As readers of my home poker blog know, last year was easily the worst year of my life as my wife's health crisis was an unimaginable journey of pain, suffering and despair, even though in the end, it was ultimately a triumph. Her illness and need for care and protection from germs, necessarily put playing live poker on the well deserved back burner for almost the entire year.
Now on the other side of that battle, which we won (though we may still have not won the war as adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is notorious for coming back) I was able to finally return to the felt in person at the end of 2024. In other words, Beverly - my wife and love of my life, was done with treatment and her immune system was normal, so I was able to be among people again and partake in passing around chips and cards.
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| First game back in almost 11 months! |
My first stop of course was my beloved garage, I hosted several cash games - and from there it was onto my almost as beloved Moose Lodge just five minutes from my house, where again I indulged in cash game play over a couple of late Monday night sessions.
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| Finished down just a little - but it felt like a big win! |
My return to the felt was certainly was not all at once. The garage games came first in late November, where I could control who showed up and ensure that no one was sick. Then once my wife's absolute neutrophils were at a hearty level, it was ok to take a chance among the great unwashed (that would be people that I potentially did not know, nor knew of their health status.). The lodge of course has a rule that if you are sick you need to stay home, but of course we all know that not everyone heeds this all the time.
That said, I was comfortable going, knowing that when and if I did catch something, my wife would be able to fight it off if I somehow gave it to her. We have both determined early on that we would of course be sensible - but neither of us want to be cowed by cancer - we absolutely want to live our lives. And for me, live poker is absolutely a big part of being happy in my life.
Flashing back to September - As Beverly had come through her surgery with flying colors in July (although she still a difficult recovery) and was cancer free, I had the foresight to book in advance my annual trip to the Golden Nugget Hotel in Vegas for the Moose International Texas Hold-Em Tournament in January 2025.
You can certainly read about my two other trips here and here - in 2022 and 2023 respectively. I was unable to attend in 2024 because Beverly was diagnosed right when it was being held, so I kissed my $600+ goodbye and looked at it as a donation to the Moose organization, which is ok as I am rather fond of it.
But this year there would be no last minute cancellation - Beverly was cancer free and insisted that I go on the trip that I had booked months ago.
If you bother to read the two blog posts on my past forays to the Nugget and the Moose Tourney, you'll see that not only did I not cash in the Moose Main Event tournament, I was cashless in all the side events as well! At least half a dozen tournaments each trip with no money whatsoever!
Well, I'm beyond thrilled to say (spoiler alert) - that all changed massively on this trip!
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| Got my SWAG - nerd! (also Purple for Pancreatic Cancer y'all) |
I was super pumped to be going for sure, and even happier that one of my bestest poker buddies Jeffrey G. was going with me - on the same flight and everything! Friendsies. Yay.
It meant I had someone to gab with on the flight and the uber. Even better, once we arrived at Le' Nugget in the early afternoon and we had to endure the always nightmarish check-in line - we could do so together and continue to catch up and talk about the upcoming poker adventure.
Our bromance continued with a tasty Mexican food lunch at one of the Nugget restaraunts and then we were both ready to hop in the 3pm $175 10K Guarantee NLHE Event #29 on the
schedule.
The GN tournament series are always well run and have excellent structures. The dealers are a mixed bag, but almost none of them are green and there are quite a few that are excellent. The cocktail service is light years better than the WSOP, as they have enough staff to be speedy and efficient.
Unfortunately the Nugget still has the absolute highest juice/vig of any live special tournament series in Vegas at a whopping 25% (or even more in the lowest buy-in events). While this rate is commiserate with most daily tournaments in Vegas, it is not in line with most other venues when it comes to a special tournament series. The Wynn Winter Classic runs at 12% and the Venetian Deep Stack Series also typically gets a 12% to 15% cut depending on the size of the buy-in.
But that aside, as mentioned - the GN does a good job in being very player friendly, especially to recreational players with their substantial starting stacks and sensible blind structures.
So with all this info already in my mind - I was fully prepared to just enjoy myself, dip my toes back into tournament waters, and be very mindful and appreciative of the entire experience of just simply being there and playing the game I love.
Cashing was not really on my mind at all - apart from trying to make good decisions from street to street and consciously telling myself not to get rattled by any bad beats or clueless players. Regardless of how the cards fell or how my opponents played, I was determined to have a great time.
And this indeed came to pass in relatively short order...
I was at a place where I had been quite a few times before in a larger field tournament - probably past the midway point, with not a deep stack and a handful of mistakes and missed opportunities resulting in a mild frustration and understanding that I was not likely to make the money.
But this time it felt different - not that I thought I was going to get several double ups and make the money or anything like that - I just truly, genuinely wasn't bothered by the prospect of busting. This was absolutely what I wanted, what I signed up for. I was humbled and happy just to be where I was, regardless of outcome. And then...
I got all my chips in the middle with JJ and somehow they held up vs. AQ! I had life!
And I managed to hold on for another 90 minutes, stealing the blinds when I could, c-bet bluffing when I needed to, and getting out early when the flop was unhelpful.
Before I knew it, we were hand for hand - and then - in the money! I had broken the Golden Nugget curse, which went back through two years of Moose events and beyond also into a NLHE event 10 years ago when I busted early out of an event at Binion's, and then a few years later in an ill-advised Golden Nugget Dealer's Choice event.
Unfortunately, even in 2025, the Golden Nugget has not done what the World Series of Poker started doing last year - paying 15% with a min-cash of double the buy-in. No, the GN is still stuck in 2015 and pays just over 10% and the min-cash is barely your money back. Boo!
All the same, I was able to ladder up quite a bit through the micro-pay jumps until I finally succumbed and managed to collect over twice what I had bought in for!
I would absolutely take it!
I was pumped to finally score in the nitty confines of the Grand Ballroom at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas.
So satisfying to finally learn where you take your payout slip (there's a desk in the Grand itself) and then wander over to the main casino cage and get some cold hard cash slapped down on the counter!
I of course then lost it all on black jack, as far as the IRS is concerned, but I was still super excited and optimistic for the next day - Monday - Day 1 of the 3 day event known as the Moose International No-Limit Texas Hold-Em Tournament!
*****
After a delightful breakfast at the Claim Jumper in the GN with Jeffy and a few of the more beloved (by me) Moose Crew...
...we skedaddled on over to the Grand Ballroom and sat down for action!
There were, I believe, just over 30 Ladies and Gentlemen from our individual Moose Lodge, among the over 1100 other tournament players! The field was so large they had to divide it into morning and afternoon groups. Having registered early, I got to choose which field to be in - and I had chosen the AM shift.
Our lodge had, as always, a "last longer" bet of $20 each, which meant a grand prize of over $600 for whoever lasted longest before busting in the tournament out of our group. Always a pretty bad bet for me, I tend to play for a bigger stack and less for surviving, so I didn't even think much about the wager, until later that is... (insert maniacal laughter here).
I had to remind myself that the field was going to be soft, and it was, but that I shouldn't take anything for granted and not presume that I was going to run all over the field because obviously I AM SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALL OF THESE PLAYERS. Ahem. Sorry, I meant, I needed to stay patient and grounded and yes, take advantage when I could but not get out over my skis against my opponents, who generally being older than me also tended to be grumpy and did not like to fold to a 54 year young whipper snapper.
Cliff Notes to Self - Bluff less, value bet more. And so I did.
I could not sit idly by and wait for monsters. Despite what I said about the Nugget having great structures, this Moose Main Event structure is actually drawn up by the senior officers of the Moose organization itself. Meaning, it is quite the turbo.
And that's fine - there's 1100 people and only 3 days to make it work, so I am very accepting that this event in particular is more than a bit of bingo after a few hours.
I also keep in mind that this big event is for all intents and purposes, a charity event. Moose International I believe takes upwards of half the prize pool as one of it's big annual fundraisers. This is all great and for the greater good. Mooseheart and Moosehaven charities are two fantastic causes (seniors and troubled youth) that the Moose organization supports. Proud to be a Moose and help seniors and kids in need!
I believe - and my memory may be playing tricks on me - that we were scheduled for 7 hours of play with three 15 minute breaks interspersed, for Day 1.
It was four or five hours into the event when I first tweeted out a status. This pretty much sums up how the day went...
I had indeed been rather card and spot dead - as is the normal default in most tournaments - but had been active enough and bold enough to put my chips to work as best I could to be one of the healthier stacks at my table.
I certainly wasn't bluffing willy-nilly, and I actually did not bluff much if at all (besides the occasional range c-bet) in the early levels. But as the blinds escalated and the speculators tightened up drastically, all my years of experience kicked in and I recognized that I had to ramp up the aggression in position and pray that the sticky grumpy players of a couple of hours ago now didn't want to go to war and risk not making a bag.
For the most part, it worked. And as the end of our flight approached I was pleased as punch to be where I was at.
I'm proud to say I did not break my post 5pm fasting deadline, though I certainly did want to eat and commiserate with my friends - no I just hung out a bit and railed the ones playing in the PM flight instead. It was great randomly running into and briefly catching up with old Moose buddies who hadn't seen me in nearly a year.
I was touched and honored at their joy in seeing me and their concern for me and my wife's well being. That said, there was poker to be played - so it worked really wonderfully that people could quickly catch up and be happy and then get back to business! It was never awkward, it was, all of it, quite lovely! The perfect time and place for brief and happy reunions all over!
As the evening took over, my fatigue set in, and I retreated to my room to watch my beloved Rams unexpectedly trounce the mighty Vikings! I definitely fell asleep with a smile on my face.
*****
The next morning I was up early, of course!
I once again hit the claim jumpers with Jeffy and this time we joined up with two other Moosers, both of whom were lovely but both had busted on day one. Jeff himself had easily made it to day 2, playing the PM flight. He had quite a bit more chips than me I believe. He is a formidable force on the felt.
After the meal I engaged in my post-breakfast ritual of a brisk walk up and down the Fremont Experience. Taking in the cool sights and dodging the fentanyl tweakers.
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| Had to take a shot of this amazing sign! A Poker players mantra! |
Every year I have been to Fremont Street for this event, I walk off my breakfast. Always on one of these days, I ventured inside a casino just to check in on it or check it out for the first time.
2023 was Circa I believe and the year before might have been the pathetic Binion's with its absent poker room.
This year I went, for the very first time, inside the legendary 4 Queens casino. It was a trip!
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| Actually, no, they don't have any of this at all... |
Yes part of the marquee read "POKER" but as I knew, the poker room in the 4 Queens had vanished decades ago.
The casino, at 9am on a Tuesday morning, was packed! I could not believe it. The place was popping! Yes, there are still gamblers, who enjoy $5 Blackjack tables and nickel slots that actually can be played for less than a dollar a pull. The Buffet Line was also well out the door and down onto the casino floor. Good for 4 Queens!
It certainly wasn't the nicest casino - pretty grungy - but hey, I give them a lot of credit for having a thriving business this late in the game. That is a very heart wrenching Poker sign outside though. My good friend Dan has told me about the legendary room that used to be - it was cool and quiet and had a dark lounge vibe - kind of like the old Vegas Monte Carlo poker room, but even nicer. So sorry I missed it!
And then it was time to return for a 10am restart for the Moose Main! Both AM and PM fields from yesterday had been combined, and my foggy memory tells me it was well under half of 1100 that were coming back, around 350 or so.
Once again, my focus remained on enjoying myself and the moment - and concerning myself only with playing one street at a time as best I could.
It worked out pretty well for a few hours. I believe they were paying 120 or so - and when we were at 130ish, I realized that I had enough chips that I was very likely going to make it into the money, barring any coolers or unforeseen catastrophes.
So very consciously, I began to slow down. I had been playing with my usual zippiness, making quick decisions and mucking fast with trash - but once I realized where the numbers were, I saw no need to be Mr. Speedy any more.
I'm generally not a fan of stalling at all - but if it's within the rules and it doesn't make people furious (and no one was close to being furious) I will indulge if the cash is important to me.
All told, my stalling, which was really more of a slowing down than legit stalling that I've seen in large events, probably gobbled up on average 20 seconds per hand, which may have helped, because all of the sudden we were actually hand for hand, just two players from the money.
IMHO we could've gone to H4H 3 or 4 players from the money and it would've meant less stalling foolishness (both minor by people like me and major no doubt from some others in the tournament) but hand for hand did it's thing and I didn't have to play slow any more which was a relief.
Of course, and I've seen this phenomenon more than once in my tournament career, there was a goofy guy at our table who had been completely oblivious to my slowing down, I mean completely unaware, and then all of the sudden when hand for hand play was announced - I'm not even kidding - he suddenly decided it made sense for him to stall. It was so weird, really bizarre, but I've seen it more than once. I don't know if there's a short circuit in people's brains or what, but I guess we should all be grateful for inexplicable behavior; it's the same kind of impulse that causes a player who's been playing fast as the money approaches to suddenly decide to stall now that they have stopped the clock until all tables deal one hand - this same kind of upside down logic - that gives us the terrible, rash, impulsive decisions in poker hands that see piles of chips pushed our way.
So I didn't say anything to the guy - others gave him a hard time. I just shook my head.
Anyways, I want to say that hand for hand took maybe a half hour or so, maybe ten hands total.
At any rate...
The bubble had burst and I had some work to do. I didn't go crazy right away, or even at all really, but I was back up on my haunches and ready to get my short stack in if given the right opportunity.
I wasn't the shortest stack at my table at all - I was probably just below the middle, maybe 6th or 7th out of 10 (yes it was a 10 handed tournament blech, until shortly before we hit the money) - so there were a few micro-stacks that busted right away, and around the rest of the room for that matter. Tables were breaking super fast after the bubble burst, including mine! I was relocated to a table 6 or 7 I think (meaning we might not break again) and then this happened...
I actually have no memory of the hand - but I'm certain it was AIPF and I was in great shape, and my over pair held. I want to say it was Kings, which was one of my first real premiums in a day and a half of play.
Anyways, after this manna from heaven, I noticed I was not alone in my excitable climb of the money ladder.
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| Yes, that's Jeff G. over my shoulder! |
Not that it was much of a climb - the pay jumps were so tiny as to be laughable. Like literally $5 pay jumps. I decided not to pay too much attention to them, but rather I was more focused on who was left from our lodge - as that $600+ prize pool from the last longer bet at this point was indeed bigger than the payout if I busted!
All the same - now that I had 30+ big blinds and was WAY above average, I did indeed proceed to pummel my table. The grumbling started, in spite of everyone generally being happy at being in the money. "Hey this used to be a friendly table..." etc. etc. lol
As the day headed into it's final stretch, I noticed that there was only 3 of our lodge members left! Now I was excited!
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| Can you see it on my face? |
And yes, that's a photo from one of our lodge members. Jeff, myself and Mr. David H. were the only ones left and we were apparently minor celebrities.
At this point I had the most wonderful experience over and over, from last few levels on day 2, all the way through my final fate on day 3 - Moose member after Moose member stopping by to say hi, shake hands, fist bump, pat me on the back - to say congrats for getting so deep!
As the first wave of visitors passed through I made a promise to myself, to be mindful and recognize not only how special and rare it is to make it into the top 5% of a field of 1100, but how incredible it is to have such broad love and support from my brothers and sisters of the Moose.
I won't dwell and make it too awkward - but I absolutely slowed down from here on out to savor what was going on. I really made a conscious effort to drink it all in, to look around, to take in the faces of the people who I cared about (and they for me), to also take in the size of the room, the scope of the event that actually means a ton to over a thousand people in that room and their fellow Moose members who couldn't make it, not to mention their friends and families.
I really did absolutely soak it all in.
I have no doubt that the hell on earth my wife went through in 2024, that I was along the ride with the whole way - gave me a great perspective that I'm grateful I had over these four days. I will NEVER forget how special it was.
Speaking of special, Mr. David H busted with a couple of hours left, and my dear buddy Jeffy succumbed in 40th place not too long before we all bagged up with 33 players left.
David posted on social media at the end of the night and gave everyone the update -
It was only about 730, but I was thrilled and exhausted. It had been a long 8+ hours of poker that's for sure.
And so elated to be the last Moose member standing - with my wallet indeed a bit fatter already - I broke my almost always rock solid rule of eating after 5. I dined by myself on the magnificent standard ribeye at Saltgrass, the GN's serviceable steakhouse and sports bar. It was freaking delicious.
******
My stack was small at 10 big blinds as we started day 3 - with less than 4 tables remaining.
I had once again done brekkie with Jeffy and then blasted up and down Fremont with a vigorous walk, perhaps with an extra spring in my step.
The second hand I played, I got it in with AK and rivered broadway to double up right away. Up until the river hit I was well behind a pocket pair, though my overs were good so I hadn't given up hope.
Once again, though my stack was short I was well above average. It was true, there were several players still in who did indeed have a shit-ton of chips. It was amusing to see one of them at my table who was determined to give them all away by playing every hand. Unfortunately I would not be a recipient.
We got down to 27 players and redrew - I found myself at table 1 which would eventually be the Final Table and I took the opportunity to take one of my favorite pictures I've ever been able to grab at a poker table.
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| You better believe I was doing some savoring the moment type shit here! |
You'll also notice that I had chipped up significantly. I really didn't take notes at all on any hands or chip fluctuations, I was really dialed in on two things. One, trying to make the best poker decisions I could, and soaking up stuff like this...
Yes that's the rail, with no less than half a dozen of my fellow lodge members on both sides. More than any money, even the 40K on top, it meant so much to see so many friendly faces!
I had a decent amount of chips, but was trending downwards, being card and spot dead - and then we were down to 18 players. Total redraw again and I was back at table 2.
Then three players had busted when I woke up with 65 soooted in the small blind and was getting 9 to 1 on a call (versus 3 other players and a big blind ante) in the small blind with a passive table and a passive player in the big blind. I knew it was a trouble hand but I am ok with my call.
The flop came 653 and I did something that I never do - I open jammed expecting to have the best hand nearly all the time. I was likely around 10 big blinds and I really needed all that dead money out there - of course the big blind snapped with 24, and the button also called off with the same hand as mine - so my outs were all but dead, and that was that.
You're not wrong to intuitively understand that the payout seems low in a $360 tournament with 1100 players, it is probably less than half of what it should be if it was a non-charity tournament without half the prize pool going away, in addition to the Nugget's monstrous rake. All the same, I was ecstatic to get out of the $5 pay jump nonsense and actually ladder up to a decent score that paid for the trip and quite a bit more.
Yes, it did still sting to bust, I was filled with regrets about how I played the hand, but I'm not folding 9 to 1 with a chance to more than double up there. Just not happening. I'm ok with my jam as well, I almost always have the best hand there and there's lots of draws and over pairs that can pay me off.
As I walked to the payout desk, multiple Moose lodge members congratulated me - all of them to a one were kind and enthusiastic - in fact there was a nice round of applause when I did bust. All of them knew, that's poker.
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| oooh pretty! |
Afterwards it was only midday - so Jeffy and I once again went for Mexican food.
After that, even though it was daytime, I was really tired so I went up to my room and rested and went to bed.
Just kidding, I'm a degenerate who can't stop. I registered for the $340 2pm Omaha/8 tournament!
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| More punishment please! |
This tournament for me was actually a way to relax. I'm a decent O8 player, but I've probably played a fraction of hours of the game in a fix limit tournament format than I have no-limit hold-em tournaments.
I presumed I was dead money and was simply determined to relax and have fun. As a nice bonus, a bunch of my fellow lodge members were in the small tournament with me (maybe six tables total?) including one very nice fellow, Mr. Richard, right at my table! We were going to have a blast.
And a blast it was. My stack shrank, and then it grew, and grew and grew. Decisions weren't that tough and I ran pretty pure.
Eventually my friends all busted out, and once again I was the last Moose from my lodge left standing.
I won't get into much detail, as I wasn't taking notes at all - but it was a long and fun, though at times also a grueling grind through the Omaha streets. I was in the money. Then I was down a bit. Then I had a fantastic scoop and was one of the chip leaders.
Then, with maybe five of us left, there were no Moose members from any lodge in sight. I was likely the sucker at the table - except I wasn't as a couple of the guys were playing too many hands with too few chips - and they paid for it.
Over 11 hours into the tournament, after a chop had been discussed and denied over and over again (I removed myself from the talk, I was indifferent) - we were 3 handed and this happened...
That's right, a thousand dollars more than my 15th place finish in the big one.
Un-fucking believable.
I was not the one who brought up a chop, the most capable player (or at least the one with the biggest ego) at the table pretty much out of the blue proposed an even 3 way split. To my shock, the other guy quickly agreed - shocking because he had been a negative on an ICM chop offer earlier.
I'd like to think they both realized that I wasn't going to roll over. I was in the mix and determined to play smart, and was a solid second in chips with no fear in my eyes as 1am came and went.
I happily accepted the offer. So instead of 1700 for third or 2400 for second or 4100 for first, we all got 2800.
Sweeeeeet.
This was easily my biggest poker week since I cashed in the Main Event in 2018. In the ways that mattered most - this trip was even more meaningful than that once in a lifetime shot.
This one had friends at my side, my healthy wife at home rooting me on, and quite a bit less pressure! Not to mention some tasty meals and great conversations.
Truly special, truly - just as much as the Main Event in the WSOP - once in a lifetime.
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| This year's bad-ass chunky card protector! Woot woot! |
