Cross-Roads

 Poker is rolling on for me in 2022 - right at this moment I'm in a mini-slump in not having cashed for half a dozen tournaments or so, and I also have a couple of losing live cash sessions under my belt.  Not that big a deal, and also I did have a fantastic past couple of months online, especially in Cash, being able to cash out over $1000 in profit - so really it's all good.

Still, I feel like it's a mini-downswing so I have been on a mini-break for almost two weeks and am very much looking forward to returning to the live felt soon; on tap is a cash game in my garage on Friday, a TOC in one of my Moose Leagues on Saturday (a free-roll so that's nice) and a monthly tournament also in the Moose (a different league) the very next day.

I do truly love the game more than ever and I look forward to playing for the rest of my life, but I'm also pondering what the next step is for me as I feel like I want to change it up a bit, as far as what my priorities and goals should be.

I am super happy to look back on the past decade plus - and see on my Hendon Mob page that I've had a lot of good and fun results playing really very few poker tournaments over the course of a year.   Really, my "results" on this page are pretty amazing considering a couple of things -

• I almost exclusively only play very small buy-in tournaments (almost always under $500 entry), and then only a few bigger events over the course of a year.  Probably I average 3 tournaments a month in a card room, one or two in slow months and then 4 or 5 on a weekend trip to Vegas
• There is a limited number of casino tournaments that are even recorded on the Hendon Mob.  I play in a bunch over a year that don't even count here - and I cash in them often.  The Hendon Mob page also obviously doesn't include home games, and that's for sure where I have my best results.

Truth be told - if nothing changes in my approach going forward, I'll be ok with it.  I like playing fairly infrequently, though it's more frequently these days with my daughter away at college.  Right now in 2022 I'm averaging two poker sessions a week, usually this also includes a cash game session.  If I played for another ten or twenty years and nothing changed - I would likely have a similar continuation on the Hendon Mob and I would be truly happy.

I've tracked my results for over 10 years, and I'm up over 50K in profit - mostly from tournaments.  But in my limited cash game play, I have way more winning sessions than losing sessions.  If I was forced to make a living at this game, cash games are for sure what I'd stick to.

Anyways - I don't feel restless, I don't feel unfulfilled - but I still do feel like I should push myself and reach for a bit more.  Goals I think are a good think in poker, if you set them as aspirations to aim for rather than do or die achievements that if you don't make mean devastation.

I forever plan to be an amateur and not try to earn a living at the game of poker.  However, I think it's worth my time and efforts to aim high and put a good amount of the work in...

Here are a few of specific goals that I'd like to reach in my lifetime.

• Make the money in a WSOP (or big series equivalent) Mix Game bracelet event.
• Hit a five figure score in a tournament with a three figure entry.
• Hit a six figure score in a tournament with a four or five figure entry.
• Make a final table in a WSOP bracelet event.  

I think these are all realistic goals - but I don't think I will necessarily reach them with the same study and play schedule that I've been keeping for the past decade.

Of course the ultimate goal would be winning a WSOP bracelet, but that is very unrealistic even if I were to quit my job and play tournament poker full time, so I'm happy to set that aside in favor of more directly achievable goals.  And who knows - in aiming for the goals above, there's always a chance I might bink!

Anyways - in terms of ramping up the study and play.

I think I can do this rather easily.  

Studying sucks, but I have done it in the past and I can do it going forward.   One thing that always kick starts my studying is attending a poker workshop.  I've been to four in my lifetime - a WSOP Academy in 2015 which saw a drastic improvement in my game, and three LearnWPT workshops, in 2017,  2018 and 2020.

There is a workshop coming up in Vegas early this December.  If there's anyway I can make this happen, I'm going to do it.   Unfortunately work might be an obstacle, I likely won't know if it's possible until the week before.   In any case, if I can't do this one - I'll make every effort to do the next one.

Going to a workshop always helps me re-set my focus on studying the game.  In this case, tournament poker of the No Limit Hold-Em kind.

But you may have noticed that my first goal is to cash in a Mix Game tournament event.  Ideally making the money in a WSOP bracelet tourney would be the best, but I would consider my goal met if it was at the Wynn, Venetian, Aria, Bike or Commerce or some such, for a $500 entry or more.

I feel comfortable in mix game tournaments, I've played more than a few in the last year or so since we came back from Covid.  But I'd like to play more going forward, and in doing so really focus on studying and improving my mix games enough to be a force in tournaments. 

Unfortunately there aren't too many study resources, at least in comparison to NLHE tourneys, when it comes to mix games.  Still, if I can do the LearnWPT thing, and then shift directly to mix game study (using perhaps UpSwing or a similar training sight that offers mix game tutorials) I feel I can make the same leap in quality in my Mix game as I did with my NL Hold-Em in 2015.  After my WSOP Academy workshop that year, hosted by Brian Rast, the spike in my results was crazy good.  All of the sudden I started crushing my home game.  I also went on to cash the Colossus in the WSOP, my first bracelet event cash in that arena in 5 years of playing, not once, but two years in a row.

I would love to get that kind of boost for my Mix games, and in doing so I would hope that such a drastic improvement would translate to even better results - as unlike NLHE, mix games have not only far less players, but far less players who study.  A much softer field overall.  Right now I feel I'm squarely in the middle of the pack.  If I could somehow work up to being in the upper 25% (very achievable) and then (dream big) perhaps the top 10% (maybe not possible, but who knows), the future could be very very bright for my mix game tournament efforts.

My interest in improving my mix game stems from two things.

• I love playing them.  I get the biggest charge from the variety and break from NLHE.
• There are a lot less great mix game players out there than there are great NLHE players.

There is however, one big downside to mix game tournaments - and that is simply that results are VERY dependent on good or bad cards.  Much more so than NLHE events.

If you run not so great in a NL Hold-Em tournament,  you can still very likely make the money, and sometimes (against a soft enough field) you can even take it down.  I myself have done this - won an entire live tournament at South Point in 2021 without a single premium, save AK a few times and JJ and TT once each.  No AA, no KK and no QQ.   It's in this blog, it can happen.

If you run bad in a mix game tournament, you are well and truly screwed.

So the key I believe, is to get as good as you can, so that when you do run decent you are winning the maximum with your bets (be they fix, pot or no limit) and losing the minimum.  The idea, as is also true with No Limit Hold-Em tourneys, is to not squeak into the money, but to make a mountain of chips so you can with stand bad beats and also make a deep run into the top half of the final table.

So as far as Goal #1 - the plan is to Live Workshop, then pay for a training program online for Mix Games.  Unfortunately it likely won't be online training for tournaments, as they really don't exist - but if I can gather info on how to best play cash and when deep and mid-stacked, my tournament training at this point is more than sufficient enough to carry me through the later stages.

As for the remaining goals - the cashes and the final table - I feel that if I shift my study and playing focus to mix games, there will still be plenty of NLHE and plenty of opportunities to have real shots at achieving those benchmarks.

I don't ever see myself abandoning NLHE and exclusively focusing on Mix tourneys.  First of all, there simply aren't enough of them (Mix events) to do that.  And second,  I really feel that if I'm workshopping and studying and playing Mix, it will still keep me sharp on the Hold-Em stuff.  The very best players in the world that I follow, consistently, are always bouncing back and forth.  Ivey, Hellmuth, Negraneau, etc.  They are all Hold-Em and Mix players.  I really feel that to get great at poker, you've got to play all of it.

So, that's the plan!  Play all of it!  

Also, ramp up my frequency.  Truthfully, since my kid moved into her dorm, I've kind of already done that.  I think that's one reason why I'm on a break now actually, playing every single week is not something I did when she was here, and now that she's at college I have for sure increased my playing time.

This is good for my game, and the wife so far is ok with it - but I also have to be cautious that I don't overdo it and get burnt out (like I did recently to go on break) or lose that important life/wife balance.

That said, I know my goals won't come within range if I don't keep up my playing frequency.  So for now, that's what I plan to do - ever mindful of my family and work needs.  I love the former with all of my heart and I like the latter very much, so I don't want to damage either.   I think a big part of that is to keep my intentions and communication wide open and frequent.   That's what I'm doing here, and of course that's what I'll do with the wifey.

Looking forward to the LearnWPT workshop in Vegas (hopefully I'll be able to swing it) and then also there's a good amount of poker to play at Commerce in November as they are doing a tournament series (LA Poker Open) that has a good amount of Mix Game events.   Going to try and carve out some time for those, and make my home game and the Moose a bit less of a priority.  I will for sure have a higher cashing rate playing softer players, but I won't necessarily get better or have a chance at a bigger score, which is after all, the goals I wrote down above.   

There will also likely be a good amount of poker tournaments in the second half of December, as I'll be devoting the long weekends to that pursuit as well, especially as work slows down a bit.

After that, going into 2023 it will all be about the WSOP preparation.   Ideally I would like to finagle a 3 or 4 day weekend springtime trip to Vegas to play in some smaller buy-in events.  I've got my eyeballs out to find a smaller series somewhere like South Point or Orleans to fit the bill for that.

In my garage home game in April and May I'll be running WSOP satellites for me and my friends, including a single table $1200 satty for the mighty WSOP Main.  Hopefully I will get enough players to make that happen, and then hopefully I will be the one to win it!

Failing that, I will carve out a 4 or 5 day weekend in the WSOP itself, and I will devote my days to Daily Deepstack NLHE events - PLUS a single WSOP Bracelet Mix game event, hopefully H.O.R.S.E. or some such.

This really helps me to pound out my thoughts and aspirations on this here keyboard.  If you're still reading, good for you!  Mostly this one was just for me - but I appreciate your interest!

Hopefully my next post here will be from a nice big juicy score in November at the Commerce!

WSOP 2022 Pt. 2

 I was back at the WSOP for a full week of tournaments!   Had some smaller events at South Point in my sights, including a $240 mixed game tournament right off the bat on day one (Sunday, July 10) - ROSE, aka HORSE with no Hold-Em (Razz, Omaha/8, Stud, Eight or Better Stud)

I must say, I had an absolute blast with this one - the players weren't that grumpy (they usually are in these fix limit old-school events) and my bust out wasn't near the bubble.

I really didn't misplay any hand, except maybe once in Razz.  I couldn't help but alert my opponent when he called 4th street with KQ showing that the game was low-ball, and he folded.  It was second nature to me, but really - I should keep my mouth shut in a $240 tournament in a casino.

So I ubered back to Bally's and checked out the scene.  It was the tail end of Day 1A of the Lucky 7's tournament.  I would be playing in Day 1B tomorrow.

I of course was hopelessly early, and was ready to sit down in the Paris Ballroom as soon as they opened the tables, a good 15 minutes before start time!   

Beforehand I had paid a visit to the little boys room, and the once clean and massive restroom that I had seen at the beginning of the WSOP (see my part 1 video) was now absolutely TRASHED, with at least half of the stalls and urinals busted and taped off.  This room was designed to take a gradual influx of a thousand or so people over the course of a day - NOT designed to handle a thousand all at once, multiple times a day.    It will have to be overhauled, not just patched up, to survive next years series.

Anyways, before I walked in, I ran into a friend from my home game, Mr. Joe F. , who was also playing.  We were both raring to go.   But then we walked into he ballroom, and it was SERIOUSLY empty, as in - they had moved our tournament over to Bally's.  D'oh!   We jammed on over (about a 5 minute walk) and found our replacement tables... wished each other luck and then we were underway!

I have to say, playing 7 handed is AWESOME.  

We actually played 5 handed for almost an hour before the other players showed up, which was fine with me.  Everyone was an amateur and I was happy.  Of course the two that were late, were decidedly NOT rec players.  Oh well.

All the same, I had a pretty great morning and afternoon.  Expertly chipping up and rolling with the punches just fine.

Then the bad beat came - according to my twitter it was not pretty...  I truthfully don't remember the hand but...

I was out less than an hour later, though at one point I did get moved to a new table that also had my homie Joe!

Unfortunately, only one hand was played - and then that table broke as well!

Less than ten minutes at my next table, my big hand ran into a bigger hand and that was it for the day.

Well, mostly.  I did take a stab at a small evening event at the MGM down the street.    Did not cash, busted 23rd out of 69, 12th from the money.

Fishy players, fun times, no monies.

And so it was off to bed, day 2 in the books.

The next morning I passed on the aggressively mediocre breakfast sammich from the day before at the Paris deli, and instead went next door to the creperie' and got a Monte Cristo crepe.  It was very good - but the Nutella crepe the next day was even better!

And then it was on to Day 1C of the Lucky 7's!

Once again I was scheduled to be in the Paris Ballroom, and this time - we actually played in the Paris Ballroom.  A very cool room, and decidedly cooler than Bally's.  The day prior had actually been a bit sweaty.  Supposedly they had fixed the air conditioner, but whatever system was in place, was clearly old and barely functional.  Hopefully next summer it is dialed in and nice and cool like Paris.

Alas, this time around there was only a couple of other amateurs at my table - everyone else was either a pro or a more serious and younger poker player than myself.  It was decidedly harder to spin it up, though I still did for a time.

I was out in under 4 hours, and I happily enjoyed a great burger at Cafe Americano, with my favorite accoutrement. 

It rocked.

My twitter indicates that I was in pain from a couple of tough beats and a seeming inability to win flips...

Truthfully the pain and "woe is me" attitude here has completely faded by now, as it's been over a month since the trip.  I'm happy to see that I was comfortable, and successful, with big bluffs.

That night I once again Ubered to South Point for a small ($150 I think) tourney.  Nothing of note to report there, but I did have a bizarre return trip...

It was really weird.  I oddly felt guilty for not having a mask - but not too guilty, as I didn't say anything.  He really did mumble at me for the entire trip.  I smiled and said "Uh-huh" over and over.  Still tipped him well.

The next morning, after the AMAZING aforementioned Nutella crepe' - I was pumped to play EARLY poker at the weekly Wednesday $250 9am Deep Stack SENIORS event.   As you know, I finished 3rd in this event in June, I was looking forward to a repeat performance!

While the chips were an improvement from last time, I'm afraid my run wasn't nearly as good.  I busted well in time to register for the 2pm Everybody Eligible Regular Ass $250 Daily Deepstack.

One cool thing in the morning seniors event, I sat directly next to the champion of the 2018 1K WSOP Seniors Bracelet event - a Mr. Matthew Davis, who was very nice and very cool and fun to chat with.

I ran into him again a few days later and we caught up on our results (both bad lol), it was fun chatting and commiserating. I called him "Champ" and he smiled in appreciation.

Anyways - the 2pm Daily that day...  It went well, but I needed some fuel at this point to get going.

Within two hours I was short stacked and unable to get away from TPTK (Top Pair Top Kicker) against an opponent who had AA.   I was out!  No worries - rebuy!

I wasn't discouraged at all - I had been playing well and dove right back in.  These lower buy-in tournaments were quite a bit softer than the Lucky 7's, and I had no problem spinning up chips and being comfortable pushing the aggression and mixing it up post-flop.

By 940pm we were hand for hand, and ten minutes later we were in the money.  I had 20ish big blinds and was very happy to keep getting involved, hoping to double/triple up and make a run at the real money at the final table.

Unfortunately, it was not to be, and I had to settle for this...

Better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick and a decent cash for the buy-in (just under $600, but of course I was in for two bullets) - and it would've SUCKED to not cash at all this week, and until this tournament that had been a very real possibility.

So fairly happy, after another long but super fun day of grinding - I was burnt toast and off to bed.

With only two days of playing left, I awoke and once again went for the Nutella crepe!   Why eat anything else ha ha!

Don't need to get into crazy detail about July 14th, but I will say this, it was one tournament - the $250 2pm Daily Deep Stack once again, and my twitter pretty much says it all - 

Again, this being a month later - the pain has GREATLY faded and I don't really remember the agony that is evident in my twitter.  Sometimes getting older is a good thing!

And so the last day - July 15

After quickly busting a 10am $60 silly-ment at South Point, I registered for the 1pm $240 Omaha/8 tournament.

Did not cash, but as always enjoyed myself immensely in a fixed-limit / NON-Hold-Em event.

And then I was back to Bally's to say goodbye, watched a little bit of the Main Event Final Table in the Bally's Event Center (their equivalent of the Amazon room) and was in awe of the players and the once in a lifetime experiences they were undergoing.   Some day I'll get there!

Very cool set up and very exciting!

Also noticed this nonsense in the casino...

The idea of people watching this kind of thing as entertainment just kind of boggles my mind, but to each their own I suppose.

And so that was that - the 2nd chapter to my 2022 WSOP experience was certainly not what I wanted results wise.  You can do the math here if you like, but I'll save you the trouble and let you know that I was down well over 2K.  Fortunately, my $2800 cash in June helped offset that quite a bit, alas, over all for the 2022 WSOP, I was in the negative.

However, the experience, all of it - was once again truly GREAT.    

Summer camp for grown-ups, for me, has and always will be the World Series of Poker, and now that it's in it's new awesome home on the strip, it is absolutely better than ever.

I can't wait for next years sleep-away, and am super pumped to come back with my mind and body energized and my heart full of love for the grind and the great game of poker!

Post script - came back come, grateful to see my girls and get back into the routine of a job I like a lot and a family I love - but I also of course had time for the next poker tournament at the Moose, and...

There ya go! 

WSOP - 2022 - Part 1

 Great news - I absconded to the WSOP at Paris/Bally's early!

Click HERE to see some stuff that happened - 

And now I'm back, and wasn't sure until today if I would get back to the WSOP at all this year.  But thankfully, they finally nailed down the schedule for my work (we've got two big shows, including a pilot that I'm directing) and not only does it not conflict with the week I wanted to go (see post below) but I've already e-mailed the boss and he has signed off!  Yay!  Of course if work changes, it may all get canceled, but as of right now I am BACK ON for the week of July 10-16!  

Can't wait!

SPOILER ALERT, SCROLL DOWN!!!!

Couldn't resist sharing this!

Plans for Summer Camp!

 The World Series of Poker is going to be back and bigger than ever in 2022!   

Once again it returns to the summertime, only this time around it will be at a brand new venue - the first change of scenery in 17 years.  Leaving forever the old and busted Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, and entering the new hotness of Bally's and Paris on the strip!

At some point Bally's will become the Horseshoe - not sure if this will be before or after the WSOP, but big changes are afoot in the upcoming months that's for sure!

I for one am PUMPED about the new location.  The WSOP on the strip can only mean bigger and more energized fields.  The Rio is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, and Bally's/Paris is right in the middle of all the action.

********

Originally, before the schedule was released - which you can find by clicking HERE - I was envisioning once again entering the Seniors Event and probably also Colossus.  These tournaments tend to line up on a good weekend for me - so I went ahead and booked a surprisingly cheap room at Bally's.

Then the schedule hit - and also my work announced that we would be doing a big show smack dab in the middle of the WSOP, the same weekend as the Seniors and Colossus!  Boo!   So those events are out for me.

In fact, the show we are doing is so big I know it will likely be impossible for me to get away for at least an entire month leading up to our show.   My only option it seems will be to attend the WSOP after the 25th of June.

So that narrows it down quite a bit - basically I have two options.   One, try to satellite and play in the Main Event OR go right after the Main Event starts and take advantage of a handful of lower buy-in bracelet event.s

Option 1 is certainly appealing, I would LOVE to get back into the Main Event somehow.  And even if I strike out in a satellite there's always the Daily Deepstacks and other WSOP events that I can probably figure out.

Option 2 is also very alluring - there are no less than THREE bracelet events that are just perfect for my budget and temperament that start on July 10 and go through the week.

Ultimately it was the room rate at Bally's that made my decision for me.   It was literally less than half the price to book a room after the Main Event.   The price was, and probably still is, less than $50 a night on average.   Amazing.   This plus free parking and no resort fees with my Diamond card makes it a slam dunk.

**********

So my WSOP schedule is as follows -

Sun July 10 - drive in and check in.   Scope out the scene and probably play the afternoon $400 Daily Deepstack.

Mon July 11 - Play Event #75, day 1B of the $777 Lucky Sevens No-Limit Hold-Em 7 Handed Bracelet Event

Tues July 12 - If I make day 2 in #75 then play the 1pm Daily Deepstack or an alternate tournament at a different location.  Should be good options at Orleans or perhaps Aria or Venetian.  If I didn't make day 2 then fire again in #75 at noon for day 1C.

Wed July 13 - Assuming I'm out of event #75 - play event #80, the $600 Mixed NLHE/PLO bracelet event.

Thurs July 14 - Assuming I'm not in another event - play event #82, the $800 8 Handed NLHE Bracelet Event

Friday July 15 - If I have cashed in any previous event - play #85, the $1500 NLHE Closer Bracelet Event.  Otherwise hit a Daily Deepstack to finish things off.

Saturday - come home unless I'm still in any multi-day event!

*********

There we have it - thems my plans and I'M PRETTY FKING EXCITED ABOUT THEM!!!!!

Summer Camp can't come soon enough!!!!

Tournaments can be BRUTAL - Golden Nugget Moose Event 2022

I played quite a bit of poker in the first week of January - trying to prepare myself for the upcoming Moose International Event at the Golden Nugget in Vegas.  I was booked for 4 nights and was very much looking forward to a long and fruitful tournament series with my fellow Burbankian Moose Lodge members as well as making new Moose friends from across the country.

December 31 

I took advantage of my office closing early to skedaddle down to Commerce for a $250 daily.

DNC (Did Not Cash) - but had a fun time splashing around and putting my chips to work until my AA got cracked by QQ AIPF (All-In Pre-Flop) with 40 big blinds.  Boo.

Chipped Up and then was SHOWN THE DOOR

*******

On Jan 2 I returned with a post-holiday glow, this time to take a crack at a $125 daily with a $100 add-on.

Early and deep, the CO opened 3x.  I 3-bet with AK from the SB.  BB of course called and so did the CO opener.  Flop was A♣️Q♣️9♦️ - it checked all the way through.   Turn was 5♠️, I led 1/3 pot.  The BB of all people click raised.  The CO folded.  I called.  River was the brick of bricks a 2♠️,  I check called a 1/2 pot bet.  BB Villain said "Watcha got?"

I laughed "I called you dude!"  He hesitated.  I simply showed and he mucked.  Where do they find these wizards?  So grateful that No-Limit Hold-Em tournaments are FAR from dead.

After the first break average stacks were quite a bit more shallow - my notes say I had 35 bigs when I squeezed nice and chunky from the button with a small suited Ace and 4 limpers.  Grumpy Sticky, as I called him, was in the Big Blind and defended for half of his chips.

Guess he didn't realize with a negative SPR in his stack I was shoving no matter what the board was.  The flop didn't hit me but I shoved anyways after he checked, and yes - he folded.

A bit later...

I then went on a heater, catching AK, AQ and JJ three hands in a row.  All the pots were small (but not insignificant).

Then I got moved and had a fantastic villain to my immediate right...

and...

Many of my recreational contemporaries bemoan sticky but bad players.  Not me.  I just love them to death, and the guy on my right at this table almost single handedly propelled me into the money and onto the final table with a nice average stack.

Yes, the good news was - when I got to the final table I had the most 5Ks so I got to buy up all the 1Ks.  The bad news was, average stacks - including mine, were very short.  I missed a nice ICM chop by busting in sixth place and had to settle for the actual payout of $485.  Pic is after toke.

*******

January 7 - I headed back to the loverly Commerce and plunked down $125 plus a $100 add-on and once again found myself putting my chips to work in the face of a relatively soft field of 130 runners.

I did not tweet at all - and didn't take notes.  But I ran pretty pure, and consequently played very well.  When the dust settled I sat 5th in chips out of 7 remaining players - and we agreed to a dynamite ICM chop which saw me collecting slightly better than 3rd place money - $2865!   Oh yeah.    My Moose trip was fully bankrolled!  (Plus I had already won my Moose Main Event seat and part of the hotel room expense by playing live at the Lodge!)

Love those Turquoise hockey pucks!

******

January 9

And so I was off to the glorious surroundings of downtown Las Vegas and the garden spot within known as the Golden Nugget.

Actually, the Nugget is still a nice hotel.  The room was clean and the decor was probably only ten years old or so.  Sweet!

I played a bit of cash shortly after my arrival and won about $200 in a couple of hours.  Very happy with this as the 1/2 game at the Nugget can be amazing but it is uncapped - and cash plays - meaning you have to put on your big boy pants when you sit down and you may drop a dime or two easily if you're not careful.  I was pleased to add another tournament buy-in to my poker bandolier.

Then I sat down for my first of what would be at least 6 tournaments during my stay.

Busted quickly after losing a flip AK < 77.

Entered the evening event and lasted quite a bit longer.   Had a great time with lots of very friendly people, and I got very excited because most of them were absolutely awful poker players.

This, it would turn out, would be my downfall during the week.  Kind of a reverse, or positive, tilt.   I would very quickly underestimate my opponents after an orbit or two, and then call too much and get far too tricky.

Not that I didn't play well a lot of the time - but I when I played bad, I played REALLY bad.

In this particular tournament I managed to suck quite a bit - until I righted the ship and started playing better and pouring on the aggression as the bubble approached.

Unfortunately the Poker gods, having rewarded me thus far with for my bad play - finally decided that they didn't like me playing well and saw fit to dispose of me with a 3-outer on the river to end the evening.

At this point grandpa was pretty tired, so rather than push it and donk off more money in the cash game I absconded to my bed.

********

January 10 

In the morning I arose early - as I always do these days - and joined my fellow Moose Mr. Adam at the fabulous Claim Jumper establishment right downstairs from my room for a hearty breakfast and a lovely conversation.   I got reacquainted with another Burbank Mooser - the delightful Mrs. Bunny and also enjoyed the company of my Moose friend Sean and his dad.    We regaled each other with bad beats of days past (that would be yesterday) and all of us were excited to enter the Moose Main Event later in the day.

All of my breakfast-mates had early entry at 10am, alas I had registered for this event very late in the year so I had a 4pm start-time.

Rather than distract myself with potentially blood pressure inducing cash game shenanigans at the Nugget (the uncapped game that could be GREAT or AWFUL) I decided to unplug and unwind a bit with a stroll around the "Fremont Experience" and the surrounding area.

I will say in all honesty, the neighborhood has certainly seen better days - but it's also been much worse as recent as the early 2000s.   I just needs a bit of a crackdown on the drug addled mental patients that circle the outskirts and it could be right back to being pretty cool.  It will always be funky, but it could be cool again, just with a bit more effort on the law enforcement component and especially on the prosecutorial end.

Overall, the area didn't make me too sad.  Until I stepped into Binion's.

The poker room vanished just before the pandemic, and likely is never coming back.  That's depressing for you, the place that INVENTED the modern No-Limit Tournament is without poker entirely.  Even worse, the original home of the World Series of Poker now looks like this year round.

This is where over the past decade and a half, ever since the WSOP left, Binion's has hosted large and lively mid-stakes tournament series.  The windowed wall in the back on the right is the original sight of Benny's Bullpen where ALL of the original WSOP match-ups, with Doyle, Puggy, Moss and Amarillo took place.

Incredible history - now an empty shell with nothing of current or historic interest in every direction.

So after that thoroughly gut-wrenching meander through the once famous halls of Binion's, I needed a pick-me-up and something to feel good about for the future.  So I entered the newest, biggest and baddest casino in all of downtown Vegas - Circa!

I will say - it's a technological marvel.  The sports bar is INSANE.  Brightest and biggest TVs I've ever seen in my life.

They checked my ID to get in, which I'm good with.  Knocks the chances of a weirdo walking up on you while you gamble down to about zero.

The decor was slick, and the amenities modern - but overall I have to say the place left me pretty cold. Row after row after row of digital slot machines, most of them empty.  Yes, these are "nickel" slots that typically cost $2.50 or more a "pull" to win anything meaningful.   Both brainless and confusing to me.

The pit games run by human beings took up a small fraction of the floorspace.   Blackjack tables were a $25 minimum bet, which if you're an idiot and paying $400 a night to stay at the Circa, I guess makes sense.  (I did find tables in a corner later that were priced lower at a more reasonable but still spendy $15 minimum bet)

One of a dozen or so craps tables was up and running.  A similar number of roulette tables sat empty.  Many more electronic roulette set-ups, as well as electronic horse racing and other absurd games of chance littered the floor.

But mostly it was slot machines.

Didn't get a chance to check out the pool because the entrance was blocked by a gruff security guard with his arms crossed.  Very inviting.

Overall, it was a dud.

My favorite casino that I meandered through was the off-Fremont Main Street Station.  Yes, it was older than dirt, but it still had character and a fun funky flavor that most of the other casinos were missing.  It had been closed for 18 months during the pandemic so it was nice to see it back up and running with real mechanical slots and $5 blackjack tables.

Not a stock shot at all.  It was actually quite a bit busier than this picture.

My favorite find that I stumbled across was in the pedestrian walkway on the way from the Fremont Casino over to Main Street Station - it was the "Golden Arm" Wall of Fame that pays tribute to legendary craps players with long lucky streaks or amazing skills (depending on what you believe).  

Also a picture totally not stolen off the internet.

********

So after taking in a pretty decent sirloin in the overpriced but pleasantly serviced steakhouse in the Nugget - I was ready to sit down and throw down in my 4pm starting flight of the Moose Main event!

You may recall my lovely selfie from the top of this post - of me in a big ass mask in front of the Moose sign.  Yes, we had to wear a mask indoors all the time, even when sitting at the table playing poker.

Yes, it sucked, but I was in Vegas by choice and so I was determined to not let it affect me.  Mostly I didn't think about it, but in hindsight it was for sure irksome and may have contributed to my over all crankiness when I was playing (and busting) in these tournaments.  I wasn't cranky with other people, at all, but I definitely got more and more frustrated as my expected cashes didn't come.

Anyways, the Main started out well for me.  I had an INCREDIBLY soft table, the softest table so far - by far.

There was a lovely lady on my immediate right with a twang in her voice and a pungent vodka smell on her breath.   She liked to play every hand, as slow as she possibly could.   Yes, she had to ask every time "Is it on me?"   Yes sweetheart.  Yes it is.

Didn't bother me at all.

I was in a good mood and so was the rest of the table.  This was the Moose Main - bitches!

Eventually I settled on a nickname for drinky on my right - I called her Vodka 7, because that was her favorite drink and it seems she was determined to polish of at least seven of them off before the dinner break.

I won a few hands, I lost a few, and was in decent shape after the first break.   

Then I looked at the structure.

Well, so far I had played in two side events and they had been EXCELLENT structures - only 10K in starting chips, but average stacks above 50 bigs after the first break and around 30 after the second break about 3 hours in.  Very good for a low buy-in price point, and the juice was a relatively reasonable 18%.

This Moose Main obviously had been designed by someone else, probably the Moose organization itself.  20K in chips to start, but a rapid and merciless DOUBLING of blinds after the first break to put average stacks at 20 big blinds one level after the first break.    In effect, a SUPER turbo.   But this didn't really bother me.   Moose players are slow and nitty - with 900 plus runners they need a kick in the pants or the tournament is liable to go on for a week or more.  I was fine with it.

Also, I didn't realize this until the next day when they posted payouts, but the juice was EASILY over 30%, which is entirely unacceptable in a standard tournament.   I did realize though, that this event was and is a major fundraiser for the Moose organization, so I'm actually ok with it.  It is, in the end, a good cause (with Mooseheart Charities undoubtedly benefitting.)   So that's not the part that bothers me either.

No, what really bugged me is what happened as the second break approached.  

Some genius at Moose international decided that we needed to go back to 2018 and reinstate the OLD FASHIONED ANTE.   

BECAUSE THE GAME UP TO THAT POINT HADN'T BEEN SLOW ENOUGH.

As you can imagine, this was a DISASTER for my table, where most players were slow to begin with and Vodka 7 was on drink number five or six at this point.   FML.

I'd say this, the old fashioned "Who didn't ante?" nonsense, more than anything else, tilted me right out of the tournament.

With this madness in place - and apparently everyone going along with it - the blinds then doubled and then doubled again.  At that point  I was overly eager to get my 20ish big blind stack in and either double/triple up or get the FUCK out of there.

I was looking at a triple up when I got my chips in with AQ in a three way pot versus 66 and 22.  Was looking great on an AQx flop, but a 6 hit the turn and that was that.

On paper this was a 4 day event, but I suspected they would be done in 3.

I was out in the middle of the pack of the 15 or so Burbank Moose members - so the $20 last longer was not going to pan out.

It was 830pm when I busted, and there were no other tournaments scheduled on that day.  So I railed a few of my fellow Moose buddies a little bit and then called it a night.

********

January 11

Day 2 of the Main resumed at 10am, so after another early breakfast with the Adam and Bunny breakfast crew (this time we were joined by nice folks from Ohio who Adam had befriended a few years ago at this tournament series) I went for another meandering walk before signing up for a noon (I think) side event.

Played well and spun it up - alas, I fell out of a tree in a big pot and missed all the branches (too many outs) and was out just after 2pm or so.

So it was on to a 4pm side event.  The nooner I think was $200 and this one was $125 or some such.  Low entry cost, relatively low juice and as soft a field as ever.

Unfortunately I met the same fate in this tournament.  Played well enough, but couldn't hit for shit when it counted.  Massive combo draw and missed all the outs twice.   At least the chips were prettier.

The good news, after all that busting out, is that by the end of the day - we still had a couple players from Burbank still in the mix of the Main.  The one with the biggest stack was none other than my breakfast buddy Adam!

Dragging a massive pot!  #LFG KING COBRA!

While I waited for the last side event, the 7pm $100 Last-Chance-ament, I had a blast railing Adam, aka King Cobra, legendary Burbank Mooser!   I got as much joy from watching him drag chips as I had from dragging chips myself over the past two days.  So awesome to see a friend make a deep run!

But then it was time for me to sit down and throw down myself in the super prestigious 7pm Moose Nugget nonsense accessory tournament lol.

I have to say, of all the fruitless efforts at cashing at the Nugget, this tournament was easily the most fun, mostly because I played exceptionally well.

Also there was more than a fair amount of run-good involved.

But, as I've already kind of given away the game here - a cash was not to be.  I took two truly horrific bad beats in a row in this one and was crippled and then quickly out.  No bubble in sight.  No fanfare with my exit, though I managed to be very civil as I left.

Off to bed and then there would be another day of tournaments ahead - if I could stand to endure it!

********

January 12

I woke up happy and excited because I knew my breakfast date with Mr. Adam would be a blast - as he had continued on the night before after I left and made the final table in the Moose Main!!!!  (Insert air horn sound here).  I had been correct in surmising that there was no way this was going for 4 days - it would end with the final table on day 3.

Indeed, Adam regaled Bunny and I with enjoyable tales of his triumph the day before.  I was excited for him as I knew the final table was being streamed live (with no hole cards) via this thing called the internet.

I would be able to watch on my phone while I played poker myself!  And indeed that's what I did.

With the Burbank last longer bet already locked up, Adam did us proud - finishing in 7th place out of over 900 runners for a not big enough cash of $2500 I believe.  (not big enough because the juice was super duper high, but again - it was for charity so it's all good).

Alas, I did not cash on the day that Adam did.  I lasted a bit longer in my event, but it was nothing to write home about - or tweet about apparently.  I really didn't take notes, but I do remember that it was easily my toughest table yet in these Moose events, so my plan of tightening up and reducing my frequency of bluffing really didn't work out, like at all.

I busted out and I was a whopping 0-7 in all the tournaments.   Boo.

I had the rest of the day, I could enter in the afternoon and evening tournaments.  But really, I'd had enough at that point.

I got in an uber and went to another casino and played cash.   I did very well, at the fabulously new Resorts World casino, playing in their smallest stakes 1/3 No Limit game.

After I dragged my 4th substantial pot in about as many hours, and I realized that I was up a good amount (nearly 3 full buy-ins at just under $1100) - I got on my phone and changed my flight to leave that day.  I ate the expense of the final night at the hotel, it was all good. It was very cheap and I was anxious to get back to the wife and kiddo.

Although the tournaments had been a bust - every other single thing, especially the great people I hung out with from Burbank, as well as a bunch of nice folks that I played with for the first time - was awesome.  I can now see why my Moose brethren are always so excited about this annual event, it truly is a great time that showcases the best things about poker - the friendship and the fellowship.

I feel very lucky that this year my work schedule finally opened up around the dates of the event - so I was able to go for the very first time.  I hope and pray that this timing works out again in 2023, I would really hate to miss it ever again!

**********

Coda:  January 15

The following weekend after I got back, I found time to get back up on the horse.  I always am anxious to do this when I've had a long string of non-cashes.   Thankfully, I broke the streak.

This time around I found myself at the venerable Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood - across from the brand new football stadium.  

Alas I didn't tweet or record any hands - I was really focused on making the money!

Thankfully, it came to pass!  

It was amazing being back in my original home casino.  The relatively new room is pretty fabulous.  Still the same players though.  Saw a ton of familiar faces.  Did not see my favorite angry man Mo though, hope he is ok.   Corey, the fantastic TD, is apparently gone.  I'm sure he got scooped up by some better paying casino somewhere.

The juice is still not great - 17%, but it's still softer than Commerce.

I missed the LAPC entirely this year, but the WSOP just released it's schedule and I am SO looking forward to that!   I'm already mapping out a schedule, I will be posting it soon!  Stay tuned!