From: Monte Christensen Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2016 17:18:22 -0700 Subject: [BARGE] Barge Trip Report I really want to make it to Barge for the entire week one time=2C but this = year that was not possible. I plan on a Wed afternoon to Sunday afternoon = trip. I arrive on the SEA->LAS flight with no issues. Our flight is about 30m de= layed getting to LAS. I had planned to make a quick trip downtown to get t= here for the 3:00 craps tournament. I have a ride downtown from my Mom who= is picking up my oldest son for vacation for the week. They drop me off a= t the 4 Queens. I notice in the car that Rich has sent me a FB IM that I a= m already late for the tourney as I am checking in. I tell him I will be t= here ASAP and head over. Rich has just played my spot in the first group a= nd I will play his spot in the 2nd flight. This tourney is taking for ever= to complete 25 bets. I decide to bet my entire 2000 in chips on my first = roll. When our turn is up I get to roll first. Being a dark-side only bet= tor/player I put the chips on the DP and quickly roll a 7. I am out in abo= ut 3s of action. First and probably last dice tournament for me. I head over to the poker room and play some 3-6 horse game. I play about e= very hand that I see and lose some chips. I see that the 8-16 O8 game now = has open seats so I move over there. I order a few beers and a tequilla sh= ot. No patron here so I just get Cuervo. Taste is pretty harsh. I win a = few big pots. I have a great hand on a big pot that I end up with nothing = on the river which Redbird takes down with what she calls a "birthday" hand= of 6-3. I know she wasn't born in 1963 but maybe June 3rd or March 6th? = After a few more beers people are leaving to go to the smoker. I decide to= head over to the GN to play some BJ. I have found that the games are pret= ty good here and some dealers deal almost 80% of the cards out. Rules are = not as good but heat is pretty low and they have lots of tables. I avoid p= laying in the HL room as this is usually quite empty and has 4-5 people jus= t watching you play. I take out a $1k marker and I lose that in about 10m.= The time is around 8:00 and I take out $2k more and sort of tread water f= or some time. John Loyd is flying in tonight and will come meet me when he= is here. I decide to switch from beer to Manhattans. There are not too m= any people playing BJ tonight at the GN. I am generally trying to stick wi= th a spread of 50-400/500. I end up losing the next $2k also. John shows = up around 9:00 or so if I remember. I have had quite a few drinks and keep= ordering on every 10-15m. I am almost out of chips again so I bet $1050 o= n a hand which was "all-in". I figure looking like a steam bettor is good = cover and the KO count was +12. I get a BJ on this hand. I get a few more= drinks. I think around 11:45 or 12:00 I bet $1600 on one hand. At this p= oint I have been drinking all day and haven't ate any food other than a pro= tein shake at 7:00 in Seattle. I lose the 1600 bet. John is not feeling w= ell so he leaves=2C except I realize he has left 300 in chips on the table.= Actually this is OK as nobody will play there and I like to play with les= s players for a faster game. I get back up to $5875 around 2:15 am. I not= ice the Casino manager has been standing in the pit the last 15m watching c= losely. I make sure to order a drink and patron shot when he is there for = effect. I cash out my markers and leave up 850. I take a cab to the SLS and play BJ. They have one $25 DD in the whole cas= ino that is not 6:5. Place is really empty on 2:30 am on Thursday. I sit = down and take out $500 in cash. Pit boss comes right over and asks if I ha= ve a card. I tell him no. He asks where I am from? I tell him I am from = Seattle and need a double drink right away. He asks what I do for a living= in Seattle. I mention I am a Jockey but my horses are having some ligamen= t problems right now so I am off work for a few weeks. He laughs pretty ha= rd at that joke. The cards are a real disaster. Every high count I bet 40= 0 or so and get a 17 or 18 and dealer seems to have 20 or makes 21. Buyins= are coming about as fast as the drinks. I order a double manhattan. They= bring out a drink in a pint glass with some ice in it. This is a very lar= ge drink. Between 2:30-4:00 I have 4 of these I think after all of the oth= er drinks. Many high counts come and go and pretty soon I am in $5k and lo= sing about every hand. There is one round where I have a $250 bet out and = I double down on 65 and get a 10 dealer makes a 4 card 21 to tie me and I r= ealize I can't remember the count. It has to be higher so I bet $500 and a= gree this has to be the last shoe. I get a BJ on this hand. First big bet= I have won in a while. I leave the SLS around 5:45 am and cab back downto= wn. Lost $4800 here. I break all of my Las Vegas gambling rules. 1st rule is to always have som= e food before playing at night. 2nd rule is to keep betting in a range aro= und $500 and maybe $600-700 on a $100 double deck game. Last rule is to dr= ink at least 10 glasses of water before bed. I just fall asleep on top of = the bed. I wake up around 9:45 am. My head is pounding and my mouth is pr= etty dry. I go drink those 10 glasses of water. I also realize I have los= t my iPhone. I have no idea where it is. I txt John. He is feeling bette= r. I tell him about leaving his chips. John shows me the "find you iPhone= " app and it shows my personal phone is right next door and my work phone i= s right here. John is able to get his money back from the pit. I tell joh= n a story of one night at the Bellagio that I left $1800 on the table and w= ent to bed at the IP. I literally forgot I had any chips. Since I had a c= ard they know who I am and put my chips in the cage. Funny part of that st= ory is that I buyin to the $100 game for $2k and the pit boos has to mentio= n that I have chips at the cage. After some breakfast I feel a little bett= er. I told john he let me down as last night he was suppose to be the voic= e of reason and wasn't. I mention how betting $1600 with a low bet of 50 i= s really crazy. John tells me that one hand I bet the table max of $2500. = I can't remember this stuff. John and I head over to the GN for some more BJ. I am able to lose another= $1700 before the PLO tournament starts=2C though I plan on getting there 1= h late give how many chips are in play. PLO is probably my favorite cash g= ame to play right now. I was really looking forward to this tournament. I= think the 3rd hand that I get dealt I make quad 4s and Chris Kluchman has = Queens over 4s so I double up. I win a few other pots with broadway cards.= Once every starts cashing in the lammers I fail to win any more pots and = I cash mine fairly quickly and give those chips to Cliff Matthews and other= s. I think I ended up around 55th or so. My friend Steve W. is coming in = from San Jose tonight. I txt them and they are at the Mirage playing poker= . I get some food (Good call today) and meet them there. The game is pret= ty tame and boring except some tourist who stacks off with A-4 against my A= -Q and then pays of a flush with 10-4. When she leaves this dreaded 1-2 ga= me is really boring. As I walk by the BJ games I see the casino manager wh= o last year yelled at me about playing BJ when he showed up for his shift a= nd I had been there for 8h camping out. We catch an uber back from the venetian. Cost is $11.25 vs $25 cab ride. = We get Steve checked in and head to the GN. The same table as the night be= fore. It is about 11:00 I think. I take out another $2k in markers and pl= ay. We drink manhattans pretty fast=2C like every 15m. The GN seems to ca= re less about us. In fact I play at the same table/seat all weekend. I se= e a few big counts and put out some bigger bets. I am up to almost $4k pre= tty fast. We keep drinking and playing. Steve usually play $10-75 or so. = Tonight on a winning streak he bets 3 hands of $131 each on a count when I= jack up my bet to 2x$250. Steve doesn't count but he waits for me to bet = and then adjusts. I realize Steve has had too much to drink when he his on= 10-2 vs a 6 on this hand. Dealer busts and we win the other spots. I qui= ckly go on a losing streak and turn $4k into 0 in a matter of 2 shoes. I g= et another marker and keep playing. John leaves around 2:00. The pit boss= comes over and turns the sign off saying this game is closed. We keep pla= ying. One dealer shows up and she is really funny telling off color jokes = and swearing with us. Floorman comes over around 2:45 and asks if we would= play in other pit so they can close this one. We say=2C "NO"=2C we are pl= aying here and want to get our money back. They don't say anything. Aroun= d 3:30 he mentions that employees are staying late due to us. We continue = to play. We finally leave around 4:30am and they immediately close the pit= . I have played 25-600 tonight which is a massive spread in a 80% dealt ga= me and still manage to lose $3k. Sometimes BJ sucks! Friday I get up around 9:45. I decide I am going running today no matter h= ow bad that I feel. I jog from the 4Q down to about the Circus. I think o= f Nolan as I jog as we are both older=2C weigh too much=2C drink too much= =2C joggers with a 12 pack chasing us. I see some homeless drunk guy stumb= ling around by the stratosphere and realize I only have 1st world problems = for the most part. I get to the TOC tourney about 45m late after I shower.= I do fairly well most of the day in this tournament. I win a lot of stud= hands as the pots seem much larger than other games with the antes so I de= cide I will play many more hands. I actually bust Nolan in this tournament= . I had 99k and he had 1010-8 and I catch a 9 on 4th street after he is al= l-in. I offer to buy him a lite beer (which I know he hates and laugh). W= hen Bingo busted earlier at our table we agree so sing out loud the BINGO s= ong. I have a bunch of beers during the tournament. Towards the end I hav= e one of the biggest stacks. As we get down to 3 tables I switch to drinking manhattans. I mean I have = lost every table with them at BJ so maybe this is a lucky TOC drink. I the= n hardly win a pot from there on out. My big stack is getting smaller and = smaller. I do flop 3 54s in O8 but Mary (the eventual winner) hits AA and = I am lower on chips. I give a chuck of my stack to Scott Byron. I end up = 4th after having such a big stack and busting 5 people. It is around 12:00= or so and I head back over to the GN to play some more. Steve is too tire= d to pull a late night shift. We play at the same table yet again. I don'= t remember much tonight though I am feeling pretty hammered after all of th= ose drinks during poker. The same waitress is there tonight. She just bri= ngs a manhattan every time she comes by. I give her a $5 tip for good serv= ice. I do manage to win $1200 today for what I think is my first winning B= J session of the trip. I play until about 4:00 and then head to bed. Toni= ght I had to pay Steve a steak dinner for a NHL bet. I was able to get a c= omp so I technically pay off the bet. LOL. I don't run on Saturday which I should have. I show up about 30m late afte= r trying to sleep in. I run amazingly good early in this tournament. I wi= n 2-3 big pots with JJ in the first 2h and later I bust several people=2C o= ne on a 99 vs 33 suckout where I get a 3 on the flop. My favorite waitress= from Binions has a cold beer ready every 20m or so. I gave her a bunch of= tips. I am pretty sure after about 4h I have one of the biggest stacks. = I am then moved to another table by the door and sit next to "quite" Kevin = Un. I have my eyes on his horse racing game. Then the big pot of the day = so far I would guess happens. I have QQ in the big blind. The 9 seat rais= es=2C Kevin 3x raises his bet=2C and I am all-in for 8x more. I have about= 3x Kevin's stack at that point. He calls with AK. Of course he catches a= K on the river and we are about even in chips. I then lose 4 races in a r= ow with a poket pair each time on the flop. Dinner was OK though I lose a = drink bet with Steve W. The food was the worst but the company and speech = were great. I go downto play with 29 left. I get a couple of small pots a= nd then pickup 33 to lose against 99 and I am out around 27th. I notice I = have just received an email from the GN casino marketing director. "Mr. Ch= ristensen we noticed you have recently visited us and would like to invite = you back for future special events=2C please call or email me". This is th= e first time I have played rated here in years. The literal translation is= you really took a beating here=2C you have some of your credit line left= =2C you drink like a fish=2C and we would like you to come back and finish = you off=2C and we know you will never go golfing or attend a show". LOL We decide to play some poker last night in LV at the GN. John and Steve do= n't want to play BJ. I lose a big pot to John with AK against his A when h= e smooth calls my raise and another player re-raises and I re-re-raise to $= 164 and john is all-in for 243. I know I am in trouble when is calls $10 a= nd then is all in for a 1-2 game. John as AA and the other player has AJ. = John scoops us. John is tired and heads to bed. I should go to bed now a= t 1:30 but I go play BJ. I head back to the same table. I repeat what has= happened every other night and lose another $2.5k and have a few more drin= ks. I am really tired though and head to bed around 3:00. Wiped out from = over-indulgence for the week. I saw that redbird won the main event for th= e Seattle contingent. With doug making the final table and Dean getting 2n= d the Seattle contingent (maybe 5 of us) did pretty well! I get up around 9:00 and talk to Steve before he leaves for the airport. W= e have been coming to Barge together since 1995 almost every year. Lots of= good times. I head over to the casino and cash out my VP tickets. I then= play BJ for a while before I need to leave by 1. I see the arnoson's as t= hey are leaving the GN. I seem to see them every day I play here. I turn = $1k into $4.5k with only 30m left before the plane. Given that this the la= st day I play more wild now. I jack up my bets to 2x750 on one hand and lo= se 3 bets on a DD and 20 when dealer makes 21. Bosses don't seem to care m= uch. I end up $300 on last day and go catch ride to airport. I took quit a beating at BJ. Did pretty good at live poker and cashed out = up $1k in barge tournaments. Glad to meet everyone again and anyone new. = Thanks to the organizers for a great time. I can't wait to come back for E= mbargo. Monte