Well fuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Not loving this discussion the night before I arrive.

Debbiedowner.gif

are you suggesting there might have been some overmodding? in LLSNL?!?!?

That doesn't sound like something I would do.

I may need to infract him for whining about the one lifetime infraction in LLSNL that took place nearly 2 years ago.

infract dn

Skip and I are gonna go to MGM about 7 tonight. Open invite for anyone around.

See you guys down there.

Have fun boys. My passport arrived yesterday for max tilt.

Hell yeah. Look for the guy the smiley face hat lol
I heard. We’ll put a couple down in your honor

Of course it did. Grrr. Sorry fw.

Waitlist is deep, but they’re hoping to open more soon. I assume once the tourney is done? Happy to reevaluate though.

Back from Vegas. TR coming this weekend, but didn't win the millions.

About as good of a time as any for a TR:
Friday
The lady and I are sitting at work and I get a text message that our flight is delayed by 4 hours and now we don't leave till 10:30 PM EST, getting in around 12:30 AM PST. No bueno.
So we immediately pack our bags and head to the airport to try and get on standby for an earlier flight and get out there earlier in the day. Pack up in record time, jet over there, get through security and to the gate, and there are 22 people already on standby in front of it. The gate attendant just laughs at us when we ask about getting on the list. Apparently most flights to Seattle were canceled that weekend and somehow this impacts Vegas flights?
Anyway, so we sit around the airport, drink, and just chill for a bunch of hours with little other eventfulness. We leave at our now on time departure of 10:30, get into Vegas around midnight, and promptly go to the hotel to go to bed.

Saturday
Wake up at the unholy hour of 7am because east cost time mentality still, and wander down to Paris to register, get some breakfast and just relax before the tourney starts at 10.
Get to my table, and we're short handed for the first hour or so, but no one seems too good / aggressive / tricky. There's one guy at the end of the table who can't miss though and in 5 successive hands calls a raise with 82o (flops trip 2's), T8s (flops and OESFD, and gets there with the low straight ott), A3s (flops a flush), KQo (flops a straight), and JTs (flops 2p) and is just cleaning up chips.
We play a few hands, end up folding on some ugly run outs and are down to ~15k about 2 hours in. After the first break, I go totally card dead and literally don't get a playable hand for almost 90m before getting AKs, 3betting a raise from a short stack who jams and I call it off and lose to 88.
We fold for another 1.5 hours or so and eventually shove over a raise with 77 and can't get there vs KK. Run out was xxxK7 to make it a bit worse too. Oh well.

I go to lunch (dinner?) and come back refreshed and ready to roll again. Buy back in, get a new table, and the world is totally different. I actually win pots. In my first 3 orbits I win 4 pots, and I'm up to 35k or so at 500/1k/1k so we've got something to work with. The next 2 hours a blur of good and bad luck as I get JJ in for 25bb vs someone who hates folding and don't hold vs AKs, get 97s in BvB vs A8s and double back through, double with AJs vs KJs, and lose with 99 vs 44 vs a shorty.
It's around 10:30 PM and the TD has called the last 6 hands to go and Iv'e got ~30k after grinding away for few hours.
We pick up QJs in the BB, MP raises to 2.2x, SB who is pretty splashy call, and I call. Flop JT4r + bdfd. Flop checks around. Turn is a 8ss which gives me the gutter ball and fd, SB bets ~60% of pot (8k or so) and I jam my 27k or so. MP folds, sb snaps with TT and we don't hit our hand to double. GG and we're done.

Sunday
Wake up with the plan of mostly just ****ing around all day. Get some breakfast, enjoy some edibles, enjoy the pool, and eventually head out for some degening and drinking around Vegas. First stop a roulette table at Paris where we put down $200 and play the timeless strategy of 'bet the 3:1 columns and rows while trying to bink some numbers'. An hour later it's paid off and we're up $700 or so. After that we head to dinner and then Freemont where we get railed in Craps. On 7 of the 8 points we crap out on the first or second throw, and on the 8th we hit a number, and then crap out on the immediate next throw after setting a point. Fun. Wander the streets, drink, enjoy some more edibles, and eventually head back to crash.

Monday
Monday I'm convinced by my buddy to play the $500 freezeout and overall it goes well, I'm slowly accumulating chips at my fairly soft table. We break as tables are dwindling and eventually end up at a table where everyone is hot garbage. Tons of limping and people calling with terrible hands. We pick up some small pots and have a great time and are up to ~55k at 1.5k/3k/3k or there abouts. Pick up KK and open to 2.2x, get 3bet by a guy running similar to Jesus and just flat as he's fairly agro post and I think we can win a stack on solid run outs.
Flop 822r, I ck he bets and I ck raise small. He crams and I snap to be shown A2s. GG us.

I end up playing some cash in Paris and I'm down $700+ at 1/3 and about to just lose it as the weight of the weekend and the absurd run bad is catching up with me. I finally pick up KK, raise pretty big and get 4 callers, end up in a hand on an oddly similar looking 833r board. I bet and some guy ck/raises me small. I flat, turn is a 9x he bets and I shove for little more. He snaps and I'm good vs T8s. A pick up a few more hands and I'm only down about tre fiddy when I head off to dinner.

Come back from dinner and and just proceed to run all over the table and in the next 2 hours I'm +700 more or so. Time to commence the nightly drinking.

Tuesday
More cash, a Paris SnG, and then finally to the MGM for their nightly $100 tourney (which is basically a glorified turbo). I late reg at the add-on as you buy in for 25k and add-on is 100k more in chips, so unless you do something crazy in the first 2 hours the initial buy in almost doesn't matter.
When I say the people are terrible, there can't be more of an understatement. Limp/folding on 8bb stacks, raise/folding to 5bb shoves, and just getting to show down with some of the worst hands I've seen in a while.
I'm up to ~300k in chips at ~6k/12k and I get ATs otb and shove for effectively 11bb. BB turbo snaps with KQo and gets there and I'm down to ~150k in chips. Literally next hand someone in the field raises to ~2.5bb and I cram with AA and lose to TT. GG Vegas trip RIP money.

Wednesday
Time to head home on a rather uneventful trip.

Overall I got brutalized (as did the 4 people I went with) but I feel excellent about how I played for 95% of the trip, I learned a **** ton watching some of the quality people at my tables maneuver on short stacks, really started to appreciate and understanding bet sizing better, and just generally felt great about my patience, decision making, and play. I'll be back next year and fingers crossed I run just a bit better.

This year seemed like a bit of a bust from a group meet up standpoint, but the WSOP is alive and well and the money is just as easy as it ever was. For anyone on the fence next year, you should def still go if you like money.

mtts man...