From: "Frank Brabec" Subject: BARGE 2K trip report Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 15:25:05 -0500 Incredible. Unbelievable. And now, reality. I'm back home, can't get a food comp to save my life, looks like the maid hasn't been here in 10 years (It's true...when people come over to visit at my house, they wipe their feet on the way OUT). But, I experienced Vegas the way it's supposed to be. Let me try to get a trip report down before it all fades into oblivion. I tried to do a trip report for BARGE 99, but that was a blur, coming at the tail end of a 2 1/2 week stay in Vegas. I had fun, and think I made money, but I had a much better time this year, reuiniting with MARGE and SARGE and TOC and WSOP friends. Plus, I had my family with me this time, so it wasn't all gamble drink gamble drink gamble drink gamble drink sleep gamble drink gamble drink, more like gamble drink gamble drink play with kids gamble drink gamble drink sleep, which made for a nice change. I got on a plane late Tuesday night, delayed as usual, but the pilot must have taken a short-cut, as we were only about 35 minutes late in landing. It was little Maggie's first plane ride, and she liked it, it wasn't a screaming baby flight, and I am just so lucky to have such easy-going kids. Checked in to the hotel at the 4 Queens about 1 a.m., put the kids to bed, and went downstairs to gamble. I got stuck shooting craps, and was thinking, oh, no, not another one of these trips, but hung in there and it turned around after about an hour, and was never behind again for the whole week. It was unreal. Usually, craps is a real roller coaster ride, but I have this theory that if I get all my gamb00ling in at craps and BJ, I don't have to gamble at poker, and can then play my A game. At least, that's what I tell myself. So, I slept about three hours, and then made my way over to Binions to see my BARGE buddies. Got involved in a great 15-30 HE game, which turned bad after the clueless grumpy guy pissed off the clueless calling station, and got him to walk for about 45 minutes. God, do I hate it when that happens. Plus, Ming Lee joined the game at some point in the festivities, and when I tried to get it heads-up between myself and the live ones, I ended up heads-up with Ming. I decided to pack it in and leave. It now occurs to me this all might have happened on Thursday afternoon...lookit, I'm getting confused already. I know I got involved in the HoP tourney Thursday, and the time I invested in brushing up on the lowball section of Super System was wasted, as I never got to the lowball round. Got dealt a pat str8 in draw, four way-action, capped before the draw, got sucked-out on by Russ Fox drawing to a pair of aces and getting deuces full of aces, and Andy Hughes, drawing to 2 pair, 4's and 7's, and hitting the case 7 (My str8 was 5 thru 9). Talk about overkill! I gave my good friend Randy/Mitch/Schmengie Collack, who owes me a dollar, $120 to put me in to the Mirage Thursday night tourney at the Mirage, in which I lasted to just past or around the break. I then tried to make it back downtown to join the r00ling craps tour, (thanks to nice BARGE'r Jim Bullard for the ride), but when I got to Binions, I was informed by some trailing BARGE'rs that they left promptly at 10:30, for the El Cortez, they thought. Well, I wasn't about to go chasing that group all over downtown, so it was back to the 4 Queens for some craps. Had the pleasure of playing with my friend, the legendary Bob "Don't call me Betty" Ogus, and one nice guy David "Heldar" Heller, who diagnosed my leg and back problem as a bulging herniated disk, possibly requiring surgery. I had the sense to not ask him if he knew what he was talking about, as with the tests and consulting physicians he was reccommending, it sure sounded expensive. Was doing ok, but my wife made me stop and eat about 3 a.m. Afterwards, I went back for one more session, and did considerably better than ok. Friday's TOC tournament was one that I was looking forward to, as I sure love the stud rounds, the no-limit HE at the end is great, and the Omaha...well, you can have the Omaha. Busted out 'bout 30th when my pockit 10's run into Adam B's KK...wished it turned out differently, but played well with what I had, no regrets. The CHORSE tourney was great for BS'ing with people, got to introuduce Mrs. NUT-Z around, and the last two stud rounds were phenomenal...sat down with $51 in chips and doubled through with rolled-up 10's, which filled by fifth street, no waiting, thank you, and doubled up, then doubled up again with split jacks and an ace, the jacks miraculously held up, and i was paid off by a pair of tens after trying to move the player off the hand (she knows she doesn't want to do that anymore, I think). Finished that round with about $230. Then, the final hand of the final round, get sevens rolled up, hit the case seven on fourth street, and got paid off to the river when Mr. Timmer had the misfortune to make a flush. This sure is an easy game, when you get cards! The music at CHORSE was great too, having the only team with a team fight song. The NLHE event was scary, as Steve Brecher and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson were at my first table. The poor fellow who was sitting between them (I think his name was Eric, but I'm not sure, I met him later, and he's a pretty nice guy, and played well, too, outlasting both of these star players) was the object of one wise-cracker's observation that "A powerful winning force surrounds YOU!" Immediately to my left was one Clay and I didn't catch his last name, but he took Brecher out on a big hand early with KQ offsuit, flopped a Q, called a real scary all-in bet from Steve, and spiked a K on the turn to take down an about $9,000 pot. Steve didn't show his hand, but I sure was happy to see him go (No offense Steve, I'm sure you understand) because Brecher was beating me like a red-headed stepchild. I'd try to limp with a small pair, get lucky and hit a big flop and a big pot, but he wouldn't let me do it, having position on me and coming with a big raise. It was aggravating, I repeatedly had to lay down hands to his aggressiveness. I don't know, maybe I have a tell or ten. Things got better after he left, but there was still Jesus to be concerned with. We played two pots and split, me laying down a suited ace when I missed the flop, and he laying down a pair of sevens when I bet my pocket Jacks after the flop. Maybe I should insert my Jesus section right here. What a great player and person. After winning the big one, what happened during our tournament probably happens to him every day. A drunken railbird (this guy was way gone at 10 a.m. Now, I am not opposed to an ocassional morning beer, like for BARGE, or at the Derby, or some such social event, but this fella looked like he made a serious career out of it) starts in with "Haaaayyyyyyy, Jesus!" "Haaaaaaayyyyyy, lookit, it's the World Champion!" Haaaaaaayyyyyyy, you the man!" Chris never batted an eye. Totally gracious and kind to the goofball. What a class act. (Note: The heckler was NOT an RGP'er). As to the great player aspect, besides the insights Chris shared at the banquet, let me repeat a conversation we had later that evening, while the Chowaha chip castle thing was going on, regarding that 77 vs. JJ hand. Me: "Hey, Chris, do you remember that hand I played against you earlier today, when you smooth called my raise of your big blind, and then folded to my bet on the flop?" Chris: "I remember EVERY hand." That's pretty f'n deep. I remember key hands from my tournaments, hands that I've played vs. opponents while the tourney's going on, hands my opponents have showed down vs. each other, but once the tournament is over, I can't honestly say that I remember EVERY hand. What focus. What a lot to think about. Btw, Chris won the chip castle contest, too, showing a multi-faceted array of talents. Anyways, back to the tourney, after Chris exited, play continued, with me slowly building my stack thru some steals, some legitimate hands, nobody really getting out of line, when one Sam Hartmann entered the poker room with an animal on her head. Clay, still sitting immediately to my left: "What is that?" Me: "I think it's a rat." Clay: "It looks like a beaver." Me: "Hmm, her nick is Ratly...I gotta put her on a rat." At one point in the contest, I had about $5,000 in chips, and was thrilled and delighted to find out my IRCsomes teammate and Calcu^H^H^H^H^Symposium partner Mary "MadMary" Massey had more than $10,000 in the other room. I also had a piece of Ed Baker, Mike McCracken, Ken Jordan, and Connie (sorry I forget your last name) thru the symposium. Things were looking good. However, a bit later, with the blinds escalating, it turned out I was short stacked when they broke my table and moved me into the final room. Making the final forty was ok, but it was disconcerting when I looked around to see how my horses were doing and I was my only horse! Picked a hand just before being blinded away, IGHN. The banquet was great, with Don Perry and I trying to corrupt the young son of Adam from Scotland. Sunday, got my butt kicked a little by making a bad double in the Chouette, moved the family over to The Orleans and then played for a little while less than I would have liked in the Sunday Night limit HE tourney. Did some family things Monday and Tuesday, which included seeing the lions at MGM (they are HUGE), visiting the Luxor, Excalibur. Speaking of the Excalibur, some more poker content... Wanting to rest, I sat down in a 1-5 no-ante stud game at the Excalibur while Sheri and the kids did some touristy things, but the touristy thing that I witnessed was PEOPLE VOLUNTARIALY PUTTING MONEY INTO A POT AFTER LOOKING AT THEIR FIRST THREE CARDS IN STUD, WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD A HAND! I was amazed! A seat opened up for me at the 2-6 HE game, but I could not go! At least five of the players had never played poker in a casino before. It was a real nice room, too, with food on a buffet for the players, although I just had eaten, and the fella next to me came back with a "wish" taco...they had tortillas, and cheese, and beans, but no meat! But, the thought was nice, and i would highly reccommend this room to your novice poker friends or spouses, or yourselves, if you just want to cornball for an hour or two, with virtually no risk of a loss. Although Lori had fun babysitting for Max, and getting to see a reportedly great Penn & Teller show, the kids were taking some bad beats on this trip. Thursday night the volcano at the Mirage malfunctioned. No volcano. While downtown, the Fremont Street Experience malfunctioned the first time they tried to view it. At Treasure Island, too windy. No dead pirates. The masquarade parade at the Rio is dark Wednesdays, so we went Tuesday. Oops, now it's dark Tuesdays, too. So, the last day was a flurry of shuttle and cab rides trying to get in everything before our 6 a.m. flight out of town. We stopped back at the Rio about 1 a.m., as a nice casino host there wanted to comp me the world, after I tried to cash in some $500 chips I had in my pocket when I rushed out of the Orleans. Thought I was some kind of high r00ler, I guess. By then, all that was open was the coffee shop, but this is the nicest coffe shop I've ever been in. Well, while we're eating, the kids are asking me, "So, how much money DID you make, dad?", obviously angling for their piece of the pie. "Nothing." "What!!! What happened to all that money you had?" Time for some fatherly advice. "Lookit, kids...I got a stack of bills THIS BIG back in the box at the hotel, but until you get on the plane and it actually takes off, you are never ahead for sure in this town." Kids. When Sheri was pregnant with Lori, I wasn't sure what kind of father I would be. I sure was nervous. But, my buddy Eddie, with a 1 1/2 and a three-year old at the time, calmed my fears, saying, "You'll love kids! They're like really smart dogs!" How true. I spent 2-3 weeks schooling 3 1/2-year-old Maggie before we reached Vegas. "Maggie, when we get to Vegas, at some point I'm going introduce you to a man named Randy. I'll say, "This is my friend Randy." And what will you say to him?" "HELLO, MR. SCHMENGIE!", says she. She did perfect. As for the boy (10-year-old Frankie), one night while Lori was babysitting Max, Sheri and I took the two younger ones out, and were admiring the fountains at the Bellagio. We crossed the street to get the shuttle back to the Orleans, but stopped to watch the show one last time. Fountains shooting 100, 200 feet in the air. Music. Lights. "Frankie, isn't that beautiful? Frankie? Frankie!!!" I look down, and he's wisely using his time while the parents are distracted by the display to check out the stripper magazines in the paper boxes. Let's not even get started about how somehow he'd have to stop and tie his shoes every time he walked past Glitter Gulch. He's gonna fit right in with the BARGE crowd in 10 years. Well, I did end up sleeping 'bout an hour and a half, getting in one final craps session, and got out of town with the money, no small feat for me, as you can well imagine. It was by a large margin the best Vegas trip I'd ever had, money-wise and fun-wise, and we're all looking forward to BARGE 2001. (Apologies to all I didn't mention by name, Len G., Joan "Always Aware", Teammates Janie, Mary, Ken, Patri, Sharla come to mind, Kevin Un, Bingo, Pete, thanks of course to Chuck and Mike, everybody I didn't mention, I love each and every one of you. This is already way too long). Frank Brabec NUT-Z (Photos of some of the action are available through the kindness of Andy Hughes, at his website)http://www.swiftsite.com/NevadaCasinoChips/barge00.htm Check out Sheri's new website at www.sheribrabec.com