**** TJ's Summer 2025 Quest for Poker Glory ****
It’s that time of year again!
This will be my 6th long trip to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, and the 3rd trip
Esther's is our favorite place in all of LV. The owner recently opened La Boheme a few blocks south of Esther's. Same level of excellence. Run good.
GL in the Milly! Slow and steady is fine in this type of tournament. It's a marathon.
Bought in and got seated for the Millionaire Maker.
Only 25k starting chips, which seeks shallow, for a tourney of this size. But it’s hour long levels, with a 100/100 level, so there’s a good deal of play.
Still, need to start fast. Not a lot of room for early missteps.
My day off yesterday was clutch. I’m well-rested, fed, and caffeinated. I’m feeling about as good as I can, and better than I was heading into yesterday.
Let’s gooooooo!
Hope you & Moby run good and play better!
First break, striving to be emotionally and temperamentally neutral, with about 28k, from the 25k starting stack.
I’m playing the tightest at our table, certainly by VP$IP. I’m gathering reads, and have identified three clear soft spots. No premiums, and mostly folded for the first hour and a half.
Then, one of the fish got pretty short. He had already shoved and showed K2s and 97o from early position, then after losing a pot he shoves again from UTG for 9.4k. Folds to me in the BB with A3o.
I decide I need to call, and it was correct, up against QTo. Unfortunately for me, Q in the window, and it takes a big bite out of my stack.
I continue to fold, then the next orbit I open KJo from UTG, and two of my fish call. It comes J-8-2 rainbow, I continue for value, they both call. Turn is the 5s, putting two spades out. I guess there’s junk two pairs, or all the sets… but that’s just about as good a board as it can get with KJo, and two opponents with super wide ranges.
I overbet shove the turn, and the guy who outdrew me last time beats me into the pot, and I get a momentary flutter of panic.
But I’m all in and ahead of 8s4s, and river clean.
Success is the best revenge.
The deep stacks at my table haven’t impressed me, and I’ve got a good seat on two stacks I want to target.
Let’s keep it going!
9.4k shove in level 2 of Milly would be 47bb? Jesus
Nah, it wasn’t panic, that guy was just a donator.
Second break, took two BRUTAL beats the last two levels, so I’m fortunate to still have life, with 15.5k.
In the BB with 33, 4 limps to me and I check, and it comes out K-9-3. I lead for 2k, one call, then a shortstack shoves for 14k. I pause and count to 17 in my head, then re-shove. Caller folds.
I’m in fantastic shape vs AK, better than 90% to win, but not when it runs out 9, K. Puke.
A little later, a shortstack shoves 6.3k UTG, and doesn’t say anything. Dealer doesn’t say anything either, and I’m on the button with Ac7c, not having seen the shove. I announce raise, and put out 1k, then I see that UTG had shoved.
I verbally declared raise, so I min click it, and the blinds fold. I tell the inexperienced dealer, “I’m gonna need you to announce when there’s an all in, next time.” He apologizes, but it is what it is.
Yet again, I’m actually in great shape, against A5o. But not when the flop comes A-5-5.
If I’m gonna win this thing, I’m gonna need to learn how to start holding when I get it in better than a 60% favorite.
Still. I’m serene. I’m not even in pushbot mode yet. I’ve got a good feel for my opponents, I haven’t made any decisions I regret, and I can play confidently.
Big double up first orbit back, JJ > 55.
Right back in this thing
Let’s GO
Wow, I didn't ever have a table as spewy as the guys at your table. Not even close. If you can run pure (as opposed to the nonsense that keeps "getting there" against you), you have a great opportunity. Go collect their chips!
Let's hope you keep getting nonsense played at you, and the "getting there" part evens out back in your favor.
Go TJ go!
Third break, on 21.8k.
Only played two notable hands of consequence after that double up. Two limps to my BB, with QcTc, and I check, though maybe should have raised. Get a great flop of Jc-8c-3x. I lead out, shortstack ships. I call, up against JTo, and somehow manage to miss 15 outs twice.
I am decidedly below the graph in all in EV for this tournament.
I got a little of it back, when I won a flip to bust a shortstack, 33 > Q6s.
Trying my best to incorporate my reads into actionable decisions I can make vs opponents that I’ve observed.
Let’s pull into the next break, dinner, strong!
Then I walked back to my place, to relax on my reset day, and start my laundry.I’ve heard of turkey being described as, “like chicken, but with quaaludes.”Can confirm this is the case.So even after sleeping a good 8 hours last night, and my morning caffeine, I felt like lying down, after all that pasta and my turkey sammich.…I woke up in bed, socks on, contact lenses in, about
Reminds me of a drunk night, after which I woke up in the morning sleeping in the hallway, about 20 feet from my bed, glasses folded and on my chest.
I’m REALLY glad I didn’t fire the Millionaire Maker today, it would have been doomed from the start.
Then I did my laundry.
Firing a later flight?
Wow, I didn't ever have a table as spewy as the guys at your table. Not even close. If you can run pure (as opposed to the nonsense that keeps "getting there" against you), you have a great opportunity. Go collect their chips!
It's like some of my earlier tournaments. They don't even count chips. They look at their stack, and grab a third of it.
On dinner break, basically right at a starting stack, 25k.
One hand I played bad, I open AJo from HJ, CO and one blind calls. It comes Td-3c-2d, CO floats my cbet. Turn is the 2c, putting two flush draws out. I check, he bets about half pot. I wasn’t sure how wide his flop float range was, nor was I certain about which holdings he’d be raising, in position. I talk myself into thinking the overcards are live, A high might be ahead, and he could have lots of draws here. I call.
River is the 7s, I check, he checks back and wins, with 88. I hate AJo.
That got me down shorter, until I doubled my 14bb up with KK, vs JJ, when I was UTG.
Other than that, it’s been slow going. Table’s playing a lot tighter. I do have position on the table chip leader, but he’s pretty snug, and solid. He got most of his chips from a pretty sick beat, AKo > AKs, all in preflop.
Dinner tonight is Subway, because I didn’t really care, or feel like waiting anywhere. A footlong plus chips, no drink, in Vegas, is $23.
3 more levels before bagging. Probably won’t bag in the money. It usually gets splashier after dinner, so we’ll be selective about where, and how, we apply pressure.
According to the app, Preston McEwen just max-late-reg’d to my table.
He’s a tournament crusher I know from Cherokee.
I’ve played with him before, glad I’ve got him covered, to start!
He just busted, vs another late reg. KK < A4s, ouch.
That’s a pretty quick $1500, even for this town.
And I’m busted, the last hand of level 9. Just two hours away from bagging.
I knocked out a shortstack right after we got back from dinner, AQo > KJo. That got me up over 35k, when the following hand came up:
UTG, playing about 24k, raises to 2.5k. I had played with him over 8 hours, and seen him open and show down K6s and K5s from UTG. Clearly, not positionally aware. I’m on the button with 99. I 3bet to 8200. He thinks a minute, and 4bets small, to 18k. After what I’d seen from him, I decided I’m not folding preflop, so I shove. He has AA, and holds.
Just unfortunate to run into the top of his range. I did it based on reads, and history. I would have done it again.
My bust out hand was maybe more debatable. I post 1.2k in the BB, playing just 8.9k total. MP1, playing about 35k, opens to 2.5k, button flats, and I have KTs, with the blinds going up next hand. It’s not a fist pump, but I think it’s correct to shove. MP1 re-shoves, button folds, and I’m up against QQ, and don’t improve.
Sigh. So deflating. I think I played very well all day, with an intense baseline level of focus that I’m really happy with. I didn’t make any decisions I really regretted. I definitely feel like I overcame a lot of adversity, to play as long as I did. I didn’t punt, due to emotions. A lesser temperament would have.
I can be content with that.
Aria $800 NL tomorrow!
Tournaments are pain. Trust the process. On to the next one.
TJ what’s the plan for today?
As I said, today is a 1-day event, so for a Friday, it should get pretty big.
Guaranteed prize pool is $200k, so let’s make it a long day!!
Let's see if rice is a good substitute for hash browns now.
