Borgata Trip Report ....

[Blaster]

 OK, Drove down to Borgata A.C. w/ wife Fri-Sun (stayed at Borgata Fri nite, & Hilton AC Sat nite).
 Played in the $330+50 qualifier for their $1500+150 500K deepstack tournament, Also played some 2/5 NL as well.
  
 Qualifier, Paulson Tornament solids, Kem Bridge size House logo cards:
   I'm in the 1 seat. Very 1st hand of the tourn I pick up Q/Q.  3 callers,  I raise, & I'm heads up w/ the 7 seat, Late 50's guy with white beard stubble, nearly bald head & Ipod earbuds.
 Flop 10-2-5 Rainbow.
He checks, I bet out, & he calls.  Turn is a 7,check,  Bet & call.  River is 10--2--5-7-10.
  He moans & checks, I check, & turn over my Q's, to lose to his A/10 off, & he says "Why didn't you bet there!"
   I picked up a surprisingly big amount of good playable hands in the 1st 2 levels, but none stood up.
    My A/K suited actually lost a nice pot on a K high board, of K-J-9--9-J  when  seat 7 called my bets down to the river, then pushed all-in on the river jack & I folded.  
  I lost with 8's twice, 10's,  Jacks, 9's , 5's twice 4's, 2's, A/Qs, A/K, A/Js + more... all were worthless/unplayable after the flop or turn, it was unreal.
My only time getting aces got me the blinds. All these "playable hands" whittled my stack down early.
   Later,  it became obvious seat 7 was a player that NEVER folded to a raise if he had any blinds or chips in.  Never. He was beating people w/ 2 odd pair, like 6-J, odd straights,  in preflop raised hands he shouldn't have been in.
    Around the 4th level or so, 100/200 w/25 ante, I pick up K/K. Seat 7 had min raised to 400, & seat 8 called. I put 2100 on top.
 Guy to my left calls, then seat 3, the other lower stack,  goes all-in. Seat 7 took a while but actually folded. 8 folded.
  I had about 11-12 BB behind, & I called....
    Guy in seat 2 on my left was uncomfortable calling me, but he did call, & had both of us covered.
 I flip K/K, seat 2 flips K/K too, (he thought I had the aces) & seat 3 had the aces.  I was out.

    I recuperated for a while & then played 3 or 4 hrs of 2/5NL.  I bought in for $340, & cashed out with $784.00
    The next morning  I played about 2 or 3 hrs of 2/5NL, $340 buy in, $474 cash out.
  Just a note - The "regular" cash chips at the Borgata are terrible. They are the slick plastic "Bud Jones" type, They stick together horribly, & are impossible to shuffle. Because of this, many people, in error, actually believe they are actually "magnetic" (google "Borgata Magnetic chips"), Thank goodness the tournament chips are Paulsons.

 We then moved over to the AC Hilton Casino on the Boardwalk, & the rest of Sat was with the wife, no poker, went to the beach, strolled the Boardwalk, shops & Casinos, had a nice dinner ect.  
   Borgata, for those that have never been,  is the nicest Casino Hotel in AC, & has the biggest & best poker room, among the very top in the USA,  however it's in the "Marina District", isolated & far from the Boardwalk, shops & other Casinos.
 If you are with a wife/guest that isn't into much gambling, & that may want to browse the boardwalk/shops/Beach while you play, it's better to stay at another Casino such as the ShowBoat, which has a nice newer Poker room as well, & is right on the Boardwalk w/ all the other shops, beach & casinos....

  

[drillrod]

Nice trip report. Bummer about the tournament, especially the total cooler of a final hand. But congrats on finishing in the black in both cash game sessions, any comment-worthy or memorable hands?

I agree that the Borgata is easily the nicest card room in AC. When I'm in AC, I'm usually with my wife, so the fact that it's off the boardwalk means I don't play there often.

I usually end up either at Caesar's or Bally's, which I like because it's small and quiet. I've heard good things about the new Showboat.

I have a buddy coming into town in about two weeks and we should be heading up for a day or two, probably to the Borgata.

[Blaster]

Nice trip report. Bummer about the tournament, especially the total cooler of a final hand. But congrats on finishing in the black in both cash game sessions, any comment-worthy or memorable hands?

    Some memorable notes from the ring games:
  Fri Nite: There was an older ( 60's ish ) guy that must have re-loaded 5 times.. He was loose/agressive in the worst way, & would often blind raise to $20 UTG pre deal.  On a hand I had hit a boat on the river, with a pot of over $120, he river bet $35, & I raised just $35 more .. He called w/ air...
 He would hang on to marginal hands & had a deep wallet....
  The Sat morning ring session , unlike Fri nite, was a table of mostly "regulars", many knew the floor, waitresses & dealers by name & were solid grinders.
 I was able to get some reliable reads on a few players in both sessions.
One late 20's looking dude played generally solid poker, but I could tell when he was "reluctantly" calling my Pre & flop bets or raises. He seemed to not want to take any chances with less than top 2pr..... This often resulted in me getting him off whatever hand he had, with decent flop or turn bet pressure.
 I was often the one on the draw or continuation betting, but he couldn't stand the pressure w/ his TPWK , or middle pair Ace high or whatever, & got out of the way..
 A hispanic gentleman, 2 to my left, his main, almost only "move" was big bets you can't call, 2/5NL, You bet $15, & he bets $50 preflop, or a checked flop w/ a pot of $25 & he bets $30-45, ect ..
 I could tell he was buying most of the time, & I won some good pots off him  when I forced him to fold to my reraise or check raise... Seeing these tendencies, I was able to optimize  playing, or avoid playing, hands depending on who was in the pot ...

[wshuwerhere11]

OK, Drove down to Borgata A.C. w/ wife Fri-Sun (stayed at Borgata Fri nite, & Hilton AC Sat nite).
 Played in the $330+50 qualifier for their $1500+150 500K deepstack tournament, Also played some 2/5 NL as well.
  
 Qualifier, Paulson Tornament solids, Kem Bridge size House logo cards:
   I'm in the 1 seat. Very 1st hand of the tourn I pick up Q/Q.  3 callers,  I raise, & I'm heads up w/ the 7 seat, Late 50's guy with white beard stubble, nearly bald head & Ipod earbuds.
 Flop 10-2-5 Rainbow.
He checks, I bet out, & he calls.  Turn is a 7,check,  Bet & call.  River is 10--2--5-7-10.
  He moans & checks, I check, & turn over my Q's, to lose to his A/10 off, & he says "Why didn't you bet there!"
   I picked up a surprisingly big amount of good playable hands in the 1st 2 levels, but none stood up.
    My A/K suited actually lost a nice pot on a K high board, of K-J-9--9-J  when  seat 7 called my bets down to the river, then pushed all-in on the river jack & I folded.  
  I lost with 8's twice, 10's,  Jacks, 9's , 5's twice 4's, 2's, A/Qs, A/K, A/Js + more... all were worthless/unplayable after the flop or turn, it was unreal.
My only time getting aces got me the blinds. All these "playable hands" whittled my stack down early.
   Later,  it became obvious seat 7 was a player that NEVER folded to a raise if he had any blinds or chips in.  Never. He was beating people w/ 2 odd pair, like 6-J, odd straights,  in preflop raised hands he shouldn't have been in.
    Around the 4th level or so, 100/200 w/25 ante, I pick up K/K. Seat 7 had min raised to 400, & seat 8 called. I put 2100 on top.
 Guy to my left calls, then seat 3, the other lower stack,  goes all-in. Seat 7 took a while but actually folded. 8 folded.
  I had about 11-12 BB behind, & I called....
    Guy in seat 2 on my left was uncomfortable calling me, but he did call, & had both of us covered.
 I flip K/K, seat 2 flips K/K too, (he thought I had the aces) & seat 3 had the aces.  I was out.

    I recuperated for a while & then played 3 or 4 hrs of 2/5NL.  I bought in for $340, & cashed out with $784.00
    The next morning  I played about 2 or 3 hrs of 2/5NL, $340 buy in, $474 cash out.
  Just a note - The "regular" cash chips at the Borgata are terrible. They are the slick plastic "Bud Jones" type, They stick together horribly, & are impossible to shuffle. Because of this, many people, in error, actually believe they are actually "magnetic" (google "Borgata Magnetic chips"), Thank goodness the tournament chips are Paulsons.

 We then moved over to the AC Hilton Casino on the Boardwalk, & the rest of Sat was with the wife, no poker, went to the beach, strolled the Boardwalk, shops & Casinos, had a nice dinner ect.  
   Borgata, for those that have never been,  is the nicest Casino Hotel in AC, & has the biggest & best poker room, among the very top in the USA,  however it's in the "Marina District", isolated & far from the Boardwalk, shops & other Casinos.
 If you are with a wife/guest that isn't into much gambling, & that may want to browse the boardwalk/shops/Beach while you play, it's better to stay at another Casino such as the ShowBoat, which has a nice newer Poker room as well, & is right on the Boardwalk w/ all the other shops, beach & casinos....

  

They have Jitney's for the wife/guest.  Stay at the Borgata.  Its not worth staying in any other casino imo. 

Also, anyone going to AC should check out The Melting Pot.  Great food.