Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 16:58:38 -0500 From: Guy Berentsen Subject: [BARGE] Tales From the Poker Run - Deadwood As many of you know Old Bear & I rode to BARGE for the 4th time this year In previous years I've tried to put together a complete chronological trip report that I never finished - so this year I'll do some excerpts that way I'll at least get something out. Last year we attempted to see the rally & not get gouged too badly on room prices by riding through the area, not staying in the black hills, while enjoyably, we didn;t get to spend enough time in the area, so this year we decided to spend the night, I found a room at The Lodge Gaming resort in Deadwood. We arrived a bit after 6 pm, checked in to a room that would be a bargain at their regular rack rates, and a better deal than most of the $300 per night bike week prices in the area. Checked out the poker room action. I found we were just in time to get a late entry into the Thursday night tournament. Interesting structure - $35 buy in including dealer add on gets 3K Chips. Unlimited $10 1K Chip rebuys with no minimum stack to rebuy for first hour. I didn't realize until after, but they also were awarding a $300 buyin to thier big fall tournament to first place. All rebuy $ goes to prize pool. There is a 10 min break at the end of the first hour, re-buys go to the end of the break. I was just a bit under starting chips at the start of the break and bought what I thought was about an average stack at the start of the break (3K for $30), and went to check out the table games. (Pretty much everything was available except craps, SD law protects us from the evils of dice I guess.) BJ conditions were pretty good - 3:2 BJ, dealer stands on all 17s. So I play and win one hand $50 at a $50 min table during the break. (would have won 9-1 3 card poker side bet if I made it). Back to the poker tournament I find that during the break 2 locals have re-bought for $250 - $300 in chips each (start of break highest buy in was $100, another local). Blinds increase quickly (doubling the next couple of 20 min levels), I'm card dead blind off a bit, fold after seeing a couple flops & I'm quickly into pushbot range. Find ATo in early position (IIRC BB was about 800) and push about 4-5K, get called by a megastack with 99 and another player that has me covered by a bit - with something like 68s or maybe 57s. I find an A on the flop to take the lead, but the suited gapper completes a straight and I'm out. The 3 that bought large stacks wind up chopping the tourney (almost 2 tables, would have paid two places) and playing one hand for the $300 buy in. Turns out this poker room has less business during Sturgis bike week, as the locals stay away concerned with traffic problems, and as a new property (about 4 years old) on the outskirts of deadwood, they don't draw many bikers - maybe they need to advertise their free drinks for poker players ;-) No Side games yet, so I get my name on the list and shortly after Oldbear busts out of the tourney and we go to dinner - they have two adjacent eateries - a sports bar, and a fancier one. Turns out you can order from both menues in the sports bar, but only the fancy menu in the fancy restaurant, so we sit in the sports bar & get both menus, I order crab bisque and some beer battered Cod/Halibut food was not quite Vic & Anthony's, but very good. While we are eating salad, poker floor man comes by to let us know that 2-100 spread limit game is starting. So after dinner I get my poker seat & Oldbear does battle with the rest of the casino. Nothing exciting in the ring game. I do find out about the $300 value bonus for first place in the tourney that encourages buying large stacks. A few days a week they have "200% Payback" tournaments (capped at $1600 added) that sell out at 4 or 5 tables, with the same buy in & rebuy structure, and much more big stack buying in that one. I'm pretty card dead, bleed away a few hundred, unable to drink myself even, but make a valiant try. Late we are playing 3 handed limping for jackpots (53K AAATT beaten jackpot in play). Rake is not reduced and brutal though - 10% to $5 and raking quarters, after a while one player doesn't seem to understand the concept of limping for jackpots (frequently making 5-10 $ raises, I get anoyed and start to play poker - after I make a couple of $75 - 100 raises on turn or river - he decides to quit & game breaks at 2:45 am - I find old bear at the BJ/3 Card poker table - he's up a few hundred from various machines and tables, I head back to the room & he follows a bit later - We've been in deadwood about 9 hours, and degenerates that we are spent the whole time inside the casino at out hotel. Next day we get up just in time to pack up & check out by 11 am, have another great meal then sight see in & around Deadwood and Sturgis for a bit. Don't find parking in deadwood, so don't get a chance to see if the poker action is any better in the historic district. In sturgis we check out a bikini bike wash, have a drink at a ride in bar & stage (cross roads at the buffalo chip) & shop for souvenirs in the Harley tents. Then down the road to Wall Drug where we have Buffalo Burgers for lunch. We were hoping to make Souix Falls SD, but after a few hours of rain delays we stop in a dive motel "Regency Inn & Suites" in tiny Kimball SD. Grizz Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 18:26:22 -0500 From: Guy Berentsen Subject: [BARGE] Tales From the BARGE 2013 Poker Run. (mostly travel - poker content near the end) X-BeenThere: barge@conjelco.co In previous years that we've ridden to BARGE old bear (Picayune Ms) and I (Woodford Wi) have met at Joe longs place in castle rock co and taken the Mountain route. This year we decided to try the southern route (I40) and planned to meet near Oklahoma City fir a change fo scenery. Planning my route and stops it occurred to me that I could play poker in a poker room I'd never been to before almost every night while we were on the road. OKC is a bit further than a comfortable day's ride from my home base, so my plan was to ride about 4-5 hours to Des Moines and try the room at Prairie Downs. Thursday afternoon before BARGE, I hit the road a bit later than I hoped, but not as late as it could have been (peg is a bit annoyed at the length that the bike trip extension has added to my annual BARGE excursion. The list of things she wants done before I leave seems to get longer every year). Plenty of time to make it to Des Moines with time left over for a good poker session, if I can beat or dodge the T-Storms I see on Radar moving towards my route from the north west. While I'm riding I see on my cell phone that a call came in from old bear, I don't try to answer it. Just short of Cedar Rapids the T-Storms catch me, I duck into a Gas station with mini-mart & snack bar, to see if they will blow over enough to continue. I check the message from old bear he is already in OKC area, Having visited the pickles and Tom O on his way and is wondering what time on Friday I'll arrive. Two hours later it looks like heavy rain & lightning will continue all night, but quit early AM, so I give up on making it to Des Moines for poker, and find lodging on the outskirts of Cedar Rapids (about 8 miles from where I'm stopped). The rain has abated for the moment and it looks like there will be enough of a gap to make the Motel, so I go for it w/o changing into my rain gear. Half way there torrential rains resume, when I check into the Microtel, I could hardly have been wetter if I had fallen into a lake. I Wring out & hang my wet stuff around the room hoping they will be sort of dry in the morning. Get an email off to old bear, let him know I've got about 700 miles to go to our planned rendezvous, and get to sleep about midnight. Friday AM - could have used a bit more sleep but I'm awake a bit after 6:30 am, so I pack up and hit the road just a few minutes after 7am. Two hours down the road I stop at a Hardees in Grinell Ia for fast food breakfast. Most of the time I try to eat better than that on the road, but I am trying to limit length of stops as today is longer travel day then planned, and there is poker at the end of the road. Weather is near perfect & the highways lightly traveled. At lunch stop in KC (Culvers) I estimate remaining distance based on my odometer, and the 700 miles total travel from google maps, and come up with estimated arrival time between 7 & 8 pm - email that to old bear. I=35 between KC and Oklahoma is very pleasant, almost not traffic and not too flat, decent scenery. I arrive in Norman OK to meet old bear almost an hour later than my estimate. Someone snuck some extra miles in between me and Norman OK - my odometer shows I traveled 750 miles, 50 more than google maps said were needed. Our reservation for the night is at Sleep Inn, which is right next to the Riverwind Casino in Norman OK, but less than half the rack rate price for rooms at the casino hotel. I think it was around 9:30 when we made it over to the 17 table poker room, 17 tables, games on every table. To my surprise there is even a 2/5 PLO table with a couple of seats open which I promptly claim one of. The PLO game is great - typically 6 or 7 limping or seeing small raises pre flop. I buy in for 300, and I think it was the second hand that I see a flop of 25T rainbow playing a hand that included A4 it seems like such a live game that I ignore my usual PLO rule of only taking a bad draw when drawing to the nuts, and take off a card to see if I can hit a 3 for the wheel. Three comes on the turn, same early position player that's been driving the action with small bets so far, bets about $120 into an almost $200 pot, one player folds, before I can declare my re-raise all in my left hand opponent beats me into the pot with his all-in call (about $100). Of course early action player held something like 2466 for the nut 6 high straight. When he saw the 6 high straight my LHO grumbled something about how that guy only bets with the nuts ... I found that amusing given how anxious he was to call less than a minute earlier. I rebuy another 300, and bleed away about 100 before turning in the right direction. At least three players seem to be trying to get rid of all there money as fast as possible. Typical hand is 6 or 7 players see a flop for 10 or 15, after the flop 2 or 3 that like their draw raise and reraise to get all in. Two or three hours into the session I've had a +650 swing to +250 for the session, good result but the way that game was playing I felt like I should have been up 2.5 K instead of hundred. Three of the players that were trying the hardest to bust out have succeeded, it's still a good game, but not as good, and starting to get short handed. I might not be able to get it back if I get stuck again, so I find old bear, he's also ready to get some food, so we cash in and find a nice brewpub style restaurant in the casino that is still serving meals. Old bear reports that the limit game he was in had amazingly bad play, and he was able to recoup most of the money he blew on slots playing low limit poker. Even though our taste in steaks is as polar as our politics, this is the first of many great steak dinners we enjoyed on the trip. I order mine rare, oldbear gets his well done. At least 3 times on the trip the waiter/waitress tried to talk him out of destroying good meat when he ordered well done, but to no avail, that's how he eats them. After dinner we retire for the night. It has been reported on this list that there is no good poker in OKC, and one needs to drive down to the Texas border poker rooms to find good action. Based on this one time sample there's plenty of good low to mid limit poker at Riverwind in Norman if you happen to find yourself in the area. If you're going to be in the area, you might even check to see if you can join their club in advance, as I found a "new members" invitation for a free night or two in their Hotel in my mailbox when I got home from BARGE. Next up ABQ.