NYC

So we decided that playing in Atlantic City simply wasn't worth our time, even if we were consistantly playing $10-20, because after expenses our profits were tiny. If we can't build a bankroll on it, then what's the point?

The game in Baltimore is lucrative, but we'd really like to find a good $15-30 or $20-40 Stud Hi-lo or Omaha 8/b game. Since these don't go off on a regular basis around here, or in AC we were left wondering if perhaps New York wasn't our last hope. The only problem is that we know absolutely no one who could get us into the poker rooms there. Luckily though, Kris (partner and roommate) was able to find a posting online for an open tournament in NYC. Perfection. We attend the tournament, and get our foot in the NY door.

We set off on Saturday at noon, with an extra passenger in tow (for company and cost sharing purposes). 6 excruciating, traffic-filled hours later, we slowly plodded our way through the Lincoln Tunnel as everyone cracked jokes about awful Sly Stallone movies. Our meetup was at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, and finding the organizers proved to be much easier than expected. I thought that I might be able to meet up with Krissy, who I recalled living close to the area, but she was out of town for the day.

The club turned out to be within walking distance of the park, so we hiked there. It was smaller than I expected (4 tables), and seemed very slow. But, we ended up seeing two guys we played with while we were in Vegas. The best part was that they are both Hi-Lo players and are going to hook us up with those games in the city. The bad news, is that there apparently isn't much of that kind of action in NY since the two biggest clubs got shut down.

The tournament had a weird "tag-team" format, and involved a rotation of 4 games. Kris and I ended up taking down 2nd place in the tournament (total of 24 teams). We played in a side game thereafter, but didn't last long, since there was only one quality fish in the game.

After we left the club, we ate some authentic New York Pizza, in the dark, since the place closed while we were there and they shut the lights off. Then we drove around Manhattan. The place truly is an urban jungle. The buildings just go, on and on. I was amazed at how big the city is. We drove through Times Square and I was instantly reminded of Picadilly Circus, with the gigantic light boards and HUGE ads. I could definitely live there, but I couldn't have a car. Driving was INSANE. I felt like I was constantly on the verge of getting into an accident or commiting some terrible infraction.

and this post sucks, I apologize.