The Borgata: Resistance is Futile

Yesterday Evan, Will and I went to play in a casino for the the first time. I know everyone says it, but these things really are perfectly engineered in order to 1) not let you out, 2) give you no concept of time, 3) feel very very comfortable.

Moving on to the reason we were there, Poker. The room was really nice. Chairs and tables were very comfortable. The chips were heavier and slicker than I am used to, and thus chip tricks had to be limited. Most of the dealers were nice and talkative, made a good environment.

So I ended up playing for about five hours. At about 30 hands per hour, that puts me at a very exhaustive 150 hands. Based on that number, my win-rate was a staggering -233bb/100. Yes, you read that correctly, there is no missing decimal that is supposed to be there. Based on the way the hands ran, I honestly think that many other people loose a lot more if they ran as bad as I did.

First big hand, I get AT in early position, probably 4 people to the flop. A8T, SHIP IT, HOLLA!! I don’t remember the action, but after the turn it is just me and one other guy. I think he min-raised the turn, but either way, I know he thinks he has a good hand, but as we just started, who knows what that means. I get to showdown cheaply from there and he has 88. Wasn’t I supposed to be broke there?

Some more hands pass. I remember that c-betting isn’t worth it at this table. I get TT in EP, 2 people call my raise. Flop is AxA, I bet and get one caller. He has Ax a lot, but I didn’t worry about it as I don’t have many chips. My assumption was correct and I have to reload.

I get AA in EP, 4 callers. I’m sorry I suck at remembering the board, but I got 2 callers on the flop. Something in my head says to check, this is followed by a big bet and a push. I scratch my head and muck, they were both ahead of my pair.

I have T8s, x9J I call a bet to see the turn. Q, Ship it!! I bet and call when I get raised. T, I check call and am pissed off when he shows KT. I thought the river sucked, but it saved my stack.

I get 22 in EP, 80 billion people see he flop. 28Q, Ship it, Holla!! Bet, Raise, Push, Call. He shows QQ. This is the same guy that had 88 earlier, won the hand where I folded AA, and had the KT.

I go for a walk to check on Evan and Stewie. We have lunch and head back to the tables.

I have JT and the flop is QTx, I call a bet. J, I raise when the guy bets again. J, SHIP IT, HOLLA!!! Bet, raise, push, call. He shows QJ. At this point I’m pretty much just laughing.

I buy-in for another 50 big blinds, and basically sit on that for another hour or two. J4 in the big blind, we check around a J high flop. J, I bet out and get 1 caller. The talkative guy at the table says I’d have to be a genius to have a J. I get called on the river by a guy who just back-doored a flush. More nothing, then I get 88 vs a raise on my right and I push my short stack. He has TT and I’m done for the night.

Slot Machines. I didn’t understand them before I went and having each of us trying $5 on them, I understand them less. They are not entertaining. They are not fun. Half the time there are so many line possibilities that you only know that you win when the machine tells you. I thought the nickel slots were bad, then I saw the penny slots.

Actual Themes Used for Slot Machines

  • Summer Carnival
  • Frog Flip Flop
  • Secretes of Africa
  • Keno Plus
  • Sea Monkies
  • Dick Clark’s Rocking New Years
  • That Girl

Comment Rules

Comments (5)

  • joepro Says:

    Hahhheeeey!!!!!!! You broke your cherry! This is cool on so many levels. To go to Borgata as your first live poker room is to eat at Nobu for your first Asian dinner. Like having Scarlet Johannsen as your first girlfriend. Like, you know what I mean. Ok, so it’s unfortunate you lost, but I guess you learned some of the huge differences bet. online and live. Places like the Borgata, especially on weekends, provide a wide array of personalities. There is everything from the curious college kid to the little old lady to the smelly pro grinder trying to make his rent money. Oh yeah, and the tourists. A casino like this is a great place for the pro grinder, because he knows there is a lot of easy money here. Regardless, you will do fine live if you make the proper adjustments. Dan Harrington and others recommend playing extremely tight in a loose game like these. My suggestion? Learn Omaha Hi Lo and you will make a killing in live games. Or play a higher limit. That may sound like the worst advice ever, but I have a theory that some of the middle limit games are the easiest to beat.

    Anyhow, it’s great news. My favorite Borgata story is when I got my points rewards card and they told me I had 19 points on it. The guy next to me had over 100,000 points on his card. That man was Paul Darden.

    As far as slots, Mike Sexton’s brother told me he knew Mike was big time when he saw his picture on a slot machine.

  • bbrown0707 Says:

    First big hand, I get AT in early position

    AT in EP?

    I get TT in EP, 2 people call my raise.

    raise TT in EP?

    I’ve done both of these things of course but in these games I shy away from it.

    Slot Machines.

    Amen.

  • Saddlepoint Says:

    I agree with Bryan.

    And I apologize too because, to be completely honest, I was kind of so shell shocked from my own run that I wasn’t really paying enough analytical attention to any of your hands. It’s also definitely obscured by the unbelievable negative variance, but in theory I guess you’d want me chewing on the strat too.

    Fairly, I managed to see raised flops with T8s, T9o, 54s, KQo, and KJs that I can remember, but I was unbelievably bored and tilty.

  • The Saint Says:

    Yeah, it was a very nice room. And my results haven’t cracked my hopes for what I know I can do live. It’s almost better that I did so laughably bad that I got a sweet story out of it.

  • The Saint Says:

    3 tabling 6max online >>> 1 tabling full ring live.
    Me, bored imo.

    But yes, not really good for full ring or this environment, but some of it was me still thinking like it was still 6max and some of it was you should shut the hell up and let me have my glory. Seriously, BOAT OVER FUCKING BOAT.

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