NY to LA Poker Speed Challenge: must cash in every state from NY to LA
I am embarking on a Poker Cannonball where I need to travel from NYC to LA & cash in a poker tournament in each state I pass thru.
To cash in New York State, the two options are Turning Stone and Rivers Schenectady. Most of their tournaments are on the weekend so if I don't cash right away, I may get stuck in New York state for a bit.
Here is vlog number one about starting the whole process at the Red Ball Garage in New York City (the traditional starting point for the real life Cannonball Run road race).
Lots of good info at the end of the vlog from Ed Bolian who walks about his record setting drive across the U.S.
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In vlog #1, I buy a 1998 Toyota Camry outside of Boston, drive it to Manhattan and go to the official Cannonball starting line which is the Red Ball Garage. I then drive to Turning Stone casino near Syracuse for tournament number 1 as a part of Big October Weekend.
If I don't cash, I can't leave New York state.
So far, I have slept in my vehicle at the rest stop on the New York Thruway once... on the way north from New York City to Turning Stone and I wanted to make a Saturday buy-in.
I budgeted 45 days... several pros were telling me I budgeted too few days... even though I budgeted 45 days... I think I could truly do 60 days (I had some backup emergency days on hold if needed) for the 9 states if need be... NY PA OH KY MO OK NM AZ CA.
while I didn't cash at Turning Stone in my very first attempt... if I were to have won at Turning Stone... it would have taken me two days to cash... so the cool thing is that if I cash in attempt 2 at the one day tourney at Rivers Schenectady on Sunday, I really don't lose any days b/c no matter what, I would have ended up cashing on the Sunday of the weekend
Alright, I came up with this challenge for myself that I needed to cash in every state crossing the country going from New York to California. I ended up being stuck in New York state for multiple weeks but in my fifth attempt, I finally cashed in a poker tournament! Total min cash but a cash is a cash (in my poker vlog at www.pokercannonball.com, I wondered if we had paid the bubble if that would have counted as cashing for purposes of this challenge).
Now that I cashed, I am allowed to proceed to travel from Rivers Schenectady on to Wind Creek Bethlehem and now try to cash in Pennsylvania so I can then move on to Ohio.
As far as my P&L, $622 in payouts on $2, 180 in buy-ins... definitely losing money so far.
Here is the update of what happens when I am in Pennsylvania... stop at Wind Creek Bethlehem equals a suck out loss with K-K and then on to Parx Casino near Philadelphia... here is the update poker vlog on the topic... the Poker Cannonball Run continues... https://youtu.be/T23wFAT7Wew
On my "Papa Poker" YouTube channel, I posted a short with just 30 seconds of highlights of my latest Episode 6. I may try to start including short recaps of each episode for those who don't need to go through the whole vlog. Thanks!
Now crossing the country in record time... checked off Pennsylvania and here is the vlog of me checking off Ohio in just one day!
I figured I would write up a trip report on Club JAQK in Louisville from way back when. I know the room is closed now, but better late than never.
This stop was part of my cross-country adventure hunting for tournament cashes. I had just tied for 1st place in a tournament at Hollywood Casino Columbus the night before and was looking for the next spot to play in Kentucky. I weighed my options between Club JAQK in Louisville, Tri State Social in Henderson, The OG Clubhouse in Oak Grove, and The Barrel in Franklin. Since Louisville was the closest drive from Columbus, I went with Club JAQK so I could get some extra sleep.
Quick side note on the name: I’m pretty sure it is pronounced "Club Jack" even though it is spelled "Club JAQK". What do you guys think of that spelling?
I showed up for the 6pm tournament on Halloween night. The buy-in was $50, plus they required a $10 membership fee to play. The field was pretty sparse. We ended up with just one table for the tournament. I assumed the low turnout was just because of the holiday, but maybe traffic was just generally low at this establishment.
The room was located in a strip mall right next to a Walmart. This actually turned out to be a solid perk. On the break, I was able to run into the Walmart to grab a banana and some snacks. There was also a Subway inside the Walmart if you needed a full meal.
As for the player pool, I was definitely one of the youngest people at the table. I think they used to put some games on YouTube at one point. Has anyone else played here before it closed?
Here is a link to my vlog playing at Club JAQK:
https://youtu.be/lupc5t8Yc-I
I thought I could travel from Kentucky to Missouri but it turns out there are no roads between the two states even though they touch.
Detour to Illinois!
Chicago Charitable Games outside of Chicago, Illinois:
MISSOURI!
Vlog trip now takes me to Missouri!
7 left, 6 cash, tight big stack puts me all in. I have AKo. Fold or go with it?
I’m on a poker roadtrip across the country where I must cash in each state I travel through on a trip from NYC to LA and I just got put to the test on the stone bubble with Ace King.
I’m doing a poker cannonball run with one rule: I have to cash in every state I enter before I can drive to the next one.
Right now I’m at Hollywood Casino St. Louis. We are down to 7 players left in the tournament and 6 get paid. So I’m exactly one spot from the money. If I bust here, I have to stay in Missouri another day and pay for another hotel night. If I cash, I get to drive to Choctaw for the WSOP Circuit stop and try to check off Oklahoma.
Here’s the spot: I’m in the big blind with Ace King offsuit. The button has a giant stack and has been playing super tight at the final table, barely entering pots. The button raises into my big blind and the sizing basically puts me to a decision for my tournament life (I’m practically all in if I continue).
Normally AKo feels like a go-with-it hand, but the bubble pressure is real because I really need this cash to keep the trip moving. At the same time, folding feels crazy because it is Ace King, and I don’t know when I’ll get a better hand.
What’s the correct play here? Do you take the spot and go with AKo for your tournament life, or do you fold and try to ladder into the money given the situation?
