Bracelet Hunting - A WSOP 2026 Trip Report

Search in Thread

Posted any time
Posted past hour
Posted past 24 hours
Posted past week
Posted past month
Posted past year
11011121314151617

18

11617

18

Back to Las Vegas Lifestyle
Back to Las Vegas Lifestyle

Bracelet Hunting - A WSOP 2026 Trip Report

OP
988 posts · member since Apr 2006
1mo ago

Time for a new thread!

Credit to rppoker (who made the suggestion in my previous thread) for the title of this years’ tri

22 May 2026 at 03:00 PM
Reply...

432 Replies

Search in Thread

Posted any time
Posted past hour
Posted past 24 hours
Posted past week
Posted past month
Posted past year
11011121314151617

18

11617

18

Earlier posts are available on our legacy forum HERE
OP
988 posts · member since Apr 2006
1d ago

57k on 2nd break going back to 1,500 - 3,000 limits.

Went all the way down to 15k before hitting an upswing.


Table a lot tougher now (due to players being high-carded off to open new tables and being replaced) and includes Kevin Gerhart who I know well from the $80 Mix, Lawrence Brandt and Brian Breck who plays really crazy.

mrbaseball avatar
2667 posts · member since Feb 2003
1d ago

Take it down!

OP
988 posts · member since Apr 2006
1d ago

Same 57k on 3rd break, going back to 2,000 - 4,000 limits. (We just played 1,500 - 3,000 for 2 hours. It’s a slow structure) Pretty card dead that session. Had it up to 65k before ante’ing and blinding back down.

Koji Fujimoto joined the table. $10k 2-7 champ who plays in the $150-$300 Mix at Bellagio and teaches some of the Japanese kids who play in our $80 game.


459 posts · member since Oct 2018
1d ago

Let’s go!

OP
988 posts · member since Apr 2006
23h ago

59k on last break of the night and the end of late reg. Going back to 2,500 - 5,000 limits.

Had it up to 80k but lost a big Stud pot last hand before break.

Got moved tables to balance which I wasn’t too unhappy about, but no easy tables in this one. At least two or three very good players on every table that I can see.

A late night rush would be nice. [emoji1696]


OP
988 posts · member since Apr 2006
21h ago

Bust. Last level of the night.

that_pope avatar
794 posts · member since Dec 2006
21h ago

Gg

TJ Eckleburg12 avatar
3609 posts · member since Oct 2007
18h ago

Good run!

Reply...

About OP

TonySoprano9
adept

Top Posts

TonySoprano9
1mo ago

Time for a new thread!

Credit to rppoker (who made the suggestion in my previous thread) for the title of this years’ trip report. I was trying to think of song titles with a summer theme again, but it isn’t the Summer of 69, there’s only one of me so I can’t be the Boys of Summer and Cruel Summer would set completely the wrong tone so I’m going to call a spade a spade. I’m going bracelet hunting, no two ways about it.

I’m planning to play twice the number of bracelet events as I did last year and will be foregoing other venues around town and playing tournaments exclusively in the frozen tundra of the Paris ballroom.

It will truly be a summer camp this year as I’ll be here from day one until day forty-something, and with the high gas prices having a knock-on effect on the price of flights there won’t be any trip back home to break it up this time.

I’ll be hotel hopping around the strip as usual and what a difference having diamond and gold status this year makes. My average per night last year was $89, this year with no resort fees to pay that’s down to only $40 for a considerable saving. My lineup of hotels is Aria, Horseshoe, Excalibur and NYNY, hitting them all twice except NYNY.

Even with the expanded tournament schedule I’ll probably still have time to log some cash game hours and seeing as it’s a World Cup year I’m sure I’ll have some action there as well. I will try to squeeze in the odd day off here and there and take the time for a nice meal or to see a show and looking forward to seeing some familiar 2+2 faces and meeting some new ones.

Scene set. Wheels up in 3 days. Vamos!...

TonySoprano9
1mo ago

Day 7
Monday June 1st

I wake up earlier this morning and take a walk over to MGM Grand because I know their pool complex opens at 8am. No problem getting in with my MGM Rewards Gold card and there’s not many people there at that time.

The pleasant temperatures in the 70’s of last week are long gone. It’s 80 already and it’s not even 9am.

Unlike the more refined Aria, the pool-side music here is louder and intrusive which is a shame as there’s really no need for it to be that way. Nonetheless I swim and relax for a couple of hours.

Today’s tournament is an interesting mix of the Omaha 8 variants. There’s fixed limit O8 and pot limit Big O and PLO 8.

I’m happy with my table. There’s a couple of spots that I know I’ll be able to get to stack off to me should the right situation occur.

I tread water for 2 hours and have 26k from a 25k starting stack at the first break.

Then I start whiffing flops. When I have all low it comes high and vice versa.

I’m down to only 9k when I get dealt the best hand I’ve seen all day in PLO 8.

At 200/400/400 I open for 1,200 and there’s a couple of callers before a big stack makes it 5k. I go all-in for my 9k and it folds back round to the big stack who calls.

We’re in good shape. AK24 vs 2446

Flop: 7-9-3 (not bad)
Turn: A (we’re scooping now, but villain picks up a diamond flush draw)
River: 2 diamonds. (Literally the only card in the deck where we lose the whole pot. We go from scooping to getting scooped)

GG. I did have a re-buy budgeted for this event but when things like that happen I feel it’s best to keep the powder dry.

Over to the office we go and I arrive just in time as they’re opening a 2nd must move $80 Mix and I get the last seat.

If I’m running ice cold in the tournaments then the cash game is the exact opposite. We’re on fuego! [emoji91]

I can’t really remember the hands I won as there was so many of them. I think I only really lost one hand of note and that was in baduecey against a sticky big blind who drew 3, 3 and 2 and ended up scooping me.

Pappardelle Bolognese from Spago for supper. I ate table side as there was no way I was leaving this game when I was running so good.

Stud high made a full house and got paid off. Badacey made a 6-6 and got paid off. Best-best scooped a 3-way pot with nut low and deuces full. Drawma-dugi made a 6 dugi and a straight and got paid off.

Actually I made a couple of good folds in PLO when my spidey-senses were tingling. Pots you don’t lose just as important, and maybe more so than pots you win. I think I’m getting better in that regard, avoiding trap hands.

Building pyramids in the desert.

I cut myself off at midnight as I was tired but the game was still good.

In $6,000, out $12,000 for a +$6,000 profit after 6 hours.

On deck tomorrow: Probably just a cash game day although there is a $600 PLO that I might fire a bullet into....

TonySoprano9
1mo ago

Day 17
Thursday June 11th

I surprisingly got a good nights sleep. I thought I would have been tossing and turning given how I finished last night but no, got a solid 7 hours in. Maybe I’m becoming numb to it all? If so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Didn’t go to the pool today. Wanted to do some Stud 8 work. Had some close spots yesterday and felt maybe I was a little too aggressive but when I looked at them on studflopdraw it seems like I played them correctly. Maybe I’m just being results orientated as I swear I didn’t even drag half a Stud 8 pot yesterday.

$1,500 HORSE
Day 2

Level 16: 6,000 - 12,000 limits
171 / 780 players remaining
117 places paid

We start the day 164th out of the 171 returning players with a paltry 16,000 in chips or 1.3 big bets.

The draw for the game results in us starting with O8 (good) but the draw for the button sees us UTG+1 (not so good)

I’m all-in on my big blind, defending with A499 and get a chop.

Onto Razz.

We have a 9 up with 2-7 buried. There’s another 2 and a 7 among the up cards which is good card removal for us so I decide to go with it. We do end up making a 9 which is good for a full double.

A couple of hands later we play a very interesting hand. This is definitely hand of the day.

We open 9-6 | A and get 3-bet by a 2. We call.
On 4th we catch a Jack and villain gets a 3
So it’s 9-6 | A-J vs ?-? | 2-3
Villain bets and we call. We don’t like it but can’t fold here on a small bet street in a 3-bet pot.
5th street villain pairs his 3 and we also get a 3.
We bet and villain calls.
6th street villain catches a Queen and we get a 6 which pairs us.
So it’s 9-6 | A-J-3-6 vs ?-? | 2-3-3-Q
We have the best hand at the moment with a made Jack. The best our opponent can have is a Queen but I know he has a super strong draw so I elect to check. Villain wants high variance and bets it. (It’s probably close to a coin flip)
I have the best hand, the best you can have is a queen I say
You paired your 6he correctly replies.
There’s no world in which we’re folding so I raise all-in for half a bet more which he calls.
Will luck be on our side?

No squeezing. We pick up our 7th card and slam it down quick.

It’s a 7. We improve to a 9-7.
I paired villain responds.
As it turns out we didn’t need to improve. A Jack was good as villain missed his premium draw.
I don’t even look to see his exact cards as I’m too busy raking in the chips from another full double up.

Level 17: 8,000 - 16,000 limits
We have 80,000
Average is 145,000
134 players remaining
117 places paid

Hand for hand on the bubble now.

Cha-****ing-Ching!

In the money![/b]

I give myself a mental pat on the back for this one. I could have easily punted off the 16k last night rather than bag it and come back today. Never give up.

We make the first break of the day with an almost average 164,000 in chips



My highlight in level 18 was winning a nice Stud pot starting with split Aces and getting two callers who didn’t believe my Aces as there was another dead Ace among the up-cards.
I make Aces up which are good and get 1 caller on 7th.

Level 19: 12,000 - 24,000 limits
We have 240,000
Average is 246,000
79 players remaining

Lose 2 big Stud 8 pots bricking low and flush draws. I swear I haven’t won a Stud 8 pot all tournament. Down to 120k

Win an O8 pot. I bet the flop and turn on a T-7-4-3 board with two pair and no low against the pre-flop raiser and get the fold.

Won a Razz pot. I had an 8 made and was calling down a scary board. We go check - check on 7th. We improve to a 7 which was necessary as villain had a better 8.

On break at the end of level 13. We have 230,000



Completely card dead on level 20. Win the blinds uncontested from the button in O8 is my only pick-up.

Level 21: 20,000 - 40,000 limits
We have 180,000
Average is 433,000
45 players remaining

Lost a big Stud pot. Had a pair of sixes and a flush draw and didn’t improve. Lose to two pair. Very short now.

I finally win a Stud 8 pot to double



Then playing Hold’em I open the button with 7-7 and get 3-bet from the BB which I call.

Flop: 2-3-6

Our remaining chips go in and then we get shown the bad news. Villain has Q-Q



There’s no 7 or running straight and we’re finally done. I feel numb. It felt like I was taking every punch they could throw at me but I wouldn’t go down. But running into Q-Q there was just one too many on the chin.

I’m drained but proud of the way I fought.



Rppoker texts me as he’s just busted the Colossus and we meet for a coffee.

I had today pencilled in as my day to fire the Colossus and after a coffee and a little break I feel recovered enough to indeed do that and fire a max late reg bullet.

I tell Rppoker not to go to dinner just yet. I won’t be hanging about, I’ll either double or bust quickly and if it’s the latter I’ll go to dinner with him. I’ll have 50k with blinds at 2k/4k/4k so it’s fold or shove mode.

As it turned out it was rather a slow death. I dont get anything playable for two orbits then play A-J in a 3-way all-in pot of which I win the side pot to basically get my money back. Another orbit and I’m down to 25k and have to put it in with 8-7 suited from the big blind. Up against A-9 it could be worse but we don’t get any help from the board and head to dinner with Rppoker.



We went to Gordon Ramsay at Paris and both had the Beef Wellington which was really good.

On Deck Tomorrow: $1,500 Razz...