BARGE can be a confusing event, especially for those who are new to BARGE, or to those who are especially feeble-minded, like the ADBs. This document will help you get the most out of your BARGE experience.
The first thing to understand is that BARGE is a week of occasionally organized chaos. In order to gain the full BARGE experience, you must revel in this. Much like fractal geometry, if one looks hard enough at BARGE, patterns will emerge from the seeming randomness. It is hoped that this document will assist the reader in finding some of them.
This document's purpose is to explain BARGE to folks who haven't attended. Nonetheless, some of the things here probably won't make sense. That's fine, don't worry about it. After you've experienced BARGE, come back and read it again and expect a few of the things that mystified you to make a little more sense.
BARGE membership is defined by one criterion, whether you register and show up for BARGE events. If you do, you're a BARGEr. If you don't, you're not. That's the whole story. If you sign up for the mailing list but never attend, you're not really a BARGEr. If you show up during BARGE but don't participate in the events, you're not really a BARGEr. Doing either of these things will give a person a better understanding of BARGE, but membership is defined by participation.
The only way to sign up for BARGE is online. The web site is www.barge.org. It's unlikely this is news to you if you've found this document. The fact that sign-ups must be done online probably doesn't sound like a big deal. It was in the early to mid 90s when BARGE got its start. BARGE attendees have traditionally been both gambling and Internet savvy, even back when these two qualities where rarely associated with each other.
There are two BARGE mailing lists, the BARGE-announce and BARGE mailing lists. These can be accessed through the BARGE web site. The BARGE-announce, as one might guess, is very low volume and includes only those messages of general importance (and arguably not all of those.) Messages to the announce list include registration opening and closing, scheduling, banquet speaker, BARGE tournament results, etc.. Maybe twenty or so messages a year are posted to BARGE-announce. Only the BARGE organizers can approve posts to this list.
The general BARGE list, on the other hand, is not low volume. The list archives claim there were 16,632 posts to the list in 2008. That seems high to me, but suffice to say that a lot of messages get posted to this list. There is an option to receive the list in digest format.
The BARGE list doesn't have a lot of rules, but there are some. Pretty much any discussion topic is fair game, but no personal attacks, abuse, threats, etc. are allowed. If you do this, you may get warned by one of the organizers. If you persist, your posts will be moderated. If you attempt to circumvent moderation, you'll be kicked off the list. Messages are limited to 40 kbytes in size. Messages that exceed this volume will need to be approved by one of the list moderators. Don't automatically expect that will happen.
Different people have different preferences for email etiquette. Most of the Internet old-timers prefer responses be interlaced in posts. The Outlook and Gmail types seem to prefer top-posting. One thing we hope everyone can agree on is that you should always trim unneeded text in the original message, and definitely trim text if you're responding to a digest. If you don't do this, you will be mocked, and it will be richly deserved.
Much like other aspects of BARGE, the BARGE mailing list is perpetually in a state of barely controlled chaos. You will be subjected to ideas with which you do not personally believe. You can argue against them if you wish. Just bear in mind three things:
Many prominent BARGErs don't read the BARGE list because they find it too voluminous and wasteful. We recommend you subscribe to it until you can't stand it any longer, and then unsubscribe. If you're especially tolerant and have lots of free time, that might be never. Then bear in mind that the BARGE event experience will be closer to the best parts of the mailing list than the worst.
Some long time members spend most of the calendar year unsubscribed from the list, but resubscribe just before BARGE (to hear announcements for unofficial activities), stay subscribed for a while after BARGE (to read the trip reports), and then unsubscribe. Whatever works for you.
In any case, stay subscribed to the BARGE-announce list. That way you'll hear about important things, like the dates for the next BARGE event.
From the organizers' standpoint, we don't want to clog up the BARGE-announce list with a lot of minutia, and we can't count on reaching the whole BARGE community on the regular BARGE list. So we tend to announce important information on the BARGE-announce list, answer questions on the BARGE list, and provide detailed information on the BARGE web site.
The long and short of this is that if you don't occasionally glance at the BARGE web site, you're missing information, especially regarding details of BARGE events. Examples of the sorts of information you're going to get only from the web site would be tournament structures, dates and times for events, special rules for events, location and times of non-gaming events, etc.. You don't need to visit every day, but you would be well served to read the information pertaining to events you plan to enter at least once before you show up.
BARGE has historically been organized on a volunteer basis by a group that could best be described as a self-perpetuating oligarchy. Recently, BARGE has transitioned to a republic. The first BARGE with "organizers" was in 1995 with Mike "KidZee" Zimmers and Chuck Weinstock doing the honors. In 2002, Peter "ADB Foldem" Secor joined the organizing ranks. In 2004 Mike Zimmers withdrew as an organizer. In 2007 Michael "Mickdog" Patterson became an organizer. In 2008 Nick Christenson became an organizer and Chuck Weinstock stepped down. Peter Secor stepped down after BARGE 2011. He was replaced by Bree Goldman. Right now it's Michael, Nick, and Bree.
Remember always that the only benefits these people receive for their service are comped rooms at the host casino in some years, the satisfaction of having BARGE run smoothly, and the accolades of their peers. That's it. They're happy to receive constructive criticism and even listen to complaints. However, there is a fine line between blowing off steam and whining. One will be tolerated graciously, the other, well, less so.
Sometime in May or so there will be a link on the BARGE web site to the registration page. This fact will be announced on the BARGE-announce list. Even without this, checking the BARGE web site once per week starting in May will be sufficient to make sure that you get in all the events you want in plenty of time. Don't try to be Warren. You don't have what it takes to be Warren.
Once you've registered for events, it isn't so easy to change one's registration. This actually requires significant manual intervention and paperwork on the part of the organizers. While the organizers understand that sometimes circumstances change unavoidably, we greatly appreciate it if the number of post-registration transactions we have to process is minimized.
Registration typically ends about one to two weeks before the first scheduled BARGE event. Once registration closes, final logistics (staffing by the casino, seat assignments in the tournaments, food selections for the banquet) will be communicated to the people who need to make plans based on this information. Further adjustments to a person's registered events will be made at BARGE and on a first-come-first-served best-effort basis.
From the close of registration on, we guarantee no refunds, and we do not guarantee the ability to add someone to any event. We do take wait lists for events, and more often than not, we are able to accommodate these, but no promises, so no expectations. Contact one of the organizers with the appropriate amount of cash in hand on the day of each event to see if seats are available.
BARGE is traditionally held on the week leading up to the first Saturday in August. It has always occurred in Las Vegas. More often than not, the event occurs at Binion's hotel and casino in beautiful downtown Las Vegas. Official events currently run Tuesday through Saturday of BARGE week. These include gambling tournaments, the team CHORSE event, the symposium and the banquet. All of this is subject to change.
While the nominal plan is for BARGE to occur at the traditional time, on rare occasions, BARGE has been moved to a later week in August. The only eventuality that has caused the BARGE dates to shift has been the World Series of Poker schedule. Because some BARGE attendees need as much advance warning as possible to schedule their vacation time, we try to announce the actual BARGE dates as early as possible. Usually this will be within a week of the announcement of the WSOP dates.
As is typical for any human endeavor where attendance numbers in the hundreds, people tend to subdivide themselves into smaller groups. Some of these groups are as follows:
The temptation is to think of any of these groups as a clique. This is true in the sense of, "these are a subset of a larger group of people who are especially friendly with each other", but it's not true in the sense of, "these folks tend to exclude folks that aren't a part of their group." Go up to them, talk to them, introduce yourself, get involved. You'll find that those folks aren't at all insular.
By all means, if you're new to BARGE seek out the organizers and introduce yourself to them. If they don't already know who you are, they will want to. The same goes for the BARGE old timers. As BARGE old timer and all-around BARGE ambassador Peter Secor says, "There are no strangers at BARGE, just friends you haven't met yet."
If you're hungry and looking for someone to join your for a meal, walk into the poker room and ask the assembled masses if any BARGErs want to join you for lunch or whatever. In this group, if you don't know anyone the hurdle to overcome isn't getting them to accept you, it's letting them know you're willing to join them.
BARGE is held in Las Vegas in the height of summer. If you're not acclimated to the environment, it can be quite taxing. This is especially true if you're imbibing a large number of adult beverages, which we hear sometimes occurs there.
Do what you can to avoid dehydration, an effect exacerbated by the consumption of certain substances, one of them being alcohol. Note that by dehydration we refer to the effects of the depletion of vitamins and electrolytes as well as just a lack of water.
Alternate your adult beverages with fruit juice, sports drinks, and/or water. Don't go for long periods of time on an empty stomach. Drink water before going to bed. Some find vitamin supplements to be useful. The better your overall health, the better you'll feel after imbibing one too many.
If you're especially determined to get yourself in a state where you may not be able to find your way back to your hotel room after the evening's festivities are concluded, you may want to try the buddy system. If you do so, make sure you get ripped early so it's not your evening's enjoyment that's ruined by dragging someone who has lost all motor control around the streets of Las Vegas. That's what we like to call a +EV calculation.
BARGE participants are given badges by which they may identify each other. The badges may typically be obtained by identifying oneself at the main podium of the host casino's poker room. In any case, if you don't know where to get your badge, find someone wearing one and ask them where they are. Your badge is important, since it contains your seating assignments for all tournaments and your drink tickets for the banquet. Try not to lose it. If you do lose it, it might be replaceable. Ask around for someone who might be able to help.
In any case, please wear them while you are enjoying yourself in our host casino, whether it's gambling, dining, hanging out, or gambling. It's good to let our host casino know how much business we're generating in their joint. It's also appropriate to wear them in other casinos. You may be surprised at how widely our group is known in the Las Vegas casino business, as well as how much our patronage is valued.
Please remember, while you're wearing your badge you're representing BARGE, for whatever that's worth.
The basic demeanor of these tournaments is friendly competition. In poker tournaments all the regular rules are observed: one person to a hand, no pocketing chips, basically following the TDA rules or the rules of the card room where we're playing, whichever are in force. One thing a player will immediately notice is that despite the fact that these tournaments are very competitive, the attitude is relaxed. Nobody is worried about "the letter of the law", everyone has an interest in the "right thing" being done. Tournament staff invariably say these are the easiest tournaments with the most reasonable players they've ever run. We're proud of that. Folks giving the tournament staff a hard time will not be tolerated. That doesn't mean you can't point out a mistake, but you won't make any fans if you don't do it with courtesy.
Since the atmosphere at these events is so collegial, the staff usually lets BARGErs get away with some things that they might crack down on in a less friendly atmosphere. Joking around using strong language, and generally being a little goofy is tolerated. As with much of the civilized world, you can get away with a lot if you're actually funny.
At the same time, the BARGE organizers let the staff know that we expect civilized behavior from our membership. If anyone crosses the line between joking around and bad behavior, the staff is encouraged to crack down. Everyone is there to have fun. Behavior that gets in the way of this is not appreciated.
In many tournaments, the players or audience will applaud when someone busts out in the money, especially if they are famous. In BARGE events, that tradition is extended to applauding every BARGEr who busts out. The applause may be especially heartfelt for more popular BARGErs, especially those who may have a last-longer bet against a large share of the tournament field.
Another tradition is that of the "bust-out gift". In many BARGE tournaments players provide a gift of some sort to the person who knocks them out of the tournament. This is extremely common in the no-limit event, but many do this in the other tournaments as well. A typical gift will be some sort of personal item that reflects the player who has just been defeated. Those BARGErs who are book authors often donate books. Some donate poker or other gambling souvenirs, some provide food or adult beverages. Typically, these gifts are of minimal monetary value, although occasionally someone gives away something valuable. Again, these gifts are entirely voluntary, but for the no-limit event they are so prevalent as to be considered almost mandatory in some quarters. To reiterate, the value of the gift isn't important. An inexpensive, amusing, and/or personal gift of minimal value is entirely appropriate. You know you've become a true BARGEr when you spend much of the off-season in retail establishments asking yourself if any of the objects in your field of view would make good BARGE bust out gifts.
Can you really have a team poker tournament? Why yes, yes you can. Would this by any chance be a description of the BARGE Team CHORSE event? Well, sort of. In Team CHORSE (usually pronounced "sea horse", although we've heard people say "chorz" without being mocked) there are several teams (usually about 15 to 18) of six players each. Each person is responsible for playing one of the six CHORSE games (with the "C" standing for "crazy pineapple", and the HORSE standing for the games HORSE usually stands for.) At one time, each team is represented by one player at each of two poker tables (one being the flop table for the CHO games, the other being the stud table for the RSE games). The blinds increase slowly, folks play for a while, and when the time is up, team chips are counted and the team with the most chips is the winner for that year. Busting out subjects you to considerable ignominy. There are some more technical rules, but that's the gist of it.
The winning team gets their team name and roster added to the plaque which resides on the wall of Binion's casino for the public to admire for all eternity, which is cool.
Any group of six BARGErs may form a team. If you wish to do so, contact the appropriate organizer, or any other participant or BARGE old-timer can point you in the correct direction.
During Team CHORSE, side cash games break out near by, and teams can be found exhorting their compatriots to victory (or providing otherwise dubious advice.) It's a good time.
In the old days, CHORSE was a "tip as you go" event. That is, it was important for the CHORSE teams to make sure the dealers were taken care of. These days the BARGE organizers have incorporated the CHORSE event into the fold of the other tournaments where we guarantee a certain amount per dealer down. Of course, additional tokes will still be appreciated by the tournament staff, we just wanted to point out that it is okay to understand that these tokes aren't their sole source of income any more.
The symposium is an excuse to get together, have a snack, and perhaps hold a not-officially-sanctioned Calcutta on the results of the no-limit hold'em event. A Calcutta is a betting pool on the result of another tournament, and such events are common in the backgammon world. Basically, participants bid on other players in a parimutuel fashion. The Calcutta prize pool is paid out in the same ratio as the no-limit event. In some years, the Calcutta pool has exceeded the no-limit pool, but that hasn't happened lately.
The bidders in the Calcutta may be individuals, but most of the bidding is done by syndicates. Feel free to form your own syndicate, be a syndicate of one, solicit others interested in participating in such a syndicate on the BARGE list, or even show up for the event and try to form or join a syndicate with a like-minded strategy at the event. Remember, nobody owes you a spot in their syndicate, of course, but many should be willing to take on additional investors. Just make sure your budget and investment strategy are aligned with the folks with whom you hook up.
A nominal charge is assessed for this event to cover the cost of the room and the food. Historically, not a lot of food has been ordered for this event. You can't get a full banquet-style meal for this price. On the other hand, recently the Symposium has taken place at Binion's, and they've given us a lot of food for our money.
So, the first time you go through the line for snacks, remember that there are probably a lot of other people eating at the same spread, and be considerate of them. Be a little discressionary in your first pass. Of course, if there's still food available later on after everyone has had a shot, then feel free to pig out. After all, we paid for it.
Usually the Calcutta players are auctioned off in pairs, with exceptions. Two players can request a Calcutta partner by sending email to the organizer who announces the pairings before the close of registration. Otherwise, the pairings are determined pseudo-randomly.
A player in the no-limit event has the option of buying back half of their action from the person or syndicate. When auctioned off in pairs, each of the pair players has the option of buying back one fourth of the price for the pair, in which case they get one fourth of the combined prize winnings of the two players. Syndicates who buy a player in the Calcutta are required to sell back the appropriate share to anyone who approaches them at the symposium. One can often make this purchase immediately before the start of the no-limit event, but there's no guarantee that this will occur. Usually, one of the organizers has a list of which syndicate purchased which player, and who is the representative of that syndicate, but it is entirely the responsibility of the player to find the appropriate syndicate head and give them money if they want to buy their portion of themselves back before the tournament starts.
If you can't buy a portion of yourself back, don't worry about it. It's not like you're out a lot of EV. You're not entitled to a piece of any bet that occurs between other people. If you need more action, find someone with whom to make a tournament last-longer bet. People who complain about not being able to buy back their action when they wanted to but didn't show up for the symposium will receive no sincere sympathy from veteran BARGErs.
Often, a bar is available outside the banquet area before the room is ready for seating. Typically, the banquet fee includes drink tickets which banquet registrants can find in their badges.
If you've never tried to book a dinner in a hotel ballroom for 200 people, let us clue you in on a few facts of which you might not be aware. First, these things are ridiculously expensive. Fortunately, in the past BARGE has had some generous sponsors who have donated money to partially underwrite these costs. These sponsors deserve BARGErs' support and appreciation. If you're unclear on who these sponsors might be, ask someone.
Also, providing near simultaneous service for 200-plus people in an impromptu restaurant necessitates certain compromises. It's impossible to get a wide selection of cooked-to-order food, and only a limited menu is made available to us. Also, the banquet staff has to make plans based the orders folks make via the registration page. Please stick to your original choice. Of course, it is entirely permissible to switch with someone willing to do so.
One of the important things that happens at the banquet is the sign-up list for the "reindeer games" that will take place immediately after. Normally, cash game sign-ups are handled quite capably by our host casino, but in this particular instance once the banquet is done we'll have 200+ rabid gamboolers descending on the card room at once, leading to complete chaos. Consequently, we have imposed some rules to turn this process into partial chaos.
First, the sign-up list will be placed on a table somewhere around the banquet area before seating. If someone hands you a sign-up list before you get to the banquet area, ignore it. The organizers certainly will. A bunch of possible games will be listed at the top of the page. Feel free to add whatever you want. Sign up for ONE GAME ONLY. If we catch you signing up for more than one, you'll get nothing and like it, as the judge would say.
During the banquet, the list will be held by a designated volunteer BARGEr. Feel free to find him during the banquet to sign up if you have not done so already. Once the speaker gets up to start the speaking program, there will be no more signups until it's over, at which point an announcement will be made as to when the list will be called down in the host casino's poker room. Sign-ups are allowed until the list is walked over to the poker room.
At the designated time, the floor of the poker room will start with one of the most popular games and call down the list. If people on that list aren't present, their names will be rolled once. After the games are started, the lists will be maintained as per the regular procedures of the poker room. This will be chaotic. Anything that folks can do to make things as orderly as possible until they're seated in games is appreciated.
In all this chaos there is always the temptation to jump a line and sit in a game when you haven't been called for it. Don't be that person. We expect this from normal people, but not from BARGErs. Also, if you have a problem with the way the list is run, take it up with the organizers. Until the games are all running don't take your frustrations out on the poker room staff. They're just doing the best they can with the information they have.
It's difficult to describe the atmosphere of the BARGE reindeer games to someone who hasn't been there. The best description we can come up with is that it's a lot like the combination of a very busy poker room with the Chicago Board of Exchange and an Animal House-style frat party. It's wild, it's raucous, it's rather inebriated, it's loads of fun. BARGE is supposed to be fun, and it is our intention that it not only be enjoyable by the registrants, but by the employees of the host casino, and, frankly, by anyone who happens to stumble across the silliness.
In addition to the prize pool and entry fee, BARGE poker tournaments typically include a fee for tokes for the tournament staff . Sometimes these are covered or partially subsidized by our generous sponsors, a blessing be on their houses. In any case, the organizers exert some effort to make sure our hosts are appropriately compensated for their efforts.
That said, BARGErs are known for their generosity to the employees of our host casino, so often the tipping is exceptionally generous, and we've gotten a reputation as such. We can think of no good reason not to embrace this.
In addition to the toke pools that are part of the tournament buy-ins, many BARGErs choose to provide additional gratuities. Some in the "toke as you go" camp bring a stack of $1 cash game chips with them and tip with those. The tournament staff would be only too pleased to visit you personally to sell you such a stack of chips.
Others are willing to drop something extra for the dealers and floor if they cash. In any case, generosity is a virtue, but there should be tolerance of several levels of generosity. One doesn't have to be a philanthropist at BARGE, but being a stiff will be considered to be bad form.
BARGE generosity is most obviously on display during the "reindeer games", the cash games that follow the Saturday night banquet. For the dealers of the host casino often consider this to be their Christmas. Over-toking is part of the festival atmosphere of these games, more so than is typical for generous BARGErs.
In addition to toking for winning a pot, entering or exiting the dealer box ("Incoming!" "Outgoing!"), displaying an exceptional bit of dealer skill, or getting in a well-placed verbal barb against a BARGEr are all sufficient justification for a gently lobbed hail of chips in the dealer's general direction.
There are many events that occur at BARGE besides those shown on the registration form. Note that the organizers choose to have nothing to do with any of these events. Each is organized by one or more very kind people who are doing so out of the kindness of their hearts. The first key thing to know, though, is that the BARGE organizers do not and do not want to exercise any control whatsoever over these events.
One item that many BARGErs find useful is a document called "BAAG", or "BARGE at a Glance". Kind volunteers assemble a list of all official BARGE events, as many unofficial events as they hear about, and a listing of many regularly scheduled nearby poker tournaments. As this document is assembled, links to various drafts are posted to the BARGE list, and often courtesy printed copies can be found at the podium of the host casino's poker room.
The unofficial events are typically announced and discussed on the BARGE mailing list. If the unofficial event organizer wants to make one announcement per event to the BARGE-announce list concerning that event, that's fine. They can get a hold of any one of the BARGE organizers and we'll arrange it. However, the BARGE organizers aren't going to track down the unofficial event organizers to make sure those who aren't on the BARGE list know about the unofficial events.
Some people have mused that additional events might be fun, if only someone would organize them. Here's a secret. All of the unofficial events, even BARGE itself, began with someone posting something like, "On day X at time Y I'm planning on doing Z. Anyone want to come with?" That's all it takes. There's no magic here, and no need for approval. All it takes is the willingness to get the ball rolling.
Also, there should be no hard feelings if someone decides to schedule a second event at the same time as another. Especially since many of the longer lived events often end up at or near their logistical capacities. There's enough fun to go around.
In a vain attempt to keep up with the times, at recent BARGEs the organizers have also broadcasted information of note to the Official BARGE Twitter Feed: BARGEdotORG. This feed is more active than the announce-only mailing list but way less volume than the regular BARGE list. It's purpose is to update individuals about BARGE events, dates, deadlines, and other general information. It is used much more during BARGE itself, updating people on tournament results and making last-minute announcements as needed. Those of you who participate in the Twit Space may want to check this out.
One unofficial BARGE slogan is, "You're still allowed to have fun in Las Vegas", and the event is all about having fun, doing a little gambling, and hanging out with some cool people. Many in the group make or supplement their income from gambling-related activities. BARGE is not about making money. This is a gambling vacation for otherwise serious gamblers, as well as a gambling vacation for otherwise frivolous gamblers.
Introduce yourself to new people, do some things you haven't done before, get a little (or a lot) goofy, give in to the spirit of the event, drink plenty of liquids, and we will be willing to bet that you will have a great time.