Jeff Okamoto's TARGET Trip Report
April 20-23, 2001
Last Modified: May 1, 2001

This year was my second trip to TARGET, my seventh trip to Vegas, and
the second trip with my girlfriend Jennifer.  Jen is not a gambler at
all, but as Ken's girlfriend Sandi was going to be there, I hoped that
they could spend the tournament time doing "girl stuff".  I think that
meant Jen would watch Sandi playing slots or blackjack.  I got a message
from Keith Bronson that his wife Kate would also be coming and could she
join Sandi and Jen?  Most definitely!

Last year, I spent a lot of time couponing and gambling.  I knew I
wouldn't have the same opportunities this time.

I booked a room at the TARGET special rate, used my Las Vegas Advisor
15% discount from Hertz, and got very bad rates on our Southwest
flights.  I wasn't sure when Jen would start her new job, so I delayed
longer than I should have.

FRIDAY

By coincidence, Ken Kubey was on our flight out of San Jose.  Due to an
incredible lack of traffic on 101, we got to the airport much earlier
than expected, only to see the 7:25 pm flight delayed until 8:45 pm.  We
played some gin rummy and Ken beat me at about a 2:1 ratio.  Sandi is
sick and is planning to come in on Monday (Ken is staying until
Wednesday).  At least Jen and Kate can be together for the tournament.

The flight was uneventful, and we picked up the car.  Swenson to
Tropicana, across the Strip and I-15 to Industrial, up to Fashion Show
Drive and into the TI/Mirage back entrance.  Nice!

The check-in line at the Mirage was horrendous.  Apparently the Mirage's
crowd control mantra is "every man for himself".  We finally got our
keys and dropped off the luggage.  Then a quick bite at the Caribe Cafe
and sleep.

SATURDAY

We got up and went down to the poker room.  After saying hello to the
folks I knew, we collected our buffet tickets.  Jen was able to use one
that belonged to a player who had cancelled due to the controversy over
the disposition of the 3% toke pool and the barring of Paul Phillips.

Thanks to Rick Harris's coordination, we were all mostly seated in the
same area of the buffet.  The bread pudding was as good as I remembered.
Kate and Jen seemed to hit it off right from the start.

Poker Content: TARGET Tournament!

I draw table 4, seat 2.  Keith Bronson is at the other end of the table,
but other than him, I don't know anybody else by sight at the table,
which may be a good thing.  Dan Sammartino, a fellow HP employee is in
my big blind.  I'm glad he could make it, but it also means that he and
Ray Klann didn't make it into the opening event at the World Series.

I had prepared myself that morning with a bunch of paper, ready to
record the final table.  In the very back of my mind, I wondered what I
would do if I should happen to make the final table.

We started with 2000 and 25-50 blinds with 30-minute rounds.  The schedule
is not TEARS, so the blinds mostly doubled every round.  I tried to play
tight early, as I can't win the tournament this early.  Keith was being
pretty aggressive and taking down a lot of pots.  I won one pot and ended
with 1200 at the break.

After the break, the blinds were 200-400.  I decided my tight image would
let me start stealing.  I took the dog hand (K9 suited) and went all-in
as the first opener one off the gun.  Jim Geary called with pocket queens.
A king flopped and I doubled up.

(This was the first of three hellish hands for Jim.  After I doubled up
through his queens, he then had pocket kings cracked and doubled up
someone else, then finally busted out when his pocket tens crumbled.)

I went through one blind, then the blinds went up to 300-600.  Newly
short-stacked, I took AJ offsuit against KQ offsuit.  The flop had an
ace and a king, and I doubled up again.

Our table broke and I went to table 1, which will be the final table.
This table contained folks I know:  Charles Haynes, Alan Bostick, and
Peter Secor.

I may have these hands in reverse order, but I don't think so.  Low on
chips again, Alan (with a big stack) raised and it's folded to me in the
small blind.  I have JT offsuit.  I called all-in and flopped the nut
straight, Q98.  It held up, and I doubled up.

Again in the small blind, George Wattman raised all-in from the cutoff
seat.  I looked to find pocket aces.  I pushed all-in and shut out Peter,
who folded.  George was stealing, I covered him, and there was no suckout.
For the first time, I felt confident I would make the final table.

I did.

I ended up at seat 9 at the final table with 7500 in chips.  With 78,000
to start with, I was both near average and I think I was at the median.
We agreed to take the extra $300 and $200 that had been added onto
first and second place and gave them to seventh and eighth place.  Only
ninth and tenth will get nothing.

I don't remember any of the final table except for two things:

	I knocked out Dan Sammartino on the bubble with pocket kings.

	I busted out in 6th place.

My bustout hand?  I'm in the small blind (again), Jaeger is under the
gun and raises to 8500.  The blinds are 1500-3000 and I have 5000 (of
which 1500 is in the blind).  Peter and Charles folded, I look and find
pocket sevens.  I call all-in.  Tom Goodwin takes a long time to fold.
Jaeger has KQ offsuit and the flop comes x5Q.  Uh oh.  The turn is
another Q.  A seven will still save me.  The river is a five and I'm out.

I'm still very new to tournament poker.  The $401 I received for 6th
place is the largest payout I've gotten.  It was amazingly sweet.

End of poker content (for now):  We now return you to your regularly
scheduled trip report.

Jen was taking a nap back in our room.  I woke her up and we drove over
to the Hard Rock where she signed up for the slot club.  That got her a
$20 free slot play card.  She made $12 on a Double Diamond machine.
Then on to the Sahara where I got a 50-for-40 buy-in coupon from the
slot club and used another from the Las Vegas Advisor.  We played
blackjack (with me providing Basic Strategy hints, but letting her
play the hand herself) and cashed out with $100, a $20 profit.

We made a quick stop at a Savon store off Sahara Blvd. west of I-15 to
pick up some sundries, then drove downtown and ate at the California's
snack bar.  I killed some time playing quarter deuces video poker and
then we met up with the folks who will be going on the Craps Tour.  I
know I'm missing some folks, but I remember Ken Kubey, Patrick Milligan,
Dan Sammartino, Ray Klann, Peter Secor, Alan Bostick, Eric Holtman,
Frank Brabec, George Wattman and Kevan Garrett.

The Plaza had an empty table, but said they had no dealers to man it.
Then to the Las Vegas Club where they were full up, but we did see Razzo
and did a drive-by toking.  Onwards to Main Street Station where they
were full up too!  Some of us stopped to refuel at the brewpub.  Then we
went across the bridge to the California where an empty $2 table
beckoned.

It had been discussed on the TARGET mailing list whether dark-siders
(don't bettors) should be allowed.  This being our chance to all root
for each other, Ken strongly urged us all to bet with the shooter, but
did not forbid the dark side.  Their feeble skills were no match for
the power of the Do Bettors.

Frank "NutZ" Brabec was the first roller, then Jen, then myself.  Frank
held the dice for about 15 or 20 minutes.  He had long rolls, making the
occasional point, but often threw craps which worked against the come
bettors.

Then Jen took the dice.  The goddess of virgin craps players blessed her
and she held the dice for about 15 minutes too.  She had very long rolls
and made a lot of hardways with few craps.  Ken and Kevan were making
hardway bets for themselves and the dealers, and were getting rewarded
for this.  (I later heard that some folks even made the dreaded Horn
High and Horn Low bets and were making them!  Any estimates on how much
the dealers made in tokes?)

I held the dice for about 15 minutes as well.  Then after Alan Bostick's
roll ended, Jen and I cashed out up $120.  We went back to the Mirage,
and I made a quick coupon and video poker run at the Imperial Palace and
Barbary Coast.  I hoped to use my BJ coupons at the Coast, but the
tables were all full and I dropped $120 in video poker.  I did get $5 in
cashback, though.

SUNDAY

After getting up late, we went to the Orleans to meet Ken Kubey at the
start of their tournament and asked whether Sandi was coming in or not.
Looks like she is still sick and will not come it at all.  We make a
dinner date for the three of us later that night.

Oklahoma Johnny Hale was there, but he was talking to someone, so I
couldn't buy his book from him before the tournament started.

We met Kate at the Palm restaurant in the Forum Shops.  We were a bit
early, so we went to the Palace Casino in Caesars to see if there were
some Asian gamb00lers making $2000 bets in the high-limit baccarat pit
like there were last December.  Sadly, there were none.

The Palm can be an expensive place to eat, especially if you order the
$22/pound, 3-pound lobster.  Fortunately, the lobster bisque is much
cheaper.  Jen had the seafood gazpacho, Kate the swordfish.  I had the
bisque and a salad.  Where was Keith?  According to Kate, he was
visiting an ex-girlfriend.  Go figure.

After lunch, we went to the Gamblers General Store to find a birthday
present for Ken Kubey.  We didn't choose the royal flush necktie.  The
General Store, like the Gamblers Book Club, is a dangerous place to go
and browse.  "I need this, I can use this, ooh this is nice, and so is
this, and this...."  According to their catalog, you can own a gambling
machine in California if you are over 25 years old.

Then it was back down to New York New York, where we left the car.
We crossed the bridge to Excalibur to cash my Visa Las Vegas cashback
coupons (but didn't stop at the Krispy Kreme), then into the Tropicana
to see the magician Rick Thomas.  With a 2-for-1 coupon, admission was
$21.  Seating is general admission, with the usual booths and tables.
We got a good seat in the center.

Rick puts on a good show.  I think it was he who played another magician
in the ill-fated series "The Strip" on UPN.  His illusions are, in
general, very good, he seems to be very happy doing his show, and one of
his three assistants is drop-dead gorgeous.  There is some audience
participation, including selecting a young child, so that at least, is
likely not a shill.  Given that Sigfried and Roy is $99 per person,
Lance Burton $50, Melinda and Steve Wyrick each about $40, at $17 or
$22 (and you could win free tickets from the slot machine outside the
main entrance to the Tropicana), Rick Thomas gives you the most value
for your money.  The show lasts about 50 minutes.

We then hoofed it over to the Monte Carlo to take the tram to Bellagio.
We met Ken Kubey at the poker room and ate at Noodles.  Guess what their
cuisine is.  After dinner, we went back to the poker room to see if any
other RGP'ers were there.  Nobody was apparent, but I did see two folks
playing 2000-4000 heads-up.

We sped back to the Mirage and took the tram to Treasure Island to watch
the pirate battle.  We went to the Battle Bar and got a nice front-row
view (albeit you are the reverse side, so the action is a little hard to
follow).  Then we went up the Stratosphere tower, but most of my pictures
came out poorly, even though I braced my camera against the telescopes.

We got back to the room around 10:00, and I went down to play some
poker.

Poker content: Ring play!

I signed up for 3-6 and 6-12 but the 3-6 seat came up first.  This table
was VERY different from the usual California tables.  I could get a read
on these folks very easily.  Rocks, calling stations, gamb00lers.  I'm in
seat 6.

Two hands, back to back, made most of my profit.  I'm in the big blind,
the "young kid" in seat 1 raises, I know there won't be a reraise by
the limpers behind me, so I call with a pair of 7s.  The flop misses
me, we all check to the kid who's one off the virtual button, and he
checks.  The turn is a 7 and I get action through the river to drag a pot.

Now I'm in the small blind and it's limped around to me.  I have presto
and call.  The big blind checks and the flop is Kc-3c-5d.  I lead out,
get two callers, the kid raises, a rock cold-calls (danger!), and I make
it three bets.  Another rock folds, and a middle-aged African-American
lady cold-calls my reraise.  She's a calling station, so I put her on a
flush draw at best.

The kid four-bets me and I think this is juicy, I've got the nuts.  He
would have raised pre-flop with pocket kings, so if he's got two pair or
worse for him, pocket threes, I'm taking a lot of his money.  I only have
to worry about the flush draw that I put the lady on.  The other rock
folds, I cap it and they all call.

The turn is an offsuit ten, I bet, they call.  The river is another ten,
and there's no flush.  I bet, the lady calls, the kid folds!  My fives
full wins, and the lady mucked.  I can only assume the kid was on the
flush draw, and she had two pair.  Shortly after this hand, the lady on
my right who had correctly guessed my hand (in a whisper to me) after I
capped it moved away from my right and into seat 2.

Peter Secor sat down (fortunately for me, on my right), and proceeded to
clean up.  The table broke around 1:00 am and I went up to bed with $80
profit.

End of Poker content.

MONDAY

I managed to get a late checkout by calling the poker room.  We ate lunch
at the Paris buffet (skip the horseradish and put the Chateaubriand
sauce on the prime rib, and do try the Beef Provencal).  Then we loaded
up the car, checked out, and drove over to the MGM Grand.  We walked all
the way through to get to the M&M store and Coke world (go out the door
by the travel desk).  Sadly, they're mostly just a giant store.  Skip
the 3-D M&M movie.

Then we dropped off the car and waited for our flight.  It was only 25
minutes late, and we emerged from the same gate at San Jose that we
entered on Friday.  Now there's some closure for you.

SUMMARY

Both Jen and I had a blast at TARGET.  I still can't believe I came in
6th place against the quality of the opposition.  I really felt I was
dead money having played for only two years and with a total of less
than 200 hours of table time (though I have played in lots of small
buy-in tournaments).

Thanks again to Ken Kubey for spending all the time and effort to put on
TARGET!

We'll be there for BARGE!

Jeff Okamoto