WTF?!? Jodi played poker??!?

ATLARGE2K7 was a resounding success, thanks completely to Goldie’s efforts. I don’t know how he finds the energy to keep this event going year after year, but I know how much we all appreciate it.

FRIDAY

ATLARGE started out with a fizzled bang as I ran my chips up early in HOE but then lost them all in a moment of poetic justice to Tina (dilligaf). Why poetic justice? Because I had sucked out on the poor woman twice in previous rounds, scooping big pots both times. My more faithful readers will surely be wondering why I was in a position to suck out on someone, rather than having the best hand the whole way, as of course I usually do…

Anyone living in Hell should get out their ice skates, because the Taj has switched over from their traditional dry erase board wait lists to an electronic system. I was sorry to see this happen. I so enjoyed the old system, which you can’t experience anywhere else. I guess it’s true what Shakespeare said: nothing gold can stay.

After busting early and bitterly paying off Jeff Calkins for our $10 last longer, I went to P.F. Chang’s with Matt Matros and Ivy Blackman for a lovely afternoon repast. We agreed that P.F. Chang’s is one of the nicest restaurants in AC for casual dining. The service was outstanding, possibly the best I have ever experienced in the United States, and the food was excellent as always. Afterwards Matt went to play more poker at Borgata (degenerate!) while Ivy and I hit the shops at Tropicana. Since 99.9% of my readership is of the male persuasion, I won’t bore you with the details of the shopping.

[details of the shopping have been deleted by the author]

Following a brief nap, I put on some tangerine lip gloss and headed down to the ballroom for the ATLARGE2K7 banquet, where I met up with Gabe and his friend Tom, new to ATLARGE, and we all enjoyed some tidbits of wisdom courtesy of Nolan Dalla. Most of the wisdom had to do with the many grammatically correct uses of the word f**k and creative masturbation techniques. I’m sure Tom the newbie will be anxiously awaiting the opening of ATLARGE2K8 registration after this gentle introduction to our psychotic world.

Saturday

I managed to cash in the NLHE tourney. For some reason I was at the tightest tables I’ve ever seen, and everyone was giving me way too much respect. I was also getting zero cards, so it was frustrating to win just the blinds when I finally got something worth playing and raised it up. I also hit the unpleasant roadblock of players who know me all too well, like 8-2 Mike and Dave Fruchter. Bastards. I can happily report that I outlasted Jeff and got my ten bucks back. And the saga continues.

I had a special guest sweater who was watching me in action for the first time and, unlike the actual players at the table, was impressed by my antics. Sadly, no one else succumbed to my nonsense this year, least of all 8-2 Mike, who read me like a fricking book during a blind-on-blind confrontation, and I ended up busting unspectacularly as my stack dwindled and I bumped it up with ATs from under the gun, running into the button’s AK and jamming on an ace-high flop. The turn was another king, sealing the deal, and the river was an oh-so-ironic ten, so IGHN. If only I could have channeled Terrence, maybe I could have found a way to hang in there until the final table.

Poker being secondary to the true purpose of the weekend, I then got down to business. Namely:

• Showing Ã’scar around town. (who knew there was anything fun to see in AC!?)
• Dinner at Mia with Fruchter, ActionBob, Buckshot, Nolan, Bruce, Tom, Dave and Jessica, Warren, Arthur, and o.g. The restaurant is gorgeous and the food is quiet tasty. We enjoyed some nice wine and a particularly succulent piece of salmon. Throw in the beef carpaccio (with almond dressing and gorgonzola) as an appetizer and the gateaux with chocolate sorbet for dessert, and you you’ve got yourself a might fine meal.
• [nonsense involving Fruchter and o.g. has been deleted by the author]
• B Bar with Fruchter, Buckshot, and others. Just a brief cameo.
• Drinks and an aborted attempt at karaoke (due to a ridiculous queue) with Jacksup, Tensup, Ivy, o.g., Bill Chen, and Patty. We ended up at Red Square, which is becoming an ATLARGE tradition. The drinks were tasty as always, but the dance music left something to be desired.

I wish I had more poker stories to report…actually you know what? I don’t. Poker was almost an afterthought this weekend. I felt like I was going through the motions of playing. Maybe that’s why I didn’t end up taking them down this year – lack of focus and passion. Or, maybe I just suck at poker now. There’s always that possibility.

What poker plans do I have for the near future? None. Unless someone wants to back me in the WSOP…………don’t all comment at once, you might crash my blog.

Thanks to everyone who made ATLARGE2k7 so much fun! See you all next year.

See everyone’s pictures from ATLARGE on Flickr, tag word ATLARGE2k7. Or, if you’re lazy, just click here.