Harrah's Atlantic City $80 8:15 Saturday Tournament
I played in Harrah’s St. Louis last year and did pretty decent by finishing 10th out of 60 players. I just missed out on the money which started at 8th place. This was my first experience playing in a live casino tournament and was very pleased with my results.
Ever since last year, I’ve been itching to play in another live tournament. Playing poker in a live casino with the felt tables and dealers is quite the experience. Our trip to NJ to attend a conference was a good excuse to drive south and visit Atlantic City for the first time. I had a hard time deciding which casino to visit and which tournament to play, and I ended up playing in the Saturday 8:15pm tournament at Harrah’s.
There were 65 players to start and 20 minute blinds with a starting stack of 10,000 tournament chips. The blinds started at 50/100. I was slightly disappointed they didn’t start at 25/50. I guess the biggest surprise to me was how nervous I was, and I guess it was because I wasn’t sure if last year was a fluke or because I can play. I was really hoping to make the money in this tournament and put a lot of pressure on myself to play well. The first couple times I bet, my hands were shaking really bad. My nervousness really kept me from playing my normal game and it took some time to regain my senses.
Somehow I ended up winning a few pots and gaining some chips, this gave me some confidence. Just before the first break, I flopped my first big hand with the nut flush. I had a guy to my left who raised and instead of calling and trying to make more money, I went all-in and he folded. While I gained some chips, I probably lost some chips that he would’ve given to me if I played a little different. It was about this time that I started to settle down and was able to play according to my game plan.
The next memorable hand that I played was when I was in the small blind and I had a beginner poker lady to my left in the big blind. She had her paper with all her starting hands to play. She would fold if she didn’t have her hand on the list. The blinds were around 500 at the time and everyone folded around to me. I had 5-3 offsuit and I decided to try a position play and raised to 2000 pre-flop, believing this to be easy money to make when she folded. Well she called my raise and it took me by surprise. I figured I was caught in a bluff. If I continued to raise I would lose more chips so I checked to showdown. For some reason, she never bet and followed my checking to showdown which she won. It kinda stung but figured you can’t win them all. So I recomposed my self and won a nice hand a few hands later.
The time kept ticking blind after blind and I was still in the tournament. I was very happy with the way things were going and thought I had a good chance to make the final table. One of the guys across me, kept telling me that he was afraid of me, so I felt I was playing decent enough to gain some respect at the table. Eventually, 3 tables busted out and 4 guys came from another table to my table. I reminded myself to be careful with these guys until I determined what type of players they were. They kept making huge raises and felt they were bluffing most of the time, but I didn’t have any decent hands to challenge them. My patience payed off and was able to take some of their chips in subsequent hands.
The number of players slowly dropped until we were down to the final 15. I was ecstatic, that I was playing decent. I wasn’t the chip leader overall, but was at my table. Finally we were down to 11 players, and one more bust and I would be at the final table. I get a K-Q in the pocket while sitting in the big blind. I had somewhere around 60K -70K in chips and the blinds were 4,000-8,000 and one of the guys raises to 30K. I decide to stop being bullied and had a good hand, so I call all-in. He contemplates and makes the call. I show my K-Q and he shows A-J, then my stomach drops. He flops an Ace and I lose all but 2K in chips. I thought my tournament was over and sat in disbelieve.
My next hand I get A-7 being the small blind I’m forced to go all in. I get one caller and it turns out I win the pot with 2 pairs. I’m ecstatic. I jokingly remark that I’m making a comeback. The next hand I get KK in pocket and was absolutely stunned. I go all in once again and get a couple callers. I show my KK and win the pot. Now I’m back in the game with 54K in chips. We all had a good laugh at my luck. Finally a guy busts out and we head to the final table.
The first hand I start with K-6 with the blinds being 6K-12K, one guy goes all in with 9K in chips another guy bets 12K and everyone else folds and it comes to me. I decided to fold. The 12K bet shows Q-6 and gets a pair but a K comes on the river. If I played this hand I would’ve won, but instead the 2nd guy wins with a pair of Q’s and knocks out the first player from the final table.
The very next hand I get KK in the pocket and was thrilled, that I would win the pot. Everyone folds til the winner of the last hand bets 30K, and it comes to me in the big blind. I decide to make my move and go all in. He calls in no time flat and we both show. I show KK and he shows QQ. I’m in the lead right now. The flop comes with 8-10-10 and I’m looking good now. The turn comes and reveals a 9. Finally the river comes and shows a Jack and the other guy ends up with a straight and I end up losing with 2 pairs. I was stunned that I lost with KK in the pocket to QQ in the pocket, but that’s poker. The other guys from my table came over and shook my hand and gave their condolences to me. I stood there for about 3 minutes and finally walked away and headed back to the hotel. The time was around 1:15 am and I had lasted five hours and made the final table finishing in 9th place. Once I again, I missed the money which started at 7th place. Overall, I am happy that I made the final table, but wished I had done better. It was a great night of poker so I wait until the next live tournament. I really like Harrah's Poker Room, but the dealers were lacking. They were friendly, but only 3-4 I would consider to be great dealers. One Jamaican accent dealer got confused on an all-in bet the pit boss had to be called over for clarification. I believe that St. Louis' dealers were better than AC's Harrahs, but I will play there again on my next trip.
Ever since last year, I’ve been itching to play in another live tournament. Playing poker in a live casino with the felt tables and dealers is quite the experience. Our trip to NJ to attend a conference was a good excuse to drive south and visit Atlantic City for the first time. I had a hard time deciding which casino to visit and which tournament to play, and I ended up playing in the Saturday 8:15pm tournament at Harrah’s.
There were 65 players to start and 20 minute blinds with a starting stack of 10,000 tournament chips. The blinds started at 50/100. I was slightly disappointed they didn’t start at 25/50. I guess the biggest surprise to me was how nervous I was, and I guess it was because I wasn’t sure if last year was a fluke or because I can play. I was really hoping to make the money in this tournament and put a lot of pressure on myself to play well. The first couple times I bet, my hands were shaking really bad. My nervousness really kept me from playing my normal game and it took some time to regain my senses.
Somehow I ended up winning a few pots and gaining some chips, this gave me some confidence. Just before the first break, I flopped my first big hand with the nut flush. I had a guy to my left who raised and instead of calling and trying to make more money, I went all-in and he folded. While I gained some chips, I probably lost some chips that he would’ve given to me if I played a little different. It was about this time that I started to settle down and was able to play according to my game plan.
The next memorable hand that I played was when I was in the small blind and I had a beginner poker lady to my left in the big blind. She had her paper with all her starting hands to play. She would fold if she didn’t have her hand on the list. The blinds were around 500 at the time and everyone folded around to me. I had 5-3 offsuit and I decided to try a position play and raised to 2000 pre-flop, believing this to be easy money to make when she folded. Well she called my raise and it took me by surprise. I figured I was caught in a bluff. If I continued to raise I would lose more chips so I checked to showdown. For some reason, she never bet and followed my checking to showdown which she won. It kinda stung but figured you can’t win them all. So I recomposed my self and won a nice hand a few hands later.
The time kept ticking blind after blind and I was still in the tournament. I was very happy with the way things were going and thought I had a good chance to make the final table. One of the guys across me, kept telling me that he was afraid of me, so I felt I was playing decent enough to gain some respect at the table. Eventually, 3 tables busted out and 4 guys came from another table to my table. I reminded myself to be careful with these guys until I determined what type of players they were. They kept making huge raises and felt they were bluffing most of the time, but I didn’t have any decent hands to challenge them. My patience payed off and was able to take some of their chips in subsequent hands.
The number of players slowly dropped until we were down to the final 15. I was ecstatic, that I was playing decent. I wasn’t the chip leader overall, but was at my table. Finally we were down to 11 players, and one more bust and I would be at the final table. I get a K-Q in the pocket while sitting in the big blind. I had somewhere around 60K -70K in chips and the blinds were 4,000-8,000 and one of the guys raises to 30K. I decide to stop being bullied and had a good hand, so I call all-in. He contemplates and makes the call. I show my K-Q and he shows A-J, then my stomach drops. He flops an Ace and I lose all but 2K in chips. I thought my tournament was over and sat in disbelieve.
My next hand I get A-7 being the small blind I’m forced to go all in. I get one caller and it turns out I win the pot with 2 pairs. I’m ecstatic. I jokingly remark that I’m making a comeback. The next hand I get KK in pocket and was absolutely stunned. I go all in once again and get a couple callers. I show my KK and win the pot. Now I’m back in the game with 54K in chips. We all had a good laugh at my luck. Finally a guy busts out and we head to the final table.
The first hand I start with K-6 with the blinds being 6K-12K, one guy goes all in with 9K in chips another guy bets 12K and everyone else folds and it comes to me. I decided to fold. The 12K bet shows Q-6 and gets a pair but a K comes on the river. If I played this hand I would’ve won, but instead the 2nd guy wins with a pair of Q’s and knocks out the first player from the final table.
The very next hand I get KK in the pocket and was thrilled, that I would win the pot. Everyone folds til the winner of the last hand bets 30K, and it comes to me in the big blind. I decide to make my move and go all in. He calls in no time flat and we both show. I show KK and he shows QQ. I’m in the lead right now. The flop comes with 8-10-10 and I’m looking good now. The turn comes and reveals a 9. Finally the river comes and shows a Jack and the other guy ends up with a straight and I end up losing with 2 pairs. I was stunned that I lost with KK in the pocket to QQ in the pocket, but that’s poker. The other guys from my table came over and shook my hand and gave their condolences to me. I stood there for about 3 minutes and finally walked away and headed back to the hotel. The time was around 1:15 am and I had lasted five hours and made the final table finishing in 9th place. Once I again, I missed the money which started at 7th place. Overall, I am happy that I made the final table, but wished I had done better. It was a great night of poker so I wait until the next live tournament. I really like Harrah's Poker Room, but the dealers were lacking. They were friendly, but only 3-4 I would consider to be great dealers. One Jamaican accent dealer got confused on an all-in bet the pit boss had to be called over for clarification. I believe that St. Louis' dealers were better than AC's Harrahs, but I will play there again on my next trip.
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