PardoG's Annual WSOP TR (6/16-6/22)
Well, well, well! Hello friends. It's TR season and that WSOP summertime is upon us once again.
My June trip marks my 29th visit to Las Vegas, and my 19th summer WSOP trip. Have been out every summer each year for the past 21 years except COVID (2020) and the year after COVID (2021). Yes, that's right friends, my inaugural WSOP trip was indeed 2003, and well, you know what happened that year. For any of you who follow me on Twitter (probably not many), you'll recognize in my bio that I hold the claim to fame of beating Chris Moneymaker at a final table in an epic 45 minutes heads up battle, this was obviously not in 2003, and it was certainly not a notable event, but rather a 109 entry $300 dollar private club home game tournament. Nonetheless, that was an amazing poker fanboy experience and some say I shouldn't even ask for any WSOP tourney success since I've already had a poker fan dream of sorts once already. Pffft. The cat is not satisfied. Since my witness of Chris's epic run in 2003, fate has brought Chris and I together once since then, and I remain unable to escape poker's unrelenting grip.
A couple of years ago I broke my TR cherry, and then followed it up with another report in 2023. Links below for those who care to skim through to get a feel if you like the cut of my jib. For those unfamiliar, and not compelled to revisit history, here is typically what you can expect from a Pardo,G. trip report:
-Lot's of cash game poker (I started in tournaments like many, but been primarily a cash game player for a long time). PLO is the drug of choice, but of course we play 2 card chicken (aka the thing you humans call NL texas hold em), and we most certainly dabble in mixed games wherever and whenever we can. 1-2, 2-5, 5-5, and even some 5-10 (if you're lucky).
-I will certainly fire SOME tournament(s) - have to give the people what they want. Most likely 1100 Wynn Turbos, 800 Aria Daily, potentially 1K PLO at WSOP - the only event going on the week I am there I feel like playing
-Pit degeneracy - Coffee and Blackjack is often a theme for me as an early riser from the US east coast, and to mix things up. I will probably spin the devils wheel a bit, and maybe even throw them bones.
-Fancy Feast - Food, Food and more food - one of my favorite parts about vegas is the food.
-Wildcards - past reports included things like high roller, Meowolf's omega mart/Area 51, Planet 13 to get us LIFTED, comedy shows/Cirque shows etc. Gotta mix some stuff in
-Loafing - as a high end cat, I enjoy the occasional spa treatment, maybe a grooming, a little shopping for the mate etc.
This year, as every year for the past 10 years or so, we'll be staying at the Encore. For me, WynnEncore second to none, and we must indulge - plus love the PLO there and the tournies. Background about me can be find in the previous reports but Married, 2 kids, BIG corporate job, yet still a slave - working towards early retirement and a life of leisure hopefully between 55-60. We'll see. For poker trips I'm almost always exclusively solo, and will be again for this one. This is one of my shorter trips sadly, only 6 nights (used to go for 2 weeks, nowadays lucky to get away for just the week). Plan to get back to longer trips as the kids get older hopefully.
2022
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/108/l...
2023
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/108/l...
Looking forward to sharing this years trip with y'all - let's enjoy the ride together.
PardoG
Hero MP ($500 ish after we top off from the QQ loss)15 KJss, kinda tilted young douchey guy who’s been playing way too many hands and poorly (covers with $850 ish) , goes $35 weak passive BB cold calls, hero 4 bets to $135 and they both call ($400 ish Flop), Q62 one spade hero $125, guy calls, BB folds, turn spade Ace hero jams $240 into $650 pot on he turn , young guy windmills KK into the muck face up and says he can’t believe how lucky I got. Racks up and storms out lmfao
Love this, both the line you took and the douchebag storming out 😆
Very good TR so far, but...
Spoiler
...please? :p
So we got only 3 hours of sleep woof - like to say I’m not sleeping is an understatement so it’s off to Coffee and Blackjack, the signature of any PardoG trip reports. In for $500 at $25 min bet
So after our swingy and unprofitable 1/3 session, I head over to Wazuzu for some dinner and there is a wait so I sign up to get a table in 30-40 minutes. In the meantime we play $100 dollars of video poker, and $200 on roulette blanking on both attempts sadly and we head over to dinner. It’s Mongolian Beef and a side of white rice - unfortunately forgot to take a picture. It’s a solid staple of their menu and was generally up to part this time around think I will say seemed a little light on the
The Mongolian Beef is the best thing on their menu. And everything I’ve had there is very good. Run good.
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Blackjack did not go well sadly. We battled hard for a couple of hours eventually getting felted on a huge split/ double hand where we have
7 - 7 - 7 vs. a 6! And we lose when the dealer reveals the face card and pulls a 5 all except push one which I pulled a 4 then doubled - but we had 75 a hand on that one pressing which was a hit to the stack and also lost two other doubles on $50 dollar hands that basically defined the session more or less - rest was up and down through six or seven shoes with no real hot streaks.
Onto breakfast it’s a little bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel from the cafe place next to the entrance - plenty of comp dollars to take care of this 24 dollar on the go breakfast so at least there is that lol - sandwich had good flavor but as any of those convection oven/re-heated ones they are kinda myeh (7/10)
After breakfast it’s off to resorts world. It’s time to switch up the vibes! We find the only game running, - 1/3 NL running from the night before still going strong. Tons of gambling going on with 15-30 as the standard open, and most pots going multi way 4-6 ways - totally nuts do what an opportunity , but in games like this you have to make hands. While I made some, I didn’t make enough, and I butchered a hand from the small blind and made a very poor read early on to put us in a $400 dollar (one buy in) hole. The hand was as follows:
We are in sb with AsJo (~$400) and the villain in this hand, the BTN covers. He has a massive stack of chips about 3400. This is important as the hand took place early on and I didn’t have a lot of information to know if he was the solid one, or one of the crazies. I’ve seen him very active though so he’s either a very good lag running well or a solid TAG getting hit with the deck. Anyway, crazy who also covers but has been showing down any two cards opens , one call, and villain calls on the button. This is where my problems start…normally here I’d 3 bet to like 50/55 ish, but I talk myself into just calling given I haven’t been here that long and I figure my hand is well ahead of what I’ve seen most of these guys play anyway, so I think value owning Axs Jxs etc could work out well, so we call.
Flop ($64)
3sJd8s
Checks to MP2 random who leads $15, Button calls, we make it $75, all fold except button who calls
Turn ($229)
8c
Now here again is where we make a big mistake. Even though my raise size was strong on the flop there are a ton of combos in the BTN range which contain and eight. Also, I have the Ace of spades, a bad card for me here in this case, makes it less likely he’s on a flush draw. Checking back for those reasons, pot control is the play but we bet $100 for some reason and he jams.
Brutal - we have half our stack in there, and unless he’s playing KJ or QJ like this, or he does have the FD we are cooked. We sigh call it off hoping for a miracle Jack even though that might not even be good lol.
River blank and he turns over the 87dd and we see the bad news.
After that we re-loaded and clawed back 150 before the game broke - we end up down only $250.
After the short and non successful 1/3 session at RW, it’s time to head to the honeypot, aka Bellagio 2/5. It seems whenever I’m in need of a bounce back session or to book a win, I just have to head to the non super deep waters of Bellagio 2/5 or 5/10. My results in these games lifetime compare to other rooms from an hourly win rate perspective are significantly better, with the Wynn PLO being the only other game that comes close. We sit down with $500 and about 2.5 hours in we have this: about 1575
We rack up with a 1K win! There we go. Here are a couple of notable (albeit not that interesting) spots:
A few orbits in we look down at Jh9h UTG. So far the game has been playing tight as it’s a new game but also aggressive, there has been quite a bit of three betting and squeezing already. Despite this, I’m a 40+ looking dad and I haven’t played many hands so far so we decide to mix it up and raise $15, active young guy flats in MP, button flats, and villain to our right in the BB makes it $80. This guy is a reg I’ve played with a few times over the years so I’m familiar with his game. With this action and knowing him this is pure value and this is where you need to put the charts, solvers, books down IMO. We are only about 120BB effective here, so one could say me flatting this 3 bet with my hand being as shallow as we are is a leak or bad or whatever and in isolation that may be true, but I know this guy and I know he had a premium pair and implied odds are huge with my hand disguised. We call , and the others fold.
Flop$~($200)
Jd9d3c
Villain OPEN JAMS for $500 effective lol (see) , we snap “SET?!” He and I’m like nope, better than that (lolz) and our top two hold va. His QQ and we scoop a nice one.
We then get three streets of value with QQ on a J high board run out vs AJ - that pot was about $300
Other big hand…
Hero 10h 9h LoJack ($1350) open to 15, aggro villain on BTN flat, and BB calls.
Flop ($45)
10s10d2h
Check, hero $25, BTN call, BB fold.
Turn ($95)
8h
We check, Button 50, hero 150, button calls.
River ($395)
5s
Okay….so this pot got pretty big, and now I have a choice, go for $125-175 for thin value, but with me having a 9, pocket 99 or maybe JJ? Seem like the holdings I”m targeting there…I also worry there are a lot of 10’s in BTN calling range. I figure if I check call a bet (if it comes) I get my value, and or potentially don’t value own myself.
We check, he checks, we are good.
LMK your thoughts on that river spot!
Now over to Aria - lunch at Javier’s
Other big hand…
Hero 10h 9h LoJack ($1350) open to 15, aggro villain on BTN flat, and BB calls.
Flop ($45)
10s10d2h
Check, hero $25, BTN call, BB fold.
Turn ($95)
8h
We check, Button 50, hero 150, button calls.
River ($395)
5s
Okay….so this pot got pretty big, and now I have a choice, go for $125-175 for thin value, but with me having a 9, pocket 99 or maybe JJ? Seem like the holdings I”m targeting there…I also worry there are a lot of 10’s in BTN calling range. I figure if I check call a bet (if it comes
Checking a blank river after your turn x/r seems a bit odd to me. Villain might just not believe you, and call down with something like A8ss, A8dd, 87ss, etc. So I think I'd opt for a bet/fold. How deep was villain playing?
Also, sorry for my obsession with your avatar. I will try to suppress it from now on. 😊
Before I forgot to mention that there is something I love about being up on the tram platform under the canopy in the summer during this time every year. I don’t know if it’s the mountains, in the background, the Rio giving nostalgia or what. Something about being up there with the breeze, the shade, the view and really just taking a few minutes to soak up the beautiful landscape and the excitement of every poker summer.
After our successful 2/5 session, we go back to the hotel to shower, and try to nap. We end up just watching vlogs, poker content etc, eyes close a bit but even ripping a big J on the platform , and showering and blacking out the room. No luck. For a guy who needs his sleep, this is getting rough. Even my failsafe gummy’s not pulling through.
So, we head down tot he sports book to experience what we believe is going to be a very chill and probably early exit from the sports book as we are expecting the panthers to win pretty handily. Not to be. FLA comes out flat, gives up a short handed goal, and more damage is done in the second period when FLA’s goalie gives up a horrendous goal to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead. Of course the panthers come all the way back to make it 4-3, just to tease us but we lose the bet. Major bummer as that would have put us back into positive territory for the trip overall, but not to be. We lose our $500 dollar bet and we head to Allegro 6 ketel and sodas later on an empty stomach. It’s a Caesar salad, pasta with vodka sauce and some chicken in there, and a huge glass of Italian red wine. If this doesn’t get me to at least sleep till 1 or 2 not sure what will lol.
My main course at Allegro was very good. Pasta with a vodka sauce and some chicken. 8.5/10. Would rate a little higher but the pasta shape was big and hard to sink the teefies into properly. The thing about Allegro is the arrive is always awesome, they give you a lot of food, it’s fast etc - again, as I’ve said before, not the best Italian restaurant on the strip but one of my favorites because of the consistency and atmosphere etc. all the staff are amazing.
We finally get some sleep after (only 3.5 hours) but we’ll take it!
Tuesdays totals are in, and the sports bet really F’ed us right out of a profitable day but only a few hundred bucks so whatever.
Tuesday:
Blackjack -500
Sports bet -500
Cash Games +800
-200 on the day
Now we are back to the grind playing 1/2 PLO at the Wynn again. In for 1k leggoooooo
Unfortunately it’s a short session and the game breaks despite us playing short handed off and on to keep it alive. We rack up -$340 due to a big multiway pot that didn’t go our way….here is the hand.
Hero($1070)
V1 ($400)
V2 (Covers)
Hero UTG (KsKc5c4s) open to $15, V1 call, V2 call, folds around.
Flop($45)
Kd8c7c
Hero $35, V1 calls, V2 $125, Hero calls, V1 calls
So normally I’d just pot here and play for stacks if necessary but for whatever reason, I just flat call to keep V1 in the hand (got greedy and tried to play tricky because even if the board pairs, my hand is a little underrepresented when we just call here but in retrospect this was just terrible, I’ve played enough PLO and especially when I’m playing at these lower stakes just pile in the value woof
Turn($420)
10d
We don’t like that obviously and check, V2 goes all in for $205, V2 folds, we snap it off and run it twice as we know he now has a straight, we somehow brick both rivers and the $830 dollar pot goes to him - wanted to barf because if I pile that flop we get it in for stacks , folds out V1 in the first place and maybe we are up against an under set or something - ah well try not to be results oriented but I do not like the way I played that.
We steam off 100 dollars on video poker trying to make a royal before heading up to the room. Time to regroup and we’ll see what’s next!
After a shower, some rest, and breakfast outside at Jardin, we look at the schedule for today and notice an $800 dollar PLO event at Aria. Originally, I had planned on playing the 8-game at the nuggets. While it pains me to skip that because I know it will be super fun, low pressure, and relaxing (not to mention give me some more triple draw experience which I badly need) the PLO is going to be a good turnout, it’s my best game (usually anyway lol) and I haven’t fired any Wynn 1100 turbos yet. So even though I gave myself a pep talk about only grinding cash since the only reason we aren’t well ahead on this trip is cause of my splashing in the pit and firing HORSE tourney, fun is just as, if not more important to me than profit so we go with PLO!. Gonna warm up with a little cash game action first in the 1/3 NLHE streets. Hopefully we book some kind of win in that to get the day back on track after that unfortunate PLO spot this AM.
Chicken omelette with Anaheim peppers and Monterey Jack, sub bagel for the toast. This is a PardoG favorite breakfast and a staple in any TR. 9/10 today, and even better we use comps to pay for it. Beautiful morning here at the midway point of the trip - headed to the back nine already.
Now, we wait for a seat! As the late, great Tom Petty used to sing “the waiting is the hardest part”
Never get called for a seat lol sigh, such a struggle sometimes so we bail to get ready for the PLO tournament - want to start on time for sure in this one.
Lolz thanks - 20K from 30K starting going to level 6 400-800/800
Busted. We did our best but we lost a key pot when a supper aggro loose guy with about half our stack tried to steal a 6 way limped pot and we re pot to iso with JJ109 double suited and he runs us down with the old Q443 (lmfao). Sigh back to the cash game grind.
We bust out against the same guy no lie with 10987 vs his Q1035 ? Lmfao $800 dollar PLO tourneys i guess?
But first it’s posh burger time courtesy of MGm rewards dollars - it’s hit, fresh, good but more greasy than usual and sloppily assembled 7.5/10
“That IS a tasty burger!”
-Sam Jackson
Grinding 1/3 NL to punish myself. Resorts world is an underrated room right now - 1/3 is much better than the other big rooms, and the 2/5 game also. In for $400…..let’s grind!
