It’s been a long time since I’ve done a TR, so please be kind.
First and foremost, a big thank you to the Borg for hosting us and to the great dealers and floor personnel. They were excellent! And the biggest hugs of all to our Goldie!! Thank you for getting us together again. You r00l!!
Ok, first the non-poker stuff.
Drove down Wednesday from home in York, PA. Had a nice phone chat along the way with my son, who told me he will be applying for Social Security in August! Yikes!
Thursday
Saw a news blip that the cannabis store in Atlantic City is transitioning to recreational marijuana today. Hmmmmm.
Went to Goldie’s cocktail party — thanks Goldie! I really enjoyed it.
After the party, a bunch of us went to Cafe Vola for dinner. I had read so much about how great this place is that I asked Goldie to please include me this year.
I must say that Cafe Vola lived up to the hype. Everything was excellent. Our server told us that the portions were “generous” so Uncle Al and I decided to share. Salad was ordered for the table; it was excellent! Uncle Al and I shared crab cakes (exceptional!), angel hair pasta with bolognese sauce (yummmm) and butterscotch ricotta cheesecake for dessert (delish!).
The person on my right asked if he could try a bite of my crab cake. I told him I’d trade him for a taste of his veal cutlet parmesan. Omg! It was the best veal I have ever tasted! I know what I’m going to order next year.
Excellent food and great company. What could be better?
Friday
TOC tourney (limit HE, stud high, O8) started at 10:00. Early start was to accommodate the Borg’s big weekly tournament that starts at noon.
I have to say that this was the worst structure I have ever encountered at an rge event. 10k to start, 150/300, blinds/levels doubled (?) every hour! Please correct me if this is wrong. Whatever, it was wayyy too fast, felt like a turbo. I didn’t last very long. Turbo is not my style.
When I asked Goldie about it later, he said that someone who has done structures for us before created this one. Because that person had always done a great job, Goldie ok’d it without checking it carefully. Perfectly understandable. But he assured me that it won’t happen again.
Played some VP, won back my tourney buy-in. Used some of my comps at the food court to take stuff back to my condo.
Played a 10X free play promo at Hard Rock, which started at 8:00. Broke even and, with the promo, earned $120 FP.
Saturday
NLHE tournament. Kluchman (not the better half) on my left.
David gets short-stacked, starts shoving a lot. Stay out of his way.
Crucial hand: I’m in BB with a very nice stack. Klutchman shoves UTG. I look down and see KK. Ding ding ding! Bwana in the SB flats. I shove to push him out and isolate David. Surprise! Scott also shoves. Well, we can all see where this is going, right? Klutchman shows A10, Scott AA (aaarrgghh!!). No K on board. Now I’m hurting.
I manage to survive for a while, getting desperate. I always remember Tom McAvoy writing, “You have to be willing to die in order to live.” I shoved on the flop with a flush draw. Called by a flopped set! Yikes! Flush came on the turn, no pair on the river. I’m alive!
Still short, I shove first in, in late position (button?). Called by, IIRC, 2 big overcards (duh!). Deuce on the flop, set holds up! I’m so excited, I pick up the deuces and kiss one of them! Someone says, “You know you have to burn that card now. Remember Covid?” Oops!
Moved to another table, dead seat. Dying slowly, chip by chip. Moved again. Deck hits me! Moved back to previous table with a big stack! Lots of “oohs.” Best. Table. Change. Evah!!!
Skip to final 3: Dean, Chris (the better Klutchman) and me. Chris has been playing her short stack like a pro. She’s amazing! Dean has the biggest stack but I’m right behind him.
I’m on the button with AK and raise. Dean shoves, Chris folds and I insta-call, of course. Well, here we go again. AA. Nooooo!! K on the flop but that’s all she wrote. IGHN.
Dean has a massive chip advantage and eventually takes Chris out. Congrats to both of them. Well played!!!
Considering how short I was after that KK vs AA disaster, I’m happy with how I finished. Now if I can only find a way to avoid that damned AA!
Blew off steam playing VP. Broke even. Used my free play to take $38 from penny slots. Score!
Back to condo. Chef Vola leftovers for linner (lunch/dinner). Mmmmm.
Sunday
PLO (high) with lammers.
First let me say that I have never played pot limit anything up until my recent New Orleans trip. I finally managed to get onto PS.net, which I was unable to do in other states. I have been playing the barge_test home games, so at least I’ve gotten a chance to get a feel for the game.
If this had been O8, I would have killed it! I have never seen so many A+ three cards under 7 in my life!! Actually won a hand when a few limped to me in the BB and I flopped a wheel. I insta-potted all-in and, of course, everyone knew what I had and ran.
Goldie has been killing it! His 8899 type hands have been flopping sets right and left against much higher pairs.
I made a really bad call against (damn! can’t remember her name! Sorry!). Her obvious overpair really hurt me. Totally a bone-headed move on my part.
I finally go all-in with AKQJ; don’t remember if the A was s00ted. Ran into — who else — Goldie. His 77 flopped a set (who rigged this game?). No help for me. IGHN.
Didn’t play as well as I had hoped to. Not too bad for my first live experience, especially considering the crap I was dealt. Of course, I put myself in a bad position with that awful call.
Played VP for about an hour, broke even. 4X slot cash multiplier, so came out ahead overall. Won a few bucks on the penny slots using my free play.
Had dinner at the buffet with a couple of non-poker friends (yes, I actually have a few of those).
Well, that’s it. It was sooooo great seeing so many good friends — and the rest of you. Looking forward to next year. Hope to have more PLO experience (and much better hole cards) by then.
Love you all!!!
Llew