Borgata & the SJPC

Tournament Prize List

Yesterday was a decent day for an SJPC member as Sana and myself both played "hooke" from work for a chance to play in the $10,000 Guarantee Tournament ($50 + 10) at the Borgata in Atlantic City. This tournament is one that Sana and I have talked about playing for a long time, but never both have been off on a Wednesday to take a drive to AC and give it a go. One of the reasons we were so interested in playing in this tournament was that we felt the tournament would be an easy field being that it's hosted on a Wednesday at 11AM. Unfortunately for us, the day we decided to go was one of their largest fields ever, seating 481 players and 333 of them opted for the Add-on. The grand total prize pool over $40,000 paying down to 45th place.

For most of the tournament both myself and Sana sat around the same amount of chips. During the third break we met up and talked about our stacks and what we needed to do to keep alive in this tournament. Unfortunately for us we were both short stacked and close to being down to the felt. Sana was desperate, not able to survive another orbit; while I needed to make a move with in two orbits. It became a situation for both of us that we needed to take some chances and try to accumulate chips else we would be gobbled up by the blinds.

I sat back at my table and waited for my spot to go. Every time I was dealt a holding that would have worked for an open shove, two-three players went all-in before me and I reluctantly folded. A few times I would have been victor, winning a massive pot - but instead I just sat there trying to be patient, waiting for the opportunity of "first in vigorous". Finally I was UTG with the magic hand, pocket Aces and I tried to figure out how I could maximize my profit from the hand. The action at my table had been brutal, several players were going all-in on almost every hand. I decided to limp in hoping for some shove action figuring it would be the best way to entice a shove. Unfortunately for me it folded to the Big Blind (even SB folded) and he went all in for 2000 more (his BB was 4000). He showed down AJ and I won a small pot. A few hands later I open shove with JT suited and K8 calls. I flop four to a flush and get no love on the turn or river and was sent to the rail finishing 87th.

At this point in time I was searching for Sana. What shape was he in? Was he busted out? Still small stacked? Double through? Finally I found him sitting at a couple tables down from were I was busted. When I approached him he had a mound of chips in front of him and I was a little shocked. The the break he had 7k in chips (2K/4K, 500 ante) and now sat with a wealthy amount of chips. Catching me sort of dumbfounded, he leans over and tells me he was all in on the blinds and won that race then later got pocket Kings and took a massive pot - he's been on a roll ever since.

As timed ticked by Sana was in the top 45, guaranteeing himself that he will at least walk away with his money back. But such results were not good enough for him. He knocked several players out on his table with pocket-Queens followed by back-to-back Ace-Tens. This allowed Sana to build a massive chip stack, 3-4 times the amount than any one else at the table. When Sana had to move to Table #3, it took two tournament directors to assist him in relocating his chips. That must have been a good feeling.

Tournament Director Helping Sana Stack His Chips

As the tournament went on Sana remained at a healthy stack, only taking one huge hit when his AK suited lost to Pocket-Nines; Sana hit all types of Royalty on the flop and Turn, but a 4th diamond came on the river giving the Pocket-Nines a miracle flush. Time ticked by, and one-by-one players stood and walked away from the tables.

I railed for Sana all the way down to third place when he ended up doubling a short stack and taking a prize chop. For his efforts, Sana took home approx $5,300 minus dealer tip and his buy-in. Not bad for a 9 1/2 hour day. Congrats for a well played game goes out to him. I hope that next time we play "hooke" we both can face off at the final table.

Sana Playing at One of the final few tables

In other events: I have now took the SJPC Donkey Time! Tournament Crown for the Fourth time; leaving me as the only player to win the event four times, and the first player to win it back-to-back. I hope that my luck continues in the tournament that the field can continue to grow. All readers please feel free to join us Monday nights at 7:30 PM EST.

If you're wondering how Sana doubled the small stack up, Sana open shoved all-in with AJ suited and the BB called with A-2. The BB hit a 2 on the river leaving Sana the low stack on the table.