Day After Christmas-Borgata Trip

I finally was able to convince Hubby Mike to go to Borgata on the day after Christmas! I had some hard work to do, but I did it and got to go to AC for all my hard work :) We moped around in the morning, played some Wii, then finally got around to showering and getting ready. Note: I'm not the type of girl that takes FOREVER to get ready, I'm in and out of the shower, put on my makeup, get dressed and we're out. We left around 2:30-3pm and got to Borgata around 4pm. My friend Tim was already there and filled me in via texts on our drive down. The BBJ hit that morning at like 3:30am. They also started 1/3NL and 3/5NL that are NOT BBJ eligible. I guess people were throwing hissy fits that an extra $1 was taken from every pot that's over $20 to be put into the BBJ pot. Dude, it's a dollar a hand, and if you hit the BBJ, you'll be well rewarded. You ARE in AC to gamble right? That's just my philosphy. 1/3NL had only a few people on the list. Hubby Mike put his name on 1/3 and 1/2. Me? I just put it down on 1/2. If I play, I wanna play to win the BBJ! Hubby Mike gets lucky and gets a seat at 1/2NL for just hanging around the podium. Usually, that's my luck but none of my floor people were there yet. When I put my name on 1/2, there were about 78 names on the list. So we walked around (this is before Hubby Mike got lucky). I ran into some friends, chit chatted, then waited. Finally got a seat at a tight pre flop table, but action after the flop table. Very quiet too. 2 other young girls at my table. Great. Early on, I got involved in a hand, I had 6 8 of clubs, I limp in, a few other limpers. Flop is 6 6 something. Rainbow. Sweet, so I check, other guy checks, other dude bets 15, I call other guy calls. Gulp. 5 on the turn, I bet out 25, other guy calls, other dude folds. hmmmm. River is nothing, I bet out 25, other guy raises me 50 on top. I look at the board. No flush, maybe a gut shot straight on the river, but would someone call 15, then 25 on a gut shot? Highly unlikely at this table. Then I'm like, maybe an overpair? Doubtful, no raise on the flop, but some ppl slow play high pocket pairs. But the way the table was, I'd figure a raise on the flop or turn, not a smooth call. Then I'm thinking he's got the six. I think there was like a higher card on the river. So I'm like 'did you hit the boat on the river?" I know I'm beat. If he has the case six, my 8 kicker does me no good, and if he's got a boat, I'm still done. I flip up my cards and muck, he flips over 5 6 suited...he turned the boat. Everyone at the table could not believe I folded my set. See, I think I'm getting good at figuring out what other people have. If you read my previous posts, I was overjoyed in the fact of making awesome laydowns. And this one too, was very proud I saved myself 50 bucks.

Tim was doing bad, he lost his original $300, then re-bought in for another $300 and doubled right up. got that text from Hubby Mike who was at the table next to Tim. I played a few hands at my table, nothing noteworthy. When I made a raise pre-flop of 15, everyone folded. I got pocket 10's one hand, made it 12 or 13, got 5 callers. Ugh. Come on ten! Flop is queen king like 5. I think 2 spades. Just my luck. I check and people start betting and raising. I show my cards to the guys next to me, they say 'man that's tough' and I fold. At the end, there's a TON of money in the pot, spade on the river. The guy 2-3 to my left, shows 2 pairs, kings and queens (okay) and the other guy flips over queen 3 spades. UGH, I got called w/ THAT garbage pre flop? and it was an old guy no less. Figures. The guy to my right is out to get him, but I guess I wasn't that into the game, i could care less about 'setting my target and getting my revenge' I got pretty tired early on and just kind of watched a ton of hands. Wasn't on my A game, that's for sure. I was more interested in seeing who was there, etc.

Two good hands I remembered was when I had ace two of diamonds. I limp in, a few other limps. Flop comes 2 diamonds (one is the 5 of diamonds, the other is the 9 of diamonds) and a club. Nut flush draw. Please everyone check, let me see the flush for free. Everyone checks. Turn is 3 of diamonds. At this point I need a 4 of diamonds for a straight flush, but I already have the ace high flush. I check, other ppl check, girl makes it 25. Yikes. So I hollywood a bit. I raise her, fold fold, she goes all in (she never had much of stack in front of her) and I call. She flips over the 6 8 of diamonds. I show the ace two of diamonds. She says she needs the 7 of diamonds for straight flush, i say I need a four of diamonds for straight flush. 7 of spades hits...yippee! I win!

Another hand, I had king four of diamonds and I limp in out of boredom. Guy next to me is talking about a tourney he played many moons ago at Taj. Flop is 3 diamonds, one being the ace. Sweet, flopped nut flush! Good thing he's talking to me so it's easy to hide my flush :) I check it to the turn, bet out on the turn, got one caller...old guy that had queen 3 of spades in the earlier hand. River is nothing, I bet out again, I think like 25 or so, he calls, I show him the nut flush, he mucks LOL.

At one point, I saw a guy I've played with a few times. I didn't recognize him a few months ago when I saw him, but he came right up to me and was like 'Do you remember me?" I felt bad cuz I didn't, and normally I do. He did look familiar, so I knew he was not trying to hit on me. So we've been chatting ever since. I saw him Friday and he walked by my table and looked right at me. I immediately saw him, lifted my hand and said 'Hey, how you doing!!!??" he smiled right away ( I guess relieved that I remembered him this time lol). So we got to chatting and he said he was at the final table of the tourney! Gave him a high five and said 'Congrats!' I told him I'd come over to watch when the button passed. I then got my hot chocolate that I ordered, got Hubby Mike and went to watch. Sure enough, as soon as we get there, he was filling out the paperwork b/c he busted out. That stunk. he won over a grand, which is good. 300 plus 40 buy in, played for 10-11 hours and only made 800 or so. But it's better then nothing. I was very proud of him b/c he's never made it that far in a tourney, so I had a good feeling for him. Very nice guy. I then saw my girl Roz at the final table. She saw me, lit up and was like 'Hey guys!' Roz is awesome. She's played in all the ladies events I've played in and she's really nice, she's a great poker player. She placed in 7th at this past years WSOP ladies event in Vegas (or maybe it was 07, I get my years mixed up). She took home like 35k for that! Awesome! And here she was, the last lady standing at the Guaranteed event. Wished her luck and went back to cash.

It was around 10 or so, and I was getting really tired. Hubby Mike was drinking and I knew I had to drive home, so I sent the obligatory, 'whenever you're ready text' Hubby Mike was up like $80 when I left him and I was up like 20 or so, so I figured let's leave on a good note. He comes over with like $180 in chips in his rack. I'm like 'Where's the rest?" LOL. he's like 'when you texted, I was in a hand...lost it too. Set over set. UGLY! So now I'm like 'DARN!' Here I am thinking we're leaving on a good note, now we're down almost a hunge...ugh. Tell him to go cash out, he does. The button just passed me when he came back over. I told him to let the button pass me again then we'll leave. he's furious that I made him leave the table, all well. That hand I get ace seven of clubs. I limp in, some guy raises 5 on top, I shrug and call the extra redbird. Flop is ace ace like 5 or something. Instead of slow playing my flopped set (like my 6 8 hand earlier) I bet out. One caller. hmmmm, flush draw maybe? But he insta called. Turn is nothing, I bet he raises me. JERK! LOL. I re-raise, I can see Hubby Mike rolling his eyes (yea, thanks for the tell! lol) so I raise like 100 on top or whatever it was, I have no idea, maybe I made it $100 total, guy goes all in (for about the $100). I flip over just my ace, he flips over ace queen. I hear Hubby Mike groan in agony. River is a 7! I rivered him! I NEVER do that! So I flip over my 7 and the table is like 'OMG!' I rake in my chips, stack it up and have well over $460 in front of me....so that made up for Hubby Mike's loss. I stick around for a few hands, not getting involved, just sitting there, then cash out. It was pretty sweet ending!

So before we leave, I tell Hubby Mike I wanted to see how Roz was doing. We go back and she's smiling, they just chopped. She took like $19k plus an extra $6k for having the chip lead when they ended it. I was soooo proud! I love seeing a girl beat all the guys :) Only thing sweeter would have been if it were ME!

Murphy is a pain in the you know what!

So this week, our furnace hit the bucket and we had to delve into our EF to take out money to replace it. This is right after we took out money from the EF to pay for DH's dad's car. We were supposed to get it Monday, but he had to special order his car, so we're not getting the car until mid January. So, I took out the money the guy quoted us at, now it's $470 more. Ugh. I'm already not liking the way our budget it and I HATE taking money out of our savings, whether it's EF or not. Savings is supposed to go in, not take out. DH doesn't get that. yes, we needed the new furnance, but do we NEED to get DH's dad's car? My car is quite old and she could be on her last leg (I'll never admit it). DH just doesn't want us stranded in case my hits the bucket. At this rate, the way last week went, and the way this week is shaping up, I wouldn't put it past Murphy to kill my car this week. I really can't stand Murphy.
I'm doing our budget for January, ugh. I hate doing the budget. I have no idea how we got by on my old salary from my old job. When we first moved in here, I cried every night b/c I never knew if we can get all the bills paid. Now, DH and I are both making a lot more $$, but still, looking at the budget is grim. Even with cutting back, still nothing. A lot of the things we can't budge on. Some of it comes from our stubborness to cut back. We put a limit on everything we do, and still, nothing. I don't see how some people do it. Combined, we make a nice penny, but we still can't afford to go out all the time like our friends do. Going out to dinner makes me cringe b/c it's like $60 at least. I budget $50 a week for fun/going out money, but we hardly use it, so it goes to pay off debt. I just don't see how people do it on half the income we have.
So, I'm down in the dumps this past week, this week is not looking much better. You know it's bad when friends are calling us to come down to Atlantic City, and I (yes ME) am saying no, sorry no can do. ugh.

Harrahs/Borgata 12/13/08

Saturday we took a drive down to AC so I can partake in the ladies tourney at Harrah's, then head over to Borgata to buy a gift card for a guy that's retiring here, and make a 'pit stop' at the poker room. The ladies tourney was kind of a crap shoot. There were only 170 ladies playing (very low). Last year, there were well over 300. Things went well for awhile, then I took a bad beat suckout I'd say, then I went on tilt with like no chips left in the small blind. Pushed all in with a king, got called with aces. I had king deuce of clubs. nothing for me, I'm out. Figures...same girl that took all my chips in the previous hand. I played pretty tight, just to see how far I can get. I did switch gears a few times. The hand in question, I'm in the big blind. I have king eight off. I check. Flop is king 8 something. The blinds were like 75 150 and about 4 players in the pot. I bet out 7 hunge (flush draw out there) and I got one caller. Ace of hearts on the turn (flush). I bet out again, I get called. Rag on river, I bet again, call. She had ace 8. she called with bottom pair, ace kicker on the flop. UGH. Seriously, it was the size of the pot and she called with bottom pair. At that point, I wanted out. I hate people that flop nothing, but since they have an ace in their hand, it's good. bottom pair, even with an ace kicker on the flop, NOT a good hand. IMO. So whatever. I was ticked I busted out, but it wasn't that caliber of play I was looking for. On the way to the Borgata, I had my revelation. Hubby Mike said he's been telling me this for YEARS, but I'm stubborn and won't listen. I've placed now TWICE (knocking on wood) at the borgata ladies WPT events. How many times did I place in the other WSOP events? NONE. And I go to ALL of them. Harah's, Caesar's, Showboat, etc. SO, I'm now strictly a BORGATA BABE. No, I'm not on the calendar, but that's what I've dubbed myself. I'm no longer going to play in any other poker rooms but Borgata. I'm done. I'm not throwing good money away on bad players and bad plays. So there, I've said my piece.

ONTO Borgata! We get in and Hubby Mike and I get seated at the same table...no biggie. A few hands in, one of my floor people, who I know and he knows me...we kid around about playing poker when we see one another comes to me and cards me. I look at him, thinking maybe he thought I was someone else, and I'm like 'Dude, I'm here more than you!' as I grab my purse. He's like 'Yea, I know you're legal, but I got a call to card you. Okay. Then I'm wondering if it was the camera in the sky or the old man at my table that looked like Santa and flirted with the cocktail server (who by the way, they are lacking big time on. Hubby Mike and I both ordered a drink-i ordered a hot chocolate and Hubby Mike ordered a coffee-she comes back and forgot about our drinks, but Santa got TWO drinks) anyways. He said something to the floor guy after he carded me, so I think it was him....ugh. I'm 28 years old for pete's sake! So, I played a few hands, nothing too spectacular. Hit a straight and a flush a few hands apart so I was up. Hubby Mike took bad beat after bad beat..but in the end he only lost 100, so it wasn't too bad. There was an awesome hand that I was not involved in but was awesome. One guy had pocket kings, next guy had ace king, other guy has aces. One guy (aces) is all in pre-flop. Side pot on the flop. Nothing comes (like eight high) and they go all in. Ace king guy turns a nut flush draw, nothing on river so the aces held up. Wow!

Oh, speaking of aces, I was involved in one hand that was memorable. My boy Dave (actual name is Daniel, no idea where I got Dave from. So I get pocket jacks, I raise to 17 pre flop and get two callers. Figures. Queen high on the flop. I bet out like 20 or something, got raised, maybe twice...I know once. So it comes back to me, I begrudingly fold. I tell Daniel I can't believe I'm laying down what I was laying down. Sure enough, the words aren't out of my mouth, turn's a jack. UGH! Are you kidding me? Guy goes all in, girl calls. Queen on River. Guy flips over aces (okay) girl flips over queen 7 of hearts! OMFG, she just caught trips on the river, I woulda boated if I didn't fold! UGH, are you kidding me? Aces guy was ticked off...WTF are you doing in the pot with Queen 7 with a 17 dollar preflop raise???? Sure enough, she gets up like 2 hands later to go play a sit and go. Two people did that at our table and I think it's very bad poker etiquette. They come sit for like 10 minutes, and leave. Whether or not they win or lose, still bad. Especially since the one guy took some $$ from hubby. hubby has pocket kings, raises, new guy re-raises. hubby calls...ace on the flop, he checks, guy bets big, representing an ace, hubby folds, showing the kings....newbie shows pocket 3s. I soooooo wanted to go across the table and beat the living daylights outta him, especially when after the next hand, he gets up and walks away...but still is playing b/c I saw him hours later...jerk. That stuff really ticks me off.

OH, there was a fight in the poker room! We were playing, and we got our cards, and all of a sudden a ruckus happens. People are just getting up out of their seats and moving towards the back where the fight was. I look at my 8 3 off, and muck and run over to the fight area, while Hubby Mike is yelling to me to sit down. I can't..I gotta get involved and know what's going on! LOL. Another guy from my table (Sleepyhead I called him-he had his chips taken off the table in the AM and bagged while he got some sleep b/c he kept falling asleep at the table...he came to our table, and was still nodding off-hubby didn't like him b/c he kept checking me out...oh well, I'm hot, he can look all he wants LOL) So Sleepyhead's friend is at a table by the fight, so I friend up to the friend. Sure enough, just like Taj, two old people. I'm waiting to see like 2 21 year old kids throwing punches....nope, two old guys. I have to give it up to the floor people and the security guards, they got right up there quick. You couldn't even tell who was involved in the fight b/c they were surrounded by floor people and guards. Okay, so granted, the guards are either 85 years old or 16 and would probably get crushed if they actually had to break up a REAL fight, but the one floor guy, not sure his name, but he's there a lot, was right there. Then finally, some more qualified security ppl came over. We left to go home shortly after and the one guy involved in the fight was cashing out, escorted by 2 guards. The fight, supposedly, was one guy got ticked off at the other guy, came up to him and started swinging. The guy at the cage was going to file a complaint, not sure if he was gonna file it against Borgata or the guy, or both, but he said he was just sitting there and the guy came up to him swinging. Lovely, over a freaking 2/5 NL game. Don't they all remember what happened at the Taj????? But at least the Borgata personnel didn't let them just 'leave' to take it outside. The guy throwing punches got escorted out and the other guy played a few more hands then cashed out ot file a complaint. It's really sad that people will come to fist fighting over a poker game....I mean really. Is their life that bad that because he got sucked out, or because a guy said some mean words to him that he can just come out swinging? Pathetic!

Cooking 101

Yup, that's what I need, big time! Last week I didn't cook at all because we were so busy with everything, so that was out. This week, I told myself I'm going to cook, whether I like it or not. DH left for work this morning and didn't take any meat out to defrost. I was just about to scratch my idea of cooking, and I said I'd better not. So I went to the freezer and pulled out chicken breasts. It's a BIG thing of them, there's about 6 or so in there. Boneless chicken breasts....thick too. I remember I made some chicken and rice casserole awhile ago and since they were so thick, took a lot longer to cook. Anyways, I'm trying to figure out new recipes, so I can make up a 'cookbook' of my own recipes stolen from websites and fellow hounds. I can't realy find something interesting using chicken breasts. If I do, I am missing items and I'm not looking to go out to the store today. I was thinking of breaking it into two meals, maybe chicken and broccoli over rice with biscuits on the side, and then making something else...but not sure what yet. Ho hum. I really want to get a few meals out of this chicken...maybe at least one I'll cook then mince up into chicken salad for lunch this week.
So to all you gals and guys out there, what are some of your favorite recipes you'd like to 'donate' to the blog?

Holiday Troop Drive!

I am getting involved in an Advisory Council here at work in 2009, and we are doing a Holiday Troop drive to collect much needed items to the troops overseas. I'm trying to be the 'overachiever' on this, so I'm asking for all your help! See below:

The Intern Advisory Council (which I am appointed to starting in 2009!) will be hosting a Holiday Troop drive to collect items to send to local Soldiers stationed in Iraq. The Intern Social is on Wednesday 17 Dec 2008, and that is when we are to bring in the donations. I am attaching the sheet with what to donate and what NOT to donate. I want to 'stick' out as an intern and would love to be the intern that donates the most stuff. This is why I am sending out this email, to ask for all of your help with the donations. If you can donate an item or two (or more!), that would be great and would help out towards my goal. Please let me know if you can donate some items. I have to have all items that will be donated no later than Dec. 16th.

Thanks in advance!
Do’s
Travel Sizes are best for the following items:
SoapShaving cream & RazorsToothpaste & Tooth BrushMouthwash.Tissues
Magazines/BooksDeodorantGames (Chess/Checkers/Footballs/Monopoly/Etc)Gum/Candy/MintsPastries & Cookies - To included bakery items (NO CHOCOLATE!)M&M’s (Yeah they will survive the trip due to their candy shells)Nuts & Dried fruits/Canned fruits (No Glass Please)Beef Jerky (This is a big hit with the Soldiers)Crackers/Pretzels/ChipsPopcorns (Bagged or Microwavable)Microwavable foodPowdered drinks mixes (Crystal Light & others like it)Socks (White : Men’s)DVD’s (Usually Male Oriented)Cards Addressed to the Soldier for morale purposes Free Cards available!Holiday Items: As we get closer to the holidays, themed items are nice. I’ll send Halloween candy/Cookies/Decorations at the end of September/beginning of October.Also, Local favorites are comforting (Ex: Tastykakes or items only available from this area)
Dont's
Please do not donate any of the following items:
Home baked goodsOTC MedicinesChocolates (They will melt)Meat (Besides Beef Jerky)Pornographic materials (Even Maxim)Alcohol of any typeAmmo or Anything that might explode due to dropping, combustion, or heat

Necessities, adding up to too much moola!

So yesterday, I venture out to do some errands. I was planning on making a beer lime roasted chicken for dinner, but the chicken is still frozen. Darn! I had to get some other things, so I made a pit stop at Shop Rite. I figured I'd see what sauce was on sale and make spaghetti. The only sauce I had at home was the LARGE bottles, not the smaller ones I use for spaghetti. Guess it's been awhile because I have no smaller one left...ooops. So I'm walking down the sauce aisle all ticked off that I have no sauce at home, and my Prego Q expired. Figures. So I figure we'll have cereal. We do that once in awhile, have a 'kid' night and have cereal and ice cream and cookies for dinner. So I decided last night was a 'kid' night. So then I figured that we needed milk. I have to have the Lactaid, and the big jug was almost $7...YIKES. And of course, not on sale, no Q's. Once in a blue moon it goes on sale. never get a Q. So i pick up the smaller container then walk off to get cottonelle wipes and TP. The wipes were on sale, so I grabbed one, then I go to the TP. It was originally 9.29 for a 12 pack, on sale for 7.99 and I had a Q, so that worked out. I check out and it was $13 and change...for 3 things! The day before, I went to A and P, got 25 things for 8 bucks and change....Geesh. What is this world coming to?

December off to a great start...Triples at A and P (2 weeks in a row!)

So, this week, A & P did triple Q's again (second week in a ROW) and I just could not resist! So out come my Qs and off I go! I do utilize thegrocerygame.com for A & P, but this week was the off week (boo!) so I had to do it all on my own, and here's what I did:

NY Pizzeria Dip N Sticks (2) 3.89 - 1.78 store savings - .40Q (tripled) = 2.80 each
Pillsbury Quick Bread (3) 2.59 - .92 store savings - $1/3 Q = 1.33 each
Kellogg's Special K (2) 3.99 - 1.49 store savings - $1Q = 1.50 each
Lipton Knorr Sides (18) 1.99 or 2.19 (some were higher priced) so for all it came to 38.22 total, then store savings was 20.22 and I had .75 off Q's, so that was 2.25 each times 9 Q (.75/2) so it came to 20.25 for the Q's. All in all, they were $1 a piece and the .75Q was off 2. So for each 2 I had a Q. So I buy 2 for $2, then the Q triples to 2.25, so I MADE .25 off each 2 that I bought...sweet!

Total before savings - 61.75
# items - 25
Store savings - 27.75
Q's - 25.65
#Q's - 14
tax - 0
OOP - 8.35!
Savings 86%!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I have a cabinet FULL of Lipon/Knorr side dishes!

Hounding Catch Up

Okay Okay, I know I haven't posted my 'hounding' in awhile, so here ya go. I didn't hound too much the rest of November. I did one grocery shopping at Shop Rite with 32% only of savings, thanks in no part to DH with his 'impulse' buys. I can't blame him, he's been a good boy and never complains too much about my 'couponing.' I also did a few 'drive-bys' at Shop Rite to pick up 1 or two items, with no savings, figures. But I did have a great hounding experience at Pathmark, the day before Thanksgiving...triple Q's!

Bird's Eye Veggies (4) 2.39 - 1.70 store savings - $1/4 Q = .44 each!
Fresh Express Salad (3) 2.50 - .75 Q (tripled) = .25 each!
Reddi Whip (1) 3.39 - 1.39 store savings - .50Q (tripled) = .50!
Activia Yogurt 3.49 - .50 store savings - .50Q(tripled) = 1.49
Shedd's Country Crock butter (5) 2.69 - .69 store savings - .35Q (tripled) = 1.05 each

Total before savings - 37.39
# items - 14
Store savings - 12.14
Q's - 16.00
# of Q's - 11
Total OOP (Out of Poket) - 9.25!!!!!!!
Savings = 755!!!

Here's my totals for November....not too great, but not too shabby either!
# of items: 134
Total before savings: 324.79
Store savings: 70.80
Coupons: 61.09
# of Q's : 50
Total OOP: 196.24
Savings: 40%

So my goal for November is to do better than 40%! Stay tuned to see if I can do it!

Part Two - Poker Karma 11/29/08

Now, I'm sure all you poker players out there have heard of Poker Karma, but if you haven't, you probably know what I'm talking about. I don't know if it has happened to anyone else, but here's a scenario:

You're playing at a table, any limit, and there is one or maybe even two or three people that just have no regard for poker etiquette or playing good poker. Whether they are drunk, stupid or whatever, they are in every hand, and miraculously will hit a one outer on the river. Sound somewhat familiar?

So, on Black Friday, one of these people is at my table. There will be 5 bucks in the pot (small blind, big blind and a limper) and he will raise to like 50 bucks, to win 3. Weird. Supposedly he's a regular and a GREAT tipper, so the dealers love him, everyone else can't stand him. The one guy next to me says he's great to be at your table b/c you can make tons of money off him. Funny thing is, the first hand those two got involved, the guy next to me loses a HUGE pot to him. yea, he's really great to have at the table to make money off of huh? The people that play crazy will win once in awhile, but in the long run, will lose a ton more money then he just took off of you. I'm sure you've heard that a bazillion times....at least I have. And it annoys me to no end. yea, great, that person just took me for a boat load of money, but I can sleep better at night knowing that eventually, he's gonna go broke (and give my money to someone else). For some reason, that doesn't help me sleep at night. If I were around to see this 'karma' come back around and bite someone, well, then yes I'll sleep better, maybe.

As you know, I have a point to this. So Saturday morning, we wake up, early because the brochure in the room says check out is 11. And breakfast is from 7-10. So we wake up early....set the alarm for 9. So we get up and drag ourselves to breakfast. I have a waffle and some OJ. Then back to the room to shower and get ready, and we're checking out around 11, and then on our way to the Big B (Borgata). It was pretty nice out, nice and sunny, a little chilly, but still. So we go in, check out the poker room then head to the Amphora Lounge to find hubby's uncle, he's not there yet, so we go back to the poker room. There was like no tables opened, and there was a list for 1/2. So we all put our names on the list. Tom gets called first, then me, then hubby. I get seated at a table, and just wasn't feeling it. Then, hubby is called to a brand new table.

I love new tables. I don't know why. Probably because everyone is starting from scratch. Most they can have is $300 and nobody knows anything about anyone else. So I try to switch, floor person says no, he can't take me off a full table. So I told him to send someone from the new table to my table. Funny thing was, only 6 players were on the list for 1/2, no idea why they opened a table. So he says that he will save me a seat, and when they start to play, he'll move me. Okay fine, whatever. So he locks up my seat at the new table, seat 10. so I go back to my table, and I see all in guy from Friday walking around....oh brother. So anyways. I get moved to the new table. Had seat 10 locked up, but as I went over there, some guy was going to sit in seat 10. Floor guy apologizes and says that I locked that seat up, but seat 1 was open, and that guy can sit there. He was literally in mid-sitting pose, so I said, don't worry, I'll take seat 1 (it was closer for me anyways) so he sits in 10, I sit in 1. One seat is open. All in guy, nowhere to be found...so he's probably going to get my seat at the other table. Then I see him...oh no. He wants the open seat at my new table! NO! Floor guy Eric says no can do, he just locked up the seat, guy is at the cage getting chips. He tells him he wants to sit there, yadda yadda...can't do anything...so he is seated at my old table...phew! So a little while later, seat is open at my table and guess who sits there! NO! So I tell the guy next to me to tread carefully! Nobody else knows and people are getting involved in pots with him left and right. Geesh. All in guy ain't doing so great. I just stay out of his way, as does hubby b/c he's at my table. So, after awhile, I'm small blind, look down at jack 8 of diamonds. I call the extra buck, and guy next to me (BB) checks. I check dark (I don't like to think in early position sometimes lol). Flop comes out Jack 8 3, two hearts. SWEET! Guy next to me bets out 15. I'm like, dude, I'm gonna have to push I got top two. Girl across the table raises to 50, old guy next to her calls, all in guy calls. Hmmmmm, I have over 300 I believe, so I'm like 'told ya i gotta push, I'm all in' Dude next to me is like 'I gotta call you' I nearly peed my pants. He insta called, knowing I said I had to push and told him I have top two. Now I'm all depressed that he's got a set. So it's up to the girl, she's thinking. I immediately put her on a flush draw, and start to talk to the guy next to me. I'm like (whispering) 'do you have a set?' He's like 'No, do you?" Duh. I'm like 'Dude, I told you I had to push, I have top two!' He's like 'Oh man, really?' I'm like 'What do you have?' he's like 'Ace Jack' I'm thinking lovely, he's gonna catch an ace on the turn or river...or my luck, both. Girl finally folds, old guy next to her is like 'I can't fold, i call' Oh are you kidding me! LOL All in guy is like 'wow' he's thinking he's thinking. I put him on a flush or a gut shot, something ridiculous. I didn't put anyone on a pair preflop since there was no raise. So he starts to shuffle his cards, like in the air, and taking the top one and putting in on the bottom, etc. This is where if you're looking for it at a good angle, you can see his cards...he's got pocket 3's!!!! UGH. I know he's gonna call, so basically I'm hoping to hit a jack (which there is one left in the deck, or an eight, 2 left...3 outs) to win the pot. ugh. He's talking out loud that there are too many people in the pot and that someone has to have the higher set. I swallow hard. Hubby is standing up, ready to pee himself too LOL. All in guy thinks, looks like he's gonna fold, puts his card down, grabs some chips, still thinking. Finally, he FOLDS!!!!!!! I nearly cheered right there. The old guy is still in....no idea what he's on. I didn't put him on a flush draw to call an all in, then an insta call. I flip my cards over, so does guy next to me, old guy flips over ace two of hearts...nut flush draw...UGH! Turn is a red card....a 5...diamonds though...I breath. River, another red card. a 7...of DIAMONDS! I WIN I WIN I WIN! That was a HUGE hand! I basically hug the guy next to me...then I felt bad b/c he called...but then joked and called him an idiot for calling :)

All in guy, on MAJOR tilt. So the next hand or a few hands later, I'm still shaking and stacking my chips, I look over...I see hubby put out a bet of like 30 bucks or so, and got re-raised all in by all in guy. Flop was Ace Queen rag. All in guy is like 'c'mon call, I'm on major tilt' So hubby calls....all in guy flips over ace jack, hubby flips over pocket jacks for a set! SWEET! Turn is the ace, which gives all in guy a set, but hubby a boat, rag on the river. All in guy is like 'Sorry man' and hubby is confused. Dealer is like 'Oh you got him covered (to hubby) and takes all in guys chips and shoves them to hubby :) WHAT A SIGHT! All in guy is like 'What are you doing? I won the hand' Now, the board is still out there, but all in's guys cards were in the muck, however, hubby cards, still face up, were under all them redbirds, so he's like here's my cards. And all in guy is like 'He had a set of queens, I had a set of aces, man' And hubby is like 'look, your set of aces gave me a boat' And all in guy is like 'OH MAN' So he buys back in. A few hands later, all in guy raises to 15, I'm thinking 'easy fold' but hold the phone, pocket aces! I play his game from the night before, and make it $100. He is like 'okay I call' So the flop is jack high, I think it was like jack 7 8. He checks, I go all in, he insta calls with 4 5! WTF! He has a gut shot. hubby looks at me, and I just KNOW he's gonna hit his 6 for the gut shot....but he doesn't! I just took him for a TON of money!!!!!!! He gets up and is all ticked off about that hand where he laid down the set. Oh well! Stinks to be you! But that's karma baby! You play like that, you're gonna get burned. And not only did I witness it....but I was the receiver of the GOOD KARMA! I put in the initial blow, then hubby for the second, and me for the final blow. I was soooo happy! I had like $1100 in front of me, hubby had about 600 or so. I was sooooo happy! I got involved in a hand with the old guy with the nut flush draw.I had queen king, flip was queen jack rag. he checked, I bet he called, jack on turn, he goes to bet, I tell him don't bet...so he checks, I check. He checks again on the river, and is like 'You got the jack?" I'm like 'no the queen' and he mucks. I felt bad b/c he could have bet me and got me off the hand, so I gave him his money back. He didn't want it, but I kept throwing it at him. It was awesome. So basically a little while later we cashed out and went home. It was a great weekend!

Black Friday at Borgata 11/28/2008

Black Friday is an annual trip for us to AC, we go every year. What stunk was that my 10 year high school reunion was the same day. I didn't make a big deal out of it because we didn't go to Mike's, so no sense going to mine anyways. My friend's 10 year reunion was at Trump Taj like 2 years ago....now THAT would be one I'd go to :)

We get up early, at least I do, to eat something, take a shower, get ready and pack the last minute stuff and drop off the dog at my uncles. We planned to leave at noon, but we left around 12:30 so it wasn't too bad. We checked into the hotel, that took awhile, and arrived at Borgata at around 3pm. We put our names on the list for 1/2, which had about 40 some names. (we went with our friend Tom). We walked around a bit to see if we knew anyone and to see if my floor people were there. We ran into a friend of mine playing the noon tournament. He's made it pretty far in the past in the Friday tourney, but he busted around 40th and top 36 paid, so that hurt. After about an hour of waiting, we finally got a table.

My friend Tom got a table near mine, and then switched over when a seat next to me opened up. I got up about 100 within the first hour, then I wasn't catching anything, was was losing blinds. I did make a few good laydowns and got really excited and proud of myself for making the laydowns. The one guy at the table said 'I've never seen someone so happy that they lost money!' What they didn't understand is that normally I don't make the good laydowns...I put bad money in (knowing that I'm losing the pot). The one hand that I loved was I had king jack suited, in early position. I didn't raise pre-flop, figured I'd see a flop. Flop was king 8 5 or something. Guy checks, I bet like 12 bucks, everyone else folds but the guy to my right. Turn comes another eight, he checks, i bet again, he calls. Nothing on the river (not flush or straights out there). So he checks, I bet again, he min raises me. ugh. He's a good player, and I didn't see him calling w/ an 8 when I bet with the king out there. Well, I know I'm beat and I fold, but I show him my kings and 8s with a jack kicker. He shows me king queen! So his queen had me outkicked! SWEET! i got soooo excited which was when Kelly (guy at the table) was saying he never saw someone get so excited about losing money :) He left the table a short while later, but we all begged him to come back. Sweet kid. Was always short stacked but was a good player, we wanted him back. OH, by the way, I looked great! I had planned my outfit for awhile, so I had on a denim mini, with black leggings and black boots w/ the fur LOL. I had on a funny christmas tee as well. So let's see what else happened. I added the pic for everyone to see. I look miserable b/c it took me forever to convince hubby to take the pic, and the actual outfit was in the wash, but this is almost the exact outfit.

OH my friend Tom is an EXTREMELY tight player. So every time he's in a hand, I fold b/c I know he's got a great hand. So he's next to me playing for awhile, and came to my table with 325, had to put away 25 b/c he can only come in with 300. No biggie. He lost a big hand to a guy that wanted to shake my husband's hand because I was such a great girl. He kept saying in his next life, he was going to marry a girl like me :) AW! So, Tom raises and this guy calls. They both flopped a set! Tom flopped bottom set, the guy flopped top set. There were bets and raises, etc. Guy says 'I won't re-raise you this time because you're friends with her' AW! So in the end they flip over, amazing. Both flopped a set. So Tom was down a lot at this point. He busts out a short while later holding aces. He raises pre-flop and I think 1 or 2 people called. I folded (obviously). Flop was four king something. Tom bets, guy raises, Tom calls. Turn was nothing, bet, raise, call. Then the river Tom bets, guy raises Tom all in, Tom calls, guy flopped a set of fours! OUCH! So Tom's out.

At this point, my friend Tim is there and I tell him to switch to where Tom sat (best seat in the house...next to me of course! haha!) So he sits down and we're all playing. At this point is when I see Kelly two tables away. I was drinking a bit and everyone at the table is like 'Go get Kelly! We got an open seat!' So I go over there and beg him to come back. He didn't want to come, thought we wanted his money. Said 'no no no, you're a fun player, we all want you back' I told him to trust me (most poker players are untrustworthy, but not me!). He's like 'I'll think about it' then he grabs my leg and says 'Okay, don't miss any hands' and tells me to go play, but says when a seat opens next to me, to get him.....see, best seat in the house! So, as I sit down, this guy that was at the table earlier sits in the open seat. Very weird guy. Calls EVERYTHING. Nobody wanted him at the table, but one guy did...said he was easy money. HOW? He was taking everyone's money. First hand, the guy that sat down (we called him all in guy..would push all in for like $200 with like $15 in the pot) got heads up with the one guy that wanted him at the table. Took him for a ton of money on that hand...he had ace king and flopped top two. So I don't play many hands with this guy in the pot because it's just stupid. He can be on no draw, will call and suck out miraculously. He couldn't lose a hand! Well, Tim gets involved in a few pots with him and loses. Tim is down to like nothing, and goes all in and loses. Oh well.

Then I run over to Kelly, who's at another table, and he locks up the seat next to me. He was really fun to sit down next to. I tell him about all in guy, he's not scared. Go kelly! He gets involved in a 3 way pot with all in guy and some other guy. Kelly turns the ace high flush, bets, and all in guy is raising. So Kelly is doing the 'acting' part like 'man, are you kidding me?' etc. River is another spade, so it's bet raise call....all in guy had the king high flush (caught on the river) but kelly had the nut flush. So the pot comes he goes from like $200 in chips to about $700-$800 easily. He had these little figurines and the one was his good luck one that he pulled out RIGHT before this huge hand. So I say 'Can I have it?' and he's like 'here you go' So the next hand, I get dealt Ace Queen off, in late position. I raise to 21 (meant 16, the one chip got stuck to the other) and the all in guy calls and so does the guy to my right. Flop is ace jack king. All in guy bets 40, guy to my right insta calls, I go all in, they both fold. So at this point, I'm up about $30, so now I'm happy and ready to cash out. I don't want to hit and run so I stay for a few hands, knowing I'm just folding no matter what. Next hand, Kelly gets ace king, raises big, all in guy calls. Flop comes out ace king rag. kelly bets, all in guy raises, kelly re-raises, all in guy calls. The rest is shady to me, in a blur. They are both all in on the river, all in guy sucked out BIG time and hit runner runner straight (two rags) and kelly had ace king, and flopped top two. yikes. So kelly went from like $100 to $800 back to like $100. Gross. So he makes the remark 'nice suck out sir' and the guy gets all ticked off and telling the dealer he wants him kicked out for saying 'that word' I guess he thought Kelly said the f bomb, which he clearly didn't. So he says suck out again to him to tell him that's what he said, and they start arguing. Now, all in guy is a jerk, but is tipping the dealers BIG time, so of course the dealer is gonna be on his side, and the dealer kinda gives Kelly a warning. I flip my you know what. I'm sorry, but when a friend of mine (okay, I just met him, but I was on his side) is getting blamed for something he didn't do, I'm gonna run my mouth. OH, all in guy too, on the big hand Kelly won from him...Kelly tips the dealer a redbird, and the all in guy makes a snide remark that 'oh, here look, I'll take care of the dealer for you, eventhough I gave you all my money' and puts a redbird in the tip thing. Then Kelly's like 'What, 5 bucks is no good? I threw him a red-bird!' and the dealer kept mum b/c all in guy was tipping the entire time (even losing hands, still tipped). Idiots. I basically had to sit on kelly's lap to get him to sit down and be quiet. I didn't want him thrown out because of a jerk like all in guy. So I leave a few hands later, tell Kelly we'll find him tomorrow and wish the table luck. So I cashed out up $25 for the night.


Part two is great....Poker Karma baby!