Table is set!

Last night Borgata's Poker Open played down to the WPT TV table and we have our players!
Olivier Busquet - 10,350,000
Yanick Brodeur - 6,655,000
Ivan Mamuzic - 5,780,000
Jeremy Brown - 5,480,000
Keith Crowder - 2,750,000
Kenny "SuperTuan1" Nguyen - 600,000

Both Kenny and Ivan were at my table day two and had a great table presence, since I don't know the other guys, I'm rooting for them. Ivan is also from Toronto so there's an added bonus. Looks like I might head down to watch the action although I've been dealing with creepy guy issues over the past week and not sure about going alone.

Today I'm feeling 100% and planning out this next week ahead before I'm off to Aruba. I have three options and need to see which will be most beneficial and what can wait till I get back in mid October. Let's cross our fingers I make the right decision. Also I'm still working on getting the sound to match up with the videos and all of last night was spent swearing at my laptop. Well, not all of it. I did manage to get the funniest one up and since you don't see anyone talking it works out perfectly.

If you want a good laugh all you need to do is listen to my little sister. Maybe it's just me since I love her so much, but the first time I watched it I was in tears from laughing so hard. Here's the lead up: As some of you know my sister is getting married November 1st and is living in England now. I went to visit after the WSOP for 3 weeks and had the most amazing trip. We spent 10 days in Spain on the island of Mallorca and everyday was either spent on the beach or on the boat.
Once all the videos are up I'll post the full blogs and photos which will make for a great post. So here goes... Enjoy!

On the home stretch

Today I finally take a sick day and have time to finish up some business and hopefully get my video blogs up and working. Actually I'm feeling much better after eating soup and drinking tons of water. It's not the flu (thank goodness), but most likely a mixture of dehydration, cabin fever and too many Coors lts with Gavin Smith and the boys. LOL. Now that the main event is getting down to their final 6 by tonight most players are heading home or onto London to try their luck at the WSOPE. It's always the same towards the end of a tournament. Every one's hopes of "The Big Win" shattered and all you hear is the non stop chatter of how bad someone played a hand or how they busted with a two outer. Only hanging out with Gavin and his buddies is different. Mostly what you hear from him is how hot the waitress is and funny stories that keep you laughing all night. Not to mention how he mocks other players as they tell them their bad beats and needles them to say it was their own fault to get them to let it go.

Last night was the last night most players were staying here at Borgata, if they haven't already left. I decided not to stay cooped up in my room and go spend some time with good friends. I met Gavin and Matt Brady down at the Old Homestead and afterwards we headed to BBar. This is the main spot you'll find everyone at some point in the night. And if you remember... the place where the infamous "Hooker - No Hooker" game was born. Ahhhhh, what fun memories! So sad to see everyone leave, but the best thing about poker is that you know you'll see them at the next tournament. I'm personally getting very excited for Aruba, but I really love being here at Borgata. No one can believe I come here at least twice a year for almost a month each visit and never get tired of this place. Indeed everyone here treats me like a princess, but there is more to it than that. I have so many fond memories of coming here ever since 2007 and know that there will be so many more to come. I've written a few blogs in the past on how much I love this place and it deserves to be looked at by people that have never visited.

Part 1
Part 2
Final Thoughts
(photo credit: Darryl Humphrey for Toro Magazine )

Quick Update

Morning everyone! Well I can sadly say I will not be at this year's final table. *sigh* Yesterday I needed a day off after I busted day 2 playing the Borgata Poker Open. I wasn't quite upset as I was more frustrated and needed to process everything that happened on both days of play. I'll be finishing up my write ups on that and the days leading up to the main in my next few blog posts that should be up later this afternoon.

Right now I'm getting ready to shoot an interview with Bernard Lee for Borgata TV. Should be a fun one. I'll make sure to post when that's up for y'all. In addition to that there's going to be some fun news and promotions coming up so make sure to check back a little later. If you're following along with the main event there are 167 players left with $925,000 for first place. Anyone have their picks on who will take it down?

Here we are!

Today's the day I've been focusing on for the past few weeks and I'm so excited it's finally here. I'm playing the Borgata Poker Open's WPT main event. Right now I'm getting ready and I'll be heading down to play, but thought I'd squeeze in a blog to say hello and thank you to everyone for all their support and good luck wishes. I have two other blog posts that will be up later tonight as my videos won't upload for some reason and sound is delayed. Anyone know how to upload videos from a Webbie properly?

Yesterday I spent the day relaxing by working out in the Pump Room and soaking up some sun at the Water Club's pool. Afterwards I headed to the event center and watched the Texas vs Texas Tech game on the big screens. WooT! Go Longhorns! We won!! I knew it would be a great game as last year's game was insane with that last touchdown in the last minute of the game that gave TTU the win. We more than made up for that one... Thanks Colt!

Once the game finished I needed to chill out before I tried to sleep. Lately I've been battling with insomnia and thought one drink would help me nod off quickly. I headed to the BBar and had a beer with Gavin Smith, BJ Nemeth, Chris Bell and friends. Gavin cheered me up as he always does and gave me some great advice- with an added note that there is statistical proof if you sleep with a Canadian 12 hours before a tournament you are guaranteed a win. LOL! We all had a good laugh with that one and BJ said he wasn't quite sure if that was verified, although Gav insisted it was true. Love you guys!

Alright it's time to play some poker! Catch up with you later.
xoxo
Lacey

Today you can follow along on my twitter page: www.twitter.com/LaceyJones and on www.twitter.com/BorgataPoker also the Borgata Blog can be found here: http://borgatapoker.blogspot.com/

TGIF

Alright kids the weekend is finally here! What's every one's plans? If you didn't say coming to Atlantic City to play the Borgata Poker Open, you might want to reconsider. Here's my personal top ten list on why everyone should head on down. Unlike Letterman these will be in no particular order... and not quite as funny.

10. $3,500 WPT main event. It's like you get a coupon for 65% off on a televised TV final table! Everyone loves discounts these days.
9. There is a 2 million guaranteed prize pool. To reach this we would need 607 players and if you've looked at previous number of entrants you'll see that Borgata will blow that number out of the water! Can we say 1.5 mill for first? No, they can't but I sure the heck will.
8. 30k in chips - Boom!
7. Borgata has the BEST tournament structures on the circuit as well as the best tournament director, staff and dealers. Ask anyone and they'll tell you.
6. Softest field in the US right now. With WSOPE going on in London many big name pros will be stuck on the other side of the pond. Not to mention lowering the buy in allows many "new fishes" to test the waters, as a $10k buy in is too steep these days to just give it a shot.
5. Two starting days. Saturday and Sunday for you to choose. This works perfectly with all wanting to play Sunday's big tournaments online.
4. Speaking of playing online... If you mention you're in the poker tournament while checking in you'll get free Internet in your room for your entire stay! (you can thank my peeps - Ray Stefanelli for that one)
3. Poker rates for the week have been lowered and start at $79. At this price you could get your own room and not have to sleep with four smelly poker playing dudes.
2. Good eats. All the amazing restaurants at Borgata will have your tummy full, happy and ready to play perfect poker.
1. Why wouldn't you play this event??





Football is here, but that means Hockey is right around the corner! WooT!! Here's SC's top ten best hockey moments in the penalty box. Man I love hockey! Enjoy!

Bring on the ladies!

Last night was a long one as I played from noon to about midnight cashing 25th in Borgata's Ladies Event that brought in 269 women ( well make that 267 1/2) for a fun day of poker. Now the term "fun" can be viewed in many ways. Let's just say I was prepared for comedy, as I've learned from playing in these events since 2005 that while some might call it poker, I prefer to call it entertainment.

Last January I stated quite firmly after playing Borgata's Winter Open, that I would rather put my hand in a blender than play another ladies event. I was damn serious too! Only that wouldn't happen as one of the 4 events this WSOP I played in was a ladies, so why not do it again? Although I must say the poker played yesterday at Borgata was far better than what I saw at the 1k buyin this the World Series of Poker. You'd think women (or husbands) putting up $1,000 would at least read a book or the damn rules before they sat down to play. Oh no, there were plenty of chicks that just said, "What the hell it's poker. Can't be that hard." I almost wanted to scream after playing with the one lady that had the most chips at my table who broke almost every rule you could by doing the following:

1. Acting out of turn almost every hand either mucking cards or betting.
2. Betting then taking back her chips when someone raised her (she even called the floor!)
3. Answering her cell and having a conversation while she was betting the flop
4. Asking for a seat change when the first woman busted from our table

I'll stop here as it still tilts me still that she had a mountain of chips doing ALL of this. Argh!

After having such a fun time this summer the Borgata event couldn't be that bad. Hell I might even enjoy it this time, I thought to myself, and enjoy I did! I took it easy the two days prior as I felt my heart was still aching a bit and this time I listened to that voice inside. No tournaments, not yet.

Thursday I finally slept in! It's been almost impossible to not wake up early from the jet lag I got on my trip to Europe and moving before I came to Borgata. I'll be posting video and fun photos from that trip in the next few days. Good times. Since I slept in I missed the main tournament for that day and didn't know what to do with myself. Looking at the schedule I noticed the Borgata puts on a "survivor" tournament on some of the days during the open. In these tournaments the top 10% all get the same payout. For the $200 buy in, every 10 people will get $2,000. They also offer a $300 and $500 on the weekends paying out 3k and 5k. Hell yeah!

The tournament was a fun one so I decided to have a beer (or 3) and enjoy myself. For the most part the play was good only I had the one thing I dread the most at a poker table. A guy who won't stop farting. Uggghhhh! It was so gross! I had to put my nose against my wrist and try to breathe in my perfume after each bomb he dropped. Man, there is nothing worse because you can't go anywhere! You have to play. Fortunately he busted and the whole table cheered. Sadly for me I busted with around 30 to go with 18 paying. Son of a... I had Ak vs AQ all in preflop and he hit two queens cutting me down to 8 bbs. Two hands later I had pocket nines vs AQ again all in pre and what do you know? Damn queen. Grrrrr. All was quickly forgotten as Ray Stefanelli (who will now be known as "my peeps" not my boss lol) and Brian were down at the Gypsy Bar watching football and told me to join. Yay! Pineapple tequila shots always do the trick. Ray and I even got involved in a Tic Tac Toe match. Apparently I'm not as good as I once thought. Whatever.
(World Series of Tic Tac Toe photo and coined phrase: Allen Rash)

The following day was September 11th. I spent the day hiding and healing as that was the day I found out about Matthew and such a horrible day for thousands of people who lost someone the year after in the 9-11 attacks. Collective grieving at a profound number for families and friends who will always remember that day and all the pain that goes with losing someone you love. I worked out in the gym for 2 1/2 hours doing 80 minutes on the bike, other cardio and machines in the Pump Room at Borgata followed by sitting and crying in the steam room for 20 minutes. All of this helped and I was able to finally feel at peace once I returned to my room exhausted physically and emotionally.

Yesterday morning I woke up early and felt like a brand new woman. Buying in early for the ladies two days before (so I couldn't back out) I was able to spend my morning not rushing to beat the line to register. This gave me time to meditate for a bit and then get in a little dance workout in my room. Silly as it is, it works for me, but thank goodness they don't have cameras in these rooms!

Walking into the event center I felt myself dragging my feet. Why am I doing this to myself?? Kill me now! Those were just a few things that were floating around in my head. I sat down and enjoyed my table. Everyone was a tell box. :) Only playing against the girls are a bit harder as they WILL call you down so bluffing them isn't as easy as you'd think. I decided to play the basic ABC poker and pick my spots to steal when I had a dead read. But let's get to the funny part. I've seen cattiness at the tables plenty, but a cat fight? A few minutes before we were going on break I heard women screaming and yelling around a table in the middle of the room. Everyone stood around and it was hard to see what was going on. Taking a closer look I see Tom Bates ( Borgata's floor supervisor) in the middle of a huge screaming match. He was doing his best to calm the women down, but they were having none of that. I even tried to take a photo of him in the middle of three women pointing at him and someone walked right in front of my camera. Damn it would have been a great pic too! Only the women weren't screaming at eachother they were attacking a man playing in the ladies event who had a huge chip stack. He sat there with a shit eating grin, but you could tell he was terrified. Hell I'd put my money on some of these chicks against him in a death match. They wanted to rip his face off!! It was quite the sight to see as that was about all that was talked about for the rest of the tournament.
http://www.borgatapoker.blogspot.com/2009/09/dude-looks-like-lady-event-7.htmllike-lady-event-7.html

Before my first table broke a very drunk woman sat to my left. She was very loud at let everyone know she wasn't very good at poker, but this tournament kept her from getting killed downstairs in blackjack. Up the volume went on my iPod, but she kept forgetting I couldn't hear her and would keep asking me random questions. One hand that keeps me laughing even now might just be the funniest thing I've seen at a poker table in a while. I'm in the small blind with 8 5 off and it gets folded around to me. I put in a raise and she instantly calls. Ok, she's got a hand. Flop came 10 5 6 rainbow and I couldn't resist putting in a bet. She quickly moves all in. Shit. I know I'm beat, but want get a read for later hands. Taking my earbuds out I smile and ask, " Are you bluffing me?" She smiles and loudly says, "Of course not!" Only at the same time she does this she takes her hands together and then opens her arms out in the air knocking her beer right off onto the lady next to her and all over the table. "I fold." She ends up showing A 10 off and I told I knew she had it. It took 5 minutes to clear up all the beer that spilled on the table and to get new chips for the angry asian woman who now smelled of Budweiser. Pure comedy.
(photo by Gorilla)

The rest of the tournament was pretty standard. Having 50k in chips at the dinner break when average was 30k I felt pretty confident in my game. Only being moved 4 times made things a bit more difficult building reads and getting respect. I started to get short once I went card dead before the money bubble, where I usually start to really grow my stack. All the shorties were pushing before me and I couldn't make any moves. Such a crappy feeling folding away and seeing a deuce every hand. Once we made it into the money (27 people) I found myself pretty short and we redrew for new tables. Two hands in I pick up pocket nines in the cutoff and it gets folded around to me. I push and the big blind had aces. *sigh* No trophy for me. Freaking sucks to min cash. I took 25th and to be honest I was very disappointed. Cashing out a woman (who was involved in the yelling match earlier) that took 24th saw I wasn't too happy and said there are 242 women that didn't get anything. I guess, was all I could reply. Maybe I should be pleased with clearing that many mine fields yesterday. I'm sorry folks, but all I want to do right now is win and nothing else will make me happy. I can feel a big win coming too and that's what's killing me. Let's hope it's the $3500 WPT main event for the Borgata Poker Open. Keep your fingers crossed!

Sometimes when you know.. you know

Here we are back at Borgata in Atlantic City. After 3 years I STILL get butterflies rumbling around in my tummy seeing the "Welcome to Borgata" sign. Man, I love this place! I can think of so many perks that this hotel and casino has to offer when others on the tournament trail completely fall short. My next few blogs will be going over the many reasons why, but for now let's get caught up with everything going on, shall we?

Today kicked off the beginning of the Borgata Poker Open with 22 events awarding a beautiful trophy and bragging rights of being champion in a prestigious poker tournament. With my eye on the prize (as well as 849 other players) I wanted to take this first one down. $72k for 1st place for a $350 buyin is a very nice payday if you ask me. Did I mention how cool the freakin trophy is?? Anyway, in my head I knew I wasn't in the right frame of mind to get there and yet I played anyway. Have to keep going when you're on a heater, right? Yes things are going quite well for me in poker and I've really worked hard on my game. Taking 12th in Borgata's Labor Day tournament ( still disappointed I didn't final table) showed that I'm itching to get my first big win under my belt and get that dang monkey off my back once and for all! Only a tiny voice in my head kept saying I should take it easy and focus on a different day to take one down. All I could hear was I can't do this, not today. But I refused to listen knowing full well what the outcome would be. Why, you might ask, am I hearing this voice? Well, I did say that these blogs were going to get a bit personal, and again against my better judgement, I'll open up and let it out.

*warning it gets a bit sad *

9 years ago, on September 9th 2000, someone I loved with all my heart committed suicide and left my world shattered in an unbelievable mess. I was left broken and lost and honestly didn't know how I was going to go on with my life. I was a junior at the University of Arizona coming back from a study abroad in Paris. Life up until that point was starting to look promising. I was having problems with my live in boyfriend of 2 years and believed that breaking up with him was the right thing to do to become a happier and more independent woman. Being 21, I thought I knew everything and didn't know that one simple decision would change my life forever.

I need to stop as it's still painful to rehash everything that happened and I really want to finish this blog instead of delete it like I usually end up doing. The urge to delete this post is so overwhelming, but I promised I would be open, didn't I? Furthermore only a handful of people know how horrible this story went and the after math that I had to go through.

Fast forward 9 years later to 9-9-09 and I'm amazed at where my life has taken me. Holy crap I f'n made it!!! The past few days leading up to today I kept telling myself that I'm over everything. Hell, it's been almost a decade! Yet the more I kept telling myself not to think about it, the more it would be there in my mind. All day today I tried to dismiss the thought of what happened and my eyes would well up with tears forcing me to blink them away quickly before anyone noticed. I would try and say it's just because of the sequence of numbers that it's so hard to forget. If anyone knows me, they know I have a bit of OCD when it comes to numbers especially sequences of 3's. Only this excuse fell flat as I'm sure if it had happened on any day, as with my older sister's, I would never be able to let it go and forget. My good friend Roland even sent me words of wisdom after I told him I couldn't push it out of my head: "If you tell yourself it's nothing it will pop up. Accept it for what it is, acknowledge that thoughts can't hurt you, and get on with your day." Too bad I didn't apply it until after I busted from the tournament.

This morning I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw were the roses Paul sent to me and the flickering candle (the one with the light bulb that resembles a flame) that The Water Club sets out for turn down service. What a beautiful way to wake up! I took a deep breath and absorbed all the love I could and let it surround my heart. My first thought was: See, nothing is wrong today! Man, I'm a stubborn one.

I finished getting ready and headed to the event center to take my seat. Walking up to my table I notice it's all the way to the back/ middle of the room and turned the opposite direction of all the other tables. I ask the dealer what's up with our table and he replies it's where the final tables for the next day would play out. I joke and say, Damn I should have been more specific when I visualized playing at the final table. At this point I began to slowly slip.

Sitting down the painful memories began and were brushed away just as fast as they appeared. For the first few hands we played four handed and everyone was very jovial and talkative. Soon after the rest of the table began to fill the people who came to play made it be known. After having a few of my raises called by weak hands and winning I felt my tilt factor rising. Being the first level and blinds only at 25/ 50 I got up and decided I need to take a break now or I'd be out before the second level. This ended up being the best thing for me as my friend Al on media row went with me and let me vent to him about what was going on. After a while I felt better and returned to my table in the 2nd level. I ended up chipping all the way up to 24k in the 3rd and was feeling great. WooT!

(photo credit: Allen Rash)

Alas it was short lived as I started to get upset at a few things going on at my table. A woman who was a dealer at the Taj came up to her husband in the 9 seat and began massaging him and speaking in a different language. When I asked that she be told to step away I ended up making an enemy with the man playing. He was pissed, which in turn made things more difficult at the table for me. Playing in the 4th level I was involved in a hand where the 7 seat won and was celebrating and laughing with the nine seat about doubling up off me. He continued to laugh for the next three hands and I had to just sit there and stew. Bring on the melt down.

I knew I was on tilt yet didn't even care. Paul sent me BBMs saying to get off the table and he would call me to calm me down. Lately I've been so great about not going on tilt, but today, was just not my day to mess with me. Instead of getting up to take the call I decide to get it all in on the flop with an open ended straight draw and back door flush draw w/ J10clubs on the button against kings. Like they always say, when you're on tilt you never get there, and I was sent packing to the rail. I shrug it off and head back to my room.

I must say staying at The Water Club is just about the best thing after busting from a tournament. Not only is the room beautiful, but the view is breathtaking! Thinking everything is fine I become entranced by what was going on outside. I sat down by the window and watched the boats out in the marina and the waves making their way to shore. Right then the tears came. This time I let them out as no one was around to see and I was finally alone. I cried for a few minutes took a few deep breaths and let it go. Taking my friends advice from earlier I acknowledged all my thoughts I had pushed away and decided to get on with my day.

Pulling it together I washed my face and joined Ray Stefanelli (my boss and very cool guy), Brian (another very cool guy who works at Borgata/Water Club) and Chuck Darrow ( a writer for the Philadelphia Daily News) at Forneletto. This Italian restaurant is one of the newest additions to the amazing line up of places to eat at Borgata. I highly recommend dining here. Make sure to save room for dessert! I renamed the chocolate dish with Nutella: Chocolate Love. lol. It's my new favorite. To wrap things up, the food was amazing as well as the company and all my sad thoughts were finally gone and my usual big smile was back where it belongs.

(photo: http://www.theborgata.com/ )

**I must apologize as I did not want to make this blog sad and yet two in a row... eek! I promise my next blog will be light and funny. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck. And don't worry, I'm back and ready for action with plenty more opportunities to make my first big win!

G' night everybody.

xoxo

Lacey