Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

WSOP 2026: (June 11) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1B (Part 13 of 14)
While I wait to learn TonySoprano9’s fate, I write down the thoughts from the mind of a player running really bad

While Tony searches for his double up, I sit and write down a tidal wave of thoughts I have. Here is what I wrote:

I’m putting myself in positions to have big chip stacks. That’s all I can do. Unfortunately, I am running incredibly bad on huge pots where I am 66-34, 70-30 or 80-20 ahead. At some point, the math has to work out for me, right? The problem is, I may not have enough tournaments left for the math to even out. Right now, the math is not adding up.

It is quite challenging how incredibly difficult and aggressive my tables have been to play against, especially after the early levels weed out the really bad players. But, hey, this is what I signed up for. This is what I wanted. I have said I want to test myself against the best poker players possible. Not because I think I have an edge (I don’t). But because I think it is interesting to experience, interesting to attempt. That is why I don’t play in senior events (and that is not a shot at seniors events, they are perfectly good tournaments). But from the beginning I have said that I want the experience of going head-to-head with the best players I can find. Well, be careful what you wish for because that is what I was up against today. It was difficult. It was challenging. At times it was a bit overwhelming. It was more than I should have been able to handle.

And yet, if two key hands of mine had gone differently – 1) My A-K losing to A-Q, and 2) My A-K making top pair top kicker on the flop only to have its 2:1 equity run down by a serial bluffer’s 8-10 on the turn – I would have had a chip stack that could potentially be big enough to do some damage. If my dominating hands would just hold up, I would be saying, you know what, I took their best punches and came out just fine.

I keep putting myself in positions to run very, very deep where making the money is attainable only to have the fickle deck decide to be uncooperative.

But the key is I am positioning myself to run deep into the Day 1 night. That’s all I can do.

I’m not lasting deep into the Day 1 nights by playing bad and getting rewarded by dishing out bad beats. I am absorbing the bad beats. I’m not asking for me to get lucky against all odds. I’m just asking for my hands that dominate to hold up.

Yeah, I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. But just a little. I’m not wrecked by the run bad/bad beats. Don’t like them, but I am dealing with it. I’ll fight the good fight yet again tomorrow. But man, what might have been the last two days and nights of the Colossus. It feels like I am so close to breaking through.

Finally caught all the way up, LOVING all the recaps, player descriptions, and the story!

And by far, my highlight of the whole trip was dinner at Battista’s.

Re: the A8 hand…

I’ve learned that check/raising a cbet on an ace high flop can be very good. For value, or even with air sometimes.

They either love that ace being there, or they hate facing a check/raise with it.

You’ll find out very quickly. And win it uncontested more often than you’d expect.

WSOP 2026: (June 11) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1B (Part 14 of 14)
TonySoprano9 busts ... We go to Gordon Ramsey Steak for my traditional WSOP meal of Beef Wellington ... Tony makes a comment about bad beats that makes me sit up at attention

I look up and see TonySoprano9 walking over to me. He just busted. We’re going to dinner. At my suggestion, we go to Gordon Ramsey Steak in the Paris Hotel. It is an annual staple for me because they make the best Beef Wellington I’ve ever had. Tony follows my lead and orders the Beef Wellington as well.

Over dinner we talk a lot about soccer, as well as our kids, life, and of course poker. During the poker part of the conversation, Tony says something that really hits home.

Me: “I keep suffering bad beats and run bad when I am way ahead. I wonder when I start doling out some bad beats.”

Tony: “If you are consistently getting it in good, you won’t be getting that many opportunities to hand out a bad beat.”

Wow. This stops me in my tracks. Spot on. The goal is to play well enough where you don’t need to suck out to win a huge pot/build a big stack or get absurdly lucky to salvage your tournament life. I never thought about it that way. In other words (my words, not Tony’s), suffering a bunch of bad beats is ... actually ... I guess ... a compliment ... that you are playing well enough that it takes a bad beat to derail you. Usually compliments feel a lot better than this, but it's an interesting perspective.

Yes. And it’s better to do it with a **** Ace where you’re not ahead of his value and it would get icky to call a turn bet

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Rp I feel for you with your mtt run bad. It can feel like it goes on forever

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My favorite saying in poker is "You can't suck out unless you get it in bad." Kinda the same as a bad beat, no? I would like to think that not getting it in bad should be more profitable than deliberately trying to suck out. I'm not sure the data supports this hypothesis.

Hi herbalerv,

Thanks for your thoughts.

I actually had plenty of data that he was bluffing a ton. I wasn't basing my read on the one hand where he showed the bluff. Lots of his hands went to showdown where'd he'd been multi-barrel betting with what would turn out to be fourth or fifth pair. Plus, as often as he was betting people off their hands on the turn and river, there was very little chance that he always had it. But paying attention to what he had when he reached showdown during his time at the table painted a picture of a very bluff heavy player.

As far as the all-in on my part, I see your point but I was targeting an Ace with a good/mediocre but inferior kicker that I thought he would overcall. He fought ferociously for pots his whole time at the table, and he was not one for slowing down once a pot swelled. He did not need a monster to play a big hand. He was a go big or go home player. He repeatedly forced players to fully commit to a hand over multi streets. Well, I got him to call my bet (which I thought I wanted), but he obviously had way more than what I was targeting.

Regardless of whether I played it right or wrong, it really sucked to have A-K flop top pair top kicker only to have an aggro villain's 8-10 turn a straight for heaps. But yes, he had very solid equity after the flop. I was ahead, but he had 8 outs. It's tough to compete against a very aggro player when he has hands like 8-10 get there.

OK, I was rushing through my above post because I had to be somewhere. Let's slow down and give a better explanation.

From post #2016: Pre flop I have A-K. I bet, bluffy Man Purse 2 calls from the blinds. Flop is K-9-7 rainbow. Bluffy Man Purse 2 bets, I raise, he calls. Turn is a Jack. Bluffy Man Purse 2 checks. I go all-in.

In the above post (#2027) I wrote of my decision to go all-in, "I was targeting an Ace with a good/mediocre but inferior kicker that I thought he would overcall."

What I should have written is I was targeting hands where he caught a piece of the flop like A-9, A-7. I should have also added K-Q, K-10. I did not give consideration to the 8-10 (pretty sure it was off suit) he had because I thought my tight aggressive image precluded him calling pre flop that light. I thought wrong.

The lens that I viewed this hand through in real time was that Man Purse 2 was the following: 1) He bluffs a lot, 2) He overplays hands that he has a small to medium piece of the flop, 3) He gets away with 1 & 2 because he fights relentlessly for the pot on the turn and river and people have been folding too much, 4) If he has third or even fourth pair he calls big bets made by his opponents, and 5) In my opinion the only way to combat his style was to play good cards, flop well and then don't back down on the turn and river when strong made hands on the flop start to shrivel if you start seeing monsters under the bed.

I can't stress enough how strong my read was that Man Purse 2 was bluffing a ton. I can't stress enough how much my game plan was play good cards, flop well and then ride or die. My A-K on a K-9-7 rainbow flop was as good as it was going to get for me. Top of range. If I don't play this hand aggressively against this particular opponent, then I don't see any path to success against him. If I fold because he "might" have 8-10, I don't see how I ever win against this type of player.

It can be argued I shouldn't have gone all-in on the turn, but trust me villain would have put me all-in at some point on the turn or river, and he would have done so light. It just so happened that he had the absolute perfect hand (8-10) and got there on the turn.

I seem to end up at tables with hyper aggressive players like this a lot. My approach against these types of players has usually been to only play good cards and play them aggressively. The result has often been that I am practically the only player at the table who consistently wins big pots against these types. They steal from everyone else and then give a bunch of chips to me. For the most part this has worked extremely well for me.

In this case, not so much.

In any event, that was my thought process.

the J isn't an ideal card given 8 10 and Q 10 get there as well as some two pair combos and it depends on stacks but assuming you're not super deep, if you think you're committed against this villain then IMO you might as well shove turn to charge his draws and worse pair + draw hands.

if you have more in your stack than there was in the pot then I think checking back turn can be OK?

Against any other player at the table I would (should) have checked back. Rightly or wrongly, my shove was player dependent.

Did I take my time and think it through? Now that is a good question. A decent amount of time has passed since the hand played out, so I can't say for sure.

But my best recollection is that I acted too quickly. As you point out, the turn brought a scare card. I don't think I slowed down to think things through enough. This has been and is a leak of mine. I don't slow down enough in certain spots. I have a feeling I decided prior to the turn card being shown that I was going to go all in. Now, if I had taken my time and thought things through, would I have still gone all in? I might have. I have seen villain get to showdown with fourth or fifth pair a lot. A LOT! So yes, straights got there. But history has shown that this villain gets to showdown light a lot more than he has shown the goods. Does he ever have it at showdown? On occasion, but more often than not he has arrived there light.

Over and over and over I have seen players fold to big river bets by this player. If you show weakness, if you back down against this opponent, you're dead.

If I had checked the turn, I am absolutely certain he would have put me all in after whatever rived card got turned over. I feel very strongly that the only way to win this pot was to play for my stack either after the turn or river. As it played out, villain turned the second nuts. But if he second or third pair he would have played the hand in exactly the same way. Of that I'm certain.

But the one thing this post mortem has shown me is I have to slow down. The deeper you get into the board, the more dicey your hand gets. I'm not saying I should see all of the monsters under the bed. But I do need to slow down and really read the board more thoughtfully.

Slow down. Slow ... down. Slowwwwwww Dowwwwwwwwwn.

Without being results oriented, I still think playing this hand aggressively was the right choice against this specific opponent. But while the runout of cards was extremely unfortunate, perhaps the bigger take away is my need to slow down.

Still, 8-10 finding the straight is really running bad on my part.

I need to slow down.

The bluffiest guy at the table turning a straight is really running bad on my part.

I need to slow down.

So tough to do but you’re right. We all post way way better than we play!

When I think back to the plays I feel most icky about from the past few months they almost always were when I made a snap judgement and went for it

Honestly though with this specific hand I think it’s fine. As you rightly say - you were going all in with a hand this strong on pretty much any river. You just hit the very top of his range

IMO it’s far better to be making aggressive ‘mistakes’ than calling ones. I think you played the hand fine.

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100% this.

If you think this guy is some kind of maniac, why not give him the chance to be one? Especially on the turn when your hand sort-of goes from being very strong to a modest one. On K-9-7-J you are really only getting huge value from KT and KQ, and even if he is crazy, will he call a jam from someone that he probably percieves as being fairly tight (you).

In this hand, there is merit for checking back the turn and then get him to bluff on blank rivers. He shouldn't have many pure bluffs when he calls your raise on the flop obviously, but maybe a hand like ATs with a backdoor, QTs with a backdoor, or maybe he tries to turn a hand like 76 into a bluff.

The downside of checking is obviously that we give him a chance to catch up, so we cannot blindly call down on any river. But if we are choosing this line we sort-of have to die by the sword on most rivers (except 8 or T or Q I think). Especially against a guy who likes to pounce on weakness.

WSOP 2026: (June 12) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1C (Part 1 of 9)
Playing speculative hands early ... Lots of swings, but lots of misses

I get in my cab. The cabbie sees my backpack, and he asks one simple word: “Poker?” Apparently, I am a cliché.

I arrive to the ParisShoe. I walk leisurely to the Horseshoe Ballroom. I no longer care about arriving in time for hand #1 of level 1. I baby late reg again.

The starting lineup:

Seat 1: A lady dripping in expensive looking jewelry. She will be “Diamonds.”

Seat 2: A lady with her fingernails painted in neon aqua. She will be “Aqua.”

Seat 3: Me.

Seat 4: A man in a red hat. He is very chatty. He is constantly looking for information, asking players what they have while he is trying to make a decision. He will be “Looking For Information.”

Seat 5: Vacant for many levels. When he arrives, I think I hear him say he is from Samoa, so he will be “Samoa.”

Seat 6: An oldish gentleman dressed in an expensive looking all gray sweat suit. He will be “Mr. Gray.”

Seat 7: Early 30s man in a Las Vegas Raiders shirt, so he will be “Raiders.”

Seat 8: When I first arrive at the table, I see this player dragging chips thanks to a full house, so he will be “Full House.”

Seat 9: Late 20s man wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt, so he will be “Tommy Bahama.”

Level 1
100/200/200
50,000 starting chips.

I arrive with four minutes remaining in the level. I immediately notice that the temperature at this table isn’t as cold as recent days when I was under a vent. The players at this table are still complaining that it’s cold, but to me it is more tolerable than I’ve experienced in previous days. I still put on a hoodie, but I keep it unzipped and I do not need to put a jacket over the hoodie.

My game plan heading into today is to go out of my way to play more speculative hands early such as low pairs, suited connectors, suited one-gappers, etc. to see if I can flop big and bust hands like A-A or K-K.

I am dealt 5-5. I limp. There is a raise, a call, and I call. OK, let’s flop a set. I don’t flop a set. The flop is 8-Q-A. We all check. OK, another chance. Let’s turn a set. I do not turn a set. The turn is a 10, and I fold to a bet.

End of level 1: 49,300 chips.

Level 2
200/300/300

Mr. Gray has the table chip lead. He is very active, and I suspect he is very bluffy although no one at the table seems terribly excited to look him up.

I have 7-7 UTG. I limp. UTG+1 bets. There is a call, and I call. OK, let’s flop a set. I do not flop a set. The flop is A-J-2. I fold to a bet.

I have As-9s. Someone min bets UTG. Five people ahead of me call. My A-9 suited is not a huge hand, but with so many people calling ahead of me and me being last to act from the big blind I figure I should call since I have a hand that is capable of making the nuts. OK, let’s flop the nut flush. C’mon spades. I do not flop the nut flush. The flop is 2-4-5 no spades. I fold to a bet from the UTG bettor.

I have 8-10 in the small blind. Two players limp, and I complete the blind. Big blind checks. The flop is 10-9-3. I bet, which may be optimistic with four people in the hand, but I have top pair, mediocre kicker. Two players call. The turn is an Ace. I fold to a bet. I am down to 44,500 chips.

It folds to me on the BTN. I have A-J, and I bet. The small blind and big blind both call. The flop is 4-5-6 rainbow. This flop smashes the blinds. It is not my flop, so I choose not to continuation bet and all three of us check. The turn is a 4. Again, this is not my board. I fold to a bet.

This table seems a little soft, but so far, I have not been able to get anything going.

End of level 2: 43,000 chips

Pretty sure according to solvers the open limps with 55 and 77 should be open raises. I know because I always used to open limp these hands until the solver wouldn't let me. Also pretty sure the solver would tell you peel one off with A9 and a gutshot on the 2-4-5 flop (unless maybe they are only one suit). Although that hand feels like trouble even if you hit.

One of my goals this last trip was doing what the solver told me to do. It didn't always work 😀 and I still have a ton to learn and to practice when it comes to proper solver play. But I did surprise myself a couple of times with blind hands I never would have considered in the past that turned out pretty good.

WSOP 2026: (June 12) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1C (Part 2 of 9)
You have to be committed throughout a hand against Mr. Gray ... It takes a while but I finally win a hand ... Mr. Gray calls an early position bet with 6-4 pre flop and wins the hand at showdown ... My UTG open scares no one as five (FIVE!) players call

Level 3
200/400/400

I mark down in my notes that you have to three-barrel Mr. Gray, or he will bet players off the pot. He will play passive, just calling bets on the flop and turn, and he will then blast on the river. His strategy seems to be to take opponents into the tall weeds and then bet big when his opponents big starting hands pre flop have shriveled up by the river.

Diamonds is down to 14,000 chips, and she softly whispers to herself, “Don’t panic.”

It folds to me in the small blind. I have J-10, and I open the betting. The big blind folds. Hey, I finally won my first pot of the day.

Looking For Information busts when he runs a three-barrel bluff that is neither logical nor believable.

Mr. Gray will not fold.

UTG, I have Ad-10d. It is maybe slightly light from UTG except for the fact that it is suited, but I open the betting 1,000. Five people call. OK, my UTG bet scares absolutely no one. I mean, how can five people think it’s a good idea to call an UTG open? I do have the potential to make the nuts with a suited Ace. OK, let’s flop the nut flush. I do not flop the nut flush. The flop is Q-10-5. No diamonds. I check. Sure I made a pair, but no way is second pair good against five opponents. This seems like the wrong time to continuation bet as pre-flop aggressor. I fold to a raise.

With 6-4, Mr. Gray calls an early position bet, and he eventually wins at showdown with fourth pair.

Mr. Gray now starts to play every hand. Not almost every hand. One hundred percent of hands.

End of level 3: 41,000 chips.

We go on break. I call Mrs. rppoker since I have not been able to call after I have been busting tournaments due to the late hour, the two-hour time difference and the fact that she goes to bed early. After our call is over, I grab a WSOP hot dog.

I never saw (or looked for tbh) the WSOP hot dogs. Where were they?

There was a poker food kitchen near the Horseshoe Ballroom (when you pass the Horseshoe Casino and get part way to the Horseshoe Ballroom). There was also a hot dog cart when you first walk into the Paris Ballroom (underneath the big screen TV).

WSOP 2026: (June 12) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1C (Part 3 of 9)
A crusher joins the table to my immediate left ... Meet the least enthusiastic dealer of the entire WSOP ... A waiter accidently spills a Bloody Mary on a player at my table ... Fiji tells a tale from 20 years ago about a felonious, intentional hot coffee attack at the poker table

Level 4
300/500/500

A new player joins the table to my immediate left, taking the seat of the departed Looking For Information. New guy is drinking FIJI Water. He will be “Fiji.” This will turn out to be a terrible trade for me since I have lost the spewy Looking For Information and gained a crusher with an impressive poker resume (WPT first-place finish, WSOP runner-up finish, total live earnings almost $1,300,000) to my immediate left.

When I text TJ later in the day about this, he texts back, “That’s what’s great about tournaments ... no table selection. You never know what you are going to get out of your draw.”

In Seat 5, Samoa finally arrives. So, I need to figure out from scratch the two new players to my immediate left.

A new dealer arrives, and someone at the table welcomes him by saying, “How are you doing?” The dealer responds, “Ehhh, I’m at work.” Not exactly Mr. Enthusiasm. I suspect this dealer is not going to lead the way in five-star voting from players in the new rating system the WSOP has introduced this year.

A waiter carrying a tray of drinks is trying to walk between our table and another table, when he loses control of the tray and a Bloody Mary spills all over the back of Tommy Bahama in Seat 9. Tommy Bahama takes it in stride, feels no compunction to go clean up, and keeps playing his cards.

This leads to Fiji telling a story from 20 years ago that took place at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. An attorney suffered a bad beat. The attorney left the table in a huff, bought a hot coffee, came back and dumped it on the player who delivered the bad beat. The difference in spills is that the attorney in this story got arrested, whereas the waiter who just spilled the Bloody Mary did so on accident. Still, it’s a good story from Fiji.

Fiji, who is either very mellow or sleepy, is asked for change by Diamonds. She tosses a 1,000 chip in the middle of the table, and Fiji slides a 500 and five 100s her away. Fiji forgets to take the 1,000 chip. After a moment I point to the chip which is in front of me, and Fiji starts to make change for me. I say, “No, that’s yours.” The light bulb goes on for him, and he says, “I’m tired.”

I am UTG with K-Q. This is a hand that I think gets you in trouble from UTG with so many people still to act. Still, folding seems too nitty. I open the betting. Mr. Gray calls, which is not concerning seeing as how he is playing every hand. Full house now squeezes big. I have not seen him get out of line. As I see it, if his hand is strong enough to raise big over an UTG open I figure to be pretty far behind. I think K-Q is an open-fold in this situation, and I do fold.

End of level 4: 35,600 chips

WSOP 2026: (June 12) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1C (Part 4 of 9)
I get Mr. Gray (who hates folding) to fold, but it takes a 4-bet from me to get him to stand down ... I squeeze with A-K ... Backing down with A-J ... Getting to showdown with 8-8 ... My opponent flops top two pair

Level 5
300/600/600

I’m not off to a good start. My chip stack has been on a slow but steady descent. That changes when I look down at A-K. Mr. Gray opens, which means nothing. Diamonds 3-bets, which means something. I 4-bet and Mr. Gray and Diamonds fold. Wow, Mr. Gray folded to a 4-bet. I did not think folding was in his toolbox (sarcasm ... sort of). I have 43,100 chips.

Raiders asks Diamonds for change. She is on a short stack, so it’s a bit surprising he’d ask her for change. Diamonds does a little dance in her seat and happily says proudly, “I can give change.”

Someone a couple of tables over busts out in what I suspect is either a cooler or a bad beat, and he says, “What are you going to do?” Another player at this table (the loudest guy in the room all day and wearing a dandy Panama hat) shouts, “Rebuy! That’s what you’re gonna do!!!”

Two players limp. I have 6-6. I limp. Sooner or later one of my small pair hands has to make a set. Right? I see other people do it all the time. OK, let’s flop a set. I do not flop a set. The flop is J-9-2. I fold to a bet. My set mining skills need a lot of work.

I have A-K. Full House opens 1,500. Diamonds calls. I pop it to 6,000. Full House calls (he also does not like to fold and is second only to Mr. Gray in his activity in hands). Diamonds folds. Full House checks in the dark. I don’t really see the point in checking in the dark. The flop is A-6-2. I bet one-third pot. Full House folds, which surprises me since he likes to take hands to at least the turn and often the river.

I am UTG and have A-J. It’s not a hand that wants to see a lot of push back, but I’m certainly not folding or limping. I open the betting. Two players call, which doesn’t concern me, but Full House raises huge. He could be squeezing, but I don’t think he is doing so light. I think I am likely in bad shape here. I fold. Only Mr. Gray calls with 4-4. Full House has A-K. Somehow Mr. Gray gets to showdown with fifth pair and wins. Even so, my A-J would have been in bad shape versus A-K. It seems like I have been getting bottom end of premium UTG a fair amount and running into “it” a lot. I don’t know if A-J is an open-fold from UTG, but that’s the way I played it.

I have 8-8. From UTG, Full House opens the betting. I call as do three others. Should I have 3-bet? I don’t think so. That said, with five of us to a flop, I have to be very careful. OK, let’s flop a set. I do not flop a set. But the flop is not terrible. It is 6-6-4 rainbow. I might be good, but with so many people in the hand, I do not want to play a huge pot. Everyone checks. The turn is a very nice 2. Full House bets. This should not be his flop. It’s possible he has an over pair to my 8-8, but I think it is more likely that he has A-K or something in that neighborhood. I call. Mr. Gray calls. The turn is a 7. I tell myself I will call any single bet. My pair of 8s are hanging on for dear life.

Mr. Gray checks, Full House checks. I think I am good, but I decide against going for thin value. Getting check raised would be a disaster. I check. My 8s are good. This was an uncomfortable hand for me. I have 53,100 chips. I have finally stuck my nose above starting stack.

Full House’s trips beat Mr. Gray’s two pairs for heaps of chips. Mr. Gray is down to around 25,000.

Full House opens 1,500 with A-10. I call from the big blind with 2-2. OK, let’s flop a set. I do not flop a set. The flop is A-10-7. Full House has flopped two pairs. He bets. I fold. He shows his cards. I cannot set mine to save my life this tournament.

End of level 5: 50,700 chips

WSOP 2026: (June 12) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1C (Part 5 of 9)
The extremely active Mr. Gray burns through a big stack and busts ... With Mr. Gray gone I feel like I can find more spots to bluff ... Treading water ... A-J from UTG has been problematic for me

Level 6
400/800/800

Aqua busts Mr. Gray. Playing every hand, Mr. Gray built a huge stack, but he did not last long. I keep seeing this. Players get involved in an insanely high percentage of hands all gas, no breaks. They build a huge stack, but they also implode pretty early. I suspect this style allows them to occasionally make really deep runs where the big money is, but mostly I see this style lead to them crashing out of the tournament in an enormous fireball of tournament poker death. While I find this style to be challenging to deal with since they put the table under non-stop pressure, I also find it very profitable. I just play tight and while I lose a number of tiny hands to this style of player, I also win huge pots against them with my play-only-good-cards style. When I make a hand, I get paid well by this type of opponent. I find that I am often one of the few players at the table who is massively profitable against such an opponent. It seems like other players lose a lot of chips to this type of player because they stick around post flop and maybe the turn but then get pushed off their hand by a huge river bet. I wait to make a strong hand against this type, I stay committed and more often than not I get the hyper aggressive player to pay off a couple of streets of betting before they fold on the river to my return of firepower.

After Mr. Gray busts, I write down in my notes, “Full House now figures to be table captain.” Full House has been very active, and very willing to do battle with Mr. Gray, but I would not describe Full House as all gas, no breaks. He has his foot very much on the gas pedal, but he does know where the brake pedal is located for occasional use.

With Mr. Gray now gone from the seat two to my left, I tell myself I can now start to get a little more aggressive. Whereas you could not bluff Mr. Gray out of a hand, I now think bluffing becomes a viable option to me. Almost immediately, just such an option opens up. It folds to me in late position (BTN or CO, my notes are conflicting). I open the betting with A-7. Samoa calls from the big blind. The flop is K-9-2. I have missed, but a King is very much in my range as the pre-flop aggressor, so I bet and Samoa folds. I have 54,500 chips.

From late position I limp with 2-2. Fiji raises 2,200. Samoa and I both call. OK, let’s flop a set. I do not flop a set. The flop is K-K-7. We all check. The turn is a 4. We all check. I suspect Fiji is slow playing a King. The river is an Ace. Well, if Fiji wasn’t slow playing a King, surely the Ace is good for him. Fiji finally puts chips in the middle, and both Samoa and I fold. I have 52,300 chips. It feels like I am simply grinding to stay at starting stack. Still, that’s better than firing a second bullet.

A new player joins the table in Seat 6. She is wearing a shirt with a leopard on it. I dub her “Lady Leopard.”

My table all day in the Horseshoe ballroom has been the last table next to a wall. From my seat, my back is to the wall. For the first time all day I look behind me, and I see that the Chris Ferguson and Shaun Deeb banners are looking over my shoulder.

I am dealt A-J when I am UTG. Why do I keep getting bottom of premium range from UTG? If I have A-J or K-Q in an unopened pot from middle position, good for me. But A-J off suit from UTG seems more likely to get me in trouble than it is to pay off big. Still, I have to open the betting with this hand. Samoa raises. When I have top of premium UTG it seems like I don’t get action. But every time I have A-J or K-Q from UTG I am getting raised. It folds to me. I have been folding A-J in this exact situation up until now, but for some reason this time I call. I’m probably just fed up with folding (properly in my thinking), which is not a good reason. The flop is 3-6-2. Samoa bets. I fold. I have 42,000 chips. Back below starting stack where I have spent most of the day. I still have plenty of big blinds.

While a hand is going on and someone is tanking, I take a look at the WSOP app and check out each of the players at my table. Full House has 18 WSOP cashes to his name. Fiji has 36 WSOP. I don’t bother looking up any of the other players given their lackluster play.

Samoa and Tommy Bahama get into a raising war. Samoa folds to an all-in. Tommy Bahama shows K-K.

End of level 6: 41,800 chips.

We go on break. I go to TJ’s usual break spot where he types his TR posts, and once he finishes his update we hang out.

WSOP 2026: (June 12) $500 Colossus NLHE, Day 1C (Part 6 of 9)
Neighbors: The player to my immediate left used to live in a town I lived in around the same time ... I have A-A, Diamonds goes all-in after the flop, I call and it’s a serious sweat ... The all-powerful Q-5, AKA the luckiest hand I know ... A Martin Kabrhel wannabe joins the table

Level 7
500/1,000/1,000

Fiji and I chat a bit when we aren’t in hands. He says he lived in Northbrook, Illinois before he moved to Arizona. I tell him I grew up a couple of towns over from Northbrook, and when I got married my wife and I had a condo in Northbrook for a few years before moving back to my hometown. I say, “I’ve never been smart enough to move somewhere warm.” Fiji says that as soon as he was old enough to make his own decisions, he moved somewhere warm. Fiji says, “I don’t know why the Midwest has such big populations. I never got used to the cold.”

I am the BTN with K-9. It folds to me. I bet. Fiji calls from the small blind. Samoa calls from the big blind. The flop is A-K-2. It checks to me, and I bet. Fiji calls. Samoa folds. The turn is a rag. I decide to slow down. We both check. The river is a Jack. Check-Check. Fiji has A-Q, and I lose the hand. I have 30,800. This is the lowest I’ve been all day, but I still have 31 big blinds. Nothing to stress over.

I have A-A. Diamonds is aptly named and has Kd-Jd and opens the betting. I raise to 6,000. Fiji calls. Diamonds calls. The flop is Js-10d-4d. I bet, Fiji folds, Diamonds goes all-in, I call. It’s a coin flip. Given how bad I’m running, I prepare myself for my Aces to get cracked, which I know is the wrong attitude. But still ...

... phew, Diamonds does not get there, and she is out. I get a big chip infusion and now have 61,100. Once Diamonds leaves the table and is out of earshot I say, “That was a lot more scary than I expected when I called.”

A new player arrives to replace Diamonds in seat 1. The new, late-reg player is wearing a Detroit Red Wings hockey hat and an Anaheim Angels baseball jersey. I name him “Confused” in my notes. I should have named him Crash and Burn, because on his first hand at the table he busts when his open-ended straight draw misses and loses to Q-Q.

Confused exits and Tommy Bahama says to the table, “Was he trying to set a record?

Next, hand I have Q-5, which is the luckiest hand I know. Once when I finished third in a tournament at Talking Stick Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona Q-5 sun ran for me. Once in a big blind special I ended up with a full house and tripled up against two other players who were all-in dead after the turn. Then late in the tournament at the final table I believe I was down to just a bit more than crumbs, I’m thinking I was all-in from the big blind but I don’t really remember other than Q-5 somehow won that hand as well.

Now, although I consider Q-5 to be very lucky for me, I never go out of my way to play it. So, while Q-5 off suit made me smile on the inside for this hand at the WSOP, I had no intention to play it. It folded to Aqua in the small blind, who put in a bet of 3x. But the dealer rules that she made a string bet, so it’s only a call. I would have folded to the bet, but OK, let’s see a flop. The flop is Q-2-3. Aqua checks, I bet, Aqua folds. Beware the power of Q-5.

A new player joins the table in Seat 1. He has very long, stringy, rock star hair. He is wearing a Tony Robbins shirt. He will be Tony Robbins. We will quickly learn that he is less Tony Robbins inspirational speaker and more Martin Kabrhel* irritant.

As part of my conversation with Fiji to my immediate left, this is when it comes out that he has a second-place finish in a WSOP event as well as a WPT first place finish on his poker resume. This does not surprise me as it’s been clear for quite some time that he is a very strong player.

I am dealt 9-9. I open. Everyone folds. I have 63,500 chips.

End of level 7: 61,500 chips.

* -- In small doses (guilty pleasure alert) I find Kabrhel amusing. That said, I wouldn’t want to be at his table for an extended period of time, which would be irritating.

There's quite a number of Kabrhel/Kassouf wannabes out there. It's why I always have a set of earplugs in my pocket while in Vegas. Because you just never know when one of those clowns is gonna enter your life.

really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing