Bracelet Hunting - A WSOP 2026 Trip Report
Time for a new thread!
Credit to rppoker (who made the suggestion in my previous thread) for the title of this years’ tri
Assuming he plays a big schedule again, I'd look at Justin Liberto this year for whatever he costs. Won't cost the same as a Yuri/Benny/Deeb/Chad type, but plays many games well and will probably play many of the big mixed tournaments. I watched some hands on stream and thought he had a dangerous style.
Good luck Tony. If I remember, your trip report last year was pretty sick. Also, you play mixed games/limit? I cant play a game i cant bluff, how else would I win?
They are organizing a 2+2 game, so hopefully we can all get together and tell some ole dirty jokes at the poker table.
Cant wait
Mark if you have any pearls of wisdom for my fantasy team this year please can you let me know before I've submitted it and not by saying 'hope you had Benny in there' after he's already won a bracelet which isn't very helpful 😀
I'll make some suggestion only about players I've played against.
I'd recommend you do some due diligence on Arthur Morris. I've played against him at the WSOP, and he plays an aggressive style that the table has difficulty dealing with. I think his dynamic, LAG style is conducive to building big stacks and strong results. He seems to get paid whenever he has it. My sense is he gets a lot of folds when he doesn't have it. Incredibly chatty (in a good way). He cashes a lot, makes pretty deep runs consistently, etc. One of these years he's going to be a breakout star in my opinion. He also seems to play a very full WSOP schedule (15 cashes last year at the WSOP). Seems to play a lot of different games. Finished in 34th place at the 2024 WSOP Main Event. $5,180,013 career live earnings per Hendon Mob. What price he goes for in your draft will determine if he is value or not, but I suspect he will go for a medium price point that could be worth considering. Still searching for his first WSOP bracelet so he's not a big name yet in mainstream knowledge and maybe flies a bit under the radar.
Another player I have faced repeatedly at the WSOP who I suspect will be a medium fantasy draft price point is Ben Yu. He cashes a lot at the WSOP. He has joined my table many times near the end of late reg after busting out of some other tournament. When he joins the table just before the end of late reg he has been an active, action player who builds a big stack fairly quickly although his highly active approach either had him busting out somewhat fast or continuing to build, which is probably why he cashes so much. He seems like someone who plays a full WSOP schedule (21 cashes last year at the WSOP). Seems to play a lot of different games. On Hendon Mob he only shows results from the WSOP in recent years so I don't know what he does the rest of the year (probably cash but who knows). Career live earnings $9,934,303 per Hendon Mob. Four WSOP bracelets. I think his last WSOP bracelet was in 2021, so maybe he flies a bit under the radar in your draft.
An old school name player I have faced at the WSOP was Eric Baldwin. He was seated to my immediate left either last year or the year before. In all honesty, nothing about his play stood out to me good or bad. When he got knocked out I think he got it in on the light side and way behind. I mention him, however, because he has stacked a lot of results in the past year. In the 2025 WSOP he cashed 16 times. Since then he has 28 cashes in mostly name events (various Venetian series, various Wynn series, Seminole Hard Rock Open, World Poker Tour, Melbourne Millions, Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker). Seems to play a lot of different games. Total live earnings $9,695,476. While he has a name in the poker community I think he is an old school name, so might he be available for a small amount in your fantasy draft?
The hard part of making Fantasy player suggestions is you have no idea what their plans are for the upcoming WSOP in terms of volume.
Looks like I won't be vlogging. This is the response I received to my request for a vlogger credential:
Hey David,
Your channel doesn't reach the current standards. WSOP is looking for 50k subscribers and 20k minimum views per video.
That was it, that was the full response. No signature or anything. Seems like a very poor piece of communication from them and certainly no love for the little guy.
Actually I'm fine with it. Can concentrate fully on the job in hand now which is to win a bracelet.
On a brighter note it looks like the $10k O8 will be a go. I just have 15.7% left to sell. Thanks mainly to some forum members for making this happen.
I have also sold some pieces for the other $10k's enough so that I will offer a package if anyone is interested in those:
WSOP $10k Mixed Package
(Includes only these events. First event is June 13)
#42 $10k Big O Championship
#54 $10k HORSE Championship
#68 $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Championship
#75 $10k Stud 8 Championship
#80 $10k 8-Game Championship
Total Cost $50,000
50% available at zero markup.
1% = $500, 2% = $1,000, 5% = $2,500
Good luck, go get ‘em!
May I suggest mixed game specialists David Bach & Craig Chait. Safiya Umerova was 286th in the ME last year, this year’s Leo? I’m not sure how many events he’ll play but Ian Chan is a world class triple draw player & researcher.
the poker universe rightfully suggesting you do not need to heed another life distraction
just go play cards as well as you are able and have recently demonstrated the ability to do
Rude and amateurish response regarding recording, but the policy makes some sense. They don’t want people recording all over the place and ruining the vibe and possibly making people uncomfortable.
Hope you can just focus and kick some ass!
You can still vlog if you want. Even just record some thoughts each day and compile/edit at end of summer into 2-4 videos.
Tony, I just saw the schedule for the Circuit, right after the WSOP. Looks like lots of mixed events...
Tony, I wanted to ask you what it's like living in Colombia. Don't want to derail too much and feel free to not share anything you don't want to lol, but I've heard so much about Columbia, and you are an Englishman living there - how did you end up there? What's it really like to live there!?
Tony, I wanted to ask you what it's like living in Colombia. Don't want to derail too much and feel free to not share anything you don't want to lol, but I've heard so much about Columbia, and you are an Englishman living there - how did you end up there? What's it really like to live there!?
I'd love to hear about it too. I've had Medellin in my head as a place to spend a month or two vacation, but I always think I should brush up on my Spanish first, lol.
Currently in Panama airport where I have a 3 hour layover en route to Vegas so will answer both Pardo and Mark about what its like to live in Medellin:
The climate is really good and is the same year round. About 75-80 during the day dropping to 60-65 at night. You do get some rain, normally late afternoons or in the evenings but not all the time.
The people are friendly, talkative and hard workers. They don't speak English however so you do need some Spanish. (It's actually a good place to come and learn Spanish as the dialect is quite clear) The women are also very attractive!
Nightlife is good, there's plenty of bars, discos, restaurants and concerts on a regular basis.
It's not as cheap as it once was as it has been discovered now and tourists are no longer afraid to come here, but It would still compare favorably to the cost of living in the US. Things like healthcare and dental are also cheaper.
Like any big city (Medellin has 4 million people) traffic can be a bit of a problem but they have a good metro system. I don't have a car and tend to walk everywhere, but I rarely go outside of the area where I live as I have everything I need close at hand.
I've been here 11 years now and am happy. My normal routine consists of taking and picking the kids up from school, soccer practice, swimming lessons etc, walking the dogs, playing billiards and watching soccer matches. The ideal scenario would be if you had a remote job and earned money in dollars or euros then you could live here spending pesos and live quite comfortably on about $3,000 per month.
The people are friendly, talkative and hard workers. They don't speak English however so you do need some Spanish. (It's actually a good place to come and learn Spanish as the dialect is quite clear) The women are also very attractive!
Following up on this, how much Spanish did you know before you came there and how long would you say it took you to feel comfortable and understand 90%+ of the language?
Currently in Panama airport where I have a 3 hour layover en route to Vegas so will answer both Pardo and Mark about what its like to live in Medellin:The climate is really good and is the same year round. About 75-80 during the day dropping to 60-65 at night. You do get some rain, normally late afternoons or in the evenings but not all the time.The people are friendly, talkati
Very cool! Thanks for responding!
Following up on this, how much Spanish did you know before you came there and how long would you say it took you to feel comfortable and understand 90%+ of the language?
I had some Spanish having previously lived in Panama and Costa Rica but in those countries a lot more English is spoken.
Moving to Medellin where no one speaks English really forced me to learn. When you’re immersed in it and hear it every day you learn pretty fast, but I’d say it took me about two years to feel really comfortable and have 90%+ understanding. (And that’s just from picking it up on the street and in everyday life. I didn’t have any formal lessons)
Day 1
Tuesday May 26th
Let’s get this show on the road. Packing for 6 weeks means putting virtually every piece of clothing I own into a suitcase and I’ll still have to do laundry at least a couple of times.
As it’s a new thread I guess I should include one of these pics as an offering to the trip report gods:
Flying the usual route. Medellin - Panama - Las Vegas with Copa and upgraded to Business class on the first short flight again thanks to my Silver status. I get sat next to a Dutch guy who’s very talkative.
During the 3 hour layover in Panama I work on my ODB fantasy team. So many options, so many good players. Do I include one of the higher priced beasts and then fill out the roster with $1 players or go for a more balanced approach?
Who’s going to be playing a full schedule? Mixed players or No Limit guys? High rollers or mid-stakes players? So many variables but so much fun!
It would be very easy to fire multiple teams as it’s unlimited entries but every time you click submit team it costs $525 so I limit myself to just two entries. (Poker.org is running a free version as well btw)
I am in the bonus players list so selected myself for one team, but not both.
I get an exit row seat on the flight to Vegas which is uneventful. Flying Copa so much I’ve seen most of the movies they have available but I did find one I hadn’t seen and it was pretty interesting. The 2019 film Richard Jewell directed by Clint Eastwood about the security guard who found the bomb in Centennial Park during the Atlanta Olympics saving hundreds of lives but then became the prime suspect for the FBI.
A short while later we land at Harry Reid. I declare the currency I’m carrying without any problems and then head to Aria and meet my friend Jimmy who hooked me up with a room there for the first few nights.
On Deck Tomorrow: $1,500 Omaha 8 at 2pm
Nice touch in the bankroll pic! 😀 Welcome to USA#n! Run well, play better.
I like the touch of confidence to take yourself in the fantasy game.
