Hello everybody.
As you may all know, summertime is arguably the busiest time for poker players in North America. Mine actually started off quite shakily after a bad trip to Asia, and I still couldn’t wait to touch grass afterwards. But this may be one of the only poker summer grinds where I was a little sad when it was all over.
Here are my three highs and three lows.
The Highs
I booked a win in both cash games and tournaments
I’m happy with my results — six figures of profit split between the two variations.
I tried to only play tournaments I was excited about, and cash games that wouldn’t mess too much with my sleep schedule. It’s nice to have options, but going deep in tournaments is an incredible feeling, and the money I could have won with my multiple million-chip stacks would have put up more numbers on my career dashboard.
My biggest score wasn’t even at the WSOP. It was 33rd for $45,749 in the Wynn Summer Championship, an event I always look forward to given the level of class and service at the luxury venue.
On top of that, I raised $8,800 for Henry Kilbane’s incredible Peak Humanity CSOP Charity Event after finishing in 6th place, making it my only final table of the summer.
The deepest I’ve ever gone in the Main Event
634th place, for $27,500.
I know how 634th looks written down. It’s not a highlight reel.
But I’ve been playing the Main Event since traveling the world playing a game for a living was just a daydream, and it still feels like Christmas morning waking up on Day One of the event.
Last year, I busted within a level of sitting down, late registering after dinner break. This year I was focused and took it more seriously.
Ironically, I didn’t have a ton of chips until the day I busted.
The first day I was handcuffed and had to 5-bet jam 77 for my entire stack vs. a relentless player to my left. Each day after, I took it in stride, until I finally had enough chips to cover the whole table.
Then they threw me a curveball and sat me at a new table vs. a drunk guy and dealt me bottom set vs. his top set.
There was no getting away from that one.
Summer camp
Poker in the grueling heat in Vegas, during June and July, is just part of the story.
Once a year, you see faces old and new from every country you’ve ever played in and made friends with show up in the same three square miles.
This year was especially fun because of the World Cup. The energy around the tournament room was always electric. I even took a mini break to LA to catch Canada’s last win vs. South Africa.
The hometown Knights also made the NHL Finals. NBA Summer League. World-class restaurants, DJs, concerts and golf. Cheering for your friends winning hardware.
Hard to beat.
The Lows
Still no WSOP final table since 2012
Fourteen years since coming 6th place in a mixed event, $1,500 Stud8.
I know I don’t play too many tournaments anymore, and these no-limit fields are massive, but still.
My deepest run this year was in a $2K NL event. With 30-something players left, I was already getting congratulatory messages.
Guys, this is way too early!
So many things still have to go right to close out a field of thousands of players.
I always joke about how I will probably just win the Main Event outright when I’m 65 years old and am just playing solely recreationally.
I didn’t play exploitatively and go with my reads enough. I made costly errors.
Yes, my opponent was drunk. He was on his 3rd beer since I sat down an hour before the hand happened.
But we had played a 4-bet pot in the previous orbit, and he was still calculating and careful with his chips. On top of that, he literally told me he had me beat and seemed genuine and overly confident.
I could have just folded. You can’t win the Main Event on Day Four anyway!
On Day 2 of the $10K GG Millions, I ran a triple barrel with AQ into a K♦9♥2♣T♦2♥ runout and ran into a set of tens.
On the turn, I was almost certain I caught a physical tell, but I followed through on the bluff anyway when I should have just given up vs. obvious strength.
Deep in Day Two of the Aria $3,500, I didn’t see an early-position open and got into a 3-way hand with KTo.
I had to stack off with top pair because of the draw-heavy board with less than 20BB to start. My opponent had two pair, but I shouldn’t have been in the hand in the first place.
Another dire mistake I was upset with myself for, but it’s part of the game. When you are playing 14-hour days in and out, you have to give yourself some leniency.
I chased tournament glory when the cash games were better
My cash-game hourly is usually much better, but I just really enjoy tournaments right now.
And, well, it’s better for the plot if I win my first bracelet.
On top of that, I didn’t want to mess up my sleep schedule. Cash games were often starting after 10pm and often going through till the morning.
I didn’t want to be in zombie mode for a whole summer, although the money is oftentimes worth it, and maybe I should have just sucked it up.
What I’m Taking Into Next Year
Bigger Buy-ins, more Mixed Games?
If I’m really chasing a bracelet, this has to be the focused recipe. Huge NL fields make the dream much harder.
Carve time out for Cash Games
Perhaps reserve half the summer for cash and half for tournaments, then not be distracted by other opportunities day to day.
Don’t confuse the scoreboard with the summer
I’ll always value health and sanity above maniacal pursuit.
There’s a lot of ways to determine it was a good summer, even without the Winner’s Photo.
