Friday night action at the Borgata

Last night Eng and I went to Borgata. We left Livingston around 3pm and due to ridiculous traffic it took us 3 hours to get there. Once we finally made it we were itching to play and after some chicken teriyaki downstairs we found an open 1/2 table with 2 seats.

That game was so dead. First off, there was no money on the table. Probably like 1k not including ours. On top of that, the action was tight and passive. Everyone was a rock so it was hard to win big pots. After a while of trying to figure out where to move, Eng decided to go to another table and when a spot would open up I would join him. Well, as soon as he left I got involved in a hand with a guy that took his seat and a few more players sat down so the game started to liven up a little. The hand went like this:
Limped pot i'm in the cutoff with 78h. Probably like 5-6 players in the hand and flop comes Q 5 6, rainbow. Checks around to the guy to my right and he bets $15. I called and it went heads up. Turn was a 4 and he now bet $30 which was clearly a weak bet. There was no point in raising since i didn't want to scare him off so i simply smooth called hoping he would improve and ship it on the river. The river came what looked like a bad card and that which would stop the action, a 3. so the board was Q 5 6 4 3. He still decided to bet 30 which was really strange in my mind. For me to give him credit for top pair and a straight is almost impossible but nonetheless i had to raise, so i made it $100. He called with Q7....

After that pot I was up to almost $500 with my initial buy in of $300. I decided to take a walk around and check out the high limit area. I saw Ted Forrest walk by earlier so i knew there was definitely some high stakes poker going on. Apparently he was playing 500/1k short handed with John D'agastino and someone else. I think hold em, probably not NL but i'm not sure. The place was packed with every single table being utilized.
As i came back i made it just in time for the BB. A tight old man had raised to $10 which i'd seen him do before with QQ and the Button, who was a loose aggressive player who stabbed hard at every pot called too. I looked down at JJ and decided to call as well.
Flop came K 9 7, 2 spades. I checked as did the Old man and the LAG bets $25. I called and we went heads up. Turn was a blank, and i quickly checked it to him. He fired off $100 which was a ridiculous over bet. I studied for a little bit and decided to raise to $250 and he quickly folded.

After that hand I was up to about $630 and eng had signaled over to me that a seat was open. As i was racking up my chips and walked over to his table, someone else had taken it already. I decided to cash out and just wait until a seat would open up. I had about $30 in chips and went over to Texas Holdem Bonus and quickly lost that on my first hand with K2 against the dealer's 47, river 7... such a bad beat! The guy that was sitting to my right had about 4k in black chips, maybe more and was betting $600 on the ante and $300 on the following streets. Pretty sick.

I got back to the poker room and a seat had opened up 2 seats to the right of eng. This new table had some pretty huge chips. Probably like close to 5k on the table and what looked like pretty good action. The guy inbetween me and eng had close to 1k in chips, eng had like $900, and everyone else had between $300-500. I wasn't get many hands but then this one hand i got KK and this loose viet guy to my right makes it $8 to go, i re-popped to $20 and had a pretty solid image so i figured i could make it look like AK maybe. The guy to my left folded and Eng thinks about it and re-raises to $60. It goes folded around back to me and i ask him if he wants to check it down and he says "I can't." At that point it should've clicked to me that he didn't have AA but at the same time if i had simply called, the pot would be at $120+ preflop and we'd be playing for a decent size pot. Plus, what's the point of taking money from each other? I regretfully laid it down and he showed me JJ = /

It's ok though cause then the next hand this happened:
I limped with T6d and it went around to the BB who was a pretty tight player and made it $15 to go. I called and so did the big stack to my left. Flop came T 6 4, with 2 hearts. BB bet out $25 and i made it $100 to look like possibly i had a big draw and was steaming from the previous hand. The guy to my left says he's all in and the BB folded so i called and he had T4! Awesome double up right there.

About 30 minutes later I got involved in the biggest hand of the night with none other than what used to be the big stack to my left who was now steaming his head off. There were 2 limpers behind me and i looked down at AA and made it $15 to go.
Loose guy calls, Button calls, Sb calls, and Viet guy calls as well so we're 5 way to the flop....a little more than i had hoped for. The flop came K T 7, with 2 diamonds. Sb who was the tight player fired out $50. Folds around to me and now i had a decision, call or raise. There were still 2 more players left in the hand and the guy to my left had immediately sat up straight and was acting interested. We were both really deep stacked so I didn't want to face a hard decision if i were to raise and get re-raised so i simply called to peel off 1 more card. The loose guy calls as well so now we're 3 way. Turn is an 8. Not the best of cards but could've been a lot worse. Sb thinks for a little bit and then goes all in for $117. At this point i had to give the other opponent credit for a draw and could not let him get there so i re-raised to $250. He had about $400 total and after contemplating for a good minute or 2 he simply smooth called. At this point i was thinking what the fuck could he possibly have? No hand here makes sense, a draw should've folded and once he started thinking about it for so long i thought does he really have KT? River came a T and i checked it. He checked behind me and my Aces were way good. Sb had KJd and loose guy had 89d! Dodged a few there and scooped that pot bringing me up to around $1120.

A few rotations later me and eng decided to leave and collectively took 2k off the table lol. By now it had been getting close to midnight so it was best to hit the road. Eng ended up winning like $650 which isn't bad considering he always gets raped at Borgata.

Last Sunday I went to AC by myself from Adam's beach house. I brought 1k with me and took a devastating $700 blow. It was a combination of cooler hands but also I was definitely not in the right mind set. I misplayed a few hands and had no patience to grind. That was dumb and it left me with only $300, so this win brought me back up to $900 after paying my mom the $500 i owed for my credit card. I'm very thankful to be back on my feet. The swings are hard to deal with but as long as i can take it slow and realize that this game is very much beatable, I should be Ok.

Broke and back again

So, towards the end of July i decided to drive up to Turning Stone for a few days. I split a room with Z and DSK who are both baller online pros. The reason why I went up was because T-stone was having some tournaments and I figured the cash games would be good too. Well, I had about 1k to go with and I decided to do the first event $300+50. Actually, Eng ended up taking a piece of me so i was only in for 175 but after 2.5 hours of play i busted. Z busted a little bit after me and DSK made it pretty far, i think 30ish but didn't get paid.

The first night i won about 200 at 200 max 2-3 NL. Me, Z, and DSK all sat at the same table and it was their first time playing this high live. Anyways, the remainder of the trip went shitty for me and I ended up losing like 600ish at 200 max. Things just didn't go my way really and for some reason it was hard for me to keep focus. By the end of the trip I was down to 375, 200 of which was DSK's. Afterwards i drove to Rochester to stay with Brauner for a day. It was nice seeing her since we haven't seen each other all summer but the 5.5 hour drive back home was rough. Actually it wasn't too bad, somehow the time seemed to pass by.

I was able to get 75 from eng which gave me a total of 1.5 buy ins to work with. I decided to go to Bloomfield and played for about an hour and left up 325 due to this hand. I limped with 89s and guy to my left makes it 10 to go, i think 5 ppl saw the flop which came 8 8 Q, 2 clubs. 2 ppl checked behind me and i checked as well and the preflop raiser bets 25. 1 caller and i raise it to 100. The guy to my left snap calls and it goes heads up. Turn is a blank and i shove for 240ish. he thinks for a little bit and then folds. I picked up a few pots after that but only played for like an hour since 80% of my br was on the table and at risk.

This brought me up to 650 and slowly i began to rebuild my bankroll.
The day after me and eng decided to go to AC. We sat at the same table and beforehand i borrowed 100 from him. We sat at the same table and i ended up being in for 700. With about 300ish infront of me the following hand comes up.
I limp with 66 in EP and button makes it 12 to go. I call and it goes multiway. Flop comes K x 6, all hearts. I bet 25 and the preflop raiser calls so we go heads up. Turn is a blank and i bet 25 again and he calls again. River is a 6 giving me the nuts. I bet 100 and he looks overwhelmed and uneasy and then goes "Raise...I'm all in." I could not have called any faster lol. He ended up having KK for the 2nd nuts. So sick but the sickest part is that it was for all my money. I can't believe that shit happened but i guess later on if i get 1 outted for a huge pot, i can't be surprised.

So overall that session i won about 230. Eng didn't do as well but its ok, he's a millionaire.
Right now i'm at Lavallette at Adam's beach house. Yesterday I went to AC from here and played for a little bit. I was in for 500 after someone flopped a set on my QQ on a T high flop and lost with 66 on 445 flop getting it all in on the flop vs A5, turn A. I ended up getting it back though when I had JJ on a T high flop and a guy stacks off with AT. The 1/2 is ridiculously weak during the day time at Borgata on a Friday.

Well, this brings me back up to 1k and atleast i have some money now to work with. I'm not exactly playing my best at the tables and its hard for me to keep my composure but at the same time i have no choice, i have to play. I owe my mom 500 for this previous month's credit card bill. The problem i seem to have is this recurring theme of leaving when i'm up due to safety for my br and the fact that i NEED the money. When over 50% of my br is at risk at all times it does become stressfull too but what can i do if i'm constantly giving money to my mom and that leaves me to play with the bare minimum. Maybe getting a job would help. I guess i gotta keep on grinding it out so we'll see how it goes.