2022 WSOP Main Event Write-Up Part 3

This writeup continues on 2022 WSOP Main Event Write-Up Part 2, picking up from the end of Day 1.

At this year's main event, there were planned to be two Day 2's. The first was going to merge the two first Day 1's (1A, 1B) and the second was going to merge the last two Day1's (1C, 1B). My Day 1 being 1C, I was supposed to be playing Day 2B on Friday, 7/7. However, given the deluge of players on Day 1D (bringing the total to over 8,600 almost a main event record), the powers that be decided to move my flight's Day 2 to Thursday 7/6. That was ok with me, since a wait of two days between Day 1 and Day 2 seemed too much, and in the event that I got through Day 2, having Friday as another break day would be good. Mike A and Scott L, having started on Day 1D, were going to be playing on Day 2B Friday.

My game plan coming into the Day with 21 BB (a 16,800 stack going into Level 6 400/800/800) was to open bet with a tight range, not do any calling except from the BB, and raise-jam any strong opening hand over an initial open. 

My mindset was pretty ok, having played the Sahara 2/3 game the previous evening and making it back to room by midnight for a decent night's sleep.

Here is a summary of the hands played.

Poker  hands (Main Event Day 2): 
________________________________________________________________________

Level 6  - blinds are 400 SB, 800 BB, 800 BB Ante, stack 16,800 (21 BB).

Hand 1
After blinding down to a stack of 13,600 I got AA in UTG (first to act). I opened for 1800 and they all folded.

Hand 2
I picked up 88 in UTG. I open-jammed and late-position bad American reg over-jammed his stack with QQ. I said "nice hand", got up and planned to pack my stuff and leave. The flop came 8XX and people said "not so fast dude". The reg starting moaning about how his QQ's have been terrible this event and didn't stop for another orbit or so. My set held up for a much-needed double up (and more). 

Hand not played
Button open bet 1800, BB raised to 4000, button 10K, BB called.
Flop was Qxx with two spades
Somehow it got all in on the flop creating a 50K+ pot, button had K3ss for a flush draw and BB had AQ. Board ran out two more spades and the K3ss won.

Hand 3
With 23,300 in my stack, I got AKo in the BB. UTG opened for 1800, Button pro called, I called (Pot 6600). 
Flop was T55
Checked to BU, he bet 2000. I called and UTG folded (Pot 10,600)
Turn was a J.
I checked, he bet 3000, I folded.

Analysis
I broke my rule here about jamming strong hands preflop. Yet my stack now at 29BB seemed too deep for an open-jam, and AKo is always good enough to play as a call when last to act. My turn fold seemed tight to me, since I picked up a gutshot on the turn (20% assumed equity) getting 3000 to call into a 16,600 pot, or representing 18%. However - given the paired board I should be removing some equity from my calculation (in case there are hands like A5, K5 in button's range). And at the main event, chip preservation when short-stacked facing a river bet (all else being equal) should be my preferred route.

Hand 4
With 17,700, I got KT offsuit in the cutoff (one right of the button). I opened to 1800, SB and BB called (Pot 6200).
Flop is ATx.
Checked around.
Turn is K
Checked to me, I bet 2500, SB called, BB folded (Pot 11,200).
River is K giving me K's full of T's.
Checked to me, I jam for 13,400, he tank folded.

Analysis
I might have sized slightly larger on the turn to set up less than a pot sized river shove. The rest seems standard.

Hand 5
With 24,600 I got KJhh on the button. HJ pro opened to 1800, I called, blinds folded (Pot 5600).
Flop was Qxx.
Checked around.
Turn was K
Checked to me, I bet 2000, he folded.

We now moved to level 7, 500SB 1000BB 1000BB Ante, I have 26,400 (26 BB)

Hand 6
I get 97ss on the button.
Folded to me, I opened 2100, SB called, BB folded (Pot 6200).
Flop is Jd 7x 5d.
Checked around.
Turn is J.
BB bets 2800, I call (pot 11,800)
River was a non-diamond 4.
Checked around and I won against A4dd.

Analysis
This was an (at least somewhat interesting) hand. 97ss is probably the worst suited connector I'd open in that spot. My middle pair flop begs for a check-back. Opponent bet turn correctly. If he had jammed river, I would have had to fold. Well played for a much-needed chip up!

Up to 30,800 I then proceeded to lose a few small pots - missing flops and folding.

Hand 7
I got KQo UTG, bet 2100, button and BB called (Pot 7800).
Flop was AKx.
Checked around.
Turn 5
Checked around.
River low card.
BB check, I bet 2300, they folded.

Hand 8
With 27,000 I got AKo in middle position and bet 2100, BB called (Pot 5700).
Flop is TT9.
Checked around.
Turn 9.
Checked around.
River 8.
Checked around and I lost to J9.

Analysis 
I lost the absolute minimum here with a hand that whiffed the flop. Opponent should have led the river - that was a head scratcher and perhaps he was counting on me to bluff the river. Not much more to say.

Hand 9
With 25,500 I got JThh UTG. I bet 2100, SB and BB called (Pot 7300).
Flop is K65
Checked around.
Turn is 6.
Blinds checked, I bet 2400, SB folded, BB called (Post 12,100).
River brick, checked around and I lost to A9.

Analysis 
I should be cbetting this flop at a decent frequency, since it was better for my range and totally missed my hand (as opposed to QQ, A6 that might check back). If / when they call I should be giving up. My delayed-cBet is a common strategy designed to lower the chances of a non-paired opponent hand continuing. Apparently BB didn't get the memo.

Hand 10
I picked up 65cc in the BB. Button bet 3000, SB called, I called (Pot 10,000).
Flop is 974 giving me an open ended straight draw.
SB bet 6,000, I tank folded and button folded.

Analysis
This was a spot to jam the flop. I still had some fold equity with about 19K behind and if called, had an assumed 30%-ish equity. Chip preservation won out here over correct play.

Hand 11
With 16,300 I got KJcc UTG and bet 2100. Middle position with 25,000 shoved, I folded.

Hand 12
With 14,200 I got KJcc (again) in the Hijack (two off the button). UTG bet 2200, I called, blinds folded (Pot 6900).
Flop is TT9
UTG bet 3000, I folded.

Hand 13
I got AA in middle position, I shoved, they folded.

Hand 14
With 14,500 I got A4ss in the BB. Middle position bet 2500, late position called, I called (Pot 9000).
Flop was 974 all no spades.
I checked, middle position bet flop, LP called, I folded and then he jammed the turn.

Hand 15
With 8000 in my dwindling stack, I got QQ in the cutoff and open jammed. SB re-jammed for a bit more with AKo, spiked a King on the flop and I was out.
__________________________________________________________________________

Epilogue

After busting the main event in mid-afternoon, I realized that I had not been feeling too well for the past few hours (and I made sure to mask up during play). I headed to my room and chilled / rested, playing online for a while until bedtime.

Friday, both Mike A and Scott L played their Day 2's. Mike, coming into Day 2 with a good stack, made it through most of the day and bust. Scott made it through the entire Day 2 and into Day 3 (Saturday), where he unfortunately also exited just short of the money.

Being quite ill, I spent the rest of my Vegas stay in my room, venturing out to pick up meals and to the Pharmacy for medicine. By Sunday and heading back home in the late afternoon, I felt much better but made sure to N95 mask up during the flight, not opening it even for a drink. Having to struggle with a rude overweight dude for arm-rest space the entire flight, made a fitting end to this visit!

Regrets? Absolutely not, this was a real bucket list thing for me and there is no tournament atmosphere like the WSOP main event.
Will I do this again? Probably not, although I will be back at the WSOP to play smaller events, e.g. $1,500 going to a max 3 Days. The main event is truly an endurance test for my age group (let's just say 55+) and doesn't make any financial sense.

2022 WSOP Main Event Week Writeup Part 2

2022 WSOP Main Event Write-Up Part 2

This article is mainly focused on my poker hand histories from Days 1-2 of the 2022 WSOP No-limit Holdem event, held at the Paris-Bally's convention centers between July 3 - 16, 2022. See Part1 of this series for a writeup of the few days preceding the main event.

If you're bored with the details of my comings and goings there, skip straight to the hands (in between solid lines). Vice versa, if bored with poker, skip them.

Morning of July 5th, I woke around 9:30 and skipped the gym routine - wanting to be 100% ready for the long day ahead with enough sleep under my belt. My breakfasts were pretty simple throughout - a bowl of keto granola and coconut milk I had brought with me, chilling it in the ice bucket. Then, decaf coffee at the hotel counter, pouring it into my Zojirushi mug and slipping into the side of my Ogio backpack - playing the perfect "poker geek" role. 

Showing up to my table on time, we were 5 handed to start. People were trickling in slowly and it would take some time for it to fill up. The table to my right featured Daniel Negreanu, his usual jovial self with a host of cameras and railbirds tracking his every uttering and action. Mike A showed up shortly thereafter and took these shots:

As you can see from the photo below, 6-handed there were 4 good pros (two of them French crushers, both sponsored by the same Euro-outfit), one Fishy American and myself. Bad table draw!! 

The 4 Pros you see in the picture, plus myself and maybe one other person, were the only ones that survived Day 1 from this table. The other seats - 3, 5,7 - were populated by a series of 6 chaps who busted through the day. The last person on seat 7 (not in the picture) did survive by folding AA on a J high board about 45 minutes before day's end, avoiding a bad beat to JJ.

Poker  hands (Main Event Day 1): 
________________________________________________________________________

Hand 1

At Level 1, 100 SB / 200 BB / 200 BB Ante.

I have the opening stack, 60,000.
I pick up AKhh in the big blind(5 handed). 
Hijack opens to 500, cutoff (to his left) and button call, SB folds, I raise to 2500, HJ folds, CO calls, BU folds. We will go to the flop heads up with me out of position.
Pot size is 6100.
Flop is QQT (didn't note suits, but no Flush Draw).
Check / Check.
Turn is A.
Check / Check.
River is 4
Check / Check I show and win.

Analysis: Out of position with AK, this is a clear flop check. If you don't know why, contact me for fish-coaching :). The turn is arguably a bet by me - however note that Button's flop check-back does not necessarily remove Qx from his range. Also note that Button is one of the French pros and perfectly capable of big-bluffing. So I like my turn check. The river check is too nitty. Once he checks back turn, he probably doesn't have much but reasonably enough to call a small river bet like 1/3 pot. 

Hand 2

Still at level 1, stack size approx. 63,000
I get 87dd on the button.
One limp from the field, I raise to 700, blinds and limper call (pot 3000)
Flop K8X
They check to me, I bet 1000, they fold.

Analysis: 87 suited is hand I could have considered over-limping the button with. It's pretty much the only position I'd ever enter with a limp. And the limp from the field is not insignificant - it will likely call a raise and be ahead on most flops. However, the raise should "clean up" my equity and fold out the blinds - which it clearly didn't in this case. Still, the K high flop favors my range and should be cBet whether or not I "have it" - the fact that I flop second pair just adds to my incentive. Since this is a high-frequency bet, it should be bet fairly small by my entire range. 

Hand 3

Still at level 1, stack size 65,800, 6 handed
I pick up JJ in the Hijack (2nd off the button)
UTG (who is also Lojack just to my right) bets 600, I raise to 2000, cutoff to my left calls, button and blinds fold, UTG calls. Pot is 6500.
Flop is 974. 
UTG checks, I bet 2000, they both call. Pot is now 12,500.
Turn is a Q.
UTG checks, I check, cutoff bets 8,000 and we both fold.

Analysis: I may have butchered this one on the flop. While I think I still have a range advantage, they have the nuts advantage (more 77, 44 in cutoff's range than and UTG also has 77). My flop bet is motivated more for equity denial than anything else (I hate many turn cards like Q, K, A and even T and 8 that give me gutshots fill many draws). Against two opponents, it's kind of meh, since they're getting great odds with all broadways that missed. And since my Cbet frequency on this board is low, if I do bet for equity denial and value, it has to be much larger. Honestly I'm still torn between a larger bet and checking, which may be better. From the turn onward, I think the play is straightforward. Given the flop action, with UTG still to act after me, a fold is the only play that made sense to me.

Hand 4

Still at level 1 and with 60,400, I pick up 66 on the button. It folds to me and I open for 500.
SB folds and BB calls.
The flop was Q7x with two hearts (I don't have one). Pot size 1300.
Checked around.
Turn is a 6!
BB check, I bet 2000, he calls. Pot is now 5300.
River 7h.
BB check, I bet 5000, he raises to 22,000, I snap-call and lose to Q7 who flopped 2P and rivered a higher full house.

Analysis
Psychologically, this was the pivotal hand of the event for me. Although it dropped me to 35,900 chips leaving me still with 180 BB, it was a gut punch that took a bit to recover from. Luckily, I didn't raise the river. If the river had not been a 3rd heart, I might have even folded to his re-raise.

With regard to bet sizing, I think mine was ok. Overbet the turn (150% pot) for value and pot-sized bet on the river was targeted at hands that just made trip 7's or flushes.

Daniel Negreanu on the next table, encountered a similar spot later in the day when he flopped 77's full against QQ's full and lost 90% of his stack, effectively busting him. 

Hand 5

With 34,200 in my stack, I picked up AdQh in the lowjack position (3 off the button). By now, the table was 8-handed. Early position opened to 600, I 3bet to 2000, button called, SB called, BB (aggro French pro) 4bet to 12,200, everyone folded.

Analysis
While at this point in the event I normally won't have a 5Betting spot, a jam here with AA would be fun. But AQo with 161 blinds behind won't invest another 51 of them just to see a flop against a likely TT+, AQ suited, AK, A5 suited range, on which I have 34% equity. This hand also illustrates the difficulty of my table draw - even though I 3Bet from mid-position, I could not get to see a flop with a fairly premium hand.

Hand 6

With 31,700 in my stack, I picked up AK offsuit in middle position. Early position opened to 600, I 3bet to 2000, folded to him and he called. Pot is 4,500.
Flop T85
Checked around.
Turn A
He checked, I bet 2000, he called. Pot is 8,500.
River Q.
Checked around, I show and win.

Analysis
Even though I won this hand, I had some doubts about my river play - instinctively I felt like I missed value. So this hand warrants a deep-dive. 
- I like the flop check back with air - because it favors his range and I want to realize my equity.
- I like the turn bet and sizing is ok, could even be bigger like 60%-70% pot. This is where I end up ultimately getting value in this pot.
- Anecdotally, I disliked my river check-back. But let's unpack it a bit using basic math. EP who opened and called my 3Bet is a bit of a goofball who had been playing too many hands. Instead of the "normal" 10%-15% opening range from EP, let's give him 20% of hands or 260 combos. When I bet 44% pot on the T85A board, he is theoretically folding only about 1/3 of his range. But realistically with the turn A and a street to go (giving me leverage), he has to fold all of his missed hands, leaving him with perhaps 100 combos. Of those 100 combos, with the river Q about half of them have improved to a better hand than mine. So betting here is lighting money on fire. Why do I think he has about 50 "good combos"?

KJ:16, J9s:4, AQ:6, AT:6, A8s:2, A5s:2, QT:9 = 45

OK - so he can only win with 45/100 or 45% of his range. He'll probably call more than that (50% is minimum defense frequency for a pot sized river bet). The problem is that if he folds half of his range, the part that calls mostly beats me. So I shouldn't bet the river (some high level - fancy play is to bet something like 10% pot forcing him to call 90% of the time and therefore breaking even or better on the extra bet).

To confirm this, plugging his wide range into GTO+ and following the hand as played, AK is a river check 100% of the time.

Hand 7

With 36,000 in my stack, I pick up AQ offsuit in UTG1 (second to act). UTG (first to act) a very
good French pro, opens to 600. I raise to 2000, folds to him and he calls. We go to the flop with a 4500 pot.
Flop is AKT
Checked around.
Turn is 4
He checked, I bet 2000, he folded.

We now moved to level 2, 200 SB, 300 BB, 300 BB Ante. I have 38,700 or 130BB.

Hand 8

I picked up 88 in the Highjack (two off the button). There was a limp-call from early position and I raised to 1100. The BB and limper called. We go to the flop with a 3800 pot.
Flop is 543, Checked around.
Turn is 2
Players checked to me, I bet 1500 and they folded. 

Analysis
I repped an Ace on the turn and actually had value. What more to say?

Hand 9
With 41,000 now in my stack (rebuild mode), I picked up AJo in middle position. Early position (same from previous hand, goofball who plays too many), bet 700. I raised to 2100 and he called. We go to the flop with a 5000 pot.
Flop is KJx.
Checked around.
Turn was a low card.
He checked, I bet 1500, he called. Pot is now 8000.
River was another low card.
Checked around, I show and win.

Analysis
I won so I played it well right? But seriously, once he checks the turn my Jack is often good for a small value bet. Checking the river was wise given all the Kx he can show up with.

Hand 10
Things were now looking up. With 44100 in my stack, I got A9dd in cutoff (right of the button). Early position goofball opened to 700, I raised to 2100, SB good pro with a 20K stack raised to 5000. Folded back to me. I consider calling but end up folding due to domination by higher Aces and effective stack shallowness. 

Hand 11
With 39600, I got AThh in the BB. UTG bet 800, Cutoff (same goofball who opens/calls a lot) called, I raised to 3500, they both called. We go to the flop with a 11,000 pot!
Flop is an ugly 995.
Checked around.
Turn is 8.
I bet 5000, UTG folds, Cutoff calls. Pot is now 21,000.
River is a 4.
Checked around, we show and I lose to AQ.

Analysis
I tried stealing this pot twice and failed. Goofball/ fish refused to give up. If I had bombed the river he was maybe folding, but it would have to be large (15K+) and I couldn't pull the trigger. Goofball ended up busting not too long after that.

Hand 12
With 30,600 in my stack I got KJ offsuit in the BB. UTG opened to 800, SB called and I called. Pot is 2700.
Flop is Q9x.
UTG bet 1000, SB called and I called. Pot is now 5700.
Turn is 4.
Checked around.
River is 8. 
I check, BB bet, and we both folded.

We now moved to Level 3: SB 200, BB 400, BB Ante 400.

Hand 13
With 28,300 (71 BB) I picked up AK offsuit in middle position. Early position (good French pro) opened for 1000, I raised to 3000, he jammed (covers me by a lot) and I snap called. He had AKo as well and we chopped. 

Hand 14
Same stack, I picked up AKss in the BB. Lojack limp called 400, Hijack raised to 1500, SB called, I called, Lojack called. Pot is 6400.
Flop is T62 with two clubs, no spades.
Checked around.
Turn is A.
SB checked, I bet 4000, Hijack called. Pot is 14,400.
River is 5 (not a club).
I bet 7000, Hijack folds.

Analysis
The main decision point in this hand for me was preflop. Facing a suspect limp from MP, then a raise and a call, if 3Betting I'd have to raise to about 4.5X the HJ's raise (6750). This table's history did not indicate that such a raise, committing almost 25% of my stack, would get through them. So I opted to go for a multi-way pot with a hand that will often smash the flop and be fairly disguised. I also didn't mind strengthening my calling range from the BB - it doesn't always have to be capped with hands weaker than AK.

Flop checks were standard (I did expect a cbet from HJ); Turn bet by me was standard; HJ must have hung around with a draw like KQ, KJ or Tx. River bet 50% pot was also standard from out of position. 

Hand 15
With 34,600 I got A8hh in the Lojack. UTG opened to 1000, I called, blinds called. Pot is 4400.
Flop is Q97 with one heart.
Checked around.
Turn was Th giving me a flush draw.
SB bet 3500, I called, the others folded. SB is an American pro-type, who in Hand 4 almost stacked me FH over FH. Pot is 11,400. 
River was a 3x brick.
SB bet 2500, I decided to bluff raise to 10,000 and he snap called with 99 (set of nines).

Analysis
What was I repping with my river bluff? KJ, QT, 77 and that's about it. I certainly wasn't trying to fold out 2-pair or better, but SB's small river bet looked weak. In reality, he just thought he might get a crying call from one of my middling hands that would have called turn. 

Hand 16
With 16,500 in my stack after my failed bluff and a few rounds of blinding down, I got AQ offsuit in middle position. Early position opened to 1000, I 3Bet to 3000, he jammed, I folded.

Analysis
34 BB seemed too deep to call off with AQ. I was probably against a range that was ahead of me - EP's opening/4Betting range from EP was tight enough.

We now moved to Level 4: SB 300, BB 500, BB Ante 500.

Table is now full - 9 players
I went card-dead for a long time and blinded down to 8000 chips (16 BB).

Hands 17-18
I got AQ and AK, shoved both and was folded to. 

Hand 19
I got QQ in UTG1. I opened to 1200, folded to French pro - chip leader on button who jammed, I called and beat 99. Afterwards he remarked "maybe I should have just called there, your opening range is very tight" and I said "probably".

We now moved to Level 5: SB 300, BB 600, BB Ante 600.

Hand 20
With 20,300 in my stack, I got AKss on the button. UTG tight player opened to 1500, I raised to 4000, he called. Pot is 9500.
Flop is Axx.
I jammed, he folded and showed JJ.

Analysis
33 BB is a bit deep for a preflop jam (although he would have likely called). But being the table short-stack, I may have missed a golden opportunity to double up here.

I then blinded down to 19000 (on the way I called a raise from the BB with A5 and folded after missing the flop).

Hand 21
I picked up JJ in the SB. Cutoff (French pro chip leader) opened to 1400, I 3Bet to 5000, he folded.

Hand 22
With 21600, I got Q8 offsuit in the BB. Cutoff (French pro chip leader) opened to 1400, I called. Pot is 3700.
Flop is 976.
I checked, he bet 1400, I called. Pot is 6500.
Turn is 4.
Checked around.
River K.
Check around and I lost to J7 offsuit.

Analysis
In this formation and at this stack depth, is Q8o strong enough to call from the BB, even getting great odds? QTo or even Q9o may be the borderline. The problem is also my opponent, who will play perfectly post-flop. Having flopped an open ender, in hindsight I could have jammed the turn - my pair outs were also good (at least I could expect the Q to be). I was surprised by his open of J7o - I guess as chip leader he figured he could run over the table. 

Hand 23
With 17,900 in my stack, I got 55 in middle position. Chip leader in early position opened to 1400, I called, late position called, BB called. Pot is 6500.
Flop is 822.
Early position bet 3600, we folded.

Hand 24
With 16,500, I got AKdd in the BB. UTG opened for 1500, folded to me, I jammed, he folded.

Hand not played
With 18,000 I got 97o in the BB. UTG opened for 1500, late position called, I folded. Flop was 975. The original raiser had A9 and a FD on the turn so I missed that one (seemed like every time I called I was missing and every time I folded I would have tripled up!). Relative to hand 22, my holding was weaker but with a call ahead of me I might have considered the odds (calling 900 into what will be a 5400 pot represents 17% equity which any two cards has much more than. I estimate my 3-way equity there at about 25%-30%).

I ended Day 1 with 16,800, meaning 21 BB going into day 2 (next level is 400/800/800). Not yet critically short but starting the circle the drain. Nevertheless, I was ok with most of my play and happy to have avoided stacking off in the cooler hands I encountered.
__________________________________________________________________________

Day 1 Dinner Break

Between levels 3 and 4 of Day1, there was a 75-minure dinner break. Mike A informed me that another friend, Scott L was also at the event and would join us for dinner - the more the merrier! The three of us met up at the Burger Brasserie at Paris (nearby the main event area) and since I was the first to play Day1, brought them up to date on the day's happenings. 

The next post in this series will describe Day 2 hands played and the remainder of my trip. 

 

2022 WSOP Main Event - Runup Days - Part 1

This post is of my experience in Las Vegas, Jul 2022. Part 1 is a depiction of the first couple of days, preparing for the WSOP Main event and playing a mega-satellite. It also includes some hand histories.

If you're bored with the details of my comings and goings there, skip straight to the hands (in between solid lines). Vice versa, if bored with poker, skip them.

This year, a friend (Mike A) and myself decided to both enter, and rail / support each other as far as we survived the event. For the uninitiated, this is a $10K Poker tournament with over 8,000 entrants, considered the largest tournament of the year in the poker world - although there are other events with much higher buy-ins or more participants, this is the one that garners one of the highest prize pools, has the highest name recognition and is on the bucket list of many players. It pays the top 9 players $1M+, with $10M going to the winner this year. While I don't play many tournaments these days, I have dreamt of playing this event for years and didn't think my skills fell short of the average general player pool. I generally spend a lot of my spare time thinking, studying and playing poker so I figured I was ready for this.

I decided to head over to Vegas on Sunday July 3rd, actually one of the starting days of the event. There were 4 starting days this year - July 3,4,5,6 - and my game plan was to play a "Mega-Satellite event" on July 4th, and play the main event Day1 on July 5th. The Satellite is basically a mini-tournament with a lower buyin ($1,100), paying the top 10% finishers $10K towards the main event.

Contrary to past trips, I discouraged Tali (wife) from joining, given the logistics of this event and the long days / nights ahead. You typically start play at 11:00am and end at 11:30pm. It would also keep my mindset in poker 100% without distractions (although she is a good travel partner in that respect). Mike A also traveled on his own.

My selected hotel was Cromwell, just across from Bally's and a less than 10 minute walk from the poker tables. Cromwell is a decent, small-sized establishment sandwiched between Bally's and Flamingo - catering to a middle class, party-going client base, their main draw being Drai's night club and pool club. The booking made well in advance, I snagged a week's stay at a very good price and requested a quiet room well away from the rooftop club. This worked fairly well, despite some booming noises pulsating through the building at all hours - that subsided after the weekend.

Mike decided to stay at Paris, and so our meeting points would be visiting each other at the tables (roped off to the side) for a few minutes, getting a table for dinner during breaks and sharing hands that went down through the event. He would just be arriving July 5th and his Day1 would be Wednesday July 6th - one day after mine.

For the Satellite registration, I headed over to the WSOP registration room upon landing at my hotel, only to discover after a 20-minute wait that they only take Satellite registrations on the same day. Standing behind me in line was Erik Persson, the infamous CEO of Maverick gaming, who some of us have seen taking the fight (aka verbal abuse and middle fingers) to Phil Hellmuth on a recent PokerGo High Stakes Cash Game. Maverick is the owner of most of the poker cardrooms in the Northwest. He looked as douchey in person as on TV, albeit shorter - perhaps 5'10" like me. One person in line was fawning over him saying what a great job he had done on the show, and Persson mentioned that another series will come next year. I also heard him quietly saying to his lady partner that Patrick (Antonius), the famous player he's been touring some of his cardrooms with, is a "sheep". Hmm I wondered, would he say that to his face?

Heading back to my hotel, I dropped into Istanbul, a hole-in-the wall Mediterranean fast food joint amongst the stretch of outdoor eateries just outside of Bally's. I had what must be the best Shwarma chicken wrap in my life and returned there for every meal I was going to eat on my own.

On Monday (July 4th) before heading out to the WSOP, I went to the hotel gym and after a few minutes this guy walked in. I had to do a double-take - it was Hussain Ensan, the winner of the 2019 main event (German, Iranian born 58 year old guy). I left him alone and then before exiting the gym, asked him if it's indeed him, and we had a nice chat. Really nice fellow. He has gained a few pounds though since his win (he's a fit guy), but I guess that's what $10M will do for you.

At Bally's around 10:15 am, I lined up for the Satellite registration, in the actual ballroom the event was to be held in. Imagine an airline hangar and you will get a sense of how vast these rooms are - holding hundreds of tables and thousands of players at a time. 

In the line, a 70-ish old guy in front of me looked worried and then started going through his wallet, realizing he was short $100 to buy into his event. I thought here goes, he's going to ask for a "loan", but instead he asked if I could hold his place in line so he can go to his room and get the money. Sure, I said, I got you. 10 minutes later he was back and we chatted through our wait. Turns out he's a Jewish fella from Montreal, currently living in Victoria, BC. Very chatty, always on the phone, answering with "Shalom" (which I found a bit strange). 

Arriving to the registration booth, I suddenly realized I HAD ALSO FORGOTTEN my money pouch and will need to go to my room to retrieve it from the safe. So, it was his turn to hang around and keep my spot. I raced to the room and back, sweating like a pig (changed shirts in the room) with my pulse at 170. It took my heart rate over an hour to settle back to normal.

The satellite table looked to me like easy pickings, with the guy to my left looking confused and saying he really doesn't know how to play these things. Nevertheless, despite having a decent chip count early on, I experienced the "dead zone" we get into quite often in poker - getting bad cards for an extended period, missing flops when we enter them with playable cards, or the worst - ending up with a second-best hand. So I did not make the cut in this one.

Poker hands (Mega-Satellite): 
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Here are a few hands from the Satellite: there were about 475 entries, with 48 players cashing. 20-minute levels which meant this would be over within 6-7 hours at most. 

My plan for the satellite was to Elephant-hunt and go for large pots only with nutted hands post-flop. I would let the fish fight over small pots, which usually are not of much consequence in this type of event. You're not trying to win, just to get enough chips to make it into the top 10% (which dictates a significant difference in strategy compared to normal events).

Hand 1

At level 2, blinds are 100 SB, 200 BB, 200 BB Ante, I have 11,500 chips.
I picked up AK offsuit in the small blind.
Middle position raised to 400, I decided to just call.
The flop was K and two low cards.
It checked around.
Turn was another low card, I bet 400 and he folded.

Analysis: AK in the small blind is "normally" a large raise over a single open. I should be mostly raising to ~1400-1600 in that spot, expecting to be called quite often. My rationale in just calling was not wanting to play a large pot out of position early on in the event. At this point I had 11,500 chips, or under 60 BB.

Hand 2

Same level, I picked up AA in early position.
I bet 400 and late position raised to 1200. After some thought, I re-raised to 3900 and he asked me a few questions (I was stone faced) and then he speech-folded, saying if this were later in the event he'd pay me off.

Analysis: I might have raised smaller (like to 3200) to get more calls, but since my (very few) bluffs want him to fold and my value wants a call, my polarized sizing out of position works fine.

Hand 3

Same level, KQ diamonds, I bet 400 from the field and got one caller. The flop came KXX, I bet and he folded. Routine.

Then, AT hearts in middle position, I bet 400, big blind called.
Flop was A55.
I decided to check, he bet 400, I called.
Turn was 9.
Check / check.
River was a low card.
Check / 800 / I called and lost to A9. 
Nice hand sir!

At this point my stack was still ok, 10,500. 

Hand 4

I went dead for over a half hour and into Level 4 with blinds at 200 / 400 / 400 and only 8800 chips.
I got A3 offsuit in the BB.
Under the gun bet 800, folded to me, I called.
Flop A and two unconnected middle cards.
Check / 1200 / I called. While unhappy, am hoping to get to showdown with no further betting.
Turn was a J. Pot is now 5000.
Check / 2000 / I folded.

Analysis: I was not trying to get all in with top pair, no kicker. In retrospect: with the current big blind ante structure, when in the big blind and there is a single raise, I am calling an additional 1 BB into what will be a 5.5 BB pot. While A3 is a good hand to put into a defensive range (it has more than the requisite 18% equity), it won't realize its equity on most runouts. So - in a satellite event with 22 BB, it may be correct to fold and preserve chips. Ergo as played, even though I made top pair, I bled 4 BB and had to fold the turn. A better play might have been to 3Bet preflop (blocking Ax hands).

Hand 5

At level 5, 300 / 600 / 600 I was down to 6600 chips (11 BB) to start.
I got KJ spades in middle position and open shoved.
Confused rec player to my left said he had no idea what to do in this spot and tank-folded (later saying he had AQ). BB called with 99. I spiked a J and doubled up.

Hand 6

Later at that level, with 11,300 chips, I got 66 in early position. I opened to 1200 and the BB called. The flop was JTT. Checked through. Turn 5. He checked, I bet 1200, he called. River low card. He bet 2500 and I folded.

Analysis: 66 in a satellite with 19 BB in early position is a fold. I was splashing around and once the JTT board hit, the caller had a range advantage.

At level 6, 500 / 1000 / 1000 I had 8500 chips coming in. I bust at that level - my notes don't say what that hand was - to the best of my recollection it was something like AQ running into a pair.

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OK, so on to the main event! But prior to that, the satellite ended at around 3:30 pm. I lined up to register for the main event (almost an hour - thanks (NOT) to the WSOP for poor management). Back in the hotel room after the obligatory chicken wrap, I deposited to WSOP.COM for legal online play when you are visiting in Nevada, and spun up a small cash game. Oddly, the games I found were 50NL (blinds are $0.50) and lower, or 200NL ($2 blinds. I played the 50NL for a while, then spun up some sort of tournament and turned in early enough for a good night's sleep towards the main!