From: "Mordecai Schwartz" Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 18:12:37 -0400 X-ConJelCo-MailScanner-SpamScore: ss Subject: [BARGE] My BARGE trip report Prologue I develop health problems early this year and skip ATLARGE for the first = time since 1996. By June I'm ok and ready to plan a memorable family = vacation. I'm thinking perhaps a cruise, then my wife suggests we visit = our son Sasha, who is moving to Vegas. Twist my arm. The only week = that works is August 14-20, so I book flights and a poker rate room at = the Bellagio. Start looking into things to do and discover it's BARGE = week. FFO. Vegas Monday. Take the family to see Love at the Mirage. Five-star show if = you like the Beatles, and I do. =20 Tuesday. Try the 15-30 limit and 2-5 NL games at the Bellagio. Good = games, book a small loss. Dinner at Nobu (in the Hard Rock Casino) is = pricey but worth it. =20 Wednesday. Spend the afternoon in the 15-30 at the Bellagio. Chic sits = down and plays solid poker for several orbits, but gets bored. He = straddles and puts in five bets multiway preflop without looking. = Follows through with blind action on the flop and turn. Heads-up on the = river, he finally looks and discovers 62o. Saddenz. It's such a great = game the action on the hand fits right in. I play five hours and walk = away stuck three racks. Take the family to O. Kids love it, while I = struggle to saty awake. Discover I have lost my Evil Eye, a cherished = card protector I picked up in Istanbul six years ago. Wonder if I can = win without it. I've had better days. Thursday. Spend another afternoon in the Bellagio 15-30. Make back = half the Wednesday loss. Take family to Second City, at the Flamingo. = We all find it hilarious. Have a late dinner at SW, the Wynn = steakhouse. Excellent. Vacation is back on track. Friday. I finally join the BARGERs to play in the TOC. I've always had = a great time playing in ARG tournies, and this is no exception. = Unfortunately, I'm pretty much clueless at Omaha and Stud, and by = mid-afternoon I'm back in the Bellagio 15-30. Another soft game, and = the deck runs over me. I cash out for dinner with a three-rack profit. = Leisurely dinner, then I sit in the 2-5 NL to complete my required = poker rate hours. Win a coin flip for $800. Decide my Evil Eye was = over-rated. Saturday. The NLHE event. I figure at least 25% of the field = outclasses me. In chess terms, I'm a 1600 player in a field full of = experts and masters. I sit down at table 7 seat 7. Seat 8 is Lee = Jones. Seat 9 is Bartholomew Simpson. Definitely outclassed. But I run great all morning and into the afternoon, with an = above-average stack when the field is cut down to 50. Highlight is = collecting two books on the same hand when my KKs hold up to bust Bruce = Hayek and Russell Fox. Then the skill factor starts to tell, and when = we get down to about 25 players left, I have less than two rounds of = blinds/antes. With nothing to lose, I push on a couple of random hands = (one was 83o) and double up without seeing a flop. I then win a race = with 97 versus overcards, pick up some more blinds, and somehow find = myself at the final table. Almost everyone is in push/fold territory, with the average stack about = T55,000 and a round costing, IIRC, T11,700. My stack is only T26,000, = but the simplified nature of the play gives me a slugger's chance = against my more skillful opponents (among others, Sabyl and Prock). = Sure enough, they both bust and I am among five left alive at the dinner = break. When we resume, I am once again very short, with a stack of = T31,000 and blinds/antes of T25,000. So it is time to flip coins and = get lucky. Very very lucky. And I do. So the bottom line of my first BARGE is I lose my Evil Eye, but I find = new friends and take home a handsome trophy and great memories. Many thanks to Peter and Chuck for an outstanding job. See y'all next year.