Nitty by Nature 6: The Nit Stays in the Picture TR (5/23-6/28 and beyond?)

Did you get a chance to try Randy's Donuts at RW?

No Cinderella story in the Wynn $2200. Just cinders. Played C+ level poker and also kept running into stuff. After falling below half the starting stack, I attempted to activate strawberry julius rungood.

I got back near starting stack before losing a chunky one with QQ vs. Ts9s in a 3-bet pot on 98597 runout. Busted in a delayed flip with AJ vs. 77.

Got the bright idea to rush over to Paris and late reg flight 1B of the $600. If I could sit down in level 5, I'd still have 100BBs. Plenty of chips.

The line for registration was short. However, the line to be seated was not. It stretched to the end of the corridor in Paris, with an estimated wait time of 2 hours.

I couldn't justify the wait, so it's time to take a dinner break and reset.

I was never in a sweet tooth type of mood when I was over there, but I'll try it sometime.

Finished the night playing cash in Resorts World. Goal was to get a seat in the mixed games to practice some new non-NLHE variants. While waiting for that, I got a seat in a 1/2 PLO game where Michael Mizrachi was also playing. First hand I watched, he potted for $175 at the first opportunity. I have a feeling that would've been a lively table, but before I was even dealt any cards, a seat opened up in the 8/16 mix, so I hopped over there instead.

I have minimal familiarity with mixed games, but possess at least a basic understanding of the standard variants included in HORSE and 8-game. This mix was a lot more esoteric though. We were playing lots of obscure stuff like 3 card down stud hi-lo with a discard, numerous drawmaha games, and several badugi variants. It was a humbling experience playing all these new formats and having a poor understanding of the hand values and strategies. I was definitely the fish at the table. I learned a few things, but finished down $200 after 3 hours.

If it had been a profitable session, I was going to fire the Aria $800 today. After burning a couple hundred, I'll size down and end the trip with a foray into the 1PM $250 at the Horseshoe. The $250 daily deepstack was the first WSOP-branded tournament that I ever cashed. It used to be a regular part of my summer poker diet, but I haven't played it yet this year. It should be a fun, low-pressure way to cap off the trip and maybe bink a miracle final table run.

$200 for 3 hours isn't bad. I used the play a 4/8 mix that ran at Orleans during WSOP. 200 usually only lasted me an hour.

PART 3, DAY 7 - 7/09

Bought my ticket for the 1 PM deep stack around 11:30 AM. Signs outside the ballroom said the start time would be pushed back to 1:30 PM, so I watched a bit of the France/Spain match before heading up to Normandy around 1:25 PM. There was a huge crowd outside the ballroom. The staff said they weren't going to allow us in yet, as the space was still being occupied by the $600 ultra stack re-start. Welcome to the World Series of Waiting.

After another 20-30 minutes, they let us in and got cards in the air around 2 PM. As inconveniences go, it was a relatively minor one. The WSOP is a logistical nightmare and I have some sympathy for the tough situation the organizers are in. On the other hand, the player experience in the lower buy-in events can be quite bad because of situations like this. You never have the illusion or delusion that you are important. It's a cattle call and you're the lowest priority. Cramped rooms, long lines, 10-handed poker. It's not ideal.

As mentioned, this was my first time splashing around in one of these $250s this year. It was quite interesting to observe how different the "meta" is in this setting than in many of the other events I've played. Very, very passive play. Lots of limping. Very few 3-bets. The stereotype of higher buy-ins being full of 3-betting and 4-betting maniacs is probably overplayed, but still there's a marked difference. These lower buy-ins can almost be more difficult in some ways because people play their hands in bizarre ways, whereas there's more of a clear logic behind what most players are doing in the higher buy-ins. You can probably thrive in these $250s over the long haul if you have patience and solid fundamentals, but it's also going to breed a lot of bad habits since you'll be doing things that you can't get away with in a different context.

I smashed a few boards very early, but got very little action. After the first break I opened QQ and got one caller (old guy) on the BTN. I think a 9-high flop is pretty safe for my hand. I lead. He calls. Turn completes some unlikely rag straights, but looks relatively safe. I can lead or try to go for a trap. Leading is probably the better choice, as this table is very passive and there aren't many obvious draws out there. I decide to go for the check-raise though. Mistake? Yes, I think so. But he bets like I hoped he would. I check-raise a pot-committing amount. He rips? Uh-oh. I assume I've run into a set, but it's actually AA. I lose and get eliminated.

I don't think I played this hand very well. I should've just led the turn standard. I don't think trying to build a gigantic pot makes sense when there aren't likely draws to tax. What am I hoping to be up against when I check-raise? Maybe just an overplayed 9x, TT, and JJ. That's a narrow range of possibilities. From that standpoint, I take responsibility. This was a bit of a blast-off. However, it was also a super annoying spot to get the best starting hand I've seen all day and still be drawing almost dead the whole way. The flat with AA against an EP open is the type of unconventional line that can trip you up in these things. I admittedly didn't even consider the possibility that he had an overpair, just sets. I forgot that the population in these tournaments is almost never going to 3-bet, either as a bluff or value. Passive, passive, passive.

The silver lining of this hand is just solidifying the idea that going crazy with an overpair is not great on dry boards where you're either WAY ahead or somehow dead. Maybe that lesson is worth the $250 I just punted off. I'll try to remember it.

QQ was pivotal in my first cash of the summer, which set up all of my other opportunities. If my summer ends with QQ, that's fitting.

There's a chance I get the itch to play more poker and register tonight's Resorts World 7PM, but either way I am going to start packing up my stuff and collecting my thoughts for an end-of-summer recap. My flight leaves very early tomorrow morning, so the last few grains of sand are circling the hourglass.

END OF THE ROAD

It's time to wrap things up and recap the summer.

POKER

This was far and away my best summer of poker in Vegas. Getting on the board early in the Wynn $600 allowed me to fire the Venetian $1100, which in turn opened up a route to play the $1500 Milly Maker. Cashing those three events back-to-back-to-back was a dream scenario that allowed me to splash around with no stress. I'll walk away from this TR with a healthy profit and some fun memories. Of all possible runouts, this was a good one.

Variance seemed to flip my way this year after a couple of tough summers in a row. Beyond that, putting in some volume at venues like Wynn and Venetian in the "offseason" has improved my play significantly. If you want to polish your NLHE MTT skills, consider firing some of the multi-days at Wynn or Venetian throughout the year if it fits into your schedule. Even the $400s can draw the same type of field that you might see in a summer $1k. I put in the hours at those venues over the last few years, took my lumps, and improved from the experience.

I have no aspirations to become a poker pro, but I intend to keep playing in the future. Looking ahead, I see two potential pathways. I can continue to level up in NLHE and try to keep pushing myself in that format. Alternatively, I can get serious about mixed games and branch out. Being a jack-of-all-trades may suit me better than trying to become an expert level player in one discipline. The most likely path may actually be a combination of the two paths: still dabbling in NLHE while making a concerted effort to diversify. If a do a TR next summer, it may not be pure NLHE.

VENUES

I played tournaments at WSOP, Wynn, Venetian, and Resorts World. As you'd expect, WSOP has the most vibrant and unique atmosphere. Wynn is always calm and nice. I'll once again give a shoutout to Resorts World. They got clowned when their summer schedule was released because it was a bunch of vanilla events at low price points, but they occupied that sub-$400 space much better than the WSOP daily deepstacks, providing a better playing environment, better rake, and no 10-handed tables. I didn't fire anything at Aria this year, which I regret. I like the venue. Judging by Hendon results, their $800s drew big fields with a high density of tough regs. It would've been fun to try one. MGM looked promising in the low-mid stakes space, but their total laziness about engagement and posting results put me off. I didn't make it to Orleans or Nugget, primarily because they are not on the strip. I can't comment on how they did this year.

An odd and maybe funny thought occurred to me towards the end of my trip. I realized that I've probably spent enough time in Vegas to pass a blindfold test identifying most of the properties based solely on the scented perfume they pump into the casino. I'd say Aria is my preferred scent whereas the pungent Paris perfume that you encounter around Vanderpump and Cafe Americano is viscerally off-putting for me. Any time I'm in that area, I'm eager to be somewhere else.

I only actually stayed at two venues this summer: Harrah's and Flamingo. Both are fine. I've come to really appreciate Flamingo as a nice budget option because of its great location and breezy vibe. The rooms are fairly nice too. I think I'd actually rather stay there than Caesar's Palace, which is ostensibly the premium property in the CET portfolio. If there's one place I want to try in the future, it's Park MGM because of the smoke-free focus. However, that side of the strip is not ideal for MTT grinders since you're so far from the action.

FOOD

I'm boring in this category. You've heard all the tales of Giordano's, Chipotle, Earl of Sandwich, Junior's, Sbarro, Grand Lux, and Mon Ami Gabi. I'm just not the guy to provide strong insights into the restaurant options since I inevitably lean towards practicality over pure quality. With that being said, I guess Junior's was the restaurant MVP of this TR since I ate there three times. Their deli sandwiches are a quality option in the price range, and I never had trouble getting a seat at the bar immediately. I'll be back.

If I have one valuable thought on this topic, it's to bring your own reusable water bottle if you come out to the WSOP next year. WSOP has water stations located throughout all the rooms. Resorts World also has water refill stations. I was able to save a lot of money on bottled water by just using my metal flask and refilling it as needed. It's also slightly better for the environment to reduce plastic waste.

MISC THOUGHTS AND STORIES

My most memorable hand was probably my epic AQ Milly Maker blunder when I mucked the winner against Kathy Liebert. I'm glad PokerNews wasn't around to document it.

My "what-if" hand is when I folded TT against EP open, EP flat, MP 3-bet late on day 2 of the same tournament. It was a tight spot and I wasn't sure if push/fold was the right decision in the context. I'm still not sure. However, from a results-oriented standpoint, it cost me a double or triple up, and maybe $10k+ in equity. That decision was likely the difference between making day 3 and going out late day 2. EP had 88. MP had 99. The board would've run out clean for me. I coulda been a contender. Ah well.

I played against three opponents who eventually won bracelets this summer: Wing Po Liu, Colin Robinson, and Francis Anderson. Wing was at my table for most of the Wynn $600 day 1. He was also at my day 2 starting table. I did not know who he was at the time, but in my mental notes he was a solid/disciplined player with some guile. I also played against litany of pros and former bracelet winners. Ryan Riess, Eric Baldwin, Kenny Hallaert, and Cherish Andrews are some of the big names.

Mike Holtz probably wins the award for most entertaining tablemate. He co-hosts PokerNews podcast and is pretty funny on the felt. A less enjoyable phenomenon I experienced a few times this summer was chatterbox opponents who would talk non-stop at the table, even if no one was responding. There's a difference between interesting conversation and people who think all of their conversation is interesting, as if every thought in their head must be vocalized. It put me on mild tilt a couple times.

Incidentally, one of those chatterboxes (a neighbor in the recent $600 ultra stack) challenged another tablemate to meet up later for a fight. That was a first.

Another first occurred on the night of my deep run in the Resorts World $300. There was a break near the money bubble. One of the short stacks returned to an unpleasant surprise: His stack had disappeared. Gone. Zero chips. It turns out that someone (either a player or staff member) had mixed his chips into another player's stack. This whole ordeal delayed the tournament by about 15 minutes. We returned from break and sat in our chairs until a surveillance review could rectify the situation. Ironically, the short stack busted almost immediately thereafter. Maybe those chips were destined to disappear all along.

VEGAS

I've said my piece about the strip. It's a thrilling environment, but also a setting that can be grating due to the heat, prices, crowds, noise, and sensory overload. Dealing with the "meanderthals" can be irritating when you are rushing to get somewhere, but you can't blame tourists for acting like tourists. As a reg-tourist who's primarily just here to grind poker, I'm the weird one, not them.

That being said, I do think there's a saturation point for Vegas, a point beyond which staying in this town has diminishing returns. I didn't quite experience full-blown Fear & Loathing, but I think 8-10 days in Vegas is more ideal than 20. After a while you start to become numb to everything. A smaller dose may be more ideal.

If any other interesting thoughts or stories occur to me, I'll share them. For now, I will sign off with my old friend, the obnoxious Madame Tussaud's promo that I have heard approximately ten billion times while entering/exiting the Venetian.

Thanks for reading. Hope it was enjoyable in some way.

I enjoyed your trip report immensely. Thank you for sharing.

How did you know who Wing Po Liu, Colin Robinson, and Francis Anderson were at your tables? From table conversation or did you actually know who they were at first sight?

Colin got 2nd in the Monster Stack last year. I knew him from that. I also talked to him very briefly after the tournament about a weird payout situation.

Wing Liu was drafted in the 25k fantasy onto Ren Lin's team. Somewhere between playing with him and the start of the WSOP, I put 2 and 2 together. Maybe I saw his picture on PokerNews. As it turns out, he had already won a bracelet before in a PLO event at WSOPE in 2023.

Note that there is another notable player named Qing Liu, who I also played with on this trip. I believe the name is pronounced the same. They are not the same guy though. As it turns out, they were both at my day 2 starting table at Wynn.

Francis Anderson is a well-known tournament player with millions in winnings. If you play a lot of events in town, you start to see the same people again and again. I'm not a local, but I can recognize quite a few of the reg types.

Francis Anderson is currently second in chips in the Main Event.

Well done, thank you for the effort into the TR. I’ve found that my tolerance for the Strip has been greatly enhanced by staying at Vdara the last couple of years, and this year having a room with the full kitchen made a huge difference for me sticking to something close to my usual nutrition plan. The walk through the now air conditioned connector through the Bellagio to the Horseshoe is extremely manageable.

Another fantastic TR!

I also greatly value the work you do analyzing structures at various price points. That’s invaluable to me when I’m deciding what’s important to me, and how I want to build out my schedule.

It sounds like a fantastic option. I'm on the low roller side, so I typically default to the low tier strip properties like Excalibur, Horseshoe, Harrah's, and LINQ.

Part of the issue is that I have low status with MGM and CET, and get terrible offers. I am a fish when it comes to getting comps and good rates.

Thanks. "What to play" is an important part of every trip. Those decisions will shape our experience maybe more than we even realize.

I like most of my choices on that front this year, apart from the hours spent on the WSOP daily deepstacks. I might be totally done with those.

You might consider what it would take to get Diamond. Resort fees would be a big benefit considering how long you stayed in Vegas. If you decide you're going to go for Diamond, maybe do it during the Vegas Circuit event Throwing away a lot of cash in vp machines can not only get you Diamond, but they'll figure you for a gambler and give you great rates for WSOP. Don't waste your good standing anywhere else, wait for the WSOP schedule to come out.

I think at this point CET knows I'm such a huge nit that they might pay me just to stay out of their casinos.

Including satellites and daily deepstacks, I fired about $6k in WSOP tournament entries this year. The number was probably similar last year and I don't remember it moving the needle much with regards to my tier status. They don't value poker action very highly.

The only other betting I did was in the book, where I hit them for a small loss after Colombia's win tonight.

Diamond would be very valuable for me, but there's also a cost of obtaining that status. I genuinely don't know if the juice is worth the squeeze.

I stayed at their properties many nights last year and wasn't even very close to hitting platinum.

Not WSOP poker, they don't. You get a small tier/reward credit for entering a tournament, but that's all. $6k is almost nothing. To get Diamond in a vp machine you have to push 150k through it. I imagine that's how they look at it.

Staying and breathing their air gets you little. You have to play. I'm probably almost as nitty as you, many trips I took in the past I didn't gamble a dime. But when I saw the sum total of Diamond benefits, I decided to take a shot via video poker. Now I'm a little bit hooked on Diamond, although this will prob be my last year. It will allow me to use the benefits through next year.

You could always take a partial shot, say with a thousand bucks or so, and quit if it's not working out. I would suggest NOT doing it during a multiplier period. I lost more money trying to get 1000 tc during the recent 5x promo than I did getting 2500 tc without the multiplier. If I were a suspicious sort I would wonder how I could run the worst I ever have during multiplier days than ever before. If I were a suspicious sort I might think akashenk was right about an Eldorado conspiracy.

May I ask what kind of game(s) you are playing, and at what denom? Also, do you have a specific Caesars casino that you prefer to play at?

CET has standardized on vp, as in, they are the same odds all through all their Vegas casinos. So it doesn't matter a lot which casino you play in, so let superstition be your guide. I run bad at Paris, but my back was giving me so much trouble I had to walk with a cane. Even just going to PHo was more pain than I was willing to deal with, but I like it better there. Horseshoe has a poor vp selection.

Jacks or Better is kind of boring, and actually kind of hard to find. I play Bonus poker, which the best game at CET pays a bit over 98%. Leon likes Triple Double Bonus because it gives up on payouts on lower hands in order to pay huge on some quads. It requires a ton of patience and deep pockets, because you can go a long time without hitting a premium quads hand. And you need to hit those quads to make it worth giving up the payouts on the lower hands.

I like to play games with multipliers, like Super Times Pay, even though they are more -EV, because those multipliers keep me wanting to play. Otherwise I'd probably give up before I hit my goal. I play dollar credits because I want to win a decent piece of change if I hit a Royal. Normal payout is $4k on Dollars. I haven't hit a royal in 4 years. Leon hits them every 4 hours, sigh. I also like to play multiple hands so that if I get a dealt monster, every hand gets it. Nope, never had a dealt monster.

I got set up with a near monster hit on Double Super Times Pay, so I'm hooked. I got a big multiplier before the deal, then 4 to a Royal, where it paused on the 5th card to torture me I guess. A few seconds later I found out I didn't hit a royal. Either on the deal or on the draw. Because I was playing multiple hands, and had a multiplier too, I think I would've won 200 grand or 400 grand or something like that if I had gotten the last card I needed. I can't remember the exact details and I don't want to try to find the post I made about it when it happened.

CET doesn't have a wide variety of games to choose from. You can find them on vpfree2.com. Keep in mind that if you're going to shoot for Diamond, you need the daily bonus, which is 5000 tc if you hit 2500 (half a Diamond) or 10,000 tc if you hit 5000. So it's important to get this all done the same day. Multiple hands make it much easier. The first time I did it, I was on a single hand machine at the Rio, and it took me 12-ish hours, and I could hardly move my hand at the end. That particular machine paid me 2 royals over the years. Find the Diamond in a Day thread here and read the first dozen or two pages.

Any other questions, let me know.

I thought I was done with this thread, but I actually made it back out to LV for one more week prior the end of summer. What transpired seems interesting enough to justify one last post for 2024, so I'll try to recap it here.

LATE SUMMER POST-SCRIPT

I don't think I ever mentioned it in this TR, but I always had a 4th trip on the books for late summer. All the way back in December of 2023, I bought a ticket to see Jerry Seinfeld's standup show at Caesar's Palace this August. I was a big fan of Seinfeld on NBC when I was younger and I've never been to a live comedy show before, so this was an opportunity to see a nostalgic favorite and cross something off the bucket list. The plan was to catch the show on Saturday night and then spend the next week splashing around in whatever events were running at Wynn, Venetian, and Resorts World.

Jerry's first few bits didn't land with me. I was beginning to fear that I'd made a terrible mistake, but he eventually got into some very funny material. Ironically, one of his bits was about poker and how much he hates the game. In general his humor was a lot more cynical than I expected, which resonated with me. My sense of humor skews dark and weird. Jerry the TV character was the closest thing to a "good cop" on the show, but Jerry the comedian is a grumpy curmudgeon with a caustic wit. I give his set a solid 8/10.

On Sunday I bricked a tournament at the Venetian, which is only notable because it was my first time playing in the new space. Shotgun thoughts on the new Palazzo poker room: comfortable, big enough, good air quality, somewhat isolated. It's a bit odd that they tucked their room in a retail space surrounded by fashion shops, but from my perspective it's infinitely better than if they had shuddered the room altogether. It's a nice enough place to play cards.

Monday and Tuesday brought forays into a multi-day event at the Wynn. Relevant background information:

Although I did bink some small positive results at the Wynn earlier this summer, I have a lengthy history of soul-crushing failures there. Monday and Tuesday were true to form. I managed to play 20+ hours of poker across two day 1s without finding a day 2 bag. The most painful of those sessions was Monday, when I busted 17th with 15 players bagging. I spent 12 straight hours in the Wynn with nothing to show for it except some discounted coffees. Not ideal.

On Wednesday I dragged myself over to Venetian for day 1C their multi-day, where I once again made a decent run, all the way down to hand-for-hand play. With 21 players left to bag 20 spots, I was probably the shortest stack in the room. It folded to me in the CO, where I had A5s and just 8BB behind. Surely this is a +chipEV jam spot, but on the stone bubble, maybe we're supposed to fold? I landed on jam, got re-shoved by QQ, and managed to spike the lucky ace. Another player busted at a different table during the hand, so I wound up bagging a playable stack for Friday's day 2. Suddenly this trip has some momentum.

There was another multi-day event running at Wynn on Thursday, with a day 2 set for Saturday. I could've played that and it wouldn't have interfered with my Venetian commitment, but I was tired from three straight 10+ hour tournament days. I opted to take the morning off and play the nightly instead. Things started slowly. I was just treading water, hovering around the starting stack. However, I was very happy with my play. I had gotten a couple nice bluffs through and won some pots with air. I thought to myself, 'If I ever actually get dealt something, I might have a chance.'

That brings me to flashback #2 from this TR:

Well, it finally happened. With a dwindling stack and rising blinds, I jammed 55. A player behind me woke up with AA.

The board ran out a straight for my 5s. Pinch me. I won a pair < pair spot after literal YEARS of failure. Can I make it count?

I began to pick up some cards. Soon we're down to the last two tables, with 6 spots paid. I win a pair of tense hands against a solid reg. Suddenly we're down to the final table.

Two players bust quickly. We agree to pay the bubble, but it has to be done informally. We each pull $50 from our wallets and set it aside. A shorty survives a series of miraculous all-ins before finally busting. Now we're in the money for real. This is where things get crazy. At this point I'm 3/6 in chips. The two big stacks are to my immediate right. The overall chip leader, Euro Big Stack, opens from the BTN. Asian Big Stack flats from the SB. I look down at 4h4s in the BB. This seems like a good spot to set mine. I call.

Flop comes Qd5h4d. Bink. Phenomenal. We have a set on a board with plenty of draw possibilities and a big overcard.

BTN c-bets. SB raises. I pretend to think about my decision. Really I'm thinking about Vegas and the f'n Hard Rock. I shove. BTN folds. SB calls.

Yes! We've reeled in our victim. He turns over...

55.

WTF?

We've been set-over-setted at the final table by one of the only covering stacks. Sigh. More Wynn bullshit.

I resign myself to the min-cash.

Brick on the turn.

4 on the river.

Wait, what?

Yes, 4 on the river. We spike the one outer to make quad quads.

I'm now the chip leader in the tournament. God Mode has been activated. I get an insane rush of cards.

After sucking out against Asian Big Stack in the monster pot, I soon bust him with AA > AK aipf.

He was incredibly unlucky at this FT, but took it all in stride.

I bust another player when my AQs holds aipf.

I get AA once again to bust another player.

With three players left, I'm sitting on mountains of chips. Second place is miles behind.

I'm a huge favorite to win based solely on the chip distribution, but I'm not averse to talking numbers. Why? Well, I'd really like to win one of those little Wynn trophies. I've always thought they were the coolest trophies in poker. I'd be willing to kick down some equity to lock up the hardware. As it turns out, I won't need to do that. As soon as I mention the prospect of chopping, the short stack suggests just ending the tournament as-is. He gets third. 2nd gets 2nd. I get 1st. No shift in $$$.

If we are being critical, this is a -EV decision for third place since he doesn't gain anything and loses some slight ladder-up potential, but I had already earned him some pay jumps with my sun run and it was getting late. I guess he felt third was a good enough outcome already. Whatever his reasoning, I'm grateful for his offer.

We all accepted the deal.

Before you know it the Wynn staff is handing me a trophy and snapping my picture.

It's not a huge score by any means. It's not even my biggest result of the summer, but in some ways it's the most satisfying.

I exorcised years of Wynn runbad and notched my first outright victory in a long time. It was a nice way to bookend the summer.

After all of that, I still had to get up on Friday to play day 2 at Venetian. I ran pretty bad and crashed out quickly. I grabbed lunch at Miznon and then went back upstairs for the Friday one-day event, where I made another run into the min-cash spots. I was grateful to cash, but tired from 6 days straight of grinding tournaments.

I flew back home on Saturday with a new centerpiece for the mantel.

Spoiler

Show

I promise that this is well and truly the end of my TR. Luckily this year had a happy ending. Overall, I played pretty well and ran great.

In this final Wynn tournament, I ran better than I've ever run at an FT. I simply got dealt the deck.

I'll be back in Vegas at some point, though I don't think I'll be documenting any visits until next summer.

I tentatively hope to play my way into the 2025 WSOP Main Event and write my final summer TR, the Final Fantasy 7. See you then.

SKILL GAME.

Congratulations on the win!

Run good and positive variance is definitely a thing. We focus on the other side, but it’s nice to catch the upside of it, at the biggest possible time.

Congrats on the trophy. The Wynn has it right.

I've never understood why the WSOP gives out bracelets to tournament winners. We're talking about massively male dominated fields, and they give out jewelry to the winners. I would much, much, much rather get a trophy for first place.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't mind winning a bracelet, but I agree that they're an odd choice for the WSOP event winners. Luxury watches seem to be having a moment among the poker player set, and those might at least get worn sometimes. I can't recall ever seeing anyone actually wear their bracelet at the table. The special bracelets for the Main always strike me as very tacky, and something I'd be tempted to auction off.

The Wynn trophies may be slightly self-aggrandizing, but they at least look cool and unique.

Volume, volume, volume.

Play enough and you will eventually get smashed by the deck.

Of course, you will also experience the exact opposite.

While I would love to win a bracelet, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it.

As for the Main Event bracelet monstrosity, I wouldn't want to keep it in my house. Too tempting a target for a break-in. I wouldn't want to spend the money to insure it. So what does that leave? Keep it in a safety deposit box? How is that enjoyable? Even then, do you have to pay taxes on the bracelet when you win it? If yes, that sounds expensive given the 2024 bracelet is comprised of 445 grams of 10 K gold and 2,253 precious gemstones (1,948 of which are diamonds). I would absolutely auction it off, take the proceeds and do something charitable with that money (after all, you would already have $10,000,000 -- minus taxes -- from the first-place finish).

First-place money. Yes please.

The banner. Yes please.

The glory. Yes please.

The bracelet estimated at $500,000. I'd auction it off as fast as humanly possible.