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Monday, November 07, 2005
  Atlantic City Trip
Grengrad (Dorian) and I just got back in from checking out Atlantic City. We had a blast and it was nice to get a chance to meet Dorian in person. This was my first time playing in a casino and I got a chance to play both cash ring games and a tournament. If you've never had a chance to play live I would suggest you take the time to head out and try it. It is a very good experience to and to your poker resume. So our trip went a little like this.

Friday

I head out of Tri-Cities Airport around 12:30 to find I am on the smallest plane that Northwest Airlines has, and to top that they have sold the flight out. I'm 6'3" and to say the least the 2 hour flight to Memphis was not a fun one at all. And to top it off I had a guy beside me that reminded me of the "Monk" character on USA. I asked where he was heading and he said “Detroit I hope,” implying if we didn't crash before then. Then on the trip there he fell asleep and jumped awake any time the plane turned or made any sudden movement. So to say the least, I was glad to get on the ground in Memphis (and yes I did fly west to get to Philly). I didn't have much time to mess around before my flight left out of Memphis to Philly so I had to get to my gate quickly, where we boarded the plane only to sit and wait to get in the air due to weather in Philly. The flight wasn't that bad and the plane was much bigger so I was able to stretch out some and enjoy the flight a little.


The delay in Memphis did put me landing in Philly later that I thought I would, but Dorian had the same trouble on his flight. After we found each other it was time to find the train to head out of the airport the downtown train station. We find it just outside Dorian's gate only to watch it pull out as we walk up the ramp. So after asking around we found a taxi to get us downtown, maybe in time to catch the 7:15 train to Atlantic City. So after paying $25 to the cabbie for some of the worst driving I've ever seen, we rush in the station to see the train boarding and pulling out again. Oh well, we get the next train at 8:30 and get a chance to eat and get to talk some before heading out. It wasn't too bad of a train ride and for $7.50 a very cheap way to get from Philly to Atlantic City. We get in to Atlantic City around 10:15, unpacked and headed out to the Tropicana which was the closest card room to the motel. After finding out the ropes of the card room there, we got our Trop poker cards and got on the shortest list which was a $4/8 Limit Hold'em Table. As soon as we got on the list they opened up a new table and we were able to sit down quickly. The table had an interested mix of players. I got down at first due to not hitting a flop and the blinds. Later on I was able to get on a nice run by flopping the nuts a couple of times and having the loose players call me down all the way to the river. We played past 4 am and I would have loved to have stayed longer but the travel was starting to set in, so we called it a night. The live play took an orbit or two to get used to everyone, but the hardest part was getting used to the slow play of the game. I love to play limit, but live it is a very slow game. I was able to talk with Dorian and a few of the other players at the table to pass the time, but if I had my pick I think online play would be the way to go. Some excitement from the night was the bartender throwing a drunk out right behind us.

Saturday

After grabbing an over priced lunch we head out to the Taj to check out other games there. As we walked up the sidewalk I see the Taj and all its glory. I must say that my first impression was it was very tacky looking from the outside. As we walk inside it didn't improve much at all. The poker room is not that bad but the decor and look of the rest was just not my style. Sorry Donald, but who ever you hired for that you should fire! We tried to get on the list for a table but there was a long wait so since we also wanted to see the Borgota we heading out by Jitney to get to the Borgota. If you've never been on an Atlantic City Jitney you are missing out. The driver we had was crazy. He was an Asian man in his 50's I’d say; speaking is Spanish half the time. We laughed the whole way there as we held on to the seats for dear life. After getting to the Borgota I was very glad we left the Taj even though it was about a 2 hour wait to get on the $6/12 limit tables. The Borgota is a top of the line casino and has a great card room. They also seemed to have the widest selection of limits and types of games. We played there for about 4 hours and I had terrible luck. I was able to get a big win right of the bat with pocket Queens holding up for a nice pot. A few hands later I get QQ again but an Ace flopped with 5 players still in the hand (yes I raised $12 preflop and 4 other players still called). After that I had the blinds chip a way some and then get AJ hit 2 pair on the turn only to have a player call me down with middle pair on the flop to hit a 2 outer on the river. Then in my BB I have A7s with 4 limpers and Dorian raises with QQ I call and see a flop of As Js 6d and bet out 2 callers so I think ace is not that strong. Turn is a Ks I check MP bets out I call Dorian folds. River is a 10 of spades I check MP bets and I fold. He flips over Qs10d and goes crazy screaming he wants his hat for hitting a Royal Flush. Thing is if I wanted to be a jerk I could have pointed out I didn’t call on the river so his win would not have meet the guidelines for the Royal Flush promo. After a few more hands we decided to head back down the strip closer to our hotel, and we agreed that we liked the play and atmosphere of the Tropicana so we headed out. Since Dorian had played limit Hold’em with me I told him I’d play what ever game he wanted to. We got our name on the list for a $2/4 Omaha Hi/Lo limit table. After the wait at the Borgota I was ready for a long wait but in less than 5 minutes the table was ready. I’ll be the first to admit I’m no Omaha player but only having played the game a few times I didn’t feel like I was the worst player at the table. There was a few good players but there was 3 very loose passive players there that I keep getting good hands paid off from them, so I ended up having a good night. Also the table was full of a bunch of cut ups which made playing into the night very fun.

Sunday

Sunday we woke up to see the sun shining for the first time. While the wind was still brisk it was a very nice day so we walked over the beach first thing and got a couple of pictures and then decided to walk up the boardwalk to the Taj where we were going to play a tournament. It was nice getting to see a little different side of Atlantic City besides the Casinos walking down the boardwalk. It was neat mix of Mom & Pop places beside large corporate businesses. We walked in to the slot side of the Taj and it was very depressing seeing so many people dropping their money in those machines hoping for a big payout. After getting signed up we went out to find the Noodle Bar so we could live up out Rounders experience. After looking around and not being able to find it we settled on a buffet which wasn’t that bad. We still had a few minutes so I drop $5 in a video poker machine. The deck just hit me and was able to double up in about 20 minutes, so I cash out my profits so I can say I’m a profitable video poker player (break even if you count the $5 I dropped in a slot machine at the Trop…it looked like a hot machine). We head back over to the card room to find our seat in the tournament. I get table 20 and Dorian is at 22. My table was a very good table with a bunch of loose players on my left and the tight aggressive players on my left. The tournament I must say was not the best set up. We started out with 5000 in chips but the blinds went up every 20 minutes and antes started after level 2. So either you need to make some moves early or catch some cards early. I was able to steal some blinds and win a few hands in the first hour and ended the first break at around 6500 in chips. First hand I won was with 72, but it was suited when I hit a flush out of the big blind. Dorian did get out to a fast start and was up to 14000 very early in the tournament. After the break I got Kings and push all in preflop. I had just pushed all-in on a steal and thought they would think I was stealing again so I might could get some action this time. It was folded to the small blind who went all in to push the BB out. First thought was he was going to flop over aces on me, but it was Jacks. I felt good but the first card that pops up on the flop was a Jack, I was in trouble but got bailed out on the turn when a King came. This got me up to around 9000 where I was able to stay for a while. The blinds and antes had eaten away at my stack some when I look down at KQos in the big blind and have 5 players limp in the pot. I knew the guys on my right had just limped in for pot odds and I could push them out so I go all in for 6800 where the player under the gun had limp and then decided to call everyone else had folded. I knew this guy was a very passive player and expected him to turn over a big hand, but he flips over J7 hearts. I was feeling good about my odds but the flop came 2 hearts. He didn’t hit the flush but did catch a 7 on the turn to knock me out. It was a very bad feeling having to get up from the table on what I felt was a very bad call. I went over and told Dorian I was out of the tournament and headed out of the card room to clear my head some. When I headed back Dorian had just gotten knocked out after 2 suck outs had caused him to get short stacked and have to push with just about any hand. The Taj was just not a place I wanted to play and Dorian felt the same way, so after Dorian got his $1 chip we headed back to the Trop to end our say in Atlantic City. We both sat down at a $4/8 Limit Hold’em table where the action was the same as the other nights at the Trop, bad. The time we played at the Tropicania did pay off cause we were able to get a comp meal. After a while playing Dorian wanted to play some No Limit and I decided to pass and stay at my bread and butter Limit. Some new blood came to the table and was willing to pay some of my made hands off. Dorian came back after cleaning up in the No Limit game. It was getting close to 3 or 4 so we called it a night. I had thought about staying up all night and just grabbing a shower and heading to the train station, but after having a good night we headed back to get a few hours of sleep before heading out.

Monday

Monday was a long day of waiting and rushing. Some stops I had a hour and a half wait or more some I had 7 or 8 minutes so that was not a fun way to travel. After it was all said and done I pulled in my drive way at midnight. I had a blast and really got my interest in playing poker back up to where it hadn’t been in a long time. It was fun sitting and talking poker with Dorian and getting to hang out. In 2006 I hope to set trip to Vegas, and this time a bunch of 72osers can join us.

Some notes I took a way from the trip.

1. Live play is very very slow. Omaha play is even slower.
2. Tipping dealers cuts in to your profit.
3. If you want to head to a card room and play your game it is very easy to turn a profit
4. Seeing players lose their money was not fun. I like online for this fact since all you see is a screen name.
5. Some reason players will sit down with sunglasses at a $4/8 table. If you don’t want players to pick up on your tells wear a cast so your hands don’t shake.
6. Even dealers don’t know how to play Omaha.
7. Things up North are over priced.
8. I look very young. No one believed I was 28.
9. Trump has no taste. Also the Noodle Bar is nothing like in the movie Rounders!
10. Don’t write a trip report while trying to play online!

 
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