Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:37:05 -0700 From: Tim Showalter Subject: [BARGE] a belated 2006 BARGE trip report (if you're one of the people that archives these things, please let me know where so, in the likely event I have to correct something, I can let you know.) a belated BARGE 2006 trip report 2008 notes: It's August 3, 2008. What's the record for a late BARGE trip report? I suppose North Shore Mike could still write up his promised '04 report and beat this one handily. There's some poker content in here. Good luck finding it. You'll probably read it anyway. I wrote most of this around BARGE 2006. My notes early in the week may have been borderline accurate. I wrote much of this when I could remember some of the things that happened. Then I edited it to try and make it interesting. That didn't work, either, but Nick says to send these things rather than waiting for hell to freeze over, so here we are. My notes started out lengthy, content-free, and got worse as the week went on. Then two years went by. Uh, oops. Anyway, I'm finally going to send this, really, right now, as I sit here in Phoenix, flying home from the trip that kept me from BARGE. I hope it's interesting, or at least, that some little bit of it is. Fade back to 2006: I'm pretty freaked out when BARGE is cancelled the first time. But then it's at Caesars and all I can think about is the fratboys walking in and getting eviscerated in 1-2 no-limit games. Then it's cancelled again. Then it's on again and it's at the Venetian and that, frankly, rocks. Even if I have to stay downtown and drive, well, it'll be fine. The Venetian's reputation as a poker room is good--they can actually get good games spread. And AllVegasPoker says they're running a 9/18, which means $3 chips. How very Californian. I don't want to go Plaza-bashing (or Caesars bashing). Both hotels were kind enough to try and host us before the bizarre happened. But I have to say, the Plaza's poker room rules are not my favorite, and there were few tourists in the games. The fishiness of a game during BARGE is inversely correlated to the number of badges. Backstory My wife is going back to school for 22 months in Moorpark College's Exotic Animal Training & Management program. We've been together for a few years, but we've been married for less than six weeks. http://www.moorparkcollege.edu/zoo/ So obviously there's a lot of emotion tied up in that. The problem is that I'd like to go play poker now please, but, I have to go with her, have dinner with her fellow students on Monday night. Monday night! Perfectly good time to be playing poker. She's feeling apprehensive about school, and I'm feeling giddy about Vegas. She's signing up for almost two years of hard work and I'm going on vacation. She's thinking about animal poop. I'm thinking about the fucking Mirage. [2008 update: Jenn graduated in May and can now train your dog, your mountain lion, or your spider monkey.] The plan is to drive to Simi Valley, drop Jenn off, then I take off for Vegas late Monday night. I pass the time leading up to our departure by making last-longer bets via email. Of course, I'm not that good at tournaments. I'm hoping having more money on the line will encourage me to survive longer. We leave home on Saturday, the week before BARGE. The plan is to spend a couple days in and around Simi Valley, then drive to Vegas. Drive to LA After getting on I-5 just south of CA-152, I see a farm field that is twinkling. Closer observation suggests a foil streamer on the top of hundreds of trees. As we drive by, it looks like thousands of flash bulbs going off in the distance. Immediately after entering Los Angeles County, Jenn is aggressively tailgated by a guy for no reason. Jenn's in lane two, and there is no one in lane one, yet the guy rides her back bumper for about a mile. Welcome to LA. We arrive at the house at about 8:17 PM. I lose the over/under with Jenn and arrival time--either my odometer lies, or Mapquest does. Simi/Moorpark I spend two days in Simi Valley and Moorpark and do no gambling. I'd rather be in Vegas with my wife, she'd rather be in San Jose with me. We're here. It's kind of a compromise. We learn that Ben and Jerry's makes a milkshake called Chocolate Nirvana. I think it's good, she thinks it's excellent. [2008: Jenn still likes these.] We see "Lady in the Water". It's a fairy tale. [2008 review: Eh.] Our original plan was for me to take off and fly to Vegas on Sunday afternoon. Once I decided to drive so (cheapest possible rental), Jenn discovered a BBQ social event here on Monday night for students and their families. Now I'm leaving Monday night. I'm going to drive to Vegas in the dark, and I don't know how to get there. Monday night I ditched the party and got out of Simi Valley at about 7:40 PM. My route is something like I-5 to Antelope Freeway to CA-138/Pearblossom Highway. It's dark, dark, dark by the time I'm off the freeway. CA-138 and CA-14 lack nearly any signs telling you what road you're on. I can't tell you how lost I thought I was. [2008 update: I'm sure the SoCal contingent knows these roads are just fine, and I'd agree now -- it was just pretty unnerving that night.] By the time I got to I-15, it was just fine with me that I was completely stuck in traffic. I was just happy to know I wasn't lost. It's so dark on I-15 that I can see the cloud of the Milky Way, even with the lights of the freeway nearby. I pass a C6 Corvette. I notice the license plate frame, "I'd rather be playing on", and the plate itself, California "PKRSTRS". I can't see in the car, but it's got to be one of us, right? I briefly follow the car, considering flagging down the driver who is either a BARGEr, or should be. But he's doing the speed limit and I'm, uh, exceeding it. I give up and figure I'll ask at BARGE who the car belongs to. (I asked Dan and Foldem, and never did figure it out.) As soon as I pass, uh, Jean, or whatever the town past Primm is, I know I'm getting close because I can see the glow from the Luxor. About two ridges away, I realize I can see the mountains again because of the glow from the strip lighting them from behind. Neat. All of this is pretty great when it's 12AM and I've been by myself for too long. Arrival (wee hours, Tuesday morning) I arrive at Main Street Station at 12:25AM. I'm sharing a room with Chuck Humphrey, whom I have never met. I check in and he's asleep. If I were smart, I would go to bed. But I'm not smart. I'm in Vegas, baby. I drop my stuff off in my room, quietly, and run off to the Venetian. It is clear from the players in the room that BARGE hasn't really started yet. I take a seet in a 3-6 game, because I know I'm too tired to play 9-18 and the 6-12 isn't running. I am also too tired to play 3-6, but I am in denial. On my last hand, I limp with 64c for FOUR BETS. I no longer remember how this happened; I can only hope that it was on the installment plan. There wasn't even anyone there to impress, or depress, or amuse. Flop 6s5c4s and bet two pair and we get a lot of bets in on the flop. On the turn (4h) I bet and call one bet because there are still four players. River (2h) makes a straight. I get all in for $14 and... lose to presto. Maybe BARGE *has* started. I head back to Main Street to sleep after wandering around the Venetian just a little bit to try and see what's here. Tuesday Chuck wakes up and starts making noise, and I didn't quite sleep through it. But he invites me to breakfast, which sounds real good. I can't sleep after breakfast and spend the whole day exhausted. Chuck and I go to the Venetian and play some cards; Dave Low and Doug Lemaire [Grismore] show up and show me the wisdom of GOING TO SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE TIRED. Wednesday I sleep good and meet Doug and Dave at TI for a no-limit tournament. They're running two tables. IIRC, it was a $60 buy-in. I play stupid and bust out more or less immediately. Dave laughs at me. TI has this great alternate rule. You can play as an alternate for the first three levels, even if you already bought in. Perfectly reasonable way to allow rebuys if you're going to allow alternates anyway. I mean, why can I not play as an alternate (rebuy) just because I'm the same guy who just went broke? I'm seated in the other game, with Doug. I play okay and get a healthy chip stack. Doug and I play this pot, filed under "We play in the same home game.": I have A4. Flop 245. I bet, Doug raises. It's only T800 more he could have a weak 4 (my A could be good). I tank, then call. Turn 3, check check, river whatever, check check. Doug shows a flopped set. I berate him for not raising pre-flop with presto. I get JJ cracked by TT by prm. I am unable to pull off the same trick and go out a few places away from the money. I railbird the tournament until Dave razzes me into playing 1-3 NL. I make $101 against a pretty tight/passive table. We head to the Mirage via the tram. While in the tram, we spot a guy from the NL game I just left, who comments about how bad the game was. Whatever. I took $101 out of that game. I suck at poker. How bad could it be? We all take seats in a 6/12 game at the Mirage. I am wearing a hat and badge. The woman in the 8 seat asks me about registration materials. I say, "www.barge.org". She says, "I'm registerd, but where do you get the badges?" And so that's how I meet Diane from Green Bay, who I didn't see for the rest of the weekend. I have 55. Three BARGErs are in the game so I raise. Flop JT7hh. I check, call a bet. Turn 5 (ding!), I raise. River J (ding!) but 555JJ no good against flopped set of tens. D'oh! I take AA against a flopped set of tens. I lose. I ask Diane if I misplayed it. She says no, and that there's a lot of strange money in this game. I've gotten a lot of patience out of replaying that comment in my head since. Time passes. Diane leaves. I play real tight, and I get about even. Time passes. I've been here for hours. I leave the table and go to the Carnegie Deli and come back with an obscenely large turkey sandwich. What does a $15 turkey sandwich look like? Two $6 turkey sandwiches stuck together. The turkey is rolled up in the center of the sandwich. It's not just that I can't imagine eating this much, it's that I can't imagine biting all the way through the roll of turkey. I strip off half the turkey and throw it out. The turkey was pretty good, though. Ashame there was so much of it. One more poker hand. Guy on my right comments that there's a lot of dead money in the pot. He's right, there's a post or two, a made up blind. It's pretty good for the cards not having come out yet. So I don't feel too bad calling three bets with Q9s, even if it does go three bets--six ways. (Please send invitations to your home game to this address.) Flop has a Q in it, and a spade. I call two bets, three or four ways. Turn is a Q. There's more action, but I just call because I know everyone in this game is insane. We're heads up when the river 9 is dealt. It's bet to me. I raise my nuts. I have cracked AQo who promptly tilts and storms off. Before long, I decide to go to the Venetian. Once I get there, I see players from the Mirage game who inform me that the game apparently broke soon after I left. Ouch. 3-6 mix game at the Venetian. Stud/8, Omaha/8, Holdem, Pineapple, Razz. Seriously. I make some clever plays at Omaha/8. Dunno how, I can't play O/8. Zbigniew and I guilt John Moser into adding Badugi, but he quits the game because we won't shut up. We apologize profusely. [2008: John: I'm still sorry about this.] Foldem said I had to write a trip report for this hand: I straddle. It's capped (five bets). When the action comes back to me, I discover 72o. I turn over my hand, because frankly, for what I'm about to do, it's only funny if everyone plays along. I call the cap. Flop: has one 2. I call a bet from Jeff "Blofeld" Deitch. Turn: 8, pairing the board. I call a bet from Jeff. River: 2. Jeff checks, I check. He says, "You know what I have," (no I don't, I'm really not paying attention). I have cracked Jeff's AA. I win high in a Crazy Pineapple pot with 62o (second nut low, IIRC). Two other players with 52 must split low; six plays. I take victory lap. I am eventually up about $100 in this game but blow back $80 making non-r00ling stupid plays in a single round of stud/8. Thursday 8/17: Team CHORSE I play in Patrick Milligan's home game. We manage to field a CHORSE team out of our regulars. We called it High Variance, apparently because some of the players have a reputation of being willing to gamble. Okay, because *I* have a reputation of being willing to gamble--Paul and Patrick wouldn't put a quarter in a gumball machine without a 20% edge. We end up dropping $40 or so a piece with a generally lackluster performance. I did more than my share of damage by playing too lose in a Razz round, which cost us an extra $50 of the team's money. I suck. But they have to let me back on the team next year, we bought hats. [2008 update: in 2007, I quit the team and forgot to lend Lynne Higgs my hat. Our '07 team, we wore hockey helmets as a part of team Short Bus. In 2008 I forgot to go to BARGE or something.] I get stuck $300 in a 6/12 game at the Venetian. I'm just not catching any cards, unless I play like an idiot. If I recall correctly, this was the game where Goldie was killing me. I quit the game and go to the Wynn. I'd like to take a shot at their 8-16 game again, a step up from my usual 6-12. As a wedding present, Dave has offered a partial buyin, and a partial stake. I figure I'm going to put about $800 in play. If you read James Kittock's trip report, where he says, we saw Tim and he was on tilt, well, this was one of those times. The game isn't great, and I don't do very well. Eventually, a maniac's maniac sits down. Here's how that went: I have A5s. Flop 55x. I'm feeling pretty good until he turns over 54 on the river. The river was a 4. Lather, rinse, repeat. Friday 8/18: TOC-Style O/8, 300-600 level: I have a crappy hand and defend my blinds. The flop is like 77Khh, I have a 7 but only one heart. I bet and get a call from Bobo on my left. The turn is a heart. I check, he bets, I call. The river doesn't fill me up. I check, he bets, I think and call. Of course he has a flush. The next hand, I get all-in with AK22sscc and scoop for a triple-up. This is great, but it's clear to me that having T600 more at these prices would have helped me last at least another couple levels. I have lunch with Foldem, Oz, and Jack. I sit down in a 1-2 NLHE game and drop $365 or something as quickly as possible. (I took AK against AA, and then a flopped shitty two pair didn't hold up against AA when a second pair showed up on the board.) [2008 note: By this point, I was broadly on tilt for a few reasons, but not least of which was the fact that I was spewing every time I touched cards. So, my notes get shorter; this is good because they also get less interesting.] Calcutta I buy Frank and Sheri Brabec for $150. James Kittock claims half my action, and Frank buys back his and Sheri's shares, so I'm only out $37.50. Kittock will later say I made this purchase drunk, but it was probably the only really good bet I made all weekend. Selling half my interest to Kittock was one of my many errors. Craps Crawl LenG and Foldem can't shoot dice worth a damn. Wedding: Congratulations! Saturday: No-Limit Holdem I slept in and missed the first couple levels. I showed up and felt okay. Poor James Kittock. I showed up, and he commented that he knew the guy who was *supposed* to be in seat 4, but couldn't remember who it was. James had not yet progressed to the point of hangover; he was still drunk from the revelrie the night before. I only remember one hand at my starting table. [2008 update: wait, no I don't.] Table breaks and I find AA vs Russ Fox's AK. Sorry, Russ. But that's not enough to help me, and I'm out before too long. Frank Brabec makes the money in the NL! Frank was worth $1504, of which I got to keep a quarter. Blew $200 in a PLO game to Dilligaf. I really regret not taking a seat in, uh, any other game, but in particular the lowball game, which I said I was really, really going to play this year. Eventually, I wander back to Main Street Station and go to bed. Sunday: Bought Over buttons at the Gamblers General Store, and a copy of "Free Money" (sure it's old but I wanted one and it's $9). Got on the road at noon or so. Drove back. Stopped for a couple hours to visit my wife. Hit traffic on CA-152 at 11:30 PM! Apparently they're putting new dots down the center of the road. Got home around 1AM. Last Longers: Slightly negative. I think everybody got paid, anyway. I ended up with a lot of them, and didn't quite pan out. 2008 postscript Thanks to Chuck, Peter, the Venetian, and everyone else who made BARGE 2006 possible. Even if I did spend the whole weekend on tilt. I missed BARGE this year, and boy, do I miss BARGE. See you all in 2009, or sooner, if ESCARGOT goes.