From: Stevan H. Goldman Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:27:44 -0400 Subject: [BARGE] Goldiefish's BARGE2008 Trip Report - Part 1 Preamble Over the past few years I have added a few days on to the beginning of my BARGE trip. Here's how it evolved: Initially, I flew out to BARGE on Wednesdays, arriving late. But, a few years ago the first official BARGE event was scheduled on Tuesday at 7pm local time, so I considered flying out early on Tuesday. Then it occurred to me that coming to work on Monday was a waste. As long as I was taking off the rest of the week, why start it off with a single day of work? Of course, once I made the decision to blow off work on Monday I couldn't find a good reason to stay home for the weekend only to fly out on Monday, or Sunday night. So, I began to think about the prior Friday. Well, shit, who likes to work on a Friday in the summer? So, Thursday night began to look real good. Once I had decided on the 9-day-BARGE trip the next decision was whether to go to Vegas, or California. As most of you know, the poker in California is second to none, including Vegas. So I decided that a California warm-up prior to BARGE was the ticket. I have a friend in LA. He hosts a home game every Wednesday night, so whenever I'm in SoCal on a Wednesday night I'm invited to play in his game. So, scratch Thursday night, I decided to fly to LA on Wednesday morning. That way I could play in Mike's game on Wednesday night, and bang around the SoCal poker rooms for the weekend before heading to BARGE. Chic and Ice have joined me the past few years on this pre-BARGE Cali Card Room tour. Two years ago we did the Bay Area. Last year LA, and LA was planned again for this year. So, this year's BARGE trip began with on Wednesday July 23 on the 8:30am non-stop to Los Angeles. Anyone wishing to join us next year on a "pre-BARGE" California jaunt (prolly SF again next year), contact me. Wednesday July 23 Ice called me just before the trip to tell me that he couldn't fly due to an ear infection, so I didn't have my planned travel companion with me on Wednesday morning. Saddenz. The trip was uneventful, and the plane actually arrived in LA on time. I usually don't check luggage on most of my trips but with 10 days ahead of me I checked a full size suit case so I had to wait for luggage. Still, the wheels touched the ground at LAX at 11:30am, and I was checked into the Crowne Plaza and seated in a $40-$80 game at the Commerce Club by 1:30pm. Dingz! I played for a few hours and booked a $183 win. Then I picked up, went to the room to clean up, and headed out to my friend Mike's home game. The game is in Beverly Hills, about 25 minutes in no traffic, usually an hour, and can be 90 grueling minutes if it's particularly bad. The game starts at 6:30, and I'd rather sit at the bar than in traffic so I left Commerce at 4:30 hoping I had beaten most of rush hour onto the freeway (5 north to the 10 west). Well, I didn't exactly beat the traffic, but it wasn't too bad and I found myself at Canon and Wilshire in Beverly Hills before 5:30. This "home" poker game actually takes place in a club, not in a home. It is in the Grand Havana Room, a cigar club, so smoking cigars is allowed because it is a private club. It is frequented by all the familiar Hollywood glitterati, especially anyone you've ever seen with a cigar. From Arnold Schwartzenegger to Charles Barkley, and everyone in between. Over the years I've seen innumerable celebrities in this club, and a few minor ones play in our game. In this club, everyone is in "the business" (show business), and because it's a private club the people there act in a way they don't act in public. Everyone is on a first name basis. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE ever asks for an autograph, or acts in any way as if they're impressed or excited to meet a celeb. In this club these people are among their own in "the business", so acting like a star-struck tourist is not only verboten, but just doesn't happen. That makes me the PERFECT guest in this club, because NO ONE watches less TV, or sees fewer movies than me. So, I don't even know who most of these people are, unless I'm told. Really. A number of years ago I was in this club and a short guy comes up to me, and not recognizing me, stuck out his hand and offered "Hi, I'm Mel". I shook his hand and said "Hi, I'm Steve". Those were the only words we exchanged. When my friend arrived a moment later and saw me and Mel standing together he said "Have you met each other?", and we both said "Yes". When my friend and I sat down a few minutes later I asked him if "Mel" was anyone "special". He looked at me as if I was Chic and had just folded a hand and said "Are you kidding? That's Mel Gibson, one of the biggest male stars in Hollywood." I had never seen a single one of his movies, so I didn't recognize him. THAT'S why I'm the perfect guest in this club. I don't know enough to fawn over people who come to this club to avoi! d being fawned over. So, I'm the ideal guest. What makes the Mel Gibson story even funnier is that he had just won an Oscar for BRAVEHEART (I never saw it, still haven't). The only way into this club is via a private elevator from an underground garage. There is no "public" entrance. And, when you get off the elevator there was a giant (twice life size) mural on the wall of Mel Gibson in his BRAVEHEART outfit, with a cigar airbrushed into one hand and the spear in the other, and he had written across it "Thanks to all my friends at The Grand Havana Room" and signed it. Still, I didn't recognize the photo, or him when I met him. Two of the regulars in the poker game are "Patrick" and "Fred". I've known them both by first name for years. Well, after the Mel Gibson incident (my wife was nuts over the fact that I met Gibson and didn't know who he was) I asked my friend Mike if there is anyone in our poker game I "should know". It turns out that "Patrick" is Patrick Wayne (yes, John's son, and yes he looks like his father...doh!) and "Fred" is Fred Savage. But, I have never seen a single episode of The Wonder Years, or a single one of his movies (The Mole in an Austin Powers movie, I'm told), so I had no idea who he is, other than "Fred". The other regulars in the game are producers, etc. This past week one of them had just come from shooting a scene with Jessica Simpson, blah, blah, blah. They talk shop all the time, but it's always from a business standpoint....revenue, ratings, sponsors, contracts, shooting schedules, etc. The game itself is always fun, but hard to beat. That's because they rake it enough to pay for dinner, drinks and cigars. With 8 players the bill for the night is $800 with tip, and the game is basically a 1-5 structure (although it plays much bigger because of wild cards, replacement cards, spit cards, you-name-it). Everyone buys in for $200 and is given $160 in chips. Then they rake the pot $5 per hand ($10 on "big" pots) until they've raked enough to cover the bill. So, as you can see, winning in this game is quite a challenge. Losing $100 is essentially breaking even. Many nights, no one wins, but the "winner" only loses $10. I often misread my hands because of the crazy nature of the games they play (especially with the multiple wild cards), but on this night I managed to win $46, which was HUGE. Dinner, drinks, cigars, laughs, and +$46. Perfect. Game breaks at 11, and I'm back at the Commerce Club in a $20-$40 game by 11:45pm. I'm tired (it's almost 3am at home where Ice is lying awake coughing), so I play for an hour, win $18 and head to bed. Thursday July 24 Chic is due at LAX at noon, so I get up and head to The Bike to see The Occupant (Marc Gilutin) and give him his MATH IS HARD 5 shirt, as the newest member of the team. I get into a classic California $20-$20 game...just fucking nuts. I sorely tempted to leave a message for Chic to take a cab because I'm so reluctant to leave this game. But after winning a small pot that cut my losses to $575 I decide that there will probably be other games like this (heh) and I pick up and head to LAX to retrieve the Chickster. We stop at In-And-Out Burger immediately upon leaving the airport and then to the rental car counter so Chic could be authorized to drive the rental car. Chic has just had cataract surgery, so his vision isn't entirely clear, especially up close. So, when he went to sign the rental agreement, he actually had trouble seeing it! The rental guy looked at Chic struggling with the agreement, and looked at me. I immediately tried to put the clerk at ease by assuring him that Chic didn't need sight to be able to drive. I'm not sure he was too reassured (or amused), but once I put Chic's hand with the pen in the proper spot on the agreement, he signed, and the clerk seemed skeptical but satisfied. I only wish we'd had a white cane for Chic. Would have been the perfect prop. Back at the Commerce, Chic checked into his room and I got into another of those hard-to-describe California no-foldem games. Held my own for a while but then I had my AQo flop A-6-5 high but get run down by 89o with a river gutshot 7. Lost $400 and had to pick up to head to dinner, this time with a customer. I always take customers to dinner on business trips. Did I mention that this was a business trip? The customer chose a restaurant back in Beverly Hills (The Grill on the Alley). It was spectacular. One of the finest pieces of Alaskan halibut I've tasted (outside of Alaska). Great wine, too. After dinner we head back to the Commerce where I got into a good looking $40-$80 game. I wasn't getting any hands and so without really losing any big hands I had slowly drained off about $500 when I feel a tap on my shoulder. It was Fern, and she had recognized me from ESCARGOT!! We chatted for a while, reacquainting. Well, her touch on my shoulder must have been ARG magic. After a minute she sat back into her $20-$40 game (which she was r00ling, by the way), and on the button I look down to see 5s5c. It was two bets to me, with two in in front of me (and the blinds yet to act). I called the $80 as did the big blind and 4 of us saw the flop. The dealer counted the flop onto the table and picked up the three cards. As she rolled the flop I saw the top card.....5d! Presto! Don't ya just love when that happens? The first visible flop card makes your hand!! The dealer spread out the flop which also contained a Q and the 5h! Presto-Quadzilla! Mega-Dingz. The Ace on the turn was the payoff card for two of the others, and I won a big pot. I got ahead in this game and I took it as a great sign of BARGE to come. Stay tuned for part 2..... From: Stevan H. Goldman Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 11:00:55 -0400 Subject: [BARGE] Goldiefish's BARGE 2008 Trip Report - Part 2 Friday July 25 - Sunday July 27 On Friday Chic had an important call at noon, so I sat into another terrific $20-$40 game at Commerce around 10:30am. I r00led this game at the outset including a hand that missed the jackpot by one card. I raised from early position with AJ. One opponent raises behind me, I call. Flop: A-A-J. Dingz!. I bet. Opponent calls and yells "ACE!". The turn in not an Ace. I bet. Opponent calls and yells "ACE!". The river is not an ace. I bet. Opponent calls. I show best hand. Opponent shows QQ. Other players confirm last ace not in anyone's hand so it was in play. If 4th ace had fallen it would have triggered the $100,000 jackpot (between 11am and 1pm weekdays). Still, I won the hand, and quite a few others. Then, just when it looked like I was going to win over $2000 in this game I lost two consecutive big pots to two-outers on the turn. It was 1:15pm and Chic should have been done with his call, so I picked up a $800 winner and called Chic. Following Chic's phone call he and I went back to The Bike. Meanwhile, Ice called and indicated that his infection was better and he would be arriving at LAX at 6:15pm. Better late than never, especially as I had told Ice I would pick up the Egg and I tab so that he wouldn't lose face if he couldn't make it to BARGE. So, I was happy to know that he was heading west and equally happy to know that I had dodged an $800+ bullet. Last year, we went to San Diego for a day, to Del Mar and Oceans 11. We planned on doing the same thing on Friday but Ice's re-emergence on the scene nixed that plan. Instead we played at The Bike for a while (I booked a $600 win). In an effort to avoid Friday rush hour traffic getting to LAX to retrieve Ice we went to Hollywood Park at 3pm. Hollywood is only 5 miles from LAX, so it seemed the perfect spot to wait for Ice to arrive. The perfect spot, that is, until I got into a $15-$30 game in which I was totally dissected. Sliced, diced, filleted. You name it. One guy beat me 5 consecutive times, each time stepping out of line on the turn while still way behind and then getting there each time on the river. The fifth such hand is the perfect example: I raise in mid position with AQo. My torturer is the only caller (from the cutoff). Flop: A-7-2 rainbow. I bet. Torturer calls. Turn: Off suit 9. I bet. Torturer raises. I call. River: K. I check. Torturer bets. I call. Torturer shows me K9. Doh! I was sure glad that Ice's plane was on time. The news gets better. That session at Hollywood (-$735) was my last losing session in So Cal. Ice arrived and I got hot at the tables. $20-$40 (Bike and Commerce), $40-$80 (Commerce and Hawaiian Gardens), I didn't have a losing session from Friday night until we left for Vegas on Monday morning. There are two hands I'll relate because I'm not sure I would play the hands the same way again. Any comments are welcome. The first is in a 20-40 game at the Bike. I'm in the 2 seat. Ice is to my immediate left. The game is standard, California, loosey-goosey. Lots of gamb00ling. Now, Ice and I certainly don't collude, but we know each other pretty well and we seldom get into hands against one another. I give him a lot of respect and while he's been known to punish me with the occasional 56s he generally respects my play as well. I'm UTG with QQ. I raise. Ice immediately insta-calls me. It is raised, raised, raised and is capped by the time the betting comes back to me. I call. Ice calls. Everyone calls. Shit, they were calling this one from the adjoining must-move game. Needless to say, I'm not exactly in love with my QQ, thinking it cannot possibly be the best hand pre-flop. Seven of us see the flop which comes ten-high, ragged and rainbow. I certainly need to find out where I'm at, so I bet. Ice insta-calls. So does the Donk to his left and one other. The turn is another blank. I bet again. Ice insta-calls again. I don't like it. The Donk to Ice's left also insta-calls. The others fold. Three of us see the river. 7. No flush, no straight. I bet. Ice insta-calls. The Donk to his left RAISES. OK...here's where I doubt myself. Despite the biggest $20-$40 pot of the trip (and the largest one I'm likely to be involved in), roughly $1000, and despite that it was only another $40 for me to call, I folded. The PRIMARY reason I folded is because I was unable to lose Ice all hand no matter what, so I was all but sure one of them had me beat. Certainly, had it been only me in the hand against the Donk I'd have paid him off. However, right after I folded, Ice also folded!! So the Donk won the hand without having to show a hand. Ice and I discussed the hand. Ice is convinced the Donk made a set of 7s on the river. That seemed the most likely possibility. Either that or he flopped a set and slow played it until the river. The only other possibility is that he had QQ, JJ, 99 or A-T and flopped top pair. Of course, I had QQ (and Ice had JJ), so in retrospect those hands are less likely. As I said, absent Ice in the hand I would have paid the river bet. I was both surprised and disappointed that Ice also mucked his hand when the Donk bet. Comments anyone? Would you have called with such a big pot, but expecting another call behind you? Here's another hand in which I second-guessed myself. It's not a bad beat..I won a big pot...but I wonder if any of you might have played the hand differently. $40-$80 at Hawaiian Gardens. Another gamb00ling game with aggressive and experienced players. For example, when the flop was rags the blind would ALWAYS bet out, and typically one player would raise. Everyone else would fold and the two players would typically put 4 bets in on the flop, just to "see where the opponent was" and to show aggression and no fear. That kind of game. There was a 25-ish player who had taken a tough beat or two, and while he wasn't yet on destructive tilt, he was clearly looking to pump up the action and the pot sizes, in case he won a hand. He was on early, mini-tilt. I'm on the big blind with TT. The UTG player calls preflop, so does the player to his left. The next player is the "mini-tilt" kid. He raises to $80. Everyone folds around to the small blind who calls. I call and the two early limpers call. Five of us see this flop: T-5-3, rainbow. Here's the dilemma..to you check or bet this monster flop? I bet it, hoping it would look like an attempted blind steal of a ragged flop. Unfortunately, the two early limpers folded. The mini-tilt raiser raised. The little blind folded leaving just two of us in the hand. I raised. Mini-tilt called. Turn: 7. Guy to my right (little blind) immediately groans audibly and turns to his friend eating behind him and whispers that he made a set of 7s on the turn. I bet. Mini-tilt calls. River: K. I bet, mini-tilt calls. I show my hand, mini-tilt mucks. Guy to my right immediately tells me that he was glad I got called because he wanted to see my hand. He expressed great happiness upon seeing it, indicating that had he taken one off he would have lost "3 or 4 hundred to me". Clearly, had I checked the flop the little blind would have called the mini-tilt's one bet. I would have then trapped him in the hand with a check-raise on the flop and gotten paid off big time when he made his under set on the turn. So, did I overplay the flop? I flopped SO big I now think I should have checked. Of course, knowing what I now know about the small blind could be affecting my judgment. Comments? Ice was in the game and he thought the bet on the flop was the right play. I continued to run good, and left California with a nice profit. Coming next....Part 3...leave California and head to BARGE! From: Stevan H. Goldman Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 15:50:33 -0400 Subject: [BARGE] Goldiefish's BARGE 2008 Trip Report - Part 3 (final) One last thing I just recalled that happened at Hawaiian Gardens on Sunday. Chic played in a BlackJack tourney. When he busted out he found a Chinese Poker game (called "13-card" there). Bob Lauria had showed up and as he and I went looking for Chic we came upon him in this Chinese Poker game. He was just turning up his hands and the dealer said to him (in thick Asian accent) "Why you put cards that way? I wish I could help you!". Note to Chic: when the dealers says stuff like this, perhaps you're in the wrong game!! Monday July 28 We had planned to hit the road at 10am but Chic had some business things to take care of. So 10am became 11am. I used that hour productively, winning $1000 in a $30-$60 game on PokerStars. In addition to running good in the B&M rooms, I had also been running good online all weekend, stealing 20 and 30 minute sessions here and there, all winners. So, Monday morning's $1k in 30 minutes was the icing on a successful California trip. Ice drove the first half of the trip up to Las Vegas. Chic offered to do "penance" in the back seat for having delayed our departure by one hour. In addition, the rental car had a jack for the ipods (so we didn't have to use those crummy FM thingys that never work anyway), and we had decided that whoever rode in back got to be the DJ, picking songs from Ice's and my ipod. So, with Chic picking the tunes we headed north to Sodom. With Ice at the wheel, we hit the "107 trifecta". This is a cosmic moment when time, temperature and speed all converge. We achieved this spiritual awakening at 1:07pm. It was 107 degrees Fahrenheit and we were doing 107mph! Good thing the temperature didn't hit 120 because our Mazda5 wouldn't go that fast, but not for lack of Ice trying. We stopped at THE MAD GREEK in Baker for lunch. Good, but not great. Ice commented that the Greek is able to hold his prices down by keeping his air conditioner set at 90 in the restaurant. It was hot in there. I commented that he also held his prices down by cooking on the sidewalk out back. I took over the driving. Chic was still in the back spinning the tunes (when not dozing). The Mazda is a mini-van with sliding doors on both sides in the back. I was behind the wheel, Chic was in back. We were waiting for Ice. The back door was open. Chic had to sneeze so he naturally decided to sneeze out the open door....just as Ice came up from behind and attempted to close the door. Chic sneezed all over Ice. It was a three-stooges, you-had-to-be-there moment. We motored into Vegas and headed straight for downtown. Chic checked into Binions and Ice and I into the Golden Nugget. Ice had a suite that took up half the floor, but it was on the WRONG floor. I had booked a room on the GOLD CLUB level, which has been entirely redone. My room and bed was as nice as Bellagio, with a couple of exceptions: It wasn't as large. The bathroom wasn't as large. And, as with all the downtown hotels, the air conditioner is a wall unit that is spotty at best. Parts of the room are very cold, and parts are hot. But, there was a 42 inch plasma and the signal was HIGH DEF, unlike Bellagio or Wynn. I don't like the room too cold when I sleep, so the spotty nature of the AC didn't bother me. I was quite comfortable in my room. Ice, on the other hand, saw my room and knew right away he was on the wrong floor. They couldn't accommodate him on that Monday night, but on Tuesday I was able to welcome him to the GOLD CLUB level where he belonged. ! This was important because impressing Quiet Lion is a top priority, and the GOLD CLUB floor apparently accomplished the trick. Quiet Lion was so distraught that Ice's suite was nicer than his that he left the Golden Nugget entirely and spent the rest of BARGE in another hotel. Anything else you may hear is just rumor...he left because Ice's suite was nicer. Trust me on this. Monday night we had dinner at South Point at their Prime Rib restaurant with Nick Christensen, Fich & Dieter. It was OK, but not great. Company was outstanding however, so it was a great meal. Fich had to leave early in time to play BINGO at Main Street (I think), but both Fich and Nick had comp coupons that greatly reduced the cost of everyone's dinner. So, thanks, local guys! While we were at dinner there was a sudden BIG thump. It was LOUD, and it actually shook the floor! It was so loud and sudden that everyone in the restaurant suddenly got quiet for a moment. I was concerned, so I immediately asked Ice if he dropped his wallet. He assured me that he had not. A quick check on the floor under Ice's seat confirmed no structural damage, so we were all relieved to know that Ice's bankroll was where it belonged. Back at Binions I played in a 4-8 HORSE game with newly arriving r00lerz. I played blind most of the time, so I was lucky to lose only one rack. Of that rack, half of it was tokes as I used the "handful o'chips" method popularized by Nolan back in the days when he used to win a hand or two at binglaha. Thanks, Nolan. The dealers really love this toking method. Tuesday July 29 Following breakfast with Ice he and I went to the Pinball Museum. This place ROCKS. I am now storing Kim Scheinberg's pinball machines (Kim and JZK moved into NYC and lacked space for all her pins). So, my interest in pinball has been rekindled since Kim's machines moved into my house. They had a WIZARD machine there (see my pics), which is my favorite machine from college. I won a free game on it on my second game. Is there any better sound in pinball than that distinctive POP when you win a game? Great fucking sound. I did it twice. Ice and I played pinball, and baseball on several games. What a great time. Unfortunately, we had just left when Patti called from the airport on her way to the pin museum so we missed her. Besides, we had a date at Bellagio. I was still running good and I won just over 1 rack in 90 minutes. Good thing I did it on Tuesday because by later in the week Carbonara took so many racks out of that game there was nothing left for anyone e! lse! Tuesday night (OK, late afternoon) was the non-smoker at N9NE. Sixteen of us enjoyed a nice, but rushed, dinner. Most had to get back to Binions to play in the increasingly popular NLHE-into-limit HORSE event. I played more no-peek 4-8 HORSE, with an equal lack of success as my prior attempt. I needed Action Bob in this game as I was the only one playing must-raise, no peek. I don't stand a chance against Action Bob, but he tends to help chips fly around the table and that has helped me in the past. Alas, no Action Bob, and therefore no excess chips for Goldie. Wednesday July 30 Wednesday begins with The Egg & I. Great breakfast. Thanks, Ice, as always. Great event. Very generous of you. Stick with me, and you'll keep learning class. At noon Tuesday I had to participate in a conference call that took just over 1.5 hours! Yikes! I was in my room, called into the conference at noon, and finally hung up at 2:44pm. As you know, the hotels charge $1 when you call a toll free number. But, if the calls lasts long they charge you for time (despite the fact that it costs them NOTHING). This call was $18.00!! So, it was just after 3pm by the time I made it back to Binions card room. At 7pm I played in the lowbah draw tourney. I basically suck at lowbah, but I play in this event to honor Kid-Z. I wonder if he's honored by poor play or if I should save my money in the future? Thursday July 31 Breakfast with Ice, then off to team CHORSE. Our team was a total embarrassment as our CAPTAIN failed to bring his shirt with him to BARGE! Chic had also forgotten his shirt, but I somehow had packed an extra. I need some help here.... we look forward to BARGE all year..we discuss CHORSE for weeks in advance.. and then 1/3 of the team doesn't bring the freaking uniform? What am I missing here? The other teams had their uniforms The moosecocks had their antlers. The ADBs had their cocktails. Even the Virgin teams had their shirts! But THE MATH IS HARD 5, a former CHORSE champion team (when everyone had their shirts) can't manage to bring one lousy shirt to Vegas? I just don't get it. Earth to Marlin and Chic.... Earth to Marlin and Chic.... I've been to the sushi outing twice and I liked the sushi. But, here's my problem with the event: Because the CHORSE ends in stages, when those who play in the earlier shifts finish, they head to sushi. Both years I've gone to sushi I played in the later CHORSE shift. So, by the time I arrived at sushi the food had already been ordered and mostly eaten, the sake mostly consumed, and there are no seats left at the table! So, after two years of this, I decided to pass on sushi. Walking in to a party that's half over and having to pull up an extra chair to a table where room doesn't exist isn't my idea of fun. If we all sat down at the same time, at the same table, I'd go. But, I hate getting there and feeling like I missed everything. I'd even go to sushi and THEN on to Goldman's smoker, but I'm not going to sushi any more due to the ragged, staggered start to the event. Goldman's smoker was great once again. Great crowd. Great whiskey. Great smokes. Great Party. Thanks, Sharon and Dan. This is a great night. Following the smoker at Sharon and Dan's it was back to $4-$8 HORSE where I amused JP whenever I won a hand without looking. One hand in particular stands out. I raised blind, got re-raised by Foldem to my left. To make a long story short, an A hit the turn. I kept betting and raising blind. I bet the river and Foldem folded (doh!), making me the winner. I decided to look at my cards.....AA! That was the first time I'd ever had AA on a hand I'd played blind. The game was good...I certainly dumped enough bait into this tank to make it so, but the game still needed Action Bob. I love Action Bob. No one is better at no-peek than him. Friday August 1 Man, they bitch at me for starting the ATLARGE tourneys at 11am. But 10am? Ten-fucking-AM? Now I know why the first event is Stud. I finished second in this event last year but this year I just couldn't get any traction. Card dead. I busted just past half the field. There was one funny moment at my table. Patti is on the small blind and Action Bob is the big blind. The game is Omaha. Everyone mucks their hands in turn and as the button reaches to muck his cards Action Bob says "Wow. Maybe I'll get a free flop in Omaha". Without missing a beat Patti, while dropping a raise in the pot said "Yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass!". (Note: I may have slightly butchered what Bob said, but I got Patti exactly). Bob was laughing so hard I think he actually mucked his hand. I like the symposium. Yes, it's uncomfortable, loud, etc. But maybe the fact that I've shown a profit each of the past 4 years has something to do with it. I've seen the discussions here about possibly changing it, and I think running it on the internets may be a great suggestion. It would certainly free up some time. But, I wouldn't eliminate it. I like trying to spot players with a chance and then having horses to root for the following day. I'll admit it was a little more fun when the symposium exceeded the tourney pool by 2:1, but I still like the concept of a symposium. Friday night I had made plans with Chuck for a nice dinner, but he made the mistake of finishing third in the TOC event. We waited as long as we could, but a hungry Marlin can be hard to handle so at 9:30 we finally left Chuck to his winnings and Ice, Noisy Tigress, Marlin and I went to PIERO'S for dinner. I had the Pacific Swordfish. I think Piero's serves some of the best swordfish I've ever eaten, and this was no exception. I also LOVE their Hearts of Palm and Avocado salad. Yum!! Unfortunately, I consumed too many cocktail units waiting for Chuck to bust out, so by the end of dinner I was done. Exhausted. Could have easily fallen asleep at the table. Did I? When we got back to the Golden Nugget, Ice invited us to his suite (on MY floor) for a vodka tasting. I excused myself in search of slumber. After all, I had to be ready for NLHE, in which I had last longer bets with 55 (presto!) r00lerz. I was determined to last as long as possible (is this the same as p! laying my best? Serious question). Saturday August 2 I awoke about as refreshed as I can feel on 4 hours sleep. Showered, even shaved, and headed over to Binions (can I still call it "the 'shoe"? or does that violate someone's copyright?), grabbing a Starbucks on the way. Decaf, Quad, Grande, one Splenda, soy, latte. See, I'm learning to speak coffee. I couldn't have been happier with my resurrection of the Quick Bet, now called the Go4Goldie bet (G4G). I had action with 55 r00lerz with a total exposure of $540. Shortly after the first person busted, I suggested to my table that we run the ol' "Bust Bluff" play first designed by Frank (NutZ) Brabec. Patti thought it was a great idea, and everyone else agreed. It is therefore with heartfelt thanks that I acknowledge the efforts of my tablemates without whom the Bust Bluff would not have worked. Weren't they great? Let's hear it for bluffing!! I've never been one for a public spotlight, but I've also never received a (semi) thunderous (semi) standing ovation (yes, I saw two people standing) before. I'm now reconsidering expanding upon my thespian talents. But, don't rush out to buy tickets just yet. I was bemoaning my poor run of cards, but Steve Landrum reminded me that I actually had "blind out" equity which was apparent every time another G4G loser busted out and paid me $10. I was grateful that Steve helped build my spirits, but I was even more grateful when he helped build my stack. I was down to about three orbits of blinds. UTG made a standard raise (3x bb). I'm sorry, I forgot who it was. Virgin, I think. Anyway, it's folded around to me and I jam with Ah8h. Steve Landrum insta-jams me from the button, and the UTG bettor, after a short stay in the tank (with me silently wishing "call...call...call") mucked. Steve had As5s, so my hand dominated. I flopped a flush draw and made the flush on the turn. The double up allowed me to last through another hour of card dead poker and was ultimately worth about $100 to me in G4G bets. Incidentally, I won $65 net on G4G bets. I never had more fun winning $65. As I indicated, my syndicate has been pretty successful at the symposium. We had two of the final six players and two of the final four. Unfortunately our horses finished 3rd and 4th. We made a profit, but only a small one. Still, profit is profit. And, I love having a rooting interest deep into the tourney. After dinner I got into the $4-$8 dealers choice reindeer game. I did my best to loosen it up, but all I ended up doing was dumping about $100 to my politically misguided but well intended friend Joe Long. He got incredibly lucky in Oklahoma-Omaha, but he doesn't know how lucky until now. He scooped a pot when a stray 7 in his hand made quads on the only board that remained. The other two boards were killed when the river put a ten on each board and a jack on Joe's board. What he didn't know was that I had two ten in my hand!! Had the river card on Joe's board been anything under a ten his quads would have disappeared. In that case my tens full would have won the high. And, if BOTH tens don't come on the river killing TWO boards, I win the low. I actually killed my low when the case ten fell on the final river card. Oh well, I guess Joe will put that money to good use in McCain's campaign. When fich came by to suggest a cigar, I accepted. I enjoyed a cigar with fich and warren at the bar at the Golden Nugget. After that, I returned to the $4-$8 game about 2 am, but without me the game apparently all but fell apart. Hung around for a while watching binglaha and other games, was in bed by 3:30am, and on the 8:35am flight home. It left exactly on time and parked at the gate in Newark exactly on time. Dingz! Another amazing BARGE in the books. Before I get around to thanking those who everyone says work so hard to make BARGE happen, I am compelled to express some disappointment. One would think that with 5+ days in Vegas I'd manage to spend time with all my friends. It is a testament to BARGE that year after year I am struck by the friends I intended to spend more time with, but somehow never got to. So, while I am grateful to all those with whom I spent wonderful time, I'd like to mention those who I saw, but somehow spent too little time with. I blame myself. Adam "Allknight" Bachrach. My brother. I spent about 3 seconds with you. My bad. Len "Len G" Greenberg. Ditto. Chuck Weinstock. Ditto. Peter "Foldem" Secor. Ditto. Nolan Dalla. Nick Christenson. David Heller. Steve Nissman. Bruce Kramer. Bob Lauria. Marc Gilutin (what's left of him, anyway). Scott Byron. Gavin Smith. Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto................... Now, about those "organizers". Anyone who's ever done any organizing knows that events like BARGE basically run themselves. But, I've heard that organizers like accolades, so far be it for me to deny them. So, thanks to Mick, Nick, Peter and Chuck. You guys are the GREATEST!! Especially Chuck. After 16 years he's finally been able to admit that there's really nothing for him to do, so he's going to stop pretending. I admire that. FARGO on the immediate horizon, ESCARGOT in November. And, the FIRST arg event of 2009 will be ATLARGE. March 12-15, 2009. Mark your calendars. I love you all. -goldiefish