First of all, let me thank everyone that came to ATLARGE -- what a great group of people! A special thanks goes to Kman (for running the mailing list, keeping up web pages, taking pictures of the winners, etc.), to Tiger for keeping notes on the Hold'em event, and for Foldem/Sneezix who kept track of the Stud tourney. I also want to express my appreciation to everyone that participated in the pot limit game. The game was so good (and so rare for me) that I played straight through the night (4PM to 9AM), broke for the stud tournament, and then jumped back in around noon, finally being pried up with an offer of a (partially) comped meal courtesy of Peter Secor and the dice shooting crew (thanks foldem!). Anyway, back to the game. In the first session, I danced around carefully with my $200 buy-in, never getting fully involved while I got the feel of the game (and waited for the nuts :-). I do remember getting QQ twice real early, losing with both (but not a lot since I was able to dump them when overcards hit). I did win a $50 pot with AA when I was bet into on the flop and reraised. I was basically oscillating between $100 and $300 for several hours, never doubling up or busting out. Eventually, I got Aida (Alan Richter) to swap seats with me so I could play with the second group of the pot limit afficiandos. (We had two full tables going for more than eight hours.) At table two, I got several lessons in pot limit from JR (James Rankin) and watched in awe as Darkside Dalla sliced and diced the table. I *know* he was bluffing often, but I just didn't have the stones to get involved with him without a quality hand. I guessed he picked up on this -- *every* time I reraised him he dumped it, and he was right. Example 1: Nolan raises the pot with AJ, I reraise the pot with AK, Nolan folds. Example 2: Nolan raises the pot with 88, I reraise with JJ, Nolan folds. Some day Nolan we're gonna pick up AA & KK in the same hand ... At some point when Darkside was off earning his new nick, I picked up A3s and got to see a flop of (approximately) T45. The betting was light, and I managed to see the turn of 6 and the river of 7. I took down a nice pot with the ignorant end of the flush from Warren Sander who had this misfortune to hold 67 for the nut straight draw all the way, making two pair. This was the first time I had been up more than $200, and I said "That's a going to bed pot." However, it's rude to leave just after winning a big one, ain't it? Anyway, I had AsK? on the next hand and got to see a flop of Jxx, all spades for $5. (Actually, I don't remember my second card, except that it wasn't important). I called a pot sized bet from JR with my nut straight draw. The turn was another J. JR checked & I checked. The river completed my flush and JR checked. Here is where I had a real mental lapse. Unaccountably, I bet $100, and then called JR's $100 raise. I wouldn't be surprised to see a full house, but his Quad Jacks did wake me up. Thanks for the lesson, JR, I won't be making *that* mistake again. Sometime after midnight, the list of ATLARGE'rs on the pot limit list was exhausted and some of the local semi- or would-be-pros got in. Two of these are a husband and wife couple, Jesse and Karen that I know well from the Taj. They had never played pot limit before, but it didn't take Karen (a better player than her husband) long to figure it out. Here's one interesting hand involving Aida, Jesse, and a local I didn't know that I'll call WS (for white sweatshirt). There was $85 in the pot preflop (four way I think). The flop came JT9 with two diamonds. WS bet out $80 and Jesse raised $245. Aida showed me his hand QQ with the diamond queen. Aida had only about $75 left and dumped the hand(!?). WS called. I don't remember the remainder of the betting, but WS bet big and was all-in by the river. I was sure we would see both players show down KQ, but WS had KK and Jesse had AA (that he had not raised with preflop)!!! After this, Jesse essentially (and almost literally) went to sleep and hardly played a hand, holding on to his big win. I do remember that he got chopped in half before the game broke, but I don't recall the circumstances. I think (hope) that JR or Bozo got to him. After the stud tournament, I bought back in the game for $200. I quickly picked up JsTs and caught an amazing flop: 9s8sx. I stood a pot-sized bet ($25?) by Darkside Dalla. The turn was another 9, and I dumped it for the expected $100 bet. This was probably a mistake, but I didn't like the possibility of drawing almost dead. I picked up exactly the same hand right away, and again had to dump it. In just a few hands, the Master of Disaster (aka Darkside Dalla), had cut me down to $60, probably with pure bluffs. At this point, I just started paying my $3 per round in blinds waiting for a good hand. When if finally came, I was down to $40 (no doubt a mistake to get so short, but I had decided I wouldn't lose more than my $200 buy-in in the game and guarantee a profit for the weekend). Anyway, I picked JTs again (clubs this time), managed to make the nuts and quadruple up. Within the next ten hands I had AA *three* times, managed to double up once, win a nice pot once, and get away from a loser cheap once. In one round I went from $40 to $350 -- ya gotta love that game! There is one other local player I have to talk about. Sergei, the "Mad Russian", joined our table and proceeded to be continously annoying with his complaints about not getting cards, criticizing everyone else's play, and generally making an ass of himself. He was especially obnoxious to me for some reason, perhaps because I didn't mind his act a bit and gave him back what he was serving (but with a smile :-). He especially like needling me about my mistake against JR's four jacks. When he found out that I (appeared to) hold the key to getting in the stud tourney he suddenly started making nice. I let him in, after telling him it was a "no complaining" tournament (I hear he didn't respect this warning -- I'm glad he was busted out early). Anyway, after the game reformed when the tourney was over, I finally got in a hand with Sergei. (He played *very* few hands and got out of my way when I raised.) On the hand in question, I held KTs. The unraised flop came down J9x with two of my suit. I can't recall the betting exactly -- I think there was $25 in the pot, I bet, he called and we were heads up. The turn was an 8. I bet a testing $50, and Sergei raised $80 (well below the pot). Given his history, the only hands I could put him on were JJ or QT. I knew I was behind, but with 12 cards to make the near-nuts, I decided it was worth taking a card off (he could have bought the pot for a full bet). The river was a lovely deuce of my suit. It was really sweet when Sergei called my $100 river bet. After bragging that he would drive me to the felt, it was good to cut him in half and send him scampering off to $10+20 stud. Later I learned from Beavisbot that Sergei flashed QT when he folded, so he made a real mistake when he let me draw cheap. Well, I up over 100 lines, which means this will probably never get off my server, so I'll sign off here. Besides, I still need to catch up on sleep! --jazbo

I'll apologize in advance for the length of this report (220+ lines). I had such a great time, that I wanted to re-live the weekend. ******************************** Jazbo great job in organizing a road trip for some 60 people dispersed over the eastern seaboard. I am sure that you have a future in organizing spring break trips if your day job and/or poker playing goes south!! There is a big market in this at Universities. ******************************** Thursday PM: Its snowing in West Point and I am getting ticked off. One of the things I don't like about New York is that you cannot plan more than 3 days in advance in the winter. I start watching the weather channel and rooting against the radar. After 3 cycles (about 1.5 hours) it is clear that the storm will be over by noon and I'll have no trouble driving down the coast to AC. Might not make the 4:00 Friday tournament, but at least I'll be there +1 weather unit Friday AM: Spent my usual 5 minutes packing and I forgot my lucky hat (that is why jerry Gerner beat me out of a pot on Saturday AM). Good start. Arrive at work and find out I have to make corrections to a presentation that is for Tuesday 4/2 in DC. I may not get out of here until 3 and I am on tilt. The weather is still bad and I am getting more tilted. Did a guest lecture for a friend and had a great hour. Now I'm just a little on tilt. Finish the presentation and edit the report. Leave at 12:30, only 2 hours behind schedule. At least the snow has stopped. I had a less exciting drive than Nolan. After I was 35 cents'ed to death on th e Parkway, I pulled into Resorts at 3:45 (being careful to note that the garage door was higher than my truck (thanks Arti)). Forget checkin, I want to be in that tournament!! Ran to the sign-in podium and got right in (what luck) with the help of the desk person (she was super helpful as were all of the staff at resorts, I would definately go back to this hotel!). Friday Tournament: Got lucky to survive the 4th limit when I hit a gut shot on the river when all of my chips were in the center. Called down a bluff with middle pair to keep my head above water. Then the deck hit me for about 5 hands and I ran T400 to T1200 to sit pretty. Finally we are down to 2 tables and I was with all of the big stacks. I mentally said to slow down and wait for the other table to bust out. That lasted all of 3 hands after the break. Picked up AK in the small blind, late raiser, so I made it 3 bets, middle limper called also so I have 3 way. The flop is ATx rainbow and I am counting how I will spend the tournament winnings since I have tripled up to around T2400. OOPs, bit early there. Pre-flop raiser was on AT suited. I couldn't lay my hand down so I was all in and drawing to 3 outs at the turn. This is not a profitable situation. Great playing Sippy in the endgame!!! You really played well against the short stacks to keep in the game. At the start of the final table you were a big dog, but you played super. Played 10-20 at Taj and won $140 to get back my tournament money. Met the world famous (Poker World famous that is) Don Smolen. Made a mental note to buy his CP book from Conjelco now that I know he has a LOT of ability. Day totals: -2work pressure units -935 cent tolls (these guys need a more effective way to collect those quarters. One at a time doesn't work well with me ) -115tournament +14010-20 live action +15 new friendships (big winner for the day) Saturday: Got a bagel for breakfast (Jewish brain food) and decided on how I would play early in the no-limit tournament. Since my no-limit experience is about 20 minutes at the end of a small limit tournament at the Excalibur, I thought it would be best to go in with a plan. My goal was to win at least one pot other than a blind steal. Bad start, Scott Byron and Jazbo to my left. Last time I tried to get cute in a pot with Scott, I lost half of my stack in the 4 Queens limit holdem tournament (with only 80 players out of 290 left!! Scott put my chips to good use by going on to get in the money). I was glad when someone won the bustout hat at hand 3 so I wouldn't feel as stupid if I made a terrible mistake. First hand played JJ - raise blinds to 30, called by the button. Flop is beautiful, 9 high rainbow. I bet 40 and got called (I learned over the course of the day that the button player called a lot). The turn was a Q, not too good, so I lost my nerve and checked. This is why I am not a good no-limit player. Button checked (thank god or I wouldn't have a clue on what to do next). T on river, I checked and button bet 100. At this point if I were no-limit holdem world beater Doyle Brunson, I would have "put this boy in for all of his chips (said with a Texas drawl and remembering the Post-Oak bluff line in Super-System (What the hell is a Post-Oak))" Instead since I am variance minimizer jeff goldberg, I crying called the 100 and beat ATx with my JJ. I became the table chip leader and won a pot in a no-limit game. Mission accomplished. Over the course of the morning, I had AA twice, KK once, and QQ once. All won the blinds, including one of the AA where I put in a 100 chip without saying raise. So my intended raise became a call. Excellent deception on my part. I am sure they were confused. On many of the other hands, I leaked away my stack 20 and 40 at a time by making small raises and then releasing my hand under pressure. It seems that an extreme point strategy would have had better performance. It also seems that I should know that from multiple degrees in operations research. Basically I was a non-player except for 2 or 3 hands. Scott Byron played a great game. He took one of the worst beats I have ever seen in a tournament and didn't even wince. Scott 99 Jerry G 66. Scott puts jerry all in (now this is after the MATS tournament beating from the night before). Flop 96x. Jerry is all in for 1 out (but 2 draws at it!!). He needed the 2nd one when the 6 hit the river. Great omen for Jerry, but bad break for 1/2 of Scotts stack. I would have been in tears at this point and would have quickly lost the rest of my chips. Scott remained patient and re-built and eventually busted out after I did. Actually, our table busted out very few players and it took something like 3 or 4 limit increases before we had our first empty seat. I busted out when the guy I should have killed with JJ on the early hand caught a gut shot 10 on the river for a straight. He had made a lot of draws all day and this was just one more in a long line. 19th was OK and a lot better than I expected. For those keeping score, thats 2 tournaments and 2 times I busted out when a 10 hit my opponent. Saturday PM - Sunday AM: Played about 10 hours of 15-30 and 3 hours of 10-20. Started in a tough 15-30 game. Player to my left was a solid professional and I thought that I would take advantage of that. After about 2 hours of my standard tight play, I raised the blinds with JT suited. He re-raised to 45. I know I am beat at this point and we are head on. Now twice previously I had made it 45 post flop after being check raised to 30, only to have to throw my hand away when I missed and a solid opponent bet 30 at the turn. I knew that this opponent remembered those plays. This time the flop hit ATx rainbow. Bet 15, he raised and now I just called to set up the play. Turn was a blank. I checked, he bet 30 and I hit it to 60. If he calls I know I am dead, however after about 2 minutes that seemed like 20, he put his hand in the muck with the saying "I lose even if I make aces up." Hey, that Sklansky and Malmouth multi-level thought stuff really works!! Couldn't have done this move if the guy didn't remember those other folds and hadn't developed an opinion of how I was playing. I got a bit more aggressive after that play and finished the afternoon with a nice profit to cover this AC trip and my trip to BARGE in August. After giving away $100 betting a couple of harness races, I got into the softest 10-20 game I have been in for months (just ask Sippy and Russell). There was a calling station that had a mountain of chips and was on a huge run. I moved seats to get this boy on my right and was all set to transfer a portion of his stack to mine. Unfortunately, the cards were not cooperative. I had a set beat when a flush hit the turn and the river didn't pair. My cards iced up and like a genius, I got impatient and tried to run a bluff on this calling station. Bad idea. $300 later, I moved into the 15-30 even though the 10-20 was still good. I guess that it doesn't matter how good the game is if you are playing awful. Next, I saw a player actually thrown out of the casino. First time for this event. Player is stuck about $1500 (which is a lot of $30 bets). He has KQ, and raises. Triple raised to $45 by AK. Eventually about 600 in the pot and board is like K Q 9 4 4. AK says "2 pair" and tables his AK. KQ looks at cards, holds them out in front of his chest, and then says "you win" while throwing them face down into the bottom of the muck. OOPS $600 mistake (Q hit the river I think so the guy must have spaced out when he saw the 2nd 4). Now KQ Player wants pot since "Dealer" saw his hand (dealer actually did see it as did player in 9 seat, however both cards were still in the player's hands). Floorman called over, and there is more yelling. Shift boss called over and there is more yelling. I walk away to avoid getting hit in the mouth for laughing and calling the guy a fool. Final result is the guy tries to tear up his Taj comp credit card when they won't give him the pot. I think this is physically impossible since they make those things out of the toughest plastic on earth.) Player is told to leave and threatened with security. He leaves mumbling. The whole show cost me about $4 since it took some 20 minutes and we were paying $6 per half hour. I think it was worth it. The game stayed good after the guy left and I got back the $300 and made a good piece of another trip to BARGE. All in all, a good day in the cash games. I was tired so I left, however this game would certainly have been one to play in. I didn't think that the games at the Taj were that tough. The best players in the 10-20 game were the rec gamblers. There is probably a large weekend factor and I got lucky with the line-up in the short run. I really like the way they had the lists televised so that you could easily see where you were. Many of the players were betting horses as well as playing and they got distracted. I was able to pick out the better players pretty easily and had no trouble avoiding them or manipulating them to get the pots head-on with the weakies. I probably played a bit too tight, especially on getting extra bets on the end. I simply called or showed down many hands that I think in hind-sight, I should have bet. This is one of my common mistakes especially when playing with players that I am not familiar with. Day totals -65tournament -100horses -30010-20 holdem +1.5BARGE trips, +1 AC trip, +300 15-30 holdem Sunday: Left for West Point around 11:30 and got home in time to prepare for Monday's class. Its important that the nations future military leaders are not disappointed. All in all a great weekend. Glad I got to see some of the faces associated with the names. Sippy, get rolling and good luck on that dissertation. Chuck, I'll try to get to Pittsburgh on my way back to Arizona this summer. By the way Chuck, your game is good enough to compete in the 10-20 that is usually in casinos. You might want to give it a try using low variance strategies. I don't know if I can come east next year since I won't be on sabbatical, but I am sure that I will be at BARGE in August. If anyone is going to be in Tucson, be sure to stop in. The indian games are really good (and have been for the past 1.75 years); the rake is small and the players are lively. jeff goldberg

I had planned to take the train up Friday, to get some medium limit holdem in before the tournament, but was held up at a conference. So, drove up Saturday morning. I had an unusual room sharing arrangement - Robert Jacobs had Friday night and I had Saturday. Got in about 9 AM (left DC at 5:30), and when I tried to check in, the clerk was a little dubious, since she knew Mr. Jacobs was in the room. She asked me if I knew him, and I had to confess not personally, but after explaining the tournament situation all was ok. Left my bags in the room and headed down to the tournament area. The only person in the ATLARGE group I had previously met is Eric Holtman. Saw him there and met several others, including Jazbo. My immediate impression of the group was positive, at least partially because I wasn't the oldest fart in the group (probably close though). Tournament was fairly uneventful - I stole a few blinds, but never did really play a big pot, due to lack of appropriate cards. Finally with about T300 I had the big blind, with the blinds at 50 and 100 and R. Sooey had SB. As someone else has already noted, Richard was playing some fairly creative hands, and when he hesitated before calling my BB, I read him for a fairly weak hand. I had an A x unsuited, and decided to try to push him off, with the thought that I probably had the best hand if he called. He did call with Q 6 off, but unfortunately a Q came on the turn and I was out in (I think) 25th place. Not really a very solid play on my part, but what the hell - I really came up for the ring games anyway (or so I told myself). In spite of what Nolan (Darkside) Dalla thinks, I had never been to AC to play poker (and hadn't been there at all in ten years). Several of my poker compadres from DC/Maryland rave about the action at Taj Mahal, so I hied on over there (must have been about 1PM). Pretty dead - no 30-60, one 20-40 (full with a ton of folks waiting), one 15-30 (ditto), and not much else that looked interesting. Turns out I hit the room while a game I would have played in was on hiatus (more about it later). I saw a couple of acquaintances at the 15-30 table, and shot the shit briefly, ate lunch, and went back to Resorts for pot limit. Game kicked off about 4pm. I played straight through until 7AM Sunday, hitting a few hands and making a reasonable profit. Unfortunately two of the good hands I hit came against Jazbo - I almost hated to take his money because (A) he seems like a good guy and (B) he did such a super job of organizing the event, the tournaments and the pot limit games. But, you take the acorns where you find them, and I think Jazbo ended up doing ok in spite of these two beats. Even though I never really did get on any rushes, I truly enjoyed the game. Pot limit is my favorite game, and this was a good one, albeit a comparatively small game due to the blinds (1 and 2) and mandatory $5 bringin. Some very good players (Nolan and Bozo stand out in my mind as strong pot limit players, and there were several others). The dealers did a real good job, particularly seeing they had no experience with PL. Perhaps the best thing was the atmosphere provided by the ATLARGE group- no whining, no yelling at the dealer or throwing cards, and a generally convivial scene. The only (relatively minor) irritant was a local known as the Mad Russian (Sergei, I think) who complained about the format and his hands constantly while chain smoking without pause. He no doubt considers himself a good player, but he had very little shot in this game, since it was clear he planned to play nothing but the nuts, and it was easy for everyone to push him out of hands. Given the generally positive vibes at the table, he was really more of a source of amusement than a real downer. About 7 in the morning I finally decided I had better get some sleep when I had KK and called two reasonable bets (total of about $200) when I was sure Warren had AA. Sure enough, and the K didn't come (what a surprise). I figured that was a bad enough play that my judgement was getting questionable, and a break was in order. We were getting shorthanded at that point (about 5 players left) so I walked over to Taj to see if I could see any likely replacements for me. Found two folks who would have been welcomed, but who were uneasy about pot limit. Also found a couple of my regular opponents in DC playing 75-150 half holdem half omaha. This is a game I would liked to have known about earlier, because there were a couple of real contributors in the game, which had been running since Friday almost continously (they had all gone to lunch when I had come over Saturday afternoon). Both of my friends did real well (though one was stuck about seven thousand at one point, he made a nice comeback and got some cheese). They all looked so burned out I thought about getting in, but I remembered my KK misplay, and decided I wasn't in much better shape. Then I watched a short handed 400-800 stud game for a while. Five players while I was there, three real good and two that looked a little marginal. I might have been tempted if I had brought 20 or 30 thousand (and had had some sleep). I later heard one of the good players scored over 100 thousand in the game. Finally did get about two hours sleep, and came back down to watch a little of the ATLARGE 7 stud tourney (and maybe play some more PL). Unfortunately (or fortunately) the PL was full, and stayed full until I needed to leave (about 2PM). Nolan needed a ride back to DC, so he and I headed on back; I was very glad to have the company, and had a great time talking poker with a strong pot limit player (and a good poker writer). All in all a most satisfying weekend - the ATLARGE crowd impressed me as boon companions all, and Jazbo (to reiterate) did a superb job of organizing everything and keeping the games moving smoothly. The Resorts poker room staff were great, and the hotel was fine (and a good bargain at the poker rate Jazbo negotiated). All I can say is, let's do it again soon. Jim Rankin

Hi Everyone, As my first RGP trip, ATLARGE was even better than I hoped. Thanks much to Jazbo for juggling all that stuff, wecoming me, and making it all run so smoothly. Friday night I play a little 5/10 Holdem to warm up and move into a 10/20 game which is half holdem half Omaha. Now seeing as how I'm a Man and never ask directions, and have won lots of Vegas tournaments I stupidly butcher the first Omaha hand by playing a 238J. Sure I make my wheel, but the game is Omaha Hi and the dealer pushes the pot to a guy with a flush. After that, I loved the game and played until 2AM up slightly. Saturday worked out better, and I'm up $250 in the morning flip-flop game prior to busting out of the morning Holdem tournament. No interesting tournament story for me, In the no-limit tournament I busted all in with KK and ran into an AA, but hell thats holdem. We start playing the ATLARGE pot limit game around 4:30 and I played until 3AM. Excellent game, with pots often several hundred I sat there and folded all night as the cards were not with me, but somehow wound up ahead another $200 playing only nuts. Other sharks cleaned up, as several players never caught on to the subtle adjustments needed to play this game, namely nuts and potential nuts. Sunday morning, I start playing the pot limit game around 8AM, and lose $200 in one hand to a local pro lady who rivered a straight. I had JJ overcards to a 10-8-2 rainbow. Lost another hundred playing craps, but still went home with more money than I came with so it was essentially a free weekend. Resorts was an excellent choice, food was good in the California Pizza Kitchen and a small seafood stand. Had Starbucks coffee every day to keep me awake as its attached to the building on the boardwalk. Only complaint would be the tiny little Mens Room attached to the poker room, sort of a typical gas station type. Lucked out on roomates with Doug A who doesnt snore and has a lot of similar interests in poker and Computer geek stuff, and was nice enough to share when every room was booked. Regret I missed out on socializing more, as we only had the weekend I played almost non-stop, ate alone when hungry then rushed back to my chips. Hope to do more at Barge. Also will be going to Vegas April16 for a vacation poker week. Hope to stop by Binions and see a little of the WSOP action. Jim

ATLARGE Kudos, Komments Thanks Jazbo & K-man for your (@)LARGE efforts. The tourneys, the drinks, the poker, the laughs, did I mention the drinks?...it was a great, great time. Thanks again, Jazbo, for making it all possible. I've mainly lurked on the group for the past year & have been shy about posting, since I'm currently only a $1-5 player [as my forceful play in the 7-stud tourney may have demonstrated :-) ], but now that I've met you all, I think this will change. This just in...The clearance of the men's room door near the Resorts poker room is 6'10". If learning this causes anyone to have an apoplexy or the need to go off like Tony Montana (Scarface), please lighten up, get a life (or some Prozac) & consult the Bill of Rights. Thank you. As you all have heard, many people at Resorts last weekend thought very highly of the RGP clan. I personally heard this from a number of players, 2 or 3 dealers (including a dealer named Betty, for whom, if you know her, this represents the highest of praise), & 2 different floorpersons. An older woman at my stud table commented to me that "you computer people are such nice boys." [with all due respect to Siona]. This woman then actually asked me if I was married or had a girlfriend, since she has a lovely niece who is "looking for someone." She then showed me her niece's picture, & she was in fact quite lovely. Although, I didn't tell her that if she was searching for Mr. Right for her niece, she probably could do better than someone in the $1-5 game. Anyway, a few hands later, Aunt Lonelyhearts & I ended up going head-to-head in a pot. At the end, I didn't buy into her possible flush when she had 4 exposed clubs (w/4 others already dead & 2 underneath in my hand), & I called her w/my pair of aces & won. Pulling in the pot, I looked up and said, "So, tell me about your niece." At that point, she mysteriously withdrew her generous offer (if looks could kill). Was it something I said? It's probably just as well. That's one souvenir from Atlantic City my girlfriend wouldn't have appreciated. A quick note for those of you who were discussing w/me the silly limited edition chips put out by the Taj. Below is a clip from the "Vegas Collectible Casino Chips" site, which had a link on the group earlier this week **** Trump Taj Mahal ( Atlantic City New Jersey ) Chips> Trump Taj Mahal 1993 Marriage Chip Donald and Marla Marrage (sic) Chip December 20, 1993. Very hard to obtain. Only $35.00. ***** (!!!!! --- Who needs mutual funds?) Maybe the Donald should issue a Donald/Ivana chip for split pot games. Anyway, for those I met @ ATLARGE, it was a distinct pleasure, and I look forward to seeing you again. See you at the third to last table, (hey, I'm new at this!!), Mitch Firestone

Well, everyone who has posted since the conclusion of ATLARGE has pretty much expressed my sentiments regarding the event, so I figured I should add a little entertainment value of my own. If I can't place in the money, I might as well enjoy some of the "intangibles" produced by the NL Holdem tourney. Soooooo, I strung together a few rhyming couplets based on my experience at Saturday's No-Limit Holdem Tourney. I haven't figured out a title, although I was thinking of calling it simply "No Balls", since that's pretty much what cost me a finish in the money. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be interested in hearing them. But first, the obligatories: Jazbo-helluva job. I hope you'll do it again next year. EVERYONE: Great group of guys. I'm proud (sniff) to be part of r.g.p. Our presence projected a force (+++ positive +++) throughout the poker room at Resorts that probably hasn't been felt since it opened three years ago. This was *by far* the most fun I've had in AC, despite being hampered by a relentlessly nagging chest cold all weekend. I wish that we could do this several times a year, although I suppose if we restrict it to twice a year each event will seem more special. BRAVO, r.g.p'ers. OK, here's the tale of Mookie at Merv's: I trudge into Merv's poker room in a stupor With a chest full of phlegm and a head full of 'Buca Been coughin' and wheezin' and blowin' my nose I'm a sleep-deprived wreck! Better stay on my toes It's ten a.m. and time for the tourney If I feel any worse I'll send for a gurney No-limit Holdem! Not exactly my game But what the hell--it's still cards, just the same I find my table and order a coffee Perhaps I'll be surrounded by softies But hell no! It's Jazbo, Dalla, Gerner and Bwana Sit down at this table? I really don't wanna. Yet I pull out my Buddha to rest on the felt With hopes that my stack won't immediately melt I start somewhat slowly, nothing playable to be seen Then in late position, I'm dealt Ace-Queen The flop is a monster! An Ace with two Ladies For Jerry Gerner, this board came straight from Hades Jerry checks, I check ("Better let him catch up") Then the turn brings a dream card for Mookie - Yup! It's a five: Jerry's turned a Presto full boat He bets half his stack. I call, my head afloat The river's a King, not exactly a blank But Jerry puts me all-in, and his stack takes a spank And lo and behold! Table chip leader--how's that? A mere minnow among sharks, and in need of a nap Consolidation occurs; I look up with great disdain As I see Woods, Rosenblum, and some huge dude named "Pain" Bigger stacks on my left, but I'm still not complaining 'Cause at the break I'm eighth, with seventeen remaining Up to my room I find myself madly rushin' I snarf down a Chunky and gulp Robitussin Anxiety reigns! My thoughts are random and crude As I climb toward the pinnacle of gambling geekitude Back to the table; I've got to play tight No problem--Gerner's raising relentlessly from the right A few more bustouts, then what do I find? Mr. Big Slick: Ace-King, on my next big blind Jeff raises on the button-he's about twice my stack So I contemplate a counterattack I consider all-in, but that seems half-crazed Instead, I foolishly toss a minimum re-raise Jeff calls, here's the flop, and it ain't what I was wishin': It's a Ten and two Threes, and I'm out of position I check, and Jeff bets more than half of my pile Gotta fold. Now I'm crippled, but I might last a while Round and round go the blinds, and I feel uncertain My confidence is gone, and my stack is hurtin' I fold pocket sixes, I fold King-Jack My weak-tight play ain't gonna get it back Finally, the big blind takes me all-in And Woods raises--seems like deja vu all over again We expose: I'm King-Six versus Jeff's Ace-Eight This is probably the hand that will seal my fate The flop brings an Ace, but the turn is a King I've still got some outs; what will the turn bring? Not a miracle card--it's a blank, it's a stone It's a dud, it's a rock--it's a dog-do snowcone Gazing toward the middle at an unfriendly board I lament to Tiger, who nods and records "Twelfth place doesn't pay", I weakly grumbled And that's the way that Mookie crumbled If I had had the stones to jam Jeff with AK, I'd have gotten my stack up over $2K instead of going down under $1K, and I'd have placed. Or busted out immediately, since Jeff had KTs and a ten flopped. (I'd better stop now, since Kyle and Tiger have heard this more than once already). Trip comments: Excellent dealers at Merv's, especially Aimee, the black guy who laughs like a bird (name?), and the Madonna-looking woman (the one who along with Tiger and myself was at the table and observed Jim Strydio's Cherry Tomato Ejaculation--all over the felt, seeds in a straight line, basically an impressive display of consumption at the card table). Worst bad beat: 5/10/15 stud, deuces full on fifth w/trips *ON BOARD*, finish third and lose three big bets on the river (absolutely had to call, no respect for re-raiser). Worst tourney hand: Busted out of Stud tourney when Ross (Flush Machine) Poppel runs FOUR SPADES to fiver my two pair. Ross: why did you call fifth street? ;-( Ring Game Action: STUD:+ 485 HOLDEM:+ 115 STEAK SOUP:+ 2 UNITS SAMBUCA:+ 3 UNITS I hope that y'all enjoyed my tale; I also hope that this text wraps ok. Looking forward to the next ATLARGE!! John Walsh (Mookie)

Title:"My Guardian Angel" Thurs. 28th: Preliminaries -- Worked full day at the Embassy. Afternoon was hectic due to Prime Minister's arrival the previous day and his scheduled meeting with President Klinton in the afternoon. The pressue builds. Please! Get me out of here! 5:30 finally comes. I'm off! Free at last! Atlantic City --- here I come! The journey -- Road conditions....rainy, slippery, foggy, cold....all the makings of a good accident, which is JUST WHAT HAPPENED at 8:00 pm on I-95, the Deleware Turnpike. I'm coasting along, got Van Morrson in the cassette player....WHAM! I hear my self scream an expletive which shall not be repeated here (can't recall if it was the "F" or the "S" one). A 92 year old man is sitting in his car in the middle of the highway, no lights, no blinkers -- just sitting there. He was driving from -- you guessed it -- Florida, back to NJ. He just "thought something was wrong," so he stopped. Stopped cold. Stopped smack in the middle of one of the busiest highways in the United States. Parts of our cars a strawn all over the pavement. My '90 Caddy SDV (just spent a grand getting the 70K servicing done) is demolished. Frame bent. I feel like that Kerrigan skater after she got clubbed in the legs, "Why me? Why me," I ask. No real reason to complain though. I (and the old man, too) walk away without a scratch -- and I wasn't even wearing my seat belt. I look for a guardian angel on my shoulder. A fleeting image seems to appear. I feel a glow. I must be blessed, maybe today is my day, that certain moment in time that comes just once in a lifetime. Ah destiny. I rumble through the legal paperwork and jump on the train in Wilmington. One way ticket to A.C. Nothing's gonna stop me now. Arrival -- Destiny? I buy a 2 rolls of quarters and head for the progressive slots. God please, I hope nobody sees me here. What credibility I do have would be shot.. Cling, cling cling. Silence. Cling cling, cling. Silience. In 3 and a half minutes the twenty dollars is gone. I guess I wasn't "destined" after all. Stupid superstions, I should know better. $10-20 at the Taj: Everyone at the table is a semi-pro or above. Depart an hour later down a C-note. $5-10-15 at Resorts: Much friendlier game. Not being a regular stud player, I don't know much who the pros are or are not. It takes me two hours to recognize I AM NOT. Down another $200. Are we having fun yet? $20-40 at the Taj: Against my better instincts (tired, still shaken up a bit), I decide to play a few rounds -- maybe win one pot and I'm back to even. Nothing comes my way but J-6, 6-3, 7-2....oh I did get a pair of tens once but folded when the board came A-A-Q. Stay to catch the middle buster in a 20/40 game. Noooooooo way Jackson. Fold. What a day. What happened to the angel? She must have went to sleep long before me. Bedtime for Bonzo (me). Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Fri. 29th Three hours of shut eye. Dreams of twisted metal and broken glass. Phone rings, "Wake up call." Awaken. AT-LARGE begins! All old nighmares forgotten. Patch up a few wounds with Eric. Say hello to Brucie. Tiger Alan arrives. Luncheon -- See some old friends and meet plenty of new ones. Good conversation. See Peter Secor for the first time, which will become something of an omen. Hi Don "Chinese Poker" Smolen. Arti mysteriously arrives late. 4:00 Tourney begins -- $115 buy-ins with 72 entrants. Nothing dramatic. Just poor starting hands. Chips begin to dwindle. I must commit somewhere. At the $50-100 level, I go all in with J-10 suited. No help comes. Busted out. I look over in the corner. I think I see the angel laughing. 9:00 -- I haven't had a drink in two months. Such was the power of Nick Cage's fine performance. I join Art Santella at the Bengal Club which turns out to be an incredibly enlightening experience. The man permeates gambling theory (and vodka). Not neccesarily in that order. I look into Arti's eyes and see myself. A scary thought. My soul brother (to be played in movie version by Al Pacino). 10:00 -- At Resorts. I play poorly. Try to run to many mediocre hands to victory, that in the end crash in defeat. There's a monster $10-20 game at the other table. A preminition. When I sit down, I know I'm going to make $1,000 in this game. Every bet -- and I mean EVERY FRIGGIN BET is capped pre-flop by two maniacs (one is crazy Charlie, the other a rich tourist). Four hours later, I'm up a grand. Four hours beyong that, I've lost $800 of it back. Such is the roller coaster of poker life. I thought I heard the Angel whisper into my ear, "it's time to leave, Nolan," when I was way ahead. The ear wax buildup must have distorted her message. I did have Peter Secor approach me and tell me about his Red Dog experience. I love the guy. His bourbon breath made Arti's seem like sweet perfume. My God, this guy's drinking and stammering around without sleep whatsoever. I thought I was bad. And he's got to play in a tournament in a couple of hours. Poor fool doesn't stand a chance (the next day he wins the tournament, naturally -- see future Card Player article on this subject). For me, it's three more hours of sleep. No nighmares tonight, just the thoughts of flushes and full houses (getting delusional now). I'm dead even ($) for the trip. Saturday 10:00 am -- No limit tourney begins. Bam. Bluff. Win $40. Bam. Bluff. Win $70. Bam...stone-cold bluff called all the way down. Busted out in 38th place. Crash and burn. I guess I can now put the portrait of the poker-playing dogs back up on my living room wall, where I had intended the "Best All Around" poker trophy to go. Surely my wife will be more upset about this than me. 1:00 -- Pink chip hold'em. In 10 minutes I win one good pot and lose half of it back with a stupid bluff. Still, a win is a win. Lunch with Arti and Old Al, who's on tilt at the Bengal Club. 4:00 -- Pot limit Texas hold 'em commences. I'd prepared myself for this for nearly three weeks. Watched 5 WSP events on tape (again). Re-read Bobby Baldwin's book. Still, my skills were rusty. A little history -- I'd played pot limit almost exclusively back in Texas after I graduated from college (no jobs, so gambling became a way of life). Really, that's pretty much all I did from 85-89. Carsinigen-filled backrooms, I discovered however, were not the places to engratiate one's social skills. The move to DC took me away from pot limit entirely. So going in, I had a mixed level of confidence. Sitting down, I didn't like Don Smolen at my table, so I vowed to stay out of his way. "Crazy hat" Jonathon sat on my immediate left, who I had/have great respect for. Others in the game (you know who you are) also looked like a challenge. 10 munites into Pot limit, with $300 in front of me, the drama unfolded. Late Position -- I'm dealt K - Q Not a great hand, but with no raises yet, certainly a good value bet and raise here. Jonathon on my left calls. Flop comes K- Q - 10. Almost perfect for me, unless someone's got trips or the straight. A mandatory pot bet. I bet the max. Jonathon gets this "sh*t eating grin on his face. He pushes his entire stack ($300) into the pot. Now, I've got a really tough decision. Jon and I do go back a little and are somewhat familiar with each other's tendancies. He knows I bluff frequently. Is he simply chopping of my presumed bluff? Does he have trip Kings or trip Jacks (unlikely, as he didn't re-raise pre-flop). I narrowed it to four possible hands: A-K (Jon, with top pair best kicker might re-raise in this situation) K-Q (we have a matching hand, also a re-raise would be called for perhaps) K-10 (very unlikely, but possible) A-J (my worst possible nightmare. Jon's already flopped the straight). Unless you're playing for grocery money, this is a mandatory call. So, I call. We're both all-in. "You there already, Jon?" I ask. Jon's sh*t eating grin grows even bigger. He doesn't need to answer. I already know. He's caught the perfect flop -- a straight. Now, I'm a 20-1 dog. The turn.......A QUEEN. A beautiful sweet Queen. My angel has returned. Jon shows his true class and departs with a handshake. Chuck "Congelco Publishing" Weinstock joins the poker party. Gee, the competition sure isn't getting any easier. Later I cash out with a nice profit. Forgot to write down the amount. My buddy Peter Secor is hammering a low-limit game at the Taj. We hit the Bengal together and shoot the breeze. Another very intriguing gentleman with alot of b*lls and street smarts. We hit the crap table. Buy-in for $200 each. A preminition comes over me (I swear). I tell Peter he's going to hold the friggin' dice for 10 minutes. He says, NO, TWENTY. Now I'm usually a wrong (Dont Pass) better. But I join with Peter, who is on a massive roll after winning the tourney that morning. 17 minutes later, he's still got the cubes. That man threw more tens and fours than you would believe. Man, I wish I'd been betting quarters. Finally after 20 min (Peter was right), he sevened-out to table applause. Now it's my turn. Like I said, I'm a DONT better. I lay $20 against myself. Bam. Eleven. $20 more. Bam. Seven. Peter lays $5 on YO....Wham. There it is "ELEVEN" I'm getting buried. I lay $100 on the Don't. Point comes NINE. $150 odds. Twenty rolls later (everyone else may big money off the COME), there it is, NINE. I pass the dice voluntarily. I buy-in again for another $100. Lay it all on DONT COME. Point for me becomes SIX. I take $120 odds against. Stickman yells "six the hard way." Super. $500 gone in 5 minutes. And Peter's getting rich. I laugh it off while my stomach acid churns inside. Time to go. Peter stays. Meanwhile I paying $75 a night solo for a room at the Taj. I stayed exactly 3 hours in the last two days. I consider calling it a night. AM I CRAZY? WHILE THERE'S A POT LIMIT GAME IN PROGRESS???? NO "F***ing WAY MAN!!! I run across from the Taj and nearly bowl over five grandma's playing quarter slots (they must have preminitions, too). I pass by the dice table again and Peter's still there --- and the same guy on my left STILL HAS THE DICE !!! Good night, I've missed the chance of a lifetime. Grind it out again. Buy-in the pot limit game for $300. Early in, I catch bullets in the hole. Max bet. One caller. Flop comes 9-blank-blank. I max bet. An all-in raise. Maybe he's got Kings or Queens in the pocket. Worse, he's got trips. Now I'm trapped, but it's only going to cost me my last $100 to see what happens. Another mandatory call. Trip nines. Now only an ace saves me. The ace comes, on the river. How sweat it is. YES! YES! I do my best Marv Albert impression. Sunday 5:00 in the morning. Eyes start to close themselves. Decision time. Break for some sleep? The tourney's gonna' start in 5 hours. It's now or never. I decide to sleep between hands. "Wake me when it's my turn to raise," I say -- as I slide my head on the rail. Zzzzzzzzzzz. A couple of hard asses come over from the Taj (good middle limit players), which doesn't give me a chance to play to casually. Still, I feel refreshed when 10:00 comes and the tournament begins. I leave my stake on the table. 1:00 -- Break time in the middle of the tournament, and I'm still avive in middle position. Got $1,000 which won't last long at the $100-200 level. During break, I go back to play pot limit. A little bluff here and there takes the money. Time to go back again to tourney. 20 minutes later, I'm busted out in 11th place. Damn. I really wanted this one in the money. I guess the second potrait of poker playing dogs has to be put up again, too. Back at pot limit. On my final hand of the trip I get pocket Aces. Bet the max. One caller. A scary board comes....K-J-blank. I've got to check. Bet is $100. Trip Kings? No...he didn't bet the max pre-flop, unless he's now trying to reel me in. It's a must call. At the showdown I look across and see pocket Queens. The aces hold up. A good time to leave with New Mexico James (the $30-60 master). The Caddy's gone, so it's James Rankin or Amtrak for the ride home. Easy choice. On the trip we speak for 3 hours about our experiences. I learn more and more from each player I meet, especially someone like James, who has been around and played almost everywhere. Arrive back in DC just in time for "60 minutes" and a loving hug from my wife. Ain't life grand? "How did you do honey," she asked. "Sit down dear, have I got a story for you." ("Oh, and by the way, did you remember to mail-in that auto insurance bill last month?") -- Nolan Dalla (Thank you to everyone I met. I wanted to use even more stories and names, but space doesn't allow, as we don't want "War and Peace" length postings)

Peter Secor…had done positvely everything wrong…Stayed up all night. Drank. Drank some more. When the tourney began, I again looked for Pete…couldn’t find him. Poor guy, missed the friggin’ tournament.…

Sippy's ATLARGE Report The worst part about these rec.gambling trips is trying to adjust my sleep schedule so that I can wake up early enough the day of my flight. ATLARGE was no exception. I met Chuck Weinstock at Pittsburgh International at 9:15am or so, and for a change, USAir was delayed only 10 minutes. Arrived in Phily an hour after takeoff, got our rental car and drove off for AC. Tried to check in when we got to Resorts, but our room wasn't ready yet. Oh well. We checked bags and headed towards the poker room to sign up for the Friday Limit Holdem tournament. Just outside the poker room we ran into the vmark.com crowd, in the persons of sneezix, dtm, and filaman. Signed up, ran into Jazbo, met kman, and headed toward the buffet. While waiting for the cashier to deal with Chuck's Diner's Card, I hear "FISH!" in a loud voice. I, and everyone else on line, turn to see Eric Holtman who's now saying, "see, I told you they're all fish". Buffet was pretty good, and I had a good time BSing with everyone and matching faces to IRC nicks. [OK, time to get to the good stuff: poker] Checked in after lunch, and then went downstairs to get in some action before the tourament. Before sitting down, I introduced myself to Don Smolen, who was kind enough to answer some Chinese Poker questions I had. Sat down at a 5-10 holdem game and won $40 in the hour before the tourney. Had one interesting hand that I'll share: Get AA in the big blind, and raise after 5 people limp in. Flop comes K Q low, rainbow. I lead off my checking: I'm hoping that someone with a K or Q will bet, and I'll checkraise; if noone bets, I'll have a better chance to win the pot outright with a bet on the turn. I've been trying to understand "manipulating pot size" and wanted to try this check approach since Mason Malmulth brought it up on r.g.p. Anyways, pot gets checked around, and I bet out on the turn and river, getting 2 (maybe 1?) caller on the turn, and 1 on the river. Beavisbot, who's at the table but not in the hand announces that he's sure I have AQ. I show the bullets, and drag the pot with a smile. The limit tournament started at 4. The one other time I went to AC, about 4 months ago, I played this tournement and finsihed 7th of 55 or so, good for $300+. With all the ATLARGE people this time, the tournament was a sellout, with 72 players. Nothing too interesting happened the first half of the tournment (going from 6 to 3 tables) for me. I basically stayed even, winning a pot here and there. An ATLARGEr, Mike, who also seemed to be a regular in that poker room, was running over the table, playing very loose but showing down ragged winners when anyone called him down. I lost about half my T800 stack in one hand with dtm when he just wouldn't lay down his hand to my steal attempt preflop and flop. With about 25 players left (3 tables), the following hand ensues. Blinds are something like 50-100, I have about T450 with J8s in the small blind. Folded around to me. The big blind has only slightly more money then I do, and has let me steal once or twice before. I raise, he calls. Flop is QT8, one of my suit. I bet, he calls. Turn is a J, I bet, leaving me with one chip, T100. He raises, which would put me all in. He starts counting his chips, since it's not clear that he has enough for a full raise. I say that I only have T100, so he doesn't have to count out the whole thing. I'm sitting there, playing with my chip, staring into space trying to decide whether I should call with a 9 probably being my only out. Suddenly, he turns over his cards, showing QJ, saying that he hopes I don't have a 9. I'm stunned that he's showing me his cards, and then even more stunned as the dealer burns and turns the river card (which isn't my 9). At this point I look down to see that my last chip isn't in front of me. I announce: "umm, I never called that final bet." Everyone stops, the dealer and the other player look at me like I'm mad. I repeat myself a bit more firmly. Everyone agreed that I never announced the call. Frankly, I'm not sure why the dealer thought I called. Afterwards, Jeff Woods said that I placed my chip on the table when I tranced, but that I never pushed it towards the pot. Anyway, they call the floor. I let the other player describe what happened, and he basically said what I did above: that I never announced my intention to call, but that I had a responsibility to protect my chip from the dealer and should have said something when the dealer burned. [As an aside, I always protect my cards, but I never heard of having to protect my _chips_ before.] I replied that I didn't even know it was happening and was too suprised when he showed me his hand to react to anything. The floor ruled in my favor, and I got to keep my final chip. To be quite honest, at the point when everything happened I still hadn't made up my mind about whether call or not. The opponent asked me what I would have done if the river was my 9. I truthfully replied that I didn't know; I may have very well taken the pot. In any event, I'm now down to one chip. The maxim is "chip and a chair", and well, that's all I had left. I folded a few hands, and then doubled or tripled through at some point, and won some blinds, because when our table broke up to move to two tables, I had about T450 or so. My table had 5 ATLARGE folks: dtm, jarman, russell, clarko, and myself. Jarman and dtm had reasonable stacks, while clarko was in worse shape than I was. Luckily, there was only one seriously large stack at the table; most of the money, and two other ATLARGErs were at the other table. My plan was to play like a rock, and fold my way into the money. I think I won two hands, both all-in, before busting Russell with J9 in the bb, and a flop of 99x, bringing it down to one table. I was in the money! Unfortunately, dtm was the only other ATLARGEr left at this point, (after having given Jarman lessons about not betting when it was 2-1 against an all-in player) the table lineup forcing us to go against each other. I had about T800 at this point, not the smallest stack, but pretty low. dtm was in much better shape, but most of the money came in from the other table. The next few orbits are mostly a blur, but I just kept folding. The big stack at the table (call him NY, because he looked like a typical New Yorker, that is to say, he might be a relative :-) was a few seats to my right, and never let my blind go unchallenged. Luckily for me the people around me kept getting involved in hands and busting each other out. NY was doing most of the knocking out and continued to pile up chips. Soon it's down to 4: (from my left) Old Guy (tourist, not too clued in) with 2nd biggest stack, NY with about half the chips, dtm with about T800, and me with about T650. At this point I'm gaurenteed about $500, which makes me QUITE happy. Soon after we get down to 4, dtm and I get involved in a hand where (IIRC) dtm raises from button, I call with 99, Old Guy folds, dtm calls. Flop has a 9, I bet, dtm puts me all-in and I win. Unfortunately, this cripples dtm who's out within a few hands. Sometime just after dtm gets eliminated I get involved in a big hand with Old Guy. I have JJ in early position and raise, Old Guy calls, NY folds. Flop is 9 high rainbow. I bet, (limits 150-300?) OG calls. Low on turn, I bet all-in, OG calls and turns over QQ, saying that it was clear I was going all-in, so why should he raise. As I prepare to get up, the dealer burns and then turns a J! I make my 20+:1 shot on the river to win a nice size pot, causing a nice hubbub from all the ATLARGErs gathered around the table. In the midst of the chattering, from just behind me I hear: The poker gods appreciate a fine schmegie sippy Many thanks to Jeff Woods for that. It really helped to relieve some of the tension I was feeling. As I was sipping my cola, I could SWEAR that the stuff was sloshing around like crazy, although other people later said that this was all my head. Now that I had a bit of a stack, I decided to play a bit more aggressively. I figured I was better than Old Guy, but the NY was good, and would be hard to beat with that stack of his. I go on a betting spree and steal a few blinds to get my stack up to about T4000, and then win a nice one from NY to move to about T8000. Somewhere around here I think I mommentarily move into the chip lead, but that might also have been in my head. I lose a pot to NY, and then Old Guy gets eliminated when his presto is cracked by NY's Ax (to a HUGE roar of PRESTO, of course). [This is how I remember it. Luboc's trip report claims that NY had the presto and got a set. He's probably right, since most of this is a blur now, and he was taking notes.] Now we're heads up, with $1224 going to 2nd place and $2450 going to first. NY has about a 2:1 chip lead on me. Once we had gotten down to 3 players, NY never let my bb go through unchallenged from the sb. It probably took about 10 hands until the end came. In that span I got 77 three times, winning once, losing once, and once having the hand fouled when one of NYs cards was flipped. I don't remember the last hand, but Luboc claims it was my A4h against 6-highcard, with a 6 coming up on the board. I got a nice round of applause and lots of congratulations from the assembled ATLARGE folks. It was most excellent to do that well in front of the "gang." Tipping: I tipped the dealers $50 on my $1224 win. Is that high or low? I've never been in this situation before. I was annoyed to find out that tips are pooled in AC. In some way I felt cheated in that my thanks to the dealers (who did a good job, with the exception of the guy who tried to take my last chip!) ends up going to other people who aren't even in the poker room. MATS was supposed to take place right after the Resort's tourney, in Jerry Garner's room. I'm sure you could imagine how psyched I was to play a no-limit tourney right after the grueling 4.5 hours of this game, after having little sleep.... People were talking about getting some food before MATS. I knew I should be hungry, but was so pumped on adrenaline that it didn't bother me. Chuck was kind enough to point out that if I didn't eat, I'd soon crash badly pretty, and I realized he was right. So after getting the MATS people together and agreeing on a 9:30 start, 7 of us headed to the California Pizza Kitchen. That Peking Duck pizza really helped me settle down and relax. MATS wasn't too eventful for me. I didn't play too many hands, and got caught once or twice when I tried to be aggressive. There was one memorable hand when, with about T450 and the T75 big blind Bruce Kramer raises under the gun. Folded to me, and I look down to see AA. I jam (about T100 more) and Bruce calls, showing AK, and my bullets hold up. I finished 6th or 7th, getting knocked out by Jerry's AA when I called his raise in the big blind with 86off. If I folded, I'd only have T125 left after posting the small blind, and I figured it was best to make the stand now while it could do me some good. Jerry went on to win the whole event. Many thanks to Jerry for organizing the game. Hopefully I'll be able to get my revenge on him at TARGET. After going back to the room to freshen up (now about 11pm) I decided to go back downstairs and try to find a good 10-20 game. Maybe it was a mistake to go as tired as I was, but hey, I was here to play. There was a loose 10-20 half holdem half omaha high game going on at Resorts. The big omaha pots seemed to really liven things up for the holdem rounds. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to get cards in any of the big omaha hands, or got sucked out (to be expected in omaha) when I did get cards. I lost $250 in about 2 hours, went upstairs, hit the bed and crashed bigtime. Woke up at and headed down to the poker room with Chuck to check in for the no-limit tournament. I was hoping my win the day before would give me a little edge in the fear of my opponents. Unfortunately, my table was such that rational fear didn't play a part. First, we had an empty seat at the table since Peter Secor slept through the first few orbits. Of course, that didn't stop him from winning a hand in the big blind as the button and small blind checked the hand down, and Pete's 64off held up. The other character at the table was Taj luminary Rich Sooy. Now, Rich was great fun to play with, but I don't think he'd ever played no-limit before :-) That didn't stop him from winning many hands with either bluffs or J3 off that would hold up. I managed to steal one nice pot from him when, on the turn, he bet only 25 into a 300 pot with 2 spades on the board. I called, and then bet about 50 when another spade fell, along with a remark like "thanks for letting me get there." I took a major beating when kman made a small raise in early position, and I reraised all-in with QQ in middle position, and kman called with KK. That left me very short, and I couldn't pull out the chip and a chair miracle for the second time. I finished in 41st place. I quickly got a seat at the same 10-20 game that was still going from the night before, with many of the same people. There was one guy who looked like he was going to fall asleep in his chair. While the game was good, my cards weren't and I managed to only win a few hands, losing $130. I think I was playing well, and had a good read on things. There were alot of hands (5?) I folded on the river to bets when scare cards hit; turned out I was ahead on the turn and behind on the river in all them. I just have to chalk it up to the variance gods. The game broke up around 5:30, with some of the players having left to join one of the two pot-limit tables Resorts was spreading for us. The locals were shocked at the interest in pot-limit action. I think Resorts has my favorite casino poker room in terms of ambiance: soft lighting, good ventilation, good service, good dealers and brush, far away from annoying bell ringing. Unfortunately, I prefer to play 10-20 holdem, and they just don't spread the game that often. I walked over to the Taj and after a 30 minute wait, got into a 10-20 game. There were a few good players, but most were too passive. Within 2 hours I was up over $500, having flopped a few straights that got paid off. There was one guy sitting across from me who had a huge pile of chips, and looked like he was playing every hand. This guy (call him Bruce, not his name, but he looks like a friend of mine named Bruce, and that's how I thought of him) was catching cards like crazy: rivering a second pair to go with his low pair on the flop, runner-runner str8 and flush draws. I found out later that he was up $2500 in 8 hours of 10-20. Yup, you read that right. About half the pots I was in turned out to be three-way with Bruce and another loose-passive player who was on my left. Made one major mistake that cost me 3 big bets when I flopped a flush (to go with my 92h in the BB), and checked-raised Bruce on the turn, and called his reraise and river bet, to find he had A3h. At around 9:30 I was still up about $400. Then things changed: a loose raising type (CA, for Crazy Asian) say down right on Bruce's right. Now any raise would result in CA reraising, and of course Bruce would call. CA was also in many pots, though not as many as Bruce. I watched several competant players go on tilt and get chewed up. Over the next 2 hours (in which Bruce saw EVERY flop), I played past the flop in 5 hands. In each of them I was ahead and betting/raising the flop and turn. In each I was rivered. This put me at -$100 for the table. Around midnight, the seat to Bruce's left emptied, and I immeadiately asked to switch to that seat. This was perfect! At least one of the other players knew it, since I heard him say to someone else "I think things are going to change now." Well, my friend was wrong. With full intentions of isolating the lunatics, I got nothing for the next hour or so. I won one hand from my bb in an unraised preflop hand, but other than that nothing. I was very tired at this point, but felt I was playing ok, and had no intentions of getting up from that seat until after the two fish on my right had quit. Well, I finally got a few hands, succeeded in isolating, and by 3am had worked my way back to +200. Just after 3, both fish got up, CA ahead $400, and Bruce ahead $2000. Within one orbit, the table broke up :-) I got to overhear Bruce talking to his SO about the table. He was saying that we didn't know how to play, because there were few raises preflop, and of course he'd call $10 with anything to have a shot at a $200 pot. In a sense, he was right; the other players got so gunshy after being rivered on, and reraised by CA preflop, that they were stunned into utter passivity. Of course, this doesn't explain all his bad calls on the flop that turned into runner-runner wins.... I was pleased that I managed not to tilt and adjusted my play to reflect the table conditions. I like to think of myself as pretty tilt-proof, and this game reinforced that feeling. Note: this isn't a challenge to the tiltboys or anyone else :-) During the game, I got periodic reports of the rocks and beer game going on at the other end of the casino. Sounded like a blast, but getting up from that table was too expensive a proposition. I was also giving Russell an occasional omaha 8 lesson (he was playing that game for his first time at a nearby table). As I walked back to Resorts I stopped by the poker room to discover that there was still a pot limit game going. I watched Jazbo win a nice hand with a low straight. Everyone seemed to be having a fine time! I stuck around to watch for a bit, but was ready to collapse, and knew that I'd have to get up in 5 hours for the stud tourney. Since I've never played structured stud before, I wasn't expecting to do well in the tournament. At the start, I made sure to ask lots of questions and make sure everyone knew I was a fish :-) I've read S&M's Advanced 7-stud a few times, and figured that, plus good tourney strategy would have to suffice. Well, I got two basic things out of S&M: first, the importance of live cards, and second that being aggressive was important. I'm not too sure now I did on the first point, but I sure did ok on the second. Since I was playing probably twice as many hands as I should have been, I had ample opportunities to be aggressive, and it worked! After the first hour I had over T800, having started with T300. My favorite hand was when the player to my right raised with a face card showing and I reraised with (KQ)J. He raised, and I called. I caught a J on 2nd street, and reached for my chips the instant it hit. Opponent folded, turning up AA, "knowing" that I was on trips. If I knew how to play stud, I'd probably never have been in that hand! Unfortunately, having the big stack at the table let me put myself in the position of pot police, staying in to try and eliminate players. This cost me most of my edge. Worst was when Ross on my left goes all-in against me when I have 789T, and he's pairs his door card. I ask if he has a boat yet, he says no and I call. He was lying, but he ended up with quads, and I didn't hit, so I guess it doesn't matter. I decide to switch gears here, and make (my now much smaller) stack last for a while. I doubled through against Ross an hour later at another table, and survive to the noon break, and two tables, with about T600. Only played 3 hands after the break: I took the antes and bring-in in one hand. I raised with (33)K, K live, and 3 players showing a Q. JP reraised with one of the Q's. JP was doing a pretty good job of stealing, but I know that he has to give me credit for something, and therefore he must have something. My K and 3's are live, his Q is very dead. I only have two more bets left. I decide to fold. JP says he had 88 down. Was my fold a a mistake? After this I raise all-in with split aces, but Tiger knocks me out with an openend str8 and 4-flush draws, catching the flush. I finish 13th. Not too bad for never having played. After the tournament, I played about an hour of 5-10 holdem, winning $3, until Chuck and I had to leave for the Phily airport. I had a great time and really enjoyed meeting many of the IRC and rgp people for the first time! Hope to see you again at BARGE! For anyone still there reading this, I apologize for the length. I tend to run on writing these things, mostly because I enjoy reliving the experiences after the fact. Plus I know I'll be able to reread this in a few years time and do it once again. Besides, if you think this is bad, you should see of of my date reports.... -- Jay Sipelstein, s...@cs.cmu.edu

TIGER123 does ATLARGE.