Time for Some Serious Poker

The 2006 tournament circuit kicks off for me this coming week with the start of the Borgata Winter Classic on Friday, January 20. There are several events leading up to the final event, a $10,000 buy-in tournament to be televised by the World Poker Tour. Friday is a two day No-Limit event and Monday is a two day Limit event. Nothing gets my juices flowing like a little high limit hold em at the Borgata (well, not exactly nothing else, just one of my favorite things). I thought about easing into the year with a little $10/$20 but opted for the higher stakes of the $40/$80 table, known as the "Blue Chip Game". It is held in the high limit room at the Borgata, usually at table 1 in the near corner and it is called the Blue Chip Game because it is the only game where you can use the blue $10 chips that the Borgata introduced last summer. This game has a few regulars and a rotating lineup of new fish and some sharks. Now you don't want to sit at this game with less than $2000 in chips to start and $3000 or more is a better way to go. This is generally the highest limit stakes I will normally play and can be a very tough game to beat. I was doing better than 1 big bet per hour ( the grinder's goal if you want to try to make a living at this) after four hours of playing and took a dinner break. When I came back the game was breaking and I decided to call it quits for the day and head home. The new tower for the Borgata is coming along and I can't wait for the new poker room to open. The current room has 35 tables, but the new room will have 85, even more than the Taj! Plus, Bobby Flay is opening a Mesa Grill in the new section which is another bonus. I feel my mindset is right and my game is sharp so I am hoping to get off to a good start with the upcoming tourney. I'll keep you posted.