Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 00:01:16 -0500 From: Paul McMullin Subject: [BARGE] Trip Report, Borgata Casino, A.C. Week after Christmas I wrote and asked if anyone had any insight about the 1000+100 NLH tournament that Borgata was offering on 12/28 (Friday after Christmas). I got one respondent that suggested that it would probably be pretty much the same mix of Philly and NYC players that they get any other Friday. Well, "Action Bob" made the field a bit tougher than normal, but I didn't have to play (get to play?) at his table while we were both in. Thus encouraged, I played three tournaments at the Borgata last week... --------------------------------- Thursday, Dec 27, 100+20 NLH tournament, 11am 20 minute rounds, start with T6000; 350 entrants, 36 places paid. I managed to carry around T70,000 to the new table when they broke table 5 (down to 4 tables, but not all 4 tables were completely full), so average would be slightly more than 35/4*6000, or about T58,000. And then I shot myself in the foot. First hand there, in the big blind (T500 ante, 2000/4000 blinds). Well dressed 65yo lady with T45k 2UTG peeks at her hand and then nervously raises to T8000; she is the smallest stack at the table, and I'm pretty sure she is playing VERY tight (both from the small stack and the age/style of dress), so I'm pretty sure she has a SOLID hand. Still, when it is folded to me, I have an easy call of the extra T4000 after seeing the KQo I was dealt. Flop comes J T 5; ignoring the alarms in my head, I bet 12K into the "obvious strong hand" of my opponent, and she calls. Dealer puts out a second T for the turn, and without pausing for thought, I bet 20K, and LOL raises all in... I call, and am shown AA (confirming the "obvious strong hand" read that I ignored twice). Dealer teases me with a river 8 (a nine would have given me a winning straight), and I'm now the shortest stack in the small blind. When she made her initial raise, I was pretty sure that she had AA, KK, or (at worst) QQ. I have no idea what happened between the time I made that 'read', and the time I started lighting my stack on fire after I flopped the draw. Was it "happy chips" singing in my head that drowned out the alarm that she had a big hand? 5 hours of solid play, and three hands later (AK lost to 99 when I shoved in on the button) I'm walking away as the floor is announcing "Congrats, you all have made the money!". Boy, was Edith annoyed with me! And I was annoyed with my self! What a break in concentration! Ick! Out on the bubble (37th, 36 places paid) ------------------------------------ Friday, Dec 28, 1000 + 100 NLH tournament, noon 40 minute rounds, start with T10,000, 202 entrants, 18 places paid I've played in two $500+ house fee live tournaments, and a dozen of the $615 + 35 WSOP qualifiers on pokerstars back before Dr. Frist shoved through the law that "saved the children of America from online poker", so this is the largest buy-in event I've played to date. Still, they DO look like the same mix I've been playing in the other Borgata tournaments, so I'm not too concerned. I played pretty tightly through the early rounds; the player on my left was playing quite a few hands... by the middle of the 4th level (100/200/25 ante) I had steadily built my stack to about T18,000 while LHO had been to 20K and back to 8K twice. I'm dealt KK on the button; 3UTG raises toT600, one caller, I raise to T1400... LHO in the small blind scans around the table once or twice and fools with his current stack of 12k or so in chips for 15 seconds, and then calls, as do both earlier callers. Flop comes T 6 3 rainbow, checked around to me, I bet T3000, LHO thinks for 15 seconds and shoves all his chips in, folded back around to me. Q1: Was my re-raise to T1400 not enough to "define my hand"? I'd like to get some action with KK, and I'm willing to fold on the flop if an ace comes and I get any heat..., but probably one of the blinds will be able to call the raise to T1400 as will the two players already in the pot, which is probably too much action - would raising to T2500 be more appropriate? T3000? Q2: LHO *had* taken 10-15 seconds to decide what to do on several other hands, but he certainly seemed capable of overbetting his hand... if I fold here, I'll still have T12500 or so, which (surprisingly) was still near average... This WAS LHO's first "check-raise all in" flop action. Does folding make sense, or is his "range of hands" too wide to put him on specifically AA or TT? After I called and I really was NOT surprised when he showed me AA (which suggests to me that I WAS suspicious about his play of the hand, and probably should have thought more seriously about folding to his check-raise...), I struggled for two more hours, never getting the "two hands close together" that would have allowed me to build my 6K to more than 12K... Q3: In the big blind w/K9o, blinds 600/1200/200 ante - 4 folds, raise to T6500, call by stack of 3600, folded around to me, I have T3400 left after posting the blind. Call here to triple up? Had there just been the raiser I would have called, but with the T3600 caller behind the raiser, I decided that ONE of them probably had me crushed... raiser has misread his hand and had j8o (he claimed to have thought he had 88), caller had decided that 97s was worth a shot. Flop came with a K after I folded (and neither of them ended with as much as a pair, so K9 unimproved WOULD have won). Two hands later I quadrupled up on the button when my all-in min-raise to T2400 with AQo held up against QJo, QJs, and 98o on a K T 7 5 3 board, but as I said, that T12000 never went anywhere either. There isn't a lot you can do with 83o UTG or j5o when someone raises in front of you. Out around 56th. -------------------------- Saturday, Dec 29, 300 + 40 NLH tournament, 11am 30 minute rounds, start with T10,000, 148 entrants In the last 10 "30 minute round" events I've played, I seem to be consistently just about doubling my starting stack playing very tightly during the "ante-less" rounds, but then usually stagnate (or only increase slowly) once the antes start going in. I've been feeling like I've been seeing WAY more than my share of J5 and WAY less than my share of A-face or *any* pairs, but other people seem to be playing two or three hands every orbit while I'm only playing two hands every three or four orbits at most. Edith is yelling at me that the reason I'm exiting tournaments when I find myself all-in with AQ against AJ late in a tournament is that I am not building my stack enough as I go along to give me a chance TO survive my opponents getting lucky in these situations. This tournament is similar... I have around T19,000 or so (average is probably T30,000); LHO seems to be raising about 1/4 to 1/3 of the hands, and either taking them down there or taking them on the flop with a continuation bet. The few times I managed to raise ahead of him he seemed genuinely annoyed that I had stolen his action... With blinds T600/1200/200 ante, I raise from 2UTG to 3000 (first raise by me in an orbit and a half, only the second or third raise by me in 45 minutes) with 33 and win the blinds (LHO gives me a "LOOK" before he folds and then walks away from the table for 10 seconds). JJ UTG on the next hand and I again raise to 3000... LHO peeks at his cards and peels three gray chips (T15,000) off of his stack of T60,000 or so... folded around to me. I think for a while and shove the rest in (probably about anotherT5000 on top at this point), and he is AGAIN "visibly annoyed", but he calls and turns over AKo. The dealer puts out Q T 9 rainbow, but turns an Ace, and for good measure puts another Ace out on the river. Out around 45th. -------------------------------------- Thanks for reading; I look forward to any discussion anyone offers. Happy new year everyone! -prm