Borgata Poker - The Greatest Show on Earth
February 8th, 2011 by alriccobonoAside from the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) at the Atlantis in early January, the 2011 “Poker Year” recently got underway here on the East Coast, with the 2011 Borgata Winter Open. Now I am no poker expert by any means nor do I claim to be, however, I do play my fair share of tournaments on the East Coast, enough to form an educated decision. And for what it’s worth, there seriously is not even a close second to the poker experience one could experience playing at the Borgata.
In past blogs, for the one or two of you who have read them, you would know that this place is my favorite. It certainly is my “home” casino. But to reiterate, I am extremely lucky to be under three hours away from “the greatest poker show on earth.” There are so many different reasons why I feel this way and I will try to touch on a few. It obviously starts at the top, with Tab, the best tournament director in the business. I am sure he could not do it without the help of Ray, Joe, Darcy, Stan and the best tournament staff around. Then it is the way they market this event, from the booklets, internet, social media and mailings. Literally, I can not think of more than a handful of poker players that I have met over the years that did NOT attend at least one of these many events during this series. It is because of these
marketing efforts that the attendance is HUGE and hence, the VALUE of playing in these tournaments is second to none. Where can you play in a $300. tournament that has a $100,000 first place prize? Steps have been taken (and hopefully more in the future) to make the experience for the poker players a memorable one. Starting with good values on rooms, discount programs all over the hotel, including dining in the best restaurants in all of Atlantic City and even free internet over the course of your stay for the players. May not seem like much but, trust me, ALL of us appreciate it who stay there for an extended period of time and those costs certainly add up. It is an acknowledgment of these so called “small things” that other venues do not even stop to consider that sets the Borgata apart. I for one, appreciate it and I am pretty sure, in speaking to many other players, that they feel the same way. Thanks Tab, Joe, Stan, Ray, Andrew, Darcy and many, many others for making my “home away from home” very welcoming.
On to the poker. Things got off to a pretty good start for me. After blanking in the first two events, I played in Event #4, the $560. N/L event. 343 players started and after we broke the money bubble, only 19 remained after day 1. I was one of them and looked forward to moving up, even coming into day two with the second shortest stack. I got my hand when I was dealt JJ and got it all in preflop vs. AK. I faded the flop and turn and was ready to get right back into the thick of things until a K came on the river, eliminating me in 19th place. Oh well, I got it in good and was ahead into the river, it’s pretty much all you can ask. The rest is up to the poker gods. So, being the first one out on day two, I had a free day but decided to get right back on the horse and play in a $500 Survivor tourney, which, by the way, are the best things to play in. PLEASE Borgata….have MORE of these in the future! Anyways, I was lucky enough to win this tourney as well later that night and into the next morning to make for a really great day!
The rest of the trip, I ate well…..uh, but I digress. Actually, I tried thinking of something good there to say about my poker play for the balance of the trip but it just did not happen. In fact, on January 28th, I played in FOUR tournaments, a feat that is not easy to duplicate….and went 0-4. Now we know that cashing in 15-20% of tournaments makes for a pretty good player, but….if I played in 200 that day, I would have been 0-200! It was just not my day and it began to snowball into poor play on my part and the rest was history.
On January 30th, the Main Event got underway with 718 players competing for the over a half million dollar 1st prize! I made it through Day 1 and was eliminated in day 2 when my AA ran into J-10 off when he called me on a flush draw after the turn, knowing he was behind. He missed his flush but hit his second pair to eliminate me. It was a fitting end to a rather awful last week of the series.
Overall it was a long two weeks of poker but lots of fun. I have a lot of good friends that I enjoy catching up with during these series and got to spend some time with them. One of the best highlights, however, was seeing my man, Mike the Nose Castaldo win his first title. He is at the top of his game and it is no coincidence that his biggest fan and close friend of mine, Liz, was by his side the entire way. One thing I have learned, if nothing else, from playing poker is this: your mind MUST be in the right place, mentally, to be successful in poker. Too many distractions can be a recipe for disaster. In Mike’s case, make no mistake about it, his settling influence was there every step of the way. His demeanor was obvious and I also had this “feeling” about him before this began. I had it once before about him, it was before his deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Liz (and Mike) will confirm this and tell you that I said it. He was extremely focused and she would not let him stray from his goal. It is a nice thing to witness and was happy to share that experience with both of them. Congrats Nose!
Next stop: Palm Beach, Florida for the WSOP Circuit Series being held for the first time at the Kennel Club in West Palm Beach. The Nose is also coming so that is always good for a few laughs. We are going to sneak in a round of golf with my friend Jimmy, who lives out there, on the 24th before starting our first tourney on the 25th. Should be interesting to see how Florida draws players to this “new” event.
Thank you for all your support throughout the Borgata series of events and for the encouragement. It means more to me than you know and I certainly appreciate it.
In closing, before I leave for Florida, my family and I will be celebrating my Grandmother’s 100th Birthday this coming Saturday. Aside from my Mom, this is the most influential and amazing woman I have ever met. Born in 1911 and still talking to me about the Jets losing in the playoffs and WHY they lost, doing her own bills and cooking for herself and for me (not an easy task) on a regular basis are just a few of the things I continue to be baffled by. They certainly do not make them like they used to! Happy Birthday Grandma and thank you for always being one of my biggest (and perhaps only) fan. You are an inspiration to all the lives you have touched and I love you very much!



