Bracelet Hunting - A WSOP 2026 Trip Report
Time for a new thread!
Credit to rppoker (who made the suggestion in my previous thread) for the title of this years’ tri
Not sure it would be on my list, but Caramella looks decent. I have stayed at PH at least half a dozen times and have no idea where it is.
Looks like the site had an outage (or got hacked) for a couple of days. Will carry on from where I left off.
Day 27
Sunday June 21st
It’s Father’s Day so gave my Dad a call. His idea to end the tournament run bad was to use a lucky shirt and suggested the Ohtani Dodgers jersey which I will be calling up soon no doubt.
As well as being Fathers Day it’s also the final day of the US Open and this man would shape our day today.
Wyndham Clark, who the New York fans don’t like and are cheering his bad shots. Really? But we quite like him having bet him after the first round.
He started the day with a 6 shot lead and the fact that it’s down to only 3 when we wake up is the reason we missed our pool time today. The lead is further cut to only 1 as he’s making bogeys while Sam Burns is charging.
So we stay in the room and sweat it. He does eventually cling on to win by a single shot.
I said to myself if he wins we’ll fire the $1k PLO. If he doesn’t win we’ll go play cash. The tournament it is then.
We enter with two hours of late reg remaining. I’m becoming a fan of late reg and find myself using it more often.
We navigate the late reg period without incident. Max late reg in a PLO tournament is actually not far from the money and we make it comfortably having chipped up here and there without having to go all-in.
On the penultimate level of the night which is 3,000 - 6,000 / 6,000 we have slightly above average on 170,000 when the following hand occurs:
A short stack pots it for 21k with only about 10k more behind. The guy on my right calls. He has a similar stack to mine, maybe slightly covers.
We have KK97ss and pot it to isolate. Short stack calls all-in. The guy on my right thinks for a while and eventually calls.
Flop: T-8-6 rainbow
We flopped gin with our danglers but before we can bet it the guy on our right goes all-in. We obviously call with the nuts.
Villain has KTJ7 for only 1 pair and a gutter.
When you’re running bad you can fell it coming.
Turn: 9 gives villain a bigger straight and the river brings a back door flush for villain to make sure we’re truly dead.
So instead of having a 400k stack and coming back for day 2 with double average playing for a $400,000 first prize with only 200 players remaining we’re out with little more than a min-cash.
‘when you’re running bad you can feel it coming’ is so true. In life, work and poker. Remarkable how much I believe in momentum/streaks now
Keep at it mate
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‘when you’re running bad you can feel it coming’ is so true. In life, work and poker. Remarkable how much I believe in momentum/streaks now
I understand this, I really do, but you only notice this when it's going bad.
Don't let it bleed into life and work.
I understand this, I really do, but you only notice this when it's going bad.
Don't let it bleed into life and work.
I’m definitely aware of when I’m running good in life, work and poker. My business has lots of similarities with poker and positive momentum is definitely a thing too.
Very important to evaluate myself/my work/play based on what I put in vs the results
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better to direct your focus toward where you want to go, not what you want to avoid
always aim to hit the fairway, not to miss the hazard
I think I got it fixed D. It was on the "new" site, so I replaced your "lost?" post with the update. Let me know if I got the wrong post.
Okay hopefully the site is stable now. Will pick up from where I left off again as want to have a complete journal but I do most of it from memory so will have to see just how much I remember.
Day 28
Monday June 22nd
We had a choice today. Play cash all day or go to Aria for their $800 O.E. tournament.
As I really like both Stud 8 and Omaha 8 I went for the tournament but knew it was a mistake as soon as I sat down.
Really don’t like playing out in the corral at Aria. It didn’t take long before the noise from the slot machines was giving me a headache and It seemed to be more smokey than I remembered.
Nevertheless I’d doubled the starting stack by the end of late reg and was into the tournament, but when we got to the higher limits I started losing hands and busted about 10 short of the money.
From there I went over to Bellagio and there as a list for the $80 Mix so sat and played a rarely seen $20-$40 Stud 8 game while I waited.
The game was pretty soft. I made $600 before I was called for the $80. I should have stayed there though as I didn’t win a hand in the $80 and waved the white flag booking a -$3,900 loss.
Day 29 - Part 1
Tuesday June 23rd
Usual morning pool time.
Today was the day I had scheduled to play the mystery millions which started at 10am. Now while I don’t think max late reg is the way to go for this as you want to have time to build a stack, being there at 10am I think is also unnecessary as the blinds are too small and with 22 levels scheduled to be played today I decided to to have a leisurely lunch first.
Steak frites at Mon Ami Gabi.
We eventually jump into the mystery millions in level 7 which was 500 - 1,000 / 1,000 with a 40k starting stack and started very well increasing it to 70k on break.
After break played the following hand:
We 3-bet an opener and a limper with A-Qs and only the limper calls.
Flop: T-3-3
We c-bet when checked to and limper calls.
Turn: 7 (bringing our flush draw)
Limper leads out with what I thought was a feeler bet.
I think he probably has a Ten but with the line we have taken thus far maybe we can push him off it by repping the over-pair. (Stacks are roughly equal, he just covers me)
We shove all-in.
He thinks for a while and eventually makes the call.
He does indeed have a Ten with T-8 and also has the flush draw.
Not great but we still have outs to an Ace, Queen or any heart, albeit he blocks two hearts.
The river is not helpful and bullet 1 is done.
Bullet 2 never gets going unfortunately and meets its demise when we get it in pre with A-T vs K-Q. The flop brings a Ten, but also a King. There’s no help on the turn or river and we elect not to fire again.
Not normally a fan of laying this juice but I do like Croatia today and think the moneyline is a better option than the spread on this occasion.
Day 29 - Part 2
Tuesday June 23rd
(Croatia did beat Panama 1-0 in the soccer)
After busting out of the mystery millions I headed over to Bellagio. I missed out on getting in the 3rd $80 Mix game that had started shortly before I arrived so had to go on the wait list. As I walked around the high limit section I noticed there were 2 seats open in Cong’s $150-$300 mix game.
Now Cong’s game is a private game and it’s usually full and therefore hard to get in. J-Lot helps him run it, Cong usually plays the night-time hours and J-Lot the daytime. I know J-Lot well from the $80 game so ask him if there’s a seat open. He says sure, sit down, so I get some chips from the cage and sit in my biggest limit game so far.
So, you’re sitting the apple. Good. Want a cookie?
The table looked okay. J-Lot and L.A. Grant I know from the $80. Jen Harman and Bruno Fitoussi, a Japanese guy I don’t know and Crystal who should be the value but actually plays pretty solid when she’s not drunk.
The mix is different from the $80 and there are mandatory straddles on some games making the table play even bigger, although the cap in the big bet games is only $2,500 instead of a full 10 big bets. It’s all designed to create an action game and the mandatory straddle forces you to play hands you wouldn’t normally play.
The mix is:
Stud 8
Pot Limit Drawmaha 2-7
Badacey ($300 straddle)
5 Card Omaha Double Board $1,500 Flips
Omaha 8 ($300 straddle)
NL 2-7 SD
Drawma-Dugi ($300 straddle)
2-7 Razz
Big O
Badugi
Baduecey ($300 straddle)
5-Card PLO
2-7 Triple Draw
4 Card Omaha Double Board ($300 straddle)
There’s also a kill to $200-$400 if you scoop a pot over $1,500.
The $1,500 flips is pure gambling. UTG is forced to put in $1,500 blind then everyone else either calls or folds and two boards are run with no further betting. You also have the option to call blind and get a discount, calling only $1,200 instead of $1,500. Andrew Yeh joined the table later and did this every hand so it’s probably +EV.
And it’s not like you can just sit out the round if you hope to ever be able to play the game again. That would be a big no-no.
Here I get 3/4 of one flip. Chopping the top with a straight and winning the bottom with a flush. Overall I think I broke even on the flips. I never won my forced UTG hands.
In this game, as in the $80 you also gamble for the time, but more so. Here it’s $125 per half hour for the table and we pre-tip the dealer $50 so it’s $175 in total but with an added twist if you get the time on a red card you have to pay everyone else at the table $100, but if it’s a black card they each have to pay you $100.
So new dealer sits down, spreads the deck face down and picks a card. If she picks a red Ace and I’m in the 1 seat I pay the $175 time and $100 to each of the other players at the table. It did happen to me once and I was out $875. [emoji30]
Made a 5-6 in Badacey to scoop Bruno.
Also won the cap in NL 2-7 against the Japanese guy. I was dealt a pat 9-7 and he had a 1 card wheel draw. We went twice and he paired both times.
I lost some big pots too of course, but when I got up to leave to go back to the Horseshoe to play the 2-7 Satellite we were +$2,000 to the good (In $15k, out $17k) after 5 hours which is really nothing in that game.
In the landmark satellite for the $10k 2-7 I took this picture of my stack on break late on. 103k needing to get to 150k for a seat.
I win the blinds in one hand after break to be up to 112k then play a big pot against Walter Chambers. There’s enough in there that I’ll reach the landmark and have a seat if I win it. On the last change he draws one and we pat a 9-7.
If he bricks we’ll have a seat in the $10k deuce………..
He makes an 8, we miss the landmark and can’t recover and miss out on a seat. [emoji22]
In a summer of tournament frustration this might be the most frustrating moment yet.
That mix seems nuts. Keep up the faith!
Sounds like you’re ready for 300/600 next!
Day 30
Wednesday June 24th
I’m sure there was a tournament somewhere I could have played today but chose to have a tournament free day and grind the cash game instead. But not before I got some pool time in of course.
It was really nice this morning with the cloud cover. Not too hot. As you can see I prefer the Horseshoe pool over the Paris pool. The music is a little lower volume, it’s less crowded and it’s better for swimming as even when the deep end is closed the middle part is still 5 feet deep.
Also picked up my laundry from the bell desk. I’ve been using Express Laundry Service as recommended by Kevmath. It’s $40 for a full load, you just leave it at Horseshoe bell desk, they collect it and drop it back off there the next day.
They were just starting the 3rd $80 Mix game when I arrived and I got the last seat although I wished I hadn’t. I immediately lose the cap in 5-card PLO double board to Kenny D who is the wrong person to lose chips to and you probably won’t get them back. I had big draws on both boards that failed to get there.
Then I lose two big Razz hands to Hernan who is also the wrong person to lose chips to, but for a different reason. He left the game shortly after hitting and running.
I continue to run bad and there’s not much left of my initial 3 racks so have to add 2 more. I go from the 3rd game, to the 2nd game and eventually to the main game chipping back up steadily.
I do actually hit the front by about $1k before going back down and then on my last round before I rack up I lose the cap in NL 2-7. I pat a 9-7 but run into a pat 8.
So at the end of the day it was a 12 hour session for a -$2,100 loss.
I like to imagine you ended with that photo of the tiger because it encapsulates how you felt after ending up down 2 racks after 12 hours.
Besides pool time, do you build in any time to your day for workouts or anything to help stay healthy over an extended trip like this? Between Vegas food and a ton of hours of poker, I’m sure it can be a challenge!
