WSOP 2026: Not a bad start

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Things continued to go my way. I got A3 under the gun. I raised from $600 (BB) to $1200. I got one caller. The flop was KA3. I checked; he checked. The turn was 7. He shoved with a small but not insignificant stack of $8K. I called. He had A4. The river was not a 4, so he busted out.

The players at my table weren’t particularly good. Many liked to shove when there were few chips in the pot, which is just pointless—a big pot-sized bet will scare anyone away who doesn’t have a great hand but with less risk that you get called by a better hand. For example, one player shoved with A 10 and got called by AK. There was no need to shove, but the player with A 10 busted out. But for me, this was a great opportunity. I would continue to take advantage of the poor play whenever I could.

One player at the table started reciting some of my stats. I asked him how he knew them, and he said he’d played with me in high stakes tournaments at the Wynn. I was flattered. I told him he looked familiar even though he really didn’t.

I got dealt A♣K♠. A really obnoxious player with a giant stack raised from $1,500 (BB) to $3,500. I called. He kept taunting me that he was going to win the pot. The flop was 2♣3♣5♠. He checked. I checked. I had a gut-shot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. The turn was 7♣. I now also had the lock flush draw. He bet $3K; I called. The turn was 10♠. He bet $5K. I decided to represent having the lock flush because I had the A♣, so I raised to $15K. He called with Q♦Q♣. Damn! I lost a big chunk, and I was then short stacked.

I got dealt Q9 early in the hand. I decided to limp to try to see a flop. Two players called. The flop was K97. I had caught middle pair. I was prepared to shove figuring 1) I could be ahead, 2) I could get lucky, or 3) I could bust out and enter another tournament. Then one player shoved and I was ready to do so too. Then another player shoved, and I figured with all those chips in the pot, it was worth the chance. But the second player didn’t realize I was still in the hand and showed pocket As! I folded, and her mistake saved my tournament life.

I got 5♦9♦ in the small blind. Everyone folded to me, so I shoved my short stack of 9 big blinds. I got called by the big blind with pocket 2s. I hit a 9 to double up. The next hand I got A♠K♠. I limped in. The same player, now short stacked, shoved as I’d hoped. Everyone else folded, I called. He had 10 9. On the flop, he got a 9 but I got an A, followed on the turn by a K. He busted out. I doubled up again. I suddenly had a playable stack.

I got pocket Js. One player raised from $2,500 (BB) to $5K. Another player called. I reraised to $12K. One player called, the other folded. The flop was Q74. He checked. I shoved. He called with pocket 7s! I started packing my things. The turn was 8. The river was... J! I doubled up yet again. My stack is well above average. Crazy game.

I won with a set of Js over a set of 7s. Whew!

I started winning lots of hands until I became the table chip leader.

I won a big pot against the obnoxious player. I raised pre-flop with pocket 10s. He called from the big blind. The board stayed all low cards. On the river he bet $30K ( about 8 big blinds). I could cover it and it felt like a bluff, so I called. He just mucked his cards without showing them, and I scooped the big pot.

At the dinner break, I had about double the average stack. 855 players were left, 615 would get paid, out of 4,100 total players.

One player that I’d taken a lot of chips from came up to me and shook my hand. He said, “It’s fun playing with you. You’re a very good player.” That felt nice.

100 players left till the money.

70 players till the money.

50 players left.

25 players left.

10 to go.

5 to go.

3 to go.

On the bubble!

I was in the money!

A short stack shoved. I shoved with AK. He had QJ. I felt pretty good until a J came on the flop and another on the turn.

Short stacked, I shoved with A2, got no callers. On the next hand, I shoved with AQ and again got no callers. On the next hand, I shoved with pocket 7s. I got called by a shorter stack who had AQ. He hit a Q on the flop, but I hit a 7. My stack was then $270K, above average!

I made the first pay jump.

I got Q3 in the big blind. Everyone folded to the small blind, who completed the bet. I checked. The flop was Q3 10. The other player bet big and I shoved. He snap-called and slammed his hand down on the table—AQ—expecting to scoop all the chips. He saw my hand and said an expletive. His hand didn’t improve and I doubled up. He kept saying how “f...ing lucky” I was. He busted out on the next hand. My stack was then $560K, among the best in the tournament!

And I made the next pay jump.

And another pay jump.

And another pay jump.

Then I lost a few big pots and then made a pay jump and then busted out when I shoved my stack of 8 big blinds with A8 after hitting an 8 on the flop, but the other player got the lock flush. I finished 193 out of 4,100.

All in all it was a very long, tiring day, but a great, profitable start to the WSOP.

Bob Zeidman is a high-stakes recreational poker player. He created Good Beat Poker, a free online poker site using patented technology for audio and video—see and hear the other players at the table if you choose.