Borgata Summer Open

Last week I made it to AC twice to play in preliminary events of the Borgata Summer Open. On Tuesday I headed down to play in a new tournament format called "Survivor". Typically in tournaments players compete until there is a final table of nine and continue to play until one player is victorious and holds all the chips. With this format they simply take the number of entries and divide by ten. When they reach that number of players the tournament ends and the remaining players split the prize pool equally, with a smaller payout going to an additional player in the case of an odd number of starting players. For this event we started with 150 players so once we reached 15 players the tournament would end and all remaining players would split the pot. I played a little tight for my own good, but I will blame it on being a little rusty playing the tourneys.
I never was able to build much of a chip stack and was knocked out with about 40 players left. It was till good to be back at the tables for this event and I was looking forward to the next event where I promised myself I would play alot more aggressively.
Thursday I returned for a regular format No Limit event. We started with 200 players at 20 tables with $6000 chip stacks. This time I stuck to my promise and once I got a feel for the other players at the table I started to build my stack. About 4 hours in to the event I had built my stack up to about $26k and was feeling good about my play. We were down to 5 tables, but they weren't all full so again there was about 40 players left. This time there would be cash prizes for the final 27 players with the biggest share going to first place, of course.
I got myself involved involved in a hand that in retrospect I should have been able to get away from, but I guess I will blame it on the Captain and Ginger's I had been drinking for the past 4 hours. The player to my right had raised before the flop to $5k and I had called with a pocket pair of sixes. The player to my left then moved all-in for about $28k. The original raiser finally folded after a few minutes of deliberation and I went into the tank for this decision. I knew we were close to the money (I needed to outlast about 12 more players at this point), but I also knew I would need more chips to make a run at the final table. After alot of thought I hoped the player had two big cards (like Ace-King) but no pair and I shoved my chips into the pot, as well. Unfortunately he turned over pocket Kings and I was suddenly a 4-1 dog to survive the hand.
Unlike an earlier hand in the tournament where I held pocket sixes and made quads on the river, no help came to me and I was walking. Aside from the final hand I was very happy with my play and I am looking forward to then next events this week. I have a feeling my name will be appearing in the tournament final results again very soon.

Here's my chip stack near its peak that night. Orange are $1k, purple $500, black $100 and greens are $25:

Back in AC

On Thursday, Lauren and I returned to Atlantic City for a stay at the Borgata. We checked into our suite early and I hit the poker room. I sat in a juicy No Limit game and realized after about 30 minutes that this was going to be a tough table to make money with. The players were very aggressive and deep stacked, so I felt a little intimidated even with the max buy-in for the table. I struggled for almost an hour and got stuck for a little early on when my bets faced big raises and my hand had not improved.
Finally, a key hand came up. An early player had made it $25 to go and with four other players in the pot before the flop, I was getting the odds to call with my suited Ace-Jack of clubs from the big blind. The flop brought me another beautiful ace, but since I was first to act with four players behind me, I was a little unsure of how much that may have even helped me. I checked and let the other players bet for me. Two did and I called a $60 bet. The turn card was no further help and I checked again. This time the bet was $75 and I made the call and was heads up with a player to my right. He was a young Asian kid and played very aggressively. The king on the turn was a little scary for me and when he bet another $225 I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I looked at him for a sign of anything but my gut was telling me he didn't have an ace, he had a big pair but not an ace. I weighed the odds that he may have had Kings, but that didn't seem right either. I put him on either Queens or Jacks. I took a deep breath and made the call. He threw his cards into the muck and said, "you're good". I showed my hand to collect the nearly $900 pot. He told me he had pocket tens which sounded about right, too. I received some congratulatory comments on the great call from the others at the table and began to stack my new pile of chips.
The very next hand I made a full house to win another large pot and then called it quits for the day after about an hour and a half of play.
Lauren and I got something to eat and then we hit the pool for a little relaxation.
We had a margarita and checked out the band at Gypsy Bar before dinner. The steaks at Bobby Flay's were awesome, even forcing me to consider whether the Old Homestead is still my favorite steakhouse in AC! The lobster & oyster shooters were amazing, too!
Lauren and I played a little blackjack and walked away with a small win. We also hit a crap table where she got to roll the dice for the very first time. She did well and made her first point. We booked a small win there and headed over to check out the new Water Club next door. The Sunroom bar off the lobby is awesome with a waterfall wall and skylights the length of the room. The drink menu looked so good and made it very hard to choose and they even put out little plates of Marcona almonds. Very classy! They are only making 100 rooms available right now, but Lauren and I will be back next Thursday for a stay in the new tower. I'll be sure to snap some picks to post here.
The pics below are from my camera phone looking out the window of our suite on the 42nd floor towards the new tower and the Trump Marina, which Jimmy Buffet bought last week and will be transforming into a Margaritaville Casino!