From: Chuck Weinstock Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 20:53:01 -0400 Subject: [BARGE] Chuck's Trip Report Before I get into this trip report I want to first congratulate the organizers and the current BOD for a very fun and well thought out BARGE. I don't know if it was the changes, or just the fact that I am finally relaxed when I attend BARGE, but for me this really might have been the best BARGE evah. My BARGE trip this year was shortened to a Wednesday afternoon arrival by a number of factors. It was originally going to be a Monday afternoon arrival but then the combination of a railroad excursion out of Pittsburgh (on the coal lines down to West Virginia) on Sunday, the fact that a good friend was riding same, that this friend was a rabid St. Louis Cardinals fan, that the Cardinals were playing Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Monday night, and that I had my season tickets for the game right behind home plate made me shift it to a Tuesday arrival. Then it developed that my Mom (about to be 92) is not doing well and we needed a face-to-face meeting with her, my sister, and Mom's doctor which is how I spent Tuesday and pushed my arrival to Wednesday. (The GN was great about changing the reservation for me.) Anyway, given Tuesday, you can imagine how happy I was to get to ORD for my 12:30 flight. Thanks to Dagon's BARGE arrival page I knew that Bingo was going to be on the same flight as I was and he had invited me to join him in the UA club while waiting. TSA Pre-Check was a breeze...makes check-in feel pretty much as it did pre-2001...and I arrived only minutes after Bingo. I had paid for an Economy Plus upgrade and ended up in the same row as Bingo but there was a gentleman between us so he could not teach me open-faced Chinese Poker as planned. (Aside: I hate the fact that flights are almost all 100% full...there is no last-minute flexibility any more, for the passengers, or for the airlines in case of a missed connection or cancelled flight.) Our plane was supposed to have arrived the night before from I forget where, but there must have been a aircraft substitution because we ended up on a plane that came in from MCO I think, and it was due in less than 30 minutes before departure. Needless to say we left late...but we arrived within a few minutes of the scheduled 2:25pm so I can't really complain. I had planned to rent a car and had a Payless one reserved for (supposedly) $100 all in. But with Bingo along and not seeing any real need for a car this year, I decided to blow it off and take a taxi. We had him take Paradise since it was not rush hour and I think the fare with a really good tip was $34.00, and this included dropping me at GN and taking Bingo to Main St. I spent some time in my room after arrival and wandered over to Binion's about 30 minutes before I was due to have dinner with Dan and Sharon Goldman, Un (paying off my lost bet on the Penguins against the Blackhawks), and Fich at Hugo's Cellar at 5pm. Hugo's is a great old-style Las Vegas restaurant with an awesome menu including a made-at-your-table salad. Truly special. We ran into Rich K there and I know others enjoyed it during the week. I actually don't remember what I did on Wednesday evening. I was really tired and am pretty sure that I went to bed around 10pm, but I know that I played at least a little video poker and won a (very) few dollars. Of course I spent a lot of time walking around and saying hello to old friends. Also, as I crossed Fremont St back to the GN I noticed how awful the Experience has become. Full of very seedy people and their kids. It made me quite uncomfortable several times during the week. Thursday morning I met Steven McLoughlin (TT) at the Starbucks at the GN, supposedly at 8am but he overslept. While waiting for him I ran an errand down and Walgreens and as I was walking back I saw Chris M and crew walking towards Walgreens heading to breakfast. It turned out that they were dining at the same restaurant that Steven wanted to take me to...Eat at Carson and 7th I believe. A really good breakfast and lunch place that was also the site of the World Series of Food during the WSOP. Steven had this massive panini with eggs, truffles and breakfast meats if I remember correctly. I had a sort of huevos ranchero dish that included fried bananas and was excellent. We shared a plate of beignets. The staff (particularly our waitress) was on the ball and the experience was first rate. After breakfast Steven decided I should finally learn open-faced Chinese poker so we played 10 hands on his phone app. This was really my first experience with the game. I only took him for $32 at $1 a point. My last hand involved "fantasyland". Later, after sushi with the gang, Patti and I played some hands at a penny a point and I took her for about 31 cents ... which she graciously rounded up to a buck. I also won the over/under bet at I Love Sushi with an over bet. I have won several times before on the under but it was clear to me that we'd be over this year even though the prices are supposedly unchanged. Apparently many of the others agreed because the $5 returned less than an additional $5. Later Sharon G and I went with Karl K (don't recall his last name) to catch up to some others playing at the D. What a noisy obnoxious place. After asking me to pick a random slot machine for her to play, Sharon decided it was nonsense, cashed out down about $5, and declared that she was hungry. We started out planning to go to Magnolia's and found too long a line. Next stop was Binion's ... too long a line. We eventually got right in to Dupar's where we were soon joined by Kenny Shei. Kenny had the chicken pot pie, Sharon had the stew, and I had ... a chocolate malt and a side of bacon (see the picture on Facebook.) Then it was time for the craps crawl. I was playing the pass line and come bets this year and after going down a bit at Binion's, Steve Woods had a good roll and I cashed out up $10. The group I was with (we fragmented early) headed to the California only to discover that the single table they had in operation was already full of crawlers so we went on to Main St. Station where I won a few bucks. At this point it was almost midnight and I was exhausted and headed back to the GN only to discover that there was a problem with the 2+2 servers that I had to deal with. Then to bed around 1am. At 8am on Friday I met up with Bozo at the GN Starbucks. He had just gotten in the night before and we headed over to Dupar's for breakfast. I had a short stack of great french toast and a couple of slices of bacon and was quite happy. Then back to Binion's for the start of the TOC. This is my favorite tournament of BARGE and I enjoyed it again this year though I got no where near the 3rd place I did a few years ago. This time in the stud round before the Omaha/8 round before the symposium break I was down to a single chip. I won the antes and then built up my stack and actually made it to the last hand of the Omaha/8 round before the symposium. On that hand I found that I had $900 left with blinds of (I think $300/$600). I don't recall the cards I was dealt, but faced with going all-in right after the break (and missing a good dinner) or doing it now with what were at least semi-decent cards (the best I had seen that round), it was a no brainer to put my chips into the pot. As they say, IGHN. (Oh, and Bingo bought me a brisket sandwich somewhere in here.) The Symposium was fun though I personally missed the Calcutta. Not having horses to root for at the NLH final table made it somewhat less interesting to me. I could have attended Kenny's Calcutta but I was still in the TOC at the time it was running. The talk by Stanford Wong was one of the better ones in memory and it was good to catch up with him again briefly. I had tried to get him to talk at a BARGE sometime in the late 90's but he was always in the process of putting out his newsletter during the BARGE weekend. Now with the Internet I presume that it is simpler and he probably has more people doing the work for him. Anyway, he was an excellent choice. After the Symposium a bunch of us went to the Old Homestead Steak House for a very memorable dinner. Goldie had organized it and he was treated like a king when we showed up. There were approximately 16 of us spread at two tables. I think I had the best seat in the house, sitting in the middle of one table with Chris K on my left, Tina G on my right, and Anne B. directly in front of me. Oh, and David K., Bruce K. and Deron B. were also at the table. The meal was very good too. The only downside was that we did not get back to Binion's until after 11pm and after a quick hello at karaoke I headed off to bed. I really enjoy karaoke and missed it quite a bit but I simply did not have the energy to participate. Saturday I had planned to just grab a quick donut or something for breakfast, but as I was getting ready around 9am I noticed a note from Un saying he was having breakfast at Magnolia's if anyone wanted to join him. I checked and he was just about to be seated so I rushed right over to find that he was not alone. I had a good breakfast with even better company including Un, JP, Caryl and David A., and Deron and Anne B. (Most of whom seemed to be eating oatmeal.) The NLH was great even though I did not last much beyond 2pm (if that late.) The hand that was deciding for me (not the last hand by far, but the one that decided whether I would have a substantial stack or just a somewhat sub-average stack) was one where I had A-Q suited and got all in on a Q high flop. I was called by someone (sorry, I don't remember your name) who had fewer chips and flipped over a Q-10 maybe suited. The turn and river were both 10 and I was dazed but not out. I don't remember the hand I went out on but it was to the same individual a fair while later. Interestingly, three of players at my table went on to the final table. Rick M, Keith T., and Tina G. So it was anything but an easy table. After I busted out I bought Bingo a brisket sandwich and then went and played some craps with David L. and (sorry, I don't remember). The table was empty and I don't shoot...but I did this time and usually managed to hit the end of the table. I had a reasonably good roll and cashed out up $50. Then I bought myself a brisket sandwich wrapped in foil and went back to my room and put it in my ice bucket so that I could enjoy it on the flight home on Sunday. I decided that I needed to do a little shopping at the outlet mall and thought about short hauling a taxi but then decided to walk. It's only about a mile but at 104 degrees and very sunny it was a long walk. I did my shopping and then caught the SDX bus back for $6.00 (for a two hour pass...I could have used it in both directions or even to go to the airport if I had wanted to.) By then it was time for the banquet and unmemorable food (this can be taken two ways I know) and a great song by Un (but if I am b-flat what do you call the crew singing the Bohemian Rhapsody on the youtube video posted earlier today? Good conversation was, of course, the highlight of the evening. After dinner I watched the final table of the NLH and saw David Lawful take all of the chips. An excellent performance. The off to bed so that I could get up at 6am to get ready for my 6:45am departure for the airport and my 9:00am Southwest nonstop home. Again I had the driver take Paradise and the fare was $25 with tip. The flight left a couple of minutes late "we have a mother traveling with a small child and if no one is wiling to move, we aren't leaving the gate" and arrived a good 15 minutes early. My bag came out quickly and I was home by about 6pm with another wonderful BARGE behind me. I began this with a thank you to the organizers and the BOD. I want to close with another thank you to them but also to those who organized all the unofficial events that are so much a part of the BARGE experience. I did not participate in all of them, but I'm glad that all of them exist. Also a big thank you to the Binion's staff and particularly Paul Campbell and the dealers.