BARGE is the Big Annual Rec.Gambling Excursion (to Las Vegas). This is our
annual venture out of cyberspace into the Real World in which we get together
to meet each other face-to-face, participate in several BARGE-private events,
and generally blow off steam (not hard to do in Las Vegas in July/August).
In order to participate in BARGE: you must register via the Internet.
Registrations are available to anyone who wishes to join our community.
The organizers reserve the right to deny participation in any or all BARGE
events to anyone, at their discretion. Registrations must be performed
online and by the registrant personally (no third-party registrations).
An exception is made for Significant Others.
Upon payment of the appropriate event fee you may register guests
for any of the non-tournament events (banquet, symposium). No additional
registration fee applies.
A registration is to be considered an exclusive agreement between the
registrant and the BARGE Organizers, and may not be assigned to
another party without their prior agreement.
Should any event (or all events) associated with BARGE be canceled,
BARGE’s limitation of liability is the amount of the fee paid for the
canceled event. In no case will the registration fee be refunded as
it covers costs we incur at the time of registration.
All fees mentioned are used to cover expenses or are placed into the BARGE
fund.
All registrations are final. Cancellations and additions to your BARGE
registration will be done through the close of registration and are
subject to the non-refundable membership fee. Refunds for cancellations
after the close of registration are at the sole discretion of the BARGE
organizers. In no case will the membership fee be refunded. No refunds
will be issued until September 2025.
Please bring all charge disputes to the attention of the organizers
prior to contacting your bank. Anyone who files a dispute with a bank
prior to trying to resolve the problem with the organizers will be
barred from attending this or any future BARGE.
BARGE 2025 is being organized by
Russ Fox,
Rich Bremer,
Jeff Deitch,
Stevan Goldman,
and
Sharon Goldman
with more than occasional advice and
emergency help from Chuck Weinstock and Peter Secor, BARGE
Organizers Emeritus. We also wish to give a “shout out” to BARGE elder
statesman and former organizer, Mike Zimmers.
I have a question, complaint, or gripe? Who should I contact?#
If you have a complaint, gripe, or other issue with anything you see above
about BARGE (the event), remember that it is organized by the organizers under
the direction of the BARGE, Inc. directors — the directors are
probably who you want to work with. A list of directors can be found
here.
We have a little bit of history split up by year. (If you have any memories to
share, please contact us!) Start from the most recent, 2024 or the beginning,
1991.
BARGE 2016
This year’s expanded BARGE was held at Binion’s Casino.
Complete results for BARGE 2016
BARGE 2015
This year’s expanded BARGE was held at Binion’s Casino.
Complete results for BARGE 2015
BARGE 2014
This year’s expanded BARGE was held at Binion’s Casino.
Complete results for BARGE 2014
BARGE 2013
This year’s expanded BARGE was held at Binion’s Casino. This year’s speaker was Stanford Wong, who gave his talk at the Symposium on Friday night. The lowball tournament moved again, this time to Monday night where it was won by Andy Hughes. Chris "Rev. Tom Bayz" Mecklin finished second, and Rich "Omaholic" Bremer finished third. The Tuesday tournament this year was Chinese poker. It was won by Caryl Aronson with Patti Beadles in second and Paul Gibbony in third. The blackjack and video poker events saw a resurgance this year due to their inclusion into the new triathlon of gambling. Barbara Garrett won the blackjack tournament and Derek Gomez finished first in video poker. The winner of the triathlon of gambling was Michael Patterson. The limit 6-game event moved to Wednesday this year. David Lawful won with David Aronson in second and Paul McMullin in third. Ten teams competed in the CHORSE event this year. The winning team was the Arrogant Bastards. Thursday saw a new event, pot-limit Omaha. The winner was Rich Strauss, followed by Tom White and Paul Fischman. Gillian Groves won this year’s TOC style event. Derek Gomez and Don Rieck finished second and third. Maria Caldes won the significant others' hold’em tournament. In the no-limit hold’em championship, David Lawful was victorious, followed by Bob Lauria in second and Gerland Peterson in third. This year at BARGE we held a Binion’s dealer appreciation tournament. George Kouselas won.
...
BARGE 2012
2012 BARGE returned to its most frequent venue, Binion’s Casino. The banquet speaker was Karina Jett. The lowball tournament moved to Tuesday this year and was won by Keith Fichtemaier with Ryan Troll in second and Rich Strauss in 3rd. The Tuesday tournament moved to Wednesday. This year it was pot-limit Binglaha. Caryl Aronson won. Keith Troell finished second. Bree Goldman was third. Rich "Omahalic" Bremer won the blackjack event and Michael Patterson was victorious in video poker. The Deadheads won the team CHORSE event. Thursday evening Andrew Prock won the 6-game tournament with Rich "Omahalic" Bremer finishing second and Arthur Reber coming in third. In the Tournament of Champions-style event it was Steve Lewin-Berlin winning it for a second year in a row, the first time that has happened in a BARGE event. John Pickels came in second, and Rick Mombourquette was third. Finally, the no-limit hold’em main event was won by Paul McMullin with Nick Christenson finishing second and Randall Hennemuth finished third. This was the first BARGE as organizer for Bree Goldman.
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BARGE 2011
Once again, the entirety of BARGE 2011 occurred at Binion’s Casino in beautiful downtown Las Vegas.
The Tuesday tournament this year was one of the rarer games spread in tournament form these days: limit hold’em. It was won by a late-arriving David Kluchman followed by Len Greenberg and Sharon Goldman. On Wednesday David Heller won the blackjack tournament with Michael Maurer emerging victorious in the video poker event. That evening in the draw lowball tournament the finishing order was Chris Mecklin, Scott Byron, and Joe Long. On Thursday "Team I Don’t Give a Damn" won the team CHORSE event, and that evening it was Spencer Sun winning the 6-game event with David Low and Arthur Goltz winding up in second and third, respectively. On Friday it was Steve Lewin-Berlin winning the Tournament of Champions-style tournament, followed by John "JRX" Reed and "Timmer" Stine.
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BARGE 2010
Not only were the gambling events at BARGE 2010 held at Binion’s, but they hosted the banquet and symposium as well. At the banquet long time BARGEr Barry Tanenbaum was the speaker. The Tuesday event was badugi, and it was won by Andrew Prock with Chris Mecklin and Rich Bremer coming in second and third. On Wednesday, Gillian Groves won the blackjack tournament, and Peter Secor won the video poker event. Rich "Omahalic" Bremer won the lowball event with Mark Trombley and Rick "Zbigniew" Bevan finishing second and third. On Thursday the Inglorious Donkeys won the Team CHORSE event, and then that evening Mark Trombley cashed again, winning the inaugural 6-game event. In second place was Chris "ADB Ploink" Straghalis, and in third was Sabyl Landrum. David Kluchman won the Tournament of Champions-style event with David Aronson finishing second and Randy Collack coming in third. The no-limit hold’em event ended with Chuck Humphrey victorious, followed by Stephen Winter and Len Greenberg.
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BARGE 2009
BARGErs enjoyed the hospitality of Binion’s for the third straight year. This year’s banquet was held at the Golden Nugget where Doyle Brunson spoke. The Tuesday event was pot-limit Courchevel, played for high-only with five cards. The winner was Rick Mombourquette, followed by Rodney Chen and Guy "Grizz" Berenstein. On Wednesday the traditional blackjack and video poker tournaments were held for the second year in a row, first and second place in blackjack were taken down by Matt "Grapes" Grapenthien and "Chic" Natkins, respectively. Rich "Omahalic" Bremer won the video poker event, with last year’s winner "Chic" Natkins finishing second. Gillian Groves won the Wednesday night California lowball event with Rick "Zbigniew" Bevan and Steve Bortnyck finishing second and third. On Thursday the team CHORSE event was won by "The Math Is Hard 5 Sans That Talentless Commie Bastard". David Kluchman won the stud shootout with Cliff "Deadhead" Matthews and Michael "pygmyhipo" Maurer finishing second and third. This was the last year for that event. Michael Maurer also won the Tournament of Champions-style event followed in the standings by Doug Grismore and Stephanie Wasserman. The no-limit hold’em event was won by David "Heldar" Heller with Brenda Mowrey coming in second and Bruce "ADB Bigboy" Kramer finishing third.
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BARGE 2008
Once again, BARGE enjoyed the hospitality of our good friends at Binion’s. And, again, the banquet was held at the Golden Nugget where Tom Schneider spoke. While the team CHORSE even took place at the Nugget, the other tournament events took place at Binion’s. The NL hold’em tournament was won by Dan Chevrie. Mark "Dagon" Rafn came in second, and Steve "Lunchbox" Forcash finished third. The Tuesday event was the sadistic no-limit hold’em shootout transitioning to limit HORSE. This event was won by Guy "Grizz" Berentsen. In second was Chris "Jepstonian" Jepsen. Bob Ogus finished in third place. Matt "Grapes" Grapenthein won the blackjack event and Chic Natkins won the video poker tournament. In the Zimmers Memorial Lowball event, Richard "Quiet Lion" Brodie took first place. He was followed by Chris "Tom Bayes" Mecklin in second and Ken "ADB QB" Kubey in third. Through means nobody quite understands, Team Moosecock won the Team CHORSE event (even though there where, what, only two real Canadians on the team?). Steve "BIA" Nissman won the stud shootout followed by Stephen "Marlin" Cohen and Greg Pappas. Barry Tanenbaum emerged victorious in the ToC-style event. Marc "The Occupant" Gilutin came in second and Chuck Weinstock was third. This was Chuck Weinstock’s last BARGE as organizer, although he continues as honored organizer emeritus. This was also Nick Christenson’s first BARGE as an organizer.
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BARGE 2007
2007 In 2007, BARGE was hosted again by its usual home, Binion’s. The banquet was back at the Golden Nugget where Gavin Smith gave the keynote. John Pickels won the NL hold’em tournament. Don "ADB Bingo" Rieck came in second, followed by Dave "ADB Iceman" Trinidad in third. The Tuesday event was 7-card stud 8-or-better, won by Andy Bloch, Tim "ts4z" Showalter placed, and Chris "ADB Ploink" Straghalis showed. Nolan Hee won the blackjack event, Michael "Mickdog" Patterson won the video poker event. Patti Beadles won the Zimmers Memorial lowball tournament, with Warren Sander in second and Nolan "ADB Darkside" Dalla in third. Team Chinese Pocker [sic] won the Team CHORSE event. Chic Natkins won the stud shootout with John Harkness coming in second and Chieu "Choo Choo" Tran in third. The ToC-style event was won by Kenny Shei. Second place went to Stevan "Goldiefish" Goldman, and coming in third was Dave "BronzeDodger" O’Grady. This was Michael Patterson’s first BARGE as an organizer.
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