*** 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:
awesome TJ!
Grats!
This thread was the first thing I went to when I turned my computer on this morning so I could see how the final table played out. You earned this one while giving us one hell of a sweat!
Thank you to absolutely everybody who followed along! I really felt the support of having my virtual rail.
I can’t even describe the emotions dump that came after I eventually busted. After playing 13 hours, with intense focus and controlling my emotions, after not winning, it felt like utterly drained exhaustion.
But now that I’ve slept on it, I’m absolutely over the moon with how it went this weekend.
Gonna max out my Roth IRA for 2025, pay off my car, buy some sweet low cost Vanguard index funds, and squirrel away for a down payment on a house.
And plan a LEGENDARY Vegas trip for WSOP this summer, obviously.
I’m packing up and checking out of the Econo Lodge now, and then I’ll VERY CAREFULLY drive to the nearest Wells Fargo branch to deposit this sweet cashier’s check I have.
The guy who won that titanic flip when it was 4-handed was the guy who eventually shipped. He’s a crusher, this was his THIRD Circuit Event ring.
I’m completely at peace with it now. Gotta win your flips to win these things, simple as that. I definitely won more than my share of flips to get that far.
Thank you to absolutely everybody who followed along! I really felt the support of having my virtual rail.
I can’t even describe the emotions dump that came after I eventually busted. After playing 13 hours, with intense focus and controlling my emotions, after not winning, it felt like utterly drained exhaustion.
But now that I’ve slept on it, I’m absolutely over the moon with how it went this weekend.
Gonna max out my Roth IRA for 2025, pay off my car, buy some sweet low cos
Congratulations, what a run! 😀
It's always painful coming up just short in tournaments, and I can only imagine how it feels in a big one like this.
But $52k (edit, almost $53k!) is a sh*tloads of money, and now you have an amazing roll for WSOP this summer 
Congratulations, TJ. Great playing, great TR!
Congrats TJ that's an amazing run -- thanks for letting us sweat along with you!
Busting super deep in a tournament with a million runners always feels so bad when it happens (one of the many reasons we're all insane to play them), so glad you've quickly come back around to what a huge score 4th place is!!!
Great plan for your winnings!
Root beers all around! Congrats TJ on an epic run!
Great run, congrats!
Congrats TJ! wow well done
I told tech support about the sweat we had going, and he said your good karma got repaid handsomely 😃
4th circuit event… leading to
1st WSOP Main Event!
Congrats TJ. Great run
Gonna max out my Roth IRA for 2025, pay off my car, buy some sweet low cost Vanguard index funds, and squirrel away for a down payment on a house.
And plan a LEGENDARY Vegas trip for WSOP this summer, obviously.
I’m packing up and checking out of the Econo Lodge now, and then I’ll VERY CAREFULLY drive to the nearest Wells Fargo branch to deposit this sweet cashier’s check I have.
don't forget to set aside some for hookers and blow
(that's what i call the irs and state department of revenue)
did the casino hold 28% or give you the whole ammount?
They gave me the full amount, and also gave me a W2G. So the government knows about my nice weekend, too.
They’ll give you all what’s promised, but it’s on you to make it right with your tax man.
I’ll have to report it as income next April. Depending where my W2 from the day job winds up next year, it may push me into a new bracket.
We’ll see.
Let’s just try to get an even BIGGER W2G on my next Cherokee trip in May, or in Vegas this summer!
Great run, was definitely rooting for you.
As far as taxes, I'd keep track of your live sessions and other tournaments you enter this year. You might even get to fudge some live numbers if you know what I mean. Itemize all your losses when you file in 2025 and at a minimum offset some of that win (hopefully you don't book a net loss).
TJ “only gives out winners” Paperstacks
That is an amazing run, sir. Congrats!
Hm. Your mention of taxes makes me think you might want to pay estimated taxes to avoid a penalty. Not a tax expert, you'll have to look into that.
leon advice about itemizing losses is spot on
pretty sure last time i saw him he was plucking tickets off the sportsbook floor
Hm. Your mention of taxes makes me think you might want to pay estimated taxes to avoid a penalty. Not a tax expert, you'll have to look into that.
and goldie makes an interesting point, a 50k windfall this early in the tax year may incur small penalties for non-payment
then again, by next april there may not be anyone left at the irs to care
Sigh.
4th place, out of over 4300 entries, for $52.9k.
I wasn’t really tilted after losing that big flip. I had a tight image. I shoved my last 12bb from SB over a BTN raise with QTs, but couldn’t run down AJo.
Came into the final table 10/10 in chips. If you had offered me 4th place money then, I’d have enthusiastically taken it.
Tj,
Congratulations on a great run and result.
Fantastic! Well done, JT. So excited for you. For some reason I missed this while I was in Cherokee. Makes me so sad -- I would have been there for the final table for sure!!!
Did we play 5/5 together? What's happening in Cherokee in May? Maybe we'll head that way.
I don’t think we did play together… I only played 5/5 on Saturday, and I didn’t play with any ladies.
I’ll definitely be there for sure both of the weekends in May!
