Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:24:16 -0400 From: Matthew Ivester Subject: [BARGE] YABATR (Take 3) (Part 1) "Take 1" got bounced because of email address problems. "Take 2" got sidelined waiting for moderator approval because it was a hair over 40KB. (Chuck appears to be asleep at the switch, or else my email vanished somewhere due to a configuration problem.) Here's the first half of my trip report. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: YABABTR (Take 2) Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:08:44 -0400 From: Matthew Ivester Ugh... apparently I've actually not been really getting through to the BARGE list, because my outgoing emails don't come from the (inbound-only) address that I had registered with the list. And the list doesn't warn you when this happens. (It might be helpful to send back a 'you're not on this mailing list' bounce message. Especially if the emails are *responses* to posts on the list.) So... hopefully this time you can actually *read* my BARGE trip report! --Matt -------- Original Message -------- Subject: YABABTR Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:46:25 -0400 From: Matthew Ivester Yes, it's Yet Another Boring-Ass BARGE Trip Report! The really short version: My flight out got cancelled at the last minute (thanks, USAir!) My room was facing the Fremont Street Experience -- no sleeping or napping before midnight. I pretty much got beaten like a rented mule in the cash games I played in. I dropped almost $300 on the craps crawl, where we found possibly the coldest table in history at Main Street Station. >From Friday to Sunday I played in four tournaments, and finished exactly two from the money in three of them. (Especially painful was watching them do a hold for 19th in the BARGE TOC to avoid hand-for-hand play only minutes after I busted in 20th.) In the fourth tourney (the BARGE NLHE) I got cold-decked in the first level and lasted about 20 minutes. Also I lost $70 in a Calcutta syndicate despite having two horses at the final table. *facepalm* On the bright side: Everyone at BARGE was awesome. (Special props to the Goldmans for their unbridled hospitality at the BBQ+Bourbon Smoker, and Mickdog for putting the whole thing together.) I managed to have a good time about 99% of the time (sorry to anyone who caught me right after a large cash loss or bust.) I won at CHORSE! I won at credit card roulette! (Or, rather, didn't lose! Sorry, Marlin!) I won at three-card poker! The Pinball Hall of Fame might be my new favorite place in Vegas! I got to ask Doyle Brunson a question! There was an empty seat next to me on the flight back to Boston on a 99% full plane -- seriously, I think this was my best break the whole week. The oh-so-slightly longer version: My trip from Boston to Vegas started with being notified that my flight had been delayed about an hour due to mechanical problems. (This was around noon on Tuesday, with my flight out supposed to be at 6PM.) At about 3PM they bumped it back another hour. At 4PM, just before I was going to leave for the airport, the flight was cancelled. USAir says they don't have anything else out of Boston, and if I want to get out there before the middle of the day on Wednesday -- and even that would require flying out absurdly early -- I have to rebook on JetBlue. (A later conversation with another agent revealed that they should have offered me a 1-stop through BWI that I probably could have made.) Fortunately, I managed to get on the last BOS->LAS JetBlue flight (number 777). Then I got the world's slowest airport shuttle, which arrived at the Four Queens just before midnight. I crashed for the night, happy to have a bed and a cheap, clean room. The next morning, I taxied to the Egg and I restaurant (which the cabbie had never heard of!) for breakfast. Met some fun DV8s, and a few people I knew from FARGO/ATLARGE. Then I got a ride back to Binions for the Blackjack and Video Poker tourneys. Neither of those went particularly well, although I finished a close third in my heat in VP (quads three times -- how come this never happens when I play real video poker?) Around this time I was also in the 3-6 Dealer's Choice game with Marlin, Dan Goldman, Bob Ogus, and a few others. I was fortuitously not involved (at least postflop) with the monster pot that Bob scooped with the 6-high straight in 2-or-5-Omaha/8, as mentioned in his TR. The Vrigins also managed to have our meet-and-greet in the afternoon; definitely nice to meet everyone, and Corey and I had a good chat about how the Chiefs might turn it around this year. (See? Pick up the Pats backup QB and recruiting genius and your team, too, can have a shot!) Also, it turns out I registered for the Lowball tourney, despite never having played California Lowball before. (I guess this seemed like a good idea at the time. Also, I may have thought it was 2-7.) The highlight of that tournament -- by far -- was being dealt JJJJA in five cards at one point. Between a few more hands like that, and being unable to draw much of anything after the first level, I didn't last long. I wound up back in the Binions poker room later, just playing boring old Limit Holdem and losing some more money. The next morning was Team CHORSE, and not knowing half of my team, I visit Krispy Kreme to pick up some lucky introductory donuts. This was a smashing success, and "The Math Is Hard 5 Sans That Talentless Commie Bastard" went on to not just win some money, but the whole damn thing! I got a few lucky hands in the Stud rounds to help beef up our stacks, and then we ACTUALLY CONVINCED CHIC TO FOLD 10 HANDS IN A ROW OF OMAHA/8 IN THE LAST ROUND. That may have been the difference, as Team PMS pulled dangerously close -- despite all of us playing pretty tight, we went from ~T4500 down to ~T3900 between blinds/antes and some strong starting hands that didn't turn out well. After our win there was a significant problem when we lost one of our team members (Rick) before the victory photo! We managed to get a stand-in, but then Rick reappeared and we shot a few photos with the whole team as well. Celebratory lunch over at Main Street Station ($2 microbrews!) with a big crowd ended with a nerve-wracking game of credit card roulette, which our team captain Stephen "Marlin" Cohen lost (to be fair, after ponying up a second card to cover Chic). After that, I went back to my room and crashed for a little while before catching a ride over to the Smoker. I had a blast at the Goldmans' house, even if I managed to be outside during the 'official' bourbon tasting. I made it back in time for the bourbon cocktail portion, and had fortunately partaken of a few unofficial tasting sessions already. :-) Great BBQ, great drinks, great conversation, and overall just a lot of fun. I can't thank Dan enough for putting up with all the drunken, hungry BARGErs -- including some he wasn't even married or related to! :-P We got back from there just in time for the craps crawl, which might have been my worst financial decision of the whole trip. Things started out okay at Binion's, but then when a few of us stragglers from the second table got to the California, everything was filled up already! An intrepid crew then set out for Main Street Station, stopping for a quick prayer at the wall of "Golden Arm" plaques (for players with a >1 hour craps roll). Sadly, none of that karma seemed to rub off on us, as I think the first four or five shooters set up a point and then immediately sevened-out, with a few come-out craps rolls mixed in. The next shooter set up a point, hit three or four other numbers, THEN sevened-out. (If you don't play craps: this is real bad if you're betting on the shooter.) Meanwhile, the few players betting the darkside were cackling like maniacs and betting the one-roll "any seven" on behalf of the dealers on every other roll. It got so bad that I actually switched to darkside betting myself after I was down $200, which was working great until Paul McMullen -- while betting against himself -- hit two or three points in a row, and several other numbers multiple times. (If you don't play craps: this is real bad if you're betting against the shooter.) After I got tired of that, I joined Marlin, Rich "Omaholic" Bremer, and a couple other BARGErs for some $5 two-deck blackjack to try to win back something. I actually managed to pick up $50 doing that, and then staggered back to the Four Queens to get some sleep before the TOC in the morning. Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:25:17 -0400 From: Matthew Ivester Subject: [BARGE] YABABTR (Take 3) (Part 2) Here's the rest of my trip report, picking up on Thursday morning at the TOC tourney: The first part of the TOC was relatively uneventful for me other than one very strange hand where I ended up knocking out Matt Murray. During a Holdem round a few levels in, I was first or second to act, and while trying to raise I accidentally exposed one of my cards (Ad). I went ahead with the raise, and Matt called in position. No ace on the flop, but there were two deuces... and I had Ad2d in the hole. I think Murray had AK and wound up hitting a K on the turn, which obviously lead to a big pot and one of my only knockouts. I survived to the symposium break, then headed over to the Nugget to check out the auctioneering action. I actually ended up getting some skin in the game with Goldie's syndicate, and was a little miffed that I didn't even rate a mention when my pair got auctioned off! I guess ARG cashes and wins on the East Coast don't buy you any respect in Vegas. :-P Back at the NLHE portion of the TOC, I managed to dodge and weave my way up until the next break, having to lay down a few good hands and having a short stack double through me after I raised preflop and got priced in. The last hand before the break, I was UTG and picked up ATs... I raised all-in and got called by the same player, who was now a bigger stack and had picked up JJ on the button. IGHN, two off the money. I was torn at this point between going to Karaoke/Rock Band and going to play in the 8PM daily tourney at the Wynn, which Jeff "Joey" Merritt had told me was really good. I felt like I'd been playing well and wanted another shot, so I grabbed a cab over to the Wynn and got there just in time for the start of the event. Unfortunately, Joey got busted in the first level, and wandered off muttering about a bad beat (something involving being all-in with top pair against second pair, I think.) Apparently the guy who busted him took out several other players with similarly incredible luck and built a huge stack early, but didn't go deep. I scored some free food and drink, and was in fairly good shape as the field of 36 got narrowed down to the final table of 10 (5 spots paid). I ended up doubling through and nearly busting the player on my immediate left when we were down to 8, giving me an above-average stack. Another player busted (coincidentally, the guy who was in the Indian chief getup at the WSOP, if you were there or have been watching it on TV). But then the shortstack on my left ended up doubling up -- thanks largely to another player reraising with a marginal hand instead of just calling his small all-in; I could have flat-called behind and would have busted the all-in player. Then, unfortunately, he doubled up again through me, and I lost a sizable pot against a player who I'd been having trouble figuring out all night. (He'd do things like check-calling a bet on the flop out of position and then betting out 1/10th of the pot when a scare card hit, and at least once he was helped by the scare card when he did that.) This left me pretty short, and I got busted when I moved in with pocket sixes preflop and got called by pocket eights in one of the blinds. IGHN, two off the money. I didn't stick around, but there had been some discussion of a chop, which even 5 ways would have been $1200 each. Ugh. The moral of this story is that I should have just gone to drink and play Rock Band. Lesson learned. The next morning was the BARGE NLHE, where I was mentally prepped and ready to win. Unfortunately, the cards had other ideas. About three hands in I had pocket fours, limped in early position for $25, got raised to $75, button calls, I call. Flop A84, rainbow. Ka-Ching! I oh-so-cleverly check, and both other players check behind me. Turn is a J, and no flush possible. I bet out 100, get two calls. River is a 9 -- harmless, right? I bet out 300, and the original preflop raiser pops it to 600! The other player folds, and the action's back on me. I reraise to 900 (value raise, right?), and then the raiser goes all-in for 2K! Um, not good. I stop and think for a couple minutes. The player was a woman who I hadn't really seen play a hand yet (Gillian, I think?). Did she back into the straight? (It would be a weird play to raise preflop with something like QTs, but not impossible.) Does she have two pair, something like A8 or AJ? (Maybe, but with just two pair most people would only call the reraise, right?) Is this a totally crazy play with AK? (Unlikely in the first level after just checking the flop and calling the turn bet.) Could she have spiked a higher set on the turn with JJ? (That seems somewhat more consistent given the action, but am I that afraid of a two-out draw?) Could I have been screwed from the beginning with her holding 88 or AA? (Sandbagging for two streets, with a straight draw possible on the turn?) Eventually, somehow, I convinced myself that between all those possibilities I was unlikely to be good, threw my bottom set away, and the preflop raiser showed AA! Yikes! Good laydown, I guess... I didn't last much longer. I lost some more chips on a hand where I had a flush draw and gutshot but didn't make it, then ended up raising a limper all-in preflop with pocket fours. Unfortunately, my nemesis from before picked up QQ, and Joe Long also picked up AK (and ended up losing a big pot when the flop came Q66 and then he spiked a pair of kings after another slowplay, as described in *his* TR). IGHN, I think the second person out. BARGE is awesome! :-/ The only good news was that busting meant I could go with Tom Showalter, Rich Bremer, and some other folks to the Pinball Hall of Fame. If you like old arcade or pinball games at all, you *have* to go there. It was amazing. Almost every great pinball table I played when I was a kid, plus lots of stuff that was older than I am, some classic standup cabinets, and a few rarities that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in working condition, if at all. We got back from there just in time for the banquet. I ran into Bob Lauria playing VP at Binions, and then we ran into Marlin playing Pai Gow. Marlin went to cash a Keno ticket, and Sharon Goldman was screaming "shots!" at him and Dan and dragging them towards a bar -- meanwhile, Bob and I went ahead to scout out a table and try to score some extra drink tickets. Eventually we managed to get seats for everyone, and I got to chat with Bryan Slick about working for Stars, and half the table had a discussion about how best to use FPPs profitably. Mike did a great job speaking, and Nolan had an engaging, wide-ranging interview with Doyle Brunson. I even got to ask him a question! (Answer: yes, he and his Texas road game buddies went broke multiple times trying to break into the poker scene in Vegas. Apparently short bankrolls and tough games can break anyone, even multiple future world champs.) Back at the ranch, the madness that is the Reindeer Games was slowly being pulled together. I managed to get onto the 2-4 Dealer's Choice game, with Asya, Dave Kluchman and his wife Chris, and a bunch of other people whose names I've forgotten. (Apparently I was the one person getting drinks every single time the waitress came by, based on the whining in other TRs.) I held on close to even until there was a Stud/8 round -- maybe my least favorite game -- and then at the end we ended up playing 5-card Stud, Hi-Low (no qualifier), with a 1-card replacement on the end. Needless to say, not a game I usually play. I got squeezed out of two three-way hands in a row on the end -- one where I had trip 8s and someone made trip 9s, and another where I stood on a K-high for low and the guy showing a pair of threes broke them and drew a better low to go with his ace in the hole, which was clearly his plan all along. Not fun (or cheap). I was exhausted, and more than a little buzzed, and not very happy with that turn of events, so I just went to bed. Sunday I slept in, then grabbed some lunch and went over to the Bellagio to play in their 2PM tourney, which Marlin and Bob were talking about at the banquet. Neither of them showed up, but I decided to play anyway. I spent the first few hours mowing through the field -- me and the Texan to my immediate left were the chip leaders at the second break, shortly after which we condensed to the final table (started with 42ish, paying 5). Somewhere around this point, Marlin and Bob showed up -- immediately after which I crashed and burned. There were a few hands at the final table where I couldn't connect or got reraised out of pots preflop, which took me from maybe 90K down to about 50-55K (at 800/1600 blinds with a 200 ante, putting over 4K in the pot preflop). The real bad hand was one where I open-raised preflop with Q9 to about 5K two before the button (hoping to just take down the blinds), and got a single caller, a fairly tight player immediately on my left who only had ~25K at the start of the hand. Flop was Q-rag-rag, and somehow I decided that putting this guy all-in was the best move, since if I made a bet close to the size of the pot and he moved in I'd be committed, and I'd seen him make what looked like terrible laydowns earlier. In retrospect, I probably should have bet out something like 6K and folded if he moved in, despite the attractive odds. He was playing really tight, and I'm pretty sure he would have folded if he had A-high (or maybe even a small pair) and would only have raised with a hand that beat me badly. If he just called I would have felt better about putting him all-in if a blank hit on the turn. What actually happened is I moved in, villain calls, turns up KQ, and doubles through me. After going through the blinds I then only had around 20K myself, and ended up being knocked out when I moved in with some sort of ace and got called by pocket 10s from the big blind. IGHN -- again, two off the money in 7th. After that I sweated Bob and Marlin in the 15-30 game for a while, then went out for a walk to enjoy the less-than-100-degree evening and see a little bit of the Strip after being cooped up inside all week. Watched the Bellagio fountains for a while, checked out the Planet Hollywood casino (which was still the Aladdin the last time I was in Vegas), and eventually made my way back to Fremont Street. I did take one more shot over at Binions with a few BARGErs at three card poker, where I managed to hit trips for a nice $150 payout. Then we played the very silly "21 to the river" blackjack, where you get dealt a 5-card poker hand if you bust and win if you make jacks or better. Apparently I'm terrible at being randomly dealt good cards when I bust at blackjack, though. After that it was just getting back to the airport and dragging myself onto the 7:30 AM flight (cheapness being its primary virtue), which -- thank god -- was not cancelled. In even better news, one of the two or three empty seats on the plane was next to me. We did hit some turbulence, and some poor guy a few rows up was puking his guts out. Glad I don't get motion sick. Other than that, smooth (and on-time) sailing all the way back to Boston. Despite the horrible financial results, I had a great time at BARGE, and met lots of fun new people. I want to send a big thank-you to Mickdog, the other organizers, and Binions, who all clearly put a ton of work into this thing and pulled everything off with very few hitches. I only hope I can manage to make it back out next year, and maybe make a withdrawal instead of a donation. Can't wait until FARGO next month, so I can get started on my all *ARGE title run for next year. :-P --Matt "Big Matt" "Matthias99" Ivester