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
yep, such a huge grind you're on. very much hoping there's a deep run before you leave
are you ok with your play/decisions still?
Hoping the rungood comes in soon. I've had my share of cold runs. I went from 12/57 cashes in 2024 (21%) to 5/55 cashes in 2025 (9%). My ROI was also worlds apart. My process and game selection weren't any different and I didn't play significantly worse from one year to the other. The luck factor is just huge in these tournaments. It's a sick game that we play, but good decisions and perseverance should win in the long run. I hope the reversal is imminent.
As someone who has bought an (albeit small) piece of your action, I want to be sure to say that you should absolutely put out of your mind any concern that you’re not generating an ROI for your backers. Everyone knew or should have known they’re in for a variance rollercoaster. Your sample this summer is still incredibly small.
Keep calm and vamos!
Day 35
Monday June 29th
After the late finish in the satellite last night I woke late, but just in time to see Brazil score their injury time winner against Japan, then walked to Bellagio around noon and was just in time to get a seat in the must move $80 Mix.
A one way session today, thankfully in the right direction. No getting stuck, no losing capped pots in big bet, or winning them either for that matter. Just a steady accumulation of chips.
I took a walk for a little bit to watch the penalties in the Germany game in the sportsbook.
When I got back my chips had been racked up and moved to the main game which did not look appealing at all. Very dusty to say the least.
Well we’ve already got the wages for today so I didn’t bother un-racking and took them straight to the cage instead. In for $6,000, our for $9,900 after 5 hours. Now that’s what I call a productive session.
Well as we didn’t get any pool time this morning and it was only 5pm what about some late afternoon pool time?
The pool at Aria is open until 7pm in the summer and I stayed until they kicked me out.
Then I watched the 2nd half of the Netherlands game in the room. I had a bet on them to advance and it looked good until Morocco scored a late goal to send it into extra time.
Then Fig (who organizes the OE game) texts me to say they’re just about to start at Paris and asks do I want a seat? I say yes and get showered and changed and head on over there.
I love this time of the evening here when the sun is going down and the lights are beginning to take effect.
I get to Paris in time to see the penalty shootout and kick myself for betting to advance instead of pk (pick) on the spread in 90 minutes. When it goes to penalties you’re just coin flipping. Better to take the push at the end of regulation rather than gamble on penalty kicks. Notch one up on the sports betting oopsy meter.
Some awful Dutch penalties result in me being out -$1,000 and Morocco moving on to the next round.
The OE game really wasn’t a good lineup. Very nitty, but I was determined to recoup my lost Netherlands bet.
And so it was. As soon as I hit the front $1k I went to get racks and called it a night. In for $3,000, out for $4,000 after 3 hours.
On Deck Tomorrow: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw
After going all out for the 5 days in Vegas and feeling worn out of poker, I am super jealous again as I've only played one time since and felt totally unsatisfied. I arrived at around 3:30 to a short handed 2nd 30/60 LHE game. That game broke after I lost a few bets, and I got in the main game around 5. The main game ****ing broke at 6:30, so there were two games when I arrived at 3:30pm and both had broken by 6:30pm on a Saturday night :(.
Good luck today!
I watched Neeme's vlog, and he played on Venetioan's stream, which I didn't know they had. Maybe they have a mixed night, you should check. Didn't look like it was nosebleed stakes, for NL they played 25/50.
After going all out for the 5 days in Vegas and feeling worn out of poker, I am super jealous again as I've only played one time since and felt totally unsatisfied. I arrived at around 3:30 to a short handed 2nd 30/60 LHE game. That game broke after I lost a few bets, and I got in the main game around 5. The main game ****ing broke at 6:30, so there were two games when I arr
Yea that’s one of the reasons i’m here for the whole summer. No shortage of action 24/7
Day 36
Tuesday June 30th
Decided to play a morning cash session at Bellagio today rather than my usual pool time. Went over there around 9am, one game running but the players looked pretty fresh, no all-nighters.
Had to wait a little while for a seat and when I got in the game it wasn’t the best but I’m here now I thought and missing my pool time so had to knuckle down.
As yesterday it was pretty much one way traffic in the right direction. No big pots, just a steady accumulation.
I racked up after 3 hours with a +$2,500 win which coincidentally was the buy-in of today’s donkament.
No pool time but I did find time to eat some gelato outside, so this is what one of the pool areas looks like at Bellagio.
More punishment in the tournament. Battled for 8 levels without being above a starting stack before finally succumbing. Didn’t really make any hands and don’t think I won a single hand of Badugi.
Lesson learned from yesterday in the soccer, not that it made a difference today. Norway got the job done in regulation.
Having never been to Battista’s it was on my list of places to try and tonight seemed like a good opportunity.
I was really hungry but it takes forever to cross that intersection outside the Horseshoe.
Why did the frog cross the road? Because he was fcuking starving!
What’s that you say? The meal comes with unlimited wine included? Sounds just what I need right now. We polish off two carafes and the tournament torture is forgotten.
I really like this place and can see why it is one of TJ’s favorites. Why haven’t I been here before?
Nothing fancy, but a warm atmosphere with good food, and plenty of it.
I had the rib-eye and everything else was included. Wine, garlic bread, potatoes, pasta. I could have had a soup or salad as well but declined. Even the cappuccino to finish off was included. Will definitely be back.
Two plays in the World Cup for tomorrow:
England -1.5, -110
Belgium pk, -165
Unlucky re the tournament but great that the cash continues to go well
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Battista's looks great value still.
Went there many years ago on a date with a Mirage dealer and was stunned by the amount of food (some of which went home with her) 😃
It might be a bit misleading because it's resting on top of potatoes. That is a nice cap, though.
Counterpoint: The pasta looks pathetic. But hard to complain about something that comes free with your meal!
Day 37
Wednesday July 1st
Last day at Aria today.
Apologies in advance as this is not the most interesting update. Today was a cash game grind day. I played lots of hands, winning my share and also losing my share, but I didn’t make any notes and nothing out of the ordinary comes to mind.
Played a session starting late morning and it was my worst of the trip. I called it quits around 5pm booking a -$4,700 loss.
I went for a walk and watched the USA game in Paris sportsbook. Soccer bets 1 loss and 1 push so far today. Had a couple of interest bets on Bosnia +1.5 and Under 2.5 which went 1-1.
USA won and are favored in the round of 16 against Belgium!!! And with their goalscorer suspended??? I strongly disagree with this and will be betting accordingly.
England also look way too cheap against Mexico in R16.
After the game I went back to Bellagio and had to wait over an hour before getting a seat in the 3rd game.
This session was a lot better and resulted in a win of +$3,300 when I racked up around 1am
I wouldn't bet on USA, but it also bears mentioning that this Belgium is a far cry from their peak around 2014-2018. Their only convincing wins lately are against Tunisia and New Zealand, two of the doormats in the competition. They drew against Iran and Egypt. I think the USA is stronger than those sides, even without Balogun. This is a rematch of a lopsided 2014 game, but a very different matchup today. I'll be surprised if the USA rolls over. One way or another, Belgium are "dead money" in this tournament IMO.
I have a small bet on England against Mexico, but can understand why it might also look like a trap game. It is prove-it moment for both teams, as England have been sluggish so far in the tournament while Mexico have thrived (against weak opposition). The margin for error narrows considerably from here on out.
There will be so much (over) confidence in Argentina that I'm interested in maybe taking the other side if/when they finally face a real team (Colombia? England? France?).
Mainly I am just annoyed that I didn't put more on France to win the whole tournament when they were around +450.
Glad you made a decent comeback in the second cash session.
So much more to develop in the World Cup. It’s been going for weeks and we’re still not at Rd 16.
The altitude and the home fans will be tough for the England team to cope with and it would be a good win for them IMO against a limited team but with huge momentum and confidence. I really hope the fans behave themselves - I have a mate who was at Mexico’s game yesterday and he said the environment was totally nuts - at least 3 people died in the crush after the game because of the crowding of the fans into the train station. And that was a happy crowd
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Hopefully not breaking the rules to just say, “Good luck today, go get ‘em!”
Day 27Sunday June 21st As well as being Fathers Day it’s also the final day of the US Open and this man would shape our day today.Wyndham Clark, who the New York fans don’t like and are cheering his bad shots. Really? But we quite like him having bet him after the first round.He started the day with a 6 shot lead and the fact that it’s down to only 3 when we wake up is the reas
better to direct your focus toward where you want to go, not what you want to avoid
always aim to hit the fairway, not to miss the hazard
Golf gambooling itt.
This post actually inspired me to make my first ever “win tournament after first round completed” bet.
Spoiler
Benny is obviously a great player and is a deserving champion, but he sure seemed to get smashed by the deck head's up. It seemed like he had the best of it every single hand.
Ali went on an enormous whinge on the broadcast—obviously he had a good chunk of Josh: “You’ve done nothing today, Benny…”
