Day Nine - Tuesday June 11th

Started the day with what has become a nice habit - A brisk walk to the Tuscany to cash a winning sports ticket at Circa.

No further bets at this time. With both the basketball and hockey series being at 2-0 I know a lot of pros like the home team in these spots going back home 0-2 down. I’m not really much of a trends guy so I pass for now.



Had breakfast while I was there. French toast and sausage links and mulled over my options for today:

A) play the $600 NLH / PLO at 10am
B) play the $1500 Seven Card Stud at 2pm
C) grind the Big O cash game again

C was probably the percentage play but we’re not here for that. We’re here to take some shots and try and win a bracelet.



Couldn’t go with option A as it would mean missing my pool time.



So we went with option C as I liked the fact that it was a freeze-out tournament and I like the game even though I don’t play it on a regular basis.






Fueled up first with steak frites au poivre for lunch at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris

I was soon questioning my decisionto play the tournament. With all the OMC’s playing this I somehow get stuck on a table full of pros:

Adam Friedman, Mark Seif, David Levi, Rob Campbell and Shirley Rosario. (Later to be joined by John Bunch)

How did that happen? Tournament run bad now extends to my table draw And the table would not break until 5 minutes before they announced the last hands of the day. They did come and high card a player off at one point. I was praying for the ace of spades but it wasn’t to be.

If my Stud game was a bit rusty I soon got a crash course from some of the very best. Adam Friedman bullied the table from the outset. He did make some hands but it was educational watching him play and the amount of times he called correctly opponents hole cards (including mine) was impressive.

I had to fight hard for every bet but was determined not to give up. My day went like this:

Start: 25,000
1st break: 32,700
2nd break: 21,000
3rd break: 6,900
4th break: 22,000
End of day: 41,000

I honestly think it might be the best day of tournament poker I’ve ever played and that was just to stay alive. I was down to only 1 big bet at one point.



So good news: we found a bag.



Bad news: going back tomorrow with only 4 big bets and still about 50 players short of the money.

Bedtime. Mentally exhausted.


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Bagging chips in a pro-heavy field is a major accomplishment! Definitely something to be proud of.

Nice job!!

Congratulations! Sleep well and run better tomorrow

I'll take Adam F over Allen K any day of a tournament! Played with both. Allen's persona will be unstoppable if he scores a top 5 in the 2-7 Limit event (down to 13).

Hopefully you can run well for at least a few hours! GL

Nice work. Adam was on the featured table of the WSOP Main for a few hours last year and got into talking about dealer's choice with a neighbor. If I'm remembering correctly, the neighbor asked him his best game and he said stud hi. Might've been worth the entry fee just to see how he operates in something like this.

Yes Tony, yes I am

(The top set of 10s hand is very tricky because you're basically always playing for a chop and hoping to avoid disaster - not sure what I would have done what you did there but glad it worked out)

Edit: Just went back and saw you had 10-10-x-x-x in a raised pot. Without other strong broadway cards that's a fold pre IMHO

IIRC my full hand was TT9QK which is playable for me. Check-call would have been kinda weak on the turn I think so just shipped it and prayed.

Yes I played a hand with him early on. He had the bring in with a 2 and I had an 8 up with JJ in the hole. I raised, he called, heads up. He caught two more deuces on 4th and 5th street and I said something like 'you catch good' which seemed to irk him as he countered 'you were never ahead' and showed pocket queens.

Day Ten - Wednesday June 12th

Usual leisurely morning by the pool.



Running out of different angles to take a photo from

We went with the Chicken Parm again for lunch but this time didn’t bury ourselves with it, taking some to go to eat later.

The restart of the Stud tournament was in the events center so it was cool to play in there where they have the final table setup.





Forced bring-in on the 2nd hand didn’t help my stack but picked up pots with split aces and split kings early on so was holding my own.

The table was easier than yesterday. It was fun playing with Ren Lin. He likes to talk a lot and he’s pretty funny but he absolutely butchered his 200k+ stack, not to me unfortunately, Michael Noori was the main recipient who seemed to have at least 2 if not 3 aces every hand.

As the short stack I knew I’d have to win an all in hand and it came in the 2nd hour of the day.

I get the bring in with the 2h and have Qh-3h in the hole. There’s a complete and a call and I come along as well.
4th street gives me an off-suit 10. Michael Noori is betting with two clubs showing including a Queen. I call as does the other player.
5th street pairs my 10 and it’s the 10 of hearts giving me 4 to the flush. Noori catches another club. This time I lead out for a full bet setting myself all in. Call - call.
6th street I catch a 3rd 10 but Noori catches another club and he bets folding out the 3rd player.
7th street down. Noori did make a Queen high flush on 6th so I need the King of hearts to make a higher flush (the ace is dead) or to pair my board.
I’m not a squeezer. I pick it up and slam it down on the felt at quick speed and it’s a beautiful 3 giving me tens full of threes to scoop a nice pot.



Which gave me about a 140k stack.

The other interesting hand came on the last hand before the break. I complete with QQ in the hole and a 9 up. The bring in showing a deuce 3-bets me. I call. We both catch garbage on every street with him betting and me calling. My pocket queens lost to his pocket aces and I’m back down to 80k at the break with 65 players left with 61 getting paid.

Happily there is no prolonged bubble as 3 players at different tables go out on the same hand and we’re down to 61 players and in the money. Woohoo

I’m card dead though and the dealer is picking on me with bring ins. We’re nearing the 2nd break playing 10,000 and 20,000 limits and I finally get split jacks and make my stand. I run into pocket queens and when neither of us improve I’m out in 45th place for a min cash of $3,037



Happy to have cashed my last tournament of the trip and proud of the way I played, but man what a stacked field this was for a $1,500. I think I’ll swerve this one next year. Surely there are easier tournaments.

By the time I get my payout after filling in the paperwork and waiting in line NBA Finals Game 3 has started and after being in a hole early the Celtics have tied it up when I bet them live mid way through the 2nd quarter.




Caesars robbed me again. Was -110 when I asked for the bet then it changed to -130.

Celtics take control in the 2nd half and are up 20 at one point before the Mavs close it to only 1. Suddenly I’m sweating it again but Luka fouls out and we hold on.

There’s no 5-5-10 Big O running which may be for the best as I’m tired anyway so head back to the room.

Last day tomorrow.


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Congrats on the cash. Sounds like a tough field to navigate.

Fantastic tourney run, and some very sharp sports investments, also!

Well done on the cash - great to come towards the end with a collect

Awesome run - congrats on the cash!

Congrats on the cash Tony. Loving this TR.

Glad you were able to cash the stud event. Those $1.5ks in different variants look difficult, but fun for the same reason. You get to test yourself against some strong players in the different disciplines. So while it might not have been a juicy event, it's a cool merit badge to thrive in something like that.

Nice run and good storytelling!

Day Eleven - Thursday June 13th

Headed downtown in the morning to the Gamblers General Store as I wanted to pick up a couple of books.



French toast and sausage links again for breakfast



Then over to the Paris to play cash for the last time this trip.
We got a 5-5-10 Big O going around midday. At first the game was pretty tight but we loosened it up with some straddles and some jokes and all was going according to plan having increased my $1,500 buy-in to a stack of around $3,000



I was thinking about wrapping it up shortly when the following hand came up which I decided after would be the last hand of the trip.

It was a 3 way pot against seats 1 and 7 who both started the hand with around $1,300.

Now I’d won a couple of pots against seat 1 and he was taking it personally and actively trying to get me.

There is a button straddle and I get dealt AATT4 ds so I make it $75 to go. Seats 1 and 7 call so we’re 3 handed to a flop of 9-4-T with two diamonds.

Seat 1 now leads out for the pot which is $250.
I put him on a wrap type hand with maybe diamonds as well.
I elect to call hoping for a safe card on the turn to be able to pot it.
Seat 7 calls as well. Now I know for sure I don’t want to see a diamond or a card that makes the straight.

Turn is an off-suit deuce. We’ll take it even though it now brings a low draw. Seat 1 decides he’s committed and bets the pot again before it gets to me. $1,000. I go all in and seat 7 calls also for around $1,000. Seat 1 has about $100 more and throws it in.

Seat 7 asks one or twice. I say I don’t mind. Seat 1 opts for twice. I say fine.

I have the best hand at the moment but at this point with a flush draw, straight draw and low draw I’d happily settle for half the pot.

As it turns out I didn’t get any of it.



The first river was an 8 giving seat one who had JQK with diamonds the straight and also making a low for seat 7 who had A3 with nut diamonds.

The second river was a 5 making the wheel for seat 7.

As i wanted to go eat and watch the hockey and still had to pack for my red-eye flight I decided not to continue and racked up my remaining $1,700 taking a small $200 profit.
So that trainwreck was the last hand I played on this trip.



Had the same meal again at Bugsy’s (this time without the dessert) while watching the hockey. Bet the under which went the same way as the last hand of poker.

So final numbers for the trip were:



If I deduct the flight and hotel from the total I’m left with some grocery dollars. but a winning trip is a winning trip and not to be sniffed at.

So final thoughts.

Was good to be back in Vegas and at the WSOP again after a 5 year absence. I enjoy the camaraderie at the table and meeting like minded people from different parts of the world. I mean what do normal people do all day if they don’t gamble?

God willing I’ll be back next year and maybe stay for longer and concentrate more on cash games.

As I write this I’m at the airport waiting for my red-eye to Miami and then onto Medellin. They just cancelled the flight before mine to Miami because of weather in Miami. Maybe there is one more bad beat on the horizon?

Until next time. Dios lo bendiga


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Big O is a crazy game… those kind of runouts are sick.

Great trip!!

What did I tell you about folding TT hands????




Only kidding. That was a pretty brutal hand to lose. Thanks a lot for the TR.

Thanks for the great TR, Tony!

Great TR Tony, and a profitable one at that - safe travels back to Colombia, home to some of the most beautiful women in the world!

Thanks for letting us ride shotgun with you on your trip.

I played some 1-2-5 Big O at Paris, and it was good action, a buddy who plays PLO 5-5-rock also commented on how good the games were at multiple casinos. It shows that PLO is picking up ground on NLHE as a cash game of choice.

Speak for yourself. This is Gladiators of Poker, and I'm in the pic! Kind of in the background and unrecognizable, but I'm still going to save this one.

I like the emojis in your TR.

Oh, yeah, now I see you back there!