Trip Report: Bermuda Cruise

We went on a cruise from Boston to Bermuda last week, and had a great time. We we're not really cruise types, and this was our first cruise, but we found ways to enjoy ourselves. Or, I did, anyway, once I saw that the casino offered a $1-$2 no limit holdem game and two no limit tournaments (which turned into three by the end of the cruise.)

My wife's mother gave us a ride to the cruise ship; it took us all of about 30 minutes on a Sunday morning/early afternoon. We got there at about 12:15, and walked right through everything. We even stopped to chat with the lady at the bottom of the escalator. There were several of the obnoxious photographers who took our picture -- one of them was against a green background, and so in the print, the ship showed through my green shirt. Pretty hilarious. They had another one with a blue background, so they were hedging their bets. The photographers were obnoxious during the whole trip. when we got off the ship, they were there, HOLDING UP THE LINE TO GET OFF THE BOAT, to take stupid pirate pictures. I couldn't believe that people were stopping to allow their picture to be taken.

Anyway, we were on the ship in about 10 minutes -- apparently that is very good; we were expecting to wait in lines, but it was all clear sailing for us. We got up to the room and then headed up to the top deck for lunch. Since we were among the first people on the boat, there was no line for burgers ans fries. Later in the day, we went to the upper deck, and nicknamed it the "Fat Deck" and "Club Penguin". We were laughing our asses off. It was definitely not our scene.

Now for the good stuff. I went down to the casino to register for the first tournament (to be played Monday). I also tossed in $20 to get $30 in gaming chips to give to my wife. That was six $5 promotional chips, and you could not split a chip. So she played some roulette the next day. She won $180 by placing a $5 chip on number 10 for our tenth anniversary. That was nice, because it paid for a massage for her later in the cruise.

Later on, a $1/$2 no limit holdem game started up, and it was a very good game! There were kids who had clearly never played a live hand of poker, and several fairly decent players, including Jimmy, Mike, and Phil. An old guy sat down in seat 1 or 2 ( I was in seat 8) and proceeded to make some terrible calls, quickly losing his $100 buy-in. Mike and I were wondering what the fuck was going through the guy's mind, but Mike was harassing the fish about his play! I told him several times not to knock on the glass.

I busted Jimmy by calling his all-in with A7s on the flop. I was about 50%, but Jimmy gave me shit for the entire cruise for that call. Then the fish moved to seat 5 or 6, and I took a couple of $100 buy-ins off him. Two of the hands that I remember, he just got unlucky, but in general, the guy was a whale! He just kept buying in and buying in. I believe he was down $500 for the night by the time he left. He may have won 1 or 2 pots, but that's about it. The two times I busted him were AQ vs. AJ and AA vs. QQ, so like I said, he could have just been unlucky.

At the end of the first night, I was up over $500. That's 1/3 of my original poker bankroll! What the hell am I doing playing for these stakes!?

In the tournament the next day, I bought in for $60, and rebought 3 times. Then we had an add on, so I was in for $300. I knocked out two players on the same hand with KK just after the break to bring us to the final table. We started with 3 tables of 7, and the final table started with 10 players. They only had one poker table, so two of the tables were blackjack tables. I was in seat 4 at the final table, and had a decent stack of about T22000 (the initial stack was T2000, rebuys got T2000, and the add-on was T4000). After a couple of people busted out, I picked up 99 in EP, and raised it up. The big blind in seat 1 called. Flop was AQx, and I bet out. She called. Turn was a blank, and I bet out. She called, leaving her with just about 2000 in chips. river was another blank, and I bet out, and of course, she called, and turned over the ace. My ears were burning, as I knew that I had foolishly bluffed off my chips against a terrible player. Argh! I should have just checked it down after she called me on the flop! I was in position to win this tournament, and I blew it!

So I bubbled out in sixth place, and the lady who called my bluff ended up winning it. Happily, she bought into the cash game later that night for $100, and quickly lost it. I ended up getting trapped by Mike with a queen high straight when he had the king. That was about a $600 pot, and I ended up down over $200 for the night. At the time of that pot, we were 3-handed, and I had had several drinks. I vowed not to play short-handed drunk against Mike for the rest of the trip.

We landed in Bermuda, and went to Horseshoe Beach, Dockyards, Hamilton, Tobacco Bay, St. George, and a snorkeling trip to a shipwreck. The first night we were there, a drunk person fell down the center of the stairwell and died. It is rumored that he was trying to slide down the railing. We saw his family angrily leaving the ship the next day, but there was never any notice to the passengers. Club Penguin just kept on Calypso-ing. We ate at the extra-charge restaurant one night, and had Chateaubriand. It was quite good. Another cool thing is that you can order a bottle of wine, have one glass, and they will store the bottle for you. You can then request the same bottle later in the cruise from any restaurant or bar, and they will go get it for you.

We also had a great time snorkeling at the wreck and reef, and at Tobacco Bay. I would say that Virgin Gorda was much better for water clarity and quantity of fish, but this was OK. Definitely bring your own snorkeling equipment, or just buy it at the gift shop in town, as they charge outrageous fees to rent or buy at the beaches. We took buses and ferries around the entire archipelago, and generally had a very relaxing and fun time. On one ferry ride, I fell asleep because of the rocking of the boat. I also got a sunburn on the final day at Tobacco Beach. I blame my wife.

Back at sea, we had another$60 + rebuys tourney on Friday, and this time I had one rebuy and ended up at the final table again. I pushed on the first hand with T11000 and 22. I got 3 callers, TT, JJ, and KJ. The KJ won the main pot, and the JJ won the side pot, and I was out. Another questionable play, although I was figuring people might be tightening up a bit.

That evening, I ended up winning about $190 in the cash game. The action was considerably less than on the first night, so I think on future cruises, I will make sure to get in the game right away on the first night. There were a couple of young guys who were at the tables several nights, and they were very wary of me. One of them won the first tournament, but had to borrow a buck to buy in to the cash game. I guess he didn't want to risk his winnings, or maybe he blew it on dice.

The next day, we had a bonus tournament, two tables, and 13 entrants. I had about T4000 or so, and found KK on the button. I raised, and the big blind put me all in with AJs. The ace fell in the door, and I had to rebuy plus add-on for an extra $120, for only a paltry T6000. Oh well, I was vowing to play better at the final table this time. When we made it to the final table (after three bustouts) we got a free drink. At the first final table, I took a beer, but at the other two, I just took a free drink coupon. We were joking that these were some of the most expensive drinks we had ever had. I was in seat 1 this time.

By the time we were at the final table, I had maybe T10000. I doubled up to about T21000 when I knocked Mike out with a flopped pair of aces against his 77. Once I had a bit of a stack, I was again in position to win. I started picking up blinds, I knocked out another strong player, and my stack kept growing. When we made the money, it was only for $60, so I had to go for the win. I kept up the pressure, and kept building my stack. When we were down to 3, I had about T40000 or so against about T20000 or so for each of the remaining two players. Blinds were 1000/2000, and I was raising to 6000 on just about every hand: "Six," (everyone folds,) "Six," (everyone folds,) etc. I was relentless, and these guys admitted that they hadn't played many tournaments. I haven't played many live tournaments, but I've been in plenty of online tournaments, and won plenty of them. I really felt that I should have one the first one, and felt that this one was a must win for me (and for my bankroll.)

So these two guys, one of whom ended the week with a first, a second, and a third, failed to repop me until it was too late. They ended up making stands with pitiful hands as they were about to get blinded off. I think heads up lasted about three hands, one of which I folded, much to the consternation of some of the spectators. I figured, the guy had T8000, so two double-ups, and we were almost even. I had a 52o on the button/small blind, so I gave him the 2000 instead of doubling him up to 16000. The next hand, he went all in and took down the tournament for a $486 first prize. The best part was the impossibly hot Belarussian casino hostess/tournament director seeing me later, and saying "Congratulations, Jason!" when my wife was with me. My wife was a little miffed, and called her "the other woman."

As we got closer to port, the crew were looking forward to their two hours off, and one Indian guy asked if we knew any Indian restaurants near the cruise terminal. One of the poker dealers was going to the Cheesecake Factory for a piece of cheesecake. Whatever.

At the cash game on the final night, I bought in as usual for the maximum $200, and was steadily going down. We had a couple of drunk guys at the table, so it was frustrating that I wasn't able to increase my stack. On one hand, I put a kid all in after I raised with JJ and he reraised me with TT. He hit a four-flush on the river, with the Jh as the river card, just to twist the knife. So I rebought again, bringing my total buy-ins to $400 for the evening. I made a few bucks as we took apart the table, and on the final hand, we were down to four-handed. I raised to $8 on the button with 99, and Mike re-raised in the BB to $20. I called, and the flop came T2x. He bet $25, and I raised to $75. He raised all in for another $66. I went into the tank and considered my options. I figured him for a higher pair than mine at that point, but the pot was something like $250 at that point, and I only had to throw in $66. So I figured I was beat, but priced in, and I said so as I called. I was not looking forward to being down nearly $400 for the night. I said, "I've got nines. What do you have, jacks?" He flipped over K2o for a pair of 2's, saying, "No, I've got twos." The turn and river were no help. Mike had me pegged as an ABC player who raises only with an ace or a pair, and I guess he decided on that hand I had an ace and thought I was bluffing. I'm not sure what I would have done if he had had a much larger stack and moved in on me. I'm sure I will see him again, either at Foxwoods or Seabrook, and I think I can learn a lot about live play from him. But, for this trip, ABC and a little luck won out.

We arrived on time on Sunday, and disembarkation was almost as smooth as embarkation. We had to hunt just for a few seconds for one of our bags, but then it was out to the taxi line and on home. That taxi driver was sure lucky to have such an expensive fare. We had originally thought we might try to take the T, but one of our bags was so heavy that we would have been exhausted.

I think that I would like to go on another cruise, especially a poker cruise. I might like to try something a bit more upscale, but even then, the pool scene is unlikely to delight me. I might also like to try one that doesn't force you to pay extra for every beer or soft drink. My wife said she likes the multiple days in port, because I could not go to the casino while we were in port. And, or course, there's always the accidental deaths to worry about. I think the kids would probably like it, but it would be a pain to keep track of them all the time. Maybe when they're a little older, we can try one with them.