From: "scottro" Subject: [BARGE] My BARGE Highlights (fairly long) The First Annual Cleveland-Hopkins Gin Championship -------------------------------------------------- Oscar (Sean McGuiness, roomie and best buddy) are at the airport a bit early and decide to have a gin tournament. Can you believe he just taught me this game last year? Anyway, I get slapped in the face with the deck and totally r00l him until it's time to take off. Woohoo! The First Annual Mid-Air Gin Championship ---------------------------------------- I catch a horrible run of cards, and Oscar spanks me bad. Good thing for him, as this was one of the most uncomfortable flights in recent memory. He had pillows jammed up between both of his knees and the seat in front of him so as to avoid involuntary arthroscopic knee surgery. "Must be nice to be so tall!" Yeah, right! Freerolling the Bellagio --------------------- Through Wagerworks.com, and a little creativity, I managed to score comps for a 2 night stay for two at Bellagio and a couple of buffets. Man, what a difference from the shoe! Due to Jaeger's generosity, I spent the previous night on the floor of a Binion's room. Now, I've got this excellent room at the Bellagio, complete with my own bathrobe. Let me just say that I've never had a turndown service at the 'Shoe! And the Bellagio pools are amazing! Tons of places to relax, cool off, and people watch. And man, are there some beautiful people to watch! Yikes! And with the coffee shop right by the entrance to the pool area, it made for a great morning wake-up. With Games this good . . . ------------------------- I wonder why I ever played anywhere else. The $4/$8 game at the Bellagio was s00per s0ft, and in two days (one session each day), I extracted over $750 out of that game. On the first day, Russ and Jerrod show up, and they actually have to help me carry my chips to the cage. It's a problem I could get used to having. As it turns out, I should have kept playing there, because after I left the Bellagio on Tuesday, my ring game play went to hell. The Mini-Death March --------------------- On Monday, Oscar and I went to play Cloud Nine at Angel Park. It's a very difficult par 3 course in Summerlin (on Rampart, right off the Summerlin Parkway). It was built during the time I lived there, but I'd never played it. Now, Oscar and I are not the best golfers in the world. We have a running joke that the par 3 course we play back home is actually a par 6. But this place was TOUGH! Oh, and did I mention it was hot?! I mean, HOT!!!!! It's a 12 hole course, and there are a couple of water stations out there (not enough), but man, we baked on that course. Between chasing balls into the rough and hitting them off the rocks (and into the water), well, it can wear a person out. We did make it through, however, and Oscar beat me by 20 strokes. Yeah, I suck at golf. But we still managed to have a great time. The Rental Car -------------- Rented from National like last year (Emerald Club rocks!) and got a dodge Intrepid. Not a horrible car, except when we picked it up (on the night of our arrival), we couldn't get the done light to go off. Finally, with the help of two employees (who barely spoke English), we managed to get it off by fully closing the rear driver-side door (which we'd never even opened). The car served us well, and I got to chauffeur a few r00ling BARGErs around a bit, but we decided that maybe we won't get a car next year since we just didn't use it much and could probably save a little money by bumming rides and using cabs. Returning the car on Sunday afternoon was a bad beat in itself, since National totally moved the return place to the other side of the airport and never told us about it. Checking in to the 'Shoe ----------------------- We had no problems checking in, and we got a great room (610) on the "new" side. We'd stayed on the "old" side the last two years and decided to spare no expense this year and really live it up. Well, the rooms ARE much nicer on this side. And the air conditioner was actually at a tolerable sound level (unlike last year where I swear a jet was taking off right outside the room every time the air conditioner kicked on). We even got a mini-fridge (asked for it, as we really loved the one we got last year). The Mini-Fridge -------------- It has 2 settings. "Cold" and "Freeze all your shit". We were on the second setting, and the knob was missing. So, before all of our shit (a six-pack of diet Sprite, 8 cans of Red Bull, 3 small tubs of Dannon yogurt, and a quart of milk) turned into blocks of ice, we called maintenance to bring up a pair of pliers or something to fix the fridge. Needless to say, they never came, and well, all of our shit became frozen. The HOP Tournament -------------------- Well, since Oscar finished a r00ling second last year, I figured I had a shot in this tournament. ROTFLMAO!!! I suck at these games! I lasted much longer than I thought I would, and had a great time, but I sure have a lot to learn about these games. Oscar didn't do much better, and we were done early. *NOTE A lot of this trip report is out of chronological order, mostly because I stopped taking notes very early in the trip. Bear with me. The Smoker ----------- Went to the Palm at Caesars for the smoker. I drove Crunch and I, and we met the guys near the front of the Forum Shops. There were about 10 of us if I remember correctly, including Goldie, Arty, Crunch, Ice, Nolan, Chuck, Gavin and I. I apologize to those I forgot. We really missed Chic, who was in the Cleveland Clinic with a staph infection from foot surgery. Anyway, the food was good and the conversation even better. I'm REALLY glad I went. A special thanks goes out to Goldie for treating me to this dinner. He's one great guy! Team CHORSE ------------- My ADV Vanguard team R00LZZZ!!!!! 'Nuff said. Actually, there is a funny story. I played the Razz round, and I faced Linda Johnson (you know, Razz bracelet). Anyway, I had won MANY pots with total crap hands (you gotta' represent in this game!) and one hand came up against Linda. We were heads-up, me with (2,4) 3 and Linda with (X,X) 2. she bets, I raise, she calls. Next card, I catch a K, Linda catches an A. She bets, I ponder for a moment and (oops) call. I forget who it was, but someone on the rail said, "Let's see, she's got A-2, a bracelet and a book. Scottro's got a King. I call!" It was pretty funny. Needless to say, I didn't out-play her and I folded after bricking off again on 5th street. Craps Tour ---------- I catch up with the craps tour while they're at Fitzgeralds (sp?). Anyway, they're all r00ling and having a great time playing the dark side and drinking it up. I manage to lose a little, then bring it back to win a little. We got to a couple places, and somehow I hook up with Ploink, Jerrod and Michelle. We ended up going off on our own and start a crazy mini-tour of downtown. The 4-Person Mini-Tour ---------------------- OK, so it's late (about 3:30 or so) and Ploink, Jerrod, Michelle and I are all stumbling around downtown. The three of them are quite sloshed, and since I don't drink anymore, I was sort of taking care of them (yeah, right). Anyway, we play blackjack at a few places, win some, lose some. Then somehow we end up at the Plaza, and someone suggests we play roulette. Well, they've got an open 50 cent roulette table and it's calling our name. We each buy in for $50, except for Michelle, who immediately puts $50 on black. Well, black hits, and she lets the $100 ride. Black hits again, and she picks up $150 and places $50 on red. Black hits again and she cuts her losses and pockets a nice profit. Meanwhile, Jerrod is near busted. I've been playing my usual #20, with all of the corners and the sides. Ploink is just shoving stacks of checks on various numbers. Finally, one of his numbers hits and they slide him a HUGE stack of his color, plus a few green chips. Then #20 hits for me and I've got it surrounded and make a great score. The next roll, I have changed my strategy and put stacks of 10 or 12 chips on 5 numbers (my birthday, my son's birthday, my anniversary etc.) and wouldn't you know it, #7 (my birthday) hits and I make a r00ling score! Somewhere along the line we lose Jerrod and Michelle. The sun is coming up and Ploink and I each take our profits and go to our rooms. It was an awesome time with three awesome people. Thanks guys! The TOC Tournament -------------------- Well, I don't remember much except for the fact that I played HORRIBLY during this tournament and went out rather early. I might have been tired. I don't recall. I just know I really sucked this year. Congrats to those who did well. A Day at the Mirage ------------------- Randy and I had decided not to play the blackjack tournament, so we hooked up around noon and went to the Mirage for some satellites for the $120/$100 NLHE tournament to be held after the buffet. The first satellite we entered was all BARGErs if I recall correctly. I got the right cards at the right time and ended up winning it without offering Randy a save at the end (I don't make deals). I then made back my entry in a $3/$6 game and took a break. I had a lot of fun watching the other satellites consisting of mostly BARGErs. After a while, I took a seat in a crazy $6/$12 game and was witness to Bingo's horrible beat of KK vs. J6. Oh my, it was nasty. I actually ended up getting up without playing a single hand. It was a tilt fest just waiting to happen, and I wanted no part of it before the tournament. The buffet was great, and as usual, the conversation was even better. I really got to know Mike "Mickdog" Patterson a lot better this year, and that started at the Mirage buffet. He's a really great guy, super friendly and a lot of fun to hang out with. During the tournament, I don't recall ever having many chips except for early on when I busted Norm McDonald (as most of you know by now, from Saturday Night Live). I make a standard raise with AA under the gun, Norm comes back over me in the cutoff after all fold, I re-raise all-in and he calls immediately. I'm figuring him for KK (I didn't know how he played at this point), so imagine my surprise when he rolls over 33. Needless to say, he re-bought. A few hands later, Bingo busts him completely. I lost a good chunk of my stack on a few hands where I raised but wasn't ready to commit after being re-raised (a hole in my game I really need to work on, as it also proved to be my demise in the BARGE NLHE) and slowly I bled off my chips. I made it pretty far, but nothing close to the money. Lucky for me, I swapped thirds with Oscar who finished 6th and made $996. Woohoo! Way to go Oscar! And way to go Bingo, Barry K, Kevin Un and Jeff S. who all made the final table as well. If I remember right, there were 6 BARGErs in al who made the final table. We r00l! The Calcutta ------------ Unlike some people, I love this event. It went quick this year, and the food was awesome as usual. It was a blast as well, and even Doyle showed up for a short time. I think we should keep this event, and unlike some, I don't think it has outlived its usefulness. The PL Games ------------- The good news is that I finally played PL this year. The bad news is that I lost my ass. Apparently, second nuts in Omaha hi is n0 g00t! I watched in amazement as NutZ crushed his PL opponents time and time again, regardless of the cards he held. Pretty spectacular. It was fun watching the occasional tourist get stacked off too, but man, I really got killed in this baby game, and even in the $1/$1 game on Saturday night. I did learn a lot about PL, however, and I'm sure I'll give it another shot next year. One good thing about the PL games is that I had some truly outstanding conversation with a few people who I never got to know very well until this year. The three who stand out are Andy Latto, Andrew Prock and ADB Chaz. I can't believe Chaz actually roasts his own coffee bean. How cool is that!!! Thanks for the great conversations, guys! The NLHE --------- Well, what can I say. I just wasn't into it this year. I busted 80th, and never did much of anything. Between bad cards and weak play, you'll never beat this field. Looks like I'll have to wait at least another year before I can think about designing chips. And WTG Mike "Howler" McBride! An excellent comeback from being short-stacked for much of the tournament. You played great! The Hand of BARGE ------------------ About an hour before the banquet is to begin, I get seated in an all-locals $10/$20 game at the 'Shoe. I play a couple hands, win some, lose some, and decide that I'll now play to my blinds and leave to get ready for the banquet. So, my last hand, I look down to find TT. OK, that's somewhat of a trap hand, but the players in this game were horrible, so when the UTG raised, I 3-bet. The button called, as did the small blind, and the raiser made it 4 bets. We all called. The flop came T T 6. DINGZ!!!!!!!!! SB checks, UTG bets, I smooth call as does the button and the SB. The turn comes a suited Q (the 6 was also suited to one of the tens, so there are now 3 spades on the board). The SB checks, UTG bets again, I call again, and both the button and the SB call. Turn is a suited A (yes!). SB now bets out, UTG calls, I raise, button mucks, SB MUCKS and so does UTG!!! Bummer! I table the quads, rack up and leave $200 to the good. The Banquet ------------ I LOVED the food this year. I thought it was the best. I got to talk to a lot of my friends, got the huge trophy for the CHORSE, got to be the butt of a Karmak joke (that bit was absolutely hilarious) and just had a great time. I also enjoyed the speakers and especially the promo of the WPT. I think Linda was a fine choice as well and did an outstanding job on such short notice. The Return Home ---------------- Well, I stayed up way too late playing PL after the banquet, but I did get to witness the craziness of Nolan, Bob O. and others playing in the Must Drink game. Man, you guys kill me! Stephen Landrum built an awesome replica of the Landmark for a chip castle as well as a few others, and they were s00per c00l. Checked out of the 'Shoe and after a huge hassle, we got our rental back to National and made it to the airport in plenty of time. There were NO LINES going through security, and we breezed through. The really cool thing was, Mickdog was there too. He had miss-scheduled his flight for the wrong day, so he got a change and had a 5 hour wait. So, he hung out with Oscar and I, playing rummy until we had to go. That was a great way to pass the time! The flight home was easy and I slept most of the way. Got home about 1 AM and crashed hard. Things I Remember ------------------ -Bill Chen, watching the HOP tournament when Sabyl (I think) wins a hand with a 9-high straight for a 9 low, says "It's hard to play lowball without any wheel cards!" -Talking about pooping in the back yeard when we were kids (I'm not mentioning any names) during the Mirage buffet. -The crazy 10-rack (red racks) woman playing $20/$40, then $1/$1 PL, and finally, as we were leaving the 'Shoe, I saw her with her last $80 or so playing in the $4/$8 game. Sad. -Nolan laying on the floor of the 'Shoe poker room, looking up at the ceiling and laughing his ass off during one shining moment of the must drink game. -Getting FREE bathrobes from Bellagio from the maid the day we checked out because she thought I reminded her of her brother (she was Hispanic). -FINALLY being shown the s00per seekrit passage at Binions. I thought it was just a myth, but it really is there! Thanks Eric! -Strangely getting on the elevator on three separate, non-related occasions and finding Patti in the same elevator. Strange . . . -All of the great people I hung out with this year. This is what really makes BARGE the stone cold NUTS. Russ F., Jerrod, Ploink, Michelle, MickDog, Bob O., Arty, Nolan, Oscar, Goldie, Crunch, Randy, Jaeger, Len G, and everyone else. I love all you guys! Can't wait 'till next year! 77, ADV Scottro