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
Post Game - Part 1
After 7 weeks in the desert it was good to get back home and see some greenery.
Let’s look at how we did on the trip.
Tournaments
TLDR = buried
I played 31 total tournaments consisting of 25 bracelet events, (including 1 x $10k) 4 landmark satellites and 1 tournament each at Wynn and Aria.
To show for it we only had 4 cashes:
261st out of 2,150 for $3,020 in the $1,500 Big O
39th out of 780 for $4,975 in the $1,500 HORSE
Cashed flight B of the $1,000 PLO for $2,234 but did not make day two.
193rd out of 1,673 for $3,027 in the $1,500 PLO Double Board Bomb Pot
The final 100% numbers were:
Tournaments Played: 31
Bullets Fired: 37
Hours Played: 184
Total Buy-Ins: $58,650
Cashes: 4
Total Prize Money: $13,256
Net Result: -$45,395
After deducting the action that I sold my personal result was -$23,860
Packages Sold
Just a quick note to thank everyone who bought a piece, either through a package on here or on Pokerstake. Obviously the results weren’t what any of us wanted.
Mixed Games Package
No cashes. $3,300 (including markup) in unused re-entries to be returned.
NLH / Mystery Bounty Package
No cashes. $440 (including markup) in unused re-entries to be returned.
Big Bet Package
2 cashes for $6,047 total and $6,600 (including markup) in unused re-entries to be returned.
Final Tournament Thoughts
So that’s what a full summer looks like when you run bad. The only positive I can take away was that I was disciplined with the re-entries.
I thought the overall level of play was pretty bad in the big field lower buy-in PLO and NLH tournaments that I played but could not take advantage.
There was less dead money in the mixed events although there was still some, but again I could not win any pots against those guys.
The WSOP experience was as expected. Bad dealers,(unless you made a day 2) and poor food options. The overall temperature was improved from last year though as they built the mothership in what was the coldest area of the Paris ballroom. The app is unbelievably good and a true game changer.
Payouts and depositing money into my tournament account was never a problem as I always went late at night when it was quiet.
Cash Games
I played most of my cash sessions at Bellagio with a handful at Paris thrown in.
I started off strong and pretty much maintained it throughout the summer, although did have a dip at the end.
Action was very good throughout but there was a noticeable drop-off when we got into July and especially the last week.
Hours Played: 233
Profit: +$30,000
Hourly: $129
Having 3 and 4 $80 Mix games running at Bellagio for most of the summer was awesome. Part of me wishes I’d have just gone and concentrated 100% on cash, but I’m sure that’s being results orientated.
Sports Betting
What a summer. NBA and NHL playoffs, US Open golf and the World Cup. I did okay, winning more bets than I lost including big bets on England to beat Mexico and Belgium to beat USA.
Sports Betting Profit: +$6,000
Fantasy
Entered two teams in the ODB league which are in mid-table obscurity.
Fantasy Result: -$1,050
Buying Pieces
I bought small pieces of various players in different events throughout the summer on Pokerstake and hit the jackpot when I had pieces of both Benny and Josh when they finished 1-2 in the PPC.
Total Invested: $5,395
Total Returns: $16,687
Net Profit: $11,292
As this post is running long I’ll split it into two parts and detail the expenses and give thoughts on the hotels, restaurants and a final summary in the next part.
Looks like you're still going to be in the black net of expenses. Obviously not the summer you were hoping for, but there's a lot of folks who go out and play the type of schedule you played and do a lot worse, ending up well in the red net net on the trip.
Seems to me you should be proud that you kept your head on your shoulders and avoided going into a tilt spiral where you donk it off in cash games, in the pits, or firing extra bullets when you shouldn't be doing so. That's a win.
Fantastic TR and thanks for keeping with it even though the trip was long and seemed like it was dragging for you at the end. It sucks about the tournaments, but everything else seemed to go well.
Thanks for taking us along on the journey. Even without the results you hoped for, this was an enjoyable daily read throughout the series.
I’m exhausted for you. Such a gruelling tournament schedule.
While we all sign up for them knowing that most days end in disappointment, the constant disappointment in addition to the hours of concentration just be a huge challenge
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This was a great read, congratudolences, glad you’re safely home.
