Jump to: Results | Pics | Ed Woods' Trip Report | Other trip reports ATLARGE III - Results No Limit Hold'em We nearly filled our six alloted tables (nine players each) with 52 players sitting down at 10AM (well, there were a couple of sleep-ins, and David Hughes, a former BARGE winner, was a no-show (still placing 28th by blinding out!). It didn't take too long before the shout of "Presto!" was heard, and Tony Goldstein (D Karma) took down the mystery prize (The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gambling like a Pro) with 5h5s. There were at least two other Presto winners (sorry, no more books), including one that made quad fives! I won't detail the early bust-outs, but the record shows (my thanks to Peter Segal for keeping such an accurate record) that the most popular bust hand was AA (no surprise) with 3 out of 42. The only other bust hands occuring more than once were AKs (twice) and AK (twice). Surprisingly, there was only one bust with 55 :-). The final table got started at 1:35PM (after a break, just 3 1/2 hours after we started) with nine players (all the tournament tables are stud tables). Several of the players had entered the 12:15 tournament (also No limit hold'em) that the Trop spread for the non-rec.gamblers --- what is the EV of playing two tournaments at once?   Seat Name Initial  Chips 1 Tom Hummell 5050 2 Kennedy Lemke 3025 3 Mordecai Schwartz 2350 4 Scott Byron 975 5 John Epehimer 4625 6 Aaron Packman 2100 7 Al (Bud) Frampton 2750 8 Matt Treasure 3925 9 Tom Oboyle 1275 Despite starting with the shortest stack by far, Scott Byron proved incredibly resilient, doubling through Matt holding 88 against Matt's AJ when neither improved. Matt survived an all-in holding AQ versus big-stack Tom Hummell holding KJ when the board produced a straight and a split-pot. Al (Bud) Frampton wasn't so lucky confronting Scott with 66 against Scott's QQ, sending Al to "Tournament 2". By this point, Scott had a stack to be reckoned with. Mordecai Schwartz was delighted when Scott put him all-in, holding AA against Scott's AK pre-flop. Scott began counting out a stack to match Mordecai's not-inconsiderable one as the dealer flopped Txx, Q, J! This has to be one of the worst beats of the tournament. The secret of staying alive seemed to be avoiding going all-in versus Scott, as Tom Oboyle and Kennedy Lemke each survived all-ins against Tom Hummell and Aaron Packman, respectively. The rule proved true as short-stacked Matt Treasure confronted Scott holding A7s against AQ, not finding enough 7's or his suit to win the pot and so finishing in 7th. The first all-in to lose to anyone other than Scott occured when Tom Oboyle fearless took his QQ into the fray against John Epehimer who held KQ, but managed a King on the board to send Tom O home in 6th place. The sweet victory wasn't enough to sustain John for long though after he bled off some chips to Tom H, soon followed by an all-in with a lowly 97 against Scott who won (of course) holding AT. The next to go was stalwart Kman (Kennedy Lemke, master of the ATLARGE mailing list) who went all-in with the best hand (AQ) against Tom H holding J9, which was good enough when a 9 showed up on the board. We were down to three players after just over an hour at the final table. I don't have a stack-count, but I think Scott had about half the chips at this point, with Tom H having a slight lead over Aaron. Aaron soon had to surrender after taking his 22 against Tom's A4s, which was more than enough with both an Ace and a 4 on the board. Now it was just a matter of time before the two remaining players each found a hand they wanted to play. You can't be too selective when you're the short stack, and Tom decided to play T7s, which turned out not to be good enough against Scott's A9s, actually making a flush according to my somewhat sketchy notes.   Finish Name Payout 1 Scott Byron $988 2 Tom Hummell $520 3 Aaron Packman $390 4 Kennedy Lemke $260 5 John Epehimer $182 6 Tom Oboyle $104 7 Matt Treasure $52 8 Mordecai Schwartz $52 9 Al (Bud) Frampton $52 In addition to the top prize, Scott Byron had the privilege of playing Trop VP Will Espin in a heads-up challenge No Limit Hold'em match (being a casino officer, this the only way Will can get to play poker in NJ). The format was set to a quicker pace than the regular tournament, and it only took 45 minutes before Scott was $500 richer. I watched the contest, but I didn't really see a lot of showdowns --- Scott just managed to erode Will's stack until the final hand, which Scott recalled as follows: "I picked up TT. He called my raise, flop was AA3 with two hearts, he went all-in with K9 of hearts, I made the call and two pair held up." Scott was simply unbeatable on this Saturday, as he went on to win the East competition for a WSOP trip later in the evening. [It has been pointed out to me that Scott didn't win East outright, but took a sweet deal when they got down to the final two. Jim Vichench had the chip lead, but decided he would have trouble making it to TARGET, and decided to make Scott a deal.] Limit Stud Unfortunately, my notes on the stud tournament are much sketchier --- for one thing, it's much harder to record all the details of stud confrontations. Also, I must confess that after busting out myself two hours into the tournament, I slipped off to lose a little money at $5&10 hold'em in a game with a line up of mostly other ATLARGErs. I do want to thank Ross Poppel for keeping an accurate record of the finish order. I did show up in time to watch the final table action, but did not manage to get a starting chip count. Seat Name 1 Linda Lewis 2 Jim Karlinski 3 Al (Bud) Frampton 4 Alan Richter 5 Irv Kessler 6 Paul Hodosh 7 Sandi Benditt 8 Ray Di Donato Very soon after the final table started, Ray Di Donato and Sandi (Siona) Benditt got knocked out on the same hand. I have Ray in 8th place as having the shorter stack. Soon thereafter, Jim Karlinski got clipped at the T200/400 level. Irv Kessler was out 15 minutes later, followed by Paul Hodosh when the betting got up to T300/600, three hours and forty minutes into the tournament. This left Linda (Llew) with the big stack and Al and Alan about even. The players made a money deal, but you can be sure no one slacked off with not only the glory, but also the chance to take on Will Espin for $500 at stake. It turned out that Linda made a wise decision, because she was the first eliminated among the last three, about 20 minutes after the deal. It took only about 5 more minutes before Alan stood alone with all the chips. I apologize for the lack of detail in reporting the stud tournament. I plead exhaustion after two wonderful days (and too much pot limit :-). I'll try to do better next year. At least, I have the final order of finish and the official money :-).   Finish Name Payout 1 Alan Richter $740 2 Al (Bud) Frampton $462.50 3 Linda Lewis $185 4 Paul Hodosh $148 5 Irv Kessler $111 6 Jim Karlinski $92.50 7 Sandi Benditt $55.50 8 Ray Di Donato $55.50 The challenge match versus Will was agreed to be scheduled at the convenience of the winner. Since Alan was staying in AC another day, they decided to meet on Monday. Alan reports that his lack of concentration after the long weekend was not enough to withstand Will's not-inconsiderable skills.  The ATLARGE group can be proud to win half their matches against a very strong player. Best All Around There was some controversy after the FARGO best all-around decision, and there may be again here (but if you complain too much, you may find yourself organizing ATLARGE next year :-).. There are innumerable ways to decide the best overall title, but I think the one I've chosen is fair and equitable, if not always intuitive. The method awards the prize to the person with the highest total, where the total is computed as the product of the number of people beaten (including self) in both events. (This is equivalent to the product of the ratio of positions.) Although people seem to think that winning the event with more people should be worth more than winning the smaller event, it is difficult to decide a fair way of weighting the events. The method I use weights both events equally --- which seems appropriate to me as the winner is supposed to show the best all-around skill. The top three contenders were the winners of the two events (Scott Byron and Alan Richter) and Al Frampton (the only player to make both final tables). The decision was actually extremely close. Scott's score was 52x28 (he finished 10th in stud) for a total of 1456. Alan finished 12th in hold'em, and so had a score of 41x37 = 1517. But the honor and the winner's jacket went to Al Frampton for finishing 9th and 3rd with a score of 44x36 = 1584. Last year's overall winner (Paul McMullin) was unable to attend because of the date. Let's hope all these fine players return next year to give us a great battle. (Content supplied by Jazbo).

Jump to: Results | Pics | Ed Woods' Trip Report | Other trip reports Lightly edited by Jazbo — 4/27/98 Trip Reports by: Steven Berkowitz Scott Byron Tom Goodwin Jim Hill Tim McGarvey Spencer Sun Jim Tolliver Jazbo's Note: Quite a few good trip reports about ATLARGE III have now been posted to rec.gambling.poker/atlarge@plainsboro.com. I'm collecting them here (with permission from the authors). If you haven't been to one of the "RGE" events, these will certainly give you an idea of how much fun it is! --jazbo  ...

Jump to: Results | Pics | Ed Wood's Trip Report | Other trip reports Lightly edited by Jazbo Jazbo's Note: I am very pleased that Jeff has allowed me to post his ATLARGE trip report. I think it deserves to go into the archives as one of the great ones. It certainly give the true flavor of the event for those who haven't yet attended. —jazbo Part I: The Traveler In making my plans to attend ATLARGE III, I had my choice of flights on Thursday to make it to the smoker. I chose the 3:15 pm flight that would allow my wife to work half a day (her employer is notoriously tight with time off), yet put me into Philadelphia about 4:00. Surely FIVE HOURS would be enough time to get from PHL to the Old Waterway Inn. (No, it wasn't and don't call me Shirley). All of you EAST players saw my poker chip case. A thin briefcase-looking thing with ten rows of a hundred chips. What do you think that looks like going through a security X-ray? "Step over here, sir." "Do NOT approach your bag, sir." "What is in the bag, sir?" All the while my Peg is there, too, with security giving her the evil eye while they warily have me open the case to ensure that there aren't ten sticks of TNT in there, and then wish to examine a few individual chips to ensure they aren't C-4. I think that was a VERY good time to be careful and NOT joke about things, no? (It happened again outbound from Philly, too.... ) We board late, at 3:30, after a thunderstorm rolled through Raleigh. We roll out to the tarmac, where we PARK while the captain says... "Ladies and Gentleman, Air Traffic Control has placed a hold on departures leaving for Philadelphia, Newark, and New York due to weather in the area. We'll be waiting here for a few minutes. We expect the next update from ATC in about fifteen minutes." Aiyah! At 4:15, the captain comes on the speaker and says "Ladies and Gentlemen, ATC has told us that the hold is still in effect, and that the next update will be at five o'clock. I'm sorry..." yada yada yada. AIYAH! *IF* we make it into the air at 5:30, landing at 6:30, I'll now BARELY have time to make it on the trains to reach A.C. by 9 pm. This sucks. What sucks even more is that the captain is full of $%!#. A young lad of about 13 has a walkman-type device, and it's SOMEHOW picking up the conversation between ATC and the flight deck. ATC doesn't believe it will be lifted any time soon, but they won't CANCEL us -- they'll check again at five. They take the plane BACK to the gate to add fuel, as they now expect to be holding over Philly once we DO get airborne. The steward is told he cannot serve drinks on the ground, and the passengers are revolting (but the gal in seat 7A was kind of cute), so they let us OFF the plane so that we can head to the bar. ConsolationDING! So, they FINALLY lift the hold on Philly at 5:30, and we get back on the plane, head out to the runway, and JUST before they firewall the engines for takeoff, they put the hold BACK on... AIIIIIIYAH! "Ladies and gentlemen, ATC has informed me that the next update will be at 6:10... " If I had a dollar for every time the pilot told us when the NEXT update was going to be, I'd have NOT lost money this trip. At least the KID was giving us good data from his walkman.... At 6:45, the hold is yet again lifted, so the captain fires up the engine. Just one. As we listen to the other engine misfire, the kid listens to his walkman. This kid is GREAT.... He tells us what's going to happen a full TEN MINUTES before the captain comes on and says... "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. [DUH!] As you can probably tell, Murphy's Law is in full effect. We have a mechanical problem, and we will be returning to the gate. We have a spare aircraft, and we will be transferring you and your bags to that aircraft for this flight. We know you're frustrated, folks, and, uh, this is one of those days that....uh....." ["SUCKS!", I yell, to the laughter and agreement of my fellow passengers, though I don't think the captain heard me....] Gee, if I'm REALLY lucky, I can get there in time to see Nolan get spanked on the Over/under betting on the BILL. By the time they get the spare aircraft prepped, though, the flight crew has "timed out" and cannot travel. Another is called, they FINALLY arrive at about 9:30 pm, and we get airborne. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. We've been placed into a holding pattern by Air Traffic Control. As you can see out your window, traffic is pretty stacked up here at Philadelphia. We expect to be up here for about 45 minutes. Sorry, folks." BAD BEAT! Now there's NO chance in hell I can watch Nolan get spanked. No smoker for Jester. At least now I'm +75 in non-spent money.... REBATE! We land. FINALLY. I kiss Peg good-bye, head for the SEPTA train and 30th Street Station. I arrive at 30th Street just before midnight. The departure board says the next train to A.C. is at 1:15 am. I have about an hour, and am now STARVING. Mc'Dings is there, so I go munch and play Turbo Texas Hold'em on my notebook for a while. At 1:00 I emerge from McD's, and there's no 1:15 train listed on the board. Next train, is says, is 5:44 am. "Oh, someone goofed and had the weekend schedule listed up there for a few minutes around midnight. The last train left about a half hour ago." Screw the AIYAH. Now I yell "F@%K!" and nearly get thrown OUT of the station, left to sit in the cold rain of Philly, in shorts and without a jacket (who needs a jacket at the pocker table? Surely I don't need to bring a jacket! [Yes, you do need a jacket, Shirley. That's foreshadowing, for anyone bored and not paying attention by now....] I apologize, he relents, and I park my ass on a bench until 5:45. At least the TRAINS didn't break down, and I reach A.C. just before 8 am Friday morning.... No problem, just 14 hours later than I'd expected to arrive. At least I've used up all the bad karma one possibly can have, right? Part II: Bad Mojo Now we can actually talk about ATLARGE, since I've arrived. No hand-by-hand details here, no siree... Just highlights. If you made it through my first part of the report, without falling asleep, well done. Now I'll just hit you with the highlights of the GAMES, in rapid fire.... I nap for a mere THREE hours, go shoot dice, and win $193. Nice start. The bad mojo must have been slept ff. I get in a Hold'em game by noon, with many other ATLARGER's. I take down another small win here. Yes, the bad mojo is definitely gone. No wood to knock on. Big mistake. My salvation was the negative (for YOU folks) expectation games. I DESTROYED the dice tables, taking down about $400 total over the weekend. I left the Let It Ride table a $50 winner. However, it was the Pai-Gow Poker table where the first tale of the weekend happened. Friday night. Pai-Gow Poker. Six ADB's have the entire table locked up, betting $25 minimums and toking $1 EACH, EACH HAND. In 30 minutes we've dropped every white chip in the game into the toke box. They have to bring out a fill. While we're chanting LOUDLY each time the dealer is about to look at his hand....   Pai-Gow!   Pai-Gow!   PAI-GOW!   PAI-GOW!!!!! ...the Asian High-Roller at the table next to us is betting $25,000 per hand. They bring us the fill: $400,080. (Yes, four hundred thousand and EIGHTY). My GOD, they must fear us ADB's.... They think I'm going to turn this paltry $300 toothpick into a lumberyard! MEGA-DING! So we're laughing hysterically as they count down four stacks of $5000 chips, and four stacks of $1 chips that are destined to hit the toke box in short order. You have to love it... Six drunken bastards betting $25 table minimums against a bank of a half million dollars.....and they COMP us to soup at the Jade Palace soup kitchen.... HIGHLY recommended. My hand of doom: I'm banking and am dealt a K-T-8-7-6-3-2 Pai-Gow. That'll teach ME not to say "House Way" when offered the starting choice... Those should have been SECOR'S cards! Mega-saddenz as I pay out $225, having generously offered to bank more than $25 per hand. Pai-Gow ends at 3:30 am, just in time for us to go get 5 hours of sleep before the Saturday tourneys..... it's TOURNEY DAY! *This* is why I come -- this is what I live for.... I lost the Trop 4:15 Limit Hold'em tourney. No hands of note. Two tables had broken when I busted. Mojo falling.... I lost the Saturday ATLARGE Hold'em Tourney. I was in the lower third of the field. My hand of doom was heard on MARS. I don't remember the opponent, but I really, really liked my KK when the flop was T83 rainbow. He led, I smooth called, and the turn was another rag. I still like my hand, so when he leads out, I jam. He thinks about it (I like it when they have to take the time to think!), and calls. He's got me covered in chips, so if I lose, IGHN. We roll our cards and he finds he's a tremendous dog with JJ. Someone says "He needs another jack" as the dealer lays down the river card. Pandemonium breaks loose, the world stops turning, and every other table wants to know what the ruckus in the corner is about. Jester goes home now. "Mojo FALLING...." REBUY! I play in the first annual ATLARGE "rebuy" tournament (the public NL Hold'em event at noon). Nothing of note. I go out in 13th place, while it pays 6 places. "FALLING, FALLING...." EAST: The WSOP satellite I organized.... (FULL trip report on that later). Second HAND of the tourney overall. Clark Olsen and I both raise all-in after the flop comes down, you guessed it, under my overpair of KK. ClarkO, though, has hit middle set (tens), and relegates me to mere timekeeper, while everyone ELSE finishes playing poker in MY hotel room. That's NOT the way it was supposed to happen. ;-) "MOJO FALLING, FALLING, WAAAAAAAAAA!" - Jim Morrison Negative EV time yet again. Road Rally slot machines come highly recommended from Mr. Secor, though I think women would enjoy the vibrating seats on the average of every fifth pull or so, much more so than men. I win $25 on these 25-cent slots, r000ling my chat friends in the side bet department, and destroying the machines too. The Roulette Syndicate lost $60 in short order. $10 minimum at the dice table. Several COMPLETELY empty tables. We have nine players, and will LOAD this table if they drop to $5 minimum, guaranteeing them an hour's action. The pit won't relent. I don't understand this, and neither did Peter, who summed it up nicely... "If they advertised that they always had at least two $5 tables open, even on Saturday night, they'd be PACKED, at all tables, 24x7." A quick explanation of the methodology of our "money laundering" system. We "wash" our buy-ins. Bet and take odds. If that bet WINS, then the WINNINGS is "locked up" and cannot be bet again, but we'll keep re-betting the original bet and odds until its lost. In a perfect world, with zero standard deviation, we're going to bet each flat bet almost twice, win slightly less than half the time. Good money management, yes, but still expected to lose. So we re-angle the house.... Each ADB picks another ADB betting the same way (do or don't), and we piggy-back. Clark Olsen and I piggy back the darkside, $500 buy-in each. The table makes krushing of us, and we are down to $750 total in short order. Peter and Jeremy give it up, with their winnings, and head to the Let It Ride table, telling Clark and I to meet them there when done. Clark and I stick it out, knowing (yes, KNOWING) that the bad mojo MUST end soon. Variance will be our friend at some point. We've committed to finishing the "wash" of $1000 total. That "some point" comes when we have just under $800 locked up in payoffs, and enough to bet darkside and take odds on three bets. Those remaining chips had the power of the darkside with them.... Using the force, those chips won EVERY BET for about 20 minutes. We never even lost a don't come....     "Six, Nine, Five, Seven out, line away, pay the don't". "Five, Three Craps, Ten, Four, Six, Six, Eight, Eight, Seven Out". "Aces Craps, Four, Ten, Six, Five, Five, Five, Five, Seven out." When we've finally lost those last three bets of the original buy-ins, we have $1350, $175 score each. DING! So, what should you do with found money? Play Let it Ride! I score rolled up jacks on a ten dollar bet, and leave a quick winner. Secor has a Royal draw, is shown the fourth club, and lets all three bets ride to score an 8:1 hit on his $30 bets. DING! Soon, though, the magic wears off, and at about 3:00 we agree to head off to the SIGNATURE event of ATLARGE III..... Part III: 2-4 Hold'em like you've never seen it before..... 3:30 am, Sunday morning, a table full of drunk bastards has just ordered another round of beer (twenty beers), has tipped generously, and has yet again folded around to the button who calls out "Make it four dollars", to the dismay of the blinds, who fold. The button tips a dollar, and the game continues. It's...... ROCKS and BEERS, Hold'em style. This game had more angles than a dodecahedron, and more liquid lubrication (of the social variety) than Pennzoil. Among the angles: Jeremy Miller and I both buying into 2-4 Hold'em for $1500 each. We have pre-arranged a time for us to both continue re-jamming each other, to the felt, all $1500. It turns out, though, that our timing was HORRIBLE. The only playable hand, AA, shows up in Clark Olsen's hand when we try it, ruining it even more when its found that we both had AQo at the time we started doing this..... We both fold, letting Clark pick up the $32 in the pot, but I would have LOVED to have seen a $3000 pot in 2-4 Hold'em, and having to tell the dealer to chop it up.... Jeremy and I *did* have an $1100 pot later, which he won. Then even later, we went about $300 into it, until I folded to his $4 bet on the river. I didn't have the odds to call, since I had NO outs.... ;-) I r00led Jeremy back later when my Presto set beat his Aces for a $60 pot. I stacked up the chips in front of me as if splitting an Omaha pot, and toked the dealer ALL of the winnings from Jeremy, thus sending Satan [=Jeremy] on tilt. We toked EVERYONE. Chips were flying through the air all over the place. We toked the chip runners bringing the fills. (Nolan was sending them over from the main games.... "Go tell those guys to keep it down -- they'll toke you.") We toked the cleaning people. We toked anyone that walked by with a shower of chips. We toked the bartender, the cashier, the cage. Sadly, one young lady was greatly offended by the chips flying at her -- she apparently thought we were trying to insult her by making her pick up tokes off the floor. She walked away in disgust. I hope someone explained to her that we were certainly not being racist or insulting -- I've never met a less racist bunch of folks than those from BARGE and ATLARGE gatherings. Other angles we pulled.... Playing "normal" (i.e. not must-fold hold'em ala rocks & beers) at the beginning of a new down (perhaps even a bit looser, capping pots pre-deal, etc.), still tipping lavishly, but after the button makes a full orbit, we lock down to rocks & beers, putting the dealer on tilt.... "Toke the pot" (What?) "Toke the pot!" (The whole pot?) "YES!" (Ok!) "No white checks allowed in the rack!" Every time white chips made it into the house rack, we'd buy 'em out. One dealer was particularly bothered by this, as he kept feeling for the whites in the rack, but they weren't there. No white in the rack is VERY tough on dealers in a 2-4 game... ;-) I posted my big blind with a $500 chip, and forced the dealer to change it down, even though I had about $400 in whites in front of me. He had no white chips in his rack, but I STILL made him change down the $500 into reds, and then posted the white anyway. I then bought back the $500 next hand (to his relief -- I don't think the house likes those chips in poker racks). I ALMOST had the opportunity for a GREAT angle on Secor that he still doesn't know about... Hope you're reading this, Peter. The floor saw what I was doing, and asked me not to do thus, but you'd have loved it... I borrowed a broom from a cleaning staff member, and had a pair of dice in my pocket. I was going to use the broom handle to push you a pair of dice on your big blind, calling "Coming out, line bets, hardways, C and E money". Alas, I was told that the security cameras would have had FITS seeing that on the monitors, so I abided by the house wishes and didn't do it. That would have r00led, though. This game broke at about 6 am, with me down $60.... Not bad. I certainly had $60 worth of fun. (How'd I wind up only -60 after those pots with Jeremy? It was pre-arranged between he and I that we'd even up on our monster pots at the end -- the idea was to tilt the dealers and the rest of the table, and it worked). All of ATLARGE r00led. The house was great, the chat friends were great, it was all r000ling. I look forward to it again next year. Net for the trip: -400 give or take, as some of my money was used on cab fare, train fare, train station food, etc... a LOT better than last year's $1500 crushing. [How'd I do in Stud? Slept through the first hour, and finished in the top half, but out of the money. I'm no stud player. Maybe next year.] Jeff Woods

The story of my second BARGE.

hiya, folks! a review of my archives shows that i've posted some sixteen trip reports, four "atlarge" reports (two each about '96 and '97), and one "barge" report (about '97) since i started posting here in february 1995. but i didn't save my first report (my de-lurk) about a day trip to bally's park place. and i'm tired of smoking/non-smoking flames; obscure probability questions about how many jacks can be adjacent to red aces; and the rantings of a certain person who seems to think that those of us who post here are all casino shills. so, here's another trip report!! enjoy! :) tiger --------------- friday i'm tied up all day in depositions about this little old italian lady who slipped and fell in my client's supermarket. what else is new? two-thirds of my practice involves little old ladies of various ethnicities who slip and fall in my client's supermarkets..... but i'm able to catch the 4:30 bus out of the port authority, but since there's a rainstorm and traffic, i don't get to atlantic city until close to 8 pm. larry ("senor el fuego") and josh ("puggy") are already in play at the taj mahal. i dump my bag in the room and head back down to the poker room. the place is pretty empty. apparently, the tropicana's friday afternoon poker tournament is one helluva big draw - nobody's on the north side of the board- walk. so, after i sit down and play for about 30 minutes (and get on the comp clock), josh and i drive down to the tropicana. the place is pretty busy, and both of us are soon seated at different 10/20 stud tables. the main topic of discussion at my table is the future of sportscaster marv albert. all the players at my table are agreed: he's finished. i gotta disagree - i'm willing to lay odds that he'll be back on top within two or three years. josh and i both book a win, and it's back to the taj. our roommate larry hasn't done very well at his 20/40 stud game. but we each take $10 in comp and go into the bengal club. they have some food, and i have some scotch. they have a beer or two, and i have some more scotch. :) no trouble getting to sleep tonite..... saturday i stagger into the shower around noon - the boys are still sound asleep. i spend the entire day switching tables, taking one beat after another. rgp'er jay sipelstein sees this one: three people fold after the bring-in. a 10 of spades raises, and there are two more folds. i have a 5 up, with a pair of jacks in the hole. i re-raise, and i'm heads-up with the ten. on 4th street, he gets a suited 4, and i get my jack. i'm high, and disdainfully toss in two reds. he raises, and i smooth call. on 5th street, he catches an offsuit ace, and i don't help. he bets $20, and i raise it. he calls. nothing happens on 6th street: check, bet and call. on the river, he squeezes his hole cards, and bets out at me. i don't help. i throw four chips into the pot and say, "three jacks!" he says, "oh no! i've got a flush!" and shows three little spades. ::::sigh:::: the only good thing about my day is that it's better than larry's! he calls an early end to the weekend, and leaves before our other friends mike and kathy show up! we can't get into the dynasty (gourmet chinese restaurant with a sushi bar on the side), nor into any other gourmet restaurant at the taj. what to do...what to do.... hey!! let's do the white house!! for those of you who don't know this place, the white house is a *world* famous emporium of submarine sandwiches (grinders, hoagies, heroes - or whatever you call them)!! every single celebrity who has ever lived has a picture on the wall of the place!! so, we order a white house special, and a cheesesteak, and a meatball, and a tuna, and an italian special... and drinks! and the whole damn dinner costs $6.50 per person! wow!! back to the taj for some poker!! i quit at about 1 am, and go up to the room. two hours later, josh calls. "hey tiger! c'mon downstairs! it's time for some hold 'em!" josh, mike, kathy and your dauntless reporter all sit down at a 2/4 hold 'em game. my first hand is the big blind, and i've got a j 10 unsuited. five people have called the blind. "let's see some!" sure enough, the flop is a pair of tens and a 5. i bet and get three or four callers. there's nothing on the turn, and one guy calls my bet. he pays me off on the river. "cocktails!!" very next hand, i see a 6 9 suited in the little blind, and there's the usual five or six callers. i flop two pair and fill in on the turn! hey! i love this game!! :) twenty minutes later, i'm in later position with pocket rockets (and i've already had 2 double scotches....) "i raise! hey! i got a really good hand!" four people call, including josh in the big blind. flop is three spades to the queen and josh bets. i'm pretty sure that one of my aces is the spade, but i don't bother to double- check before i call. another guy calls behind me. another queen hits on the turn. josh bets again, and this time i do check - yeppers! there's the spade ace! i call! so does the other guy. the river pairs a three. josh checks, i check, and the other guy bets his full house. ::::sigh:::: meanwhile, mike (who's sitting to my immediate left) has twice raised on the button with 7 2 offsuit. and both times, he's flopped a pair or two, improved on the turn, and gotten paid off on the river!! wtg mike!! so, pretty soon, i'm again holding aces! i raise and a couple people call. flop is two fives and a nine. big blind bets and i raise it! we're head to head, and she just calls my raise. the turn is the third five. i call her bet on 4th and again on 5th. yeah. she had the case five. ::::sigh:::: two hands later, i'm on the button. couple people have called, and i see i've got the deuce-three of spades. well, i can play just about anything on the button....('specially after 3 double scotches).... mike picks his hand up off the table. i can't believe it. he's got the aces this time. but he's seen what's happened to me. hehehehehe..... most of the players at the table manage to see his hand before he throws it into the muck. mike later explains that his hand wasn't suited, and he didn't think it was worth completing his small blind! };) so, the flop comes 9 5 2 rainbow. you *know* i bet it! and get three callers. nothing happens on the turn; it's checked to me, and i bet again! one caller! the river, of course, is a trey! and somebody actually pays me off! lol!!! we all stagger up to the room around 5 am, laughing all the way.... sunday i take a jitney to the tropicana, and play there for a couple hours. when i'm done playing, i have a nice chat with poker room manager doug dillon. doug had a big part in nolan dalla's last column in "card player" magazine, entitled "ten atlantic city poker regulations that should be changed." for the record, i favor changing all ten. here they are: 1 allow dealers to keep their own tips 2 allow chip runners and "two-way" cashiers 3 allow more game variations to be spread 4 show greater flexibility in advertising and announcements 5 show greater flexibility in regulating tournaments 6 allow poker in non-gaming areas, when necessary 7 allow shills and props 8 permit poker personnel to play in their own rooms 9 eliminate bureaucratic overkill 10 condense and simplify regulations -------- p.s. i happened to see rgp'er marty frasca this weekend! he confirms that his computer is still down - but he promises that as soon as he's back up and running, he'll get back to handling the "california split" list! :) --------- tiger

First and foremost, I would like to recognize Jazbo for the success of ATLARGE II. ATLARGE II gathered all sorts of backgrounds and experiences together for a brief moment of poker and fellowship. Organizing events this large is time consuming and stressful. Thanks again Jazbo!! In describing my experience at ATLARGE II I can only relate to last years event. I did much better at the Hold'em tournament by not showing up!! However, I missed the fellowship. So this trip report describes my experience from a frame of mind that I survived my poker play but got to meet some really neat people. "The Smoker" Though I do not drink anymore and try and cut down on the cigars, I still find the smoker to be one great event. Great food, great people, and great stories -- all the right combinations for an evening of fellowship. Tiger did a great job of organizing this event. The ADB'ers were in full force. The Darkside (Nolan Dalla), Fold'em, (Peter Secor), Big Boy (Bruce Krammer), Elrasio (Eric ???), Satan (Jeremy) and the honorary (Though he did not know it yet) member Bill Alan. The smoker consumed three full tables and I believe over 20 fine people attended. A highlight of the evening was executives of the Taj Poker room providing nice T-shirts, hats, a deck of cards and the book "Caro's Fundamental Secrets of Poker". As you soon will read, I should have more closely read the book In any social event involving 20 or more card players there will be the bad beat stories. I am the worst at getting the facts right and making the story interesting. However, there is one redeeming quality of a bad beat story \u2013 it reflects a part of life. When I arrived in Newark, my wallet fell out on the airplane. I had a strong hunch the most precious parts of me were laying on the seat 1B. Like without a picture ID. How do I get back on the airplane? So anyway, I approach the gate agents who referred me to security. They referred me to lost and found. Hey! This plane leaves in 15 minutes and my wallet is sitting in seat 1B!! Well I cancelled my cards when somebody finally went abroad, and found my wallet on seat 1B. Now how is this different from the story "There I was with A-A and I flopped a full house A-2-2\u2026." ? You see bad beat stories emulate life. A smoker is a place to experience some interesting realities life presents us all. "Taj Poker" I concluded Thursday's evening with an hour of 15-30 Hold'em. I recognized "Daveles" and someone I met at Fort McDowell in AZ. The table was not too friendly with three people on tilt. So I got serious and engaged in only two hands. Both scored and I left the table with my dinner paid. "Craps Tournament" The craps tournament was a free for all. Satan, (Jeremy) played the "darkside" and layed the back.I played right side most of the way and busted out. Jeremy won the tournament. There is a lesson to be learned here but I have not figured it out yet. As Fold'em and I said, it was fun to work T5000 on a craps table. I do not think that I will be flinging that much black chips in this lifetime. Unless of course barring some untoward event against the casino. "Pot Limit Hold'em" I entered the Pot Limit Tournament on Friday with the notion that this would be a $85 poker lesson. I had the right idea. Having never played Pot-Limit, I experienced a very cheap lesson compared to flinging real green and black chips. Actually, I was doing pretty good. Bluffed a couple of nice pots and engaged in one pot with "Big Boy" (Bruce Krammer). Three sixes flop giving me an excellent full house. I bet the flop and the turn. Bruce disengages to fight yet another day. The hand that did me in was quite interesting to me. A guy who bullies three pots in a row engages in his fourth. I have A-K suited and the flop shows A-X-X of diamonds. Everybody checks. On the turn, a rag drops so I bet. The bully raises. I go all in. He had K-7 of diamonds. Therefore, I should have taken a lesson from Bruce from the earlier hand. When we do not have the nuts -- it might not be the time to fully commit ones bankroll. The lesson was relearned again. You know the adage of all teachers \u2013" do it over and over again until you do it right." Bruce has some inspiring words for me at dinner. "The word is that you're the Stay-Puff softie man..". I can see that my aggressive play will have no threatening context with this crowd. Second, it will take a big win to reestablish any honor amongst my peers. "Passing the Time Away" I had to work on Friday so I could only play until 12:30 AM on Thursday. I played short handed 10-20 Hold'em which is my worse game. I just do not make the right choices between aggression and passivity with less than 5 players. I feel good surviving with all my chips. I flop a full house against "Bwana", "Elrasio", "Sippy" and Ming. One other person pays me off until the end. It was a nice way to pass the time away. I was listening to Bwana and Sippy, tell poker stories. The one lesson from this session is that I have a lot to learn. There are four stages of learning. We all start as "Blissfully Ignorant". We do not know what we do not know. Then we wake up and achieve a state known as Knowingly Ignorant. We now know what we do not know. The next stage makes us an expert in a particular field. We become Confidently Ignorant. We are confident in what we do not know. The last stage is becoming Arrogantly Ignorant. We are arrogant about we do not know. That is where learning stops. I realize do have a long way to go. Hold'em Tournament. I placed 22 last year by not showing up. This year, I was the fourth to bust out. Not understanding the lessons of the previous day-- I engaged David Croson (2nd place at BARGE). Things went very badly. I watch David bluff a flush to lay down with 2 pair which set up the ending hand for me. Here goes .. I am sitting as the big bling with K-Q Hearts. Four people call, I raise T50. Everybody calls. The flop comes 9-9-Q. I have two pair with an excellent kicker. No raises before the flop besides me so I doubt I am looking at A-Q. The only possibility is 9-9 and or 10-9/J-9. One I have a Q, two a Q is on the board, and last Q-9 suited is a weak hand for a tournament. I bet T300. It folds to David who raises T400. He either has K-Q offsuit (He would have raised with K-Q Suited or a nine. I have T145. I go all in. He has J-9 suited. Only 2 outs for me. The run actually gives Dave the flush and I am defeated. It does not help the reputation at all. I can see my badge for next year, a 6" stay puff marshmallow logo \u2026 "Back to the Taj" The live game did me well. Finally leaving the 5-10 Hold'em $145 up. Even with a string of bad beats I was able to get really lucky once. With the button, I am dealt 7-8 suited. A RGP'er raises with A-9, two drop-in's call. A manic re-raises with Q-10 suited. I cold call for the flop. The flop comes 4-5 club's suited and a 2. The A-9 and Q-10 cap the raises in a bidding war. I call. The 6 shows on the turn. The A-9 and Q-10 war again. On the river I get one raise in before it is capped. The A-9 paused a bit thinking something was wrong, but he did not quite understand what. I show the straight flush. I get one more straight flush this session. Probably the average reader is thinking how do you get to straight flushes and not take home the money? I also lost 6 three-of-a-kinds, and two full houses on the river. Mike Caro so well states, not losing $500 is wining $500. Another lesson learned. "Banquet" The banquet was great. Bill Allen was awarded the "Honorary ADB'er hat and Jazbo received a freeroll at TARGET. Well deserved awards. I met Fold'ems wife and talked her ear off about Phoenix and cruising the Caribbean. Peter came just in time to rescue his wife from the clutches of boredom! Then Peter and I discussed how the Payouts are adjusted on slot machines. I good lesson for the both of us. We both walked over to the Taj following each other. Finally, we ended up at the Resorts poker room. "A Friendly 5-10 Hold'em Game" I engaged a table with a beginner, Elrasio, Daveles, PRM, Quie (Tom McHugh), and Ming to my left. One RGP'er to my right and a drop-in. This is the definition of a "friendly game." A dealer from the Trop sits down. We converse \u2013 exchanging small talk. I bet with Elrasio Quie, and Ming raising. "Gee I was looking for a softer game" the dealer says and cold calls. I cap the raise. The beauty of this hand is that Quie takes it with a pair of duce's -- One deuce in his hand and one on the board. The dealer gets up on leaves quickly. "ADB' Dice Engagement" Again the ADB'ers let me tag along for the dice engagement. This is where we convince "Darkside" to roll them bones with one don't bet for Noaln. We bet the right side. It ended up with Nolan losing and us losing. However, it is a lot of fun watching the more emotional patrons get upset at Jeremy and Jeff exclaiming their exuberance over a 7-out. One thing that was puzzling, the Resorts had 12 well-intoxicated individuals ready to spend money but no dealers to open a craps table. As a casino operator who could ask for anything more? The locals and the tourist just would not accommodate the ADB'ers at the craps table. One floorman said, "Go to the end table." It turns out that another floorman was running the show down there. Give the problem away is always a good move. Just to balance this story out I thought it would be nice to mention the cocktail waitress "Shannon". Though Shannon possesses many redeeming and attractive features, it was her service attitude that struck me the most. I was focused on a hand, and Shannon paused until I bet. Then she alerted me to the drink I ordered. A small gesture, but this is the kinds of things that I notice and makes me appreciate a casino. Jim Stydio the winner of the Hold'em tournament offered me a couch to sleep on before the stud tournament. He was supposed to get me before retiring. Unfortunately, some bottom feeders had occupied a Hold'em game at the Taj and so I did not get that nap in until 0600. I am not sure how Bill Lamont and Jim did in the game. While waiting, I observed the 10-20-30 Hi-Low game. In one hand Bill Turner is R00ling against Bozo, Andy, Jazbo and ????. Bill has J-10-9 suited against Andy's A-A. 3rd street and fourth street cap. Bill makes the flush. Lesson learned, I am not up to par to play this table!! "The Stud Tournament" I was at a table with Sippy, Chuck Wienstock, and others I respect. I was remarkably unlucky in getting the low card. I did take the last chips from four players that had been hurt previously and built a fair stack. I also learned about the "Putnum" puzzle from David Croson who was elaborating about geometry with Sippy and others. Nothing like a poker game to fellowship with academia. I did have a secondary thought on my mind the whole time. Not only exploring the outer reaches of what is to be discovered, but also after drinking enormous amounts of coffee waiting for Jim Strydio, I had to use the bathroom. The urge was unbelievable and a break was not in sight. Then the engagement\u2026 With the loss of players new players moved to our table. Bill, who eventually came in second, raised three times and stole three antes with face cards showing. I had the button (again) and the low card. Bill raised with an Ace showing, and I called with a two-suited 10-10-3. The next card is a heart and Bill gets a rag. He bets again. I call. The next card is a rag and I get another heart. I bet a black chip but forgot to say "raise". There goes that bluff\u2026.The next card is a rag for the both of us. I get a 3 he gets a jack and gets the higher two pair. I am now hurt. Relief comes. Our table breaks up and I have time to use the bathroom. Modern warfare consists of five steps. Contacting, Tracking, Identifying, Targeting, and Destroying a hostile target. No honor, no glory \u2013 just impersonal blips on a radar screen. Somehow, the thought comes to me how two friends engage each other at Gettysburg. Lowell Armistead for the south and Winford Hancock for the north faced each other the last and fatal day. I approach the table after using the bathroom and greet my fellow poker buddies. "Hi Paul" (PRM). Paul responds with a similar friendly greeting. "I could not tell if that is a green chip or a black chip on the bottom, how much do you have?" I have definitely been contacted and identified for destruction. I get K-J-10 suited with Paul raising Jim Strydio with a Q showing. Rule one, don't get in-between a chip war. I call once to see if a get a suited card. A 7 diamonds show and I drop. Probably bad to engage with the Q's dead and only a king or a flush out. But I am running out of time. The second hand at this table gives PRM another Q showing and a raise. Everybody drops. I have split queens with a A kicker. The A-Q is suited, I re-raise. PRM looks at my stack and decides to put me all in. I have PRM out-kicked with the ace and three to a flush. He makes Q-Q-3-3 and I do not improve. Say goodbye Dave. At least this time it was a fight. Noaln Dalla wins the tournament. I watch systematic engagements between Bill and Nolan. One thing I noticed was that Nolan was steady in his mannerisms whether he was raising on a good hand or a bad hand. Rock Solid all the way. A guy I want on my right for sure\u2026 Conclusion The fellowship was well worth the trip from Phoenix. As usual I met new friends, Tiger, Quie, Bill Turner, Andy Heck, and Ming. I got an opportunity to share a moment of my life with some of those I met at BARGE. Nolan, Peter, Eric, Jeremy, Bruce and how many others! Jazbo did a great job of organizing and I will definitely be there at BARGE and next years ATLARGE.

Here's some notes of my ATLARGE adventure: I minimum-bet my way into the money at the blackjack tournament, which was nice considering how poor my pocker was in the other tourneys. Once again, Merv got $10 off me by dangling a match play coupon. The deed was done at the craps table. Most of the poker was nondescript. I played a lot of 1-5 stud because I didn't want to be bumming 'cause I got stuck early. I was in an 8-way hand that got checked to the river. Dealer shuffled the cut cards back in (with the leftover card) and dealt a community river. My last session of the trip was by far the most memorable. Listen ye traveller to my poker tale of woe. (Actually it's not that bad, but it's a great sounding intro) I had been sweating Alan for a while in the pot limit game (1-2 blinds) when a seat opened up (both 5 and 6 were open across from the dealer, calling me). Of course, I bought in for $200. Jazbo (jbu...@monmouth.com), Me (kmiy...@cs.rutgers.edu), Kris (k...@munn.com) and Alan (a...@idacrd.ccr-p.ida.org) were there the whole time I played. Ray (ray3...@aol.com?) and Bill (V...@aol.com) were there, Ray earlier and Bill later. Plus cameo appearances by Foldem and Jester. Kris soon moves in on my left and we make R00ling table talk. I had been in a couple of pots with not much happening (ahead a little) until hand #1. We had been talking earlier about how some people had lost big slowplaying aces and I get dealt pocket kings. There were a couple of callers before me so I decided to try to take it and raised the pot. Folded around to Alan who reraises the pot. I'm visibly shaking by the time it's back to me where I put in another raise, and in short order I'm all-in preflop. We flip our cards and sure enough, I'm a big dog against pocket aces. Here Alan offers insurance. I know the concept, but have never done it before so it takes a while before we get things sorted out. We use (*begin shameless plug*) Jazbo's holdem card thingie (*end shameless plug*) to help us figure out just how big a dog I am. I eventually agree and only lose most of my money. -- Keith gets out with his pants after betting into aces. Sometime later, still a hurting puppy, I limp in with pocket tens. -- three players. flop: rainbow; 5 spades, pair 3s.      (you might imagine what's coming) Checked around. turn: 8 of spades. Checked around. river: 10 of spades. I've got top boat, and someone may have made a flush. I check. Check, raise $10. I raise the pot, leaving me about $20. Fold, call. I show my 10s and he's got those 3s you've been concentrating on. Mr. Nice People decided not to put me out of my misery. -- Keith is inexplicably spared by a stranger holding the nuts. Downhill from here, eaten by the blinds and folding failed draws. I'm playing it out to the bitter end (there were seats still available). Talking with Jazbo we agree that once I get below the $5 mark, I shouldn't be able to play (as I have less than a bet), so I decide to make my stand straddling under the gun. It was kinda boring sitting and waiting for my blinds to get eaten, so I made my move one round early. $8 left, under the gun, I toke the dealer $3 and use my last $5 to declare my straddle. Bill has written about my all-in "live" straddle, so I won't get into that, but since this is my poker tale of woe, you can hear how the hand turned out. Kris is to my right and calls, I think there's someone in 7 who calls. Ray had left earlier so a New Guy in 8 calls, then Alan calls. Past the dealer, Mr. Nice People raises the pot, so I said "Nice People give me protection". Bill folds, and Jazbo raises the pot. I shut up. Back to me and I consider my options... Kris calls, 7 folds, then New Guy raises the pot. Alan folds, Mr. Nice People calls all-in. Jazbo thinks and folds, as does Kris. Now there's two all-in preflop and I still haven't seen my cards. No insurance today as the dealer lays a board of 347TQ, no flush draw. Nice People has kings and New Guy has aces. Mr. Nice People has busted, Mr. Nice People rebuys. I flip my cards and out pops a pair of 3s. $35! Stylin'! Three or four hands later I limp in with A8 diamonds. Four players see the flop which comes down with two diamonds. $20 raise (pot sized raise would be $25), call, call, and I call all-in. Turn is a diamond and they check it to the end. I'm back at $100 with quite a turnaround of fortune. Put back $25 before cashing out at 11:30. 4-5 hours; -$125; Keith -- kmiy...@cs.rutgers.edu

Nolan Dalla ATLARGE Trip Report Atlantic City, NJ March 20-24, 1997 "THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD" **************** The long and winding road, that leads to your door, has left me standing here. **************** Introduction: This year, I was content NOT to post an ATLARGE trip report. This decision came about for three reasons: First, I couldn't possibly do justice to so many events and unique personalties. How to chose from among them when writing such a report Second, my memory for detail (re-constructing hands, chip counts, etc.) is admittedly imperfect. In fact, when laced with single-malt scotch which flowed gratuitously from a certain hotel room -- my capacity for testimony is downright appalling. Of course, to regular readers of my column -- this should come as no suprise. Third -- and perhaps most important -- I lament my inability to include EVERYONE in the report -- including some old friends, and others whom I met for the first time. To those who do not find themselves in the report, please don't view my omission with personal disappointment or disdain. Keeping in mind that last year's BARGE trip report contained 6 separate chapters, each in excess of 2,000 words, I'll try to keep some things here to a minimum (the key word in that last sentence is SOME. Major embarassments and personal indecretions will be exaggerated for their full entertainment value). As I was saying -- my erstwhile intent was to remain hidden behind a panelled glass of cyberkenetic solitude, escaping into an inner-sanctum of inconspicuous spitrtuality and metaphysical simulacrum. AND THEN IT HAPPENED, I began reading OTHER trip reports. My blood pressure increased. I started sweating. Beads of perspiration globulated beneath my brow. My hands began to tremble. Tears swelled in my eyes. Sitting beside me, Marietta (Mrs. Dalla) sensed something was wrong, especially since it wasn't even football season. "That's it! I've had enough!" I cried. "Shut off the 486! Do it now!" I unplugged the monitor. I turned out the lights. "No more poker! No more RGP!" I shut it off for three whole days. I tried to ccupy my time in other ways. I looked around the house for good books to read. But the bookshelves were only stocked with the seductive works of Sklansky, Malmuth, Caro, and Zee -- a quartet of omnipotent voices who cried out to me in the night. Resigned to my cerebral imprisonment I searched the pantry for a video. Some choice. Alas, it was a decision between World Series of Poker highlight films from 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, or 1995. "No more poker!" I screamed. I drank a few shots of brandy, hoping the ruffle of flopping imaginary sets and hitting flush draws on the river would subside. But the temptation became too strong. Finally, I just couldn't take it any more! I had to do it. It was like drugs, alcohol, and (dare I say) gambling -- an irresistible vice over which I am powerless and occasionally reduced to a dribbling and babbling foray of emotions! My friends, I confess, I am a trip report addict! Call the Oprah show! Book me on Geraldo! Please....no Jenny Jones (I heard the actuarial tables for participants on that show are not particularly encouraging). The admitance of self-addiction is the first step toward recovery. So, on this cool and cloudy Monday afternoon at 3:00 pm -- while the cherry blossoms are in full bloom around our nation's capital where I reside -- sans notes, I begin to write -- placing my quill to paper, or more precisely the bones of my naked flesh upon the keyboard. Here's my (and I hope "your") daily FIX on "The Long and Winding Road" of poker dependency: THURSDAY ---------- $15-30 Hold'Em / $10-20 Hold'Em (Taj Mahal) Call it "the Russell Rosenbloom Show" --- Since the $15-30 is a dead game, I transfer to the adjacent table. I see RGPer Russell Rosenbloom. Russell simply dominates the table. When faced with any decision, there are only two options for Russell: RAISE or FOLD. Fed-up with the ceaseless raising and re-raising, one of the locals quips, "It's also your option to just CALL a bet if you want to, Sir." Most interesting hand occurs when every round is capped and at the end Russell shows down a nut flush, the local to his left shows a full house, and the third player shows broadway (Russell lost the hand on the river when the board paired). How the clown with Broadway stayed is anyone's guess. Were it not for that painful loss (maybe a $400-500 pot), Russell would have filled yet another chip rack. RGP people will love this one! --- An interesting conversation takes place at the table when a local pro (whom I know from the regular pot limit game) starts talking. He's beaming with confidence and remarks, "Hey, all these computer guys are coming into town this weekend." He goes on to say that he expects to kick everybody's ass and make tons of money from "them" (Note: He did not know that yours truly was included amidst the "computer guys"). "Oh yeah?" I ask. "How do you know they're so soft?" The pro goes on with some ellaborate explanation of how he plans to run over the "nerd types (his own words)" with his aggression. I can barely contain myself from an odd junction of laughter and taking personal offense at his unfair characterization. But, I'm content to remain silent with the knowledge that UNDERESTIMATING YOUR OPPONENTS is the fatal flaw of many otherwise good poker players. We'll just see who ass get's kicked. ---------------- Gentlemen's Smoker (Taj Mahal) Hail Tiger! --- Again, I can only add to the many posted accolades and congratulatory remarks directed toward Tiger for his Herculean efforts on our behalf. Several people already know this, but I should point-out once again that Tiger went to a great deal of trouble in SAVING the smoker from last minute extinction -- even though, at the time, he was not sure if he himself would be able to make the engagement. This selfless act of heroism deserves high praise and everyone's gratitude (remove lips from Tiger's ass now). Also, the visit from Tom Gitto, Ron Garvey, and Tony Marino was a real treat. Everyone in the ATLARGE contingent greatly appreciated the Taj gifts -- which included two t-shirts, a hat, two decks of cards, and a poker book for each one of us (Bad joke here: For any of you who don't like your **black** t-shirt, just place it in the wash -- and you'll get back a **grey** one). One funny sidebar to the fancy dinner (which has nothing to do with poker) occurs when I hear one of our group complaining about his cut of beef to the waiter. Suddenly, I had this flashback of the time I once worked in a restaurant several years ago and used to hear complaints (you can imagine how many times they complained about my service). "Waiter! My steak is overcooked! The potato is raw! Blah, Blah, Blah." When faced with such trivial discourteousies, I used to parrot a line that would usually leave 'em rolling.....either that, or get me a complete 'stiff' on the check. "Allright Sir, I can certainly understand your displeasure. Would it make you any happier if we shoot the cook, fire the manager, and burn the restaurant down to the ground?" Fortunately, our service was void of ritualized Southern sarcasm, and everyone enjoyed an outstanding dinner (except for the guy who complained about his cut, I suppose). Special note to Dave Trinidad --- who deserves some extra notoriety here for coming all the way to Atlantic City from Phoenix to attend ATLARGE. Dave and Patti Beadles (from San Francisco) get the ATLARGE "greatest distance traveled awards." (To be continued)..........maybe

I'm told that Tiger is going to post a trip summary from ATLARGE II, and I look forward to it, but I felt that I had to express my thanks to Jazbo for putting on a super weekend myself [THANKS JAZBO!]... and to report a few hands from the two poker tournaments that I really liked that I'm pretty sure won't be in Tiger's report: In the T500 no-limit holdem on Saturday, when the blinds were about T25 and T50, the guy under the gun had about T1500 and made it T300; I had about T2200 in late position and found pocket kings - I raised back T600, and he considered and pushed all-in... I felt pretty confident calling (and turning up my Kings) until he turned up his Aces... no help; back to being a below average stack! They consolidated to 3 tables shortly after that, and I decided it was time to double up or get up - the blinds went by and then I stole them back with trash, I survived an all-in to double up with a hand I don't remember (pocket Ts? against AQ?) and then the blinds were raised T400 or so by the second under the gun; I looked at AQo and pushed T1075 all-in... folded back to the raiser who considered for a few seconds (FOLD FOLD FOLD - it seemed like forever), counted that he'd have about T400 or so left if he called and missed, and folded; as we were waiting for pictures to be taken he said he had AKo; that it was the hardest lay-down he made the whole day. I was in 3rd place (T5300?) when they consolidated to the final table (all 10 places paid), but had the blinds by go twice without anything resembling matching cards and ditched after a steal attempt got re-raised to come back down to T4100... three had busted out, and ERB (Ed Baker?) was down to a single chip and waiting for the blinds to come by when I got pocket 8s in late position (about three more hands before ERB would be blinded in) when BUD (name?, position T5000?) raised the T200-T400 (I think) blinds to T1600 in fairly early position... if I folded I'd be sure of being 6th or better (with ERB out), but if I pushed in and survived I could probably coast to 2nd without calling another hand. The prizes were $160 for 7th and $190 for 6th; I decided to take my shot; all folded to BUD who called and turned up AT (suited?); I turned up my 88, someone called out "11-10 favorite" (what are the REAL odds here - don't I kill some of the straights for the T with my eights out of the deck and make boats on others?) - the board helped neither thru the turn, but the river was an Ace and I was standing... It probably wasn't my best move, and I'm wondering what the West Coast half with more frequent tournament experience have to say about my reasoning? Sunday morning, Ed Baker saw me before the tourney and mentioned that he was impressed with the level of aggression that I had shown in the holdem event (we had also played in a 5-10 holdem ring game on Friday evening, and I was raising about twice as often as any one else at the table - he was sitting at the other end of the table, frequently muttering about "what could prm have down there to be doing all of that raising???"). Thanks, Ed, your comment really helped my confidence going into the Stud event! I was entered into the Stud tourney (T300) strictly for grins - I've probably played 100 or so hands of 7-stud (mostly with Tiger, drinking scotch at the 1-3 table at the Trop in December)... I've read McEnvoy's and Bjutner's (?) books on tournaments, and have played in 20-30 tournaments (which is probably about 15 or so more than most of the rest of the ATLARGE contingent), but never anything other than Holdem, so I decided to finally follow their advice and mostly ignore my cards and play my stack and my position... I attempted to steal the blinds whenever two or three of the upcards were duplicated on my left (regardless of my cards) and whenever I had paint showing. I called about 2/3 of the re-steals hoping to get a scare card, and got checked into a scare card just often enough to about triple up before they started consolidating tables... When I had built to about T1300 I had split Queens with a suited Ace when (Arti?, T900) on my right raised the bring in with a Q up... I re-raised and called his re-re-raise... I got a T and he got a brick (5?), I checked, he bet, and I raised... he hesitated and called, and we were committed. He caught the case queen on 5th street but I bet to put him all-in anyway... I didn't improve, declared Queens with an Ace after the river, he turned up a four-flush pair of Queens with a King that didn't improve when he rolled his river card! Several people asked how I could be playing that hand that strongly, and I explained that I knew where the queens were and was nervous enough about my stud ability to know that if I didn't get a big stack QUICKLY I'd just as likely be out-played easily, so my strategy had been to double up or get out... after that I went on an absolute binge of stealing the blinds and attempting to put shorter stacks all-in... I was actually HOPING to get the bring-in card and brought it in for a raise whenever I had *any* paint underneath or any of the other upcards were duplicated. I don't think that I flat-called the bring-in or checked any street more than 5 times on the hands I was in from there to the final table... When we got to the final table, there was only one player there in the running for the over-all jacket - he had finished ahead of me on Saturday... Jazbo came by and worked out that I had to finish THREE places ahead of him to win the jacket... fortunately I was the largest stack and he was the third smallest. He finished in the money (6th), so I had to make it to third - but when he stood up I still had the largest stack... I wouldn't feel like an honorable Rec.gambler without claiming some sort of an angle - so here's mine: when we got down to three handed, someone offered to deal: the stacks were about JimS (?) on my left with T4800, Nolan (I should get out a card player and check the spelling) on my right with T5700, and I had T6700. The prizes left were $280, $700, and $1400. As the leader I didn't want to flat split it, so I offered to take $150 over and let the third place take $150 under a split - there was some hesitation, so I offered $650, 1/3, and the rest for me, and Jim agreed if Nolan would... He did, and my extra came to $136. I was trying for something "close" to the actual chip position; at this point I don't know if I got the math right or not, but Jazbo pointed out that the small stack's chips are each more valuable than the biggest stack's, so a pro-rated split isn't really fair... The "angle" comes in when you consider that I had about tripled my seven-stud experience in the tournament - that most of the day I had been playing "get someone's chips all-in, turn up your cards, and see if the dealer pushes you the pot at the river". If they had been paying attention to how unreal my play had been to that point, they probably would have wanted to play a few more hands before agreeing to any offer that gave me almost 40% of the money left. I think that I had someone all-in almost 20 times during the day, and only 5 of them survived... [Nolan had been one of them when we were at about 3 tables - my Ace high hand rivered a pair of sixes - his unpaired open-ended king-high four-striaght completed with a nine on the river to survive - he was probably favored at the river, but I was ahead when I put his three-paint King high all-in on third street with my Ace high...) My favorite hand (which turns out to be inconsequential, but still gets my vote) was when we were down to three and had negotiated the split - I got 2 9 down, and an 8 up; the other two both showed aces. The ante was T100, the bring in was T150, and the first raise was to T500. Without a flinch I shoved T500 in (I was risking T350 - the completion of the bring-in - to win T450 if they both folded; I knew that Jim would be sweating a raise from Nolan if his ace was unpaired - and that Nolan would be looking at a dead Ace and someone who had raised into TWO Aces). Sure enough Jim sweated 20 seconds and folded... and then Nolan sweated another 20 seconds and folded too! Peter ("foldem"'s brother) had been watching over my shoulder for about 20 hands, and that was the only time I heard him flinch after the hand had been settled... I finished third... I caught absolutely no paint, no pairs for a stretch of 10 or 15 hands, and my stack dwindled to slightly smaller than 1/3 while they chopped all of my forced bring-ins to both be slightly higher than me... my last hand was a split pair of 8s against Nolan's Ace up - again I had the bring-in and made it a full-bet to go; Jim folded a queen or jack, Nolan raised with his Ace and I re-raised... it only took another pair of raises and I was all-in; Nolan turned up a no-pair Ace with side paint... on fifth street I was two-paired (8s and 6s) and he had paired his Ace; I got no more help - his 6th street was a brick, but he caught a third Ace to send me home with the third place plaque. If the money and over-all jacket hadn't both been settled, I surely would have folded right out on that hand. Nolan wound up winning; I'm sure we'll read about it, but just the same, Congrats! I had a hooting-super-good weekend; when they were writing out my ticket to take to the booth after both of my bustouts they asked me for my birthday (it was Saturday) and were delighted that I had done so well for the weekend. Again, thanks to all; I'm looking forward to the next one. -prm

prelude - "dealer's choice" on wednesday night, peter and stephanie secor, their friend jim lane, michael mantel, scott byron, mitch firestone, and myself attended an off-broadway play by patrick marber entitled "dealer's choice." the action takes place in a small restaurant in london, where every sunday night after closing, the owner hosts a poker game in the basement. the play is about what happens one night when a professional poker player joins the game. some good lines from the dialogue: 1 "i can't play poker tonight. my doctor told me i have a heart condition!" 2 "you expect *justice* at the poker table?" 3 "ah....a game for men of vision: omaha!" 4 "you're on tilt, mugsey!" "no, i'm not! i raise!!" one waiter in the restaurant wants to move to las vegas to become a professional poker player. he has visions of being comped to a "five star suite in caesar's palace!" too bad this guy doesn't realize that poker players don't get comped to rooms (much less a suite), and that the poker room at caesar's closed in the early 90s!! ;) one player wears an obnoxious orange-printed shirt, with a bilious green tie. when he donned this "lucky" attire, peter leaned forward, and muttered loud enough for our group to hear, "if that guy puts on a white "qb1" hat, i'm leaving!" in any event, the author is certainly a poker player!! and i'd bet that the director is, too! together, they work marvelously, and the play and the performances were superb!! if you ever get a chance to see this, don't miss it! ------------------- thursday mitch and i meet in the port authority bus terminal for the 3:00 pm bus to resorts. peter secor is a no-show. we're about 45 minutes out of atlantic city when i hear an advertisement on my walkman radio for a bar in tom's river, new jersey ("the sportsman"), which actually features the "qb1" online interactive game!! as many of you know, i usually wear a white baseball cap with a red "qb1" on it. i won the hat playing trivia online from a group in california (ntn - national trivia network) that pipes live interactive trivia games into bars and hotels throughout the country. when there is a live football game (such as monday night football), ntn runs the qb1 interactive game instead of the trivia games! this is the first time i have ever heard a bar advertise the game! :) we arrive at resorts at about 5:30 pm, and check into our room. the thursday night smoker isn't until 8:00 pm, so what are we going to do until then? duh.....play some poker, perhaps? mitch and i are seated at two different 5/10 stud games at the taj mahal, and we both book a win at our first poker session of the weekend! yay! :) all right!! the safari steakhouse is located on the convention floor of the taj mahal (one floor above the casino). when we arrive at the bar in the lounge adjacent to the restaurant, jazbo burns is distributing our individually-customized weekend packages - name tags, schedules, entrance tickets, etc. we're all seated in a corner of the restaurant at three tables. 22 people actually show up for the dinner (out of 24 who swore they would attend). it doesn't take very long for the boys to fire up their claros, panatellas and magnificos! and it doesn't take very long for some other patrons of the restaurant to complain, either! the restaurant manager quietly asks us to tone things down a bit, and the boys nod their acceptance. but nothing is going to stop messrs. fruchter, kramer, et al., from enjoying their stogies at a smoker dinner.... };) so the request is otherwise ignored! peter secor favors some very special people with hats emblazoned with their nicknames below the acronym "a.d.b".....i kept on trying to figure out what "a.d.b." meant, but i was just too drunk..... virtually everyone (with one or two exceptions) really enjoys dinner! and just as we're finishing dinner, some surprise guests show up! tom gitto (taj mahal poker room manager), tony marino (poker casino host), and ron garvey (shift supervisor), enter the restaurant carring bags of promotional gifts for all of us!! the bags contain taj mahal hats, taj mahal t-shirts, a copy of mike caro's "fundamental secrets of poker", two souveneir decks of cards, and some promotional literature! wtg tommy, tony and ron! nolan dalla calculates the over/under for the dinner tab at $1225, but doesn't get anyone to play. the actual tab was #1300. hehehehehe...and although "atlarge" was actually held at resorts, i spotted an awful lot of atlarge name tags in the taj mahal poker room..... after dinner, mitch and i play some more poker, but we retire to our room to crack open the new bottle of macallan's single malt scotch which i've carefully tucked into my bag.... ------------- friday "through the looking glass", or "mitch and tiger's adventures in slotland" trump castle and harrah's (both located in the marina district) have been running a guaranteed no-lose slot promotion for the last several months. at harrah's, you are guaranteed reimbursement up to $100 if you play slots for 60 minutes. at the castle, you are guaranteed reimbursement up to $100 if you play slots for 30 minutes. friday morning, we take the jitney bus to the marina, and get out at the castle. first thing to do is get breakfast! :) during breakfast, we solemnly pledge to be lifelong equal partners in this slot promotion (which should last a few hours, anyway). after getting our trump castle cards, we each buy $80 of $1 slot tokens, and $20 of quarters (which we'll use to complete the 30 minutes if we run out of tokens). now, the hard part. what machines shall we play? we've been advised that, for the purpose of this promotion, we should avoid the progressive slots, and those machines that offer large back-end payoffs, in favor of those machines that offer more and larger payoffs for small wins on the front-end. i feel like one of those decrepit old ladies, as we wander up and down the rows of slot machines. which machine has the prettiest front? which machine has the nicest-sounding "dings"? we finally sit down at two adjacent "double diamond" machines, which each take a maximum of two tokens. i'd reproduce the payoff schedule for you, but how compulsive a note-taker do you think i am, anyhow? we dump our $80 in tokens into plastic buckets. we'll play from the buckets, and leave any winnings in the hoppers. mitch carefully writes down the time in five-minute increments - if we can't do anything at these machines within ten minutes, it's "goodbye, double diamond!" we're almost ready! we synchronize our watches (okokok...mitch synchronizes his watch - i don't wear one!) and at exactly 12:55 pm, we each drop two one-dollar tokens into the slot. the wheels spin, but nothing happens. we're determined to learn the best way to drop tokens into the slot. i try give each token a half-flip, and mitch is experimenting dropping the tokens from different heights, which range from .01 inch to all the way up to 3/4 inch. i've played about eight or ten pulls, when something happens! i've won $20! yay!! of course, i do my best to duplicate the exact half-flip i just used, and sure enough! two pulls later, i win another $10!! yay!! unfortunately, mitch is still on the schneid. and three minutes later (i've perfected the half-flip by now), i hit a winner! bells start to ring, and tokens start to drop into the hopper!! i've just won a $320 payoff!! as the tokens continue to drop, mitch tells me that i better get another bucket! we don't want the damned machine to jam as it is paying!! i walk away for a moment, and spot another bucket in a nearby row. and as i'm walking back, bells start to ring and i hear the lovely clink of tokens dropping into mitch's hopper!! yay!!! he's hit the very same $320 payoff!!! and if his wheel had taken an additional 1/32 of a turn, his payoff would have been $1600!! mitch needs another bucket, too!! but before we can get one, his machine jams!! lol!!!! eventually, i find a slot attendant, who opens his machine, clears the chute, and the rest of mitch's money comes pouring down into the hopper!! rofl!! we've played for exactly 8 minutes! and we cash out for a net total win of $611!! mr jitney is waiting for us at the front door, and we decide to bag the side trip to harrah's!! we check out the scene at the blackjack and craps tournament in a private room on the dining floor of resorts. there's lots of folks there, and we greet some old friends, and meet some new ones! :) but it's time for some poker. not much doing in the resorts room, so it's across the street to the taj mahal for a couple hours, and then we play some more poker at resorts! and then it's time for the reception! this isn't anything special, but i manage to drink a couple beers, so it couldn't have been all that bad.... we're asked to fill out some psychological survey for a grad student. i didn't see the point of the survey, which was all about current risk, future risk and lotteries. back to the poker room. i watch jim karlinski play a hand of 1-5 7-stud. he's made a diamond flush on 6th street and raises an obvious straight. but jim is re-raised by another guy who's also showing three diamonds (including the ace). jim calls. jim checks blind, the ace of diamonds bets, and jim calls blind. the ace shows a diamond flush to the ace. jim faces his hole cards, and says, "yeah, i got a diamond flush, too...." but jim doesn't notice that his rivercard has made a gutshot straightflush! i lean over the table and say "seven, eight, nine, ten, jack of diamonds! that's a straight- flush!" just as the dealer turns over jim's hand and mucks it. but the guy with the ace flush saw the hand, and conceded the pot to jim. well, jim was prolly thinking about his overdue term paper..... ;) mitch and i meet up with a friend of ours from home, who was in town for a trivia convention at another hotel. we head off to the tropicana, where i meet with poker room manager doug dillon. i tell him with regret that, although i really do love the management, staff and players at the tropicana, and although i really do think that the tropicana poker room is the nicest in town, my records show that i make an awful lot more money playing at the taj mahal.... :::sigh::: after dinner, mitch and i play at the taj mahal for a couple hours, and manage to consume *many* scotches before we decide to cash in for the night! well....mebbe we might have had one or two more nips from the single malt bottle before we turned off the lights.... ---------------- saturday saturday 10:00 was the scheduled time for the start of the no-limit hold 'em tournament. since (as we all know) "i don't play hold 'em!", i've agreed to track the bust-outs for the purpose of calculating the overall champion. i'll post a separate report about the tourney, and the important hands at the final table, later in the week. after the tournament, i walk across the street to play some 5/10 stud at the taj mahal. i'm seated almost immediately, and proceed to get hit with the deck unlike any other time in my life. within 45 minutes, i make kings full, aces full, 3 jacks, kings up, aces up, 3 sevens (which was my only losing hand), rolled 9s and kings up. i cash out for a $376 win. lol...later that night, a friend tells me that the woman who took my seat won more than $600 in less than three hours.... the saturday banquet was held in a private room upstairs at resorts. the food was okay, but this event (alone of all the atlarge events) wasn't worth it. nevertheless, spending time with the rest of the atlarge crowd was fun!! jazbo was given a free ticket to "target" later this year, in recognition of all the many hours of hard work he did in organizing the event. and this writer was honored with a bottle of dewar's scotch for organizing the smoker. (thanks so much, gang!!) bill alan was awarded an honorary "a.d.b" hat, by virtue of the fact that, when last spotted at 4 am on friday night at the craps table, bill announced that it was time to *really* start drinking! :) mitch and i play some poker at the taj mahal. after a while, i wander through the room, and tell every single rgp'er i see that i'm going to be pouring scotch in my room starting immediately, and that everyone is invited! and i wander over to resorts and make the same announcement!! but peter secor, richard sooy, and a bunch of the boys have got a "rocks and beers" game going at resorts, and there's no way i'm gonna pull any of those characters off the table! :) but nolan dalla, russell rosenblum and mark horowitz show up to join mitch and i for some scotch, some stories, some discussions of poker ethics, and some good conversation! mark wants to tell a "bad beat" story, and i tell him, "the scotch is free...but i charge one dollar to listen to a bad beat story!" lol...he actually stands up, and reaches into his pocket for a buck!! ok! here it is! he's playing hold 'em and plays a 10-9. the flop comes 7 8 j rainbow, giving him the nut straight! the jack pairs on the turn, and a third jack hits on the river. some fool wins the pot with a pair of kings in the pocket for jacks full of kings! ::::sigh:::: later, russell says that the ultimate act of poker deception is to tell your opponents exactly what cards you have! i laugh out loud, and promise to send russell a copy of my "i think i have three aces!" post from last december! mitch and i kick our guests out at 3 am, because tomorrow is the 7-stud tournament...and i intend to win it! :) ---------- sunday the tournament is to start at 10 am and mitch and i leave the room at 9. i need a breakfast before i start playing poker. we get to the resorts poker room at about 9:50, and i wander around, wishing everyone good luck! i'm seated at a pretty tough table! tom mchugh, jerry gerner, jazbo burns, palmer chappell, andy bloch and ray didonato are all staring at me when i walk over to the table. thank goodness the guy sitting in seat #6 isn't there - otherwise i'd have seven players gunning for me. in fact, #6 doesn't show up at all, and we happily take his ante and bring-in each time! :) as a member of "a.d.b.", i'm automatically entered in pool between a.d.b. and wednesday night poker. each group has six (i think) horses in the tournament, and whichever group has the last man standing wins. as an additional side bet, dave fruchter and i agree that first man out will buy the scotch next time we meet! :) i don't remember too many hands from the tournament. i win one or two hands and lose one or two hands. by the time we get to 15/30, i'm not in very good shape chipwise. and by the time we get to 25/50, i'm short-stacked. :( but then a key hand develops. ray (on my immediate right) is the bring-in. jerry raises. jazbo re-raises. i see pocket rockets, and make it three bets. jerry and jazbo call. i bet the hand on 4th street, and i'm all-in on fifth. i make a second pair on sixth street, and take down the money with two pair, to restore my stack to respectable size. my table is broken down, and i manage to hold on for another round or two. i make a bad play, and let david meeks take a pot from me - but two or three hands later, i outplay him and steal a pot with about five big bets in it. ray didonato makes a play at me, and i don't bet my small pair on fifth street. he makes a pair of kings on sixth to win the hand. ::::sigh:::: nevertheless, i'm in ok shape (about t900) at the break. and a.d.b. has nolan dalla, bruce kramer, bill alan and myself alive, but wednesday night poker ohly has palmer chappell! some time after the break, at 150/300, i only have about t500 left. i'm the bring-in with the four of hearts up. fold, fold, fold, but palmer chappell raises with a nine. i see an ace of hearts and a jack of hearts in my hole, and re-raise. palmer makes it three bets, and i re-raise all-in. yeah. he's got a pair of nines. i'm told that i'm a small dog in this situation. palmer makes nines and tens on fourth street, but i get a deuce. i get a five on fifth street, and an ace on sixth! a trey gives me a wheel, and any other pair is aces up! my rivercard is another four!! all right!!! but palmer gets another nine to make nines full and i'm outta there! bruce kramer and bill alan go down soon thereafter, and it's nolan against palmer on the side bet! when palmer busts out, adb rooooooooools! and the ten bucks i win in this side bet just might pay for the scotch i have to buy david fruchter! ;) after the tournament, i play some 5/10/15 stud at resorts with john walsh, and finish the weekend with another winning session! i had a great time!! mitch had a great time!! i think everybody had a great time!! once again, many thanks to jazbo for making it happen!! let's do it again next year!! :) and i'm looking forward to meeting the nevadans and west coasters at this year's barge!! tiger