Borgata Winter Open

[lonn19]

Thinking of goin down the week the Borgata Winter Open starts. Can I expect the cash games to be different than usual that first week? I assume there will be more people, but would the quality of the games/players be much different than usual? I mostly play 1/2 NL.

[mxp2004]

IMHO, the answer is "no": the 1/2 NL games will not be much different the week of the tournament. The players who pony up $10,000 to enter the main event don't usually sit down at a 1/2 NL game when they bust out. Although, last fall, Steve Zolotow sat down at a 1/2 table next to mine with some young girl that was with him, and then proceeded to take down one huge pot when his draw hit.

I like to go down on the first day of the big Borgata tournaments (i.e., the Winter Open, the Summer Open, and the Borgata Open). Sometimes the Borgata holds the main event right in the poker room, and other times, it sets up tables in a ballroom. When the event is held in the poker room, you can walk right up to the tables and practically stand over the shoulders of your favorite players. When the event is in the ballroom, the Borgata sets up a rail around the perimeter, and you can't see much except for the tables near the edge.

I don't know why they do it differently from time to time (although now that I think about it, I can only remember the main event being in the poker room once). When the game is in the cardroom, the only effect on the cash games is the wait. While you typically never to have wait much for a 1/2 NL table at the B, you can wind up waiting an hour or more when the main event is in the room.

Putting aside the impact on the cash games, I think it's pretty cool to go down on the first day of the event. This really is a major poker tournament and draws nearly all of the players that you see on TV. Last winter, I saw all of the following on the first day: Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nyugen, Vanessa Rousso, John Juanda, Jamie Gold, Gavin Smith, Michael Binger, Paul Wasicka, Men the Master, Tuan Le, Scott Fischman, Carlos Mortensen, David Williams, Ted Forest, Cindy Violette, Kathy Liebert, Barry Greenstein, Jon D'Agonstino, etc. The list really does go on, and almost all of these players were approachable and friendly during the breaks. This is one of the great things about poker that it distinguishes it from other major sports.

Bottom line: the tournament won't have a huge impact on the cash games in terms of competition, but it's a great atmosphere and chance to meet your favorite players.

[schwerd2]

The tournaments bring in TONS of TOURNAMENT DONKEYS that are total FISH in the cash games. The 2/5 and 5/10 NL games will be juicy.

[punkass]

If there's various satellites, it will increase the number in the room, and games such as 1/2 should improve as people who bust out of the satellites will want to recoup their looses in a cash game.

[SellingtheDrama]

Satellite day has been very good cash game ground in the past (for me). Since I don't play mega-limits, the satellite players tend to be the ones I want to play against.

I remember playing 2/5 against someone who busted out of a satellite for a $2000 or so event and was determined to win his entry at my table. Suffice to say, he didn't and I'm pretty certain he went through close to the two grand.

[mxp2004]

[ QUOTE ]
Satellite day has been very good cash game ground in the past (for me). Since I don't play mega-limits, the satellite players tend to be the ones I want to play against.

I remember playing 2/5 against someone who busted out of a satellite for a $2000 or so event and was determined to win his entry at my table. Suffice to say, he didn't and I'm pretty certain he went through close to the two grand.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that I might have misunderstood what OP meant when he said that he was thinking about going down the week that the tournament starts. If he was referring to Sunday, 1/27, when the main event starts, then I stand by my comments. Like I said, it's just my opinion, but I've gone to the B on the first day of its major tournaments several times, and I've never really noticed any difference in the level of the competition at the 1/2 NL tables. They're profitable for any solid 2+2er.

If OP was referring to the time when the pre-events and satellites are going on, then I can see there being some impact on the level of competition, particularly mid-week. The extra traffic may make those mid-week games more like they are on the weekends, when the B attracts a lot of tourists with money.

Overall, however, I still don't think that you are going find much difference at the 1/2 tables no matter when you go. These tables always attract the entry level NL players, and so how much softer can they get? I would expect a greater influx of softer players to the higher stakes games. Again, it's just my opinion, but the players who will pay $500 to $2500 to play in a pre-main event tournament or satellite are more likely to gravitate towards the 2/5 NL tables and up than they are to sit down and play 1/2 NL.

[lonn19]

I meant the first week of the entire open. I will not be there during the main event. Sorry if I was not clear.