Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 01:32:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Scott Samarel Subject: [BARGE] trip report (very long) Summary: a lot of drinking and a great time had by all. No notes, so I'll see what I can remember. Flew Ontario to Vegas on Weds morning, no hassles, quick 1 hour flight with whole row to myself on Southwest. Called Chris Jepsen and he woke up in time to pick me up from the airport. Binions wouldn't let me check in yet, so I did some gambling with their money. I had $150 in slot credit, so I started on VP with 100, won a bit, moved to slots, won some more, then went to check in. Surprisingly I got a VIP passport which covered all my meals without using my comp points. Awesome! Hung around the poker room for a bit and eventually got a seat in a dealers choice game that was kind of boring. Bought in for $200 and played that money the whole weekend! Somehow I was killing the DC games this time, something must be wrong. I asked for a table change to the action game on the other side of the room and got it shortly. More drinking and crazier games, this was more like it. I was up a bit and hungry, and Grizz was meeting his family for dinner at the coffee shop, so I joined them and treated them to a dinner on Binions (that VIP card sure is nice!) Good dinner and great company, but what else would you expect at BARGE. We finished dinner a few minutes into the Lobah tourney. I was playing tight at the start, but a few rounds in I started catching some great cards and r00ling the table. I was one of the chip leaders at the 2nd break, but didn't win a hand after that and was out short of the money. Played a little more slots on the same ticket that cost me nothing, ran it up to around $450, then went back to the poker room for more DC. I bought in for whatever money I cashed out last time and played until around 4:30 am despite having CHORSE in the morning. I woke up Thursday just early enough to have an energy drink before the CHORSE team picture. I wish I could say the same about the rest of my team, but Raffy was a no-show after a night of "what happens in vegas stays in vegas". Actually Raffy was staying with Chris at the Nugget and said he would be there in around 1/2 hour, but we didn't believe him and he didn't answer repeated phone calls. Team Fold Dark last year was me, Chris, Raffy, Kyle, Dave and Fern, and we tried to keep the team together, but Fern couldn't make it for health reasons, and as you probably heard, passed away on Sunday. Fortunately, Dave brought along a virgin, Erin (Skippy) who fit right in and was an instant friend. After Dave and Skippy played the first leg, they went back to the nugget to wake up Raffy. Raffy told them to wait downstairs and he would meet them in 10 minutes, but they were too smart for that and Skippy got Raffy out of bed by threatening to join him and starting to undo his pants. They got back just in time for Raffy's round and after a Corona, he was ready to play. We actually finished with more chips than we started with, but due to tokes, we lost a bit of money. We rolled over our "winnings" to our symposium syndicate. Special thanks to Rodney for taking another team picture for us after Raffy showed up. After the CHORSE, I treated Dave and Kyle to lunch (on Binions of course) at the coffee shop. After that I played some blackjack, pai gow and slots, running my slot ticket up to $650, but losing at the other games. I don't remember much about the stud shootout other than I felt nobody at my table was experienced at stud and I though a had a good edge (very rare at BARGE tournies), my teammate Dave seemed like he couldn't lose a hand though and he built a huge stack, but somehow didn't make it to the final table. Also, Tina Gonzalez was there and upon being told she was leading the all-around ARGE standings after a mix-up with her name, said that was impossible as she had only cashed 4 times this year. We ribbed her about that for about an hour and I made a mental note that we will be buying her at the symposium. After I got knocked out of the stud, it was more DC. My most memorable hand of the week came up. We were playing 2nd-best holdem, where you have to play your best hand and the 2nd best at showdown wins. I got AA and instantly mucked them. Very next hand I got 24o and raised. Of course more than half the table called and the flop had 2 paints. Checked to me and I saw no point in betting and it was checked around. Aggressive player to my right bet a blank turn and I raised, chasing everyone else out and ending up heads-up with 4 high. Ding, the nuts! He called me on the river, but I was playing the board even with a 5 out there, so he had no chance. My other memory of this game was making friends with a guy named James who I just met and was having good conversation. Soon, Leslie comes up looking incredible, as always, with long, perfect legs and heels and really dressed up nice, ready to go dancing. She goes up to my new friend, who of course is her husband. Good thing I wasn't staring too much and I stayed out of trouble (until now). I left this game a solid winner at around 5 am and noticed there were only around 2 BARGERs left and everyone else was dealers and floormen. They love the game as much as we do. It was tough getting up for the TOC in the morning, but I made it. I needed to check email, so I brought my laptop down and was mostly folding and checking the internet in the first couple of rounds. While checking out my fantasy leagues, James Hammer was sitting next to me and noticed and we started talking fantasy football. I got him to join my league and he is planning a draft next year at BARGE. I am definitely in for that! TOC was pretty uneventful for me. I remember losing with presto twice, then folding it a third time and watching it flop. I moved tables several times and lasted around halfway through before busting. Next was the symposium. Jester joined our syndicate so he could set up Karaoke and we bid on many pairs, getting 6 of them. Meanwhile, Raffy and Blofeld got a table at the steakhouse and most of our team joined them after we were finished, except Chris who was still in the TOC and Kyle. I met Dave's girlfriend Yolanda, who was a lot of fun, and had never seen a mountain before. We had a great dinner and stayed for hours, and just when we were getting dessert, Chris showed up, busted from the TOC, and hungry. We had dessert while he ate, and we all had a great time. On the way to the nugget, we had another Raffy moment. He had some leftover chips and stopped at the blackjack table with bikini dealers. Raffy decided to play one hand, bet 50 and busted. Tried to get his money back betting 100, stayed on 16 and dealer made a hand. Tried another 100, got 15 and dealer made a hand. He then tipped his remaining $20 to the dealer and we moved on. After that was the first annual Jepstonian Smoker. No comment on that one. We then got to the Karaoke just in time to see the amazing rendition of Heartbreaker. More beers for all and we were feeling good and having a great time. After that, more DC at Binions and my first losing session there. I played some more slots and finally lost my free money. Saturday was the main event. After struggling to wake up and deal with my symposium buybacks while playing tight, I finally got in my groove. When the blinds went up, I got real aggressive. Tyler was playing almost every hand in front of me (and winning many), but the rest of the table was playing fairly solid (even Chic!) I raised almost every time Tyler folded. Chic busted and they brought Skippy to my table. I started picking on his blinds and could see he was getting pissed about it. I raised with 88 and was prepared to call Skippy (I felt he would shove on me), but Gillian reraised it first and she had a mountain of chips. She plays super-solid and I wanted no part of this. I got a bit short, but doubled through Tyler and was back in the groove when they broke my table. I went from a table I had control of to one where I felt lost. Quiet Lion had a ton of chips and put me in a tough spot. The first hand I opened, I had A2 suited and raised 2.5X BB and he called from the button. Flop was A-high, but all hearts. I decided to c-bet and he flat called. I had no idea where I was at, out of position against a good, mathematical player. The turn was a blank, and I decided to check, knowing he will shove any hand in this spot, but I can't call. I was probably outplayed and lost half my stack, but was still in action. One coin flip later, I was out in 55th (double presto!, but no money). Banquet was fantastic. Like everyone said, Nick was a great speaker, and so were Nolan and Doyle. I got a picture with Doyle. Reindeer games were great. I played dealers choice of course and had another good session, cashing out for a total of around $550 from the original $200 I bought on Wednesday. I still don't know how I beat these games while drinking constantly and tipping excessively. Sorry for rambling on so long, but thats what happens when you try to describe the BEST BARGE EVAH. Much thanks again to Peter, Nick, Michael, Chuck, Rodney and my teammates, who made this an incredible trip. Scott Samarel