Crunch’s BARGE 1998 Trip Report or Variance is My Friend
Dedication:
I had not intended to write a trip report but my BARGE experience was so far above expectations that I felt the need to give something back to the RGP community that made it all possible. Specifically I am writing this trip report for those RGP Newbies who might be considering BARGE nine or ten months from now. So for the BARGE ‘99 First Timers, this is for you.
Prolog:
Var.i.ance n 1.a An act of varying. B. The quality or state of being variant or variable. C. A difference between what is expected and what actually takes place. 2. A difference of opinion…..4. The mean of the squares of the variations from the mean of a frequency distribution.
“Odin is the god of change, of riding the waves of disorder and change, navigating them to his own purposes for the good of the gods. Those who follow Odin must expect a life of changes, unpredictable, often with little apparent order or meaning. Odin is a provider of ecstasy, but little comfort. The well-ordered life will find Odin an interference. Those who recognize that change is endemic to all life, that change is the only real constant, do well to grab his cloak and hang on for the wild hunt.”
A Song from the Wood ,Thoughts on Thor and the Forest, by Wilfred von Dauster, from Mountain Thunder, Issue 10, Autumn 1993
The F-Index:
The RGP community is more than a collection of individuals, it is a collection of competing groups each with their own style and affectations. The Tiltboys, the ADBers, The R00lerz, all contribute to the cacophony of hollers, shouts and chants that surround any BARGE event and make them unique. As you will read in other trip reports, BARGErs give action. The locals love us. The dealers and floor persons love us. But it is action with a particular flair that differentiates us from all the other visitors to “The Meadows”.
I am a member of the Boston based WNPG (Wednesday Night Poker Group) which counts among its members several R00lerz. The signature characteristic of the R00lerz is speaking in the most annoying falsetto voice that can be achieved. Sort of like the Monty Python Pepper Pots on speed. But more than any other group at BARGE, R00lerz give action. You want to be in any game that has R00lerz in it. The Falsetto-Index, FI for short is the goodness of the game based on the number of R00lerz playing. The higher the FI, the better the game.
Wednesday, July 29th
The Trip to Vegas,
Wake up 5AM in Belmont, MA. The lovely Rita, my SO, gives me a package and tells me not to open it until the morning of the NLHE tournament. Ten hours later I walk into the poker room at Binion’s. Great trip, no problems. Person sitting next to me on the flight tells me he is going to Vegas to do a news piece about a convention of 300 ventriloquists that will be held over the weekend at the Imperial Palace. Picture a BJ table full of ventriloquists and their dummies. Made a metal note to tell the BJ Counters in our group, which I did. Don’t know if any of them acted on this.
Binion’s 2:35 PM - First action. Sit in a 10/20 HE game with Andy Bloch who introduces me to Quick. Rest of players are local rocks. I soon learn that Quick is worth at least three R00lerz all by himself. This gives the game a FI of 4. +$65 in 3 hours. Andy leaves, Quick stays but the floorman asks if anyone minds going to 15/30. No one objects. Mistake #1, should have left as the game gets tight as a flea’s butt. Even Quick tightens-up. Go straight S & M for 1 ½ hours but still lose $380. Quit game to go to the smoker.
Smoker at Flore @ the RIO. Meet a number of RGPers and IRCers and can finally put faces to the Nicks. I pay Bill Allen the $25 that I lost to him when he offered even odds that Ming Lee would win WRGPT7 when they were down to five players. Ming had only 20% of the chips at the time so I took the bet. Should have known better since Ming R00lz me in WNPG. Bill is disappointed in that he expected the payoff to be $25 worth of martinis. Food is fine, Wine is better, Smokes, Port and conversation the best.
Monte Carlo 11:15 PM - Oh Ding! Several R00lers and ADBer Bill Allen (who admits he know very little about hi/lo split pot games) in a 4/8 H.O.S.E game. FI of about 8. Table is a sea of gray $1 chips on every hand. Bill Allen consuming vast quantities of Wild Turkey and running over table by playing cheese on the O and E rounds and getting there pot after pot. Four Hours, +$265.
Thursday, July 30th
Binion’s 1:33 PM - Sklansky & Malmuth Freeze Out. Event was scheduled to be Limit Hold’em but we all were told when we got there that it would be No Limit. I felt I had some shot at winning the Freeze Out at limit NLHE but with the change to NLHE my chances would be reduced. I don’t recall much of the early and middle rounds of the Freeze Out other than I busted JP Masser which would be a recurring theme.
When I finally found myself heads-up with Charles Haynes (who had the chip lead from the start and just ran over everyone else), he had a 24-1 chip advantage over me. Silently chanting my mantra “Variance is my friend”, I go into CRUNCH TIME and battled back to even and then on to a slight chip lead. Strategy was to just push all in more than Charles and have faith in Odin. I adjusted strategy after getting chip lead - need to just limp in a few times to set up some trap opportunities. Down side to strategy adjustment - lost momentum and chip lead goes back to Charles. Final Hand - I push all in with about 45% of chips with ATs. Charles calls with QJo (I think). Flop is AJx. River is J! Turn is x, I’m toast.
Despite the suk-out I am feeling very good about my performance here and for the first time feel that I have just as good a shot at making the money in the NLHE tourney as anyone else at BARGE. OTOH, since I wanted to buy myself at the Calcutta at what I expected would be bottom of the barrel price, I might have just raised that price.
3:10 PM Binion’s 10/20 O8 game full of BARGErs, including one and then two Tiltboys. Tiltboys add to FI which is about 8. Win $170 in 2 hours.
Meet an IRC God, Deadhead, and we share a cab to the Mirage Buffet. Deadhead turns out to be even more interesting in person than I expected and we have a good conversation about building poker simulators, tools, bots and such. He is brilliant and offers some good advise about the direction I should take in my own development efforts. I also extract a pledge from him that if I buy him in the Calcutta, and if he finds himself heads-up at the end, he will not quit. He thought about this for quite some time before agreeing J.
Buffet is great and I gorge myself on Shrimp, turkey, roast beef and lots of gooey chocolate thingys. Have a great conversation with Russell Rosenblum about Single Table and Heads-up strategy. Russell had won the Sklansky half of the Freeze Out will go on tomorrow to destroy Sklansky in 12 hands.
Mirage 7:46 PM 20/40 7 Stud - Mistake #2. Put my name down for several different games but this one was the one I least wanted. My overall plan for the trip was to play nothing but r00lin’ BARGE games until Sunday. Depending on how stuck I was at that time, I would then play in this game or higher to get unstuck or go for a big win. I had played in these games on several other Vegas trips in the past two years and had always done very well. But in the short run variance rules and I could also get in a hole fast here. Three hands in I have to muck on 5th after calling a raise on 3rd and 4th when my opponent pairs his door card. Just then they call my name for the 10/20 1/2 Kill O8 game which for me has a higher EV and a lower Variance than this one. I leave down $85 in 10 Minutes.
Mirage 7:57 PM 10/20 ½ Kill O8 - I have played in this game before and its got a nice blend of local rocks and fishies. I know who’s who. Run into STVP (short term variance problem) when fishies continue to suk out on me. I leave game 2 hours later down $375. But this is just a loan and I will be back to collect with interest. Word is spreading of another S00per R00lin’ H.O.R.S.E. game at the Sahara and I’m off .
Sahara 10:24 PM 10/20 H.O.R.S.E. - FI off the scale. Quick, and full table of R00lerz including the Mighty Ming Lee (WRGPT7 Champeen), Dave “S00per” Tahajian, Bill Turner, Greg “R00lie” Wohletz, et. al. Highlight of the night - Razz round, Quick brings in for a Rai with a K. Re-Rai by R00ler Tim H., Capped. 4th street both catch good, Capped. 5th street Quick good, Tim bad, Quick bets, Tim calls. 6th both catch bad. Quick has a made Q drawing to an 8. Tim has a made 10 looks like drawing to a 6. Quick bets, Tim calls. I watch Tim and I could tell by his body language that he bricked. He checks, Quick bets, Tim makes crying call, Quick shows 8 low, Tim mucks. Table is in stitches. Play till 3:35 AM. Leave up $400 in six hours.
Friday, July 31st
Orleans, Noon O8 Tournament - Myself, Deadhead and Ming decide to play in this. Several other BARGErs entered including Ken Kubey. This is an unlimited re-buy tournament for the first three rounds and most of the locals are raising pre-flop with any hand that contains at least one three gapper. Meantime I’m missing every flop and need three re-buys and an Add-on to reach the 4th level. I kinda float through the middle of the tournament. Ken, Ming, Deadhead and I all get to within one table of the money. I then do a real fishy thing in getting married to a high draw. I miss and get blinded out very shortly. Ming and Deadhead soon follow and we cab back to Binion’s. I think Ken finished 5th.
Binion’s 4:53 10/20 HE. Got back too late to make the wedding. Saddenz. Mostly local rocks and I’m pissed at missing the nuptials. I’m not focused and drop $210 in an hour before I quit to go to the Calcutta.
Golden Nugget, 6:30 PM, The Calcutta. I have never participated in one of these before but had planned to buy myself at a bottom dweller price. However, my friend and fellow WNPGer Dan Nussbaum emphatically advised that bidding on yourself was a very fishy thing to do. So I don’t. I had a few names that I would have liked to get at bottom dweller prices including the above mentioned Dan Nussbaum and Paul Hodosh from the WNPG, IRCers SharonZ, Deadhead and Ploink and Geroncio Galicia who has the best combined WRGPT stats for the last two years. However, except for Dan, all the others were bid very quickly beyond the price I was willing to pay.
I go early for $30 (to the Bladders syndicate) which, while not a bottom dweller price, is just inches above. In retrospect if I had bought myself and Dan I would have done very well. I am sitting with Dan, Warren Sander and Scott Byron. It’s clear early that the Calcutta prize pool will be lucky to match the main prize pool as the average price seems to be around $40. Lee Jones establishes the first high bench mark at $65. Lou Krieger goes for $80. Andy Bloch’s name comes up. The BARGE Contest WEB site has him as the favorite. To my surprise Warren is actively bidding for him and wins at $100. I ask Warren if will sell me a piece and agrees. JP Masser comes close to Andy but sells for $95. Average prices now in the $50 range. Scott “Bwana” Byron up next.
If anyone in the RGP community is every going to win the WSOP big one it’s Scott. IMHO he is the best. He is technically nearly perfect but even more important, he couples a fierce competitive spirit with an almost Zen like approach to the game. And above all else he is willing to take the time to help us mortals improve our game. His advise was directly responsible for my finishing in the money in the O8 tournament at the New England Classic at Foxwoods earlier this year. I tell Warren I will back him all the way if he wants to bid on Bwana to go along with Andy Bloch.
Warren and Kim “Tiltboys” Scheinberg go at it and its clear that Kim is more willing to go -EV. Bwana goes to Kim for $150. The price for Andy now looks good. Prices drop a bit until we get to the last 10 players, last years final table. Larry Peters goes for $130, Tom Overton for $110, Steve Russell for $100 and last year’s winner, Steve Brecher sets the final high at $200. I am feeling real good about Andy at $100.
Next scheduled official event is the Team H.O.R.S.E event. But first……
The Tiltboys and the World ROSHAMBO Championships:
It was clear to me from the pre-BARGE posts that there is more than just healthy competition between the Tiltboys and some of the other established cliques in our community. There is some animosity, and this has got to stop! I like the Tiltboys. I like the attitude, the competitiveness, the wit that defines them. Yes BARGE is heavily poker centric, but even more, it is skill oriented risk taking with style centric and Roshambo fits that criteria.
I watched Andy Bloch and Jim Geary (who is one tough som-an-a-beach gamb00ler) win their first level matches and defeat their Tiltboys Opponents. It was clear to me that there are some very complex processes inherent in this game of skill. If was fast and fun to watch and I for one will support making the WRC an official BARGE event next year. OTOH the Tiltboys do need to cut back on the angling and increase their risk taking a bit. The Team H.O.R.S.E event was great. It would have been even greater with a Tiltboys team.
Binion’s, 9:45 PM - The Team H.O.R.S.E Challenge - This was BARGE at its best. The ten team representing almost all of the RGP sub-cultures put on a great show. Highlight of the event: ADB Bill Allen, knowing he has the best of R00ler Andy Bloch inducing a losing call by reminding Andy that he busted him out at FARGO last fall.
When I first heard about this event I really wanted to play but as an unknown newbie had little chance of being invited to play on any of the teams being formed from the established cliques in the RGP community. I decided to form my own team. Warren Sander and Paul Hodosh from WNPG graciously accepted my invitation. I put out a request for two more players on the BARGE list and when Martin Maughan and Jim Geary responded, the Team With No Name (TWNN) was created.
I did some real fishy things on my O8 rounds. Managed to suk out on Jeff Sue in the middle round but left the TWNN almost down to the felt when Warren took over on the last round on the S7/8 leg. Warren made a monster scoop and when Paul made some level III plays on the last 7 Stud round we ended up almost even. I loved this event and want to congratulate Greg Wholetz for his vision of how this should be played, and sticking to it when a lot of us wanted to make it something else.
Saturday, August 1st
After getting a good nights sleep I prepare for the NLHE tournament. Open Rita’s package and find its a black T-shirt with a picture of a Tasmanian Devil with the word CRUNCH on the front. Time for the S00per Secret Weapon, my card protector today will be Nun or Nu, the Egyptian god of the primeval chaos. The Nu was also seen as the primeval water from which the other gods, earth, and humans were created from, i.e. the chaos from which order was created. Nu is also known (to those who play with me in WNPG) as Mr. Tilt and, as I have been told, bears a striking resemblance to JP Masser after a particularly nasty bad beat.
Binion’s 10:20 PM Zimmer Standard Time, NLHE Tournament - the cards are in the air. I am only one of 180 other players thinking “what ever happens, I will not be the first bust out.” I’m UTG on the first hand and find AJo. If this was the second hand it would have hit the muck, but being the first and seeing an opportunity to pick up the tab for the blinds to come, I make a 3BB bet, all fold and I’m the tournament chip leader. Yea. I’m strangely nervous which is a surprise since I have played in almost all of the Winter and Spring Foxwoods tournaments over the last three years with some success. I realize what’s different.
I believe every time anyone decides to sit in a poker game they are doing it for some combination of the following reasons; (1) To win money, (2) Social interaction, (3) To learn and improve, (4) To experience risk rush, and (5) achieve peer recognition. In those other tournaments, winning money was the dominant reason. BARGE is different. I don’t think I’m alone is saying for this tournament Peer recognition is the dominant reason.
The nervousness makes me do something real fishy that turns out to win a critical hand for me very early in the tournament. I have Ratty, Ploink and three Tiltboys (Josh Paley, Dave “Diceboy” Lambert” and Bruce Hayek) at my table. Diceboy makes a 3BB bet from early position. I make a wussy call with AKo in middle position and a third player calls. Flop is A72 rainbow. Diceboy bets T200. I want to Rai $300 so I grab a Gold T500 chip and toss in into the pot silently. Duh. Dealer announces “call”. I immediately realize the error and remain silent and motionless. Third player calls. Uh oh. Turn is a K! Oh Ding. Diceboy makes another T200 bet, I put him on either AK or AQ at this point and I move all-in. Third player folds. Diceboy goes into the tank. Asks “did you flop a set of sevens?”, I use Level II “make hand shake on purpose” move, and Diceboy folds. Subsequent table talk kinda confirms that he also had AK. Suk out on another AJo vs AK when A and J hit the flop and I double through on the first round. Nervousness leaves and I enter the zone.
For me the zone in tournament play is when instinct and intuition take over. Your powers of observation are magnified, all your decisions are correct and you achieve what I call Clarity in the Moment. However, I have found that when it is over unless you are taking notes, a lot of the detail is lost. Most of what I do remember from the middle rounds, such as the SharonZ - Tiltboys bust out incident, has been mentioned in other trips reports. For most of the middle rounds my stack size varied between being on the curve down to only enough to get through the next set of blinds. I’m not sure but I think I busted out JP.
Down to 19 players and I have a reasonable chip stack at the time, about 3BBs. As does my good friend, fellow WNPGer and teacher, Paul Hodosh. Paul is another expert player who has shared his knowledge and insights with me and has helped me to improve my game. As much as I can I am rooting for him to also make the money. Unexpectedly Paul moves all in from early position. Big Stack in late position (I think it was Ray Trimmer) goes into the tank and comes up calling. Paul says “Thank god, I thought you were going to Fold”, as he shows AA. Ray slumps back and show 96o, Flop is x96!, Turn is9!! River is x!!! Paul is toast.
To his credit, Paul very quickly absorbed this ultimate BARGE98 schmengie and went about his way relieving other people of their money in ring games the rest of the trip. As a consolation he was awarded the coveted “Be Careful, You Might Get What You Wish For” award by Kim later that night at the banquet
In the money and down to two tables and I’m still in the zone. I play two critical hands involving Ploink (Chris Straghalis). I think most of the players are still playing too tight so I move all-in from early position with some medium Ax on a steal. All fold to Ploink on the button who thinks a long time. I figure he has a medium pair and I invoke the spirit of Odin to make him fold. He does but I get called by the big stack (Bruce Hayek) in the big blind who shows connected paint. Ace high wins. I find out later Ploink had presto. Several hands later, I’m in late position with pocket duces and feel that I can steal again since either blind would be forced to go all in if I raised all in and I don’t think they will. I move all-in, SB folds. Ploink in the BB thinks for a long long time, I’m talking to Odin again but he tells me I’m on my own. Ploink calls, saddenz. Duces G00t! Gladdenz. Ploink gives me two toy cars as a bounty on his way out.
The Final Table - I have the smallest stack at T20,000 (20 of the 360 chips in play) and offer an even split to all. Lot’s of laughter, no deal. We play. Or rather they did. I was very lucky during this next phase as seven other players manages to bust out while I was able to stay alive with minimum action and even double through. I was saddenz when fellow WNPGer Dan Nussbaum busted out 7th.
I became aware of the ring of people four deep around the table. In some strange way during this period part of me was not in the game, but just watching it. Kind of like an out-of-body experience. I have never had this experience before in a poker tournament and wonder if anyone else ever has. The reverie is broken when Lee Jones eliminates Ray Tripamer we are down to three players.
Peter Caldes and Lee have about 120 chips each and I have 40. I chant my mantra out loud, “Variance is my friend” and am immediately rewarded with a rush of playable hands. Its CRUNCH TIME! Lee and Peter are laying down hand after hand and I catch up to them very quickly.
Suddenly Lee suggests a save in the primary prize pool. We decide to allocate $1500 to third, $2,000 to second and $2,500 for 1st from the primary prize pool. The Calcutta prize pool was still about $900 for third, $1,800 or second and $3,600 for first with ½ going to the player if they had bought back themselves, which I had done. Also at stake was the TOC qualification and the BARGE title.
Soon after we make the save Peter is busted by Lee. Lee has two racks to my one at this point and I decide for a number of reasons that my minimum betting unit will be a rack and that I will push the play. I take the lead from Lee and now I’m up 2 racks to one. He takes it back. I am playing a bit more aggressive than Lee and catch back up to him (about 170 chips to 190 chips) when we reach the final hand.
I have K8s on the Button/SB. Without hesitation, I push all-in. Lee calls with QTo. I’m about a 3:2 favorite. Flop brings an 8 which only marginally increases my advantage. Turn is a rag and with no flush or straight potential for either of us I am now a 6 1/3:1 favorite to be the 1998 BARGE winner. River is a Ten of Spades!!!!! I’m stunned, I’m elated, I’m confused, I’m relieved. It’s over. I’ve gotten about as far as I could go and it’s wonderful.
Everyone is shaking everyone else’s hand. We do the IRS things and get paid. I realize that during the tournament I have collected a lot of stuff. A 1997 BARGE chip. A Binion’s coin. A 1998 Hall of Fame Jacket (they must have lots of them around), and Ploink’s toy cars. I grab all this stuff and Mr. Tilt and head up to the room to call the lovely Rita and get ready for the banquet. The tournament took over seven and half hours to play and I can feel myself crashing.
Golden Nugget 8 PM The Banquet - I quickly down 3 Manhattans and find a seat at a table that included Dave Aronson, Betty and Barry Tannebaum, Scott Byron, and Kim Scheinberg. I’m fading fast, add the food to the booze and I’m falling asleep during dinner. We all offer stories and ideas to Kim who is making up the awards list which was a hit. Could not comprehend much of the Arti Santella/Bill Allen thing but Mike Caro was very entertaining.
Binion’s Midnight 10/20 HE - Get brushed into this game on my way to bed. Only one BARGEr, Martin Maughan and he’s pretty solid. But a couple of locals anglers (LAs) are trying to run over the game so I just wait. One of these LAs tries to steal a pot by miscalling his hand. I point out the error before the dealer does which gets LA’s attention. I’m playing tight and am down about $130 when I get AA UTG. I limp in. LA on left raises. Three callers and I 2-bet. LA 3-bets, all call and I 4-bet, LA caps and all call. $265 in the pot pre flop. Flop is some cheese like 2 7 9 rainbow. I bet, LA raises (great), chasers now fold (even better), I pop the LA who just calls (life is good.) Turn is rag, I bet, LA calls, River is a rag, I bet, LA makes crying call with KK. IGHN up $155 in two hours.
Sunday, August 2nd
I get a good nights sleep but feel a little down after the incredible rush of yesterdays events. I plan on going back to the O8 game at the Mirage today and then playing in the HE tournament at the Orleans at 7PM. But first, food.
Binion’s 12:10 AM Half O8/Half 7/8 4/8 ½ Kill - I stop by the poker room first and get invited to take the last seat in this all BARGE game. FI about 6. Fun game but I’m getting hungry so I leave after 1 ½ hours up $85. Grab some lunch with Paul Hodosh and then it’s off to the Mirage.
Mirage 2:50 PM 10/20 ½ Kill O8 - Same cast of characters as before only this time I’m hitting my hands. Local maniac two to my left keeps trying to run me off pots even though I’m holding the nuts. I remember to always show my cards first thereby affording him the opportunity to muck his cards with out embarrassment making it easier for him to try this lame play again. Play two hours and take $510 out of the game.
Make a few NFL total team win over/under bets at Caesar’s sports book. Little known NFL angle - More often then not when a new coach takes over and improves a team in the first year, the second year results are a step back. So I bet $100 to win $120 that the Patriots will win less than 9 ½ games, and $100 to win $110 that the Jets will win less than 8 ½ games. I also bet $100 to win $100 that the Giants will win over 7 ½ games. I know this is the same situation but I am a life long NEW YAWK F00TB00L GIANTS fan. What can I say.
Orleans 7:04 HE Tournament - $120 buy-in, one $100 rebuy anytime during first two levels. I show up at 6 PM with Paul Hodosh and make sure that I pick a seat at another table. Don’t want any BARGErs at my starting table. Come back from dinner and find that JP, Ploink, Dave Sharf and Bullbert are all at my table as is the local pro who runs the day time tournaments. Local pro in on my left.
Early on I get a huge rush of cards and am getting very little action. Rather than slow play (and risk getting too many callers) I’m hoping to get one or two callers by taunting them to make bad calls. Silly strategy but sometimes it works. Good cards get better and I get AA. Tell everyone to stay out of my pot. JP 2-bets, driving everyone out. I 3-bet, JP 4-bets, I make it five bets. JP calls. Flop non threatening. I bet, JP ria, I re-ria, JP call. Turn is rag, I bet, JP calls all-in. I show the AA. Don’t remember what JP had but AA holds up and I bust JP out of a tournament for the third time in four days. As he exits I can’t help but think that he does look a lot like my Mr. Tilt card protector. J
I stay comfortably ahead of the curve the whole tournament. We get down to two tables (they pay only the final table) and I witness a tremendous display of poker skill as Scott Byron nurses a tiny stack (at one time down to one chip) into the money and reaches 8th before busting out. Final table has four big stacks, one average stack (me) and four small stacks. Avoiding the big stacks and only engaging the smaller stacks with quality hands I arrive at the point where only myself and the big stacks are left.
Can I make CRUNCH TIME happen again? JJ raise no callers. A5o raise, no callers. AJs raise. One more time and I will have caught-up to the 4th and 3rd largest stacks. Get called by chip leader. Flop is JcTcx, I bet and get called. Turn is an 8h. Uh oh. I have less than a bet left. I check. Big stack bets and I call hoping that I have some outs. I don’t as big stack has Qc9c. 5th pays $535 so I net $315 in 4 ½ of play.
Sunday, August 3rd
Binion’s 12:11 AM 15/30 HE - Mistake #3. Should have sat in the $1/$2 lowball all BARGE game that was going on. I have never played this game and Mike Zimmer was showing the other BARGErs how to play. The 15/30 game was tight and tough even with two other BARGErs in it. I’m playing tight but missing the few hands I do play. I hit one hand, get almost even. Get KK and find myself in a pre-flop raising war with local solid rock (LSR). I “feel” that he has a pair lower then Kings. But we have a female third player (FTP) who is calling all these bets and she worries me. Flop is some cheese like Q72, two spades. I bet out and get two callers. Turn brings an 8 of spades. I make a “where I’m at” bet, get raised by FTP, LSR folds and I call. River is a rag. Check. Bet. Call. Get shown T3 of spades??? For two bets cold pre flop???. Nice had madam, well played. IGHN down $465 in 2 ½ hours.
Poker room is almost empty. I join Mike Chow and Scott Burrington in a Grand Marnier drinking contest. Dave Sharf and Paul Hodosh join us but they decide to play heads-up. Bill Turner and Ming Lee drift in and Scott decides he wants to play Ming heads-up. Its almost 5 AM, I have a 10:45 AM plane to catch so I stumble off to bed.
Back to Boston
Non eventfull trip. Try to sleep or read but the events of the past few days swirl in my head. I start doing a core dump from which a lot of this has come. Land at Logan at 8 PM. The lovely Rita is there to take us home.
Epilogue
Right Brain View
Type of Session Wins Losses Hours Results
---------------------------------------------------------------
4/8 Ring Games 2 0 5 ½ + $350
10/20 Ring Games 5 2 18 + $715
15/30 + Ring Games 0 3 4 ¼ - $930
---------------------------------------------------------------
All Ring Games 7 5 27 ¾ + $135
Tournaments 2 3 16 ¾ + $2,965
-----------------------------------------------------------------
All Games 9 8 44 ½ + $3,100
Left Brain View
BARGE ’98 has been the high point of my brief poker oddessy. None of it would have happened with out Mike Zimmer and Chuck Weinstock’s dedication and effort and to them I offer my heartfelt thanks.
I have been home three days now and my mind is still filled with remeberances of poker and people. It is time now to return to the world. And yet? What is that I see on the horizon? A speck? Moving towards me. It might be…. It could be…. It is……………FARG0000000000000000. Oh ding!