Revisionist's second WSOP trip (June 4-10)

2024 Live Tournaments

On a Friday afternoon in March 2024, I left work early and got on a bus to Philly. I was off to play my first live poker since 2014, and my first live tournament since 2007. The tournament was a $250 multi-flight at Philly Live, and it ended up getting 1,300 entries. Despite my strategy still being stuck in the mid ‘00s, I somehow managed to bag chips at the end of the night on a single bullet, and on Day 2 I made it to the final three tables before finally busting. (Two years later, despite my poker skills being far improved, this is still my deepest run in a live tournament by percentage of the field remaining.)

I was hooked. I could tell that the game had changed and found that there was a lot more material online to improve than there had been many years ago. I started working my way through a course, and even started working with a 1-on-1 coach after I had mostly made it through the course. I took a couple more trips to Philly and my first trip to Borgata in Atlantic City in April and May, picking up one slightly-more-than-min cash in a Borgata $400. Then, it was time for my first trip to Vegas for the WSOP.

One nice thing about coming back to poker in my late 30s was that I had the finances to take shots at higher stakes than I ever could have afforded in my 20s, without needing to build a bankroll grinding it out at the lower stakes. The biggest events of my trip were a $1500 WSOP freezeout, an $1100 multi-flight at Venetian, and another $800 WSOP event. I filled out the rest of my week with smaller events around town, mostly at the Orleans.

It’s a good thing I didn’t need the money, because I bricked each and every one of the nine bullets I fired. I only even made it to double the starting stack once, in the Venetian $1100. I could of course complain about some bad beats and losing every coinflip on the trip. But it was clear that I was missing some significant pieces to my game. It was humbling.

I wasn’t deterred. I started going through another course, kept working with my coach, and continued my occasional poker trips. Before the year ended I managed two more nice runs in Philly (27/724 in a $500 and 60/2,570 in a $600) and picked up a couple smaller cashes at Borgata. It felt like I was starting to figure out how to build a stack with more consistency.

2025 Live Tournaments[/b]

My son was born in January 2025, so my poker trips drastically decreased while we adjusted to being parents. In the first six months of the year, I went to Baltimore for one day for the WSOP Circuit (I managed a mincash on 3 bullets), and Philly for one day (didn’t cash on 2 bullets), but that was it. But I was still studying when I wasn’t too sleep-deprived to stay awake during videos, and I found time to play some online sessions. I wasn’t getting a ton of reps, but I felt like I was still improving a lot.

By the Borgata Summer Open in July, things felt like they were starting to click in a way that they hadn’t before. I busted my first three bullets in a $600 multi-flight, but on the fourth bullet I bagged my flight’s chip lead out of 640 entries. It felt like things were finally coming together, and all of the hard work was paying off. I started Day 2 second in chips out of 251 remaining, playing for $164k up top.




I was out of the tournament in less than an hour. I lost a flip for a small but not insignificant portion of my chips, and then I ran trips into a full house against the only person at the table (and one of the few in the room) who had me covered. I was stunned. But I was feeling confident that I could keep getting myself back into this kind of position. And I hoped that eventually I would run better when it really counted.

In August, the WSOP Circuit returned to Atlantic City for the first time since before the pandemic, and I went down for both weekends. The beginning of the series was profitable, as I cashed 3/5 bullets in the $400s. But all of the cashes were for under 3 buy-ins, and I came up just short of the final table twice (11th and 16th). And then I bricked all four of my bullets in the $1700 Main, so I ultimately finished the trip down more than $5k.




2026 Live Tournaments

I had another deep, but not deep enough run at the Borgata Winter Open to start the year, finishing in the top 5% in a $600 with over 4,000 entries. This was starting to become a pattern, as the last four times I cashed, I busted with 4-6% of the field remaining. I wasn’t barely crawling into the money with crumbs, which was nice, but I couldn’t quite get over the hump to the significant payouts. This time, the payout was $1800, which meant I broke exactly even on my three bullets.




Next up was a return to Baltimore for the WSOP Circuit, where I cashed the $1700 Main. This one was a huge rollercoaster. 31 paid, and I had 1.6x average with 57 left. Then I lost more than half my stack on a cooler (although every instinct I had was screaming that he had it, and I probably should have found the fold), spun it back up, and then bled it off again over the course of the bubble to limp into the money. It was a mincash, but it was my biggest live cash ever, so I’ll take it.




Finally, my most recent live tournament was the PokerStars Open in Philly in March, where I stone bubbled the $1100 Main with AKo < KJo all-in preflop. The flop gave him a gutshot, the turn was clean, and he paired his jack on the river. I had more than nine starting stacks with about 30% of the field left, so this one slipping away was a huge disappointment.

Welcome to Las Vegas Lifestyle!

Enjoying this so far.

That sounds like me, except subtract a zero. I thought I was a pretty big deal as a broke twenty-something with my $3k PokerStars bankroll. 😃

Your more recent tournament experiences underscore the daunting math of these NLHE MTTs. The fields are big. To make the chunky payouts, you need a lot of things to go right. Most of the time, not enough things will go right. I've never personally dreamed of living in Vegas, but the locals have the major advantage of being able to fire high volume. That volume is part of why it seems like some of the same names are constantly hitting big scores (skill is obviously a big factor as well). Most rec players don't have the luxury of realizing their true EV, whatever that may be.

great intro. hope you run well

Those are some encouraging results!

Good luck in Las Vegas.

Nice intro and background! We have a similiar poker arc in terms of starting in the early 2000's, slowing down in the 2010's a bit, and for kids, work, life etc, and now back into it more last few years. Will be reading along! GLGLGLL

Looking forward to reading more. Run it up!

I'm in as well. Nice write-ups to give your background history.

Good morning from Vegas! We’re staying at Harrah’s. I meet up for breakfast with some friends who are only staying in town through the weekend, and then we wander the strip for a while. One of our stops is at Horseshoe/Paris, where we check out the new WSOP set and I get verified for the WSOP app. We make our way to the Wynn, where I sign up for a rewards card and register for the $1100 single-day tournament with a $200k guarantee, and then we part ways.

$1100 Wynn $200k

We bust our first bullet before the first break. A possibly misguided triple-barrel bluff on a double-paired board doesn’t get through, costing us half our stack. Then in a 3-bet pot with A6ss we get the rest of it in on a 774ss flop vs 99 and don’t get there.

We re-enter and fairly quickly get up to 75k (30k starting) in a fun hand in Level 4 (300/500). I open AQo in the LJ or CO off 42k, guy to my immediate left who has been 3-betting frequently 3bets to 3.5k off ~31k. I don’t like the sound of playing AQo passively OOP against a guy who seems this aggressive, so I 4bet to 8.5k. He calls. We like the Axx flop (I think it was rainbow) and cbet 3.5k into 18.3k. We like the Q turn even better and continue for 6k into 25.3k. He jams for ~16.5k more. We call quickly and pretty comfortably, and he flips over 96dd – no pair, no draw, and drawing dead. I think he had backdoor flush and straight draws on the flop, so I guess his peel IP is fine vs b20, but he didn’t turn any of them. I guess he was really hoping I had KK.

That was the high point for the second bullet. I lose a big pot with a combo draw that doesn’t get there. I chip back up a little when I get value from a nice river x/r with quads. I lose an even bigger pot with another combo draw that misses again. I lose half of my remaining stack doubling up a short stack with 55 < QQ, and then lose a three-way all-in preflop with AJs vs a covering 77 and a very short A8o to bust.

We fire our third bullet in Level 8 (600/1200). Word of the impending overlay seems to have spread and the field feels very reg-heavy. Registration closes at the end of the break after Level 8, and we only get to 172 entries, resulting in more than $30k overlay. Only 20 will pay, which is strangely low (11.6% of the field).

We chip up to 63k by Level 10 (1k/2k), mostly by making top pair twice, but don’t get a ton of traction on this bullet either. In Level 12 (2k/4k) we've bled down to 44k and then get down to 8k after our TT loses a flip vs AKs. The very next hand, we jam our 2bb with QQ and are up to 26k after the BTN calls, both blinds fold, and we hold vs BTN’s A5o. The blinds go up to 3k/5k, and the next orbit we jam 16k with A3o and hold vs BB’s 74o, and we’re back up to 40k. Is this going to turn into a nice spin-up story? No. We run AJ into AQ one or two hands later and we’re out in 39th.

$1100 Wynn $100k Turbo

Despite waking up at 5 am, we decide to fire the 6 pm turbo as well. We buy in during Level 4 (300/500) with 30k starting. I’m up to 40k by the end of the level after I get a turn x/r bluff with overs + a gutshot through, and hero call a river overbet with third pair and the guy mucks without me showing. I pick up a couple pots here and there and in Level 6 I induce a nice bluff when I have trips to get up to 60k. In Level 7 (500/100), I squeeze AKs behind an open and two calls off 67k, and the original raiser piles in ~50k with KJs. I hold and we’re up to 126k.

We slowly bleed down and I don’t have any hands in my notes for the next 3 levels. In the meantime, registration closes after Level 8 with 105 entries, 13 will pay. In Level 11 (1.5k/3k), I’ve bled down to 89k without anything notable happening, and 30 players are left. Then the LJ opens to 6k and I 3bet TT to 16k in the CO. The BB jams, covering me. BB folds. I tank, tank, tank, and muck. Really not sure about his one. Villain’s range cold 4bet jamming so close to the money feels soooo tight here -- very different scenario from the guy 4bet jamming KJs earlier vs a squeeze and two capped ranges with registration still open. I still had a healthy 24bb after folding.

I continue bleeding down and then in Level 13 (3k/5k), with 21 left, I blunder. It was only 11 pm in Vegas, but my body is still on East Coast toddler parent time and I’ve been feeling myself getting tired for a while. UTG7 (covers me by a little bit) opens, I jam 65k with 66 in the LJ, opener snap calls with AA and holds. This is probably a fold for chips and it’s definitely a fold with ICM. I had a relatively recent bustout on an AC trip with 66 in a similar rejam configuration (although we were ITM and on the FT bubble) – I looked at these kind of spots after that prior hand and am really annoyed with myself that I messed this one up.

So overall the day was 0/4, but I’m mostly happy with how I played. I’m accumulating chips so much better than I was when I was here two years ago. Hopefully I can keep building on this.

Next up: the Monster Stack.

GL with your Vegas adventures! Nice write-up so far, despite the disappointing results.

For what it's worth, I don't think the 66 spot where you ran into AA is that big of a deal. If I read it correctly you are still 8 off the money with like 13 bigs? It's live poker, not ACR 😉, either way I think it was totally fine I would have done the same.

Saturday, June 6 – WSOP $1500 Monster Stack

This post ended up longer than I expected, so I’ll lead with the headline: I bagged 171k (from 50k starting) for Day 2 on one bullet. We’re coming back to 1k/2.5k blinds and the average stack is 131k, so we’re in good shape but still have a long way to go before we cash. Registration will be open for the first hour of Day 2.

I wake up at 5 am again, as my body is still mostly refusing to adjust to Vegas time. I FaceTime with my wife and kid, and then I start writing my trip report from my prior day playing at the Wynn. It takes longer than I expected, and I rush to finish it before meeting up with my friends for breakfast. Their flight home is the next day, so this might be the last time I see them on the trip, depending on how the day goes. We were friends in high school and roommates in college, and I hadn’t seen them in 2-3 years, so it was good to catch up. We say our goodbyes and I head off to Horseshoe.

I sit down at my table ten minutes into Level 1. The table started off fairly good but got tougher as the day progressed. Eventually there were four people with seven-figure Hendon Mobs at the table, including Thomas Eychenne and Michael Rossitto. One of them busted late in the day and another seven-figure guy sat down shortly after.

By the first break I had chipped up a little to 57.6k. I got a four-bet with K3s through versus a guy who was pretty active, which I was happy with, but otherwise I just won a few small pots and lost a few small pots – nothing too exciting.

Level 3 (200/400) was defined by two hands. The first hand was a completely unnecessary bluff line in a bvb pot that was so dumb that I will take the action to my grave rather than sharing it with anyone. But the silver lining of making dumb bluffs is that it set me up to get paid off by the same guy in an even bigger pot with flopped top pair on a Kxx board that turned into a rivered backdoor flush. He didn’t show but said he called three streets with QQ, which never happens without the prior hand. So after being down to 35k at my low point, I finish the level with 64k.

Level 4 (300/500) is smooth sailing. I pick up ~15k defending the bb multi-way and flopping top pair. I get a cbet through with TT in a 3bet pot. And on the last hand before break I squeeze AQo from the BB after an open and two flats. We head to the second break with 86.9k.

We continue our progress in Level 5 (300/600). I’m on the right side of a cooler for what I think was the biggest pot I won of the day. UTG older guy opens, I just flat the BTN with TT, we go heads-up to an AKx flop. Not what we’re looking for, but UTG checks, we check behind, and a beautiful T rolls off on the turn. UTG bets 2.5k, I raise to 7k, he jams ~27k. We call, he shows AK, and we dodge his four outs on the river. We’re up to 117k.

We lose a few small pots before the end of the level. In one, I open 44 in LP, bb defends, and he x/c my cbet on a K86r flop. I plan to overbet any turn that doesn’t complete a straight or pair the board, but the 8 turn slows me down. We both check, and then we both check the J river. He has me pipped with 55. A small and inconsequential pot, but disappointing to have a plan that would have worked get foiled by the runout, and I question whether I should have gone for it on the river. Regardless, we finish the level with 102k.

In Level 6 (400/800), we lose one really annoying pot with 77 but otherwise things go smoothly. We get a few decent value hands (three streets of value with KK vs. Michael Rossitto, two pair in a blind vs blind pot, and a flopped set with QQ). We also get a nice turn x/r bluff through – CO opens, BTN calls, I call ATdd in SB, BB calls. On Qxxdd it checks to BTN who bets ~3k, I call, everyone else folds. Kx turn, I check, he bets 9k, I raise to 25k with the flush draw + gutter and he folds. We have 135k at the third break.

We continue accumulating in Level 7 (500/1k). We defend bb with 86dd, flop a gutshot, and our x/r gets through. We 3bet with AA and our flop cbet gets called but he folds the turn. Our two pair is somehow good in a 3-way pot with a four-flush and four-straight on the board. We end the level with 160k.

Level 8 (600/1.2k) is the last level before dinner. It’s very quiet for me for the first 50 minutes – I’m pretty card dead and the table has toughened up. Then shortly before dinner break, I 3bet Q8s vs a LP open (I think CO vs BTN?) and get called. This is fine, but I can also feel myself getting a little bored from folding all level and tired from the long day. I don’t have the runout in my notes, but I bet flop, x turn, bet river and got called. I head to dinner break with 127k, annoyed at losing a chunk of my stack right before the break, but overall happy with how things are going. I’m able to meet my friends again for dinner, which is a nice bonus.

Level 9 (1/1.5k) starts off disastrously, and I lose 40k in the first three hands. I don’t have a lot of detail in my notes because it all happened so quickly. I open AQ UTG and have to fold the flop. I defend the big blind with 84s the following hand and lose 13.5k -- it's not in my notes but I think I x/c with bottom pair HU, led when the middle flop card paired on the turn, and folded to the opener's jam. And I call a BTN open with JTo in the SB, BB also calls, and flop top pair but end up losing to the BB’s ATo.

A little later I lose the minimum with a full house. I open J9s to 3k, a sun-running fish with the table chip lead 3bets to 6k in the sb, I call. On the AAJ flop the SB visibly sighs, shakes his head, and checks. I check behind. On the J turn we both check again. He finally bets 6k on the river, and I seriously contemplate folding but decide I couldn’t live with myself if I did. I call and he obviously has AJ. I’m down to 68k. I remind myself that this is still a lot to work with and not to get too hung up on how many more chips I had before.

The turnaround starts when I hit two pair vs Thomas Eychenne. I play it very passively OOP, but it was a semi-scary runout and I wanted to keep my decisions simple vs a pro when I’m on the verge of tilting. We finish the level with 82.5k – below where we started the level, but better than our low point, and still very healthy.

Level 10 (1/2k) is the final level of the day. We play pretty straightforward but win a few nice pots. We win ~30k flopping a set with JJ. In another hand, UTG opens to 4.5k, BTN and SB call, and we squeeze with AKo in the BB. UTG and BTN fold, and the SB (who just lost a huge pot to the sighing fish) rejams for ~27k, just slightly more than my 3bet. I call, he flips 97s and we hold against the tilt shove. We win a nice pot with KK in the last orbit and bag 171k.

I stop at the main WSOP stage in Paris on my way back to the hotel. A $25k high roller final table with Krissy Foxen, Joey Weismann, and others is going. Patrick Leonard, Jeremy Ausmus, Chris Brewer, and Michael Mizrachi are at the final two tables of a Stud $10k. I watch for a while before heading to CVS to grab some healthier food than I’ve eaten all day, and then back to Harrah’s to rest up for Day 2.

Grats on the bag! I am glad I don't know who any "pros" are outside of the ridiculously famous ones. I don't wanna know if I am playing against one of those guys you mentioned (who I never heard of). It would probably throw me off.

Yes, nice job bagging. Good write-up, appreciate the effort. GL in upcoming days.

Great day! Good luck on day 2

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Sunday, June 7 - WSOP $1500 Monster Stack (Day 2D)

No need for a long report today. We started Level 11 (1/2.5k) with 171k and chipped up nicely to 236k by the end of the level without any tricky spots. Registration closed with 4,580 entries, and 687 would cash. I was feeling very comfortable at the table and had a well above-average stack.

Over the next four levels, I lost or chopped four all-ins in a row, and then I was out of the tournament about 200 off the money.

To provide a little more detail, shortly after the start of Level 12 (1.5/3k), BTN opened off 65k. I 3 bet with AQo in the SB, BTN jams AJo. I call and he hits a flush, and I'm back down to 165k, basically where I started the day.

I spend the next couple hours bouncing around between 125-170k, getting some 3bets through and folding to some 3bets, rarely seeing a flop.

Then in Level 14 (3/5k), I open TT UTG with 169k, the guy I doubled up before jams 80k from the BB, I call. He has AA and holds, and I'm down to 89k.

A few hands later it's my turn to get AA, and I get in pre vs a covering stack with QQ. He flops a set, so I am actually relieved when a flush runs out on the board and we chop the pot.

I bleed down a little more and in Level 15 (3/6k), I jam J4o from the SB with 10bb, BB calls with K5o and holds. I bust about 200 off the money. I was getting frustrated and saw a good opportunity to pick up some chips, but I think I should have just folded. BB had a lot of chips and had made one or two wide calls of jams earlier in the day.

0/5 bullets on the trip. I built up over 4 starting stacks on two of the bullets but can't put the deep run together.

There's almost three hours of late reg left in the WSOP $2k, or Aria has a $300 turbo that starts in a couple hours, but I think I'm probably going to rest up and head into tomorrow fresh.

I recognized Rossitto from PGT streams and I'd heard Eychenne's name before, but I wouldn't have been able to put names to their faces without the WSOP app. I totally understand why someone wouldn't want to have that information. For me personally I don't think it changes much -- you can see how they're playing and carrying themselves and will probably be able to figure out that they know what they're doing anyway.

Decided to try out the Daily Deepstacks today. Chip leader at my table at the close of registration in the $250, hoping to keep this momentum going!

And we're out again. One more day to turn the trip around.

Was in the same tournament. Started out good, cruising along with well above the average in chips. Then card deadness happened, started missing flops, until I stopped even getting raising hands. Out in level 10.

Why not both?

Eychenne was on my left in my deep $1100 Wynn run last year late game and the whole final table till he got knocked out. I didn’t know him at the time , but I could easily tell he was an excellent player. Was happy when he got knocked out in 8th. That final table was brutal for me last year. I was the only non pro/semi pro - table had almost 8M in living earnings on it