With my wife's latest scan and most recent bloodwork absolutely cancer free, I am beyond thrilled to be planning my trip to the 2025 World Series of Poker!
There are so many options, a hundred live bracelet events this year, that it's a bit overwhelming. But I think I have dialed in on a plan of attack.
For awhile I was hot on the idea of going after Mix Game tournaments - but my passion for that has cooled a bit, as the bracelet events are all pretty pricey and the fields, though generally quite a bit smaller, are bound to be tougher all around, despite No-Limit Hold-Em being "solved" supposedly.
So once again, as in years past, NLHE will be my primary focus. Not to say that I might deviate a bit from this if the notion persists and/or the opportunity arises.
First up - the dates;
Arriving Saturday afternoon on June 21. Departing Sunday mid-morning, June 29.
I will be driving from SoCal, as Southwest has decided to join the other shit-show airlines by charging for bags and assigning seating. I just don't need the aggravation and I don't need to give my money to a company who is putting it's faith in a failed business model. Besides, I do enjoy the drive time to clear my head and mentally reset.
I won't be playing at the Horseshoe on the day of my arrival, rather my plan is to check in and then get to the cage to register for my tournament the next day - event #59 "Battle of the Ages" A two tier, supposedly two day, NLHE event - featuring an old geezer flight (that would be me) in the am and a young whippersnapper flight in the pm. Both fields would combine on Day 2.
Also, I may or may not, depending on how complicated it is, also make a WSOP account and seed it with enough to cover the weeks buy-ins so I can use the kiosks to register for upcoming tournaments. That is a BIG we will see.
I plan to play at least one event a day, for a week.
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Here's the EVENTS -
6/22 - Event #59 - 1K NLHE "Battle of the Ages" - 10am
6/23 - Event #61 - $500 NLHE "Freeze Out" (or Day 2 of #59) - 10am
6/24 - Event #65 - 1K NLHE "Tag-Team" (assuming I have a partner) - 12pm
6/25-28 - Event #67 - $300 NLHE "Gladiators" - 10am
Contingencies -
Obviously, what I'm scheduled for are all multi-=day events, and I have to be ready to go with the flow if by some miracle I'm making day 2 or 3 or 4!
On the flip side of this, if I bust early and can't or don't want to re-enter - I've got in-house non-bracelet events to choose from. These tournaments also have the added benefit of lower price points.
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WSOP Daily Deep Stack Schedule
$250 - 1pm
$400 - 4pm
$200 - 8pm
They also have once a week $250 specialty Deep Stack tourneys that I will definitely be up for if the chance arises -
DDS Seniors - 10am every Thursday
DDS HORSE - 3pm every Tuesday
DDS PLO - 3pm every Wednesday
All of these DDS tournaments aren't the best, the rake is for sure higher than it should be, and the formats are accelerated (turbo-ish). The least appealing is the 8pm daily, which is starting SOOO late, at a time when I'm likely to have already been playing all day. Objectively I'd like to say I'm not doing that - but realistically, I've been there too many times before when it's the only easy option and I know I'm only around for a week.
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I won't say there's ZERO chance that I don't play outside of the Paris/Horseshoe, but the odds are very slim. Two venues in particular have a better than average chance of enticing me - Southpoint and the Orleans. Both are player centric low-buy in arenas rife with recreational players. They both offer lousy rake but a decent amount of mix-game options at low price points. As a non-professional player, this is what appeals to me (not the high rake but everything else) so that's likely where I'll hang my hat if I do leave the compound.
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As for THE MAIN, every year I ponder just pulling the trigger and just fucking doing it - because we only get one life and it's short; and believe me, in the throes of my wife's illness last year I had all but convinced myself that if she made it out of 2024 alive and into 2025 with a clean bill of health that I would indeed partake. But now in the clear light of day, with the missus indeed cancer free, I feel less compelled to torch ten dimes for the pure sake of carpe diem. I think a week of events for less than half that price will be money well spent for the sheer joy and variety of the experience.
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So there you have it - that's the agenda!
Just so gosh darn happy to have the opportunity to show up and gamble with fellow enthusiasts, and of course the real pros out there as well.
As with my Golden Nugget Moose trip in January, I really want to try hard to not get my heart set on results. My only job is to show up and soak it all in, to really savor the whole experience. As for the poker playing by itself - I simply have to do my best to let the game come to me and try and make the best decisions I can on a street by street basis.
If I do all of that, there is truly no way I can lose.
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