Borgata Trip Report

MercTec · #1 07-12-2004, 12:39 PM

So I head down to the Borgata on Friday morning determined to give 6/12 a shot after playing only 3/6 and 2/4 my last time there. I did this at the suggestion of others on the board, specifically sfer, who claimed it was just as soft as the lower limits. So I was a little nervous since I hadn't played at that level before but I was at least gonna give it a session or two to see if I can hang.

I get to the room at around 3 and put my name on the list. Didn't get seated for about an hour, but I had myself a nice little burger at the grill while I waited....actually pretty damn good. I finally get called and I cash in $350 for a few stacks of red and a couple of white and sit down. The button had just passed me but I decided not to post and watch for an orbit.

First thing I noticed was that it was a decidedly older crowd. I just turned 26 and I was the youngest guy at the table by about 15 or 20 years. Not really impressed by any of the players so i relaxed and bit and sipped on a ginger ale. Only decent play I saw was a raise on the button on the flop by a guy in his 60s that gave him a free card which he used to nail his open ended draw on the river. But he got up after that hand and cashed in.

Other guys had obvious tells. One guy only raised if he had 2 pair or better on the flop, never checkraised or waited for the turn to raise with the goods on a non threatening board. Others stared at the flop for hours when it didn't hit them and glanced at their chips when it did.

I was in one hand where I kinda misread someone. I had 1010 and raised from MP. Got 2 callers, flop comes 535. I bet, a fold and a call. Turn comes a Q. Just as I'm about to bet I see my villian reaching for his chips. I stare him down and check instead. He checks....im both relieved and annoyed. River comes my 10 giving me the boat. I bet and he calls and turns over his A3 and I drag the pot. I misread his aggressive for the queen when he only had a weak 2 pair. My bad.

Another hand I remember I had 88 on the button and raised. 4 callers. Flop comes K 10 8 all hearts. 1 bet, 2 calls a fold and I raise. Callers call. Turn is a 5. A bet, 2 folds and I call (should I have raised??) River is another 5. Villian bets, I raise, he reraises.....does he have kings? 10s? I call....he had the nut flush. Whew and I drag a nice pot. I'm not thrilled at my turn play. I didn't have a great read on that player at that point (turned out to be real weak) but I didn't put him on the flush at first because of how he played it. However, had I raised on the turn and been reraised, I would have definately had capped the river. So I guess I didn't extract as much as I could have.

I was down as much as 17BB after a few hours of folding and busted draws, but after 9 hours I finished up 25BB. The play overall was definitely soft, and I expected much better. 5 to 7 to the flop was not uncommon and I saw some horrendous plays including calling a raise on the river with Ace high.

Thanks to sfer and all those who suggested the 6/12 game. It is definitely very beatable with solid play and will be my regular seat at the Borgata...especially on the weekends when the fish go swimming.

fsuplayer · #2 07-12-2004, 01:04 PM

Congrats on the big win! 25BB in a session is always a very nice win.

As far as the hand was concerned...

[ QUOTE ]
Another hand I remember I had 88 on the button and raised. 4 callers. Flop comes K 10 8 all hearts. 1 bet, 2 calls a fold and I raise. Callers call. Turn is a 5. A bet, 2 folds and I call (should I have raised??) River is another 5. Villian bets, I raise, he reraises.....does he have kings? 10s? I call....he had the nut flush. Whew and I drag a nice pot. I'm not thrilled at my turn play. I didn't have a great read on that player at that point (turned out to be real weak) but I didn't put him on the flush at first because of how he played it. However, had I raised on the turn and been reraised, I would have definately had capped the river. So I guess I didn't extract as much as I could have.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldnt raise here either. You showed pf aggression, then raised the flop, he has to give you credit for at least TPTK, if not better, so when he leads in on the turn, I would just call.
River: 4 bet this everytime. 1010 is the only real scary hand here, but most players would raise this pf anyways. I would 4 bet and call a 5 bet.

Good playing, congrats on the trip.

fsuplayer

Jason Strasser · #3 07-12-2004, 02:43 PM

Nice trip report!

Save some of that money so I can rob you at the players club at 1/2 NL [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

-Jason

Brian · #4 07-12-2004, 03:36 PM

Hi MercTec,

I haven't read Caro's Book of Tells yet (perhaps as I near closer to 21 I'll pick it up [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]), but from what I understand, someone reaching for their chips as you're about to bet is a common tell that they have a weak hand. They want to fool you into thinking that they are going to either call if you bet, or bet if you check, so that they can get a free card.

Nice report. I'll go back to lurking these forums and living vicariously through others. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

-Brian

chromakey · #5 07-12-2004, 03:46 PM

This was actually a thought I had this morning...

Tells can sometimes be misleading because in this case, the person he was up against THOUGHT he had a good hand. If a person thinks they have a good hand, they'll act like they do. However, in reality, a lot of people tend to over-rate their hands. I'm not saying throw away tells altogether, just use them as a piece of information in conjunction with other bits of info. Just my 2 iraqi dinars.

MercTec · #6 07-12-2004, 03:48 PM

Yeah I wasn't sure about that. I remember reading something about that but forgot what it meant. So I played it safe and cost myself a BB. I gotta re-read my Caro before my next trip. Thanks for pointing it out. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

MercTec · #7 07-12-2004, 03:53 PM

I just read this post after Brian's. Looking back, I don't think the player was "smart enough" to try to use a "reverse" tell on me based on his previous play. He did think he had a good hand, and probably put me on overcards. I wasn't looking at him as I was about to bet, I just caught him out of the corner of my eye (he was on the other side of the table). I still probably should have bet.

As a sidenote to all of this...it is AMAZING how many people just play THEIR cards and don't even give a thought to what someone else could be holding. I guess 6/12 is pretty small stakes but for me it was the highest I've played so I was just expecting a little better play. But I'm not complaining [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Brian · #8 07-12-2004, 04:29 PM

Hi chromakey,

I do agree that tells can be misleading and can sometimes do more harm than good. However, I must disagree with your assessment that our Hero's opponent thought that he had a good hand. If he thought his A3 was a good hand on that Q553 board, then why didn't he bet it on the Turn when it was checked to him?

-Brian

chromakey · #9 07-12-2004, 06:41 PM

[ QUOTE ]

If he thought his A3 was a good hand on that Q553 board, then why didn't he bet it on the Turn when it was checked to him?

-Brian

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmmm, touche. I think I misread a part in the first post about a guy checking with the goods and betting on the turn. I think I accidentally carried over that reasoning to the turn, since that was when he hit. Good counterpoint.

jayadd · #10 07-12-2004, 08:04 PM

i played in the 6-12 sat. morning and the table was so boring. My biggest problem was the wise ass dealer who thought it was funny my JJ BB and QQ SB in consecutive hands lost to the same guy who had KK 2 hands in a row. I hate the borgata and will stick with the 10-20 at the Taj.