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The Borgata Poker Open (September 2004)
Friday, September 24, 2004 I came to Atlantic City on September 10, planning to play seven events at the Borgata Poker Open. The total cost in buy-ins and entry fees? $18,200. This was about $16,500 more than I was used to committing on a series of tournaments, back in my pre-WPT Championship days. I might be able to afford the five-figure sums now, but I still get queasy at the idea of committing, and risking, so much cash. I had a ho-hum first event, not even making the dinner break in a $1000 No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. The next day I cashed in a Limit Hold 'Em event, earning a measly $489 for thirteen hours of work. If nothing else, experiences like that one bang into my brain that the goal of playing a tournament is not simply to cash-it is to finish in one of the top three spots. After gathering chips in the next $1,000 No Limit Hold 'Em event, I busted after the dinner break when the blinds got large and I ended up getting it all-in with Q9o against two sixes. The board of 789Tx finished me off. I got shortstacked in the $1,000 Limit Hold 'Em event, and ended up getting involved in a three-way capped pot with two tens. When the board came 9JQK I more than doubled up against the guy who had two aces (and somehow managed to bet the river?). From there, I started catching cards. I caught everything. When I had a big hand, people paid me off. When I didn't have a big hand, I made a big hand. By the time we were down to 19 players (they were paying 18), I was the chip leader. I wish I could say I accumulated my chips through stellar play, but mostly I did it by running great. Well, there was one hand where I'll credit myself with, at least, a nice play. A bad, passive player limped in and I raised with KTo. Ted Forrest, one of the best Limit Hold 'Em players in the world, three-bet from the small blind. The limper called two more bets cold, and I called. The flop came J9x with two to a flush. Ted checked(?). The limper bet. Unsure of what the hell Ted was up to, or even if I could move the limper off whatever he had, I just called (folding a gutshot and overcard getting 11-1 was, of course, not an option). Ted folded. (Very curious. I guess he had something like 88.) The turn brought a ten, giving me a pair to go with my gutshot. The limper bet again. Again, I called. I thought the chance of his folding a better hand was extremely small, and I didn't think my hand was good enough to raise for value. The only hand I could beat, I thought, was a flush draw, and there was no way he would fold that for a raise (although he might bluff it again on the river). I figured calling, therefore, maximized my equity against his range. The river brought a blank, and my usually passive opponent bet one last time. I hated the situation. But getting 9-1 on my money, I felt I had to call in case my opponent had that flush draw. So I called...and my opponent threw his cards into the muck. I used my chips well to get to the final six, at which point we made a deal and I locked up $23,000. We played for an additional $12,000, but with the blinds as big as they were it was a total crapshoot. I got to the final three, and got involved in a capped family pot with AK against AQ and 87. Of course 87 flopped a pair and tripled up. I went bust the next hand. The tournament ended after 5 a.m., so I elected to skip the $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em tournament the next day. I did play the $2,500 No Limit tournament, where I got all my chips into a four-way pot preflop with KQ. The other three hands ended up being 88, ATs, and A4o. (Interestingly enough, I had the most equity in this matchup, which might help answer my arrogant opponent's question: "what were you thinking?") The board came 789TJ and I quadrupled up. Unfortunately I made a bad read (I allow myself one every few weeks) later on and lost most of my chips. I made a valiant comeback, but eventually busted when I failed to run KQ through JJ. Funny how I could beat three hands with KQ, but not one. All that followed was the $10,000 main event, which thanks to the Limit Hold 'Em score, I was freerolling. I still felt sick handing over 103 Ben Franklins to some guy in a Borgata uniform, but I was strangely at peace with it after the fact. I ran my T20,000 up to T33,000 seemingly without effort. Yes I caught some hands, but I only had to show one of them. The reads early on were easy. But then I get moved to a table featuring former WPT champ Alan Goehring, tournament pro Asher Derei, and my good friend and poker mentor Russell Rosenblum. Nothing came easy after that. Alan is the type of player that forces you to get involved, and he got the better of me that day. I ended up busting when I moved in with a flush draw, got called by top two, and didn't improve. So the bigger tournaments didn't work out the way I'd hoped they would, but at least instead of losing $18,200 in tournament costs, I had a profitable trip even after expenses. That's a result I really can't argue with.  September 2004 | October 2004 | December 2004 | January 2005 | February 2005 | March 2005 | April 2005 | May 2005 | June 2005 | July 2005 | August 2005 | September 2005 | October 2005 | November 2005 | December 2005 | January 2006 | February 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 | May 2006 | June 2006 | July 2006 | August 2006 | September 2006 | October 2006 | December 2006 | January 2007 | April 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 | July 2007 | October 2007 | January 2008 | |
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© 2004-2006 by Matt Matros | All Rights Reserved |
