ATLARGE

(From her blog: http://www.noninetofive.blogspot.com/ [dead link --Ed.]) Matt and Ivy picked me up bright and early and we left Brooklyn for AC. The first thing Matt told me when we got in the car was that the gas gauge was broken (permanently stuck on "E"). He then informed me of something even more hysterical: that I would be playing the H.O.E. tournament when we arrived at the Taj. I hadn't planned on playing this event. I've had historically abysmal results in limit hold 'em tourneys. My Omaha game is so-so on a good day. And before this weekend, I had played Stud O8 exactly once in my life. Overall, not a lot of reasons to play a $120 tournament involving these three games. We arrived just as the tournament registration was finishing up, and since I couldn't check into my room until noon I decided I might as well pass the time reuniting with fellow ARGErs at the poker table. Matt finally convinced me by offering to take half my action. I told him it was a lousy investment, outlining my reasons from above, but the long drive and lack of breakfast must have addled his brain because we ended up making this deal anyway. After a mad scramble to get a Taj card, I signed up for the tourney and took my seat. I was about to play my first H.O.E. tournament. I played at so many tables in this tourney that it's hard to recall who was at each one. Please yell at me if I forget you or get this wrong. Players I remember from my first table were Kenny, Matt, and Laurie Caulkins. Laurie had a nice set of chopsticks from her recent trip to China as her bust-out prize and I eyed them covetously. I don't remember any hands from this table, and in fact the most memorable thing that happened was Ivy Janet bringing us all a box of sinfully delicious Krispy Kream doughnuts. Mmmm, doughnuts.....argharhgahrargh. I found that the rotation game format really kept me paying attention in this tournament. Having to think about a different game every half hour or so kept things interesting, and I really enjoyed it. (Anyone know of any rotation tourneys online?) I found that my Omaha game was on par with the players around me, and I muddled through the Stud rounds without spewing too many chips. My basic strategy in Stud early on was to fold almost every hand except the ones I was 100% sure were playable, pinpoint the players at my table who seemed to understand the game, and watch them play theirs. (I also saw a fair number of examples of what not to do...) My stack remained healthy through most of the early rounds. As the blinds increased, I started to worry more about the fact that I would not be able to make it deep in this tournament without winning some Stud hands. The pots in Stud were the largest being played, and I needed to get my hands on those chips sooner or later. My first huge pot was not in Stud, but in Omaha. One player limped and I limped behind with A4xx double-suited (sorry I don't have more precise hand histories). The flop came with two low cards and one diamond. I held the Ax of diamonds. The turn paired the board, and I donked along to the river, where I hit my flush. I called one bet, as did the limper behind me, and when we turned up our hands I was up against a smaller flush for the high and ended up with half the low as well. I was accumulating chips nicely and never had much concern for my chip stack. Until I was moved yet again and found myself with Jeff Caulkins and Bill Chen on my right and Rob "ActionBob" Hwang on my left. And oh, good, the Stud round was beginning. Bill wonders if he'll make it to his speech on time. I don't know much about Stud O8, but it seemed to me that as long as I went for the low, I could sometimes back into a decent high and still win. I scooped two huge Stud pots at this table, both with two pair. How could this be?? On one hand, no one had a low, so and on the other my two small pair were good. Is this common in Stud? My only other experience with split games is Omaha, and two pair are rarely good for the high in that game. Stacking my chips, I looked up and saw that Jeff had a pair of chopsticks as his bust-out prize just as Laurie had. I wanted them. During the Hold 'Em round, I looked down at two red sevens. Jeff was short-stacked and called my pre-flop raise. The flop came ten-high and he moved in. I wanted those chopsticks real bad so I called. Jeff showed two overs (ace-jack, I think?) and got no love from the turn or river. Jeff was out and the chopsticks were mine! Woot! Now I had a serious stack, and entered my favorite part of a tournament: the part where I have chips and start raising like it's going out of style. During the course of this tournament, someone gave me the nickname, "Raising Station." I took that as a compliment. I was able to steal some blinds/antes/pots during the next few rounds (and to be fair, I was also getting smacked with the deck) and built my stack even bigger. One by one, players were getting knocked out around me (and sometimes, *by* me!). I started to think I might have a shot at going really deep in this thing. The raising station (center). Thank goodness I've built up my tourney stamina online during the past few months, and thank goodness that the deeper you get in a tournament, the less the specific game matters. Nine hours after we began, I found myself at the final table. The blinds were insane, and any given hand could turn the short stack into the chip leader (and vice versa). I made this swing a couple of times myself as we remained eight-handed for nearly an hour. Then there was a rapid series of bust-outs and we were four-handed: Rob "Suddenly" Catlett, Bill Chen, Gabe DeVitto, and me. It was approaching 8pm, when the banquet was supposed to begin, so we had a pitiful number of sweaters. They were busy admiring the Poker Stars ice sculpture upstairs. Since I was a moron and didn't record any of this sooner, I have no remarkable hands to report. Bill busted fourth, followed by Rob, and that left Gabe and me to duke it out heads up for the trophy and the money. After some brief confusion, Gabe and I decided to switch to NLHE, since it would make everyone's lives easier. After several hands, I thought it would be sporting to mention to Gabe that I'd won the Fossilman heads up NLHE event at FARGO in October. Upon hearing this he decided to come over the top of me on most of my (steal?) raises and put me in some very tricky situations. The blinds were 5K/10K and there were only about 150K chips on the table. Gabe had the chip lead and I held KQo. I raised and he pushed all-in. I only had about 3BB in my stack so I called and he showed ATo. The flop treated me well: KQx. No help came for Gabe and I was back in it. We traded the chip lead back and forth and played heads up for about half an hour. By 9pm it was all over, and I had emerged victorious, scoring my first official ARG tournament win. This meant several things: I was a HOE champion (NOT a champion HOE). I got a fascinating plaque. I was in the running for "Best All-Around." I owed Matt Matros two thousand bucks. So apparently the theory still holds true that I should play any tournament Matt tells me to (I always win them). Apparently I am also a good investment. Interested? :) I don't know why I even went on so long about this frigging tournament since the real fun began once it was over. Gabe and I sashayed over to the cashier to collect our winnings and then set off to find the banquet. Ten hours of playing makes a girl hungry! The food was excellent, and we even made it in time to hear Bill and Jerrod speak. After feasting in celebration of my victory, I met up with Ivy Janet and we headed over to the Showboat for drinks. Then we found Matt, Kevin, and Buckshot and continued the fiesta in the Taj's lounge. The conversation was great and the company was even better. It's so nice to have so many friends gathered in one place. It just doesn't happen that often, and I really feel blessed when it does. After one last late-night cameo in the poker room, and some pit game nonsense with Steve and Ivy, it was time to retire. My awesome roomie Joan and I recounted the evening's adventures and then got some shut-eye in preparation for the next day's event: No Limit Hold 'Em. Saturday Night Fever I got a decent amount of sleep and woke up ready to play the NLHE event. I went downstairs to buy in (Taj card at the ready this time) and then grabbed some breakfast with Rob "ActionBob" Hwang, Steve "Buckshot" Benton, and Chris O'Connor. The service was slow but the food was decent, and after loading up on eggs, home fries, rye toast, and coffee, I headed over to the poker room. It will come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I consider NLHE to be my best tournament game. I felt relaxed and ready for action as the first hand was dealt. Coming off of a four thousand dollar win helped a bit to boost the ol' confidence as well. As the first cards were in the air, Jeff Caulkins found his seat at the next table over. You may recall from my last post that I won a lovely pair of chopsticks from Jeff the day before. "Ten dollar last-longer?" he said to me. I quickly agreed. I got few hands during the first couple hours and hovered around 1K in chips, winning most of my hands by living up to my new moniker ("raising station") and stealing blinds or whole pots. Still, after having 150K in chips in front of me the night before, my stack felt woefully small, and I was wondering if I'd get to experience that again at any point today. My first chance came when I was dealt KcQc in early position. I raised it up and got called by the short stack and by the woman in the big blind. Unfortunately, once again I do not remember the specific action. I know the flop had two clubs and a queen, and I know the river was a third club. The short stack was all-in on the turn, and I bet the river and got called by the big blind. I won the side pot and was ready to rake in the main pot with my king-high flush...when the short-stack rolled over Ac9c. Sigh. Nice hand, sir. I was moved to another table and found myself across the table from none other than my breakfast buddy Buckshot. ActionBob was hovering behind him, and I soon realized that Steve was more interested in busting out of this tourney and going to gamb00l it up with Rob than he was in accumulating chips. This was good information to have when I was dealt AQo in middle position. I was short-stacked at this point and moved all-in. Steve went into the tank. He said, "I have two over-cards," so I knew I had the best hand. I then reached into my bag of tricks and did what I could to induce a call. (Sorry, I won't reveal exactly what that entails -- if you were there, you got to witness something truly special. j/k). In the end, Steve's desire to bust and go gamb00l it up probably induced his call more than anything I was doing, and he rolled over AJ. "Don't worry," I said, "the suck-out is coming." This always seems to happen when the player who is behind wants to bust out (ie, players online who have to leave the tourney and are trying to dump off their chips). For once this didn't happen and I doubled up. Woot! I was moved to another table, this one over by the wall. The wall is actually mostly windows that separate the poker room from the hallway (read: smokers' paradise). There was actually a crowd, some smoking, some not, pressed against the glass watching this table. Apparently there isn't much to do in New Jersey at noon other than watch a $120 poker tournament. Feeling like a fish in the aquarium, I sat down and took stock of my new table. Players there that I recall were Eric, Stephanie Sommers and TracyB. Others I remember are Matt Hawril, Jeff Caulkins, Bill Chen, Dave Fruchter, and 8-2 Chris. (Again, please yell at me if I forgot you). Tracy had a sweet clock as her bust-out prize, and Jeff had another prize from China, this time a kick-ass wine cozy which was a miniature embroidered, traditional Chinese garment. I wanted it. I also wanted to win our last-longer bet! Soon I had my chance at both. (Jeff, let me know if I get this hand wrong.) I think I had pocket sixes on this hand, and Jeff had two overs (I think KJ). He was very short-stacked and pushed all-in. The price was okay and I had a decent stack behind, plus there was a Chinese wine cozy up for grabs and two red Taj chips with my name on them. I called and my small pair held up. For the second day in a row, I had knocked Jeff out of the tournament. Nothing personal, Jeff -- you just have to stop bringing such kick-ass bust-out prizes! 8-2 Chris pouting because he wanted the wine cozy. So now I had chips. Here is the part of the tournament where I have chips and start raising like it's going out of style. Unfortunately, today was also the day I decided to misread my hand. I was on the button and on a steal with Ad 6d. The small blind folded and the big blind, whose name I don't remember but who plays very solid, called my raise. The flop came Kd Qd x. Beautiful! I lead out with an almost pot-sized bet. The big blind pauses thoughtfully, then moves all-in. Wonderful! I look back at my cards to check on my two diamonds...and see that Lord Voldemort has transformed them into two hearts!!! Cursing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and my own fricking stupidity, I am forced to muck and surrender a huge chunk of my stack. Now I need chips again. So anyway, steal steal steal, I hang around for a while. I'm dealt Qd Jd. Wary of suited cards (and dark wizards), I check the suits carefully and limp under the gun. Usually I would raise, but I felt like mixing it up, getting lucky, and doubling up in brilliant fashion. Alternatively, there was still time in the day to go to the spa with Ivy, so busting would be fine with me too. Dave Fruchter obliges me and raises, and I call. The flop comes 8d 9d 9x. I check. Dave, who has exactly two thousand chips left, bets a thousand. I raise and put him all-in. He shakes his head, thinks for a bit, and then...mucks?? I shrug and take down the pot. The blinds are huge and I steal some more. Eric is getting sick of my "raising station" ways and starts to push back at me. I'm dealt QJo in the big blind when Eric raises under the gun. (I apologize once again for the lack of blind or stack sizes. Suffice it to say that the raise represented about one third of my stack.) I knew I had the worst hand but decided I might be able to outplay him with a stop and go. If he had a big pair, I would head to the spa. The flop was not bad: 2 3 4 rainbow. Not great if he had an ace, which he very well might, but I thought he might even fold an ace if I did this right. I pushed all-in for another 2800, which was about two thirds of his stack if I remember correctly. He thought for a long time and was muttering things like, "I raised under the gun. Under the gun! And you called...and then you pushed in on that flop..." etc etc. He seemed indignant that I would be so aggressive when he had raised under the gun. Eventually he mucked his cards. A la Chao Jiang: "I like play pokahhhh." Eric beats himself up for folding a winner. Eric was to get the better of me in the end, though. With the blinds up yet again, I was short-stacked yet again after losing a coin flip to Bill Chen. We were about twelve players from the money when I picked up A4o in the small blind. It was folded around to me and I raised (big surprise). Eric didn't surprise me when he moved all-in. He had me covered, but I needed chips, and my goal was to win this thing, not finish 18th, so I called. I was surprised when he turned up A8o. The flop came ace-high, but the rest were low cards and there was no split pot. I was out of the game in 32nd place. Just like the day before, even more fun awaited me away from the poker tables. I first headed over to Red Square, a bar at the Tropicana. Matt, Ivy, Kevin, Rob, Steve, Dave Fruchter and his wife Leslie were all there and on their second round of appletinis when I arrived. The drinks kept coming and the conversation was lively, ranging from poker to politics, mixed with lots of laughs. We had an eight o'clock dinner reservation at Cuba Libre, but before that we decided to engage in some karaoke antics upstairs. I think we scared the crap out of everyone else in the place with our fervor for this art form. After showing everyone my very convincing Cher impression and ripping the hell out of "Love Shack," I had worked up an appetite for some Cuban food. We all trooped down to Cuba Libre and met up with the Kuznicks for dinner. Someone ordered mojitos for the table, but I couldn't drink mine because it was way too sweet. I enjoyed some sweet potato and ground beef croquettes as an appetizer, followed by the "El Churrasco", a delicious steak with garlic potatoes and yucca fries, washed down with a spunky 2006 Coca-Cola. Richard Brodie, eat your heart out. Matt and Ivy were moving from the Taj to another hotel, so I helped them move their car after dinner. We had an unexpected adventure at the new hotel, which had its parking garage on the second floor. This garage was only accessible by a car elevator. Since I obviously lived to tell the tale, we can laugh about this now, but it was pretty touch-and-go as we maneuvered the car into the elevator and rode up to the second floor. While I'm glad I can cross "drive car in elevator" off my lifetime to-do list, I'm also glad I will probably never have to do this again. Back at the Taj, I decided to check out the action in the Poker Stars hospitality suite, since no pink chip game was going in the poker room. Up in the suite, a rotation game had sprung up, $1/$2 HOE. Since Kevin and Steve were hanging around, I knew this could get silly pretty fast, so I grabbed a seat and joined in. While I was there, Goldie was kind enough to bring me an ATLARGE hoodie, which I had been wanting all weekend. Now would be a good time to add my own accolades to those expressed on the ATLARGE listserve, because Goldie did a fantastic job of organizing and running this event. Thank you so much for all you did, Goldie -- your energy and your dedication are just amazing. And thanks for the hoodie! The biggest pot I won in the rotation game was one where I decided to straddle blind (hold'em round). Of course it was capped pre-flop, and on every street, and on the river the board was like J T 9 7 3. The pot was huge, but then Chris O'Connor bet the river and two people folded. I looked at my hand and saw I had a seven. I didn't see how I could fold for one bet, even with Steve behind me. So I called. Steve mucked a nine face-up and Chris confessed with a grimace that he had absolutely nothing. I won the pot with my pair of sevens. Thanks for the "protection," Chris! We ended the poker action with a NLHE sit-and-go. We had ten players, including Kevin, Joan, Rob, Steve, Chris, Kenny, Matt Ivester and others. By employing my typical "raising station" strategy, I quickly had everyone pissed off. Kevin had the misfortune of running into one of my real hands, KK, and busting. He got another chance at me when Kenny had to leave unexpectedly and Kevin took over his stack. Too bad I had AA this time. And that's how I was able to bust Kevin twice from the same tourney. ;0) Eventually it came down to Steve, Matt, and me. We traded the chip lead around for a while, and Steve was rivaling me for the title of "raising station." Finally I picked up AK against one of his crazy over-bet all-ins, and I called. He turned up 34. I rolled my eyes. It was my deal and I stared at the deck in my hand, knowing somehow that I was about to get outdrawn by this monkey. Sure enough, the turn paired him up and I was reduced to a very grim stack of chips indeed. I didn't last much longer and ended up finishing third for a profit of $20. Woot! After this I meandered down to idly observe one of the most absurd things you could ever see: professional poker players handing their hard-earned money back to the casino in a pit game. Kevin, Rob, and Steve played three-card poker while I rolled my eyes and inhaled second-hand cigarette smoke. Kevin of course had to go and turn a nice profit, so he learned nothing about the folly of pit games. We swung by the poker room to see if there was anything interesting going on there but didn't end up playing. After some more late-night meandering it was time for bed. I had decided to shoot for Best All-Around Player, which after my poor showing in NLHE meant that I would have to kick as in the next day's tourney, a game I had never played before: Seven Card Stud. Sunday, Bloody Sunday Only a final table finish would do in Sunday morning's Seven Card Stud tourney to win me Best All-Around Player. I took my seat and saw to my dismay that we would be starting with only 1000 chips and that the blind structure was very fast for a stud tourney. I was either going to have to miraculously pick up this game or get very lucky early on in order to have a shot at the title. Unfortunately, neither of these happened and I donked off most of my starting stack by chasing crappy draws, putting too much faith in one pair, and basically looking like a moron at the poker table. I hate looking like a moron at the poker table. It's not something I'm accustomed to and it's not fun. Fortunately the company was enjoyable, and I still managed to have a good time despite my obvious lack of skill or experience. I did make one good bluff, but of course I can't tell you what it was! j/k In the end Bill Chen put me out of my misery with trip jacks over my measly pair of sevens. To give you an idea of how poorly I was playing, despite the fact that I looked up from my split sevens and saw that Bill himself had one of my remaining sevens as his door card, I went ahead with the hand anyway and was just hoping to pair another one of my cards by the river in order to beat him. Merrily I donked along and called him down to the bitter end. Then I passed my chips across the table and put my last ATLARGE tourney of the weekend to bed. Except for this pitiful showing in the stud tourney, I was extremely pleased with my playing for the weekend. I even added a few new plays to my arsenal, so next year I'll be more dangerous than ever. Watch out! After the insane blinds did their worst to Kevin and Matt, we headed over to P.F. Chang's with Ivy for a tasty Chinese repast. We enjoyed dumplings, spicy scallops, and other delights as we waxed nostalgic about the great weekend we'd just enjoyed. Our waiter also gave us an expert demonstration in mu shu pancake wrapping. After lunch it was time to say goodbye and head back up the Jersey highway to Brooklyn. I can't wait for my next ARGE event (I will likely skip BARGE since I will be going to Ireland in August, but stay tuned for updates -- I am working on a plan that involves cloning or supersonic travel, whichever I can get a permit for.) The pressure will be on since I have now won big at both ARGE events I have attended. I'll be ready, so you should be too! I am considering trying to win a seat in the WSOP but can't decide what the best satellite route is. Any recommendations? I generally prefer supers to double shoot-outs and would not want to invest more than a few hundred dollars in this. Also if anyone is interested in investing in my road to the Series, let me know. Similarly, I will be trying to play more bigger buy-in events and more live tourneys. I enjoy them a lot and think there is some element of surprise that gives me an advantage in a live game. If anyone is interested in backing any of these exploits, shoot me an email. For now it's back to the grind, limit hold 'em on UB, some deep stacks and 180-person SNG action, and a big Sunday tourney when I feel like it (although not this week because it was my birthday and not next week because it's book club day). I am also still in the hunt for my first score in the Friday night tourney I've been playing. I'm just biding my time, boys. Your money won't be safe from me much longer. One hand to finish things off. This is from the Sunday Million Guaranteed on Stars from last week: PokerStars Game #4265024157: Tournament #20354660, Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/03/12 - 16:45:38 (ET) Table '20354660 4' Seat #5 is the button Seat 5: hotcookie42 (1695 in chips) Seat 7: chanukya (2050 in chips) Seat 8: IROCHIMA (2670 in chips) LUHMAN: posts small blind 15 chanukya: posts big blind 30 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to hotcookie42 [Ac Ad] IROCHIMA: calls 30 hotcookie42: raises 90 to 120 LUHMAN: folds chanukya: calls 90 IROCHIMA: calls 90 *** FLOP *** [5s 4h 6d] chanukya: checks IROCHIMA: checks hotcookie42: bets 330 chanukya: calls 330 IROCHIMA: folds *** TURN *** [5s 4h 6d] [7d] chanukya: bets 300 hotcookie42: calls 300 *** RIVER *** [5s 4h 6d 7d] [2d] chanukya: checks hotcookie42: checks *** SHOW DOWN *** chanukya: shows [Jc Jh] (a pair of Jacks) hotcookie42: shows [Ac Ad] (a pair of Aces) hotcookie42 collected 1635 from pot I realize this is not the best flop for my hand, especially after my flop bet gets called and the turn puts four to a straight on the board. Does anyone fold on the turn? After thinking through the hand a bit more, it seems to me that calling is probably the worst option. If my opponent has made his hand, I'm probably going to have to call his river bet (unless it's all-in) now that the pot is so large. Raising would probably be better, because if he does have a set or a straight, he might reraise here and give me a better idea of where I stand. If he is drawing, my call doesn't put any pressure on him. Checking behind on the river seems like a no-brainer to me -- anyone value betting here? Also, anyone disagree with the way my opponent played his pair of jacks? I think the pre-flop call is okay (unless he knows me, in which case he should definitely reraise!). I think his call on the flop is as bad as my call on the turn, and for similar reasons. People play spectacularly badly in this tournament. Every week I am amazed at the many creative ways that they take my chips. (Please read "creative" in its most pejorative and sarcastic sense.) Play good! I heart wine cozy.

As on my blog: www.misst74.blogspot.com [dead link —ed.] First of all, allow me to apologize for not blogging a farewell message last week before leaving for Atlantic City, I was busy getting ready for the trip and I forgot. NOW, onto the TR!! WEDNESDAY: I left my house around 7pm, stopping first at the gas station to buy some Kingman, Arizona shot glasses as my bounty prizes. I was paying for them when I saw some little pug dog keychains with a "Push Me" sticker on their stomachs, so I picked one up, pushed it's stomach and was serenaded by Kenny Roger's "The Gambler", how perfect was that?? I added 3 of those to my bounty prize and bill and headed out. I was hoping to arrive in Vegas 30-45 mins late for the 8:00pm Binion's tourney. However, the Arizona Highway Patrol had different plans for me and decided to pull me over PLUS two other cars (we had a caravan thingy going) at the same time and ticketed me for going 96 mph in a 65 mph zone, apparently if you go over 20 mph, it's considered a felony and therefore I shall be going to court in April. : ) I arrived at Binion's with 420T left (I called ahead and the TD bought in for me so that I could play) and just enough to go all in with AJ, I doubled up and then moved all in with A8 and lost to AK, so 2 hands and I'm gone. I then head over to Golden Nugget to play a little 4 Card Poker, then head to Plaza for the midnight event. The event was short handed with only 12 players and I was at a table with 4 others and a few dead stacks. My labels for my opponents: Seat 2: Newbie; Seat 4: Gambler; Seat 5: Drunk guy; Seat 7: BRILLIANT Player, BEAUTIFUL as well; Seat 8: Tight-Passive young WPT'r. So, adapting to the short handedness, I'm raising and stealing all the dead stacks blinds and no one is really fighting back at all. I thought if anyone was to fight back, it would be Seat 8, he was the only one who seemed to know what he was doing, but he was so passive. He should have been raising as soon as I folded the few hands that I did. Anyway, the Gambler (Seat 4) started making it a habit of raising UTG, blind. The first time, I let it go and folded. The 2nd time, I moved all in over the top with K,9; he folds. The third time, he warns the dealer that I'll be going all in and I do with K, Q (da Miss T!) I got the Gambler and the Drunk to call me for all their chips with 4, 8 s and 10, Q os respectively. I busted both of them out and we're at the final table now with 9 players left. I have about 2,467,000 chips and the 2nd largest stack has 750. I proceed to knock out the next 4 players, and when we get to 3 people left, I was awarded 1st ($415 woo hoo!) and the other two chopped 2nd and 3rd. Totally feeling like the female version of Johnny Chan, I go over to Binions and play the 2am. Well looky here, turns out not only is VeeRob in the 8 seat (I'm in the 10 seat) but good old Leet, is in Seat #1. Nice to have met you Leet, even if you do hate me now. So, I'm on the button, and I raise the normal 3X the blind, I'm-on-the-button-steal. Leet decides to bump it another 1000, and I feel like calling, so I do. My cards? 2c 3c. The flop? Ac, 4c, x. So not only do I have a flush draw, a straight flush draw, I also have a straight draw. I have 13 outs. Leet checks the flop, I move all in, he calls and shows AQ. My club comes on the river and I "suck out" with my 13 outs on his beautiful hand. 2 hands later I call his all in with 10,Q; He has A,K and I proceed to bust him out when the 10 flops. Like it was MY fault the 10 came. Needless to say, both VeeRob and Leet were astounded by my play and I'm surprised they didn't ask for an autograph, but they must have just been shy. Either that, or they were too busy cursing me and calling me a bad player behind my back...oh no wait, that was in front of my back. Anyways, the tension was getting a little thick so I had to hurry and bust out so that I could leave the negative vibes (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) I head to the airport and proceed to drink my breakfast and board my 8:40am flight to Philadelphia. THURSDAY: I arrive at the Philly airport right on time, even after circling the airport for 20 mins. I've never circled before and I must admit, I got dizzy, so I slept the last 15 mins. I headed down to baggage claim area and waited for Lisa, my friend from WPC, who was going to be my roomie for the weekend. Her plane ended up late, so Douglas Dunn (or whatever he feels like calling himself TODAY) arrived before she did with his girlfriend/fiancee/wife (WTF was she??) Heather in tow. Heather was gorgeous and reminded me immediently of Julianne Moore (although it took us all about 45 mins to remember her name). So once Lisa arrived, we headed off for Atlantic City, along with the GPS Lady. Now, at first, I must admit, I thought the GPS thingy was pretty damn cool. She's this lady that lives in Doug's dashboard and proceeds to tell him where to go. (No, Hell was not mentioned.) I first realized that GPS Lady might be out to sabotage Doug when he proceeded to exit the freeway because she told him too, but I could clearly see a very large green sign that said "Atlantic City/New Jersey Exit 2 Miles". Turns out with the GPS lady in the computer, Doug does not read nor see signs. We traveled through a quaint little town called Who-Knows-Who-Cares and then got back on the freeway where the off ramp sign was still standing and waiting for us to drive underneath. Doug's account of the gas station was dead on and I found it amusing. What I didn't find amusing was the actual gas prices. $2.15 a gallon...WTF? I'm here in Arizona paying $2.65 and New Jersans get to pay $2.15? I'm so jealous. We arrive at the Taj and after checking in and changing clothes, we head for the Smoker's Dinner. As we entered, I recognized no one but was approached by Steven Phillips aka FlowerMan and then proceeded to make my socializing rounds, after making sure that Lisa, Heather and Doug (and myself, DUH) all had drinks in hand. Turns out there is only one check and everyone splits the total cost of the dinner with drinks, but since we were all newbies, we had no idea, so I took care of the $60 bar bill when I won Roshambo vs. Doug. Dinner was very entertaining, I was able to chat it up with quite a few people. I met the BARGE organizer, not Peter but the other one, crap, I'm so bad with names, it's ridiculous. Anywho, it was announced there that I had been announced as the BARGE Virgin Queen and we drank a toast to that, or maybe I drank one to myself, who knows. I will say that when we left, I had NO CLUE that Doug was tipsy so his driving was excellent despite the Showroom parking lot mishap. After getting back to the Taj, I had agreed to meet Steven at the poker room and we were going to go dancing. Turns out no one likes to dance in AC on a Thursday, so he headed to bed and I headed to the pit. I ended up getting caught up with a group of guys that had been to the dinner, and all 10-13 (?) of us headed to play craps with my role being the "Blower" as I do NOT play craps. Taj wouldn't open a table for us, so we walked over to the Showboat where we found an empty table. I blew on a couple of dice, watched them 7 out and left them to play some Texas Bonus Hold Em. They started dropping like flies and we headed up to the poker room, only about 6 of us now, and proceeded to alienate the entire poker room with rounds of shots, loud voices, and in the dark cap raising on every street play. Good times, good times. I left them around 4:00am when I decided I was hungry, drunk, and tired. Went back to Taj, had some spaghetti and meatballs, and crashed into bed around 5am. FRIDAY: I woke up and headed downstairs in time to register for ATLARGE, get my awesome name tag and free Polo Shirt, then sat down and waited for HOE to start. Started getting tired and grumpy when no waitress came until the 2nd hour, so I started double fisting my drinks to get me in a better mood and to get rid of the dark circles under the eyes. Nothing much to report about HOE, although I did end up in about 87th place, if memory serves. I then played the 3:15pm NLHE event that the Taj holds and was awarded a Polo Shirt by the 8-2 gang and was announced an honorary member. I was so moved and touched that I proceeded to change my shirt right there in the poker room. Apparently, when a female changes her shirt in a poker room, she's suppose to announce it because if she doesn't, then no one sees it as they are all concentrating on their cards and then they will proceed to ask for an encore all weekend long since they missed it the first time. It was getting close to the 6:15 NLHE event, so I bought in for $200 and then went to get something to eat before it started, since I busted out around 5pm in the 3:15 event. I ate some more spaghetti and meatballs and then started to feel a little sick from the all day drinking with spaghetti on top of it and went upstairs to my room to try and throw up so that I would feel better. I ended up laying down for a quick moment and woke up around 8:30pm. Oops. I rush to the poker room where I am told that I just busted out 2 minutes earlier. My bad. I run into Steven Phillips and he escorts me over to the Casbah, the Taj's version of a night club. I must say I was impressed, it was very colorful, very loud, and good music was playing, what more could I ask for?. Steven was a great dance partner for being an "older" man (Mental image: The man looks JUST like Albert Einstein) and was asked a few times by these HOT, YOUNG, ladies if they could have a picture with "My Man". Turns out I had a sugar daddy for the night, and didn't even know it, but everyone else knew it, interesting. Steven called it quits after a few hours, I stayed with a few new friends I made and then left when the capacity got to around 2,000 people. WAY too crowded. I head to the pit, play some house carnival games and end up ahead $900 and the proud owner of a purple chip. Not TOO proud though as I proceeded to lose the chip, and I don't mean gamble or spend or cash in the purple chip. I mean LOSE. I, Tanya, being an idiot, dropped a $500 chip somewhere on the floors of the Taj Mahal. Congratulations to the new owner of my chip! I played a little bit in the Pink Game, as how could I NOT being at ATLARGE and then headed to bed around 5am, after stopping for some more spaghetti and meatballs first. SATURDAY: I head downstairs to the NLHE ATLARGE event, and after whining about my purple chip loss to everyone within earshot, I head over to the video poker machine where Karma paid me back my purple chip plus $275 more when I hit 4 aces with no kicker. Whew! I start to feel better and walk around the poker room bragging about how much Karma loves me. I also go around showing off my bounties to all that were interested in hearing the dog sing "You got to know when to hold em....." I, again, bust out early, something like 160th place (?? who knows??) and play the 3:15 tourney and the 6:15 tourney with no positive reports from these events at all. Can't really remember much of what I did that night, but I know it involved the pit and drinking, and I know it involved my owning (for a few hours at least) my first pumpkin chip ever, that was pretty cool. At this point I've been continuously drinking since Wednesday night and I was starting to burn out, so after eating some spaghetti and meatballs (anyone noticing a trend here?) I headed to bed. SUNDAY: I wake up to go play some Stud, find out it's not 8/better and am bummed. HOW can a player get rolled up TWICE in the first two levels, get Quads in the 2nd level and STILL be the 2nd player out?? That was me, I guess I play too many hands, eh? I wandered around the casino and poker room a bit, played in the 6:15pm tourney where I was determined to cash or win as it was my last chance. I was seated at a table with 4 other females, how odd was that? I make a bluff with 4,4 and have to lay down to an all in. Then this hand: I have J,8s and limp along with 6 other players in late position. The flop comes 3d, Jc, 8d and after everyone checks to me, I bet pretty big, 600, and get called by the blinds. The turn is 7c and the SB checks, but the BB flings in her chips like OMG, I HAVE THE NUTS. I go in the tank for about 1 min and there is NO way I can NOT put her on a bluff. If she had the J, she would have bet the flop, I've been watching her play. So, I bite the bullet and I call. The SB folds and she tosses her cards up saying "You got me" I see Kc, 9c and know that I now have to dodge a club and a K. I get comments from a few players on my hand about what a good call I made but lose it anyway when that damn K comes on the river. She then tells me that she did that because she wanted to go to dinner with her husband. RIIIIIGHT. Sigh, GG me as I'm out 2 hands later with K,9 no good against A,J. I head back to my video poker and get lucky when I hit 4 aces with a kicker and win back almost all the money I've lost so far for the weekend, I'm feeling pretty good now as at least I can say I'm leaving even and just finish the night playing in the pit, gambling, etc. I didn't drink on Sunday at all until after the jackpot win, then decided to start drinking and have some last minute fun as we were leaving on Monday. One thing I noticed about Atlantic City/New Jersey men. What PERVERTS. OMG, the men from that area (for the MOST part guys, and you KNOW who you are!!) are SO crass and BOLD, and the OLDER they are, the MORE sexually obnoxious they are. Men will flirt with me, I will flirt back, and it's all in good fun, however, I have never, ever had so many offers to "go back to my room" then in AC. 1 was 23, but the others were, oh I'd say about 60, 65. I laugh it off and tell them, "I'm married!" and one guy had the audacity to say, "Well, do you think oral sex (OK, ok, he said something other then "oral sex" but you get the point) is cheating?" Um, YEAH??? Good grief, the men out there (again, for the most part) are PIGS. I don't know HOW the women out there put up with it, but different strokes for different areas, I guess. It was totally disgusting to me, and there is no way that that kind of talk would actually get me to hook up with someone even if I was single. MONDAY: Lisa and I sleep in and check out around noon, then head over to eat some breakfast/lunch. We gamble for a few hours, then head out on the boardwalk to get some salt water taffy and AC sweatshirt for me, and fudge for Cherissa and Bill. We headed back to the lobby to wait for our driver as we hired a Town Car to take us to the airport instead of trying to mess with the trains. (Another 60+ year old pervert by the way) My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:40pm and after having a few drinks in the airport and on the flight, I laid across my row (only 21 passengers on the flight, how cool is that?) and slept for most of the 5 hour flight. I arrived in Vegas around midnight and got home around 2am. Didn't get much sleep though, due to my coughing fits, and here I am back at work, back to the grind and trying to get through yet another months end reports and meetings. So that's my trip in a nutshell, I cannot stress enough how good the ATLARGE people were and how much I thank Goldie for setting it up. I can see myself in Atlantic City ONE time a year, and it would be for ATLARGE. GREAT people. If you've never gone to an ARGE event, you must, you simply must. Some special, but few, shout outs. Omaholic: As most RGP'rs may know, there are actually two of these guys running around. One that posts on RGP and plays with us on Full Tilt and one who plays on PokerStars but is not an RGP'r. I met the non-RGP'r this weekend by chance in a Taj tourney, that was kind of cool. AlwaysAware: It was an honor to meet her in person, only because I view her as a legend of RGP and I told her as much, but I don't think she thinks I meant it. We didn't talk for too long and I could sense that we wouldn't be hanging out or doing anything crazy together, but it was still very cool meeting her. Douglas Dunn: Very cool cat, has a cool car that has a lady in the dashboard but don't let his posts fool you, he seemed shy to me. Maybe it's just because anyone who isn't as loud and obnoxious as me just seems shy. Great guy with a hot girlfriend/fiance/wife. Steven Phillips: Any guy over 45 who will go dancing with me is cool in my book. Plus with his hair, his style, and his personality, I knew instantly when I saw him that we would be buds. Aardvark: It was cool to put a face to the name. Didn't really seem to interested in having fun though, a very serious player in my opinion. 8-2 Gang: If I live in Maryland, there is NO WAY I would NOT be a part of this group, what a great bunch of people!! Big Syd: Even if I did only see you for a few hours, at least I got to meet you, I knew you would be cool, but where the hell did you disappear too? I couldn't find you after I paid you the last longer bet. It's like you left, next time, you better hang a little bit longer. John Harkness: Awesome to finally meet him in person and I never knew he was an art lover. Quite a traveler as well, great game on Sunday John!! Lisa: Not a regular RGP'r, but a good friend and I could NOT have had a better roomie. SOOOO many people I'm leaving out, but these were the ones that stuck out in my mind first as I was typing this. Don't feel left out if I didn't mention you, just remember I was drunk almost the entire weekend. : )

Suddenly's ATLARGE Trip Report, or "Mangos, threes, and other perversions". ...and then the Rabidly Outspoken Evangelical Christian Asian Law Student suddenly confessed a statutory rape to the entire table. You see, God would protect him if he just told the truth and accepted his sins.. Which may or may not work but I can say that no lawyer would be able to unless he would shut the heck up. We are getting ahead of ourselves though. Because of a series of events probably only slightly below the "ye gads" factor of the above, the trial on Monday didn't go so I wound up in AC a few days early for ATLARGE. Which I think is a good thing. So I spend some extra time in the splendor... er... squalor... of the Taj low-limit section. The trip in wasn't all that eventful. It was about 65F when I left Charleston WV, so I of course didn't think to take a coat or anything. On my way I had to stop in the northern part of the state to talk to a few clients sorta forced to live there. The only garment I had suitable for the 40F weather I now found myself in was... my ATLARGE sweatshirt from last year. So.... I now have a "prison worn" ATLARGE sweatshirt. Does that make it a collectable? Other than that everything went just fine. Played some poker on Wednesday and Thursday. Sat there listening to my Ipod, just relishing in the brainlessness of the whole ordeal. Decompress. Then Friday was upon us. I wake up and eat a handful of dried mango. I've developed a small problem with dried mango and may need to seek help. I go down to the room, register for the tournament and get my atlarge stuff and hang out and then... ugh. I have to go back to the room. NOW. Rutgers' Revenge or something. On reflection, trying to, with dignity and tact, explain to the maid who doesn't speak English all that well that you would be most gratified if she would just go ahead and skip cleaning the bathroom because it would be a futile exercise, one taking up time you would really, really, rather use in a different way, was a task I think I handled quite well. I even managed to get her to leave a few extra towels. Of course maybe I didn't need to include any of this.... nevermind. So I go back to play in the HOE. I remember some of it. At some point in Omaha I think I manage to win the whole high and 1/3 of the low with the nut low and a pair of fours or something silly. I do remember getting rolled up kings in a hand against Jodi that filled up on the river. I think my Omaha tournament strategy (find a decent starting hand and just keep betting... if you get raised just re-raise. The sooner you get your money in the more chances to suck out) worked well for me as it has in the FARGO pairs tourneys. My stud8 and holdem strategy (fold) worked even better. We got to eight handed and stayed there forever. Every player at the table besides Gabe was all in at some point. Epic struggle. Then we lost four players in some sort of cataclysm that stopped as suddenly as it started, and we played four handed for several days. There is much controversy over what happened next. We were in a holdem round. Jodi was raising every hand. Well... 60% or so anyway. Now and then Bill, Gabe, or I would poke our heads up and toss up a raise. On the fateful hand, Jodi opened under the gun for a raise. I find a pair of nines and re-raise. Bill shrugs and dumps all his chips into the pot, and we both call. I have about a big bet left. Flop comes QTX. Crap. I call the flop and turn, both blanks. We turn over our cards. I have 99, Bill has AK, and Jodi has something with a ten in it. The river blanks, so Bill and I are eliminated in the same hand, but I'm third because I'm better at math. Okay okay... because I had more chips. Geesh. Later that night, I'm waiting for my friend to get in, I told him to find me in the poker room. I'm just sitting there, Minding my own business in a 3-6 game, some guy starts talking about something and asks me what I do and like a fool I tell him and now he wants to discuss the criminal mind with me. General BS, nurture v. nature, can some people be fixed or are some hopeless. We are blathering away, me in the 7 seat, other guy in the 9 seat, when the young Asian kid in the 10 seat interrupts. "Can I just say something sir?" "Sure" I shrug, mildly alarmed at the aggressive politeness. "They are possessed by demons and only Jesus can save them." I nod. I then continue the last answer to the other guy, who really wants me to tell him it is alright to bang the chick that he caught stealing from her because she can learn to be honest and he can tell she really loves him... which is in and of itself an alarming conversation too complicated to relate. But the poor kid has this tortured look about him. "Can I say something else sir?" "Well... sure." "I think that anyone can be saved, but the only way to do it is by accepting Jesus and turning yourself over to His will." "Does that help with mango addiction?" "Huh?" This goes in circles for a few minutes. The one guy is talking about types of criminal personalities and the kid's face keeps getting more and more intense as he throws in more comments about Jesus. He's no longer paying attention to the game at all. The dealer has to remind him every time it is his turn and he just throws chips in. His delays and the fact that he wins four huge pots with complete trash hands has the other end of the table at near mutiny. He fixes me with a earnest glare and asks me "Do you think I'm insane?" "I kinda do now." "Why?" "Well.... because you asked." He got even more anxious. Still tossing in chips whenever the dealer prompted him, not so lucky now. He starts asking me about law school. He attends one in the Ivy League. I smile and say something like "Well, don't feel bad. Not everyone can get into WVU." No response. He wonders if I ever felt really anxious and worried during law school. I tell him no. He's dumfounded. I explain that the way I saw it, the drive to the school was the most dangerous part of the day. The worst thing that could happen to me at school was not becoming a lawyer. Damn far sight from being eaten by bears.... This is when he explains to pretty much everyone that he had sex with a fifteen year old girl and he's worried about getting in trouble. Apparently he told his entire law school class about it and "now they think I'm weird." I mean does this happen in 20-40 games? At some point he asked me if I would say anything about his little problem because he was going into politics. Before I can answer someone else asks if he has any other secrets. Apparently nothing but his serious drug use and some hookers. Then my friend shows up. Good thing. The next day at the no limit I'm doing alright until the table change. I walk into the force of nature that is Chic with a monster stack. He would have had an insane stack but... he kept taking brutal, brutal beats from the same two guys, one of whom would celebrate each time. We develop a small "criminal attorneys v. collection attorneys" rivalry that lasts until I make a stupid play to cripple myself (just say no to AQ), and then I get busted by Chic. The rest of Saturday is spent tormenting a guy in a 5-10 game. I get on the list for the pink game, but no open seat yet so I go play 5-10. Some guy is critical of my play. He thinks raising is evil. However, he seems to call most of my raises then fold to any post-flop action. So now I start raising with pretty much everything, and re-raise him every time he raises because he will lay it down if he doesn't hit. Early on I make consecutive runner-runner club flush draws (the first I had overcards, the second I had monster ITOs (implied tilt odds.) Soon we have a rocking 5-10 game as nobody will fold to my raises, and the anti-raiser is headed off cursing my name. I love games where big pots are built pre-flop and everyone thinks chasing is evil and wrong. Soon I become disgusted with the dirty red chips, and see an empty seat in the pink game. It breaks before I can get back from the cage with chips. I consider that a proper show of respect for my card catching skills. Pretty much it for Saturday. I wonder through the suite and see The Worst Laydown Ever in what I think is a 1-2 or 2-4 game. I'll say no more. The Stud tournament was enjoyable. Sort of a weird lazy Sunday post-Apocalypse feel to it. I keep a decent stack most of the way through thanks to my catching running threes on two consecutive hands where I managed to build huge pots while drawing close to dead. I manage to lose a bunch of chips right before the final table and then at the final table fold a bunch of times, finally get all in with the first hand that had a three in it and lose to Sabyl's somewhat gratuitous full house. Thus another ARG trip came to a close. So what happened? The good: 1) Fun time with people whose company I enjoy. 2) Cashed at least once in four consecutive ARG trips 3) At least seven runner-runner suckouts. 4) Made someone who wears sunglasses in a 5-10 game cry. (See (3) above) 5) Friend from home won like $400 playing 2-4 on Friday and Saturday The Bad: Still have gone nowhere in ARG NLHE events. The Ugly: I think Jerrod Ankenman may have ruined my life. Okay... not nearly that dramatic, but I'm sitting there during a break, and there is a conversation about PokerStars and player numbers and that some of the games there are rakeless. Jerrod says something like "I wonder what a decent winrate is for a no rake nickle / dime game?" I didn't think much of it at the time. But it just stuck in the back of my head and now I'm like Kevin Mchale in that "Cheers" episode where he wonders how many bolts there are in the court at the Garden.... Hopefully I'll get over it but if I don't I'll have decent idea of it by next year... Ugh. Maybe I should start a pool....

Thursday: Get in, can't find anyone, go to poker room, talk to Tom Hummel, meet Chuck, get to the Smoker. Sit down near Tom and Actionbob, get a bunch of appetizers (shrimp cocktail, fried calmari, oysters, clams) People smoking cigars, drinking wine. Got a filet mignon stuffed with crab meat. Awesome. Play "guess the check" game with everyone at the table. Shelly Louie has a pretty close guess -- I think he ended up winning but I'm not 100% sure. We put in $5 each. Get back to Taj, play some 20-40. Lose. Friday: HOE tournament Sometime after the start, Ivy gets some Krispy Kreme for the entire table. I got a glazed donut -- my favorite kind at Krispy Kreme. Thanks, Ivy! I don't remember much about the initial table... except I'm picking up some chips in stud/8 even though I've only played the game about three times in my life. All of my starting cards look so tasty! Later someone said: "You're zeejustin, you have ace-ten on the button and 76 suited in the small blind. What do you do?" (So I was thinking: with regards to alliances in multiway pots, it would be interesting if zeejustin, in addition to his multi-accounting, also had multiple personalities who were at war with each other. So the guy on the small blind would ally with the big blind and try to cut down the button's equity.) Friday night: Banquet, Tom McEvoy said he won 70% of his cash game sessions. As soon as I hear this, I look over at Matt Matros right as he's looking over at actionbob. I guess if you have "stop-win ceilings" you can win more sessions. A second talk was given by Bill and Jerrod about maths stuffs. Played pink chip game with Kevin Conlon, Matt M., Joan. Joan scooped a huge pot and chopped it in half with the side of her hand, and gave that to the dealer. He went to drop it in his toke box, but we reminded him to keep the pink chips in the game, so he counted it out first, and put it in his tray, and dropped a hundred in his toke box. Joan had managed to hit $100 dollars exactly -- well done! There was one hand where I had A8h which turned the nuts, only I didn't know it because I was playing my hand blind. Another hand I was playing blind: 88 with T52 flop, spiked an 8 on the turn to outrun presto. Saturday -- early bustout Sweated some of the tables, played some 10-20, signed up for pink game...Grabbed a philly cheese steak with Jerrod; Bill joined us. Went to Trop with Ivy and Matt. Walked around for a bit, Matt pointed out this was all new. (The only other time I was in AC was 2001, when it was more horrible there) Met up with Kevin, Action Bob, and Buckshot at P.F. Chang's. More wine. I got a duck spinach salad because I wasn't too hungry but it was good. Kevin's a golfer so he and Action Bob are talking about who's really cool behind the scenes. And sometimes an athlete who the public assumes is a "nice guy" is really kind of a jerk. Action Bob was making fun of Rory Sabbatini through some anecdote about an incident that took place on a tour event, heh. Later, went to Red Square for lots of appletinis. Joined there by Dave F, Leslie, and Jodi. Talked baseball with Dave F (Yankees fan) and Matt (Mets fan). "A Red Sox fan, a Yankees fan, and a Mets fan are sitting together talking baseball. What happens?!" Matt thought Bobby Valentine was the best manager the Mets had over the past 20 years because of what he was able to get out of mediocre teams. I like Bobby V. too and I was kind of hoping, a few years back, that the Sox would hire him. One time I kept sending Bobby V. -related links to my friend who's a Mets fan, including a link that said "Bobby V claimed to have invented the wrap sandwich." Apparently, that was the final straw, and my friend asked, "What are you trying to do, kill me?!" Dave had a theory about multiple universes, and that in his universe, 2004 didn't really happen. I still can't really believe the 2004 season happened either.

Partial bustout list for ATLARGE 2005 tournaments.

Results for ATLARGE 2005.

Readers know I got some challenging news to deal with last week and at the last minute needed to change some travel plans. Once completed, travel from the midwest went according to schedule with the "positive ev" exception that I got to Philly two hours early. This translated into catching earlier trains and checking into the Taj on Thursday afternoon about an hour and half early. "Wow, time for rest".(ding!) At about 6:00PM I was up and in the poker room ready for the Taj $120 NL Tourney. Last year I missed cashing by two places but thought I really played well; that is for a guy with lousy cards. This year I didn't last long enough to remember any details of play. What I do remember is a very different structure than the year before. This year, after what seemed like only three rounds, we started paying antes, "wtf!". So there was forced gambling and the field was quickly decimated. At this point, if I recall, my QQ went down easily with players looking at draws to stay alive. Note: Next year try the Borgata. "Ok, lesson learned! Now for some kibitzing." There's Suddenly (looking green around the gills, prm (always good to see), Goldie(terrific guy and a great organizer), some assorted ADBs, with, I'm sure, many more familiar people coming tomorrow. Friday morning with coffee and eggs at the Taj's Bombay Restaurant and in comes Barry K.(Mr Raise), and Russ P., the man who would become this years HOE Champ. Barry asks me to join their table and I'm glad to do so. Casual conversation ensues until we drain the extra cup of Joe and head to the poker room. Goldie's there, Russ F., many 8-2's and other familiars as well. This year's "sooper secret" surprise was really a pretty nice hooded sweatshirt with an Atlarge emblem on the front. "Well done Goldie!" Last years HOE Champ, Uncle Al, and Lew are at my HOE table. It's a fairly active table and Uncle Al is the first one busted! How can this be? Then I met Steve C.(Death Valley). This guys has an absolute knack for dragging river cards. He put me out of my misery with completed back to back straight draws against high pairs. Later, in the NL Tourney I was at his table again. He can play. Later that afternoon I played $5-$10 for an hour; plus $90! (ding!) The Pokerstars Banquet was simply superb. There was so much good food, fresh fruit, plentiful desserts, drinks, and good company. I sat with Scottro, Oscar(tomorrow's NL Champ), Nick and Matt M.(brothers and good guys), Barry K., and Russ F.(cali Russ, the accountant). (I apologize, as I may have overlooked someone.) While walking down to breakfast Saturday morning and passing the poker room, I saw some die hard argers still hanging in from the night before. "More power to 'em!" The No Limit tournament was a gas. Goldie and the Taj modified the structure to accommodate us and in the process we played a long time for the buy in. I ran for periods hot and cold and thought I was getting enough good cards to keep me in until the later rounds. That turned out to be false. I ended up on a short stack at an active table. John H., Oscar, a new arge acquaintance Mitch K.(a slightly older guy like me), at least five newbies and Steve(Death Valley were at there. Desperate at one point, I went all in with pair of nines and got two callers. I didn't improve and won the hand. "That's an active table!" When I was short stacked again, and in the small blind, I called a small raise. Pizzaman, in the big blind, re-raised and two of the three of us were all in again. This time I was dominated and went out 89th in the field. By this time John H., Death Valley, and Mitch were all busted out. "Time to find the pink chip game" What fun! The Atlarge pink chip game is just a blast. This year I was at a table that didn't get awfully "lit up". We were playing close to the vest and fairly straight forward poker. There were fairly decent sized pots, yet I don't think the entire time we played anyone was more than two stacks off. There were two locals, Marshall, Jerrod, Jeff S., Michelle, Kim and Eric H. A good time was had by all and I think most of my donation went to Kim and Eric. (Apologies again to forgotten players at the table.) By about 10:30 I'm in bed thinking about traveling home early the next morning. If I haven't mentioned it, thanks to Goldie for all his work in organizing this event, Pokerstars for sponsorship, and the Taj for all they do to make us welcome. This was an great arge event. Out.

Extremely slow day at work here, so I thought id regurgitate some of the more memorable experiences from my ATLARGE weekend...Before i do though, let me echo the many who have already thanked Goldie for puttin on such a fine shin dig. Thanks, Stevan. So It's Friday morning in Albany, NY. I had planned on Leaving around 5:00 am to allow for plenty of time to make the HOE trny without having to rush, but somehow managed to oversleep (woke up, alarm was off and it was already 5:00. D'oh!) and didnt get on the road till 5:30. Thank you biological clock. Do you think on any other day I'd manage to only oversleep by 30 minutes? Hells no... My drive was uneventful till i got close to the city - i was scanning the radio stations and found myself stopping momentarily on a christian rock station - listening bemusedly as the DJ ran down the songs recently played..i dont remember the exact name but they were titles like "In you lord", and "all for him", "My life for yours", "divinely severe", etc... anyway, as it turns out, i received a little divine intervention when the DJ suddenly announced there was a major Traffic accident on the garden state around exit 140 - They reported some kind of car explosion on the guard rail/median, closing 2 lanes in one direction and one lane in another. Traffic backed up for 15 miles in both directions---woah! The DJ actually said to use the NJ tpke! Now Im really worred about getting there on time, so on impulse i take the exit for 287 south, not even knowing if this will get me close to where i need to go. Well wouldnt you kn! ow it, but praise the lord, 287 was the way to go---hooked me back up onto the GSP about 20 exits past the accident where im sure i would have sat for hours lamenting my never ending string of bad beats...nevermind that someone else probably took a much worse beat in that traffic snafu than I. Anyway, its just kind of cool that i happened to be listening to the radio - i dont usually do that. Ok so I get to the Taj with about 40 minutes to spare before HOE. HOE itself was so uneventful for me I dont even recall how i busted out. I just remember being somewhat glad it was over in plenty of time to make it to the Borgata's 100 R+A NL. I run into Uncle Al in the poker snack shop, and we decide to head off together. You'll find references this trny in Pizzamans 2004 ATLARGE report where we ran into eachother. Last year, I managed to build a stack of 20K without rebuying or adding on - i was looking forward to the same this year with the intent of playing much better in the later stages. Last year i pissed most of my stack away by jammin with AKs preflop and losing to QQ - a rookie mistake i think, given i had no need to gamble at that stage of the game. Oh well, this year will be different - this year I will nurture and love my stack, not treat it with disdain....And so, this year that is precisely what i did. Once again, no rebuy necess! ary, but i did take the addon. by the break i had a modest stack of 9K. If i hadnt played a single hand for the first hour, and just took a rebuy and an addon (double) id have 8k with which to work - so im happy with where im at. After the break I see how Al is doing and he is still on the same patch of ice since that morning when we shared the same table for HOE. Al has 1 hand left to play... and we're already talking about whether or not he should wait around for me or if i should just grab a cab when im done. Anyway, at the table, me and the big stack to my right take turns pushing the table around - im getting hands, not stealing, and build my stack to a nice comfortable 30K when the following hand comes down (for those who have already heard this story, i owe you another buck): With 30+ players left and blinds of 800/1600 (9 get paid) i look down at AQ off in early position. I know I know, AQ isnt all that from early position - moot point - i make it 4800 to go and all fold around to the sb who smooth calls. I dont take this player to be a very savvy player. He was calling a lot and showing down some pretty mediocre stuff so im not too terribly concerned. As a matter of fact, Im almost positive i have the best hand at this point as he probably would have rerraised if he had anything better than AQ. BB folds. so the flop comes down 9J2 offsuit and the SB picks up his cards and looks at them again, then moves all in for a little over 15K. there is now north of 25K in the pot and i am contemplating a call. i am 90% sure he is just on a draw - with what hands would you raise all in with in this spot? i could only come up with 1 legitimate hand - AJ. i figure an overpair would have been reraised b4 the flop, and a! set would most certainly be slowplayed in this spot... so im counting down my chips, considering all this while i count the 1k chips, when suddenly the dealer says, "thats a call". "wha? huh?" - "Yes sir. here at the Borgata any chips placed in front of your cards is considered a call." Great. Well that made the decision easier i guess, but no less painful. As it turns out, the guy had QT and flopped an open ended draw. Despite being ahead, I was pissed. pissed that this guy took a stand with QT, pissed that i was forced to call a hand that i could easily have passed on - so what if i have the best hand. on that flop, take my 4800 - nice bet sir - lets move on...long story short the little sonofabitch hits a K on the river and Im back to being a small stack. I never recovered from this. I get moved to another table right in front of the blinds. In the sb i see 77 and move in against the BB who woke up to JJ. ighn. Taxi!!! So I finish right around 8:00 and take a cab back to the Taj to join everyone at the banquet where countless peeps heard a less robust version of the aforementioned. Sorry guys. "Im gonna call just cause.... what the fuck..." So Friday night im still sort of licking my wounds from borgata, not really feeling in the right mindset for cash games. If there has been any evolution at all in my game in the last 2 years its been to recognize when i shouldnt be playing it. So as opposed to dropping 400 playing 10 20 i ambled up to the hospitality suite where i found a sit n go about to take off in one of the side rooms. 20 dollar buy in, 100 in chips to start. attendees were harkness, Oscar, Zippywon, action bob, Matros, Pizzaman, Golfman?, Joans Neice (amanda?), and i apologize but i think im forgetting one person. I suck. Joan "AlwaysAware" Hadley interjects: Barry is your missing man. Amanda? nah, "junior" This was fun and a lot more unorthodox. Before it starts I ask if I can coach Amanda instead of playing, it allows someone else to play and Amanda can learn to play bad poker :-) They was no rebuy rule until ActionBob busted then he immediately inquires if he can rebuy for $40 for a stack of $100. A bit of discussion, then sure, why not. ActionBob tells Matt that he will be rebuying and Matt assures him it is so negative EV that he will not. Well, Matt busts and sure enough he rebuys. At this point it's a bit clear that Amanda, er I mean junior is getting a bit frustrated because I am telling her to fold every damn hand. So, Matt asks if I want to play his chips. I play Matt chips and he becomes junior's mentor. ActionBob continues to be ActionBob and goes all in on almost every hand and a lot of them blind. It is jammed to Amanda and Matt asks what she wants to do. They decide to call down Mr. Action with KJ of clubs and Action produces a real hand, I forget what it was..... Whatever it was, Action wins and Amanda is busted I then inquire if Amanda can take over Matt's stack, and instead of moving her we move Matt's stack to where Amanda is sitting (because we can sit/stand behind her whereas Matt's former seat, then my former seat you can't) Amanda makes a standard raise with pocket 3's (or maybe she called a small raise?) and there is 4 way (five way?) action. The flop brings a 3 and I tell her to check (thinking that other will think she missed, make a play at the pot and she can break them) Everyone folds and Matt is dismayed saying she should have bet it out since so many were interested preflop. Junior also seems a bit frustrated with me, Matt asks her what she wants to do, I tell her what to do (go figure) So, I decide to leave the coaching to Matt. Chris/Tick leaves to get Kem cards and I play his stack. He has a huge stack and pocket 9's when it comes all in to him (but short) and I suddenly wish I hadn't begged to play his stack while he was gone. So, I pull out the "red card" and ask for the pro. Matt blurts out "you kidding? you're all in" Everyone else folds and the opponent (who was short) shows AK or QQ forget whatever it was, it was good or hits the flop or something. It gets three handed and those that rebought (total of 4 I think) have to make third (3 spots paid) to break even. Amanda makes second and Matt graciously lets me take my 20 back, he takes his 60 back and gives Amanda $20 for playing, leaving $20. Matt and I look at each other, it should really be his, but since there's a 10 and two fives I give him the ten, a five to amanda and five to mayself. So I made $5 and Matt $10 in our backing of Amanda. But she made $25.... hmmmm, lol. But she had a great time, but decided to go to bed when we switched to live play and triple draw 2-7 lowball. this was perfect for me - even if i blow up in classic tick style, most im gonna lose is 20. And Who better to lose it to than this fine bunch.... Everyone was having fun. Harkness dealt and we used a bar of bathroom soap as a button ('Soap moves'... 'who's got the soap'...). Anyway, Action Bob was busy doing his action bob thing - raising blind, going all in dark and ut! g, etc... as a result of his play, he occasionally lost a hand, so they adopted a 40 dollar rebuy policy that was allowed until there were no more chips to dole out. A couple of times in my BB, Bob had gone in and I'd look down to see a medium pair, so id call and It'd actually hold up. Once all the chips were doled out, things seemed to wind down pretty quickly. I had chips the entire time- no rebuy - maybe pissed away half my stack on a bad call but no memorable hands to speak of. Made it to 3 handed and we had Golfman?, myself, and Amanda?, who eventually took 2nd place. Amanda had joan advising early on and Matros Advising for the later rounds - but towards the end there she was cognizant of a lot of the correct moves before confirming with one of said advisors. So if youre reading this, well done, and im sorry for being unsure now of your name. Short story shorter, i sucked out on both Golfman? and amanda? in classic tick style to win the thing. 180 for first. woot! I think after that i pissed away 130 playing 3 card poker with some argers. Good times. time for bed. Like so many others, I had a tough time sleeping that night. I can usually rely on modern science to assist in a good nights sleep when not in my own bed, but was s.o.l. that night. Woke up with a headache and still more than a little sleepy. I really wasnt in the right mindset for the NLH trny. We hadnt even started yet and i was already bummin about how long it was going to take. I ran upstairs to starbucks and slammed a double espresso to try and charge myself up a bit. Bought one cold espresso can to go. i think it might have worked for about 5 minutes tops. I dont think i made it farther than level 3 - we started with 3k and i was down 1k after playing 2 hands in not the smartest fashion. I walked away from the table for a few minutes. Shortly upon my return i play my final hand . The guy to my right makes it 700 to go - a sizeable raise for the level - and I look down to see QQ. Im a little worried im up against a bigger pair, and i have no clue who this player is or how he plays so I smooth call intending to let it go if an ace or king hits the flop and he comes out firing. (So Its already been brought to my attention that ive been playing in a manner that maximizes my chances of folding - live and learn). Jerrod Ankenman interjects: This isn't the same situation. If you think the other guy is usually going to be on AA, KK, or AK, which I think is wrong, but is consistent with your play, then for some stack sizes it's right to play it the way you did. If your opponent has AK, he'll be forced to fold and miss out on his opportunity to see the turn and river which could be AK. Also, you get away from QQ vs AA/KK when an A or K hits, which is nice. Now, in real life you should probably just jam because raisers aren't that tight. QQ, more than any other strong hand in NL, benefits from seeing the flop against another strong distribution. I'm not trying to browbeat you or anything...:) Flop comes Jack high with 2 spades and he checks. there was 1400+ in the pot and he checks. Ill blame it on fatigue, but i only bet 500. He check raises me all in. and i call. him: AK spades. The dealer has already dealt the turn card giving him the flush before i even see him flip his 2 cards over. nh.! I dont see him folding if i go all in preflop, or on the flop when he checked to me, so this was to be my fate. Pink Chip games... Never had so much fun losing in my life - ok, well - i lost on Saturdays game but managed to eek out a win on Sunday - which was in and of itself a major achievement for reasons ill get into later on. Let me first mention that as i was waiting for the pink game to start up, I got a seat in a 10 20 game that was just opening. As i was waiting for that game to begin, i chatted with a gentleman who remarked as he surveyed the ATLARGE tourney that he lacked the patience to play in those types of events. I immediately took him for a live one, and sure enough, when the game began my very first hand dealt was AA. I lost to our friend who held QT of clubs and jammed and rejammed with 2 clubs on the flop. He got there on the turn and i paid him off for 2 more bets. First hand of the cash games for me that weekend. yay. Within minutes of the 10 20 opening, the pink chip got started and i immediately decided if i was gonna lose money, I would have fun doing it. And so within minutes of the pink chip game beginning i picked up AA again only to get roasted by dilli when she hit a set of 6's. In sympathy, she tosses me 6 chips. thanks for that. Dilli would be owning me for pretty much the entire time that day - didnt matter what i had she would end up turning it into the 2nd best hand. Others can attest to her prowess that day. SO i wasnt doing well - was down 150 or 200 and had taken a break, when i returned i sat out the remainder of the round while waiting for it to be my BB. I was one hand from posting when Action Bob, who had been sitting at the 2nd game with endless rows of pink and was now standing behind me and says to me, "Aww you gotta straddle that!" He says "dont even look at em" as he puts up 6 chips out of my stack. At the other end of the table was Len who i believe 3 bet it. I forget the exact action, maybe there was a caller around the button or bb, but anyway bobs like "lets see what we have to work with" and we look down at 56 spades... "Aww... we gotta cap THAT!" We actually ended up taking the pot down when our 5 paired the river card. but the flop and turn gave us a ton of outs as well. Thanks Bob... So Im actually up for the first time that day, but i slowly bled it off and eventually picked up the last few chips and bills an hour or 4 later down 250. Sorry Bob... Sundays game followed a disappointing finish in the Tajs's 100+20 Nl - I made it down to 3 tables when i woke up to KK in the BB and it couldnt hold up against AT. I echo other comments that the structure of these taj trnys leave you desperately short stacked in the blink of an eye...nuff said here's the incredible thing about Sundays Pink game: In 3 separate instances I would make a raise in early position with AK, only to be 3 bet by Zippywon across the table when it came around to her. On the first hand, The flop came A high, followed with a lot of betting. She had AA. Case Ace on the flop. 2nd time, The flop came AKX, lots of betting, and she ultimately flips over KK. Case King. 3rd time, A high on the flop, lots of betting - AA again. Case Ace. This was within a ten minute span. Even the 2 locals at the end of the table actually came out of their comas to comment. Anyway i managed to take down a huge pot against a local with 7's full and had one or 2 other good pots so despite my crushing losses to Zippywon, i managed to walk away up a couple hundred. After a short time at the game it was time to head for home. Not counting the atlarge trnys, I blew a little over 400 for the weekend on tournaments and cash games. Not a very good weekend for me poker wise, but one of the richest times in all other aspects. Thanks everyone for helping to make atlarge a blast Chris

Random Thoughts by 8-2 Mike Random ATLARGE 2K5 Thoughts I'm hesitant to call this a trip report. This is more of a collection of random thoughts, as well as a few items I jotted down on my notepad since I'm utterly incapable of remembering anything on my own. I enjoyed meeting new players; every year I meet more and more of the "regulars" that I hadn't previously. A couple notable hands I had written down: Somewhere in the first round of the NLHE tourney, the blinds were $5 and $10. I was in the big blind and looked down to find the ultimate powerhouse: 2h 4s. So you can imagine my angst when it was folded all the way around to the small blind (8-2 James) who simply called the $5. I decided to just check, in order to conceal the power, with the intent of trapping later on. The flop came down 3 5 9 rainbow. Wow, I'd flopped an open-ended straight draw. 8-2 James bet the minimum ($20) so I called. The turn was the miracle Ace, giving me the wheel. Again 8-2 James bet $20 into me, so I raised to $100. As is his style, James immediately raised me back (to $500). So I pushed all-in. To my astonishment, he called! So I turned over my nut straight and he turned over a hand that looked very familiar: 2 4 offsuit. The river was a 6, giving us both the higher straight and we chopped it up. If only I hadn't slowplayed the monster preflop! Heh. :-) Get get moved to a new table with Lauri, Noelle, Lori, 8-2 Cowboy, Action Bob, and others. This time I'm in the small blind, and look down and find the magical, mystical hand of 8 2 offsuit. 5 or 6 people limped in, so I paid the half-bet. The big blind checked, and the flop was 6 5 A. No help. Where's the 8-2 magic??? I checked, and so did everyone else. The turn is an offsuit 7, giving me an open-ended straight draw. I checked again, and so did everyone else, again. (What the heck did they all have???) The river was the 9, so I got my straight. I bet, everyone folded, and I got to show my 8-2 monster. Other than those hands, I was pretty much cold-decked the rest of the tournament, and I busted out 98th. I sucked in HOE and Stud, too. :-/ The side games were pretty juicy, but I didn't have the stamina to play very much after the touraments and huge dinners. I pulled in $359 in 4 hours on Thursday playing 5/10 at the Taj. Then I ended up -$48 after 2 hours i $1/$2 NLHE at the Borgata. Then another 3 hours at 5/10 at the Taj netted me another $308. Saturday I was pretty much flat with +$12. So in the end I netted +$631 in 12 hours ($51/hr) which is certainly way more than I deserved, considering that I suck. But speaking of sucking, there was one particularly horrible dealer at the Taj. His name was "DAI" and he made so many mistakes that I ended up writing them down. Here's what I was able to record: I had AJ in middle position. It was folded to me so I raised. Everyone folded. I held my cards under my fingers until the dealer pushed me the pot, and then I released them. The dealer then picked up my cards and turned them over for everyone to see! What the....? I looked at the dealer and said, "Why did you expose my cards?" He just looked at me and shrugged. Wow. Welcome to the Taj! I was in the small blind with trash, and someone in middle position raised, so I folded. I had put up a $5 chip for the $2 blind since I didn't have any white chips. The dealer took my cards and my red chip and continued to take the discards from players on my left who'd folded. I'm in the 6 seat, so I'm sitting directly across from the dealer, I said to the him, "I need my change." He nodded to me, and continued to deal out the flop, turn, and river. Then he makes change, taking a red chip from the pot and replacing it with white chips, but he used the change to pull out $4 for the rake. I again reminded him I need my $3 change. This time he doesn't even acknowledge me. He stacks up the pot and proceeds to award it to the winner, at which point I'm forced to slap my hands down on the table and yell "WAIT A MINUTE!" I again explained that I was the small blind and never got my change from the red chip he took from me. So then he had to make change again since there was only one white chip in the pot. But he got all confused, because after he gave me the change, the size of the pot changed he had to recalculate the rake. It ended up costing the winner $1 less in rake. The ordeal took several minutes to straighten out. Welcome to the Taj! The dealer misread two hands: The board was 5d Ks 6d Td 2d, and he announced "three sixes!" and pushed the pot to the guy holding pocket sixes, and everyone yelled "FLUSH" because another player held Ad Ah for the flush. The dealer pushed the pot to the player holding AA with a board of 249JK when the player raising the whole time turned over 99. After several dealers had been begging floormen for a fill of white chips, they finally brought over several racks. This dealer turned the racks sideways to remove the chips, and the stacks spilled out all over the table, even mixing with my stack across the table. And he was *VERY* slow at organizing the white stacks into the tray in front of him. Every other dealer I'd watched manage a fill performed it smoothly and efficiently, but this guy was awkward, clumsy, and obviously unsure as to how he wanted to organize the stacks, since he changed things around multiple times after he's placed them. I think the entire process took 4 minutes, which is a long time when we're all just sitting there watching him. The guy sitting next to me who also witnessed all the other mistakes snickered and said aloud "Welcome to the Taj". A few hands later a few players limped in preflop, another guy raised, a few folded, and the action was up to the guy in the cutoff position. While everyone was looking at the cutoff, waiting for his decision, the dealer proceeded to scoop up the bets and deal out the flop. *sigh* Welcome to the Taj! The guy sitting to my right (in the 5 seat) turned around to chat with a buddy that came up behind him. The dealer and other players had to remind the guy twice to act. On the turn the guy was again turned around, chatting, so the dealer took his cards as if he'd folded and the hand continued. Nobody said anything. Finally the guy turned around screamed "hey, where are my cards???" and the dealer told him that he folded. The guy said, "oh, what was the river, I was going for a flush, I didn't realize I folded". He was fooled. I'm not sure if the dealer's actions were correct or not, but we sure all appreciated it since the guy was consistently more interested in his conversation than in the game... Well, that's all I can remember. I did have a great time, as did all the other 8-2 Club members. Only 358 days until ATLARGE 2K6! -- 8-2 Mike

First, let me add my thanks and Kudos to Goldie for an excellent event. I had an excellent time, and will be back next year. I didn't get the full experience, mostly because I booked too late to get a room at the Taj and ended up camping at the Borgata for the weekend. I was mostly limited to some ring game action on Friday night (couldn't get in the Pink game, and that's probably good ... bankroll is ill-suited to variance like that right now) and the NLHE on Saturday (I'm too lousy at Omaha and stud to consider donating my money, even to you nice folks). Friday night, I got the pleasure of watching TBird flop a straight flush (holding 65C) and manage not to fall out of his chair until *after* he had raked a too-small pot. I had folded pre-flop, so none of my money went away that hand. Saturday morning found me at a starting table with one of the 8-2'ers (can't remember which one started there ...by the time I busted there had been like 4 of them), and among others, Llew, TBird, JazzyJay (I think I'm remembering the nickname correctly), Zippywon, Mordecai Schwartz, Kim Holtzman, and Flowerman. I confess I put a horrendous, rnner-runner bad beat on Jazzy to bust him out, and he took the news with class and grace. Though I promised to do my best to use his chips well, I wasn't able to cash (or even get close). Zippywon observed (correctly) that she just seemed to have my number that day, and took a fair chunk of my money. Kim didn't actually take many of my chips, but seemed to spend a fair amount of time stacking everyone else's. Mordecai took a big chunk out of me with a large re-raise over my pot-sized raise. In retrospect, I probably should have been willing to at least see the flop, hope that he didn't have an overpair, and take my shot at a coinflip, but I wimped out and folded. From there, it was a valiant struggle to an unpleasant end. I finally fell victim to Flowerman (I s'pose that means I got flowered, and I finally know what the antonym to deflowered is). I'm telling people I busted out with a full house that lost to quads. That's true, of course, but like any good lawyer I'm spinning the story a little (ok, a lot). Short-stacked at 200-400, I move in with 66. Flowerman calls with TT. While the dealer burns a card, I realize that I've already used one runner-runner suck out, and silently promise the poker gods that if I win this pot, I will play the rest of the tournament with a bag on my head. Suddenly, I have a small part in a Monty Python movie: Flop: 2 5 T rainbow. Movie-in-head: "Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!" (a villager enters, carrying a feeble old man over his shoulder). Turn: 6. Movie-in-head: "I'm not dead yet! I'm feeling better!" River: T. Movie-in-head: "No you're not!" (a soldier clubs the old man with an enormous cudgel. A THWACK is heard. The old man grunts as if he's just been hit with an enormous cudgel, then dies.) Much better to tell people I busted out with a full house when a guy hit quads on the river. I had an excellent time and am already looking forward to next year (BARGE is uncertain right now because of a wedding shortly thereafter, and I have no information on any of the other ARG gatherings). Special thanks to Llew for the info on where to find playable Jacks machines at Borgata. Hope to see you all soon (and the 8-2 crew perhaps at a home game near you). Aloha Mike