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Old 10-03-2005, 09:16 PM
Mark Heide Mark Heide is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Illinois
Posts: 646
Default Atlantic City Trip Report (09/27-09/30)

I took a driving trip from Illinois to New Jersey for the poker tournament at the Taj Mahal. It took me about 14 hours to make the trip. I stayed at the Hampton Inn on the bay side to save some money on the hotel rate. Checked in late Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, I played the $300 + 40 No-Limit Hold'em Tournament. I didn't like the blind structure and was out of the tournament during the third level. The reason why I didn't like the structure was at the third level they doubled the blinds and added an ante at the same time which limited the skill factor and turned the game into a crap shoot. The original nine players were still playing at the beginning of the third level and I was the fifth to bust out before the level was over. The Taj did give all the players a coupon for either a $10 food credit or the buffet. I chose the buffet option for dinner, which would have cost $17.95, so at least they had a better deal than the WSOP where you had to pay the difference at the Rio.

I decided that the structure of the tournament favored more luck than skill and decided my time was better spent playing limit poker. The Taj Poker room is set up conveniently by the escalators. I like the location and the glass walls giving prospective players a chance to watch the action, which I believe the Taj provided an inviting atmosphere for players to join the games. There were plenty of $10-20 and $20-40 games and the action was great all the nights I played. Most pots were being contested by four to five players. I don't remember hardly any chopping going on during the games.

I played the $10-20 Hold'em games. The action was great. Plenty of tournament players that did not play correctly. During one session, one player lost a pot to a solid player and then had to brag about winning a few grand in a tournament. I just don't get how these tournament players think that because they place in the money they think they are superior players, but I was glad he was at my table since I knew he had plenty of money from his tournament win.

Here's another example of tournament player play at a cash game. This player three seats to my left tried to bet the pot on the flop. His bet got called for $10. Then I got involved in a hand. I'm in the SB with Ac6c with five other players including this tournament player. The flop comes down with Ad-6s-Kd. I check and the cut-off bets, I check-raise, and the tournament player three seats to my left raises and the cut-off folds along with the rest of the players. Now, it's just me and the aggressive tournament player. The raise surely surprised me. Since he was a tournament player I figured if he really had something he would have bet out on the flop like most No-Limit Hold'em tournament players do (which was how he was playing his other hands). If he had AK he would have raised preflop, but he could have K6, A6, or even just a diamond draw. I called his bet and bet out on the turn when a 3c came down. He folded.

These were some of the best $10-20 games I have ever played and would be worth the trip to go there again just to play them. Forget about the tournaments, the cash games were just too good to pass up.

One night after I finished playing at the Taj, I went over to the Borgata to check out the poker room. The Borgata has there poker room isolated the basement, and it was after midnight so the room was kind of dead. Another problem with this setup is that it is not inviting for beginners to join and I believe this is due to the isolation of being in a separate room in the casino. I think they would do much better by relocating the room to the main floor.

Overall, a very profitable trip and highly recommend that you visit the Taj.

Good Luck

Mark
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