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Borgata Poker Open

Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Today is the first day of the Borgata Poker Open. I guess the East Coasters that didn't make out to Vegas are going to be playing in these events. I am going to play in the 7-card stud tourney on Wednesday. This is my first big tournament and I am looking forward to it.

I don't know how many people are going to enter this tournament. Stud isn't what it used to be and not many people play it. However, I know two people playing in it, me and my friend. I am going to try and keep notes throughout the tournament. This is going to be a unique experience for me.

Wish me luck.

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Taj Stabber Will Sentenced to 5 Years

Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Vincente Perez pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter today and will be sentenced to about five years in prision. All over a poker seat. Well, we have an end to this case, here is the news in The Press of Atlantic City.

However, I am sure this isn't going to end what a hole the Taj Mahal is. I haven't been to the room since the incident and, frankly, I have no desire to even go there. The Taj is a dump, and though it has great games when it comes to stuff other than hold 'em, it's not enough for me to want to go there.

I never went to the bathroom by myself. I never went to the bathroom by the parking lot. I am sure people who have been to the Taj know exactly what I am talking about.

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Trump Marina to Be Bought and Renamed

Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Since Trump Marina doesn't have poker, this doesn't really belong here, however, there are many people who find the goings on in Atlantic City interesting, including myself. This article is from The Press of Atlantic City and I am sure it will have more information regarding the sale starting tomorrow.

10 a.m. Update - ATLANTIC CITY (AP) — A New York gambling company is buying Atlantic City’s Trump Marina Hotel Casino for $316 million, and will rename it “Margaritaville,” the companies said Thursday.
Coastal Marina LLC, an affiliate of Coastal Development LLC, is buying the casino from Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump Entertainment is the casino company founded by real estate magnate Donald Trump. After the sale, the company will have two remaining casinos in Atlantic City: The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

“They are buying a wonderful building in a great location,” Trump said in a statement. “It has been an important part of our company with a loyal customer base and a dedicated team.”

Richard T. Fields, chairman of Coastal Marina, said the casino will take on a new identity once the sale closes. No timetable was given.

For more coverage, check for updates here and look in Friday's edition of The Press of Atlantic City.

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PokerTek Press Release

Date: Fri, May 23, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Scouring the Internet, I came across the official press release from PokerTek announcing the wonderful PokerPro machines that are going to be in the Trump Plaza on June 12. They sound awfully excited, I for one can't wait. This will just give me another reason not to go into Trump Plaza to begin with.

I am sure I will eventually check it out and I bet there are plenty of people who enjoy this type of gaming. However, I never play poker on the Internet because I don't like the idea of a computer controlling the outcome of hands. Obviouisly online poker is a huge business, so it doens't bother some people. That's their call and not mine.

However, I can't do it. I tried online poker once (maybe twice) and didn't like it. So, I am sure I will give this a nice go. Then, I will walk over to the Trop for some real poker.

PokerTek Announces Contract for First PokerPro Installation in Atlantic City, New Jersey

MATTHEWS, N.C. — PokerTek, Inc., the industry pioneer and worldwide leader in automated poker tables and related software, announced today that they have signed a contract with Trump Plaza Casino to offer PokerPro(R) for field trial. The 12 table PokerPro poker room at Trump Plaza will open pending final approval by the State of New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and will be the first automated poker room in the state.

Poker is a new gaming addition at Trump Plaza Casino and their 100% PokerPro poker room will be just steps from the Boardwalk.

"The poker room at Trump Plaza is going to be a poker player's paradise," said Jim Rigot, General Manager for Trump Plaza Casino. "In addition to opening with a reduced $3 rake, our state-of-the-art poker room will have competitive game offerings, flat screens throughout, a comfortable lounge with convenient food and beverage offerings and blackjack tables. And when you consider the increased hands per hour and mistake-free play, it becomes an obvious choice for even the most seasoned players."

"We are delighted to enter field trial in New Jersey and are particularly excited to partner with such a prominent operator like Trump Plaza," said Chris Halligan, CEO of PokerTek. "PokerPro is a great game for both operators and players and entering the prestigious Atlantic City market is a significant milestone for our Company."

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Harrah's Bad Beat Jackpot Hit

Date: Thu, May 22, 2008 Live Tournament Women

I know there have been people coming around looking for information on the Harrah's bad beat, well I am here to tell you that the bad beat was hit on Wednesday around 4 p.m.

I don't know exact details, but I don't think it really matters because that means the bad beat is less than 200K. Probably settled in around 35K or so. I guess that just leave Bally's as the only bad beat over 100K.

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More Bad Beat News

Date: Wed, May 21, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Showboat and Caesar's have both hit since the last time I wrote, but Harrahs and Bally's are still going strong.

Harrah's is now pushing 200K. For those that dont know, it's aces full of jacks or better beaten, but you have to have a pocket pair in that situation, the same with quads.

At Bally's, it's quads or better beaten and the whole room gets a slice of the bad beat.

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Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpots

Date: Sat, May 17, 2008 Live Tournament Women

As far as I know, the bad beat jackpots at the Harrah's casinos are all above 100K with the Harrah's being the largest right now. Harrah's is around 180K last I heard.

I haven't been in any of the rooms in about week. Here are my rough estimates on where the bad beats are. If the bad beat is important to you , call each room. Some of the estimates are being conservative.

Harrah's: 180K
Caesars: 105K
Showboat: 123K
Bally's: 105K

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And the Winner Is ...

Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Schuyler Twaddle was crowned winner of the Borgata's deep stack tournament. Here's Bluff Magazine's recap of the tourney. There isn't much play by play, just the final winners posted.

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My Bias Shows Through

Date: Tue, May 6, 2008 Live Tournament Women

When people think about gambling on the East Coast, the first inclination is Atlantic City - at least that's what I think of. Sure, I live near the area, but even when I lived two hours away, I always thought of Atlantic City first before heading to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun (that damn tolls are always a problem).

So, naturally, the East Coast Championships for poker would be in Atlantic City, probably at the Taj Mahal or the Borgata.

Guess what?

It's not. The 2008 East Coast Championships is actually held at the Turning Stone in upstate New York. I am not dogging the place. I have actually been there, but I am just curious as to how they can actually get the naming right to call it the East Coast Championship.

My other problem when it comes to this is that there are only no-limit events. NL deep stack and turbo events as well, but no other type of game. If this is going to be an East Coast Champion crowned, shouldn't it be in more than one type of event.

No limit is king and that is all people want to play these days, but I find it hard to believe that for one day out of the year, a casino isn't going to find a good group of Stud and Omaha players. The Borgata Poker Open is coming up in June and I am pretty excited for the seven-card stud tournament. More so because the people I play with plan on competing in the event. Sounds like easy to me.

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Poker Pro Coming to A.C. - Not a Fan

Date: Mon, May 5, 2008 Live Tournament Women

I am not even going to get into how I am not a fan. Anyone who doesn't know, check out the Mohegan Sun trip report.

Anyway, here is the release I just saw.

GO ALL IN AT THE PLAZA
A FIRST FOR ATLANTIC CITY!
NOW POKER IS A WHOLE NEW DEALBEGINNING FRIDAY, JUNE 13

Awesome. I can't wait.

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About the Borgata Tournament

Date: Mon, May 5, 2008 Live Tournament Women

I had no plans in playing in the Borgata Deep Stack Tournament this weekend, but there are others who did and those who tried to play. As I find posts and blogs about experiences, I will post them in this thread only, so as not to cause to much clutter around the blog.

Here's entry #1: Waiting made this guy lose a spot in the tournament. Showering doesn't pay, apparently, but having an alternate ticket does. This is over at Stoxpoker.com

Entry #2: Buddy Dank also has a little info on the Borgata poker tournament. He also has links to other sites.

Entry #3: Actress Cheryl Hines was in the tournament and busted out early. The Courier Post in N.J. has a story about the Curb Your Enthusiasm star.

Entry #4: Here's a little blurb in Card Player about today's final table.

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Straight to the River

Date: Mon, May 5, 2008 Live Tournament Women


Against my better judgement and my last post, I played poker last night at Harrah's. The bad beat was up to 131K at the time and I had that small, itty, bitty hope that perhaps I would be going home with a couple of grand in my pocket. The worst a few hundred after beating the donkeys.

The result: An empty wallet and me shaking my head.

I am not into recounting bad beat hands unless it's the type that is going to get me paid. I wouldn't really call of them bad beats in the sense that I killed by one- or two-outers.

The frustrating part is playing your best poker, doing everything you are supposed to and still losing because the other person got lucky. I know, if it weren't for luck bad players wouldn't play. But the bad beat only invites gamblers to your game, so when you raise a $25 bet to $100 on a flop where you actually raised pre-flop and still get called by a draw that has just six outs AND IT HITS ... that's the frustrating part. Twice, last night the straight hit on the river and I lost. Both for sizable pots.

I still played it the right way, but annoying nevertheless.

There was no chip throwing this time. I tapped the table, smiled, threw my hair back and cried my way to my car.


Thank goodness for the government and their rebates.


(That's not me in that picture, by the way.)

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The Dangers of a BBJ

Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Last night I was at Harrah's and the BBJ was up to $120,000 and if it wasn't hit it today, it is much higher than that. It's so enticing to think about hitting that BBJ, getting about 60K (before taxes) if your aces full of queens loses to four of a kind.

But, really, how often does that happen? I've been playing poker for a little while and have logged a ton of table time. I have never had a royal flush and I have never seen a hand in any casino that would have resulted in winning the bad beat jackpot that is established by Harrah's. I am not saying it's not possible, obviously it happens, but to me the reward just isn't enough of the risk.

The dangers are few when the bad beat gets this high. Suddenly the room is packed with cheap skates, who are only going to call you with hands that can be a bad beat hand. You have to be wary of the 5-7 of diamonds calling your preflop raise. Or a bad pocket pair calling your $100 reraise preflop. That has happened. Playing at the Showboat when the bad beat was pretty high, a guy called with me with pocket 10s after I reraised him to $100. I bet the flop, he mucks and shows his tens and says, "i only called for the bad beat."

Of course, in that situation it worked. But that's not always the story. I have seen Kings get beat by 2-3 suited because the person was calling for the bad beat and flopped two pair. People end up playing out of character and that's not even the least of the problems when it comes to bad beats.

The clientele the bad beat brings is horrible. You would think that Harrah's was located next to the Taj Mahal based on the type of people that show up. There are cheaters, cheapos and people who think they know everything about poker.

My problem is that I enjoy playing at Harrahs and the Showboat, so I don't really want to play in a room that doesn't offer the BBJ, and it has nothing to do with the BBJ. I like the atmosphere, the games and - most of the time - the people that come into the rooms. They are usually pleasant with the occasional wigger.

It's not just the way other people play. Last night, as I played for 20 minutes (I really only sat down for 20 minutes) I played two hands that I normally wouldn't play in hopes of hitting something big. It wasn't for the bad beat, at least I thought so. As I think back, I played 5-7 diamonds and 7-8 hearts, in position and for close to the right odds, but not exactly.

I thought about it and decided last night was not the time to be playing. I shouldn't change my game. Although, sometimes I make a play that is out of character only to change my game up. These two calls were neither of those situations. It was me putting money into the pot and then hoping for the best. There was no reason or logic behind either call.

Bad beats are fun if you hit, but not fun while others are just fishing for the big score.

I won't even get on how cheap the players are that come for the bad beat are toward the dealers. But that's a whole different tirade.

(Sorry if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. I'm working while writing this and not really looking at the screen.)

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Big Upcoming Tournament in the Resort

Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008 Live Tournament Women

Here's a list of the big upcoming tournaments. The special ones, not the daily tournaments in Atlantic City.

Trump Taj Mahal
April 26 (today): 50K Guaranteed. 7:15 pm. $300+$40.

Borgata
May 4-6: $500,000 Guaranteed, deep stack tournament. $2,000+$150
June 9 and on: Borgata Summer Open

Harrahs
May 3: Ron Jaworski Celebrity Poker Tournament.

Bally's
Jun 18: $150,000 Free Roll. You have to play 60 rated hours in the month of May to qualify.
As a side note, the bad beat at Bally's rewards everyone in the room, not just the table of the occurrence.

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