Belated Report

Well, I have mixed reviews of my trip to Harrah's Marina on Sunday. I like the poker room there. It is cozy (read: small) yet comfortable. It certainly is not on the scale of the Borgata or the Taj, but I don't suppose they are shooting for the clientele of those rooms. The dealers were okay; some were a little challenged when guiding novices on what was and was not acceptable, but no major faux pas. However some seemed to be a little disinterested in their task.

The tournament itself was worse than expected. It turns out the opening blinds were 100-200. So in essence, it was a $50 Riverchaser tournament (before RPT raised their starting stacks to 200 this year). I was disappointed with how I played my uber-passive table. I took a few pots down preflop with aggression, but could have done much more. Overall I played terribly and got what I deserved, which was a fairly early exit.

Not too many good stories to relate. But there were some players who clearly had no idea what they were doing. Botched raise attempts were frequent. "I see the 200 and raise 800." Ummmm.....no you don't.

If I go back there, I do not plan on playing that tourney again. The juice is too high (as a percentage) and the structure is terrible for a casino tournament. I would be happy to bring extra money though and sit at the cash tables. Just casual observation leads me to believe the game there is soft and profitable. Apparently you get free drinks if you're sitting at a poker table too. Why don't people tell me these things?

Moving on...the BBT seems to be a hit so far. 105 players for the Big Game, and 103 last night for the MATH. I plan on making my debut in the Mookie on Wednesday. This may be my only shot this week. I'm not too comfortable dropping $11 on Thursday to play a PLO tourney (how pathetic is that?). Such is the life of a low-roller who doesn't want to deposit any money. I'll make do with what I have (such as it is) for as long as I can.