diff --git a/crates/ml-alpha/src/trainer/integrated.rs b/crates/ml-alpha/src/trainer/integrated.rs
index 1118550e7..51c1c6f78 100644
--- a/crates/ml-alpha/src/trainer/integrated.rs
+++ b/crates/ml-alpha/src/trainer/integrated.rs
@@ -328,6 +328,26 @@ const RL_HINDSIGHT_FORWARD_CUBIN: &[u8] =
 /// Phase E.3+ without touching the kernel.
 const RL_LR_CONTROLLER_ALPHA: f32 = 0.4;
 
+/// Pre-extracted raw CUdeviceptr values for hot-path buffers.
+/// All pointers come from pre-allocated `CudaSlice` fields whose
+/// device addresses are stable for the trainer's lifetime.
+/// Reading these cached u64s avoids cudarc's `device_ptr()` /
+/// `device_ptr_mut()` event-tracking path which internally does
+/// `cuStreamWaitEvent` + `cuEventRecord` per call — responsible
+/// for ~23 `cuStreamSynchronize` per step (89% wall time per nsys).
+struct HotPathPtrs {
+    isv: u64,
+    ss_pi_loss: u64,
+    ss_q_loss: u64,
+    ss_v_loss_sum: u64,
+    ss_frd_loss_per_b_h: u64,
+    /// perception.h_t_d — stable (pre-allocated at PerceptionTrainer init).
+    h_t_encoder: u64,
+    h_tp1: u64,
+    trade_context: u64,
+    multires_output: u64,
+}
+
 /// Configuration for [`IntegratedTrainer`]. Wraps a `PerceptionTrainerConfig`
 /// (the encoder + BCE + aux side) plus RL-specific overrides for the new
 /// heads.
@@ -1038,6 +1058,9 @@ pub struct IntegratedTrainer {
     /// loss-readback syncs per step_synthetic.
     loss_staging_3: MappedF32Buffer,
 
+    /// Cached raw CUdeviceptr values — zero `device_ptr()` calls in hot path.
+    hot: HotPathPtrs,
+
     // IQN replay-step scratch (dqn_replay_step only).
     pub ss_iqn_tau_target_d: CudaSlice<f32>,
     pub ss_iqn_target_q_d: CudaSlice<f32>,
@@ -2138,6 +2161,18 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
             .new_event(None)
             .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("replay_done_event: {e}"))?;
 
+        let hot = HotPathPtrs {
+            isv: isv_d.raw_ptr(),
+            ss_pi_loss: ss_pi_loss_d.raw_ptr(),
+            ss_q_loss: ss_q_loss_d.raw_ptr(),
+            ss_v_loss_sum: ss_v_loss_sum_d.raw_ptr(),
+            ss_frd_loss_per_b_h: ss_frd_loss_per_b_h_d.raw_ptr(),
+            h_t_encoder: perception.h_t_view().raw_ptr(),
+            h_tp1: h_tp1_d.raw_ptr(),
+            trade_context: trade_context_d.raw_ptr(),
+            multires_output: multires_output_d.raw_ptr(),
+        };
+
         Ok(Self {
             cfg,
             perception,
@@ -2442,6 +2477,7 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
             frd_loss_staging,
             scalar_staging,
             loss_staging_3,
+            hot,
         }
         .with_controllers_bootstrapped()?)
     }
@@ -3612,9 +3648,8 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
             // Queue DtoD for NEXT step's read — async, no sync needed here.
             let nbytes = n * std::mem::size_of::<f32>();
             unsafe {
-                let (src, _g) = self.isv_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
                 cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(
-                    self.isv_staging.dev_ptr, src, nbytes, self.stream.cu_stream(),
+                    self.isv_staging.dev_ptr, self.hot.isv, nbytes, self.stream.cu_stream(),
                 )
                 .context("step_synthetic isv staging DtoD (async, for next step)")?;
             }
@@ -4476,30 +4511,27 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
         let f32_bytes = std::mem::size_of::<f32>();
         unsafe {
             // Slot 0: pi_loss
-            let (pi_src, _g0) = self.ss_pi_loss_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
             cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(
                 self.loss_staging_3.dev_ptr,
-                pi_src,
+                self.hot.ss_pi_loss,
                 f32_bytes,
                 self.stream.cu_stream(),
             )
             .context("batched loss DtoD: pi_loss")?;
 
             // Slot 1: q_loss
-            let (q_src, _g1) = self.ss_q_loss_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
             cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(
                 self.loss_staging_3.dev_ptr + f32_bytes as u64,
-                q_src,
+                self.hot.ss_q_loss,
                 f32_bytes,
                 self.stream.cu_stream(),
             )
             .context("batched loss DtoD: q_loss")?;
 
             // Slot 2: v_loss_sum
-            let (v_src, _g2) = self.ss_v_loss_sum_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
             cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(
                 self.loss_staging_3.dev_ptr + 2 * f32_bytes as u64,
-                v_src,
+                self.hot.ss_v_loss_sum,
                 f32_bytes,
                 self.stream.cu_stream(),
             )
@@ -4510,10 +4542,9 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
         let frd_n_h = crate::rl::common::FRD_N_HORIZONS;
         let frd_n = b_size * frd_n_h;
         unsafe {
-            let (frd_src, _g3) = self.ss_frd_loss_per_b_h_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
             cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(
                 self.frd_loss_staging.dev_ptr,
-                frd_src,
+                self.hot.ss_frd_loss_per_b_h,
                 frd_n * f32_bytes,
                 self.stream.cu_stream(),
             )
@@ -5152,11 +5183,10 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
         {
             let nbytes = b_size * HIDDEN_DIM * std::mem::size_of::<f32>();
             unsafe {
-                let s = self.stream.cu_stream();
-                let (src, _gs) = self.perception.h_t_view().device_ptr(&self.stream);
-                let (dst, _gd) = self.h_tp1_d.device_ptr_mut(&self.stream);
-                cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(dst, src, nbytes, s)
-                    .context("step_with_lobsim: DtoD perception.h_t_d → self.h_tp1_d")?;
+                cudarc::driver::result::memcpy_dtod_async(
+                    self.hot.h_tp1, self.hot.h_t_encoder, nbytes, self.stream.cu_stream(),
+                )
+                .context("step_with_lobsim: DtoD perception.h_t_d → self.h_tp1_d")?;
             }
         }
 
@@ -5165,10 +5195,8 @@ impl IntegratedTrainer {
         // backward in step_synthetic, AND lands h_t at slot K-1 for
         // the action-sampling forwards below.
         {
-            let (tc_ptr, _g1) = self.trade_context_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
-            let (mr_ptr, _g2) = self.multires_output_d.device_ptr(&self.stream);
-            self.perception.encoder_ctx_trade_ptr = tc_ptr;
-            self.perception.encoder_ctx_multires_ptr = mr_ptr;
+            self.perception.encoder_ctx_trade_ptr = self.hot.trade_context;
+            self.perception.encoder_ctx_multires_ptr = self.hot.multires_output;
         }
         let _ = self
             .perception