From: "Scott Harker" Subject: Scottro's first BARGE (s00per long) *Disclaimer* I can't remember hands like most of you can. I've tried, really I have, but I just can't. I suppose I could write them down as they occur, but I've found that it takes the focus from my game and I miss more than I care to. So, any particular hand that I attempt to recall will be strictly from my faulty memory and subject to error. Day 1, Monday July, 31 After an incredible screw-up at Hopkins Int'l (CLE), my plane leaves on time and actually arrives in Vegas 30 minutes early! WTG Continental! I've never had a problem with Cont. as everyone else seems to have. It's around 9 PM and still a little over 100 degrees! Man, since I moved to Ohio (from Vegas), I've really missed this heat. I think I'm one of the few who actually enjoy 115+ temps, and this heat at night puts me in a great mood, although I'm about to go through a bunch of hassle. I catch the bus to Alamo, which is parked at the very end of the terminal. The cranky old b**ch who is driving it is about to leave, but there's no one on the bus! I say, "Hi! How ya' doin'", and she says nothing. Not even a grunt. Oh boy, here we go. And she can't drive either. She is too slow and/or too fast, all at the wrong times, and I think I'm not going to make it to get my car. Finally, I get there, lugging the 2 big suitcases (one full of Virgin shirts) and my overstuffed carry-on my myself (and she looks at me with the "What, no tip?" look. Yeah, right!). OK, I'll say it. Alamo sucks! I wait nearly25 minutes in the very strange Alamo line (one huge-screen TV, straddled by 2 smaller ones are right at the front of the line). There seems to be no air-conditioning in the place, and I'm sweating (but I still love the heat, really!). I get to the counter and she says, "You have an economy. You'll be getting a Suzuki Swift. Are you sure you don't want something better, like a Cavalier?" Oh my, a Cavalier is better than what I'm getting. Oops. I ask how much more, and she says $5 a day, and I think for a second then decide to stick with my cheap-ass travel plans and elect to keep the Suz. She hands me the keys and tells me the row my car is parked in. I lug my stuff out the door and realize there actually was AC in the lobby. Of course, my car is in row F, the last row, and the car is, of course, the last in the row. It's about a mile away. My suitcase will not fit in the trunk so both have to go in the rear seat. The car has a radio but no power steering. Excellent! I navigate my way to the exit, and they want to see all of my papers plus my DL again!! Man, National is SO much easier. I make a note never to use Alamo again. I get to Binion's about 9:30 and check in. I find out that, parking in the garage and taking the elevator to the casino level is about as good as parking in my room! Up the nostalgic staircase and my room is 233, right there! Ding! Good beat #1! I open the door and DAMN! It's HOT!! After unpacking a little, I go to check the AC, and the HEAT was on!! It must be a joke! I set the AC to the coldest and head down to the poker room. I get into a nice 4/8 O/8 game and book a $13 win in an hour. The guy next to me shows his cards DURING the hand to me EVERY hand. It didn't help me much though. I get tired and decide to get a bite before bed. I go to Magnolias at 4Q for a nice Ruben with crappy service. Service so bad I don't tip. About 20 till 1, I go across the street to the Nugget and into Carson St. Cafe for an excellent apple pie a la mode and great service. No more Magnolias for me! Back to room, set alarm for 9 AM. Crash hard! Day 2, Aug. 1 I go downstairs looking for someone on the Thrill Ride tour, but I forgot who planned it and I'm out of luck. I decide to go to the Luxor and play in the Noon HE tournament. I play a little 1/5 7CS and make $12, then I get my seat and settle down to win it as I have a few times before. They pay 7 spots, and after some rusty play I run into (88). It's the final table so it's no limit. I raise the button and all fold to a cranky local (CL) who raises back. I call. Flop is 8 2 K. He snickers and bets half his stack, I call. Turn is 6, he checks, I check behind. River is another K, he bets and I figure him for at least a set, so I raise all in with my 8's full, he pays me off with K7o and off he goes. I finish 6th however when I bluffed in the wrong spot (this haunts me later in the week). Let's see. Pay 7 places, I finish 6th and still lose $2 when 6th pays $25 with a tournament buy-in of $25 + $2 add-on!! Excellent. I head back to room after stopping at 7-11 on Fremont (scary place!) for Red Bull (energy drink, love the stiff!) and aspirin, which I forgot to bring. After a short break in what is now an ice cube of a room, I head out to the Stratosphere for the pre-BARGE tournament. At the Strat., I meet up with an old and very dear friend of mine, Rowena. She was my realtor when I moved to and then moved from Vegas, and she's an excellent player too. John Harkness would later mistake her for my wife! LOL! I met my first BARGErs, JP Massar, Jerrod Ankenman, Ploink, Lee Munzer, Joan Hadley, Ratly and Randy Collack. All were so nice, and I was REALLY in the BARGE spirit. So much so that I busted out in 17/21 in the tournament! Oh, no problem though, there was a great 4/8 HOSE game going, so I sit in and have a blast dropping 3 racks, mostly to Paul Phillips who is straddling every chance he gets and tossing chips all over. One memorable hand: I fall into the motions and decide to straddle. I pick up 67o. All fold to Paul who raises as usual. I call. Flop is K 6 7 Ding! Paul bets, I raise, Paul 3-bet's it and I 4-bet. Paul calls. Turn is a rag and we go at it again, with Paul telling me "I can beat your random 2 cards!" River is an offsuit J. We bet-raise-call and Paul shows me K7o! Oops! As Ploink mentioned, it was cool to see Paul selling off Orleans chips for less than face value! Yeah, I was finally at BARGE! Rowena finished second in the tournament, and we went to Gardunos at the Fiesta for a late dinner. After dinner I head back to the room, clean up and head for the Mirage for some real poker. It's 11:20 PM. I get on a list for 10/20 7CS and hop into a fun little 3/6 HE game where the arguments about politics and Bill Gates are really heated but still enjoyable. Most of the table is on tilt. There is a nice couple from Seattle on my right, and we chat while I rack up about $40 win and hear my name called for the 10/20. I get to the 10/20 Stud game, sandwiched between 2 chain smokers. I have to get up and step back from the table after every hand. It's really that bad. After totally stealing a few antes and taking down a big pot after value betting my set of K's on the river, I'm ready to leave. I decide to play one more hand. I'm dealt (8h3h) Ah. I raise after seeing 2 other hearts out (I would have just called for the odds), I get one caller. 4th street I get another 8 and call a bet from the KA on board. 5th st. is the 9h, he bets, and I just call, praying for the last heart. 6th is another rag and I still call. The river gives me the excellent 4h and I check-raise him. He raises back, I figure him for a straight and I re-raise. He calls, shows me the A-high straight and goes on giga-tilt when I turn over my hidden 3 hearts for the A-high flush. He really freaks when I rack up my $99 win and head for the cashier. I've played 30 minutes. I go back to the room and fell asleep watching a movie called Valemont, with Annette Benning and Colin Firth. It was really good, but I'm beat. Day 3 Aug. 2 11 AM, played a little 4/8 HE at Orleans while waiting for the O/8 tournament to start. I drop $40 on the last hand and that's the final tally for the session, -$40. The tournament is one I've made the final table in 3 times in a row, but this time it was not to be. I started off good, but started to bleed off chips with no hands and no good positional opportunities (hard to find in O/8). I get down to 2 tables (out of 7) after a re-buy and a nice wheel-scoop. I survive one all-in on low chips but not two, and IGHN in 17th place. A little down, I go to In-and -Out Burger, home of the best f***ing burgers on the planet, and I stuff myself with a DoubleDouble, a cheeseburger, fries and a shake! Yum!! Back to the room for some r&r, then off to the Mirage at 4:20 PM for more stud. After getting down about $400 (hidden 2's full no g00t), I win a monster pot 2 hands later against the same glasses, pony-tail, whiny, liberal, hippie kid (same guy from my "chop-it-up) story on rgp) asshole when my hidden 2's full is VERY g00t this time!! After 3 hours, it's time to go to the airport to get Sean McGuinness. I'm down $210, but feeling great about that hand! Sean was early, and we get to the room, settle in, and head down to the poker room back at Binions. I pick up $64 in a feeeeshy 1/5 stud game while waiting for a 4/8 O/8 seat. I drop it all plus another $36 in the O/8 game with Randy Collack, Rick (sorry, forgot your last name, super nice guy) and a few other BARGE'rs. TIP: Games with BARGErs are MUCH harder to beat!! **Trip highlight** A sleepy Sean and I head over to Carson St. Cafe (GN) for a late snack before heading back to the room. We walk in and see Ratly, Charles Haynes and Patti B. at a table. They motion us to join them, so we do. After some nice conversation, Patti decides to offer me $50 to eat half a Keno crayon. Sean thinks this is funny and ponies up $25, so I think to myself for a second. My 2-year old eats crayons all the time. How bad could it be? So, I peel the paper off half a crayon and break it in half and start munching. With a swirl and gulp of water, it's gone, and I pick up a Grant (the president, not Doogie)! +EV baby!! ** Back to the room for sleep. It's 2 AM and I'm feeling like a wuss, but hey, I'm getting old. Day 4 Aug 3 Sean has been up for a while when I wake up. I meet him in the buffet and have breakfast with Ice. Sean is up $600 after playing pot-limit with Patri and Quick and is in fine spirits. Virgin meeting at 10 went alright, but I felt a little inadequate as Virgin Leader. I had some help from some of the virgins, and KidZee sat in for a while and greeted everyone. Thanks Mike! Everyone pitched in a buck to pay for Jesus in our last-longer bets with the ADBers and the BBBers, so we are 17 strong! Sean played the HOP tournament, but I skipped it having no interest in those games, I figured I was totally dead money and was really trying to go cheapo on this trip. I made about $45 playing 4/8 O/8. While I played, Tom Simms came over and sold me 3 old sets of BARGE chips! WooHoo! Great for my collection! Thanks Tom! After some rest (Sean busted out of the tournament after an hour) and note taking, we decide to go to the Mirage for the night as Sean wanted to play in the NLHE tournament. We get into a 5/10 7CS game. I pick up $45 in about 50 minutes when we decide to play a satellite for the NLHE tournament. I bust out in 4th. Sean has me run over and buy him into the tournament while he's still in the Satellite. Then he goes on to win it when, on the button, the small blind raises all-in after Sean calls the $100 BB with AA. Sean looks at me on the rail and smiles. Then, to his surprise, the BB calls all-in and Sean calls as well. His AA holds up and he wins! It was sweet to say the least. Sean made it to the last 2 tables before busting out just short of the money, but it was a freeroll for him almost, so he's not too bothered by it. I dropped $70 in a 3/6 HE with a few BARGErs waiting for my 10/20 stud seat. It's 8:45 when I sit down. By 2:30 I'm stuck $300. I'm pretty tilted by this jerj at our table too. He's a local who continues to suck-out and critique everyone's play. He keeps on asking to see peoples hands, and the table is not a happy place. After winning a giant pile-o-red-chips with a dream hand of totally hidden quad J's, I decide to fight back a little. The jerj has been stealing from middle position a lot (he's 2 to my right, and I've let him get away with too much). Now I'm one right of the bring-in. All fold to jerj who raises with a K. I have (K3)9, and I decide to re-raise. Bring-in folds and jerj comes back at me. Still figuring him for a steal and having one of his Kings, I pop it right back. He calls. 4th street brings him a rag and brings me the wonderful 9d! I bet $10 immediately, and he folds, accidentally flipping over a K in the hole! I take the opportunity and turn up my K3 and he tilts, saying, "Oh, you're a tough guy!" I say, "Well, I know how you like to see everyone's hand, so I thought I'd show you mine." I thought he was going to lunge across the table! 2 hands later, I catch him stealing again and I river a straight on him when he can't let go of his 2 small pair and suddenly I'm up $21. I decide to split. I leave, thanking him directly for the action. (this was kinda' stupid, however, as I thought he might follow me into the restroom or something). Sean had already left, so I go to the valet, watching my back, and in 20 minutes, I'm back at the Shoe. 4AM My first Chowaha game!! I finally meet Beth! She's a sweetie, and we get into this great game with Jerrod, KFish, Timmy (sitting to my left, this is important) and a local who says he plays Chowaha every year when we come to town. It was great fun! Timmy was grilled, and at one point, as you all know, he falls out of his chair, half on me, and just rolls around on the floor laughing. It was a classic. Then someone (I forget who) comes into the room and tells our table that there's a dead guy laying on the sidewalk. At this point, Timmy is gone, so of course, we ask if it's him. Apparently, it was not. There was a sheet over the guy, and someone had the funny but morbid idea of taking Timmy's badge (now worn by Lee Jones, who we dubbed the anti-Timmy) and putting it on the sheet and snapping a picture. Good thing the cops and paramedics were there, or it probably would have happened. I went back to the room around 6, down $36 and not caring a bit. Day 5 Aug. 4 This is where my notes stop, so I'll have to do it from memory. Sean wakes me up at 8 AM, and I'm just dead. I tell him I can't do it, so he goes back down stairs for Pot-limit and I sleep until 10. I finally got up, missed breakfast and headed down to the TOC tournament. The tournament was fun. I sat with Jeff Okamoto, NewJane and a lot of other great people, but I forgot. I won all my hands on the stud rounds (my best game, of course), and lost my tail on the other games. I remember asking constantly, how much longer till the stud round? Finally, even the stud failed me and I busted out somewhere in the middle of the field. I don't remember how Sean did. We went to the Calcutta. The Calcutta was sort of boring, I'll have to admit. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't get into it. I bought a share of the ADV syndicate, but it still wasn't exciting for me. I kept track of all the bidding, and some really went high I thought. After Sean and I went for $70 (lucky for us) by Shelley Louie, we left and went to play more poker. I don't remember at all what we played. But the CHORSE tournament was soon to follow. Sean organized our team, one of 3 Virgin teams. I was the O/8 player, Sean was the Razz player. We also had Schwartzy, Clay, Steve Nissman and Richard Kuhler. Sean and Clay had a tough time early on in the Razz and stud rounds, and the rest of the team, in spite of much hope, never got it back. We lost a little less than half our stack, due to some nice saves at the end, but never made a profit. I played nickel deuces wild VP between rounds, right next to the now-famous pinball jackpot! After a little more VP when the CHORSE was finished, I went to the room and crashed. Day 6 Aug.5 I awoke just in time to shower and grab a Red Bull before the NLHE tournament. My goal was, of course, to win it. However, I knew who I was up against, and I was really secretly hoping to last longer than a few of the big names and maybe, hopefully make it into the money. The next 7 hours are a blur. I don't recall who I busted out or what hands I had. I just got an email from Tom Overton asking me what I had when I busted him out, but I had to tell him that I honestly didn't remember the hand. I think I won with a pair of 7's. I was totally in the mode. I was playing way too conservative, laying down QQ not once but twice (both times I thought I had good reads, and both times, I was correct), and laying down TT at the right time too with 2 tables to go when Jeff O went all in with TT. I remember when Jesus busted out, and when Scott Byron busted out, but that's about it. Suddenly, I was in the final 4 tables (as was Sean too!), and I started to get nervous. I was actually holding my own against these excellent players! I spent most of the last 4 tables with Patti B. She just refused to be busted and kept firing back when anyone attacked. It was a joy to watch her play. I was building my stack pretty good, playing some really good hands. Finally, and to my huge surprise since I stopped keeping track, we were down to 10 players. I do remember when Joan busted out on the bubble, and I really felt bad for her because she played a great tournament (WTG Joan!), but I was also amazed. I'd made the final table! I took my seat to the right of Nolan Dalla, and the cards were in the air. I have to stop here for a moment and say something about Nolan. Through the entire final table and up until he busted out, Nolan is a class act all the way. He took his beats and his wins like a true pro, never lost his temper, and was a joy to play with. I remember one large raise I made when I had nice position, and I ended up going heads up with Mav. (I think) and winning the hand. Nolan, more than once, sincerely complimented me on the play of that hand. It really gave me a thrill to receive such a compliment from such a player (not to mention author who I have read in CP for years). Nolan played great, and although it bumped me up in the money, I was sad to see him bust out when he did. Thanks Nolan, it was an honor to play with you. Ok, so there are only 2 other hands I remember at the final table. You can review Jeff's email for the play by play. I recall getting position and moving in for a very large raise, like 100K, with 48o trying to steal. The last player in (damn, forgot his name, was wearing the bathrobe) had a lot less, but I was trying to be intimidating. He calls, I get my refund and we turn our cards. I think he had AQo, but I don't remember. Anyway, I flopped the miracle straight (the biggest suckout of my life) and we're 4-handed. The last hand I remember was the hand that broke me. Again I had position to steal the blinds, and I look down to see A7c. I immediately push all my chips in without thinking or looking at the last players stack, which was bigger than mine. It was a bad play, I think now when I look back, but I can't change it. He calls (to my horror) and shows AKh. I'm doomed. I river the 7 after much rooting for me (thanks all), but the 7 was a heart giving him the runner-runner nut flush and IGHN in 4th. Oh, I had a lot of support during the tournament and final table. Thanks Andy Hughes, Beth, Sean, Shelley and all the others who were rooting me on. It was very appreciated and really made me feel great. I was in daze when I got up. There was clapping and I felt great and sick all at once. It was strange. Thanks Binions for the Jacket, and thanks CP for the cool t-shirt. The money was nice too, and I got to split $480 with Sean since we bought half of ourselves back in the Calcutta. It was a nice win. The banquet was great. The food was tasty and Chris, although he seemed a little timid, was an excellent speaker. No silly rhetoric, just straight talk about poker. It was one of the best talks I've ever heard. Thanks Chris! I spent some considerable time talking to Jeff O. about Video Poker, and I just missed him later at the California. I hope to play with you next time we meet, Jeff. Playing Chowaha with Jesus was awesome. You all know the story. Kevin bought in for 15 racks (I had 4). There were some great castles (I made a sphinx-like thing with help from Jeff, but it didn't compare to some of the others). Lou Kreiger was a blast, and Jesus really got into it too. I missed his wining castle when I left the game after 2 hours and $30 in the hole (all of which was tips), but I'll see the pictures when they're out. I got to bed too late, still exhausted but happy with everything. Day 7 Aug. 6 Final Day Sean and I get up. He plays some pot limit, and we decide to do the Bellagio for the day before our plane leaves at 11:10 PM. We check out of Binions and head over to Bellagio. We valet the Suzuki (it was funny) and head to the poker room. Sean gets into a 15/30 HE and I get on a list for 15/30 Stud. While I wait, I get into a nice 4/8 HE game and proceed to lose close to $300. Kings-full no g00t when the case 10 hits the river and I lay it down as he shows me quads. Thanks. I get called to the 15/30 and decide it's time to "give something back". I drop $634 in 5 hours (AJ8 high flush no g00t, I have AJT high flush, said the 75 year old millionaire's wife in the 3 seat. Thanks). Nothing goes well, and I poop away all my profit for the week. Sean took a beat in HE too and we're both ready to go. I hang on for another hour or so to get back but I can't seem to catch anything. I cash out my $76 (was $700) and fail to get a comp, which was the whole reason for going to Bellagio in the first place. We get the car and are giddy with no sleep all the way to the airport. We get lost trying to find Alamo (It's on Bermuda, off sunset, and a thousand miles away from all the other car rental places). I stop first to get gas and buy 12 cans of Red Bull for my wife (at $2.29 a can!!) since she loves the stuff and they don't sell it in Ohio because Ohio is hell on earth. We finally get to the airport and onto he plane after a short wait. We both sleep the whole way back to CLE. I get the shuttle to Thrifty to pick up my car, and then drive Sean home to Niles and me back to Youngstown. As I take my luggage out of the trunk, I notice the HUGE scratch (2-1/2 feet long) on my rear bumper that Thrifty decided to put there. (Now I'm in the middle of negotiations with them, but I have no hope.) It's the last bad beat of the trip. In closing (finally), I have to thank Chuck and Mike for the best trip to Vegas I've ever had (including my honeymoon). I am without words to describe how great it was to finally meet all of you in person, and how nice everyone was. Yeah, I lost a bunch of money and yeah, I'm still stuck with about 20 Virgin Vanguard shirts, but man, it was the very best! Most of all, I'll miss Beth, Patti, Jeff, Nolan, Randy C., Tom V., Lou K. and Lee J., Schwartzy, Andy Hughes, Jerrod A. and everyone else I forgot to mention. I'm already counting down the days until next year. I actually have plans to move back to Vegas by next June, so perhaps some things will be easier and I can afford the "new" side of Binions instead of the "old" side with the view of a wall and ladder. You're all terrific, and I'm so happy to have such great friends. See you all next year, and please forgive me if I left anyone out. Aces to all, ADV Scottro ___________________ www.spintheglobe.com