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
nice job. nothing better than going home on a high note. so happy you could conquer the Wynn
Trip totals
Poker +19,965
Cash +1465
Tournament $+18,500
Pits -$1165
Roulette: +700
Blackjack -360
Video Poker -830
Casino War +150
Craps -325
Sports Bet -500
Overall +$17,335
Flights: $0 (used miles from work travel)
Hotel including food at the hotel, massage, etc: $2500 (had two comp nights)
Car Services, Cabs/Ubers: $0 (used venture miles to cover that
Other food/booze: $300
So overall a very profitable trip even if you take out expenses which I really don’t because I consider it my vacation and usually budget for it. Either way to you look at it, 14.5K if you include expenses. Unfortunately will have to pay taxes on the tourney cash which sucks.
According to my math yo won a lot more tha $17k+
+18,800.
Awesome TR PardoG and congrats on the score.
Was sweating the Wynn tourney
"Unfortunately will have to pay taxes on the tourney cash which sucks."
You have spent enough in tourny buy-in's, I am assuming those can be deducted towards losses to bring down the taxable winnings.
Congratulations on a positive trip, I am assuming, the win at Wynn was a nice cherry on top of the trip!
Once again everyone, thank you to all of you for all the nice words and for reading my report. I know 2+2 is generally a shell of it's former self from back in the day due to other platforms taking precedent but I still enjoy it here and I'm glad people are still posting and still doing and reading TR's. It makes the effort put into them worth while. As per always, I'll share some recap and final thoughts from this latest trip:
I say this every time but I'll say it again anyway, every trip I take to vegas has it's own, different vibe, flow, unique personality, whatever you want to call it. In my previous few summers you probably saw a lot more variety in terms of things I did (high roller, the arts district, Area 15, shows stuff like that plus lots of planned out meals). This trip was all about poker and while I dabbled in the pit a bit, and I certainly had some of my classic favorite meals at some of the usual spots, I was most focused on playing as much poker as I was physically able to do. In the end, the result was very favorable for me, as it was last year, only this time it was the tourney score more than my medicore cash game profit leading the way. I am good with all that since as mentioned this is the longest I've gone without playing poker in the past 20 years, and I didn't study a thing. The last two years have been like that because work and life get in the way.
I am not tracking the tournament entries at the WSOP, but I certainly can say i saw very strong fields at the non WSOP venues, Aria, Wynn, Nugget etc. So tournament poker for sure at least seemed to be as strong as ever coming out of the mini post COVID bubble. I also heard the daily deepstacks, nightlys etc at WSOP were strong. That's positive. The cash games on the other hand, not so much. I was a bit disappointed in the action overall in the Wynn for sure, Aria of course (but that is a rock garden and generally a tough room). The lists were much shorter than previous years, and I felt the games were not as good ASIDE FROM RESORTS WORLD which was a very unexpected bright spot. To me, outside of Bellagio, which is always a profitable endeavor, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, even though they upped the buy in stack depth, Resorts World was a very welcome addition to the scene with 1/3, 2/5 games that had real action. I didn't get a chance to play 5/10 there, I would have played 5/10 there and at bellagio if I could have stayed another day or two, but I encourage all of you to give that room a chance if you are out in the summer but prepare to go deep into your bankroll if necessary. net net, I still see poker a strong, though I don't know if I can say thriving. I felt much different about it in 2022, and 2023 where there seemed to be a noticeable uptick and renewed energy around the game.
Regarding the above, I think the economic state of the US has a lot to do with it. There is a quiet, or not so quiet depending on who you ask, recession going on. While the stock market continues to plow ahead, folks at lower end of the earning spectrum are struggling. Often having to work 2 jobs just to get by. Inflation is bad, cost of living is high, and wages continue to to lag. Also, the corporate job market is horrible right now. So white collar jobs or people with disposable income like myself (I am fortunately well employed at the moment), may be unable to come out because they are out of a job and searching. Either way, I think the economy is soft and I think that older white collar worker population is the group that helps drive the cash games. As Doc Dunk and others have said, Vegas is insanely expensive now. I mean, 25 dollars for an egg and cheese and a water at the PARIS?! give me a break. I expect that kind of foolishness at the Wynn and Encore. I know what I sign up for when I say there, but at some of these other incredibly "mid" strip properties like Paris, MGM, etc - that's just wild to me. Hotel rates obviously we know about all that, but even the cabs man, with tip I mean it costs me 20-25 bucks anytime i want to go from Encore to center strip. That's wild to me. Used to be 12-15 bucks. I don't blame people for not being able to swing it, I feel incredibly fortunate I can.
I still love poker. Even tournament poker lol. Even though I gave up on more regularly playing MTTs a long time ago and chose to focus on cash games (especially PLO & mixed games), I love to take shots at some MTT scores, and especially I really enjoy doing it for these TR's to give you all a sweat. It's a ton of fun and I'm glad I could give the people what they wanted this time around. I also love the community. I narrowly missed meeting up with TJ Eckleberg (next time bud) and I'd enjoy meeting many of you. I've met many people from my COVID home games clubs and I love coming back each summer and seeing some familiar faces and catching up with people. The best part about poker, and the people you play it with, is the diverse backgrounds that you come across, people from all different countries, different races, religions, nationalities, but we can all sit down and do something we enjoy doing, and it makes for a very entertaining and interesting experience.
I'll continue following all of the other TR's throughout the summer. I wish you all the best of luck finding some gold out in the desert. Until then, keep floppin aces.
Peace
PardoG
Great TR and absolutely sickening to lose it to a flopped Royal.
I'm much more amenable to chops/paying the bubble than you but not about to criticise - only time I was in a ~similar position I was keen to do a chop as it was 5am and I had to be in work in a few hours 
I know you were playing to win and not to chop the event. In the two short stack shoves, when three handed, you were ahead in both of them. You just didn't want her to hit anything.
Also, there is never a bad time to raise the topic of ICM. Especially when you are on a break and sitting pretty in second place. During the break I would just initiate a conversation "now that we are three handed and stacks are shallow, we can try x y and z". The worst thing that can happen, someone says no, and you play along.
Great recap, and great trip!
We’ll get together next time…. I’m sure we’ll find ourselves in this city at the same time again, soon!
Great TR. Thanks for sharing.
Regarding the above, I think the economic state of the US has a lot to do with it. There is a quiet, or not so quiet depending on who you ask, recession going on. While the stock market continues to plow ahead, folks at lower end of the earning spectrum are struggling. Often having to work 2 jobs just to get by. Inflation is bad, cost of living is high, and wages continue to to lag. Also, the corporate job market is horrible right now. So white collar jobs or people with disposable income like m
nice job on the TR, appreciate the write up even though I haven't followed along as regularly due to the abundance of other posts and my own recent TR behind me.
agree with everything you said. Vegas is getting pretty expensive. I usually get a car so that I can get off strip and find more reasonable dining options. it can be done but it takes a lot of extra planning ahead. kinda hard to just do "I'm hungry, what is there around here to eat?" without paying 3x. Hotel room costs have risen substantially in the last 5 years. I would like to move to Vegas but housing costs (and interest rates) are totally unreasonable. I'm not sure what better domestic poker getaway destinations there are but it's getting to the point where I may explore.
I love Resorts World, it is the nicest room in Vegas. if you can find a game there it it the best place to play. in my experience the tourneys there are 40% regs and that can be tricky.
nice job on the TR, appreciate the write up even though I haven't followed along as regularly due to the abundance of other posts and my own recent TR behind me.
agree with everything you said. Vegas is getting pretty expensive. I usually get a car so that I can get off strip and find more reasonable dining options. it can be done but it takes a lot of extra planning ahead. kinda hard to just do "I'm hungry, what is there around here to eat?" without paying 3x. Hotel room costs have risen substa
It has been discussed in several TRs that not only has it become more expensive, comps have also been cut substantially. And it’s over all properties, not only MGM. I absolutely love Vegas, but after my October trip this year I won’t be back more than once a year. It’s simply not worth it anymore, and I’m getting killed on fees and room rates. It’s sad but it is what it is, time to explore new places instead.
It has been discussed in several TRs that not only has it become more expensive, comps have also been cut substantially. And it’s over all properties, not only MGM. I absolutely love Vegas, but after my October trip this year I won’t be back more than once a year. It’s simply not worth it anymore, and I’m getting killed on fees and room rates. It’s sad but it is what it is, time to explore new places instead.
LA, as in Los Angeles, is probably cheaper. But the poker rooms aren't exactly in the garden spot of California. Vegas is just about the only area where vacation spot and poker merge. Nor can you walk from one poker room to another. However, Todd Brunson, who lives in Vegas, travels to LA every spring for 5-ish weeks for the WPT series in L.A. because he can "make his nut for the year".
