Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

I think your analysis is right. Particularly because he should be shoving all his pocket pairs pre.

limping pre to shove over a raise or to play AK super underrepped is the other way to play it. I think I prefer this or a shove, over a raise Albeit, as ever in these spots, I haven't studied them and I'd be interested to learn what a robot would say

Im not too sure what better hand folds here?

Any pocket pair most likely jams pre , most 10x doesn't make the turn ?
We need to range an opponent based on prior streets and then assess what we think our options ( bet/check/all in) accomplish

Not trying to be critical as I enjoy the trip reports , just wanted to offer some thoughts !

The rppoker run bad continues

I'll keep this short because bad beat stories are boring. But I feel compelled to share for the sheer math of it, making it potentially/somewhat interesting to the rest of you, not so much to me (OK, even I have to admit the math is kind of interesting).

I played in three tournaments tonight. I got it all in by the turn in each tournament (once on the money bubble, twice for heaps) in which my equity in the three hands with one card to come respectively was 93%, 95% and 93%. I lost all three hands when villains rivered two- and three-outers each time to knock me out. If my math is right, the cumulative odds of me losing all three of those knockout hands with one card to come was 0.000245.

I find it’s not helpful to dwell on this sort of thing.

Remember, runs like this will ALWAYS keep happening to us, one way or another, for as long as we play this game. It’s inevitable, and continuous throughout our poker careers.

Think about the hand histories of those hands. What would have happened if you’d reraised preflop, or raised the flop instead of called? Could you have gone for a check/raise, instead of leading out? What does Villain’s line say about the way he thinks about the game? How could we exploit those tendencies in the future?

It’s important to think critically about your decisions, away from the table. That’s the sort of thinking that advances our game, and improves our thought processes for the future.

Of course you are correct. Good advice. I am focused on the current run bad mostly to the extent that I include as part of this ongoing thread. I have always tried to be completely honest in the thread in the belief that posting both the good and the bad makes it more readable and relatable.

Pre-Black Friday I went through a similar bad stretch. Just a tsunami of bad beats. Back then I couldn't deal with the run bad and it made me stop enjoying poker during that stretch. The good news is present day I am still enthusiastic every time I sign up to play in a tournament. The run bad has not dampened my love of poker this time around. Not even a little.

The fact that I keep getting it in really good a really, really high percentage of the time and losing means I am making good decisions and not letting past run bad cause me to have a sky-is-falling fear of pressing my advantages. I also have not gone on tilt and set fire to my chips following bad beats. Despite this stretch of run bad, my online bankroll has continued to grow (just not as fast as the start of the run bad) so I think I am navigating things in a satisfactory manner.

All of that said, your advice is a very useful reminder of how to react and grow as a player. Thanks.

This is what you call adding salt to the wound

OK, I get to tell tonight's bust out hand because it's not a bad beat story.

I'm in the money in my tournament. The player to my immediate right (who I've faced before and is a strong, loose aggressive player) joined the table 30 minutes earlier. Since joining the table he has been playing maybe two-thirds of the hands, he's running over everyone, and he has especially been pounding my big blind. I've been folding to his aggression because I've been card dead.

The blinds are getting expensive, my dwindling chip stack is approaching the the danger zone, and I'm looking for an excuse to play against his wide open range.

I'm in the big blind, and I have K-J suited. It folds to Captain Aggression, and he min raises out of the small blind. Time to make my stand. I go all-in. It's unlikely I am dominated by his range, which when raising my big blind is probably any two cards at this point. He calls with 4-4.

It's a coin flip. Fair fight. I don't improve, and I'm out. No big deal. It was, after all, a coin flip.

What makes the hand amusing in the ongoing saga of rppoker's recent run bad is what happens to villain's hand. He flops a set of fours. He turns quads. Overkill. He didn't just run me over. He ran me over, put his Quads Mobile in reverse and ran me over a second time for good measure.

I actually laughed out loud when the turn card hit.

In case it hasn't become apparent, I'm thoroughly enjoying using artificial intelligence to create artwork to go with my written words.

For those keeping score at home, my team is now comprised of rppoker, rpphotographer, and rpartist. What I'm missing from the team is, I have not yet figured out how to get one of the Poker Gods on my payroll.

My bingo card of cool things to do is overloaded

So many choices this week. Just a buffet of fun opportunities.

Tomorrow night I am going to a concert with Mrs. rppoker to see world famous Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi. If you've never heard of him, I highly recommend you check out this link to a 2017 concert of his in Berlin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4oKKW3R...). His music is mesmerizing, riveting, astonishing. I'm a huge fan.

On Wednesday/Thursday I was strongly considering playing in an MSPT event in Milwaukee at the Potawatomi Casino. It's a Grand Stack event where you start with 100,000 chips in the levels are 30 minutes. It's a two-day event. More on that in a bit.

On Saturday I will be in Ann Arbor to attend the Michigan-Wisconsin college football game. Drive up Friday, head home Sunday. In addition to going to the game with Next DoorLou who we have four adjacent season tickets between the two of us, another one of our college senior year roommates is going to join us at the game with his son.

Unfortunately, I have to pass on the poker tournament in Milwaukee. I have been staying with my mom at her condo the last two weeks while she recovers from her three week stay in the hospital and then a skilled nursing facility. She still can't get a complete grasp on her medicines, which is why I have been staying with her. My younger daughter is covering for me tomorrow night while I'm at the concert. Mrs. rppoker is going to cover for me while I'm gone for the college football weekend. I don't think it would be fair to ask for them to cover for me during the MSPT tournament as well. Damn, I was really looking forward to the deeeeeep structure of a 100,000 chip tourney, which is right up my alley.

Maybe it's just as well that I don't play in the MSPT tournament, since I continue to run horrendously bad (with one brief exception). Who am I kidding, I'd play if I could. But still, the run bad continues. Last night I had a pretty big stack in a tournament. I got a somewhat short-stacked opponent all in with me being way ahead. He hit a runner-runner miracle. The next hand I had another smallish stack all-in and I was way ahead, and he hit a runner-runner miracle. Finally, the very next hand I was a smallish stack at this point, I was all-in after the flop with Ks-Kc on a board that was 7h-5d-2d, and my opponent turned over Qc-7d. The turn was another diamond. The river was yet another diamond. Four diamonds on the board and villain's seemingly harmless 7d completed the flush thanks to another runner-runner runout. Three consecutive hands I got it in great, and I got slaughtered by runner-runner ridiculousness.

Tonight I finally got lucky on one hand. I was card dead in a tournament start to finish. Finally, I got dealt 9-9 UTG+2 when I was down to about 10 BBs. I went all-in and got called by the loosest player at the table who was an absolute lunatic who was table chip leader, and he turned over K-7 off suit. It was a bounty tournament and he kept hunting bounties light, and he kept getting there. But I was all-in and ahead pre flop. The flop was a very unfriendly 7-7-5, giving him unlikely trips. Damn. Will the misfortune ever end? Yes it will. Then a 9 hit on the river and I made a winning full house. Maybe my luck was changing. Nope. The very next hand I was dealt A-K suited. UTG limped. I raised. Table lunatic put me all-in. Against this player I am not especially worried that he has aces or kings. It's possible, but the range of hands he was using this ploy with was massive. I call. He turns over 7-7. Time to embrace variance. If I get there my stack will be huge. Variance does not embrace me back. I don't get there and I'm out.

The other tournament I played tonight, I was again card dead. The blinds were getting high and were headed my way, and I was getting uncomfortably low on chips. Then a crazy hand ensued. I had Ad-10d. I went all-in. Then the table proceeded to lose its collective mind. The big stack went all-in light likely chasing my bounty and wanting to scare everyone else away. Then came the insanity. Three other players called all-in really light. I forget what the flop was, but somehow, some way I had 15 live outs. Fifteen. If I get there, even though I started the hand short-stacked, I will be a big stack at the table. I am behind, but I think I may have been favored with two cards to come. I don't get there and I'm out.

Oh well, I have good stuff to look forward to the rest of the week.

Life run good. Poker run bad. I'll still take that.

Plus, eventually the run bad is going to end.

Finally caught up on all your adventures rppoker -- love how many reps you are getting in online and live! I think it's gonna pay huge dividends.

I wanted to point out a hand you may have overlooked in reviewing your play. You say you flop a set here and get three streets of value, which is good. But your chip stack goes only from 45k to 75k, suggesting you did not get a full double up even though you were only 25bbs deep. (It's possible you were shorter when you played this hand and if so I apologize for this misguided suggestion.)

I point this out because this is a spot you really need to get a full double up when you can get called down -- those chips you fail to earn when you had a nutted hand are just as costly as the ones you lose making a bad call. The EV you gain in these spots is much higher than in finding those 0 EV bluffs and bluff-catches on the river. It's something I've focused on in my game recently to make a plan on the flop to get all the chips in by the river (called geometric sizing).

Keep on grinding (and studying!) -- the lurkers of lvl are rooting for you!

I second this.

There’s lots of great training materials out there, and videos to watch that can keep your thought processes progressing.

But this is by far the best way to improve, work on theory, and hone instincts, by playing a lot.

A night to remember

Tonight was the Ludovico Einaudi concert in downtown Chicago I have been looking forward to for months.

When I want background music at work or when playing poker or in the past when I created artwork, my go-to Youtube choice has long been an Einaudi concert from Berlin in 2017. I referenced that in a recent post. I am quite certain I have listened to that concert over 200 times. The music moves me. It’s not a type of music I normally listen to, but Einaudi’s music just blows me away.

So, when I learned that pianist/composer Einaudi and his backup musicians were coming to Chicago sometime back, I bought tickets for Mrs. rppoker and myself the day they went on sale.

Today was the day of the concert and to avoid the brutal rush hour traffic, Mrs. rppoker and I drove down early. We walked around the city for a bit then went online to find a restaurant. We chose an Italian restaurant, which now that I think about it was inadvertently and symbolically perfect since Einaudi is Italian. We got lost a couple of times trying to walk to the restaurant, because the directions on Mrs. rppokers phone kept getting confused and taking us the wrong way because of the poor wifi in the heavily congested downtown area. We eventually figured it out and got there. I ordered the Penne Arrabbiata, which was tasty and had a bit of a kick from the chili flakes in it.

But enough about the food. They could have brought me a bowl of oatmeal, and I wouldn’t have cared. I was that excited about the concert.

No surprise to me, the concert was sold out. Sold out on a Tuesday night. Impressive.

I’m not going to bury the lead. It was the best concert I have ever attended. The previous title holder was Bruce Springsteen in the mid 1980s, maybe a year after I graduated college. It’s not that I was a hard-core Springsteen fan at the time. I liked his music, but I didn’t consider it a must-see event. One of my college roommates, however, was a huge Springsteen fan, and he convinced me to go to the concert with him at Chicago’s Soldiers Field. I went with to be a good friend. It wasn’t something I would have chosen to go to otherwise.

Springsteen’s performance blew me away. Not the music, which I thought was good. But the performance, which was unlike anything I had ever seen. Springsteen started out fiery hot, never cooled down so much as a degree, then turned up the fiery passion even more, never slowed down, and then went to a level where I thought he’d either burst into flames or drop dead of a heart attack. He played forever. Incredibly long concert. Never slowed down. Played like his life depended on it. I’ve never seen musical intensity like that. The guy gave everything he had and then some, actually and then a lot.

Einaudi did not top Springsteen in the effort department, although to his credit the 69-year-old Einaudi did not take a single song off the entire two-and-a-half hour concert. All of the much younger backup musicians took a few songs off while Einaudi continued to play, but Einaudi played straight through. No intermission.

Springsteen’s super power to me when I saw him was he had one speed and that was super turbo. Einaudi’s super power was the roller coaster ride he took the audience on. He starts calm, peaceful, serene. Then he turns it up a notch. Then brings you back down to tranquil. Then rises up much higher. Then back down to satisfying relaxation. Then turns it up to powerful. Sometimes this happened from one song to another. Most of the time this yo-yo of musical nuance took place in the same song.

At times this music was that of a babbling brook, then next thing you know the music is that of a powerful waterfall.

While all of this is going on, the background is oh so subtle. No bright lights. No flashing lights. Much of the concert was in borderline darkness where you saw the silhouette of the performers with warm background color. The result is you focus almost entirely on the music.

And yet, your focus wasn’t completely on just the music. The next thing that blew me away was the intensity of the performers. A different type of intensity than Springsteen. It was like the performers were so lost in their music that they went to a place within that mere mortals cannot reach, and the result was an almost out-of-body experience on their part. The cello player, who I think is amazing, gets so caught up in the music he is playing that at times his head starts bobbing around and contorting to such a ferocious degree that you worry that he may be having a seizure. One of the violinists plays with a ferocity at times that many of his non-playing body parts are flopping around almost uncontrollably, joyously, intensely. And it's not just those two, although with them it was most noticeable. All of the other performers seemed fired up to be there, motivated by the music they were creating, experiencing musical rapture.

Another thing I loved about the performance is the fact that they hit what seems like a crescendo, surely they can’t build it up anymore, until they take it even higher, you think there is no higher peak, and then they dig down deep and hit impossible heights. This sort of reminds me of Whitney Houston at the peak of her powers where she’d hit a note that made you think, that’s a note almost no other singer can reach. But then she holds on, doesn’t take the breath any other singer would take and takes the note in a seemingly impossible direction. But wait, she’s not done and hangs on for dear life and takes the note in another direction that would put any other singer into the ER for throat surgery.

Next, the audience was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Hanging on every second of the performance. You could hear a pin drop from the audience while the music was playing. No one in the crowd was talking. No one was clearing their throat. No one was fidgeting in their seat. You could see the people in front of you not moving an inch. Full attention. Mesmerized. Barely remembering to breathe. Until there would be a pause after a few songs, and the crowd would finally exhale and then cheer wildly. Total silence and then cathartic, enthusiastic, explosive cheering. Six standing ovations in all.

Finally, Einaudi and Company began playing my favorite song of theirs, which made me both happy and sad. Happy to hear my favorite song. Sad because I know this is how they usually conclude their concerts. The song, an absolute powerhouse of musical buildup to unbelievable heights, ended and the crowd went wild. Einaudi and Company took their bows and then exited the stage. Of course, the crowd still thundered its appreciation and implored them to return for an encore, which of course is what happened.

The encore was my second favorite Einaudi song. And then something totally unexpected happened to me while this song was being played. I found myself feeling emotional, tears welling up in my eyes. I had a similar reaction when I was at the college football national title game a couple seasons ago when my beloved Michigan Wolverines won it all. Getting emotional there was to be expected. Heck, I figured before the game started that if Michigan won, I’d bawl like a baby. But at the concert tonight? I didn’t see an emotional reaction coming. Why did it occur? I have no idea. Maybe it was seeing live what I’ve watched on Youtube videos so many times. Maybe it was the amazing acoustics in the Auditorium Theater, which added sheer muscle to the performance. This was not the same as watching a video. Sitting there in the Auditorium Theater, I was doing more than hearing the music. I was FEELING the music. I never experienced THAT before.

Thank you, Ludovico Einaudi and friends.

Tonight’s concert reminded me of the time I took my dad to a Super Bowl (I think I may have told this story earlier in this thread). My days as a sportswriter covering the NFL were over. My dad was getting way up there in years. I pretty much knew there weren’t many years left to go to games with him as a fan. I decided I wanted to take him somewhere he’d never gone. I wanted him to experience something he never considered possible.

I took him to the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. As he always did, he asked me, “Who are we rooting for?” What this meant through the years was that whoever I was rooting for, that’s who he wanted to root for. I was rooting for the Patriots because Tom Brady is a former Michigan Wolverine, and a couple of friends of mine were friends with then Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Which meant my dad was rooting for the Patriots. That’s the game New England fell behind 28-3, and I’m sitting there glumly thinking, “Oh my God, I’ve taken my dad to the worst Super Bowl ever.” Then came the incredible, implausible, impossible comeback that took the game into overtime where the Patriots won the game, and I’m thinking, “Oh my God, I’ve taken my dad to the greatest Super Bowl ever!” If I had gone to that game with a friend, it would have been amazing. Doing it with my dad and seeing the joy he experienced took it to another level. Afterward, my dad said to me, “I never thought I’d get to experience something like that, thank you.” I thought to myself, “I’ll never again see a sporting event this good, this dramatic, this meaningful again.”

After tonight’s Einaudi concert, I thought to myself, “I’ll never again see a concert this good, this dramatic, this meaningful again.” The fact that I got to share the experience with my wife (who loved it) made it that much better.

This was one of the great nights of my life.

What does any of this have to do with a poker thread? Not a damn thing. But it’s part of my journey, so I thought I’d share.

That's a really nice write-up, rppoker.

Agree with the Springsteen vibe. I saw him circa 2017. Not a huge fan, but figured, "this might be my only chance."

What a great show. Very energetic. The whole band put it out there, but Bruce is really a showman.

Let's take a step back and assess my preparation for WSOP 2026

OK, let’s look at tonight’s online tournament play through the lens of, is this helping me prepare for the 2026 WSOP? I’ll recap how tonight went and then assess what it means for my WSOP preparation.

I tried something fairly different tonight. I multi tabled tournaments. Don’t get too excited. I min multitabled. I played in a mere two tournaments at the same time. But it’s even more min than that. One of the tournaments was a free roll where players pay nothing and the poker site funds the payouts. So, I played in two tournaments at the same time, only one of which did I have any financial skin in the game. Still, I’m trying new things.

I didn’t care for it one bit. I found it really difficult to follow the action. Well, I could follow my action. When it was my turn to act, I’d see my two cards and make a decision. But I wasn’t getting reads on my opponents at the tables, because I was too busy going back and forth. That meant I was only playing my cards. I wasn’t playing my opponents since I wasn’t building a mental database of how they were playing. Plus, I was making mistakes. One time I missed a large early position bet pre flop and I almost called thinking I was simply limping from late position. Just before I hit the button, I caught my mistake and folded. That was not the only near mistake I made.

The good news is I didn’t have to do double duty for long. On the first hand of the entry fee tourney, I was dealt A-A. Two other players lost their minds and everyone was all-in pre flop on the first hand of the tourney. Given my recent propensity for having my aces cracked at an alarming rate, this had ominous undertones. Amazingly, my aces held and I was obviously tournament chip leader. In the freeroll tourney I wasn’t getting much in the way of cards and my stack proceeded to dwindle.

I was paying more attention to the tourney where I was chip leader, but even at that I found it difficult to pay enough attention to what other players were doing. The freeroll was a mega turbo with really short levels, so blinds built up way too fast. I wanted out of the freeroll at this point so I could focus on the other tournament that mattered. With 5 big blinds, when it folded to me in the cutoff I looked down at A-9 offsuit. I didn’t even try to remember my charts. I just put all my chips in figuring I either double up to a still somewhat short stack or I gladly get knocked out and I can pay attention to the tourney where I had loads of chips. A-9 mercifully lost, and I could get back to my comfort zone of playing one table at a time.

Unfortunately, ever since the first hand where I tripled up with aces, I was completely card dead. Which is pretty par for the course. For too long now, I have been up against the Fearsome Foursome (old school football reference) of poker that is: 1) my aces keep getting cracked, 2) I keep losing to 2- and 3-outers on the river, 3) I have recently been losing with the best hand after the flop when runner-runner miracles crush me, and 4) I’m repeatedly card dead and am not getting dealt hardly any premium hands. Maybe this tournament will be different I thought when dealt A-A (a premium) and it held up (Halllelujah!).

But my card dead virus was out in full force for a ton of levels after the A-A hand. Patiently, I folded. Finally, I got dealt a decent hand. In the big blind I looked down at K-Q off suit. It’s not a monster, but it was the best hand I’d seen by a wide margin since the A-A hand. And given I hadn’t played a hand in quite a while, I figured I could push the envelope a bit. Never happened. UTG 3x opened. UTG+1 min raised the UTG bet. Here is where only playing one table for several levels paid off. I finally had reads on my opponents. UTG had not played a lot of hands and had not gotten out of line once since I became better focused on the table. UTG+1 had not shown this kind of aggression once up until now. The UTG 3x open screamed A-Q or A-K, which would have my K-Q dominated. UTG+1 screamed A-A or K-K, which would also have my K-Q off suit dominated. Based upon my reads, neither of these guys were making a move. I insta folded. I probably would have folded to just the UTG open. The UTG+1 raise made my fold even easier. I mucked. UTG shows A-Q suited. UTG+1 showed A-A. Playing just this one table for awhile made the fold easy.

I don’t care for multi tabling one darned bit. I don’t think it has a future right now for me. Yes, I know that multi tabling means I see more hands, which in theory could/should hasten my learning curve. But if I am playing poorly at two tables rather than playing well at one table, I think one table play is the better option for me.

After folding bad cards forever, I was finally dealt a somewhat playable hand. I looked down at 5-5 in earlyish position. I just limped. A player on the button who had just blasted off a bunch of chips and was very short stacked went all-in. It folded to me. It was only 4x my limp, I still had a ton of chips, and there was a bounty to go after, so I called hoping to be flipping against two over cards. My 5-5 was up against 9-9. The board paired on the turn. The river 5 gave me a full house. I’d delivered the bad beat for a change, although it was really only a baby bad beat given how few chips were in play. Still, it beats being on the wrong end of a two-outer.

From there, it all went downhill. A short stack went all in. It folded to me in the cutoff or hijack and I had K-10. With a bounty to be had, I raised to isolate. Everyone else folded, and villain had K-Q. There was a king on the flop, which improved both of us but I was outkicked. I improved no more and lost. I don’t regret the way I played this hand.

Now I was a mediumish stack nearing the money bubble. I think there were 21 players remaining, 15 get paid. The player to my immediate right limped. He limped a lot in this tournament and it was always light as far as I could assess. I looked down at K-Q suited. It was questionable whether I could fold to the money. Even if I could, the idea is not to min cash. So, I got aggressive a bit light and went all-in for about 5x the original limp. It folded to the original limper who tank called with 4-4. This seemed kind of light to call with, but I’ve noticed online that people seem to call it off a lot lighter than what I’ve seen in the live tournaments I’ve played (WSOP, MSPT and WSOP-C) the past 4-5 months. So, it’s my K-Q suited versus 4-4. It’s a coin flip. Oh, yeah, when I wrote earlier about my Fearsome Foursome of poker woes, I forgot the fifth member. Coin flips. I can’t seem to win many coin flips lately. Not only do I not improve on the flop, but villain flops a set of 4s. I’ve gone from 50-50 to drawing dead. I don’t even get a longshot sweat after the flop. I’m out short of the money, although I did collect some bounties.

Let’s return to the original premise of this post. How, if at all, is my online play helping in my preparations for WSOP 2026.

1) Tonight, I multi tabled. I’m done with that for now, because I just did not enjoy it and I simply could not focus on either table enough.

2) The tournaments I am playing in may start with an adequate number of big blinds, but each level is so incredibly short that the blinds become a problem way too early if you don’t get dealt something decent in the preliminary stages. This does nothing to replicate the much deeper, much slower structures at the WSOP. Does this mean it is of no use to my WSOP preparations? I would not say that. I think these online turbos/bounties are good practice for short stacked play. But they do nothing to prepare me for the early stages of the WSOP where my patient playing style is better rewarded.

3) People have a lot more gamble in them in the early stages of these online tournaments then I have seen at the WSOP. A LOT more gamble. Reckless at times. Foolish at other times. Which would be great if I were getting premiums, but I’m just not getting much in the way of premiums. And when you get close to the money, I am seeing people call it off pretty light compared to what I have seen at the WSOP. Again, a ton more gamble in them and a lot more willingness to embrace a high level of variance.

4) People limp like crazy in the early to middle stages of my online tournaments. It’s not uncommon to see five people limp in a hand pre flop, and then when I make a big raise to isolate everyone often calls. Which is a problem since with five opponents, someone is going to make a ridiculous hand (4-9 off suit on a 4-9-K board) and all of a sudden, your promising A-K is no good or your aces get cracked. I haven’t seen this dynamic at the WSOP. It’s hard to find spots to attack when so many people come along resulting in a minefield of unexpected danger zones.

5) Maybe until I start running better, I just shouldn’t read anything into what is going on lately. My style has seemed to work pretty well at the WSOP (where I have cashed twice the last two years out of, I think, eight or nine tourneys) and MSPT where I recently got knocked out just short of the money bubble twice in the two tournaments I played. But the reason for that is the structures were much deeper and I was getting a decent number of strong hands. The strange thing is I am playing way more volume online than at brick and mortar events, but I am getting waaaaaay less playable hands online than I do live. Small sample size, I know, which makes it difficult to assess what is going on. That said, I keep seeing other players turning over an avalanche of good starting hands and it makes me wonder, when is it my turn? When is it my turn to sun run? Maybe I am saving it up for WSOP 2026. One can hope. Although I also believe strongly in the saying, hope is not a plan.

6) Would I be better off taking a step up in stakes online. I am currently 8x to the positive online in terms of current bankroll versus starting bankroll. I was up to 12x before my recent run bad hit. If I were running more pure, I think my bankroll would be much higher and a case could be made to step up in stakes. But at 8x I hardly think I can say I have conquered the level I have been playing at. But I wonder if the play would be more like what I face at the WSOP if I were to jump up to higher stakes. Plus, I suspect that higher stakes probably have better structures than lower stakes, although I haven’t checked into that. I can certainly afford to play at higher stakes, but I don’t think I should. I think the time-tested approach is you are having your way at certain stakes, your bankroll is rapidly rising, and then and only then do you take a shot at higher stakes and see how you do. If you do well, you keep moving up. If you fail, you move back down in stakes and rebuild your bankroll. I don’t think I’ve earned the right to step up in stakes. I believe the recent run bad is the reason, but who knows, maybe I am fooling myself with how much the run bad is to blame for my slight decline in bankroll. Do I think I am deluding myself? I do not. I think I have done very well to still be up as much as I am given all of the negative variance I think I am facing. But I suppose I wouldn’t be the first poker player to confuse run bad with play bad.

So, at the end of this lengthy stream of consciousness, it seems that I am going to stay with the status quo, but I think it is a good idea to assess from time to time. I wish there was an alternative option to replicate the WSOP experience online, but there aren’t a ton of choices in Illinois where traditional online play is illegal, leaving me to soldier on at Global Poker in the Sweep Coin (real money through a loophole) corner of the poker universe. Still, every hand played is a chance to learn. More importantly, I am playing more tournaments live than just the WSOP, which I suspect is far more useful to my poker learning curve.

For most of the night, the dealer was my friend

Tonight was interesting and mostly extremely enjoyable. I only played in one tournament. Perhaps my run bad is running its course. For most of the night the dealer was my friend. I got dealt more premiums in this one tournament than I think I got cumulatively in the previous 10 tournaments I played. It’s not like I was getting A-A or K-K. But I was dealt a heavy dose of A-K (usually suited), A-Q and Q-Q. A heavy dose. Nothing wildly insane, but more than normal expectation. And certainly more than I have gotten accustomed to of late. Plus, I was hitting flops. My big aces kept connecting with the board, and my Q-Q flopped a set. And when I was making hands, I was running pure the rest of the hand.

I got off to a great start on hand #1 when I had A-K suited and a player lost his mind overplaying A-10 for all of our chips. Thanks and goodbye. That resulted in me being second in chips out of everyone in the tournament. But a moment later, something weird happened. The tournament chip leader got moved to my table and was seated two to my left. By the end of the night, I marked down in my notes that he was one of the best players I’ve faced online (he did in fact go on to win the tournament). Even worse, he kind of seemed to have my number. When I had it, he folded. When I was bluffing, he’d play back at me.

The other weird thing about this tough player was three different times he got moved from my table. Good riddance. But three different times he got moved back to my table, and every time he was seated two to my left. Come on! Can’t a newbie poker player catch a break?

Nonetheless I was accumulating a bunch of chips throughout the tournament, and I made the conscious decision to open up my game. Not because my tables were so passive. I recognized that what I was doing was probably -EV for this particular tournament, but I decided to turn this into a training opportunity to loosen up, play a bit wider range of hands than usual, and try more bluffs than is my norm which I viewed as +EV for my development. Prep work for WSOP 2026 was more important to me than maximizing profitability in an insignificant online tournament.

The results of my new aggression weren’t great. They weren’t terrible, but I’d say I donked off more chips than I won when bluffing. Still, having a bunch of chips freed me up to try to be more creative. Tonight wasn’t a rousing bluffing success, but I gave it a try and learned some lessons. Or maybe I simply kept running into big hands in a case of bad timing. Hard to say for sure.

Even with some bluffing missteps, I had a very solid stack as the money bubble neared and had already won a bunch of bounties. It took quite a while for the money bubble to burst, which was surprising given the thin stack depths. The bubble burst, and even after that no one was getting knocked out. Usually, players get knocked out faster at this stage online from what I’ve seen than was the case in this tournament. We couldn’t get rid of anyone.

Finally, we were on the final table bubble, and I got knocked out when my turned straight got caught and passed by a flush draw that got there on the river.

Unfortunate, but finally getting a healthy does of strong cards made for a fun tournament. It was nice not having storm clouds hanging over my head all night.

It’s too soon to say my run bad is over, but it was nice to have a night of run good (up until the final hand that went horribly bad on the river, but all things considered I ran well on the evening).

I was tempted to play in another tournament afterward, but I decided against it because tomorrow morning I’m getting up early to drive to Michigan for Saturday’s Michigan-Wisconsin college football game.

My poker bankroll breaks even for the day, but not in the way you think

I’m off for a poker/Michigan vs. Wisconsin football weekend. The plan was to be on the road by 8:00 a.m., but motivated to get to my poker tournament on time I have moved quickly, and I head out at 7:43 a.m.

The poker tournament is the every Friday afternoon NLHE tournament held at Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan. I will lose an hour changing time zones from Illinois to Michigan, so I am still cutting it close. I think I can make it for the start of the tournament, but worse-case scenario I only miss a level or two.

Nonetheless, I don’t want to miss a hand, so I have a lead foot on the gas pedal the whole way. Once I get out of the Chicago construction zone taking place on the tollway, traffic is eliminated and I’m going 80-85 mph in a 70 zone.

The only interesting thing that occurs during the drive is I encounter a guy driving what looks like a tiny Matchbox car that I played with as a kid.

When I am about 45 minutes away from the end of the several-hour drive, I realize I am tired, hungry and a bit achy. Is this considered optimal as prep work for playing in a tournament? Of course, it’s not. But I am excited at the prospect of playing live. I am banking on the fact that enthusiasm can get fatigue, an empty stomach and stiffness to stand down.

The empty stomach needs to be dealt with. Now. I need food. I am running a little ahead of schedule, so I think I can squeeze in a drive-thru stop. The exit I see has an Arby’s which I have stopped at many times through the decades during these drives to Michigan games, but I know from experience that their drive-thru is really slow. I decide I will get off the highway and go to a McDonald’s whose drive-thrus are always fast. Plus, they have Dr Pepper.

I need this to be a NASCAR fast pit stop. I take the exit ramp, pull into McDonald’s, order my food, pay at one window, pick up my food and I’m back on the road. Total time: 6 minutes.

I arrive at Firekeeper’s Casino at 12:15 p.m. I have 15 minutes to get a new player’s card (I forgot the one I have at home), take a quick bathroom break and buy in to the tournament. Moving fast, fast, fast. I’m a well-oiled machine. Everything has gone perfect. Too perfect.

I arrive at the poker room and say I want to buy-in to the 12:30 NLHE tournament. The person behind the desk says it started 15 minutes ago. That’s strange, the casino web site says it starts at 12:30 every Friday afternoon. Whatever. I missed a level I surmise. No problem.

Then the guy behind the desk says, “It’s a satellite to a tournament being held next week.”

I am dumb struck and surprised. The guy behind the desk views this as confusion, and he says, “If you win you don’t get any cash.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Yes, I know what a satellite is. I don’t actually express these thoughts out loud. I still haven’t said anything since I am trying to absorb this news and what I might do. The guy behind the desk (trying to be helpful?) (Talking down to me?) says, “If you win, you can get a certificate.”

What on God’s green earth am I going to do with a certificate giving me entry into a tournament I won’t be in town to play? Am I supposed to frame it and put it up on a wall at home?

I’m a bit annoyed at the guy behind the desk, but I don’t take it out on him. Not his fault. The one I should be annoyed with is myself. I should have checked ahead given the hoops I knew I would have to go thru to get here. Lesson learned. Never assume. Measure twice, cut once as the saying goes.

For a brief moment I do consider playing the satellite simply for the experience to be gained, but playing a satellite for a tourney I won’t be able to play in seems lame. Really lame. Incredibly lame. Nope, not doing that. So, what do I do?

Do I play cash? I’ve never played cash. I’ve always been adamant that I only want to play in tournaments so I can control the maximum amount I can lose. Lose a live tournament after the re-entry period ends and that’s it, I’m done for the day. But with cash you can keep reloading. I don’t want the temptation to keep chasing if losing. Plus, I have no idea how much to buy in for. Plus, I have no idea how big the different games play. Plus, I realize cash plays different than tournaments, and I have my hands full learning tournament play. That’s enough internal debate. I’m sticking to my no cash game rule. (I realize LVL will probably/definitely balk at this, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

Do I hit the blackjack or craps tables? Doesn’t interest me. I have no desire to go into the pits.

I decide to leave. As I am walking to the parking lot, I see a car that gives me the idea that I can report to the authorities that my tournament was stolen from me. Kidding.

I get to my car and think to myself, “Well, that was a lot to do about nothing.”

As I am driving, I surmise that my tournament just ended in the most unusual way I have experienced since I began my WSOP and beyond poker adventures. My tournament today ended before it ever began.

I drive to my hotel. When I take the exit to my hotel, there’s a guy on the side of the road looking for a handout who is carrying a self-made cardboard box on which he has scrawled, “Sugar Momma Needed.” Good luck with that, although I have to give him solid marks for creativity and levity.

As I pull into my hotel parking lot, I have an epiphany. I am here several hours earlier than I expected. I won’t be having dinner with my college roommate NextDoorLou for quite some time. I can spend the time grinding online poker. I can probably squeeze in two or three tournaments. I’m a man with a plan. A pretty good plan if I do say so myself.

I go to the grocery store across the street from my hotel and buy some snacks to eat while playing online poker. This should be fun. I check in at the hotel front desk, head up to my room with a bounce in my step, dump my stuff, go online and log-in to Global Poker. I then see the following message:

“Global Poker Unavailable In Your Location.”

Global Poker is not allowed in the state of Michigan. Sigh.

It turns out that where poker is concerned today, I have been drawing dead from the second my alarm woke me up early this morning. I just didn’t know it at the time.

The road to poker enlightenment and mastery is filled with potholes.

Since you were in Michigan, you could have played legitimate regulated online poker since they have pokerstars, wsop and betmgm.

Probably too late now but good to know for the future.

Thanks. I actually tried to take a look at Pokerstars yesterday and had difficulty time trying to get in the site to take a look at it. I decided to take a leap of faith and sign up. They asked for a ton of information, and when they asked for my home address (in a state they aren't available) I thought this would get me rejected. Maybe it would have worked, but at this point I had spent way too much time, so I bailed. Maybe I'll try another time.

Of the three sites you suggested, is there one you think is better than the others?

Back in The Big House, my happy place

Football today went better than yesterday's poker failure to launch disappointments.

My Michigan Wolverines won comfortably but not dominantly against an overmatched Wisconsin Badgers team.

I'll turn it over to rpphotographer the rest of this post:

Today's pregame military flyover

The anatomy of a long run: 1 play, 5 photo frames

The anatomy of a touchdown run (1 play, 4 photo frames)

Victor the Frisbee Catching Dog (everyone loves Victor)

Final Score

A poker epiphany comes knocking on my door completely out of the blue

After the Michigan-Wisconsin football game that I attend with two of my college roommates and one of their sons, we go to an early dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Eventually I am back in my hotel room with the expectation that I will watch more college football on TV the rest of the night.

Miami, Fla-Florida State is not a competitive football game on TV (Florida State puts up some late window dressing points on the scoreboard to eventually make it appear closer than it really was) and I find myself losing interest. Kansas-UCF seems heading toward a dramatic conclusion, so I start to watch that, but I find myself distracted. I go online and see that Inside the Mind of a Pro has some new episodes added since the last time I checked. I previously had finished some content on the site that followed Adrian Mateos running deep at the 2024 WSOP Main Event, which was good stuff, but I haven’t been back in a while to check for new content. I see that there is an 8-max tournament from 2024 EPT Cyprus that will follow Julien Sitbon that has a handful of episodes already posted. It’s an 8-max NLHE (I usually skip watching the 6-max content since I don’t play those types of tourneys), so this is of interest to me.

Maybe this weekend doesn’t have to be a complete poker non-event for me. Since I started playing online NLHE tournaments, I have not been studying. Maybe this is a sign for me to do some studying. I’m not really in the mood for my poker training site and its chart-heavy content. Inside the Mind of a Pro seems like the perfect option. I turn down the sound to Kansas-UCF to barely listenable, and I start watching Inside the Mind of a Pro on my laptop.

In his first hand (only four-handed to start, the table fills up little by little throughout the episode), Julien Sitbon defends his BB with 10-6. He eventually bluffs the turn and river, gets called and loses. Sitbon says, “I don’t mind starting the tournament with a small bluff. It doesn’t cost much and it shows straight away that I’m going to bluff during the day.”

Interesting, I find that short-handed to start a tournament during my prior live trips (and especially the WSOP) I have tended to be much more aggressive than I am when we eventually get to a full table. This gets me an initial reputation as someone who is playing loose, which I look to exploit when I tighten up when the table fills up. Unfortunately, I then have had a tendency to go card dead at this point and the opportunity is lost. Plus, the half of the table that arrives late has not seen me be active, so they won’t be as likely to pay me off when I have it. This doesn’t mean the setup is bad. Sooner or later, I will get a big hand in this situation.

When I chip up a decent amount (20-30%) thru this early aggression, I don’t get especially excited about it. Long way to go. But when the early aggression short-handed gets me in a little bit of trouble and I lose 15-20% of my starting chips, I get mad at myself internally that I have donked off some chips and put myself in a little bit of a hole. The reality is, however, that I am still plenty deep and have plenty of time to recoup these somewhat minor losses. I need to remind myself in these situations that an initial image of being too loose is not a bad thing if I get dealt a big hand and it gets me paid off. I need to remind myself that a tournament is never a rocket launch to the moon that only goes straight up without peaks and valleys. I need to remind myself that I chip up a bit more than I chip down in these situations. I need to remember Sitbon’s comment that it is not a bad thing to get to showdown with a small bluff early.

Next, Sitbon is dealt Ac-9s on the button and just flats another player’s open. He says, “I’m playing in position against a player I don’t know.” This is useful to me. For the moment the rest of the hand does not matter to this discussion. What matters is Sitbon has a calling range here. I tend not to think this way. I suspect that when faced with this scenario I would view it as a raise or fold, but the reality is it’s not necessarily strong enough to raise, and I certainly should not fold. I like the thought of just calling. Of course, I don’t want to go overboard calling too often in my tournaments. But there is a percentage greater than 0% and less than 100% where just calling makes the most sense. I just have to figure when the time is right to call. Also, Sitbon brings up position. This makes me have a light bulb go on above my head that I am not considering position ENOUGH when I have been playing online. When I have played live, I have been extremely aware of position at all times. But listening to Sitbon talk about position makes me realize that I have gotten a bit lax about focusing on position when playing online. I have not been ignoring position, but I haven’t given it the hyper focused attention it deserves given its massive importance.

Now fast forward to the river where Sitbon’s opponent has just checked on a board of As-5c-4h-Kh-2s. Sitbon says, “So, I’m still going to value bet my hand.” OK, asmplayed, I would think this way as well. But then Sitbon adds, “Now, it’s about figuring out which bet sizing I’m going to use, what am I looking to target? I think there are a few King-x that could call, a few small Ace-x that I’m beating: Ace-6, Ace-7, Ace-8. I think we can go a bit big, like 2/3, 3/4. I could have some bluffs like Queen-Jack, Jack-10, or flush draws.” His opponent folds.

Groan. It hits me like a ton of bricks. I have not been having the internal discussions about what I am targeting in these situations when playing online. I have strictly been deciding whether I think I am ahead or behind, and then I have been betting accordingly. I know better than this. Initially, when I started playing online not too long ago, I was thinking about what I was targeting. But as my online volume has increased, somewhere along the line I stopped doing so.

I have developed a couple of bad habits. Watching this video makes me aware that I am playing too fast online. I have some leaks I need to plug. I need to clean up my game. It’s not a massive overhaul. I don’t think it will be a difficult fix now that I have identified a problem in the last few minutes that I was unaware I had. I think I have to find a better balance. I have gone from all studying to all online play. If I am being honest with myself, this is because playing is way more fun than studying. Nonetheless, I need to combine the two and have them work together in concert.

Sometimes you have to hear someone state what should be the obvious in order for it to click into your head. Several of Sitbon’s simple comments gave me the gentle wake-up calls I needed. I have to remember to self-assess, self-scout myself periodically. This needs to be part of my WSOP 2026 Preparation Playbook.

This weekend has not been a poker bust after all. I just self-diagnosed a few problems I didn’t know I had in a completely unexpected way. Now I have to fix them.

I think WSOP is the biggest and has the most liquidity but depends what series is going on likely. But others might like the other sites because of features and software etc.

Yeah they need your information because its regulated and they have KYC.

Side note: if you ever go to Potowatomi, they have Dr. Pepper on the beverage machines. Was just there this past weekend for the MSPT.

You have my vote for 2+2 post of the month.

I would have played at the MSPT you were just at, but I had too many other things on my schedule this past week. Potowatomi MSPT in February is definitely on my radar.

I just watched this episode as well. It's an amazing show, and especially the episodes with Adrian Mateos was super interesting. The types of bluffs he find and the sizings he is using are out of this world.

Sitbon seems like a solid player as well, and I got some good ideas about potentially having a few more flats in position. I generally hate not having the initiative, especially since people are so eager to squeeze behind these days. But if you know your opponents behind you to be fairly passive, there is definitely room for some more flatting in late position.

Freeroll, free money

I went to dinner tonight with Mrs. rppoker, and when we got home I turned on the Chiefs-Jaguars Monday Night Football game.

I felt like playing some poker just for the fun of it, but I recognized that playing while watching the game on TV probably wouldn't yield great poker results. So I came up with a compromise. I decided to play in a freeroll tournament that I wouldn't care that much about how I did, and I'd mostly listen to the football game. When the announcers would get excited, I'd look up and see what just happened. This worked remarkably well. The tournament had around 640 players. As the money bubble approached, I was tournament chip leader. I made the Final Table and finished in sixth place.

Shortly after I got knocked out, I noticed another freeroll was about to start. What the heck, it worked out well the first time, so let's give it a whirl. This tournament had around 570 entrants. Once again as the money bubble approached, I was tournament chip leader. Once again, I made the Final Table. This time I finished in fifth place.

I doubt I made any real progress in terms of overall poker improvement in my WSOP 2026 learning curve by playing in these freerolls. But my online poker bankroll increased by 25% thanks to making the two Final Tables.

I got to watch/listen to a terrific Monday Night Football game, and I got paid.

Scouting the opposition ... running into disaster of a poker kind (10-10 versus A-A) ... narrowly avoiding life-threatening, catastrophic disaster

I've been trying something new/old. New because I've only recently started doing it online in the past week or so. Old because it is something I used to do pre-Black Friday when I used to play online on Pokerstars.

Back in the day I'd play online in Sit'n'Gos as well as some tournaments late at night when Mrs. rppoker and our kids were fast asleep. Once I'd get knocked out at a certain time, I'd realize I didn't want to commit to starting a new buy-in for concern that it would last beyond when I'd want to go to sleep. But I wasn't ready to go to sleep yet. What I'd do is I'd locate elite players on the Pokerstars site and go to the tournament table they were playing at and watch them in action. Although I wouldn't be able to see their hole cards, I nonetheless felt there were tidbits I could learn by watching. Back then NLHE was less studied and nuanced than present day, but watching the strong players I followed in action provided a window into the emphasis on aggression and position that seemed to be critical at the time.

So in the last week, when I have been knocked out of my final tournament of the night I have been picking/finding players I've gone up against that I think are good and going to their table and watching how they play. This has multiple benefits. The obvious is I get to watch good players in action and try to steal an idea or two based upon watching them play. The other benefit (and probably a more significant plus) is I am getting really good notes on not only the good players I watch, but the bad players at the table as well. I am increasingly finding myself at a new table in a tournament and I already have notes on multiple players, which is really helpful to having an immediate read on an opponent's playing style. It's nice to know someone is a maniac or a calling station or whatever from the opening hand as opposed to having to take many levels to get this read. This probably doesn't help me to prepare for the WSOP 2026 where I won't have notes on anyone, but I think it is helping me grow as a player in general.

Tonight's tournament did not go well. Actually, it started quite well, but it did not end well. I didn't have much in the way of cards the first couple of levels, so I stayed on the sidelines and out of trouble. Then I found some spots to steal/chip up. Then I stole some more since I had a tight image. Then I hit some flops, my opponents didn't believe I had it, and next thing you know I am table chip leader by a significant margin with a top 25 stack in a 600+ person tournament.

Then the cards were unkind. My K-K got it all-in pre-flop against a shorter stack who had J-9 off. The flop had a Jack, the turn was a blank, and the river was another Jack, cracking my Kings. Fortunately it was only a small pot, but my momentum was derailed. Soon after that I opened UTG+2 with K-Q off. I got raised by a player who had A-K. Then another player re-raised with Q-Q. Obviously I didn't know what they had, but fortunately I folded a hand that would have had about 7% equity and then watched the other two players go to war. Then I was card dead for a little bit. Finally, I was mashed into dust when my 10-10 ran into A-A.

I can't complain. My day could have/should have been far worse than it ended up being. On my way home from work today, I was sitting in my car in the left turn lane at a red light. The light turned green and just as I was about to enter the intersection, I sensed something amiss in my peripheral vision to the left. I didn't really see it. It was more I felt it. A car going at a speed that I would normally associate with someone trying to outrun the police ran through the red light a good two seconds after it turned red. This was no borderline yellow light that villain went flying through. By all accounts I should have been in the intersection when the lunatic ran the red light. My car (and me in it) would have been totally wrecked. I would have been rppulverized. How I sensed what was coming, I have no idea. By all accounts I should not have sensed what was coming. Somehow I did. I should have been in the intersection. It was as though I were a Jedi sensing a great disturbance in the Force. But I'm not a Jedi, so I have to conclude I simply got incredibly lucky. My lights could have been extinguished in the blink of an eye. That's how long it could have taken for some nut job behind the wheel of a car to end me. Real life run good.