The Return of the Talking Cat - 5th WSOP Trip Report (33rd? trip to Vegas lifetime) 6/7-6/14
Herrrrow friends,
I'm just glad they haven't shut this place down yet. PardoG, the middle aged man, with a very serious,
RE: unusual cars, I saw in Vegas a VW New Beetle thing that was converted into a pickup. It was so well done that it looked like a factory car. It even had the little spots to step on the side of the bed.
RE: unusual cars, I saw in Vegas a VW New Beetle thing that was converted into a pickup. It was so well done that it looked like a factory car. It even had the little spots to step on the side of the bed.
Interesting - I'll have to check that out! one of these summers I'm going to have to do an exotic rental (Lambo, Ferrari etc) - I've always thought about it, but never did it. It's one of the few "vegas things" I havent' done in 20+ years of visiting.
We are ONE WEEK away! The excitement is building - watching the WSOP vlogs, following along on twitter/X, the WSOP App - this is the time of year I remember why I fell in love with the game in the first place. I'm very excited for the MTT options that are in front of us, we ended up picking a good week. Last year, I found the cash games to be significantly worse than previous years and even the year before that, when I fared OK in them realtively speaking, they weren't nearly as good. Specifically, I've found PLO has become a LOT more "grindy" it seems people are starting to catch on to the fundamentals, and realizing that you actually should be playing LESS hands, in a lot of game conditions vs. NLHE, and they are also employing limping and 3 bet strategy much more effectively. Sadly, there is so much training content out there these days, this is just the way it goes.
Looking at my last 6 years total Poker results, I'm pleased as while they aren't huge numbers, for someone who has been playing 25 years, and knows how much harder this game is to profit at compared to the early 2000's when one of these annual results was like a good month for me in the cash games lol, we are doing our best to keep up.
2020: +$18,465 (COVID online tourney home games boom, and my re-intro back into MTT's)
2021: + $26,327 (Continuation of the COVID bubble, combined with Crypto momentum and a bit of a resurgence of new money in the game, bigger live fields)
2022: - $491 (Small loss, COVID bubble bursts, home games dry up, live fields begin to get tougher, economy starts to cool a bit after "the great resignation of 2021 and robust hiring market)
2023: + $809 (Basically break even year as things go back to a grind, we are burnt out from playing more in the past few years than we did in the early 2010's, and overall lower volume)
2024: +$21,887 (propelled mostly by our awesome WSOP trip, we have a bounce back year and do some damage - home games are pretty much dead at this point, and our volume drops a lot)
2025: +$10,794 (another good summer trip carry's probably one of our lowest volume years, playing wise ever to a winner. I think other than WSOP - I played 3-5 live sessions, and 5-7 MTT total)
2026: -$280 (YTD - just a few small home game tournies here in the past few weeks to shake some rust off and get my brain working again), let's see what our week of immortality does for us!
Interesting - I'll have to check that out! one of these summers I'm going to have to do an exotic rental (Lambo, Ferrari etc) - I've always thought about it, but never did it. It's one of the few "vegas things" I havent' done in 20+ years of visiting.
I rented a 355 Spider, which is no big deal now, but it was when I did it 10 or 15 years ago. I think the current model then was the 360. There's a wfo-type of highway outside of town where I definitely didn't run it up to 140 with the top down. Also rented a 996 Turbo, which was well-known in the early years to have a too soft suspension. That one was nearly impossible to control at high speeds and was all over the road. The F355 was locked down at high speed.
I wanted to be sure I wouldn't park it anywhere and have to worry about theft or vandalism. The place I rented from gave you a hundred free miles. The guy looked at me kinda funny when I returned it less than 2 hours after picking it up.
I love the sound and feel of Eye-talian cars, but if you have no such addiction, a GT3 or McLaren seems like they would be amazing to drive. I got the GT3 experience up close and personal, being passed on Laguna Seca by one.
I have purchased a ticket to game 4 of the stanley cup finals for Tuesday (6/9). While it's going to cut into the poker schedule ( I can't fire the 1500 Super Turbo Bounty now), ultimately, I've passed on going to a finals game many times since the VGK have existed in the NHL, and I just feel like I can't do it again. I'm a huge hockey fan (it was my primary sport playing growing up also), and the chance to go to the finals for 842 dollars (that ticket would be thousands in any other major city or major hockey market, especially in the Northeast).....I couldn't pass it up. I'm excited to have it on the schedule, and I think this will make me fire the $500 Freeze out on plane day/arrival day next Sunday.
I have purchased a ticket to game 4 of the stanley cup finals for Tuesday (6/9). While it's going to cut into the poker schedule ( I can't fire the 1500 Super Turbo Bounty now), ultimately, I've passed on going to a finals game many times since the VGK have existed in the NHL, and I just feel like I can't do it again. I'm a huge hockey fan (it was my primary sport playing growi
I have gone to a Stanley Cup Finals game in three different seasons, and while hockey is not close to my main sport to watch, I can tell you that the atmosphere is electric in a Stanley game. Enjoy!
We just checked in for our vegas flight! Wheels up in the AM. I have requested early check in at Encore (for a fee of course lol) since my flight arrives around 11am. We'll see if we can get in. If not, we'll check our stuff at the bell desk tomorrow and we'll grab some food then likely right over to WSOP for try to spin it up in the $500 Freezeout. I've been excited to head to Vegas since i got back from our Aruba spring vacation with the Mrs. PardoG and kittens. It's been a long wait, can't wait to get out there and start firing tomorrow!
I think a few (or at least Pig) mentioned that you may like cars as well. It’s travel day and we hop in our baby - the BMW M8 convertible to go grab a coffee before our ride to the airport arrives. I wish I could take it out to Vegas, and someday I will for sure however, I can’t burn 3 days driving there and back pre-retirement, so the “Catmobile” must stay home. Good luck to everyone firing the freezeout today. Let’s all find a bag!
For those who have been following along the past few years, you know we usually go double cheeseburger at Wahlburgers prior to our flight the past few years. We are trying to start this trip off a LITTLE more reasonably lol so we go with a simple egg and cheese from shake shack. Will this affect the MTT run good? I hope not lol but it is what it is my friends. Board in 20! LFG!
Bun is the proper size for egg to bun ratio purposes, it’s fresh, eggs are cooked nicely, and the breakfast sauce adds a little tangy ness. I’m going with a 8/10. Would recommend.
That m8 looks SICK.
I’m not a big car guy, but if this summer goes stupendously well, I have my eye on an x5 or x7.
That m8 looks SICK.
I’m not a big car guy, but if this summer goes stupendously well, I have my eye on an x5 or x7.
TJ,
Wife just recently upgraded from a 2013 X5 (had for 10 years) to a 2024 X5. Do recommend - very smooth ride and while the tech gets knocked, not too difficult to manage.. Buy 2-3 years old (likely off a lease) to avoid up front depreciation hit. BMW has worked with Toyota on their engines for the X5 since 2019 or 2020 which obviously increases the reliability factor there. X7 adds 3rd row seating and larger profile, not sure would be worth the extra 20K for a single guy. Depending on mileage a couple year-old X5 seems to run for about 50 to 55, 000.
Gogogo. You can always tell at that point in the tourney who has been winning a lot of pots because they have stacks of 100's!
Keep it up!
157K about to race off purples and go to dinner for all the finest cuisine that can be offered up in these parts. We are coming back to 2.5k/5K, there are like 900 left, 600 ish get paid, 200K ish up top!
Wooof and 2 levels after dinner we are out. We lose a flip to a shorty, bleed off some more in some various late position and blind situations, and then run 77 into KK for the last 9 bigs and just like 70 off the money - brutal !
I could be extremely tilted, but honestly, I’m just tired. Trying to play 12 hours on travel day from the east coast, probably won’t do that again, I felt myself run out of steam and play a bit poorly and passively - despite trying to suck a coffee down after dinner, it wasn’t enough.
I also am really happy with how I played. I had AA once, AK once, and AQ twice, and other than that zero premium holdings - I really grinded the **** out of this thing and did my absolute best. All you can do. This is only the beginning!
Time for a big time cat nap!
Totally TJ - gotta make a run today, didn’t get there yesterday as I was coming in hot right off the airstrip!
Sunday (Day 1 Recap)
As I’ve said many times over the course of these trip reports, every summer trip to the WSOP has its own unique vibe and feel, and this one is no different. This was the first time ever I literally landed, broke my typical day 1 housekeeping and settling in routine, and basically went right from the gate to the Horseshoe lol.
You’ll probably laugh when I say this, but I was actually proud of myself for following through and grinding my ass off for basically 9 hours after a long travel day on short sleep. I am disappointed I didn’t lock up the min cash as I had about 30BB after dinner and I feel I could have played a few spots differently, but I also didn’t get dealt and ran into it a bit for sure. Also, as I always say, we aren’t here to min cash, we are here to win. That’s how I played.
We end up down just the one $500 dollar bullet yesterday with literally no other gaming or betting occurring. Could be worse.
Before I headed over to the horseshoe yesterday, I hit the Cafe in the encore for this Ham and Cheese on a pretzel bun. Not usually a selection the cat would make, but it was hot, tanging and delicious (I’m sure there is a dirty joke going through a few of your minds somewhere) it was a little smaller for the price but would certainly recommend. Give it a 9/10
During dinner break last night, I was going to go just grab Bobby’s Burgers, but we had time to kill and I needed to gather myself. So we headed over to Cafe Americano in the Paris. Felt I needed something at least healthier, so I ordered a salad albeit Caesar, and the grilled chicken plate with broccoli and a small side of pasta. I left the pasta, ate the chicken and all the vegatables. For such a basic meal, I have to say, it was actually quite good. Caesar salad had too much dressing, but that’s my bad - should have asked for it on the side. Service was good, spot was decent. Give it a 7.5/10. Would go again in a dinner break if too tired to go off campus.
