**** TJ’s Sundry Poker Adventures! 2025-26 ****

In the money! Some work to do before the bag, I only have about half an average stack.

Enough big blinds that I am the master of my own fate, though.

Fifth and final break of the night.

It got the blood pumping when I had to shove my 12 bb over a raise for my tournament life 9 players off the bubble with AKs. Got called by two live cards, QJo, but ace in the window.

I feel my focus slipping. Doing my best to power through. Simplifying the game, and making straightforward decisions. Resisting the temptation to get creative.

TJ is gonna make a run at this thing - he ended up with an above average stack going into Day 2 Sunday with almost 40bbs - I on the other hand burned through 3 bullets today to show em who’s boss before hitting the 10/25/50 plo streets for another small loss. Gonna try again tomorrow. Good times.

In other news Maurice Hawkins won the 1100 that wrapped up today for yet another ring and around 115k.

Managed a nice little spin at the end there, and bagged 452k! 406k was average for Flight A when it ended. I’m 21/59 out of the players that bagged tonight.

Got some timely run good. It started with winning my second flip for my tournament life, 33 > A8s. That got me to a workable stack.

Then I had to make a big read, in a huge spot, and trust my instincts.

Built some history first. Chipleader opens to 16k from hijack, I 3bet to 41k from the button with 99. He calls, and I get a great flop, 3-3-3. He checks, and folds to my 50k continuation. Was obviously happy to stack off there.

An orbit and a half later, the blinds go up to 5/10, same guy opens to 20k, I have TT in MP2. I 3bet to 55k, he calls. It comes J-7-7, he checks. I don’t want to get out of line, and I don’t want to be played back at light, so I check back.

The turn is a 4, putting two clubs out. He checks again, so now I bet 50k, for value. Now he raises, to 115k, and I have a big decision to make.

I took about 60 seconds on this decision. I didn’t see him checking a jack to me twice. Maybe turned clubs, maybe a random 4. J-7-7-4 isn’t a great board for TT. I just thought he was making a move, and I’m ahead. I shove for 202k total.

He looks disgusted, and I faded the snap call, so now I’m feeling great. He grumbles, and eventually folds.

Thought I played fantastic today. And obviously ran very, very well. I can remember two flips and a 60/40 for my tournament life, any of which could have ended it.

Now I can sleep in, and play cash PLO all day tomorrow!

Glad to see that guy finally caught a break. He’s so easy to root for!

You have continued to stack very good results month after month after month. It seems to me that you will arrive at the WSOP riding a wave of strong momentum.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Take this MFing tournament down! Win the whole thing! Then we can talk about the WSOP.

I think I speak for everyone when I say LVL is rooting for you.

Sounds like you played (and ran) well! You re in a great spot to take this whole thing down!

WTG! I fired two bullets which I guess I’ll chalk up to the cost of playing with a ME winner for 7 hours? I had a brutal table draw with Daniel Weinman and a couple of others guys with rings and $1mm+ in earnings - than Preston McEwen joined our table. Looking forward to trying again today. Just got 7.5 hrs of sleep and feel like a new man.

Nice job. Good luck for Sunday.

Go TJ, finish it off!

Didn’t sleep great last night. I find it difficult to unwind, after a long and grueling full tournament day.

On one hand, you’re mentally exhausted, after maintaining a heightened level of focus and observation over so many hours. But on the other hand, you’re excited to have bagged, your thoughts and dreams are racing, and it’s really hard to calm your mind, and get rest. At least, it is for me.

That’s what happened to me after Day 2 of the WSOP Main Event last summer. I didn’t fall asleep until 4 am… and I think that lack of good rest directly contributed to my busting out in Day 3.

I can’t even imagine what that must be like after, say, Day 6 of the Main Event.

Anyway, with my bag already in the bank, I had no schedule to wake up for for today, so I did at least get a LONG sleep in… and a relaxed, unhurried morning.

Made my way over to the casino, and went to Amici for lunch.

I’ve discovered the pro move for the pressed cheese thing in the Caesar salad is to break it up, and sprinkle it into the salad like croutons. Way better than eating it raw.

Then I thought I’d try the chicken parmigiana.

It was pretty good, the breading was extra crunchy. However, in my all new debut of The Definitive Chicken-Parmigiana-at-Casino-Restaurants Power Rankings, nothing unseats Allegro at the Wynn.

Plus a glass of Cabernet, it was $58… $30 of which I could cover from my comp balance.

Yeah, I can never sleep after full day of tourney poker. I am always amped up on adrenaline after bagging or cashing while being mentally and physically exhausted.

TJ, thanks for sharing.

My only comment about being restless is to go get some exercise. Go for a run/walk, treadmill, etc... whatever it is you like to do. At least for me it gets my brain thinking about what I would be thinking about while trying to get some sleep. Shower, then hit the pillow.

Take it for what it's worth as I barely sleep and you probably already know these things, but just an idea. 20 minutes of thinking during an exercise does a lot for me rather than living inside my head while trying to sleep.

I bagged a very small 2-day event here in Malta yesterday evening (day 2 on Sunday), and I slept horribly and woke up with a nasty headache earlier today. It's really tough when you both get to bed a bit later than you are used to + your mind is fried from hours of poker.

Good luck on day two!

two wyld elderberry gummies (10 mg cbn) do the trick for me every night without any sort of morning hangover.

I have a buddy, that I practically grew up with in Atlanta, and hadn’t seen in maybe ten years. He’s in town to play the main event, too, so we went to the barbecue place.

It was GREAT catching up. He has a toddler at home, and another on the way, so him being able to get away is a very rare occurrence, indeed.

And wouldn’t you know it, we were seated right across the way from brianr and his buddy!

It’s very validating to me, and rewarding to me, that the work I do keeping up my little poker corner of the internet could lead to all of the people in my life being a little more connected.

It was AWESOME.

Feeling recharged for a nightcap PLO session. Then bed not too late, because I have a big day tomorrow.

also have ample lived experience of quickly short circuiting life opportunity

say otherwise seemingly random deja vu events turned cherished keys toward unlocking almost consistent results of oh let's say running the zoo of life twice forward toward a place where everything else pays out automatically in the end

(ask me later about ordering off menu Jimmy Fricke style at Bank's OG Chada as instructed by ringleaders at eatinglasvegas meanwhile happening to stumble into gobbo and daryn on the way to the restroom sharing similar bemoaning stoned stares about lack of available pork belly in the kitchen)

except your perception of it is just about to begin

sir we suggest maintaining your hand locations inside the ride at all times

and to be the puppet master of your own marionettes
in the end no strings attached since TJ the barber still holds his razor

Not sure which I'd enjoy more:

Interpreting RED's post
or
Watching a video of the LV events described therein.

Won a little bit in the nightcap PLO session, to put me within the two tableside massages I had away from even, on cash PLO this weekend.

Two big hands:

I open KJJ9 from early position, 4 calls, and it comes Q-J-T two hearts. I continue for 100, two calls. Get what looks like a great turn, another T… but it’s the third heart that completes a possible royal. These are the things you notice when you realize (after potting it) that you only have the 6th-nuts.

But whatever, I have an over full, I’m not slowing down. I go to 400, the unknown player folds, and the player I have tagged as weak calls. River is a meaningless offsuit 4, let’s see if she calls the shove for ~1200. I do shove, and she thinks for a bit. Guess it’s no royal, or 89 or K9 for a straight flush. She does make the crying call, with JT.

So now I’m up a good bit on the day, thinking about calling it a night any minute now, and I get involved in another big hand. I have AJ87 double suited on my button straddle, 5 limps so I pot it to 105, 4 calls.

Flop comes J-9-6 with two clubs to my A-high flush draw. Checks to me, I bet 350, one check/call.

The turn improves me to two pair, but it’s a 7 that completes T8. My opponent leads out pot, which is basically a shove, for 1100 and change. I have 9 clubs, 4 boat outs, and maybe three more tens to chop.

I guess the math technically says it’s a fold. But I like trying to win the big ones. I call, he says I have the nuts, do you want to run it twice? I say I’m always once. He seems perplexed that anyone could be all in and behind, but live, and NOT go twice. I want it ALL, thanks. But he says ok, let’s go once.

I think he would have been hilariously tilted if I HAD spiked it on him, but the river is an offsuit 5. About a 3.5k pot. Ah well, these things happen in PLO.

That one would have gotten me robusto indeed. But as it was, I was feeling a little fatigued, with a slight headache coming on, so I picked up before 11 pm.

GL tomorrow.

It seems like the next steps are simple. First you win the Main Event and then you win the Main Event.

Now I’m back at the hotel, turning my focus to Day 2 tomorrow.

Flight B did 899 entries (590 for Flight A), and it looks like they’re on the bubble as I’m writing this. Brianr still has chips in Flight B, we’re rooting for him! I suppose about 90 more players will bag tonight.

The prize pool got over 2.2M, smashing the 1M guarantee.

One thing I’ve noticed, on Day 2’s, is that the knockouts start fast and furious. It’s like everybody that played tight, and survived all through Day 1 nursing a below average stack, is ready to gamble, to try and spin up a stack for a deep run.

The levels go from 40 minutes to an hour on Day 2. I checked my seat assignment, and of the 4 seats that were assigned from Flight A, two of them cover me.

Thats a good thing. I want as many chips as possible in play on my table. But I’ll need to proceed cautiously, because it means one big misstep could derail a promising run.

So I’m going to redouble my enthusiasm, for patience, focus, and observation. It starts with a great night’s sleep, and a good breakfast in the morning.

See you ALL on my virtual rail tomorrow!

Yep, that’s the game plan!

Bagged 425 in day 1b. Was down to 7k in level 3 from 40k starting and grinded back. Eeesh!

GL tomorrow TJ - see you at the final table!

lol or see you at noon, as it appears we are both at table 24. You’re two to my left.