Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

... and there was much sadness

Big Ten Tourney championship game
Purdue 80, Michigan 72

As previously stated, I went to the game at Chicago's United Center with my daughter. I had previously told her that if Michigan or her school (Kansas) made it to the NCAA championship game I would take her to it (in geographically desirable Indianapolis). But she starts a new job tomorrow, so we both agreed that asking for a day off three weeks into the start of a new job was a bad idea. So, when Michigan made the conference title game, I took her as a consolation prize.

I thought we were going to a coronation given that Purdue was a (still dangerous) #7 seed. Didn't work out that way.

Thought we were attending a basketball game. Instead, a street fight/prison fight style of physicality broke out. The refs blew their whistles the first 10 minutes of play, then pretty much swallowed their whistles the rest of the way. That's no excuse for why Michigan lost. It was a factor, but it was a factor that Purdue took advantage of, and it was a factor that Michigan did not adapt to. While unfortunate for Michigan's chances, if you want to be a champion you have to deal with all kinds of unexpected variables. Michigan didn't do so and got bludgeoned in the second half.

I could stop right here, but I won't. Readers of this thread have expressed to me that they like to see what a big time sporting event is like, so that's what I will show. If you want poker, skip this post and I'll return to poker in posts to follow.

But here is what the Big Ten Tournament conference title game looked like ...

Walking to the United Center

The Michael Jordan statue

Pregame: Warmups and player intros

Let the game begin: tipoff

Pagaentry

Halftime: Jesse White Tumblers

Game action

Time to turn the page

The loss is now in the rear view mirror. It's on to the NCAA tournament. If Michigan makes it to the national title game, I'm going. A month ago I was feeling very confident that a Michigan national title was a very, very reachable goal. They were firing on all cylinders. Now I'm not as bullish. Today's loss to Purdue is not the reason.

Taking a glass is half full approach, Michigan is the #1 seed in the Midwest region, and the bracket is probably the softest of all of the brackets. Michigan got a great draw.

Taking a glass is half empty approach, Michigan is limping into the tourney. Michigan's best player off the bench (L.J. Cason) was lost for the season a couple weeks ago (and he will in fact also miss all of next season). He was a human microwave of offense and is definitely missed. Then there was today's game against Purdue. At one point Michigan's Conference Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg told one of the refs that if they didn't start blowing their whistle in reaction to the extreme, extreme, extreme physicality of the game (it was football game contact) someone was going to get hurt. Unfortunately, Lendeborg was right. And the person who got hurt late in the game was none other than Lendeborg himself. He suffered a low ankle sprain. He says he'll play in the NCAA tournament, but how effective he'll be is to be determined. A month ago, Michigan's nine-man rotation was being universally called the deepest rotation in the nation. Now that depth is not as plentiful. Terrible time for injuries to strike. Doesn't mean Michigan can't win it all, but the task has gotten much more difficult.

A memory rekindled of the night Yoda saved me at the WSOP

Sometimes a WSOP memory comes out of nowhere.

Tonight I was watching a Day 1 stream from the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise $25K Super Main Event. In fact I've been watching this particular Day 1 for a few nights now. Same cast of characters for a while now on the stream. No memories triggered initially.

Then a hand plays out and a major memory is triggered. One of the players at the table has a goatee that stands out and a whole bunch of tattoos on his arms. That, however did not ring any bells for me. Then he gets in a hand against Scott Seiver, and they start talking about the guy with the goatee's card protector, which is Yoda from Star Wars. At first, it still does not ring any bells for me.

Then all of a sudden some very strong memories start rocketing through my brain like a bolt of lightening. I played against the guy with the goatee at a past WSOP. It was late in a Day 1, and I had just been moved to a new table in the Paris Ballroom. He sat to my immediate left. I remember at the time taking notice of the goatee and tattoos initially. Really stood out to me for some reason. After a bit I noticed his Yoda card protector. Nothing about this is terribly memorable so far.

We went on break. It was fairly late at night. Once the break was announced I lost my focus. When I returned from break with a few minutes to spare I had a horrifying realization. I did not remember what my table number was. It's not like I could look at my buy-in receipt for the table number given that I had been moved away from my initial table. I knew the general vicinity of where my current table was. I started looking all around me for the guy with the goatee and tattooed arms. Couldn't find him. I was starting to panic. I was still calm on the outside, but I was freaking out on the inside. It was announced that we could return to our tables. I kept looking for the guy with the goatee and tattoos. Still couldn't locate him. This had now become the most uncomfortable moment of my WSOP.

Then I saw it. Not the guy with the goatee and tattoos. I saw the Yoda card protector. A moment later the guy with the goatee and tattoos sat down. Talk about an incredible sense of relief.

That was the night I learned to take a picture of my table number (that is high above the table) every time I go on a break. Every time. Lesson learned.

And the guy with the goatee, tattoos and Yoda card protector? He was at the table on the stream I have been watching the last couple of nights of the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise $25K Super Main Event.

Small world. Not my favorite memory ever. But a memory all the same.

The more I play, the more I’m struck by how small a world the poker world is.

No matter where I play, in local cash games, in cash games in casinos, or in live tournament events… seems like I’m always seated next to vaguely familiar faces.

I grew up in Atlanta, then moved to NC 5 years ago. When I go to Cherokee, I often sit with people I played with in Atlanta half a decade ago.

Good thing my upcoming live tournament schedule was written in pencil and not pen

The game plan was that I was going to play in the upcoming WSOP Circuit 3 p.m. $600 NLH tournament on Sunday, April 5 at 3:00 p.m. at the Grand Victoria in Elgin, IL. It's geographically desirable and even if I were to run super deep, I figured I'd still be able to get to work on Monday for a partial day. What's not to like?

Tonight, I decided to call an audible. Live poker is out. The NCAA men's championship game the next night is in Indianapolis, which is just a few hour drive for me. Live basketball is in.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place tonight when (my school's) rival Michigan State lost to UConn, meaning none of the eight teams still alive would bother me to watch win a national title. No way I'm going to a game Michigan State can win a national title unless the game were against Michigan (obviously) or Illinois (not as obvious, but keep reading).

I'm going to the national title game with my good friend IlliniArt. Both his school (Illinois) and my school (Michigan) are still alive with eight teams remaining. It will be awesome if one of our teams is in the championship game. If both of our teams reach the championship game, well, that will be a bit weird, but hey one of us will be really all-time memory ecstatic and the other one of us will be disappointed yet happy for their friend. Worst-case scenario, neither of our teams make it and we watch a great championship game in which confetti rains down on the winning team at game's end. I love going to big-time championship sporting events.

Yes, the WSOP Circuit would be good practice for this summer's World Series of Poker. But all I'm giving up is a one-day trip to a dreary city and a casino poker tournament environment that is decent but nothing memorable. I've played at this venue before, and I'm pretty meh about it as a site. Not the worst. Not remarkable. Maybe I'll make it to a tournament on another date of this Circuit stop. If not, there are multiple MSPT stops that work for me between now and the summer WSOP in Las Vegas, so there are other live opportunities to prep for Vegas.

For the moment, my Hoop Dreams (a movie in which I had a tiny, tiny, tiny barely noticeable cameo appearance which I believe I've mentioned somewhere in this thread) are more important than my poker dreams. I really, really, really hope I get to see my Wolverines win the national title in a little over a week. Michigan has won two football and one basketball national championship in my lifetime. I was at both the football games that clinched national titles. I did not attend the basketball national title victory. If I get to see Michigan win the national title in this year's basketball tourney, I will be good for life. I will have attended everything and experienced everything I can possibly hope for as a Michigan fanatic.

If you were to tell me you could give me the choice between Michigan winning the basketball national title a week from Monday or winning a bracelet (i.e. Colossus) at this summer's World Series of Poker, I'd pick ...

... wow, it's a bit closer than I thought it'd be, but I'd pick ...

... Michigan winning the national title with me in attendance.

I'm sure Las Vegas Lifestyle will be appalled by this (I hope the moderators don't shut down the thread), but I have lived and died Michigan football and basketball since I was seven years old. That's 57 years of high intensity passion.

I don't have anywhere near that much sweat equity in poker.

But I'm working on it.

Wow! I had no idea there was a WSOP circuit coming to Elgin. It isn't on the WSOP app for some reason? But looked it up on the website and there it is. No idea why it isn't on the app though as that confuses me? I may (or may not?) try to get out there next week. Elgin is a little farther for me than Hammond but likely easier to get to.

Also I went to grad school at Michigan State. Unhappy they lost last night but not a diehard like you are with UM. I'd rather win at poker 😀

I happened to have tickets to Sparty's last national championship. Coincidentally in Indy, in the old RCA Dome, in 2000. Mateen Cleaves and that group.

For NCAA fans, going to the final four is a fun trip.

The days are going by slowly, but I can sort of see the slightest glimpse of the still months away start of the 2026 WSOP

My World Series of Poker begins in just a little more than two months from now. I've finally (FINALLY) gotten past "the WSOP feels like it is never going to get here" stage which is slowly (BARELY) being replaced by "the I'm starting to get excited about the fact that the WSOP is getting somewhat closer" stage.

With this in mind, after tonight's NCAA basketball games ended, I was poking around the Internet for WSOP content.

I found two items I will share:

1) For a really good overview/balanced assessment of changes being instituted in WSOP 2026, I recommend the following 12-minute video:

2) For the many fans of the Inside The Mind of a Pro series, coverage of Leo Margets run to the 2025 WSOP Main Event Final Table starts in a little more than a day from now at

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuf_yjeun6pIpgdqCFHmnS7d1bsbBRQGn

YouTube

Inside the Mind of a Pro - EVERY EPISODE

My rooting interest in March Madness (Purdue) met their match last night in the form of a second-half blitz from Arizona. I'm left to cheer on Michigan and Illinois, as I will root for any Big Ten team except for Indiana (for a Purdue alum, this is akin to a Michigan alum cheering for either Michigan State or Ohio State, but I suspect you already knew this). If (once?) Michigan handles Tennessee today, the semifinal game between Michigan and Arizona has the potential to be a game for the ages. Both have big, aggressive front court players and very good guard play as well. Michigan is a little more seasoned, and shoots more 3s, with Arizona possibly being slightly deeper with the ability to get to the foul line, as well as shut a team down with strong, physical defense. Go Blue!

I agree with everything you wrote. Go Blue!

It was a great day to be a Michigan Wolverine fan ... I'm going to blow my budget a bit, but I won't let that impact my WSOP plans ... a tough decision on when to buy my tickets to the national title game

Today was a day well spent with my butt firmly planted on the couch watching sports.

The day began with Michigan playing Tennessee in the men's basketball Elite 8. I wasn't all that worried about Tennessee. I was worried whether or not Michigan could compete in the Final Four against a dominant Arizona team that is hitting on all cylinders.

I was right to think the Michigan-Tennessee matchup would be a walk in the park. Michigan won by 33 points in a performance that was utter annihilation in a display of beautiful team basketball. If Michigan plays like that, it can absolutely hang with Arizona. In fact, Michigan opened as a 1.5 point favorite over Arizona. My favorite moment in the blowout win over Tennessee came in the game's final seconds when the scrubs were in and the head coach's son, who almost never plays, hit a 3-point shot that had the crowd and the Michigan starters on the bench go insane, the coach's wife/mom happy beyond belief and the head coach/dad try to maintain a poker face.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L6mdx5hCt...

Next came what could be an absolute gift. Duke, the #1 overall seed at the start of the tournament, was looking like a killing machine against Connecticut before blowing a huge lead in what can only be described as a massive, unthinkable, historic collapse that culminated in a Duke turnover with a two-point lead that led to a UConn logo heave that blistered the net with 0.4 seconds left.

The reason this could be an absolute gift is twofold: 1) If Michigan beats Arizona in the semis, it will be a fairly sizable favorite in the finals, and 2) I'm going to the title game with my friend IlliniArt, and his Illinois team now has a much more winnable game against UConn than it would have been against Duke (in fact, Illinois opened as a 2.5-point favorite versus UConn).

The cherry on top to a great Michigan day came when I watched the Wolverines hockey team win its Elite 8 game and punch its ticket to the Frozen Four.

A little context. On a scale of 1-to-100 with 100 being a Michigan football national championship and 1 being a Michigan men's gymnastics national title, a men's college basketball national title is a 90 for me, while a college hockey national championship is a 30. So I care about the hockey team -- kind of, sort of -- but I won't lose any sleep if it loses. Still, we're in the hunt for multiple major sport national titles, which is nice.

Late in the evening I had a thought about buying tickets to the basketball national title game. IlliniArt and I will enjoy going even if our teams lose in the semis. We won't be happy about losing (and by won't be happy I mean we'll be devastated), but there is no scenario in which we won't go to the title game. Normally when we have gone to the basketball national title games in the past, I have waited until the semifinal games end to purchase tickets online. The reason for that timing is once two of the four remaining teams lose, the bottom falls out of the market as the losing teams fans flood the market with tickets to a game they no longer want to attend. A total buyer's market.

But given the fact that the title game will be in Indianapolis, I think there is a chance the dynamic gets turned upside down. Illinois and Michigan are both slight favorites. Both campuses (Champaign, IL and Ann Arbor, MI) are relatively short drives to Indy. Plus, both schools have enormous alumni contingents living in Chicago, which is also a pretty short drive to Indianapolis. If the matchup is Michigan-Illinois, I don't think it will be a buyer's market at all. Yes, the two losing teams' fans will want to dump their tickets to the finals, but the demand for those tickets could be enormous. I can see it becoming a seller's market.

My choices are as follows:

Option 1: I buy the tickets right now and get pretty good seats on the lowest level (maybe 40 rows up) even with one of the baskets. Worst case scenario is Arizona and UConn both win and it's a buyer's market, meaning I will have paid more than I needed to.

Option 2: I wait until after the semifinals to buy the tickets. Worst case scenario is Illinois and Michigan both win in the semifinals, ticket prices skyrocket and I need to buy much worse seats in the third or fourth level if I stick with my desired price point.

It really wasn't much of an internal debate. I go with the sure thing and buy the tickets right now, thereby locking in a price point I am happy with and good (but hardly courtside) seats. This is pretty much my approach all through the years when it comes to tickets to sporting events. I want tickets that are good enough. They don't have to be the most expensive tickets in the arena.

Going to this basketball game will put me over budget in terms of what I planned to spend on my hobbies (poker and sports) for the year, but going to the basketball championship is still being done on the cheap since there are no airline tickets, car rentals or hotel rooms like would be the case if the game were somewhere less geographically desirable. We'll zip in and zip out. We'll head out in the morning, watch the game and then drive home afterward.

I'm not going to use this as an excuse to cut back on my WSOP trip. Yes, I'll be a bit over budget. Sometimes you have to live for the moment. It's a budget. A target. It's not a line in the sand. It's not going to break me. I'll still have made more money than I'll have spent when the year reaches its conclusion.

Michigan is going to the Final Four. A national title is possible. If it happens, I'll be there to see it. And then I'll set my focus on the World Series of Poker. Who knows what is possible. If ever there was a year for run good, this is it. I'm not using my One Time (I'm holding it in my back pocket for something absolutely epic like a Michigan-Ohio State national title game in football or a coin flip for a WSOP bracelet), but I sure do hope that this is the "Year of rppoker."

In my opinion, wait to buy Monday night tickets. I was in St. Louis whenIllinois made the final four in 2005 and while The semifinal games on Saturday were a little pricey, even with the Illini making it to Monday night I was able to get in for 100 bucks. A guy I was with was able to grab a ticket by running into the right people right behind the North Carolina bench for about the same price. They just wanted to see him walk into the game and make sure he wouldn’t scalp it.

The tickets on Saturday with proximity to Michigan in Illinois will probably be a bit steep, but I don’t think Monday would be an issue

I say go for it. This is what money is for.

Spend on experiences, not stuff.

I’ll add that year other participants were Sparty and Louisville, both driving distance to St. Louis. Seems like semi final tickets were in the $300-400 range (I know 20 years ago). I was in San Antonio in 2018 and we paid $220 for upper deck inside baseline for Saturday tix.

I believe Monday tix will be very reasonable regardless of who plays. I’d be willing to wait and gamble - remember they sell a ton of tickets in the football stadium, 70, 000 Lucas Oil. I see aftermarket showing cheaper seats $250 for Monday. More for Saturday.

And at end of the day….you really going to walk (especially if Go Blue plays Monday) over $300? I respect budgets and am particular about what I spend on….do make exceptions (event based sporting events are a splurge). With no airfare and relative cost of these tix compared to other sporting events (heck, decent seat to NBA game are $100+ for a nothing burger).

You have my support to spend whatever, and wait to buy tix.

Looking for an excuse to play in the Wynn Summer Classic

The schedule for the Wynn Summer Classic has recently been released.

I have been looking forward to seeing this as it relates to my upcoming WSOP trip that will be taking place at the same time.

Last year when I bagged chips after a Day 1 at the WSOP, I had a couple days before Day 2. To fill one of the off days I played in a tournament at the Venetian that checked a box for me since I'd never played there before, and I found it to be a quality poker venue. I keep hearing that people think highly of the Wynn poker room, so I thought I'd check out its Summer Classic to see if anything would work in a similar situation this coming summer. It seems like people put the Venetian and the Wynn poker experiences in the same range of quality, so let's see if I can find room in my schedule to play at the Wynn since I've never played there.

(A pause in the post while rppoker studies the Wynn schedule)

I have now studied the newly released Wynn 2026 Summer Classic schedule, but I don't see a fit. During a chunk of my WSOP trip, the Wynn series has a NLH tournament that lasts five days. That doesn't work given my emphasis on mostly nonstop WSOP tournaments. Plus, I don't really see anything from a NLH perspective at the Wynn Summer Classic that is all that different from the WSOP, so I'm not finding a compelling reason to play at the Wynn.

There are a bunch of Wynn Summer Classic turbos (the levels go up every 20 minutes), which doesn't appeal to me. I prefer slower structures. I am scheduled to possibly play one WSOP turbo, but there is no Wynn turbo to substitute in its place on the same day.

Add it all up, and I don't see myself seated at the Wynn during my WSOP trip.

Wynn is a nice casino and their poker room is tops. Even if you don't plan on playing anything there, it's worth visiting eventually just to see the property.

Their summer series has high price points and tough fields. Very popular with players from Europe, Asia, and South America.

In the "offseason", it's a great place to battle the Vegas regs at less prohibitive stakes.

I don't think I'm their target customer for June-July, but typically it's my favorite place to play tournaments in Vegas.

If the fields are tough (and that is definitely my sense from reading on 2+2 about the Wynn poker room), what is it about it the Wynn that makes it your "favorite place to play tournaments in Vegas."

Is it the challenge? Or is it something else?

Since the Wynn doesn't look like a fit, I am thinking of going in the opposite direction for a day when there isn't a WSOP tournament I want to play in during my upcoming two-weeks WSOP trip.

I'm not opposed to playing top competition such as is found at the Wynn. Part of the reason I play in the WSOP is to challenge myself against players who are way more experienced than me.

But I think I am going to lean in to something completely different than that if I have a day in which I have an opening in my schedule that the WSOP and Wynn can't cater to.

In the three prior summers I have played the WSOP, I never made my way to Fremont Street. I've meant to do so to soak in the ambience and the people watching opportunities it provides, but I've never found the time to do so. Given how jam packed I tend to keep my WSOP poker schedule, I think the best way to get myself down to Fremont Street is to play in a tournament in that section of Las Vegas real estate on a WSOP off day.

Maybe a tournament at the Golden Nugget. I'm keeping my eyes open for when that schedule gets released.

The property is aiming for an upscale feel and that approach extends to how they handle poker.

Quality space, dealers, floors, service. They also do more for poker than most venues, running numerous big series throughout the year.

The competition is usually strong relative to any given price point, which can be either a positive or negative depending on what someone is looking for.

30 minutes at wynn is like 1 hrs at wsop (slight hyperbole but it certainly feels that way)

Most wynn dealers are some of the best.

During non-WSOP times the Wynn daily ($200) is very popular and very well run. It typically has 100+ entries and often more depending on time of year. Dealers are good and chairs/tables comfortable. Very nice structure (30 min levels) for a daily.

The Venetian just accross from Wynn is always running some sort of deep stack event with similarly good structure starting from $400 entries on up. So since I am more interested in tournies when I go to LV I always stay at V/W end of the strip.

Other dailies kinda suck. Horseshoe/CP/MGM are all turboish. Aria is okay but only 20 minute levels. Before Wynn got their current structure the Aria was my goto for dailies but have no interest now that W/V always offer a better structure.

My WSOP intensive schedule is really filling in the blanks with options, options, options from off site casinos

The Kenny Hallaert spreadsheet that he makes every year with the WSOP schedule as well as all of the tournaments taking place elsewhere at the same time is starting to fill in (thank you, Kenny, it's invaluable).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...

So far he has the WSOP, Wynn, Venetian, and Orleans schedules in the database. Still waiting on Aria, MGM Grand and Golden Nugget.

As you know, if you have been paying any attention to this thread, the WSOP is my priority. But there might be dates, where I don't have anything that I can play/want to play in the WSOP (i.e. I bag chips in a Day 1 and have certain dates available waiting for the Day 2, or maybe there is a date where there isn't a WSOP NLH event I want to play in).

So far, here is my reaction to what is available away from the WSOP.

Wynn: There is nothing that interests me. In some cases, the dates don't work with their mega Day 1s that mean the tournament lasts too long for my tastes since I am heavy on the WSOP. Other one-day Wynn tournaments have high price points with bad structures. What they are offering strikes me as an unimaginative money grab. I hear that the room/staff itself is great, but I won't be playing there this summer. Some day I suppose I need to play there at least once.

Venetian: Multiple possibilities that might fit my schedule. I can't find the structures yet, so. I still will need to see and study that. But I played there last summer during the WSOP, and I enjoyed the venue. The competition was fierce since every single player at my table was there because they had bagged the night before in a WSOP event and needed something to play while waiting for Day 2 to arrive a couple days later. It had a much higher caliber level of players than anything I've encountered at the WSOP (yes, I realize it's a sample size of one).

Orleans: Multiple possibilities that might fit my schedule. I will especially be inclined to play in some of their events if I go cashless in WSOP events. If that happens, I will be looking for a couple of low buy-ins tournaments late in my trip. Given that I am not a fan of the WSOP's Daily Deepstacks (the rooms are uncomfortably hot and the tables are packed in way, way, way too tight), I can see giving the Orleans a shot since I've never played there. The Golden Nugget might be another possibility once they release their schedule. I'd like to find a low dollar entry fee location that might be a long-term alternative to the WSOP's Daily Deepstacks. I don't play in a lot of these, but there is typically a day or two where this is what I'm looking for.

The way I build my schedule is I put WSOP events down in ink. The non-WSOP events I put down in pencil (in other words, erasable) since they are dependent on me not having A WSOP event to play, which is fluid.

I am liking the fact that I have a lot of choices, allowing me to making decisions in response to how my WSOP is going. Every day on my schedule has options. I don't want to wake up one day in Las Vegas and not know what my options are and as a result have to scramble. I like doing the research now and have simple decisions each morning when I wake up in Las Vegas.

Thanks for posting this! I used it extensively last year and was hoping this spreadsheet would popup again this year.

I make a spreadsheet every summer that I update with appealing/realistic options for my dates as the schedules are released.

Example of this year's spreadsheet in progress:

In the right column I keep track of buy-ins after deciding what to play.

If you have Excel or Open Office, it should be relatively straightforward to make something like this offline. It's how I plan out my summer LV days.

You forgot to have a column for which tournaments you expect to make the Final Table