For those who have not been following along, over the last year, there have been some huge changes to the poker scene in the Northeast, with some of the biggest changes yet to actually take hold.

In September 2009, I wrote about a recent Pennsylvania law that permitted the addition of table games to a state that had already legalized slots.

In November 2009, I wrote about a law that recently passed in Ohio that permitted casinos, including poker, in several major cities.

Well, just a few months later and it looks like we get to add Delaware and possibly even Maryland to new Northeast poker hotspots.  Lawmakers in Delaware recently voted to extend their already legal slots and sportsbetting (incidentally, the only legal sportsbetting on the East Coast) to include table games and a law has been proposed in Maryland to expand their video lottery operations. The Delaware law recently passedand if the Maryland law passes , AC will be facing even more competition from its nearby neighbors.

I’ve been trying to determine if my concerns for AC are unfounded or not, but after creating a Google Map with the old poker options (for me, that meant AC, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and Turning Stone), I added the new potential rooms based on various reports I had seen and have created a map that looks like a nightmare for AC.

Here is an old map showing just the poker options generally available to people in the New York City area.

View NorthEast Poker 2008 in a larger map

I recommend zooming out to get the full effect.

As you can see, there was not much competition. Why? Because almost universally, gambling was frowned upon. When AC introduced gambling, it was merely because of the depressed seaside town and the success of Vegas that allowed the gambling expansion. When Native Americans figured out they could open casinos, Connecticut and even upstate New York saw additional casinos to compete with Atlantic City. But even then, the options were few and far between. After all, the puritanical, anti-gambling sentiment that permeated the Northeast was still in full effect.

Now, a demystification of gambling, together with the financial needs of the State have seen gambling sprout like a weed in a neglected garden. Of course, even weeds can eventually be turned into a commodity.

The result:

View NorthEast Poker 2010 in a larger map

The old haunts are depicted with the yellow dollar signs, since those are where I currently make money (holla!). I added the nearest new likely casinos with the fire icon, since they seem to be spreading like wildfire and are a danger to AC. I used simple red warning signs for some of the further rooms, which I do not think are likely to directly affect AC, except for maybe reducing some charter flights.

What do you see? AC is under siege! I even included a recently added West Virginia room (I’m sure there are more) to demonstrate how this isn’t just an attack from one direction; AC is taking it from all ends.

What can AC do? Well, mostly pray. Unless AC can find another reason to attract customers, AC will continue to suffer. In my estimation, that means that AC needs to do three things:

1. Lower Room Rates – Room rates in AC are often prohibitively high, especially during the summer months. But if AC is going to attract players who can find poker nearby, AC will have to be a destination and all destinations need affordable accommodations. This way, when your buddy says, “Let’s go play some poker this weekend!” you’ll say, “Okay, I have some cheap rooms at the Tropicana in AC and I love that place, so let’s go!” instead of “We’ll hit the casino downtown, since it’s convenient. AC is overpriced anyway.”

This may already be happening. I received an advert with two free rooms in the Tropicana Casino Hotel for any time until April. It seems to include weekends, which is a rarity. The Trop is a great property, but it was recently under a lot of financial troubles and was sold to another company. That is probably the impetus for the free rooms, but at least the owners recognize that the first step to profit is to bring back the players.

2. Continue featuring Big Entertainment – AC already does a fairly good job with their slew of live entertainment. It isn’t Vegas, with large, established shows, but there are usually big comedy acts or musical acts in town every weekend and lesser acts during the week. AC needs to continue, and possible build, on this, because that, too, will create a Destination Town, as opposed to a gambling town.  For instance, when wifey Kim conned me into going to Dancing with the Star Live, she did so by suggesting we see the AC show. We did. It sucked. But at least we were already in AC, where we had an expensive steak dinner and gambled.

3. Diversify and Advertise – AC had been doing a good job of diversifying beyond gambling. The Tropicana, for instance, has an IMAX 3D theater. An outdoor outlet mall sprung up a few blocks from the boardwalk. Caesars renovated the old Ocean One mall to create an updated mall-like experience. A scary-looking carnival sprung up on the Boardwalk. These are key to AC’s future. AC cannot simply rely on being a gambling destination, so alternative activities, especially for the winter months when the beach is useless, is key. But even more than that, AC needs to rehabilitate its image. It’s seen as a shady, dirty, gambling hole that is a joke in comparison to Las Vegas. But if more people knew of the other things to do in AC (more is needed), then perhaps that image can be fixed and the crowd will look forward to AC, rather than settle for it because its the nearest gambling destination.

In the meanwhile, I’m already mapping nearby destinations. Allentown, Pennsylvania, here I come!

Until next time, make mine poker!

Once done, though, I was on my way for 5/10 LO8, which runs every Wednesday at the Tuna Club. I walked in and the table was already in full swing. I got a seat, ate my quick dinner (steak and jalapeno quesadilla from the Chexican restaurant next door) and then got to work.

It was clear that I was not the only person heading to AC for the weekend. W mentioned that she had extra space in her hotel room if anyone wanted to split the cost. Boat, a big, 50-year old black guy who could pass for 25, was also chatting about accomodations. One guy, though, seemed to have more information than most.

I had never previously met the guy wit the answers, but at a poker table, its usually easy to strike up a friendly conversation. I piped in, “So, you played this tournament before?” AnswerMan said yes, so I followed up with some more questions.

How many runners did it get last time? 225 or so.

How did you do? 10th place.

How much did you win? A little over $1,000.

What was the buy-in? The same. $350+50.

What day of the week was the game last time? Friday and Saturday.

When did the game end on Friday? 1:15 AM, once down to 27 players.

When did action start on Saturday? 1 or 2 PM. (This time, action restarts at 2)

How late did you play on day 2? Until 6 PM, at which point, there were still 9 players left.

I mulled all of this over. I had planned on this trip for weeks, if not months. This was going to be my coming out party for 2010, out to the world of higher-stakes (but not high-stakes) tournament poker. And here I was feeling iffy about it.

Nothing seemed to make sense. I had already co-opted Roose and Hole to join me for the trip. Unfortunately, they both planned to only come down for Friday night and leave Saturday, which left me in AC alone and without a ride home. W mentioned that the busses from AC to NY are actually more expensive than the busses from NY to AC roundtrip, which makes some sense, since the AC casinos will subsidize you coming to them, but won’t subsidize you leaving. That meant that potentially, if I were to win the event or even final table, I would complete play around 6-8 PM Sunday night, then have to find a bus, take almost 3 hours door to door, and then appear at Court the next morning for work.

That is not how I play poker. One of the things i learned in my online poker junkie days was to never start a tournament you couldn’t finish. There was nothing worse than starting a tournament only to stare at the clock several hours later, kinda hoping to lose just so you could sleep. It would be much worse in AC, since I had so much traveling before I could rest. But if that was the only problem, perhaps I could make it work.

It wasn’t. That payout really stuck in my craw. I could make $1,000 profit at Showboat’s soft-as-butter tournaments with a $120 buy-in. I’d done it before, on several occasions, so why spend days in a tournament for a similar payout for 10th place. Let’s be real here. I play with the intention of winning, but I also am aware that sometimes, you can do everything right and still lose. Final tabling was a noble goal, but if I needed to be in the top few spots to see some real money, maybe I was putting too much emphasis on this one particular tournament.

These things danced in my head: timing and money. Timing and money. Timing and money. And then it became clear. I was putting too much pressure on this one tournament. Much like how wifey Kim and I decided that in two years we’d buy a house, only to learn that two years later, our feelings had changed, so to had my initial feelings changed. I was no longer looking forward to this tournament, but was almost anxious about it. I didn’t want to travel to AC with my buddies only to ditch out on them the entire time and play one single tournament whose potential profit, aside from the top spots, could be reached at a cash game or a lower buy-in tournament. I did not want to place myself in a situation where I was essentially losing (either monetarily or by wasting time and making my life more difficult) unless I took down a top tier spot. It just wasn’t adding up.

Thankfully, I have good degenerate friends, and when I informed them of my thoughts, they still wanted to go to AC. So, I’m still going. We have a cheapo room at the Hilton (another hitch, since its as far from the Borg as possible while still being a casino/hotel), so we’ll probably spend our time in the Trop poker room or even make it out to the Showboat late night tournament.

We’ll head back to NY on Saturday, likely in the early afternoon, but my poker doesn’t end there. Perhaps the straw that broke the camels back, Dawn decided to throw her monthly homegame that night. It’s a $30 rebuy, and I’ve had some success in the past, so I’m excited to play. I also haven’t attended one of these in months, so its always fun catching up with people.

Sorry if you are disappointed in me, but I do this for you, my dear readers. Ah, who am I kidding. I have to be true to myself, and that means not standing on ceremony.

Until next time, make mine poker!

After breakfast, wifey Kim still had a lot of showering and such to do, so I decided to hit up the casino floor for some Pai Gow. I spent a while at a $25 minimum table filled with mostly Asians. Wifey Kim finally found me when I was down about $100, a common theme of the trip. We decided to leave the game and move on to another.

That’s how our day went. We roamed around, gambling here or there. At around noon or later, we met up with wifey Kim’s grandpa and his girlfriend. they had bussed in for the day, so we had lunch with them at RiRa, an Irish pub/restaurant in the Trop. I had the cheddar burger with sweet potato fries. The meal was delicious and fairly cheap, thanks to a 20% off coupon from my Mom.

After lunch, we did some more gambling. Eventually, we had enough and went upstairs to relax. I headed over to Roose’s room, where Roose, Robbie Hole and Marc were hanging out. I taught Marc Israeli Poker, a game I’ll probably explain here some time soon. We futzed around before heading downstairs and saying goodbye to wifey Kim’s grandpa.

After that, wifey Kim and I hit up the craps table, where we lost some more. We were gambling with my poker money. It’s like a little gift each year, since wifey Kim let’s me play poker a shit ton. So, even though we were losing, we were having fun. My parents stopped by, fresh from Avatar, which they saw at the Trop’s IMAX theater. My mother proclaimed it amazing, which was enough to convince me that I need to see it soon.

Tired of gambling, the crew met up at the Rumba Bar, a newer bar near Trop’s table games floor. We each had a drink or two and enjoyed a cigar. When we were done, we headed to Cuba Libre, another Trop restaurant, fro dinner. We had previously arranged for a table near a TV, since there was an NFL game on, but when we got there, we learned they didn’t have the channel. Lemon!

We still sat near the bar, and ordered a ton of food. Mostly, we just got a bunch of samplers. While we waited for the food, we played 31, another great time-killer of a game that I may describe here shortly. I won for a $4 profit. BOOM!

Dinner was great. Once done, though, the guys were off to poker. I decided to hang with Kim, but when she started to fade, we went upstairs, where I eventually left her for some more poker.

I waited for a good 20 minutes for a seat to open up at 1/2 and when it finally did, I took my seat. The table looked like it was full of rounders. I sat down in the SB and had to sit out a hand. I followed the play as I heard an announcement that a new table was opened. I only heard about 8 names read off, so I returned to the cage and asked if I could be moved, seeing as I hadn’t played a single hand. The cage okayed my move and I joined my most fun table of the trip.

The benefits of a new table versus an established one is pretty obvious. At a new table, everyone starts with at the same level. There are big stacks beyond the max buy-in. There is no history or established reads. Hell, the players are even still on the same plane as it relates to getting into the flow of a game.

The negatives are a lot less, but still worth noting. The biggest negative, in fact the only one I can think of, is the tendency for players to be tighter when their session first starts. Consider most homegames that run multiple tournaments in a night. I can almost guarantee that in the first tournament of the night, the players are tighter and it takes a longer time for the first bust-out. By the last tourney, though, the players are already loosened up from the higher blinds (in later stages of the earlier tournaments) and emboldened by either their previous wins or losses.

So, my new table was tight. I mean, $6 raise preflop and everyone folds tight. But it was fun. It was basically a bunch of Jews and a couple of Asians, including a hot Asian chick sitting to my immediate left. My side of the table also included a young Asian kid on my right and his buddy, a Caucasian kid, on his right. The four of us (including the hot Asian chick) conspiratorially chatted and conspired when some obviously clueless players on the other side of the table made some truly absurd moves. We were all licking our chops.

I actually played fairly well, but the entire session can be boiled down to two hands. The first gave up most of my $80 or so profit. Even though my table crew were licking our chops, the Asian chick busted (after buyin in short twice) and the Asian kid couldn’t get much traction and left down about $100. The nitty table had a lot of small stacks, $100 or less, but I was looking to have fun and it was a relaxed table, so I didn’t mind.

In the first of my two hands, the Asian kid was already gone, replaced by a young, fit kid in his early 20s. The Kid was friendly, and sat down while saying, “Let’s give this a whirl.” I was under the impression at first that he was just trying out poker, based on his statement and small buy-in, but he seemed to understand the game fairly well. He had pushed all-in on one occasion and showed an unlikely 2 pair (rivered his second pair) for the win, so I had some thoughts on how he played.

The hand was a doozy. I held 48s and I was either in the blinds, or more likely I made a loose $2 call, since there wasn’t much preflop raising and I could outplay most of the table post-flop. I think there may’ve been a raise from one of the particularly weaker players, so when there were several callers, I joined the fray.

The flop was 6s7sX. It checked around. There was a small bet from the original raiser and I called, along with two other players.

When I hit my flush on the turn, I bet out a decent amount. My only caller was on my right, the Kid. The river was a blank. I was mildly concerned that my 8-high flush was no good, but when the open pushed for over $100, I had to think it out. I remembered that hte last time he pushed, he had rivered two-pair. I considered that he may’ve had two pair again, but I didn’t want to rush my decision. I turned to him and asked, “Do you have the flush?” “I do. It’s a high one too.” He waited a second and said, “The Queen.”

Now, I’ve said this here before, but not in a long while: Often times, people tell the truth when you ask them their hand. This is especially so if they do not hesitate. It is the usual reaction for human beings to tell the truth, and in poker, oftentimes they think, “I’ll tell him the truth, and he won’t believe me.” It’s like reverse psychology.

So, when he admitted to a Queen-high flush, I had to seriously consider that he was telling the truth. It would explain his play 100%. Calls the flop on a draw. Calls the turn when he was slowplaying. Pushes the river because now he knows he’s good. It may’ve even been an overbet for value. I considered that he had a major hand the last time he pushed. He then offered, “I’ll show you no matter what.”

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Everything told me he had me beat. He seemed confident, we were friendly at the table before the hand, he said what hand he allegedly had, it made sense with the play, it fit his past play, and after all of that he offered to show no matter what. I figured he was being friendly. So, I folded. And he showed his bluff. Maybe he had top pair or something, but not a flush. Oh, and he did have the Queen flush card, but not two of the suit.

So, I made a mistake. I misread the situation and maybe talked myself into folding. Lemon! To make it worse, he then said, “I figured, why not, it’s my last hand.” He then packed up and left. FUCKER! I still laughed it off.

Before we get to my last hand, I figured I’d take a moment to discuss one of the more odd exchanges. I was playing a hand with a guy who looked like Pat, the androgynous character from 1980s or 90s SNL, except he was clearly a dude. He played like he thought he knew what he was doing, but it was all very ABC.

So, we are in a hand together and he is staring me down. So, I turn to him and stare him down, eye to eye. We held our pose for at least 30 seconds, which is a long time for a silent stare down. He then mucked and I laughed, “I think we just shared a moment there!” The table loved it and we went off on jokes about our “moment” for another 15 minutes. My favorite line was, “Was it just me, or was Endless Love playing in the background during our hand?”

I love those moments. All at once, all the tension is gone from the table and we are all just friends playing a game.

My final hand was in my last orbit. I held AQd and raised preflop to $12, getting a couple of callers. By now, the table had loosened up somewhat, but it still wasn’t an action table.

The flop came down A22 and it checked around. There were so many players, I didn’t want to mess around just yet. Anyone with a 2 was betting out, given the table, and I was out of position.

The turn was a King. LEMON! If anyone else had an Ace, my kicker would no longer play on the A22Kx board. But I bet out anyway and got one caller.

The river was a harmless 8 (thanks for the editing help, Woffles). My one sole competitor had about $50 in front of him. I figured we were lock for a chop, so I decided to push all-in. I figured I could pretend that I was slowplaying the deuce and maybe puck up the entire pot instead of half. It was a play with no downside in my head.

Now, if he had $300 behind, things would’ve been different. But he didn’t. He had $52, to be exact. So when he called, I was bummed to see his A8. If not for that rivered 8, it would’ve been a chop. Go fucking figure. He had no right to be in that pot with my prefop raise, but I wanted him there, so I wasn’t going to complain.

I was about even before that hand, but after it, I was down $97. It was late and I had enough. It was a fun session, but not entirely profitable. But sometimes, that’s just how poker is.

The boys all went upstairs for a late night hang out, before returning to our rooms for rest. The next morning, we all met up with the large group, as we said our farewells. Before leaving the city, though, we stopped by White House Sub Shop for some of their famous subs. Good stuff!

That’s it for this years X-mas in AC. Thanks for reading.

Until next time, make mine poker!