Come with me to the Venetian Poker Room for the $1,100 Monster Stack — a one-day, $200k guaranteed tournament that I genuinely love because you get 30,000 chips, 30-minute levels, and a ton of early spots versus recreational players. I’m trying to show you what real tournament poker looks like: the swings, the discipline, and the decision-making when stacks are deep and the action is fast. Plus… the Venetian is just the nicest room in Vegas (free coffee/soda and you can dodge the smoke), so it’s always a good day when I’m walking in there. In this vlog I break down two key hands from the early levels: first, I flop a set with pocket fours in a multiway pot and end up running into a bigger set (gross, but important to talk through). Then I navigate a tricky Ace-King of diamonds spot where I take a lower-variance line, realize my equity, and then value-bet the river when the flush comes in so it’s not “too easy” for my opponent to check back an overpair. And yes — the weirdest thing happens: the exact same all-in (my nines vs his A9) happens twice against the same opponent. We run it up, get into a great spot… and then take a brutal cooler (trips losing to a boat). What are you gonna do? On to the next.