From: Connie Kellers To: "'barge@barge.org'" Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 01:18:25 -0700 Subject: [BARGE] Connie's Trip Report -- or How I busted Howard Lederer and lived to tell the tale I know I've been something of a lurker on this list, but I really really love BARGE. This was my 10th BARGE, and this year had so much of the joy and wonder of my first two BARGEs that it warrants a trip report. I know Binion's is a controversial venue for BARGE, but man, do they ever get us. It's all about good gambling, good food, and good fun. I know the people upstairs have made some questionable decisions, but the people down in the trenches do a great job and treat BARGErs like long lost friends every time we show up. After one day, tournament staff, cocktail waitresses, and dealers are calling me by my first name. How cool is that? I loved the 12 noon start time for tournaments this year. I'm sure that improves my edge, because I am never fully-functioning until the sun reaches the highest point in the sky. That's not just a Vegas rule; that is unfortunately a rule in my everyday work life as well. However, a tournament that starts at noon eats up your whole day, especially if you are lucky enough to get to the final table and/or your significant other is as well. I spent a LOT of time playing in the tournaments or sweating my dear husband, which left me too tired to do much else. Sorry, I'm lame. The Limit Holdem tournament was a thrill for me. Of course I took no notes and can remember very little except the excitement of having Nolan Dalla announce my name at the final table. I do remember trying to bluff Mike McBride out of a pot, but he must have a serious read on me because he re-raised me, got me to fold, and then turned over his cards to reveal his own bluff. I thought I had cultivated a table image of tight, so I was astonished to get re-raised, and even more astonished that it was a bluff re-raise. Well done. Howler DID win the BARGE tourney last year, after all. Until I saw the purple chips this year, whenever I read "Howler" I thought "howler monkey", but now I see that Mike was thinking "howling wolf" when he picked his nickname. Too bad. I still think "howler monkey", bared fangs and all, and if I ever win, I'm going to put monkeys on the poker chips. (Nice picture by the way, Howler! I still would have liked a purple chip!) Watching my dear husband win the History of Poker tournament was more great fun, but man, do I suck at Draw. After I busted out, Andy Bloch was kind enough to pass some advice to me through Michael: "Tell Connie not to draw two when she has trips." Oops. Free advice from a world champion no less. Speaking of world champions, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting one this year! I'd like to say that I felt I was doing just fine until I got seated at Howard Lederer's table. Like many of you, I have had the pleasure of watching Howard Lederer stare down his opponents on the WPT, and he is one of my poker heroes, with his level-headed rational play. As I scooped up my chips when we got down to 4 tables in the no-limit holdem event, Mike said to me, "Cool, you're going to be sitting at Howard's table!" Me: "Oh crap." I toyed with the idea of pulling my jacket over my head and zipping up, but I was so nervous I could barely handle my chips, much less zip up. Fortunately, there was never any staring competition, as a few hands later Howard went all-in and I looked down to see QQ. I called and he turned over AJoff. QQ held up and I had busted Howard Lederer! He threw in a space pen for his bounty and then I jumped up and shook his hand, burbling something about it being a pleasure to meet him. Bingo then ran around the table to give me a big hug (I guess he had been pretty miserable with Howard on his left the whole tournament). More hugs and hand-shaking from others in the crowd, which made me feel really good, although I was still shaking and could not stack my chips. At this point, I turned to my husband and said, "Michael, bring me some chip racks." With a serious stack in front of me, I felt like I was in an excellent position to get a final table seat. At the break, I saw Perry Friedman, who had previously regaled me with his plan to some day bust Phil Hellmuth and say "I steek eet een you! I steek eet een you!" while humping the air. (I hope I haven't blown the surprise!) I couldn't resist, and said to Perry, "I steek eet een Howard Lederer!" The poker gods saw fit to punish my hubris a few hands later. Tony Corral, a big stack at the table, made the minimum raise in front of me. I was in the small blind and called with QTc. The flop came Qx c c, giving me top pair and flush draw. I went all-in (although in retrospect, a check-raise all-in might have been better). Tony had Aces, and no queen or club came to save me. Damn. That hand left me crippled, and Tony finished both me and Bingo off a few hands later when he got Aces against my AKoff and Bingo's QQ. Sigh. Tony, I owe you a bust-out prize (which I kept leaving in the hotel room -- again taunting the poker gods). Damn damn damn. I was really looking forward to playing with some of the other less well-known players I respect. Just look at the list of players who finished in the money, and they're almost all people I've met at previous BARGEs and think the world of. (And a few whom I had just had the pleasure of meeting, like Tony Corral and Caryl Aronson.) By the way, to Keith Fichtemayer: retirement apparently agrees with you. The long hair suits you and you kicked some serious tournament-butt. You steek eet een all of us. I then felt invested in the tournament and stuck around to watch the final table. I was rooting for Patti, not just because she's one of the gurlz(TM), but because she is a skillful player and I wish could play half so well. Again and again I saw her steal the blinds and build up her stack. Then she would go in with the best of it, lose, and start all over. It was heartbreaking. It was a relief to have the drama broken by the bringing out of the "box of money" -- bundles of $1 bills accompanied by a shotgun-toting security guard. See, I told you Binion's gets us. What other casino would go to the trouble? Thank you Tony Shelton. Thank you Jan. Now that BARGErs are posting their pictures (thanks Bingo!) I'm seeing that I missed some super-fun stuff. The chip castles, world champions playing Chowaha, etc. At least I was fortunate enough to catch the Roshambo World Championship. But that's how BARGE is every year -- if you need sleep, you miss out on some of the best parts. My hat's off to North Shore Mike and those of you who can go two straight days without sleep. I'm glad I got to talk to a few BARGErs, but not nearly as many as I would have liked. Sometimes it's all I can do to catch up with my old friends, and then I meet someone new and interesting and I want to learn all about them too. So many wonderful people, so little time. Thank you Chuck and Peter for organizing yet another successful BARGE. Connie Kellers (paperbag, baglady, baggie, and baguette from the IRC days) ________ Thanks to PokerStars, Paradise Poker, and Quiotix Technologies for their generous sponsorship of BARGE 2003.