Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream
At the age of 62 (AARP members unite!), I have decided that I will write a trip report for my 2024 trek to the World Series of Poker. Not exactly “Stop the Presses” news, although maybe an old-man poker TR from a former sportswriter turned entrepreneur/investor is somewhat unique.
This trip report proclamation and five nickels will get me a quarter. I get it. Lots of people promise/start trip reports and then never follow through (blasted). You don’t know me, so there is no reason for you to believe I will actually deliver.
So, I will put some skin in the game to show I can be trusted to deliver on my promise. Before I start my 2024 trip report in this thread, I will do a trip report on my first ever 2019 12-day trip to the WSOP (when I was 57 years old and a bit less gray than I am today) based upon old notes I have kept and memories I recall (memory loss is not an issue for me so far, wait, did I already say that?).
I did not write a trip report at the time, so this is new content. Call my 2019 long-after-the-fact walk down memory lane on 2+2 a down payment from me in return for your anticipation of and attention to my 2024 trip report.
By the way, in case anyone is wondering, I will be playing in the WSOP again in 2025. I'll be there for 13 days and will play in the WSOP's Colossus, a couple of deepstacks (not Daily Deepstacks, which I hated playing in 2024) and a turbo. All NLHE. I intend to embrace the rebuy concept this year rather than complain about it like I did in the 2024 WSOP (although in a perfect world I spin up big stacks and don't need to rebuy).
I don't plan on playing non-WSOP events, although I might replace the WSOP turbo with a Venetian or Wynn tourney. I'll play that by ear.
Glad to hear you will be back. This might have been my favorite TR in 2024.
It's always nice to see tangible signs of growth. That's part of what makes this game rewarding.
I suspect you will find the Colossus a refreshing change compared to the Mystery Millions that you played last year. I've played it a few times and consider it to be one of the best values on the schedule. Deep structure. Eclectic mixture of players. Huge prize money at the end of the rainbow. For all intents and purposes, it plays like a serious tournament. The only bad thing I can really say about it is that it usually plays 10-handed because of the high demand. I don't like it when the tables are packed that tight, but at least you won't be crammed into the Rio bowling alley like I was in 2019. The Colossus is a great event to play and would be a fun one to bag.
The Daily Deepstacks were a core part of my trips in 2018 and 2019, but in recent years I've begun to sour on them. The nightlies are turbos with an extreme emphasis on luck. The 1PM draws good numbers and is a reasonable tournament to play, but has higher rake than comparable tournaments at RWLV. It also tends to play 10-handed. Those are two big strikes. I'm likely to play the 8PM $200 on 6/14 as a warm-up on my first night in town this summer, but otherwise I probably won't touch them this year. I'm of the mind that there's always something better to play. They are "WSOP tournaments", but not really. You know what I mean.
One thing you can consider is firing some satellites into bigger stuff. Without knowing your exact timeline, the WSOP has a $2k NLHE on 6/3 and a $2.5k on 6/8. Personally, I'm not comfortable buying in that high directly. However, the WSOP runs various milestone satellites regularly throughout the day (see the last page of the schedule PDF). Those offer a route into some of the big bracelet events. On days when you bust your main tournament and don't want to rebuy, it may be fun to take a shot at a satellite. Buyer beware, they are very shallow, fast, and luck-based.
Glad you’re back on the felt!
Good to hear from you, rppoker! Looking forward to this year's report.
Good fold on the AA hand. Not sure I would've been strong enough to lay it down. Nice reasoning through the hand.
By the way, in case anyone is wondering, I will be playing in the WSOP again in 2025. I'll be there for 13 days and will play in the WSOP's Colossus, a couple of deepstacks (not Daily Deepstacks, which I hated playing in 2024) and a turbo. All NLHE. I intend to embrace the rebuy concept this year rather than complain about it like I did in the 2024 WSOP (although in a perfect world I spin up big stacks and don't need to rebuy).
I don't plan on playing non-WSOP events, although I might replace th
Rppoker,
Glad you are planning on a return to the WSOP. I very much enjoyed following your experiences with your well written reports last summer.
Good luck!
Racetrack
The key hand of the tournament for me came around level 6 or 7. I was dealt A-A. I think I had more than triple starting stack at this point. From fairly early position I bet 2x. It folded to the button who called. The flop was 8-J-K rainbow. I bet 1/3 pot and the button called. The turn was a Q that brought a flush draw. At this point A-10 got there and two pair broadway hands had me beat. I checked. Button raised less than half pot. I didn't love it, but I didn't think I could fold A-A yet so
You beat two pair Broadway hands. You have Aces and 8s; they have Kings & Queens, Kings & Jacks, or Queens & Jacks. This might push the decision to a call, but it's close. Worked out for you, though! (results-oriented thinking)
I've enjoyed reading your thread, and following your journey. I'll be out for the WSOP the last two weeks of June playing the "old-man" poker tournaments (Senior & Super Senior). I know these aren't your thing, but if you happen to be out there during that time, I'd be happy to buy you a drink.
You beat two pair Broadway hands. You have Aces and 8s; they have Kings & Queens, Kings & Jacks, or Queens & Jacks. This might push the decision to a call, but it's close. Worked out for you, though! (results-oriented thinking)
I've enjoyed reading your thread, and following your journey. I'll be out for the WSOP the last two weeks of June playing the "old-man" poker tournaments (Senior & Super Senior). I know these aren't your thing, but if you happen to be out there during that time, I'd be hap
You make a good point. I may be wrong about the board pairing. As I wrote, I did not take down notes in real time. My now after-the-fact recollection is that two pair Broadway hands would have had me beat. Based upon that, then I think the river was a brick. But I'm really not positive.
This is the flaw in writing about hands from memory without writing down notes in real time. I'm going to have to decide if I should rethink my statement that I won't take down notes at the 2025 WSOP if I intend to write about it.
As for when you and I will be at the 2025 WSOP, I think we will just miss each other. I will be there the first two weeks, whereas you will be there the final two weeks. Missed it by that much (to quote Bob Uecker).
I am interested in what people think about my bust out hand.
I had 24,000-28,000 chips. The blinds were 2,000/4,000. So I had six or seven big blinds. I think we were 8-handed at the time. I was dealt A-7 suited. I was in middle position and was first into the pot. With this hand I am content to just pick up the blinds, so I jammed all-in. Let's forget how the rest of the hand played out. Let's simply look at my decision to go all-in (which I think is correct, but I wonder if that is the only play)
Is min betting 2 BBs an option with only 4-5 BBs left behind? And if yes, and someone then puts me all-in, can I even consider folding A-7 suited? Curious what people think.
I think it depends heavily on the stacks and the players left to act after you.
If there are looser big stacks, and you think you’re getting called by all the worse aces, some strong kings, and maybe even strong queens, I’d shove.
If the stacks behind you are tighter, and folding out the bottom of that range, and only calling when you’re flipping or dominated, I’d just fold.
I think it’s pretty clearly a shove or a fold. With 7bb, you can’t minraise and fold to a shove. You’re much better off just shoving yourself and maximizing fold equity.
I don’t think minraise and fold to a shove is even an option, until you have 10-12 or so or more BB.
…Barring some uncommon ICM spots, where you could raise all but 0.1BB, intending to fold if you get shipped on twice, in the hopes that someone will bust and ladder you up.
"Missed it by that much" was Don Adams as Maxwell Smart. Bob Uecker was "Just a bit outside".
Best of luck this year. I don't think I'm up for the WSOP Seniors, but if my mind changes, I'll also be glad to spring for a beer or whatever.
I am interested in what people think about my bust out hand.
I had 24,000-28,000 chips. The blinds were 2,000/4,000. So I had six or seven big blinds. I think we were 8-handed at the time. I was dealt A-7 suited. I was in middle position and was first into the pot. With this hand I am content to just pick up the blinds, so I jammed all-in. Let's forget how the rest of the hand played out. Let's simply look at my decision to go all-in (which I think is correct, but I wonder if that is the only pla
Looks like a clear shove according to the charts, which jives with my gut instinct.
I like to get cute with min-raises sometimes, but I really don't think this is the time for that. You aren't deep enough and your hand isn't strong enough. I think I like that play more with something like QJ or JTs on 12-14BB, as well as maybe some traps like AA. A7s is in the uncomfortable territory of being too good to fold, too weak to trap with, and too uncoordinated to hit many flops. By inviting action, you just create difficult post-flop decisions without maximizing fold equity.
You do not have enough chips to bet-fold A7s here IMO. In this situation you need about 30-35% to call off when a single player isolates you with a shove, and A7s is just about getting those odds against a range of Ax, pairs, KJ+. I don't know if I have a bet-fold range below 10BB. I think you're generally going to be better off shoving.
It's a spot where the shove is long-term profitable because it usually gets through and when you called, you win enough of the time to compensate for the losses. I don't think there's any reason to second guess the decision. From a process standpoint, shoving is good, even if the result was unpleasant in this instance.
I am interested in what people think about my bust out hand.
I had 24,000-28,000 chips. The blinds were 2,000/4,000. So I had six or seven big blinds. I think we were 8-handed at the time. I was dealt A-7 suited. I was in middle position and was first into the pot. With this hand I am content to just pick up the blinds, so I jammed all-in. Let's forget how the rest of the hand played out. Let's simply look at my decision to go all-in (which I think is correct, but I wonder if that is the only pla
In general, your all-in is extremely standard and correct.
I have been experimenting a bit with raising like 4-5 bb in these spots, especially if I come in from early-ish pos. That way, I can still get away if I don't have a monster and there are maybe 2 all-ins behind me (or more). But against a single all-in I would obviously just go with the hand that I have raised.
Having said that, I think this strategy works best around 10-12 bb stack. When you get down to 6-7 BB it becomes very hard to justify raise-folding, as you leave yourself very short + the pot-odds becomes too tempting.
In general, your all-in is extremely standard and correct.
I have been experimenting a bit with raising like 4-5 bb in these spots, especially if I come in from early-ish pos. That way, I can still get away if I don't have a monster and there are maybe 2 all-ins behind me (or more). But against a single all-in I would obviously just go with the hand that I have raised.
Having said that, I think this strategy works best around 10-12 bb stack. When you get down to 6-7 BB it becomes very hard to just
Why 4-5? That's about half-stack?
Because it's less than the entire stack 😀 And it's much easier to come back from 4bb than something like 0.5 bb (putting in almost all of your stack).
Not saying it's a genious strategy or anything like that, but I think it has some merit in order to give yourself a second chance if something insane happens behind you.
Because it's less than the entire stack 😀 And it's much easier to come back from 4bb than something like 0.5 bb (putting in almost all of your stack).
Not saying it's a genious strategy or anything like that, but I think it has some merit in order to give yourself a second chance if something insane happens behind you.
Okay, makes sense. How's it been working out so far?
Family vacation casino poker tournament #2
While my wife, my mother, my daughter and my niece went shopping, I headed to the casino for another NLHE tournament. I think there were just a shade under 100 players with 11 people cashing.
I ended up at the same table and same seat as my previous tournament. Seat 9. Ugh. A seat with a blind spot (can't see seat 1). Plus, the two best players at the table were in seats 1 and 2, which was challenging. I believe Seat 2 ended up being the chip leader when it got to 10-handed and they did an ICM chop.
The first four levels, when the blinds pose no problem, I was extremely card dead. The one quality preflop hand I got the first three levels was A-Q unsuited. I was first into the pot with a bet and received one call. The flop was 10 high. Villain checked, and I bet and got called. The turn was a blank and it went check-check. The river was a 9 and it went check-check. Villain turned over 9-10 for two pairs. I mucked my A high.
The best hand I had the entire day was 9-9 in level 4 and I won a moderate pot. I would receive no premium pairs the entire day which was unfortunate. Throughout levels 1 through 4, I fluctuated between 9,000 chips and 12,000 chips (starting stack).
There was a break after Level 4 and I checked voice messages and e-mails for my business. Nothing pressing, which was nice.
When we returned from break I started upping the aggression since I had played so few hands. I still wasn't getting premium hands, but I picked my spots and played some moderate hands as though they were premium. I ran my stack up to 25,000 chips. In particular, I targeted one particular player who seemed a bit loose with his preflop calling range, but he was extremely passive postflop when facing a bet. The blinds were only 300-600, so I now had room to maneuver.
I made some correct laydowns postflop after that. I lost the minimum when I had A-10 unsuited on an A-K-rag flop. Villain went all-in. I was certain I was beat and folded. Villain showed A-K for top two pair. A bit after that I bet K-J suited from the button and got called by the big blind. The flop came K high with no straight draw and no flush draw. I raised one-third pot. Villain went all-in. I gave it some thought and then folded. Villain showed A-K. We both had top pair, but I was outkicked. I don't know why people kept showing me that I had made correct lay downs.
Despite the big/proper laydowns, my chip stack had dwindled by level 7 when the blinds were 600/1,200. I think I had maybe 10 BBs. It folded to me on the button. I had Q-10 suited. I went all-in light. The small blind, who I had covered called. Big blind folded. Small blind turned over A-J unsuited. Flop came J-10-rag. We both hit the flop, but villain hit more of it than I did. I hit my two-outer when another 10 came on the turn. The river was a blank and villain was out of the tournament. "Brutal" he muttered as he left. Yes it was. I got lucky.
Posting blinds and me losing some small skirmishes soon had me back down to 10BBs in Level 8 (800/1,600). I was dealt A-J unsuited. Middle position limped. Since there was a limp I raised 3x instead of 2x from the button. Small blind (a new player to the table who I had successfully bluffed very recently) called. Middle position limper called. The flop came J-9-8 with two to a flush. I did not have the flush draw, but I had top pair top kicker. Middle position had me covered and he went all-in. I took a decent amount of time to think. With only 7 BBs behhind, could I really fold top pair, top kicker. The decision seemed very close. So I decided to look for physical tells. This was the player who I had pushed around a decent amount earlier when my post flop aggression consistently got him to fold. He was breathing very deeply. His chest was going up and down. The longer I stared at him, the more pronounced it got. Unless he was a great actor, my read on him was that he was uncomfortable. I didn't think he went all-in with air, but I was certain he did not have a monster. My read said he wanted me to fold. I put him on either a 10 for an open-ended straight draw or a flush draw. I made the call and felt I had him beat for the moment. I was feeling optimistic until the small blind also called the all-in bet. Now I was convinced I was beat. Cards got turned over. I had top pair (jacks) top kicker. Middle position had 10-10 for an inferior pair but an open-ended straight draw. The small blind had J-9 suited for top two pair and a flush draw. All three of us had hit a significant chunk of this flop. The turn was a K that helped no one. The river was another 9 that improved the player with top two pair and a flush draw to a full house, which seemed like overkill. I was out of the tournament.
All in all, it was a tough day to get anything going. In a tournament that is very shallow (only 12,000 starting chips and the levels go up every 20 minutes), being card dead is tough to overcome. The only decent pair I had all day was 9-9. No premium pairs. The only other pair I was dealt was 4-4 UTG, which I chose not to play. No A-K all day, unsuited A-Q twice, unsuited A-J once. Suited Broadway cards only twice. No big blind specials that hit big. I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a mountain all day. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself. A lot. I really do love sitting at a tournament poker table. I really do enjoy competing. Even though there are times when I get put to an uncomfortable poker decision, I still find No-Limit Hold 'Em tournaments to be extremely relaxing. I really feel at peace at the table. The roller coaster nature of tournament poker does not make my heart rate go through the roof. Maybe it is because I have to make so many decisions every day when running my business that the decisions in poker don't seem to faze me. Poker decisions aren't easy, but they don't fill me with anxiety. A poker table feels very tranquil to me. At work, I have an avalanche of things that require my attention every day. Poker seems slow-paced and calm by comparison.
Seems as if you played well! Funny, it used to be when I breathed deeply and my vein pulsed, I usually had a monster. I can control it much better now, thank goodness. When I first started playing, I took beta blockers to help 😉
A bit after that I bet K-J suited from the button and got called by the big blind. The flop came K high with no straight draw and no flush draw. I raised one-third pot. Villain went all-in. I gave it some thought and then folded. Villain showed A-K. We both had top pair, but I was outkicked. I don't know why people kept showing me that I had made correct lay downs.
Posting blinds and me losing some small skirmishes soon had me back down to 10BBs in Level 8 (800/1,600). I was dealt A-J unsuited.
Hand 1 seems very strange to me. I know that US poker is tight, but if the board was something like K-9-3 or whatever I think folding KJo is a mistake. After betting (not raising, sorry 🙂) only 1/3rd on flop, I would assume some opponents could take that as weakness and jam stuff like K7, A9 or whatever. The fact that he is super passive and plays AK like a nit is an outlier, and I don't think this is a fold you should make against most players.
(I obviously don't know the stack sizes, but I assume it was fairly shallow)
----------
In hand 2, I would probably just go all-in over the limp. As soon as there are extra dead money with a caller in there, there is extra incentive to just pick it up pre (although we know you would have gotten called).
Don't get me wrong, I am all for trying to get value even as a short stack and also finding ways to not risk your entire stack. But when you have 16k chips and can pick up 5600 uncontested that seems like the better option.
Hope to see you in Vegas this summer!
Family vacation casino poker tournament #2
Posting blinds and me losing some small skirmishes soon had me back down to 10BBs in Level 8 (800/1,600). I was dealt A-J unsuited. Middle position limped. Since there was a limp I raised 3x instead of 2x from the button. Small blind (a new player to the table who I had successfully bluffed very recently) called. Middle position limper called. The flop came J-9-8 with two to a flush. I did not have the flush draw, but I had top pair top kicker. Middle po
FYP. It's impossible to flop two pair and a flush draw in Hold 'Em.
Also, gotta agree with BigWhale. I'd rather jam the AJ here, given stack depth. If no one calls, you collect 3.5 BBs (assuming there's a BB ante) and chip up to 13.5 bigs. If someone calls, you shouldn't be any worse than a 70-30 dog (unless V has AA), might be flipping, and might even be ahead of some AX or KQ/KJ light calls. In this instance, the J9s likely folds, the TT calls, & you'd have doubled to 22.5 BBs.
Family vacation casino poker tournament #3
My daughter and her boyfriend went somewhere a couple of hours away for the weekend. My wife and my mom went shopping. So of course I went to the casino to play in the daily $130 NLHE tournament. 12,000 chips to start. You play deep the first four levels and then it quickly becomes turbo-ey.
I would describe today's experience as something along the lines of riding a bucking bronco. You're up, you're down. Up, down. Thrilling yet at any second you might go flying and crashing in a heap.
Level 1 showed promise the first few hands. I had A-7 suited and the flop had two aces. It went check-check on the flop, check- check on the turn as I tried to induce villain to bet. Finally on the river I bet, and villain folded. Sigh. Won the absolute minimum. Next, I had A-J from UTG against villain's K-J from the small blind. I bet, he called. The flop was J high followed by a blank on the turn and a blank on the river. I got three streets of value and was quickly up to 15,000 chips.
After that I was card dead the rest of Level 1 through most of Level 4. At one point I was dealt a 2 in seven consecutive hands. Weird. The only playable hand I had was 8-9 offsuit. Four of us limped. I was on the button. The flop was A-8-2. Everyone checked. The turn was a blank. Everyone checked to me. I bet. Everyone folded.
With about five minutes left in Level 4 before the first break when rebuys would end, I got into a strange hand. And by strange I mean zombie apocalypse strange. I was UTG and was dealt As-Kc. I bet and three people called. The flop was Ac-8d-5h. I opened the betting and got two calls. The turn was a diamond that was otherwise a blank. I again bet and get two calls. The river is a third diamond. I check. One of the other players goes all-in, although neither he or I had many chips left at this point. It's a big pot. I think he probably got there, but it is so few chips to call in relation to the size of the pot, so I grudgingly call. He turns over 5d-9d for the runner-runner flush. He got there in the end, but he put in a ton of chips from way behind. The player next to me shook his head and said, "Poker is cruel."
With about two minutes before the break I had a single 1,000 chip. I was dealt 6c-7c and I flicked in my single chip. I lost the hand. Why did I toss in the chip with such a modest hand? Because I was about to do something I had never done before ...
Rebuy.
For those of you who have read this thread from the beginning, you may recall that at the 2024 WSOP I complained vociferously about how much I hated players being able to rebuy (or late reg) fairly deep into Day 1. My complaint was I had been battling for 11 or 12 levels and they show up with a starting stack that doesn't have a ton of playable nuance given the blinds and they go all-in quickly hoping for a coin flip, and if they win they have more chips than I have worked all day and night to achieve. Eventually after my WSOP was over I wrote that I was going to embrace rebuying in the 2025 WSOP rather than whine about it.
With that in mind today, with only a single 1,000 chip (blinds 200/400 now and about to go up to 300/600 after the break) I figured it was time to embrace wild variance with my 1,000 chip and either get very lucky a couple of hands in a row or lose and be able to rebuy for 12,000 chips. Losing and rebuying was much more promising. So today was the day when I hit the rebuy window for the first time in my life.
As I waited for for the break to end I realized that I had not been dealt a single pair during the first four levels. I got A-K once and A-J once, but not a single pair.
I continued to be card dead for a while, and I was down to 9,000 chips when it happened. I went on a massive rush for an entire level.
I was in the big blind with 4s-8s. A few people limped, and I just checked. There were two spades on the flop. I had a flush draw. I went all-in. Everyone folded. It wasn't a huge pot, but when you only have 9,000 chips and the blinds are 300-600 (or maybe 400-800?), it is a meaningful pot. Next hand, I am in the small blind. The button limps, I have A-4 suited and I go all-in. The big blind and the button both folded.
Then came the big rush of cards. I did not get dealt A-A, K-K or Q-Q, but I kept getting dealt good to very good hands time after time after time.
I am on the button, four people limp. I have 8-8 and I go all-in. Everyone folds. That's a lot of blinds that I picked up.
Next hand I get dealt 9c-9s. I forget the betting but all of the chips go in the middle against a player I have barely covered. He turns over Jc-Qc. We're flipping. I flop quad nines. We aren't flipping anymore. The turn and river were not needed.
Next hand I am still stacking chips when I am dealt A-J. I bet and get called by a player at the other end of the table. The turn is a J. I have top two pair. I'm still stacking chips. I bet and get called. The river is a blank. I bet and get called, and I take it down.
Then I am dealt 9-9. I bet and everyone folds.
Then I get dealt J-J and a player I have covered goes all-in with 9-9. I call. My hand holds up.
I think I may have bet with Q-J suited and everyone folded.
Soon I am in the BB with J-J. The small blind whose once huge stack has dwindled to a still healthy 28,000 chips goes all-in. I am thrilled with my chip stack and I don't love having to call such a big bet in what I suspect may be a coin flip or worse. He really has no need to have bet so huge, so I'm a bit worried that he may have a monster. But I can't fold J-J here so I call. He turns over, shockingly, an unsuited A-2. My hand holds. Once again I can't get my chips stacked before I have to act. I have A-4 suited. I think I may have limped. I get raised. Now I decide to get out of line and I check raise. The original bettor folds and I have more chips to stack.
The other end of the table is muttering quietly. I think I must have won something like 9 or 10 hands out of 12 hands during this stretch. Keep in mind, I joined this table after the break with a rebuy stack. They probably thought I was insane. At the end of Level 8, break time, I had 95,000 chips. The average stack was 36,240 chips. There were 50 players remaining out of an original 151 players.
Shortly after the break, there were a couple of massive hands that played themselves. I was card dead for a bit so my stack dwindled a little bit but nothing terrible. I was in a hand from I think the button against the big blind who was new to the table and had a lot of chips. I think I limped, and he checked. I had Jh-9d. The flop came 9s-9c-10h. He had 10-10. My trips lost to his full house. I don't recall how the hand played out, but somehow all the chips did not get into the middle. The player next to me said, "I'm not sure how you didn't lose more chips." Nonetheless, my chip stack took a very big hit.
Shortly thereafter I had about 30,000 chips when I got it all-in preflop with Ah-Qh against the player to my immediate right who had As-Kc. I flopped a flush draw and got there on the river. Like I said, the entire day was like a bucking bronco ride. Up, down, up, down. The recipient of the bad beat said A-K was hit Kryptonite, and he had been losing to A-Q repeatedly all day.
After that I went completely card dead. I felt like I walking down the Valley of Unplayable Cards. Absolutely nothing that I could even consider playing.
Level 12 ended and we went on break. I had 61,000 chips with 23 players left and 16 players would get paid. The blinds were going up to 4,000/8,000 when we returned from break. Extremely turbo-ey. Even the big stacks weren't that deep.
We returned from break and I didn't get dealt anything playable for a decent amount of time. I blinded down to 49,000 chips (6 BBs). There were 19 players left. At this point, most of the players at my table were in shove or fold mode with the exception of the table's big stack. Adding to my pressing need to win some chips was the fact that we were playing six-handed at my table, so the massive blinds kept arriving fast.
I looked down at A-9 unsuited. This was the best hand I'd seen in quite some time, but it wasn't exactly premium. The first two players folded. Could I fold my way to a min cash. On the one hand, with one more knockout, we would get down to 18 players (two full tables) and the blinds would slow down. On the other hand, there was no guarantee anyone would get eliminated quickly in which case the blinds would quickly decimate me.
The pros to folding were I might sneak into the money and get a new line on my Hendon Mob page. This was not a compelling reason.
I couldn't get excited about limping into a min cash. I needed to get some chips if I wanted to do damage in this tournament. This hand was too strong to fold when I had the opportunity to either win the blinds, which would be useful, or maybe even double up if the cards were kind. If I lose, so be it.
I went all-in. It folded to the BB who had a monster stack. He took his time, asked for and got a count of my chips by the dealer, and then the BB called with 6-6. A coin flip basically. I could live with this, since if I won I could have a little room to maneuver.
My hand did not improve and I was out in 19th place, just shy of the bubble (16 players got paid although two days before when I saw them reach the bubble everyone agreed to have the bubble get paid, so maybe 17 players got paid today).
The bucking bronco finally tossed me off. But as the Kevin Costner character says in the movie Tin Cup, "You ride her until she bucks you or you don't ride at all."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wtivS1z...
When I called my wife to ask her to pick me up, as she always does she asked me what place I came in. I told her I came in 19th out of 151 players, but I emphasized that only 16 got paid. As is always her way she was excited that I "came in 19th place." No matter how many times I try to explain to her that close to the bubble is not an accomplishment, she nonetheless always responds something along the lines of, "Well, you hardly play any poker, so I think 19th place against way more experienced players is a great accomplishment." It makes her happy, so maybe I should stop downplaying it to her. You guys/gals know better. She doesn't and is blissfully happy when I answer her question about what place I finish.
Something interesting about today's tournament. Whereas the first two tourneys this vacation I stayed at one table the entire time I played, after I went the rebuy route today, the tables I were at got broken six times. Made for a very different experience having to keep figuring out how a new table and new players were playing. To my surprise, I kind of liked it. At last year's WSOP I did not like having a table get broken since I felt I had to start from scratch trying to figure out opposing players and I had to create my own new table image. Today I was very comfortable navigating new surroundings and opponents. I don't know why this was the case, but I felt much more at ease every time I got moved to a new table.
The funniest thing was I got moved to one table for maybe 9 or 10 hands. I did not get dealt a playable hand the whole time. Meanwhile, the player to my left and the two players to my right were in a deep and animated conversation about one of the guy's restaurant or business (not sure which) that made hot dogs and chili. They were especially taking a deep dive into the making of chili. When our table broke, I said to the player to my left, "Well, I didn't get a single playable hand the time I was at this table, but I did learn a whole lot about chili."
