GolfPro's Post WSOP Summer Celebration Trip Report
Hello All,
This is a post trip report. I have initially planned to do a live report, but things got hectic during my stay, and I didn't get enough time to do a live trip report. So, this would be recounting of things that happened during a 12 day stay in Vegas. The original plan was for 10 days, Jul 3rd to the 13th.
I have renowned appreciation for the Las Vegas Lifestyle members (TonySoprano, DogFace, TJ, Langdon, Leon etc.,) that promise and complete a live trip report.
I have a tradition of visiting the restaurant Wazuzu (in Encore) to celebrate a successful trip or a deep run in a tournament. Let's see if this materialized during this trip.
Before we jump ahead with the trip report, let's complete the basic details and furnish the administrative information.
The Schedule:
WSOP Events:
7/3/26 Event 81: WSOP$800 Summer Celebration - Day 1B
7/5/2026 Event 86: WSOP $600 No-Limit Hold'Em Ultra Stack - Day 1A
7/9/26 Event 478: WSOP $ 250 No-Limit Hold'Em - Seniors
7/11/26 Event 88: WSOP Gladiators of Poker Day 1D
7/12/26 Event 95: WSOP $500 Summer Saver Day 1A
Non WSOP Events:
7/4/26 Orleans OSO NLH Main Event - 1G NLH $600
7/7/26 South Point 300K Multiday Flight E NLH $300
7/10/26 83: Venetian $1100 Seniors Event
The Bankroll:
The big question for the mirror ball:
Mirror Ball, would I be able to beat my previous deep run record during this trip? (Finished 27th in the Thursday, 9 AM Senior's Event last trip)
Travel Woes:
Tag line: Let's get the bad zuzu out of the way before we can enjoy a trip to Wazuzu!
As I am planning to stay for 10 days decided to save on parking and opted for mass transit. A friend dropped me off at 7:30 AM at the Metro Station. My flight on Frontier is at 9:55 AM. Takes about an hour to reach Dulles Airport. Felt the time was sufficient to drop the bag (will have 30/40 mins before the bag drop cutoff) and find a spot for a nice breakfast/brunch at the airport.
There was a train standing on the platform and as I was about to board the train the announcement comes "Doors Closing!" and the doors literally shut in front of my face and the train departs. We wait for 12 minutes for the next train. There is some maintenance work/construction going on the Red Line and the trains are running a little slow. We change trains and catch the Silver Line towards the airport. Even this line was slow, as it was waiting for the earlier departure to clear the platform. We finally make it to the counter at 9:00 AM and the agent informs us the cut off time is 60 minutes and she cannot accept our bag. I ask her politely, what are my options, can my bag come on a different flight (there is one more in the afternoon). She indicates the bag has to travel with you and cannot be sent separately.
I enquire if there is a flight from a different airport that I can catch that helps me reach earlier. She indicates there is a flight from BWI at Noon, but I need to pay the fare difference (which is around $300, cancel my existing ticket -$100, pay for an Uber to BWI). In addition, since I am taking the assistance of the agent there will be an additional fee of $25 to book the ticket. I indicate to her, give me a few minutes to look for alternate options. Thanks to my miles and sale on United, I was able to secure a direct flight at 1PM from IAD that will land at 3:00 PM in Vegas (instead of Noon as I originally planned).
We had a good 3.5/4 hours to decide what we would like to do after dropping our bag with United. We pick this for our go to Lunch:
We finally make it to Sin City!
Were we able to register for the Summer Celebration event after all these travel delays?
Only time will tell. More in the next episode/installment.
11 Replies
Looking forward to this TR, even if it's posted on the new 2+2 format... :(
Mod can this be moved to the old format To please some of my regular readers!
Travel Woes Continued...
Highlights:
* Get upgraded to Economy Plus due to late check-in
* Not the Roman 5 my friend, V for Valet!
* Val the other V from DC
* Escape Room with AirBnB host
* Hippocratic Oath
As we are a late check-in we are placed in middle seat in Row 8 which is in Economy Plus. For all the travel woes this was a good end result, allowed me to travel a little more relaxed.
I am comfortable riding the local buses in Vegas. I download the apps Transit and RideRTC. RideRTC allows you to buy multi day passes. Transit app helps track the exact time the bus would arrive at a certain bus stop and it helps plan a trip from Point A to Point B.
The bus CX (Commuter Express) runs every hour and takes you to Horseshoe Food Court bus stop in 15 minutes. I think this is the first time I am flying to Terminal 3. I had a tough time identifying the exact location where the bus stops.
The Indo/Chinese/Roman Genius!
With the registration clock for the Summer Celebration ticking, I frantically booked an Uber, only to misread "Level V" as "Level 5." Sure enough, I found a fellow Chinese genius wandering the garage in the same existential confusion on Level 5.
Once we found our driver, we shared a ride with someone bound for Paris.
We hitched a ride to Paris to drop our fellow passenger, and I had a stroke of midnight-in-Vegas brilliance: I’ll just register here before dropping my bags at the Horseshoe bell desk!
I confidently strode into Paris with my luggage, only to be stopped dead in my tracks by security. Apparently, hauling a massive suitcase onto the registration floor is the ultimate casino sin. She politely explained she understood my plight, but the rules were written in stone. Panic mode activated. I was so close to entering the event, and now I had to make the dreaded trek to drop my bags at the Horseshoe bell desk and then walk all the way back to Paris. My “shortcut” had just turned into a marathon.
We make the trek and drop our bags at bell hop, take a walk back to Paris, complete the formalities and enter the last flight for the Summer Celebration. While registering for the event, request the teller to place us in Paris if that is a possibility. We are placed here:
Spoiler
Horseshoe Blue/410/2
Take a walk to the location. There are no chips at my seat, dealer calls for the floor, and he brings in the necessary betting units. All this while, I didn't even realize I was coming into the big blind. Apparently, you can request the dealer to skip you, according to the new WSOP rules, and can come after the button.
Too much time was wasted in calling the floor and getting the chips etc., just went with my BB (40K SS, blinds 1/2/2K). There was open to 6K and we see Ks9s in BB. I decided to call as we didn't travel all the way from DC to fold our very firsthand.
The flop was generous AJQ with one spade. He makes a CBet 3K. Call.
T:7s Check Check
R:Qd Check shows 5's. I guess we missed a bet somewhere.
Down to 28K from 40K SS after that adventure. As soon as the hand was over, they announced the break. I would have taken my sweet time and joined the event after break with a fresh stack of 40K instead of the current 28K.
In getting settled down at the event didn't even realize I was sitting next to Val, who is a local tournament grinder from DC. Did we travel all the way from DC to Vegas (not to mention with a wait/travel time of 8+ hours) to play with the same people I play in DC
I don't have too many notes on the bust out hand in the Summer Celebration, I roughly entered in L12, busted in L16 (with BB at 5K/5K). I shoved my last 21K and didn't win the flip!
In retrospect with all the delays and the travel hassle I should have taken it easy on the 800 event and jumped into DDS. Would have saved some buy-in money and not felt too much pressure with the higher blind levels. In the future let's not plan for any big events on day 1 of the arrival. It is not like I signed the Hippocratic oath to play all the events that were promised in the package.
Even though I tentatively planned for Aria at 7PM, decided to take my own advice and went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping and checked into my AirBnB.
Escape Room with AirBnB Host...
The property I stayed is a gated community at the intersection of Twain and Jones. I wanted to pick a property that is close to Flamingo Road, so, I can take just one bus to reach Paris/Horseshoe.
This location is a little closer to Spring Mountain (Bus line that drops you next to Venetian/Wynn). A little farther to Flamingo (10 min walk, not bad, a short ride on another bus to reach Flamingo).
My host is a Chinese woman that owns or manages multiple locations in that area. So, a property that you booked may or may not be the one you will be allotted. So, when I was ready to check-in, I call her, she keeps giving me options, which on the map, looked too far from Flamingo. We zero-in on the Twain/Jones location.
After my grocery shopping pick an Uber to AirBnB. We meet an older Chinese gentleman that didn't like the current War. We had some light conversation.
My Airbnb host operates strictly on a "need-to-know" basis. Communicating with her is like playing an interactive text-based escape room where she is the cryptic NPC. She will absolutely not volunteer information. You must discover the clue, formulate the exact question, and unlock the next level. The level progression proceeded as follows:
Level 1:
Our quest began at the front gate: "What is the entry code?" She texts back. Boom, Level 1 unlocked.
Level 2:
We arrive at the house, only to find it split into two separate dimensions—Part A uses the front door, while Part B requires a trek down the side alley to access the backyard.
"Which piece of this duplex puzzle belongs to me?" She texts back. Part B. Level 2 unlocked.
Level 3:
Finally, standing at the locked door in the alley, I text: "What is the code for this gate?" Boom, Level 3 unlocked.
I am glad this game had only three levels. I was dead tired by this time and was ready to hit the bed.
Here are a few pictures of the AirBnB:
This has gotten long. Let's continue the story in the next installment. Strawberry Julius will make an appearance tomorrow.
Sadly unreadable due to the "new" format but Jesus Christ dude, leave yourself MORE time to get to an airport in future. This isn't the 1950s.
Sorry Mackem the format is unreadable. As Tony mentioned try the TapATalk App.
The flight was at 9:55 AM, bag drop time 8:55, my original plan would put me at the airport at 8:25/30. Half hour before bag drop and 1.30 before the flight should be sufficient. If I was able to get in the first train we wouldn't have this discussion I guess.
But as you can see we never know with mass transit.
