Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

Tomorrow I start telling the story of me against the Colossus. As befits its name, the field in the Colossus is expected to be enormous.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 1 of 12)
Inspiration from the movie Draft Day (starring Kevin Costner)

I once again fall asleep on the couch of my hotel room. I wake up at 3:15 a.m. and for some reason I have an epiphany. If you recall, I was having some self-doubts about how I was playing, or more to the point how I was not playing. I was not taking some of the thin but profitable spots that GTO calls for doing. At the end of the day, I was feeling bad and questioning whether I was deluding myself as to how much my studying over the past year could be beneficial.

When I wake up on the couch my epiphany is a scene from the movie Draft Day, in which the Kevin Costner character is the General Manager of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. He has just selected a player named Vontae Mack that everyone in the scouting department feels is a reach over what the others perceive to be more of a sure thing. While everyone else is freaking out, Costner pulls a small piece of paper out of his pocket, which reads, “Vontae Mack, no matter what.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDRv9Eqn...

This leads me to write something down on a small piece of paper that I will carry with me in Day 1A of the Colossus. The piece of paper reads, “Just have fun, no matter what.”

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 2 of 12)
I mistakenly think I have overslept … an interesting take on what constitutes being a veteran dealer at the WSOP

The next time I wake up, this time in bed, I see that it is light outside. My alarm has not gone off. My first instinct is that I have overslept since I never wake up without the aid of my cell phone alarm. It turns out it is only 5:45 a.m. I go back to sleep.

Eventually my alarm goes off. I wake up and get ready. Shower, shave, pack a lunch, etc. Eventually I check my phone and see on the WSOP+ app that I am playing in the Horseshoe ballroom today. I get to my table with five minutes to spare. In past years at the WSOP I would arrive much earlier. But now I understand how long everything takes, and I am comfortable arriving closer to the shuffle up and deal.

At my table, there is a player I will call Splash the Pot, because that is what he does every time he makes a bet. Splash the Pot asks our dealer, “Is this your first day dealing?” The dealer beams with pride and says, “Second.” Apparently surviving a first day dealing at the WSOP and making it to a second day means she is a veteran in her world. Given how many dealers I have already seen that clearly were dealing for their first time ever, perhaps our dealer is correct.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 3 of 12)
I start out active … a near misdeal results in Canada getting K-K … I open with A-5 and get blasted out of the hand pre flop

Level 1 (50,000 chips)
100/200/200

Once cards are in the air, there are only four players at our table. I start out pretty active.

On the first hand I am dealt A-8 off suit. I bet 400 and take down the pot. I get dealt K-10, I bet 400 and take down the pot. I am dealt Ad-5d suited. I bet 400 and a guy from Canada* calls. The flop is 2-8-J, no diamonds. I continuation bet and win the pot.

(* -- Just an aside. The player we’ll call Canada is from Calgary but used to live in Edmonton. At one point early in the day he says he hopes that during dinner break he’ll be able to watch the third period of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup between his team the Edmonton Oilers against the Florida Panthers. I think at the time that this is confident to be that convinced he will make the dinner break. Also, later when I am back at my hotel working on this day’s trip report draft, when I get to this point it makes me think to check if the game is still on. Turns out it is in overtime, leading me to turn on the TV for the first time so far this trip).

When I am in the small blind, a young lady from Belarus bets 600. I have A-6 off suit, it’s only four-handed so I pop it to 1,800. Belarus calls. The flop is K-7-2 rainbow. It completely misses me, but I was the more aggressive player preflop so I continuation bet 40% pot, and Belarus folds.

Belarus, by the way, is a nonstop chip riffler. Plus, she does it with a lot of chips and at extremely fast speed. At no time throughout the day does she stop riffling her chips. It is as nonstop and necessary as breathing for her.

After the dealer thinks she has dealt everyone in, Canada says to her that she has only dealt him one card. She gives him a second card. Canada has pocket kings and wins a big pot that goes all the way to showdown.

After the hand I say to Canada, “I guess you liked that second card.”

Canada says, “It was worth the wait.”

In contrast to Belarus who riffles tons of chips, I notice that a player with a toy camel for a card protector is trying to riffle chips. He is riffling (if you can call it that) a grand total of … 2 chips.

A fifth player joins the table. I am on the button with Kh-7h. Splash the Pot limps. I also limp. The big blind checks their option. The flop is J-10-2 two clubs. Splash the Pot bets, and I fold.

I am dealt A-5 off suit. I open from middle position, and win the pot.

I get dealt A-5 again. I open to 600. Splash the Pot raises to 2,700. Canada pops it to 7,500. Too much firepower for my A-5. I have brought a knife to a gun fight. I fold as does Splash the Pot.

When I am in the small blind I have A-Q off suit. Splash the Pot opens to 400. Belarus calls. I pop it to 1,700. I get called by both players. The flop is 2-3-9 rainbow. I check, Splash the Pot bets really big. I fold.

The level ends and I have played a whole lot of hands to end up pretty much exactly where I started. It is like the 2019 movie John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum, where the Elder says to Wick, “Never seen a man fight so hard to end up back where he started.”

End of Level 1: 50,100 chips.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 4 of 12)
Splash the Pot is playing in an unsustainable manner … I make some very nitty folds … Q-Q shrinks in value … break announcement seems to assume the field has kindergarten level bathroom habits

Level 2
200/300/300

Splash the Pot has become all gas, no breaks. He is either going to bust out early or build a big stack. I desperately want to get in a hand with him when I have “it.”

Splash opens up five times the big blind for 1,500. The size of the bet is strange. I have K-J in the big blind. Against a normal sized bet I’d call. But this is the first time the aggressive Splash the Pot has bet so large. My gut says he has it, and if he has it there’s a good chance I can be dominated by A-K or A-J. I fold. Maybe this was a nitty mistake, but I listened to my instincts, rightly or wrongly.

Another player arrives, and now we are six-handed

I am dealt 7s-7c. I bet 900. Camel (the guy with the toy camel card protector) raises to 2,700. I call. The flop is Kh-10h-4h. I have third pair and no hearts. I check, Camel bets, and I fold.

Seat 6 has had his chips in play since the shuffle up and deal, but he only shows up now to bring us to seven-handed, fairly deep into level 2. Thus, we’ll call him Late. I have previously looked him up on the WSOP+ app, and I see that he has already cashed twice this early into WSOP 2025. He may not be the ideal opponent to be sitting two to my left.

Late raises the first hand he plays and takes it down. He also wins the third hand since he arrived, this time winning the hand post flop with no showdown. Too soon to be sure, but his very initial play coupled with his two early cashes makes me suspect he is going to be an active, aggressive player.

I am dealt Ah-8d in the big blind. Belarus bets from the button, and I call. The flop is 8-7-2 two clubs. This is close to as good as I could hope for, and I bet 1,200. Belarus insta raises to 4,200. She is showing a lot of strength. Thus far in the early stages of the tournament she has always had it when she has reached showdown. She has not gotten out of line once that I have seen when she gets to showdown. I sense that she has an over pair to my eights. I fold. Maybe this is too nitty. Maybe I should have called this bet and seen whether she slowed down on the turn. But my read is I am beat.

I am dealt A-Q offsuit, I bet 900 and win the pot

End of level 2: 44,000 chips.

Level 3
200/400/400

I get dealt Qs-Qd and I bet 1,200, which gets called by Late. The flop brings three hearts. I didn’t write down what the cards were other than three hearts. I open with a small bet, and Late raises to 5,000. My hand is too strong to fold to a single bet. I call. The turn does not help me. I check. Late bets fairly large. My Q-Q has shrunk in strength. I fold.

Am I making smart, disciplined folds in this tournament thus far, or am I showing too much weakness? Hard to say without knowing what my opponents had. But I am starting to think I need to play back at people some of the time, or else the table is going to really punish me.

The 9 seat gets filled, and now we are 8-handed. The player who fills the 9 seat immediately announces, “I’m a chit-chatter.” In fact, he is an almost non-stop talker. Soon after, the other side of the table is complaining about Ohio State. As an avid Michigan fan, I am happy to jump into the conversation. I identify myself as a Michigan Wolverine alum. Chit-chatter then says, “You look like a Wolverine.” The table finds this funny and absurd all at the same time. “What the heck does a Wolverine fan look like?” someone says.

Around this time, I give myself a pep talk. I am down to 38,000 chips, but that is still 95 big blinds. I am a long way from the danger zone. Meanwhile, as expected, Splash the Pot has crashed out of the tournament by massively overplaying mediocre holdings. Once Splash the Pot has left the table, I say to the player to my right who is from California, “You just knew he was going to blast off all of his chips.” California says, “It was just a matter of when and to whom.”

Chit-chatter claims he has cashed in 11 of the 19 WSOP tournaments he has played in his lifetime. Much later that night when I am in my hotel room, I look him up on Hendon Mob since I was able to look up his name at the time on WSOP+. Hendon Mob credits him with a total of five WSOP cashes and seven cashes in tournaments of any kind dating back to the year 2010.

Even though I am wearing my hoodie, I am freezing. California, meanwhile, is only wearing a short-sleeve shirt and says he is comfortable. He says he played in the Paris Ballroom yesterday, and he was absolutely freezing there. He says that today at the Horseshoe is comfy by comparison. That may be, but I am still really cold.

Most of this level I have been card dead.

It is announced that we are now going to break, and the announcement concludes with, “Players, if you go to the bathroom, please wash your hands.”

End of Level 3: 36,300 chips.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 5 of 12)
I disappoint myself by limping pre flop with a hand that GTO says I should have put more chips in the middle … I open from the button with A-8 and the flop smashes the range of the SB and BB

Level 4
300/500/500

Chit-chatter adds a new element to his nonstop patter. Every bet he makes and many of the bets other people make, he announces an athlete who has that jersey number. For example, a bet of 2,200 chips is named Emmitt Smith (Former Dallas Cowboys all-time great).

On a board that is Q-7-J-9-8 Late makes a large bet on the river. Chit-chatter calls with A-A, but loses to Late’s straight (J-10). Chit-chatter is annoyed that he made the call, but it doesn’t slow down his talking.

A new player is now seated to my immediate left. Slightly late reg. Since he did so at this time, we’ll call him Level 4. I am in the small blind and look down at 8-8. I open to 1,600. Level 4 is in the big blind, and he pops it to 5,600. This is his first hand at the table, so it is impossible to know what to make of this. I call. The flop is K-10-2. I check, he bets. I fold.

End of Level 4: 28,100 chips.

Level 5
300/600/600

It folds to me in the small blind, and I have 10h-Jh. I choose to limp. My rationale at the time is that while this hand will be behind some of the hands the big blind might have, my hand has the potential to flop very well. So, I decided to go the low variance route, and assess after the flop. I think this was a mistake. This is the kind of hand that I need to be raising with. This is a spot my studying says I should be taking. I was annoyed with myself the second I just called. The big blind just checked, and we go to a flop, which is K-8-2. I’ve got nothing. I check, the big blind bets, and I fold. If I raised preflop, there is a good chance I simply take it down right then and there. I am disappointed in myself.

The next hand I play is A-K suited. It folds to California to my immediate right. He bets 1,300. I raise it to 4,000, and California folds.

When I am on the button, it folds to me and I have A-8. I open to 1,800. Both the small blind and big blind call. The flop is 4-5-6 rainbow. This hits the range of the small blind and big blind way more than me. The big blind bets, and I fold.

End of Level 5: 25,800 chips

Finally catching up on this one, while on the way home from Vegas. Great stuff, sorry we couldn't meet up last week before you left.

The full house bustout from Mystery was not ideal; as soon as you get raised on that board your hand becomes a bluff catcher and is a pure call.

But we all make boneheaded plays sometimes and learn from it. Looking forward to read about the rest of your trip. Your writing style and details make me jealous!

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 6 of 12)
Quads on the board … my A-J open gets 3- and 4-bet … winning a pot with 9 high

Level 6
400/800/800

There is a hand I am not in that has quads on the board in my favorite number. I think to myself, maybe this is a sign that luck is headed my way. I don’t actually believe in lucky charms or lucky beliefs at the poker table, but I was simply trying to amuse myself.

I am dealt A-J off suit from UTG. I bet 2,000. Camel pops it to 6,000, which is callable. But Belarus goes all-in, which is not callable. I fold, and Camel calls. Camel has 3-3, which is surprising. Belarus has K-K, which is not surprising at all. This is a trend that existed this entire tournament in which when I do get a premium hand (and there weren’t many) it consistently runs into a much bigger hand. Combine that with being very card dead for very long stretches other than the first level and a half, and it was a battle to stay patient on this first bullet.

I am in the big blind with 9-7 off suit. It folds to the small blind who just calls. I check. The flop is K-10-2 two clubs. It goes check check. The turn is the 7c. Club draws just got there. I don’t have a club in my hand, but the small blind does not know this. I decide to rep the flush. I bet, and the small blind folds.

I am dealt 6d-6s in the small blind. The button raises, and I call as does the big blind. I can’t read my writing but I believe there were two over cards with two hearts. It goes check, check, check. The turn brings a third heart. I check, the big blind bets and I fold.

End of Level 6: 20,600 chips.

We go on a break. I write down in my notes: “Just a sea of mostly unplayable cards. And when I do get dealt something playable, I run into ‘it’ and/or miss the flop.” I spend the rest of my break at the Horseshoe Events Center taking pictures for the trip report.

Wondering how you're taking notes. You've mentioned not being able to read them. Do you carry your old reporter's notebook and a pen?

If so, get the fedora and press card.

Old school. A notebook and pen.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 7 of 12)
Deciding to get aggressive to double up or be able to re-enter with a lot more chips than I currently have … I get lucky … I get dealt Q-Q but the flop is brutal

Level 7
500/1,000/1,000

I have just a shade under 21 big blinds. On the one hand, there is still time. I’m not in the danger zone yet, but I’m getting there. If I get knocked out, I can re-enter for a much healthier 50,000 chips than what I currently have. I decide that if the opportunity presents itself, I should embrace variance and either double to something manageable or bust and I can then rebuy.

My chips dwindle some more from the blinds.

I get dealt K-J. It’s not a premium, but I have been dealt very few hands this good. I decide to go for it and go all in. Unfortunately, Level 4 to my immediate left wakes up with Q-Q. Level 4 has a very big chip stack. I flop a K, and I win the hand. Level 4 is extremely agitated that he lost the hand even though it doesn’t make that big a dent in his chip stack. But I get it. I say nothing and just stack my new chips, but I am thinking that Level 4 needs better control of his emotions. By the way, remember when I mentioned the quads hand a bit ago that were all my lucky number, and I jokingly/not seriously said maybe this is a sign of some luck coming my way. Is it possible there is something to this after all? Kidding.

The next hand I get dealt Q-Q. Maybe this is the start of a rush. Canada opens for 2,000. I raise to 6,000. Canada calls. The flop is a brutal A-K-7. I know if I just check, Canada will bet and I pretty much have to fold. I instead figure the only chance I have to win the hand is to bet, so I put out 10,000 chips. Not the least bit intimidated by my 10,000 chip bet, Canada goes all-in, and I feel I have no choice but to fold. I later run into Canada, and he tells me that he had A-J. This is the second time today that I have been dealt Q-Q, and both times the flops were horrendous for me.

I get dealt A-Q in the small blind. I go all-in. Level 4 tank folds. I have 26,200 chips.

A new player joins the table. This is the first time all day we get to 9-handed play.

End of Level 7: 23,200 chips.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 8 of 12)
Wondering who the best-looking player at the table is … I get asked if I wanted a call … I think I misplay K-Q suited but it saved me if we want to be results oriented

Level 8
600/1,200/1,200

Belarus goes bust. Now that the only female at the table has been eliminated, Chit-Chat says, “Now I’m the second best-looking person at the table.”

I am in the big blind with A-10. There are two limpers. I go all-in and both limpers fold. Chit-chat asks me, “Did you want a call?” I respond, “It depends on what they had.”

Our table breaks. The two best players at the table have been the two players to my immediate left, so I won’t miss having to deal with them. As a whole, the four players to my left loved to see flops and were not quick to fold post flop.

We are told that our new table assignments can be found on WSOP+, but for some reason I keep getting an error message, so the floor tells me what table and seat to go to, and the dealer will be able to check me in with my ID.

When I get to my new table (still in the Horseshoe Ballroom) something is very, very obvious. There are tons more chips at this table than my old table. There are two massive, mountainous chip stacks to my immediate left. Several other players have heaps as well. This has obviously been an action table.

End of Level 8: 25,400 chips.

I am in the big blind, and I look down at Kd-Qd. The button bets 5,000. The small blind calls. I strongly consider going all-in, but I choose to just call. My thinking was if I hit the flop I suspect I can get all-in and called by one of them. I really struggled with this decision. In real time after I called, I am thinking to myself that it was a mistake not to go all-in. The flop is 6-4-3 two clubs. I don’t have clubs, and I only have K high, so when the preflop aggressor bets I fold. It turns out that the small blind was slow playing A-A. While it may have been a mistake to just call preflop with K-Q suited, that mistake (if it was one) just saved my tournament life. I have 18,000 chips.

I am UTG+1. I have A-6 off suit. I fully intend to go all-in. Unfortunately, UTG (who has twice as many chips as me) goes all-in. I fold. The all-in gets through. I tell UTG that he stole my all-in. He claims to have had a big ace. If true, it’s good I folded.

End of Level 9: 14,000 chips.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 9 of 12)
On break, a player from a former table helps me out and also gives me some piece of mind … I tell myself it’s time to let it rip given my paltry chip stack … no playable cards … I finally get it all-in with the bottom of my range

We go on break. My WSOP+ app is still not working. I run into California from my previous table, and I ask him if he can take a look at my phone to see if he knows what is wrong. He quickly determines that I got kicked off wifi for some reason. He is able to fix it with ease. It is then that he tells me that he had A-J on an A-K-7 board in which I bet, he went all-in, and I then folded. I am pleased that I made the proper fold with my Q-Q.

I look up the chip stacks of the players at my new table, and it turns out that the table chip leader has 420,000 chips, which is good for second place overall at the moment.

My game plan when I return to the table is simple. I need to let it rip and either run it up, or go mercifully bust at which time I can re-enter for way more chips than I currently have. I am currently in 1,258th place out of 1,268 players currently in the field according to the WSOP+ app. Is this bad? Kidding.

Now seems as good a time as any to drink the Dr. Pepper that I have in my backpack in a pouch with ice packs surrounding it.

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

I am looking for any excuse to get my chips in the middle. Unfortunately, an orbit passes in which my cards are 2-7, 2-9, 4-8, you get the idea. As low as my standards are, my cards don’t even reach that low bar.

Finally, I am in the small blind with 9,000 chips. It folds to me, and I look down at 7d-8s. It’s not much, but at least it is connected. I go all-in with pretty much zero fold equity. The big blind is second in chips at the table, and he calls my pittance of a bet with 5c-10c. At least my cards are live. I don’t improve, which isn’t a bad thing since I can now re-enter and shoot up to 50,000 chips.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 10 of 12)
Re-entry magic, it’s like I just quadrupled up … I try to push the envelope on my first hand like I see late reg pros do and it ends badly versus the Steamroller … I think I may have missed a GTO spot … I seize a GTO spot and it works

I go on WSOP+, click a few buttons and 30 seconds later I am seated at a new table with 50,000 chips in front of me. It’s like I just quadrupled up. Not to mention, a starting stack is pretty close to the high-water mark of the tournament for me.

I tell myself I need to be aggressive. While yes, I now have 50,000 chips, that’s only 25 big blinds. Last year at the WSOP I would see pros late reg or re-enter very late and really push to either double up or bust and move on to the next tournament. They would push some very thin margins to try to do so. I remember one pro last year joined my table near the end of late reg and declared that he was going all-in with any pair to double up or die, and then he did just that with 3-3.

On my first hand, I am dealt 8-8. It folds to the table chip leader in the small blind. We’ll call her Steamroller for reasons that will be explained later. In any event she is in the small blind and she makes a bet. I figure she is simply playing big stack bully poker, so I raise. She calls. The flop is J-10-10, which isn’t good for my eights but I am repping a huge hand so I bet, and she calls. The turn is a 6. She bets big. OK, OK I can take a hint. I fold. I just lost 20,000 of my chips. That didn’t go the way I had planned.

The next hand, Steamroller flops a set of sevens and wins a huge pot at showdown. The table groans when she shows her set. A player near me says she has been on fire the entire time he has been at the table, as the Steamroller has been smashing flops with relentless frequency.

Soon thereafter I am dealt K-Q suited. UTG bets. UTG+1 raises. In the face of this much early position firepower I suspect that my strong cards are not strong enough and I fold. Not sure if I made the right decision or not. I think it was correct to fold. Not sure.

Then comes a hand I think I am proud of the way I played it. It is a hand where GTO says it is a spot to bet that I would not have done so a year ago, but I did today. I have 8s-9s in early position and I open with a bet of 5,000. The big blind is Steamroller and she calls. The flop is 6-7-A no spades, but I have an open-ended straight draw. I bet, and surprisingly Steamroller folds. I say surprisingly because it has become apparent to me in the time I have been at the table that Steamroller does not like to fold. Probably because over and over she usually “gets there” in the end. I have 37,000 chips.

End of level 10: 32,000 chips.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 11 of 12)
How the Steamroller got her nickname from the table … I ask if I should fold A-A against the Steamroller pre flop

Level 11
1,000/2,500/2,500

Here is where Steamroller gets her nickname. It is a hand I am not involved in. The board shows 8-10-K-A. Steamroller has two pair with 10-K, while her opponent has a set with 8-8. Her opponent is all-in and anticipating the double up. The turn is a K. She has rivered a full house. The player two to my left says, “she’s a steamroller.” I jokingly say to him, “If I am dealt aces and she is in the hand, should I just fold to her preflop?” He says, “Maybe.” The Steamroller has around 500,000 chips.

Next, I get involved in a hand with a guy who, while he has a very good chip stack, I have identified him as the weakest player at the table. I have A-Q suited. I bet. The Weakest Player at the Table calls with 8-9 off suit in one of the blinds. The flop is A-8-5 rainbow. He bets enough to put me all-in, and I call. The turn is a blank. The river is a Q giving me an unneeded two pair. I now have 69,000 chips.

Soon after that the Steamroller has 4-4, is way behind, but rivers a 4 to win yet another huge pot.

I face off against Steamroller again. It folds to her in the small blind, and she just limps. I check with 7s-6s. The flop is 7-K-2 no spades. I have second pair. Steamroller checks, I bet and she folds. It is shocking to see her lose a pot.

End of Level 11: 64,500 chips.

Not to be too negative, but if you had 18,000 chips at 800-1600-1600 (I assume, since previous level was 600-1200-1200), going all-in with A6o from second position would be a very bad shove. There is no need to panic even if you fall down towards (or below) 10 big blinds.

According to SnapShove, the range for pushing from this position with an 11 bb stack is A9s+, also A5s, and AJo+. For pairs, we are looking at 55 and above. I get that you want to be aggressive and not just blind down, but pushing weak hands from early pos with the whole table left to act is not the way to go about it.

I see that you later indeed blinded down to 5 big blinds before making your move, and while that sucks it's still 100% necessary in tournaments sometimes IMO.

Hi BigWhale, first of all you are not being "too negative." You are being constructive. There is a difference, and I appreciate you offering constructive criticism. It is the best way for me to improve.

I consider patience to be one of my strengths at the poker table, but you are correct that the one area of my game that I get too loose is when I am down to 10-12 BBs. That is a time when I am looking hard for an excuse to get my chips in so that I don't blind out. Even being results oriented, I historically do better when I show better patience at this time in a tournament. I just don't always do so. I am guilty of "any ace" too quickly in the 10-12 BB area of a tournament. Someone has brought this to my attention before in this thread. I think it may have been you, although I'm not positive. Regardless of who says it, I believe it to be a very legitimate critique of my play. It's not a mistake I have made with crazy frequency, but it is a leak in my game that springs up from time to time.

The one thing I have been committed to in this entire thread is total honesty in how I play hands. Part of it is the former journalist in me. Most of it is the belief that the thread is only interesting to those who read it if it is fully authentic. While it might be tempting to sugarcoat or alter hand histories to make myself look better, that is not something I am willing to do. This thread is intended to show the journey of a recreational player trying to get better while playing in the top poker series of each year. If I were to lie about how I play hands, I think it would make for a really dull, really impossible to believe trip report. Obviously if my play is horrendous, then no one will want to read no matter how authentic it is. But I'd like to believe I am better than horrendous, and hopefully good enough to be readable.

In the moment, which is the perspective I try to write from, I was really pressing to find hands to play at a time when I still had mild fold equity. As you have pointed out, I almost overdid it -- saved only by the fact that another player beat me to the punch. In all honesty, even after the fact when I was writing and editing this section of the TR, I did not catch the fact that the hand I was ready to go with was not GTO approved. So thank you for bringing that to my attention.

You keep holding a mirror up to my face when my play gets out of line.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1A (June 4, 2025) (Part 12 of 12)
I make a correct read on The Weakest Player of the Table but before I get too excited about it …

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

The Weakest Player at the Table goes all-in for 47,500 chips. It strikes me as an unnecessarily large all-in bet in relation to the blinds, so I put him on less than a premium hand. I surmise that he wouldn’t bet this big with aces, kings or queens since he’d want action. OK, maybe queens.

I have A-Q.

I take my time. I study him. I consider the way he has played up until now. I suppose he might bet A-K this way, but I don’t think so. If he has it, he has it. But I don’t think he has it. And while I realize that A-Q is a hand that people go broke with a lot, I think I am well ahead of his holdings. And while I finally have clawed my way back to a somewhat comfortable chip stack, now is not the time to be a coward. My read is he is doing this light. My instincts tell me this is the time to go for it.

Given my chip stack in relation to his bet, my only choices are to fold or go all-in myself. I go all-in for 64,500 chips. It turns out that The Weakest Player at the Table has A-9. I was right. I WAS RIGHT!!!!! Just one problem. I wasn’t completely right. The player two to my left wakes up with Q-Q, and he goes all-in. It’s a pot in excess of 175,000 chips. I am behind but I still have outs. Unfortunately, The Weakest Player at the Table has one of the aces I need.

I don’t improve, and I’m out of the tournament. Still, I think I made a good read on the original all-in bet. It was just unfortunate that a player still to act had Q-Q. As I’m getting up to leave, I ask the player to my left, who I had developed some rapport with, if he would have made the decision I just made, and he says “Yeah, it was too strong a hand to fold.”

Did I go the high variance route with a premium hand that was as yet an unmade hand? Yes I did, but the way I saw it, at some point you need to manufacture a quality chip stack, and I thought that this was the time to take just such a stand.

Just didn’t work out for me.

Two bullets fired, no target hit on flight 1A of the Colossus.

We now move on to flight 1B of the Colossus.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1B (June 5, 2025) (Part 1 of 15)
I earn a rave review for how I play A-A … I’m surrounded by the table’s two toughest players

My cab driver’s name is the same as a former Michigan Wolverines starting quarterback. As a Michigan football season-ticket holder, I wonder if this is a good sign.

Maybe not. He has absolutely no idea how to get to the Paris Hotel. Multiple times he is about to turn in absolutely the wrong direction, and I have to correct him. I finally just tell him how to get there.

Once inside, I head to the Horseshoe Ballroom and grab a seat on the hallway floor. I return a couple of work phone calls.

Canada from yesterday’s tournament sees me and says hi. We exchange our bust-out hands from yesterday (we did not end the day at the same table). Canada got bounced from the tournament during Level 14 when his Q-J turned trip jacks, but his opponent had A-J for the better kicker.

Before we shuffle up and deal, first a word from our sponsor ...

Level 1 (50,000 chips)
100/200/200

At first there are only two players at the table, and the floor tells the dealer we need to be three-handed to begin play. Very quickly, a third player arrives. One of my opponents is to my immediate left and has a beard like that of NBA star James Harden, and the other has a green duck card protector, so obviously I name them Harden and Ducky in my notes.

On the third hand, Harden opens to 500. Ducky means to raise to 1,600, but he misclicks and puts 6,100 chips into the middle. Harden has A-A and he raises to 24,000. Ducky folds and is clearly annoyed with himself for mistaking a 5,000 chip with a 500 chip.

A player with a Yankees hat arrives, and immediately gets involved in a hand against me. Yankees limps. I have A-A and raise to 700. Yankees calls. The flop is K-6-2 rainbow and it goes check check as I bait the trap. The turn is a 9. He bets, I raise and he calls. The river is a harmless 7. I bet 2,000. Yankees calls. When I show my aces, Yankees says with enthusiasm, “That’s how you play aces. You got paid.” I have 54,500 chips.

A new player joins the table seated to my immediate right. He has a pink shirt so at first I write in my notes that he is Mr. Pink, but it doesn’t take long to identify his playing style and I rename him Relentless Aggression. On the very next hand after I had aces, I am dealt 4-4. Relentless Aggression opens, I call looking to set mine, and two other players also call. I completely whiff the flop that contains three over cards to my fours. Relentless Aggression bets, and I fold. When the hand gets to showdown, Relentless Aggression shows A-K, so obviously at this point I have no inkling how wide he will be playing.

Still five-handed, it folds to me in the small blind, and I have 5c-10c. I call. Harden checks his big blind. The flop is A-J-5 no clubs. I bet and Harden folds.

The next time I am in the small blind I have Q-9 off suit. It folds to me. I limp. Harden raises to 500 from the big blind, and I call. The flop is 9-7-2. I bet one-third pot, and Harden folds.

The next hand I get involved in, Ducky opens to 600. I have Ac-Kd and I pop it to 1,800. Ducky calls. The flop is K-7-3 rainbow. Ducky checks, I bet 2,000 and Ducky folds. I have 56,500 chips.

When I am UTG, I raise with Ah-10h and everyone folds.

I have probably been the most active player this level, but it has been card dependent and not a specific game plan to be overly aggressive.

End of Level 1: 57,000 chips.

Level 2
200/300/300

I am dealt A-K. I bet 800 and get two calls. The flop if 5-6-8. I bet. Harden raises and I fold.

Harden is UTG and opens with a bet. I have 7-7 in the big blind and I just call. The flop is 3-3-3. I bet and Harden calls. The turn is a K. Harden should have a lot of kings as an UTG opener (not to mention bigger pocket pairs than mine), so I check, he bets and I fold. I have 53,000 chips.

At this time, I have seen enough of the table dynamic to make the assessment in my notes that Harden to my immediate left is the best player at the table, and Relentless Aggression to my immediate right is the second-best player at the table. I feel like I am in poker jail sandwiched between the two of them. This is going to be difficult to navigate.

Next, Relentless Aggression limps from the small blind. I have 9-9 in the big blind and I raise and get called. The flop is 9-3-2. It goes check check. The turn is a J. Surprisingly, Relentless Aggression checks. I bet and get called. The river is a 4. Relentless Aggression checks, I decide to make a polarizing bet of almost the pot and I get called. I win the pot. I have 58,700 chips.

We are now 7-handed.

From UTG+2 I open to 800 with 7-7. Harden calls, and we see a flop of A-K-3. I check. Harden bets. I fold.

Harden loses a ton of his chips bluffing 9-9 into Ducky’s A-A on a board of K-Q-7-2-4. Harden doubles up the very next hand. Darn it, I really wanted Harden, the early leader for toughest player at the table, out of the tournament. He is a problem to have to my immediate left.

End of Level 2: 57,100 chips.

Really enjoying this!!

Oh yes, this is very important and I know the feeling. It's almost tempting to sugercoat hand histories in TRs sometimes simply because I feel so embarassed at how I played them, but I (thankfully) can't bring myself to do it. And if anything, getting them out on paper makes it even easier to spot the mistakes made.

Unlucky with AQ on that bullet; that was 100% the correct play. Just bad timing to run into QQ behind.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1B (June 5, 2025) (Part 2 of 15)
The table’s toughest player gets bounced when his bluff runs into a set of 10s, which leads to Relentless Aggression turning up the heat on the table even more than he already was

Level 3
200/400/400

Yankees is the player at the table I have identified as the player I most want to get in hands against. When it is his big blind, I decide to get a little loose, and from early position I open with A-8 off suit. It folds to Yankees and he calls. The flop is 9-K-K. I ask myself how I would play A-K here, and the answer is to let it go check check, which is what happens. I decide I am going to bet any turn card. The turn is an A, which I have in my hand, just not the A-K. OK, let’s find out if Yankees has a K in his hand. He checks, I bet, and he folds.

Soon thereafter, Yankees blasts off either his entire stack or most of his stack (I can’t tell from my notes) unnecessarily with 9-9 against Relentless Aggression’s Q-Q on a board with a 10 and a J on it. Now Relentless Aggression has a ton of chips, which is unfortunate.

A huge hand develops between Relentless Aggression and a new player at the table who showed up carrying a man purse. Man Purse is all-in with a flush draw on the flop versus Relentless Aggression’s K-K. Man Purse turns the nut flush and wins the hand. Good, I think, I don’t want Relentless Aggression to have oodles of chips (he is now down to about 30,000 chips). What is interesting is if Man Purse misses his flush draw, he is out of the tournament. Instead, he will go on to eventually have heaps of chips and become one of the tournament’s chip leaders at a later stage.

Despite the fact that Relentless Aggression has shown down some big hands recently, he is playing in so many hands and is pushing people off pots by the river so much that I write down in my notes that he has become mega aggressive of late.

I next get in a hand with Relentless Aggression when he opens to 800, I have A-K and raise and he calls. The flop is Q-8-2. I continuation bet, and he calls. The turn is a blank. Check check. The river is another blank. Relentless Aggression makes a pot-sized bet. I contemplate calling with nothing more than a good bluff catcher. Against anyone else I instafold, but I know Relentless Aggression can be making this bet with any two cards. The problem is, even if he is bluffing, he may very well be bluffing with the best hand. I fold. Not sure if this was the right decision or not. I have 52,400 chips. I have been getting really good cards, but twice having A-K that missed everything has kept me from having a much bigger stack.

We get to 8-handed. I get a great result even though it doesn’t add to my chip stack. Harden, who I am still convinced is the best player at the table, gets knocked out when he runs a bluff into Ducky’s set of 10s. Thank goodness. Having Harden to my left has made me feel hand-cuffed since I have seen him over and over push the table around. I think the shackles have been removed from me. Unfortunately, Harden’s departure results in Relentless Aggression turning up the heat to megablast to my immediate right.

Meanwhile, interesting but not significant, is the fact that since joining the table, Man Purse is such a non-stop talker that the dealer frequently has to tell him the action is on him.

End of Level 3: 51,400 chips

We go on break, and I eat a salami and cheese sandwich I made for myself this morning before leaving my hotel room. When the break ends, the tournament clock is paused so that two bracelet ceremonies can be held. I am surprised this takes place in the Horseshoe Ballroom since I thought they usually occur in the Paris Ballroom. I forget who the ceremonies were for since I was concentrating on what strategy I wanted to employ coming out of the break as it related to the ferocious play of Relentless Aggression.

WSOP Colossus Flight 1B (June 5, 2025) (Part 3 of 15)
Relentless Aggression is playing almost every hand in a reign of terror … with second pair I get Relentless Aggression to back down …. “Call the fire department”

Level 4
300/500/500

A player from China who is wearing a bucket hat joins the table to my immediate left. Someone comments on his accent, and he jokingly says, “I don’t have an accent.” To this I say, “You think the rest of us have the accent.” He likes this comment a lot.

We are finally 9-handed for the first time today. Despite the fact that the table is finally full, Relentless Aggression is now playing in virtually every hand and is running roughshod over the table.

There become long stretches of time in which Relentless Aggression is playing virtually every hand in what has become a reign of terror. In particular he is very effective in calling post-flop bets, which often results in check check after the turn, and then Relentless Aggression bets his opponents off their hand after the river card. I would love to have a big hand against Relentless Aggression, but short of that I really want no part of him.

I do get in a hand with Relentless Aggression. He min opens to 1,000. I have J-J and raise to 3,000 and he calls. The flop is K-7-2. I know if I show any weakness, Relentless Aggression, will eventually bet me off my hand. I also know that if I bet one-third pot here like the rest of the table usually does when they lead out after the flop, he will call and if I slow down, he will push me off the pot later. Relentless Aggression checks and I bet big. I bet 5,100 chips. This is me saying I’m not f*#king around. Relentless Aggression folds. Sometimes you’ve got to punch the bully in the mouth and see how he responds. I have 53,900 chips.

Just before the end of the level, a player who hasn’t been especially active, wins a pot with a turn bet. He turns over quads, and not just any quads but the exact same quads that someone had at my table yesterday.

End of Level 4: 52,600 chips.

Level 5
300/600/600

There is a player at the table whose arms are heavily tatted up. He likes to open a lot of pots, but he is rather passive after the flop. He has a swingy day throughout. He has a hand that goes to showdown against Relentless Aggression. Mr. Tattoo sees Relentless Aggression’s pocket kings. Mr. Tattoo says, “I’m ashamed to turn over my hand.” He shows 2-5 for either a flopped two pair or a straight I forget which. I say to Mr. Tattoo, “You can give back the chips if you are ashamed.” Mr. Tattoo says, “I’m not that ashamed.”

Ducky wins a massive 3-way all-in when his K-K holds up against Q-Q and A-K. On the very next hand, Ducky flops a set of 10s and wins another big pot.

Bucket Hat says, “Call the fire department.”

Ducky now has heaps and will be the table chip leader for much of the day before giving most of it back late in the night.

Relentless Aggression has taken some hits recently and has slowed down. Soon thereafter, he doubles up. Noooooooooo!!!!! And now he’s playing every hand again.

I have been card dead and haven’t played a hand in quite some time. I get dealt A-8 off suit. It’s questionable to open with this hand, but given the long layoff between this and the last hand I played, I figure the table will give me credit for having a premium hand. I bet 1,500. Let’s watch them quiver with fear at what they surely must assume are aces. Bucket Hat to my immediate left does not run for the hills in terror. He three-bets to 4,500. The player next to him, a newcomer to the table who is a local that claims to be a cash game regular at the Bellago, calls. I fold.

On the last hand of the level I am dealt A-J. I bet and everyone folds.

End of Level 5: 49,600 chips.