fgk42
New Member
TBJPA River Palms Sunday – May 13, 2007
Well it’s not often that this recreational TBJ junkie gets to play in BJT – period. So imagine how I felt when I planned this latest weekend. I played in the UBT event on Saturday and the TBJPA event on Sunday.
Now I didn’t have a chance to experience MOST of the TBJPA events, including the SNGs that were held. I wish that things could have happened differently but that fact is that I woke up late Sunday morning and didn’t even make it for the 1st round of Sunday morning’s event. Luck for me that I was able to participate in the first re-buy round.
As this was my first trip to the River Palms I was expecting to have to search for the BJT. Nope. I found the tourney being held in a “pit” away from the main floor. Six tables, all full of players having a fun time.
The organizer, our very own Rick Jensen, was very pleasant and professional. Registration was simple, straight forward and accomplished in less than 5 minutes. I had the opportunity to meet Henry Tamburin and was offered a free 3-month subscription to BJInsider. Go figure I just signed up 2 weeks ago!
As I waited for my round to begin I had the opportunity to meet fellow BJT.com players that I had met in Tunica. In addition there were several other BJT.com members who I had only know from online and now was able to put faces to names. I WAS going to try and fly under the radar but someone blew my cover when they announced FGK42 just showed up!
For my first table I did absolutely nothing to promote the notion that skill is more valuable than luck. In fact I turned on the luck magnet switch, plopped my bets into the circle and proceeded to have the dealer just give me pat hand after pat hand, mostly to the dismay of my fellow players. As this was my first experience with this format I learned several valuable lessons. More on that later.
I advanced to the 2nd round and was seated right next to Barney Stone! It was a very friendly table and I just couldn’t convince him to DD on those 19’s against the dealer. But I have to thank him for daring me into betting those black chips as I once again turned on the luck magnet and accumulated a formidable lead which allowed me to advance to the semi-finals.
At this point my luck ran out as well as my fuel cells. Since flying to Vegas I had been up way too long and the lack of sleep was taking its toll. I ran into a brick wall – namely another Fred and the St. Louis mafia who proceeded to “gun me down”. You would’ve thought I was playing in an EBJ tourney as early as I went down. Before I left there was a drawing and I won a 3 day 2 night stay at the River Palms. The list of prizes seemed to go on forever as most people got something.
The dealers at the River Palms were very nice, professional and courteous. The pit manager/management (I believe his name was Dave) was very nice and went out of his way to make me feel welcomed.
As I had bombed out and I was flying out of Vegas later that day I left before the final table was played. In retrospect I wish I had scheduled my flight for Monday and stayed at the River Palms as I heard there were additional SNG’s to be played.
My overall impression was very favorable. While this has been the smallest BJT I have played in to date the level of competition was much more difficult that the other BJT’s that I have played. The TBJPA executive officer (Rick) did a very good job of organizing and keeping things running on schedule. The River Palms personnel were very accommodating and friendly.
On a side note this was my 3rd BJT in 2 weeks. The first was over 300 people with a 299.00 buy-in. The 2nd was 36 people with a 540.00 buy in and this event was 33 people with a 205 buy-in. I managed to hit the semi-finals in all 3 events yet this was the only one in which I managed to take home something.
The word is that the River Palms will be repeating this event sometime in August with a larger player pool, rumor has it around 80-100 players. My only concern is with that many players and the numerous rebuy opportunities a BJT may take the better part of the day. In addition with that many people Rick will have to have some administrative help. As it currently exists Rick was able to handle everything in a timely manner and keep things running very smoothly.
As a first time BJT at this venue I have to give the TBJPA and River Palms a thumbs up. This was a well run, fun event that I can recommend to players in the future. While there are certain areas that can use some improvement this was a fun event and something I would like to see succeed. I’d give it a B+ 85 out of 100.
Well it’s not often that this recreational TBJ junkie gets to play in BJT – period. So imagine how I felt when I planned this latest weekend. I played in the UBT event on Saturday and the TBJPA event on Sunday.
Now I didn’t have a chance to experience MOST of the TBJPA events, including the SNGs that were held. I wish that things could have happened differently but that fact is that I woke up late Sunday morning and didn’t even make it for the 1st round of Sunday morning’s event. Luck for me that I was able to participate in the first re-buy round.
As this was my first trip to the River Palms I was expecting to have to search for the BJT. Nope. I found the tourney being held in a “pit” away from the main floor. Six tables, all full of players having a fun time.
The organizer, our very own Rick Jensen, was very pleasant and professional. Registration was simple, straight forward and accomplished in less than 5 minutes. I had the opportunity to meet Henry Tamburin and was offered a free 3-month subscription to BJInsider. Go figure I just signed up 2 weeks ago!
As I waited for my round to begin I had the opportunity to meet fellow BJT.com players that I had met in Tunica. In addition there were several other BJT.com members who I had only know from online and now was able to put faces to names. I WAS going to try and fly under the radar but someone blew my cover when they announced FGK42 just showed up!
For my first table I did absolutely nothing to promote the notion that skill is more valuable than luck. In fact I turned on the luck magnet switch, plopped my bets into the circle and proceeded to have the dealer just give me pat hand after pat hand, mostly to the dismay of my fellow players. As this was my first experience with this format I learned several valuable lessons. More on that later.
I advanced to the 2nd round and was seated right next to Barney Stone! It was a very friendly table and I just couldn’t convince him to DD on those 19’s against the dealer. But I have to thank him for daring me into betting those black chips as I once again turned on the luck magnet and accumulated a formidable lead which allowed me to advance to the semi-finals.
At this point my luck ran out as well as my fuel cells. Since flying to Vegas I had been up way too long and the lack of sleep was taking its toll. I ran into a brick wall – namely another Fred and the St. Louis mafia who proceeded to “gun me down”. You would’ve thought I was playing in an EBJ tourney as early as I went down. Before I left there was a drawing and I won a 3 day 2 night stay at the River Palms. The list of prizes seemed to go on forever as most people got something.
The dealers at the River Palms were very nice, professional and courteous. The pit manager/management (I believe his name was Dave) was very nice and went out of his way to make me feel welcomed.
As I had bombed out and I was flying out of Vegas later that day I left before the final table was played. In retrospect I wish I had scheduled my flight for Monday and stayed at the River Palms as I heard there were additional SNG’s to be played.
My overall impression was very favorable. While this has been the smallest BJT I have played in to date the level of competition was much more difficult that the other BJT’s that I have played. The TBJPA executive officer (Rick) did a very good job of organizing and keeping things running on schedule. The River Palms personnel were very accommodating and friendly.
On a side note this was my 3rd BJT in 2 weeks. The first was over 300 people with a 299.00 buy-in. The 2nd was 36 people with a 540.00 buy in and this event was 33 people with a 205 buy-in. I managed to hit the semi-finals in all 3 events yet this was the only one in which I managed to take home something.
The word is that the River Palms will be repeating this event sometime in August with a larger player pool, rumor has it around 80-100 players. My only concern is with that many players and the numerous rebuy opportunities a BJT may take the better part of the day. In addition with that many people Rick will have to have some administrative help. As it currently exists Rick was able to handle everything in a timely manner and keep things running very smoothly.
As a first time BJT at this venue I have to give the TBJPA and River Palms a thumbs up. This was a well run, fun event that I can recommend to players in the future. While there are certain areas that can use some improvement this was a fun event and something I would like to see succeed. I’d give it a B+ 85 out of 100.
