Hey grinders, here’s a briefs description of my experience playing poker. I’m 34 from Kansas City, got into poker from watching the main event on espn before I was old enough to play . Since I’ve became 21 I have played cash games maybe once of month at my local casinos and maybe 4 small tournaments a year on average. I’m definitely a rec player with some success making money playing poker and have at least cashed or won at least 15 tournaments since I was 21.

I went to the 2019 WSop but only was there a weekend and only played in the big 50. I lasted around 5 hours before I was sent packing!

This year I was lucky enough to get a month off approved from my boss starting September 16, I plan on driving to Vegas so will make a bunch a stops in atl, Denver, California before I end up in Vegas September 27th, of course i plan on playing in the reunion and maybe the 600 deep stacks as far as the WSOP, besides these I plan on doing some smaller tournaments at the Venetian, goldennugget, and other smaller tournaments yet to release there schedule. I will have a bankroll of 5k which some of that will be for cash games as well. Of course my goal is to make money while I’m there so I’m hoping To run good and play well enough for a couple cashes to pay for the trip! My boss told me if I win over 100k I can have the rest of the year off so that’s really the goal 😂

I love playing poker but will be taking more serious this time! I’ve been preparing for this the last 2 months reading as much as I can, watching poker blogs and I even signed up for poker coaching to be as prepared as I can be for the action. For the most part I will be in Vegas by myself and wouldn’t mind getting to know someone similar in age and experience to talk poker with in Vegas.

Also interested in how many Rec players are going to Vegas chasing there dream! What tournaments will you be playing?

I wish you the best of luck. I've had similar bouts with WSOP runs and limited funds, taken a couple shots in the past 10 years, and lots of lessons learned.

If you are really there to play poker, best advice I can give is don't gamble: stay away from the pits, slots and casino games. 5K can be stretched over a week or two, but it's still tight and you should be playing comfortably, so make a schedule beforehand of what tournaments you will play and stick to it. Don't mess around with the weekly regular tournaments held by most casinos along the strip, these have higher rake and poor structures. Take some down time when you aren't playing to rest up: exercise, relax by the pool, etc. When you arrive, take your first day easy to acclimate or even get your gamble out if necessary. If you are going to be there for a prolonged period, take a rest day after every 3-4 days of playing, the brain and soul needs to recalibrate.

This year will be my third go at the WSOP, going for a couple weeks and I feeling best from what I've learned in my past. Again, stay away from the pits. Best of luck.

Thanks man! Good luck to you too! And yea I do have a weakness to put a 20 every now and then in a slot! I do have an additional budget of 1.5k a week for food, fun and what ever else I can buy in Vegas ��! I saved last year for WSop that never happened so I’m getting maximum value by staying 14 days (hotels prices are crazy!! But hopefully more with a good cash). I have pretty much have a preliminary schedule picking tournaments in the 200 to 400 range after I get done with the 2 mentioned WSOP events. Appreciate the advice on the regular scheduled tournaments, I will stick to all the series in other casinos! I also have some family coming down for a few days to help me get away from the tables and have some fun! Besides those days, my focus will be poker! I am coming to win!!How did you do in your previous WSOP adventures?

Trip 1: 2010, I took about 5K with no real plan. Grinded the hell outta any thing I could find, cash-tournaments-casino-you name it. Somehow I was able to stretch that about 3 weeks. I don't even think I played a WSOP bracelet event but I definitely gambled.

Trip 2: 2015, took 8K for 2 weeks, played a lot of regular tournaments across town, making some decent cashes and playing well. So I took shot at the $1500 Monster Event. Day 1 I cruised, making plays, turning heads and playing great. Before day 2 I didn't sleep the night before, playing BJ in the early hours of the morning....I practically stone bubbled myself. I could have gone in the hallway and taken a nap to cash with the chips I had, so back to my point about proper rest. 1 event and 1 bubble. Not my proudest moment but a lesson I had to learn.

Trip 3: 2021, it's on:
WSOP Reunion
WSOP 1500 Limit
WSOP MillyMaker
Venetian and Wynn bigger guarantees.
Orleans and GN if schedule permits.

This will be my second wsop.
planning on playing the reunion and probably the $600 deepstack.

Will also have a chance to play some cash games at the bellagio.

Aw ok! Hey you live and you learn, appreciate the advice cause last time I was in Vegas for the the big 50 I barley slept that whole weekend, defiantly not going to party the night before any tournaments this time ! And nice yea I just looked at wynns schedule I’m getting in one of there’s early in their series!

I'm planning to go this year for a few days. This will be my first WSOP trip.
I was originally planning to go in 2020 and play some of those fun side tournaments at Planet Hollywood's Goliath. Unfortunately the poker room there has closed for good.

I haven't decided if I want to play the Reunion or Colossus. Or perhaps I'll enter multiple Rio Daily Deepstacks to stretch my budget.
Can anyone comment on how the Colossus usually goes compared to similarly pried $300-400 daily tournaments at the Wynn, Venetian, etc.?

I am going later in the series. I will be there from Oct 23rd to Nov 4th(?) unless I decide to stay longer.

A great resource for tournament information is this site

https://vegas-poker-schedule.com/list-view/

Someone has gone to the trouble of calculating the S points of each event and you can go forward until you hit the timeframe you need. The only thing you really need to know is the higher the S points the more play you get in the tournament in question.

Thanks. I'm sorta familiar with the concept of s-points. Based on the minutes per level I think they're all rather close on that measurement of value, but I'll check again once all the structure sheets are out.
I was wondering if anyone could comment about quality of dealers, usual player pool, and the general vibe of the venues. I've only played poker at a couple Las Vegas casinos so I don't have much context.

Which events are you planning to play? It looks like you'll be there for the Main Event?

Also look into the WSOP daily mega satellites, every morning they host $180 tournament that pays top 10% $1500 in tournament chips, use them to play other WSOP events or can sell em for cash to those in line registering.

Aw ok yea I’m definitely going play cash, I usually play 1-3 but will take a shot a 2-5 while I’m there, what limits you play cash? How long you going be in Vegas?

Great info! Appreciate this

I will be playing the senior and super senior events. I may play the Senior event at Aria just before those. If i get knocked out of senior event quickly I will try the Colossus. If i get knocked out of super senior (or if i make the final table of the senior event, lol) I will play event 61 The 600 deep stack.

As you can most likely tell I have money but not talent. Always a fun time though.

Nice! I hope you win one ☝️ time! And yep it’s fun no matter what, really fun once you win more fun coupons!! I want to play in one of the deep stacks but I’m hoping I’m in day 2 of the reunion and unable too!! Good luck to you!

What senior event at the Aria? Plz specify, thx

For Holdem, I usually play in a 1-3 or 2-5 cash. I don't have a casino near me so I don't play holdem too often.

I'm planning on staying from 9/30 to 10/10.
Playing the reunion and probably the $600 deepstack.

Its a good idea to use the bravopoker or similar app to see what games are running.

I know many players like the Aria, but when I went last time, there was a 45 minute wait for a table which would have been longer if I didn't ask them to open a new table.
In contrast, the Bellagio seated me within 20 minutes.

Rec reporting in.

I will be coming in at the tail end of the WSOP, 11/9-11/13. Might take a shot at the Little One for One Drop, but I'll probably just be a bankroll nit and play 1/2 or 1/3, unless they have satellites for even the low buy-in events.

First time in Vegas, going with my best friend to play poker and engage in a small amount of nonsense.

The Colossus has a relatively slow structure for a $400 event compared to the typical Venetian and Wynn $400 events. The Colossus has 40 minute levels rather than the 30 minute levels that most $400 tournaments have.

The Colossus structure is slower than the $500 Reunion as well. The Reunion has 30 minute levels compared to 50 minute levels in the 2019 Big 50 event, and has much higher rake/fees than the Big 50 had.

Going to the WSOP for the 2nd time. Last time was 2016 and played in the $1500 bounty event and got a small cash in a $185 DDS. This year I'll be there from 16-22 Oct. and bringing a $2500 bankroll. Here is my plan.

1. 10/17 WSOP Event #33 $800 NLH 8 handed deepstack for my one and only braclet event.
2. I plan on 1 or 2 WSOP $250 1PM Daily deepstacks.
3. Taking a shot at 2/5 cash, probably at Belaggio.

Hopefully it goes better than my last WSOP trip. I don't recommend a bounty event for your first ever braclet event.

I appreciate the input.
I searched around for players' experiences at this event and someone said it's so slow you could almost fold your way into day 2.

I've actually never played a tournament with levels so long so I hope I don't lose a bunch of chips out of boredom .


Was it like this years' $1500 Super Turbo Bounty? If so that sounds like trial by fire haha.

Lots of loose aggressive action for sure. I imagine a super turbo bounty will be even more of a crap shoot. Heck, the flip and go sounds like more fun to me!

I guess I actually need to read the structures. I played the first Colossal and the Big Fitty. The Colossal was awful. Chips disappeared so fast. The Big Fitty was much better.

The Bit Fitty had no rake, so it had less than every tournament.

Checked the structures, wow the Reunion is not good. I was fooled by its place on the calendar being similar to the Big Fitty.

Nice! Good luck to you! I may check out one of those 250 as well.

Rex player here. Been out to WSOP around 5 other years but only played one bracelet event, busted out in just over an hour. Did set next to Brad Garret (Raymond’s brother on the tc show). I plan to be there from late on the 15th and leave on the 20th. Playing event 35, the $500 freeze out. Other than that I play 2/5 mostly at Aria, Bellagio and hope to hit Wynn more this year.

If anyone wants to get a beer hit me up if there on my dates. I did some trip reports but don’t think I will do it this time around. https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...s+kind+of+slow