Yes they do get those sorts of numbers at peak times

I live up that way. I don't play those things but just bumped into a friend who said its 1 day tourney. Is that true?

Given starting stacks that structure must be cray cray

My sample size is small but imo the Rio has easily the softest fields. I went straight from a day 2 bracelet event to a 1500 DSE last year and the difference was immense

DSE was wizard central with EPT pros everywhere. Wsop was some good players but way more soft spots

A friend of mine says the best action at the Rio are the morning sit n gos. They have three buy in levels and my plan is to get up normal time on my non wsop days and go and grind those things

Edit. DSE is Venetian. The lower buy in ones may not be as tough of course

Other note is that Planet Hollywood sucks balls as a poker venue. I wouldn't want to sit there for three hours, let alone 12

Have you looked at Wynn and Aria?

Well, that desire has surely passed. Played for 5 hours today and just got destroyed. An cooler-suckout-setup extravaganza like only online poker can be. Dropped $200+. Ugh.


Sounds good, thanks for the info. A day after I made my own overview I came across this one from a 2p2-er, maybe useful to you too. I guess I'll check out structures and guarantees closer to the date, but it sounds like this Daily deepstacks at Rio are hard to beat.

Played my one and only SCOOP tournament this morning, the $27 PKO 6-max that started at 7 am this morning. Busted that before the money, but my session around it went fairly well. Finished 7th in a $11 4-max (so much fun!) and went deep in the $7.5 BB. Also played three $22 games on Party: cashed all three with 2 FTs and one 3-way chop for $550. These $22s are so soft, it's incredible. Made US$500+.


Online bankroll: US $1518
Live bankroll: AU $11750

Overcompensation is the theme in these things. Versus a super spewy fish:




Like, honestly... :

Challenge Wrap-up

Last night I played my last tournament before I leave for Vegas on Thursday. Just now I registered for the 10 am flight of the Colossus on Friday, so ****'s about to get real! I will update this thread as often as possible during my time in Vegas, so do keep tuning in, this thread isn't over yet by a long shot!

However, my original "challenge" of building a bankroll sufficient for a Vegas trip is now done. Time for some final numbers:

Live


Profit: AU $11734
Games played: 168
ABI: AU $31
ITM: 27%
ROI: 223%
Hourly: AU $23.4

In summary: I'm quite good at winning flips, had a lot of fun, and I feel well prepared for next week. Also, lol live poker.


Online


Profit: US $1462
Games played: 690
ABI: US $6.4
ROI: 75%

Decent profit, but obviously tiny sample. I just had too much fun playing live and not enough time/motivation after my daily job to sit behind my computer some more.


If any of you are in Vegas between the 2nd and 11th of June, shoot me a pm. It'd fun to put a face to the names. Other than that, let's hope I can keep up my infinite heater and make that giraffe reach the sky!

You earned it man. Crush it.

-Boris

Very nice work man, good luck in Vegas!

Thanks, and Lolchipporn too! I'm finally here. Finished my registration for the 10 am flight tomorrow and had a chat with Carlos Welch at the TPE boot, confirmed nicest guy in poker. I'm now at Caesars because the guys want to watch basketball. I might just jump in the $125 40-man instead!

LFG!!!!

That was a quick $125:

Blinds 100/200, 7-handed
HJ limps in (go-to play for this MAWL), I'm on CO with 87 with 8.5k behind and I call. BB raises to 700, we both call.

Flop T96, pot 2200.
BB checks, MAWL bets 1100. I raise to 2500, BB calls (!?), and MAWL ships. I shove too, and BB calls.

BB shows KJ for an utter brainfart, and the MAWL sighs and wraps her arms around her head when she sees her 99 is behind. She desperately starts mumbling "please pair the board, please pair the board", and her prayers are heard when the T hits the river.


Trip result: -$125

Rough first day, but despite that I had heaps of fun. Just walking around in the Rio is crazy, and playing is even better.

Colossus

With just a 5k stack and antes after two 30 minute levels this was gonna be do or die. Level 4 was already 100/200 with 25 ante, so one orbit costs >10% starting stack.
Not much exciting happens until I have to fold 88 vs a big donklead on 3K76r board by BB after I opened pre and cbet flop. This leaves me with 4k, and I lose some more after I open AJ for 450 at 100/200 and call off a 1650 jam by SB. My hand doesn't hold vs. KQ. Final hand:

Blinds 100/200-25, 9-handed
MP opens to 450 with 5k behind. CO and BTN call and I'm in SB with 1700 total with 33. I figure a shove will make MP shove or fold with stack sizes as they are. No one can really afford to just call, so it's likely I'll be up against just 1 player. That means with so much dead money in the pot I'd need only 36%. MP does reshove and I flip vs his AT. The runout isn't kind:

K66KT


$235 Daily Deepstack

This allows me to hop in the first Daily. We have a fun table with some good banter going on. I lose some when my queens run into a slow played set, but find a fun double:

Blinds 100/200, 9-handed

I'm on the BTN with 7.7k with 9T and open to 600 into splashy BB. He 3-bets to 1400, I call.

Flop Q85. Pot 2900. BB checks and I bet 1600. He insta-ships, I snapcall. He shows AK

Turn A

River J and he needs some convincing that I rivered a "trashy" strait. Afterwards I make some notes and he asks me if "I'm texting friends that I just sucked out one someone". He is a fun guy but keeps whining a bit about this hand for the next half hour.


200/400-50, 8-handed

UTG (tight middle age dude) opens to 1200. This just screams strength, a full 3x early from this player type. I'm in MP with 10.5k and AA. I contemplate raising but I reckon he'll call a shove and I don't want him to get away on flop. I jam and he quickly calls with AK.

Flop: K6J

Turn: 9

River: K

The guy from the T9 looks disgusted and as I walk away calls after me: "That was even worse than my beat against you!"


$185 Daily Deepstack

I figure I might as well jump in the $185 that's about to start. I make a ****ty river call to lose more than necessary:

Blinds 50/100
UTG limps in, so does next to act. I'm in MP with 99 and raise to 500. BB calls, and UTG

Flop 662. Pot 1650. I cbet 650 and BB checkraises to 1650. UTG folds, I call.

Turn 8, pot 4950. He tanks and check, I check back.

River T, pot 4950. He bets 1700, I call despite this being an obvious value bet and I beat nothing. He turns over JJ.


I lose the last flip of the day:

Blinds 150/300-25.

MP limps in and I have 3200 total in SB with 77. I ship and BB cold calls for a third of his stack. I'm convinced I'm crushed but BB shows KJ after MP folds. This is the first time I get a bit tilted, wtf is he doing with that trash and not even closing the action... . I lose the flip and score a solid -$985 day 1.


Cashes: 0/4
Trip result: -$1110


Ps: One of my teammates made Colossus day 2 with 235k. Very cool, on average only 3% made day 2 so far.

Just got back from Planet Hollywood where I played event #20 of the PHamous Poker Series, a $180 $50k gtd. It was soooo much better than the Colossus, a great structure with infinite more play. I finished in 76th out of 650 runners for $318, after 11 hours of play. Will write up a more detailed TR tomorrow, pretty toast now.

In the lift just now there was a middle aged guy, short, balding, overweight and clearly intoxicated. He's holding a pair of cowboy boots and two ladies comment that they look nice. Struggling to stay upright, he goes:

"Yeah, I just got them polished"

He waits a bit and says:

"Now I'm gonna put them on and tear it up"

A couple guys leave the lift, wish us good luck and yell "Go Seahawks!"

After the door closes states: "I don't need no luck and f*** the Seahawks"

It took a bit longer than expected for my next update. I've been playing a lot while not feeling overly well, so usually at the end of the day I just dropped in my bed. Today I busted the the $235 Daily Deepstack early and decided to take it easy the rest of the day to finish my trip with a bang the next couple of days. I have notes on a lot of hands, I'll try to get to most of them in this update:


Saturday: $180 Weekender at Planet Hollywood

As I mentioned, this tournament was much better paced than the Colossus, and also super soft:


Blinds 250/500-50, 9-handed

I open AQo UTG to 1200, with 16k behind. It folds to SB and BB who both call.

Flop KJTr, pot 4100. SB checks, and BB thinks for a while and just open ships for 10k . I Hollywood for a bit and reship 16k, not expecting much but to my great surprise BB calls off!

SB shows QJo and BB KQo, both drawing to my hand, and I score a very easy triple up.


I find some good spots where, after I've been active, I rip AQo over a seemingly light BTN 3-bet making him fold for 30% of his stack. I also get a nice barrel in:


Blinds 800/1600-200, 8-handed

I'm UTG+2 and open to 4K with 89 BB (young, hidden behind hoodie) calls.

Flop J74, pot 11k. He checks, I check.

Turn K. He checks and now I have to bet, since he doesn't seem interested and I can definitely have a king here. I bet 4.6k, he calls

River 2, pot 20k. He checks and I bet 11.5k or 40% of his stack. He tanks and folds.


I get moved to a new table and chop a pot after BTN openshoves 18bb at 1200/2400 and I wake up with AQ, but he has the same hand. Open shoves this big are uncommon, but not too unsurprising from this young kid.

One orbit later the same exact thing happens, and now I'm in BB with A8. I figure that, given he just showed down a big hand with the same move just before, he expects more respect. Which means his range is wide enough here. I call and I win a big pot vs T9.

We're getting close to the bubble and to my left is now s very competent kid with a massive stack. I have an above average stack sitting on 45bb and don't really want to tangle with him too much. Of course this means I do all the wrong things:


Blinds 2k/4K-200, 8-handed

Villain in HJ opens to 8k, I'm on the BTN with AQ and I think "Hey, I don't want to mess with this competent CL too much, let's just call in position!". BB and SB also come along for the ride.

Flop T54, pot 32k. Villain bets 10k, and I reason that he's full of ****, so I just call (...), the rest folds.

Turn 6, pot 52k. He bets 25k, I call. (I still don't believe you!)

River 7, pot 102k. He checks and I think I'm good or at least he's weak, so I bet 37k to fold out A-rag that have hit the board. Of course I forget the flush draw missed and I'm repping that strongly. He makes a solid call with A6.


This leaves me with too little room to maneuver and I bust for a mincash+ ($318) when I shove 88 in MP for 12bb and I run into QQ. Still, my first cash! Things are looking up!

Just got back from an observing trip to Chile, where unfortunately our observations were cut short due to a minor earthquake causing technical issues with the telescope. I'll try to finish my Vegas TR this week.


Vegas day 4

With my first cash under my belt I headed to the Rio, looking to play some deepstacks and rail one of our teammates who made day 2 in the Colossus. I only played the 2 pm $235 this time. I built my stack to 20k and then play a fun hand:


Blinds 300/600-75, 9-handed

MP opens to 1500, I'm in CO with 99 and opt to just call in position, so does BB.

Flop K98, pot 5700. MP looks interested and cbets 2200, I call.

Turn T, pot 10k. MP checks. I'm definitely good here, since any hand that beats me here would continue to charge draws. My stack size is a bit awkward though with 16k behind. Then I realize it's a good spot to overjam with such a draw-heavy board. It wouldn't surprise me if I get hero called with Kx or something. I jam for 14k effective and indeed MP tankcalls with KQ and fails to hit a jack.


Next level I play a very weird hand:


Blinds 400/800-100

Folds to SB (MAWG) who completes. I check with J8.

Flop 245, pot 2500. Check, check.

Turn 8. Gin card for me. SB checks, I bet 1200, SB calls.

River A, pot 5k. SB checks. He might have a 3 here sometimes, but I think I can get called by worse 8s or a 2, 4 or 5. Given the action he shouldn't have an ace here, so I confidently bet 2700. He tanks and calls and I flip over my cards for the winner. He looks at my hand for a few seconds, and then tables A9..., leaving me very confused.


I get crippled after I lose a three-way all in pre with KK vs. 22 and AJ where the deuces makes quads and bust when I jam an ATC hand on the BTN into two tight blinds but one of them wakes up with TT

Vegas day 5

I make my way to Planet Hollywood for their $350 2-day event. I basically just run into awkward spots all game:


Blinds 50/100, 9-handed

I'm UTG+2 with 20k behind and open to 250 with J9, three players call.

Flop JT5, pot 1050. I cbet 550, two calls.

Turn 6, pot 2700. Picking up a flush draw to go with my top pair, I continue for 1600. CO raises to 4600. I call.

River 6, pot 12k. I check and CO overjams for 14k and I fold.


Blinds 100/200, 9-handed

UTG limps in and BTN makes it 600. I'm in SB with AQ with 12k behind. I could 3-bet here but for some reason that I've forgotten I just call. We see the flop 3-way:

Flop AKT, pot 2000. Checks to BTN who bets 1200, I call.

Turn 6, pot 4400. Again I check call, this time for 2500

River 3, pot 9400. I check and he bets 5k for 2/3 of my stack. He clearly isn't worried about the flush coming in, I'm never good here and fold.


I'm now down to 6300 at 100/200. We have a very loose cannon on the table who does not have a fold button, so when he opens to 600 UTG from a 5100 chip stack (...) I can't wait to get it in with AQ. He calls as expected and I flop an ace, but lose most of my stack when his JT rivers a straight.


He has no idea what to do with all those chips, we both bust three hands later:


Blinds 100/200

Loose cannon limps in UTG and I jam in MP for 1200 with QJ. He calls as well as two other players.

Flop 234, pot 4800. Loose cannon leads for 2k, BB checkraises for 15k effective and he calls off with A4... BB obviously has that beat and takes it all with 22.



I make my way over to the Rio to play the 5pm $185.

There is this hyper-aggro kid to my left that just loves getting his chips in the middle. For example check raising 34 all in on AA7, where he loses to someone calling off with 64 (!!!!). Because he picks up aces twice as well, he manages to bounce back. In the mean time I'm playing snug and biding my time for his unbridled aggression to double me up:


Blinds 100/200-25, 9-handed

I'm in SB with 10k behind and limp in with QJ. It's a hand that flops well, but I don't see the need to raise-call here and create a big pot preflop. Sure enough the nutcase in BB raises to 600, and I call.

Flop J94, pot 1450. I check, BB bets 650, and I raise to 1900. BB immediately shovels all his chips in the middle, and I have an easy call. BB shows J2.

Turn K, pot 21k.

River 4 and we chop it up...


I bust a while later in a flip and join some of the team for dinner. I figured we'd go for drinks and party afterwards, but instead they want to play cash. This might come as a surprise, but I have never played live cash before! I've played cash online, which has always bored me to death, but never live. I don't want to go back to the hotel yet, so despite feeling a bit out of place, I jump in the 1/2. One of my buddies advises me to open up a bit more, so after ten minutes figuring out common sizings I get involved:


$1/$2, 7-handed

UTG (short stack, weaktight) limps in and it folds to me on BTN. I raise to $10 with K6, feeling confident I can outplay UTG postflop if necessary. SB calls, and UTG calls.

Flop Q34, pot $30. SB check and UTG donk-leads for $5. I have backdoor outs and plenty of opportunity to push UTG of his obvious weak hand, so I call. Now SB raises to $15 () and UTG folds (). I'm not entirely sure what's happening, but I'm getting 5 to 1 in position and have a bunch of backdoors, so I call.

Turn 7, pot $65. Bingo! SB bets $25, and I call leaving $85 behind.

River 5, pot $110. Double bingo!! SB now jams for $85 effective and I call after checking my cards to make sure. SB is disgusted his KK got cracked...


I'm now enjoying this whole cash thing and in 20 minutes I'm sitting on $400 (I sat down with $140). In my enthusiasm I try to isolate a min-3bet all in with A7o but that tight Asian lady isn't folding her jacks of course. I lose back $60 and after that abomination of a hand the table breaks and I decide $200 in half an hour sounds like a good hourly lifetime in live cash, so I rack up and go to my hotel.

Vegas day 6&7

I take it easy the next day and just reg the 2 pm $235. I chip up when I win a 17k pot at 200/400 with QQ>JJ. Right away I lose the chips I just won when I call a check-raise all in on a T23 board with AA but his 45 spikes a 6 on the river.

Then I opt to shove in a spot that I'm not sure about:

Blinds 300/600-50, 9-handed

UTG+2 opens to 1600 and gets two callers. There is now 6.2k in the pot and I'm in SB with 7.3k and JT. I figure I have quite a bit of equity vs. UTG+2 reshoving range and no-one has stack-sizes to just call a shove here. I might even get it through. I jam it in and UTG+2 rejams quite quickly. Next to act in MP tanks for a while and calls off his ~10k stack with a fcuk-it attitude. UTG+2 shows AQ and MP KJ.

Flop runs out J85K4 and I notice I'm getting mildly frustrated with how the week has gone so far, because in my head I fault MP for costing me the pot with his sh it call.


I take the rest of the day off so I can grind the next day with a couple fun games at Planet Hollywood. The first one is a $160 6-max. It's a lot of fun but it only takes three hours to bust. At least this way I'm on time to play the $300 Deepstack from the start where I basically win one pot:


Blinds 250/500-50, 10-handed

MP opens to 1100, HJ and BTN call and I call in BB with 89.

Flop A78, pot 5.1k. MP checks and HJ bets 2100. I call and we go to the turn HU.

Turn 4, pot 9.3k. I check and HJ bets 3600. I have 12k behind and this is a perfect spot to get it in. I hesitate slightly as I've been folding all day and it just sucks to bust on a bluff, but what can you do. I jam it in and he quickly folds.


I am just completely card-dead after this and eventually I find AQ in early position with 18k at 800/1600. I flick it in and SB wakes up with kings, GG.

Vegas day 8

Final chance for a cash, I head to Rio to play a couple deepstacks. The first one stubbornly is the $235, I should be able to cash this super soft game at least once right!?


Blinds 150/300-50, 9 players

UTG (OMC) limps in for 300, I'm in HJ with AA with ~14k and raise to 800 (should've raised more since these players don't limp in to fold easily). UTG calls.

Flop KQ3, pot 2500. UTG checks and I cbet 1250, UTG calls. UTG will have broadway hands here plus some flush draws (I have the A though) and sometimes 33 or random crap that he floats.

Turn 3, pot 5k. UTG checks. Pretty good turn since it leaves only 1 combo of 33 and I don't have to fear broadway hands pairing up on river. I don't want to chase those hands away or get raised by a made flush, so I opt to check behind.

River J, pot 5k. UTG (who has bet big for value so far) bets 6k. I'm not psyched but he'll overvalue two pair here I think and I block a lot of flushdraws. I call and he has 56.

Pretty tilting runout to be honest...


Blinds 150/300-50, 9 players

Folds to SB who completes, I'm in BB with T7 with ~6k and check.

Flop A82, pot 1100. SB checks and I bet 400 because he'll overfold here. SB calls.

Turn 3, pot 1900. SB checks and I check to see a free card, either hit my flush or steal on river.

River T, pot 1900. SB checks and I value bet 700. SB quickly minraises to 1400... Big sigh. I fold.


This leaves me with ~4.5k at 200/400 and I start shoving. Luckily for me the two times I actually have a hand I get called, but that's about it for good fortune. My AJ chops it up vs KJ and with KQ I flop well vs 88 on K75 but still manage to lose.


I hop in the $185 but don't remember how I busted that, I must have given up on taking notes.

Some afterthoughts

As I'm writing this I've been back for a couple weeks. While finishing up this TR and going through all my notes, again I realize I ran pretty dreadful. After busting my last tournament I was pretty frustrated and disappointed. The monetary result doesn't bother me too much, although it's too bad I start running poor in the biggest week of the last couple years (or ever). The main thing is I feel like I missed out on the fun of having a deep run. I really enjoy playing poker and my games at home are the closest thing I have to a peaceful sort of sanctimonious moment on a regular basis. No pressure of performance, stress about producing results or keeping up with expectations, just playing poker. It's a shame that I got to play so many games in Vegas where this got cut off so early most of the time.

Other than that, I did have a great time. It was fantastic to just wander the Rio where everyone is focused on the same thing, it's a huge contrast with back home where I don't have anyone to talk poker with, other than the other regs in my homegames. My gf and friends will (sometimes) listen to me, but this gets old quick if they don't share the same level of excitement. In Vegas just knowing that everyone is interested in the same thing, is just really cool.

Also, and call me a fanboy, but I was regularly awed by live and online heroes just walking the hallways. I only got a photo with Negreanu, but I've seen so many big names in poker in just one week, it was crazy. I also saw Fat Lederer, the WSOP TD, too funny.

Anyhow, all in all I had a great time and definitely will go back at some point. Hopefully I do run a bit better next time and don't feel under the weather for half of the week though. And I don't really want to show it, but here it is, my final result for the whole journey:

I figured the Micro Millions is a good excuse to put in some hours online. Did a proper 9am to 6pm today with a 5th and 6th in Party $22 tournaments, some mincashes and a frustrating finish of the session with a 20th in the Big $16.50.

9 hours, $350 in buyins. Net result: $1 (I kid you not...)

Slow and steady moving uphill :P

Hey man, what events are you playing in Sydney champs?

Just the opening event for 1-2 bullets. On August 1st I'm flying to Easter Island for a conference.

Ohhh goodluck, cya on the FT