WSOP Trip

I wrapped up a trip last week to Las Vegas.  It was a blast!  I already can't wait to go back.

I flew out on the 12th.  My target event was WSOP Colossus and playing the 1D flight on the 13th.  I got into town on Friday, got check in to a weekend comped room at Luxor, and took a walk to Paris to get verified.  I had to get verified twice as the first gentlemen did not do it properly.  I'm glad I checked before I left the property.  Once it was done, I completed registration for Saturday so I could start right at 10am.

Once I was ready to go, I grabbed a bite to eat at Mon Ami Gabi!  Took advantage of their restaurant week deal and had a three course lunch of Gazpacho, NY Steak French Dip Sandwich with frites, and Chocolate Mousse for dessert.  Yum!

After eating went to check out the start of the $100k final table.  Crushers like Alex Foxen were at the table as well as some villains (you can guess).

I bought a last minute ticket to No Doubt at The Sphere.  So continued to get my steps in and walked back to Luxor.  With the heat and knowing the properties it isn't too bad of a walk with the trams and mainly being inside.  Plus I was upgrading to Vdara in a few nights anyway.

The Sphere was a phenomenal venue and No Doubt put on an even better show!  The setlist was spot on and the flow of the whole show was as smooth as the chocolate mousse I had for lunch.  I caught one of the dropping oranges during the set and got a couple souvenir cups to bring home.

I was up early Saturday and giddy to get started.  I hiked back up to Paris and ordered the breakfast of champions with a creme brulee crepe.  Thing was huge and would hold me over for awhile despite being a carb bomb to the stomach.

We got our seat assignments and I was in the Horseshoe White section.  The table had no one really notable. The new app is great to quickly check our the competition at the table and see if there are some crushers among you.

First three levels were frustrating.  I quickly lost 40% of my 50k starting stack with villains coming along and getting there on the river.  This was despite making them pay and not giving the best odds.  I took mental notes to adjust accordingly.

Didn't matter.  Shortly into level 3 I got into it with a gentleman from Paraguay and he had AA.  I was eliminated...

We had not even reached the first break!  I took a little stroll, reassessed if I made any mistakes, and if I was in a good headspace.  Check and check.  There was one rebuy available for $500.  We came to play.  So we rebought shortly before break at noon.

Our second seat we got put into the Normandy room.  This meant we had to hike all the way across the property and go up a level.  I played in that room a few years ago and remember it being very cold!  It still was.  We came prepared with a backpack that had a hoodie, charger, water bottle, snacks, and other goodies.

The new table had a couple big players, one with seven figure tournament wins too!  Also had recs like me.  One of the recs took out a pro about an hour in and the pro laid into the guy calling him a donkey among other things.  This guy did a few other antics earlier to the dismay of the table so people were happy to see him depart as he was generally a drag to the game.

I never got really much going.  That table collapsed and I was moved to an even colder part of Normandy.  Then several tables broke and we were moved back to the original room.

My highest stack was 2x starting.  I really wanted to bag and get a cash in day 2.  That was the goal.

About half an hour before the end of the night I called and utg open with KJo.  Flop came out KT4 rainbow.  I had about another 40k behind me.  He put our a sizable bet, I shoved, and be snap called with AK.

We were out.  Just short of bagging.  Just short of cashing.   12 hours in on two bullets.  Busto.

I was exhausted.  And I am pretty sure I sprained my ankle at some point with all the walking the previous day.  I took the stroll back and passed out for the night.

Sunday morning my ankle was swelling and turning color.  I had to checkout and move to the Vdara.  I asked someone in security if they had ice packs and they hooked me up with enough to get me through the rest of the trip until I could get it looked at.

We grabbed the lunch of champions at Shake Shack and iced the ankle there on the way to Vdara.  I got checked in early and went down to the pool.

Again, I debated if I wanted to play that day.  Around 1 I decided to go hop into the $250 daily deepstack.

I got seated in level two.  First table I wasn't at very long.  There were some grumpy fellows and one lady took my picture for me.  She then eliminated me a few hands later AK>AQ after she had played out of turn and I came along.

We fired the second bullet and got the weirdest table of the weekend.  One gentleman remembered me from a daily a few years ago.  He told me he remembered me and took my picture a couple yea ago.  I'm pretty much a nobody in the game so it was a little weird so I just nodded in acknowledgement.

Few minutes later an OMC randomly blurted out, "Half of us are having sexual fantasies right now.". There was a pro at the table who tried to break the awkwardness and said, "Yeah, we know that guy has TC's picture hanging in his bedroom!". They got a laugh out of me.

Once that table broke I got a dream seat.  It was a table of all recs and one decent player from France.  I got to run the table over.  Took down pots uncontested, bluffed off pre flop aggressors, and had a good table presence while having fun with everyone.

There was some luck involved.  One hand before break I three bet TT to an under the gun open and essentially put him all in.  He went into the tank and then begrudgingly showed and folded JJ.  I showed my hand to add salt to the wound.  I would have snapped JJ in his spot.  Whew.

Another hand I had AA and three bet an early position open.  He 4 bet all in and I snap called.  He turned over QQ. Flop was a brick.  Turn was a Q!  The dealer was running it out at lightning speed so before the table could properly react she dealt the river Ace to save me from taking a hit.  Gave the guy I knocked out a fist bump and kept going.

Close to the money people were getting antsy.  I made the comment that I didn't care for the $504 min cash and I was shooting for the final table. It seemed to stick because I was scooping several pots near the bubble without resistance.

Right after the money burst at 148 players I was moved to a new table.  Right away I raised AKo late with a top 20 stack that was deep.  The BB was a player from Japan that had me slightly covered and he shoved.  What the what?!  I thought for a minute and then decided it was too early to flip for piles or be crushed if he has it.  It was probably too nitty as he ended up being fairly aggressive.

I got moved again and the next table were some grumpy players.  One almost brought a dealer to tears.  I reassured the dealer she was doing just fine.

Few hands in I was at around 20bb and got it in with AKs but ran into AA.  I was left with dust and subsequently eliminated a few hands later.  Finished 59th of 986 entries!

I was very happy to get my first ever WSOP cash!  It was late.  I was tired.  And I had to fly out the next morning.  I returned to Vdara after midnight and pass out.

Between the two tournaments I had logged nearly 24 hours at table.  I was happy with the way I played and battled through some adversity.  Yes I was net down for the trip but I still considered it a success as put myself in positions to succeed.

I'm already looking forward to next year.  And I plan to start to play more live locally too when I get the chance to do so!