*** 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:
Love tacos el gordo and definitely recommend to anyone who hasn’t been yet
Well, the poker has not been going well, which is why I haven’t been motivated to post about it. It’s like the stock market: you take the steps up slowly, but the elevator straight down.
I straddle button for $6, 4 limps to me so I make it $25 more with QQ. Two calls, and the cutoff (an overlimper) shoves over the top for 400. I re-shove, and the big blind makes a crying fold and shows an ace, which I like to see.
Up against AK, flop and turn clean, river K :(
Not gonna complain about how I run,
I know it’s hard to forget about the money, and even harder when you don’t feel you are playing your best, even still, do your best to enjoy the ride - none of us are really going to “make it” at Poker for the most part, so it’s most important to try to enjoy it even though it’s so frustrating sometimes. I felt the same today after playing such a good HORSE game and now already getting some bad run outs in 1/3 tonight but hang in there and I think a day off may be just what the doctor ordered !
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Waking up in Vegas, and the day is just full of so much POTENTIAL! …For professional reasons, though, today.
I walked a couple blocks to Rachel’s Kitchen, a little breakfast cafe to get this day started right.
Went with the protein lover’s scramble: three eggs scrambled with chicken, bacon, spinach, and cheese, to go with breakfast potatoes, toast, OJ and coffee. It hit the spot.
I have 5 dialysis clinics I want to call on today. I think after I get in front of enough of them, my resume should make its way to the regional ops director, which is the person that makes hiring and firing decisions.
I’ve got ten resumes in hand, gonna get them in front of some people!
Goal for today: let’s make some GREAT first impressions.
GL TJ, hope the interviews go well!
Waking up in Vegas, and the day is just full of so much POTENTIAL! …For professional reasons, though, today.
I walked a couple blocks to Rachel’s Kitchen, a little breakfast cafe to get this day started right.
Went with the protein lover’s scramble: three eggs scrambled with chicken, bacon, spinach, and cheese, to go with breakfast potatoes, toast, OJ and coffee. It hit the spot.
I have 5 dialysis clinics I want to call on today. I think after I get in front of enough of them, my resume should
Breakfast looked awesome - good luck in the job interviews.
Well it was a very productive day… and I have a CRAZY sunburned face to prove it.
I had my list of places to go, so I started at the first location, planning to walk to the second location just down the road. The first place was at a hospital, which serves other healthcare needs and also has a dialysis division managed by my company. Their hiring goes through their hospital system, though… so it wasn’t run by my company. Not exactly what I was looking for, and I couldn’t determine that from Google. Annoying, to strike out on the first place I went.
Then I decided to walk to the next location. Let me tell you something… distances on the map are a LOT farther than they seem, when you’re on foot walking through the desert.
I saved maybe a $15 Uber, and the walk took every bit of 45 minutes, plus another 15 once I got there to actually find the clinic. By about mile 2 of that walk, I thought to myself that I’ve made stupid, inadvisable preflop 3bets this very weekend for at least 3 times the amount an Uber would have cost, PLUS tip! It was only about 9 am, so it wasn’t full force desert heat yet… but that walk definitely sucked. Never again.
Anyway, I get to the clinic, and the manager wasn’t available. I was able to speak to the charge nurse, and found out that this clinic is smaller, and set up differently from what I’m used to. They only have 13 patients total, with one tech and one nurse monitoring each treatment. That’s a far cry from my home clinic, where we see 90 patients in two shifts per day, 6 days a week. It wouldn’t have been a good fit, as that’s not quite what I’m looking for. I made a good impression, and left a resume, anyway, though.
Hop in a nice, comfy, air conditioned Uber to the next clinic. Again, the clinic manager wasn’t available, so I left my resume with the secretary, and got the manager’s card to follow up later.
Hop in another Uber, go to the next clinic, and this time I have a little more success. The manager is out on vacation, but I had a great conversation with the secretary and a tech about that specific clinic, then I strike gold. She gives me a handout with the locations, phone numbers, and addresses of ALL the clinics in the Vegas metro area. It also includes the names of each managers, the best way to reach them, AND the numbers for the area manager and the director of operations! I’ll definitely be giving them a call soon, to see if they’ve had a chance to go over my resume.
At the next clinic, I actually got to speak with the clinic manager. She runs one of the largest clinics, with nearly 150 patients, in THREE shifts per day, 6 days a week. Unfortunately for me, though, they’re currently fully staffed. But I did have a great conversation with her, and she told me about some of the managers at other clinics. She also gave me a glimpse into the organizational structure out here, so I know EXACTLY whom to follow up with.
All told, I made it to 7 dialysis clinics today, and left resumes and good in-person first impressions with all of them. More than once, some told me just to apply online for open positions. I don’t believe in blasting off hundreds of online resumes for open positions and seeing what comes back, though.
Like my Dad taught me, I’m old fashioned. I think it’s better to go fill up their door, and look them in the eye while giving a firm, confident handshake, when you’re trying to get a job. Furthermore, I wanted to get a feel for each clinic, and see them for myself. The only way I could do that was by going to each clinic out here.
My job hunt today didn’t go how I’d pictured it. I thought I’d just breeze right into each clinic like I owned the place, get in front of the manager, and that their staffing situation would be so dire, to go with my qualifications, that they wouldn’t let me out the door without an offer.
It didn’t happen that way. But I saw a lot for myself, I know who, where, and when to follow up with, and I have a plan of attack. No offers yet, but in all it was a good day.
After I’d had my fill of job-hunting, I went apartment-hunting! I had a list of about 7 places I wanted to see, and I actually made it to 4 of those places.
Without knowing which clinic I’d be working at, the apartment I went to first was the most centrally located, just off Rainbow Blvd. They had a GREAT game room in the clubhouse, with a pool table, shuffleboard table, AND foosball table.
And of course, for McLovin:
The pool area was closed, so I couldn’t go in there and play 1. c4, to see what develops.
Despite how much I like the game amenities, I didn’t think that place would be a good fit. Their largest 1br floor plan was 720 square feet, and the rent would be about $1600 a month.
I’m paying just under $1300 a month for 770 square feet in North Carolina. I don’t need a ton of space, but I’m trying not to go up too much on my monthly nut.
My car note is $250 a month, and I have enough in my emergency fund to pay it off. If I do that, then I could add that amount to my rent without appreciably affecting my monthly budget spend. Something to consider.
The next two places I went were closer to Summerlin proper, i.e. more to the southwest side of the valley. They were also comparable to the first place I saw, in price and square footage. They were fine, nothing wrong with them, but I didn’t get too excited.
However, I really liked the 4th place I looked at. Their 1br floor plan was 889 square feet, for $1515 a month, with water, sewer, and trash included, not extra. I liked the curb appeal the most, with a good fitness center, clubhouse, and pool. It’s not centrally located, but it has easy access to the beltway. The area is very desirable, with lots of nice houses, restaurants, and shops nearby. Sample size of 1, but there were no scary, homeless looking meth heads hanging out at the corner gas station across the street when I stopped in to grab some Gatorade… so that was refreshing.
I don’t yet know if I’ll get a job offer, and even if I do, I don’t yet know if I’ll decide to make the cross country move. But if I do, I’ve found the place I want to move forward to applying, if I decide to do that.
That was my goal for today, and it’s been met.
Good day all round
My POV…of course money is a thing, but with a life move to a new and strange place, it’s even more important to have a home base you’re happy with and in a great location. If this place falls through or you open up the search again, I would be open to increasing your budget for the right place, even if it means sacrificing on some other areas.
Resorts is still finding their footing in poker. At least they are trying. Agree with you. It's a great room.
I think with their summer schedule they aimed to provide counterprogramming to their neighbors like Wynn and Venetian who are in the $1k+ business for most MTT offerings. RWLV went down market with stuff in the $200-300 price range. I can see the logic in just trying to be different, but also wonder if maybe that's beneath the property. Brand new venue. High end vibe. Maybe they should b
They also need to be more inviting than everyone else. Charging to park is not the way to do it. I've avoided the place because of it even though I went there a couple times before they charged.
Sounds like a productive job/apartment hunting day. Good luck with the rest of the process.
Well it was a very productive day… and I have a CRAZY sunburned face to prove it.
I had my list of places to go, so I started at the first location, planning to walk to the second location just down the road. The first place was at a hospital, which serves other healthcare needs and also has a dialysis division managed by my company. Their hiring goes through their hospital system, though… so it wasn’t run by my company. Not exactly what I was looking for, and I couldn’t determine that from Go
Really admire how you stuck to your plan despite a couple of pretty discouraging first stops. Your professionalism and perseverance is going to eventually win the day! Great job. Please keep us updated.
After I’d had my fill of job-hunting, I went apartment-hunting! I had a list of about 7 places I wanted to see, and I actually made it to 4 of those places.
Without knowing which clinic I’d be working at, the apartment I went to first was the most centrally located, just off Rainbow Blvd. They had a GREAT game room in the clubhouse, with a pool table, shuffleboard table, AND foosball table.
And of course, for McLovin:
The pool area was closed, so I couldn’t go in there and play 1. c4, to see wh
TJ, best of luck. You targeting DaVita or Fresenius? I’m just curious which and why you’d pick between them. Without going into to too much detail, let me just say I work in the healthcare space and I’m just curious about an RNs perspective!
Flashback to 2 months ago.
I’m playing my favorite video game, the only video game I still play, which is Halo. I have my headset, and I distinguish myself from other players by being friendly and positive, communicating with the team, and trying to win and have a good time.
Because I have a deep voice, and a sonorous, sing-song’y way of talking thanks to years of practice on my DJ mic voice, I get lots of people that friend me and want to play with me. Girl gamers in particular don’t always use their headsets, because it subjects them to abuse from incel adolescent gamers. But in video games, as in life sometimes, girls tell me they feel safe with me.
So I friend a nice pair of girls who like to play together. Our first game together is Capture the Flag on Argyle. We go down 2-0, then we work together, communicate, and make a CRAZY comeback, to win it 3-2, thanks to some timely snipes by me, and a clutch flag run in sudden death overtime.
We get to talking, and one of the girls, who I’ll call M, says she’s from Vegas. I tell her all about my upcoming trip, and possible move. We talk about all our favorite Vegas places to eat, and she tells me she lives in Summerlin. She works in gaming, doing internet security and geolocating, for all the online sports books that you’ve all heard of.
How cool is that? We exchange numbers, and I promise to hit her up when I get to town… to grab a meal, and talk about stuff to do and the area around Summerlin.
We meet at Honey Salt, one of the best restaurants in Summerlin, and the city as a whole. 3 years ago, the Las Vegas Eater food blog did a comprehensive top 50 ranking of restaurants in Vegas, and named Honey Salt number 1. They specialize in “American comfort food,” with a farm-fresh-to-table concept.
I ordered the bacon-wrapped meatloaf, with tomato jam, carmelized onions, and broccolini, over some especially creamy garlic mashed potatoes. It was VERY good!
M had the shrimp scampi with linguine, in a lemon herb butter sauce.
Then we split the key lime pie for dessert. It was so rich, we couldn’t finish it between the two of us. It was the kind of thing that tastes so sweet from the first bite, you just KNOW it’s gotta be like 1700 calories.
In all, a FANTASTIC meal, a great dining experience, and it’s awesome to make a new friend, and a new neighbor, if I move here!
Well, the poker has not been going well, which is why I haven’t been motivated to post about it. It’s like the stock market: you take the steps up slowly, but the elevator straight down.
Maybe this will help:
Believe me, I can relate to feeling the pressure to update the TR for the fans, even when it’s not going well.
Clear your head, you GOT this. All of LVL is rooting for you to turn it around!!
😀
I straddle button for $6, 4 limps to me so I make it $25 more with QQ. Two calls, and the cutoff (an overlimper) shoves over the top for 400. I re-shove, and the big blind makes a crying fold and shows an ace, which I like to see.
Up against AK, flop and turn clean, river K :(
I think you can make it a bit bigger here preflop. Not that it matters for the outcome, of course.
Now it’s Wednesday morning, time for the 8-game mix tournament at the Golden Nugget (20k gtd.). When the schedule first dropped, I had this one circled, because it’s a true poker player’s tournament. Might not get too big, certainly not compared to the huge NL fields at the WSOP, but this should be FUN to play.
To my mom and the non-poker fan readers I’ve sent this thread to, the poker hand recaps will be especially confusing. The 8 games are NLH, LHE, Razz, Stud hi, Stud8, PLO, O8, and 2-7 triple draw.
For the non-Phil Ivey level players among us, it’s very hard to be good at ALL of the games. So I have a very simple theorem for playing mixed games: “Don’t start with bad cards.”
Lots of mixed game players just like to continue, and see what kind of hand they can make. “(4-7) 9 in Stud 8? Sure, that’s 40% of the way to a low, let’s stay til at least 5th street!”
Especially in the stud games, by the later levels it’ll be very important to catch well, and not get hosed with the bring ins. I definitely don’t want to be leaking loose chips by not playing tight enough.
So let’s play well, run even better, and have some fun today!
Also, I ate breakfast today, at Claim Jumpers, a place in the Nugget.
Sorry if I’m being repetitive, but I’m a simple creature when it comes to breakfast. The Denver omelette today, three eggs with ham, cheddar, pepper, and onions, to go with breakfast potatoes, toast, black coffee, and OJ.
It was fine… everything I expected and asked for.
Got my fuel to hopefully make it a long day for the tournament.
good luck in mixed game tourney!
TJ, I'll say it again, but awesome TR. GL with everything! I hope you follow up with whatever you decide as far as relocation.
First break, about 15k from a 20k starting stack. We’re 6-handed, and playing 6 hands of each game.
Made a nice hand in Razz on the river, 7632A, but the limits were so small it wasn’t a very big pot.
Had a couple interesting hands in the 2-7 triple draw. I made a straight 7 after the second draw, and was heads up against a guy who pat. I broke the 6, which I think is the correct play, and caught a Jack. He checked back, and won with a 9-7.
Then I woke up on the button with 66432. I raised, got 4 callers, and caught a beautiful 7 on the first draw. Got a bet in, then pat, and he folded to the big bet after the second draw.
Started with wired queens, (QQ) 3 in stud high, but the guy behind me caught my 3rd Queen on 5th street so I had to let it go. Just missed!
Had an interesting spot in the second round of razz. A Queen brings it in, a 5 completes, and I reraise with (63) A. I caught a 7 on 4th, he caught an 8, and check called. Then I caught a ten, and he caught an ace. So he’s showing 5-8-A, and I’m playing (63) A-7-T, and he bets.
I figure, even if he has perfect-perfect in the hole, he’s at best playing an 8, and I’m drawing to a 7. So I call on 5th, and 6th, miss it all and fold on the river.
Correct to call there? I dunno. Just gotta work on “not missing” for next time.
In the second round of stud hi, I have the bring in with (3-4) 5, and call the complete and catch a deuce on 4th. I hadn’t seen any 6’s or aces, so I ran down the dude betting showing K-8-5 with two spades. I had two spades of my own, and had seen a couple, so I wasn’t worried about a flush. I caught an ace on the river for a wheel, and got a raise in on 7th to win a nice pot.
Nobody’s busted at my table, but the limits will start becoming an issue in the future levels. I have a guy in the 1 seat playing way too loose, so I have stacks to target. Just hoping to continue to catch well!
Good day all round
My POV…of course money is a thing, but with a life move to a new and strange place, it’s even more important to have a home base you’re happy with and in a great location. If this place falls through or you open up the search again, I would be open to increasing your budget for the right place, even if it means sacrificing on some other areas.
I agree with this.
As far as real estate… you all know the classic saying? What are the 3 most important things?
Location, Location, Location!
Second break, it was a good 4 levels for me, and I finished on a nice rush to sit at 51k.
Another interesting spot in razz, that sadly I don’t perfectly remember. A bring in, a 5 completes, a 4 calls, call with I think (6-8) 5. The guy with a 5 catches a 3, the 4 catches a 7, and I catch an ace. So I (6-8)-5-A, check, the 5-3 bets, the 4-7 calls, I call. I catch (6-8)-5-A-2, the guy with the lead gets 5-3-5, and the other caller caught a bad one, like a ten or something.
I missed a bet here on 5th street. I don’t know why I was scared of the bettor pairing up, but I was worried my made 8 might not be good by the river. I forgot I had a scary board, too, that they have to respect. Anyway, it checks around.
I catch great, (8-6)-5-A-2-3, and the other guy has 5-3-5-4.
Emboldened by my made 6, I fire 6th and 7th streets, and get paid off. Definitely missed a bet on 5th.
Busted a shorter stack later in PLO. From the button, I call an open with AcKhTc5h double suited. Flop comes Kc-Qs-3s, so I float the cbet. Turn is the beautiful offsuit Jh. He shoves into my nuts, only has spades working, and I fade the river to score the knockout.
Also won a nice one in the last hand before break, in limit O/8. Cutoff opens, button calls, I 3bet with AhKsQhJh from big blind, call, call. Flop As-Qd-9c, I bet, call, call. The turn is a lovely Th, which makes my nuts, to go with top two, AND means no low is possible. I bet again, only one call this time. River an offsuit 4, got another big bet called, nuts are still good.
So yeah, feeling good, catching good so far. With these limits, swings can happen quickly in showdown pots, especially in the stud games.
Just gonna keep playing my game.
Just closed registration and announced the prize pool.
195 entries, 114 currently left, $15k up top, bubble at 21 players left.
Let’s goooooo!!
I lived in summerlin for a while. I personally think it is the best area in vegas to live.
