Trip Report
by Wes Tilley
I wasn't planning on writing a big trip report, but thought now I might
just to give other potential lurker/newcomers the idea that attending
these events are worthwhile. Short Answer: YES!
First things first..
I'll have to thank my wife (cue Academy Awards music...) for "letting"
me come. I'm already away from home too much for work-travel, which is
not a good thing with 6 and 3 year-olds. So, it was much to my surprise
when a couple months ago that she innocently said "Why don't you go?"
when I was describing these "ARGE" things to her. This was, of course,
after having to explain that I really was just playing cards with
someone named "NewJane" on IRC. [Hint: Never leave incriminating
bookmarks around to attractive fellow IRC'ers web pages for the spouse
to find without 'splaining yourself first].
So, I cashed in a free ticket on Midway Airlines [freeroll?, just
learning poker parlance] that was about to expire and made plans to
go...
The trip to the Trop was my 2nd ever casino poker experience, having
tried out some poker in Las Vegas in February during a business trip.
My only other poker education was the hundreds of hours I've played on
IRC after discovering it about a year ago. I'd also never met anyone
else of the group in person before. So, I had a little nervousness on a
couple of fronts. Medium Answer: Not to worry! The poker room at the
Trop is great, even for newbies. Patrice is a fantastic hostess. I met
lots and lots of ATLargers both at the ring game tables and in the
tournaments, and everybody was really friendly and helpful.
Flew into Philadelphia from Raleigh/Durham on Friday and rented a car.
Arrived at the Trop at about 2:30 pm. Next time, I think it would be
worth it to fly directly into AC. The extra time/hassle/money of
driving from Philly (esp. during the torrential downpour on Sunday) was
not worth it.
Went to poker room and picked up the poker room card. Really nice and
organized system. Soon got into a 3-6 HE non-smoking game. 10 hours
later (Yes, I'm hooked), I got up -$130. I was disappointed in losing
(I played 4 times in Vegas, and never lost money) but had a great time.
Several ATLargers played at various times. I think most of my money was
lost while the ATLarge quotient at the table was high, which was a trend
for the whole weekend for me. Went to bed about 3 am Sat.
Up by 9 on Saturday morning and head for the HE tourney. I quite
literally have no idea what to do. After getting a duplicate seat
assignment resolved, I end up at seat 9 at the same table as eventual
winner Llew (who was seat 1). My goal was to last through the first
break. I don't even bother eating breakfast.My first big blind (99) is
un-raised with Llew only caller. Flop 9-9-x. I check. Nothing.
Check turn. Nothing. Bet 100 on the river, Llew folds against my
first ever quads. Fast forward... 5 hours later, I'm still in the
same seat, with about T1000 (started with T500). I had only been all-in
once (JJ in blind, called big raise), and won with a fluke flush. Only
other memorable hand: AQo in big blind, called medium raise from Llew
(UTG) after everybody else folded. Flop A-high ragged. Llew bets T400
(well over half my stack at that point). I agonize.... and fold face-up
to some audible responses from the table. Never found out what Llew had
(I figured AA or AK given the UTG raise and big bet after).
Anyway, I finally get moved to another table when we were down to 14(?)
players. Get down to 10 players (9 places pay). Run to gift shop to
get some crackers (it's 4 pm and I still hadn't eaten). I was 2nd
smallest stack. Small stack went all-in and lived. Few hands later was
my big mistake: I still had about T700 (blinds 100-200). On the
button, everybody folds to me with J9s. I raise T300. Small blind
counts my remaining chips and re-raises. I had to fold, I not going
down with J9. In retrospect, I learned that trying to steal without
enough chips to back it up is a bad idea. Another round goes by and I'm
big blind. Get 99 [remember the quad story above???]. Button raises
enough to put me all-in, I go for it. He turns up QJo, J flops and
IGHN. In hindsight, I could have most likely made the final table by
not even looking at my cards once we got down to 10 or 11. I had enough
for 4-5 orbits at that point in the blinds. (Fast forward, I watched
Jazbo the next day in the stud tourney survive with 2 chips to the final
table by waiting, waiting...). Anyway, this was probably the best $60
poker lesson I'll ever get.
Banquet saturday night was very nice. I got there a little late, and
"had" to sit next to Patrice, tough duty. Won a Trop Poker Room jacket,
a nice consolation prize for the 1 out of the money finish earlier (was
this rigged???).
Went back to the poker room and got into 1-3 non-smoking stud. I had
never played stud (except against my computer). Figure a little
practice before the Sunday tourney would be good. Played for 2 hours,
+$10 (woohoo). This is not a money game. Dealer commented to me once
that I was basically splitting my pots with her (I was toking 50c-$1).
Went back to 3-6 HE for a while, and did better +$70. Also tried
"Double Joker" Video Poker after buying one of Jazbo's cards. Hit
five-of-a-kind FIVES! Calls of Presto! brought only stares in the video
poker room...Turned in at 3am again.
Sunday stud tourney. Finish 42nd, resolve that I like Holdem much, much
better. I went into this tourney with the idea that I would be
ultra-conservative (and I ate breakfast). After being the bringin for
what seemed like the 50th time, I eventually had to play a hand. Went
down with (AK)Q which improved to exactly (AK)Q-c-r-a-p.
Tried 2-4 HE for a while. Amazingly different game from 3-6, these
people were wild! 3 straight capped pots before the flop (I was in one
with AKs, lost). Quickly -$40. Decide to go back to 3-6 (+$80, nice
way to end). Stayed there with some very nice ATLargers until about 3
pm, when it was time to start the drive back to PHL. Flight delayed 3
hours due to the weather, but I was home by 11 pm.
Long Answer: Overall, just a great, great weekend. Something very
different for this 34-year old, pretty quiet and close-to-home dad.
Adrenaline was still flowing until about Tuesday. I don't know how
often I'll get to do the "ARGE" stuff, but I definitely want to do it
again. To all the lurkers/newbies out there, I can't imagine a better
way to get into poker in a friendly atmosphere than what ATLARGE at the
TROP is.
Wes wtil...@nortelnetworks.com
