From: "Stevan Goldman" Subject: My BARGE '01 Trip Report goldiefish's BARGE '01 Trip Report: (note: goldiefish formerly BadGamb00l) FIRST, and most IMPORTANT: My sincere thanks to Chuck and Mike....following what was probably the most nerve-racking pre-BARGE ever, was a PERFECT weekend. All their hard work is GREATLY appreciated. A lot of great people do a lot of hard work, but without Chuck and Mike there would be no BARGE. So guys, thank you again. Now, my report: I took a pre-BARGE vacation in Northern California with my wife. We went on a "gourmet bicycling" trip in Pt. Reyes, CA with a group called Country Spokes (www.countryspokes.com). Great time. Lots of great riding, weather, eating, etc. Highly recommended, and not expensive. Incidentally, my wife needed to do some "emergency shopping" upon our arrival in SF, so I spent 90 minutes at Lucky Chances. Morning tourney players were just busting out when I arrived, so a $20-40 holdem game formed pretty quickly. Absolutely r00ling game. Won $209 in just over one hour. Hated to leave. My wife had planned to accompany me to Vegas on Tuesday, and then leave on Thursday (she doesn't like Vegas, or poker), but on Monday nite she decided she REALLY didn't like Vegas or poker, and decided to go back to NJ from San Francisco. So, I was able to get to Vegas early enough on Tuesday to join Joan Hadley for lunch at P F Changs at 1:00pm. DINGZ!! Fabulous lunch, fabulous company including the Stines and others. THANKS, JOAN!! I was honored to be included. Following lunch, it was off to Bellagio, for my first foray. $15-30, slow game, not much happening. Except that Ernst was at the table. After not playing a hand for three orbits, I pick up JJ utg, and raise. Ernst immediately three bets it, the rest fold. The flop comes A-T-3. I check. Ernst bets, I show my JJ, and fold. He shows presto and takes pot. My first hint at what was to come. It wouldn't belong before I became almost everyone's bitch at the 10-20 and 15-30 holdem games. A few hands later, I raise w/AA, and lose again to some *other* psycho. I did win a hand or two, and when I got back to -$97, I picked up to head to the Horseshoe. Once there, I got my badge, and sat into a $10-20 holdem game. I was the ONLY non-local, and the ONLY non-smoker at the table. I could barely breathe. But, I did flop two sets and lost with them both, so I was assured that all was right with the world. I mean, what could be bad? After all, I was at BARGE!! Notwithstanding, they bitch-slapped me again, and I lost $334 in three hours at this table, and called it a night. Wednesday August 1st....Jerry Garcia's birthday. Woulda been 59. Following breakfast, I sat into a $4-8 Holdem game, while waiting for the $10-20 to form. Once the $10-20 game got going, I r00led it. This time, my flopped set of Q's held up and got action all the way, and I left that game ahead $660 in just over two hours, because Crunch and I headed to the Mirage. I never shoulda left. Once there, we sat into a $10-20 Holdem game. The game was good, a couple of locals and the rest tourists, but after a few hours, we were both stuck. Suckouts against us left and right, and the worst player at the table had most of the chips. Every Q6s00ted and K7s00ted was raking in big pots for him. Crunch took an "avoid-tilt break" after he got run down by the bad hand artist, and I had actually fought my way back to even at one point. Then, Crunch returned, and everything turned for me, and I left the game when the lucky tourist took KJ up against my AJ and put five flop bets in when the J flopped. Needless to say, the K on the river wasn't my favorite card. I lost $496 in this game. The tone was now clearly set for my future beatings the rest of the weekend. The funny line of this game occured when a woman at the end of the table responded to something Crunch said by retorting: "What is your point?" Crunch responded: "Excuse me, ma'am....you don't know me at all, but most of the time when I say something, I don't have a point!" I thought he was going to rip into her (as I would have), but Crunch was his always classy self. Made me proud to be his friend, and proud that he was a BARGEr, since our reputation had preceded us to the table. And, speaking of the BARGE reputation, a local rock sitting between Crunch and me hadn't said a word in two hours. He had just lost a real bad hand to the same lucky tourist (he flopped a set of 9's against Q9, and lost to running Q's - ugh), and was doing a slow steam, trying to control himself (Crunch was on a break at this time), when the word "BARGE" came up. Well, at the mention of BARGE, this rock went on total tilt. He started cursing the group, and declared "I hate that whole group. Every Goddamned year I play in that Pot Limit game at the Horseshoe, and every Goddamn year I go broke in it!! I should just leave town when those computer bad-beat artists come to town!!" Of course, all I could think of was "why don't you just not play in a game you can't beat, you moron?", but I just smiled, introduced myself as a BARGEr, and invited him downtown to try to get his money back ;-) Anyway, I went back to my room to prepare for dinner at MICHAELS, later that evening. I arrived at The Barbary Coast at 6:00, for a 6:30 dinner. Checked with the Matre'D...everything was ready. Warren Sanders was the next to arrive, followed by Patrick Milligan and Eileen. By 6:30 everyone except Chic Natkins had arrived, and we sat down to dinner. Chic arrived just as dinner was beginning. Patrick Milligan selected the wine, which was a fabulous '97 Cab. DINGZ!! We drank four bottles amongst the 10 of us. Delicious. Thanks, Patrick !! I enjoyed my dinner, and I hope everyone else did, too. At $140 per person, it was twice as costly as it should have been (everyone was warned), but it was good. And the service was excellent. Crunch was UNABLE to drain his water glass before it was refilled - countless times. I think the caesar salad there is the best I've ever eaten. I was not disappointed. Arty Santella seemed to love his lobster, and Chuck Weinstock said his meal was excellent. I didn't ask anyone else about their dinners....but Eileen Milligan cleaned her plate, even impressing Patrick. I know everyone loved the wine, for sure. Following dinner, I was too drunk to play cards, so Beth, Chic and I walked across to Bellagio for a nightcap. I was asleep before midnight, in anticipation of the HoP tourney the next morning. The HoP tourney started for me on a definite "BARGE high". No sooner had a sat at the table than Frank Brabec handed me a CD of Grateful Dead songs he had compiled and cut. In addition, his daughter Lori had done the artwork on the cover...a hand drawn charcoal of Jerry Garcia. I was, and remain, moved by Frank's thoughtfulness.....he had become aware of my musical preferences during a list discussion of license plates....mine is "LIO2ME" ("Lately It Occurs To Me"). Frank, from the bottom of my heart, thank you again. I wish you nothing but Sunshine and Daydreams. Having Melissa Hayden on my left at the beginning of the HoP tourney was a delight. Not only was she gracious, but she openly discussed most of the five draw hands as they were exposed. Most of us hadn't played five draw for real money in quite some time, so no one was really sure of strategy...when and what to hold and fold, where to raise, etc. She was honest and forthcoming with her comments, which I very much appreciated. Even in lowbah, she offered me worthwhile comments when I clearly misplayed a hand (all too frequently). To me, this is one of the great things about BARGE. I mean, where else can you sit in a poker tourney, and get real, worthwhile information from expert players? I loved the HoP tourney. The absence of worthwhile cards didn't deter me from having fun, and when I went all in with trip 3's pre-draw, and Ming called me with JJ, I was neither surprised nor upset when Ming spiked the J and eliminated me. At least I got all my chips in on the lead in the hand, and my opponend had to draw out against me to win. This was a pattern I was to repeat twice more in the BARGE tourneys, so I'm glad I got accustomed to it early on. And, Ming went on to finish 6th with my chips, so I was happy for him. I'm sure he played my chips better than I would have. WTG Ming !! With the MIRAGE buffet looming, I headed out the strip to see if I could get in a little p0cker before the feeding. I won $255 to briefly stem the bleeding in a $20-40 game, before heading to the buffet. I sat at dinner with NorthShoreMike, ActionBob, Steve Carbonera KK, and the rest of the golfers. Nice to meet Mike, finally. True gentleman, and apparently excellent golfer. Mike, if you'll consent to give me a few pointers on the links, I will be happy to share my green felt experiences with you. The only difference will be, I expect that you can help my golf game...... Following the buffet, I won $17 in $10-20, but I didn't play in the MIRAGE tourney, so when a group of people were thinking of heading out to see the REGENT, I went along. Actually, I had my own car, so I drove, and Chuck Weinstock accompanied me. The Regent is a spectacular property. Looks every bit like the Westin La Paloma in Tucson, or the Biltmore in Phoenix. Just beautiful grounds, large palms, surrounded by golf courses. Inside, we met Kathy Wood. She seems happy there, so I was glad. She belongs in p0cker...she adds class and professionalism to any room in which she works. I would play at the Regent any time, but with time short, I headed to the $3 craps table to win my souvenir chip(s). Two fast EIGHTS later I had my souvenir profit, and left with Chuck to head back to the Horseshoe, ahead $15 PLUS one $1 and one $5 chip for my visit to the REGENT. I'm now ahead lifetime there. R00ling. Back at the Horseshoe, I put in three hours at the $10-20 game. I actually won another $17 for the session, but I had to suck out a river "6" with my "66" in the hole in order to avoid losing another $300+. The board came T-4-4-4-6. I was in against a rock w/AA and a psycho with T-2 (Actually , another psycho besides me). Obviously, this "hell" of a hand bedeviled everyone. I know, I know, I had no business calling this hand down. So rest assured, I didn't do no stiiiinking calling. I did much of the raising, much of the way. Played it as poorly as possible every step of the way. When I check-raised the river, the AA showed and mucked, but the T-2 paid me :-) After scooping that monster, I toked the dealer $20 and left the game before I could bleed back any chips, or listen to any r00ling p0cker lessons from the recently-less-than-fortunate. It was only after I had cashed in that I realized my toke meant that the dealer did better than I did in that game. As it should be. He didn't play as badly as I did. Thought briefly about playing either $4-8 holdem, or PL, and then decided that based on the choices I was actually considering, as well as the way I played in the $10-20 game, alchohol had probably impeded my decision making ability, so off to sleep. I also wanted to be at my best for the ToC tourney, which started at 10:00 am. Gulped down some juice for breakfast, and just arrived at the table for the start of the ToC tourney. Big mistake. Shoulda had a bigger breakfast, or arrived with Russ Rosenblum. More on that later. VERY FIRST HAND of tourney ($30-60 limit holdem), Don Perry limps in under the gun to my immediate right. I look down and find Roy Cooke's favorite hand: AA. My first thought was "Whew, I'm glad this isn't NL. I'd just hate to go out on the very first hand." I raise. All fold, and Don calls. Flop all rags. Don checks. I bet, Don calls. Turn: J. Don bets. I raise. Don calls. River: J. Don bets. I show AA and muck. Don shows AJ and stacks. Matt Matros is actually surprised that I mucked. For me, not only was it obvious that Don had the J, but it was the first of several J river cards that would hurt me all weekend. Speaking of Russ, he arrived about 2.5 hours late for the ToC, apparently thinking is began at noon, as had the prior day's HoP event. Actually, I would have made the same mistake, had not Russ Fox reminded me of the starting time the night before, on his way to sleep. Thanks, Russ. Meanwhile, when Russ Rosenblum arrived late, I'm afraid I inadvertently let slip a comment I made under my breath, that "maybe he couldn't reach the doorknob in his room, and had to wait for the maid to be rescued". I don't know what ever possessed me to be such a jerj (actually I do, but my medication ran out)..(actually my medication did NOT run out - I'm really just a jerj). Also, you'd think that being so vulnerable on the "weight" issue might make me think twice about making jokes about "height". But, I'm also not too bright. So, (as soon as the laughter died down) I swore everyone at the table to secrecy. Like that did any good. Later, Russ confronted me (apparently someone didn't keep my confidence - can you believe THAT bad beat?), and I naturally felt like the shit I was. He, of course, was gracious, but I think he acted that way just to make me feel even worse ;-). It worked. So, I have been forced to reprint the entire sordid tale here, as therapy for my sick mind. I am also writing a computer virus that writes "I will not make jokes about anyone's height" one million times on the screen. I will send that virus to everyone as soon as it is ready ;-) Russ Rosenblum, you are yet another outstanding example of the kind of people that make BARGE great. Thanks. Before I left the ToC, during omaha, when I wasn't watching my folded hands make nuts on the river, I was draining chips into pots I had no business being near. In frustration, I decided to approach Scott Byron and Melissa Hayden with an Omaha strategy question, as follows: SHG: Can I ask both you guys a real fast Omaha strategy question? M & S: Sure, go ahead SHG: I have no idea what I'm doing in Omaha. As my stack shrinks, at what point should I start stealing tourney chips off the table to use in tomorrow's NL Holdem event? Neither of these two supposed r00lerz had a answer, so if anyone else wants to offer one, I'm listening....... Anyway, I got all my chips in the pot in seven stud w/ QQ/7 when I paired the 7 on the fourth street. I was in against K2/K however, and his K on the river eliminated me. He obviously had a million outs, and caught one. And I was on my way back to the $10-20 holdem game at the Horseshoe, for more bitch-slapping from Ernst. Also, before the day would end, Maverick, Ken Kubey, and Paul White would all take their turns whippin up on lil ol' me. I felt as if I had "RUNNING BAD" stamped across my forehead, and man was that ever true. Only one river bad beat (I lost for the second time in one day to running Jacks), otherwise I just got hammered. Opponents seldom had to wait for the river to nail me. I won't bore you with too many details, but one hand should be an easy example. I'm on BB. Everyone folds. Paul White raised one off the button. Everyone folds to me. I have AQ. Double suited. I call, insuring that I would misplay the hand every step of the way (again). Flop: A-T-2. I check. Paul bets. I call. (still misplaying my hand) Turn: 2. I check. Paul bets. I raise. Paul reraise. I call. River blank. Check. Bet. Call. Paul shows 8-2o. Just trying to steal blinds, makes trip deuces on turn. After losing another similar hand to Maverick who held Q2, all I could say was: IGHN. And I did. -$491. Like I said: "RUNNING BAD" stamped on my forehead. Speaking of Paul White, earlier in the Spring I had given him some information regarding the p0cker scene in Atlantic City, as he intended to visit. He never made it then. Sometimes inviting ARGers to games can make the games really tight, and I later regret encouraging them to come to the game. No such worry with Paul. Glad I gave him the "good directions". Besides they seem to have repeating, if not regular, hands-on seminars on "82o" in many of the AC games, so he'll definitely feel comfortable there.... All was not lost, however. I lost enough money quickly enough to get to the symposium on time to actually find some food there, and I ate some. And, I bought into the ADV calcutta syndicate and cashed for 1.5 times my buy-in!! DINGZ!! I also bought Phil Hellmuth (shared him with chic natkins) and some other l00zers. I think there was even food left at the symposium at the end. Bad Beat. For the others in that $10-20 game, that is. If I had known the food would last through the entire symposium, I coulda drained off more chips there. But, no worry...back to the Horseshoe where I drained off an additional $320 to the same suspects as before. Crawled into bed sometime thereafter, prior to dawn. Rocked myself to sleep by shaking my head back and forth in disbelief. ;-) SATURDAY MORNING: A little starbucks, and ready for NL holdem!! Survived for a while draining into the blinds. Lost a lot of chips when I raised w/99 utg, but mucked when someone came over the top all in. Anyway, with six big blind bets left in front of me and the blinds approaching, I pushed all in w/AQo. Clark Olsen called without hesitating on my immediate left, and also without hesitating, I didn't like my hand. Not until I saw his KQo. Then, I liked my hand. Until Clark said "I'm dominated". Then, I didn't like my hand. Can you see it coming? Flop: A-T-3. Turn: A (just to rub it in). River: J (yup, another J on the river tortures me). And once again, IGHN. But not before finding Quick to pay my $10 quickbet. I got to Quick's table one hand before he was all in and lost. Fortunately, I had left myself enough time to get to Bellagio and get stuck into a $15-30 game out there, before the banquet. So, I did. -$141 in two hours. Then, Tom Goodwin was kind enough to follow me to the airport, where I returned my rental car, and then hitched a ride with him and Russ Rosenblum down to the Banquet, arriving just in time. Thanks, Tom!! Phil H. was entertaining and forthright, even stooping to brutal honesty to answer my question about his emotions at the table, by describing his changes from "boy to man". Everyone in the room knew what he meant, and knew that he meant it. Most of us also know that ANYONE saying those things would have to be (a) comfortable with himself as a man, and (b) comfortable with our group. Phil was, and is, both. So thanks Mr. H. Zee granted me 30 seconds to try to organize a "rocks and beer" game, and I distributed the uniforms to the first 10 interested r00lerz. Ran out of "YES, BEER" t-shirts, so I had to give Ken Kubey a "Get to the Pint" shirt instead. Actually, I probably woulda bought more of the "pint" shirts, but they were out, so Ken and I have the only two such shirts. Everyone else has "YES, BEER". Should be positive EV for me if anyone mistakes me for him. Based on my game, certainly worth the chance. The game was set for the Las Vegas Club after the banquet, but I'm afraid I was waylaid on my way there, and ended up at Bellagio for the rest of Saturday night. Well, I woulda been out of uniform anyway. At Bellagio late saturday nite, in a $15-30 game that HELEN KELLER could have beaten, I managed to break my losing streak, and book r00ling $71 win, before packing up and heading to the airport Sunday morning. All in all, a simply FABULOUS barge. Got in Tuesday, left Sunday, and never really had enough time. Definitely gonna plan to spend longer next year..... Thanks again to all my friends, new and old. I can't even tell you all how much I enjoy the time I spend with each and every one of you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all. Stevan goldiefish formerly BadGamb00l