blonde poker forum

Ok let’s do this.
Updates from vegas gonna go here when make time to write them.
Currently 7am and lost count of the coronas last night, reckon was about 13 on a near empty stomach bar a few snacks.
Wanted a chicken kebab from bazaar shops at midnight but queue was huge so ended up with Dave’s hot chicken for the 2nd time in 3 nights.

Let’s do a plo8 at Venetian review from yesterday to start with , was on day 3 of my trip .
$800 30 min levels so usual fast structure in these “lower” buyins at other casinos that seem to have got higher each year .

First hand was probably my most interesting hand of the day .
100/100 with 100 bb ante
4 handed on button I make it 200 with 9634cccc, not quite a premium :) but wanted to get image and info early when we are 250bb deep and only 4 handed.  
Flop A102ddx.  Bb only caller check calls 300.
Turn 10d and again he check calls 600..
At this point I’m either giving up or betting 1000 on the river if it’s a brick but I’ll never know as river is a 6
Love that card when bb checks I pot it for 2400.  He calls fairly quickly with 79ddxx , no low draw .  
So joint chip leader at the table by 100 chips after that chop .

Table gradually filled to 9 handed by the end of level 4.  Was very passive table but I just couldn’t seem to get much going with lack of tools and spots.
My 25k dropped to 20k before hitting a few hands and hitting first break with 33k .  
Coming back with 300/600/600 and blinds going up fast I figured make or break time might come soon and it did.  
I had lost a couple of pots and was back to 25k when I raised in mid position with a24Khhhx to 1200.
Button who had been solid tight, and not out of line at all especially post flop reraised me to 3500.  
Hindsight because he hadn’t potted it I should have gone back over the top to 11,400 but I chose to just flat call at the time which I don’t hate either.  
Flop comes J102hhx and knowing I’d rather just take what’s in the middle I bet pot of 8500.
He pushes me all in and I’m shocked but still happy to see he’s reraised me with jj85 1 suit ( not hearts ) , so I’m probably slight dog but don’t mind a 50/50 type anyway to get a stack or bust tbh given how the tables gone and the blinds increasing .  Unfortunately the turn is a 10d and I’m drawing dead .
So not to be but still fun experience and reminded me how much more I enjoy pot limit live mtts as oppose to limit ones.  Played limit day before , report to come .
Decided not to reenter and only get 30-40 bb .

Headed back to 1/2/5 big O at horseshoe where I played for about 7 hours.  Didn’t start well but had chipped up nicely at the end of the session for ?possibly a 400 profit .  It took a while but eventually I got half the table drinking and it was great fun with a lot of friendly banter and zero need for earphones music thankfully.

Big O changes this year
Rake now $9 a man every half hour, up from 8 last year which was up from 7 the year before .
Our table agreed to bomb pots every half hour 20 a man to cover time , difference from last year was that it was ultimate high and ultimate low from both boards - love this and creates some real thinking spots as opposed to previous years where I would be one board hilo or 2 boards of plo high instead .

Probably plo 400 at mgm today hungover but had fun there last year and isn’t many things there this year I can play so think I’ll crack on and get there for the 11 start .  

Some back ground on me for those lucky enough to have never come across me :)
Gives me a chance to see if I can write on my phone while walking on the treadmill too
Ex lazy online poker pro from the boom days but still lazy
Cornwall based
Lost count of Vegas trips, but somewhere in the twenties
Consider myself retired these days at 47 but it will depend on investments, the desire to work, and inflation whether I ever return to regular work
Often get angry playing poker online whilst I’m actually the complete opposite in real life , I’ve no idea why
About break even the last year onliine but only play when on the mood , often with beer or cider to accompany an evening session
Year before I made enough to cover Vegas losses
Vegas the last 2 trips has been dry with no mtt cashes at all , lost over $10k both trips , budget for this trip is around $25k max
Prefer split games and plo rather than nlh and have played at the same table as the legendary tiikay many times in both mtts and cash. 
Currently heaviest in 14 years so hoping to lose weight in vegas , it usually happens strangely as I walk/jog gym most days , get loads of steps in elsewhere and generally don’t eat as much as I would at home . 
Definitely have an addiction to playing pool at home , lots of spare time in winter goes into that
Oh and I used to write a blog many years ago, google pokeranimal and you’ll prob find it if really bored .

Subscribed.

Good luck, get the lot.

Thanks for doing this and good luck. Where are you staying?

Horseshoe .  Will do review of travel:/day1 and day 2 of trip when I get time .

So todays mtt is a $400 plo very fast structure at MGM
If I wasn’t I would seriously considered playing the 1000 mystery millions at WSOP nlh but just couldn’t face it
Done 45 mins in gym mostly walking and another half hour walking from room to mgm
Hangover is mostly making me tired , don’t feel too rough .  Rare to get a bad hangover in vegas in my experience.
I’ll try to update as I go along but could easily be another early bath, just looking to enjoy this one and get a feel for some plo as I rarely play 4 cars these days - mostly 6 card plo online instead .

15 mins in on a relatively passive table so far then this hand
100/200/200 7 handed and 2 limpers , I make it 800 with qxqx10d9d from late position and just those 2 call.
Flop is a dream Q24xdd and I get check called by one player for 1800. 
Turn is horrid 5 and he leads for 5000 and I call. 
River is the 3d and he same bets for 5000 fairly quickly
Not a huge fan but know I have to call the way it’s played to probably see a3 but whether it’s with diamonds or not is up for debate .
He has a357 with just one diamond and I pull in a decent pot
Hit few pots as well as that and end of level 1 at 43k
Starting stack was 25k

200/300/300 and this hand plays out
8 to a flop in my bb with 10x742hhh
Flop is 922 and I lead 800 called by 3 players
Pretty much ready to give up when a 10 hits the turn
I lead for 2000 and it’s called by 1 player
River is a 4x and I lead for 4500 . He instantly shoves or pot raises and I quickly fold
Down to 33k

Carnage here
End of level 2 and there’s a 5 way all in preflop with the smallest stack having 10k
Then start of level 3 there’s a 3 way all in preflop at 200/400/400 , again shortest stack had over 10k
The only shock was I wasn’t involved in either hand, tables certainly warmed up since level 1

300/500/500
Bb with Qj86xxhh and call button raise of 1800
Flop is J57 rainbow and I check raise a 2000 bet to pot of 10,500 pot
He flats .  I’ve got 20k left and the dream 4h hits the turn giving me a flush draw as well
No slow playing here and I shove expecting a call but he quickly folds .
Back to peak stack of 44k

Up to 74k after this hand
A limp of 600 I make it 2000 from mid position with Ah7h9d6d and get 3 calllers
Flop is 10d, 9h, 6h and I cont bet 8000 and get 1 caller tighter old chap on the button
Turn is 2x and I bet 16000 which is quickly called
River is 3d and I move all in for about 20000 and he quickly folds - felt like he was on a draw . Maybe QJ with hearts as well but obv a chance he had set and if he does and calls then so be it . 

107 entrants so far , I think late registration is 2nd break at the end of level 8. Obviously I won’t be entering again if I bust. 

Currently trying to tell myself to enter the mystery millions at wsop tomorrow instead of another plo at Venetian but will prob decide first thing in the morning

Great stuff Rob, gonna enjoy this.

End of level 6 I raise an 800 limper to 2400 and call a reraise behind me of 9000.
I have AK94 dbl std and flop is kkx with my suit . Check check .
Turn is kx. I lead 6400 which is called . River x and I bet 21k .  Matey angrily announces you have it but u call anyway and thumps his fist down, obv had aces . 

107k

Thanks, when are you out ? I’m guessing it well after I’ve left .

Not until July 12th, you'll be back in Cornwall by then. 

Am seriously considering going out for the full 5 weeks next year. Gotta be done.

Subbed too

Good luck. Jealous to not be there

Last hand before the break at 600/1200/1200
I’m in bb with AA108ccdd and make it 10k after an early raise and a button call
Just the crazy Asian on the button calls
Flop is k55ccx and I check call a pot bet of 24k plus change
Turn is 9x and he pots it again after I check , I tank all in for 4000 more and he makes the sheepish call with KQ96.
Up to 225k after that one , 136 entrants , reg closed. 

27 left .  Redrawn table .
Pays 17
Average 125k
220k stack
Blinds 1.5k/3k/3k last level before 40 min dinner break .

Dinner.  24 left
290k = double average
Not getting overly involved tbh with 8/9 handed tables
Got a nice chunk from playing 3346dbl std on my bb when it ran out k56j7 after I’d check called flop and got a free river before getting paid off .

And it’s my first cash in vegas for 6 years.
Now let’s try and win it.  17 left .
Average 200k and I have 250k.
Blinds are a large 3/5/5 and it’s a stacked action table I’m on so I’ll be surprised if I don’t chip up or go home .soon .  Although we are 9 handed so might not be straight away :)

8th of 9
200k .  Blinds about to go 5/15/15
Time to gamble soon
Apologies for lack of updates but tired and need to watch action closer
Called down another big bluff in one hand was only real hand of note lately

 ;popcorn;

And out in 6th
Nursed short stack really well and bust hand would have put me back to average stack .
Aaa6hhxx vs utg+1 raiser who had QJ105 1 suit . 
Amazing how tilted a few players got at the final table
We were 7 handed for ages and the big stacks weren’t happy
1885 payout and it’s my first vegas cash in nearly 6 years so I’ll take it

Back in room now after walking the crazy fri night strip back, was tempted to monorail it but couldn’t not see the weekend madness .
Slight temptation to hit cash tables as I walk right past Paris WSOP entrance but resisted
Another dry night !
Options tomorrow of plo  at V .  WSOP nlh mystery bounty , or day off and just cash games .
Decide in morning , all seem valid choices at moment .

Most enjoyable read, thanks Rob.

Well done Sir

Thanks for doing this, great read

Whilst the tables were generally very friendly yesterday it was funny how mad people got if their bluffs were called.
I have one more hand to detail that I briefly mentioned yesterday and was again huge to my survival .
Barring a 2 out vs crazy Asian earlier I was never all in called and covered with cards to come until the last 7 players remained .
Huge achievement for any mtt but even more so in such a fast structured one.

Blinds 4/8/8 and we are 6 handed with 12players left.  I have about 200k .
I min raise to 16k with aka7 dbl std. just bb English player  calls who has been very vocal about how he lives in vegas for 15 years + , British chap .  Never come across him before but as usual likes to think he’s better than he is at poker , but hey don’t we all .
Flop is 993h,h,c  .  I have none of these suits and decide to check back the flop.
Turn is 5c and he checks to me again , this time he check calls 20k but didn’t appear strong at all and in my head I was hoping for a brick to get value on river.   River is Jh , would like to check it down but he leads for 80k.  
Tank time , he announces I think that’s pot bet after I ask how much is it and is there that much in the pot .
Nothing appears strong, the way he’s played it I just didn’t see him betting so big with a flush though slight concern about JJ so take ages to make the call .  I love and hate these live spots ,  I don’t play live much at all but I love to play on instinct in these spots and go with my gut .  My gut said he’s on clubs .  He says I think you got me .  Turns over QJ and I wait until he shows all as I want info this time too, QJ45 with clubs.  
Now we get the “how can you call” speech, “mate that’s literally the first time I’ve bluffed today” and some extra sarcasm I can’t recall.,

Later with 8 players left playing 400k ish at 6/12/12 he managed to get it all in preflop with K,K,10,3 1 suit in bb vs a huge stack rock that obv had aces after limp reraise from the sb .  He’d only put 36k in and had such an “easy” fold the way other guy had played and the table equity and dynamic .  

One last point from yesterday .  That last pot was worth about $5000 in equity yesterday , easy to work out as was average chips and clock displays even chop value .

Ocean one bar and and grille currently for 2nd time this trip.
Cheap and cheerful place and I’ve ordered my usual 2 eggs , bacon , toast, potatoes , side of fruit and of course much needed coffee .
I could have slept better but wasn’t too bad .  My eyes are proper tired but my brains refreshed .
I hope I don’t regret it but I’ve gone for the 10am mystery millions today $1,000. 
Starts in 75mins

Don’t play nlh much at all the last several years .  Caribbean trip annually and only in the rotation of 8 game in online cash games .
I’ve no idea about gto and solvers and all the rest of the nonsense these days  but I cashed in the Caribbean in November and bubbled their main event too so don’t feel too out of practise . 

I just hope to enjoy it and play my regular game .  It’s a fairly fast structure but I figure I can play cash games later if I bust .  Could even head Venetian if I bust in first 2 hours but seems unlikely option. 

I’m in horseshoe room so really close to my room for breaks which is good .

Good Luck

1st break 33k from 40k , had aces 3 times but won 2 small pots and lost the chunkier one below. 
UTG I raise to 1200 at 300/500/500 , button and bb call .
Flop 7x8x9h and bb leads 2200 and we both call
Turn is 7h and bb checks .  I bet 4000 and just button calls.
River is a Jh , probably the best worst card for me as when I check he bets 15000.
I fold, he doesn’t show but everyone convinced he had full house.  Bb claims he folded Q10 which makes sense . 
Got the info I needed on the turn but river deffo made for an easy fold especially vs that player based on his play so far.

Day 2 review - 1500 limit Omaha hilo

Finally another chance to play the only WSOP bracelet event I’ve ever final tabled.
It’s nearly always too early in the series so I think I’ve only played it twice before.
The year was 2009, I was at the start of a 5-6 week trip to Vegas and at the the height of my poker career playing stakes that would just scare me silly these days . I ended up 4th for $73k that year. 

I only arrived 24 hours prior to the tournament this year but managed some sort of decent routine the morning before the 2pm start .
At 4:15am I couldn’t sleep so I headed to the gym only to find the unmanned gym only opens at 5am . This actually worked out well as I went for a walk outside for an hour instead and got some good pics.  After 90 mins pool action, breakfast at ocean one and a short nap I headed to the Paris room. 

25k starting stack , soon knew it wasn’t an easy table .  Turned out the 4 players to my left were regular 100/200 mix type players and the 3 spots to my right weren’t too bad either. 

36k at first break getting some luck .  We bust one player and he’s replaced by Erik Seidel !

I peak at  51k at the next break after scooping a lovely pot with A4KK on a 8,10,Q,K,10 board.  Other chap deffo had AJ , prob AJ9 but I had a nut flush draw on the turn so the hand played itself after I’d 3 bet preflop

I floated between 40-50k most of the next  2 hours but edged up to 57k at the next break

I got to 70k early next level holding a264 when I’d raised pre and got 4 callers , board ran out a lovely Q64Q4. 
I peaked at 89k before ending up with 81k at the last break of the day which was a nice double average . 

Blinds were large now but I knew I had extra lives so to speak and really hoped and expected to make day 2.
I lost a huge pot soon after holding A388 on a 7,8,10,6,9 board vs a297 .  We got a lot of bets in 3way on the flop and I was down to 43k after that .
Got quartered in a nasty runout soon after and then quartered again in a hand that just played itself to leave me on life support.
Poker gods didn’t help and I was out at the start of the next level , just not to be but a decent run for 10 hours which resulted in no alcohol that day !

Somehow I’m up to 74k here today at the end of level 7.
I’ve now had aces 4 times and won a 24k pot with one of those.
Key pot though just now
500/1k/1k
Raise utg with 22 to 2200
3 callers and and flop is a nice Qc 10c 2d and just one caller behind me for 3300.
Turn is Ks and he calls my 6000 bet
River is a safe 4d and he calls 12800 , top 2 he said minutes later which it kind of had to be .  Guy next to him folded Q10 preflop too .  

Really enjoying this.

Run well

Aces again for the 5th time now .  Pokergods trying to make me play more Holdem ?
I think we are moving to Paris , let’s call it the walk of shame .  Never done it .
Ah they moved us while I was mid sentence :)
Ok back to the aces
Early position 6000 at 1/2.5/2.5
Just bb calls
He check calls 8000, 18,000 but folds on the river bet of all in for 40k ish on a board of Qc 9c 5x 2x 9x

Just lost 15k vs a shortie 99 vs aq.
Peaked at 108k but down to 83k now
Blinds 1.5/3/3 shortly

111k at next break .  Did I mention I’ve now had aces 6 times in 6 hours .
Strange game .
Back now to 2/4/4 blinds

40 mins to go until a 75 min dinner break if I survive
Squeezed a cut off raiser with aj for 1/3 of my stack on the button and he claims he folded jacks , not so sure tbh , might have been fishing for info .
The get ……………… guess what , yes aces again for 7th time .  Squeezed from bb but late position raiser folded .
Peak stack of 160k but blinds of 4/8/8 shortly .  

5290 entrants just for day 1C
No idea how many entered and survived 1A and 1B
There’s a 1D tomorrow too
1035 left in this flight currently

164k at dinner
Average around 250k
874 left
Pays 794 and will hit the money today
Peaked at 190k after shoving aq utg+1 vs utg raised - he folded ajstd face up .
Can’t even remember the last time I played a nlh  bracelet event at the wsop , could have been 15 years ago but probably somewhere around that so would love to cash but not afraid to gamble .
Pizza
Power Nap
Shower
And play resumes an hour from now

Edit - just returned
Only 811 left !
Eeeek 17 off money with 16 x bb .  

20 mins later edit ….. went fast and we are in the money for $200 profit I believe .
Time to chip up

Floated between 130 to 200k just stealing blinds that 2 hrs ..
Unfortunately now on life support as folded slightly lower than i would have liked and about to come back to 10/20/20 with only 114k.
Also no longer dry, but only 2 beers … so far ;)
About 500 players left
Still not been all in covered called or anywhere near , that will obviously soon change .

Couldn’t find a spot but eventually got it in with a8off and survived vs k10off.
265k now at 10/25/25 ( 1/2 of average stack )
414 left and 50 mins if survive

Edit 10s next hand utg
Lost half stack to KQoff utg+1 who had 130k.

Next hand interesting decision
Bb 45off suit .
Guy I just doubled up has 295k and makes it 55k to go
All in from mid position 400k odd
I tank for 1-2mins doing some math and just dream of being up just against overcards and even better if utg folds.
I shove it in and utg folds .  I’m up against AK
Board runs out J936x for a good sweat but no joy
367th , payout queue too long so not sure what I got yet exactly , maybe 1500 ish.

If the 10s wins I’m just under 500k
And if the 45off beats ak I think I was on 310k
Just gutted to not be at the table now
About to sit big O and hopefully have hour or 2 and some beer .

Terrific stuff Rob, I enjoyed reading that, & congrats on the cash

Excellent!

Great stuff animal.  Used to love your blog!

Thanks all
I enjoyed that but I’ve woke up still very gutted not to have the bounty part of it
For those that don’t know , if you make day 2 in it for every person you eliminate you get an envelope .
That envelope has between 1,000 and 1,000,000 $ written inside it

If the 10s held up I was on 485k I think with average at 567k , so in with a huge chance of going super deep and collecting bounties .
I’m so chuffed I had the balls to put the last 85k in with 45off too, if I fold there I’m in the 10k small blind next hand so I stand by that move 100% as need chips if make day 2 to try get as many bounties as can .

I’ll confirm payout later when I cash in my ticket
As for today I feel very very tired but there is no way I’m not going to play Venetian 800 big O at 12:10pm
I believe it’s a bounty at 200 per person

Was nice to go deep and cash back to back tournaments but it’s exhausting too, was another 13hour day including breaks .
I thought at one point I’d stay dry again but playing the short stack I couldn’t  resist a few beers
Afterwards I got on big O for 100 minutes and had a few more beers, table began really good , seat 1 literally was awful and I chipped up nicely off him .  Game changed though so was easy decision at 1:30am to pack up and record a $450 profit there - puts me roughly level for cash games this trip.  

Right it’s 9am and I guess it’s gym or pool time as I don’t feel like I can get back to sleep .  Ideally aim to leave about 10:30am to buy in then probably go grand luxe cafe for an early lunch ( menu starts at 11am ) .  Had breakfast there the other day but I prefer soup and a sandwich today I think .

Lack of big O updates today folks
It’s hard work to write full histories for it and I want to watch the action
1st break up to 35k from 25k
Did drop to 20k getting quartered when I tried to push a guy off his set and a6 on a flushed 234 board
Free rolled any heart or 6 or paired board with one card to come later for 21k each into a 4k pot on the turn .
Free roll was for 3/4 having guaranteed half but it bricked
Table fairly honest and im having fun , hit nice nutty hand before break to get to 35k

2nd break
Peaked at over 50k but no bounties
Had a 3 way allin preflop where I covered both but no joy
38k currently . Blinds 1k/1.5k/1.5k

3rd break .  Peak stack of 232k
Average 120k
238 entrants.  51 left , pays 30 .
Very large stacked table now .
Got lucky earlier in a 50/50 for a bounty where I had guy covered by 7k for a 80k pot and haven’t looked back since , with plenty of help from cards too .
Blinds 2/4/4 now.

Ok I’ve cashed 3 in a row .
4th break shortly
Coming back to 300k stack with 5/10/10 blinds
Average 200k

Bust in 14th just before 5th break .  Not happy .  More details tomorrow.

Not slept well but can’t seem to drop back off and it’s only 6:30am so might as well do an update here.
Live poker is well and truly alive , especially when it comes to these type of mitts .
Some of the stuff I saw yesterday truly shocked me, especially for an 800buyin

I tried to play small ball more than I would normally only limping or minraising the first 6hrs or so and it definitely worked somewhat
That said I still had I win a 50/50 ( see previous post) way off the money and also when we were 2 off the bubble I was never folding AAJ23 double suited even though I could have folded into the money at that point. I won 3/4of that pot and it truly gave me the chance to chip up afterwards .  
I peaked at 400k soon after with average stack at 300k with blinds 6/12/12 with 21 left.

Unfortunately it just didn’t happen from there onwards , we were on a short stacked table after a redraw at 27 left and as the blinds went up I knew it was going to be more down to luck than I’d have liked .

With 2 tables left I lost some chips with poor aces , lost to a short stack and had about 230k left with 14 players left.
Blinds were now 10/20/20 and I managed to bust on a hand where utg ( not playing much more stack than me ) had limped 20k with KQJ23 and called a 90k pot raise to bust my A2QQ7 in a pot that would have put me huge chipleader at our table for 560k .  Crazy stuff given the payouts up top of 26k / 18k / 12k top 3.  Average stack was 400k at that point, but I bust in 14th for a paltry $1621 ( + $600 in bounties )

If I sound negative it’s because I’m gutted to go deep and not hit big again but also I’m very tired , my eyes are strained , and I seem to have picked up the dreaded dry air con Vegas cough after only 5 days out here . I’m not the fittest person in the world right now so 4 deep runs within 5 days is just exhausting .  I’d love a day off but I also really want to play 800 plo8 at aria today at 11am .

Schedule from here on is relentless too .
Plo8 1500 WSOP Tuesday
PLO 1500 WSOP Wednesday ( clashes with 500plo8 at mgm but I think it has to be WSOP )
Thursday could be a day off from mtt but Friday more likely to be looking at my options .

Hopefully I’ll chip up or go home early today

Great read Animal.  Wishing you the best.

Morning all.
Had fun in the Aria plo8 yesterday $800.
Managed to last 6 hours on what wasn’t as easy a table as would have liked.
Started with 30k and went down to 15k before recovering to 30k by first break.
Then dropped down to 10k before surviving an all in or 2 .  
I got up to peak of 50k when this hand happened :

utg limp 1500 and I pot it to 5500 with AK73 1 suit .
bb repots it to 19k and utg folds .  He has about 20k behind and from the play so far I know his range is wide and huge chance not aces so after a brief think I repot.   He calls and shows a345 1 suit which I’m delighted with .  
Whilst equities run close in this game, getting it in with 3 low cards and an ace vs one other player is a poor play and always well behind ( not gonna run it into a calculator , I just know this from my supernova elite days of being addicted to 3/6 nl hi lo cap where it’s pretty much all in or fold ) .
Anyway we get a fun run out of 3,3,9,2,5 and I lose a pot which would have put me on 90k
My 10k left spun up to 35k before I exit an hour or 2 later on a 3 way all in preflop with AK74 1 suit vs AK106 and A237 .  Flopped nut flush draw and a double gutshot but didn’t improve for what would have been a 70k pot at huge blinds now of 1.5/3k/3k .  Didn’t look to see position when I bust but they got well over 300 entrants .

I had a couple of coronas when short stack and after going to one of my favourite spots, Lardo at cosmopolitan, for Korean pork sandwich I hit a cash table for 5 hours or so .  Was a fun table with plenty of chat/banter and one other drinker .   I went a few hundred down before getting some nice hands and finished 500 up on the session .   Amazing what a difference the table makes,  my table broke around 11:15pm and I spent 45 minutes on another where the chat was just dull as dish water or silence from a better standard of players .

Have I mentioned the bomb pots this year ?
You get 2 boards and it’s ultimate high and ultimate low from either board .
This is so much more fun than previous years and it’s amazing how often you see someone get their stack in ridiculously light to be in deep trouble with cards to come .  Best high from either board tales half pot and best low from either board too.  Really gets you thinking if you catch a piece of it .

It’s now 8:30am and I’m writing this in bed .
Didn’t sleep brilliant , had a huge nosebleed when I got back to the room that lasted 20 minutes .  Never had one that bad and just wanted to get to bed at the time .  Somehow eventually stopped it and haven’t got any blood on the bed sheets like I half expected to wake up to .
It might sound daft but I’m actually reluctant to hit the treadmill today as worried the impact might start it again and I don’t want to be messing around with that before my next tournament .

Noon WSOP $1,500 PLO8
One of my favourite tournaments of the trip
I had a 21st one year in this .  Also had an 11th when they used to run a $3,000 version.  
Last year I didn’t play well and got nowhere on 2 or 3 bullets .
The year before I think I had about 4 times starting stack after a couple of hours before losing a massive all in preflop shortly after with aces , prob would have put me chipleader in the room if I’d scooped that one .
As usual I’ll try evaluate my table early and let that decide how loosely I play or whether I do my tight solid image again . Got a horrible end seat so not looking forward to eye strain looking at board and chips at other end of the table :(

Right I think it’s off to ocean one for breakfast shortly , then either a nap or chill by pool after that .

Not sure about updates .  Decide at table .  Maybe at each break , I’ll see .

Morning Rob.


Loving the updates. I'm not commenting much as I'm bare busy but I read every post you make from Vegas & I'm really feeling the atmo.


GL mate.


PS - You gonna be home in time for the Euros? I've got a photo somewhere of the first time I met you, we were at Binions, you were wearing full England replica gear, shirts, shorts the lot. Can't remember if it was Euros or World Cup.   

Thanks mate .  Shame I miss you this year but it’s nice to get out here from the start of the series .  Feels very different to arriving mid June . 


I think it was either 2012 euros or 2014 worlds .  Not into football as much these days but still looking forward to watching plenty of it when I get home.  I’m out here for the first games but will be driving home from Gatwick exhausted hoping to make it home by 5pm for England vs Denmark on the 20th . 

I got 5th in binions 2012 June 19th on my record so could well have been that date . England 1 - 0 Ukraine that day so it must have been , internet is great for finding stuff like that .

Report from treadmill so excuse any spelling errors .  
Day 8 in Vegas and finally cashed in my mystery millions payout for $1,783, slightly more than I expected .
But into the main event of plo8 1500 WSOP

Table not bad at all to start with , 5 handed but other spots soon filled and 2 of the original 5 for moved too.
 
Started at 25k and chipped up nicely to 35k before this hand shortly before first break .  Can’t recall exact blinds ( prob will as I write this ) but Lebanon guy made it 800? in cut off and I re potted from the button with AA2x 1 suit .  
He flat and flop is all hearts Q102. He only has 13k behind and I don’t have hearts .  I cont bet 2000 and he check raises to 7000 and I fold .  I seem to recall pot was roughly 6500 before the flop .  
27k at first break

Table became tougher after that with late and re entries replacing bust outs with only 1/2 weak spots who weren’t exactly donating chips either.

I got 3/4 of a 3 way pot to take me to 53k trying to gamble with a 20k stack with A1023 double suited but weak player big stack that had flatted a reraise came along too , so I as actually allin for my tournament life.  
 Was up against akj7 short stack and a2qq .  Flop was 3 high clubs ( my nut suit ) but runner runner low came .  

Lost a few pots to end up with 32k next break .

Held that stack for ages until just before dinner break .  
AKQ3 1 suit .  600/1.2/1.2 .  Weak stack only playing 25k flats the button and I pot from bb to 4800.   Pot of 12k on a flop of A102 I’m
Going nowhere and hope to take it down there .  This guy had flat called loads and folded plenty of flops .  He tank shoved after my 10k bet and was obv worried I had aces ( wasn’t acting ) .  I instant call and he shows A1057 .  No problem as it runs out 2 and Q for a scoop .
72k at dinner break after that , big stack at our table but our table very short now as everyone playing solid .

Late reg closed at dinner . 1277 entrants.   194 paid .  And if survive we play 6 more levels and extra if needed to make the money .

I leaked chips a fair bit with lack of spots to be honest to create anything without being  silly .
Then this one at 1.5k/2.5k/2.5k blinds
I raise to 6k early position with AKK9 nut diamonds .
Button flats but bb repots it , I quickly repot it back and have him covered by 5k .
It’s a pot to take me to 70k with average stack now at 80k vs AQ35 and he only has diamonds.
Unfortunately he hits a wheel on the turn for a no sweat river .

Left with 5k but know anything can happen especially in split games so take it well.   Id already had a couple of corona at this point which helped ;)

Next hand or hand after I get it in 3 way with aq104 .  The 2 pros bet flop and turn vs each other so on a board of K98Qx it didn’t look good until it went check check and my queen was good - back to 21k.  

Next key hand after folding the 5k in bb+ante spot .
Sb playing 16k , big stack flats early , I top up with Jd 2d 3d 6c and 3 of us see a flop of Qc 9c 7c (pot 10k)
Looked like a good spot to lead given my stack .  3k is the bet and both quickly fold .  

4th break I’m down to 19k and coming back to blinds of 2/3/3 so I need to gamble quick before I blind out too much .
Short stack 20k pots it  utg and I look down at KKj2 1 suit .  They all go in and another player comes in too.  
So 3 way pot to go to 65k with average roughly 100k.
I’m up against A2QQ 2 suits and AJ97 1 suit ..
Board runs out a58Q6 and I’m out - clock was broke at that point but I would have been around 300th in the end , not to be .  

Played cash afterwards for  couple hrs .  Big O list too long so ended up on 1/2/5 plo .  
Sat with minimum 100 as wanted some gambles .  Got some nice pots early to peak at 650 before dropping back to 300.
Got 3/4 of a big bomb pot to take me back to close to 600.  Ended up cashing out for 500 so happy with a 400 profit obviously .
Table was crazy , proper crazy .  Really should play more of this game but gotta fight the big O addiction .

Probably 1500 PLO WSOP in 3.5 hours .  Sorry for lack of in running updates but still exhausted from all these deep runs .  Yesterday’s was 10 hours including breaks .   55 mins to write this while walking at 3.3 mph .  

Oh forgot to mention I got proper goosebumps when they played god save the king at the end of one of the early breaks .  Was nice feel good moment , not sure who won bracelet , someone ellis maybe ?   I’m barely following any updates or vlogs or anything while I’m out here  as so little downtime .

Great read

Nice to see you getting these cashes, keep it going

Action thick and fast here
1 table loose cannon but he doesn’t seem that great .  
Not bad other than that but only 6 of the 8 seats are sat at the moment
25 starting stack dropped to 21k at blinds of 100/100/100 playing most hands before a well timed bluff got me above starting stacks.
Peaked at 29k end of level 1 .  Dropped to 25k 10 mins into level 2 but back to 29k after flopping 3 of a kind as I was writing this .

Didn’t sleep too bad last night and think the hour walk on the treadmill did me good .
Felt that fresh I ate my subway turkey sandwich while playing plo for half hour making a small profit , moved to big O for an hour and made another 600 running well on an ok table .

Only hiccup was kiosk failing to print my tournament ticket , but player services sorted it quickly and I only missed one hand which was my big blind .

Table warmed up with 2 allins level 2 one hand after the other .  
Enjoying it but would love a corona :)
You know that old saying “corona and plo go together like ham and eggs”

That's almost certainly the date. Just looked at my Hendon Mob & I was there that date, in fact (beware incoming chirp) I won the PLO at Golden Nugget on the 20th for $2,180, (probably chopped it), was 12th in a Mega Stack PLO 2 days later for $731, 6th in a PLO8 at Wynn 2 days later for $2,423, & 12th in the WSOP PLO8 2 days later for $15,078. Jeez, those were the days, doubt I've ever had a better run anywhere any time. 

Sorry about the chirp, carry on. ;)

Ok no coronas before dinner break rule has been broken at 1:45pm local time .
It was a lucky corona though as my aces held up in a large pot vs original loose cannons K1067 on a K525x board
18k going in on the flop 3 way after I’d repopped it preflop with aa67xhhh .   Had him covered so he’s gone now . 
John Kabbaj at my table so conversations about tikay already in progress .
50k first break .

I distinctly remember the table saying how boring “soccer” is with all the 0-0 and 1-0 type results .

I think you’re still getting staked based on those results :)

GL Rob.  Enjoying these updates.  Since announcing I wasn't coming, running a lot better.  Pressure to make money has gone obv.

https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2024-wsop/event-3-500-wsop-kickoff/ (https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2024-wsop/event-3-500-wsop-kickoff/)

Here is your winning Brit.  Imagine playing your first WSOP event, beating 3,500 people and winning a bracelet. Amazing stuff.

Put it towards next years trip mate :)

There is definitely more brits arrived now, hardly heard the accent the first few days .

Up to peak stack of 65k after this hand at 300/500/500
Early makes it 1800 and I flat button with KK56 1 suit .
Sb who is obv looking to gamble repots it , other guy folds and I cover all in call his 20k .
He has a J986 1 suit and we get fun flop of Q10x.   It somehow bricks 10,7 turn river though . 
Corona number 3
We are 5 handed now after several busts - 1 chap has north of 150k

I’ve just bust another shorty after writing that
As 4s 5x 6x on a lovely flop of 8s7s2x hit and held vs a worse flush draw .
Dragged another in calling a river bluff just now too.
7 handed now after going 4 handed briefly .
Lots of new players , 81k peak stack .  Gotta hold out the bathroom run for 20 more mins , should manage it . 

Lack of updates due to tiredness .  More serious table now too ..
1 level left until dinner break .
70 x bb left at 6/1.2k/1.2k . Did peak at 95k .
Did have 1 more history from earlier , might post later .
Think table will break soon after dinner .  Fingers crossed for a better one .

Dinner 92k
Return to AA45 double suited utg and late reg chap chucks 25k in preflop with qj56 2 suits of which one I block .  It’s runs out my nut flush to increase my stack by 25+1.5+1.5+1k .

Deffo moving table very very shortly

New table full of tough looking players
That said I’ve won a couple of decent sized pots the first 2 hands I sat .
Now at peak stack of 160k
Reg now closed - 1469 entrants so prob pays about 220.  
Ah they announcing it now , pays 221 .  Not sure if players left is up to date yet , says 640 left average 57k which I doubt .

Edit , bust another shortly after above  , now at 200k peak.
1/2/2 blinds - 420 players left is now up to date , av 87k.  

Edit couple mins later another set , another large pot on a turn - 234k , want a beer to calm down :)
Can’t stop picking up playable hands :)

8 mins to next break
296 players left
Average 124k
I’m on 204k
Blinds of 2/3/3 after the break
We break in 4 tables time , hoping to get a better table .

Num num num, keep it going Rob.

Sorry for lack of updates
But moved to a friendly chatty table so didn’t touch my phone for the last 2 hours .
Made it into the money but one badly timed gamble preflop where I didn’t luck out cost me the difference of bagging 180k-220k as oppose to 87k ( if I’d won the pot  I’d have been on 325k at average 183k .
Details tomorrow at some point . Resume at noon , must sleep .

It will likely be gone by the end of June :)

Good luck tomorrow and congrats on another cash.

impressive run of cashes and entertaining write ups

best of luck rest of your trip

Good morning all and thanks for the encouragement

It’s good to write stuff to clear my head and keep myself honest

I’m back on the treadmill so excuse any poor grammar or typos
Best nights sleep so far at about 7.5 hours .
Whilst I’m a short stack of 87k at 3/6/6 blinds I know the deal and I need to mentally prepare myself for a noon to midnight slog of day 2

Have Chino Rheem to my left with a huge stack, never played with before .  Huge scammer I believe .  

Ok so onto the hand I “gambled on” last night .  I don’t regret it but it wasn’t necessary to have gone with it.
2.5/5/5.  Early position raise to 12k from big stack didn’t look strong , chap next to him who was pushing hands before the bubble so obviously not afraid to bust and probably looking to gamble in my mind makes it 43k .  I’m on button with AQJ4 double suited and repot it .   Big stack out of the way it’s effectively 102k each for a 228.5k pot .  I’m left on 125k after board bricks out vs AA73 rainbow , though did have a sweat on the turn for any diamond river to scoop it .
 
Playing 227k with average at 183k I felt like it was a good spot at the time , but with nothing invested maybe I should have passed on that one .  That said , I’d rather play deep than try and ladder up the prize pool , pay jumps are ridiculously small because of the “pay 15% of the field” nonsense .  And I still have another life or 2 with what was left at the time in my stack after I lost ,  whatever , I’ll be thinking about that one for a while .

That table was just nuts compared to others , it was a dream table for late in the tournament .  Limping regularly going on from more than half the table and so much passive ness post flop .  Half the table didn’t understand you could only raise to 9 from from the sb at 1.5/3/3 , I actually had to call the floor as it was my bb and the dealer was clueless too :)
 Just couldn’t get any tools to even try and agress with despite being 2nd highest stack at the table.
The only true hand of note was my first hand at the table .
Table lady , Mary somebody , wearing wsop  bracelet but serial limper limps 3k late and I make it 9k from the cut off with AJ59 double suited
( I knew serial limper as watched 2 hands as I arrived to just miss the bb so was sat out chatting and trying to gain any info asap )
She only had 80k roughly and led into me for 15k on a flop of 743 with 2 of my nut suit .  Happy to take it down there with no pair I make it 60k to go and she folds .  

Hand above took me to peak stack of 270k for the tournament.
Later playing 250k I limped after Mary limped and other friendly chap to my left limps .  
Small blind goes all in 16k with 9975 1 suit despite it being less than 8 players from the bubble ( amazing how many people just played normally and didn’t give a shit about the bubble on this table )  just myself and other chap called and checked down a AK2Q9xxss board .   My A2610 double suited no good vs the set .  

In contrast to the above the table next to me hand serial stalllers , clock being called I think 4 hands in a row .   Crazy they only do hand for hand 1 or 2 players from the money .  

So there it is .  Day 2 in just over 2 hours in horseshoe .  If make breaks they can all be taken In my room.
I’d love to spin this stack up and go deep and know I’ll be very gutted when/if I bust . Had so much fun at that last table last night and didn’t go crazy on the beer , like1 every 2 hours to avoid needing pee breaks outside of  proper breaks .
I actually made 750 in that hour playing cash before the start of the tournament too , nice to add to the minimum 3$k cash today ( 1.5$k profit guaranteed )

It’s probably another subway sandwich after gym before I just chill before the noon restart.  
I have options of a 2pm $1,500 2-7 triple draw wsop or a $1,100 plo8 sat for the $10k one should I bust but can’t see me entering either tbh
I definitely won’t be going to Venetian for the 1100 plo bounty at 11am anyway .

Excellent writeage, thanks Rob.

Alas ,  it to be . Easy report to write anyway .
No spots at all first 2 rounds so hated that I’d blinded to 57k but unavoidable without doing something crazy
Cut off I pick up AKJ6 double suited so I know this is the time regardless of the action in front of me
Brit utg ( seemed like a nice chap ) makes it 15k to go and I repot to 54k
French fish ( deffo from 1.5 orbits watching ) flats the bet in the bb and Brit repots it to 219k
Fish tanks for a few minutes and loving it when he folds .
I’m heads up all in for a 177k pot and even better Brit didn’t turn over aces , I’m in good shape vs QJ1010 double suits but I have both of his suits covered
Board has other ideas though and it flops 10,9,x with no back door flush draws . Turn is a 8 so I’m
Looking only for a queen but it bricks and I’m out in 138th place , I think for $3,152. 

Unlucky Rob.

That seems an interesting play with Q-J-10-10.

Unlucky sir!

It’s not nearly as bad as it might appear and similar to the sort of play I’d make .
The French flat call was really weak and by shutting him out he gets the same odds as me to win by only putting 57k in .

So yesterday was another long cash session on 1/2/5 big O .   Many coronas were consumed in the process and I definitely reached double figures but wasn’t counting exactly .  
I started losing at first but only bought in for 200 a time before hitting a nice pot to take me to 600+ stack .
I had an interesting hand soon after where I flopped too and bottom pair , nut low draw and a naked ace of the flop flush draw .
It was 3 way in position and I was the raiser.  Both called my flop cont bet and a king of the suit I had the dry ace on hit the turn .
I bet pot of 170 and just 1 player called , river was Qx and I shoved for his last 300.  He tank called QJ1034 with the 34 of the flush   Meh .

I topped up to 500 after that and hit some nice hands when our last table broke and I moved to a new one .  Both tables were either good or really good at times and I ended up playing until 1am in the morning - nearly 12 hours .   I ended up with a 750 profit and a tired hangover this morning .

I’m currently on big O having left the room at 11am after a long lie in.
I’ve now spent a grand total of 10 minutes outside in the last 2.5 days .
Hoping I’ll take a break later in the afternoon or early evening .  There’s gym , pool ( only been once ) or walk the strip option .  

Obviously chose not to enter tournament today.  There was 2200 plo at wynn and I think it’s day 1 B of the massive field $300 WSOP gladiator , but neither appeal .  
Tomorrow is a 1pm nugget big O tournament .  I’ll see if I’m in the mood or not , there is another one right at the end of the trip to give me a chance to go downtown .  Rake is silly high and add ?$50 taxi fares , I’ve really gotta be in the mood :)

Sunday is 1500 WSOP BIG O .  May enter late tonight to avoid queues .  Looking for seat 3,4 or 8 ideally .

Rinse and repeat yesterday
Went to the card room at 11:30am with good intentions to quit for pool , gym, dinner or a walk around the strip later on .
The addict in me left the card room about 1am again
It was a tough session and one hand in particular cost me a stack of 600+
It was double board bomb pot ultimate high ultimate low
The best high from either board and the best low from either board wins half the pot each
We get 2 flops and all players are in at that point for 20 each ( but the time rake of 72 comes out of the pot )

So the boards read
4c 5x 6c
Ax 7c 3c
And I have Ac 2c 8x 9x xx ( xx = high cards )
But it runs out
4c 5x 6c 4x xx
Ax 7c 3c Ax 4x

Matey shows  Q245x no clubs for the wheel and the full house
No getting away from that one

I’m back on big O again today after a short session on plo
Will try have a dry day so I’m fresh for the 2pm big O WSOP $1500 tomorrow
Didn’t fancy gym or pool , vegas cough is deep in my chest now but I’m fine , just stuck there cos of my asthma.

Yesterday was my biggest cash loss of the trip at - 1,200
I’m going to do totals for the trip  below so far now I’m over half way into the trip

Mtts +700
Cash  +1200

So nothing to get excited about but bear in mind I’ve entered ?7,000$ worth of mtts so I’m fine with that

Good morning once again , finally back on the treadmill again today and going to try some jogging as cough feels a lot better.
Yesterday was another long cash big O session with a few beers , but nothing silly ..
Once again got beaten and battered for a similar loss to the day before .
Just on the wrong side on cooler type hands , and when I kept making correct folds 3 way in large pots on the turn I’d inevitably see my perfect river .
Proper frustrating stuff and not exactly the best build up to my biggest Big O tournament of the year but it was a fun table so I stayed there all day , only taking a food break before finishing “early” around 11pm .  I actually think I should have lost more yesterday , people weren’t raising obv hands to have stacked me on a few hands where I lost like 30-60% of stack and if it wasn’t for a couple of well timed bluffs getting through I’d definitely have lost more .

Don’t start until 2pm today and with no dinner break it could be a very long day.  Let’s hope so anyway . If I bust early I will probably re enter this one too if my heads in the right spot .  I doubt I’ll do hand updates as it’s too much effort for big O but may try to post stacks around break times .  

I have seat 6 which is annoying as it’s tough on the eyes in a long day to see the board and the other showdowns and the chip stacks at the opposite end .
Seat 4 and 5 used to be my favourite seats in any big O game , though seat 8 is now my favourite in any 8 handed game .  

Tips for myself today
Play my own game as usual
Watch as much action as possible when not in hands to gain tiny snippets of info that might be useful for larger pots later on .
Just enjoy myself though maybe a bit more music and a bit less chatting , so I don’t miss action
I’ve already had very soft tables this trip but also ridiculously tough tables , fingers crossed today for a decent one as it makes a huge difference to the tournament ,

good luck in the tourney!

Early indications are tight solid tables .  Only 6 handed for now but will try create a somewhat loose image and hopefully get paid if I hit some hands .

Ok , I got my wish of obtaining a middle seat, seat 5.
Unfortunately it cost me 1500$ more though
I’d already called an all in on a river with nut low to get half a pot earlier
Then this pot came up
Early limp from guy playing a wide range like me, but he normally raises pot on anything premium
I make it 700 , blinds are 1/2/200 from next position
Asian guy only playing 7700 repots it to 3000 from the bb and the limper flats it
I’m playing about 23k at the start of the hand and I’ve no intention of flatting here , I have AK347 , only 1 nut suit .
I repot to 12,700 and he tank calls after the bb moves all in

He has me well covered .  The flop is 10,8,2 with my nut hearts draw .  The rest goes in .
This is the funny part
Bb turns over AA88x and other chap turns over A,10,10,2,8 .  
How ridiculous is that , I’d bet my house on getting part of this pot and a scoop would have put me on 54k ( starting stack was 25k ) middle of level 2 .
Unfortunately in this occasion the board runs out 9x Qx and I’m only left with my house because I wasn’t allowed to bet it .

Early indications new table is ok
Just watched a guy hit his 1 out straight flush on turn to stack an ace high flush chap .  
Corona on the way , just hoping I don’t have to re enter a 3rd time , not sure I would with 80xbb and less than 20 mins left of this level .

22k 1st break , although technically it’s my 2nd break :)

Stole a bit on paired boards but had to lay down aces twice , pretty standard in big O . 
Lots of limping going on from this table , time to chip up hopefully .
Corona tasting gooooood as usual , I swear they taste better in vegas .  Do we get the same in the uk or is it brewed in the uk instead of Mexico ?

69k joint chip leader at my table at 2nd break .
Ooooh won first hand back A249K vs a2495 allin preflop to add 25k to that stack
400/800/800 blinds now
Do have couple hand histories but not sure I’ll get chance to write up

66k next break

Bit gutted as got to 100k before being big favourite to bust a pro - he was looking to gamble but was a tad annoying chop to have gone to 125k if scooped

Then huge pot sick one, hopefully I’ll do the history later or tomorrow.  Scoop would have took me to 140k but I lost it in sick fashion .

Corona number 4 shortly and ….. oh shit
1st hand back
4 limpers my bb and I pot it with AAK25 2 suits
2 x 25k stacks flat the 9000
Flop is 774 .  I lead for 6000 and they both move in
It’s JJ1087 ( like wtf ) and A2J106
Turn 8 river 9 so I even get only 1/4 of the side pot .  

2nd hand back I lose a small amount making a good solid laydown on turn , obv I would have hit my 2 outer for half if I’d called :)

3rd hand back I raise the button and call a reraise with AK1037 flop is J23 and he checks to me ( he has 36k behind )
I’m itching to jump bomb the flop but restrain and take the free card
Turn is a 3 .  We get it in and he has AK237 , river gives me a quarter .  

36.5k left and really really needing a corona :)

….. table broke and just missed the waitress again :(
40k but in my worst seat position of seat 1 , blinds 1/2/2k

1555 entrants , new table isn’t brilliant but I’ve had worse .

Edit . Just doubled up flopping nut flush vs top 2 . 
Then very next hand I call a 5.5k raise utg in the cut off with KQJ109
Flop is K108 and he pots it 16k and calls my all in - I cover his stack .
He shows AaJxx and it runs out 9,x for a scoop

Crazy game - 132k now

Prize pool has been announced
1555 entrants , 480 left
Average 80k
Pays 234 places , min cash is $3,002

Back to 93k after I think I lost the minimum for AAxxx on a board of 9,8,4,K,8
Opponent is a very competent pro capable of bluffing but he showed A278K .  
I was out of position in the bb and pick up the flush draw on the turn when we checked the flop.  
Had to pay off the 18.5k river bet into 25k ish .

And wow , just now
All in for my life
I was the raiser and cont bet 14k before chip leader repotted it
I can’t fold Ah Qd 2d 4h Jx on a Jd 8d 2h flop even though it’s clear the old chap probably has A3 with diamonds .  He has 456 as his other 2 cards .
Turn is a beautiful Qc but the river gives him the nut low .
Double average if hit / held , but bust if he hit obviously .


About 110k now , average 95k , 400 left .


Coronas arrived around last update , waiter upsold me to get 2 at once :)

85k next break
Average 108k
360 left
2//3/3 blinds .  5 handed until they break a table which is annoying
Huge stacks other than me at this table .

Proper rollercoaster stuff, keep it coming Rob.

Fantastic read.   Good luck!

Peak of 163k 10 mins into the next level after this dodgy one .
There’s a raise Utg to 9k on my 3k bb .
I debate folding AQJ97 double suited but elect to see a flop
I pot it on a K106 flop , matey who has me just covered flats it
Turn 7 - never folding so it goes in
River ace vs AAk62

Hand or 2 later I drag in a bit more when a 3way scary board is checked down .

198k , 320 left . Average 121k
We are 8 handed again now finally

It’s certainly one of those :)
Probably the most enjoyable tournament so far even if I fail to get to the money

Excellent stuff

Keep it coming please

290k peak taking 3/4 of a big pot
Too tired for long histories now
272 left
Average. 143k
Pays 234k

Yuk
Missed a few and dropped to 160k

180k
Hand for hand with 2 to go
Break shortly but we will come back until we get to the money to bag up
I’m playing very tight but had to commit to a nervy aa2xx hand a little while ago , glad he folded the flop .

Bubble went quick after the break
Walking back to room now
Come back at 1pm to an average stack of 30 big blinds and hourly levels
Let’s see if I can beat the half hour I lasted the other day .

Oh and did I mention that puts me into profit for the day of $2  :)

Payouts are so flat this year - even if half the field bust before me I will only make another 3-400$

Terrific day's work Rob, well done.

Good night's sleep now, big big day tomorrow.

Welll done mate.  Really enjoying reading these updates!

Loving your work especially these write-ups.

Run well tomorrow

Thanks all
My table today is fairly deep stacked compared to the average
I think I prefer that due to the payout structure , chip up or go home seems the likely strategy . 
Only 1 big name Adam Friedman .  Don’t think I’ve played with him before but doesn’t really mean much to me anyway , good chance I’ve played more big O than anyone at the table because they are all US so I assume don’t get chance to play online on it . 
Drawn seat 8 too , my favourite seat .
First thing I’ll do is note when we will break our table as that’s listed on the screens
Really hoping for a long day but fully aware it could be a short one too
I guess I won’t play the Wynn 1100 plo if I bust early as I’d still miss the first couple of hours so seems pointless
I do have a few more hand histories from the earlier levels , if I’m in the mood I’ll try to post them when I’m on the treadmill , heading there shortly .
Then it will be another Footlong from subway , have lived off these the last 4 or 5 days .  Mostly for convenience, but also at least I get some vegetables into me which I was lacking the first week . 

Onto hand histories

Hand 1
Chap I’m against is chatty friendly chap , obviously recreational but thinks he’s better at big O than he is .
Key to this one is he called my bluff earlier for half a pot and said , wow that was a good bet, he knew I was a thinking player capable of moves .
In turn I know he struggles to fold so took a different betting line vs him .

Blinds were I think 200/400/400 or similar
I min raise as is my standard  and get the blinds calling
Holding A249J double suits we a flop of A109 with 2 back door flush options
They both call my roughly 2/3 pot bet cont bet .  
Pot is now 11k , checks to me and my A9 still looks good on a 3c turn .  I’ve also picked up a jack high flush draw as well as nut low draw and I’m happy to pot this with 10k left in my stack after .
Just the chap above calls - I tell myself clubs are likely no good here as he called far too fast .  Honestly sensed that .
No problem as river is a 5d to give me the wheel - check all in tank call
I can’t recall his exact holding but it was ace high flush draw , I think just a pair of aces with worse low draw and a gutshot on the flop to the donkey end of the straight

Think I was on 54k after that pot , over double starting stack with blinds still relatively low .

Hand 2

This was a tough one surprisingly

Sb folds to me and I pot it with AAxxx to 1800 at 3/600
Bb , hardly played any hands .  Tight as can be but obv not a thinking player flats me .
He only has 11,400 behind so I’m hoping for a no fold type flop to play an easy hand .  
His call was very quick , so I can’t rule out an ace holding but obviously didn’t even consider a re raise .

Flop 669 , oh shit revise plan and play by feel and try to slow it up . Check check .
Turn is another 6.   Wow , surely he wouldn’t check back a 6 so quick
I check but this time he bets pot of 4200
He’s recreational , he’s bluffing , has the 6 , or thinks a medium or high pair is good here ?
I take 30 secs or more then call
River is a 10 , ugly if 10s .   Honestly think he’s bluffing so I check
He goes all in 7200 fairly quickly
I take about a minute or more to make the call , get the “I think you got me” speech and show aces to be shown JJxxx
He wasn’t happy and obv found it insulting i had tanked before calling
He left and chatty ones at other end were like “great call, I thought for sure he had the 6” as they understood I was genuinely put to a tough decision by the strange line matey took with jacks

69k after that hand , and believe that hand was key to how my whole tournament played out .

Not too long after I got involved in this pot against what was clear was a high stakes pro I didn’t know
He didn’t care about the game that much but not where he was doing anything silly reckless .   Just a lot of fit or fold or poor chases .  He was more interested in his WSOP online game on the iPad
Blinds 400/800/800
He has about north of 30k and makes it 2000 from late position
I re pot in bb with AKQ24 double suited and he calls
Flop is A88 rainbow and I bet 6000 , slightly less than my pot bet preflop and he flats
Turn is 9c to put club draw out there - pot is 23k which is now my bet
He calls all in and shows AQQ34 with clubs , fun sweat .
River is 7c for a chop chop - scoop that and was on around 125k which would have been one of the bigger stacks in the room at that point .

Last one - gonna be an hour walk on treadmill today .  Should finish this just as my hours up .
600/1200 I’ve peaked at 100k but have dropped back to 80-90k at this point and min raise utg with
Ac 2c 4x 8x 10x
Utg +1 2 blinds call so pot is around 11k
Flop is 9c 7x 4c   
I cont bet big , I think it was 7000
Just utg calls fairly quick .   Not a brilliant player, again thinks better than is at big O .  Prob not afraid to bluff but not been too much out of line .
Turn is an ugly 9 , I say ugly but at this point my 4s could still be good .  I have likely massive equity even if we get it in so I don’t slow down
I think I bet about 15k - he moves all in and I snap
He has KQq9x with clubs - I’m still well live for half or even scoop with straight or flush . 
It bricks out - I believe I’m down to 43k after this hand .
Scoop would have put me  on 135k I believe

So on to today and pleased to report a good start
Had AA2 and took in a medium pot before this hand
I raise utg +1 min and just the blinds call
I have AQK22 just king high hearts and had debating limping
Flop is KJ8 rainbows ,all check
Turn is a 6d and sb leads 17k  and we both call .  He had looked back and I out him on the flush draw at this point .
River is Jx and he bets 54k into the 93k pot
Bb small delay , poss with AK too folds.
I tank call and he says no pair and I’m up to peak of 331k
Average 212k now , 183 left .

Oh btw ,  Friedman seems like an entitled nasty angry person :) and bad loser , a bit like myself online  ;D

That's a ballsy call.

The word someone used was gangster !

gangster?


Please, it's gangsta  bro

So the magic of the WSOP is how the wide range of buy ins for bracelet events
From 300$ right up to $250,000
I’ve been watching the screens for the gladiator $300 recently .  With 4 flights and each one in the multi thousand entrant range .
20,647 entrants in the end, with $401,000 to the winner .  I think there’s about 200 left in that one . Hopefully some unknown wins it . They don’t allow official deals in the WSOP.  I think 1 year a chap agreed a deal then just walked off with 1st place money even getting security to escort him out as technically he had broken no rules .  Assume was banned after that though but no idea.

You get some funny stories every year and new dealer errors are often up there with the best.
A year or 2 ago at the colour up the dealer literally pulled all the stacks into the middle of the table.
The best one I’ve heard this year is a dealer shuffling the 2 decks together , I’m guessing they had never played cards themselves before ?
And I did laugh at one at my table when we got my first 4 card flop i had ever seen - surprised it took me 20 years to see that to be honest .

Anyway back to the game . Folded a bit .  283k , average is pretty much that with only 138 left now .
Blinds are hour levels today and at 4/8/8 currently
30 mins left until 1st break , guess I’ll make the room each break I make as I’m in horseshoe today .
Nap planned if make 6hrs in for the dinner break

:) :) :)

220k 1st break
Coming back to 5/10/10
329k average , 118 left


Just watch Friedman bust in hilarious fashion
Old chap I played half the day with yesterday misread his hand on the flop , please look it up on PokerNews if you want a laugh
He was so nasty and cried like a baby when he lost
Once he was away from the table I had to say “at least he took the beat well”
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person :)

Back to just over 300k after a nice scoop
A45j10 utg , 2 callers . Flop 234 I bet 40k with 81k left . 2 spades on flop .  Turn is a 5 heart giving 2 flush draws .  I have neither
He check calls and shows kqj96 with 2 flush draws , river is a king of clubs .

Lose a chunk few hands later but recovered to 283k soon after . 

As I was writing that I got into a huge hand . 
Limp reraised with AA93K 2 suits
Got 165k in preflop with 99k behind
Matey tank calls flop of 866 with AJ107 . I think jack 5th card or similar.
Board bricks 7 Q for a scoop
Peaked at 600k soon after .  575k now
86 players left
Average 452k

413k next break
Just  got quartered on what may well be a very key hand
Short summary
Got it in 130k each on turn
My A3467 vs A357Q on a J747 turn
River came a 5 , hurt a bit that one , I won’t lie
Scoop and I’m on about 660 k at 510k average

350k after couple of missed flops and turns in the blinds . 

Utter carnage here
Playing 340k ish
I make it 32k utg with A255J and next guy all in 104k with AK239 . Sb big chip who was played every garbage hand imaginable since he moved here 5 hands ago flats it .
I re pot it all in and sb tank calls and shows QQ269 with 1 suit !
Flop is a beautiful 347xxx but turn and river give the 104k chap 2 pair and mateys QQ holds up for half the side pot ( 400k /2 )
I think I lost 25k on that hand roughly !
Gutted
279k after the blinds have gone through me
607k average , 64 left

220k on life support
700k average
55 left
10/20/20 for 40 minus until dinner if survive

Omg as I wrote that I chop AAK45 vs AQq36 allin
And then the very next hand ……
I raise Utg with A3J1010
2 callers flop 10,8,4
2 callers of my 60k bet
Turn king d putting flush draw out there , 2 callers of my 145k all in
River is an 8 check check and I pull in 783k pot .
Sb shows a2228
Utg + 1 shows A97Q2 with nut diamond draw on turn
( all hands tabled when it’s all in )

And out
Details to come of the 1.61million chip pot when I sit at cash table
No regrets
Corona time

So here it is
Probably the biggest pot of ny trip
I had plenty of history with the Japanese chap in seat 1
He doubled my limp aces
He survived his 104k all in 3 way
As well as other blind battles and non all in ones

Ah 4h 2s 9s 10c
I min raise to 40 and he re pots from the button ( next position ) to 150k
I actually do consider a fold as crazy as that sounds and I know I can easily end up playing for stacks out of position
I started the hand with 780k but I decide to flat it
Flop is 5d As 6s
I check and he bets 175k
I move all in and he snap calls ( not a great sign )
He shows
Ad 8d 2h 3h Qs
So my only scoop out I think is 3s and I need to hit something to improve
It runs out Qc Jh
So I lose a 1.61million chip pot :)
Out in 54th
Average 710k at the time
Chip counts at dinner haven’t been posted so I can get see what spot the gin card would have got me

Ah well
Gutted
Time for corona and cash

That was a fabulous run Rob, thanks for taking the time & trouble to share with us all. Really felt the vibe.

Great result too, $6,145 according to WSOP.com, very nice.

Well done Sir

Thanks
Yes $6,145
Actually I had 3 outs for the scoop now I’ve reread it - all the other 3s good for the straight too as well as nut low
Just no getting away from that unless I fold preflop
Definitely no regrets anyway, rode my luck and happy with my play for the tournament

I’ve just woke up at noon today after a very late cash and drink session ( +450 )
I hadn’t ruled out the 600 plo nlh round of each WSOP but I hate late registering (started 10am ) so I guess it will be a day off from tournaments , other option being a 240 plo8 at Orleans 4pm which just doesn’t appeal

Not sure to pool , gym or just go straight to the card room for now
Tomorrow there is a WSOP plo $600 event which I think I definitely want to play at 10am
If I bust that there’s a WSOP horse $1,500 option at 2pm or even an $1,100 Big O satellite to the 10k WSOP at 7pm options

After that here’s my potential schedule
Thursday Aria 800 plo
Friday Venetian 1600 big O bounty
Saturday Aria 1100 big O  or 1500 nlh plo double board bomb pot WSOP
Sunday WSOP 1500 plo8/o8/big O
Tuesday nugget 400 big O
Fly home weds

That bomb pot one could be very soft , but it’s only a bomb pot every 8 hands
Isn’t clear if the bomb pot is always plo 2 boards high but I have to assume so , but I guess could be Holdem bomb too ?

Good morning from the treadmill -8am here
So yesterdays plans of a few hours cash then to do a long walk and a get nice dinner failed
The addict in me stayed at the table for 11 hours straight again finishing at midnight before devouring 2 pieces of pizza at bedtime
Had a few corona , was all I needed on an empty stomach to do the trick
Was a decent session though with some nice luck in some big pots
Started with 500 and ended up cashing out for 1950

Bought into the plo 600 , once again the machine failed to print my table tickets . 
Player services sorted out again quickly though
That starts in 2 hours , if I bust early levels I may well re enter if in the mood
But the 2pm option if WSOP HORSE 1500 also appeals if I don’t go deep in the plo
PLO is deep stack to start but like a turbo with only 30 mins levels so could easily bust early

25 mins in here and I’m exhausted
I knew I should have had an early night last night
Lesson learned , I think I just assumed I’d perk up after 20 mins jogging and 20 mins walking on treadmill
Gonna put the phone away and drink lots of coffee for now
Underestimated how much that deep big O run took out of me mentally for sure
Table isn’t great, but it’s early days . 
Be shocked if I bust and play horse , just wanna go back to sleep right now
Couple of small pots dragged in so far but nothing exciting

lol
5 mins after writing
I decide to just flat AA36 double suited
Flop is A82 rainbow 3 way and I call 1200 half pot bet from mr cocky aggressive know it all gambler type
Pot 4800 turn is a king and 2nd spade ( not my suit )
Good card for him to have 2 pair or set and flush draw and cont betting
I check and he bets 3500, I make it 15000 .  He doesn’t think for long before flatting
River is a horrid 10s .  I check fold after a small dwell
Down to 14k from 30k starting stack after that one
Blinds 100/200/200 level 2 now

On the plus side the coffee and adrenaline has perked me up a bit :)

Early bath today
Back in the room
Gonna try get a nap and hope to feel in mood to play horse in 2 hours
Blind battle with double suited Kj34 felt like a good time to gamble on a king high board with my jack high flush draw but matey had double suited aces with the flush draw and I didnt improve
Asked chap about other hand and he definitely wasn’t lying when he said he had 345 with 45ss so at least I made a good lay down early

2 hours bonus sleep
But my eyes are still very tired and strained and I just don’t fancy limit games today so I’ve just sat on 1/2/5 big O again
Shame as i would normally be up for horse , that said I recall playing it last year and thinking my edge was tiny and it was a table full of miserable limit players so probably a better one to skip

Trip totals in running

Cash games +1,900

Mtts + 3250

It’s official , I’ve moved to Provence
Home of this years landmark satellites , a new thing of this year
Basically if you get to 10 x your starting stack you win a seat instantly
So the target is 150k tonight
I meant to play these earlier in the trip but didn’t think there would be many entrants as the info is buried on the WSOP site and the bravo app
I was sat at a cash table 40 minutes ago when a fellow Brit showed me a way to see the entrants which was already at 120 !
Bu the time I got over here i have missed 1.5 levels and there’s 162 entrants now

Provence is the at tof the room
Located up 2 escalators near the horseshoe normal poker room
One of those escalators was even narrower than a ba economy seat which i had never seen before and I have to admit made me chuckle .  That said Ive perked up Probably due to the Bloody Mary , corona and White Russian mix today .
Hoping the White Russians will substitute for food as I’ve only had a subway turkey Footlong today and have zero snacks in my backpack for the 1st time this trip !  2nd one is on the way :).
First time this trip I’ve moved away from corona , hopefully won’t regret it

Already big lay down on turn 3 way where if I’d flatted it I would have had a tough call on river and probably called and busted
Down to 10,500 already
200/300/300
Not sure if I win a seat or have option of 10k in chips if survive.
Worry about that later

Hahaha
Couple hands later
AA2510 double suited
Get 2 callers ( I’m button )
Over 5500 in the pot
Flop 10,8,3
I bet 4000 and get only 1 caller
Turn is a 5
Check all in
Call he shows A2349
River ace
Left with 500 chips I bust couple hands later

Re entry
New table
Joe hachem short stacked  - nasty man .  Last time I was on his table was years back deep in the last 3 or 4 tables of  plo8 1500
Friendly when winning but I got the “really really kid” speech that time when I busted his 3 or 4 bb alllin preflop
Really wanna see his bust reaction , I think the other table were shocked at how well I took that ace river .   I love sick live sweats even when I’m on the  bad end of them

I wanna survive just to play
Table looks so bad
My only regret is I don’t arrive at the start or play other ones of these this trip , even if they are a turbo structure .

Edit prev post
Provence is above the main poker room at horseshoe

Crazy scenes
Up to 73k just before the break
Can’t recall detail but decent run out for a double up then bust one guy 3 way and doubled off the other guy that had me covered .
Was weird one with 66225 clubs
Flop k96 xcc vs kqjxx 3 clubs in his hand and nut flush draw with ace deuce
Huge sweat when 7c hit the turn but it paired the 7 on the river !

Just chopped one b4 the break too
So prob 75k = half a seat :)
But I’m pretty sure no one else is deep at my table
Time to ease off the drink - need to monitor stacks at table big time in this with the 10x starting stack cash out stuff.

I’m looking at people around the room on the break .  Only recognise 1 or 2 which is a good sign .

Really want this one , can’t believe how much I’ve perked up from earlier and whatever happens I’m so glad I didn’t play the horse
Obviously eyes still tired and seat 2 isn’t optimal but I’ll take it for now

94k after flopping nut flush and slow playing it
Think I got the max but not sure
Blinds 300/600 but as said b4 no big stacks here
Believe we will be either the 1st or 4th table to break once late reg closes in 38 minutes
260 entrants , crazy . 

103.5k after dragging in another nice pot
This writing deffo keep me honest and track my stack

109k peak after another small one
400:800:800.  Now

This room reminds me of the nugget although it’s more rectangular than square . 
Just doesn’t have the feel of the wsop

100k
Weird pot 3 way a moment ago with hachem all in
I had double suited aces but small blind and knew wouldn’t get rid of bb so flat it
Flop is 824 with my nut flush, got AaKK5
Check call 2k
Turn pairs 4 putting a diamond draw out there and check he gets near pot 10k
Have to fold and he has full wrap but misses and hachem trebles

And I just doubled up 2800 hachem in hand plays itself , boy he loves to blind out , know that from few years back

95.5k at 2nd break for colour up

Arrrgh
Lost 9k on this pot immediately after break
akk46
Vs A23j8
Vs A2356

Board was mine until river 2 pair for the short stack 11.5k
I covered over guy so got 2k refund

Gutted scoop there would have put me at 120k within touching distance of the magic 150k for 10k payout

:(


86.5k - 500/1k/1k

Bllinds gonna jump huge next few levels

Tikay I believe your mate leif force is the first to get to over 150k

89k 1/1.5/1.5 now
Chips flying in but feels like I haven’t seen an ace since Xmas

283 entrants , reg closed
27 seats + residual 8755$
100 left

Great stuff animal.  Keep it up!

Here for Hachem busting.  Has he said "one time" yet?   Agree with your character assessment.

Good luck Rob.

Watched the nice chap on my right go on a card rush for a seat
Down to 80k at 1.5/3/3 in 6 mins
 
Can I use my one time here :)

Not sure if he did use it , fortunately I was at the other end of table but to be fair he was surprisingly mellow for a change .

Morning Rob,


That was a great early morning read, thanks.


Leif still got the dodgy hair? Not surprised he's doing well, he's crazy aggro at times.





(https://i.imgur.com/sACwrqR.jpg)

Big key pot
Just b4 break
Longest tank of my trip
Don’t have time to write it out so will later or tomorrow
But down to 69k
Back to 2/4/4
45 left 20 places left plus 8755 to 21st

Weird situation .  Think I have to gamble shortly but our table isn’t particularly deep.

Time to get lucky some way or other .

Survived an all in chop blind battle after a second table move
A22Q7 vs AA64x
63k 3:6/6 in 15 mins if survive

No more booze in the last few hours and tonight
1am local time

Edit .   Battery nearly gone

40k

6 seats and residual

Average is only like 80k as they take the greater than 150ks out for landmarks  out of play
Weirdest end to a tournament I’ve ever had
So strange

Break - there are 3 stacks smaller than me

But it’s 5/10/10 blinds - I’m sb
Hand for hand

Guaranteed 8755 or 10,000 now .

Ah, congratulations.  Decent result even if you don't get the seat

And got the seat or can just take cash
I think it will be cash , final decision tomorrow as going room now .
Shattered 3:30am but buzzing so prob take me hour to get to sleep
:)

 ;applause;

Wonderful result, well done Rob, & I almost feel I was railing you from tableside, excellent write-ups. 

Awesome stuff. Nice to see an active poker blog. Although I don't understand the hands I enjoy reading about them.

Excellent work sir  ;hattip;

Thank you all
My biggest live win in 11 years I think
I’m not shocked that I woke up at 7am and didn’t feel like I’d get back to sleep as still buzzing
So decided to go for a celebratory breakfast at eggslut in cosmopolitan
The truffle hash browns are ridiculously good if any of you ever venture there
Cashed out the winnings on way back when zero queue after restocking on snacks at cvs
Seriously would have played hour or 2 cash if tables were running but nothing happening at 8:30am, so back to bed now to try get back to some form of normality
I’m absolutely exhausted again and the strain on my eyes is bad
No chance at all that I’ll play aria plo or horse at mgm today
I’ll try do a summary of the end of yesterdays tournament later or tomorrow, let’s just say it was weird for now.  

congrats on the cash .  thanks for the regular write ups.  am in same boat as mohican, i dont understand the mixed games at all , but enjoy the read. all the more entertaining for me when white russians , bloody marys , multiple bottles of piss water (corona)are involved when playing for 10k .

play quite a few satellites online, can always see everyones stack in lobby , so quite often its straightforward decisions near the business end. must be bit of a nightmare live, maybe its all displayed , or its just a case of trying to keep track of other tables. if its just 3 tables left i guess its easy enough, but in mega satellites it must be tricky.

anyway , best of luck for rest of your trip .

Nice result

Appreciate the write ups

Great result. Well done and an excellent write up. Cheers. Wetting my appetite for Vegas.

Ok let’s attempt to do some sort of summary of yesterday , especially the end part .
So these landmark satellites are a new thing this year
All you need to do is get your chip stack up to 10 x your starting stack and you are instantly removed from the tournament and win a seat or chips

After my disastrous case ace river to bust my first bullet I knew I was having a lot of fun and still had a good edge so went straight to rebuy back in for another 1100$
My new table looks as nice as the first
I hardly recognised anyone in the room, may be half a dozen from the 280 odd ? they got in the end
After chatting a lot (mainly due to the White Russians) I realised plenty hadn’t even played the 1500 big O as they had only just hit town
This was a turbo type structure though with 30 min levels and often standard wsop levels skipped.

My initial gamble held up with bottom set 3 way to boost my stack and but I kept doubling up the short stacks so couldn’t push on to within touching distance of the magic 150k stack . I floated between 70 and 95k for a long time as the blinds caught up .

Key pot playing about 88k was this one

Button makes it 7000 on my bb .i debate folding ac Kc 7c 8c 2x but elect to flop it against this solid but not too out of line player .
He’s playing exactly 60k .

Flop is J109xcc and I check call what looked like a weak continuation bet of 10k
I could raise here but I felt I had way too much equity to do that
Turn is a horrid Kd putting a 2nd flush draw there - there weren’t many horrid cards in the deck :)
I check and he bets pot of 37k with only 6k behind
Time for my longest tank of the trip - must have been about 3 mins possibly
If I call I’m obv pushing the full 43k in and if it’s a good call I’m on I think 146k
If it’s a bad call I could still spike a club to still win it
My read is that he’s now strong and wants to take it down
I eventually fold leaving myself on 66k
We break soon after and he told me he had naked ace queen and that turn was only way he could improve , I believed him too as seemed decent enough chap


Part 2 to come later . Need break from phone .

Ok part 2 ( sponsored by corona on an empty stomach )
So after I dropped to 66k and with blinds moving up I was in dangerous territory even though strangely I was one of the bigger stacks at the table
As mentioned though that table broke, only 1 orbit at my new table before that broke too
I’d cut myself off from drinking a little while before the initial table move as I knew it could be a late one and I needed to monitor stack sizes a lot
We were now in the last 24
I can’t recall that seats at that point , maybe half
It was proper confusing as they obv took a player out of play every time they reached a landmark - but they often had way more than the 150k requirement
I heard a story that 2 stacks of 140k+ went all in preflop against each other and one of them scooped !

When there was 14 left I could easily see the other table and it was clear the average stack was only around 80k
At that point there was still 10 seats and 1 residual cash of 8700 ish

I rode a rollercoaster at this point with huge blinds , it was all a bit strange to figure out the optimum strategy
With 11 left and at about 3am in the morning  ( I sat initially at 7pm ) this was the situation

6 left at my table with stacks of
Myself (sb)  -40k
Bb - 35k
Utg - 25k
Utg+1 45k
Button 60k

Blinds of 10/15 with a 15 ante

Other table has one short stack of 20k and the rest have 60-130k

There is now 8 seats left and the almost seat residual cash
So need 3 more to bust but an incredibly strange situation with massive blinds
We have gone hand for hand too

So I can’t recall exact holdings here but short stack busts on other table
Utg moves in on our table and i know bb is committed and I’m not sure I can fold any 5 cards
Anyways I had something like A6489 .  Utg had AA2xx and bb had some kq1073 type hand
Board runs out 9910 with my club draw too ( I didn’t even see I had trip 9s ) , Kc turn and brick river .
So with bust on other table I guarantee the residual cash
Half an hour later , short stack busts and it’s a 10k seat or 10k in chips option

Sheesh, skin of the teeth stuff. Not sure I could cope with all the permutations at the end, especially while nursing a short stack. Very wise decision to lay off the Corona's towards the end too.


Well done.

Friday morning treadmill report
Venetian 1600 bounty (400 a piece ) starts in 3 hours
Really looking forward to this one and it’s actually my biggest buyin of the trip by 100$
Being a bounty I think it’s unlikely I’d re enter , but if I bust first 2 or 3 levels it’s definitely an option
Yesterday was more like a day off and much needed
I still played about 5 hours cash in the afternoon
First table was poor so managed a move to a better one
Bad players got replaced by good ones gradually and they too became awful by 7pm and it was very easy to cash out at that point
There are a lot of good tables but it’s definitely easy to get a bad one now all the big O players are in town
Lost a fairly standard big pot on first table

My straddle of 10 .  Just 2 blinds call and I make it 20 more to the flop with As Qs Kx 3x 3x
Flop is A93 and bb check raises my 60 to 180  ( 2 diamonds on flop )
I have 350 behind and consider shove there but just flat
Turn is 10s to give me the flush draw as well
He check calls all in but the river 4 gives his 245J7xxxdd the wheel

Lost a chunk in another standard hand on other table too , ended up -850 I think

Walked the strip a bit and ended up eating at in and out burger for my first time
I don’t understand the hype on this one at all , just seemed like a standard cross between Mac ds and Burger King type burger and the fries were awful , won’t be rushing back .  

Ended up tucked up in bed by 11am .  Playing tournaments each of the next 3 days I wanted to try to reset for today .   Could have slept better but not the worst .  Hoping for a middle or 8 seat today as usual to help my eyes .  

May well report in running if gets interesting , depends how much chat is at table .

Edit …. Euros start today at noon vegas time too
Would like to have a view of the Germany Scotland game but I guess it would distract me so don’t mind either way

I forgot to mention I’ve never genuinely felt so bad to bust 2 players on a bubble in my life .  There was lots of chat at our table , the whole situation was just plain weird and WSOP don’t facilitate deals .   With 11 left my 40k stack was probably worth 6-7000$ in equity but after that break that 1st hand scoop / chop / quartered / three quarters / lose was always going to probably be decisive - took a photo , that’s why I recall the stacks on ours .

500 bounty chip not 400
35k starting stack
Tables a bit tight but I’m comfy
End of level 1 and at just under 43k
200/300/300 now

125 entered so far so probably get over 200 I reckon

53k with 10 mins left of level 2
Ha
Lost a few k to I think a 4 outer, but the minimum
I raised after a limp to 1k
With a25jk 2 suits but not the as
Bb and limper call
Flop Q24xdd all check
Turn 2s putting spade draw there
Check to me I bet 2200 into 3500 , just bb calls
River 4x he checks
I see no thin value here so check back
He shows A4599 with no flush draws , argggggh .  

Got a beautiful view on the footy from seat 4 here after requesting the tournament clock screen to be swapped :)
It’s all Germany so far every time I look up !

Start of level 4 .  3:5:5
Not much to report , hardly any tools dealt to me .
Dribbled down to 43k.

Finally get some action midway 4th level
6 handed I min raise to 1k
Just bb calls
I have AJ1038 - 1 suit and naked ace d
Flop is 842 with 2 diamonds
He only has 12-13k behind and calls my 1500 flop bet
Turn 10d
He check raises all in with A36J8 no diamonds
River 3x chop chop .

43k
175 entrants
Coming back to 300/600/600 after break .
Edit just lost 3k . 
Break in 2 minutes.

Gamble gamble
Moved to new table
Dropped to 20k before a 5 way all in pre flop
I had only one chap covered
AK348 double suited
No problem it runs out J10Q57 with my nut spades suit for an 86k pot and bounty
…….

Chopped twice with a 10k ish short stack now , shame as I’m hungry for more $500 bounties

Past where I’d have rebought so as you would expect after a 5 way all in I feel like I’m freerolling and can’t complain about anything the rest of the day

Nearly at end of level 7
Next level is 500/1k/1k
218 entrants , 163 left
Average 47k
Late reg allowed until end of level 12

Current stack of 93k

Peak of 108k after flopping aces full vs a big stack
Nearly end of level 7
Table tougher but only 6 handed for quite a while

…. As I’m writing this they filled the seats , guy to my left has 130k .
Could get interesting :)
600/1200/1200 next

103k
At 2nd break
1 bounty
Average 65k
268 entrants , 145 remaining
Coming back to 1/1.5/1.5k blinds

NBA bet placed on “the over” Dallas vs Boston - total 211 points or more I believe to win , I’m
clueless when it comes to USA sports betting , but sounded fun as couple at table talking about it :)
Starts in 2 hours
Won’t disclose amount but enough to make it worth walking back if I bust before the end of that match. 

Level 10 start - 1/2/2
Nothing to report
Except it’s gone 4pm so it felt like a good time for a corona
92.5k
Reg closes in 90 mins

Level 10 near end
Corona magic worked so far
125k peak stack
91k average
1.5/2.5/2.5 shortly

Ok finally a time to proper bluff
I min raise to 5k with the speculative AQQJ6 double suited from mid
Button calls and bb
Flop 9,10,4 rainbow I bet 8k and button quickly makes it 22k
Bb folds and I flat it - he has me covered
Turn is a jack of hearts ( 2nd heart I have no hearts , but still felt like great time to fire )
I make it 35k and he folds surprisingly quickly - I guess 2 pair or stone bluff on flop , 2 pair probably as bb could have woke up so the 22k would have been too risky otherwise

173k peak stack after that , average 100k

New table
New corona
19 mins until break
153k
Average 125k

296 entrants , 82 left

Guy to my left this table is same as other table !

Weird hand there
Went with gut
Flatted AQ10103 doubled suited in cut off - 4 to a flop of
854xhh
I have queen high hearts
Raiser looks back and pots
Put him on a2 and flush draw and 2 players behind me to act
Reluctantly let it go as he has an 80k stack , guy behind covers me.
Pot was 45k on flop
Guy behind shoves and shows A22kj
Raiser calls and shows A2357 with 7 high hearts
Runs out hearts but I think I made the right fold

Lost a bit next hand

119k next break - average 139k
2/4/4 blinds

Back to 165k after a chop vs one I had on the hook
But took nice pot down river in hand after
Then lost 20k few hands later and down to 140 ish before this one
The old limp utg 4k with AA86Q one suit
Pot behind and sb calls
I pot it to 76k and they both fold
184k peak after that

Reg closed
303 entrants
Pays 38
57$k up top
$2300 min cash
64 left
Average 166k

Now 3/5/5 blinds

There’s a raise utg to 13k by a guy playing 100k ish
I make it 45k to go and he flats after bb dwells
Flop is A108 rainbow
He check calls all in and shows A2556
Turn king , pleaseeeeee
River 8 - chop chop

Omg
And just like that I’m out in 58th
This is some crazy shit

I make it 10k mid position and everyone behind calls
I have AK822 with just clubs
6 way to a flop of AK5 rainbow and I’m 3rd to act after the blinds
I check it to reevaluate as the odds of multiple 234 type hands or kk or AK with a better low is huge
Next guy all in 45k
Next guy announces fold then shows the guy next to him his cards after he folds, not sure what to read from that but surely low cards ? Or maybe AK???
Sb takes a little bit to flat it and I read it as weak - he has me just covered
No folding here - I move all in for about 170k
He doesn’t snap and I’m so excited he might fold - then doesn’t even ask for a count and calls
Guy next to me turns over AkJJ9
Sb turns over J10347 !
Omfg
Turn Q river 4 and I get scooped and am out
No regrets here - I know a scoop is tough there but in the event of the perfect run out I’m probably chipleader on. ? 450k approx
Average stack 182k

Time to head to grand luxe for consolation food and watch some basketball
Might play big O later but aria is 11am tomorrow so don’t wanna go too silly late

Morning Rob, enjoyed that.


"Sb turns over J10347 !"


WTF?


PS - Mavs 122 Celtic 84

Quite a surprise result that, I don't know what the odds were but Boston would have been monster favourite.

Good morning from a sluggish Aria poker room
All a bit rushed today for an 11am start $1,100 big O
Tried to short the cashier and got a telling off as I had only given him 800, in my head it was an 800 despite my schedule being correct .
He also asked if I was from London , arrgh im missing hands here .  No small talk here please, though I obviously replied politely .
Table is great , I’m licking my lips at moment . Best one I’ve had in ages .
Awful dealer and a bit slow players but I’ll take it

I tried to finish between 11 and midnight last night but ended up leaving cash table -250 at 12:30am
I’d had a nice ribeye steak with extra vegetables - my first hot veg of the trip unless you include pizza and washed it down with a few beers
Had an interesting bomb pot when I was up to 750$ that I lost .  May post in a bit once coffee has hit in.
I set my alarm for 9:30am , slept well but changed it to 10am when I woke then napped for at least 3 presses
A speed walk through Paris but I hit the crosswalk just after lights had changed resulted in me missing just 2 minutes of play after I’d registered

Of note , there’s a new inside walkway to go between cosmopolitan through vdara to aria , only outside for the last minute .
I wasn’t aware of it until this trip so it’s prob new .  

We just wasted nearly 10 mins on a have where guy bet pot but put less than pot out . Asian chap having none of it and wanted to call 6000 not 6900.  Correct ruling eventually followed and made to call 6900 but annoying to waste such a time
Dealer stop giving me QJ1073 and J9923 type hands please , even I can’t play those , although I did the latter :)

So on a board of J35JK sb bets 5000 and utg +2 says I’d better just call
“I’ve got the low” says sb proudly and turns over 24678

This table is impossible to know where you’re at in a pot .  I already folded the best low early 3 way on near pot bet river.  

129 entrants so far , best end of level 2
Started 30k
Down to 23.1k

….. next hand after posting
I limp the nightly Q2346 with 4 spades utg
5 to the flop of A210xhh which checks around
Turn 5x and 2 callers of my 1000 into 1800
River is a lovely 3 - I say lovely but now I won’t get paid unless someone has the wheel
I’m tempted to check raise and either would probably bet it if they have it
But go for the pot 4800 instead , both fold .

Next hand I get into a blind battle with A255J in the bb
He pot it to 900 then 1500 flop and we checked turn
Board reads 96362 and when he check the river I make it 5000 hoping for a tight fold as he hasn’t been out of line like the others
He tank calls AKk610 for the chop

And just like that I’m out
I didn’t want to gamble pre flop but no choice here
I’m dealt AA84Q double nut suits
Early raiser and a call
I flat it on the button .  Sb 21k pots it and raiser calls - has my 26.2k covered .
I repot and we get it all in 3 way
It’s A2359 sb I have his suits covered
And A2467 nut spades and low hearts
Flop is A lovely Q105 with 2 clubs
But turn is 7h 3h to give the chap that covers me a straight flush and obviously a better low .  Sick game but I still love it .

New table on 2nd bullet doesn’t seem anywhere near as soft .
Gutted to not be at that table still , 100% softest table I’ve played all trip :(

Not feeling it today
Lost a chunk seeing flop in a re raised hand with A2J108
Then got quartered , don’t think could get away from it and probably lost the minimum unless I fold nut low on river
Down 16.7k and hoping for a change in luck

On another note I’m very excited about the WSOP $1,500 tomorrow at 2pm
It’s a mix of big O , plo8 and limit o8 .   My favourite games three games live

lol just watched a young aggro player donate about 100k the obvious nuts drawing dead on the turn to an old chap
this game is mental
Big O just gets more and more popular every year , numbers are up everywhere .

Playing about 15k I use the old limp AaQQ7 2 suits , 1 nut
Button min raised and bb calls
I pot it to 4000 and just button calls
Flop 932 2 diamonds , not my suit
Good enough , pot just under 10k
Turn nice looking 9x.  2k ish rest goes in
Matey stands and up takes 30 seconds to call
…. And shows J2395 all black cards !
River 5x. Chop chop
18k now after break

And also I’m in seat 3 , seat 7 is from Plymouth :)

Unfortunately they moved the J2395 chap.

Not in view of the “soccer” so only seen 10 minutes of the 3 games today

Finally I drag in a pot of any significance
to take me to 25k after the hand

I decide to call a raise on position with Q10234 double suited
Flop is AQ7 and all check
Turn is a lovely 5d to give me a flush draw too
I bet 3300 , just Plymouth calls
River 3x. I was ready to shove the blank rivers having almost exactly a pot bet left
But now I want paid .   Consider 4000 but make it 5000.
He tanks for close to 2 minutes but sadly eventually folds.  
2 pair and a live 4 I think he said he had .  

So this hand just ran out
Aaxx 269sss
I repot button raiser to 4800
He flats and has me covered
Lots of awkward flops here with 10,500 in the middle and 20k behind me
KJ7xdd isn’t great but I decide to go with it with the betting lead
We are all in vs AK1056 with diamonds - just a few cards to dodge :)
No problem the poker gods send out a 9x turn and a 7x river

Just shy of 50k after that

Pull in another couple of decent pots soon after that , peaking at 71k before dropping back to 63k . 

227 entrants , 176 left
400/800/800

Card rush continues
Apologies for lack of hand updates now but I really need to watch the action
110k
500/1k/1k
243 enter , 170 left

Biggest card rush of my life here
Literally won like ??? 10 hands and chopped one out of like 15 hands
Amazing in any game but big O it’s insane

Can’t do detail as it’s nuts

Sitting on 207k

257 entrants
152 left

20 mins until break - 600/1200/1200 at moment

Adrenaline was woke me up

One of my biggest pots was K101075 in the sb strangely . 

Good luck!

211.5k at 2nd break
Coming back to 1/1.5/1.5 blinds
Looked around room and I am chipleader of the 152 left
282 entrants

Long long way to go from here hopefully
I have extra lives but aren’t too excited as with 30 mins blinds I’ll still need my fair share of luck on the allins

As I was writing it I got into another huge hand
Bb and 1 limper and sb tops up .  
I make it pot 6k and just limper calls
I have AK345 double suited - he has about 30k behind
Flop is a beautiful A27xhh
I check and he pots it and calls my all in
He has A3568.  Turn brick river 6
Chop chop - I’m so unlucky ;)

Lost a chunk before this one got me back to 213k

Limper . Capable confident thinking player .
Sb tops up
I make it pot 6k and they both call
Sb tight but decent solid player
I have AQJ35 double suited
Both have about 40k start of hand
Flop is 348 rainbow .  Back door clubs option.
I bet 7.5k into 25,5k and just limper flats
Turn is a king d putting flush draw out there (not mine)
I push all in and he quickly folds - phew :)

Thanks

All in all in
I min raise utg to 4000
Same player as last post makes it 15k pot
I raise him all in ( he had 35 k total )
It’s my AKJ38 1 suit
Vs his AKQ46 1 suit
Board runs out
3,10, 9,10,10 for a chop

284 entrants
96 left
Reg must be closed as prize pool is out
60k up top
Pays 38th , min cash is 1653$
Average 89k
201k my stack
Blinds are 1/2.5/2.5

It’s interesting how key decisions to not play a hand can affect your whole tournament
Fold A36108 junk suit utg+1 after same stack next to me limps
Worried about raises behind me and it’s weak early position anyway
Flop is 10,7,2 2 hearts
Utg busts a 2 pair bad low bb hand with AAJ3x double suited, hitting the flush

Phew

am going to sleep, but good luck Rob.

Missing Vegas this year.  Need to stop looking hand histories where people are massacring mixed games at the WSOP (well just Chainsaw really).  I often wonder if he is a genius and all those hand histories are deliberately altered so he appears much worse than he is.      

Mad gamble just before out table broke
Can’t write it out right now but scoop to go to nearly 400k

Couple hands later at new table I lost all in preflop vs a 54k stack to knock back and lost 12.5k the next hand

Only 2 hands later I lose a tough one vs the chap playing wild hands , couldn’t get away from it and 80k total.  

Took a small one with AA next hand

Jesus give me some crap hands so I can chill out for a while .

248k now

70 players left - average 122k

Omg what is going on today
Biggest rollercoaster ride ever
There’s a 3k limp and a pot to 10.5k from a tight solid cocky guy I played with for hours at V other day
I repot with AAQQ7 double suited
But he has AAJ26 and the board runs out 973 ( flush draw for me on the flop)
Turn 6 river jack

Cost me 87k - another huge pot

Break in 5 minutes if I survive

173k
127k average , 67 left

Thanks , think I need it !

Another huge one just before the break
I raise utg+1 with the beautiful
A2466 with nut clubs and baby hearts
Button any cards type from earlier flats and blinds come in
Flop is AK8 all hearts
Check for a free low card and mop up please
Button has other ideas
I actually get a tell where he goes to grab chips then looks back to double check he has the nuts before betting
Blinds fold quick
I’m about to fold when I realise the 23k he had bet into 27k is only 18k
My eyes are so bad from seat 2 even more so
I can’t go just on a read so I decide to flat
Turn is the magical OMG 6h
I pot it 63k and he moves in for 120k total
He shows but hearts with no low draws or way to improve
I even say pair the board - normally I wouldn’t
But jack hits the river and it’s chop chop
Stack now 180k - 160k more if that miracle river had come
Time for a banana

Average 137k
2/4/4 now
62 left

1st hand back from break
I limp utg with AA34J 1 suit but no one bites
4 to a flop is Jh 10h 3 h
Pot 20k
I bet 12k, just bb calls
Turn is that 6h again
He check tank folds to my 32k with the naked ace hearts

Lose a little next hand but prob got out cheap  - 189k left .

Ouch
Table serial caller from before flats my 9k in his 4k bb
Flop is 863xxss
I have AA864 no spades
He check calls 1/2 pot of 12k
Turn is a 7s
He check raises all in and actually had a genuine hand this time
A4 with spades and 3 high cards
Need a 8 or 6 for 3/4 but it’s a queen river

120k left

This madness is actually becoming fun

52 left ( pays 38 reminder )
Average 164k

Quartered again in a strange pot but not my whole stack thankfully
Raise utg with A33510 1 suit
Just bb flats the 10k ( 5k bb )
Board runs out Q82xdd , 3d Kx
He check calls 28k pot on the river
But turns over A2K56 with king high diamonds !
This is the guy I mentioned earlier who is cocky and won the aces vs aces with a rude celebration
Down to 105k but blinds just gone through me so 90k now :)

48 left
We break table next if I survive to 40 left

Pays 38

Blinds just through me so only 77k now

Time to be lucky - don’t really wanna blind out

8 mins left of 3/5/5 then it’s 3/6/6 costing 18k a round to fold

Edit - 47 left

Back to 100k
My bb 3 limps and sb top up
I have 4 diamonds in hand but the flop is
J83 rainbow - I now have 3 pair and a 2 7 low
Pot 36k , all fold

2 hands later I raise the button playing 95k with
A25Q8 double suited
Bb Gillian from earlier - you know that any cards one with that spades flush repots it
There’s 44 players left , if I fold I’m on 81k but I’m never folding .

He’s just re raised utg +1 when a 45k stack pot raised commuting his stack utg.
He only had AQ827 with 3 of 1 suit that time but busted mateys AK23x.

They go in but he has
AA35J one suit
Board gives me huge hope when it’s 10,6,2 with 2 of my suit
But it bricks JJ and I’m out in 44th
No regrets

Good game

Unlucky Animal

Thanks for updates

So no gym today
A decent sleep until noon
Watched the England game from my room
And now I’m 10 mins into what will be my last WSOP tournament
$1,500 Omaha Mix
Games change every 8 hands
Omaha 8 (limit)
Plo8
Big O

One of my favourite tournaments since they introduced it ? less than 10 years ago

Starting stack of 25k
Already had a big O nasty lay down and was down to 22.1k as I write this .  Back to 23k then another 800 gone folding but low draw mid pair to an obviously better huge draw on the flop

Loving every hand , love this tournament so much

Not sure if I’ll post often or just at breaks

Not tired at all for a change :)

Back to starting stack after pulling in a few in limit and getting this nice one at the end of big O

Min raise to 400 from tight old chap utg
I flat 23368 2 suits
Flop is A810 2 hearts - not my suit
He bets 600 into 1300 and just I call
Turn is 6h making the flush ( that pesky 6h from yesterday )
He check calls 1400 .  River is a Jx.
He check tank folds to a pot bet

Starting stack 25k 1st break
Nobody being too splashy or out of line so not the easiest table to accumulate large chunks of chips on
I’ve had zero coffee today , that’s how well I slept .  Probably break that later .

Ok we are up and running after a proper tough call
Utg makes it 800 to go and after 2 callers I call from sb with the speculative
KK788 2 suits   , bb also calls. 

Flop is K,10,5 rainbow
Out of position with no flush draws and no redraws I check
All check , turn is 7d putting 2 out there .
I still check as not loving it
Old chap tight not been out of line at all announced pot - I decide to just call with an awkward amount left if I pot it .
I’m putting him on a A2 nut diamonds prob with a low end straight draw type hand
Pot is 4300
River is Jx
I check and this time he bets 10k ,  not instantly but fairly quickly , most importantly in pure silence.

I go into tank for over 1 minute - it’s 10k for the 22.9k but I’m left on under 10k if I’m wrong with my gut read here

I make the call and he turns over AAJ68 with nut diamonds

Pull in another couple nice pots since too

Just under 50k stack .

Big blind special of all specials
It’s 300/600 blinds in limit
I have 7,8,9,10 rainbow
4 limpers
Flop 10,8,6 xcc
Bet and 3 callers
Turn 9 , I’m not checking .  Bet and 2 calls of 1200
River is a club , but the 9c
Bet and 1 call

Up to 60k after that and pulled another 5k in after that in big O
With AAQ37 on Q25xhh flop .  Only had naked ace of hearts and happy to take down on flop or play for their stacks on turn if get any of the 3 to call . 

7 mins until 2nd break
62k

Edit .  Big limit pot AA28 3 way runs out well.
76.5k

Edit last hand b4 break bust one player for another 10k addition in limit :)

Edit corona magic started just before first edit :)

Get 3/4 against other Brit at table after a favourable flop and run out in big O
Then few hands later I take the rest of his 10k with my awful aces vs AK102x

Pulled in small one after and hit the magic 100k mark

731 entrants so far

Registration open for another 2 levels

Just about to start level 8 with blinds of
300/500/500 pot limit
500/1000 1000/2000 limit
Level 9 repeats the same blinds

Nothing over exciting to report
Floated between 100 and 110k since the last post
Corona number 2

24 mins left at the double level blinds

Might do a speed walk to the room for the other half of my Footlong tuna I left in the fridge at next break

Certainly won’t be rebuying in this one

819 entrants so far

Edit …106k next break unless I play next hand

My first big loss of the day
2 limps at 600 and I make it 3000 with
AAxc 345ddd
2 limps call
Pot 10.5k
10,7,3 2 clubs
I bet 6400 and just Asian guy flats , he only has 14,700 behind
Turn is a 7x , looks good
Check I bet his stack
He tank calls
And shows what would have been a big favourite on the flop
A2J89 with back door spades
River 8 - meh
53k pot a goner
High club turn would have been interesting considering he seriously considered folding on turn big time

Down to 81k - still obviously a great stack
Prize pool should be announced soon

Table just got tougher with pro from a week or 2 ago and another likely decent pro replacing the last 2 busts

854 total entrants
Pays 129 places
440 left
Average 48.5k

Crazy scenes earlier when some woman was shouting and screaming the place down 5 tables away from me
I think she ended up being chucked out of the tournament
Is bound to end up on YouTube or PokerNews I reckon as lasted a good 10 minutes

Chap next to me says she was very disruptive in the razz at his table the other day too

Meanwhile back to the game
Folds around on plo8 to my sb
Doubled suited QJ58 I top up , bb checks
Flop J85xhh ( not my suit ) check check
Turn Jx. I bet 1800 into 2400, he calks .
River .  It’s that 6h again
I bet pot to try get a bad low out , he calls after a small dwell and mucks .

95k
392 left
Average 54k
Blinds are huge relative to starting stacks so the busts will come fast around the room from here on

Not much a do since last post
Dragged one in but lost bits on others and blinds
97k

13 mins left of level 12

360 players remain.
Average 59k

Play 3 more levels tonight if survive
This would be a good time of tournament to get lucky

Table got bit more tough since last post

Highly unlikely our table will break today

Start of level 14
93k
2 levels left if survive
Won’t make money today
Hour levels tomorrow

280 left

Average 76k

Cut off from corona , just gotta stay awake now

Finally bust one and pull a reasonable pot in
Lost a bit next pot
Won that back next pot then a little more the next pot
Big O all of them

119k

Last level just started
1/2/2 pot limit
2/4 and 4/8 limit !

Average 86k
248 left

Would love to make day 2 right now

Lost one
Min raise utg and call from a guy that didn’t see the raise
I make it near pot and utg decides to gamble Ak1035 1 suit
Vs my AAQ95 double nut suits

Unfortunately he makes a boat by the river , no lows .

Lost 31.1k on that one

Down to 85k

2 hands left at left at limit

Just folded so 1

83.5k to bag I think if I don’t play next hand

224 left on clock

95k average

Pays 119

And bagging now

Here she is, Shouty Lady. Tried to spot you or Stu in the Vid but failed.




https://x.com/AllenKessler/status/1802544801159749989

Shouty lady definitely got her money's worth

There’s a 3.5 minute video somewhere as guy at our table started playing it later on .
“I’ve done nothing wrong” said over and over again .  Not sure where though .

Back to today .  11am .  Think gym shortly.

Need to do search of players at my table but don’t recognise any
Lots of big names still in so that’s a good start I guess .
Also I’ve got a nice middle seat 4
Must note table break order as soon as sit as usual too
Time to get lucky

Back at 1pm
Stu in on table next to me I believe.

This appears to be near the start of the issue.... (4 separate videos)





https://x.com/papapok3r

Meh, that isn't the start of the issue.  It appears to start after she has already been told she has been excluded.

The best understanding I got is that she got a one round penalty for swearing, and refused it.  And that led to this.

But I still don't really know why she swore and what the other players did to provoke her.  Have seen women treated horribly at poker tables, so not surprising that this happened. Though even then she should just take the penalty rather than get herself disqualified.  You can argue the rights and wrongs away from the table. 

Denis Strebkov is aDrENalin710 on Stars.  Has won a fair few SCOOPs and WCOOPs.  From what I remember he is one of the more aggro players, so your position isn't ideal.   Though guess he can't just shove every hand if you aren't playing NL.  Good luck

Though you did well to avoid Benny "never loses an all in" Glaser on the next table.  Good luck to Stu too!

Thanks
Yeh Stu had benny yesterday and today !

Trust me that lady had history
She was causing all sorts of nonsense at that razz the other day with demands on other players without going into detail .

Today we have started on big O
1.5/2.5 with a 2.5k bb ante
For pot limit games
For the limit it’s the huge
2.5/5 with betting of 5/10

So blinds have gone through me and I’m already 6.5k less from my stack

The clock is now up to date

215 remain
Average is only 99k
Pays 129

Copied this from Stu's thread, think Rob posted on there by mistake.



Couple of hands played and couple of hands won
Nothing big though
Button steal 3456 plo8
And this one vs a guy defending light as hell in plo8 and limit O8

Limit o8
He raises from sb
I look down at A357 3 spades
Won control of the pot in position so I 3bet to 15k
Flop Q106 rainbow
He check folds to my 5k bet and says “this is so pretty”
I reply “mine too”  Smiley

89.5k
184 left
We may break table next , not 100% it’s confusing how it’s written
Average 115k

Then this hand vs same guy
He raises mid and I 3 bet AJ47 double suited
Flop A93 he calls my 5k
Turn 4 he check folds to my 10k

117.5k I think

Not sure what happened there
But I lost a post or 2 before posting them :(

Couple of solid wins on flop and turn in limit light 3 betting a wide range chap

Then took a small big pot one down too

Low 120ks
Prob peak for the tournament

Blinds up
1.5/3/3
And 3/6 6/12

184 left
Average 116k

lol
Thank god the coffee arrived haha .  Thanks mate

New table
Asian huge safe nit from 1st table followed me
I guess I should look up the people
Table 669 , took me ages to find as structure sheets  all over the table numbers
Did a full figure of 8 trying to find it I reckon
128k

176 left
Average 121k

Not a very stacked table
Have looked up all I can
Big Thai player in seat 2 , other than that nothing scary at all

168 left

Slight confusion here
Think I typo yesterday it pays 119
Think it was 129
But today it’s 128
I heard someone behind me discussing with the floor and floor was going to ring main floor from yesterday
Possibly to do with that lady being removed ???

Defend bb 9863xxss limit vs sb big chip

Flop A410 rainbow
Call his bet
Turn beautiful 2s to give me flush draw 2nd low
He check folds

Coming back after break
141k

Confirmed 128 spots being paid because of the disqualification ( got her money back apparently ! )

2/4/4 plot limit
I guess
4/8 8/16 limit

152 left
Average 140k


Huge hand before break
Big O
Limp from Thai
I pot it to 13.5 with AA4710 1 nut suit and one non
Heads up flop with 34.5k in there
A85xcc not my suit and not my blocker ace clubs
Hate it but when he checks I’m not leaving that 34.5k in there
30k is my bet and he moves in for another 30k ish
And shows 22345 .   Arrrgh but don’t forget he is blocking himself and doesn’t have the flush draw
Gotta fade 8 outs twice unless I fill up
Turn K river Q , I’ll take it , phew :)

It’s interesting he was after the full double
If he leads pot I may well fold , would have been a tough spot given the clubs on board too.

Update… after writing that 140 left .

Ok finally some proper poker
Big O
AhJ248xddd in bb
Thai button makes it 12k ( playing 80 ish )
I could fold , re raise , or flat here .
All valid options I feel
I flat and flop is 9h3d3h
I check and he bets 10k
I debate making it 30 but go for 25k
He tank folds

Up to 162k peak

Then as writing this I just re raise with Aa28 double suited in plo8 over the only guy that covered me at the table , he folded pre flop.

183k
136 players left
Average 156k
$3,021 is a min cash


Stacks are a little deeper now after some busts but still 2 critical low stacks at the table .

Massive hand in limit
4/8 8/16

2 off bubble
Both stacked

Raise mid
I’m next in position with AA36 just baby clubs but red aces
3 bet . Small blind calls too so 3 way .
Flop 997 2 hearts
Matey leads I flat and button folds
Turn is 2 hearts
He gets the 16k
I make it 32k on the off chance of a fold , it’s unlikely he has a boat
He tanks for an eternity then announces “great bluff if it was one”
Must have folded a ? Small flush no redraw to low or bad low ?
I didn’t show

Over 250k

Got the guy that flatted the 3 bet earlier on the hook since then but he escaped ( new player ) , seems really bad but here to play loads of hands .

Raise mid with AaK2 1 suit ( still limit ) and he flats the button
He calls me down on a board of
Q83A4
With the mighty
K356 , 1 suit 56cc    .  Bad turn for me arrgh .

Right on the bubble we chip up in limit again
Limp utg 10k ( any 4 mad chap )
I top up sb with 10,9,3,4 rainbow
Bb only has 12k total - so 2k behind
Flop 10,8,6
Utg bets I flat and bb all in 2k
Turn is a lovely 10
I lead 20k into the 16k side and he flats
River is a lovely ace giving me a decent low
Bet and he calls - scoop side - dunno what utg had
Bb scoops half but that’s only 18k so decent pot for me with trash even I don’t like to play :)

Bubble goes before next hand

128 left
Average 166k
Just short of 300k here :)

3 mins to next break
Just short of 360k
Not much resistance here so gradual chip up
100 players left
Average 213k

Blinds after break
3/6/6
And
6/12 12/24

Meh
Lost 30k on this hand before break
Raise aj74 hi jack
Bb defends Q346 one suit
Board K49 2 spades ( neither of us that suit )
Q7
I bet flop only and check down hoping my 74 was good :(

Back to 285k after a couple of tricky limit hands
I did chop one but other lost the minimum I think by taking free card on turn that could have hit my flush , gut shot , or ace on river but didn’t come .

Average 240k
89 left

Need plenty of caffeine as tiring a bit
Dinner if last 100 minutes more

I’ve eaten just now so nap and shower planned

204k after this nasty one against the any 4/5 guy
Big O
A236Q 2 suits I raise and just sb calls
Pot is 40k
Flop AJ7
Just when I trying to think whether I’m checking back or not he pots it
I think about folding but it’s too strong I think vs this guy - thinking he has AJ I decide to flat with back door flush and straight opportunities
Turn is a 7
Honestly don’t think he likes it
But he still moves in for 90 into 120k
I tank fold
We talk after and he wasn’t lying
He had AKQJJ , maybe should have folded flop , I dunno
Was a 3min plus tank for me on turn

We have a huge stack at table now but has hardly played a hand .

82 left
Pay jumps minimal
Average 260k

Beginning to desire something stronger than caffeine

200k
Blinds up
Level 21
8/15 15/30 limit which we are on
Pl is 4/8/8

Players left 75
Average 284k

Weird lay down in big O pre with nothing invested
Raise and reraise in front of me
AK2910 2 non nut suits
Turned out raiser had exact same hand
Thai had A25Q10
Would have chopped the main and won a small side

Was marginal fold.  Tanked a minute pre !

Since that gambled AQ105 double suits vs a shorter guy and chopped

Then took down a decent chunk after re raising almost half my stack in pre with AA103
Matey folded the 2,9,10 flop

258k after that

New table
5 mins until dinner
62 left
344k average

222k at dinner - return in an hour
New table looks ok actually

Back to just over 300k after favourable flop and run out in plo8
Holding A35J with jack high diamonds
It came 467xdd7x8x
Tried to trap the weak guy in but turned out he had a monster too
A27Q with queen high diamonds , everyone checked the flop
I bet 36k 3 way into about 75k on the turn
Then was all in for about 120k on the river

49 left
Average 435k
Guaranteed 4115$

Oh forgot  coronas started 30 mins ago
Ordered 2 at once

Ok new level
317k
48 players left
444k average
Blinds are a largeeeeeee
13/25 25/50 in limit
6/12/12 in pot limit

Let’s goooooo

Out in 42nd
Absolutely gutted right now and I bust nearly an hour ago
It was the first time the whole tournament i was all in and covered or even close which makes it even harder to take
$4641 payout

Sorry hand history will come but got a great chatty fun 1/2/5 big O game going

So probably be tomorrow

Another very nice run & cash, well done Rob. Enjoyed the write-ups too.

Well done Rob.  Stellar performance with multiple deep runs.  Unlucky not to convert one into a biggie.

So here it is .  Bear in mind the huge blinds which meant I wasn’t afraid to gamble if I felt it was time .,
I still didn’t instant call on the flop as I always like to make sure im comfortable with my decision before doing so when so deep into a tournament
Blinds of 6/12/12
I’m about to be in the blinds and after that we would switch to limit and 13/25 25/50
I didn’t note the exact average stack at the time of bust but it must have been just over 500k
I also had a juicy table so short stacking too long I wasn’t getting the chance to potentially chip up huge vs one or 2 questionable ranges let’s say.

8 handed
Utg +2
Plo8
I make it 25k to go with
As Qs 10d 4h
Next guy playing wider range than most flats ( has me well covered )
Asian lady sb flats ( isn’t far off chipleader )
Pot is 99k
Flop is
Jc 9d 3h
So no back door flushes but a decent flop for my hand - if it doesn’t pair the board I could scoop or get half so often
I make it 56k  ( I was tempted to go pot to discourage “moves” ) but by betting less there’s a chance to treble barrel at it if someone has a similar hand but no pair and just flats and I don’t improve )
Note I had about 300,000 at start of the hand
Next guy folds
Asian lady pots it - so it’s all in to call
Hate it , I think more because it’s my first time allin in the tournament with 42 players left of the 853 that started
But I’m live for a scoop or half and go with it - also of note she has made some questionable moves in recent orbits so might not even be super strong
So I’m all in for a pot in the region of 650k
She shows
Qh 10h Jd 2d
Board runs out
6d ( huge chance of something now but obviously not a scoop )
Qc

So 42nd , $4641 I think it was
Another deep run and another WSOP cash
Gotta take the positives but just hate not being there playing still
Felt sick for about an hour but had lots of fun losing a small amount on a cash table until 1:30am the rest of the night

On to today
I can’t face big O at Nugget (400$)
So I’ll probably just hit the cash tables for my last 24 hours in Vegas

That sucks.

Congrats Rob on a solid series.  Think I'd take that anyway.

Boarding soon so a quick post
I’ll do a summary trip post when back home and recovered :)

Played big O all day yesterday and a bit this morning .
Lost 400 last night but was in the hole for a lot more at one point
Today was a luckier +300 for a couple hours work

Did have a big hand on the cash table vs the lady that bust me in the mixed Omaha !
It was reraised to 80 pre and 4 to the flop
I flopped the nut flush and 2nd low draw
Led 150 and 2 callers
Turn king of the same suit
All 430
She tank calls with 2nd low draw and a baby flush draw
Sadly she got the low for the chop
1630$ pot on 1/2/5 meh :)

Here’s hoping the run good of an empty seat next to my aisle seat continues

I miss these. Was loving the updates

FOMO massively here

Right it’s Monday morning and it feels a good time to do a summary post of the trip.
Thank you to everyone for any words of encouragement along the ride.   I actually think this diary helped me focus a lot and I enjoyed writing more than I did when the blog was active many many years ago.  I guess that’s a age thing :)

My journey home wasn’t too bad at all.  I lucked out with a seat next to me on the airplane again. Managed minimal sleep but completely avoided alcohol and the drive home, whilst tough, was one of my easier ones after a long haul overnight flight.  Weather was perfect and the only hiccup was a 2-3mile tailback caused by a police traffic stop opposite Stonehenge.  Jet lag since not so good but part of the package .  Managed to pull a muscle in my back while gardening yesterday so lying flat for a day or two at the moment hoping it’s not as bad as a few months back when I had a similar injury.

A successful trip and I’m still buzzing from it to be honest .  It’s gutting to not hit something huge but the $10k landmark was big, in fact my biggest live win in nearly 11 years. 

After 2 completely dry summers without a single tournament cash at the WSOP or elsewhere around town it felt great to not just break that but push on with several cashes.

In total ( including re entries ) I entered 17 individual tournaments across town . 
10 of these were WSOP, 3 at Venetian, 3 at Aria and 1 at MGM.

Total buy in of $19,400
Total cashes of $28,800

Tournament profit of $9,400 cashing in 7 out of the 17 entered .

Of note I also got a bounty in one I didn’t cash in and went deep in 3 others, 2 of those playing massive stacks at times too.

Cash games were more of a fun distraction.  I still tried to take them seriously but know my priority is the tournaments .
I think I played on 18 separate days for a total profit of around $200 !  Imagine how much higher that would be if I wasn’t constantly tipping the drink server for coronas ;)

I sold excess $ at spot to another Brit and left some $ in a WSOP tournament account for next year too .  Took me 3 different people on 3 different occasions to ask to get the right answer on that , but I’m very confident I’m allowed to do that now . 

Vegas hasn’t changed too much since last year .
The smell of weed is the strongest it’s ever been.
The escalators on the strip have a less than 50% working ratio and even the ones within Horseshoe had a similar % .
The elevators also a joke with 2-5 of the 8 working at any one time for my room section.
It’s busier than ever as is the WSOP although I got the feel more people were playing cash games elsewhere this trip .
I had more static shocks than ever this trip, literally 90% of metal handles on doors or elevator buttons , I resulted to using my elbow so I didn’t jump as often :)
Obviously the price of everything has risen again with inflation but knew what to expect in that respect .

Notes to self for next year
Ideally be fitter before go, the mental grind takes its toll.
Unless I am fitter , 2.5 weeks seems optimum stay for myself .
Was ready to go home 4/5days earlier which would have matched last years trip length too which felt right .
Completely forgot about Spa option at Paris , must try that next year to refresh.
Must eat more crepes from place in Paris near WSOP.  Only tried at end of trip but so good and convenient, though not cheap .
Must eat falafel from kebab place more too, again only tried at the end of trip. 
Look at plane from Newquay option - eastern airways , rather than driving Gatwick .

And finally , weight gain or loss - a loss of about 1/4 stone .
Not brilliant but diet could have been better and didn’t get the steps in as much the last week of the trip .

I’d be surprised if I don’t diary again next summer.
Chance I’ll do some posts from small festival in the Caribbean in November too before that .

But for now, cheers all

Thanks Rob, your Vegas Diary was an absolute delight to read, & I'm sure I was not the only one who was super envious. Really "gave me the flavour".

Take care mate. 

I don't understand the games very well but I do understand all the other stuff like stack sizes, position, reads on players, sleep quality, food and all the other little nuances and foibles that made your reports come to life.

Thanks a bunch. Looking forward to the next one.

Thanks for the updates and vwd on the profit.

Thanks for updates Rob

Much appreciated

Really enjoyable updates

I was hoping you'd stay on for another couple of weeks so we could have more

An actual Poker blog on a poker forum, who would've thought it???? A very enjoyable read, even if like others, I don't understand the games. Good to see you turn a profit too. Look forward to your next one.