin' like you should. You're lucky that hundred shot of NOS didn’t blow the welds on the intake. Almost had me? Now me and the mad scientist gotta rip apart the block, and replace the piston rings you fried! Ask any racer, any real racer, it don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning.”
And I wasn’t winning. I went home excited to have participated, but also without a cash.
Then COVID hit and I didn’t return to the WSOP for a number of years. I returned to the WSOP in 2024. The goal? Find a cash. I did. I was running on fumes near the money bubble with hardly any chips, but I got there. Barely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfN1GRqK...
But a cash is a cash, especially when it’s your first Hendon Mob tally from the WSOP. I considered my 2024 WSOP to be a roaring success.
That takes me to right here, right now. It seems like a goal needs to be stated. I think my answer comes from a movie scene from the Wall Street sequel Money Never Sleeps.
Jacob: “What’s your number?”
Bretton: Sorry?
Jacob: “The amount of money you would need to be able to walk away from it all and just live happily-ever-after. Everybody has one – it’s an exact number – what’s yours?
Bretton takes a moment to think, flashes a smug grin and says, “More.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VsZr5KG...
Now, I don’t seek “more” like the movie character meant “more.” For him, more was win at all costs, bend/break the rules if necessary (hell, maybe bend/break the rules even if it wasn’t necessary) and beat, batter and bloody everyone.
That’s not me. I’m not going to angle shoot my way to the top. My (realistic) goal isn’t even to get to the very top this year. Sure, winning a bracelet is a dream, but it’s an unlikely reality. My goal is simply “more” than I achieved at last year’s WSOP. Maybe that means I make the money with a playable stack this year. Maybe it means cashing twice. Maybe it means looking in the mirror afterward and honestly believing I played better in the 2025 WSOP than I did in 2024. I would like more, whatever more means.
I’m not just happy to be here this year. Well, I am happy to be here, but I’m shooting a little bit higher than, “Dude, I almost had you.”
It is like this season’s Detroit Pistons. The team took a pretty good step forward during the regular season. It was better than it had been in recent years. But it wasn’t just showing up in the playoffs with the singular goal of taking a team picture. Heading into the playoffs, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, “No matter what happens, this group had a great season. That doesn’t mean we’re just happy to be here.”
That’s me in 2025. Yes, I am really looking forward to playing, but I’d like to accomplish something. I’d like to accomplish more than I did in 2024. I can’t define what “more” will be, but I’d really like to leave Las Vegas believing I accomplished something “more” than I did in the 2024 WSOP. Even if “more” is only slightly better than 2024. I want growth. That’s my goal.
As Aristotle once said, “Life is only meaningful when we are striving for a goal.”
Or Vincent Van Gogh, “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.”
Small steps forward will be just fine by me. I’m not delusional enough to believe that I am making the jump from recreational player who has studied diligently to poker Hall of Famer. I’ll be happy with progress.
“Small steps are better than no steps,” author unknown.
Confucius, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
I have a goal. It is not an unreasonable goal.
But then it hits me. Having a goal is not enough. Having a goal is not really a road map to achieving said goal. It’s a desired outcome without a game plan. A goal is not a plan. A goal without a plan is merely hope. And hope is not a plan, which is one of my favorite quotes in life.
I have studied plenty this past year, but I suspect nowhere near as much as most professionals do. I can’t just be satisfied that I have studied. I have to find a way to grow, to evolve at the table as I play for almost two weeks at WSOP 2025. The plan is to get better at some basics. These basics are learning, competing and embracing failure.
Let’s start with learning. Yes, I am going to try out the new stuff I have studied this past year. There’s no way it will be nonstop success. By trying new things, I am sure I will make mistakes. I am sure I will put myself in some difficult, uncomfortable spots. The key is not to expect everything to work smashingly all of the time. The key is not to give up when new strategies don’t work every time. The key is to keep learning, and hopefully keep getting better.
Eleanor Roosevelt: “I’m always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn to do it.”
Albert Einstein: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”
And finally a quote from Henry Ford that hits home with a gray-haired poker player like me: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
After learning, the next key to my growth is competing. Just by showing up to play against people that are better than me, I give myself the opportunity to get better. And only by getting better can I achieve “more.” I will show up fearlessly, ready to compete against those that are better than me.
Mia Hamm: “Competition pushes individuals to exceed their own expectations.”
Warren Buffett: “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”
Author unknown: “Your competitors can be your best teachers.”
Howard Cosell, “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from your inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.”
And finally, perhaps the most difficult tool that I’ll need is that I must embrace failure. I’m going to make mistakes, but the key is to embrace the failure and learn from it. There is only going to be one winner in every tournament, so I need to focus on the process and not the result. I am going to suffer some bad beats, and I just have to deal with it and play my best in the next tournament.
Colin Powell: “Success is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
Colonel Sanders: “One has to remember that every failure can be a stepping-stone to something better.”
Thomas Edison: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
More Thomas Edison: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Even more Thomas Edison: “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
So, that’s my game plan: Learn, compete and embrace failure. And of course, enjoy every second of the experience.
Winston Churchill: “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
OK, I’m ready. Time to fly to Las Vegas and play some cards with, as Jim Harbaugh likes to say, “an enthusiasm unknown to mankind!”
It won’t be easy, which is exactly the point. As Swami Sivananda once said, “The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”
Adam Savage: "Failure is always an option."
Agree very much with the tone of this. We make mistakes, review some key hands, improve our thinking, and continue forward.
2025 WSOP: May 29
Twas the night before heading to the WSOP
I bring a suitcase from the basement to my bedroom. My dog Astro sees me do this, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. Astro thinks bad things happen when suitcases get brought upstairs. The last time suitcases were brought upstairs, Mrs. rppoker and I went to Arizona for a month. Now to be clear, it’s not like we set Astro free into the wild and made him forage for food during the four weeks we were gone. At different times he stayed with my two daughters as well as family friends Astro knows well. Still, Astro connects suitcases with us going away. Astro sticks to me like glue the rest of the night. The good news for Astro is only I am leaving. Mrs. rppoker will still be around.
12:45 am
Last year at this time my WSOP almost ended before it began when I walked into the master bathroom in the dark so as not to disturb Mrs. rppoker and I tripped and fell over my poorly placed suitcase. This year I have placed my suitcase out of harms way. Plus, when I walk into the master bathroom toward my walk-in closet, I remember to bring my cell phone and use it to shine a light to keep me out of harms way. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. I’m a poker player, I learn from my mistakes.
Time to set the alarm on my phone. I am not a morning person. Waking up is a chore for me. I dare not oversleep in the morning. I set the alarm on my phone to ring at four different times. It’s kind of the equivalent of going all-in for 100bbs from UTG with A-A. It’s overkill, but I’m taking no chances.
2025 WSOP: May 30 (Part 1 of 4)
Leaving for Las Vegas
I leave but not before telling my dog Astro he is now the man of the house for two weeks. He responds by bringing a tennis ball to me.
The driver I always use for trips to the airport arrives, and we are off. As we near the airport there are all kinds of signs for exit ramps. I look for one that says “Road to a WSOP Final Table.” I find no such sign. I guess if I want to make a final table I’ll have to do it the hard way and earn it.
We arrive at the United departure area and I take my bags to the outside quick baggage drop-off area. There is a woman with three teenage children ahead of me. When it is her turn, she creates all kinds of chaos. For starters, none of their bags have name tags and they proceed to fill them out from the front of the line. Next, she has only logged two of the four members of her group, and as a result the guy collecting the suitcases can’t take all four of their suitcases. She gets the remaining members of her group checked in. A long line is growing behind us. This is not turning out to be “quick” baggage drop off. The lady trouble causer now has another problem. One of her group member’s suitcases is three pounds over the limit. Her solution is to open up this suitcase and another lighter suitcase to transfer the problem three pounds. The line of people behind me has now grown into a mob, and the mob is angry. The person behind me asks the lady trouble causer to move aside. She ignores the request. This woman is both clueless and thoughtless. Other members of the mob start complaining loud enough for her to hear. She does not seem to care. Finally, the baggage guy asks her to move her stuff aside so others can check their bags. She complies.
Meanwhile, a second baggage guy has arrived to deal with a now lengthy, “not quick” line. He asks me if my suitcase is under the designated 50 pounds, Now, you need to understand, I am an over packer. Last night Mrs. rppoker saw me finishing up my packing and she said it looked like I was packing as though I would not be coming back home. I did not think I was over 50 pounds, but I could not say for sure. The baggage guy tells me to put my suitcase on the scale, because if I am over the limit he has to change the way he inputs my information. The scale is asked the question, and it answers: 47.5 pounds. This is the second time in a couple of days that a scale has delivered good news to me (see Operation Weight Loss earlier in this thread). Now, if I can just hit flops on coin flips as well as I am navigating scales everything will be all sunshine and unicorns for me.
With my suitcase checked, I head to my gate. I am TSA pre-approved and when I get to that security line there is literally only one person in line ahead of me. I get through “quick” security in a single minute.
I have plenty of time so I go to the United Club where I eat a free breakfast of scrambled eggs, a bagel and cream cheese and, wait for it …
… a Dr Pepper. It is my first Dr Pepper in almost two weeks (because of Operation Weight Loss). As I take my first sip, I swear I hear angels singing from above.
A woman sits down near me. Her right arm is entirely covered with tattoos. She looks tough. I move my backpack (which contains my tournament buy-in money) closer to me to be safe. She could definitely kick my a$$ and take my lunch money, or in this case my buy-in money.
I will be glad to get to Las Vegas and get my money loaded into the WSOP+ system following the verification process.
I work on my trip report. I check my e-mails. Eventually it is time to head over to my gate.
OK United Airlines, take me to the World Series of Poker.
2025 WSOP: May 30 (Part 2 of 4)
Feeling distracted, watching The Simpsons for the first time ever, finding poker zen
During the flight I keep two things out: A water bottle full of Dr Pepper from the United Club and a book of past Sports Illustrated long-form articles on pro football. I figure this is all that I need.
I figured wrong. I read a few of the chapters on Drew Brees (who was playing when I was a sports writer covering the NFL back in the day), Red Grange (who even I am not old enough to have covered) and the Packers’ football stadium Lambeau Field (my favorite NFL stadium to have covered games at because the tailgating outside the stadium is a show akin to Mardi Gras).
But then I stopped reading. I was feeling distracted, unfocused which is almost never the case for me.
At this point I start watching the different options on the TV in front of me. I can’t settle on one station. I watch the Pat McAfee show since I enjoy the passion he brings to whatever media show he is doing. Sometimes he goes off the rails, but for the most part he is like a media WWE performer. He always brings the smoke. Then I flip to the Mike Greenberg show. Then I flip to the Colin Cowherd show. Pretty much every show is talking about the NBA playoffs. At one point I see that NBA expert Rachel Nichols is being interviewed and I watch since she was a college friend of a sportswriter (probably a decade younger than me) I used to work with. I keep channel surfing. Again, I lack attention span.
I continue to flip around and I see that there are a bunch of The Simpsons shows coming up. OK, this will allow me to scratch something off my lifetime to do list. You see, I have never watched a single episode of the Simpsons. It seems to be impossible to believe, but it is true. I’m not anti-Simpsons, but for no reason I can articulate I have never watched the show. I watch it. It is entertaining. I can see why it has been such a big hit for so very long. But it wasn’t something that compels me to say I will start binge watching it when I return home from the WSOP.
I don’t watch a second episode of the Simpsons. Instead, I stop watching, and I decide to simply be alone with my thoughts. They are thoughts that are entirely about my upcoming WSOP. This calms me. I no longer feel distracted and unfocused. I have found my happy spot. I have found poker zen.
The plane eventually lands and it is a looooooong walk to the luggage carousel. Bags are coming off the conveyor belt, but none are mine. I move to a different spot and I notice off to the side a suitcase that looks like mine and there is an airport staffer standing guard over it. Do I have a problem? I do not. She informs me that my bag is where it is because, since I checked in pretty early at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, they sent my suitcase on an earlier flight and that’s why it is sitting here with someone standing guard. Problem averted.
The good news about the long walk to one of the very last carousels is that when I exit to go to the car rental shuttle, I exit in the very closest spot possible to the shuttle. This matters because the heat is oppressive. Even better, there is a shuttle available. Even worse, I miss by two people to get on the shuttle. Not a problem, another shuttle arrives maybe 90 seconds later.
The shuttle takes me to the car rental place. I have a reservation with Enterprise. The line is relatively short and the workers are quick and efficient. I’m out of there in no time.
The good times are about to end, however, as I am about to walk into a complete clusterf*#k.
2025 WSOP: May 30 (Part 3 of 4)
Operation Clusterf*#k
I get to my hotel at the Signature. My reservation confirmation says Tower A. The problem is the real choices are Tower 1, Tower 2 and Tower 3. I guess that Tower A must be Tower 1. I guessed poorly. I am in Tower 3, which is the first of the three towers, so calling it Tower 3 kind of makes no sense. But let’s not bog down on tiny details. I get there and go to check in. There is no line. Everything is moving quickly. I am here 45 minutes earlier than I expected. It is 2:15 pm. I’ve got a lot to do, so I am excited about the found 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the person at the check-in informs me that my room is being cleaned and won’t be ready until 3:00 p.m. In fairness, I had previously been informed by my superhost that check-in is 3:00pm. I was hoping to catch a break. If you are wondering what a superhost is, it doesn’t mean I am a high roller that gets special handling. It means I have booked my mini suite through Airbnb. This is someone’s condo. The beauty of this is it means I pay no resort fees, and it is free to park my car.
So, I have 45 minutes to kill with a half-dozen other groups waiting for 3:00 check-in. Only one thing to do. I work on my trip report.
I get checked in and find out what floor I am on (they won’t tell you ahead of time for some reason). My room is on the Penthouse floor (floor 38). Nice. I get up to my room plug in my charger for my phone which is low on juice. Next, I go to the safe. I really want to get my money in the safe, so I don’t have to have all of it on me. The safe does not work. It won’t lock. Are you kidding me?
I consider myself to be a pretty calm, accepting of bumps in the road kind of person. In 2019 when I stayed here at the Signature, the shower didn’t drain as fast as it needed to. It was a mild issue and I never called to have it fixed. But this really annoys me due to the amount of cash I have for buy-ins.
I send a text to my superhost informing him of the problem and requesting it be fixed. I double down by using the Signature’s digital concierge to see about getting it repaired. My superhost responds by saying they will fix it … tomorrow. I am not at all happy about that, but before I can finish typing my response the digital concierge is now online for me. The digital concierge says they will send security up to fix the safe. I erase the message I had started to type to the superhost and instead tell him to hold off because security is sending someone.
The security guy arrives 5-7 minutes later, he looks at the safe and says, “Oh, all it needs is a reset. He takes some device out of his pocket, pops it into an opening on the front plate of the safe and … and … and … nothing happens. Security Guy now tells me that someone else needs to come and change out the front plate to the safe. I ask how long it will take for the other guy to arrive and he says, “They are just changing shifts, so it might be 30-40 minutes.”
Sigh.
This is destroying my meticulously planned schedule for the day. My plan was to check-in, get in my room, dump my stuff, put some of my cash in the safe and then squeeze in two tasks. First, get to the Paris and get verified (which supposedly started out terribly slow but might be improving) and head to a store to buy groceries before my 8:00 pm dinner reservation. It is now 3:40 pm and if verification is still slow and chaotic, I won’t be able to get both done. I decide that getting verified is more important. I will have to go shopping tomorrow.
Now I sit and wait for the safe cavalry to arrive.
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
I am hemorrhaging time. Grocery shopping is definitely out.
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
It is now 4:30 pm, and still no one has arrived. I call the front desk, tell them what is going on and ask if they can find out how much longer it will be. She says she can’t give an ETA, but she will call engineering to see if she can expedite things.
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
It is now 4:45 pm. Still no knock on the door. Things are not going as planned. I guess this is good practice for … a poker tournament … where things go wrong and you have to deal with it if you don’t want to implode. I try to think calming thoughts.
It is now 5:00 pm. Still no knock on the door. I call guest services, am on hold for several minutes, and then I get disconnected. I call back, am on hold for a while and then finally I get someone. I tell her everything that has happened, and she informs me that they can’t change out the front plate of the safe because the suite is owned by a third party. I am thinking that this would have been useful information a long time ago, but I keep my cool. I am not a yeller. On the inside, however, I am now officially pissed off. I ask the woman if she can connect me to the third-party management and she does. The new guy from the management team that owns the suite tells me that they can’t do anything tonight since they don’t provide 24/7 service, but they have sent a consent form authorizing the hotel’s engineering department to do the work. The amazing thing is the third-party management person does not apologize or say anything to try to show concern or contrition. Where is the accountability for the fact that they turned over the space to me without checking the safe that clearly did not work? I mean, with my tenants in my office buildings, if even the slightest problem occurs, I let them know that I am sorry and try to smooth things over. At a minimum I express empathy and understanding. Sometimes I knock off a portion of the next month’s rent if the screwup is bad.
Whatever, I call hotel guest services again and get the women I last spoke to. She says yes, the consent form has been received and engineering will get to it. I ask her if she can check how long it will be. She says she can’t do that because it is simply first come first serve on work requests. I ask if she can at least call engineering to see how backed up they are. She says she cannot.
So, now I wait some more. It is now 5:20 pm. This has now taken 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I still have no idea how much longer it will take. Heck, poker players can get knocked out of tournaments and re-enter faster than this is taking. Now I am getting concerned if I will have enough time to get verified for the WSOP before I go to my dinner reservation.
The fact that I am typing up everything that is happening for my trip report throughout this lengthy process is probably a major reason I am staying calm. Calm on the outside, agitated and annoyed on the inside. Deep cleansing breaths …
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
6:00 pm. Nothing. Nada. Crickets.
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
6:12 pm the doorbell rings. It is the engineer. He brings in some power tool (I am clueless about such things) and he does something that is making a bunch of noise. I expect him to say the problem is solved. That is not what he says. Instead, he picks up the entire safe, starts to take it out of my room, and he says he will go and get a new safe. It is 6:15 pm, and I ask him how long this will take. He says 10 minutes. Progress.
6:40 pm the engineer still has not returned. The good news is, he left his power tool behind, so I figure he is coming back. Eventually. Right? Please. Pretty please.
6:48 pm the doorbell rings. Thank God, the engineer did not skip town. He has another safe. He is huffing and puffing. This man is working hard. He puts his powertool to work and again makes a bunch of noise. Then he says the magic word, “OK.” He has me test it out, and it works.
I give the engineer a $10 tip.
Unless there is virtually no one in line at verification, I don’t think there is any chance of me getting verified before my 8:00 pm dinner reservation. I decide I won’t even bring the money I had planned to deposit with the WSOP, because I don’t want to carry that much money around all night. I’ll get verified tomorrow. I tell myself to put this behind me. Forget about it. Bury it. I still have good stuff planned for tonight, so I’m not going to let the safe fiasco wreck the rest of my evening.
I head over to the Paris.
2025 WSOP: May 30 (Part 4 of 4)
Dinner at Eiffel Tower Restaurant, a poker player with a marital death wish, meeting LVL’s oriole-lion at Beer Park
Tonight, I have a reservation for dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in the Paris Hotel. It is highly reviewed and it offers a doubleheader that is right in my wheelhouse.
My two favorite foods in the world are escargot as an appetizer and Beef Wellington for dinner. At last years WSOP I had escargot at Mon Ami Gabi and it was fantastic. I also had Beef Wellington at Gordon Ramsey Steak and it was also spectacular.
What appeals to me about Eiffel Tower Restaurant is it has both escargot and Beef Wellington on the menu. My two favorites in the same meal.
I get to the restaurant’s check-in and I am sent on my way via elevator. Up, up, up it goes. It feels like I am going to the top of the world. Eventually the elevator stops climbing and the doors open. I see an open kitchen when I get out of the elevator. The person who receives me points out the chef and then takes me to my table. It’s not a window table overlooking the Bellagio fountains, because that is an extra $40 and honestly the view doesn’t mean anything to me.
Menus are brought out, the wine menu is brought out (no thank you) and eventually I place my order. Before the escargot is brought out, I receive freebie #1. Two bite sized appetizers on fancy looking spoons. The waiter explains that one is some sort of eggplant something or other with caviar, and the other is something I couldn’t understand the description. I suspect I won’t like the eggplant caviar concoction (I don’t like eggplant). I was not wrong. I didn’t like it. The other unknown food wasn’t bad. I give the restaurant credit for the effort.
Next, the escargot is brought out. There is some sort of puffed pastry atop each of the snails, and it is soaked in garlic butter. The piece of bread that accompanies it is tiny (and I will eventually find out that it is kind of bland). It will not be enough volume to soak up the excess garlic butter. So, I order some additional bread. The snails taste good, but the puffed pastry on top of them detracts from the overall taste. It wasn’t bad. It was good but not memorable. The escargot at Mon Ami Gabi is light year’s better. The Eiffel Tower Restaurant escargot gets a solid but not elite 7.5.
The waiter, meanwhile, is outstanding. Attentive, knowledgeable, elegant, classy. He even comes by with some sort of metal thingamabob and scoops up the two tiny crumbs that are on the table in front of me after he clears the plate.
The Beef Wellington is next up. I have high hopes. I will be disappointed. The meat was just ordinary. The shortcrust pastry that surrounds the meat is bland. It is nowhere close to the Gordon Ramsey Steak Beef Wellington I had last year. It is maybe a 6.0 out of 10. I eat most of it, but not all of it. Normally I do everything but lick the plate clean when served this dish. I expected so much better.
I had planned on ordering the White Chocolate Banana Elysee for dessert, but given how the rest of the meal has gone I decide against it. My waiter brings me freebie #2, which is three bite-sized dessert concoctions that are all different. None of them do much for me taste wise, but I have to give my waiter credit for really trying hard.
I get my check and give the waiter a 25% tip. The food was really disappointing, but the waiter’s presentation and attention to detail was extraordinary. I’ve never had a server try so hard. I tell him he is excellent at his job.
If I were starting a high-end restaurant, he is who I would want as the head waiter. He’s probably the best waiter I’ve ever had.
I leave the restaurant and have a little time to kill before my 10:00 pm plans, so I wander around the Paris Casino. I pass a venue called Le Cabaret and there is a floor show going on. Who knew that something like this goes on. All the time I’ve ever spent at the Paris has been limited to poker in the Paris ballroom.
The floor show is not my thing, so other than the minute or so it takes to snap pictures for the trip report, I don’t stick around to watch. I still have more time to kill, so I head to the just-mentioned Paris Ballroom to check out the poker. Once there, I pass a guy who is getting a massage away from the poker areas in use. Most people getting massages in a poker room get very quiet. This guy is the total opposite. Nonstop chatter from him. Then I hear him say, “My wife just went through menopause. … (pause) … That sucked!”
I feel like I should counsel him. I don’t, but if I did, I would say, “Dude, your wife is going to kill you if you have that attitude around her. You aren’t going to survive if you say stuff like that.”
I still have a tiny bit of time to kill, so I walk over to the Horseshoe poker ballroom. Walking toward me from the other direction is a guy who is talking very animatedly to the guy he is walking with. In the short period of time we are close enough for me to hear what he is saying, I hear him drop nine F bombs. I have no idea what point he is trying to make because all I hear are F bombs. Someone clearly is not dealing with a bad beat very well.
I arrive at the Horseshoe poker ballroom just as the money bubble bursts in the Mystery Millions Day 1D. One player stands up and yells to someone at the other end of the room, “We did it!!!” A few minutes later the dam bursts and dealer after dealer after dealer can be heard saying loudly, “Payout.”
It is getting close to the time I am supposed to meet someone, so I leave the Horseshoe poker ballroom and in the hallway I see two deaf guys in an animated conversation using sign language. I don’t know sign language, but given where we are I suspect one of them has just signed, “… and then my pocket aces got cracked.”
I am headed toward the Paris hotel’s Beer Park where I meet LVL’s own oriole-lion. We have never met, but we made plans to do so through 2+2 private messaging after reading one another’s trip reports. He chose the location to meet, and I made us a reservation. We get seating in a spot where we overlook the Bellagio Fountains.
I then do something out of character. Not only do I order a drink (which I rarely do), but I order four of them (sort of). I order a flight of beers. Four small tasting glasses with four separate beers. My idea is that since I don’t like the taste of most alcohol but can tolerate beer, I will order four separate beers and see if I like any of them. My choices are a little girly/fruity but that is what I think gives me the greatest chance of success. The experiment works as three of them taste interesting.
Once we have each ordered drinks, I ask him about his moniker oriole-lion. His answer is exactly what I suspected; He is a Baltimore Oriole fan, and he went to college at Penn State (team nickname Nittany Lions). Hence, oriole-lion. We discuss the Orioles glory years which I am old enough to remember, and he is young enough to not remember but still know about.
Then we turn to Big Ten football. He is Penn State. I am Michigan. Our schools are rivals, but it gives us soooooooooo much to talk about. We talk about major Michigan-Penn State football games of old. We talk about our common disdain for Ohio State. We talk about our families and how we both have wives who support us coming to Las Vegas, and how each of us have two children.
I am a couple of decades older than him, yet we have so much in common. Toward the end of the night we toast his friend whose suicide prompted this trip for him to try to find some serenity amidst so many questions that cannot be answered. I say, “May your friend find peace in heaven, and may you find the serenity you seek.”
Eventually we decide to call it a night. Oriole-lion wants to check out the WSOP cash games. I want to go back to my room, get a batch of cash and return to the Paris to get verified and load money into my account (when I get back to my hotel, I decide I am tired and I don’t return to the Paris). Before I leave, I help oriole-lion find the Paris cash games. We say that we might meet again tomorrow night. I say to oriole-lion, “If you are in a juicy cash game in which you are printing money I will understand if you don’t call. But if you need a break, I will be done with dinner around 9:00 pm and can meet up anytime after since I have no tournaments tomorrow.”
Meeting oriole-lion was awesome. In 2019 and 2024 at the WSOP, I knew absolutely no one. The lack of human connection made for a kind of lonely existence. Having drinks with oriole-lion was entirely different in a great way. I feel like I made a poker friend.
I really regret that our dates didn’t line up that we didn’t get a chance to share a meal.
We’re different in ages, and life stages, but have SO much in common!
From a shared live of poker, to how we could have discussed how Big Ten football is clearly a second-rate football league compared to the only league that matters, the SEC!
I know y’all’s junior league conference has won the natty a couple years in a row, but it’s whatever. As a Georgia fan, I really believe wining the SECCG is a better year than winning the national title.
Also, on a more serious note,
I really admire the professionalism you put into your trip report. It really shows the contrasting styles to what makes an enjoyable read.
When I’m doing a trip report, I want to get as much down in the moment as possible. I want to remember the hands, and make every moment a snapshot of the highs and lows. As much for me looking back later, as for the fans.
If I took my trip, even if I kept diligent notes, I couldn’t imagine myself coming up with 60k thoroughly edited words after the fact to describe it all.
But I appreciate that you used to write for a living. So I’ll be eager in my anticipation for the next installment!
I really regret that our dates didn’t line up that we didn’t get a chance to share a meal.We’re different in ages, and life stages, but have SO much in common!From a shared live of poker, to how we could have discussed how Big Ten football is clearly a second-rate football league compared to the only league that matters, the SEC!I know y’all’s juni
Well, I was over the moon happy when my Michigan Wolverines won the national title two seasons ago. Not so much when the hated Ohio State Buckeyes won it all this past season.
I have seen some people write that the Big Ten has caught and maybe surpassed the SEC in football. I think that is delusional. Too soon. It's just the last two seasons compared to decades of SEC dominance. Do I think the Big Ten has closed the gap some? Yes I do. The top of the Big Ten has made up ground. But the middle and bottom of the Big Ten are a joke compared to that portion of the SEC.
At the top of the SEC, it remains to be seen what Alabama is now that Nick Saban has retired. Are they still the king of the hill, or are they just very good? Georgia is a monster and will remain that way as long as Kirby Smart is there. Where the SEC beats the Big Ten is the fact that teams other than Georgia and Alabama have been able to win national titles. Now if say Penn State and Oregon were to win the next two national titles, then there is something to argue about.
Not that I would puff out my chest about the Big Ten. I root against Ohio State no matter who they play. Unlike the SEC faithful that like to chant "SEC, SEC, SEC" at every opportunity, Big Ten fans root against their rivals. I would never chant "Big Ten, Big Ten, Big Ten" to celebrate a Michigan national title.
Interestingly, the SEC seems poised to become the 800-pound gorilla in basketball, whereas the Big Ten hasn't won the national title in a looooong time.
And I have no doubt that you and I will share a meal at some future WSOP. One of these years our schedules will intersect.
Also, on a more serious note,I really admire the professionalism you put into your trip report. It really shows the contrasting styles to what makes an enjoyable read.When I’m doing a trip report, I want to get as much down in the moment as possible. I want to remember the hands, and make every moment a snapshot of the highs and lows. As much for me looking back later,
Thank you.
As for differing styles of trip reports, I think that is what is so great about Las Vegas Lifestyle. If everyone wrote the same way, it would get redundant and boring. I love your thought process and pure poker hand history analysis. I could never pull off a trip report like yours.
That's why no one should feel intimidated about posting a trip report. We all have our own life story and poker journey. They are all interesting in their own way. Just look at all the trip reports running concurrently right now. I love reading all of them.
Saturday, May 31: Off day for rppoker (Part 1 of 4)
Lots to get done before it’s cards in the air: Fremont Street is off the agenda, grocery shopping, an unusual lunch
I put in an off day at the start of my WSOP so I wouldn’t feel so rushed to get all of my pre-WSOP busy work done. After yesterday’s safe disaster, I am glad that I did this. On the docket for today is a trip to the grocery store, and I need to get verified by the WSOP. Originally, I thought I’d have that done yesterday. Had I gotten those things done, then I had scheduled a trip to Fremont Street, which I’ve never gotten to. That has been eliminated from the agenda. I’m not that disappointed. I’m sure I’ll get there some day.
I am tired from how full yesterday was (flying, dealing with the safe mess, drinking (just a little, I’m a lightweight) with oriole-lion, etc. Thus, I choose to sleep in. This completely slams the door shut on any possibility of making it to Fremont Street today.
First up is grocery shopping. In the past I have gone to Von’s, but last year I wasn’t pleased with the level of freshness of items I bought from the deli counter. This year I have decided to go to a Smith’s, which I read somewhere is a better option. It’s a longer drive than Von’s, but I am looking for an upgrade.
I have decided to skip lunch today since I’m still kind of full from last night. But when I am at the Smith’s deli counter, Deli Guy keeps giving me free samples. When I ask for a pound of turkey, he gives me a slice to try. He also gives me a slice of salami to try. The more I order the more taste-test samples he gives me. This is kind of turning into lunch. And what’s with all of the free samples this trip? At dinner last night the waiter brought out free samples twice. Now the deli guy gives me free food. I sure hope I’m not using up all my run good on food. I need poker run good.
