Nitty by Nature 8: Confirmed Busto TR (6/14-6/22)
Dog, you must be high. Don't you have a calendar? It's FEBRUARY. Surely you aren't posting a WSOP trip report this early
+1 to slices of tomatoes. I prefer to add balsamic, but I know that's not for everyone.
Congrats on the South Point run. I'm very curious what time you guys chopped it. I'm landing in Vegas on June 27 and potentially have free tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld at the Colosseum through Caesars Rewards. I had thought about hopping in that daily 10:10 a.m. South Point event after I land, but wanted to make sure it would be over in time for me to see Seinfeld.
Thanks. The time stamp on my phone pictures shows the final table starting a little bit before 5 PM. Looks like I was back on the Strip by 6 PM. That means we chopped 6-ways around 5:30. By that point the average stack was <20 BB and the levels are 20 minutes long, so it was unlikely to be a marathon even if we played it out.
Deep runs are funny. On one hand, poker seems like such an easy game when we're running hot. On the other hand, deep runs always leave me a little unsettled because it reminds me just how much needs to go well to make it deep. And then with anything short of a win (or maybe a top 3), I think of how many things went my way and I still didn't get the result I was hoping for. B
The math of tournaments is daunting. When you are running bad, it seems like an impossible task to reach the final 10%-15% of the field.
Even just to get the near min-cash at Aria a few days ago, I was dealt AA vs. KK and a full house vs. flush, and won an all-in T6 vs. Q9. All luck.
It is a bit of a crazy thing to register for a tournament knowing you are ~80% to fail.
I guess all those inevitable failures make the successes a little sweeter.
No drama on the slate for today. Will walk around town and have lunch somewhere before heading to the airport. Will post the final trip reflection shortly.
SUMMER TRIP REFLECTION
Time to look back now on this TR and reflect. This thread began with me recounting a tough beat from a $200 nightly Venetian event in December 2025. 2025 was my worst year in poker. I could hardly win a pot, let alone find a cash. The bankroll was in a rough place to start the new year. We were nearly confirmed busto. After a slew of positive results in 2026, we are relatively robusto.
The obvious highlight was binking the $250 WSOP Daily for $27k, a new lifetime best. It was a surreal day to step off the plane at 1 PM, catch a ride to my hotel, hop into this tournament at 2 PM, and somehow win the whole thing at 4 AM the next day. It all still feels like a fever dream.
You always hope for a result like that, but I certainly didn't expect it to happen. My goals for the summer were more process-oriented, which is how I think we should approach poker.
I won't be setting specific goals for this trip. We have so little short-term control over our results in poker that it's folly to set concrete objectives like "win X dollars,", "cash Z tournaments", or "make Y final tables". That is especially true on a small sample. On 8 days of volume, the prospect of an 0-for-everything is very real. You can't get too emotionally invested i
I'm happy on two fronts. We got the desired positive results to celebrate. Additionally, this might be the first summer of my poker "career" when I didn't punt a single tournament entry. I bricked plenty of tournaments, botched a few spots, and may not have played my A+ game for every minute of every session, but I never gave my stack away either. I always gave myself a fighting chance.
Apart from that, I enjoyed the opportunity to branch out further into the mixed streets with the TOE, HORSE, and Razz events. I expect to continue exploring more formats and diversifying my skills. Hopefully I'll be stronger in some of these games 12 months from now, ready to take more shots.
For all the time I've spent in Vegas, I've always been more of a poker guy than a Vegas guy. Often I'm so focused on the grind that I barely stop to smell the roses. This summer I think I did a better job of appreciating the city's vibe and enjoying the atmosphere. There's no shortage of human tragedies roaming the streets out here, but if you look around, you'll also notice that most people here are having a good time. It's a city that invites celebration. I understand the vibe more now.
Ten days from now I'll know the results of my trip. It might be an abject failure, a great success, or (most likely) something between those two poles. For now, the possibilities are almost infinite. That's part of what makes these annual pilgrimages so intoxicating. Once we've established our budget, the downside is relatively concrete. However, the theoretical upside is almos
Everything I said earlier about focusing on process applies, but a big part of the reason why we take these trips and play these tournaments is for the slim chance of the miracle run. It was finally my turn to hit a pretty big number. $27k might be a drop in the ocean for a high roller pro, but I have to be pleased that we chased infinity and caught a little slice. I'll allow myself a medium-sized victory lap while also keeping the broader perspective. On that note...
There will come a time when I quit the TR game. At some point I will have said everything I have to say about poker and (hopefully) achieved most of what I want to achieve. At some point these TRs will be totally played out. We're not quite there yet though. I still have dragons to slay. I've never hit a monster score in a MTT. I've never made a crazy run in a WSOP event. I've
I've still never played the $10k Main or made a crazy run in a WSOP event, but I think 100 buy-ins qualifies as a monster score, even if it's more Frankenstein than Godzilla in scale. The 1 PM Daily at the WSOP was the first tournament I ever played in Vegas. Returning after eight years and finally winning the thing feels like a full circle moment. To some extent, the story does feel finished now, as I've gone from wide-eyed newbie to grizzled veteran standing on the podium. It is a tale of persistence and determination, filled with many anonymous nights staggering out of various casinos, lamenting the latest mistakes and runbad. Those are the moments no one sees when they see some lucky dope's grinning face in the pages of a poker magazine holding a trophy or a bracelet. The real story might be everything that happened when nobody was looking.
Here's where my Vegas live MTT adventures all started, sitting on a baby stack in the 1 PM Daily back in 2018. We have come a long way.
I don't know if I'll continue to write these TRs in future years or just end it with this chapter. I'll see what I'm thinking when next spring rolls around. For now, the results from this trip aren't going to massively change my life or my engagement with poker, but they'll provided some much-needed financial wiggle room moving forward, and that means I'm not confirmed busto quite yet.
Thanks. The time stamp on my phone pictures shows the final table starting a little bit before 5 PM. Looks like I was back on the Strip by 6 PM. That means we chopped 6-ways around 5:30. By that point the average stack was <20 BB and the levels are 20 minutes long, so it was unlikely to be a marathon even if we played it out.
That is very useful info. Thank you very much.
Congrats on the fun and profitable trip mate and sorry we didn’t get the chance to meet
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Congrats again on the big score(s), and it was really nice to finally meet you in person as well!
SUMMER TRIP REFLECTION
I don't know if I'll continue to write these TRs in future years or just end it with this chapter
I think I speak with all of LVL and implore you to continue trip reporting! We are a community here and you are a big part of it. Your adventures are our adventures. Your insights are invaluable to the rest of us.
It was a pleasure to get to meet you in person. If and when you win the main event and document it here then stop TR's. That would be the perfect swan song 😀
Wowzers. Amazing stuff. Thank you for sharing your insight.
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You know you still have the bug to play poker and document for our reading pleasure. Congrats on a trip you’ll not soon forget!
SUMMER TRIP REFLECTIONIt is a tale of persistence and determination, filled with many anonymous nights staggering out of various casinos, lamenting the latest mistakes and runbad. Those are the moments no one sees when they see some lucky dope's grinning face in the pages of a poker magazine holding a trophy or a bracelet. The real story might be everything that happened when n
This is my favorite part of your reflection as everyone who has seriously grinded knows this is 100% true and applies to all areas of life, not just poker.
It was nice seeing you again, albeit briefly. Best of luck for the future.
For all the time I've spent in Vegas, I've always been more of a poker guy than a Vegas guy. Often I'm so focused on the grind that I barely stop to smell the roses. This summer I think I did a better job of appreciating the city's vibe and enjoying the atmosphere. There's no shortage of human tragedies roaming the streets out here, but if you look around, you'll also notice th
Personally, I've experienced this weird feeling where I've been to Vegas without playing poker and didn't enjoy it nearly as much, and traveled to other locations (Tunica being a great example) to play poker and didn't have nearly as much fun playing. To me, summer in the desert (with its plethora of action and options) is the perfect synergy of Vegas and poker.
Dog - first of all, congrats on a great trip. You've been working very hard the last several years, playing solid, and your rush finally came this summer. 27K is a MONSTER score, especially of 250 bucks and it's the type of score that honestly, most recreational poker players will never even achieve honestly. Sometimes, we forget how hard the game is, especially nowadays, and often, five figure scores require deep runs in extremely large fields unless you are playing very high buy events. it's something to be proud of for sure. Also, let's not forget that during the summer, while there are no doubt plenty of recs, shot takers, fish etc, all attracted by the WSOP glitz and glory, there are a ton of regs, pros, grinders, and pretty competent rec enthusiasts like a lot of the posters here. The fields are not very easy to navigate period paragraph, especially the end game stages. If you are profiting at all, you are doing better then 99% of players out there, truly.
Also, glad you got to enjoy Vegas a bit more. It's a great city that has come a long way and has a lot to offer.
Will continue to follow, and hope to see you around next summer. all the best.
PardoG
Fantastic writing, as ALWAYS.
I hope you continue to do many more of these.
I’ll look forward to reading them when you do.
I can officially confirm the following:
1. The run good of Strawberry Julius is real
2. If you buy into DDS using a $50 Bill, there is a good chance you will be in the money (87/638 left tonight in DDS!)
Thanks DogFace for the Grant Rungood!
One of milestones was to make the top 27. Milestone achieved. I was out in 27. For all the juicy details you need to wait for my trip report!
The next pay jump was at 26. Damn! Missed a pay jump!
Bust out hand: 7’s
The $50 Bill haters can hate me. I am going to start a new trend. Let me call it “Grant-DogFace Run Good”.
It is free and easy to activate or signup for this exclusive club. All we ask in return is post the picture of your $50 bill and tag us with your deep run in tournaments.
Good Luck to the new members of Club Grant-DogFace Run Good!
Cowboy do you believe in the superstition “Don’t bring a $50 bill to the poker room it is considered bad luck!”
We are just trying to change that notion from this year!
No I don't believe in that superstition.
I'm just wondering why you're doing a trip report in 2 different threads you didn't start.
Do you know who D.B. Cooper is?
