BARGE was started in 1991 when a group of people that posted to rec.gambling decided to meet in Las Vegas during SIG GRAPH (a conference on computer graphics). Initially the group was mostly Black Jack players but as the Black Jack opportunities started to wane many of the participants were poker players.

Originally BARGE consisted of an impromptu Black Jack tournament held in one of the participants comped suite. As the group got larger BARGE became scheduled event with more then one tournament arranged at a host casino.

The BARGE founders were:

In 1992 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 9 players. The winner of that tournament was Steve Jacobs.

In 1993 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 18 players. the winner of that tournament was Roy Hashimoto.

In 1994 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 60 players. the winner of that tournament was Dave Hughes.

In 1995 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 113 players. the winner of that tournament was Tom Sims.

In 1996 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of ~144 players. the winner of that tournament was Mike Zimmers.

In 1997 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 166 players. the winner of that tournament was Steve Brecher.

In 1998 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 184 players. the winner of that tournament was Lee Jones.

In 1999 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of 177 players. the winner of that tournament was John Harkness.

In 2000 the BARGE poker tournament consisted of ? players. the winner of that tournament was Jeff Bartoszewicz.

The 2001 BARGE is fast approaching. You can get registration information on the BARGE website.

Early in BARGE history it became expected that somebody would make commerative chips. Many years it would the last years poker tournament winner, but in 1997 Steve Brecher has Tom Sims put together the chips and then in 1999 John Harkness didn't do any chips. In 2001 an ad hoc unofficial committee formed to produce chips for the 2001 BARGE (and a set to stand in for the ones John didn't do).

Content for these pages has been pulled from at least the following sources:

Comments/Suggestions/Corrections mail Michael Hunter.