Smart Baccarat

"Classic" Big Baccarat

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, big baccarat, borgata

Well, my pledge to take a Vegas hiatus during the summer is actually happening. While I booked trips for 31 July and also in August (for the Venetian Carnival of Cuisine), this year, I really do think I'm going to avoid the Vegas heat. (Well, at least for a few months).

Off to Atlantic City in a few days, staying at the casino that just turned 30 on 26 June 2009 (surprisingly, also my birthday).

If you still don't know which property it is, this picture will give it away :



Luckily, they have managed to update things 'just a bit' since 1979. A nice little article on Atlantic City's second casino, turning thirty. Amazing, still quite a few employees working at Caesars who have been there since the original opening.

I plan on focusing quite a bit of time this trip on finally doing a baccarat overview of all of the Atlantic City properties. I'm also going to share some of the Caesars Atlantic City history, since I find it fascinating. Maybe even get into a bit of discussion about the departed Playboy Casino, which I spoke about last year.

I also have a number of interesting observations and thoughts from my previous Vegas (April) and Atlantic City (May) trips that i'll try to summarize and share. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time (or desire) to write extensive trip reports, but most definitely have quite a few great tales.

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, big baccarat, caesars, playboy casino

Well,

Had a "historic" trip to Atlantic City a few weeks ago (at both dice and big baccarat @ the palace court casino @ Caesar's AC)... had an INCREDIBLE trip to Vegas last week...

But, you're going to have to wait just a "bit" longer for all the stories...

Since, I'm currently a refugee @ the Omni Parker House in Boston, due to the largest ice storm in the history of New Hampshire.

Some details HERE :

Federal State Of Emergency Declared For New Hampshire
Lynch: Expect Prolonged Outages, Seek Warm Shelter

So... spending a few days (and hopefully only a few more) in Boston, making lemonade out of lemons... and of course, enjoying this wonderful city.

The 8AM update this morning from Public Service New Hampshire :

Sunday 08:00 a.m.
As of 8:00 a.m., PSNH reports that about 191,000 customers are without power.

Crews working overnight were able to restore power to approximately 30,000 PSNH Customers. As of 8:00 a.m., PSNH reports that about 191,000 customers are without power, a significant decrease from the 322,000 customers reported at 5 p.m. Friday.

Public Safety – A Top Priority
As the restoration effort is underway, public safety continues to be a top priority. For your safety, customers are warned to refrain from cutting trees and branches that are on top of or touching power lines. Always assume that these wires are energized and can be extremely dangerous. If a downed wire is found, notify PSNH of its location immediately. Please remind children who go outside, to avoid any wire that is on the ground or hanging near the ground, and to notify an adult if a downed or loose wire is seen. Additionally, please recognize that the work being performed by line and tree crew requires strict attention to detail. To help assure the safety of these crews, we ask that you refrain from milling around the employees and their equipment while work is in progress.

Power Restoration – Progress is Steady
The company’s power restoration workforce will be enhanced further today with over 120 additional crews from Maryland, Ohio, and Canada, who arrived throughout Saturday evening and early morning hours on Sunday. In total, there will be 335 line crews on the PSNH system working to restore power. With clear weather expected today, it is anticipated that considerable progress can be made during the day.

Understandably, customers who have been without power are anxious to know when it will be restored. At this time, we are unable to provide precise answers to individual locations, given the magnitude of the damage and debris that must be removed before wires and equipment can be reconnected or replaced. We continue to expect that it will take several more days before power to all customers is restored, and we strongly encourage customers without power to make alternative arrangements for shelter.

Labels: atlantic city, boston, ice storm, las vegas, new hampshire

It was conceived as a classy casino center boardwalk in Atlantic City. A bit too classy for American Gaming tastes. It was casino number seven in New Jersey. It was constructed on a very tiny piece of land on Florida Avenue and the boardwalk. The unique three-level casino with the minimum 500-room hotel opened on April 14, 1981.

From the Elsinore company history profile "In 1980, Playboy/Elsinore Associates began construction on a $159 million hotel and casino in Atlantic City. The Playboy Hotel and Casino offered 500 hotel rooms and suites, 52,000 square feet of gaming space, 25,000 square feet of convention and meeting facilities, and a 1,000-seat entertainment lounge, the Playboy Cabaret. Elsinore and Playboy sought to attract the international, high roller market with a design modeled on European casinos and Playboy casinos in England. Spread over three floors in small rooms the Playboy provided an intimate setting for gaming, including European favorites such as European Single O Roulette, American Double O Roulette, and Chemin de Fer, a game similar to baccarat. The Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City opened on April 14, 1981."

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, big baccarat, casino, chemin de fer, playboy

This is the living room and dining area for the new one bedroom suites at the Harrah's Waterfront Tower. These suites are located at the end of the halls, and have sweeping views. The suite can connect to the adjacent room, to make a two bedroom configuration.



Geolocate this post

Posted with LifeCast



I especially like the funky furniture "divider" that separates the dining area from the living room.



and, of course, no suite is ever complete, without the wet bar!

Labels: atlantic city, harrah's, suite, waterfront tower

Posted with LifeCast

This is a MIDI-Baccarat game @ Harrah's Atlantic City. $25 is the minimum bet, which is great for a table where you can "handle" the cards. Notice how crumpled the PLAYER (hand on the left side) cards are.

While my favorite Baccarat game is Big Baccarat, I can deal with a MIDI game, since you at least get a chance to face the cards. Only big difference from the Big Baccarat game is that the players don't deal (and the shoe doesn't travel around the table).

Players at this table were spreading from approximately $25 to $800, with one woman sitting next to me who was wild with her consistent $75 tie bets (and $25 to $50 Dragon Bonus bets).

Yes, this table has the additional sucker bet, the Dragon Bonus. For more details on the Dragon Bonus, please refer to the Wizard of Odds tables.

From the ShuffleMaster web site :

Dragon Bonus is the industry’s most popular baccarat side bet, and doesn't corrupt the drawing rules or commission structure of baccarat.

To play the Dragon Bonus side bet for baccarat, players must make the Dragon Bonus wager before the dealer reveals any cards. The dealer will then deal and reconcile the traditional baccarat hands according to house procedures.

Natural winners pay even-money on the Dragon Bonus wager and in the event of a natural that ties, the Dragon Bonus wager pushes. Non-natural winners that win by at least four points pay even-money, and the larger the margin of victory, the larger the payout.

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, dragon bonus, harrah's, midi-baccarat

Posted with LifeCast

Met Sev at the Caesars Diamond lounge, where we had great conversation over Grey Goose Martinis (lots of olives for Sev, as they were out of onions) for a few hours. Couldn't decide where to go for dinner, so I suggested we try to seek out Valentino who was a previous waiter at Primavera (Caesar's Italian joint) for over 20 years. He moved over to Mark Anthony's (which is the Trump Taj's Italian joint) around a year ago.

Valentino immediately started us off with an awesome antipasto, and it was like dining with an old friend again!

Had a lovely dinner starting with a seafood tower trio, accompanied by some great wines. I can't recall what the exact wine was we had with the seafood trio (it was German and sweet, if I recall correctly).

UPDATE : Sev was able to provide some details about our first wine :
Our wine to accompany the starter was a "2003 Berncastler (often also spelled Bernkastler) Doktor Riesling Spaetlese (meaning late picked); those tend to be richer and more concentrated. From the town of Bernkastel in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. There are several producers of this high-end German Riesling; I forget which one we had but I think it was probably Dr. Thanisch. The "Spaetlese" is a higher quality than the generally-drier "Kabinett," and there is also occasionally an "Auslese" which is even more concentrated/sweeter. Though this is Germany, these are grapes grown on hillside terraces on the river banks and are harvested and selected by hand."

A nice shot of Sev and our lovely seafood tower (enjoying his wine).




Sev made sure that the folks were on their toes, confirming the specific vintages available; as the wine list was lacking this very pertinent information. The 2003 Tommasi Amarone was a most excellent choice to accompany our prime. I wasn't particularly familiar with Amarone, and was really glad Sev had suggested it.

The details about Amarone are quite fascinating (probably more details than necessary, by Tom Hyland from the Guide to Italian Wines)

Amarone is one of Italy's wine treasures that is loved by wine drinkers looking for ripe fruit, power, roundness and a sense of adventure in their red wine. Put a combination like that together and it should come as no surprise that Amarone is so popular these days.
Why is Amarone enjoying such renown and acceptance these days? Being a big – read 14 percent alcohol – wine doesn't hurt and either does the name which most people can pronounce, unlike some Italian words. But it may be the singularity of this wine that makes it such a favorite.
Amarone is produced in the region of Veneto by estates that make Valpolicella, one of the most popular wines of this area in Northeastern Italy. The same grapes, primarily Corvina (usually the leading component in the blend) along with Rondinella and Molinara, are used to produce Amarone. But the difference between the two wines is usually striking; where Valpolicella is a medium-weight wine meant for consumption with lighter fare with in its first 3-5 years, Amarone is a much more robust wine that is perfect with game birds or other such sturdy fare over the course of 7 to 15 years.
The reason for the stylistic difference in these wines is in the winemaking. To produce an Amarone (properly known as Amarone della Valpolicella Classico), a winemaker will take the harvested grapes and lay them on a straw mat, often in an attic or other warm room. The grapes then dry over the course of several months creating a raisiny flavor that is a distinctive character of Amarone.
As Amarone comes from the Italian word amaro ("bitter"), most examples have a tartness or slightly astringent edge to them. Alternatively, you may notice a sweet edge to them that can be explained in the concentrated sugars the grapes pick up during the drying process. Certainly, the combination of raisiny and sweet black fruit can make Amarone an irresistible temptation.
That slightly sweet edge in the finish can also come from the fact that a particular Amarone may not be entirely dry. Amarone is actually a recent innovation, dating back only from the 1950s. Before that, the process of drying grapes in this fashion (known as appasimento) resulted in a sweet, super-rich wine known as Recioto. Legend has it that the first Amarone was a mistake, as a winemaker had let a barrel of wine ferment too long and the wine's residual sugar had been eliminated. Recioto is still made today and its sweetness and richness make it a perfect choice at the end of a meal, often with powerful cheeses. (Many producers of Amarone also produce a Recioto – the official name is Recioto Della Valpolicella – with Masi and Tedeschi among the best.)

The only let down for dinner, was the dessert which was an edible basket with berries (I forget all the details), but the edible basket was not particularly inspiring, and was very heavy and "doughy."

Upon examining the check, Sev noticed a pricing error for one of the wines (seems that some of the wine lists for the restaurant had not been updated recently). It wasn't hugh, but was a bit annoying, nonetheless. Since we had already settled the check, we convinced Valentino to finish off our evening with two glasses of Hennessy XO; which he graciously poured for us directly from the bottle at our table. This more than made up for the error, as this was a $30'ish glass of Cognac at Mark Anthony.

At some point during dinner, the handy iphone totally lost it's charge, so I was a bit unconnected for the rest of the evening (which was fine...) We went over to Showboat for a bit, as I had a 6x multiplier bonus for September 11th. Played some video poker, $5 Top Dollar (which, was just eating and eating my $$$$), and a little bit of dice. We also were able to partake in a Davidoff Grand Cru #4 Cigar; while being ever so cautious to make sure we were in a proper smoking area. Which, for only a few more weeks includes high limit slots and the rather small section of video poker machines near the center bar. Seemed that both of the dice tables (at Showboat) were non-smoking on this evening. There are only a few more weeks left of smoking in Atlantic City Casinos. Starting next month, the casino floor will be 100% smoke free.

For those interested, the dice table minimum at Showboat had been lowered to $5 (with standard Harrah's Atlantic City 5x odds). But, the table was pretty dead, so I decided to cut my losses and depart Showboat. Sev and I said our goodbyes, and I was back to Harrah's for a bit more gambling.

Got on a very hot dice table, and was able to make a nice hit in the first half hour or so. Actually, got another fire bet (this time, 4 points 25 for 1). Earlier in the evening, got a fire bet for 250 for 1 (5 individual points). This is a total sucker bet, so I only put up a $1 on the chance, I might win. Considering this day, I've probably pre-paid my "fire-bets" for the next 10 years.

Managed to drop back a significant amount of my dice winnings playing some more Top Dollar at Harrah's (can we say "addiction"); but, overall it was a pretty successful evening. I sort of wish I was a little less, "into the action" as I probably should have packed it in (along with a larger win) much earlier in the evening. Such is life in the gaming world!

Finally got to bed around 5'ish!

Labels: atlantic city, caesars, trump taj

Posted with LifeCast

Had to kill some time before getting my room key (rooms were to be ready @ 12.30PM).

So, a quick hit & run at the TOP DOLLAR MACHINE.

Knew I should I played $5 instead of $2 denomination. Oh well!

Labels: atlantic city, harrahs, top dollar

Just in case a few folks out there were losing sleep.....

Atlantic City casinos will have a new casino chip!

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - It's enough to pay for a decent car, a wedding, or a year at Rutgers University, with some money left over for beer.

And it fits in the palm of your hand.

Atlantic City's casinos are getting a new gambling chip worth $25,000 for high rollers.

The state Casino Control Commission approved the new top-value chip Wednesday. The gold chip edges the yellow chip, which at $20,000 apiece is now the second-highest chip denomination.

This is going to join the current ensemble of AC casino chips in denominations of $1; $2.50; $5; $10; $20; $25; $100; $500; $1,000; $5,000; and $20,000.

New Jersey is known for very consistent regulation of casino chip colors --- so, you can count on the colors (basically) matching the denomination at any of the properties. For example, purples are always $500 and oranges are always $1000.

For a long time, plaques (very James Bond) have been the staple of high-roller (whale) currency. Bond wins $65,000 playing craps in Diamonds are Forever
and if you look closely, they use high denomination plaques at the dice table when Bond buys in.

Actually, there are two non-chip varieties of casino currency :
jetons which are round acrylic pieces
and
plaques which are rectangular, or square acrylic pieces.

A good example of a baccarat plaque is this one used many years ago at the Sahara.
Currently, you would be hard pressed to find any plaques in use that are in denominations below $10,000. More commonly, they are in denominations that exceed $20,000, such as this Trump Taj Mahal Plaque.









Seems that players really prefer the convenience of chips, which explains the decision for the $25,000 chips by the Atlantic City gaming commission. This also coincides with the decision by Caesars Atlantic City to raise their maximum bet to $50,000 per hand. There are still plaques available for bets of $50,000 or $100,000 per hand, though, I honestly am not certain which properties in Atlantic City raise to these limits. "Alyce Parker, a spokeswoman for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates four casinos in Atlantic City, including Caesars, said the casino has been using $50,000 and $100,000 plaques for its top customers for the past 10 years." In Vegas, this is a more common situation; and Wynn, Bellagio and Caesars all have chips in the $25,000 range (and above).

Labels: atlantic city, chips, diamonds are forever, harrah's, james bond, las vegas, plaques

I made it a point to see 21 last night, and I found it to be a bit of a bore. I guess it wasn't so much that it didn't follow the book, or even the over emphasis on the evil professor (played by Kevin Spacey).

Fundamentally, my issue is that the MIT team is just not that interesting. I promised myself I would "try" to not knit pick a number of scenes that were unrealistic in this flick. This involves such things as the lack of table limits (were those $25,000 checks I saw on the main casino floor at Planet Hollywood), or the fact that they were going to change the chips over after a minor snafu in the casino (not like the real event when MGM had to replace their high denomination chips after the infamous Tyson fight and ensuing riot). Also, they managed to not really show the "grind" involved waiting to jump into the positive situations. Quite frankly, I would have figured things would have been a bit more exciting, considering you hardly ever saw much waiting around --- or distressing positive counts that do not yield a positive cash result (i.e. variance). Don't get me wrong Bringing Down the House was a pretty good read, but I always found Ken Uston's team (Al Francesco et al) and their story to be a bit more intriguing.

That's right, the MIT Team did not develop the BP (Big Player) strategy, that brilliance was the work of Al Francesco

The scene: a Lake Tahoe casino. The cast of characters: Al Francesco, Al's brother, Al's sister, and Al's sister's husband. The Francesco family was hanging around the casino, waiting for their dinner reservation. Al's brother, a card counter himself, killed the time by playing small-stakes blackjack with bets of $1 to $5. Al was standing nearby, chatting casually with his brother-in-law. When he saw his brother make a $5 bet, Al would throw in another $100. When he saw his brother make a $1 bet, Al would hold onto his money. After half-an-hour, when the family went to go eat dinner, the pit boss begged Al to stay and keep plying blackjack.


The significance of the event was immediately apparent to Al Francesco. From the pit boss's point of view, Al had appeared as an unsophisticated tourist, barely paying attention to the game, with plenty of money to throw around, who had simply gotten lucky on a few hands. Thus was born the persona of The Big Player.

Al would go on to finding and training the best blackjack player EVER --- aka "the Roadrunner," "the Phantom," the "Mad Bomber," and "the Wandering Jew." That's right --- Ken Uston.

In 1971, Al started playing with teams of seven: six counters and one Big Player. Al recruited the team members and taught them basic strategy and Lawrence Revere's Advanced Point Count system. When they were ready to play, the counters would sit at different blackjack tables, each one counting the cards and making small bets. When the count was favorable, the counter would signal the Big Player, who would come over to the table and bet big until the count turned against him, and then walk away. Like Al Francesco in Lake Tahoe, the Big Player never appeared to be anything other than a wealthy, unsophisticated tourist who happened to get lucky. In this way, Al Francesco's teams won millions of dollars over the course of a few years.

One of the blackjack players recruited and trained by Al Francesco was Ken Uston. To the dismay of Al and the other team members, Uston revealed their secrets to the world in his 1977 book The Big Player. The publication of Uston's book effectively spelled the end for Francesco's teams. Many of the team members hated Uston after that, but Francesco refused to carry a grudge.

Virtually all of the most successful blackjack teams that came after The Big Player was published—the Hyland team, the MIT team, the Czech team, the Greeks—used Al’s BP concept to disguise their attacks, and that approach is still being employed profitably by teams today.

Anyone interested in blackjack team play should get themselves a copy of Ken Uston's book, The Big Player. One of the most amazing stories in "The Big Player" was when Uston won $27,000 in 45 minutes at the Freemont in downtown Las Vegas. The incredible thing was that the "maximum" bet at the Freemont was $500. At one point, Uston was playing twelve hands simultaneously -- and managed to win all twelve for a total win of $6,000.

What I personally find incredible, with respect to the Francesco/Uston Teams, is that they made made millions in the early 1970's. Another fascinating read involves how Uston and his team took Atlantic City by storm in 1979 (winning $145,000 in nine days), as well as the legal battles fought by Uston, to prevent counters from being barred. "One Third of a Shoe" is perhaps one of the best gambling reads ever, though, it is rarely mentioned and it is difficult to locate copies. (of course, I have multiple copies of all of Uston's books in my personal gaming library) These efforts eventually allowed for the "open environment" in Atlantic City, and to this day, card counters cannot be barred from AC casinos.

Another more recent chronicle of card counting, You've Got Heat is a great book (in journal format) of a card counter's multiple trips to Vegas from 1999 to 2003. What is fantastic about this book, is that it follows the ongoing journey trip to trip. At the end of each trip (chapter) the author gives you his starting and ending bankrolls (and net win/loss) for the trip. A bit different than the team player (and at a much lower bankroll) it is still very interesting to see the highs and lows of advantage gambling.

One final good (recent) read on the subject is Dave Stann's book Hollywood Blackjack. This one time starving actor's very frank accounts of his journey playing Blackjack is pretty entertaining. It starts with "Chapter 1 - Fuck the Stardust." Stann gives a pretty good historical account of the game, and also spends some time discussing tournament strategy and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour.

At the end of the day, I have to say that a bit of emphasis on Blackjack is refreshing in the current poker-centric world. I'm sure that the casinos will be happy to host a new group of folks trying to beat the house. I have always said that the fact that blackjack was beatable (even though "unlikely" beatable for the vast majority of folks) was probably the best advertising a casino could ever wish for, with regard to attracting players to their properties.

Labels: al francesco, atlantic city, big player, blackjack, ken uston, las vegas, mit blackjack team

Yep,

It's back for 2008; and even bigger and better (well, I guess we can't say better.... YET...).

First event of the season is the weekend of 26th, April.

Special thanks to the Tourney Director, Harv and the blog-master (and photographer), Bob.

Check out the new MPT Blog!

If there is anyone out there interested in joining this fun, social event --- give a shout!

Labels: atlantic city, mattress poker, poker

My love of casino games is mostly limited to baccarat and dice. By far, my favorite game is dice. I just love the action and excitement around an active craps table. There are few casino games where you can hit such highs and lows in a rather short period of time. In addition, for the most part, everyone is on the "same" team and nothing compares to the "group" feeling when you have a bunch of people at a table rooting for the shooter (not counting the few darksiders, of course).

Last weekend in Atlantic City, we I played around 6-7 dice sessions mostly at Showboat, with one quite memorable session at Caesars. After my buy-in of $300, my money was disappearing pretty fast at this choppy table... and then Harv decided to show me how to really roll 'dem bones. Since his description of the action is amazing (might be because he doesn't consume as much champagne as I do... hmmmmm.... ) I prefer to just let him tell the story. Eric (my brother in law) was also along for this wild ride.

I also want to further emphasize that I was a BELIEVER IN HARV from the moment he started to roll, and did back up my pass line bet with FULL 5X ODDS!

We search around for a craps table that has room for all three of us. After walking around a bit, we find one that has three spots on the end, stick left. I usually like to be immediate stick left, since you have the shorter throw, but beggars can’t be choosers, eh? So I ask Michael what he is buying in for, he says $300. I usually buy in for $100, but what the hay, I just won $350 (well, I’m only down to $150, since I lost $200 back to the machine). The table is really choppy, no one can get a good roll, and soon I’m down around $150. I’m thinking, if I could just hold on to throw the dice again. I make a few don’t bets and win a few, but just as soon as I win there, someone hits a seven. All the while we are talking, saying that we just need that one “hot roll” and we’ll be okay. I’m now under $100 and I’m thinking Cath is going to be pissed that I just lost $300. Now Michael is shooting and I bet $15 on the don’t. He sets a point and after a few rolls sevens out. Nothing personal.

So I get the dice, 8. I place my odds (sorry, only $25 on a 5x table), place the 6 for $12 and drop a $5/$1 two-way hard 8, leaving me with $25. Next roll, 8 (easy), WINNAH! Next one, a six, I think. A few more rolls, WINNAH, 6, the easy way! Next point, 9. A few more number, WINNAH, 9! We are hooting it up! Michael is going crazy, I see him pulling cash out of his pocket, $50, full odds, buy the 4 & 10 for $25. After another 8, I throw a hard four, then after a few more rolls a hard 10 (making Michael very happy). Heck, give me all the hardways for $1! I’m still on the 6 & 8 for $12 and I throw a hard 8. PARLAY THE HARD 8! Next point, 6. another $5/$1 two-way hard 6. After a few more rolls, I see one die that shows a “3”, what does the other one say?!?!?!? I hear the guy on the other end call, “SIX!!!” HARD SIX!!! WOOHOO! $10 pass, $30 odds and $45 for the hardway, YEA! I shoot another 9. I never hit my hard 8 or another hard 6, I end up sevening out. I immediately color up, as does Michael and Eric. I get $240, loss of $60, not bad. Michael, since he “believed” in me, was taking full odds behind me and said he recovered his losses, Eric said he lost about as much as I did. What a ride!

Labels: atlantic city, caesars, craps, dice, gambling, showboat

After posting about the most recent MPT [Mattress Poker Tour] that took place on October 20th; Harvey reminded me the story of the humble beginnings of the MPT.

Harv has been the driving force (along with a few other ECLVA'ers) of the event; and can be seen here preparing for the July 2007 event in the House of Blues Suite at Showboat, Atlantic City.



The origins of the MPT, as told by Harv :

It was created on my wedding night! After Cath, one of her bridesmaids Katie, her friend (who also walked her down the aisle Jon and I cleaned up the reception hall (since we didn't think that far in advance of who was doing that) we headed back to the hotel. I told Catherine and the other people that we were going to have a poker game afterwards.

We get back to the hotel around midnight and the hotel bar had just closed. Catherine calls us up (we had just gotten changed) and I hear her voice off of the phone, she was just two rooms down from us! Jon and Katie are still arranging things and Jon has a set of chips in his truck. So he brings them up and we set up in Catherine's room. There isn't a table large enough for everyone, so we play on the mattress (unfortunately she had two beds. Cath was so tired, she didn't play, but was laying across the top of the bed. Catherine and Katie sat on the other side of the bed, I sat on the footstool part of the chair that was there and Jon sat on the desk chair. We couldn't decide whether to play for money or not and since everyone didn't have cash, we played for fun. Cathy ended up falling asleep so much she went back to our room.

I think Catherine went out first and then I did (the two "most" experienced players went out first and second). Katie eventually lost to Jon, who won the first MPT but no money or trophy. Jon and Katie went to their rooms and I was chatting with Catherine (as I often do) and lost track of time. It was around 4 am when I was heading back to my room but my key didn't work. In fact none of the keys I had worked. I knocked on the door but Cathy was dead to the world. I went back to Catherine's room and tried to call her, she didn't answer. Catherine suggested I go to the front desk and get another room key. I said I didn't have any ID on me but she suggested I try.

So I shlep down to the front desk, athletic shorts, t-shirt, no shoes. . .

Me: I got locked out of my room, can I get another key?
Clerk: Do you have any ID?
Me; Uh, no, it's locked in the room.

At that time, the phone rings.

Clerk: Are you Harvey?
Me: Yes.
Clerk: Cathy's awake.

And I do the walk of shame back to the room. . .

And now you know the background story of the MPT!

Labels: atlantic city, mpt, poker, showboat

Just got back from a great weekend in Atlantic City, which included a dealt Royal on a 9/6 JoB (after throwing away 5 cards) LOTS of drinking and relaxing with friends... and perfect 70F and breezy weather! Just fuck'in loverly all around ! Now, if I could only get up the energy to write a complete trip report (hopefully, by the weekend....)

Saturday, October 20th, 2007 11PM

MPT Tournament - Showboat Casino

The MPT is the Mattress Poker Tour, created by Harv on his wedding night --- to be discussed in a separate post.

Here are the results;
Can you guess who won :)

(w/ special thanks to Harv and his wife for providing this poker blog)

The players:

Seat 1 - Mrs. Betdponies – aka Cathy
Seat 2 - Meredith – a friend of Michael’s
Seat 3 - Eric – Michael’s brother-in-law
Seat 4 - Harv29 – aka Harv
Seat 5 - Mtohio – aka the “baccarat king”, Michael *** That's ME.... ***
Seat 6 - Bigfus – aka Catherine
Seat 7 - Dave – another friend of Michael’s
Seat 8 - Rowanb – aka “Row”, Bob

At stake:

$100 for first place and the MPT trophy and the right to come back in December for the MPT Tournament of Champions
$60 for second place
$40 for third place

Buy-in was $25 + $5, $26 went to the trophy cost and $14 went to a high hand of the night jackpot of aces-full or better. If no high hand, the money will be rolled into the ToC prize pool.

The action:

The rounds were 10 minutes long with blinds starting at $5-$10. There were a couple of all-ins early but no one was busted out during the first hour, which according to Cath’s count there were 17 hands before the chip up break, with Michael leading at the break. Then with the blinds at $75-$150, Eric goes all-in for $475 and is called by Meredith. Eric is holding Ah9d, Meredith AdJc.

The flop comes out 5d-Ks-Kd. Turn is 3c and no 9 for Eric with a Qc on the river and ending Eric’s tournament.

Later in round 25 with the blinds at $200-$400, I hold 8h10d in the BB. Michael called and Meredith limps in and I check.

Flop: 2h, 10c, 4c

I check the top pair, it is check around.

Turn: 6d

I check, Michael bets $500, Meredith folds. I have $525 remaining, if I call, I’m going to have to be all-in. Michael is an unpredictable player, but I have a feeling that I am in front. I go all-in and he, of course, calls, showing 4dKd. He is down to 5 outs, I like my chances, I (being the dealer), burn and turn the river of:

Ks

KING?!?!? And just like that, I’m out of the tournament.

Apparently the action got really fast and furious, as in the next hand Michael, Catherine and Meredith see the flop of:

Js-8d-3c. Michael bets out $300, Catherine folds and Meredith calls.

Turn: Jh. Michael bets $500 and Meredith calls.

River: Qh. Michael bets all-in, Meredith calls.

Michael shows Jd8c, Jacks full of eights. Meredith shows 9h10h for a queen high straight. Meredith is eliminated from the tournament.

In the next hand, Catherine, Dave and Michael see the flop:

Qh-10d-10h. Dave bets out $1,000, Michael calls, Catherine folds.

Turn: Kd. Dave bets $875 all-in, Michael calls.

River: 2s

Dave shows QsJd, two pair, Queens and Tens. Michael shows Jc9d, King high straight. Dave is eliminated from the tournament.

Now there are four remaining and three paying spots. Someone is eliminated in the next hand:

Catherine goes all-in and Michael calls.

Catherine shows AcQh and Michael shows 8c7c.

Flop: Ks-4d-7s

Turn: 5d

Catherine is looking for an ace or queen but:

River: 7h

Michael wins with three-of-a-kind, sevens, Catherine has a pair of sevens. Catherine goes out on the bubble.

With the blinds at $200-$400 and a $25 ante, we find Cathy going all-in with Michael calling.

Cathy shows Qs9h, Michael shows Js8d

Flop: 10s-Jc-10d. Michael makes two pair but Cathy has the open-ended straight draw plus the queen for a higher two pair.

Turn: 4h. Cathy still has 11 outs to win.

River: 7c

No luck on the river. Cathy goes out in third place and collects $40.

We are now head’s up between Bob and Michael. Bob having finished second in the July MPT at the House of Blues, which was Michael’s first MPT.

Michael won hand 34 and Bob folded preflop on hand 35. Bob won hand 36 when they both checked down the river.

Hand 37: Bob moves all-in preflop and Michael calls.

Flop: 9d-10d-7d

Turn: Qh

River: Kc

Bob shows 6dJc for a straight, king high.
Michael shows Ah2c for high card, ace.

Hand 38: They see a flop of 9c-Ks-9s and Bob folds to Michael’s bet of $900.

Hand 39: Bob goes all-in preflop for $2,400 and Michael folds.

Hand 40: Michael raises $600 preflop, Bob folds.

Hand 41: Michael raises $600 preflop, Bob folds.

Hand 42: Michael raises $800 preflop, Bob folds.

Hand 43: Bob raises all-in for $700, Michael calls.

Flop: 5s-3h-9d

Turn: 10c

River: Kd

Bob shows 6c8d for king high, Michael shows 5d2d for a pair of fives.

Bob is eliminated in second place for $60.

Michael wins the MPT and $100!

So not only is he baccarat king and thread hi-jack king he can now call himself an MPT Champion! After Meredith knocked out Eric, Michael was the Terminator, eliminating everyone in his path. Of course, it didn't hurt that he gained an early chip lead. . .

I'd also like to thank my lovely wife for keeping the poker blog. I just told her I wanted to keep a record of who knocked out who and with what hand, but she kept a record of all of the action. Bob, if you want me to investigate any chip dumping, let me know, we will review the play. . .

No high hand qualified, so the $14 rolls into the Tournament of Champions prize pool (along with $20 from betdponies (and TSS777 should kick in a $20 as well, perhaps two since he won two this year).

The ToC is currently scheduled for December 27th (or 28th) at Harrah's Marina in Atlantic City

Labels: atlantic city, mpt, poker, showboat, video poker

Since it is my birthday, figured I'd talk about one of my favorite topics ---- BACCARAT.



gotta love James Bond at the Baccarat Table. Of course, he is playing some bizarre form of Baccarat, which is not quite Chemin de Fer and not American Baccarat. Of course, Bond now plays Hold-em poker --- if you recall, I bitched about this when Casino Royale first hit the theaters. And, I continue to bitch about it (how consistent).

I really wish I was around for the cash Baccarat days in Vegas. Unfortunately, our silly government put a bit of pressure on Vegas to convert "cash-only" Baccarat to "chips" Baccarat in the early 70's. Something about folks who launder money and like to play a bit of Baccarat.

Baccarat was such a posh game when you just played with cash. I still enjoy cash-play Baccarat in Vegas --- though, it was a whole different animal when everyone at the table was playing with cash. On the right, you can see Sinatra dealing a Baccarat game in the 1960's. Unfortunately, Atlantic City requires that cash be converted to chips --- so, alas, you can't leave all types of bills in play on a Big Baccarat table in AC.

Above is a pic of one of my final days at the Stardust, playing for cash and dealing the cards at the Big Baccarat Table.

If anyone is in AC, I am trying to get a group together for some Baccarat play on July 5th. According to a recent New York Times Article and due to the popularity of Baccarat with Asian gamblers; we seem to be having a bit of investment by the casino properties in Baccarat (and other "Asian-popular" games).

"At the start of 2006, Harrah’s opened a gambling and dining area inspired by the Ming- and Song-dynasty architectural elements at the Showboat in Atlantic City, in what Gary Loveman, its chief executive, described as “the country’s first authentic Asian gaming pit.”

"The company imported carved woods from China to house a dozen baccarat tables — the preferred game among many Asian players — and several more for pai gow poker, which is based on an ancient Chinese dominoes game."

"Over all, table game revenue at Showboat increased 35 percent last year, to $63 million, up from $46 million, and the casino more than doubled its business among Asian players. Table games include baccarat and pai gow but also craps, blackjack and roulette."

Was thinking, it might be about time to check out the new Baccarat pit at the Showboat. I really liked the new Asian Pit at Caesars AC -- but, the Big Baccarat table there is pure evil.

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, caesars, harrah's, las vegas, showboat, sinatra