I made the final table of the Borgata December Mini-Series yesterday.  This two day event $500+60 was a “one re-entry” tournament. This structure allowed for a person busting out in the first four levels to one more chance.  A re-entry structure differs from a re-buy event in that when busting, you leave your table and return to the cashier to buy in again.  This means you will get a new seating assignment, a new stack of chips, and pay the house another entry fee for a do- over.  In this case the re-entry fee was a fair $60.

One of the difficulties with traveling alone, especially for me as a married lady is the loneliness.  And this loneliness is never strong than when I run deep into a tournament. I keep my guy friends at arm’s length for several reasons: non-involved over lookers may interpret my actions incorrectly, the guy friends themselves may draw wrong conclusions, and to protect myself from unwanted advances.  Earlier in my poker travels, I tried to be one of the “guys”, but it only caused heartache and misunderstanding.  It is just to hard to separate the male-female thing when you are just hanging out in hotels and casinos—add any alcohol and the drama steps up! When a guy friend would ask me to dinner, I often missed the clues, and did not understand they were actually asking me out.  I made a lot of mistakes and hurt some feelings, so now I pretty much stay back as a loner by eating alone, no side trips, and no trips to the various bars!

This works pretty well until I find myself making a deep run and busting with an icky hand only to find myself really alone.  There really isn’t anyone there for me at that point except the only One who really matters: God.  But do I turn to Him in my hour of need?  No, I go seek solace in a beer (or three) only to feel even worse when I get back to my room.  I spend the next hours crying my eyes out, feeling so sorry for myself.  What a dumb ass I can be!  If only I had reached out to Him in my time of need, I would now feel rested and refreshed instead of bloated with a headache.  But God is good, He promises me that “weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).  And I did wake up with joy in my heart this morning.  I am so very blessed and that 5th place finished didn’t hurt one bit!

My adventures at the Borgata continue. I got snowed in on Saturday when a blizzard hit the Jersey shore. A state of emergency was declare, so I wasn’t going home this weekend.

It was an amazing site from the 30^th floor of the hotel. Visibility was sharply reduced and I could not even see the hotels next door for several hours. The snow was pouring down verticlally in the wind but yet was still accumulating. The hotel had four snow plows circling their entrance for hours and the road still was snow covered. My flight for Saturday evening was cancelled due to airport closures. My stay has been extended to Monday morning.

Thank you, Thomas, for helping me extend my hotel stay. Borgata is my happy place to be snowed in!

I stayed up playing last night and dropped into bed around 3 pm and then woke up at 10 pm. I made it to the poker room around one in the morning. I played $2/5 nlh for a couple of hours, making a nice profit for the session. I had two amazing hands. The first happened on my second hand at the table. I picked up pocket queens in middle position. Several people had already limped so I bumped up the pot with a sizeable bet and there were two players calling! The flop came out ace high with a very beautiful queen! This hand is the reason we play the game. These profitable amazing hands really get my heart pumping. Scoop it!

I arrived this morning in Atlantic City to participate in the Borgata Winter Open series of tournaments. This 16-day tournament series started on the 20th of January with a field of 1,563 runners for the first event, which was a $300+50 NLH Deepstack event.  The series will culminate with a $3,300+200 Championship event that will span five days.  The Championship event has a $2 million guarantee and will start on January 31, 2010.  Last years event drew over a thousand players and had a prize pool in excess of $3 million.

I will be playing in my first event of the series in the morning.  Event #17 is the two day $300+50 NLH tournament.  This tournament features a 10K starting stack and 45 minute blinds.  The blinds start at 25/50.
To view the event schedule or for more information visit www.theborgata.com.

I spent last week asking a good many people if they would be playing the Borgata’s Main Event. I told anyone who would listen the vital statics of this tournament:

·         $3,500 total price

·         75 minute levels

·         Blinds start 25/25?????

·         30K starting stack

·         WPT televised event

·         Great structure

·         Two day ones

·         $2 million guaranteed

 

If they are still listening when I get to the end of my list, I remind them that the $3,500 is the lowest entry fee for a WPT main event. At this low price there will be more first time main event players pulling together the money to play.  I think the Borgata and WPT may owe me for all the free advertising.

 

I am on the plane to Atlantic City now. I will be playing ACT 1 and ACT 2 in hopes of winning my way into this awesome tournament. I am playing day 2b-Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing many of my fellow teammates at PPI. If you see me in the halls, please say Hello!  Follow my action via Twitter.

 

Come join the fun!!!

 

The Borgata Open is being held Sept 19-26 in the Exhibit Hall at the Borgata. Registration requires a My Borgata card, cash, and valid ID.  Registration open 24 hours.

Blind structure sheet        

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