2026 Started off with a bang! Took down my very own home game Tournament of Champions, for only the second time in nearly two decades, after taking down our annual Legacy Dealer's Choice event the previous month!
I was two for two on the biggest two tournaments of the Pepper Street Poker year! Pretty cool!
And so with that I was very much looking forward to my annual January trip to Vegas for the Moose International Tournament.
2025 for me was a stellar year for me, not only in poker, but in living life with my still cancer-free wife. We had a great time all year, very grateful that she still has NED (No Evidence of Disease) and a very hopeful outlook for many years ahead. It all culminated in a fantastic December family trip to Orlando and all the magical theme parks therein.
So I was extra happy when I got a little mini-vacay afterwards in the January Moose/Vegas poker streets!
That pin is a green King Cobra, in honor of our beloved Adam who passed in his sleep of cardiac arrest last September. I've written about him in this blog - he was an amazing human without a mean bone in his body, and he LOVED the game of poker so so much. I brought lots of extra pins, so most of the 30 or so Burbank Lodge members wore them as well.
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| Miss you buddy. |
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I arrived as per usual on a Sunday - just in time to hop into the afternoon $250. This year the Nugget was doing a $20 add-on, so it was actually $270. Found this out when I registered as it was in teeny print on the published schedule. Really guys? I know it says the $20 goes to the staff, but we all know that's bullshit. I guess a 25% juice just isn't enough lol. I get it. You have to make money to stick around, but really ticky-tacky shit like this is just irritating. And it's not exactly an "optional" add-on. It's an additional $20 for double the normal starting stack. Whateves.
I wasn't there to worry about the juice, or the smoke in the casino, or the other very typical poker player grievances, I was there to enjoy - and so I did! Sundays tourney went just swell!
I busted late in the day, and started to take my payout slip to the cage, but was happily stopped by a bunch of fellow Burbank Mooser's who were all glad to see me and catch up. Awesome times!
Eventually I did pocket the payout, and I believe I met up with el Jeffe for dinner (my good poker buddy Jeff G) and now this year along for the ride, the irrepressible Wolfie! I've mentioned her in this blog before - she's a true to life semi-professional cash game grinder and quite an excellent recreational tournament player. She's also a blast to hang out with, and now the three musketeers were set up to have the bestest time in the Moose Main on Monday.
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I awoke early and had a lovely breakfast at Claim Jumpers with Bunny, aka Leslie, a lovely lady who was a very good friend to our dear departed Adam. We had a great meal and reminisced a lot about our late friend. It was a bittersweet breakfast for sure. She and I both were in the am flight, so we wished each other luck as we departed to get ready for the big one!
Last year's Moose Main for me was an epic 3 day journey to a 15th out of 1100 finish and an $1800 payday.
This year, the above pic pretty much sums it up. I believe I snapped this after the first break. I had played ok, but ran into it a few times. I was out before the second break, my QT getting snap called by A9 for 3/4 of my opponents chips. Ok buddy, you're really good. Ah well.
But the good news about the Moose Main, is that even if you bust relatively early (about 3 1/2 hours in) there's still lots of fun to be had and lots of people to root for! Jeff took these photos, so the friendly looks aren't for me specifically, but I do consider these fine folks friends!
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| This guy ran the deepest and chopped the last longer with the guy below! |
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| Last longer runner up, who got half anyways. Nice! |
Among these fun pics are some of the folks I'm most fond of outside of my family. Some of them really, are like family to me.
The Moose Main in Vegas, and the events before and after - really is the best time. I recognize that my deep run last year was a rare and special thing. It may not ever happen again - but whether it does or does not - I will continue to attend the Moose Main and continue to reap the many benefits of going, regardless of how quickly I bust.
Speaking of busting - since I had time on my hands, even though I was tired, I foolishly jumped into the 7pm.
In all honesty I probably shouldn't have been playing. Though I did spin it up early, I was very tired and in the end I was unable to get away from engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. Finished 26/80, 13 spots from the money.
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And so I had the next day off. But rather than jump back in the Nugget side events, I accepted a ride from my friend Wiz (of da' Moose) and he and I, along with Hubee and Vito, made our way across town to what I call Poker Heaven on Earth (outside of my garage and Burbank 652 of course) - Southpoint!
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| Vito found his restaraunt! |
After a delicious, and shockingly reasonably priced, breakfast at the cafe - we all entered the 10am NLHE. I busted just in time, to enter the 2pm Omaha/8 tournament afterwards!
That didn't work out either, spun it up early and then couldn't fade 9's and Jacks, they showed up in nearly all of my starting hands.
So with Vito still in the tourney (which he would win BTW!) and Wiz and Hubee playing slots and craps (which they at one point showed me how to play - the game is understandable but the betting strategy was confusing) I sat down to play some 2/3 cash -
Play was fairly routine for a couple of hours, some soft spots here and there but also a couple of regulars who kept me in check. I did manage to grind up my stack by a hundred or so and then this hand happened.
125 bigs effective. I'm on the button, pro/reg on my immediate right opens to $15, I flat with black 5s. Flop is xKx with two diamonds, villain c-bets small, not even half the pot. Easy call for me. Turn is a gin 5h. Villain checks and I fast play, betting nearly pot size, $50. With two diamonds out there and a gutshot draw as well, I'm protecting my hand and building a pot as well. He ponders for a good 30 seconds and calls. River brings a third diamond, a Jack. Villain instantly jams - and I mean instant.
I don't tank very often but here I had things to consider. KK and JJ are certainly in his range, pre-flop action certainly showed that - which would suck. But really, against a capable opponent like this, over-folding sets is a bad idea. What ultimately led me to call though was that he didn't bet the turn and then tanked to call my $50 bet. In that tank, he was very likely not considering whether or not to call or fold - he was definitely calling, in hindsight I see that he was very much formulating a plan for the river.
Because he snapped jammed I think a diamond rolling off on the river was part of that plan. I truly thought through all the hand, almost a full minute. Because he didn't bet the turn, and because I was only in for $300 at this point, I stuck in the call. He shook his head and turned up aces. He had turned them into a bluff. I don't remember if he had the ace of diamonds.
An $800+ pot was pushed my way. Yay. I was well into the black for the day and almost unstuck for the week so far!
I took a brief break and then returned, and then Wiz walked up on the table. Vito had won the Omaha tournament (chopped for the lion's share of first place) and it was time to go. Ok, twist my arm! I racked up my winnings and we were gone!
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For the next two days I hit the 1pm $250 at the Nugget as well as a 7pm the first night and some cash the second night. Both days I didn't make a dime, busting the tourney's and dusting off $300 in cash.
It was still a good old time of course, but I was ready to jam back home on Friday morning.
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Upon returning, we had a bit of business to attend to at the old home game.
As has been chronicled over on the
PSP Blog, my wife and I are moving soon! So we had to host one more final tournament.
It was a big and boisterous affair that you can read all about
here. I didn't do well, but it didn't matter, I was able to soak it in a lot more than I would've if I had gone deep.
We did have a cash game a few weeks later - that was the actual last game - and then I realized that the moving boxes had taken over, so that was truly it!
And this is certainly not the end, as in the end of my home game. We will get a new place sometime this year, and we will carry on!
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Alas, my dear friend and poker playing companion was in the hospital for all of January and intubated and unconscious for most of it. He had to miss the final garage tournament, and shockingly he passed away in the second week of February.
This has been a rather devastating loss for me and the rest of us Pepper Street Poker players - though not nearly as devastating as it's been for his folks, siblings and closest loved ones of course.
I'm planning on writing a more lengthy and more fitting tribute on what a great poker player, and even better human being that Ian was - but for now suffice it to say, this really sucks and poker will never be the same without him.
Over the years Ian had made it out the the WSOP once or twice, to play in the mini-Main Event. Our schedules never aligned correctly - and he loved the deep structure and the freeze-out nature of that tournament - while I preferred the more shit-show-esque Colossus and similar events.
So it really really sucks that we never will make it out there at the same time. It just seems really incorrect, downright fucking cruel, that Ian and I won't be commiserating our bad beat stories in Vegas together some day. Seemed like it really should've happened.
We will have to meet again down the road at that great poker table in the sky.
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So it will be Ian that I'll be thinking about every day that I'm there at the WSOP this year.
Once again, I am super excited at the prospect of grown-up summer camp. So let's break down our plans for this year's gathering, shall we?
I know I went on at length at the end of last year's WSOP report that I really wanted to focus on Mix Games and probably play a mix tournament at the WSOP.
Well, after studying a fair amount on Upswing and also paying a lot more attention to the mix game goings on in the poker world - I've come to an inevitable conclusion.
Focusing on Mix Game tournaments in the WSOP is probably a bad idea.
There are a couple of key reasons for this -
- The very best mix game players, and by extension the best players in the world, are frequently who you run into playing even the "small" buy-in events (the $1500s)
- Although I play mix games every week at the Moose, and have played for years and done well in the game - it is Cash, which is very different from Tourney, and it's also a mix of Limit and Big Bet. In the WSOP I'd want to focus on Limit, which again is where you run into a lot of world class players. I don't have the experience or mental fortitude to contend with this, especially when each bullet is $1500.
The NLHE tournaments are still very appealing to me because I still feel I have an edge among recreationals, especially in the Seniors event, and the price point is so much lower - for a potentially even bigger payoff than most of the mix tournaments.
So NLHE it is, for this year. I imagine I will still indulge in the PLO or HORSE DDS if the timing works out. Those are always fun, though often frustrating in the end. (Limit tournaments especially just seem to be so card centric, especially for someone like me who plays low stakes cash for fun)
So here's my tentative schedule - all contingent on work and family life not taking precedence of course -
- Event 1 - $550 NLHE Mini-Mystery Millions - May 29 through June 1
This will be a giant shit-show, though with the app registering promises to be easy like last year. Apparently we don't even need to re-verify, so theoretically I could register right now on my phone!
I plan to bring four bullets and play two starting days. Day 2 is Sunday and I depart on Monday (unless of course I make day 3, then I'll be calling in sick to work ha ha!)
- Event 46 - 1K NLHE Seniors Championship - June 15 & 16
I'll be arriving on Sunday the 14th, playing a late DDS and then firing one bullet each day on Monday the 15th and Tuesday the 16th. If I don't make day 2 then it's DDS for the rest of the week through Sunday, including the DDS PLO on Wednesday and the DDS Seniors on Thursday. Don't have any plans for any outside events. The DDS tourneys are great, despite a few negatives (the juice is higher than the other WSOP events and the rooms aren't the greatest.)
Should still be an awesome time.
- Event 82 - 10K NLHE Main Event - July 3-4
This is of course an alternate plan, if I somehow win a seat I will be eschewing the Mini-Mystery and the Seniors and focusing on the first week in July. I am currently enrolled in the Moose Lodge's "Trek to the Main" series, and though I'm not doing great so far, it's a fantastic series that awards 5+ seats to the Main every year and there's a decent chance of winning one even right up to the very end. So you never know!
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| Trek to the Main FT in January - I always bring a Rio card capper! |
Between now and WSOP time I'm getting back on the study grind, and also focusing more on tournament play as I plan to make as many Moose tournaments as I can - keeping in mind that we are likely moving soon.
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And so that's the state of the poker in my life. A bunch of wins recently, one devastating loss (not in poker in life) and a promising 2026 ahead of me.
Can't wait for it to keep going!
