{"id":4188,"date":"2021-10-14T09:42:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T16:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/?p=4188"},"modified":"2021-10-14T09:47:52","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T16:47:52","slug":"wsop-2021-choose-your-own-h-o-r-s-e-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/?p=4188","title":{"rendered":"WSOP 2021: Choose Your Own H.O.R.S.E. Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This isn\u2019t (hopefully) going to be a long post; it\u2019s a little before 8:30am as I\u2019m typing this, hoping I\u2019ll get sleepy by staring at the screen, but I\u2019ve been up for over an hour and I didn\u2019t get to sleep until 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday started off with me popping over to <strong>Denny\u2019s<\/strong> catty-corner from the <strong>Rio<\/strong>. It seems like, despite the wide-open rep of Las Vegas\u2014many of the restaurants in the casino complex are shuttered\u2014at least during the weekdays\u2014which has led to scenes like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6Ksrex1rr2\">pic.twitter.com\/6Ksrex1rr2<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Poker Mutant (@pokermutant) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pokermutant\/status\/1448459715126579202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Denny\u2019s, on the other hand, was busy and considerably less expensive than anything I\u2019d seen on the menus at the Rio. All you have to do is take your life into your hands by walking across both Flamingo <em>and<\/em> Valley View each direction during morning rush hour to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First order of the day was to get registered for <strong>Event #196 $180 NLHE Turbo Mega Satellite<\/strong>. I had my three $500 lammers from the evening before, but I was hoping to pick up another $1500 in lammers from this satellite. I\u2019m starting to think my decision to grind satellites in the COVID era was -EV. By the end of registration, only 18 players had joined in, which meat just one full payout and one of two lamps and $200 cash. I had one <span class=\"inline-cards\"><span class=\"inline-card inline-card-x\" title=\"ace of unspecified\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">A<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">x<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"inline-card inline-card-x\" title=\"queen of unspecified\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">Q<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">x<\/span><\/span><\/span> hand get all in against <span class=\"inline-cards\"><span class=\"inline-card inline-card-x\" title=\"ace of unspecified\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">A<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">x<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"inline-card inline-card-x\" title=\"jack of unspecified\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">J<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">x<\/span><\/span><\/span> and lose, which mostly wiped me out an I ended up fifth. The other players were discussing how to potentially chop it up as I picked up my bag, while the TD pretended something on the far wall of the Pavilion room was interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I could not find a shirt for HORSE <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T0N5pHVcdD\">pic.twitter.com\/T0N5pHVcdD<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Poker Mutant (@pokermutant) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pokermutant\/status\/1448409071594479616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 13, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That took a couple hours. It was time to make a decision about the path of my next three days in Vegas. I was (discounting expenses and treating my lammers as actual dollars) slightly ahead on the trip after the first day. Do I <strong>a) buy into the HORSE tournament?<\/strong>  or <strong>b) use the lammers for the bulk of three more $580 mega satellites?<\/strong> With the number of players the mega were getting, I wasn\u2019t sure how many of those were going to be profitable for me\u2014I really prefer the larger satellite fields\u2014and they could mean forgoing the two other bracelet events I was interested in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it happened, my passions took the lead and I dropped my lammers at the cage to <strong>register for HORSE<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Got the winner of the 2016 $1500 HORSE event I covered as a live reporter sitting next to me in the 2021 $1500 HORSE<\/p>&mdash; Poker Mutant (@pokermutant) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pokermutant\/status\/1448421277518077955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 13, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My first table in the HORSE tournament couldn\u2019t have had a better location. Though it also had <strong>Ian Johns<\/strong> in the seat next to me. It seemed like several other players there were from Washington state, as well. The next table wasn\u2019t so good, in the ass-end of the Tan section of Amazon with bad lighting that made it difficult for the older players\u2014not me, of course\u2014to see the stud variant up cards at the other end of the table. Ran into some serious hardships and was down to 7k from 25k at one point before a phenomenal O8 segment took me up over starting stack and nearly 40k.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got moved after a couple hours to a table with better lighting but also <strong>Alan Kessler<\/strong>. I lost the first hand I played there (to him) and then a (for me) massive hand where I had seven hearts in stud and I had to call off on the river when he raised me with his rivered boat. That stung. I did manage to pull off a flush that held up against <strong>Anthony Zinno<\/strong> to recover a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got moved to a table with <strong>Barry Greenstein<\/strong> and was dealt <span class=\"inline-cards\"><span class=\"inline-card inline-card-d\" title=\"two of diamonds\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">2<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">\u2666<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"inline-card inline-card-d\" title=\"three of diamonds\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">3<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">\u2666<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"inline-card inline-card-d\" title=\"four of diamonds\"><span class=\"inline-card-rank\">4<\/span><span class=\"inline-card-suit\">\u2666<\/span><\/span><\/span> in Razz, which got me excited. Then I got 2 black kings, which took some of the edge off. At this point, we were nearing the final three levels of play, which is still two hours before bagging, but I\u2019d made it past the ed of registration, and if I could hang on with my &lt;10 big bet stack, I might be able to make Day 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Attendance was down a bit for this event. There were 751 entries in 2019 and just 594 yesterday, which is a full 20% drop. I\u2019m guessing that\u2019s probably worse for someone like myself, because most of the people who aren\u2019t showing up are the more casual HORSE players (like me).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ran into <strong>Joe Brandenberg <\/strong>in the halls, and <strong>Jeff Mitseff <\/strong>at the next table at the end of the night. We got the \u201cfive hands\u201d notice from the floor just as we headed into the Razz round. I think I managed to stay out of most of those hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, my table draw is interesting. <strong>Felipe Ramos<\/strong> is #3 in live tournament earnings in Brazil. <strong>Ron Ware <\/strong>runs the <strong>Mixed Game Poker in Las Vegas<\/strong> group on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"197\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078-1024x197.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078-1024x197.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078-300x58.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078-768x148.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078-1536x296.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078-500x96.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/9E6ED36E-D393-45DB-98DB-B2EA1A97E078.jpeg 1683w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After we bagged up, I needed to find some food. If there was anything open at the Rio during the day, <strong>it wasn\u2019t open at 2:15am<\/strong>. I headed across to <strong>Ping Pang Pong<\/strong> (crossing Valley View in the dark, <em>yeek!<\/em>) and managed to wolf down my first food since breakfast. This hibernation fat is good for something!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going to try to make the day last as long as I can! Usually I change out the card cover each time I cash, I\u2019ve got to decide whether making Day 2 of my first WSOP bracelet event is significant enough to swap out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/6478BA86-E4EC-458C-9D85-A89CA1EFA7AD-400x300.jpeg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This isn\u2019t (hopefully) going to be a long post; it\u2019s a little before 8:30am as I\u2019m typing this, hoping I\u2019ll get sleepy by staring at the screen, but I\u2019ve been up for over an hour and I didn\u2019t get to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/?p=4188\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,312,49,110,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-poker","category-horse","category-live-games","category-no-limit-holdem","category-tournaments"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/45D8D010-C246-4236-9089-41AC8658D87D-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1t0pn-15y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4188"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4201,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions\/4201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mutantpoker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}