The Borgata is a first class establishment. Their accommodations are superb, they have a great poker room and of course their tournaments are among the best in the world. Their tournament director Tab is as good as it gets.

All in all it was a trip of good fun, good food, good friends and good poker.

Cash Games

I spent my time playing the $5 $10 NL game at Borgata when I wasn’t in a tournament. There are always a good number of tables at this limit compared to the $10 $20 NL game where at times there weren’t any games running. I had a really good run at the cash games this trip, the action was outstanding and because the WPT was in town the regulars weren’t as heavily stacked per table with so many extra tables running.

WPT Tournaments

I passed on the $300 opening event which drew an astounding 1650 players. I played the $500 on Wednesday and had a pathetic run of cards. Bluffs and steals kept me alive into the 5th hour of play. With blinds at 200/400 a25 with 11 big blinds I open shoved with K10 from mp and got called by an 8 big blind stack in mp holding QJo, huh? Of course he spiked a Q and on the next hand my measly all in with Q5s couldn’t overcome a call from pocket KK’s. GG me.

After an early cash session on Thursday morning I headed to the tournament room to play the $750. A couple of minutes before the event started I ran into my friend Eric “Rick” Bankoff.. Rick and I decided to swap a piece of each other for the event. I steadily chipped up through the early levels. Late in hour 4 our table broke. This was the first of 3 breaks I would face in less than an hours time which really sucks. My first 2 new tables were soft and I continued to build my stack. I took a stack of @ 20K to my 3rd new table at the 200/400 a25 level. I was avg or slightly above with @ 2/3rds of the field gone. About 4 hands after sitting down at the new table I’m dealt pocket 10’s in the sb. The bb is immediately poised to muck. A young internet looking kid open raises to 1150 from mp and I assume he sees the bb’s intentions. The action folds to me and I decide to take an unusual line against this unknown and raise it to 6150. I assume his range is enormous and want him to think I’m making a play and have him think he has fold equity against me if he shoves. He obliges, immediately moving all in, he has me covered by a bit. I snap call hoping to see an under pair or suited connector which I thought he might do this with. Unfortunately it was a race as he tabled AK. Trip K’s are good and I’m gone in a flash, meh. Obviously didn’t like losing but I really have no regrets. The chance to be double average, 100 big blinds deep and table chip leader as we approach the bubble is exactly where I want to be.

After cooling off in the room for an hour (very necessary for me after busting a tournament) I return downstairs and check in on Rick who early on had been down to less than 2500 chips. Somehow he’s now sitting a 60K+ and we’re going to have a long night ahead of us. I hang on the rail until the dinner break and then head to Bobby Flay’s with Rick where we meet my partner and another poker playing friend. After a great dinner Ricky heads back to the tournament room. I decide to squeeze in a quick cash session with my partner. A couple of hours later I’m up nearly 2 buy ins and decide to cash out and head back to the rail to find Ricky. He’s still healthy chip wise but now has Hevad Khan sitting to his direct left with mountains of chips. To shorten a really long story I rail Ricky until 2AM when they halt play for the night with 31 players remaining. Ricky had been over 120K not long before but ends the day at 80K+. Hevad is the chip leader with over 300K.

I buy into the $1000 the next morning and don’t get any real momentum going for hours. Nice guy sitting to my direct left winds up cold decking me every time I pick up a hand. It was so sick. I made so many big laydowns that would’ve busted me out. Here was the sickest. With 6500 chips at the 100/200 level I open in middle position w AQ to 550. Same villain of course finds a hand and calls. We’re heads up to the flop of AJ3 rainbow. I lead for 750 and get called. The turn is another A and I get an awful feeling that I’m about to get cold decked for the umpteenth time. I check and villain fires out 1500. After a little chatter on my part and a long study I decide to muck leaving myself with a little over 5K. Nice guy that he was showed me pocket 3’s for an under full, wow.

By this time play has resumed for the final 31 in the $750 and as luck would have it I am sitting with my back to the rail with Ricky right behind me. We’re chatting constantly in between hands. After falling to about 3K I manage to chip up to nearly 8K and then 3-bet shove against what I feel is a weak raiser in front of me holding AQ. Wouldn’t you know the same villain on my left looks down and insta shoves, yuck. We’re heads up and I’m up against KK. This is the same exact scenario I doubled with at the WSOP at Harrah’s last month and I did it again with an A on the flop and another on the turn for good measure. Now I had the chip lead at my table and was above average for the first time all day. Less than an hour later right after posting the blinds we break. Right before this happens, Ricky with 14 players left in the $750 standard raises from the button w red AQ. The big blind a known aggressive internet player jams for 120K and Ricky snap calls. Ricky has 160K to start the hand and has the kids As10c dominated. The flop is Axx 2 clubs. The turn is the Q clubs giving Ricky 2-pair. The river club falls and Ricky is the new short stack, gross. He busts soon after that for a tidy but unspectacular profit and plenty of what could’ve been thoughts. Incidentally the kid (who happens to be a really nice guy) goes on to chop the tournament, taking a lot of chips from Hevad along the way.

Back to me in the $1000. For the first time all day I find myself at a new table and wouldn’t you know I sit down to the BB after just posting both blinds on my original table. Not a good sign. This table has a bunch of healthy stacks. We’re at 300/600 and I’m sitting on at least 20K. First hand there’s a limp and a raise to 2600 and I look down to see the A5 hearts and decide to muck as does the limper. Very next hand I’m in the SB. UTG raises to 2K. UTG+1 calls as do 2 players in middle position, what does everybody have? I look down to find AKs, wow. With nearly 10K in the pot I feel my only play is to jam. UTG painfully folds which was good as he was my main concern. Surprisingly UTG+1 moves his chips to the middle with no hesitation, really? The other 2 players get out of the way and I’m up against KK again, unreal. No A to be found this time and I bust as we approach the money bubble yet again. Dammit.

Cool off in the room again then meet Ricky and my partner for dinner at Sea Blue, another fine establishment. We have a great relaxing dinner and then head back upstairs to the tournament room to watch the end of the $750. Hevad had just went out in 4th place and we get to see a long 3-handed battle. Hang for an hour or two with some great people who I had never met before face to face but are well known in the poker community such as JoeytheB and gboro (another Giants fan see below). Also meet ShankingYou who had busted me a couple of weeks prior in a $100 deep stacked Stars tournament. He is friends with Jamie the kid who beat Ricky with the A10 hand. It was good people and good times.

The New York Football Giants

My original plan was to play the $1500 on Saturday but after getting some sound advice from gboro I do as he does and skip the $1500 in case I make Day 2 and then have a terrible conflict with the Giants game on Sunday. So staying true to Big Blue as I had all year I play an early morning cash session on Saturday, win another buy in and pack up the car and head home. I don’t need to tell you what a great day Sunday was. OMG OMG OMG. We’re going to the Super Bowl, what a season.

All in all it was a profitable and fun trip. Was poised to make good runs in 2 of the 3 tourneys but it wasn’t meant to be. Was hoping to head back to Borgata this week for the bigger events but am completely swamped at work after being gone all last week so it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Guess its back to the online grind for the time being.

-Doyle-

Snapped the Skid - Tournaments

Last post I mentioned how badly the year had started in both tournaments and cash. Really couldn’t have been much worse as I was 3-51 in tourney cashes with none significant. Things seem to be getting back to normal. I’ve played a couple of sessions since. I took 3rd (1300 runners) in a $10 10-minute donkathon a few nights ago for $1100+. Had the chip lead 4-handed with KK in the BB. Utg shoved with A8 and turned an A ugh……. Winning that pot would’ve given me over 1 million chips with less than 2 million chips in play 3-handed where I would’ve been a heavy favorite to take 1st place.

Even though it wasn’t a huge cash it felt good to get the monkey off my back. Kudos to shaundeeb for expounding the virtues of mixing in some lower level stuff to keep the confidence levels up. It was a nice slump buster. Ironically Shaun mentioned liking this specific event. Shaun let me know where to send your cut.

Next session I played I had a few cashes including final tabling the $50 1R 1A event, lost a flip to go out 9th meh.

Yesterday I sat down at 1PM to partake in the Poker Stars Passport TLB top 1000 promotional freeroll. This was open to the top 1000 TLB finishers for the month of December on Poker Stars. I was in the last tier competing against a field of 500 where only the Final 9 got paid. 1st place was an entry into the Monte Carlo Main Event with cash going to the other 8 spots. I had a top 3-4 stack all tourney long as we headed to crunch time. With about 6 tables left I called a shove in front of me and took a major hit when my JJ lost to 55, ouch. I actually chipped back up into contention and then started to battle the clock. With 4 tables left it was less than a half hour to the start of the Giants game, dammit Stars why of all days did this have to be today? I became overly aggressive (aka stupid) trying to build a monster stack or bust out to watch the game live, which I did when I lost a flip good at the time for 8th place with A7s vs KQ.

Full Tilt Saga Continues

Heading says it all. 1-20 this year cashing over there. Have lost in every disgusting way imaginable. Flopped top set over there at least 7 times this year and lost every single one. Open enders, gutterballs, flush draws, running quads you name it it’s been happening. I can “kind of” accept the bad side of variance but my lack of being a real factor in any tournament on that site has me seriously troubled. Not sure where to go from here, hoping to have an epiphany.

Erased the deficit – Cash Games

After starting the month in a 13 buy in hole I leave the online world to head to Borgata tomorrow almost back to even. I’ve strung together a bunch of successive winning sessions to wipe out the early New Years losses.

The New York Football Giants

Unfreakinbelievable. The Giants are heading to the NFC championship game Sunday night in Green Bay. I’ll be heading back from Borgata on Sunday morning and will have some great radio to listen to on the way home to get even more pumped up for the game. What a season!

Hope I see some of you guys at Borgata.

-Doyle-

Reservations are set and I’ll be heading to Borgata next Tuesday morning with a return home Sunday to hopefully watch the Giants in the NFC Championship game (one can dream right?). Not yet sure if I’ll be able to make it back for the 2nd week of the WPT events, one step at a time.

This should be another fun trip. My best friend who also happens to be my long time business partner is planning to arrive on Wednesday night and stay thru the weekend. In addition, a couple of other friends from the old home game I hosted will also be there during the week. I’m really looking forward to the trip.

Borgata runs a great tournament from top to bottom. I’ll likely skip the $300 event (donkfest) on Tuesday and get settled in. The rest of the week there will be a $500, $750, $1000 and a $1500. I’m currently wrestling with where to spend my time while I’m not in a tournament. The cash games should be hopping but when the WPT is in town it is about the only time of year that the single table tournaments are worth playing because they actually fill up fairly quickly. I despise waiting around. I guess I’ll just see where my mood takes me.

Online Update

Last year wrapped nicely with a couple of solid finishes in $50 (4th) and $100 (chop) freeze outs on Stars. My late year cashes were worth about 10K for my final week of play in 07. December was another solid month at the cash tables too. I netted approximately 18 buy ins.

Unfortunately 2008 is not off to a good statistical start. I’m stuck 7 buy ins at the cash tables. A few days ago it was double that, I’ve since cut that number in half.

I’m also mired in a MTT slump. It’s really no big deal even though it never feels good while you’re going through it. I long ago learned to look at the big picture and accept the variance that accompanies this game which we choose to play. If anything I’ve been reading and studying more and have no doubt that I’ll break out soon enough.

About the only positive thing I can say is that on the last day I played tournaments I finished 12th in a $120 Knockout on Full Tilt. The way things have been going on that site 12th place felt equivalent to winning a bracelet lol. It’s so important to my overall online expectations that I find success on that site. I can only hope that the tide will soon turn.

Not sure if I’ll update again before I leave for Borgata but will try to do so from the road if I can. xxrod17xx post a note telling me where you’ll be dealing at Borgata and I’ll try to find you and say hello. Best of luck at the tables guys.

-Doyle-

I’ve been back from AC for a couple of weeks and have finally gotten back into the online groove. Here’s a quick summary of what’s been happening.

Cash Games

First off it’s totally weird going from live $5/$10 & $10/$20 NL to online $1/$2 NL and vice versa. I’m pretty disciplined when it comes to managing myself when it comes to poker. For the foreseeable future I’ll remain at $1/$2 until I’m dead certain that I’m a solid winner in this game. I do feel like I’ve made serious strides towards that over the past couple of months and again I have to think that writing this blog and taking poker more seriously in my life are in a large part responsible. Since I’m back home I’m about break even but there’s quite a caveat to that. I detoured to Full Tilt and had a disastrous 2 days at the cash tables about a week ago, dropping about 8 buy ins. So much for that experiment. On Stars I’ve been solidly grinding profits. For the month I sit at around + 12 buy ins.

Tournaments

In the past week since I’ve gotten back into the groove I’ve been experimenting with a few things. One major thing is that I’ve begun to play as many as 8 tables at a time as compared to my usual 3-4. It takes some getting used to but I’m really trying to nail this because I know it will open up a lot more opportunity for me in the online tournament universe.

I’ve had a couple of nice results this week. In addition to the usual frustrating deep runs only to finish at the final 2 or 3 tables; I took 4th place in a Stars $55 with nearly 1000 runners and I also chopped up a Stars $109 making for a nice month of December.

I’ll probably try to get one more tournament session in before the end of the year.

I’m not quite ready to venture into a lengthy discussion about my results on Stars vs. Full Tilt but it may be a topic I have no choice but to delve into in the near future. Thus far I’m sucking big time wind on Full Tilt. I just haven’t been able to get over the hump. I’m a pretty stubborn SOB when I want to be and by no means am I ready to throw in the towel over there but the kicks in the balls I receive at Full Tilt are starting to become discouraging. I will have to review this topic in the 1st quarter of the New Year.

If I don’t update again before the end of the year I want to wish everybody a Happy and Healthy.

-Doyle-

WSOP Circuit Event

After a long and successful cash day on Tuesday I woke up early Wednesday morning feeling good. After a quick detour down the corridor to Starbucks I headed to the Poker Room where I joined a $10/$20 NL game. My session was rather uneventful. After some room service and a shower I headed over to Harrah’s for WSOP Circuit event #5.

My goal for the day was just to play my best in every situation. The whole reason for the trip was to sharpen up my live game before Borgata’s WPT series next month so this was going to be my last shot at doing so.

My first table was pretty tight and for the most part lacked action. Fortunately we were the first table in the room to break. I headed to my second table down a few hundred chips from the 5000 we started with. We were on the back half of the hour long 1st level. Table 2 had a broad range of players, several who I recognized and knew to be very good players. Regrettably they were all to my direct left which really made things challenging. There were plenty of fireworks at the table but I remained on the sidelines until we were well into level 2 when I pulled a squeeze from the SB to recapture all the chips I had bled away to that point. The first hand of any consequence I played was from the BB in level 3 at the 100/200 25a level. An early position raise came in for 600 followed by a call from a pretty solid player in late position. I looked down to find 88 and decided to take a flop. The board came 6 high and I checked wanting to gauge the action behind before deciding how to proceed. To my surprise it checked around. The turn card was a 9 and I fired out 1400 which took down the pot.

After another lap around of inactivity, being completely card dead and having trouble finding any real good spots I picked up AKs utg at 200/400 50a. I opened for 1100 and it folded around to a young guy who moved in for @ 3000 from the SB. I obviously called and was unfortunately up against KK and lost which took me down to 2200 with the privilege of posting the blinds the next 2 hands. After a raise and call I had to muck my 83o in the BB but found a good spot with the SB to pick up some chips. With 2 limpers I moved in from the SB on the next hand. My table image picked up the pot and bought me a little breathing room, though I was still on fumes.

A few hands later the same young kid open raised and I shoved w AQ. He agonized for a while before calling me with KQ. I doubled and was back in business, albeit still chip challenged. I raised and stole the blinds on the very next hand then continued to chip up slowly but surely over the next hour. With my stack in the low teens a short stack of 4500ish open shoved from the cut off. I found 10 10 in the SB and re-shoved to isolate. I was up against JJ. The action flop of 10 9 8 put me in the lead but not out of the woods. The 8 on the turn made the 7 on the river irrelevant and I finally had a little room to maneuver. This was one of only two suck outs I had the entire tournament. The next one was colossal, stay tuned.

Things were pretty uneventful for a while as I unfortunately bled some chips away. This was a recurring theme, every time I built up I became more active which always resulted in a net loss. I stole plenty but got re-stolen from plenty too. I busted a couple of short stacks along the way but headed to my next table with only about 13000. I decided I needed to establish myself right away at the new table and get healthy or go home. There were 6 tables left with 36 getting paid. It was approaching bubble time. I was utg+2 and the big blind had a stack of less than 20K which was perfect to challenge. We were also a minute from the dinner break. On my 1st hand at my new table it folded to me utg+2 and I looked at one card and saw a K. That was good enough for me to shove in a sizable raise which won the blinds right before we went to dinner (I looked at the other before handing them back to the dealer and of course it was another K - could've used a call there). The 1st hand after the dinner break with my stack at 17,000 I found 66 utg+1 and I jammed. I was snap called by utg+2 who I had covered by a smidge. The snap call obviously had me worried. Everybody folded and I sheepishly flipped my 6’s over and delightfully saw I was up against 33, wow. I held and was now sitting on 30,000+. The very next hand I open raised utg w 66 yet again and had to fold when I got re popped by an older gentleman, nuff said. After the blinds passed me I tried to steal from the button but got re popped again. This was already becoming annoying but it did look like I was a maniac raising almost every hand since I sat down.

Soon after with somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 chips a key hand occurs. I’m in early position and again I raise it up, this time from 1200 to 3000 holding AQo. A player a few seats to me left who had lost a major pot on the last hand moves all in for 35,000. I’m thinking wow that’s a pretty big raise, why so much? It folds back to me and I’m concerned that my table image is suffering because I’ve been moved off a lot of my raises at this new table. A crazy image is OK but weak crazy isn’t. I’m seriously puzzled by his over shove and I ask him if he wants a call. He tells me he doesn’t care, hmmm. Being that we’re heads up I then ask the dealer if I can turn my cards face up. She assures me that I can. I flip my AQ face up and try to gauge a reaction. Villain then yells out for the floor trying to have my hand declared dead. The floor rules that what I’ve done is legal. So I have to figure out if villain’s reaction was an act or did he really want my hand declared dead? I think for a while longer and the only feeling I really get is that I’m up against a pair. Based on his body language and bet size I put him on a range of JJ-88. I finally decide to call for many reasons including metagame. If I win the hand I’m going to be healthy and it will also signal to the table to stop re-raising me because I’ll gamble. I called and villain slams down KK, oops. I can’t explain it but even after seeing his cards I still felt I was going to win this hand. The flop and turn bricked out but the Ace on the river took me north of 60,000.

The rest of the tournament was pretty frustrating. I continued to stay aggressive and I picked up a bunch of blinds but didn’t win many big hands. So up and down I went. 60,000+ was my continual high water mark. I floated between 60K and 40K up and down. We made the money after a lengthy hand for hand and then found a much needed break. It was after 10PM and I was a bit tired, this being the final day of my first live trip in 6 months. I have to also remember that I was up too early again and I started playing $10/$20 NL at like 7:00 AM at Borgata. Harrah’s WSOP Circuit plan is to play until either the final table is reached or 2:00 AM whichever comes first.

The big problem when we were finally in the money was that the eventual winner of the tournament got moved 2 seats to my left when we redrew at 3 tables. I think he was playing in his 1st live tournament. I had kept my eye on him throughout the day at the table next to me and saw that although he was the perfect gentleman he was also the world’s biggest calling station. He came to the table with a mountain of chips. Every time I picked up a big Ace and raised it up I got flat called by him and bricked. He was calling me with seemingly any 2 and he always hit a pair, it was absolutely insane. No matter how I played post flop I couldn’t move him off of his made hand. I think I won only one hand against him. At the final 3 tables he put in an early position raise to my BB. It folded to me and I had 76o and defended. The flop came 965 and I check raised his continuation bet all in figuring I likely had a bunch of clean outs if I was called. He folded.

We redrew again at 2 tables and as fate would have it my nemesis was on my direct left, meh. I did all I could to try to build a stack as we approached the final table but kept hitting a brick wall, literally. He had so many chips. He just kept eliminating players one after another with his rag hands, so sick. We were now 5 handed and I had dipped below the 40K mark for the 1st time in hours. Said villain open raises utg to my BB. I have A2s and just have to be best here. I shove em’ in and he calls with Q10o. The board comes K93 9 J nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo he hits the gutter ball and I’m on the rail at precisely 1:58AM out in 11th place. GG me.

In retrospect if I could have connected just once here or there against said villain while in the money I would’ve been paid off and in my mind I would’ve had a serious shot at the ring. Even winning that last hand should’ve put me in the mix but what can you do. I think all things considered I lost as little as possible in all of those confrontations with him while winning most of my hands against everybody else which ultimately kept me alive. I didn’t tilt, though I was very frustrated and I definitely achieved my goal of playing my best after not having done so in the prior event I played.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten plenty from the long 14 hour day but I did my best to remember with it having ended over a week ago already. Unfortunately I didn't take any notes. I hope you guys enjoyed the read. I know I had a good time finally holding real cards in my hand instead of a mouse after too long of a break. Can't wait for Borgata in January.


-Doyle-