Tick's ATLARGE Trip Report
by Chris O'Connor
Extremely slow day at work here, so I thought id regurgitate some of the more memorable experiences from my ATLARGE weekend...Before i do though, let me echo the many who have already thanked Goldie for puttin on such a fine shin dig. Thanks, Stevan.
So It's Friday morning in Albany, NY. I had planned on Leaving around 5:00 am to allow for plenty of time to make the HOE trny without having to rush, but somehow managed to oversleep (woke up, alarm was off and it was already 5:00. D'oh!) and didnt get on the road till 5:30. Thank you biological clock. Do you think on any other day I'd manage to only oversleep by 30 minutes? Hells no...
My drive was uneventful till i got close to the city - i was scanning the radio stations and found myself stopping momentarily on a christian rock station - listening bemusedly as the DJ ran down the songs recently played..i dont remember the exact name but they were titles like "In you lord", and "all for him", "My life for yours", "divinely severe", etc... anyway, as it turns out, i received a little divine intervention when the DJ suddenly announced there was a major Traffic accident on the garden state around exit 140 - They reported some kind of car explosion on the guard rail/median, closing 2 lanes in one direction and one lane in another. Traffic backed up for 15 miles in both directions---woah! The DJ actually said to use the NJ tpke! Now Im really worred about getting there on time, so on impulse i take the exit for 287 south, not even knowing if this will get me close to where i need to go. Well wouldnt you kn! ow it, but praise the lord, 287 was the way to go---hooked me back up onto the GSP about 20 exits past the accident where im sure i would have sat for hours lamenting my never ending string of bad beats...nevermind that someone else probably took a much worse beat in that traffic snafu than I. Anyway, its just kind of cool that i happened to be listening to the radio - i dont usually do that.
Ok so I get to the Taj with about 40 minutes to spare before HOE. HOE itself was so uneventful for me I dont even recall how i busted out. I just remember being somewhat glad it was over in plenty of time to make it to the Borgata's 100 R+A NL. I run into Uncle Al in the poker snack shop, and we decide to head off together. You'll find references this trny in Pizzamans 2004 ATLARGE report where we ran into eachother. Last year, I managed to build a stack of 20K without rebuying or adding on - i was looking forward to the same this year with the intent of playing much better in the later stages. Last year i pissed most of my stack away by jammin with AKs preflop and losing to QQ - a rookie mistake i think, given i had no need to gamble at that stage of the game. Oh well, this year will be different - this year I will nurture and love my stack, not treat it with disdain....And so, this year that is precisely what i did. Once again, no rebuy necess! ary, but i did take the addon. by the break i had a modest stack of 9K. If i hadnt played a single hand for the first hour, and just took a rebuy and an addon (double) id have 8k with which to work - so im happy with where im at. After the break I see how Al is doing and he is still on the same patch of ice since that morning when we shared the same table for HOE. Al has 1 hand left to play... and we're already talking about whether or not he should wait around for me or if i should just grab a cab when im done. Anyway, at the table, me and the big stack to my right take turns pushing the table around - im getting hands, not stealing, and build my stack to a nice comfortable 30K when the following hand comes down (for those who have already heard this story, i owe you another buck):
With 30+ players left and blinds of 800/1600 (9 get paid) i look down at AQ off in early position. I know I know, AQ isnt all that from early position - moot point - i make it 4800 to go and all fold around to the sb who smooth calls. I dont take this player to be a very savvy player. He was calling a lot and showing down some pretty mediocre stuff so im not too terribly concerned. As a matter of fact, Im almost positive i have the best hand at this point as he probably would have rerraised if he had anything better than AQ. BB folds. so the flop comes down 9J2 offsuit and the SB picks up his cards and looks at them again, then moves all in for a little over 15K. there is now north of 25K in the pot and i am contemplating a call. i am 90% sure he is just on a draw - with what hands would you raise all in with in this spot? i could only come up with 1 legitimate hand - AJ. i figure an overpair would have been reraised b4 the flop, and a! set would most certainly be slowplayed in this spot... so im counting down my chips, considering all this while i count the 1k chips, when suddenly the dealer says, "thats a call".
"wha? huh?" -
"Yes sir. here at the Borgata any chips placed in front of your cards is considered a call."
Great. Well that made the decision easier i guess, but no less painful. As it turns out, the guy had QT and flopped an open ended draw. Despite being ahead, I was pissed. pissed that this guy took a stand with QT, pissed that i was forced to call a hand that i could easily have passed on - so what if i have the best hand. on that flop, take my 4800 - nice bet sir - lets move on...long story short the little sonofabitch hits a K on the river and Im back to being a small stack. I never recovered from this. I get moved to another table right in front of the blinds. In the sb i see 77 and move in against the BB who woke up to JJ. ighn. Taxi!!!
So I finish right around 8:00 and take a cab back to the Taj to join everyone at the banquet where countless peeps heard a less robust version of the aforementioned. Sorry guys.
"Im gonna call just cause.... what the fuck..."
So Friday night im still sort of licking my wounds from borgata, not really feeling in the right mindset for cash games. If there has been any evolution at all in my game in the last 2 years its been to recognize when i shouldnt be playing it. So as opposed to dropping 400 playing 10 20 i ambled up to the hospitality suite where i found a sit n go about to take off in one of the side rooms. 20 dollar buy in, 100 in chips to start. attendees were harkness, Oscar, Zippywon, action bob, Matros, Pizzaman, Golfman?, Joans Neice (amanda?), and i apologize but i think im forgetting one person. I suck.
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Joan "AlwaysAware" Hadley interjects:
Barry is your missing man.
Amanda? nah, "junior"
This was fun and a lot more unorthodox. Before it starts I ask if I can coach Amanda instead of playing, it allows someone else to play and Amanda can learn to play bad poker :-)
They was no rebuy rule until ActionBob busted then he immediately inquires if he can rebuy for $40 for a stack of $100. A bit of discussion, then sure, why not. ActionBob tells Matt that he will be rebuying and Matt assures him it is so negative EV that he will not. Well, Matt busts and sure enough he rebuys. At this point it's a bit clear that Amanda, er I mean junior is getting a bit frustrated because I am telling her to fold every damn hand. So, Matt asks if I want to play his chips.
I play Matt chips and he becomes junior's mentor. ActionBob continues to be ActionBob and goes all in on almost every hand and a lot of them blind. It is jammed to Amanda and Matt asks what she wants to do. They decide to call down Mr. Action with KJ of clubs and Action produces a real hand, I forget what it was..... Whatever it was, Action wins and Amanda is busted I then inquire if Amanda can take over Matt's stack, and instead of moving her we move Matt's stack to where Amanda is sitting (because we can sit/stand behind her whereas Matt's former seat, then my former seat you can't)
Amanda makes a standard raise with pocket 3's (or maybe she called a small raise?) and there is 4 way (five way?) action. The flop brings a 3 and I tell her to check (thinking that other will think she missed, make a play at the pot and she can break them) Everyone folds and Matt is dismayed saying she should have bet it out since so many were interested preflop. Junior also seems a bit frustrated with me, Matt asks her what she wants to do, I tell her what to do (go figure) So, I decide to leave the coaching to Matt.
Chris/Tick leaves to get Kem cards and I play his stack. He has a huge stack and pocket 9's when it comes all in to him (but short) and I suddenly wish I hadn't begged to play his stack while he was gone. So, I pull out the "red card" and ask for the pro. Matt blurts out "you kidding? you're all in" Everyone else folds and the opponent (who was short) shows AK or QQ forget whatever it was, it was good or hits the flop or something.
It gets three handed and those that rebought (total of 4 I think) have to make third (3 spots paid) to break even. Amanda makes second and Matt graciously lets me take my 20 back, he takes his 60 back and gives Amanda $20 for playing, leaving $20. Matt and I look at each other, it should really be his, but since there's a 10 and two fives I give him the ten, a five to amanda and five to mayself. So I made $5 and Matt $10 in our backing of Amanda. But she made $25.... hmmmm, lol. But she had a great time, but decided to go to bed when we switched to live play and triple draw 2-7 lowball.
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this was perfect for me - even if i blow up in classic tick style, most im gonna lose is 20. And Who better to lose it to than this fine bunch....
Everyone was having fun. Harkness dealt and we used a bar of bathroom soap as a button ('Soap moves'... 'who's got the soap'...). Anyway, Action Bob was busy doing his action bob thing - raising blind, going all in dark and ut! g, etc... as a result of his play, he occasionally lost a hand, so they adopted a 40 dollar rebuy policy that was allowed until there were no more chips to dole out. A couple of times in my BB, Bob had gone in and I'd look down to see a medium pair, so id call and It'd actually hold up. Once all the chips were doled out, things seemed to wind down pretty quickly. I had chips the entire time- no rebuy - maybe pissed away half my stack on a bad call but no memorable hands to speak of. Made it to 3 handed and we had Golfman?, myself, and Amanda?, who eventually took 2nd place. Amanda had joan advising early on and Matros Advising for the later rounds - but towards the end there she was cognizant of a lot of the correct moves before confirming with one of said advisors. So if youre reading this, well done, and im sorry for being unsure now of your name. Short story shorter, i sucked out on both Golfman? and amanda? in classic tick style to win the thing. 180 for first. woot!
I think after that i pissed away 130 playing 3 card poker with some argers. Good times. time for bed.
Like so many others, I had a tough time sleeping that night. I can usually rely on modern science to assist in a good nights sleep when not in my own bed, but was s.o.l. that night. Woke up with a headache and still more than a little sleepy. I really wasnt in the right mindset for the NLH trny. We hadnt even started yet and i was already bummin about how long it was going to take. I ran upstairs to starbucks and slammed a double espresso to try and charge myself up a bit. Bought one cold espresso can to go. i think it might have worked for about 5 minutes tops.
I dont think i made it farther than level 3 - we started with 3k and i was down 1k after playing 2 hands in not the smartest fashion. I walked away from the table for a few minutes. Shortly upon my return i play my final hand . The guy to my right makes it 700 to go - a sizeable raise for the level - and I look down to see QQ. Im a little worried im up against a bigger pair, and i have no clue who this player is or how he plays so I smooth call intending to let it go if an ace or king hits the flop and he comes out firing. (So Its already been brought to my attention that ive been playing in a manner that maximizes my chances of folding - live and learn).
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Jerrod Ankenman interjects:
This isn't the same situation. If you think the other guy is usually going to be on AA, KK, or AK, which I think is wrong, but is consistent with your play, then for some stack sizes it's right to play it the way you did. If your opponent has AK, he'll be forced to fold and miss out on his opportunity to see the turn and river which could be AK. Also, you get away from QQ vs AA/KK when an A or K hits, which is nice.
Now, in real life you should probably just jam because raisers aren't that tight. QQ, more than any other strong hand in NL, benefits from seeing the flop against another strong distribution.
I'm not trying to browbeat you or anything...:)
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Flop comes Jack high with 2 spades and he checks. there was 1400+ in the pot and he checks. Ill blame it on fatigue, but i only bet 500. He check raises me all in. and i call. him: AK spades. The dealer has already dealt the turn card giving him the flush before i even see him flip his 2 cards over. nh.! I dont see him folding if i go all in preflop, or on the flop when he checked to me, so this was to be my fate.
Pink Chip games...
Never had so much fun losing in my life - ok, well - i lost on Saturdays game but managed to eek out a win on Sunday - which was in and of itself a major achievement for reasons ill get into later on.
Let me first mention that as i was waiting for the pink game to start up, I got a seat in a 10 20 game that was just opening. As i was waiting for that game to begin, i chatted with a gentleman who remarked as he surveyed the ATLARGE tourney that he lacked the patience to play in those types of events. I immediately took him for a live one, and sure enough, when the game began my very first hand dealt was AA. I lost to our friend who held QT of clubs and jammed and rejammed with 2 clubs on the flop. He got there on the turn and i paid him off for 2 more bets. First hand of the cash games for me that weekend. yay.
Within minutes of the 10 20 opening, the pink chip got started and i immediately decided if i was gonna lose money, I would have fun doing it. And so within minutes of the pink chip game beginning i picked up AA again only to get roasted by dilli when she hit a set of 6's. In sympathy, she tosses me 6 chips. thanks for that. Dilli would be owning me for pretty much the entire time that day - didnt matter what i had she would end up turning it into the 2nd best hand. Others can attest to her prowess that day.
SO i wasnt doing well - was down 150 or 200 and had taken a break, when i returned i sat out the remainder of the round while waiting for it to be my BB. I was one hand from posting when Action Bob, who had been sitting at the 2nd game with endless rows of pink and was now standing behind me and says to me, "Aww you gotta straddle that!"
He says "dont even look at em" as he puts up 6 chips out of my stack. At the other end of the table was Len who i believe 3 bet it. I forget the exact action, maybe there was a caller around the button or bb, but anyway bobs like "lets see what we have to work with" and we look down at 56 spades...
"Aww... we gotta cap THAT!"
We actually ended up taking the pot down when our 5 paired the river card. but the flop and turn gave us a ton of outs as well. Thanks Bob...
So Im actually up for the first time that day, but i slowly bled it off and eventually picked up the last few chips and bills an hour or 4 later down 250. Sorry Bob...
Sundays game followed a disappointing finish in the Tajs's 100+20 Nl - I made it down to 3 tables when i woke up to KK in the BB and it couldnt hold up against AT. I echo other comments that the structure of these taj trnys leave you desperately short stacked in the blink of an eye...nuff said
here's the incredible thing about Sundays Pink game: In 3 separate instances I would make a raise in early position with AK, only to be 3 bet by Zippywon across the table when it came around to her. On the first hand, The flop came A high, followed with a lot of betting. She had AA. Case Ace on the flop. 2nd time, The flop came AKX, lots of betting, and she ultimately flips over KK. Case King. 3rd time, A high on the flop, lots of betting - AA again. Case Ace. This was within a ten minute span. Even the 2 locals at the end of the table actually came out of their comas to comment.
Anyway i managed to take down a huge pot against a local with 7's full and had one or 2 other good pots so despite my crushing losses to Zippywon, i managed to walk away up a couple hundred. After a short time at the game it was time to head for home.
Not counting the atlarge trnys, I blew a little over 400 for the weekend on tournaments and cash games. Not a very good weekend for me poker wise, but one of the richest times in all other aspects. Thanks everyone for helping to make atlarge a blast
Chris
