Joe Tall
12-16-2003, 02:32 PM
Two of my good friends and I headed out to Atlantic City on Friday. We snagged a $96 round trip ticket from Logan to Philly on US Airways, rented a car for $50 for the weekend and got a room at the Super8 for $150/night, which was just a room, period and not bad spilt 3-ways.
I posted here and set up some PMs to meet some 2+2ers down there. I flew into Philly at 8:15PM Friday and we got on Route 95 around 8:30, only to run into a huge traffic jam. It took us an hour to go from the airport to the Walt Whitman bridge (about 10 miles), so I text messaged the 2+2ers and told them I'd be late.
I showed up around 11PM at the Borgata. Headed right over to the Metropolitan Cafe to find the 2+2 group. I sat down with the group, MG in NJ, brian0729, Mosch, bunky9590, scrub, Homer, and CrackerZack were all there. We talked some poker and had a drink or two.
MG kept busting on my Bastan (Boston) accent and I kept on saying every word twice after that, we all had a few laughs. I knew I was going to like MG right away, we must come from similar backgrounds, only few know how to take my attitude and MG came right over the top and busted me. It was perfect.
I was surprised to meet Mosch, as I was going to meet him last weekend at Foxwoods but due to the big snowstorm I was unable too and the bammo!, here he is in AC. Mosch is big dude, very nice guy, we got to have some interesting conversations later about poker, life and the like.
After that I headed down to the Poker room in the Borgata. The Borgata has a great poker room. It's well run, has clean chips (got a $1 chip for you JTG) and even great seats to sit in, which is a big deal to me as I'm never comfortable at the table being 6 ft 7 in.
I jumped on the $6/$12 board and got a game right away, MG came over and gave me a quick read on the players. The game was a tough one as there were 2 sharp players to my right, the only 3 fish to my left, John Vorhaus (which MG pointed out), Bunky and Mosch after that. I was cold-carded and didn't play many hands. However, it was interesting to watch Vorhaus play. I've read a few of his poker pages articles, he is a sharp player. He did get caught on a stone cold where he 3-bet on the button w/23s. The player he 3-bet, knew who he was and nearly folded on the folp. Instead he went into call down mode and Vorhaus checked the river through and showed his bluff.
I knew a table change would had been higher EV but the game was interesting just so I stuck around. Only 1 out of every ten hands went to a showdown, first time I could ever say that.
I pulled off one stunt when the game started to break after Vorhaus and his friend got up. I did not play a hand in about 45 minutes, 2-folds to me, 6 handed w/a weak-tight behind me, bunky in the SB and a weak-tight in the Big Blind as Mosch went to play 10/20 and I raise w/5 /images/graemlins/heart.gif3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif and only the BB called. The flop came Ace-high, rainbow, and the BB looked disgusted and checked, I bet, she called. The turn completed the rainbow and when it hit, she briefly pursed her lips into a frown while her eyes where locked on the board. I put my head down to pretend to look at my chips with my eyes on her when she checked; I could see her start to pick up her cards, so I bet. She folded.
The game broke and I headed to the board to get me on the lists. Just then I ran into a Foxwoods friend of mine who is a lurker here named 'Ocean' playing 3/6. Ocean is a friend of Fred G. Sanford who is a good friend of MG, strangely enough.
I got a seat in the 3/6 game just after MG ordered me a beer when I was watching him and brian07SQRT2+2=2. I should have never had the beer, it was after midnight and I had been up since 5AM. Needless to say, I didn't play that well, especially after MG sat down next to me around 2AM and ordered me a shot and beer. Mosch sat down later also and we had several conversations about 2+2, poker and life, it was a fun game. MG is the type that I felt like I’ve known for years, I can see why Fred G and him hang.
I remember only 2 hands: A family of limpers to me and raise w/JJ, the blinds fold and now a tricky player who thinks he plays well, limp-re-raises, all call and I cap it. At this very moment MG breaks a cardinal rule and whispers, “I folded a King so don’t worry about that one.” as the flop comes rags. Everyone checks to me and I bet, the tricky player raises and I 3-bet, the tricky player calls. Turn: K, tricky-player checks, I bet, he raises, I call. The river was a blank and the tricky player checks again, I pause for a second, totally lost, and bet, tricky calls and drags it with AKo. I still don’t know what the hell happened there, I busted on MG for it, but I got my revenge by keeping him up till 6AM. :P
The other hand was a laugh too. Mosch raised UTG and I said, “F-it, let’s post one” and 3-bet, the dealer then says, “what does that mean? Raise?”. I say, “well, in theory I guess it would.” The flop comes Ten high and Mosch bets out, I raise and he goes into call down mode. I flip over my A/images/graemlins/spade.gif T/images/graemlins/spade.gif and Mosch flips over 77 and we have a laugh as I drag it. After that MG 3-bet Mosch and said, "Let's post it." and the same dealer said, "oh, I know what that means, raise!". The 3 of us burst out in laughter./images/graemlins/grin.gif
Our game started to break in the early morning and 3 players left a one time, including MG and Mosch and I go heads up for a few hands.
The first hand I’m dealt A/images/graemlins/spade.gifK/images/graemlins/spade.gif and complete, Mosch raises out of the BB and 3-bet. Mosch smells a trap and calls. The flop comes rags and I bet, Mosch calls. The turn is my K and I bet, Mosch folds. I table my hand and we have a laugh, Mosch had A8o. After folding our blinds to each other the house moves us to full games.
I should have went home right there but the room only had 2-beds and I’m sure my friends had them occupied so I decided to stay, it’s now 8AM.
I sit in a wild 3/6 with a bunch of maniacs and 2 decent players. It was a real fun table I stayed until 10AM, there were a lot of jokes about my Red Sox cap and the game was light as everyone had been there all night long.
There was only one hand I remember that has already been discussed here. I hadn’t played a hand in a while when I raised a weak limper w/JJ, everyone folded to the blinds who call, the limper calls. The flop came 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4/images/graemlins/diamond.gif and it’s checked to me and I bet. The BB, who is an OK player, check-raises, the limper folds and I 3-bet. The BB now 4-bets, I ask the dealer, “heads up right?”, he says, “yes, no cap” and I call with intentions of raising the turn. The turn comes 7/images/graemlins/heart.gif and the BB bets out, I raise and the BB calls, the river comes 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif and the BB checks, I bet and the BB raises, I call and the BB shows T/images/graemlins/club.gif 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif for the runner-runner gut shot and drags it. The player did commend me for raising the turn, I just wish I checked the river; I had a good feeling the c/r was coming but bet anyway. My senses were dulled since I had been up about 28 hours at that point.
Guess it wasn’t my night as I lost about $200 or so. As I walked out I said to the table to check out the forum, and introduced myself as Joe Tall. Then the player who had T5o said, “holy $hit” and shook my hand, it was RollaJ /images/graemlins/tongue.gif.
I took a 5 hour nap and headed over the Taj with my 2 friends from home. I got into a juicy 5/10 game and got up about $200 before I met them for dinner. We ate dinner and I brought them back to the poker room and got all three of us into a 2/4 game as they are both new to casino Hold’em. My brief lesson to them was, “if a strong player open-raises in EP and everyone folds to you; you hand is only worth a 3-bet or a fold.” They both played well as our 20 years of poker playing experience seemed to be enough to beat the 2/4 game and they booked moderate wins for newbies. I had a blast at the table and booked a $200 win as we played from Midnight to 5AM. The Taj poker room is not greatest but the games were great. The chips are real dirty, as the tables are too and it took me 4 hours to find a clean enough one to take home. (Sorry JTG, I couldn’t find another one worthy of my pocket). I guess having Foxwoods, Ocean's 11, and the Borgata under my belt has turned me into a poker-room snob. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
I went to the room and slept for 5 hours as our flight left Philly at 1:30. It seemed like I packed in a 5 day poker vacation in 2 days; I had a great time.
My list of 2+2ers grows, I’ve met nearly twenty now and I have to say that all of them have been great people. I hope to keep the list growing into the future.
Peace,
Joe Tall
I posted here and set up some PMs to meet some 2+2ers down there. I flew into Philly at 8:15PM Friday and we got on Route 95 around 8:30, only to run into a huge traffic jam. It took us an hour to go from the airport to the Walt Whitman bridge (about 10 miles), so I text messaged the 2+2ers and told them I'd be late.
I showed up around 11PM at the Borgata. Headed right over to the Metropolitan Cafe to find the 2+2 group. I sat down with the group, MG in NJ, brian0729, Mosch, bunky9590, scrub, Homer, and CrackerZack were all there. We talked some poker and had a drink or two.
MG kept busting on my Bastan (Boston) accent and I kept on saying every word twice after that, we all had a few laughs. I knew I was going to like MG right away, we must come from similar backgrounds, only few know how to take my attitude and MG came right over the top and busted me. It was perfect.
I was surprised to meet Mosch, as I was going to meet him last weekend at Foxwoods but due to the big snowstorm I was unable too and the bammo!, here he is in AC. Mosch is big dude, very nice guy, we got to have some interesting conversations later about poker, life and the like.
After that I headed down to the Poker room in the Borgata. The Borgata has a great poker room. It's well run, has clean chips (got a $1 chip for you JTG) and even great seats to sit in, which is a big deal to me as I'm never comfortable at the table being 6 ft 7 in.
I jumped on the $6/$12 board and got a game right away, MG came over and gave me a quick read on the players. The game was a tough one as there were 2 sharp players to my right, the only 3 fish to my left, John Vorhaus (which MG pointed out), Bunky and Mosch after that. I was cold-carded and didn't play many hands. However, it was interesting to watch Vorhaus play. I've read a few of his poker pages articles, he is a sharp player. He did get caught on a stone cold where he 3-bet on the button w/23s. The player he 3-bet, knew who he was and nearly folded on the folp. Instead he went into call down mode and Vorhaus checked the river through and showed his bluff.
I knew a table change would had been higher EV but the game was interesting just so I stuck around. Only 1 out of every ten hands went to a showdown, first time I could ever say that.
I pulled off one stunt when the game started to break after Vorhaus and his friend got up. I did not play a hand in about 45 minutes, 2-folds to me, 6 handed w/a weak-tight behind me, bunky in the SB and a weak-tight in the Big Blind as Mosch went to play 10/20 and I raise w/5 /images/graemlins/heart.gif3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif and only the BB called. The flop came Ace-high, rainbow, and the BB looked disgusted and checked, I bet, she called. The turn completed the rainbow and when it hit, she briefly pursed her lips into a frown while her eyes where locked on the board. I put my head down to pretend to look at my chips with my eyes on her when she checked; I could see her start to pick up her cards, so I bet. She folded.
The game broke and I headed to the board to get me on the lists. Just then I ran into a Foxwoods friend of mine who is a lurker here named 'Ocean' playing 3/6. Ocean is a friend of Fred G. Sanford who is a good friend of MG, strangely enough.
I got a seat in the 3/6 game just after MG ordered me a beer when I was watching him and brian07SQRT2+2=2. I should have never had the beer, it was after midnight and I had been up since 5AM. Needless to say, I didn't play that well, especially after MG sat down next to me around 2AM and ordered me a shot and beer. Mosch sat down later also and we had several conversations about 2+2, poker and life, it was a fun game. MG is the type that I felt like I’ve known for years, I can see why Fred G and him hang.
I remember only 2 hands: A family of limpers to me and raise w/JJ, the blinds fold and now a tricky player who thinks he plays well, limp-re-raises, all call and I cap it. At this very moment MG breaks a cardinal rule and whispers, “I folded a King so don’t worry about that one.” as the flop comes rags. Everyone checks to me and I bet, the tricky player raises and I 3-bet, the tricky player calls. Turn: K, tricky-player checks, I bet, he raises, I call. The river was a blank and the tricky player checks again, I pause for a second, totally lost, and bet, tricky calls and drags it with AKo. I still don’t know what the hell happened there, I busted on MG for it, but I got my revenge by keeping him up till 6AM. :P
The other hand was a laugh too. Mosch raised UTG and I said, “F-it, let’s post one” and 3-bet, the dealer then says, “what does that mean? Raise?”. I say, “well, in theory I guess it would.” The flop comes Ten high and Mosch bets out, I raise and he goes into call down mode. I flip over my A/images/graemlins/spade.gif T/images/graemlins/spade.gif and Mosch flips over 77 and we have a laugh as I drag it. After that MG 3-bet Mosch and said, "Let's post it." and the same dealer said, "oh, I know what that means, raise!". The 3 of us burst out in laughter./images/graemlins/grin.gif
Our game started to break in the early morning and 3 players left a one time, including MG and Mosch and I go heads up for a few hands.
The first hand I’m dealt A/images/graemlins/spade.gifK/images/graemlins/spade.gif and complete, Mosch raises out of the BB and 3-bet. Mosch smells a trap and calls. The flop comes rags and I bet, Mosch calls. The turn is my K and I bet, Mosch folds. I table my hand and we have a laugh, Mosch had A8o. After folding our blinds to each other the house moves us to full games.
I should have went home right there but the room only had 2-beds and I’m sure my friends had them occupied so I decided to stay, it’s now 8AM.
I sit in a wild 3/6 with a bunch of maniacs and 2 decent players. It was a real fun table I stayed until 10AM, there were a lot of jokes about my Red Sox cap and the game was light as everyone had been there all night long.
There was only one hand I remember that has already been discussed here. I hadn’t played a hand in a while when I raised a weak limper w/JJ, everyone folded to the blinds who call, the limper calls. The flop came 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4/images/graemlins/diamond.gif and it’s checked to me and I bet. The BB, who is an OK player, check-raises, the limper folds and I 3-bet. The BB now 4-bets, I ask the dealer, “heads up right?”, he says, “yes, no cap” and I call with intentions of raising the turn. The turn comes 7/images/graemlins/heart.gif and the BB bets out, I raise and the BB calls, the river comes 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif and the BB checks, I bet and the BB raises, I call and the BB shows T/images/graemlins/club.gif 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif for the runner-runner gut shot and drags it. The player did commend me for raising the turn, I just wish I checked the river; I had a good feeling the c/r was coming but bet anyway. My senses were dulled since I had been up about 28 hours at that point.
Guess it wasn’t my night as I lost about $200 or so. As I walked out I said to the table to check out the forum, and introduced myself as Joe Tall. Then the player who had T5o said, “holy $hit” and shook my hand, it was RollaJ /images/graemlins/tongue.gif.
I took a 5 hour nap and headed over the Taj with my 2 friends from home. I got into a juicy 5/10 game and got up about $200 before I met them for dinner. We ate dinner and I brought them back to the poker room and got all three of us into a 2/4 game as they are both new to casino Hold’em. My brief lesson to them was, “if a strong player open-raises in EP and everyone folds to you; you hand is only worth a 3-bet or a fold.” They both played well as our 20 years of poker playing experience seemed to be enough to beat the 2/4 game and they booked moderate wins for newbies. I had a blast at the table and booked a $200 win as we played from Midnight to 5AM. The Taj poker room is not greatest but the games were great. The chips are real dirty, as the tables are too and it took me 4 hours to find a clean enough one to take home. (Sorry JTG, I couldn’t find another one worthy of my pocket). I guess having Foxwoods, Ocean's 11, and the Borgata under my belt has turned me into a poker-room snob. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
I went to the room and slept for 5 hours as our flight left Philly at 1:30. It seemed like I packed in a 5 day poker vacation in 2 days; I had a great time.
My list of 2+2ers grows, I’ve met nearly twenty now and I have to say that all of them have been great people. I hope to keep the list growing into the future.
Peace,
Joe Tall