From: "Don Rieck" To: Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 17:27:35 -0500 Subject: [BARGE] Bingo's Barge Babblings 2003 Part 1 Wow. I'm TIRED. ObTravelNote - when flying Red Eyes, fly on United or American where there is legroom, not on ATA, airline of first time flyers who are assumed to all be 4'8" tall...... Once again BARGE was the highlight of my year - I was chatting with Nolan Dalla who graciously gave me a ride to the airport on Sunday night, and we agreed that it's become almost a family. It's very unique to have a group of friends that is as diverse as this in terms of geography, personality, politics, etc. Having sat next to Howard Lederer for 5 hours in the tourney, it's also clear that I am at the end of the bell curve in terms of intelligence for BARGE attendees. The WRONG end :) Seriously though, I'm betting there are at least 50 BARGERS from whom I could either borrow or would lend large sums of cash on the shake of a hand, and there ain't that many people in the world that can say that. The quick highlights... Arrive early Wednesday, and immediately continue tradition of breaking all pit avoidance vows. Consume too much beer. Go to bed at about 4:00 am, the earliest bed time for the trip :) I played well in the HOP tourney - for some reason, this is one of my favorite events. As Patti posted however, she R00led me ! I would accumulate chips, and then dump them off to Patti. Repeat. I finally got busted with a 7-4 draw against a short stacked all in player and another player who played a pat ten. I caught a Q and IGHN with about 3 tables left. Head over to the Mirage with Sabyl and Bill Chen (Thanks for the ride !). As we pull up to Valet Bill gets out of the car and says 'um - where's my wallet ?'. AIYAH - bad beat. All three of us pull out cell phones - I reach Nolan on his car phone, and he promises to have Shoe security look around for it and make an announcement in the tourney area, etc (Thanks Nolan !). Luckily someone had found it at the bank and returned it with the 2k still inside. Good Beat ! I sign up for the Mirage tourney and play well. I really feel that my no limit tourney game is getting stronger and stronger. I made the right laydowns, moved at pots at the right time with the right amount of chips, picked off bluffs, etc. With 4 tables left I have a final table average stack, or 2x the field. However, the structure of this tournament gets VERY fast at the end. I have a 17k stack with 4 tables left. By the time we're down to 3 tables I have 17k, and the blinds go to 1k-2k. I get the BB, the SB, they break our table, and I'm moved into the BB and SB. I lose 6k - over 33% of my stack in 3 minutes in blinds. With 13 people left, and enough chips for about 1.5 orbits I find ATs in late position and decide I have to make a stand. I get called by the also-short-stacked small blind with KQ off, and he spikes a K on the river to knock me out 4 out of the money. Bad beat. However I play for 5.5 hours and honestly can only think of one real mistake I made all tourney. I hang around and watch the PL game and chat with Paul P for a bit - he's just amazing to watch. On one pot, Lee Jones had raised preflop, Paul had called. The flop was something like K-Q-rag. Paul checked, Lee bet the pot (about $70 or so ?), and Paul check raises him the pot back. Lee thinks, mucks, and Paul shows 3-5 offsuit with a comment of something like 'you really need to bet the same way when you have a hand as when you're bluffing'. Wow - OK, I'm proud of my big bet game, but I've got a LOT to learn :) Very nice to see Paul. Kevin Un is in the game, and offers me a ride in 'just one more orbit'. Three orbits later I get on the lists :) I sit down in a 3-6 game, post, and immediately win a $83 pot with AT off. As I'm stacking it, Kevin Un appears and says 'ready to go' ? I wait for the BB and rack up after 4 hands an $83 winner. Locals NOT happy :) The rest of Thursday night is a bit of a blur, but I think it involved a lot of blackjack at stakes beyond my bankrolls size. I seem to remember a lot of 11's against 6's that went bad. Wake up next day and bankroll count confirms pit disaster. When will I learn ? I think I absolutely MUST get labeled as a counter so I am barred from ALL blackjack action - at least downtown :). Can I borrow your hat Mitch ? Friday morning comes the TOC tourney. I absolutely SUCK at this format. I don't like limit tourneys, I can't play Omaha worth crap, and stud is not my best game either. I also have Chick on my left who is playing his Omaha hands blind preflop, and keeps taking HUGE pots from me with silly hands. Sigh. At least he gives me the bustout gift from the previous day when I knocked him out of the HOP - a very nice Rock & Roll hall of fame bottle opener ! Thanks Chick ! I'm knocked out fairly early. I get in a 4-8 game that is just wonderful and get up about $150 when the symposium starts. I leave the chips on the table, and bounce up and down, buying half my action back from ET who once again bid on our team himself. I chastise him, but he once again makes a decent decision when he finishes 11th. I lose back most of my profit from the 4-8 game, AND miss most of the free drinks - definite bad beat. I thought the calcutta would go at least 2.5 hours, but it apparently ran very quickly. Thanks to Paradise for buying the drinks ! I then get in a 2-5 PL game which I convince the table to make 1/2 HE- 1/2 PLO. This game is pretty wild, with Sharon Goldman providing agression, Nolan providing humor, and some locals providing chips :) After a bit we're all clearly drunk, and I finally invent my namesake game ... Binglaha. It is played thusly- It's Pot Limit Omaha, 2-5 blinds. After the pot limit betting is over, a dice is rolled. If it comes up 1-2-3 then you are now playing Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo split 8 or better. If it's 4-5-6 it's PLO. The local even agrees to it, and we cause MUCH hilarity as we play this around. I quickly realize that I am WAY short bankrolled for this insanity I've created though, and pick up. I hear the game continued most of the night however - I think Scotty Byron even played in it for a bit :) Only at Binions. We had the dealer roll the dice the first time, but were then informed that we could do whatever we wanted, but PLEASE don't have the dealers rolling dice in the middle of big bet poker games with thousands of dollars on the table please sir :) The button rolled from then on..... So, recognizing that I'm tired and drunk, I naturally go sit in the 1-2 NLHE game :) Tales of that to come in part 2............ Don 'ADBBingo' Rieck ________ Thanks to PokerStars, Paradise Poker, and Quiotix Technologies for their generous sponsorship of BARGE 2003. From: "Don Rieck" To: Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 21:46:35 -0500 Subject: [BARGE] Bingo's Barge Babblings Part II A brief interlude first... Thanks SO much to our sponsors - Pokerstars, Paradise, and the Maurer/Goetz/Siegel company whos name escapes me because of sleep deprevation. To have tourneys with those structures requires huge entry fees, and you guys made it possible. Also, the hospitality suite just rocked. What a great idea ! It also provided a nice place for a Sunday nap after being up for an hour or so and realizing that those 'must drink' games take a toll..... Anyway... When we last left off, I'm on my way to the 1-2 NLHE game. It looks tough - Kevin Un was in it, as well as a couple of other people who I know can play. I figger WTF and sit down planning to play for an orbit or two, and then an unnamed BARGER shows up with a huge wad of cash and a blood alchahol level somewhere near toxic for most humans. [I'm not naming the other player, because although I did during BARGE, I've since realized that it was probably bad form to do so - especially since people read this who were not there]. He sets the tone when in his first hand there is $7 in the pot and he makes it $2200 to go, and then shows 3-5 offsuit. Aiyah. Strap in chat frendz, gonna be a long night. A few hands later I make what I think is the best fold I've ever made in a big game. I'm in the small blind with 5-6 offsuit, Kevin Un limps in UTG (should have sent off alarm bells, but I'm a bit in the bag remember), I call the $1, and UDB [unnamed drunken barger] checks from the SB. The flop is a pretty 5-5-6. Now, based on what UDB's been doing, I want him to shove all in, and fear he won't if I check, so I make a cheesey little $20 bet. UDB calls (shit) and Kevin calls (double shit). The turn is an Ace. (tripple shit) I bet $50. UDB, as planned a round EARLIER, shoves $2200 in the middle. Excellent ! This is so nice - get me even for BARGE, have goot story, everything is....wait. WTF ! Kevin Un shoves HIS whole stack in. Urp. Now I've played with Kevin quite a bit. He's a goot player. UDB's a goot player too, but he is in severe agression mode - he could have anything. I start thinking. And thinking. I swear I thought about this hand for 10 minutes. I got up from the table, walked around it, walked out into the main room, walked back. Thinking. Finally I conclude that there is NO way Kevin is making a move on me here. Since I only have ~$700 left to bet, UDB has me easily covered, while Kevin has about $1900. So even if I win the pot, he has plenty of money still to win later from the UDB. Also, there is just NO way Kevin is going to put his chips in there unless he has either 5-6, 66, or AA. Two of those three hands are REALLY bad, and if he has 5-6, then there's no reason that UDB can't have 66 or AA himself. I fold. UDB has 5-6, and Kevin Un takes down a monster with AA. I know for many of you this may be a clear fold, but for me it was a turning point. Last year I'm going broke with that hand. I also realize that I should have just gone all-in on the flop. There's a good chance that UDB will call with a worse hand (of course not knowing we were both holding the same cards at the time) and Kevin MIGHT have folded his Aces. Might. I'll probably never know. Bad flop play, very goot turn play is how I rate it. A few hands later I'm on the button with QQ. UDB made it $25 to go, Un folds. I take off my shirt, throw it in the pot, and shove all my chips in. This induces a call which makes me a couple hundred bucks, a lot of laughs, and some really scary footage up in the security camera area I'm sure :) After this I finally go to bed. The Saturday tourney in part III..... ADBBingo ________ Thanks to PokerStars, Paradise Poker, and Quiotix Technologies for their generous sponsorship of BARGE 2003. From: "Don Rieck" To: Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 22:27:59 -0500 Subject: [BARGE] Bingo Barge Babblings Part III OK - up for the NLHE tourney. I really want to win this thing. Bad. Really bad. I only get to play in live tourneys twice a year - at BARGE and at the WPO, so this is my chance to prove to myself that I can play. The table draw is less than perfect :) I know there are no soft tables at BARGE, but I've got Crunch on my right, and Howard Lederer on my left. Watching Howard is an education. He is definitely taking this tournament seriously. I get the impression he takes everything seriously - not in a 'boring' sort of way, but in a 'I might learn something so I'm going to pay attention' sort of way. I chat with him a bit - he's quiet, but very nice and polite, and clearly very intelligent. He plays very well. He immediately senses that the table is fairly tight, and starts immediately picking up blinds. Enough that when he gets played back at it's with profit - just like Doyle says to do in Super System. It's a thing of beauty actually. I would appreciate it even more if I were at, say, the next table over instead of on his friggin RIGHT :) In spite of this, or maybe because of it, I play very solid. I pick up some blinds with about 1/3 the frequency of Howard because he's seen me be so tight in the first two rounds that he gives me some respect in the later rounds. I also make some hands which helps immensely. I really can't remember most of the hands I played - I was SUPER focussed, and also trying to learn as much from watching Howard as possible. I did take one pot down from him when I made a standard raise in steal position with Q-T h and Howard flat called (ruh-ro). Now, I'm thinking at this point that he's going to steal this pot from me - he's been doing it all day. So perhaps I've finally set the trap. I flop broadway rainbow :) I check, Howard bets about 1/3 the pot, and I flat call. This I believe is a mistake - I need to commit him with AJ/AT/AK there. He will call with that - if he's on a steal I should NOT let him catch up with a backdoor anything. The turn is nasty - another ace that puts a 4 flush on the board. Great - did he have AJ ? I check, he checks. ick. River completes the possible flush. At this point I'm going to HAVE to lay it down - I check, and he bets only the minimum. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Value betting ? I have to call - I'm short if I lose, and he mucks when I show (shoulda waited for him to show dammit). So I can proudly say I misplayed a big hand against a great player and still won :) Howard finally busts when Connie Kellers, new to the table, picks up QQ against a Howard steal and calls his all in bet and his AT didn't get there. So goal number one is reached. Soon we're down to 4 tables with about 32 people left. I'm the BB, the UTG player makes a standard raise with a MONSTER stack, and Connie Kellers goes all in. I look down and find QQ. Crap. But at this point I have only 1.5 orbits left before I'm blinded out, so I hope that they both have AK and call. The UTG player calls, and his AA beats Connies AK and my QQ. Oh well, I feel like I had to play that given my stack size, but perhaps should have folded - thoughts ? Play some goofy pit games with an interesting story. Jester and I are at the 'Let it Ride' table (don't ask). There's a commotion at a blackjack table across the way, and our dealer stops dealing to watch, and starts chuckling. Apparently one player was annoyed by the other player at the table, and was asking for security to throw this guy out. Toruble was, the guy he wanted tossed is Nick Behnen. The look on this guys face when he finally realized that, yes, this really WAS Nick Behnen, was priceless. Goofed off until the banquet, which rocked. I thought the food was great, the pig was cool, and Howard did a GREAT job speaking once he warmed up. This is getting too long, so I'll mention one more story... I'm watching the Ro-sham-bo championships, and Josh, who has to go play in the NLHE final table, picks me to be his proxy. I easily win the 2nd round match against Gavin (I went Paper about 95% of the time - he just would NOT believe :)), but lose to Andy Bloch in the finals (damn !) Now I thought I was freerolling this thing, but Josh later tells me he thought I bought in for 1/2 the action. Ooops. He graciously settled for $25 - I'm sorry Josh - I really did think you were just letting me freeroll for you. Play some drunken horse game, and watch Patti and Paul battle it out. I must admit I was rooting hard for Patti - if an ADB wins that thing the BARGE chips will just R00l, but Paul plays well, and gets lucky, while Patti plays well and gets very unlucky. Handles it with her typical class though. Paul seems like a really nice guy, and deserving champion. I watch Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson build the most amazing chip castle I've ever seen. 11k in chips (red and white), and over six feet off the ground. Does anyone else get the feeling that this guy can do anything he wants to ? I play FAR too late into the evening, and wake up about 1pm the next day feeling like I've been, well, up drinking all night for 4 straight days. I manage to stay awake long enought to eat a bowl of cereal with Foldem and Jester, and then crawl up to the hospitality room and sleep until about 5:00. Dinner with the same two degenerates follows, then goodbyes. I hang around planning to leave for the airport about 10:00 for the midnight flight, and bump into Nolan coming out of his office, who sees my bags and offers me a ride to the airport ! Thanks Nolan - you've taken me to airports in Las Vegas and Tunica now - what a great guy ! With 30 minutes left before we leave I plop one more twenty in a VP machine, and hit quad deuces for $625 on a 'looses duces' machine. R00ling ! Off to the airport, uneventful flight, and sleep till noon. I have to get up tomorrow morning one hour earlier than my average Vegas bedtime. I anticipate it will suck. My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who made BARGE possible: (If I forgot someone, it's unintentional - I'm TIRED :)) Thanks to Jeff 'Jester' Woods, Lee Jones, and Don Goldman from Pokerstars for everything they did - the chips, the shirts, the hats, and mostly the hospitality suite. Thanks to Paradise for the drinks, the Bunny Chips, and the Bunny ! (oh Don Perry, you are really not gonna like these pics :)) Thanks to Quiotix (I knew I would remember) for their rescue last minute sponsorships. Thanks to Binions staff and management for their very cool 'let whatever happens' attitude. I really can't see BARGE being the same anywhere else. Thanks to Howard Lederer for speaking, and for giving me the opportunity to sit next to you for 5 hours of poker lessons - priceless. Special thanks to Nolan Dalla for running interference between us and Binions, and for the ride to the airport - you R00l. Thanks to Mike Zimmers for starting this thing. I have about 200 friends I wouldn't have if BARGE didn't exist. Please attend next year as a plain ol' Barger - we miss you. And HUGE thanks to Chuck Weinstock and Peter Secor for all the hard work that they did. I got to see a little more behind the scenes this year, and you guys put up with WAY more hassle than I ever imagined, but pull it off with grace and class. And thanks to everyone who shared a drink or a meal, gave me a hug, listened to a bad beat story, laughed at my jokes, discussed a hand with me, or just shook my hand. BARGE r00ls. 360 days to go........ Don 'ADBBingo' Rieck ________ Thanks to PokerStars, Paradise Poker, and Quiotix Technologies for their generous sponsorship of BARGE 2003.