Borgata Trip Report

Playing $10-20 at the Borgata last week was crazy. There must have been something in the air or maybe it was a full moon
all week! We played in some of the most agressive $10-20 games ever seen. First we would have 2 chops in a row, then 8
people would see a capped flop! The bad beats were unreal. At my table in 4 hours I saw Aces and Kings cracked at least
10 times. I only saw them hold up, at showdown, once. Don't know who won with them when there was a fold on the river.
I had dreadful results for the week. Had 2 winning sessions and 7 losing ones for the week. My wife fared somewhat
better. She ended up being like 7-6 in her sessions and pulling out a very small win for the week. I ended up winning
money in tournaments for the week. She had no tournaqmnet luck at all not cashing in a single one. This week I will do
a post about a satellite I went deep in. I already wrote about the limit tournament that I placed in the money. I will
do a post about some of the interesting hands and things that came up in the tournament. That's it for today. Good luck
at the tables. Tony

I'm back.

We are back from our Week long trip to the Borgata. I have good and bad news to report about the trip. Here is a teaser from the trip. I came in 13th place in the $560 limit tournament. Won $1325 from this place. Was disappointed being first was $41,000! I will make many posts about this trip this week. Good luck at the tables. Tony

FullTilt Chip Tournaments.

FullTilt has a great system of working your way up to a big tournament buyin. Similar to Party's old Step system.
They call it tiers instead of steps. It works like this you play small SNGs to win $26 tournament chips. You can then
use these to play in a $26 Torunament or play in a SNG for a $75 chip. You can buy in anywhere in the middle of these
levels. I think they start at points, $6.60, $8.80, $26, and end at $75 SNGs. The reason I mention them is I have
been winning a chip a huge percentage of my playing in them. Like %65 of them I have been getting a chip! I like the
18 man 2 table SNG format best. 18 people play a $6.60 SNG, top 4 get a chip and 5th gets money back. I also like the
18 man $8.80 one, top 5 get a chip and 6th gets like $14. Not bad when 1/3 of the field wins. I had great luck with
this system this weekend. I took a $75 chip and won a seat into their $216-$400,000 guarentee tournament on my first
try. I played well and finished around 450 out of 2473 on sunday. Not bad but I will look to improve on my finish in
the next few weeks. Give Fulltilt a try they really have the best interface out there. Also have great stuctures for
there tournaments. Did I mention they have a %100 sign up bonus up to $600! So if you join now and deposit $600 they
give you $600 more for free, not bad. Please give them a try by clicking my links on the top or bottom of the BLOG. I
get an affilite bonus if you do. Good luck at the tables. Thanks so much Tony.

Elks Tournament

Played a $55 No Limit Tournament at a local Elks Club. We had 40 players with 4 spots paid. The people that ran the
tournament did a fine job, eventhough it was there first foray into running a tournament. One problem is that the 2 of
them set up and ran the tournament and they both played in it. Neither of them got very far. Probably being there was
too much to do and play at the same time. Not to mention the conflict of interest they both had when they made a ruling
on a problem! I had a nice run of cards early and build up a nice stack. After 2 hours I became card dead, had to fold
hand after hand. With the blinds at 400-800 I was down to 2500T about 18 left. I needed to get a hand and push in. I
got two 7s and pushed. One person called and I doubled up. I then went on a rush getting some hands and just plain
bullying people off their hands. When we got to the final table I was the chip leader. To make a long story short I
ended up in 3rd place, won $350. Not bad for 4 hours of work/play. They plan on running these once a month. If they
invite me back I will play. My brother and I both had a great time at the Elks. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

Another Online Beating.

Variance reared it's ugly head to me last night Online. I got killed at $3-6 on Fulltilt and $2-4 on PokerStars. The
games on Fulltilt have been great for me lately. Sooner or later I was due for a setback. I just didn't expect to lose
$250 in 1 hour! It happens and I will start my comeback tonight. Don't want to talk about bad beats but I lost with 3
flopped sets in this time period. I had enough when I got trapped with set over set on the flop. Luckily the turn
completed a flush and straight so I didn't lose too much on this cooler. I can't wait to get back at it tonight. Just
want to book a win to get my confidence back. I also played some HORSE on Fulltilt, being it's been so profitable to
me. I got beat up there also. RAZZ, which is my strong game, kept killing me on the river. Oh well we may make a trip
to the Borgata this weekend. I can make $250 back in one pot at $10-20. I am rambling all over today so I should just
get back to work. Good luck at the tables. Tony

Online MTT.

Played a few low limit MTTs this weekend. Had good results but didn't make much money in the process. Played a $4.40
LHE on Stars Saturday night. I have been dying to get some practice in large field LHE Tourns. My wife and I will both
probably play the $550 LHE Tourn at the Borgata in 2 weeks. I did well in this one, finishing in 50 out of 540 players.
(Only won $12 but was playing for the practice.) I played one hand very well to lose the minimum. Under the gun I
raised with 2 Aces. Got 2 callers on a flop of K-10-2.(1 mp and one on the button.) I bet the flop and the MP folded.
Turn brought an offsuit 3. I bet and the button called right away. I knew he was on a draw at this point. I also only
had around 3 BB left. We were very close to the bubble so I didn't want to get busted on this hand. River brought an
Ace which looked like gin for my hand. I checked and he insta-bet. Normally I would raise here being acquiring chips is
more important than squeaking into the money. I called just in case he had A-K for 2 pairs. Of course he had Q-J
for the nuts on the river. If he had shown any agression during the hand I would have been broke on the river. Because
he called me so fast I just read him for the straight on the river. I like the way I played the hand. Feel I lost the
minimum. I would up making the money and having a good chance to finish deep. I had a set run into a flush on the river
to end my chances. If I keep playing well feel I will make a big score again soon in a MTT. That's it for today. Good
Luck at the tables. Tony

Online Sit and Gos.

I have finally turned the corner in Online SNGs on Fulltilt. I just one 3 $11 HORSE sngs in a row. This comes after
many months of frustrating bubbles in these. I seamed to come in 4th in the $11 and $22 ones way too much. I have
altered my strategy to beat these lately. I play super tight until 1 or 2 donkeys getted knocked out. Then when we
get close to the bubble I get agressive to build up chips. While this strategy isn't anything earth breaking it
suddenly started to work for me. I will move back up to the $22 and $33 ones to see how it goes. Lately I have only
been playing in HORSE SNGs. It got so annoyed in the No Limit ones. Tired of pushing with the best hand and getting
sucked out on. 60-40 pushs are just not enough of an advantage. If I could get my 80-20 pushs to hold up that would
even be a big deal. Maybe I will give the NO Limit ones another go. I will try my new strategy in them also. Anyway
enough rambling for one day. Good luck at the tables. Tony
P.S. - Try out the Fulltilt SNGs for yourself. Please click Through my banners at the top of this BLOG. Good Luck.

My big mouth!

My wife and I played in another great $10-20 game at the Borgata this weekend. I played well but got lucky to hit many
flops. Also lucky being I was on the winning side of a few coolers. One hand I got involved in was a total cooler for
my opponent. He was a very good aggressive opponent sitting to my immediate left.(He limped in under the gun.) In the
Big Blind I picked up 4-5 of spades. A middle position player brought it in for a raise. The small blind called and so
did I. The flop came total gin for me A-2-3 rainbow. We both checked and the mp bet. Small blind folded, I called and
under the gun called. Turn brought an offsuit eight. I checked he bet and middle position player folded. Here is where
the hand got interesting for me. I raised and he re-raised. I four bet it and he just called. An offsuit 7 fell on the
turn. I had the obsolute nuts. I bet and he raised. Here is where my big mouth cost me money. I made a comment that
we are probably chopping the pot. At this point I figured he had to have the same hand as me being he was betting like
there is no tomorrow. At this point he showed me his 2 eights for a set and said that he folds. I showed him the nuts
and took down the huge pot. I could not believe that he would fold this huge pot for $20 more? Suppose I was lying and
taking a shot at him. The pot was over $300 and it only cost him $20 to call. The thing is we had been chatting it up
for the last few minutes before this hand. He told me he knew I wouldn't try an angle on him. Of course he was totally
right. I am an honest player who would never pull that garbage on anyone. Being he only played with me for an hour how
would he know that? Moral of the story is always keep betting when you have the nuts. Never assume the other player is
good enough to not keep raising when he is beat. We talked about this hand for awhile. By the way the hand played out
he never put me on a straight. He was convinced I had a lower set then his three 8s. Oh well live and learn. Good
Luck at the tables. May 2007 be very profitable for you. Tony