It was a sluggish start online in the New Year for both cash and tournaments. The Borgata excursion mid month proved lucrative thanks to my success at the $5/$10 cash tables.

Cash Games

Ended the month positive just shy of 5 buy ins. I played cash on 21 of January’s 31 days, a slow month for me. Ironically my hand volume was its highest ever. This is obviously attributable to added tables and at times, multiple daily sessions. I also attained Platinum status on Stars which was another minor goal I had set for myself after being a very casual Gold level player seemingly forever. 5 days into the New Year I was in a 12 buy in hole so pulling out a positive month feels just fine. I also mistakenly played a session of $2/$4 this month. Somehow I misread the lobby and next thing I knew I was playing 3 tables of $2/$4, lol. The session went fine, I profited about ¾ of a buy in.

Tournaments

Meh. The New Year started terribly, 3-51 to be exact with none of the 3 cashes being meaningful. At months end things had improved some, on Stars that is. Full Tilt continued to chew me up and spit me out. It’s officially gotten in my head and I’m on an official Full Tilt hiatus for the time being.

Since leaving for Borgata mid month I only played 2 tournament sessions. They both went really well flow wise. I found myself in some nice spots that didn’t fully pan out. The late night tournaments (9PM and later) can be tough for me to play because I’m usually up early for work and such. During one of last weeks’ sessions I played the 100K Stuper and $20R, both 9PM starts. I’ve maybe played these half a dozen times each in my online career. I cashed in both that night, first time for me in the Stuper. At one point while in the money I had a top 10 stack in both events, then for the next few hours I barely found a playable hand, eventually busting at the final few tables. A profitable but obviously disappointing night.

Let’s hope February starts better than January did. Can’t wait for the Super Bowl. Have to cherish these rare moments, they don’t occur often enough in your lifetime. Go Big Blue!

And to finish this monthly recap, either I’m blind as a bat or xxRod17xx is pulling a fast one on us. Does he really work at Borgata? I couldn’t find him, lol. Maybe next time.

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-