27th of 279 and a Cash: My WSOP Circuit Turning Stone $400 NLH/PLO Mixed Run

I finished 27th out of 279 entries in the WSOP Circuit $400 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed event at Turning Stone, and I cashed for $814.

It came the day after my 17th-place finish in the PLO8 event, and this one was a real rollercoaster. I made quads three times, ran my stack up to 100K, lost most of it in two all-in hands, sat short in the money, and then doubled up twice in a row before I finally busted.

I posted live updates from my phone during the day. Here’s the full story, update by update, with the screenshots from the WSOP app.

The event: $400 NLH/PLO Mixed, $50K GTD

This was Event #10: $400 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed, $50K Guaranteed, Day 1, at Turning Stone in Oneida, New York. It started on October 22 at 4:00 PM.

Detail	What it means
Buy-in: $400 ($330 + $47.50 + $22.50)	$330 goes to the prize pool; the rest covers fees
Starting chips: 20,000 (100 big blinds)	A deep start with plenty of room to play
Late registration: until the end of Level 8	Players could still join for the first eight levels
Day 1 format: 18 levels or down to 9 players	Whichever came first ended the day
Guarantee: $50,000	The prize pool was promised to be at least $50K

What is a NLH/PLO mixed game?

A mixed game switches between two games as it goes. Here it was No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha.

• No-Limit Hold’em (NLH): You get two cards and can bet all your chips at any time.
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO): You get four cards, must use exactly two, and can only bet up to the size of the pot.

You have to switch gears every time the game changes, which is what makes mixed events so fun.

Update 1: Great turnout, and the $50K guarantee is smashed

My first update went out at Level 5. There were already 217 entries, a great turnout, and late registration still had more than an hour and a half to go.

The $50K guarantee was already beaten. The prize pool stood at $71,940, with more entries still coming.

At this point, the blinds were 300/600 with a 600 big blind ante. I was sitting at Table 18, Seat 1, with 79,000 chips, almost four times my 20,000 starting stack. The average stack was about 36,000, so I was well above it.

Update 2: Registration closes, plus quads three times and a painful river

Late registration closed at the end of Level 8, and the final count landed at 278 on the board (it later settled at 279). The prize pool had jumped to $91,740, nearly double the guarantee.

My own session up to here was wild. I made quads three times, and quads means four of a kind, a hand you’re lucky to see once in a whole day. That run got me up to about 100,000 chips.

Then I lost most of my stack in two all-in hands. The one that hurt most: I had pocket jacks (JJ) against ace-ten (A10). My jacks were ahead, but an ace hit on the river, the very last card, and the pot went the other way.

That’s poker. You can play a hand right and still lose it on the last card.

When registration closed, I had 53,500 chips. That was the biggest stack at my table, and right around the average of about 54,500. Heading into Level 9, the blinds were going up to 1,000/1,500.

Update 3: In the money, but short-stacked

By Level 14, only 43 players were left out of 279, and all 43 were in the money. I’d made the cash.

The bad news was my stack. I’d been moved to Table 16 with 40,000 chips, and the blinds were 3,000/5,000. That’s only about 8 big blinds, while the average stack was close to 130,000. Some big stacks at my new table had 336,000 and 406,000.

With a short stack, you don’t have room to wait around. You look for a good spot, get your chips in, and hope to double up.

The payouts made every spot count. The last two places paid $407, and 27th through 41st paid $814.

Place	Payout
1st	$20,127
2nd	$13,358
3rd	$9,092
4th	$6,344
5th	$4,540
6th	$3,336
7th	$2,518
8th	$1,953
9th	$1,559
10th–11th	$1,281
12th–13th	$1,085
14th–17th	$948
18th–26th	$855
27th–41st	$814
42nd–43rd	$407

Update 4: Back-to-back double ups

Then things turned around. I got my short stack in and doubled up, then doubled up again right after.

That took me from 40,000 to 91,000 chips and gave me some breathing room. By Level 15, 33 players were left. The blinds were 3,000/6,000, so I had about 15 big blinds, enough to pick my spots again.

The next pay jump was close too. Making it to 26th would bump the payout from $814 to $855.

Update 5: Knocked out in 27th for $814

My run ended in 27th place out of 279, and I cashed for $814. That’s roughly the top 10% of the field.

I missed the next pay jump by one spot, since 26th paid $855. Still, I’d been down to about 8 big blinds earlier, so finishing 27th was a solid recovery.

My run at a glance

Update	Level and blinds	Players left	Prize pool	My stack
1. Early on	Level 5, 300/600	121 of 218	$71,940	79,000
2. Registration closes	Break before Level 9	102 of 278	$91,740	53,500
3. In the money	Level 14, 3,000/5,000	43 of 279	$92,070	40,000
4. Double ups	Level 15, 3,000/6,000	33 of 279	$92,070	91,000
5. Busted	—	27th of 279	$92,070	Cashed $814

What I’m taking away from it

• Big hands don’t guarantee a big finish. Three sets of quads got me to 100K, but two all-ins took most of it right back.
• Coolers are part of the game. My JJ was ahead of A10 all-in, and one card on the river still changed everything.
• A short stack still has a chance. At 8 big blinds I was in trouble, and two double ups put me back in it.
• Cashing matters. Back-to-back days, back-to-back deep runs: 17th in PLO8 and now 27th here.

Conclusion

My WSOP Circuit Turning Stone $400 NLH/PLO Mixed run ended in 27th place out of 279 entries, with a cash of $814. The event drew a huge field and crushed its $50K guarantee with a $92,070 prize pool.

It had a bit of everything: quads, a cooler on the river, a short-stack fight in the money, and a comeback. If you’ve never played a mixed NLH/PLO tournament, give one a try. Switching games keeps you sharp the whole way.

Thanks for following along with my updates. See you at the next one!