Trip Report
by Ross Poppel
This is somewhat of a departure for me, as I am not a very prolific
writer, nor do I take very good notes during RGP events. However, I
had a pretty good time all around this year and thought I would share
a few of the experiences with all of you.
Just a quick warning: I tend to get a big long winded. I have tried
to sectionalize this note; so that you can go to the sections you want
and skip the rest. But I am sitting on a flight from Philly to
Chicago with little else to do. Also note that I may have some of the
facts mixed up (names and hands) and if I offend anybody like saying
"Nolan called with a 2Qo" instead of "I called with a 2Qo" then call
it fuzzy memory and not a legitimate changing of the facts.
But before we begin, I would like to publicly thank Tiger and Pete for
the fantastic job that they did in organizing the event and making
sure that things ran smoothly. They had some very big shoes to fill
following the last four years with Jazbo. And while I hope that Jazbo
returns to us next year, I know that at least there are some of us out
there who can take over the reigns and pull off what must be an
administrative nightmare. Second, I want to thank Patrice, Kate,
Marie, TK, and the staff at the Tropicana for another fabulous event.
Each went out of their way to welcome us, and while organizing an
event like this - along with their normal duties must have been a
hassle, they never showed anything but extreme pleasure in hosting us.
I am going to put my writing skills to use after this note in one to
the Tropicana management expressing my experiences.
Smoker
I arrived on Thursday afternoon with the intentions of making the
smoker. I missed it last year because of a scheduling conflict, but
it is a great event in its own. For those out there who have not
joined us before, I urge you to consider it for next year.
I can count on my fingers how many cigars I smoke during the year. In
fact, seeing what Bruce Kramer keeps in his traveling humidor is more
that I have probably smoked in my lifetime. But the real purpose of
the evening is not the dinner or the cigars; it is the socialization
outside of the poker room. I see a few of you during the year,
whether it is to play a round of golf, or during a quick weekend trip
to Trop. But there are some of the people that I would otherwise
only see at one of the RGP events and only during the poker-related
events. This is a chance to socialize about things outside of that
realm. One of the highlights of the evening was listening to Bill
Alan relate stories about old baseball/basketball/football players. I
am a fan of most of these games and (at least in baseball) its history
and Bill recounts some great stuff. I didn't have much to add to the
conversation although I count(ed) Richie Ashburn, Chuck Bedenarik, and
Robin Roberts as family friends. It was great listening to this
stuff.
BTW - If anyone wants to meet Uncle Chick, just stop by
http://www.totalbaseball.com/player/h/hafec101/hafec101.html or
http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/hafe...
The second highlight of the evening is Kevin, our waiter. Having been
a waiter/bartender during my many years in college, I know it can be
difficult to deal with people. During this event, Kevin gets a chance
to join in on the fun, tell us what he REALLY thinks, and make a few
bucks for himself.
I was playing a little 5-10 stud prior to the event and had to leave
at 6:30 for the smoker. I was down $20 at the time - but I figured
that I could easily make that up with Nolan's over-under.
Unfortunately Nolan couldn't join us this year - bad beat for me.
Speaking of bad beats, Tiger dropped by to give us a bad beat story -
with the obligatory $1 going to the Kevin the waiter who had to endure
the story as well.
There was about 12 or so people there who chipped in $5 for the
"closest to the bill without going over" contest. I was in pretty
good position with my $785 guess. Someone had a $780 guess so his
span with basically $4. The next highest was like $900 giving me
about a $115 range. Unfortunately, I overestimated by over a hundred
dollars - where was Warren and his bananas Foster when I needed him
most. Dinner (with tax and tip) came in at about $65 a person - a
great deal for this event, and for Bruce who banked 660 frequent flier
miles on his Visa.
Golf
There was a group of about 12-15 people who showed up on Friday
morning at Brigantine Golf Links for a round of golf. The weather was
near perfect but a little too much water on the course for my tastes.
This is both the standing water (which means that it rained like a
bitch and that the puddles are still there) and there was designed
water (lakes, creeks) on many of the holes as well.
To begin with, I am a 24 handicap. This means that if a course is
rated for "par" at 72, if I am playing my normal game, I would
reasonably expect to break 100 - barely (if you want a more technical
explanation visit www.usga.org). However this was the first time I
had played this year (although I did go to the driving range last
weekend to see if I remember how to swing) and I was playing with new
fairway woods. Now, the TV advertisement said they would knock three
strokes off my game and I bought three of them so I should be at a 15
handicap, plus the brand new putter (3-6 strokes according to
Carbite). Basically with all my clubs, I should be AUTOMATICALLY
getting my PGA tour card in the mail any day now. Of course I can't
compete with Greg (?) who had the Purespin diamond-faced,
Kevlar-shafted driver. Mine is only titanium with composite graphite
- negative EV for me.
We got in to our foursomes and mine consisted of Nolan Dalla (my
partner), against Bruce Kramer and Dave Trinidad. I've played with
Bruce before; he is learning the game but can surprise you with some
excellent shots. Both Nolan and Dave were using rental clubs,
although a decent set, they're just not yours.
So we played a team-best ball, $2 per hole match, skins match. This
basically means that everyone hits a ball and then the team chooses
the best one. Both players hit from this spot. At the end, whichever
team has less shots gets $2 from the other team. To cut this short,
Nolan and I were up by 5 holes on the front nine, and Dave/Bruce,
after much negotiation, got to pick 5 holes where they would get an
extra half stroke (so if we tied on one of these holes - then they
would win). Well you guessed it, Nolan and I had a worse back nine
and Bruce choose their holes well and we were only one-up standing on
the 18th tee. I won't bore you with the final hole. Needless to say
zero dollars changed hands. One interesting thing, we talked about a
lot of stuff over the 3-4 hour round, but for four guys who were there
to play poker, the subject didn't even come up until the 17th hole.
Back to poker (**Actual Poker Content**)
I decided to take a little break from thinking with a few hours of
$1-5 stud. Much like $2-4 HE, people will play any three starting
cards (2Q8x - no problem, I can fill in my boat on the river). Well
anyway, I sit down at the time and buy-in for $49. The table is full
and there is one other ATLARGEr there (although I don't know his
name). To my right is a guy who works at Taj in the IS department.
He does the development/maintenance of the rating system. We had a
long talk about how to get around the system. I am not much of a Taj
fan (the word "zoo" comes to mind) but I may try one or two of the
ideas.
Since I was just there for a little enjoyment, I decided I would
practice my patience for the next few days' events. Sometimes you
will play an 89Tx and sometimes you won't, depends a lot on the order
of the cards, your position, what else is already out, and your other
players. I will leave it to Sklansky/Malmuth/Caro, and others to give
you better advice, but I decided I would only play very high quality
starting hands. Long story short - I went on a run with some very
high-quality cards and very loose players and cashed out with $205
(plus 1.5 racks in about three hours). I have won and lost more than
that on a single hand at other games/limits but it was still fun.
One interesting note - back during ATLARGE I, I took first place in
the stud event. Part (OK, most) of this was that I got every card I
needed exactly when I needed it, but a lot of it was that the people
who came to ATLARGE for the most part did not play stud. There were a
few of you who were very good at both games (Bruce and JP comes to
mind) and a few who were good at one or the other (Tiger for example
being a very good, patient stud player). One thing that I noticed
over the years is that many of you have started to broaden your
skills. I have seen Sippy sit down at a stud table and look like he
actually enjoyed it. Good for RGP, good for the game, bad for me.
Holdem Tourney
After golf, we rushed back to make it in time for the Tropicana HE
tourney.
One hand of note, as we come back from the break I notice that Russell
was severely short stacked. He's a good guy and I thought I would
have a little fun. I asked him how much he had. The answer was $225.
I made a smart-ass remark about getting it from him the next hand.
The dealer (Eileen - more about her later) dealt the hand and I (first
position) looked at my cards immediately raised $225. Folded around
to Russell (BB) who smiled and folded. I showed AA.
My final play wasn't all that terrible. I was short-stacked (I know -
chip and a chair) with AQx (can't remember). Jerry Gerner had been
eating away at my stack all day and I either called or raised (again,
not important). Flopped 7Q3 rainbow. I go all in, Jerry calls, other
players fold. After a trash, trash on turn and river we turn over the
cards. Of course we all know what Jerry had. Without an expression
on his face he turns over 77. IGHN.
BTW - this was the first NL tourney I have played with what I'll call
the "chips in hand" rule. My understanding is that if you make a
forward motion with chips in your hand, that's what's in the pot.
There are some guys (I won't mention any names) who take a pile of
chips and "peel off" the amount they want by stacking them on the
table. So you cannot if you pick up a stack of 20 reds and then put
$50 in reds (2 piles of 5) and return the chips to your hand. I like
the rule, other players were grumbling.
ATLARGE Holdem Tourney
It started innocently enough. My expectations for this year were to
make it through the break and hopefully in the top half of the field.
I haven't seen the final tallies from Tiger, but at least the first
part was true.
I tried to play as patient as I could. I waited for the cards and bet
(for the most part) appropriately when I got them. This was a good
field, and I had a good table. I stole one or two here and there but
nothing out of the ordinary. As people started to drop and players
rotated into our game I found myself sitting to the left of Tom
Godwin. For those of you who don't remember, there was a $25 bounty
on him. And thinking this was my chance to get some money out of this
tourney, I took a chance here.
I might not get this exactly right, but close enough. He was the
small blind with me as BB. Folded around to Tom who raised (either
all-in or I re-raised him all-in, probably the former). He asked if I
had a pair and I said no. Flop comes AAx. Turn J, river 3. He
turns over a middle pair (77, 88, or 99) while I turn over my J3s. I
am not sure whether he left the table thinking I would play it or
what. Long story short I was gunning for him plain and simple. Linda
(Llew) also rotated into our table. She had a $50 bill taped to her
nose and I wanted to gun for that as well. For a $60 tourney, I could
walk away with $75. Unfortunately the 6 hands or so that we saw
before I busted were all folded pre-flop by Llew.
Time passes... I get moved to another table to find myself to the left
(fortunately) of Will Espin. Not much to report.
Final hand. I was doing fine until I went on tilt and all-in with KK
against another all-in (AJ) and Timmy (AQ). Guess what flopped. Bad
all around play, and bad betting - but I never said I was a HE player.
And now I don't have to.
(** End Poker content**)
Nickel Heaven
So after my ignominious exit (thanks TheKiller for the new word) I
headed back to my room in the South Tower. These are elevators from
hell, but on the second floor is the slot area called "Nickel Heaven".
Since I had about 3 hours before the banquet, I decided to see how
much heaven it was and took a $20 into one of the machines.
Now I remember when slot machines were easy. Basically you pulled the
handle, then BAR-BAR-BLANK would come up and you knew you lost. These
days, you have little chickens and dynamite, and KQJTA, and pirates
and everything. And, you seem to need a PhD to figure out
combinations that win coins.
So I slip twenty bucks (400 credits) into a machine that look like
playing cards. Press 9 way, 2 coins (18 credits) and immediately get
a straight. Apparently that is worthless, as is most everything
except trips (in a row). I move to another machine that looks more
interesting. And fortunately the woman sitting next to me is
apparently a PhD. So these little chicken things come up and the
machine starts ringing and beeping and then she says - OK press this
button, then the chickens literally try to cross the road without
getting run over. Long story short I win 2000 nickels (>1600 is hand
pay). I promptly give back 500 nickels and cash out to another
machine. Long story short, I carry 2200 nickels to the cage for a
+$90 slot win. I would call this +EV except that I think I have a
$100 orthopedic bill for putting my arms back in shape. 2000 nickels
are HEAVY.
Banquet
Not too much of note went on at the banquet. Ice quickly discovered
the hidden gift in each of the pouches, so I found me a clock (after 3
tries), although the frame had a nice picture of a family as part of
the package. And this family looked much happier and much more
photogenic than my family. George Wattman pulled a good one when he
switched the clock for a frame and when I got to Patrice I was
dismayed to find the paper that said "frame". He 'fessed up and I got
my clock sitting in my home office (batteries were included).
MATS (**Actual Poker Content**)
Hang on to your hats for this one. Last year I wanted to join the
MATS tourney. Jerry organized it but didn't play. It was held in
Dave Trinidad's room on a closet door covered blanket. I was the 12th
player so I did not play but stuck around to be a sub dealer and
official timekeeper. Well after a single hand of dealing, Llew
promptly took over the reigns. I can type over 100 words a minute but
cannot deal HE to save my life.
This year, I signed up as early as I could with a "golden promise" to
Jerry. Not wanted to break my promise I joined the tourney (which I
had all intentions of doing anyway). So I am 1-0 on my golden
promises in case I make one to someone again. I wanted to make sure I
got a chance to see Jerry and give him the money. So I saw Paul
McMullin and tried to hand him money.
Now I know Paul, I have played against Paul, and I still have the 1994
BARGE chip he used as a bounty in ATLARGE IV stud. However, I still
Paul and Jerry do have the same look-n-feel. So when I saw Paul
sitting in a ring game I try to hand him money. He doesn't have a
clue. And apparently neither do I.
Anyway, we start the MATS event in Jerry's room (741 - just like a
telephone keypad - thanks Llew) and Jerry has the bed taken apart and
the chairs brought in. Foldem shows up with the new cards, big-ass
dealer button, and we are off.
Jerry wants to finish this quickly so they are shortish rounds. With
two decks and a shuffle-master (Dave Fructer/Joan Hadley) we move
along at a good pace. This is good for me. I can keep my
concentration for only so long before I start to loosen-up.
To my left is Tom Godwin on the SB with me in the BB. Folded around
the Dave Fructer who promptly announces that he will go all-in. I ask
Dave if he is serious. Tom looks at his cards and folds. I look at
my cards and see JJ. CRAP! I call time and think for a second - then
fold. Dave shows a AKo. A sidebar discussion ensues about hand and
probabilities, but long-story short, I live to see another day.
I am playing very patiently, only playing quality hands. At one point
I fold 16 in a row (IRL I would have folded less). But when I do play
Llew is dealing me EVERY card I need.
I win a lot, Jerry, Tom McHugh and I get people all-in and win and I
have a good lead with three left. Tom is short-stacked, and I have
SOOO many chips they wont stay on the bed. He goes all-in with AQs I
call with K5o. Damned if Llew doesn't flop 246 turn a 3 and just for
the hell of it, river an ace.
Jerry and I trade blinds for a little while. Then he calls a hand and
I look down to see 92 spade. Flop is xxJ (Js), Jerry goes all-in and
I call. Llew again provided - spade/spade. Jerry turns over two
pair and I show him the 92 spade. Jerry gets a book and I am off to
Vegas.
So I am off to TARGET. I am working on a way to get Llew her dealer's
license and figure out how she can fit in my suitcase.
Stud Tourney
There were a total of nine tables to start with. At the ninth table
(which was a HE-sized table) we had Ice, Jester, Doug, Bill Alan,
Arty, , and myself -plus two dead stacks.
They played the ante button as required and were folded when the
action got to them. But we had an amazing statistical anomaly. For
all the hands we played until our table broke, the two dead stacks got
a very low percentage of the forced-bets. Statistically they should
have gotten the low card 1 in every four hands or so. However it
seemed that Doug (sitting between the stacks) got an inordinately high
number of bring-ins. And when he wasn't getting them, Arty was
getting a 2 (of diamonds). Eileen the dealer (see above) would get
toked $3 (Ross, Doug, Jester) for every deuce that Arty got. She
probably made $15 or so in tokes.
I feel much more comfortable playing stud than I do HE. I am working
on my HE skills and hopefully will vastly improve by the next RGP
event, but I said that before. However I played very aggressively for
the first two tables and ran over most of my other players (building a
nice stack). Eileen (the dealer) provided me with EVERY card I needed
WHENEVER I needed it to win.
But on the third table I met up with Tiger who promptly took some of
them away from me (Eileen was on break). I had to build them back up.
The second to final table, Eileen was back from break to again
CONSISTENTLY give me every card I needed when I needed it. And like
all players - when I am on this kind of streak I am nearly unbeatable
(and pretty cocky about the cards I play against short stacks). When
we moved down to two tables, Eileen had completed her tournament
duties and I met up with the anti-dealer - Cyndi.
Final hand was pretty straightforward. Cyndi, the dealer, had been
eating away at my stack for about a half hour. We were at $25 ante
with $100 forced bet. I know that the dealer does not control the
cards (except to the extent of the shuffle) but Cyndi (who is very
attractive and personable - IMHO) nearly consistently provided me with
the low card and nothing else. At least she was enjoying my "aw, your
killin' me" comments (as I watch my stack dwindle to nothingness). I
know how statistics will even out over time, but I would expect my
50-50 chances to be somewhat evenly distributed, not "heads" for a
straight hour and then "tails" for the second hour.
Final hand was Player was table/tourney chip leader
and called my raise. I catch aces up (showing A6 on board) and raise
all-in. Damned if the anti-dealer didn't roll him onto to a flush and
blank me on the river. IGHN. At least I finished 12th and not 9th.
I did learn a new rule. We had an empty stack (who was low-carded
from another table) brought to my table. During one ante, the dead
stack was all-in. I was middle position and called the forced bet.
I raised out the other players for the side pot and we turned over the
dead hand who beat me (Kings up, or trips - can't remember). Mine was
lower. He wins the main pot (small pot). When relating this story to
Tiger (who joined our table) he said that the dead hand cannot be
turned over. Live and learn.
An hour after the tourney, Eileen (back off break) approached me and
told me that the group were the nicest bunch of guys she had the
pleasure to deal to. Kudos all of you.
Saddenz
There were a few people that I didn't see this year (Jazbo did stop
by, Kman was missing, and others as well), ATLARGE 2001 is just a
scant year away. I also missed getting a Will Espin chip, AND missed
getting him to sign it. Oh well.
On a brighter note, I did get to meet/play against some new people
such as Carenbon, Ice, etc.
