AC Trip Report, Taj, Bally's, Caesars and Showboat, 7/18/09

Sometimes even when you win it feels like you lost. Such was the case in Atlantic City this past weekend.

One of the concerns I've had recently regarding my poker activities has been that of bankroll management. Like so many things in life it actually breaks down to goal directed (or misdirected) behavior; if you don't know what your goals are it makes it less likely you will achieve them. When it comes to poker I must admit I have been having thoughts of going back home to South Florida and playing pseudo full-time. It is not as far fetched as my wife seems to think (fff@#$%#kkkk her) as I know from experience I can grind out about $20 an hour at the many pari-mutual limit tables within a half hour of my apartment in Fort Lauderdale. I also know that in AC on the No Limit tables I can average about 2-3 times that or roughly $50 and hour and I know that since I have left South Florida, No Limit is now legal down there. I just have not reconciled the half cut in pay and potential for ruining something I enjoy part time but might hate full time yet, with the anticipated lifestyle changes that go along with this decision. That being said, my bankroll goals for a single day excursion to AC once a month might be far different than my bankroll goals for a four to five hour session at my local poker room each afternoon where my total commute might be 30 minutes. In my current situation, a 2-3 hour bus ride equates to a 6 hour round trip commute for a day to AC so right off the bat I am under the gun $40 plus 6 hours. If I value my hours at $20 per hour and if I need to eat something during that trip my initial overhead before I even hit a casino is almost $200. So if I am in Florida and I come back from a 4 hour session up $200 it was a good day at $50 an hour net income but up here in the North East that same $200 represents $0 an hour and I hate to work so little pay.

So when I go to AC with a $200 bankroll and need to come back after 16 hours with at least a $20 per hour net return, what I am really saying is I need to turn $200 into $550. Obviously, turning $2,000 into $5,500 would be a better approach but for now assume my monthly AC excursion bankroll is limited to the $200-$400 range. Turning a 200% profit on a $200 investment in AC is no easier than anywhere else. The low limit tables are a minefield of bad beats and a $200 bankroll can't absorb too many bad beats early on, so I decided a safe strategy would be to invest $60 in the somewhat soft tables at Caesars which would at least leave me with $100 to try and make up for it elsewhere if that's whats happened and guess what? That's what ended up happening.

I opened up with a $60 buy-in at Caesars on a $1/$2 No Limit table. After about 45 minutes I was up to about $140 when the soft table allows my 2♦-4♦ on the button to limp in and realize a wheel on the flop when a A♣-5♥-3♠ falls. I raise $10 and am called by 2 guys. The 9♣ turns and it is checked to me so I raise $20 and the first guy folds while the second (an older non-drinking local) calls. The river brings K♣ and the tee totaler raises to $50 at which point I go all in and he insta-calls and shows me the club flush. So far my plan is executing to perfection :-)

I walk up to the Taj (which seems to be a lot further from Caesars than I remember) and take my last $100 to a brand new $2/$5 No Limit table which is just opening up and sit for about 15 minutes while they attempt to assemble all the players who were waiting on a 2/5. We finally seat 9 players and begin. I am sitting in seat one and after folding the first round I get A♥-K♥ on the button. One player raises $10 a second calls and then the whacko across from me who has been raising pre-flop, every hand, all game so far raises $75 out of position so I shove all in for my remaining $80. He stares at me for at least 2 minutes before he finally realizes its like a $5 call. The remaining player folds and the flop comes 2♥-5♥-9♥. For some reason he doesn't turn over his hand so I don't either. The turn is a A♦ and the river 8♣. Without prompting (a mistake) I turn over my nut flush finally realizing nobody asked to see our cards. The crazy guy mucks before I can ask to see his cards. Two hands later I get hooks (which have been killing me lately) and I raise to $20. I get two callers. The flop comes 2♥-9♦-5♣ so I bet out like $50 and both guys fold. I get up and walk out to have a cigarette with a new $220 bankroll.

I walk up to the Showboat and sit down at a $1/$2 No Limit table with $100. After about 15-20 minutes I realize these guys are much more concerned about losing their money than the guys back at the Taj. It seems like anytime anybody raises more than $6-12 dollars they fold. It also looks like if you want 2-3 callers you should raise exactly $12. I adhere to the local protocol and since I'm not getting any cards anyway, I decide when I get in position I'm going to try to make my first major play of the day; if the pot is un-raised when it gets to me regardless of my cards I'm swiping the pot. Sure as hell, when I get the button 3 limpers call so I raise like $50 and everybody folds pretty much on que except a young Russian guy sitting across the table from me who stares at, and interrogates me for about 2 minutes before finally mucking his hand. Next hand I do basically the same thing with 10♥-2♦ and get exactly the same results except the Russian kid had folded before me so no aggravation from him this time around. I fold my next hand, an 8♣-4♣ pre-flop, because the youthful East Blockian 3 raised, and I watch as we lose an older grizzled fellow when his called all-in turns into a race between pocket tens and A♣-J♦ won by the kid I quickly realize is the only player at this table I really need to concern myself with.

A little while later I finally get a playable hand (note no wired Aces, Kings or Queens this trip in over 10 hours of play; weird!), an A♣-Q♣ from the small blind. The bet is $12 to me (but of course) so I raise $30 dollars to get rid of any pain in the ass small suited-connectors etc that might be trying to get opportunistic on me, and of course everybody folds except my youthful nemesis who simply calls. The flop comes 10♣-9♥-J♣ and I lead out with a defensive $20 bet which is insta-called. The turn is the 4♣ which brings me the temporary nuts so I check and of course get an insta-all-in along with the obligatory big stare-down which I interpret as a 'that club didn't help you bitch!' cry for help. I suspect I'm in good shape for the time being so I oblige and he turns over the pocket Jacks. The river brings a 7♥ and I pick up a nice sized pot along with the associated hand analysis from my younger opponent. Two hands later I get the hooks and raise like $30 into an unraised pot and the reverse baseball cap wearing soviet calls after everybody else folds. The flop brings A♣-9♥-10♦ so I raise like $30 to feel him out and he tries to take me all in. This time I take off my sunglasses, stare him down, tell him he has the Ace Nine and fold. He shows me the 9♠ and I say "you had the Ace too" but he denies it (I figure he had the nine or 10 kicker because he was actually a pretty good player and pretty good players don't go all in without a decent hand). At this point I decide to take my money and head back to the Taj, but of course as soon as I start packing up my chips he starts in with the "Where are you going?" bit. I grab a cheeses-teak on the way to the Taj at my favorite boardwalk shop and count myself lucky to be up around $300 after about four hours of play. Then I remember my bankroll goals.

Since I now how enough money to starting playing a bit aggressively when I reach the Taj poker room I ask for a $1/$2 No Limit table determined to establish a table presence and trap some big pots, however, there are already two aggressive guys at the first table they put me at so I get up and leave. I grab a smoke and a shot of Hennessy and agonize over whether I should sit down at a $10/$20 table or move to a different $1/$2 No Limit table and pursue my dreams of trapping big pots. I decide I want to spread my wings and try to trap a bit so I sit down at a $1/$2 No Limit table and start aggressin. I raise $20 with a 9♣-10♣ after a 3♣-8♣-K♥ flops and everybody folds. I raise $50 with A♥-7♦ after everybody calls a $20 bet on a 7♣-2♦-K♥ flop and they all fold except for one guy who folds on the turn when I lead out with a $60 raise. I fold two hands so I don't over do it, then I get Q♥-9♥ one behind the button and raise $20 and instead of folding around to me like I was expecting, 3 players call my raise. Thus begins one of the strangest hands I have played in my brief career.

The flop comes 3♥-7♥-10♥ giving me a Queen high flush and the big blind bets out $12 which 2 other players call and while I'm thinking about my bet (because I really don't need a fourth heart to turn) the button (who is the player to my immediate left) calls and the small blind calls at which point I realize what's going on so I start yelling at the dealer, 'excuse me, excuse me, its my bet!', but she deals the turn and its the Jack of hearts. The dealer says "oh, did you want to call?" and I say "no I want to raise $20!" at which point everybody says they call and put their bets out. I'm thinking "freakin great now the Ace AND King are betting against me". Noticing my unhappy demeanor, the dealer calls over the floor person who says put the Jack back in and reshuffle the deck and continue (wtf?). The turn is the King of hearts and everybody checks so I go all-in and one guy who has me covered, calls. The river is the 6♥ (we now have a flush on the board) and I go all-in praying the caller doesn't have the Ace which he doesn't (he had a King Ten black off) and I take down a big pot but it was a very strange hand and if I didn't win it I probably would have contested it. I pick up a set of nines at one point and an A♣-7♣ from the button on a A♦-K♦-2♣ flop which my $40 bet takes down.I give back like $50 when my A♠-10♠ flush gets beat by a boat on the river so I get up, cash out and count my money. I have like $540. I came with $160 ($200 less my transportation costs). I've been playing about 6 hours. I'm up around $380. I decide its time to go home. My bankroll objectives have been met.

The bus doesn't leave Bally's until 8:30 so I convince myself a quick stop at Caesar's soft tables will yield some additional revenue. I sit down at a $1/$2 No Limit table and proceed to give back $100 when my trip Nines lose to trip Tens after I make an idiotic pre-flop all-in call with wired Nines (I deserved to lose $100 on that hand). I walk over to Bally's (Caesars and Bally's are actually connected in AC) and stand in what surprises me as a very long line given it is just before 8:10pm. After only 3-5 trips to AC in the past couple of months using the bus I can already see some patterns emerging. First, the bus schedules are only advisory warnings. When a bus schedule says a bus leaves a given terminal at 8:30pm on such and such a day, what this really means is, absolutely not before, but perhaps sometime after 8:30 a bus will arrive that more than 20 people might be able to get on because oh by the way, we pick up at the Hilton first before we get here. I also know a few facts about bus capacity. For example, I now know the Academy bus (the one I have been taking) can hold exactly 54 people. I know this because after waiting over a half an hour in line the driver informs us we have two seats left; 'just 52 seats folks, plus 2 left is 54 and that's all this bus holds' is exactly what the driver said, just when it is my turn to board. I decide I don't like this driver. I don't like his condescending attitude, I don't like his demeanor, I don't like his answer when I complain about the low down stinkin coyotes who have been cutting in line under his watch; 'call the company', and I definitely don't want him driving me the two hours to Manhattan so I turn to the Asian couple behind me who have a two hour drive home once we reach Manhattan (I know this because I had been chatting with them while waiting on line) and say "you guys go". They are extremely grateful and wave to me from the bus as I walk back into the Bally's casino. I do this kind of crap all the time believe it or not and I really don't know why, but as I am making my way back into the Bally's poker room to wait out the 2 hours until the next bus arrives I am thinking to myself; NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. Not a good omen.

Now Bally's, the Showboat and from what I hear, the Tropicana are where a great number of the locals like to congregate during the week. It actually reminds me of the pari-mutuals back home. The same cast of characters on the same schedule, week in and week out. In my opinion, it is one of the toughest places to make any real money (back home we affectionately refer to it as "no fold'em hold'em" as you tend to see the river on every hand) and so I try to keep away from those kind of places while in AC. Unfortunately, Bally's is one of those places. The table composition was as follows ...

Dealer to my left, 65-70 year old (hell, he looked healthier than me) Chinese guy then a person so quiet I don't even remember what he or she looked like, followed by an Asian guy with glasses who I figure was about the same age as me (let's say around 50). He had quite a large stack this evening. I am going to say maybe $1,600 or so, and it was obvious he had been there a while. This was a $1/$2 No Limit with a $500 max buy-in. Next was a second older Asian gentleman who was friends with the first elder Asian gentleman, followed by what eventually I realized was his niece (who appeared to be about 40 years old) and a black lady about my age. Finally there was a heavy set middle eastern looking guy who appeared to be between 38-48 years old with a gruff voice to my right, and between he and I was an attorney from somewhere nearby who was around my age but carried a stack many times larger than mine (maybe $1,000) and would answer his cell phone whenever it rang. He knew the black lady as they had evidently just been in a tournament together earlier in the day and were catching up on current events, as I sat down. The attorney knew the middle aged Asian girl because they had played at Bally's last week at the same night and time but this week for some reason she was staying in a hotel on the boardwalk rather than driving back home, and his stack was up rather than down. This immediately connected basically everybody with everybody at this table in my mind (except me) since the lawyer referred to the middle eastern looking dude by his first name; Sam. It reminded me of back home and that's pretty much how it played out. One notable difference was I had not yet played with really good female players but the two ladies at my table were extremely good players and I will remember them when I return if I should encounter either again.

At first I was up to about $180 after maybe 30 minutes of play, but I attribute that to me being more the unknown quantity than anything else. I took advantage of their lack of knowledge of me a couple of times and got away with it but for the most part they would keep me honest; especially the women. They were tough and unless I wanted to take my hand to the mat I did not bet into them much. The middle aged Asian gal played few hands but when she did play she played them strongly. The black woman played a lot of hands but was impossible to bluff. She was betting back into me on the river way too many times to have that many hands over me and I would have to trap her to get any money out of her but I never got the opportunity. They knew enough to keep out of each others way. Between the two of them they kept me frustrated for quite a while. With 5 minutes to go before I had to leave to catch the bus and just one hand before the big blind, I decided I would fold the next hand and leave unless I got something playable. I got the 10♣-10♦ so I call $12 (because Doyle says to see the flop as cheaply as possible with them and I tend to agree) and the flop comes 8♥-8♣-4♣. I bet $20 to see what's out there, basically feeling pretty good about my wired tens but needing to know if anybody's got the eight. Everybody folds except the middle aged Asian guy who calls. The Ace of clubs turns and I now have to know if he has the Ace so I bet $50 and he calls. Now at this point I've got second high pair, a flush draw and a suck-out trip Tens draw. I don't put him on the Ace since he just called (which was probably a mistake) rather than raising because in that case I would have figured he was as scared as a flush draw as I was, so we see the river. Its a 2♦ and I decide to shove all-in and hopefully bluff him off the pot (in the back of my mind I'm thinking I'm bluffing with the best hand) but of course he takes me all in since my $180 stack is a mere bag of shells to him. We turn over and sure as shit he has the eight. My poor bankroll.

I think the thing that bothers me most about the way I played all day is the last hand of the night (isn't it always) and with me this seems to be a pattern, I pretty much knew I was beat on the river but for some reason, probably because I already had $100 in the middle and I subconsciously wanted to go home a big winner on a high note, I pushed all-in looking for the big money, easy score when I should have tucked my tail between my legs, folded, and went home a little less of a winner. This is a disturbing character flaw to have in this game. I was bummed and I know I need to work on this in the future. Oh yea and not getting stinking polluted towards the end of the night might also help. Whatever. By 10:02 I'm downstairs (the Bally's poker room is on the 6th floor) and I get in a line already 40 people deep, waiting for the 10:30pm bus which is obviously also going to be full. I make it home by 2:00am up $180 but it feels like I'm down $180. After I spend $100 to buy a carton of smokes (freakin Manhattan!) maybe I'll have enough left over to drown my sorrows in a bottle of Hennessy but maybe not, as tomorrow is laundry day. God I hate the saying 'better luck next time' but it sure does seem like it always applies to me.