Playing Poker at the Trump Taj Mahal

I came home with some of Donald Trump's money this week. Fortunately, he probably won't miss it much.

Kristen and I went to Atlantic City this week to visit my sister, whom recently moved there with her husband. As many of you know, I am an avid poker player, but haven't ever had the opportunity to play Texas Hold' em in a casino. To date I'd only played in charity poker tournaments locally and hadn't done extremely well.

We arrived in Atlantic City Sunday night. We stayed at the Resorts on the Boardwalk. The hotel is a great old hotel turned casino in the '70s. I'm a little bit of an architecture buff, and enjoyed the building more than most of the pieces of garbage in Atlantic City.

I remember a few years ago, shortly after 9/11, when every resort city in America was scrambling to get tourism re-fired. At that time, the casinos were offering dirt cheap rooms and relying on slot machines to generate profits. Well, times have changed. Weekend rooms average $200-$300 per night. There are cheaper casino hotel rooms, but every one was booked.

Weeknight rooms are another story. The price drops by half on Monday through Thursday. I knew I wanted to gamble a bit, so we took a couple days off and went Sunday through Tuesday. The Resorts was about $110 per night including all the taxes and valet parking.


I'd always wanted to play poker in a casino, particularly at the Trump Taj Mahal. I'm not sure why the Purple Casino has always intrigued me, but it does. I wanted to play in a Texas Hold'em tournament on Monday, so Sunday night we walked next door to check it out.

I'd remembered the poker room as being a large hall divided into three sections; Keno, Off-Track Betting, and Poker. Apparently, the poker craze has hit the East Coast as much as Las Vegas. Now the Keno section is about 30 chairs bolted to the floor under the number board. The Off-Track Betting section is about the same size, and I didn't see more than five or so people at either area.

The poker section is absolutely packed with dozens of tables seating 8-10 players each. The room is absolutely abuzz with activity. Poker completely dominates the huge room now.

The first night, I played well and was up about $100 when I called it a night. The tournament wasn't quite so lucky. I was up in chips early. We started with $5,000 in chips, and I reached about $13,000 by the first break. Of the 69 people who started, about 30 remained at the break. We were approaching the three hour mark when my luck had run dry. I'd gradually dwindled to about $7,000. I wasn't out, but my stack was small compared to many.

That's when I picked up two pair on the flop and a loose cannon caller. I threw everything in, and couldn't believe he called with only an inside straight draw. Another player called with a pair of sevens. I couldn't believe my luck, the inside straight needed a seven too! There were only two sevens left in the deck, and I was about to triple up!

You guessed it... F***ing River! A 4% chance is apparently still a chance.

I officially finished 20th. Only nine get paid, so I was down $165.00 Monday.

Tuesday I found my groove. I got at a table with quality players. We were playing $5/$10 limit. I played well, read well, and ended up around $300 to the good.

After subtracting my hotel bill and a couple meals, I figure my mini vacation with Kristen cost me about $50.00. Thanks, Donald.

I'm back...

... after a few months away. It's been crazy since November. I made one feeble attempt in January to resurrect my blog, but failed pretty miserably. I'll try to do better.

Anyhow, let us begin.

I've been experiencing a pretty intense case of "caregiver syndrome". It's very typical among severely disabled individuals who receive intimate levels of care. This situation is a little unique, however.

Generally, "caregiver syndrome" is characterized by amorous or sexual feelings toward a someone whom provides a fairly intimate level of personal care over a period of time. It's common among people with disabilities and individuals who have experienced traumatic injury.

Almost every disabled person I know has experienced it from time to time, although many deny that the emotions aren't genuine. I suspect this is because many disabled people lack legitimate romantic experiences, therefore sexual feelings towards caregivers seem extremely real.

I've always been pretty good about identifying real attraction versus "caregiver syndrome". When I start having feelings for someone, I always evaluate my current situation. Am I depressed? Do I currently have love in my life? Am I currently sexually active? If I'm not in a very good place, I'm more susceptible to attraction.

This current situation is a little unusual. Instead of providing care directly for me, she is our nanny. She's a very cute 23 year-old. Actually, today is her 23rd birthday. She's also taken a temp job with my marketing consulting firm.

I'm in a susceptible position. My relationship with my wife is currently under strain. I'm feeling pretty good, but I'm stressed. Those things increase my sexual anxiety.

She, however, isn't the standard object of my attraction. She's young. I've usually been attracted to women my age or older. She's got a boyfriend. While my attractions don't always focus on completely single women, generally I'm able to defray them when a woman is in a relationship.

Finally, while I find her physically appealing, my attraction isn't purely physical or sexual. She has a unique personality that intrigues me. She's not self-centered, although she's a confessed Princess. She is genuine and has high integrity, although there's a bad girl streak in her. She doesn't deny it either. She makes me laugh, and laughs genuinely at my jokes.

Typically when I have experience the "syndrome", most of my thoughts and feelings have been intimate or sexual in nature. With her, it's at a different level. I've fantasized about traveling with her, getting to know her better, making her experience joy and excitement.

I'm going to Atlantic City in a couple weeks. I asked her to do a little research for me to find a decent hotel at a decent price. Rather than find me super cheap lodging, she showed me all these romantic suites and luxury hotels. She actually found some decent deals, but they were on top-of-the-line accommodations.

I immediately started wishing she was traveling with me rather than Kristen. It wasn't that I want to get her away for some hotel sex. I wanted to enjoy myself, and entertain her, in a place that Kristen wouldn't enjoy. I'm going to Atlantic City for a poker tournament, and the only reason Kristen will go is because my sister just moved there.

Nikki would enjoy the poker, she'd love the hotel. She'd get a massage at the spa, and probably even get naked in the hot tub. I'd feel sexy being around her, even without any sexual contact.

My trip is only ten days away, and I haven't even made reservations. I'm feeling like two days away with my wife would be less enjoyable than working two days with Nikki in my office. It sounds ridiculous, and I wish it weren't true.

$100,000 Online Poker Tournament

I've been playing great poker, and decided this week to go for the big money.

I jumped on the World Series of Poker bandwagon last year, like millions of other people. I've played a little all my life, but never for money, unless you include the giant jar of pennies at Grandma's house.

Anyhow I've gotten much better, and played a few live No Limit Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournaments.

I began to play lots of free online poker, and learned a little, but quickly realized that playing free tables only teaches you to beat other play money players. It's pretty easy to build up quite a large stake on most free online poker sites, but you don't really improve your game. If you've never played at all, a few hundred hands can help you learn the game, but you won't become skilled.

I started playing real money games and instantly saw an improvement. First, the players who play for real money are generally better players. I'd always rather play with good players because they are more predictable.

Poker is all about predicting your opponents more than the cards. In the right situation, you can play the players and win money, regardless of your cards. In the wrong situation, you'll lose money regardless of the cards your dealt. The key is to learn which players you can beat, and which players you can't. Avoid the ones you can't, and empty the pockets of the rest!

Anyhow, yesterday I decided to take a bigger risk.

Normally I play fixed limit $2-$4. I play until I'm 20% ahead, then leave the table with my profits. If I get 20% down, I limp away. Lately, I've been playing really well. I'd sat down with $50 and left with between $60 and $70 at every table. Playing once or twice a day, I was up from my original $50 to $180.

That's when I started playing some low dollar tournaments. Tournament poker is different from table poker. I wanted to practice in a few large multi-table tournaments. I finished 10th out of 158, then 18th out of 370. My confidence was continuing to grow.

Every Sunday afternoon my favorite online real money poker site holds a $100,000 Guaranteed Online No Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament. This tournament costs $109 to play, and is open to 1500 people maximum. Most Sundays the field is between 750 and 800. The top 81 win cash, 81st prize is $250, and first prize is $25,000.

Kristen agreed to watch the kids. She also agreed to bring me food and beverage each hour during the five minute breaks. These tournaments typically last for six or seven hours.

I sat down at 2:00, and started playing really tight. I literally hadn't gotten into a hand for the first fifteen minutes.

The Big Blind came around to me, and I was dealt the 9-8 of diamonds. Only one player stayed in, raising only double the big blind, so I called.

The flop came 9-8-2, all hearts. He doubled the pot and pushed in 120. Normally, I'd be afraid of the flush, but with top two pair, I called.

The turn was an 8, I had the Full House. He was first to act, and pushed 300. Now I'm hoping he has the flush, preferably with an ace. I called. Now there was over 800 chips in the pot, and we only started with 1000 chips each.

The river was the seven of spades. This improved my hand even more. It gave a potential flush, a potential straight, but eliminated the straight flush and four-of-a-kind possibilities. Now, out of 169 possible starting hands, only one could beat me.

He pushed all-in. I called.

That's when he showed the nuts, 9-9. Literally, this was the only hand that could possibly beat me. He had the last two nines in the deck. The random chances of him having those cards was one in 2025.

I looked at the clock... it was 2:18. I finished 758th out of 762, and lost $109 in eighteen minutes!

No Limit Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament

Last night I played my first No Limit Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament. Like about 10 million other Americans I first learned about Texas Hold 'em poker while watching the World Series of Poker on ESPN about two years ago.

Shortly thereafter, I was talking with a friend who plays poker regularly. Jerry told me about a website where you can play free online poker; Hold 'em, Omaha or Stud. I started playing for free, then a couple small online poker tournaments for cash.

Then, one of SunFyre's readers who lives in my city, sent me an invitation to a Lions Club International fundraiser poker tournament. It had a $100 "donation" and the first prize was $3000. The top 10 players win money ranging from $100 to $3000, with a maximum of 200 players.

I figured that this would be a good first-timer event for me for a couple reasons:

• The total payout was only about 30% of the proceeds, so I guessed it wouldn't attract many hard-core gamblers.

• It was being organized by the Lions, so I assumed it would be a bunch of old guys dealing cards, and they'd tolerate a newbie.

• Free food.

• I had 100 bucks.

So I called to register. The Lion I spoke to told me that they weren't expecting to get 200 players. The good news is that the competition would be lessened, but so would the prize money.

We got to the fire hall at six, and filled our plates. The food was provided by a local restaurant call Bixler's Lodge, a very smoky bar with excellent food.

Then we sat down at the poker table. I drew table #1. We were each given $1000 in poker chips. I'm starting to realize at this point that this event is a little more professional than I expected. It was run by a professional poker club, called the Four Aces Social Club.

They ended up with nearly 200 poker players, 182 to be exact. Sixteen tables of 10 and two tables of 11, including my table.

I, incorrectly, assumed that I had to knock off the 10 people at my table, then be placed in a semi-final table. Unfortunately, they did things a little differently. Whenever a table dropped to seven players, they broke up the table and distributed the players into empty seats. This disappointed me, because the end game, down to four or less players, is where I excel. My first goal is usually to survive, then get aggressive with the last 3-4 players.

I played quietly, folding most hands, even several good hands. Finally, I got a great hand, pocket aces and pulled another ace on the flop. One guy, I nicknamed "scruffy" in my head, had been betting on virtually every hand. He'd won a couple hands early, but since had lost several smaller hands. The was just a little below me in the chip count.

When I pulled the two aces, I'd been in the big blind. Rather than betting, I simply checked. When the ace came on the flop with two low cards, he bet a couple hundred. I just called. Then he kept betting, and I called. Each time I hesitated, just a little. Finally, he only had about $300 in his pile, and the pot was over $1500. He presumed I had an ace, but he had Ace-King. He checked, I think to save the "guy-in-a-wheelchair" a few chips.

I went all-in, which actually put him all-in; I would have had less than $100 left.

He about choked when he saw my aces. Scruffy was the first to fall.

Shortly thereafter, "Orange Crush", who had a bright orange polo shirt that slightly matched his complexion, lost to me on two hands in a row. Then "Billy Joel", who looked amazingly like the Piano Man, took a couple in a row.

"Weasel" went all-in with his last $400, three times in a row. No one called, so he stole the blinds the first two times. Finally, I got king-queen suited, when he went all-in with $520. Orange Crush and I both stayed in. They both had ace-jack, and an ace popped on the turn. I lost over a quarter of my pile. Luckily, they were both down substantially, and had to split the pot.

Not only did I lose some of my poker chips, but I lost a little game too. I'd been the tall stack since the first twenty minutes. That King-Queen loss came at the end of a session, so I had a 15 minute intermission to think it over. It shook me for about an hour, and I became very conservative.

I was down to just above my original $1000. Then I looked around the entire room, which had grown noisy. The noise was coming from all the people now milling around, all the players knocked out of the poker tournament. The original eighteen tables was down to eight. I made it past half-way and still had a decent pile.

At the break Kristen had asked who I felt were the best poker players at my table. I told her "Grizzly Adams with Glasses" and myself. Later, I played aggressively against everyone but him, and he never really challenged me. We both took a couple small hands and blinds.

Gradually, Billy Joel, Orange Crush, "Hottie", the only woman at our table, and "Fireman Jabber" who wore a fire company tee-shirt and talked incessantly to Hottie, all fell out of the tournament.

Throughout hour #2 poker players kept filling in empty seats. At one point we were down to seven, and I assumed they'd break up Grizzly Adams and me.

That's when it happened. Three new players joined our table, one with only $400, but two with huge stacks. I was in second behind table #1 chip leader, Grizzly Adams. I immediately was dropped to fourth place with lots of ground to make up. The guy next to me had nearly $6,000. I got really nervous when the two tall stacks both shook hands with the dealer, and he greeted them by first name.

The next hand I ended up head-to-head with Grizzly Adams. I can't even remember the cards, I just remember him raising, me calling, then I'm saying "all in". He called, and I won, virtually eliminated the big hairy guy. Suddenly, I had $3400, and was back in the game.

One guy I nicknamed "Doughboy" just kept hanging around. He played with less than $500 for most of the evening. Finally, he went all-in, and about four players called him. He won about $2500, an knocked out Grizzly Adams.

The next hand had a decent pot. I had pocket jacks. An ESPN commentator once said he hated pocket jacks, because you can't fold them, yet they lose too often. "Big Stack Mike" was the one that came to the table with $6000, and the dealer said "How's it going, Mike?" Big Stack bet $1000. I couldn't fold. A single queen popped up, then another, then Big Stack turned over his third. I was down to $1800 again.

The very next hand I pulled pocket 10s. Doughboy jumped all-in with his $2100. I'd seen him bet with garbage before, so I stayed. We were the only two in the hand. We flipped our cards; my 10s and his pocket Queens. My chances were about one in 26. The dealer flopped three hearts, none of tens, because I had the 10 of hearts. Neither of his Queens were hearts, so that meant 11 cards in the deck would give me the win, and I had two shots at it. Even the queen of hearts would win it for me. My odds jumped from roughly 4% to slightly over 50%.

It wasn't meant to be. The poker gods said, "Not in your first tournament, Rookie." A six and seven of spades was no help to either of us. Doughboy knocked me out.

At first I was pretty disappointed. I thought I'd played well, but two hands of poker later, I'm out. I wasn't going to win any money in my first Texas Hold 'em tournament.

Then I looked around. The tournament was down to four tables with 7-8 poker players each. Of 182 players I finished around 32nd and lasted for 2 1/2 hours of fast paced poker.

I watched for a little while. The dealer at my table got a relief break, and was calling in to the club, updating somebody on the progress. After he got off the phone, he said "Sir, you played very well." (He called every player 'Sir', probably to avoid inventing obnoxious nicknames.)

I thanked him, and said "it was my first time."

"You'd never have known it." he said.

Later I asked him if he knew where I could play more regularly. He gave me his number, and offer to accompany me to the Four Aces Social Club. I am not sure I'll go, but I took it as a complement.

The good news is that the Lions will be putting my "donation" to good use.

The bad news is, I really enjoyed myself, and I found out I'm just good enough to be tempted to donate more frequently to the poker gods.