My 12th EMBARGO. “Montana!”

Tuesday, January 29th.
I’m up half the night sneezing. Sudafed isn’t helping a lot.
If I’m actually sick, I’ll have to cancel the trip.

Wednesday, January 31st.
I feel okay! Crazy. It was just a really bad allergy attack.

Friday, February 2nd.

Kristina drops me at SJC.
Easy early flight to Las Vegas.
Uber straight to Resorts World.

Driver said he had 750,000 miles as a Uber driver over 7 years.
Other Uber drivers had a hard time believing that.

Un is the first BARGEr seen and gets the coveted first hug.

Nancy brings donuts for us! Such a nice person.

Time for the World Chowaha Championship.

Each player gets two cards and must play two from the hand and three cards from the boards. Boards?

3 flops, 2 turns, one river. Final boards look like this:

F1 F1 F1
             T1
F2 F2 F2          R
             T2
F3 F3 F3

Turn 1 can be used with the top or middle flop.
Turn 2 can be used with the bottom or middle flop.
River can be used with any flop.

1-2-3, easy as bread.

The table:
Crunch, Mickdog, Bremer, Grizz, Mark H., me, Bruce I. and Larry.

Me: “Maybe we could play Chowaha and Murder at the same time.”
Gasps from the table.

Martin (aka Slick) show up on the rail.
Nolan D. pointing in Martin’s direction: “Can we get security over here!”

Turn is dealt.
Crunch: “That is the worst card that could come up.”
Grizz shows that he flopped the nut flush.
Crunch “That is the best card that could come up.”

Jeanne warms up GamboMouse. Squeak!

I get a notice on my phone that someone has logged into my Apple account.
I jump in and change my password. That logs the other person out. Nice!

I learned today that Larry was a lawyer.
I learned today that Lynsy was a lawyer.

Larry: “I’ll live in your driveway for a couple of weeks.”

JZK: “This is a st00pid game.”

New table:
Me, Jeanne, Dan N., Ben, Dave F., Ellis, Helen and Goldie.

Someone suggests a new game called Jeanneha.

I bust Oliver with 88 vs. his 99 when an 8 flops.
I pick one of his Hello Kitty red envelopes. 2 crisp $2 bills inside. Nice!

Oh, I’m getting my own Diet Cokes and adding shots of Captain Morgan rum.
More that one waitress asked if I wanted it on the rocks.
Who puts ice in a shot?
I did get to use the word “neat” which is neat.

RCD (Random Comment Dept.) “He likes the boobs.”

New table:
Dan N., Karen, Helen, me, Mark H., Nolan D., Sabyl, Bruce I., Larry.

Sabyl, Helen and Karen see a flop. “Female pot!”

AJs and call all-in after a raise by Karen. She has KT.
She flops a K. I flop an A.
I think I’ve won the hand until I see a T on one of her turns.

I give her a Hard Rock shot glass as by bust out gift.

Karen: It was a pleasure busting you."

Please tell me someone told her to say that!

Nolan Hee wins Chowaha for the 5th time! Just incredible!

Notes from 2023 say David Lawful and I went to Tacos El Gordo.
I really miss David.

Pay off dumb bet losses to Jim, Bremer, Un and my bookie, Nolan D.

Talk with Martin a bit about colonoscopy prep.

Grab my bags. Need to get to Circus Circus which is about a 1/4 mile away.
But… I have to go down to LV Blvd. and then across to C2.
I tried to find a shortcut. Nope. 3/4 of a mile, more if you count all the walking inside CC.

Circus Circus room is about what you’d expect. Similar to 4 Queens quality. No notes on dinner. Probably Pop-Tarts.

PLO Double Board Tournament.

Pot-limit Omaha.
The pot is split between the winner of each board. Scoops were rare.

Table:
Doug, Nancy, Larry, David, Nolan D., Adam, me, Goldie and Joe.
Should have taken a photo of Larry/David sitting in that order.

Lots of talk about sports trivia.
Goldie had this crazy tough question about pinch hitters.

My best was about the name of the only horse to defeat Man ‘o War: Upset.

Somewhere around here Oliver gives some of us shots on bourbon.
I pull a party foul spilling some of my Diet Coke on a side drink table to make way for the bourbon. It was really good stuff. Thanks.

I chopped a few pots. Didn’t tip on chops early, but started tipping on them later as that would be the only way to give the dealer something.

I flop the nut straight on the top board and have a decent draw on the other board. Things go crazy on the turn. Joe and I are all-in, Goldie has us covered.

Joe and I have that nut straight. Goldie has the nut straight with 65 on the other board and a heart draw on the one where we have straights.

River: heart. I recoil. Joe and I are busted. Shot glass to Goldie.

Oh, thank you to Un for collecting the ADB last longer money for the Friday tournaments.

Un was a little sick on Friday (wore a mask), but got more sick and stayed away from us the rest of the weekend. We appreciate him being a responsible guy.

Larry and I go in his car in search of food. We have GPS apps, but give up on a couple of places as there’s no parking.

We head over to Paradise and I see the Silver Sevens casino. I know they used to have a good restaurant upstairs.

Yes! And they have a prime rib special for $21.

The prime rib is awesome. They also have Heineken in a can for $1. I had two. Fun conversation.

Larry drops be back at CC. Nite nite.

Saturday, February 3rd.

No-limit Bounty Tournament.

Each player had two real $25 chips. If busted, the $50 goes to the winner of the hand.

Table:
Crunch, Larry, John, Scott, Mary, Lori, Sam, me and Steve W.

Hear someone yell “Mom!” Not something I’ve heard at an ARG event before.

Lori and I talk about some of our favorite silly slot machines.

Text from Sandi that she was able to get Taylor the dog (14 years old and 80 pounds) up the steps in front of our house. This was my biggest concern all week.

Neither one got injured.

I get TT, JJ, QQ and KK and win smallish pots with all of them.

Sam: “2.8 thousand.” I’ve never heard a bet amount phrased that way before.

Highlight hand:

74s and call 1200.
Flop A-2-3. Sam bets 1200. I think I can win a big pot if a 5 turns, so I make the call.

Turn 5. I jam. He insta-folds.

Someone asks what I had.
“The wheel.”
“Oh, you flopped it.”
“No, I hit it on the turn.”
“Ken, the turn was a 6.”

The table confirms that the turn was a 6. I went all-in with nothing!!!

I wonder if this factored in to later hands against Sam.

Ac3c in the BB and call a min raise from Sam.

Flop is a lovely A-6-3 with two diamonds.

Sam bets 2000, I raise to 6000, Larry folds, Sam jams, I think for a quarter second and call. He has A7. I bust Sam and get $50.

Perhaps I should mention that Sam won the Thursday tournament and the PLO tournament too!

Lori is called a maniac. It is used a few more times. Ha.

Bob L. is seated next to me. He is making a living playing advantage slots and coaching others. I get a code from him.

Bob wins with AA88.
“Dead man’s hand.”
Me: “I’m so old, I was at that game.”
Laughter.

Bob gets a walk in his BB.
Bob: “I have to peek.”
Me: “Only a pervert looks.”
More laughter.

New table: Larry, Adam, Crunch, Ben, me, Russ, Sam and Nancy.

Nancy has a monster stack. I think she collected five $50 bounties.

I’m getting down to about 10 big blinds.

88 and jam. Sam calls all-in for the same amount. A7o.

I jerk back in my chair as I see two 7s on the flop.
A moment later I calm down as I also see an 8 on the flop of 8-7-7.

PokerStars special right there! Dan Goldman was standing behind me, I think.

I bust Sam for the 2nd time. Another $50 for QB.

See guys, it’s not that hard to beat this guy!!

Updated table:
Larry, Adam, Sabyl, Dan G., me, Russ, Nancy, Bob.

Larry offers to swap 20% with Nancy. He has 40K, Nancy has 300K.
Nice try Larry.

ATo and raise. Adam jams for not too much more. Pot is laying like 4-1.
With the $50 bounty, this is an easy call.
Adam was AQ and flops the Q to dampen the suspense.

Asya gets toke chips for Dan and me.
Asya “Anything else?”
Larry: “I’ll take a coffee. Extra cream.”
Laughter.

55 and jam. Adam calls with QQ.
I’m a small favorite and I can get back into the…
Flop Q-X-Y. Arrgghhh. Turn blank, River blank. $50 for Adam.

Bruce Kramer is the last ADB standing. I deliver my $10 last-longer bet to him and get 2 or 3 other ADBs to pay up.
I’m sure other ADBs played. Please pay Bruce $10 at BARGE.

Un, we missed your organizational skills on Saturday.

At the final table, Larry and Nancy actually do swap 20% at the bubble when they are both short stacks.

I think Nancy bubbled. She did have to get to a show. She made money with all the bounties.

Paul M. took 3rd. Larry and Lori went heads-up for the trophy with Larry winning it.

I have some time to kill so I go play some Dancing Drums slots. I take a beating. $70 maybe? Never got into the bonus game.

Felt hungry and antisocial so I got a cheeseburger at the Burger Barn. It was fine. Not worth $15, but what are you gonna do?

BOSS Tournament.

Big-O and Super Stud. Both games are played high-low split.
Big-O is Omaha with 5 cards. Super Stud starts with 4 down cards. Must discard 2.

Table:
Russ, Jeanne, Ron, Kirk, me and Kyle.

Two Omaha flops in the first hour: Q-Q-Q and later K-K-K.

Kyle is destroying the table early winning pot after pot.

Jeanne finally wins a pot and says: “One for me, 99 for Kyle.”

Kirk rivers himself.

Dealer says: “Discard.”
Kirk replies: “Dis card, dat card.”

Stud hand, I miss my low and straight draws and end up with two pair, 5522. Kyle bets the river. I call. He also has two pair. 4433. Ha!

RCD: “June 33rd.”

Table update:
Russ, Bex, Eric, Dave S., me and Dave L.

A new guy joins our table. I ask him who he is.
New guy: “I’m Nolan’s degenerate cousin, Jeffrey.”
I like this guy already.

White Russians with Bremer, Dan G. and Jared.
I’ve probably had one decades ago. Good drink. A milkshake for alcoholics.

Jeffrey keeps calling me “Montana” as he knows I’m a 49er fan and I’m wearing a sweatshirt that says “Champion.”

Stud and start with 77-7. Win a big pot.

Bex, Dan and Bremer go out. Pretty sure Dean played too wearing a nice shirt.

I win the ADB last-longer bet.
So far, I have received $0.

When I come up to you at BARGE asking for $10, it is for this.

New waitress is Brittany. Wow, she could be a model.

Final Table:
Dan N., Ellis, Kirk, Jeffrey, Jeanie, me and Karen.

Tournament is set to pay 5 places.

I propose a deal.
We take $50 off the top 5 spots, give 6th $150 and 7th $100.
At first, it doesn’t go, but a few hands later with support from Dan and Jeanne, we all agree to the deal.

“We’re in the money!” Everyone smiles and claps.

I text Sandi “In the money.”
This is 100% my favorite thing to do at BARGE or EMBARGO.

I really appreciate the Ellis and Jeanne agreeing to the deal.
They had big chip stacks and were very unlikely to go out in 6th or 7th.

We hear shouts and screams from an ARG ring game 50 feet away.
I run over to see Bremer scooping a $200+ pot.
Crunch says “Don’t ask.”

Omaha round. I go all-in with A3JJK. Jeffrey calls.
My jacks are holding through six cards, but Jeffrey hits a club flush to knock be out in 6th place.

He got a shot glass and seemed really happy with it. We are pals.

Jeanne came in 3rd. Dan N. took 2nd.
Ellis (aka Drackala) won the tournament. He was really happy and everyone around was happy for him.

Around here, Sam gives me two bust-out gifts. Both contain alcohol. Be like Sam.

Wander back to Circus Circus.
There’s some 24-hour snack bar type place.

Get the club sandwich for about $16 and take it up to the room. Hey, this is pretty good. Maybe I’ll save half for Sandi. Maybe I’ll save 1/4 for Sandi. Tough luck, Sandi.

Try to get to sleep. Way too wound up.
I think I got 2 hours sleep.
Had some dream about being on a boat. Something about “boat chicken.”

Uber and flight home were uneventful. NOT!

Skip to the “Hugs” section if flight/Uber trouble upset you.

Steve and I are on the same flight. We plan to meet to share an Uber. As I walk out of CC, it is flat out storming. If I walked over to RW, I’d get soaked. Steve understands.

Uber to the airport. Guy is a big Jimmy Buffet fan. Says he’s seen him over 40 times. I saw JB 3 or 4 times. Great show.

Get to the gate way too early.

About 30 minutes before boarding, I get a text from SWA.
My flight is cancelled! Not delayed. Cancelled. @#@%#$%@#$%@#$!!!
Steve and I are in the middle of a line of 100+.

No hotel voucher. No food voucher.
Weather cancellations are not SWA’s fault. Arrgghh.

I get booked on a 2:30 Monday flight. Steve is next. Same flight?
No, he gets 4:30. Brutal.

We need to get our bags. This is way worse than it had to be.
Our bags are to come out on carousel 4. Okay.
Maybe 40 minutes later, Steve’s bag shows up.
10 more minutes. No sign of my bag.

There are a bunch of other bags in a roped off area.
I ask a guy if any San Jose bags are over there.
2 minutes later, I have my bag.

Off to Uber area.

But wait! Air Force One lands at the airport.
All road traffic in and out of the airport is on hold for 30 minutes.

Thanks Biden!

Rideshare area has 3 or 4 times the number of people you’d expect.
Wait times are around 25 or 30 minutes.

At some point several cars start honking. Not polite honking.
Pissed off honking. I’m guessing one car was holding up the line.

Steve orders up a ride. About 30 minutes later the guy is one minute away and then cancels on us! Holy crap. Guess he got a better offer.

Steve’s phone is low cell so I try to order a Lyft. My credit card is expired. Of course. Luckily I know the info by heart and order a ride.

Maybe 25 minutes later the guy arrives. Minor hassle finding him.

John Lloyd has a room at Harrahs and is willing to let us stay. Thanks!

Steve, John and I are pretty smart guys, but there’s a comedy of minor errors by us on how to meet up, deal with the Bell Desk, etc. I won’t bore you with the details, but we all got our steps in walking around Harrahs, the Wynn and Encore.

We go for dinner in the Harrahs food court. I got a Bobby Flay cheeseburger. John did too and a huge milkshake. Steve got a meatball sandwich, I believe.

Sodas were about $6. Amazingly, we could get cups for water for free.

Burger was really good. Not $17 good, but in the ballpark.

Fun conversation about all kinds of stuff.

John and Steve head off to see the Postcard from Earth show at the sphere. They walked both ways.

I took a world-class 2-hour nap.

Later we go to Bally’s. Took a cool photo.
Got on the lists to play poker.

I played quarter video poker and booked a $1 win.

We got tired and bailed before playing any poker.

Walking back, Steve was able to rebook to an earlier flight.
I tried and rebooked too to the 9am flight already delayed to 10:30.
I think he got C30 and I got C59. Pretty sure I got the last seat available.

Sleep. I think we all slept well.

John had a very early flight. Steve rebooked again to an 8am flight.
I slept a while longer after they left, took a shower.

Uber was no problem.

Flight moved from gate 12 to 11. Delayed a little more.

Board the plane! Yay! I’m one of the last six people.
I figure I’ll get a middle seat way in the back.

There had to be 30 empty seats. Crazy!
I actually got an aisle seat halfway back. Other two were also wearing masks.

Hella bumpy about 10 minutes out of LV. No beverage service. Of course.

Get my bag. It is damp. Ugh.

Sandi picks me up and has a chicken sandwich for me in the car! Yay!

Hugs: Jeanne, Nancy, Kim, Bex, Sabyl and Lynsy.
Manly hugs: Nolan, Nolan, Bruce, Bruce, Dan, Dan, Goldie, Adam, Mickdog, Kirk, Jared, Larry, Jeffrey and Ellis.

Missed all of my friends who couldn’t make it this time. Hope to see you all at BARGE!

Thanks to the Resorts World poker staff and dealers. Well done.

The waitresses were very good and all very pretty.

Thanks to Rodney for the great photos.

Thanks to the organizers for another great rec.gambling event.
Great job. Keep doing what you are doing.

P.S. Please excuse typos, incorrect grammar, tense changes and my using “Me” at the start of sentences. Thanks.

–

Ken Kubey