*** TJ's 2024 WSOP Trip! ...That Might Turn Into A Move?
“They all know me as a small-timer. But that’s about to change.”
It’s that time of year again!
This will be my 5th long trip to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. You can read about my trip last year, plus a couple bonus Harrah’s Cherokee trips, right here.
This will also be my longest trip yet, a massive 18 days! I’ll be in town June 14 - July 2. On the agenda: some WSOP bracelet events, lots of low stakes NLHE and PLO cash games, great food, and as much poker as I can possibly handle!
Tournaments I’m definitely playing:
6/15 $1,500 Monster Stack (Flight B)
6/19 $340 8-Game Mix, at the Golden Nugget
6/25 $600 Pokernews Deepstack Championship
6/28 $400 …Up to several bullets in the Colossus
Tournaments I’m possibly playing:
6/21 $1,500 Millionaire Maker (depending on how the Monster Stack, and my first week, goes)
6/18 $1,000 WSOP PLO event (If I bag, I’ll pass on the 8-game tournament)
6/26 $600 WSOP Deepstack Event (If I don’t bag in the Pokernews Deepstack Championship)
…And the Daily Deepstack Tournaments at the WSOP are always an option.
On my last two trips, I stayed at an Airbnb in the Arts District. This year, I’ll be staying at an Airbnb downtown. The factors that are most important to me are: walkable food options, on-site laundry facilities, and affordable cost. This year, a 1 bedroom studio condo downtown wins on all three, coming in at just under $84 a night, after all fees. I’ll be able to walk to Fremont Street, and the uncapped games at the Golden Nugget!
For cash games, I’ll be playing 1-3, 2-5, and 1-2-5 PLO in rooms around town. I’ve played in all the marquee, flagship Vegas card rooms, and that’s where I expect to spend most of my cash game hours. However, I’ve never been to Mandalay Bay, South Point, or the Orleans, so it’d be nice to pick up a chip for my collection.
In all likelihood, I’ll also do a bit of eating, while I’m in town. ‘Tis the season for Vegas trip reports, and we’ve got a lot of great ones going right now. If we want to cross the streams, combine our powers, and get a fantastic meal together, PM me! Here’s what I wrote last year, updated to be current for this year:
And that’s a BAG, of an above average stack, on ONE bullet!
Now I have some room to maneuver. Fold for an orbit, then on my next button, a looser player opens to 40k from UTG, and I’m the only caller with Kc6c from the button.
Flop is an interesting K-J-6, all diamonds. She continues for 40k again. There could be lots of turn cards I don’t want to see, and if she’ll stack a pair plus a lone diamond, I’d rather get it in on a safe turn, with her equity cut in half. I call to evaluate the next c
Well done, you seem to be a tournament crusher 😀
And well played on the hand above! I love the concept of 'burning a card' before getting stacks in, even if I don't use it enough myself. If you get a safe turn card, the opponent is drawing much slimmer. And if you do not get a safe card, you can just fold.
GL on day 2!
For those not aware of the Waffle House hash browns, check this article from the
Spoiler
Topped in this case.
Great work - first bullet plus being in the money means you’ve won twice already, then with the cash win…it’s a trifecta!
One question - what’s the food item on top of the hash brown in the breakfast shot?
That would be Waffle House’s famous, Bert’s chili.
My go-to hashbrown toppings are cheese, ham, and chili.
Dairy from the cheese, meats, and veggies from the potatoes.
It’s practically all the food groups!
Congratulations on the cash, TJ! No go take it down tomorrow.
It’s a great feeling, to have bagged on my first bullet.
Took a lazy, unrushed morning, sleeping in and getting a shower, after waking up slowly.
Now I have ALL DAY to play cash. If it goes bad, or I’m not feeling it, I can pick up any time, and take a walk. I think I’m gonna try to break it up into two sessions today. Ideally not more than 4 hours each. Hopefully win, then walk around, get a meal, and be refocused for round 2.
Next I headed over to the casino. Went upstairs for lunch today, at the Wicked Weed microbrewery.
Got the brisket cheddar melt. The barbecue sauce was a bit too sweet, but the brisket was real tender, so it was good.
Just the sandwich was $20.
Now, let’s go play some 5/5 PLO!
9th on the list for 5/5 PLO. In for 1k, with top-off/reload chips in my pocket, ready to go!
Edit: just called called for a new game, here we go!
Round 1 of PLO did not go according to the plan.
The 5/5 game is absolutely a great, and splashy game. You have to be rolled for it, though, and the swings can be wild.
Practically every hand has a button straddle for $10-25, so it plays much bigger than that.
In one multiway, raised pot, I lead turn after the flop checked around with top pair and a nut flush draw, but got potted by an obvious nut straight. I called, but missed the river and check/folded.
A little later, I open KK54 double suited, then got 3bet by a loose, aggro player who I’d seen 3bet some pretty light, speculative hands. One guy cold-flats. I decide this is a great time to 4bet pot, and they both call.
Flop comes Q-T-2, with two of my suit and one of my other suit. I decide this means it’s time to stack off, so I pot it again. The 3bettor practically beats me into the pot. It comes diamond, diamond so I make my front door king high flush. Unfortunately for me, he had AQJx with two nut diamonds, so I lose. I guess I was ahead on the flop when I got it in, but not a big favorite.
Reload another 1k, then there’s a pot raise of the straddle, and I call with AK86 double suited, with nut diamonds. Flop comes Qs 5d 4d, so I have nut diamonds and a nut gutshot to the 7. Original raiser pots it, I call (should I be raising here?) and the guy that stacked me last time also calls.
Turn is an offsuit deuce, original raiser checks, I check, and the last guy pots it to like 840, which is most of my stack. Sigh.
I have 12 clean outs, and they’re all to the nuts, and it’s a huge pot. I call it off… and the river is… the Jack of hearts. He wins with a junky 63 to make a straight.
I picked up my last $58, to book the session at -2442. No tilt reload for me just yet. I took a walk through the sports book to re-center and collect my thoughts.
It’s still Saturday in Cherokee, and the games are still good.
We’ll give Round 2 another go once my mind’s right.
way to shake the etch-a-sketch and walk away to clear the mind
all of us at times should pause and refocus then start twisting knobs toward more appropriate directions
Round 2 started out better.
In for another 1k, grinded it up to about 2.2k by playing well, getting in with the best of it, yet never playing for stacks.
Then I ran into just about the biggest cooler there is in PLO, nut boat vs quads. Against the one guy who had me covered. So it goes.
So minus another 1k.
I still have money, but no more cash games for today. Gonna re-center and refocus for that bag I’m coming back to tomorrow.
tune the mental mindset this trip spinning toward a singularly focused target directly centered in the middle of what you want to achieve
and remember our opponent is often willing to toss their weight in chips around as if just another sack of potatoes
please relax with your feet up in the air and watch them get a head over the tips of their skis
aikido and other reactive arts are appropriate mindsets to have under certain circumstances of wagering actions
I always find a deluxe wank with some hotel moisturiser helps ease the pain of a large cash loss while on vacation
GL on day 2!
We have some numbers on the tourney.
Over 4300 entries makes this officially the biggest field in the 20 year history of the WSOP Circuit.
That pushes the prize pool up to 1.43M, blowing past the 1M guarantee.
$147k up top 😮
253 players returning for Day 2. Busting now is worth almost 4x the buy in.
We have our sights set much higher than that, obviously.
You already know where I’m at this morning.
They accidentally added onions to my hashbrowns. Hopefully the balance of the universe isn’t thrown out of kilter for that.
Now a quick hour of 1/3, to practice folding, and sharpen my mind before Day 2 starts at noon!
Those onions may be just the boost you need!
Trust the karma of the Waffle House!
Or a built-in excuse if you misplay. Make it what Tom said!
late to the party, but subscribed now!
go TJ my dude!
Achievement unlocked: acquire 100k chip.
Won my first flip of the day, QQ > AKs.
On about 900k now.
Gogogogo
Run it up, glgl!
Made the first break, went on a nice little rush to be sitting at 2.34M. Average is 1.25M, with 104 players left.
Predictably, there hasn’t been a lot of post flop play. One big hand was KK > AJo, and another time I got AQs > A8s. But it’s not all perfect, I lost a 60/40 to a desperate shortstack when QJo > A4o, and lost a flip 77 > QJs. It was only for 325k, so if we can keep the lost flips to a minimum, I’ll take it.
Built some interesting history with our table chip leader, the one guy who has me covered. He seems tight and solid, not a guy I’m going out of my way to mess with.
He’d mostly been folding, then opened UTG+1 and it got through. Very next hand, he opens again from UTG, MP2 calls, and I look down at AQo. I’m playing about 1.3M at the time. I decide to squeeze to 210k, planning to fold to a 4bet. He tanks a bit but eventually folds, as does the other guy.
A few hands later, I open red aces from early position, and now the chip leader 3bets me from the button, to 175k. I count to 17 seconds in my head, and 4bet to 625k, playing about 1.4M.
I maybe could have sized it better, but I didn’t want to go too small. He looks angry and folds.
Other than that, we’ve stayed out of each other’s way, and showed respect for the damage we could potentially do to each other.
Just got moved to a new table, so time to focus on all new reads.
gogogogoogoogoogooooooo
