From: Jerrod Ankenman Subject: [BARGE] 2002 Barge Magic Moments Awards I don't really feel like writing a narrative for this BARGE, but I thought I'd throw some things out there. These are my 2002 Magic Moments for my own personal 2002 BARGE. in no particular order. They are not intended to capture the totality of BARGE, but only my personal piece of it. Dice R00ler Moment: Bill Chen randomly throwing out a $25 hard ten (!? - we were playing $3 dice at the Las Vegas Club), one roll before I hit it. Ding. BARGE Chinese Pocker prop-bet of the year: Linda Johnson accepting my bet that she wouldn't scoop me. (I gave her 2-1). She only had quad aces, threes full, kings. I escaped with quad fives, eights full, queens. On a related note, I held quad fives 4 times in about ten hours of CP play. "It'sAGreatGameHowMuchAreYouStuck?": Bill Chen sitting in a relatively soft CP lineup and losing money after winning hundreds playing against JP, Steve Landrum, and I. "WhenYou'reHotYou'reHot" I muck J955 in the Omaha8 round of 4-8 CHORSEL Saturday night. Ploink calls two cold in the small blind, sends his hand over to me to look at. KJJ5. Flop comes 446, turn 2, he calls all bets. River is case jack. "WhenYou'reNotYou'reNot" JP plays full house-full house-nothing at the final table of the chinese poker tournament and loses money on the hand. Dealmaking 101: Final table of the Orleans $60+$50 limit holdem tournament. Six of us left, I have 12,500 out of a total 62,500 in play. They offer an even split. I decline. Couple hands later, I lose a 5500 chip hand. They then offer the same deal. Ding! :) DrunkPeopleR00l: Spencer Sun beating Bill twice in a row in lowball freezouts while completely trashed. BARGEbay: Marc Gilutin was going from table to table selling hats and toking the dealer with the money. I win the bid. I take off my floppy hat and start to put on the new hat. Michelle says she likes the old hat better. The dealer takes the hat and admires it a bit. Well, then, toke the hat! Then he makes a move to give the $6 I bid back. Uh, no thank you, sir. Finally, the Reign of Tiltboys is Over: Len Granowetter wins the Roshambo World Championship. Typical BARGE Magnanimity: Both Randy Collack (at the Orleans) and Steve Eisenstein (Paris) graciously offered to host me for the first night I was at BARGE (My Binion's reservation started on Sunday because I called in too late). Many thanks to both, especially Randy (who I took up on the offer). FirstStraddleAlwaysWorks: Michelle Lancaster puts up the first straddle of the 4-8 CHORSEL game. Ploink makes it 12, Corey Imsdahl makes it 16. Michelle makes it 20 blind. Flop is 764 with 2 spades. Michelle looks, bets, Ploink raises, Corey threebets, Michelle makes it four, Ploink folds, Corey makes it five. Turn is a 2, Michelle check-raises Corey, who calls. River is the ace of spades; it goes check-check. Corey has 77 for top set. Michelle has 35o for a flopped straight. :) In all r00ling games, someone always ends up taking the bad beats. That someone was Corey in this game. Most likely to bust out of BARGE events first: Me. FIVE TIMES. Egad. I suck. NewCasinoIWillStayAtInTheFuture: The Palms, which I visited with Russ Fox, Scottro. Poker room is small and smoky, but the rest of the casino is quite hip. Also, they have nifty 100%+ signs on their +EV video poker, so you don't have to look around for it. Designated Cardrack: Chris Straghalis (ADB Ploink), who perpetrated many r00ling suckouts on his way to the TOC championship, and also r00led the Chinese pocker tournament in Spencer's room. The only thing Ploink didn't win at this weekend involved dice, so I just decided to stay the hell out of his way until I was satisfied that he was done. Oh wait, then I moved in on him in the NL and gave him all my chips. Malkovich: "Bad judgment." Designated Player-of-other's-straddles: 4-8 CHORSEL on Saturday night. It's my big blind. Michelle is away from the table. We straddle off her stack anyway. It's three bets by the time it gets back to her, but she's not back yet. I muck my hand face up and play hers (Jc5s). Flop comes with Axx, all clubs. Crunch (i think) bets, I raise, he mucks. She wins decent pot. Later, Ploink is away from the table on his straddle. We straddle off his stack. Patti three-bets, I muck my hand again face up and play his hand on the other side of the table. I call blind. Flop comes KQQ. I check, Patti bets, I look at one card and raise. She says "Bullsh*t" and three bets. I call. Turn is a 2. I check, she bets, I raise, she says "bullsh*t" again and threebets. I make it four, and she calls. River is a blank, I bet, she calls. I flip over the Q and find out what the other card was. (a s00ted 7). Mega-dingz! Ploink scoops h00g pot. BARGE Chinese Pocker card-repellent: JP Massar, whose breathtaking run of cold CP cards is actually a profound source of amusement for the rest of us. Team CHORSE team revision of the year: Team Chinese Poker Players subtracting a former TOC Champion to add a former World Champion. Sorry, Spencer, those mixed events just aren't as prestigious. SundayNightAtTheOrleansIceCreamBetBuyer: Michelle Lancaster. Welcome to BARGE. :) DesignatedDriver: Scottro, who shepherded a few of us (dreadfully intoxicated) across streets with cars and things in them after the ADB Craps Crawl. Coolest BARGEr I had completely forgotten about: David Orr BARGEr I intended to hang out with a bit, but never made it: Michael Hunter Most disappointing BARGE event: The Symposium, which may have outlived its usefulness and would probably be the first chopping block item I would suggest for the future. Person-Im-Glad-I-Got-To-Know-A-Little-Better-At-BARGE (first half): Michael Maurer. This guy having some free time to spend on poker work is +EV for everyone who follows this kind of thing. Person-Im-Glad-I-Got-To-Know-A-Little-Better-At-BARGE (second half): Michelle Lancaster, who will be apparently be brightening the Boston-area home game in the near future. Don't be fooled, guys. She has game. Some of my favorite quotes from BARGE: "What are the odds that I would walk into the Bellagio poker room, and that Russ Fox would be there, and that I would walk up to the table, and that he would be in a hand?" --Steve Eisenstein "You want to go home and rethink your life." --countless BARGErs, in countless situations "It brings a tear to my eye." --Bill Chen, after watching me play a Bill Chen Blind Defense Program (tm) hand (Q9s, check raise flop of J94, bet turn, original raiser folds). "Our syndicate r00lz, especially with our strategy of 'buy people you know and get lucky when their partners win the whole tournament'." --Ploink "Whereas, people in our age group..." --Scottro, 34, trying to separate himself in age from Russ Fox, 40, by grouping himself with me, 25. "Math is hard." --Bill Chen, again. "Barry's not here because he doesn't play at casinos that don't start with B." --Betty Tanenbaum (at the Orleans) See you all next year! Also, a special thanks to all those BARGErs whose insights and discussion have added so much to my game, and whose friendship has added so much to my life. Jerrod Ankenman jankenman@cox.net