{"id":6427,"date":"2017-07-16T14:51:13","date_gmt":"2017-07-16T21:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=6427"},"modified":"2023-06-21T10:40:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T17:40:12","slug":"my-wsop-in-the-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/my-wsop-in-the-books\/","title":{"rendered":"My WSOP in the Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WSOP is over, at least for me. I went out early on Day 3 with AK vs KQ. It\u2019s extremely painful to get knocked out of the ME, and I always say I\u2019m done with poker for a while. Then, after a day or so, I get interested in seeing it play out. I am enjoying watching on ESPN and Pokergo. I like the live broadcasts much better than the edited, delayed versions of past years. I rarely even watched the ESPN canned shows in the fall, but I\u2019m glued to the live play.<\/p>\n

In my last blog I posted about one of my favorite stories from the ME. Here\u2019s a link to another. Stories like these are why the buy-in shouldn\u2019t be raised.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.wsbtv.com\/sports\/group-honors-late-friends-bucket-list-wish-to-attend-world-series-of-poker\/557420067<\/a><\/p>\n

The WSOP ME is a poker spectacle. It\u2019s very entertaining for spectators and great exposure for the game. It isn\u2019t designed to identify the best player in the world. It\u2019s hard for any single event to do that, as there\u2019s much luck in tournament poker. The closest thing is the 50k Players Championship, which is too expensive to attract a giant field, and tests the best players in multiple games over five days.<\/p>\n

I said in an earlier blog that the switch from the \u201clive stream\u201d of past years to the pay service Pokergo was fine, but as the series went on I changed my opinion. In past years, many more events were shown, including some of the limit and mixed-game events, albeit without hole cards or announcers. This year on Pokergo the selection was limited, not even showing the Poker Players Championship, the final table of which was played on a side table in the Amazon Room. The live stream was one of my favorite things about the WSOP, and I\u2019m saddened to see it go.<\/p>\n

The WSOP is 6+ weeks of very long stressful poker. The best part, at least for me, is that it\u2019s the only time of year when I get to play big buy-in events in games other than no-limit hold \u2019em. With all the stalling and staring and overall stress of the NL events, not to mention that there are hordes of very good NL tournament players now, the off-game and mixed-game events are like a vacation. The games are more fun, there\u2019s a lot more loose conversation, many of the players are closer to my age, and the overall level of skill is much lower.<\/p>\n

At age 63, playing a full schedule at the WSOP gets tougher and tougher. It\u2019s a pleasure each year to see players I\u2019ve played against for many years, but the number of my contemporaries shrinks every year. Even with the accelerated structures implemented in the past few years, events routinely last three full days and often require a fourth to finish. The ME is 10 extremely long and hard days. In 2009, when I finished 34th<\/sup>, on both Days 4 and 5, players busted so fast that we were sent home for the day before the dinner break. It was a huge break for me, as I was physically lagging. Those were the days of maniacal pre-flop raising wars, which sped things up. The modern style leans to much less pre-flop aggression in favor of seeing more flops. This means longer hands, and slower bust-outs. This year, on Day 3 it took around 14 hours of play, instead of the scheduled 10, to reach the money. On Days 4 and 5, they played an extra hour to stay on schedule. The ME is a marathon and being young is a big edge.<\/p>\n

If it sounds like a form of physical and mental torture to fight the Vegas heat to get to the Rio and play 12+ hours day after day, it is. But, at least for me, the WSOP has been a huge part of my life, and it\u2019s the only thing that still gets my poker juices flowing. Getting deep in a WSOP event is tremendously exciting. A lot of amateur or young players fantasize about making a WSOP final table. I\u2019ve been there 11 times, and I still dream of getting back, not to mention winning another bracelet. There\u2019s nothing like it in poker.<\/p>\n

I played very hard during the WSOP and feel like I played well. When I got my chips in, I had the best of it most of the time. But, there\u2019s a lot of luck in tournament poker, and it didn\u2019t go my way this time. I\u2019ve done this for a while, and I understand that bad beats are part of the game. The problem is that I\u2019m approaching the point where I physically won\u2019t be able to do it anymore. That will be the real bad beat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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The WSOP is over, at least for me. I went out early on Day 3 with AK vs KQ. It\u2019s extremely painful to get knocked out of the ME, and I always say I\u2019m done with poker for a while. Then, after a day or so, I get interested in seeing it play out. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2,685],"tags":[1517,465,116,656,1660,1659,1601,1189,200],"yoast_head":"\nMy WSOP in the Books - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/my-wsop-in-the-books\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My WSOP in the Books - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The WSOP is over, at least for me. I went out early on Day 3 with AK vs KQ. It\u2019s extremely painful to get knocked out of the ME, and I always say I\u2019m done with poker for a while. Then, after a day or so, I get interested in seeing it play out. 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