Stackin and Rackin at the Borgata

What a sea of people....thousands. I played at a small $250 satellite that occupied just 8 tables, but in the same room, more than 500 people paid $1,000 to win big. Over 40 spots paid with the top spot taking around $167,000. The tournament all took place in the Events section of the Borgata, but once knocked out, familiar poker faces could be seen downstairs in the equally action-packed poker room.

The format was good....5,000 chips, 25 minute levels, low blind start....but still, I played lousy. Sure I never had cards, but for some reason I just couldn't get going. When I did catch a hand (pocket tens), I was facing pocket aces that caught a set right out the door. I hated to leave, not for the obvious reason of absolutely hating to lose, but I really liked the players. They were on the tight side, but would still make the occasional move. I was just starting to get a feel for the playing styles, but the environment was really fun and friendly with lots of joking until someone got a hand which tended to quiet things down. Can't wait to try again, bankroll permitting.

New Borgata Poker Room

Wow, what an awesome new room with 85 tables. Kind of the Venetian (Vegas) meets Commerce (L.A.). The elegance of the Venetian and the scope of the Commerce....very nice combo. Every type and size of game and many recognizable faces. Also many new food options. There's a very complete food court right near the poker room. I had a great Japanese dinner for under $10. I also plan to visit Wolfgang Puck's and Bobby Flay's. Many players have said that Aqua Blue is terrific, but how much can one eat!!

Had some good luck at a quick cash game where I more than doubled my money in less than an hour. I hated to leave, but tired from traveling today and want to be fresh for a tourney tomorrow. The tournament room right now is upstairs where the meeting rooms are. It's almost overwhelming....three big tourneys going on at once. Lots of action, and very nicely run. The Borgata Open is just heating up culminating in the main event next week which is part of the WPT Circuit. Hopefully I'll be playing.

Final Table Practice

Before heading out to the Borgata Open, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to play a cheap ($45) multi-table (17 tables) at Dania Jai-Alai located in South Florida. Dania is close to the Fort Lauderdale airport and near the beach.

First a word about the venue: it's surprisingly nice. When I first went there a few years ago, I expected a more low-end experience based on some memories of the fronton, but the room is tasteful with a nice small bar and a pool table and plenty of flat-panels to watch various sports action. I do think the floor staff could be friendlier. I've been going there for at least two years and they still don't know my name. However, the cage teller and the dealers make up for it. Also, I wonder why there are so many rules I haven't noticed elsewhere. For example, no headphones and no non-players can "linger" around the tables. I like places like the Borgata and the Venetian where there's a sort of family party atmosphere and I wish there was a little bit of that at Dania since it's my closest card room.

Anyway, back to the tournament. It was a crazy format: 10 minute rounds, 3,000 chips, blinds start at 100/200....so no time to wait for aces (not that I would, but it's pretty fast). I got very lucky early when my pocket queens caught a third lady on the flop, and built my stack from there. Was very surprised to look around in what seemed like just an hour or so, and see that we were down to 4 tables. Then in virtually no time, we were down to the final table with only 9 players since two players were knocked out at once on the bubble.

The original format was winner takes most of the money....like around $4,000 and the remaining 8 basically get their money back. After a little discussing with the floor, it was decided that 7 would take $150 and the last two standing would split the pot. Just seconds after that, I was the first to go. My pocket nines ran into pocket tens. I would have played differently if the structure was different, but moving up a slot wasn't going to help much and the blinds were 5,000/10,000 and with 1,000 antes. My stack of just 18,000 didn't leave much room for anything fancy.

I'm glad I played because it's really valuable to get experience playing the bubble, then playing the the final table, and very few of us get much of those opportunities.

Two things I would like to hear from you on: how do you tip, and do you think that the bigger stacks at the final table should get a bigger cut....or is a chop a chop?

Off to the Borgata tomorrow.