Generally speaking:

5-5-10 PLO
Best regs: $100-150
Good regs: $40-100
Meh regs: $20-40

25-25(/50) PLO
Best regs: $175+
Good regs: $75-175
Meh regs: Should probably be playing 5-5-10

Anything below 5-5-10 and the rake is a pretty big concern. Vegas in general is great for high stakes rake to the point where it's almost irrelevant at 25-25+

And TY!

I'm not huge single-item spender. I'm not frugal, but when I do spend it tends to be on things like travel, nice meals, and sometimes clothing (don't go super high end there). I'll get a new car but it's not going to be anything flashy - looking at Kia Sportage, Subaru Outback, and then maybe if I go a little higher end, the Audi Allroad. I do have one luxury item I enjoy: watches. Problem is I already have 3 I like and if I were to get another one, I'd probably go all out and get something really nice. 1st or 2nd place might've done it...but as of now I'll probably hold out there. I also want to travel quite a bit, and probably do another volunteer trip in Rwanda at some point.

Thanks! As I mentioned to another guy, my two top choices would be the jllama mixed game series (pricy but worth it), or simply re-watching high stakes WCOOP and SCOOP replays on youtube. Pause the action to try to predict what the top players will do, and try to understand what their thought process is if they do something you think is unusual

Congrats on the score Alex! It was refreshing to see an FT that wasn't a nitfest and actually have some decent table banter and interesting characters. You also have quite the eye for catching stack miscounts and it was cool seeing someone who was so tuned into the game, watching out for fellow players, and just paying attention

You seem modest but there's a lowkey group of watch fanatics on 2p2 (myself included) and I'd love to learn about your collection/new pick-up and why you chose those pieces. If you'd rather not share - I totally understand and thanks for taking time to do an AMA!

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. At the end of the day, poker should be fun, and I see no reason why the main event FT should be anything different.
If more it should be more relaxing/fun as we've all locked up over milball!

As far as watches go, I don't own anything too crazy, and I'm not deep into the watch world of knowing about the tech etc. I mostly just enjoy them as fashion accessories and think they look nice. Plus they retain their value reasonably well.

I have a Kingsley 1945, which I understand is fairly rare, though not super expensive. It uses parts from the world war II era supposedly. Then I have a Master collection, which I got in 2010 in Switzerland. Simple, but classy and elegant watch. My most expensive watch is a Breitling Superocean with a forest green bezel, which is a pretty cool/unique color on a watch. The collection totals a little under $10k.

As I said, if I were to buy a 4th watch, I'd probably go all out ($25k-50k range), so I'm going to hold off for now

Good run. Thought you were one of the strongest players when it got down close to the FT.

I'm curious what, if any, type of sponsorship opportunities came your way when you got DEEP in the event. What kind of money do sites offer to wear a patch, hat, etc?

Thanks man.

I got a $45k offer from a poker site / casino to wear one of their patches, which I declined. An online training site offered me a lifetime free membership, which I also declined. One more guy tried to talk to me about patches at the end of first day of final table, but I didn't even hear his numbers or offer. Just wasn't something I wanted to be a part of if it wasn't a company I knew well and truly liked. I did wear a Cabot (golf course in Canada) hoodie, and it's possible I'll get some compensation from them for the exposure, but I didn't seek that out prior to the final table.

I definitely don't have anything against people who choose to get patches or sponsors, I just know I'll play my best game when I'm feeling comfortable. For me that means getting a haircut the day before the FT, wearing the clothes that make me feel comfortable, and not getting patched up. I like Dario's choice of REG charity for a patch, and think if I did wear any patch that's the path I'd go. Could possible be swayed if I got some massive offer from a company I already really liked/supported...

Assuming you got the money wired, is it weird to see a 7 figure squiggly ACH deposit just hit your checking account. How many times did you look at that balance?

Also, how cool was it shuffling those ridiculous demonization frisbees for dayzzzz

Want to talk us through your thought process on the final table QQ fold hand? I don’t play nl or tournaments but I find all the hubbub fascinating.

Good run.

Any tips for winning credit card roulette?

Really enjoyed watching you play the final table! Did you consider letting it ride and playing the $1M Triton charity event? haha

I ran the QQ hand in monker... interested?
(I should add that i'll want to do it via PM, not keen to post solver data publicly)

Congrats Alex. Enjoyed rooting for you after Sam busted out. We used to battle a million years ago on the mid stakes ftp streets, always cool to see players I "know" from back in the day finding success.

What was your media day experience like? To me that was the most surreal part of the whole thing but I'm curious if things are calmer or more hectic since they stopped the delayed FT.

Estimated loss of revenue for failing to trademark OMC? ;-)

haha ****ing hell imagine picking today of all days to open 2p2

obligatory questions:

1. what's your hourly at the dragon?
2. i'm open to a staking/coaching arrangement ;p

Does rum make you better or worse at chess?

Thanks for the mixed course shoutout! Always nice to get positive feedback, especially since it was the only material I ever put out (or ever will).

Doubt you remember me, but I think we got dinner like 5 years ago during the main once, and that's the closest I've been to anyone who's ever final tabled the main.

Question is what did you think of the main field this year (and other wsop events if you played them)? I haven't played in a few years but everyone I know who played said their day 1 tables were pretty garbage with mostly pros and maybe 1 meh fish, but the final table looked so soft for a 10k. Is it just live mtts are good at getting lucky but bad players deep, do you think the final table was tougher than it looked on tv, or was the field overall super soft for a 10k live mtt?

I tipped a small amount, got $600k cash, and then the rest wire. Seeing the money hit my account and the double comma was surreal, but I think the 600k in cash was even more crazy. Just listening to the machine churn out hundred and then having the cashier package them into 50k bundles. I guess that's the point where the money part really started to set in. Of course within a week I was sending out a bunch of wires to investors.

I wasn't a huge fan of the oversized chips but they grew on me. The purple 5M chips were super sexy

This one got a lot of scrutiny, but if I could do it over, I'd still fold. Maybe I'd call...I definitely wouldn't shove. The only thing that could make me feel like it's a definite call/shove is that he might've gone a hair smaller with KK/AA but I didn't have a reliable enough read on how he sizes that spot.

As for why I folded...

1. GG played really solid and he's a good player, but he's not known for getting out of line preflop. I opened UTG and Dario flatted BTN off 22 bbs, both of us have very strong ranges.
2. Given that, I gave him JJ+, AK, and then some amount of combos of TT and AQ. I really believe he flats 99 in this spot, and don't think he has A5s or other such bluffs almost ever. Nor should he TBH...Dario's flatting range is also quite strong and includes some traps. Given this sort of range, I likely have somewhere between 48.5 and 53% equity pre
3. Dario's range off this stack size should look something like 77-99, ATs, AJs, KQs, AQo, and maybe a few more suited broadways. TT will usually jam pre but occasionally flat. JJ-QQ, AK always jams, and then he has some traps. I'd say he traps AA more often than not, and 3bets or jams KK more often than not, but he should have some combos of each. So some non-zero % of the time, I run into Dario's AA/KK
4. ICM - there were two stacks that were quite short, and I had a middling stack, which is the ICM disaster situation. Getting it all in with 53% against G.G. is a significant big mistake; getting it all in with 49% is a disaster
5. Stack depths, postflop skill edge. I believed I had a postflop skill edge against the remaining field, especially with such a good structure where stacks stay reasonably deep. Yes, sometimes GG 3bet folds TT/JJ/AQ and I pick up 17M or whatever it was, but that doesn't do a huge amount for my positioning relative to the other stacks

Some people have likely correctly pointed out that calling and folding on A/K hi flops is a pretty decent option. The price isn't bad and his most likely single combo is AK. I wouldn't fault anyone for flatting, but I still believe shoving to be incorrect.

People are inherently results oriented. If he had KK there, they would've said it was the fold of the century (it's not remotely close). If he'd had AK, they would've probably called it a reasonable fold. I ran into what I believe was the bottom of his range, and given that and all my reasoning above, I'm happy with the decision to fold.

Like I said in my interview after it was over, I folded AK and QQ earlier in the tournament when I would've been up against AK and AK. My strength is deepstacked postflop poker, and in tournament terms, 50bbs qualifies there. So now you guys know how to put pressure on me if you find yourselves at my table in the main in the future

i knew you were a special kind of luckbox when you "cased" the great max steinberg at an aria 5-10 NLH game.

no questions though

Don't be born with the name Tim

Def not! I do plan on playing the $50k PPC as that's been a bucket list item for a while. Outside of that, I don't plan on playing any tourney buy-ins over 25k and I'd be very selective with 25ks. I normally play 2-5 NL tourneys in a year, I'd be surprised if I played more than 10 over the next year. I'll add in a few fun ones like the Aussie Millions main, and maybe the WSOP-E main. But I'll still be a PLO cash player first and foremost. This does give me an opportunity to shot take some bigger PLO cash games which is nice

Sure, send from PM. Some other ppl have run numbers and have it being close to breakeven but depends on a few assumptions etc. Thanks

Thanks! I remember seeing you around .. you were one of the red pros. I made a run in 2013 so that helped all the media stuff feel more normal. Of course, I didn't FT that day so I didn't have an actual "media day" but none of that stuff bothered me too much. It also might've been a bigger deal when you FT'd as poker in some senses was in more of a boom with regards to endorsements etc. My actual time with the ESPN crew and Kara was only about 45 mins in total

It's cool to me when I hear vlog makers using the term in their videos or people talking about it at the tables. I guess it's the one term from that guide to live poker that really stuck. Long live the OMCs