Borgata Poker Open - My Updates...

[Talking Poker]

I'm headed up to the Borgata tomorrow, hoping to win my way into their $10,000 Main Event in a satellite on Thursday. If I don't win a seat, I'll still play in a couple of the smaller tourneys they are having this weekend.

I'll post updates in this thread.

Right now, I have plans to meet up with a number of different friends of mine while I'm in AC, including bdawg and dodoubled from this forum. Aeq is a maybe. Penguinfan and Zybomb - what are your statuses?

[Zybomb]

I'll know more tomorrow night

I SHOULD likely be there for at least 1 night though

[Dodoubled]

I'll be down tomorrow night around 10 p.m. TP has my cell, and I'll gladly PM it to anyone who wants it.

[Reel Deal]

Safe travels and have fun TP. Looking forward to the updates.

[omahilo]

yeah good luck man... hope you have a great run at Borgata.

[Dodoubled]

Just got back from A.C. I'm pretty dead tired right now, but I'll post an update later today -- unless TP beats me to it. We played a sit-and-go with Steve Dannenman. More details later.

[Talking Poker]

I have a lot to post already, but don't have time right now. So more details later.

The super satellites aren't so super, IMO, so I'm probably going to just play a few $500 SNGs today and then the $1000 super at 7 PM - that will be my one real shot to get into the Main Event.

So far, I've enjoyed hanging out with two of my PA friends and Dodoubled - I'm going to meet 2 other old friends in about 5 minutes. Hung out wiht Steve Dannemann for a bit last night (nice guy - I'll let dodoubled tell the story) and chatted with Jenicide (and her mom) for a while. She's pretty cool.... she started with a $50 roll and now plays $200/$400 online and plays in most of the $10k+ WPT Events, etc. That's impressive. She used to be a big time computer hacker / RPG player, and Rob Boyd (Dutch's brother) got her into poker.

Ok, more details on last night later.

[Zybomb]

Well from what I've found out things are looking fair grim about me making an appearance. Im stuck in town on Friday (work situation which didn't work out and I got the shaft) which means Im leaving Saturday afternoon for Philly and only staying there until Sunday Afternoon, so I doubt Im gunna convince everyone to come down to AC for that night

If I do, I'll definately get a hold of you

Looking forward to stories

[bdawg31]

i am going to get down there saturday evening around 6:30ish and stay most of the day Sunday. I thought about staying Sunday night but i might have to work on Monday.

Its everyones chance to see what a walking example of someone getting kicked in the groin by poker the last 7 months after 3 pretty decent years looks like in real life.

[Dodoubled]

So, my one-night experience hanging out with TP and two of his cronies has come to a close. Here's a recap of what happened. (I'm pretty much dead tired, so I apologize in advance for any typos).

I arrived around 11:30 p.m., expecting to see the hero and his mates flinging around Benjamins and schmoozing with the superstars at some high-stakes game. Instead, they were flinging around Washingtons, betting against each other on a quarter-video-poker machine. Right up my alley, I thought. However, their betting rules confused me, so I played alone, perfectly content to gain a $15 return on my $5 investment.

After pumping $10 of that back into the machine and another $2 on drinks, TP and the guys finished their games. Then, TP and I headed upstairs to check out the tail end of the $5,000 tourney (about 22 people were left, first payed $285,000). A number of big-name players were still in the mix, including Scott Fischman, Johnny Bax and Vanessa Rousso. Fischman, however, busted soon afterward. As TP said, we also ran into Jennifer Leigh (Jennicide) and her mom, and had a nice chat with the two of them.

About five minutes after getting upstairs, TP looked at me and said, “Hey, there’s Steve Dannenmann.” TP then told me the story of how he busted the 2005 ME #2 at this year’s WSOP (I think), and we figured it would be the perfect icebreaker to start up a convo.

So that’s what we did. Real nice guy. A bit smug, but not in a disrespectful sort of way. For instance, the first question I asked him was one that I figured he’d never been asked:
“Uh, Steve, um, so how has your life changed since last year?”
He said, “Well, what do you think?” TP and I both asked him first if he now had to deal with annoying fans who ask that question, and he smiled. Then TP asked him if he still had his job (which he does, a CPA).

Anyhow, we chatted for a couple of minutes and Dannenmann said something along the lines of “Hey, you guys wanna play something?” And I said, “Yeah, sure. My bankroll isn’t bulging, so all I can really do is the $100 (plus-$20). He said, “That’s fine, go up there and put my name down.”

So I went to the booth and put down MP, GPD and SD. A few minutes later, the table was still looking for one more player. Just then, TP’s friend Mark, the beneficiary of a $120 slot-machine cashout, rolled in. He realized Dannenmann was playing in this lil’ sit-and-go, so he put his name down. He also managed to ask Dannenmann another great question: “Uh, Steve, um, so how has your life changed in the past year?”

Dannenmann looked at me, smiled, and said, “Why don’t you answer that question, Geoff?” I smiled as I turned back toward Mark.

So we sat down a few minutes later. Dannenmann drew the two-spot, TP had the eight, Mark had the nine and I had the 10. Three hands and two folds in, TP (a big table-talker, by the way), commented that he expected this hand to be queens. He looked at his cards and raised (I think to $150) and Dannenmann called. Flop comes out rag-8-rag. I don’t remember all the betting patterns, but all I know is Dannenmann pushed all in on the turn and TP called, flipping up aces. Dannenmann flipped top set and raked, leaving TP with four green chips. TP was gone within seconds, and he soon breezed over to the $500 game. (Some GREAT stories from that table; I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it.)

After Dannenmann’s double-up, the game progressed rather quickly. Blinds went up every 15 minutes, so it really had the feel of a turbo. I built my stack slowly, but efficiently, and got two players all in with AA and AQo. With four players left, I sat third in chip size (about 7,000). With the blinds at 400-800 (100 ante), UTG pushed all-in for his last 2,300. I called with KJo, and Dannenmann called for odds.

Flop came out 10 Q rag, and I pushed all-in (I figured it was a good move, especially considering the blind structure). Dannenmann, who had both of us covered, called and flipped over 10-9. UTG flipped over 10-7. Turn and river come out 5 5, so I’m gone. More importantly, however, the pot chopped, keeping UTG alive. The board doesn’t pair, and Mark is guaranteed second place. As it was, Mark got screwed, and ended up busting out minutes later, leaving Dannenmann and the other dude still alive. (The other dude, we’ll call him “Proud Mary” because of the fact that he quadrupled up by catching three consecutive rivers), crippled Dannenmann’s stack on the first heads-up hand. (PM pushed with KJs, Dannenmann called with A10o. A J fell on the flop). On the last hand, PM pushed Dannenmann all-in with 33, and Dannenmann called with AK. PM turned a set, and it was over. PM took $700, and Dannenmann took $300. I thanked Dannenmann for hanging out with the bourgeoisie (I didn’t actually use the term, “bourgeoisie”), and that was that.

That said, Mark and I headed over to find TP still alive in the $500 tourney. At the time, he was clinging to dear life, but raked a nice pot with KK when he flopped a set. I’ll let him take over from here …

[Quint]

Sounds like a good time.

...and Happy Birthday, by the way.

[Dodoubled]

Thanks, Quint. I think I'm going to have to get down there more often for some of these big tourneys. It was quite a scene, and we didn't even get to said "scene" until about 1 a.m. on Wednesday night.

[Talking Poker]

I don't have time to go into details, but MY GOD do I have stories for you guys after today.

Long story short:

I'm in the Main Event tomorrow!!!

That's what I'm talking about! I actually didn't play ANY poker until the 7:00 $1000+50 super satellite tonight (I hung out with my friends and played a bunch of silly casino games for most of the day), but I made it. I BARELY made it, but I made it. It was a crazy, crazy night.... I'll go into details later, but a few highlights include being completely card dead for hours, having a tiny stack at the third (?) break and making an awesome comeback after that, getting into two verbal altercations (this is so not me) with other players, nearly (and I do mean NEARLY) bubbling the whole damn satellite, and so on. To give you an idea, we started with 6000 chips, I got as high as 70kish, and ENDED with 9000 chips. Yes, 9000 chips, with 6000/12,000 blinds and a 2000 ante! Holy freaking crap.

But... it's over, and I'm in. The tourney stats at 11 AM (less than 7 hours from now), but I'm planning on arriving late, so I can get some reasonable amount of sleep. We start with 25k chips and blinds of 25/50, so I'm not too worried about missing the first level or two.

Anyway, that's that. More updates later. I'll text RR tomorrow and see if he'll be around to post some updates (in a new thread in the Railbird section this time around). If not, I'll see what I can do.

[Zybomb]

YEA BOY!!! Do it.... Im lookin forward to all the stories

Does this mean you'll be there for longer than Sunday? If so, if I cant make it Saturday I may swing by on Sunday (on the way back from Philly) and stay the night maybe and then leave on Monday (or Tues) or somethin

Lemme know, so I'll bring some extra clothes and cash...

Edit: I guess it depends if you're still in (duh) How many days is this event anyway?

[Dodoubled]

Wow, man, congrats! -- I guess you got those REAL bad beats (i.e. K10 vs. K10) out of your system, eh?

[Quint]

Cardplayer updates

[Aequitas58]

Ty, Quint, for the Cardplayer link. Here's an earlier update:

Big Names In Attendance

Some of the stars on hand for the 2006 Borgata Poker Open include Scott Fischman, Joe Sebok, Clonie Gowen, T.J. Cloutier, John D'Agostino, Antonio Esfandiari, Liz Lieu, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, J.C. Tran, Michael Mizrachi, Robert Mizrachi, Eric Mizrachi, Jean-Robert Bellande, Paul Darden, Cyndy Violette, Hasan Habib, Mark Seif, Amir Vahedi, Sean McCabe, Jennifer Leigh, David Sklansky, Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, Kathy Liebert, Nam Le, Gene Todd, John Juanda, Erick Lindgren, Chip Jett, David Pham, and Tom Franklin

^ That's a tough field. Best of luck TP.

[Reel Deal]

Wow, great satty story! Good luck in the main event TP!!

[Tony Cheval]

No love for our boy at CardPlayer it appears, any other site have a full chip count list?

[Robbie Robb]

That may change soon since it appears that he may very well be sitting near the top of the leaderboard right now. According to that list he would slip into 2nd with his stack. I know that's not accurate of course. (as there's almost 10K between 1st and TP's stack)

[johnp158]

Am I missing something? I don't understand

Edit: Saw the railbird thread.

[omahilo]

You missed TPs name Aeq...

Anyways, GOOD LUCK TP and take this thing down!!!

[Talking Poker]

So yeah, I'm out. I was rolling - and I do mean ROLLING along - until three key hands took me out... It was a combination of bad (in hindsight anyway) play and definitely bad luck.

I'll write up the details later - My friend is insisting we go play some minigolf right now to take my mind off of this. And he's right - kicking his ass and winning myself $1 is EXACTLY what I need right now.

Be back later.

[Talking Poker]

Well, I've had a few hours to cool off about my blowup today, so I guess I'll write about it now.

I showed up about 45 minutes late and had missed 2 orbits of blinds, bringing me down to a paltry 24,850 chips. Oh dear! I folded the first few hands (monsters such as A7 and KJs), and then went pretty card dead. After another 45 minutes, I don't know that I had played a single hand (I think I limped in latr position once or twice with limpers in front of me). It actually got so bad that I raised a couple of times with complete junk, just so when I did finally get a hand, I might get SOME action. Can you imagine how annoying it would be to finally be dealt AA and only pick up the blinds because everyone thinks I'm the tightest player in the room???

Finaly, I got 88 and raised. The button called, as did one of the blinds. The flop came K98 with 2 spades. With the draws out there, I decided to lead right out at the pot, so I did. The button called and the other guy folded. The turn was a blank. I bet again, and this time got raised significantly. The only hand I was worried about was 99, but I thought it was more likely he had a big draw. I decided to just call and reevaluate on the river. The river was.... a 9. So, unless my opponent had quads now, I was confident I had the best hand. I decided to check again and let him bluff at it. He thought for a long time and then came through for me with a large river bet, and I called. He showed 9T, having made what was IMO a terrible value bet on the river. Anyway, this gave my stack a HUGE boost. Suddenly, I as he table chip leader.

I picked up a few pots here and there, and then was dealt AA. I reraised a loose aggressive early poistion player (my future nemesis) and he called. The flop came AKK, and he checked. I said, "I'll slow play this and just check." Sure enough, he fired out at the Q turn for me. I thought for a bit, and just called, hoping he had a King and ideally KQ. The river was a J and he checked. I knew I wasn't going to get any more action, but I bet $5k anyway and he folded. Around here, I was approaching the 45k mark, which was my high for the tourney.

With 100/200/25 blinds/antes and me being card dead again, I raised an early position limper to 825 with 54o from the cut off. My nemesis called, the limper folded, and the flop came 356 rainbow. He checked, I bet 1200, and as I 100% expected, he check raised me to 3200. I was sure I was ahead, but decided to let him bluff at the turn one more time and raise him there. The turn was a Jack and he led out 4000. This is where I made the mistake that cost me the entire tourney. For some reason, even though he only had 13k left to my 32k or so (and with about 13k in the pot), I didn't put him all in. I just called. The river was another 6 and he checked, and like an even bigger moron, I didn't bet AGAIN. I don't know what stopped me, but I just wussd out and checked. He showed J8o. He had nothing on the flop and hit the ridiculous Jack on the turn. I could have taken him off this hand at ANY TIME (on all three streets!), but instead, he scooped the 17k pot and I was down to 33k or so, instead of up to 50k. Ugh.

That really had me mad at myself, but I shook it off. An orbit or two later, the same tard raised from EP when I was in the BB. He made some comment to the SB about wanting him to fold, because he knew he could get lucky against just me. The SB folded, and I look down to see the Kiss of Death. Yes, KK. I told him he'd have to pay to get lucky, and popped his 800 bet to 2425. He instacalled, as I knew he would. The flop came 5x5c3c and I said, "Did you hit that?" He said, "No," so I said, "OK, then I better bet." I bet around 4200 and he called. The turn was the Ac, possibly the worst card in the deck for me, right? Or was it? If he had a flush draw, it wasn't the nut flush draw (making hat less likely), and could he really smooth call me with and unpaired Ace on the flop? Maybe, but not ikely. Also, so far, I've played my hand exactly like I would Aces! So, I decided to check and see what he'd do, just like I would have with Aces. If he bet, I think I would have put him all in. He checked behind me, of course. At this point, I had the last hand going through my head and I glanced at his stack. I figured it to be about 17k, and I had around 23k. There was 14-15k in the pot, which at my incorrect glance, I thought was close to the size of his stack. I thought if I overbet the river, he'd fold, because it would reek of me having Aces......... blah blah blah blah....

The river came a blank, and I pushed in immediately. Keep in mind, I'm not typically a wreckless idiot, and I usually avoid big pots, especially when I don't have a huge hand. I couldn't even beat top pair here, and I pushed in. I guess I just really though he'd have to fold with his entire tourney on the line, but sure enough, he instacalled me.... with............ K5o. Yes, that's right, K5.

Admittedly, I played the hand badly and could have lost a lot less, but come on! How unlucky was it for me to even get in that situation in the first place??? Disgusting. He counted out his chips and has > 20k - ugh - leaving me with 2100 or so. I felt ill.

I pushed in with AQs not much later, right before my table was going to break up, and got two callers. The flop came Qxx - all hearts. One player checked, the other bet, and the first folded 23. 23!!!!!! I figured I was up against at least a big heart, but he flipped over KQ with no hearts and by some miracle, my hand held up and I more than tripled up to 7000+.

Our table broke up the next hand (not cool), and I got moved to the empty seat to the right of tourney chipleader (140k?) E-Fro - Eric Froelisch. Lucky me. We played one hand and then went on break. the first hand back from break - 200/400/50 now - I was dealt JJ and raised the UTG limper to 2300ish (about 1/3 of my stack). He called, and the flop came K55 (where was this flop when I had KK against K5 earlier?). He checked, I followed through with my 4600 or so all in, and naturaly he called.... without a King! Oh, right. QQ. Of course he has QQ. Why wouldn't he? I mean, he played it terribly, so of course that's what he had, and not TT or some other hand I could actually beat.

And then I was out and that was that.

Frustrated, annoyed...... ugh. I REALLY like the structure of this tourney, and I was feeling really good until I donked off al my chips...... Despite not even getting CLOSE to deep in this tourney, this may be the most frustrated I've ever been geting busted out of a tourney.

I've since shaken it off though, and I think Im going to go downstairs and register for the $1000 tomorrow. I have a much better track record with $1000 tourneys anyway.

[Boobie Lover]

Three comments,