Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

Former journalist. Changed careers 23 years ago.

And duly noted on rite of passage.

I saw a response from you in this thread and thought for sure you were going to analyze my high-end (for me) restaurant choices.

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 2 of 8)
First hand of late reg I have Q-Q … Normandy room is not a sauna this year … a player busts and is given the needle

Level 3 (25,000 chips)
200/300/300

I take my seat at my table and I see we are only at Level 3 (200/300/300). With a starting stack of 25,000 chips, I pretty much haven’t missed a thing.

My first hand, I am dealt Qs-Qc. This is great. How come no one told me that late reg guys get dealt premium hands right away? I open and get called by a fairly young man who is dressed head to toe in black. We’ll call him the Man in Black. The flop is 2-6-8 two hearts. I bet and get called. The turn is a black 9. I bet and get called. The river is 4h, so the flush could have just gotten there. I slow down and check, fully intending to call a bet if necessary. The Man in Black checks. I show him my queens, and he mucks his cards. I now have 30,600 chips.

Shortly thereafter I get dealt A-J off suit. Late reg guys get good cards! UTG+1 opens to 800 chips. He is an OMC, and based upon his hat he was in the Navy way back in the day. We’ll call him Navy. Because he opened from such early position, I honor the perceived strength of his possible holdings and I just call. One other player also makes the call. The flop is 8-10-K rainbow, and it goes check, check, check. I whiff the turn, Navy bets, I fold, and the other player in the hand calls. I don’t recall the river card but Navy then bet 5,000 and chased off his remaining opponent.

Level 3 ends 29,800 chips

Level 4
200/400/400

I notice something very quickly that pleases me. I have been in the Normandy room two tournaments in a row now, and it has not been a sauna like a year ago. Whatever was wrong with the air conditioning a year ago has been remedied.

A big raising war breaks out between a guy in a powder blue shirt and a guy in a Seattle Sounders soccer jersey. Powder Blue busts the soccer fan. Then, as Sounders gets up to leave the table, Powder Blue gives him a needle: “Now you get to go sit by the pool.”

I have 8-9 suited in the big blind. I call a middle-position bet, whiff the flop and fold to a continuation bet. Next hand from the small blind I am dealt 6-6. There is a middle position limp, I call from the small blind, and the big blind checks his option. There are two overcards to my sixes and I fold to a bet.

The next time I am in the big blind I am dealt 10h-Qd off suit. The button bets 1,100, and both the small blind and I call. The flop is J-J-9 two clubs and it goes check, check, check. Yes, I have an open-ended straight draw, but I am happy to get to see a free card. The turn is the A of clubs. The flush could have gotten there, there are boats out there. All I still have is a straight draw, and even if I get there it’s entirely possible it won’t be good. The original bettor now makes a huge bet. At least pot sized. It’s a very polarizing bet. He either has “it” or he is bluffing. That said, the board really smashes his range. Plus, I haven’t made a hand yet. And even if I hit my gin card, there’s a realistic chance it won’t be good. I see no reason to chase a straight that might not even be good when there is such a large bet, and I fold.

Level 4 ends: 26,500 chips

Because I overslept, I did not take the time to pack a lunch, so I cave and buy the $12 WSOP hot dog just outside the Normandy room.

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 3 of 8)
An awesome tattoo story … a player goes a bit nuts … a misdeal I’m not sure if I am happy or sad about … my new table loves to play for stacks

Level 5
300/600/600

It was during this level that I ask Navy about a tattoo on his arm that is a hand flipping the bird with words of some sort above it. He explains that when his wife was still alive, she had some medical issues that eventually resulted in her middle finger being amputated. At some later date, Navy made a smart a$$ remark to her about something, and she flipped him the bird except she did so with the hand of the amputated finger, so the bird was actually missing. They both found this to be hilarious. Sometime later in life Mrs. Navy passed away. Fast forward a bit, and Navy had a dream telling him to get a tattoo of a hand flipping the bird along with the wording of the smart a$$ comment he made back in the day.

Not long after this story is told, there is an incident with the player to my right who was wearing a hat with a red, white and blue symbol of the flag. We’ll call him Patriot. The incident happens after Patriot loses a hand to an OMC type when Patriot folds to a river bet and does not get to showdown. Maybe 45 seconds pass, and Patriot asks OMC what he had in the hand. OMC says, “I don’t remember.” This makes Patriot go a bit nuts, and he goes on a rant saying over and over, “What’s the big deal to tell?” OMC says calmly, “You asked a question. I gave you my answer.” Patriot is way out of line.

End of Level 5: 24,700 chips

Level 6
400/800/800

There are two limps ahead of me. I have 8-8 in late position and I raise to 3,000. Both limpers call. The flop comes 8-J-2 two clubs. It goes check, check, check. I have three 8s, so I am baiting the trap. Maybe I have trapped myself, because a raggedy third club comes on the turn. One opponent bets. I don’t believe him, because my read on him is when he has it he slow plays and would not make this bet. The next player to act is the Man in Black from my first hand in this tournament. My read on the Man in Black is he has never seen a scare card that he doesn’t like to bet, and in fact he raises. I don’t believe him. I go all-in. The first guy folds, and the Man in Black calls. He turns over Q-J with no clubs. He has top pair adequate kicker and is drawing dead to my set of 8s. I now have 45,800 chips.

The next hand I am dealt 10-10 in middle position and it folds to me, but before I can act someone at the other end of the table says they only have one card and it is a misdeal. I don’t know if I should be happy or sad since 10-10 has historically given me tons of difficulty and gets me in a lot of trouble.

Soon after that, in a hand I’m not in, the player to my left is all-in with Ah-Jh against A-Q offsuit. The flop brings three hearts and Ah-Jh has come from behind to flop the nuts prompting the winner to say, “I’ve been practicing that.”

While the room has been comfortable temperature wise thus far, I now feel like it is getting too cold so I get my hoodie out of my backpack and put it on.

My table breaks. My new table assignment is sent to me via WSOP+ and I head over to my new poker real estate. One thing is immediately clear. This table has a ton more chips on it than my old table. At my old table I was an above-average chip stack. At this table I am a pauper. I say something about this to the player to my right who we’ll call Mr. Nice Guy (reason to be apparent later) and he says that this is because there have been a lot of huge pots thus far at this table.

In my first hand at this new table AA versus QQ gets it all in the middle for heaps. AA holds.

The next hand, the player to my left who we’ll call Woe is Me loses a huge pot, but he still has a ton of chips afterward.

The first handful of hands that I witness at this new table makes it apparent that a bunch of the guys are quick to play for stacks. I tell myself that at least initially I should tighten up if this is going to be the table dynamic.

End of Level 6: 44,200 chips

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 4 of 8)
I get hit by the deck and the rest of the table changes tactics … a PLO story about a five-way all-in and Mr. Nice Guy makes quads … my Dr Pepper misbehaves

Level 7
500/1,000/1,000

The most aggressive guy by far at the table opens to 2,500. This player has been the biggest proponent of playing for stacks from what I have seen thus far. I raise to 7,000 with A-A expecting him to push back hard. He folds. Sigh. I have 48,700 chips.

Not long after, I am dealt K-K in early position. I figure that me playing two hands in rapid succession may make people think I am loosening up. Plus, these guys like to play for stacks. I bet 2,500. It folds to the small and big blind, the two most aggressive players at the table. They both fold. Mr. Nice Guy says, “Look at the respect.”

I’m thinking, “I didn’t want respect, I wanted them to play back at me.”

I have 51,200 chips. The monitors show that average chip stack is 39,757.

Mr. Nice Guy is to my immediate right, and he and I are talking when he tells me the story about the PLO game he was in last night. I don’t know anything about PLO and I don’t play cash, so much of what he says goes over my head. But what I do remember is that he said it was a double bomb pot (whatever that is) and there was a five-way all-in after the flop. Mr. Nice Guy eventually makes quads. He humbly says to me, “Anyone could have made quads.” I respond, “But you wanted it more.” Mr. Nice guy seems to like this answer. I am glad when our conversation goes in a different direction, because I have no idea how to speak the language of PLO.

End of Level 7: 49,200 chips

Level 8
600/1,200/1,200

I am dealt Q-Q, and I bet 3,000. I get called by a fairly inactive, straight forward player. The flop is A-2-7 rainbow. I don’t love the A, but it nonetheless hits my range much harder than it does my opponent’s range. He has about 18,000-20,000 chips. I bet on the heavy side, but I want to make it appear that I am setting up to put him all-in on the turn. I bet 6,000, and he folds. I have 50,500 chips.

End of Level 8: 50,500 chips (average chip stack in the tournament is 46,969)

We go on break.

During the break, I find a seat on the ground in a side hallway. I open up a Dr Pepper and it kind of explodes, the fizz bubbling up and spilling on the ground. I sure hope this isn’t foreshadowing of what is to come in the rest of this tournament for me.

While I am relaxing, I make the mental note that the opposite side of the table is unbelievably aggressive with bluffing, bet sizing and overall aggression, whereas my side of the table is playing more traditional and straight forward. That said, while the other side of the table is willing to target my big blind, they have been quick to back down when I show any kind of aggression in a hand. I tell myself I should widen my raising range.

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 5 of 8)
The world’s slowest dealer who does not know how to shuffle the deck … Woe Is Me is card dead and unhappy

Level 9
1,000/1,500/1,500

A bit of a tangent that is nonetheless relevant. The dealing in today’s Daily Deepstack is the worst I have ever seen at a WSOP event. The dealers at both of my tables have been making mistakes left and right that the tables have to correct. They constantly are unable to make change for the blinds. They very frequently start moving the pot to the losing player. There have been more misdeals at my tables today than I saw at my entire 2019 and 2024 WSOP trips total.

In levels 8-10 you will notice I hardly played any hands. This is not because I was card dead. It is because hardly any hands got dealt. For some reason, we had the same dealer for these three levels. She was the slowest dealer I have ever seen. Plus, and I’ve never seen or heard of this before, she didn’t know how to shuffle the cards between hands. As in, half the time she would shuffle she’d do it wrong and the cards would somehow get stuck and she would then struggle to unstick them. It would often take her 60-90 seconds to shuffle. Plus, she would shuffle, seem to be done, shuffle again, shuffle again and the cards would get stuck, fumble shuffling again, and shuffle one last time.

The table was accepting of it and no one complained. No one gave her a hard time. She also struggled to make change when someone would put out a 5,000 chip and say 2,000. She frequently seemed confused as to who won a pot. Another time a player bet, the other player had not acted, and she started pushing the pot to the person who’d made the bet. When she was finally moved to another table, the player to my left, Woe is Me, said, “I genuinely felt sorry for her. There is no way she should be dealing. I know we all start somewhere, but she had no idea what she was doing. The reason I felt sorry for her is you could tell she knew she had no idea what she was doing.”

Everyone at the table just corrected her mistakes as they happened to make sure everything was fair and just. The players policed the table. But time seemed to stand still.

OK, the tangent is over.

I don’t play in any hands in this level, mostly because we get dealt so few hands (see above tangent) but I am also not getting cards. This defeats my plan to widen my raising range. I patiently keep folding.

End of Level 9: 46,500 chips

Level 10
1,000/2,000/2,000

I only play in one hand this level (see above tangent).

When I am on the button, I am dealt 3-3. To my surprise it folds to me. I put in a bet of 6,000 and it gets through.

During Levels 8, 9 and 10, Woe is Me to my immediate left complains after every preflop fold of his that he has never been so card dead in his life. Every hand, he looks at his cards and then after folding he complains. Every hand. Not some hands. Not most hands. Every hand. I feel like saying, hey friend, I’m not getting cards either lately but you don’t hear me complaining. Instead, I say to him, “You’re just being disciplined.”

End of Level 10: 41,500

Thanks

The Compliment Department is open 24/7

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 6 of 8)
The Invisible Man … I gamble in an uncomfortable spot … I have K-K and the betting goes wild

Level 11
1,500/3,000/3,000

I have just a shade under 14 big blinds. I don’t have to go crazy and panic, but I am in the zone where I kind of need to make a move. Otherwise, before long I will get so low that even a double up will mean I’m still short. I’m not there yet, but I have to be cognizant of it.

Which leads us to Level 11, an action level. Massive action. At least where I am concerned.

I believe I may have lost some more chips in the blinds. I may be down to 10 or so big blinds. My notes got a bit hard to read. In any event, I get involved in an important hand with Mr. Invisible (two to my right) and Mr. Nice Guy (to my immediate right). Mr. Invisible is so named because he has been missing from the table for over 50 percent of the time. Over and over, he disappears for long stretches of time, returns and plays in a few hands (which he tends to massively overplay but somehow he has survived with a decent stack), and then he disappears for a long stretch again. Mr. Nice Guy wonders if he is multi tabling, but who multi tables a Daily Deepstack? This has been a topic of conversation during the many times Mr. Invisible disappears.

In any event, Mr. Invisible has just returned to the table. He goes all-in, which is way too big of a bet compared to the blinds. In the past when he has done this and has had to show he has had small pairs, which held up a couple times against A-K or A-Q. Thus, I don’t consider this bet to be a show of hand strength. Mr. Nice Guy then either calls or raises, I can’t tell from my notes. But now it is my turn to act from either later position or the blinds (again, my notes were bad because of all the action going on). I look down at 9-9. If I call I think I was only going to have 12,000 chips left, so really it’s fold or go all-in.

Calling Mr. Invisible’s bet is an easy decision. I don’t put him on much given his track record. But the fact that Mr. Nice Guy has chosen to get involved is concerning. I think I am at the very bottom of playable range, if that. If it is 7-7 or 8-8 I think it’s an easy fold. If it is 10-10 or J-J, it’s a little uncomfortable but I think it’s a call. But 9-9 strikes me as no man’s land. If Mr. Nice Guy has 10-10 or J-J I am dominated, but if he has A-K or A-Q it’s not so bad.

Ultimately my decision is based on the fact that I am getting uncomfortably low on chips, and I think I need to be willing to gamble. If I die I die, but if I win I will have a comfortable chip stack. I can play it safe, or I can really play.

I think of the character Andy Dufresne in the movie Shawshank Redemption, when he says, “Get busy living or get busy dying.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLpyklFE...

I call. My 9-9 is up against Mr. Invisible’s 4-4 and Mr. Nice Guy’s A-J. I have a lot of equity.

The flop is K-Q-3. No flush draws. I have to dodge an A, J, 10 and a 4. That’s a lot of raindrops to dance between and try to stay dry. The turn is a blank. The river is a 7, and I now have a very healthy stack of 92,000 chips or more than 30 big blinds. Rightly or wrongly, a year ago I am pretty sure 2024 WSOP Me would have folded 9-9 given the firepower two opponents were showing prior to my pre flop decision. But 2025 WSOP Me sees this as a chance to take a chance and possibly build a pretty decent stack.

I don’t get much time to soak in the glory of the big pot I just won because very quickly it becomes Casino Royale poker scene time. You know, the movie scene where everyone and their mother has a big hand. Here at the WSOP, the very next hand is volcanic. A relatively new player, who upon first arriving to our table let everyone know he will be playing in the Main Event, is at the other end of the table with a decent chip stack that I cover opens to 9,000. I look down at K-K and I pop it up to 27,000. I have visions of being a huge stack dancing in my head. Then a third player who has just a bit over 27,000 goes all-in. Then the original bettor goes all-in for about another 60,000. The short stack I’m not that worried about, but do I need to worry about the bigger stack? If I call, this pot is worth around 160,000 chips.

I’m not folding kings. I go for it. My opponents turn over their cards and they have …

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 7 of 8)
You can’t make this up as my K-K is up against … hell no I don’t want to take a photo

My opponents turn over their cards and they have …

… Q-Q for the short stack.

… A-A for the bigger stack that I have covered.

… K-K for me.

Damn.

And now you’ll learn how Mr. Nice Guy got his name. He and I have been talking a fair amount when we haven’t been in hands. For whatever reason, he seems to like me. Now he says to me, “Don’t worry, a king is coming.”

Instead, there are three rags on the flop. No one improves. Still, even the guy with aces is sweating having to hold against two other pairs.

Mr. Nice Guy is undaunted. “Don’t worry,” he says, “The king is coming.”

The turn is an Ace. I’m drawing dead and the short stack is out of the tournament.

In a haze, I ask Mr. Nice Guy, “Does he have me covered?”

Mr. Nice Guy says, “Don’t worry, you’ve still got chips. You can run it up.”

I still have 24,500 chips.

The dealer asks each of the players involved in the hand if we want to take a picture of the table before he turns over the cards and moves the chips. I think to myself, “Why on God’s green earth would I want to take a photo of this train wreck?”

The table immediately breaks. I wish Mr. Nice Guy luck, and say I’ve enjoyed playing against him. By the time I get to my new table, the level has ended.

End of level 11: 24,500 chips

2025 WSOP: June 2 (Daily Deepstack 1:00 pm $250 NLHE) (Part 8 of 8)
I’m low on chips … I’m out of chips … the Nacho Daddy kitchen staff tries to bluff me

Level 12
2,000/4,000/4,000

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 turn a straight draw and need either an A or a J to stay alive. I do not get there. I am out. There are 347 players remaining out of 1,222, so the money bubble was still a long way away.

You remember when I opened my Dr Pepper on break and it exploded a bit, fizz spilling over and I said I hoped this wasn’t symbolic of what was to come for me? Turns out the bottle of Dr Pepper was all-knowing.

As I walk into the hallway I am not upset. I take it in stride. I walk by a guy on the phone. He is giving a long hand history that ended badly for him and then in conclusion he says something that pretty much summarizes my K-K running into A-A, when he says, “Oh well … poker.”

I grab a cab to head back to my hotel. My cab driver tells me that he drives by night, and he works table games at a casino during the day. He works three-card poker, blackjack and roulette. Pretty much anything but craps. It seems like cab drivers in Las Vegas do other stuff as well, kind of like waiters and waitresses in Hollywood are often aspiring actors and actresses.

I work on my rough draft of today’s events.

Around 10:30 at night I get hungry for dinner. I take the modest walk over to Nacho Daddy, a staple of past WSOP trips. As always, I request the heated queso cheese dip with jalapenos, and I add ground beef to the order. It comes out and there is no ground beef in it. They take it back then quickly return with it saying the kitchen insists there is ground beef in it. I take a chip, scoop up the cheese, and show the waiter that there is no ground beef. I snap call the kitchen’s bluff. This is the worst bluff I have faced all day.

The server takes it back and then returns with a new order in which there is plenty of ground beef added.

As for tomorrow, I can play a Daily Deepstack, or I can run an errand and then maybe check out Fremont Street. I’ll decide when I wake up.

Re: dealers,

With the sheer number of players coming to the WSOP, they are necessarily always short of quality dealers. You need to put your experienced dealers in the later stages of big tourneys, not to mention all the confusing mixed games, or pot math skills required in PLO.

That means the new dealers get their seasoning in satellites, and daily deepstacks. It’s sink or swim. Some are fresh out of dealer school, sometimes they don’t even GO to dealer school.

I did have one humorous moment a few years ago. I had a newer dealer, who was clearly inexperienced, but pleasant. I asked him how long he’d been dealing for? He replied, “I don’t know, what time is it?”

The whole table got a good laugh out of that.

You have to laugh, or at least take it with a grain of salt. They are new, and they are doing the best they can. Getting upset about their inexperience makes absolutely no sense. Just showing up to deal for that first time must be incredibly intimidating to them, and, if you think about it, is kind of courageous.

2025 WSOP: Tuesday, June 3, 2025 (Part 1 of 4)
Three strikes and I’m out: I get Dr Pepper rebuffed, I get 24-layer cake rebuffed, I get Fremont Street rebuffed

I decide against playing in the Daily Deepstack today for a few reasons. Starting tomorrow I will probably be playing in tournaments seven days straight, so I think I’ll let myself be rested. Secondly, the structure of the Daily Deepstack is a little fast for my tastes given the modest number of starting chips. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t excite me. Third, I don’t really want to play in the Normandy room for a third consecutive tournament if I can avoid it.

Instead, I’ll run an errand, knock a couple of eating items off my Las Vegas to do list, and then I’m thinking I head over to Fremont Street to check it out since I’ve never seen it.

The errand is I want to get the rest of my buy-in money. I did not bring all of it in my backpack on my flight to Las Vegas. The rest of my WSOP poker bankroll is in a bank account I have with Bank of America, which has branches both near my hometown and in Las Vegas. Last year the Las Vegas branch I went to was mass chaos. The lines were long and the tellers were having all kinds of trouble meeting the needs of their customers. So, this year I go to a different branch. There is no line and the bank teller is highly competent. I am in and out in no time.

As I get in my car, I get a call from one of my office building tenants whose air conditioning is not working. I call the heating and air company we use and ask them to fix it.

Then, Mrs. rppoker texts me. She is planning to re-do the countertops in our kitchen. She sends me a picture of a sample. I tell her it looks good. Then Mrs. rppoker sends out a family group text of the same photo, and this leads to a barrage of texts and opinions from family members. If I were playing in a tournament right now, this would be annoying.

I drive my car rental back to my hotel, the valet parks it, and I take my newly acquired cash and put it in my room safe. When it is time to head back downstairs, there is an elevator bay on my floor where the door is open but there are no lights on inside. It looks like either a haunted elevator or a broken elevator that is likely to plunge 38 floors to a fiery crash. I’m not getting on that thing. I push the button and a different elevator arrives. I have sniffed out trouble.

OK, time to eat. I can’t do a Las Vegas trip without at least one outing to Earl of Sandwich. Eating at expensive restaurants like I did at the start of this trip is well and good, but I am just as happy if not more so eating at basic restaurants. My eating preferences are not very sophisticated. Back home give me a trip to Taco Bell or order a pizza from Domino’s and I think life is good.

The closest Earl of Sandwich to my hotel is at Planet Hollywood. It’s a relatively short walk by Las Vegas strip standards, but it’s still a pretty good walk. Last year when I was battling leg problems, there was no way I could walk that far. Today, I decide to walk there. It’s 93 degrees, but I like the heat. Am I up to the task? I am. I get there with no problems.

The Earl of Sandwich is like 100 feet from the Planet Hollywood entrance I take. Last year when I went to this Earl of Sandwich, I must have entered somewhere else and I had a difficult time finding it. I get in line and just before it is my turn to order I notice that at the soda fountain machine, a piece of paper is partially covering the Dr Pepper logo.

My turn to order comes, and the first thing I ask is, “Is the Dr Pepper machine not working.”

The order taker says, “Unfortunately, it is out of order.”

Well, once again I have sniffed out trouble, but very disappointed. Then the order taker who delivered me the bad news salvages the day by saying, “Dr Pepper is my favorite drink, too.”

OK, I forgive her.

I order the only sandwich I can even consider, which is the original 1762, which is sandwich perfection to me. It is a sandwich with roast beef, cheddar and horseradish sauce. I also get a cup of water. The sandwich is ready in like two minutes, which is way faster than usual. It is delicious as always.

As long as I am in Planet Hollywood, I decide I will go to a specific restaurant in the property. I have read about the Strip House having a 24-layer chocolate cake. A slice of this sounds to die for (or it may kill me). Let’s find out. I get there, and the doors are locked. I look around to see what hours they are open, but I can’t find anything. Someone opens the door and I ask if they are open. She says they are not and don’t open until 5:00 pm. It is only 2:00 pm, so I am out of luck. No cake for me.

About this time, Mrs. rppoker asks if I can Facetime. I know where this is leading, and it won’t be fun, but of course I say yes. She gets me on Facetime and she shows me the same sample of the countertop tile she previously sent me. She says she is with the interior decorator she is using. She asks me my opinion.

I say, “You already sent me a picture of it, I said I like it.”

Mrs. rppoker asks me how I’ll feel if she chooses this color and design.

I say, “I really don’t care. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me.”

Mrs. rppoker asks the same question, but she rewords it.

I repeat myself and say, “I really don’t care. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me.”

The thing you have to know about Mrs. rppoker is she is highly allergic to making any final decision on pretty much everything.

Once again, she asks the same question, but in a different way.

And once again I repeat myself and I say, “I really don’t care. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me.”

Mrs. rppoker is flummoxed, and she says, “I just want it to pop.”

I say, “Does the interior decorator think it will pop?”

Mrs rppoker says, “Yes, he does.”

I say, “OK then, if the interior decorator says it will pop, then it will pop!”

This seems to make Mrs. rppoker happy, and she lets me go.

I am now ready to leave Planet Hollywood. I start walking back to my hotel because I want a Dr Pepper from my room since I got rebuffed at the Earl of Sandwich. As I am nearing my hotel, there are howling winds. Really powerful. Plus, I look up and there are dark, ominous clouds rolling in fast.

I look on my weather app to see what is about to happen (look at me, using another app as I battle to stay up with the times). In big bold letters, the weather app says Las Vegas is on Flood Watch. Heavy rains are expected. The weather app also says the winds may get as powerful as 29 mph.

OK, OK I can take a hint.

I got rebuffed for Dr Pepper. I got rebuffed for 24-layer chocolate cake. And now the uncooperative, threatening weather is rebuffing my plan to check out Fremont Street. Maybe it’s time to just kick back for a bit in my hotel room.

Sometimes when the cards you are dealt are bad, you just have to fold.

When the counters come, make sure to point out that, "it didn't look like that on my phone."

Thanks for the TR!

for the trip report of course!

great write ups. I don't take my book to the pool anymore. I just read this instead. thanks.

2025 WSOP: Tuesday, June 3, 2025 (Part 2 of 4)
I’m not earning Dad of the Year points today … Mrs. rppoker wants to talk kitchen countertops yet again … dinner at Nellie’s Southern Chicken where conventioneers are ready to party

Speaking of having to deal with things going badly …

My youngest daughter is 26 years old. When she used to live at home, whenever she’d see a bug, she would 1) completely freak out, and 2) make me immediately kill said bug no matter what else I was doing at the time.

Now she has her own apartment, and she just sent me three texts rapid fire:

Text 1: “Just had to kill a bug.”

Text 2: “Not a good day.”

Text 3: “Really I should have asked you to fly back from Vegas and come kill it for me.”

I get a kick out of this and text her: “That is a ‘you’ problem.” Dad joke. Right up there with me telling my kids, “The complaint department is closed.” They hate it when I say that.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a variety of “me” problems in Las Vegas. I am feeling lethargic. My night is free, but I don’t feel like doing much of anything. If oriole-lion were around I’d meet up with him again, but he has headed back home. I feel plain lazy. Don’t want to cab it anywhere. Don’t even want to put in the effort to make a reservation. I decide on the path of least resistance. I am staying at the Signature, which doesn’t have much in the way of restaurants, but it is connected to the MGM Grand. I can walk to the MGM Grand with a roof overhead the entire way, so I don’t have to deal with the bad weather outside. The MGM Grand has a ton of restaurants. I figure I can be a walk-in at the lower-to-medium end restaurants since I am a singleton who can sit and eat at the bar. If that doesn’t work out, I can go to the MGM Food Court and eat some sort of fast food.

First, I call Mrs. rppoker to check in. She of course wants to talk more about the new kitchen countertop choice. I know she is going to pick the one she showed me earlier, but she is nervous as usual to make a final decision. Then the subject turns to the possible new paint color choices, and she says something more about countertops. And then more possible decisions. Blah, blah, blah. I try my best to sound interested. I try my best to keep up my end of the conversation. But the truth is, she could paint the walls neon purple and it really wouldn’t matter to me. I do not say this, of course.

My mind goes to the scene in the movie Moneyball where the owner of the Boston Red Sox is trying to hire Billy Beane away from the Oakland Athletics. They are making small talk and the Red Sox owner says it is his assistant’s birthday and he doesn’t know what to get her. He asks Beane for an idea, and Beane suggests a scarf. The Red Sox owner asks where he can get that, and Beane says, “No disrespect, I just lost in five for the second year in a row. Get her a bowling ball for all I care.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjf1O4jM...

The temptation is to channel this and say to Mrs. rppoker, “No disrespect, I just ran kings into aces for heaps yesterday. Paint the walls neon purple for all I care.” I do not say this, of course.

Once the call is finished, I head over to the MGM Grand. I bring a book with me to read. I see Nellie’s Southern Chicken, and I figure I’ll give it a shot. I order the chicken and dumplins.

The restaurant is overrun by attendees of an AI conference that appears to be going on in the MGM Grand. I think to myself, no one is talking hand histories in this group of people.

golddog and TonySoprano9, thanks for the comments. It's motivating to know that people are reading the trip report.

sorry if I haven't been commenting - reading all of it and enjoying.

Thanks. Music to my ears. Or is it eyes in this format? As long as people enjoy them, I'll keep writing trip reports.

2025 WSOP: Tuesday, June 3, 2025 (Part 3 of 4)
Poker self-doubts … a WSOP complaint/suggestion …. my chicken and dumplins are awesome

As I wait for my chicken and dumplins, this is the time that I thought I’d be opening up the book I brought with me, but I never do. Instead, I am thinking about the two tournaments I have played in so far at WSOP 2025. While I have implemented some changes in my game from a year ago as a result of the studying I have done over the past 12 months, I am not battling for pots as ferociously and relentlessly as the most aggressive players at the tables. I have widened my playable range some. I have downsized my bet sizing some. But I am not going after every spot I see. For example, Q-J suited facing an opening bet preflop from a very aggressive player, I am pretty sure I am supposed to 3-bet, but instead I folded. I think that is a hand I should play back at my opponent. I struggle to pull the trigger on the bottom end of what should be my GTO range.

In my defense, after the KK vs AA vs QQ debacle left me short with only 6 big blinds, I did go all-in as the first player to act with A-10 suited. I believe that is the GTO approved play. I busted out when I ran into 10-10, but that’s not the point. The point is I believe it was the right play. A year ago, I think I might have viewed that hand as just outside of playable range and folded.

I am having self-doubts. Was I deluding myself into thinking the amount of time I studied this past year could make a difference? The problem is I have almost zero volume playing at the tables with the new style of play I have been studying. I am all study, almost no practical experience. As a result, while it is one thing to recognize a spot, it is an altogether different thing to pull the trigger on a spot. I feel like in the moment I lose my nerve to play this higher variance style.

A couple of things, however, regarding the most aggressive player at the table. Yes, he was very aggressive, but every time he got to showdown, he had strong starting cards. He wasn’t showing down J-6 off suit for fourth pair when he had to turn his cards over. I have no doubt he was bluffing plenty, but I also think he was getting hit by the deck.

Was he super aggressive as his typical playing style, or was he super aggressive because he has been hit hard by the deck and now had plenty of bluffing chips? I don’t have the volume at the tables to be able to effectively deduce the answer to this question.

One thing that I think will work in my favor is the upcoming Colossus starts players out with 50,000 chips, which is much more than I started with in my first two tournaments. I think that this, a) fits my more patient style better, and b) will allow me to have the confidence to make some moves knowing that if they go awry, I’ll still have plenty of chips. For me, when you start with only 25,000 or 30,000 chips and you have a couple of moves go wrong, I start to feel handcuffed.

My other dilemma is when I have hands like 8-9 suited or Q-J suited. If I get to be first to enter the pot, then I think I am fine doing so. What I’m not comfortable with is 3-betting with these holdings. And I know that just calling is not great, because by doing so I am capping my range.

Here is where I think I am at the moment. I feel like I have a better understanding of the game than I did a year ago. But am I fooling myself thinking I can put this new information to proper use given my lack of volume at the tables? Am I an example of the saying, “A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing” – to yourself.

As I am having these somber thoughts of self-reflection, the AI coventioneers are really whooping it up. It is a very different sound than I hear at the WSOP. This is boisterous camaraderie. It is the enthusiastic roar of banter that is in stark contrast to pretty quiet poker tables and the drone of chip riffling. The AI people are drinking, eating, laughing. It’s a pleasant diversion from the serious hyperfocus at the poker table.

This gets me thinking. When I used to cover Super Bowls, there were massive parties all over town. I get that poker sponsors have pretty much dried up, but why doesn’t the WSOP have some parties for the players? Not just the superstars. For all of the players. Consider all of the money the WSOP is squeezing out of the long summer series. Is it asking too much for them to do something for the players. I’m not suggesting a massive shindig. I’m talking soft drinks, bar food and some music.

The WSOP response would undoubtedly be, “The complaint department is closed.”

My kids are right, it is annoying to get that response.

My dinner arrives. I ordered the chicken and dumplins. It is quite delicious. It is rich in taste. The broth is an explosion for the taste buds, while the chicken and dumplins complement each other very nicely. Give it an 8/10. It’s not something that will be an every-year staple of my WSOPs, but it is worth it as a place that is close to where I stay that I can get seated without a reservation.

there are so many reports to catch up on right now. I’m sure there are lots of people reading yours…I think because they’re so well written and in the past…maybe they are more difficult to find an easy comment for, but they’re great and I think we all appreciate the effort

I think flatting big suited broadways in position can be good. Yes, your range is capped in the sense that you probably can't have AA or KK, but that doesn't mean you are automatically BBQ on a big flop like AKT (which we can see would give QJ the nuts). The thing about aggression is that it shouldn't be for the sake of aggression, but with a purpose. I don't like to 3-bet medium showdown hands like KTs or QJs where you are building a huge pot with cards that make a lot of second best hands. When facing strength, I think these hands want to see cheap flops and proceed from there. They strike me as good flatting candidates in favorable seats like the CO and BTN. I'm also inclined to flat them out of the blinds rather than build a big pot to play out of position. For semi-bluffs I would recommend lower parts of the range like K6s or A5s where you know you are well behind, but still have strong flop possibilities. Position and player reads are huge variables. Taking flops in position gives you a lot more flexibility.

I've learned in the last year that 89 suited is specifically a bit of a danger hand because when you get the dream JTQ runout you are now stone dead to AK, which people are nearly never folding pre-flop. 89 isn't an obligate call against an open, nor an obligate three bet. I wouldn't feel too bad about passing on that one most of the time, though again it's all situational. I suspect pros may prefer 56 and 67 for the wheel interaction. You lose marginal high card value vs. stuff like 55 and 66, but you are occasionally in phenomenal position vs. the trendy suited ace-rag range in the infrequent, but non-zero runouts where it comes something like 345 on the flop. Basically, making straights with 89 is dangerous whereas not so much with objectively weaker hands like 56 and 67. Those hands may be better bluff candidates.

You are asking WSOP attendees to spend even MORE time stuck hanging out with other poker players? That is cruel and unusual punishment.

I think I'm only half joking.

I recall NAPT and/or WPT doing things like this in recent years, throwing a big social event off-strip for anyone who registered one of their events. Free shuttles and entertainment. I did not attend, but the vibe I got from socials it is that it was a lot of work for maybe a not so great turnout and experience. It also costs money, and we know how Caesars feels about spending more than the bare minimum.

That's not to say I think it's a bad idea, but there are some hurdles.

To some extent the WSOP itself is the party because when you walk around Horseshoe and Paris you cannot help but see poker players everywhere, whether you are in the hallways, restaurants, bathrooms, bars, or food courts.

Knowing what to do with the bottom of my range is the most difficult aspect of the game for me right now. I know I need to play a bit more hands than I currently do, but the biggest hurdle/flaw in my "just play in the WSOP and maybe a few other tournaments on vacation" approach is I just don't put the volume in to see through trial and error what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately, putting in more volume throughout the year doesn't fit my family-oriented lifestyle given the utter lack of tournaments at the geographically friendly casinos where I live. What I am currently doing right now in WSOP play seems to be working fairly well for me, but I know that volume is the answer to me being able to make a jump in quality of my play as well as results.

Right now, however, large volume doesn't fit my life and business choices. It's tempting to want to do what it takes to get better, but I think my current formula fits me best.

Definitely following (actually I'm following pretty much all the TRs here and living vicariously through them). Eg, Pardo G's tourney bink. Rooting for all the 2+2ers unless you come up against TonySoprano in which case sorry, but gotta root for Tony 😀

Keep writing. We're reading.

2025 WSOP: Tuesday, June 3, 2025 (Part 4 of 4)
I’m getting a good dessert or I’ll die trying … I meet a guy I name The Need For Speed … I decide I need to channel Great Grandpa

Next stop, dessert. I failed in my attempt to get a piece of 24-layer chocolate cake earlier today, but now I have my sights set on a different decadent dessert that is a staple of my WSOP trips. The banana cream pie at Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House which is just down the hall from where I have just completed my dinner. I had it last year and loved it, so it is time to revisit this excessive dessert. I get seated at the bar, and I order my piece of pie.

My piece of pie is brought to me, and after I have taken a couple bites, the guy sitting next to me at the bar – who I heard order the same thing when he placed his entire dinner order moments ago – asks me how it is.

I say, “It’s delicious. You’ll find out for yourself in about 30 minutes.”

We get talking and I find out that he is the owner of a cosmetics company, but his passion is fast cars and motorcycles. Or as he puts it, “I love anything that goes fast enough that I can get hurt driving it.” So, we’ll call him The Need For Speed.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vSbLy6N66...

The reason he is in Las Vegas is he recently bought a new Corvette. As part of the purchase, the dealership sends anyone who buys these kinds of cars to high performance driving school in Las Vegas. That’s why The Need For Speed is here.

He describes the two days of classroom learning and on-track driving as intense and exhausting. The teacher apparently had a top five finish once at the Daytona 500. At one point The Need For Speed spun his car out of control into a gravel area and got a lecture from the teacher. I ask The Need For Speed how fast he drove, and he says he topped out at 130 mph.

Now comes the point in the story that ties in to my poker journey. Yes, there is a point. I promise. You’ve gotten this far in the story so you might as well see it through.

The Need For Speed, who I peg as being in his mid 50s, tells the story of one of his classmates at this driving school. It is an OMC who is much, much older than everyone else in the class. We’ll call him Great Grandpa, and he is in his late 70s minimum. The Need For Speed took one look at him at the very beginning of the first day of class, sized him up, and was certain this will be the slowest driver in the group. Slowest by a lot.

After some classroom time on Day 1, it was time to get out on the race course. The Need For Speed zipped around the course and was feeling pleased with himself. Other members of the group took their turns. Finally, it was Great Grandpa’s turn. He went out on the course and was greased lightening. His time was faster than everyone else’s … faster by a ton.

So that’s my take away from the story. I need to channel Great Grandpa. Old guys can fool you. Maybe Gray-haired poker can do the same. This is not the time to give in to timid insecurities. It’s not much of a plan, but given the nagging self-doubts I was feeling at dinner, it’s the best I can come up with.