Graphic: Third Quarter Performances in AC Casinos

This is a graphic from The Press of Atlantic City's website. Read the article it goes with here.

A.C. Casinos still taking punches

I was playing poker all week and the only place it seemed deader than normal was the Showboat. Caesars was going off because of the bad beat and Harrah's was just busy. However, I guess that doesn't always translate onto the floor.

I could only tell how the poker rooms do.

ATLANTIC CITY - Casinos reported $346.3 million in casino win in October, a 9.9 percent decrease over the same month a year ago.

Results reported to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission Monday show that the 11 casinos won $235.9 million at the slot machines and another $110.3 million at table games in October. Slot revenue fell 12.7 percent while table game revenues declined by 3.3 percent.

Casinos paid $27.7 million in taxes on their gross revenues in October. That money, 8 percent of gross revenue, goes into the Casino Revenue Fund which pays for programs that benefit qualifying senior citizens and people with disabilities. In addition, the casinos incurred another $4.4 million in reinvestment obligations. They are required to reinvest 1.25 percent of gross revenues in projects approved by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

For the first 10 months of the year, casinos won $3.9 billion, down 6.6 percent from the same period in 2007. Revenue from slot machines is down 8.6 percent and revenue from table games is down 2 percent for the 10 months.

Win, or casino revenue, is the net amount of money won by casinos. It is not profit.
Copies of individual casino tax returns with detailed information on gaming revenues are available on the Commission web site at www.njccc.gov/casinos/financia/mthrev/

Bad Beat coming to Borgata?

I was on vacation this week and spent a lot of time at the felt. The two things I heard talked about were Caesar's bad beat, which I presume is up to around $260K if it hasn't been hit yet, and Borgata is getting a bad beat jackpot come December 1.

I played at Caesar's once and it's as bad as I remember it to be. The dealers don't run the games and, because everyone is a tough guy in a casino, more than one argument break out.

I'll have more to write later. Just wanted to update the latest information that I heard.

Borgata Lays Off 400

The Borgata laid off 400 employees in the month of the October. Here's an article from The Press of Atlantic City. This is just another example of how poor the economy is. Even the Borgata, one of the better casinos in the industry has to let people go.

Hilton Poker Room Closing

The Hilton poker room is closing and apparently I am really late on this. The bad beat at the Hilton is over 100K and when it hits, the poker room is going to close.

So, all you bad beat chasers, get out there and hit it. The room isn't going to be there much longer and the Hilton is begging for someone to hit it so that they can close the room.

What I learned from Manny Ramirez

I don't talk about my regular job too much because this blog is about poker. But, for those that haven't realized I'm a sports writer and spent much of my time covering different teams. I mostly cover college sports during the season and in the offseason, I do plenty of Phillies work.

This postseason, I was there everyday. It's how I ended up at the Commerce in California and how I didn't get to play cards while I was in Milwaukee. However, there was something that I kept hearing about great players that stuck with me. No matter which great player the common theme was "He's isn't afraid to fail."

Mostly I heard this said about Manny Ramirez. Joe Torre harped on this idea that Ramirez plays the game as though he knows he will succeed. He executes the way he is supposed to because even he the right result doesn't happen, at least he executed. Basically, he isn't afraid to fail.

I kept thinking about this. Mostly, I kept thinking about it applied to poker.

I'm a decent player, not great. I know there are plenty of places of my game that need work. One thing I always envied from other players was their aggressive nature.

I'm great when I have the nuts. I have no problem putting all my money in the middle then, but when I have a mediocre hand (let's not even talk about bluffing), I'm afraid to lose my money. This isn't always the case. I have made moves that I am proud of, but they don't come as often as I would like.

Last night, I played $1-$2 at the Showboat, which was dead because Caesar's bad beat jackpot is up to $211k apparently. I kept telling myself to think of Manny Ramirez, which sucks because as a Yankee fan, I really dislike the guy.

But there I was in a position to either not risk my chips because I was afraid or to make my moves. I finally chose to make my moves. I raised with A-Qd in late position to $10. It's rare that I raise with AQ at all because I don't like the hand. Losing money isn't fun so I just decided to always play it weakly.

I get three callers. The flop comes with two diamonds and all rags. Seat 1 leads into me for $25. I decided to just call because at some point I am going to pop this guy. On the turn he bets $30. Now, this is a shady bet, but one thing about my game is that I can read people. I am not talking about how he scratches his ear or looks away. There are other little things that add up and somehow I can sense where this guy stands. The board is nine-high and he had one of two hand son the flop: a set or medium pair.

On the turn, I decided he didn't have a set. While I should have popped the guy here on the turn. I just called again. On the river (no diamond), he makes it $30. After about three seconds and slowly counting my chips (I see him squirming), I make it $75.

He ended up calling after two minutes and says, "You have aces, right?"

Well, no. He had pocket Jacks.

I wasn't even mad about the hand. Two things that probably could have won me the hand was a raise on the turn or maybe making it $100 on the river. However, I was pleased with taking a shot there. I didn't think about losing my money to him. I was looking to work on my game.

I still ended up winning on the night, so I can't complain. I doubled up through a guy a few hands later. I moved all-in after he re-raised, my re-raise. I had pocket Queens and figured out through his "story telling" that he didn't have aces or kings. He had A-K and didn't catch.

It was a good night. Now, with a week off from work because I worked the last month, I am going to try and get in more poker.