Trip Report by TIGER123 **introduction and disclaimers** this last weekend, many of us rgp'ers participated in the "atlarge" (atlantic rec.gambling excursion) at resorts casino in atlantic city. this report will be one of several posted here, and all i can do is give you some of my own recollections and impressions. since i went to atlarge to have a good time, rather than to research this report, i wasn't walking around with a notebook, and some items will be a bit sketchy. since i've never covered a poker tournament before, i was a little bit unprepared to get down all the information in the no-limit hold 'em tournament. and since i got lucky and made it to the final table in the stud tournament, the notes for that part of this report were made by another rgp'er. many thanks to frank irwin and jeff woods for their assistance in recording the hands at the final tables. oh, yeah. did i say how much fun i had this weekend? friday: mitch firestone (identified herein as "mitchf") and i have made arrangements to take the 9:30 bus from the port authority to resorts casino. barry paul (who's coming in from long island) has been advised to look for my white baseball cap with the red "qb1"! sure enough, he sees us! :) we arrive at resorts around noon, and try to check in to our room. however, we can't check in until 2:00 pm, even though a prominent sign in the lobby proclaims that check in begins at 4:00 pm! :) well, it's time for the buffet luncheon, anyhow! we go upstairs to the buffet, and i see bruce kramer standing in line with several people. i'd sent bruce a bootleg copy of the wsop poker game installation disk last week, and i was eager to see how he liked the game! however, bruce starts telling me (in front of all my fellow computer nerds!) that the disk i sent him had a virus..... c'mon, bruce! i may violate copyright laws, but i'm not gonna give a friend a computer virus! hehehehehehe.... we find jazbo and other members of atlarge seated at several tables in the corner of the room. jazbo is handing out our name tags, and it's lots of fun to introduce ourselves and match screennames and faces! i seem to recall that i laughed an awful lot during lunch, which was certainly a portent of things to come! :) after lunch, mitchf and i check in. our room is in the north tower, on the fourth floor, exactly two minutes away from the front desk in the poker room! we unpack, wash up, and proceed to the poker room, ready to kick butt! within minutes, we're both called for our respective games (i play 5/10/15 stud; mitchf plays 1-5 stud), and the weekend officially begins! there are about 50 atlargers participating in the weekend, and we're all wearing our nametags. russell rosenblum sits down at my stud table, killing time before the regular friday afternoon limit hold 'em tournament. when the tournament is called, the various other ring games are consolidated. atlarge has lots of people in the tournament, and we even place several people at the final table. brendan...@aol.com (who has just started to post here), who didn't know about atlarge, is at the final table, as well as jay sipelstein and somebody else (peter secor?). brenda is knocked out, our other member places fourth, and sippy (who had been down to a single chip) places second! wtg atlarge! meanwhile, i'm getting stomped! i'm down $300 by 6:00 pm, and stand up; there must be another game somewhere.....i walk across the street to the taj mahal, and get seated in a new 5/10 stud game. it doesn't take me very long to drop another $200, and after greeting a bunch of people i know, i return to resorts. another 5/10/15 stud game, and i'm down another $200.....hey! what's going on here?? i request a table change, and get seated at a table which includes jims, k-man, frank irwin, and one or two other atlargers. i buy-in for my last $200, and finally start on the road to recovery. by midnight, i've got a monster stack of chips, and i'm down (net) less than $200. if you play 5/10/15, resorts will give you a $5 credit for meals (the taj mahal weekend comp policy is significantly less), and i order a turkey sandwich on rye; jims also orders a sandwich. our meals arrive at the table, but when jims takes a bite out of his cherry tomato, the pulp of the tomato goes flying across the table, showering the chips and cards with tomato juice! rofl! perhaps eating at the table isn't such a good idea, after all......mitchf taps me on the shoulder at about 1:00 am, and we decide to call it a day. as we share a scotch in the room, we agree that the atlargers are a very nice group of people! friday night, several atlargers participated in a "target" satellite, which will sponsor one member to a satellite at the world series of poker next month at binion's. jerry gerner (whom i believe was the host) won the satellite. wtg jerry! saturday: jazbo had previously asked me (the only atlarger he actually had met who was not playing hold 'em) to keep track of the order of finish of the no-limit hold 'em tournament, for the purpose of determining the overall champion. i was quite delighted to do so, since it gave me the opportunity to actually meet each and every player as they busted out.....okokokok, i certainly could have met them under nicer circumstances, but..... the tournament gets started within ten or fifteen minutes of schedule. there actually was an all-in pot on the very first hand! but it was chopped as two players flopped the nut straight. twelve minutes later, harris blum won a resorts baseball cap as the first to be knocked out. meanwhile, there are two players who haven't yet shown up for the tournament! in accordance with standard tournament rules, their stack is dealt a hand each time, and the necessary blinds are removed from their stacks as required. the two missing players are peter secor and david trinidad. jazbo tells me that david is supposed to be driving down today, and that peter is staying at the hotel. the following ensues: "hi. could you ring mr. peter secor for me? he's staying here at the hotel, but i don't know his room number. "::::ring! ring! ring!:::: "uh...hullo?" "hiya! peter? this is tiger123!" "uh....hi." "peter? you're in the hold 'em tournament, right?" "uh....yeah." "well, we've already started! better get down here.....*now*!!" :::::click!::::: it turns out that, even though peter was still in his room, he had actually won a hand!! as the big blind, chips were taken from his stack, and he was dealt a hand. nobody opened, and the little blind didn't even call..... or, more obviously, raise! ***note - resorts cardroom staff advises me that, if the little blind had called, the little blind would automatically have won the showdown; no one is permitted to act for an absent player, and turning over the hand to show cards is considered an act.*** peter soon arrives at the room and takes his place. however, david never shows up, and he actually places 22nd out of 54 before the blinds eat up his chips! wtg david! the tournament runs quite smoothly, punctuated every ten minutes or so by the cry of "presto!" from one table or another. taj dealer richard sooy takes the early chip lead, and soon after the break at a little after 12:30, richard has a commanding lead. however, tournament poker is a game of ebb and flow, and by the time we reach the final table, the chip position is as follows: jerry gerner2600 jim strydio2950 russell rosenblum 2500 steven smith1200 paul filipski1775 jeff woods3675 j p massar3700 richard sooy700 jeremy miller975 peter secor8200 at 1:45, the first casualty is richard, who puts all his chips in with (ks 2c). jerry calls with (ad qd). the cards on the table are jd jh 6x - x - as. jerry, who didn't need improvement, made a pair of aces on the river, and richard is now using a new e-mail signature: "i played my guts but i should have played the nuts!" wtg richard! this is a "fast action" tournament, and there is a significant hand about every five minutes. russel goes all-in with (ad 10c), and jerry calls with a pair of nines. the flop (9s 6d 8d) gives jerry a set, but russel was alive with a belly straight draw and a back- door draw to a flush. the 5c didn't help anyone, and although the river gave russel a pair of aces, it wasn't enough. wtg russel! ten minutes later, a big hand builds when jerry and jp call a big bet from peter. the flop comes qd 7s 5c, and peter increases his chip lead when his big bet isn't called. two hands later, j p goes all-in with a pair of queens, and is called by jeff with (ks 10s). the table shows 6h 7s 4x - jc - 2c, and j p is still alive. at 2:10, jims makes a stand with (10 8) unsuited, and j p calls with a pair of tens. the flop of qx jy 5z gives jims a belly straight draw, but 4th street is the fourth ten, giving j p trips. an ace on the river ends jims' tournament. wtg jim! five minutes later, paul is all-in on the big blind, and he's got a pretty good hand with (kd qd). peter makes a big raise with (a? js), and jerry calls all-in with a pair of kings. the flop of 8s 2s jx gives peter a pair, but the rest of the cards, 2d and 5d, don't help. jerry's kings hold up and paul stands up to collect his winnings. wtg paul! a few minutes later, jeff makes a big pre-flop bet, and is called by peter. the flop is jd 2h 5h; jeff checks, and peter makes a monster bet to win the hand. on the very next hand, jeff raises with (ac jx), and jerry calls with a pair of fours. the flop is 6h 4c 10c, and jeff calls jerry's $2000 bet. the turn is 8c and jerry's all-in bet is called by jeff with a flush draw. the river is an offsuit king, and the set keeps jerry alive. the very next hand has steve all-in on the big blind, and his solitary ace is enough to keep him at the table. at 2:30, jeff goes all-in with (10c 2s). steve calls with (ah 2x). an ace flops, and nothing else happens in the hand, so jeff has to leave. wtg jeff! one or two hands later, j p is all-in on the big blind with (9c 6h). peter raises with (ks 7s) to keep the rest ofthe players out, and the flop is ac 3c 9h. 4th street is the 2d,and the river card didn't help either player, so j p's pair of nines keeps him in the tournament. on the very next hand, jeremy is all-in on the big blind with (9d 5h). j p calls with (8d 7c), and the flop gives both players a pair with 4c 5c 7s. the turn is the 3c and the 8h on the river makes two pair for j p, and jeremy busts out. wtg jeremy! the blinds are now up to 1000/2000, and steve goes all-in with (j 10) offsuit. peter and jerry both call. the flop comes 4s 6d 7d, and jerry goes all-in, causing peter to fold. jerry shows his (ac jd), and 4th street is the 8d. the river helps both players! the 9d gives steve his gutshot straight, but jerry makes a flush, and steve has to be content with 4th place money. wtg steve! on the very next hand, jerry puts j p, who is short-stacked, all-in; j p has (k 3) offsuit and jerry has (4h 5h). the cards on the table read 2x 9h 6h - 7c - 4s. jerry's pair on the river ends the tournament for j p, and we're now down to head-to-head. wtg j p! it's about 2:50 pm, and the blinds are still 1000/2000. jerry has a big chip lead; he's got 17500, but peter only has 9700. peter raises the suggestion of the possibility of a deal, but jerry says, "play 'em!" twice, while on the button, jerry makes a big raise to take peter's big blind. at 2:55, peter goes all-in with (10h 9s), and jerry calls with (kh 7h). the table shows qs jh 4d - 8s - 2d, and peter's straight on the turn means we'll have to see some more hands! :) at 3:00 pm, eddie cooper, resorts tournament director, rules that the blinds will stay at 1000/2000 for another 15 minutes. peter goes all-in with (10d 4d) and jerry calls with (ax 8d). the cards on the table are 9 4 2 - k - 6, and peter stays alive with fours. for the next few minutes, the players trade blinds. suddenly, a big hand develops in an unraised pot. the flop is 2s 9s 2c, and peter goes all-in with his remaining 6800. jerry calls, and shows (as 9h). peter grins and shows his (6s 2h). the qc and ks don't help, and peter's now got about a 3/2 chip lead. on the very next hand, jerry makes a big raise, and peter calls. on the flop of 4h kd 8s, jerry goes all-in and peter mucks his hand. two minutes later, peter goes all-in with (8h 8d) and jerry calls with (js 9s). the flop is 4s kd 3d, but the turn card is jd to give jerry a high pair. however, the river is the 5d and peter's runner-runner back door flush wins the pot. jerry doesn't have many chips left. on the next hand, jerry concedes the little blind, and on the following hand, peter returns the favor. but on the next hand, jerry goes all-in on the little blind with (ac 4s). peter calls with a "doyle brunson": (10 2) offsuit. the cards on the table are 9c 5s 5c - 7c - 9h, and the ace kicker is enough for jerry. at 3:17 pm, jerry is all-in on the big blind with (ac 8s). peter calls with (ks 2s). the flop is qs 7c 6s, giving peter a four-flush. the 2h on the turn gives peter a pair, and the kh on the river ends the tournament. wtg jerry! wtg and congratulations to the fellow who wasn't even in his seat when the tournament started: peter secor!! after the no-limit hold 'em tournament ended, most of the gang played live poker at resorts for a while. i'd given mitchf a hint on how to stabilize a large stack of chips: use three chips as a base, and keep on building! sure enough, when i wander to mitchf's table at about 6 pm, he's got two 40-chip towers - one white and one red (which is quite an accomplishment at 1-5 limit)! wtg mitchf! i'm playing 5/10/15 stud, and can't move more than $50 either way, and i decide it's time for dinner. josh and larry are two young men to whom i've taken a liking. they're both a year or two out of college, and i've taught them one or two things about 7-card stud (and have taken a bet or two off them in the process!). they both lurk here, and josh had already signed up for the stud tournament on sunday. for some reason or another, they offer to buy me dinner, and i have visions of a wonderful chateaubriand....or perhaps some osso bucco.... but i decide that it's time to take these guys for the best submarine sandwiches in the world! so josh, larry, mitchf and i head to "the white house", a little sub shop near the bus station in the middle of town. this place really is *world famous* for their subs, and the walls of the place are festooned with photographs of every single celebrity who ever was in the last fifty years!! we have a philly steak, and a sausage parmigiana, and an italian sub, and.... and.... and..... and the boys even order another sub "to go"!! they drop us off back at resorts, and they head to their room to watch the ncaa game. my saturday night play is unremarkable, and i win a couple bets before mitchf and i decide to book the session, and get a good night's sleep before the 7-stud tournament on sunday. we've got just enough scotch left for one *very* stiff drink each. i'm psyched for tomorrow!! sunday: well, the big day is here. for more than one year, i've been proclaiming myself the local 7-card stud expert in these parts, and the pressure is on! mitchf and i pack our bags, drop them off and check out of the hotel. we have breakfast at the cafe casino, and get to the poker room about ten minutes before official starting time. as i am completing my paperwork at the cashier's cage, i see "del", a guy i met about six months ago at the 5/10 stud tables at the taj. he lives a couple blocks away from me in greenwich village, and (since he sold his business a couple years ago) he spends his time in nyc, atlantic city, las vegas, phoenix, and the west coast! he asked me what i was doing, and i tell him. del manages to get the last seat in the tournament, and we agree to meet at the final table! :) the stud tournament begins about 15 minutes after schedule. i find josh at my table, but mitchf and larry are elsewhere. sitting next to me is "ron", a very good local player with whom i've played several times. in fact, ron tells me that, upon my recommendation, he purchased the wilson software 7-card stud game, and has been having a ball with it! also at my table is mitch kramer (described herein as "mitchk"), who's the father of bruce kramer. i've played 5/10 stud with mitchk many times, and i respect him as a pretty solid player. and so the game begins. within the first two or three hands, i raise with split aces and mitchk is my only caller. he raises me on 4th, and again on 5th, and i'm too stubborn to realize that he really was rolled up. ::::sigh:::: about ten minutes later, i raise with pocket queens, and mitchk stays with me all the way to win with two pair. ::::sigh:::: and about fifteen minutes later, my split aces are again cracked when somebody makes a flush on the river. ::::sigh:::: hey! i'm already in *serious* jeopardy! and this damn tournament is only in its beginning stages. at 25/50, i raise with a high pair, but have to give it up when my lone opponent pairs his door card. jeez....i've only got $30 left (which doesn't go very far at 25/50). thank god i'm not the first one to bust out ..... i look at my next hand: q (j 4) in early position, so i put my chips in. josh (with a king up in last position) is my only caller, and he shows me an ace (but no pair!). 4th street doesn't help, and neither does 5th street, and neither does 6th street, but i make *fours* on the river to stay alive! :) within one or two hands, i raise with split kings to win a few more chips. but it's time to raise the limits, too, and i'm still in lousy chip position. i have to throw away the next several hands, but pretty soon i find a 3-straight 2-flush with live high cards, and i raise and get one caller. on 4th street, i'm up-and-down, and all eight of my straight cards are live. i'm all-in by 5th street, and i've got my straight on 6th. still alive! i don't play another hand that round, but when the limits go up again, i know i gotta do something soon! sure enough, once again, i find a 3-straight 2-flush with live high cards and raise. i've got one caller. once again, i'm up-and-down on 4th street with live cards, and my opponent raises me to put me all-in. i make my straight on the river and it's now time to consolidate tables. i find myself sitting left of jazbo, who is absolutely wired! jazbo is playing cards, talking on the house phone, talking with resorts cardroom staff, and taking reservations for "barge 96" chip sets. jazbo announces, "last call for "barge 96" chip sets!! only $14!!", so i slide three red tournament chips towards his stack and say, "keep the change!" this minor witticism brings a roar of laughter (remember! we're all under serious emotional strain and *anything* which even resembles humor becomes monstrously funny!). i'm still waiting for jazbo to respond to siona's inquiry about who will win the overall women's title...... my chip position isn't bad - i've got slightly less than average at my table. however, in an early hand, i slow- play a pair of pocket aces, and bruce kramer raises (with what turned out to be a high three-flush). i re-raise, and bruce decides to take a stand. i bet on 4th street, and make a running pair by 5th street, and put bruce all-in. he doesn't make his flush, and i'm in better position. several hands later, i limp-in in early position with a live j (q 8). there are five callers. on 4th street, j p, who is high with a king checks, and it's checked all around to me. even though i haven't helped, i bet it, and get one or two callers. it's checked again to me on 5th street, and my bet wins a very nice pot. this was a very crucial hand, since i won three or four big bets (in total) at the expense of all my opponents, and i didn't even have a hand! keith miyake does a job on david meeks (sorry, david - i forgot that you had placed 4th in the limit hold 'em tournament on friday.....), and a couple hands later, i find my usual 3-straight 2-flush with live high cards, and raise. david stays with me, i'm up-and-down on 4th, and he's all-in by 5th. yeah, i make the straight on the river and david's got to stand up. later, i make the same play against sippy's aces, but this time make the flush. very soon thereafter, it's time for the break. mitchf has busted out, along with josh and larry, and the boys are simply astounded that the old man (me) is still alive! :) i don't recall very much of the play for about an hour after the break. i've tightened up considerably, because i've noticed that several players at the three remaining tables are short-stacked, and getting to the final table is now a very real possibility. three tables quickly become two tables, and it doesn't take very long to get down to the last eight players. tournament director tommy mooney places cards face-down on my table for seat positions at the final table. damn! i've drawn seat #4. ***note: i very much prefer to sit in seat #7 or #2 - i've got the best view of the table from the end. my next choices are #8 and #1, and after that is #6 and #3. i *hate* being in the middle at #4 or #5 - i can't see *anything* from those seats.... ::::sigh:::: *** i take off my white baseball cap with the red "qb1" on it. another thread on this board is a discussion of why you should wear a hat during a tournament. i've previously stated here that wearing a hat with a brim is an absolute necessity when playing 7-card stud. you can always control when your opponent can see your face (by bending your head down or up), and you need never look at your river card while your opponent can see your reaction. hehehehehehe! but there's another reason why i wear a hat! i stand up, pick up my chips, dump 'em in my hat, and proudly carry it to the final table. tournament assistant director carol page notes that instead of "a chip and a chair", i've got "a hat and a chair!" :) i don't have the chip count for the players at the final table, but the lineup is as follows: ross poppel - big stack keith miyake - only a few chips lou "local" - medium stack me - small/medium stack jeff woods - only a few chips j p massar - small/medium stack del - medium stack mitchk - medium/large stack del and i grin at each other! sure enough, we've met at the final table! :) i wish everyone good luck, and we begin. only the top six spots will get paid, and i'm determined to wait out keith and jeff. within the first several hands, both keith and jeff are all-in against del. someone else is in the hand, so there are actually three side-pots. at the showdown, del wins all the money with his pair of nines. del: (ac 9h) 9d - 4d 8c 6s jh
keith: (4s 9c) as - jd 10d 3h kc
jeff: (js 7s) 4c - 2d 8d 5h qc
we're down to the final six. the next note i have is that j p went all-in against ross, and stayed alive with a pair of fours against ross' deuces. soon thereafter, del had to settle for sixth place. he raised with a split pair of kings, and ross called with (4h 6h) 5d. del went all-in with kings and deuces by sixth street, but ross made a straight. wtg del! not too much later, lou (the very tough local player) raised with (as 2s) kh, and was called by j p with (ad 2d) 3c. by the end of the hand, lou has kings and deuces, but j p shows his hand: ad 2d 3c 2c 4s 5c 10c, and proclaims, "broadway!" lol! j p had a straight, all right, but it was positively 1st street, not broadway! bye, bye, lou! at about this time, ross played a crucial hand against j p. i don't recall specifically what happened, but it was a raised pot, and by sixth street, j p only had one or one-and-a-half bets left in his stack. ross, who had paired his door king, checked on 6th street, and on the river said, "well, i'll give you a break." ross shows his three kings and j p mucks. i'm fuming on the inside. ross had the chance to knock j p out of the tournament (and thereby improve everybody's money position) but for reasons known only to himself, failed to do so. hey! different strokes, and all! ross paid just as much money to enter the tournament as everybody else, and he's got the right to play his chips the way he wants to! ::::sigh:::: in the next several hands, j p goes all-in each time to win the antes, and win a bet or two, and he's back in the tournament. then came a big hand between ross and myself. ross was the bring-in, and i raised with split aces. he calls. i get a suited card on 4th street, and bet. it didn't look like ross helped, but he called. i get another suited card on 5th street (to make two split pair), and it looks like ross still hasn't helped. bet and call. on 6th street, i get the king of my suit, bet, and ross *still* calls! i don't help on the river, bet, and get raised. ::::sigh:::: ross had nothing more than a pair of 9s in the pocket on 5th street, and hung around. he made concealed trips on 6th and filled in on the river. ::::sigh:::: i'm back on the bubble. pretty soon, i've got to put it all in on a little draw, and j p calls me. he's got queens and tens, and i'm still sitting there on sixth street with an inside straight draw. i get my river card, say, "i need a four," and snap it over! it's a four!! but j p gets his revenge a couple hands later. i raise with split kings; j p re-raises with an ace (turns out he had a three-flush), and i re-raise. i've got kings and queens by 6th street, but he pulls a flush on the river, and i'm in trouble, again. i get to play my last hand against mitchk (who had been my nemesis when the tournament started and who polished me off at the end). he's the bring-in, ross folds, and i raise with a ten up and eights in the hole. j p folds. on 4th street, mitchk gets a suited ace and bets into me. i don't think he's got an ace in the hole, but i'm just not sure if he's on a flush draw. i just don't know what to do. i think for as long as i can, and call (in hindsight, i probably should have raised, but, as we will see, it didn't matter). 5th street brings mitchk an offsuit jack and i get a queen. he bets and i raise all-in. he calls. he gets another jack on 6th street, and shows his split sixes. i need an eight or a queen, but it isn't there, and i'm busted out. after the tournament, mitchk told me that, if i had raised on 4th street, he would have called me anyway, since i was short- stacked. i stand up and chat with tommy and carol, as he completes the paperwork for my winnings. carol escorts me to the cashier (i'm very glad she did - i was so pumped up that i would *never* have gotten there by myself!). i know that carol and i were talking, but i haven't the slightest recollection of what we said! i hope i didn't embarass myself! ;) the three-handed game continues for what seemed to be a long time. the notes say that the next critical hand happened when mitchk had deuces in the hole, and a ten up, and called j p's raise on (as 10s) qc. although mitchk paired his door ten, j p made aces on 4th street, and mitchk was all-in. j p made a second queen on the river to win the hand. wtg mitchk! ross and j p play head-to-head for quite some time. a big hand happens when j p makes queens and sevens early, but ross hangs on to make a flush on the river. j p (who had already locked up the overall championship) proposes that they split the money down the middle, and just play for the plaque, and ross is happy to agree! the next hand, they raise, and re-raise, and j p is all-in on third street. j p glances at his hole cards, waits for 4th street, and mucks his hand. ross is the champ!! after the tournament, mitchf and i play another hour or two of live poker, say goodbye to all our new friends, and then head to the california pizza kitchen for dinner. we load up on chicken and garlic pizza, and have a couple beers! it's time for the bus!! conclusions: i had a wonderful time! mitchf had a wonderful time! i think just about everybody in the group had a wonderful time! i know that the resorts floorpeople, management, dealers, and players all had good things to say about us. many many many thanks to jazbo for making it all happen!! let's do it again real soon!! :) tiger