Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:43:59 -0400 From: Ed Baker Subject: [BARGE] ATLARGE 2013 Trip Report I'm including the BARGE list on this because many of the denizens there are missing out on the reports about how great ATLARGE was this year. I haven't been to ATLARGE in about 15 years, so I'm going to write a long report. HIGHLIGHT: Food I love free food. How do I love thee, little ham and cheese sandwiches on rye, let me count the ways. One, two, three, .., six! And tiny spring rolls with duck sauce, 15. And little sausage filled pastry things that look like quiche cups, seven. Soft pretzels sticks, spicy spring rolls, chicken salad sandwiches with macadamia nuts and pineapple, Italian sub/hoagie/hero/torpedo/grinder/baguette, Italian sausage sub with onions and peppers, Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies (among others). I could go on and on. This was the free food served during the Friday and Saturday tournaments. I missed the Sunday tournament, but I did see the food mentioned in someone else's report. He raved about it, and he should know. The Saturday tournament started at 11:00 AM. The first round of food was out around 12:00 to 1:30 or so. The second round was out around 4:30 to 6:00. Then the banquet was at 8:00. Prime rib, salmon, chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, etc. And Thursday night at the smoker: I just remember enjoying it. I disagree with any complaints. I was in AC for three nights and didn't spend any money on food. Zero point zero zero. Nil. None. Zilch. Nada. The empty set. That's six free meals and I missed two on Sunday. And the food was good! I enjoyed it all the more because I'm normally on a low sodium, very low fat diet and wouldn't have been able to eat any of it. Now I'm going to pay for it with extra hours on the treadmill for a few weeks. Here are some (very boring, low quality) pictures from ATLARGE here: https://plus.google.com/photos/115956584692188195771/albums/5854238692878185601/5854240404256570482 Now I wish I had taken pictures of the food. Heh. HIGHLIGHT: Bathtub I was on the fence about attending ATLARGE. I had only been to one, and that was about 15 years ago. It's mainly the cost that keeps me away. Three nights is $250, two tournaments $240, plus $100 in gas means a $600 starting price. I could share a room and share a ride, but I wanted to leave from work on Thursday, and like my own room. It's like when we go backpacking everyone has their own tent these days. The room was clean and nice. They still have CRT TVs, but it was fine for the 20 minutes I used it. The bathroom was nice, too, with a large bathtub. I couldn't resist taking a long, hot bath Saturday morning. I like to bring my book in with me and read. I hold it with two washcloths because the water is so hot that my hands start to sweat. When I'm done, it takes 10-20 minutes to cool down before I can get dressed. After the water drained out I noticed a little sand on the bottom. That's because I was on the beach the previous day! HIGHLIGHT: Quad aces in VP The storm forecast caused a lot of consternation for the Boston area travelers. People already in AC were encouraging and basically saying don't be a pussy. But our impression was that the storm was heading our way and would be between us and AC on Thursday. There was talk of canceling from more than one of us. But instead, David K (the original) drove down on Wednesday. Matt I. drove to New York on Thursday, and then to AC on Friday (mistake). David K (the other one) drove down Thursday afternoon. I drove down Thursday morning and barely used my wipers until the last hour. As we all know by now, the forecast was wrong. The storm was out to sea on Thursday, but came closer Friday and dumped one to two feet in the Boston area! So with time to kill before the Smoker and no poker room, I decided to play my slot promotion credits. I found the Dizzy Dolphin bar, ordered a Yingling on tap, and put my player's card into the VP machine. The promotion required a half hour of slot play for a reward of between $10 and $5000 of slot credit. I've never played much VP, and had to choose between eight different games on the machine. I choose the one I thought would cost me the least amount of money to get through the half hour. I put in $10 and played single $0.25 bets and watched golf on TV. I played very slowly, and wondered exactly how fast I had to play to qualify. I caught myself enjoying it and playing faster, and had to slow down. Eventually, the half hour passed and I cashed out $8. The credit would be awarded when my card was next inserted and the promotion button pressed. So I put the card back in, pressed the button, and it gave me $15 slot play credit. I tried to cash it out immediately, but it said I had to play it. I knew that. So I played the same game, but this time used max bet of $1.25 Twelve hands would use the entire credit and I could cash out the winnings. Near the end, I get a pair of aces, held them, and drew the other two! Quad aces, woo hoo! I cashed out $108 and was very happy. I stayed there drinking beer, watching TV, and playing CP on my mini-tablet I had just bought for $145 on woot (Galaxy Tab 2 7.0). There were a few ATLARGErs nearby at a table, but I didn't introduce myself. The badges weren't out yet, but these guys didn't need badges for me to peg them for what they were. Next thing, Goldie walks in and sits next to me to play through his half hour promotion. He's playing full bet and also hits quad aces! But he's playing double bonus and gets paid $500! I was still happy with my $100, but geez. Then he hits quad kings for another couple of hundred. What a great start to the weekend! HIGHLIGHT: Poker Room Staff The poker room staff were great. I loved the beautiful cocktail waitress, Sally. She was always smiling and very friendly. I never ordered from anyone else if she was working. I was disappointed when she said that she was leaving at 5:00, but then she added that her sister would be working! Her sister was beautiful, too, but was not smiling very much. The next day, Saturday, both sisters were working the day shift until 5:00. Our table on Saturday was the one nearest the food stations and also on the way to the service area for the waitresses. Sally and her sister were walking past us all day long. I was drinking Yingling bottles all day Friday and until 6:00 PM Saturday. I wish I had known that the sponsor was paying for them. I wouldn't have drunk any more, but I sure would have enjoyed them more! The dealers were just great. They worked 13 hour shifts on consecutive days. It was tough on some of them who had small children at home and a 45 minute commute. But they were always pleasant and treated everyone very well. Most of them liked to joke around, which made for a fun time. TK and the floor seemed genuinely appreciative that we were there. I cannot describe how well we were treated. I felt like a king, not a customer. HIGHLIGHT: Banquet I liked the young punk who spoke at the banquet. He was articulate and engaging. After a brief speech, he took questions from the audience. He never once mentioned how old everyone is. He did comment on our group clapping when someone busts out of the tournament. "Like, nobody does that!" And the food was just great. Having eaten twice already in the poker room, I still made sure to enjoy all three entrees: Prime Rib, Chicken, and Salmon. HIGHLIGHT: Beach "Some nights I still sleep on the beach" - Quadrophenia. I love the beach, and having it there during ATLARGE is a bonus. I walked about 45 minutes both Friday and Saturday morning, down by the water. On Friday there was a blizzard and I was a little concerned if it was safe or not. There was a surfer on the shore that day! Surfing in the snow, you gotta love it. I think he was a little apprehensive about me, and I stayed pretty far away as I waked past him. On Saturday the sun was shining and it was beautiful. Other people were out, too, so it seemed much safer. There are these big pipes going into the ocean. I don't know what they are/were for, but they sure are solid to withstand the constant pounding of the surf. On Saturday, I walked out on one of them, but went a little too far. A wave got me and soaked me about half way to my knees. Water went up my jeans and into my boots. I felt like a little kid. I only had 20 minutes before the tournament, so I went to my room, put on fresh socks, and put the hair dryer in the wettest boot. They never did get completely dry, and I drove home in my socks the next day. LOWLIGHT: WTF? On Saturday, before the tournament started, Goldie announced that some tournament chips were missing from Friday's tournament. He noted that there are a lot of chip collectors in our group, but you can't take tournament chips. No questions would be asked if any of the missing chips appeared on the podium. I don't know if any were returned or not, or what denominations were missing. And I didn't hear if any were missing from the Saturday or Sunday tournaments, either. Or, for that matter, if any were returned via the tournament stacks rather than the podium. HIGHLIGHT: Goldie Goldie is a very good speaker and it's a pleasure to listen to him when he does speak. He said that all he really does for ATLARGE is make the badges, so thank you for that, Of course we all know he must be joking. Maybe after all these years it's easier than in the beginning, but it has to be a lot of work. Someone else mentioned the relationship he has built over the years with our sponsor, and that really tells you something about him and our group. The sponsor also added $4000 to the dealer toke pool. I believe there were 16 dealers, so that's $250 each. What a great gesture. Is there some place to send thank-yous to the people who deserve it? HIGHLIGHT: ATLARGE During the Saturday tournament, the table behind with ADB Bigboy at it was messing with me. It took me hours to figure it out. Every once in a while I would feel a few drops of water hit my head. The first time it happened I couldn't figure it out. It wasn't until the forth time that it occurred to me it must be someone doing it on purpose. Before then, I was looking up at the ceiling, turning in my chair to see if someone was walking past, and just generally being puzzled. Well done! In the future, when I look back at this ATLARGE, I will remember sitting in the poker room with a great group of people, playing the Saturday tournament, drinking $1 Yinglings, enjoying delicious free food all day, and watching the beautiful waitresses constantly walking by. How could it be any better than that?