Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:12:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Gerald Jeong Subject: [BARGE] A McLibtard Trip Report Sorry to interrupt all these great election discussions with a late and long ass trip report- http://californiag.livejournal.com/ Much thanks to the organizers for a rockin' good time. Selected exerpts- Weds 8/4- Ride with James Hammer driving to Vegas Now it's already 10 PM, and James is hugrey. On I-15, we stop for dinner and stumble upon The Mad Greek in Baker. Huge menu and great food. Neat Polyponnesian decor. James preps for Karaoke by singing Barry Manilow's Mandy. I text Sean an S.O.S. Thurs 8/5- McLibtard CHORSE team flames out Get over to Binions just in time for CHORSE start. I'm playing Omaha8 leg and am second up on the Flop games table for the team. Move over to our Flop games table to Seat 2 where Sean has finished up holdem without winning a hand, but only losing a little of our stack. He says some guy in Seat 1 for the Inglorious Donkeys aggressively played and won almost every hand in the holdem round. I see David Kluchman getting up from Seat 1 with a nice early chip lead. I tell Sean to not worry and just try to play aggressively like Kluchman during his next orbit. Sean gives be a quizzical look. I muck a few more unplayable hands when I finally get a reasonable Ad/2d/4/7 to play. I call an early position raiser who had also raised preflop a previous hand. DV8 Janie McIntosh and another player note "I'm finally playing a hand". 4-people see a flop of 10/10/5. I'm ready to muck, but nobody bets the flop. Turn is a 3 that is suited with one of the tens, and the preflop raiser now bets. I think he may be on a draw or a weak two pair so I pop it to maybe set up a steal on the river. Other 2 players fold and preflop raiser reluctantly calls. River is a third 10. Not a preferred card, but I bet the river to try a steal when it's checked to me. I lose to a hero's 6/6/3/paint. Grrr.... I play James' stack in a 4-8 Dealer's Choice cash game with Randy/ADB Schmengie, Sabyl, A Hime, and others. After finishing up a sucky Razz oribit, somebody calls Omaha8, and I split a pot to increase James' stack. But the profit goes away in a Badugi round when I get a 9-high 4-card Badugi in early position. I raise and only Schmengie and another call. I stay Pat, and they each draw one. I bet, and Randy pops me and the other hand mucks. I call and stay Pat again as does Randy. Shit... Check, call and then break the 9 in the last draw to make a Jack-high 4-card Badugi. I check, Randy bets, and I think about mucking since I already reasoned a 9 was not good. But I then consider if Randy could possibly be putting a positional play on me to get me to break. I talk myself into the Donkey call to see Randy 7-high Badugi. Grrrr.... In the evening, the 6-Game tourney I last to only play on 5 of the 6 games once. I die before getting to play Chowaha. The 4th game/stud high cripples me when my Ace high flush on fifth street is no good after Meredith Holtzman's two pair fills up on sixth street. Lose more chips in stud when my pair doesn't improve and curse these second best chip robbing stud hands. Then die with an desparation 2-pair Omaha hand. Check out the Craps Stall at Binions. Table already full when Sean, James, and I get there. We decide we are going to "be smarter" this year and go darkside after losing the previous 2 yrs. James squeezes into a spot with our $300 craps shot. Slow and steady darkside money accumulating as we get our money up to about $450 in a little while. With Ken ADB QB getting ready to roll, I take a restroom break and check out the 6-Game final table. Good to see Mickdog there from the table I was busted at. I stroll back over to the craps table over 20 minutes later and QB STILL has the dice. I desparately hope that some people have declined to roll and the dice have circled the table. Bzzt... I see the true story from our now only $40 in chips in front of James. And Ken continues hit points and repeatedly hit the tougher 10s and 4s. This completely destroys our $450 in darkside bets. James and I note it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, and at least he's a Cal alum. Fri 8/6- Get to TOC table on time. My table with Paul Stine, Paul McMullin, Carol (bust me for a massage) Kline, Bob Ogus, Ron Grossberg, Kristen?, John Moser, and Tanya Peck is fairly lively with a good amount of post flop and later street confrontations. Ogus begins a small rush with some lucky Omaha hands where a 9 or 9s are key cards. Tanya has a special cocktail server and is already ordering and getting quad drinks. I don't get why is she not an ADB yet? She sits out the early rounds of Stud to force herself to not get involved. She comes back to then go on a monster heater in a couple of the Omaha rounds where she scoops a number of and splits many pots. Four wheels are made with two of the runner runner variety. Her stack is only slightly dented when she loses a 4-way cap pre-flop monster pot with pocket Aces with A-spade. Flop is Queen high with all spades, turn is a nonspade King, and she gets no help on the river to beat Stine's K/K or even Moser's K/Q. I can't survive a Stud hand with Tanya though. With the antes bigger, she is now staying at the table playing Stud. She has the low card/3 and brings it in for the minimum. I, directly to her left, call with split 6s and a jack. Everybody else surprisingly folds. She gets an Ace, and I get a Jack for two pair on fourth street. She bets, I raise, she re-raises and before I can call or re-raise she says something like "I'm going all the way baby" with more chips ready to put in the pot. I just call her raise to make sure she gets no Ace or 3 on fifth street. When that does not happen, we go about 4-bets on 5th street until I'm all-in. I'm still ahead with my Js & 6s/two pair to her Aces, and I even get one of her Aces of 6th street. But she gets a second pair on 7th street, and I get to hear the farewell applause. Sat 8/7- Early on within the first level of main event with only one 25 blind after only one person in the tourney had busted, I get 8/8. I make it 75, and JP, Diana, and PS bigwig call. Yikes... a four way pot but get an innocent looking flop of 7/6/4 with 2 spades. I'm somewhat worried about maybe this hitting PS bigwig in the blind. He checks flop, and I bet 300. Nobody pops me but everyone calls. Turn is an 9 and not a spade. PS bigwig checks again. I shove my remaining stack in here with the pot (1500) being nearly the same size as my chips stack and hope to hit a straight or an 8 in case I'm behind. JP mucks fast, but Diana thinks for a little and finally mucks as does the PS bigwig. Diana then asks did I have the straight? Confused, I think what, did I need a straight? And before I can answer, Peter laughs and says something like yeah, she's respecting your play by putting you on raising preflop with 8/5. Later I talk with Diana and she tells me she FOLDED A SET on the hand with me! I am shocked, but Diana is noted for folding AA preflop on the second hand in the 2008 NL tourney. Now her comment to me after the hand makes sense, but I'm surprised she is STILL worried about busting early in the NL in the 3rd year. (Note to Professor Chaos, please remember the immortal words of Amir Vehedi- In order to live, you must be willing to die.) I maintain my stack at this table but can never get it above 3000. I maybe miss a double up or more chance when Sharon Goldman (in Diana's seat) raises and Bryan re-raises. I muck 7/7. Sharon calls and turns over her Presto. Oooopps... Bryan not all-in and still has quite a few chips. Bryan offers to check it down, but there are objections. Floor called who says the hands have to be played like normal. Flop contains a 7. Sharon checks and Bryan bets. Sharon considers calling but finally mucks. I on the otherhand don't win a pot for the next few rounds. With the blinds again looming in 2 more hands, I desparately go all-in against Chuck's big stack UTG raise. Chucks Ace/10off vs my J/10s. My very slim chance to suckout does not materialize, and I go out around 52nd place. It was getting late in my Dealers Choice game, and/or the drinks were finally having an effect, and/or we BARGERs are getting old. And/or Tie-Tac-Toemaha is too crazy. It took 9 experienced poker players and a dealer 3 or 4 minutes to figure out the winner of one hand. His 8 good for low. But no, he has a smoother 8. Blah Blah Blah. What about the 7? Where? No, he counterfeited. No he's not. Blah Blah Blah.. She has a better 7. Where? How about there? Blah Blah Blah... Look, I have a 6. No you don't. Where?.... Blah Blah Blah.. A comical scene.