I Picked Up Another WSOP Cash, But My Goals Are Now Bigger Than That
As you know, this year's World Series Of Poker has kicked off and it is my favorite thing in the world. There is nothing I like doing more than sitting at the table for a poker tournament, stacking chips, and owning souls. Going deep in a live poker tournament when you are running the table, all eyes on you, with all that money on the line, is a thrill unlike any other. And doing it in Vegas at the WSOP? That's the Mecca. That's what it's all about in the poker world, at least for me. Going deep with the potential of a bracelet on the line, that's what I dream of. That's why I work hard(ish) at my poker game. And it's why I was in Vegas for the last few days playing tournaments.
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I fired 4 bullets in the $500 "Reunion", and didn't find a cash in any of 'em. Frustrating for sure, but tournament poker is tournament poker and there's not much else I coulda done. In my 4th and final bullet I got it all on with QJ on a J76hh (two hearts) board vs some kid's 75dd (two diamonds) and the board ran out 98, giving him the runner runner straight. That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
So then I played the $600 Deepstack event the next day. I got there and was immediately sat next to friend of the program and very nice guy and former WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess.
I ended up making a very cool K high call on a 3 club, ace high board (details of that hand in the podcast) and built up a stack. I had another cool moment when later in the day the seat to my right was filled…by someone in a Cracking Aces shirt!
I know Dave says I suck and nobody cares and blah blah blah, but a good number of people said they dig the podcast which was very cool and I was very appreciative of that.
Somewhere in between Mintzy had an epic battle with a cramp.
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So anyway, in this $600 event I built a big stack pre-dinner, and then returned from dinner and went completely card and spot dead. Not one to make excuses, but I have never been that card and spot dead ever in my entire life. My style of poker depends on keeping the foot on the gas and taking advantage of a weak table, and for orbit after orbit, hundreds of hands, I could not find a spot. It was brutal. It was the poker version of being in a SAW movie. An absolutely torture chamber.
I made the money with about 14bbs, and then busted not soon after.
571st out of 4900 or something like that. I mean I'll take it, sure, but at this point it's a disappointment to me. I am better than the majority of the field. I can win these small buy-in, big field tournaments. I never once felt overmatched or anything at the table. I've put in a decent amount of work off the table and was ready for it to pay off, but unfortunately it was not meant to be this time.
I feel great about my game right now. I'm better at poker than I've ever been. I know the results will follow. Sad that I couldn't stay out for the full series, but maybe one day I'll be rich enough to do that. What I do know is I am not happy with simply min-cashing. I need final tables. Wins. All of that. As far as live results go, based on how few I've played I've done pretty well- I finished 4th in a tournament for $13k in 2016, a 3rd for 3k, finished 529th out of 28,371 in the Big 50 WSOP event in 2019, and now a 571 out of 4500 in another WSOP. I know I'm not supposed to say "I deserved better", but I definitely felt good enough to go way, wayyyy deeper than 571st. But again, that's tournament poker. I always think to how Phil Ivey made 10 final tables in one WSOP, and then the next year made 0. Variance is a bitch, and one day I will overcome it.
Until then, I'll keep working on my game and wait for my next opportunity. Will it be the Main Event? Hopefully!
PS: Lots of questions about the mask bet. A ton. I guess Dave is mad at me for not wearing it even though the bet was for the Main Event that starts in November? Weird. He said he would fly out for it too, and I hope he does because just like how he makes other major events about himself, he could be the star of the Main Event, all eyeballs on him. It'd be great for poker and great for the Barstool Sportsbook. Really hope he does it, and I have zero problem wearing the mask. It was never about the mask or the merch, it was about being able to do my dumb little Cracking Aces podcast and spreading the good game of poker to the common man. That's all I really care about, everything else is cream cheese.
PS: I haven't listened to DPS but apparently he rips me in it. Ho hum, par for the course. This is my 8th year at Barstool and nothing has changed on that front. Just keep rowing the boat. Appreciate everyone who supports me, and if you don't that's ok too, I'm not for everyone. But if you support Barstool you roundabout support me, so I like ya anyway.