Week Two: Action for Sale

There was a lot of interest in my action for Week One, so I've put together a package for Week Two. Again, I'm not a professional player, and I'm not going to set up some kind of staking account to handle this. Let's keep this friendly.

The Package:

• Event 25: $500 NLH Freezeout OR Golden Nugget $500 HORSE (two bullets)
• Which of these events I play will depend on my results later this week
• Event 28: $600 NLH/PLO Mix  (two bullets)
• Event 37: $1500 HORSE (one bullet)
• Event 40: $1500 Razz (one bullet)
• Price: $55 = 1%

Yes, that's a mark up of $3. No, I'm not trying to price gouge anyone. The round number is simply for ease of my accounting.

Terms:

• For everyone 1% a backer purchases, that backer will receive 1% of the prize pool remaining at the end of all four events.
• Any unused buy ins will go back into the prize pool. That means that if I don't play an event, or if I don't fire a second bullet in an event for which I've budgeted a second bullet, you get your money back for that event/bullet.
• If I cash the event: (1) 100% of the original buy in will go back into the prize pool; (2) 75% of any winnings above the buy in will go into the prize pool.
• For example: if I buy into an event for $1500, I cash, and I receive $4500 then the prize pool would be as follows. First, the $1500 buy in goes in. Then 75% of the $3000 profit goes in, which is $2250. So the prize pool from that event would be $3750, and a backer receives $37.50 per percent they own.
• The 25% downward adjustment in the profit covers the IRS withholding rate on gambling winnings.
• EXCEPTION: In the event of a substantial prize, I may adjust the payouts to reflect actual tax liability. Basically, if I win $1 million dollars or something, the taxes will be more than 25%, so I'll have to adjust the payout percentages accordingly. This is the kind of problem we're hoping to have.
• I am not promising or guaranteeing that you'll get any money back at all. Buy at your own risk.
• I will sell up to 25% of my action. First come, first served.

Feel free to ask questions if you have them.

Event 15: PLO Deepstack

 

Today we'll be taking on the Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack tournament. That means we'll start with 30k in chips instead of 25k. The rebuy period ends after Level 12, and I'm prepared to fire two bullets at this event. Once again, I'll update for each level, with updates posting during the breaks. 

Levels 3 and 4

I got kind of a late start today, so I didn’t join until later in level 3. This seems like a much “better” table for me than yesterday. About half rec players and about half low level grinders. Two seats to my right is what I’d call the quintessential poker-room douche. He plays goofy hands because he thinks he’s better than everyone else man bun. Pinky rings on both hands. Ugh!

First two significant hands, dealt TT99 ds and raised pre, and got two callers. C-bet a dry flop and everyone folded. Then raised pre with AKQ3 ds and the flop was JT8 with a flush draw I didn’t have. I decided to play it safe and check called the flop. When the turn came a 7 that completed the flush, I had to fold my wrap. 

The table is *very* loose and pretty passive. Lots of limping, and most flops are 4-5 handed. 

Level 5

First hand, I’m UTG and I peel an AsKsAd and then an Ah. Womp womp! Into the muck they go. 

Call a raise with JT99 DS and flop us J84 rainbow. Turn is a 9, and we check through. River is another 9, giving me quads. I bet, but I don’t get paid off. 

Level 6

Running dry right now. Posting blinds and folding. Still below a starting stack, but I’m still fine. 

Raise with AAJ4 on the button. Continue on a dry flop and get called. Turn and river run out a straight and a flush. I fold the river. Down to about 15k. 

Level 7

Down to about 13k. Raise on the button with AA98 and get two callers. Flop is J73 rainbow. I shove and it gets through. Up to about 20k again. 

Double! KKJJ UTG. I pot and get repotted by the LJ. I shove and get called by AA97. Flop is all low cards, but I spike a K on the turn. It holds and I double. Now sitting at about 40k. 

Typically of his ilk, Captain ManBun hasn’t shut up the whole time. He certainly has a lot of opinions and complaints, and he’s convinced we all need to hear them as often as possible. He’s now talking about how racism and sexism aren’t really a thing. What an enjoyable table mate. 

Level 8

Raise AQTT no suits and get 3 callers. I cbet on AQ8 flop, and everyone folds. About 50k now. 

Captain ManBun is now talking about how good “the Asians” are at math. He followed it up with speaking fake Chinese with a terrible accent and saying that Chinese kids get sent to concentration camps if they’re bad at math. *sigh*

53.9k at the second break.

Level 9

First hand, and AJJ3 turns into a flopped wheel. Pick up a decent pot, and I’m up to 73k. It looks like I’m the current chip leader at the table. 

Paid the blinds and had to fold on the flop with AQJ8 one suit. Down to 66k. Not chip leader anymore. Womp womp. 

Picked off a bluff from Captain ManBun with a J high flush. Up to 86k. He’s suddenly a lot quieter. 

Seat 8 has caught fire and busted out two players in about 5 minutes. He’s up to about 80k now. 

Level 10

Lost a small one with flush against rivered boat. Down to 78.5k. 

Paying blinds. Down to about 74k. Seat 8 continues his blistering in. He’s probably up to about 130k now. Then he taxes me, running down my flopped set of Qs with a tap-tap wheel. Got away without going broke, but down to about 55k. 

Level 11

Treading water the first half of this level. We’re down to about 1/3 of the field left. It looks to me like we’ll hit the money tonight. My guess is the bubble is going to be around level 19 or 20. 

I’m beginning to get very frustrated with the dealer’s inability to count the pot and make change correctly. It’s really slowing things down. 

Meanwhile, seat 8’s reign of terror continues. He must be pushing 220k in chips, and he’s busted 6 or so players. 

Level 12

Still treading water at the start of this level. Sitting at about 60k. 

And I’m out. AAK6 with hearts. I bet pot from the LJ and seat 8 calls from the bb. The flop is JhTh6x. Seat 8 checks. I bet pot. He shoves. I call. He shows TT64. The turn is a heart! Unfortunately, it’s the 6 of hearts and I’m drawing to the Qh only, which doesn’t come. 

Still feel like I’m playing well, but I’m not catching a lot of cards. I’ll be back in action probably Thursday for the Millionaire Maker. See y’all then. 

Event 14: PLO 8/b; Omaha 8/b; Big O

This will be the blog for Event 14: Mix Omaha hi-low. I’ll be updating at each break, so check back for more info. 

Shuffle Up and Deal!

I’ll start the tournament at table Black 143 in seat 1. You can follow along on the WSOP app for some updates in between my posts. 

Level 1

Up about 4k at the end of level 1. Two big hands. Got 3/4 of a Big O pot with AK734 on an AK822 rainbow board. Other player had AQ634. In the other big hand I had AQJ2 playing PLO 8/b and folded to a pot bet on a 22JQ board. Another player called and winner showed JJ for jacks full. 

Level 2

Won a decent sized pot in limit PLO 8/b. Had 6632 ds in the BB. Called a raise from the HJ. Flop was Q64. Check-bet-call. Turn was a T. Check-bet-call. River was a 4 filling me up. Check raised and got a crying call. My 6s full were good. 

A couple of false starts and folds. Basically treading water. 

Level 3

Nothing much going on through level 3. Paying blinds and folding. Finished the level at 26.4k. 

Level 4

I’m still not getting much to play, but it certainly could be worse. Did 3! with AA234 DS in Big O, but I got 4 callers and wiffed an all high flop of the wrong suits. 

Level 5

The cold run continues, and the table is continuing to get tougher. We now have Veerachai Vongxaiburana (won 10k Big O) at the table, along with Allen Le and old school rounder Frankie Odell. That’s like 6 bracelets.  At least being cold is keeping me from becoming shark bait. Still sitting on an M of 20+, so I have plenty of time. 

I decided to make a play at Maxx Holland, and I managed to steal a medium sized pot. Back up to just above a starting stack. Allen Le is the current table chip leader with about 75k I’d guess. 

Level 6

Allen Le’s hot streak continues, as he takes his fourth scalp. He has to be among the tourney chip leaders at this point. 

Got quartered with the wheel. Down to about 20k. 

Big hand! I raised to 2000 with AK732 ds from the button, and Frankie ODell check raised to 7000 from UTG. I shoved and Frankie called, showing AJJ43 with one suit. I made Kings up and there was no low for a full double. I’m at 40.2k.

Veerachai busts the next hand. I then lost about 5600 with top set when the straight and flush came in. A couple of more lousy flops, and I finish the level with 31.6k. 

Level 7

Level started with some frustration—folding to a 3! and then flopping nut-nut. But, I picked up another one quickly.

Playing limit PLO 8/b, I pick up AKK2 one suit on the BB. I make it 2 bets to go, and get 4 callers. The flop is KT8. I bet, and Frankie Odell makes it to bets to go. The SB calls and so do I. The turn is a T, giving me a full house. I check, Freddie bets, the SB calls, and I raise. Freddie calls. The SB folds. The river brings a meaningless 3. I bet. Freddie calls, and ai show him the bad news. I don’t think I’m his favorite person. Up to over 40k. 

Freddie busted about 10 mins later. 

Level 8

Lots of eliminations happening now. It looks like the event will end up drawing about 1200 entries, which would mean about 180 will make the money. If my original table, only 3 of us are left. I’m still sitting on about 40k about halfway through. 

The rest do this level was just posting blinds, a few preflop calls, and then folds. Down to about 29k. 

Level 9

Level started nice, picking up half of a decent sized multi-way pot. Then lost about 10k when my wheel wrap missed. Back to about 25k again. 

A double! I 3! Allen Le from the BB with AKK42 with K high hearts. He calls, leaving me with about 2/3 pot behind. The flop is T44 with two hearts, and I rip it. Allen tank calls and shows a worse low draw and worse hearts. The turn is a T and a K on the river gives me a full house and the best hand. Up over 50k now. 

I few hands later, and I lose about half my stack. I flopped top set and the nut low draw. Get called down to the river by a crappy flush draw that hits. I’m back to 25k again. 

I finished the level with about 27k. Then Gus Hansen almost ran me over walking out. Weird. 

Level 10

Tangled with Allen Le again, and this time he got the best of me, waiting me out to get me to pay off the nuts . He took half my stack in the process. Down to about 12k and on life support. Looking for my spot to get it in. 

Ended up blundering my way into a win. Accidentally check raised (meant to call and dropped wrong chips) Allen Le, which resulted in a check down. We both missed, and I win a decent sized pot with just a pair of Ks. Back up to 21k. Still need to get hot here soon. 

And just like that, I’m out. I pick up AKK23 UTG +1. I’m effective with about 20k. I pot to 2800 and get repotted by the LJ. I ship it. He turns over AA977. The flop is J86. Turn is another 6 and the river is a 9. 

Pretty good run today in my first, and one if my tougher events. Outlasted about 60% of the field. 

I’m back in action tomorrow morning for the deep stack PLO. See y’all then!

The Rest of The Trip

 

I'm sorry that I haven't updated since our first day of the trip, but long days of driving (and sharing a hotel room with three kids) haven't allowed for a lot of time blogging. Here's a rundown of the rest of the trip.

Day 2: Six Flags and Barbecue

We're season pass holders at Six Flags over Georgia, and those season passes include free admission to the rest of the Six Flags owned theme parks. So we decided to take a day off from driving and take the kids for some roller-coaster-themed recuperation. I was impressed with how compact the park felt, and the park wasn't very crowded. So we were able to ride anything we wanted with only a minimal wait. We had a lot of fun and planned to go back for a few hours the next day.

We ended up going to dinner at a barbecue placed named 225°. The food was excellent, and we all probably ate too much. We went back to the hotel fat and sassy and looking forward to our next day at the park.

Day 3: The Debacle

Our third day began early. Like 1 a.m. early. It began that early because one of our fat and sassy boys apparently didn't agree with his dinner about whether it should remain in his stomach. The dinner won that debate, and he got sick in the floor of our hotel room. We cleaned it all up as best as we could, but our room was suddenly a not to pleasant smelling place to be. I think we all struggled to sleep, and by the time we woke up in the morning, the whole crew was feeling a bit queasy.

With that in mind, we decided *not* to head back to Six Flags over Texas. Instead the plan was to drive on to Oklahoma City, get some rest in the hotel that night, and be primed and ready to go Frontier City (another Six Flags theme park) on Day 4. 

This was a wonderful plan until about 85 miles south of our destination when our van started to overheat. After a little triage on the side of the road, we ended up limping the van on to our OKC destination. "Limping" involved turning off the A/C, turning on the heat full blast (it was like 90 degrees outside), rolling down all the windows, and driving about 55 mph. 

By the time we arrived in OKC, we were all hot, tired, cranky, and still a bit nauseated. Much of the rest of the evening involved trying to figure out what was wrong with the van and strategizing on getting it fixed.

Day 4: The Fix is In

My day started early, getting up at 5:30 to limp the van over to a Firestone to see if they could fix it. After roughly five hours, they were eventually able determine that the problem was a faulty thermostat that another Firestone location had installed a few months back. Apparently when the manufacturer made the thermostat, it installed a spring upside down, which was causing the thermostat to intermittently stick. Firestone swapped it out as a warranty repair. So other than the inconvenience of it all, it didn't cost me anything.

Meanwhile, Brittany and the kids were partying it up over at Frontier City. I joined them after leaving Firestone. The park is small, and it was not crowded at all. Because of that, we were able to ride pretty much everything in about half a day. The boys all enjoyed the log ride, and Thomas really liked the Wildcat roller coaster. We headed out early to get a jump on our drive to Vega, Texas.000

Passing through Amarillo, we stopped at The Big Texas Steak Ranch. None of us did the 72 oz challenge, but we did all enjoy a steak. The food was very good, and the atmosphere was great! They had a couple of troubadours roaming through the dining room, and I think I heard them play George Strait about ten times. The boys also enjoyed meeting the giant rattlesnake that lives in an aquarium at the restaurant. All in all, BTSR was a good time, and I'd go back if I were ever in Amarillo again.

Day 5: Driving

Not every day can be exciting, and this was one of those days that wasn't. We got in the car. We drove a long way. We ultimately got to Valle, Arizona and checked into our hotel room about 20 minutes south of the Grand Canyon.

Day 6: Grand Canyon and Las Vegas

We started our last day of traveling with trip up to the Grand Canyon. Given our schedule (and our kids' ages), the more intense and lengthy hikes or boat trips were out. So we started at Mather's Point and hiked the rim trail over to Yavapai Point and the geology museum. We had lunch in the park, and then went back south to Tusayan to visit the IMAX.

The IMAX was a bust. It was kind of expensive and pretty boring.

As to Grand Canyon itself, I concede that my expectations were kind of low. I thought it would be neat for a few minutes and then quickly get kind of boring looking at rocks.

I could not have been more wrong.

I expected to be underwhelmed and instead was nearly overwhelmed. The sheer scale of Grand Canyon is impossible to convey in a picture and it's beyond my faculty to express in words. It was truly one a moment where all I could do was stand in awe at the grandeur and beauty of nature. The heights almost don't seem real, and the lack of any effective means to determine the scale of what you're looking at makes it seem almost infinite. To be honest, I'm still processing it. I want to go back.

After leaving Grand Canyon, we had a roughly four hour (thankfully uneventful) drive to Las Vegas. After checking into our AirBNB, I drove the boys down Las Vegas Boulevard so they could see the strip. Their favorites were Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, and Paris. Michael had the line of the day when he said, "Boy! There sure are a lot of casinos here." We all cracked up at that one.

After taking Brittany and the boys back to the AirBNB, I ended up heading back over to Paris/Horseshoe to get things set up for the WSOP and to take advantage of a 10x tier credit multiplier Caesars Rewards was running. I ended up winning $800 playing slots, so we're off to a fine start.

I play my first event today, and it starts in a few hours. I start a new blog thread for that one. 

Day 1: Lots of Driving

We are on our way! Nothing interesting to report. I drove to Dallas for a few days at Six Flags with the kids. I’ll post some pics tomorrow. 

Counting Down to Departure and Plans for Week 2

It's hard to believe it's only four days until I leave for Las Vegas! For those of you who have been waiting impatiently for another update (I'm looking at you Hunter), there hasn't really been much to report. I've mostly been getting things ready to leave on Tuesday and winding down my semester. But now, it's almost go time.

The Trip to Las Vegas

Several of you have asked about non-tournament trip details, so I thought I'd share some of that in anticipation of leaving. I'll be driving to Las Vegas with my wife and kids, so the plan is to make a fun trip for the kids out of the long drive. Here's the general breakdown:

• Tuesday, May 26: Drive to Arlington, Texas
• Wednesday, May 27: Six Flags over Texas
• Thursday, May 28: Drive to Oklahoma City
• We'll spend part of this day at Six Flags in Arlington or at Frontier City in Oklahoma City
• Friday, May 29: Frontier City and drive to Vega, Texas
• Saturday, May 30: Drive to the Grand Canyon
• Sunday, May 31: Grand Canyon and drive to Las Vegas
• I know an evening and a morning probably aren't enough to get the whole Grand Canyon experience, but my youngest isn't really old enough to do a lot of the things the Grand Canyon offers. We'll go back again.

So, we're breaking the drive up over six days, and the kids get three days in an amusement park and a trip to the Grand Canyon out of it. I'm hoping we arrive in Vegas early enough on May 31 for me to slip over a casino for a little bit to take advantage of the 10x tier credit offer Caesars has going on.

I'll post pictures from our trip as we go along.

Week 2

I'm still undecided on exactly what tournaments I'll play week two, though a few are set in stone.

• Sunday, June 7: TBD
• Option 1: WSOP Event 25 - $500 NLH Freezeout. 
• I love a good freezeout tournament, and this is by far the least expensive no-rebuy tournament I found at the WSOP.
• Option 2: Golden Nugget: $500 HORSE. 
• I love HORSE tournaments, and I have a good track record in them. This would also be a nice warm up for later in the week.
• Monday, June 8: WSOP Event 28 - $600 NLH/PLO Mix
• I cashed this event last year, so I'm going to run it back again this year.
• Tuesday, June 9: TBD
• I may take this day off. 
• There is a $250 daily HORSE tournament at the Horseshoe. If I do not play the $500 HORSE at Golden Nugget on Sunday, I may play this as a warm up event.
• I could also play the $1100 PLO at Aria or the $600 NLH Bounty at Venetian.
• Wednesday, June 10: Event 37 - $1500 HORSE
• This is one of the highlight events for me. I ran deep into Day 2 in this event last year, placing 41st.
• Thursday, June 11: TBD
• Option 1: Event 25: $1500 PLO. 
• If I decide to fire a WSOP bullet on this day, this is my event. I've had good success in PLO tournaments, and jumping into this Day 1B would be a good option for me.
• Option 2: Orleans $600 Razz. 
• Razz is one of my favorite games, but it's difficult to find opportunities to play it. Orleans has also decided to deep the stacks in all of their events, which should make this event a lot of play for the money. This would also be a nice warm up event for later in the week.
• Friday, June 12: Event 40 - $1500 Razz
• I wanted to play this event last year, but I had to leave town the day the event started. The only way I don't play this one is if I'm still in another event.
• Saturday, June 13: TBD
• Option 1: WSOP Event 34 - $500 Colossus
• A cheaper rebuy NLH event that usually brings out big crowds. Sounds like a lot of fun. I think the WSOP has changed how the Day 2s work for this event, the Monster Stack, and the Million Maker. I should probably figure those out.
• Option 2: WSOP Online: $400 PLOssus
• I definitely want to take advantage of the opportunity being in Nevada affords to play in the WSOP online tournaments. This looks like a good candidate, though there are some other good ones too.

Let me know which events you think I should play on Sunday, Thursday, and Saturday. 

*    *    *

Ok, signing off for now. I'll post at least one more time before we leave on Tuesday.

Week One: Action for Sale

 

Several people have asked when I'm going to begin selling action, so I've put together a package for week one. I'm not a professional player, and I'm not going to set up some kind of staking account to handle this. Let's keep this friendly.

The Package:

• Event 14: $1500 Mixed PLO/8, Omaha/8, and Big O (one bullet)
• Event 15: $600 PLO Deep Stack (two bullets)
• Event 18: $1500 NLH Monster Stack (one bullet)
• Event 22: $1500 Big O (one bullet)
• Price: $60 = 1%
• Yes, that's a mark up of $3. No, I'm not trying to price gouge anyone. The round number is simply for ease of my accounting.

Terms:

• For everyone 1% a backer purchases, that backer will receive 1% of the prize pool remaining at the end of all four events.
• Any unused buy ins will go back into the prize pool. That means that if I don't play an event, or if I don't fire a second bullet in Event 15, you get your money back for that event.
• If I cash the event: (1) 100% of the original buy in will go back into the prize pool; (2) 75% of any winnings above the buy in will go into the prize pool.
• For example: if I buy into an event for $1500, I cash, and I receive $4500 then the prize pool would be as follows. First, the $1500 buy in goes in. Then 75% of the $3000 profit goes in, which is $2250. So the prize pool from that event would be $3750, and a backer receives $37.50 per percent they own.
• The 25% downward adjustment in the profit covers the IRS withholding rate on gambling winnings.
• EXCEPTION: In the event of a substantial prize, I may adjust the payouts to reflect actual tax liability. Basically, if I win $1 million dollars or something, the taxes will be more than 25%, so I'll have to adjust the payout percentages accordingly. This is the kind of problem we're hoping to have.
• I am not promising or guaranteeing that you'll get any money back at all. Buy at your own risk.
• I will sell up to 30% of my action. First come, first served.

I suspect there's something I'm forgetting here, so feel free to ask me questions about this. I won't be there until a few days later, but the first WSOP events begin in only seventeen days. It's time to start getting excited!