From: Donald Rieck Subject: Bingo's brief trip summary Hope to get a 'real' trip report done soon, but meanwhile my initial memories: 1. Kudo's and thanks to the BARGER's I saw in the waiting lounge for the O'Hare flight to Vegas - Al Weber, Paul McMullen, and Beverly (?) McMullin . Paul rented a car and I scored a free ride to Binions. Ding ! 2. Kudos and thanks to Chris 'Ploink' Straghalis for the r00ling BARGE CD. The artwork alone is fantastic. I can't imagine how much time he put into this - very very cool. It makes up for the multi hundred $$ beat he put on my top two with a runner runner straight in the $10-20 game that ate me alive. 3. Kudos and thanks to Paul White for the ADB painted rock (an ADB rock - definitely an oxymoron). 4. Kudos and thanks to Foldem, the best r00mie I never see, who was nice as always, and gave me a number of neat chips for the collection from NorCal, as well as a defunct Diamond Club chip. Pete - I still owe you for the last longer bet payoffs. 5. Kudos and thanks to Al Weber for 'assisting' me to my room Thursday night (make that Friday morning) when I was in serious tilt/sleep/comotose mode. 6. Kudos and thanks to Zimmers, Chuck W, and all the other great people who make BARGE happen. It's the weekend I look forward to every year, and this year was great fun again. Worst Beat I took : Losing with KK to K-4 off in the 10-20 when Dorothy the local (yes - THAT Dorothy) caught a runner runner straight. Aiyah. Worst beat I saw: Patti B in the team CHORSE game playing Razz losing to an opponents board that showed trip 6's. AiyYAH !. Patti overall though did a GREAT job at a tremendously tough table, giving us the chip lead for much of the event until the above. Best beat I put on: On Binions at the dice table, going from down $200 to up $200 in one roll by Ron Galencia ( ? -last name ?). Absolutely Schen-Schen like in it's duration. The BARGER next to me who I won't name in case he's shy about such things went from -$500 to +2k during that roll DING. Funniest thing seen: The 90 year old rock straddling in the 4-8 game. And winning :) Second funniest thing seen: The BARGER hitting the nickel slot for $200 during the team CHORSE game. Then the line of pinball nickels becoming completely full of BARGERS for the next hour :) Most unexpected fun had: The HOP tourney. I REALLY had a blast with this, although I would suggest killing the 5-stud rounds for next year. I studied hard for it, and made it in the top 30% I think. Lost with a pat 7-5-4-3-2 when someone drew out on me to make 7-5-4-3-A. Oops :) Stil, I lasted WAY longer than I expected, and enjoyed the variety. The TOC tourney was also a blast. I again made the top 30% or so, busting out when I tried to steal the stud antes with a low concealed pair and got called in FOUR places :) oops. Must. Learn. Stud. :) ObPresto: I bust out of the NLHE tourney with 55 in the big blind. Bozo Blackstock raises my $1000 blind to $2000 straight. Suspecting a steal, I go all in for $2,400 more. He thinks, and calls with J-T off. I'm ahead, but a spiked J on the river sends me out with 5 or 6 tables left. I think I have to go all in here, as the blinds are seriously high, and the low raise made me certain he was stealing with a non-pair. Comments ? My NLHE table was a blast, with Quick and Monte making many funny comments throughout the game. The worst part about going out in the hand above is that I *knew* Quick was all in for the BB on the next hand, so I had to pay my Quick bet RIGHT before he stood up to pay off all the rest. Aiyah :) Also thanks to Warren for the stuffed fishy bounty prize - very cute. Worst thing about BARGE: I just plain didn't feel good most of the weekend. I know my healthy lifestyle has something to do with that, but I think I caught some kind of bug that made it even worse - seriously limited my ability to stay up ALL night most days. I also only really drank one night - I even ordered MILK at the table several times. Must be getting old. It was great seeing all of you again - this really is a highlight of my year, and I can't wait to do it again next year ! Don 'Bingo' Rieck