It had its share of ups and downs, which is standard for poker, but I'm not hugely disappointed with the outing as a whole. I made the decision early on that this wasn't going to be a full on poker fest, like, say, the WSOP or similar, so accordingly, I played what was (for me at least) a relatively small number of events compared to my normal schedule in relation to the amount of time I was spending here. I ended up playing a total of 11 tournaments, and of these, I cashed in two. It could always be better, but it's not a terrible strike rate, and of the ones in which I bricked, I busted very early in a couple, but went pretty deep in most others, and gave myself a chance to play for all the marbles with the best of it more times than not. This is kind of the best one can generally hope for.
Has poker changed?
A few people asked for my views on the scene now, as opposed to a few years back, so here we go. I'd have to say that by and large, little has changed, certainly from a tournament perspective. I still saw many of the same faces, and to a large extent, the standard of play isn't as wildly different as people might think. Poker hasn't advanced massively, nor (in my opinion) has it been "solved" by the socially awkward geeks who have nothing to say at the table, and spend all their time on poker forums, or reading up on GTO strategy. The majority of the new breed still believe that anyone over 30 can't play, and that their boring min-click strategy is good poker and a good option to make the money. It isn't, but let's let them keep thinking that. Lots of people still play pretty horribly, and will continue to slowly donate to the economy, as many as a whole continue to play pretty boring and unremarkable poker, which will likely not catapult them to a final every time, but also will not send them off to the poor house quickly anytime soon either. I think that bankroll is still hugely important, especially on a trip with a large number of bullets to fire. A number of the (mainly) guys I saw who have been doing this for years, have a pretty decent sized tank, which compensates for their poor strategy decisions at times. Some people happily buy in 4 or 5 times for the same tournament, which gives them the freedom to play in a certain way, without being concerned that the current shot is their only one. This can of course be very liberating, and, now for example, if you shovel 45 bigs in with A 10 offsuit, whilst in general it's a pretty scabby move, you are also allowed to occasionally hit or get lucky with it somehow too, knowing you simply buy back in again if it goes pear-shaped. I see quite a few of these guys who spend out 2k or so in a $600 event, and then manage to cash for about what they originally spent, meaning there's nothing much in either the profit or loss columns, save a wasted few days. It's not for me to say that this isn't how people should play; they can do what they like with their own (or in many cases, their backer's) money, it's just not my way of playing. I'm certainly not tight when it comes to playing, but I try to extract a bit more value from each entry if possible, rather than just spray money around and hope that it comes good in the end, which, experience has shown, is rarely the case.
I have to say that the Wynn/Encore team are doing a superb job with the WPT of rivalling the WSOP when it comes to laying on big events. The guarantees in these things were obviously a major factor in attracting players, but the logistics and organisation were second to none, and, whilst I found the whole neon/dancers/beatbox/etc showmanship side of things to be incredibly tacky and unrelated to poker in any way at all (a bit like the LIV golf model looks gaudy and ugly when compared to the PGA), I also appreciate that they are trying to move with the times, and keep things fresh. If it gets more people in the door and playing, then by all means have at it.
The satellite
I discussed with the stakers, and ploughed a bit of the returned money from cashes into playing an $1,100 satellite for the $10k main, which we all agreed was a very worthwhile punt at a decent payday. It was a pretty early exit for me, against a player I've encountered before. Without all the preamble, my hand was Qh Qd, and his was A 5 offsuit with no hearts. On a flop of Ah 8h 5h, and after a chunky preflop reraise from me, The money all went in on my part with the nut flush draw, and me repping a much stronger hand than I was holding. He decided that with top and bottom pair, and no hearts, it was worth his tournament life, so he called my flop reshove with virtually no deliberation at all. I was very live, with a queen or a heart for the win, but another 5 on the turn quickly gave him the underfull, meaning I now only had two outs now to win with queens full. Clearly, this never materialised, and that was that. I thought his play was pretty questionable, but, at the same time, in a satellite, the goal is to accumulate enough chips to win a seat, so I guess my view is that if that was his goal, then mission accomplished, and also I'd not ever discourage someone from playing that way against me, because long term, calling off big raises with A5 offsuit is only going to end badly for you. This was one of the times that it didn't, and so be it. That ended up being the nail in the coffin, so I decided that the poker for this trip at least was now done.
In general
It's been really good to be back in Las Vegas. Unlike a lot of the poker dweebs who just come for two weeks with one change of clothes and a plan to just play as much poker as they can fit in, my extended timeframe gave me the luxury of not having to play as intensively as was humanly possible. I have done a lot of other things whilst here. Played golf, caught up with lots of old friends (and made some new ones), shot pool regularly in little tournaments, socialized, shopped, and helped out doing a few chores for people close to my heart. I've also ducked and dived and had the odd hustle here and there to keep funds topped up when not playing poker, which overall were pretty successful and enlightening. One of my long time pals here fosters rescue dogs, and I was involved in looking after and helping to rehome Duke, a wonderful Great Dane, who was the size of a small horse, and who quite happily planted himself squarely in the middle of my bed, irrespective of whether I was actually occupying it or not. I'd even looked into bringing him back to the UK with me, but logistics, cost and my solitary lifestyle meant it would be neither practical nor fair on the dog in the long run. He's since been taken in by a nice family, and I have high hopes for his future.
That one is a head scratcher. I still have a lot to sort out in the UK, so my return will be focused on that during early 2024. I certainly plan to come back out here next year, likely for the WSOP, but there's plenty to do in the UK first. I think (for me, at least) that the poker scene in the UK is now toast. I've no interest in the UK tournament trail at all. I feel that the casinos don't run tournaments even 25% as well as they are done over here, and from a cash game perspective, it's been made pretty clear to me by the actions of the UK cardrooms that they neither want to, nor care about running 4 card PLO, which was my main source of income in recent years. I'm not going to gripe. It's their casino, they can do what they like with it, but recent years have plainly shown that they as a whole care less and less about what regular customers want, and and care more and more about just making as much as they can whilst giving little or nothing back. So be it, I'll just vote with my feet.
I would like to acknowledge the loyal few, who always have a kind and supportive word to say. As you're fully aware, I'm not shy in saying that the poker and gambling world in general contains far more scummy and unpleasant individuals than nice ones, and that certainly hasn't changed based on my most recent outing. However there are still plenty of fun, decent and kind souls out there, and I'm lucky to know quite a few of them. Doing trips like this and trying to provide a bit of informative and upbeat content certainly isn't easy (and trust me, it is getting harder all the time!) but the feedback I get about my thoughts and (sometimes very brutal) honesty is, in general very positive from people, and for that as always, I thank you. Until the next time!