*Solo Brit - First WSOP Blog - Support Appreciated*
My relationship with poker started over 18 years ago, strangely on a facebook where people from school would jump on most evenings, working up our stacks most evenings whilst having banter in the chat box. It taught me the basics of the game and drew me to watching the classic high stakes games on the internet/tv - Doyle, Ivey, Hellmuth etc. There was something about those big bundles of cash that they had in their stack that was so captivating. The way they would throw the cash into the middle like it was nothing, it made the stakes feel so real whilst luring me in as a young viewing, the cash representing freedom, opportunity and addreniline.
Once I turned 18, I had been playing 9 ball semi-competetively, lured in by the fruit machines and the poker nights which were sometimes hosted at the bars and pool halls where I played, I ventured into the casino for the first time, playing a mix of cash and MTT with a very small bankroll. I was probably a break even player and flirted in and around the casino in between nights out with friends. After a couple of years, my friend who I played with ended up becoming a full time professional player, living in Vegas for most of the year and we gradually lost touch, as did I then with Poker.
Aside from the occasional home game, we would need to fast forward almost 15 years until I played in a casino again. My wife and I ventured to America in Spring of 2025, embarking on an amazing roadtrip along with Pacific Coast. We vistited San Fran first before getting married on the beach in Carmel by the Sea. We carried on to Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and then eventually Las Vegas. Words cannot describe how amazing the trip was. I have travelled Europe and Asia but this was my first time in America. My love for the States and the people was instant and it is somewhere I would love to reside one day.
As most can probably resonate with on this forum, that first time seeing the bright lights of Vegas is special. The lights, the energy, the smells, the sounds, it was intoxicating. One of the things I love about Vegas is the fact that you can be anywhere on strip or downtown and you are exactly where you need to be. Visiting other places, you feel pressured to see the main attractions and there is a sense of FOMO at time, Vegas doesnt seem to have that for me, being anywhere in Vegas is enough!
During the Vegas trip, whilst the wife was napping, I had the chance to play cash at The Horseshoe and what a fitting place to rekindle my poker journey. The feel of the chips instantly stirred up the dormant dopamine and adrenaline in me....oh how I missed it. Despite some obvious rust and lack of study, after three sessions I was +800 and itching to play more. I thoroughly enjoy (most) of the people you meet at the tables in Vegas, I find them generally much more friendly than in the UK.
After returning to the UK, I fired up Pokerstars, winning £2k from £55 tourney and used this to bankroll my new poker journey. Playing MTT's in the UK and cash alongside this. I work full-time in real estate development, which is very time consuming and therefore commiting to long poker sessions is difficult, let alone ben in a good head space to play well. Nonetheless, I have found the time to try and play once a week at the cost of my now secondary golf addiction (I'm not sure which makes me more frustrated!).
With work and life taking some unfortunate turns since our wedding, I needed a life break and headed to Vegas this January just gone, meeting a friend for a few days and playing poker for the remainder of the trip. I toured all the rooms and was in profit by the end of hte trip, largely helped by hitting my first Royal Flush in a cash game at the Venetian.
After the trip earlier this year, I was ithcing to get back to Vegas and what better time than the WSOP, the Mecca of Poker. I am ofcourse hoping this will be a profitable trip, I have studied hard and I'm the best poker player today then I have ever been. But this is now just a trip for profits, I am viewing it as a holiday, a chance to escape the stresses of life back home whilst pursuing my new hobby. I will be playing in The Colossus on the Saturday, hoping the jet lag isnt too bad! I also hope play Southpoint, MGM and Daily Deepstack tournaments with buy-ins up to $500 for each.
I'm staring out thh airport window at the grey manchester sky and preparing myself for the 42 degree desert sun which is awaiting. I'm excited but always aprehensive about solo trips. The anxiety will no doubt dispense once those lights and sounds hit me in c. 12 hours! I usually have a few songs I'm playing on repeat whilst on holiday. At the moment that song is Welcome to the Please Dome by Franky Goes to Hollywood, quite a fitting one for this trip and I will be playing it on the plane as soon as the strip comes into view from the window.
This is my first ever blog, inspired by reading some of the others on this forum. There is something pure and nostalgic about a blog and I hope to share with you my journey for the next week at teh WSOP. It would also be great to perhaps meet some others. This is one of many future solo trips for me and I hope to meet some new pals along the way who have a simliar love of the game.
All the best.
14 Replies
Good luck mate!
Good luck!
Presumably you're not the F4F who has been on the Hippo cash livestream recently?
Great intro, looking forward to the report!
Great introduction, welcome!
I'm in. Should be in LV on the 21st, if you are still around then. Until then, I'm looking forward to more updates.
Looking forward to the read
Good luck looking forward to your posts!
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Good luck on your trip, and welcome to LVL.
Good luck and run well!
So, having re-read the last blog, I firstly have to apologise for the bad grammar and spelling. A combination of no sleep, a new small keyboard, and writing it using software without a spell/grammar checker... oh, how we take that software for granted. 😀
The flight over was fine. I had lost my earbuds on the morning of setting off to the airport, and the ones I picked up rushing out of the house did not work. Hopefully not a bad omen for the trip!
I was lucky enough, however, to find that I had a full row to myself on the plane... such a great feeling. However, as is typical for me, despite an eye mask and lying there with ASMR music on for three hours straight, there was no chance I could sleep. Instead, I watched a few great movies: Americana and One Battle After Another. I'm quite a movie snob and I have to say, they were both thoroughly excellent. Americana had a similar feel to the classic True Romance, with a modern Western twist and Sydney Sweeney replacing my childhood crush, Patricia Arquette.
I arrived excited and checked into a great room in the Colosseum Tower at Caesars Palace. The pool was closed, so I headed to the Horseshoe to complete my registration and get a feel for the set-up. They've done a great job and the new feature tables look the real deal. I quickly located Martin Kabrhel (easy to track down if you're average at hearing). He was up to his usual antics, which I actually find quite amusing as a third party watching. Not sure how four hours at the table with him would be...
I continued my journey south on the Strip to Raising Cane's for a quick and easy fix. I was exhausted. That dull headache had set in and I felt like I was in a dream. I also have a few kidney issues which mean I'm finishing a course of antibiotics, which is not ideal for Vegas! I had told myself not to play poker when feeling like this, but that urge is too great. I sat down at MGM for a few hours, played terribly, and ended up getting stacked in a spot which, with more clarity and thought, I could have easily got away from and usually would. Frustrating, but I only have myself to blame. I call it a night and sleepwalk up the Strip to bed at around 11pm.
My sleep was terrible, waking up at 2am and not getting back to sleep until 5:30am. The alarm went off at 7:30am and I needed to pack as I was moving hotels across to The Flamingo (unfortunately).
I had told myself that if I felt terrible, not to fire in The Colossus. This is still a big buy-in for me and I don't want to donk it off, as I know how much my mood and lack of sleep impact my ability to play well. However, this is the last flight and the attraction of this big-field tournament, and the life-changing money up top, is too hard to say no to. I haven't travelled halfway around the world to miss this, so I commit to playing.
I had half an hour in the pool and got some sun at Caesars Palace. What a great pool facility and vibe they have. I'll be back for sure.
I was sat down in the White section in the main Horseshoe room. My table was a quiet one with largely recreational players and a few experienced recs with lots of cashes in larger WSOP buy-in events.
I won a few small pots before the first major hiccup of the day came. I'm dealt 5♣7♣ in the big blind. There's a 3x raise from MP with two calls before I complete the action in the big blind. The flop is a good one: A♣ 6♣ 9♣. I check and the action checks around. The turn is the 3♥ and the small blind makes a 50% pot bet. I 3x raise to get value from an ace, sets, and perhaps K♣X. It folds back around to the small blind, who tanks for a bit and calls.
The river is the 6♦ and the small blind donks a 75% pot bet into me. This is a clear fold in my opinion. His bluffs are really only hands holding the king of clubs, but I think my turn raise is mostly representing a flush or set and, therefore, his donk is clearly trying to get value from a full house. I don't think for too long and call, only to find out he has quad sixes.
Again, I'm feeling terrible, not thinking clearly, with the adrenaline of an early big spot. Back home I would get away from this spot 90% of the time, but it's another hand history to learn from going forwards.
I'm up and down for the next four levels before getting my 20 big blinds in pre-flop with QQ against AQo. An ace in the window and that's all she wrote, unfortunately.
As expected, I was pretty deflated. All previous Vegas trips have started with success at the cash tables, setting up my mood and the trip nicely. This time it's different... stacked in the cash game and out of my first Vegas tournament without ever really getting going or feeling like I'd got my money's worth. This, combined with the antibiotics, sleep deprivation, and kidney infection, is really impacting my first few days and mood.
I grind cash at Bellagio for the evening before ending the night breaking even.
I'm now writing this from Café Americano at Caesars. A fantastic French toast and a cappuccino to set me up for a few hours at the pool. I'm going to play the daily deepstack today and hopefully have a good run. I had five hours' sleep last night and, thankfully, I'm feeling slightly more human.
The past few days honestly feel like a dream. I need to perk up my mood and start enjoying the holiday now. It's amazing the correlation between your mood and luck/winnings at the poker table. I typically only play in the UK when I have that feel-good feeling - a Friday or Saturday after a gym session, for example.
My last tournament was a successful FT, so I'm hoping to channel some of that energy for the next five nights. I haven't even been able to have a beer yet, for God's sake! I've finished the antibiotics, so I'll enjoy a few White Russians later, no doubt!
I'll continue to play cash, and I'm thinking of heading to South Point for the first time for their £300k guaranteed multi-day summer series, so I'm looking forward to receiving all my run-good for then!
The UFC is on tonight and England play on Thursday in the World Cup, so two more things to distract me from the poker tables... temporarily.
The trip hasn't started how I'd imagined, but Vegas has a habit of turning quickly. Five nights of poker, White Russians, UFC, England on the big screens and hopefully a few chips coming my way.
Thanks for reading and GL!
Im not buddy, home on the 19th unfortunately. GL
Great feed at Cafe Americano. My sweet tooth needed a good workout this morning. Now comatosed at Caeser's pool for a few hours.
Must get back in the gym today...or maybe tomorrow!
