Trip Report
by Rob Catlett ([FunBot] Suddenly)
For the third year in a row, I went to Atlantic City during ATLARGE. For the
first year in a row, I'm registered and just not in town by coincidence.
This trip started, as did the last two, with a bad omen. Two years ago Ileft
my office under blue skies and warm temperatures. Within the first hour it
rained. Then it started to snow. Then I found out I was out of windshield
wiper fluid. When I stopped at a gas station I had to kick the door open, as
the rain and following cold formed a shell of ice around my car.
I got frozen cards that trip and lost my ass.
Last year, just before leaving I reached into one of my bags for something
or another, I can't remember. What I do remember is finding a razor blade in
a less than graceful manner. If I look closely I still can see the scar
where I chopped the top of my index finger off...
I got carved up pretty good on that trip.
This year, while sitting at the first traffic light of my trip to ATLARGE, I
saw a tire roll by my car. I found this odd, to say the least, and for a
second I wondered where it came from. That's when I saw the second tire go
by. Then I saw the truck with no tires, and putting my West Virginia Public
School education to work deduced that the tires most likely came from the
truck. The driver made an effort to continue, and managed to make it all the
way to where he completely blocked my path out of town. Then he gave up, got
out of the truck, and shrugged. I found a way around the carnage and left
that little jackpot behind.
At this point I was a little worried about the impending obvious metaphor.
I did make it to Atlantic City on Wednesday, and to the best of my hazy
recollection the following transpired. I didn't do anything silly like take
notes or write anything down, so I trust if I miss details or get names
wrong I will receive the abuse I deserve...
Wednesday:
Into town in the morning ... Check into Taj and pass the time playing a
little 3-6 ... Good game .. Get AA ... Capped 8 ways. Flop top set on
rainbow board... turn quads, get called 4 ways on the river... no straights
or flushes possible. Leave to see Borgata as planned around 4PM. Borgata is
nice, but oddly hard to get to if you don't use the tunnel... Just like the
Taj, the Borgata's chips stick together, although because of magnets, not
dead human skin... playing 6-12 with the WPT crowd... lotta sunglasses and
odd raises... Rebuy tournament starts soon, why not try it? $40+10, rebuys
to the break... holy crap you never saw so many rebuys... like over 26 at my
table no kidding... local vocabulary limited to "All In" and "Double
Rebuy..." I manage to tread water until 5 minutes before break... On button,
6 limpers and I see QQ, so I join the "All In" choir... Get called by KJo...
K hits turn, consider rebuy... next smallest stack is T3500, double rebuy is
T2000... nevermind. Back to the Taj. Wow these chips are dirty... play a
little 5-10 and end day up about a hundred...
Thursday:
Playing more 3-6. Sitting to the right of a young WPT sunglasses type. He's
obviously an expert and does not approve of someone's winning with 57o. It
offends him. Next hand I raise early position with 45s... first hand I play
in 45 mins... 5 callers and he reraises... I cap it... flop the flush draw,
we cap the flop 5 ways and then I catch running fours to crack his AA like a
walnut. He is a little peeved and explains in detail how much smarter he is
than me. I guess image plays and betting draws for value are not worthy of
expert consideration. Funny how these plays only look normal to most people
if they are the ones making them... I lost a friend today... boo hoo... he
claims I couldn't get away with that if it were no limit... I'm pretty sure
it wouldn't work if we were playing ping-pong either, but I doubt he'd grasp
what I was saying...
Later, tired of poker I try some 2-4 Omaha, played here with a half-kill
after a $30 scoop. Very odd table, average age of 35 or so rather than the
usual 135... when did we get to California?? 8 ways raised pots the norm...
sitting to the right of 8-2 Mathman... he's not having luck on the river...
10s full kebonged by a Q on the river... yikes.... like a $150 pot... it
only takes one scoop in this game ... good lord that same guy that caught
the queen just raised and re-raised when he spiked a 4 on the river to make
4's full on a board of AKK64... and it's good!!! 7 way preflop action for 3
bets, flop comes 222... what do these people have... Mathman wins a pot...
only like $40, but ends the drought... he gets up and announces his triumph
to the
room... standing ovation from the faithful... later hits gutshot straight
flush to tick off a local with ace high flush... ten hands later I do the
same... then a really weird hand... three ways on the turn in a big kill
hand, I have nut low and ace-king high... me and a guy that can't read his
hand get the guy to my right in the middle for 4 bets on the turn... river
pairs board, I bet out moron raises, poor guy in the middle lays it down...
moron has the other A2 but my AK is good for 3 quarters of a $160 pot... guy
in the middle laid down a flush... last train to tiltsville... Finish day
down about $100... took some sick beats, but that's what I deserve for
playing these stakes...
Friday:
HOE tourney... so that's Raydon... and that's Raydon's foot up my ass... out
pretty quick after first break, but not after busting out one of the 8-2's,
so I have that going for me, which is nice... 5$ bounty means I lose only
$70 on the tourney. Pink chip game anyone? Buckshot raising blind every
hand, catching cards making local rock to my left a bit unhinged. I try it
once, wind up rivering broadway with QTo... snowshovel-sized pot... my hands
start shaking... I'm a f*ck*ng spaz... the cool kids are mocking me...
raising war with Buckshot... we are both looking this time... I've got KK...
he wants to go all in... I think about it for a second... I don't... I'm
also a wuss sometimes... we pound on each other to a board of 9JQ4A... I
call the river... not much he has that I can beat, especially after that
ace... he has TT... good thing I didn't river the set... game gets tight...
time to r00l again... steal blinds from MP with Q5s... get reraised 5 way
pot 3 bets.... flop flush draw w/ bottom pair... lets gamble boys... cap the
flop... turn might as well be the cut card... lets see the river cheap
boys.... flush hits on the river... I raise 8-2 cardshark when he bets
out... he pays off... flush g00t... he's critical of my play... I exclaim
"whaddya mean!? I flopped bottom pair!!!" He's not pleased. Game gets
tighter... I pick up, up about $200.
After lunch seat is open in main pink game. Sit between AllKnight and ADB
Fich... Tiger123, Goldifish and ADB The Sock are in the game, as are many
other ARGers... Set down chips, want to use the facilities... get razzed for
not posting... promise I'll raise blind when I get back... get back in big
blind... look just for kicks... see 45o, reraise Tiger... many callers...
Tiger sneers at me (he may have been drinking) "did you look?" I ask "Me?"
and the whole table goes all De Niro for about 15 seconds... I admit I
looked... Tiger folds... flop comes A2Q... I have faith so I help cap the
flop... turn is a 3... bad card... I prefer to hit those on the river so no
one can re-suckout on me... heavy betting... river a blank... I flop over my
45 for the winner... eyes are rolling... no biggie... I tighten up until I
hear 8Ts calling for action... why not... RAISE... flop is 9J6 for the much
feared straight draw... who am I going to drill this time? turn is some
loser card who cares... river a queen... wooHoo!! except it is the 3rd
heart... plus whoops the guy in the 4 seat hadn't acted yet... he checks...
reshuffle.. new river is a 7 no heart... I just pulled the double suckout...
turns out the first river made someone a flush... holy suckout batman...
game breaks shortly after... end up $300...
Fox IQ test in the hospitality suite... we get all questions right... I
manage to offend AlwaysAware with a poorly worded statement about not being
in Mensa because I hate hanging around smart people... meant that I don't
like hanging with people who primarily identify themselves as smart, not
smart people per se... I actually prefer smart people, just not those that
think being smart is some kind of celestial honor of extreme importance...
no Atlargers I'm aware of fall into that category... oh well... off to the
poker room... play in 2-4 holdem.... decide to drink it up a little... cards
very unkind... Mathman suggests my putting my last $14 of my $100 buyin on
roulette... sounds like a plan... use 00... he says wait until after this
hand he will go too... we arrive just in time to see 00 come up... put it on
my age next spin... miss by two... blame my parents...
Saturday:
NLHE tourney... uneventful... fail to get lucky... guy to my right is
Alvin... he calls alot... trouble stealing blinds... go out when AKs gets no
help against Alvin's 44... he goes deep into the tourney... I go to the
hospitality suite... got a bounty though, so I get another $5... few
beers... chatting with AlwaysAware... then talking politics with Steve
Goldman... he's not a fan of the current administration... I can dig it..
Repeated jestful barbs at PokerStars rep over all the suckouts in the NLHE
tourney... Tainted Rouge asks ADB Big Boy about a 10-20 hand... his analysis
gets me thinking... going to rattle around in my head for the next 24
hours... will eventually be the thing that gets me out of my mental slump
w/r/t poker... reports from the cardroom... unreal suckouts in the NLHE and
forget about live games as lists are unreal... Mathman in the money in the
NLHE... good to hear, and pretty clutch considering his Omaha results the
last few days... hanging with Raydon and others... start talking about
blackjack... interesting... I deal a few hands... next thing I know the PL
game breaks out... I'm feeling like an ATLARGE pledge or something so I deal
the thing... start getting toked... I give them back.. Don Perry finds out
I'm a lawyer... tokes stop... they find out I'm a public defender... tokes
start up again... Raydon and Treasure driving Perry nuts by raising every
hand... others splash around... Don Perry apparently orders 24 cases of
beer... they want cash.. order canceled... mmmm.. pizza... go to bed having
played no live games... up $40 from the tokes...only way that game was +EV
for me...
Sunday:
No stud for me... try a little 10-20 now that I am thinking... TaintedRogue
(Ken Lovering) and ADB Big Boy are in the game... catch a no brainer... AA
makes a set get called in 2 places on the river... first time playing 10-20
in several years... been low-rolling lately...little nervy, but much
different than my usual 3-6, need to remember these guys have a clue... 3
hours of being on edge... have lunch with Ken... analyize some of the
hands... I'm now out of what I now recognize was an extrended poker
doldrum... may actually make the leap to 10-20 this time... wonder if this
new purpose will survive until my next live poker trip... take a break after
lunch... call the wife... play a little more 10-20... I'm not good at
this... yet... I guess the first step is to recognize my weakness, I'm just
not thinking as well as I should, lack of experience... I win $100 in 2
hours... start to get the fear... need to take my 10-20 in small doses for a
while... move back to 3-6 for a relaxing evening of no-foldem... I'm playing
much better than I was even 2 days ago... something has clicked and I feel a
lot better about the game and my approach to it...
Monday:
The 121234384 hour drive back to West Virginia. Back to the real world...
Final Thoughts:
It was a great trip. While I didn't name a whole lot of people I met I do
remember the people if not all the names. Everyone seemed very likable, and
I find myself doing quick geographical and vacation-time calculations to see
what other ARG-events I can make. I've been in a bit of a funk with poker
lately, and for good or ill I'm out of that now. Future full of promise and
all that.
The wheels never did come off... my omen streak has ended...
Rob Catlett ([FunBot] Suddenly)
