Atlantic City Prep

Atlantic City
In case you haven't heard, I'm going to Atlantic City in just two short days! On Wednesday, to be exact.  It cannot get here fast enough.  I'm staying for three nights, and come home Saturday.  The monkey wrench in the works is.....I don't have a room for Friday night, yet.  I'm staying at Borgata for free on Wed and Thurs nights and I need to book something SOMEWHERE for Friday night.  If I don't do it pretty soon, I may be dozing on a park bench on the boardwalk!  LOL Maybe it isn't that bad but I have to book something.  Funny thing is Wolfie hasn't booked his Friday night yet either.  He says not to worry, we'll get a room somewhere, maybe Taj, maybe Abescon.  I dunno.....

Prep
I got some emails and texts from my gal Lynne, saying her wife was working Saturday night and did I want to play some poker?  She suggested Foxwoods.  I did want to get a little more play in before I hit Altantic City but I definitely wasn't interested in going to Foxwoods this weekend.  I told her that if she wanted to go to Seabrook Poker Room, I was in. "It's closer!" I said. We texted Marvin, Leon and Glenn but no one else was available. Off we went.

There was a $30 rebuy event where you could rebuy 3 times (blah shoot me now) and Lynne opted to play that, but rebuys are not for me.  Intstead, I decided to hit the game I hate most in life.  2-4 LIMIT.  2-4 Limit really sucks if you're a tournament player.  As the bets are $2 or $4 you cannot bet enough to get anyone off a hand.  All these dudes hang around till the river to see which one of them hit their inside straight draw.  Blah.  I sat down to this while wating for a $60 sit & go to fill up.  Funny thing is I won like the first 5 hands in a row, betting hard all the way and getting paid off.  Saweet!  All those straight and flush chasers paid the premium for the opporunity.  Soon enough they were seating my sit & go and I left up about $80.

And it seemed everyone missed me!  When I sat down to the 2-4 limit table, the dealer said "Where have you been?  I've been looking for you." (?) Huh?  "Every weekend, I keep an eye out for you, but you never come here anymore. You win here, so why haven't you been back?"

"Erm....I guess because I've been going to Foxwoods".

When I sat down at the sit & go, the first thing the very nice dealer there said "You're finally back.  We missed your bubbly personality."

I was called bubbly!  LOL I think that's a first.

So my table's ready and when I head over I hear a couple of guys talking about a last longer bet.  A very young boy, certainly younger than 21, was asking the table if anyone was interested in a last longer and another guy had no idea what he was talking about.  The young kid was explaining it and getting no takers when I sat down.  I immediately said "Last longer?  I'm in!  How much?"

The kid replies "As much as you want!  As much as you have."

OMFG Really?

I say "How bout $20?"

He says "Not 100?"

Noooooo.  He gives me his $20 and explains to the table that whichever of us lasts longer gets $40.  The guy who didn't know what a last longer bet was decides to join us.  Heh.  A final guy sits down to my right.  A guy with the most GORGEOUS eyes and eyelashes that I have ever seen.  Mmmmmmm.  I nicely explain the last longer bet to him too and he's in as well.  $80 to whoever lasts longer.

This is a fast game.  You start with 5K in chips and the blinds start at 100/100 and go  up every 10 minutes.  Lose two hands and you'll find yourself short stacked.  Soon enough the guy who didn't know what a last longer bet was, becomes the chip leader when he knocks an older guy out.  Then I knock a guy out when I play 4-5 spades.  Flop is 3-6x and two were spades.  I have an open ended straight flush draw.  I bet out and get one caller.  I hit my straight on the turn and check.  He bets, I raise, he jams all in.  I'm worried that he has two higher spades and has a better flush draw but I have a made straight so I call.  Turns out he didn't have a flush draw but had A-6 for a pair of sixes.  and I take him out.  Mama's got chips!

A couple hands later I have Q-10 diamonds and Mr. Hot Eyes raises.  Another peep and I call.  There is a K and a 9 of diamonds on the flop.  Bing!  The other peep bets out, Mr. Hot Eyes is next and then it's me.  I am planning on making a decent size raise with my draws (inside straight flush draw and flush draw) when Mr. Hot Eyes jams all in.  Shit!  Hot Eyes has alot more chips than the other guy and there is no way in HELL I'm calling an all in on a draw if I'm not short. I'm the last person to act in this threesome, so I slap him, show him my awesome cards and fold.

He turns over pocket jacks (bfd) and felts the other guy.  Would I have hit my diamond?  YEP! So I slap him again!  I would've knocked them both out!  Shit!  Then the dealer starts rubbing it in just so I'll hit him again, and of course I do.

We are down to 3 in the last longer bet; me, hot eyes and young kid.  Hot Eyes and I are about even and after that last pot he nicely says to me "If I win the LLB I'll give you your $20 back."

Really?

Yeah.

Um, never look a gift horse in the mouth I say!  Coolio!

Except after that I ran over that table.  I took out another man and then it was time for the young kid.  Who, just by not playing became short stacked.  That's how quick this game is.  I raised it up with K-K, pretending I'm steaming and young kid came along.  Flop was 10 high so I checked.  Unfortunately for him, this is when he decided to jam all in with nothing.  I called him and bu-bye.

Only Hot Eyes and I were left in the LLB, and I had a 4-1 chip advantage over him.  I say "Since you're so nice, I'll give you your $20 back right now and I'll keep $60.  Deal?"  I really thought that since I had so much more chips than him that this WAS a nice offer, but he declined.

We were down to 4 peeps, on the bubble, and I had A-9 sooted on the button, and with 2 limpers I raised it up big.  Hot Eyes called me.  Flop was 8-8-9.  VN.  He bets and I jam all in.  I'm betting he doesn't have an 8.  He calls my all in with A-J.  WTF!  Who calls with that?  I bust Hot Eyes but I don't want him to go!!!!  Boooo!!!!

As he gets up, I do something I hardly ever do.  I gave him his $20 back because he kindly offered the same to me earlier.  But guess what?  He says "I had alot of fun playing with you but I can't take this, you won it."  He gave me the $20 back.  Then the dealer says that Hot Eyes must've enjoyed getting slapped around and Hot Eyes agreed.  Heh.

I am now heads up with a HORRIBLE player.  I mean he sucks.  He's betting with shit over and over again. Two hands into heads up I felt him.  I had 8-8.  He was first to act and came in raising.  I had more chips than him but he was not short stacked by any means.  Just to pick up his raising chips, I jam all in with my 8-8.  He instacalls.  Fawk!  And flips over A-3 off suit.  Who the hell CALLS an all in with that when they have a ton of chips in front of him?  A donkey!  I'm up against a 3 outer and my 8s hold up. 1st place baby, PLUS $80 in the LLB.

The donkey tells me how lucky I am as we wait for our cash.  Okay.......

He leaves.

I'm packing up my shit and the floor person comes over to me and says "Josephine, I guess leaving your profitable cash game worked out for you".  Yep.   This guy has been great.  He actually walked over to the cash game and got me when my sit & go was started.  He nicely cashed out all of those $2 chips for me, so I wouldn't miss a hand in the sit & go and then.....when he came over with my fist full of cash I thanked him and added "Erm, I left my cardigan at the cash game.  Could you get it for me?" 

The three of us are talking and the dealer says some really nice things about my play and asks me to come back sooner next time.  I ask him the one thing that's stuck in my mind.  "Who CALLS an all in with A-3 with all those chips?"

He replies "An asshole that's who.  And then he calls you lucky!"

I tell him I've been called lucky alot, but whatever.  It's a profitable night.  I go to see how Lynne is doing, but she just busted out of her tourney.  Booooo.....I asked her what she wanted to do.  Personally, I made more than I planned on with the LLB so I'm ready to hit the road.  Thankfully she's tired and agrees so we're outa there.

I won a net of more than $300 in about 3 hours.  Almost my Borgata buy in for Thursday!  Saweet!

But here's the thing.......

As I may have mentioned previously, I'm not a believer in luck.  I don't carry around a lucky chip for a card protector, and don't believe in lucky charms or lucky anything.  However, Lynne does.

I was wearing a VERY BRIGHT YELLOW blouse to play in last night, and Lynne says to me "If you win tonight, you have to wear that yellow top for your tournament at Atlantic City.

Okay........

'On the way home she reiterates it.  I guess you're wearing your lucky top for the tournament!  Hmmm...."$300 does not really make for a 'lucky' top in my opinion, but for some reason I told her I would.

Now I'm stuck wearing a bright as sunshine yellow top at Borgata?  I dunno.  I'm on the fence.  I had a much hotter top I was planning on wearing and besides.....if top = luck, maybe I should be wearing the red top I had on when I won over 4k at Foxwoods.  Hmmmm I'll be packing both just in case and making a game time decision.  I suppose I could wear both, changing during the dinner break.  I mean I will have a room right upstairs from the tourney.

We shall see.

Help a sista out.  Help me decide.  Sunshine yellow?  Red top that was a 4k winner?  Both?

The blouse looks very much like the one above.....except I'd probably have to not eat for a year, for it to really look like that, and as it's November, I have no tan and am as pale as you mere mortals. :(

Red winning top

2 days and counting. 3 till the tourney.

Play smart.

Josie