From: "Michelle Lancaster" Subject: [BARGE] Virgin Barge Report I wasnāt going to write a trip report for my first BARGE, but I must. This was my first BARGE and Iām only sorry that I waited so long. I travel alone often so making the trip to Vegas was easy. I checked into the Golden Nugget Monday night, ate dinner in my room and·went to sleep?! I must be getting old. :P The following day the GN informed me that I was in the wrong room and that they would upgrade me for the trouble of moving. I was moved to a beautiful suite. What a lucky girl I am. I rolled into Bellagio Tuesday afternoon. A must-move 10-20 O/8 was available and I sat. The game was terrible but the main game looked excellent. Hmmm. I figured that by the time I got to the main game, it wouldnāt be very good and instead took the open 8-16 HE seat. The game was soft but I was bored and had trouble concentrating. Then I was wondering what I was doing there. I was in town for BARGE damn it. ćDriver, take me to Binionās please.ä Upon arrival I picked up my badge and sat in a 4-8 HE game. I was getting restless and decided to check out the baby pot-limit game nearby. I announced to the table that although I had never played pot-limit before, I was interested. Everyone immediately and graciously offered to make it 10 handed for me. (LOL) Upon joining the guys for PL, I announced that I didnāt know what I was doing and would be playing only the nuts. I never got to see the turn. I bet the pot, everyone folds. Had someone else been dealt my hands, they probably would have won a lot of money. My opponents were $36 lighter for my efforts. Look for my upcoming treatise ćWeak-Tight Pot Limit for Profit.ä (hehe) Ploink was an absolute gentleman and made sure I made it back to my hotel safely. Thank you! The TOC was a little frustrating for me. I was never able to pick up any hands nor did I find any opportunities. I hung on until around 43rd or so when I went out in the Omaha round with AA2K. If Iām going to go broke on a hand, it ought to be a good one. That night, I joined Jerrod, Ploink, Peter and QB for my first craps experience. Bill Chen left some chips for me to get started with, as he had to return to the Chinese pocker action. I promptly lost all of Billās unlucky chips and rebought. We had a great time but my virgin roll was, well, unimpressive. I suk at gambling. Many, many drinks later we moved on to take our chances elsewhere. After a long night of drinking and gambling, Ploink generously offered to pay for breakfast. Thank you again! Thursday at the Mirage I skipped the NLHE tourney for live action. I found myself in an excellent 5-10 O/8 game. I enjoyed chatting with Adam and Randy and soon found myself building a modest win. The official craps crawl was to begin soon so we were off to Binionās. The group was quite large but as the early morning hours approached only a few of us pressed on. Scottro chaperoned the drunken crew and was certainly amused by the antics. We somehow managed to degenerate into roulette players! Apparently we have been ćmissing outä because we r00led the wheel and everyone made money! On Friday night I played a little 4-8 HE at Binionās. The room was much smokier than mid-week. The game was excellent and I was very low-key. The week was catching up to me and I was in need of rest. I put a serious beat on Don Perry (I think?) when I sucked out on his Q9 with my 99 on a Q high flop·runner-runner flush, no problem! He took it in stride. Donāt tap on the glass after all. :) I managed to cash out positive two racks of white. I am a lucky girl. The following morning was the main event, NLHE, but I didnāt register for it considering that I am nearly 100% dead money, sorry everyone! Later in the evening was the banquet, which was very well done. As usual I tagged along with Jerrod and we had excellent company in Crunch, Bill, Spencer, Sabyl and the others. The food was very good and the speakers were entertaining. The 4-8 CHORSEL game was a blast. Oh, Iāve never even played those games, no problem! My condolences to Coreyās top set vs. my r00ling flopped str8 on my straddle. He also took it in stride, what a great guy. Bill and I tried to be ante-buddies for the Stud rounds and actually posted them incorrectly many of the times. David could only laugh. We were just making things ćeasierä you know. I made a super move on Patti check-raising her on the turn in an Omaha round when I picked up a flush draw, except for the fact that she crushed the flop and 3 bet me·no flush coming! Doh! Once again the festivities went until early morning and the company was excellent. After toking more than I ever thought I would, and happily so, I actually booked another winner. Can you see how lucky I am? On Sunday a bunch of us headed for The Orleans limit HE tourney. Bill proposed a First BARGEār to Bust Buys Ice Cream bet, which I won. It would be the only thing I won at The Orleans. Jerrod ended up making a deal at the final table. Yeah Jerrod, youāre the man! One hand of note at The Orleans, I made the mistake of taking AA up against Presto. Big mistake·flop 556, crushed on the flop! Aiyah! After the tourney Jerrod, Ploink and Bill humored me with a little low-limit Chinese pocker and were very patient and generous with advice. This was clearly +ev for them all since they now have a new Chinese pocker fish for future ARG events. Ploink was grinning from ear to ear as I paid for my lessons in full. :) On Monday I had lunch with Russ Fox and Jerrod and Russ was kind enough to give me a lift before they left for LA. I took a red-eye back to Boston and although I was exhausted, I could only think of how long it would be until the next BARGE and as always, was feeling like a very lucky girl. ;) Thank you everyone for making a virgin feel so welcome. If I have not mentioned you specifically in this report it is by no means an indication that I have forgotten. I simply canāt do my personal BARGE experience justice in this brief (?) report. A special note to the organizers: Thank you for the opportunity to attend. This must be tremendous work and it is greatly appreciated. Thank you!! -Michelle