Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 12:20:33 -0600 From: Joe Long Subject: [BARGE] Another BARGE trip report I'll try to keep this reasonably short. This was my tenth BARGE (all consecutive) and my longest, Sunday to Sunday. I arrived early Sunday morning, rented a car, and headed to St. George, Utah. That's one of the places I'm considering retiring to, close enough to drive to Vegas a few times a month but out of the desert with some altitude and greenery. I went to do some more scouting. Then back to Vegas to play in the HORSE tournament at the Orleans. Alas, this year it didn't go well, I didn't go deep. I'm out of sync -- this year I joined the Last Longer. Monday I headed out to Red Rock Canyon, a beautiful area only 17 miles west of Vegas. I stopped in the visitor center and checked the maps, and decided to start with a short 2-mile loop from the center before venturing farther into the area (it has a 13-mile motor loop with many trails going from it). Then I realized I'd made three rookie mistakes: I found myself walking in the Mojave Desert in July in the middle of the day, in shorts with no water and no sunscreen. So after getting back to the visitor center I headed directly back to Vegas. In the bounty tournament I got one bounty but didn't go deep. Tuesday I headed back out to Red Rock Canyon, this time at 6am with sunscreen and water. I walked/ran a six-mile loop that was gorgeous. Then back for the 25-game mixed tournament. This is the most fun tournament that I've ever played at an ARGE event. I hope it becomes a regular feature, every year. This time I did go deep, and got through the full rotation twice. Now, at EMBARGO I'd bubbled two tournaments (the actual bubble, I went out one short of the original bubble but then they did a bubble save). Also the same result at a public tournament at the Nugget. Now ... it happened again! I went out one short of the bubble and then they did a bubble save. This was getting to be a very unpleasant habit. Wednesday was the Egg and I (thanks again to the folks who organize this), then PLO. I played very badly in PLO. I used one lammer at a time and used them up in short order. I kept playing it like it was hold'em, seriously overvaluing my hands (as in potting with top two pair!). I was very dead money indeed. During this time I was enjoying all the Dealer's Choice cash games, losing but not losing big. When I only play these games a couple of times a year, I want to play, so I play and chase too many hands. Thursday came CHORSE. I hadn't joined a team again, and again I got drafted to a team. Someone else wanted razz so I played Crazy Pineapple. I won some chips and overall we ended up in second place at the break. The final day didn't go so well. I started off in the CP round and won a couple of hands, but overall we ended up down a bit from our starting stack. That second day is high variance, we had to take chances and they didn't come through. Now, the HORSE tournament Thursday night. I went deep, we're down to twelve players and they pay ten. I'm thinking "Not again!!!" We're playing stud. I raise the short-stack's all-in with Kings in the pocket, another player comes along, and on seventh street she bets all her remaining chips (which I have barely covered). If I win the pot I'm well positioned to make it into the real money (as opposed to just limping into the low payouts). My Kings have never improved but neither of them have a pair showing, and her highest card is a Queen, so I call. She shows three Queens. But I still have a few chips left and she takes out the short-stack, so now we're on the original bubble. And ... they do a save! I finally CASHED!!! I committed my few chips with a King in the door and one below. They never improved and I lost that hand to three queens -- again. A wild finish but at least the "bubble curse" got broken. Friday opens with the Fun Run, with a new twist and our biggest turnout ever: it was a poker run. We had two groups, walkers and runners, going opposite directions around the one-mile downtown loop. Dave Lawful gave everyone a card, then went with the walkers and gave the runners a card every time they passed him. I went with the runners for three loops. At the end a board was dealt, and a straight flush won! In the ToC nothing much stands out in my memory. Maybe because of running three miles that morning? I got so-so. This is a good tournament, I always enjoy it. Karaoke was fun as usual. I wore "the outfit" with a Southwestern design shirt. For the main event I did the same, but with a black shirt, so I was all in black including the hat. Finally, the main event Saturday. I think I made a bad laydown. Andreas was on fire, he'd already taken out two or three players when he put them all-in and they called him. I won't give details of my hand to save embarrassment, but I'd raised and he called and a queen high flop came. I liked that flop, and bet -- and he puts me all-in (if I call him). I think he's just trying to push me off the pot, but I've seen what happened to the others who thought that. Bu then, I know that he knows that I've seen that. So I'm in the tank. I think I'm ahead but if I'm behind I'm way behind. I'd love to double up, of course, but if I lose the hand I'm still OK with about 75% of a starting stack when it's still early. So I wimp out and fold. And I'll never know if I made the right decision (but I think it was the wrong one -- he outplayed me). Anyway, nothing worked after that and I slowly bled down until I shoved with QQ, was called by AK, and lost the race. I enjoyed it while it lasted, and It was fun having Andy Bloch at my table for the second time that week. Our guest speaker was different but enjoyable. She demonstrated her poker skills Saturday by taking down the main event (as I'm sure you've heard). The Reindeer Games were terrific as usual, I played 4/8 DC. I ended up down some for the week, but not badly. All in all, another great BARGE. So ... another great big THANK YOU to all the people who make this possible!!!!! OK, that's enough. See y'all at EMBARGO! -- Joe Long aka ChipRider jlong@chiprider.com A++ G+ PKR+ PEG+ B+ M+