AC Trip

In what was definitely one of the most anticipated trips this year, I was headed to AC with Bonnie while she helps run the Tribeca Film Festival event on the beach at Caesar's, and this could only mean one thing...four days of poker.

Granted, it didn't really turn out that way. A lot of events transpired which, since this is a poker blog after all, will not be discussed. I will leave it to say that while some parts of the trip were a bit stressful, in the end I think a lot was gained from the stressful interlude. Now, on to the trip.

The TFF people were treated in style, and we had a suite on the 43rd floor in the Centurion Tower, with awesome beach views. We were alos sailing on a $100/day dining credit, which we didn't really use as much as we could/should have. Anyway, after gazing out at the beach for a few minutes, I descended on the Caesar's poker room.


I had set aside $400 for the trip. I figured this was reasonable, as it would hopefully leave room for some cash and some of the smaller buy-in tournaments available. Things didn't start so well.

About 20 hands in my trip 7's were cracked by a straight, and my initial $100 buy-in was gone. I slide in another Benjamin, slowplay a nut flush against trips and make it back, and leave after about one hour up $25.

I heard lore about the sort-of new Bally's poker room, and let me tell you, it is a bitch to find. Once I found it, I was amazed to find what was one of the peculiar highlights of the trip...a $1/$1 No'Limit Table? It was sporting a $100 max, so I had to check it out.

What a table full of poker degeneracy. Basically the gist of this game was limp, limp limp limp, 7 handed pre-flop lottery. So, yours truly started raising, causing commotion. I was basically just doing this for information, so I could see who would play back. One Crazian was more than happy to, and about 10 minutes in he called my $10 raise with 4d5d. The flop came a crystalline 545, and I checked. Crazian makes it $17, and I call. Flush draw hits, and I Hollywood for about five seconds, and check. He makes it $40, I sit back in my chair, and after about 10 seconds of Tony-winning hemming and hawing, I call. I don't remember the river, but it was a brick of some kind, and I start thinking of what might end up looking like a blocking bet on my part. so I risk $20. Sure enough he shoves, and I call, and he tables AA.Woohoo! Then someone says 'Go spin the wheel.' Apparently, if your aces get cracked in the room, you get to go spin a wheel where you can win comp dollars and what-not. A large African-American fellow who appeared to be a regular said "Too bad they got no Ipod no more on that wheel," so I guess the eceonomy had affected the wheel's payout. Off the Crazian went, and he never returned.

After a few ridiculous drawing hands, I decided $1/$1 was not for me and I left the double having doubled up plus $25, and I'm now up $150 for the trip.

Then poker ended for a while. Too much to go into but let's just say I needed to set things right with the gf, so a trip to Tiffany took away my bankroll profit and an unnamed amount more, so let's just call it the new zero.

Right before the end of the trip, I go to Showboat to enter the $60 buy-in tournament. I chip up a bit here and there, one big bet with AQ on a q high board took down about 4000 to chip me up to 14K. About 10 minutes later, I find myself with AA UTG. an interesting error on my part...the blinds had just raised to 200/400 and and I threw in 600, thinking we were still at 100/200, so the dealer says, "That's just a call." essentially concealing the monster I had. Others limped, and we were about four handed, when an innocuous rainbow flop with a J appeared. I led out for 2200, and a guy in MP announced "All-in," and shoved in 10K and change. Well, if I get swung out with a set, that's fine. I call. He tables AJ and I find myself at around 30K by the first break.

Then the crash. I wake up with 99 after about 20 minutes of card deadness. Someone ahead makes it 1600 in 400/800, I call, and one other older fellow calls. Flop comes Q-10-9 rainbow, giving me trips. I make it 3200 and the older fellow calls everyone else is gone. While this guy was fairly tight, I felt like he might just be trying to draw to a straight, and if I saw what appeared to be a brick on the turn, I'd shove, exposing myself to JK or J8, with JK being a more likely possibility since he called the pre-flop raise. Either way, I don't see calling a raise with JK in MP as a completely horrible play, but when you consider the initial raiser was uber-tight and I had tabled monsters when I was in, it seemed unlikely that he had JK. Turn comes a brick and I waa already decided. I shove and he snap calls with the nuts, sure enough JK. I'm down to 2800 chips at 400/800 and bust three hands later. Oh well!

So, I can't really report on a definite bankroll total for the trip. For once, AC was not just about poker for me.

And that was just fine.