ATLARGE

The Rabbi --------- I arrived early Saturday morning and got on some lists. I took a seat to help start a 2/4 HE game until I got called for something else. Here I met the Rabbi - a gentleman who raised, reraised, or when possible capped the pot for the dozen or so hands I saw at this table. One hand the dealer inadvertently only dealt him one card. This probably would not have slowed him down, but the dealer gave him a second card anyway. He rammed and jammed to the river with 85o [1]. Mind if we call you "Len" to keep it clear? ------------------------------------------- I get in a 5/10 HE game and meet two new (to me) RGPers, Len and Len. Len G later earns Guy of the Year honors when he gives me his banquet ticket and absolutely refuses any compensation. Len, thanks again, that was just incredibly nice of you. Later I sat next to Len Marciano at MATS. Very nice guy. Unfortunately for Len, I sucked out a 4-outer to river a wheel and bust him in 5th place. Len was ever the gentleman in taking this bad beat. Two great guys. Name Those Pocket Cards ----------------------- So I'm playing 5/10 HE and limp it with A2s from the cutoff seat, a few limpers in front of me. Flop is AA2. I check and call with the intent of raising the turn. Turn is a rag, I get in a reraise and only one player stays with me. River is an ugly deuce. Wonderful, split pot, right? I bet anyway Just In Case. Guy raises, no real surprise. I look at the guy. Something tells me that he doesn't work on the Space Shuttle when he's not playing cards, so I 3 bet it. He calls, I get the whole pot. I can't imagine what cards he might have been holding. MATS Results ------------ MATS was won by an aggressive player named Rick (Sorry Rick, I didn't catch your last name). Rick wins a seat at TARGET plus travel expenses. He is still accepting donations of canned goods, however. Congratulations to Rick, and good luck at TARGET! As best as I can remember the bust out order was: (Winner)Rick 2ndTom Goodwin 3rdRussell Rosenbloom 4thMe 5thLen Marciano (up to here is probably right) 6thJerry Gerner 7thRobert Jacobs 8thMatt? (Sorry - not sure - wear your badge!) 9thBruce Kramer 10thNolan Thanks to Jerry for running this event, which was a lot of fun besides being good experience. The Moment of Sheer Terror -------------------------- A hand from the NLHE tournament. My big blind. Folded around to Mordecai on or abouts the button. He raises about half his stack. I move in holding AA. Mordecai thinks out loud for a minute or two. I had just read Nolan's article "The Moment of Sheer Terror" the night before. It is about trying to act calm when you're all-in (or have made a big bet) and your opponent is sweating you. I was thinking about how I had never been in that situation yet, and wondering how it might be. Surprisingly I guess, I felt perfectly calm. I was talking with Mordecai - maybe I shouldn't have been. Anyway, he made a wise laydown of AX after a long deliberation. I don't know much about his NL game, but I would rate Mordecai as among the stronger limit HE players in our group. He was, once again, slaughtering the pink game when I was in it. Incidentally, I got to sit next to Nolan in the stud tournament and got to hear a little bit about his Stu Ungar project. Put me on the waiting list for that book, it's going to be a good one. Worst Mistake in the NLHE ------------------------- Overall I felt I played much better in the NL event this year than last. I think I loosened up appropriately for this blind structure and this group of opponents. Here was a mistake, however: I got carded to a new table and found myself to the right of Raydon, the eventual winner. I know he has a reputation as a very good player, but I've never played with him before. First hand I get dealt I'm in SB, Raydon is in the BB. Folded to me, I raise on a routine steal with Qh8h. At the table I had just left, this was working well. Not here. Raydon turns to me and starts asking me a bunch of questions, obviously feeling me out. I answered him, too, which I guess I probably shouldn't have done. To my dismay, he called. Flop was 996, one heart. I checked and Ray bet almost all-in an amount which would put me almost all-in (we were both short stacked). I felt pot committed at this point and, even though I didn't like it, I raised back a few more chips all-in. He called. The final board was 99689. Raydon had A8 and I'm sure he though he was getting it all instead of half. I got a "Nice hand sir," for my troubles - which I kind of understand, although I didn't think my play was that terrible. The mistake I made here was that I should have gone all-in or folded. Good Laydown ------------ NLHE, very early (5-10 blinds?). Someone raises a small amount in front of me and I reraise with JJ. Someone else reraises behind me and the original raiser goes all-in. I muck, certain that I'm a 4.5:1 dog to one of them. They had QQ and AA. I was glad I didn't get stupid early (I waited until late to get stupid, see above). MATS Miscellany --------------- I thought my play here was decent. Tell me what you think about this hand: All numbers are approximations. I have about T900 and raise to T200 against the T25/T50 blinds from middle position with 88. Russell Rosenbloom reraises from the button (I think) about T500 more. I think about this one quite a while. Here are the factors I was considering: Russell is very observant and knows I haven't been playing as many hands as some of the other guys. So he probably credits me with a real hand and has either probably got me beat or expects I will lay down most hands here. Russell himself hasn't been out of line, or playing too many hands. I don't have enough to reraise and have a prayer at him folding. So I decide I'm in the Small Favorite Or Big Dog situation and let it go. Comments? Walking down after MATS Russell was "debriefing" 2nd place finisher Tom Goodwin. I made it a point to soak up what he was saying. I was * really * impressed by Russell's depth of knowledge on NL. Russell is also hilarious - it's fun to be at the same table. Also Tom has a great game. A lot of people play aggressively, but he plays with a controlled aggression and knows how to get away from a hand where some of the more loose-aggressive players would get busted. Baby Pot Limit -------------- Last year I wanted to try this but didn't get a seat. This year there was a must move, so I got in around midnight Saturday. I bought in for the minimum ($200), fully expecting to pay it as tuition. I did ok, and managed to double up. Some hands of note: Most amusing hand. Several players for $2 when it gets to Tom Goodwin in late position. He is near the table, but not sitting down - he's talking to someone or something. He says "I'll call blind." Flop is K87. Someone bets $10, couple callers. Tom is still not at the table, and has definitely not seen his cards. He says, "I'll call blind - I might have two kings in the hole." Short story - Tom does have KK, and busts an extreme-sports looking guy (spiky blond hair, major tattoo work) for a pot that must have been over $1200. (Extreme guys last raise all-in was not the full pot, and it was 3 Ben Franklins and some chips - he had 87). Extreme-sports guy went off after this, pumping up a lot of pots. Curious comment: Extreme-sports guy tells Tom "I put you on Kings up." Maybe he thought Tom would lay that down? Folded to Russell who raises in late position. I call in the big blind with JTs (probably a bad idea - and I figure I'm behind preflop). Flop is little rags and I check. He immediately bets the pot (only $10) and announces the bet. I feel he doesn't have any part of this flop and he wouldn't think I would reraise with nothing here. I reraise and he folds immediately. It was only a $20 pot, but I was pleased with my thought process on that one. Got away with a bad play here. I raise to $5 from somewhat early position with AJo (I know, I know - I won't do it again). Extreme guy (see above) makes it $20 and I call with 2 or 3 others. I only called because the raiser was steaming at this point. I wouldn't have liked facing a bet with an Ace on the flop - I was hoping for 2 pair or a J high flop. Flop comes JJ6. Tom Goodwin leads off for $60. I think briefly. I have no doubt he could have played 66 for $20, but I would expect him to slow play with it if that's what he had. My action - what to do? A call might induce more calls, but this pot is already pretty decent. Maybe Tom has a weak jack. I move all-in for another $80. Others fold, Tom thinks briefly and folds. I know he credits me with a J or 66 here. This would be a better story if I had 23o - maybe I should go back and change it. Anyway, Tom later tells me he had a lone 6, which makes sense. Call me a wuss but I left around 3:30 to go get 3 hours sleep. On my way out I walked past the pink game (which I had played in briefly earlier) and it was insane (we could EASILY hear them in the PL game which was against the far glass in the high limit room). Tiger was en fuego - he had enough chips in front of him to fill a bucket! Rumor has it he was up $2K. We may have heard "I don't play hold em" for the last time! I wish I had been in it - to say they were having fun doesn't come close to describing the scene. After breakfast with my parents I got back to the card room. As expected, the PL game is still going. They generously offer me the seat occupied by a sound asleep individual. I feel a little bad about it, but I wake him up (he's not in the game) to get the seat. How stupid is my choice to sit with this lineup? To my immediate right are Nolan, Scott Byron, Russell and then Tom. Russell is tired of waking Tom up when it's his turn to act, so he tells me I'll have to take every-other shift. When it's Tom's turn, I have to peek behind his shades to see if he is thinking or sleeping (no kidding). Three times I have to wake him after long hands play out and it's on him in a new hand. I'm also not kidding when I tell you each time he woke up and immediately said "raise." The best line of the weekend came at this early morning session: (Someone): "A girl spent the night in your bed and you never left the poker room?" Tom Goodwin: "Hey, it was a GOOD game!" These guys are animals! The aforementioned Rabbi is in this game and playing it pretty much like he played the 2/4. I thought I had a good chance to double up again, but I didn't play any hands against him before leaving for the stud tournament. Stud Tournament --------------- Unlike the NL tournament, I feel I have a decent shot in limit stud. I thought I played well, but my only real mistake got me busted. We were down to less players than I realized at the time, when I played (J9)9 for a raise (or maybe a reraise) and got heads up with Bruce Kramer. I had a decent amount of chips, but we were at 200/400, and he had a big stack. He raised me on 4th street but I thought he was testing for a steal and his board was little cards. Short story is he made a straight and busted me. I probably should have avoided such a big stack who could easily afford to draw against me as we were entering the later stages. Bruce impressed me as a very good stud player - and not just because he busted me 2 years in a row. He doesn't make reflexive plays - he's always thinking about the best play in each situation. He made a fantastic play with rolled up trips when he slowed down on fifth street, representing a steal gone bad, and sucked his opponent in for several more big bets. Matt ("Jacksup") also played a good game despite continuously saying he didn't know how to play stud. One more hand of note. I had the bring in with a low card and 22 in the hole, and I had two clubs which were live. I got raised by a 9 in front of Dave (Croson?). He was short stacked after taking several tough beats and getting run down a few times (though not by me) and I was healthy, so I took off a card. I caught a high club and he caught an 8. I check-called. Fifth street I caught another club and decided to bet out, representing clubs. Dave raised me back with nothing showing. He was close to the felt and I called intending to go all the way. I caught another 2 on 6th street giving me trips (although the case 2 was on Dave's board) and a four flush, but Dave paired his door card giving him a pair of 9s showing. He bet all-in. I said "I'm drawing dead if you're full," but I called the bet. My trip 2s beat his two pair. Dave was a little non-plussed and pointed out the case two on his board, but endured the slings and arrows pretty well. I thought I played it right. They Were Missed ---------------- I only heard Foldem mentioned a few thousand times. Bill Alan I hope you are feeling better. Was Paul McMullin there? I thought he was coming but I don't see how I could have missed him all weekend? One and Only One Suggestion --------------------------- Baby PL was a great way to get cheap experience at the game. My only suggestion is that the MAX buy-in be $200. People were buying in for way more than that, which immediately puts the $200 stacks at a Big Stack vs. Little Stack disadvantage. What's Left? ------------ Another fun year. Nice seeing all the people I've met in years past. Forgive me for not naming each one of you - this is long enough as it is (aren't you glad I didn't take notes?) Each year I come to ATLARGE feeling like I know a lot more about this game than I did a year earlier. And the more I feel I know about poker the more and more impressed I am by how many truly excellent players are part of RGP - and the more I realize how much there is I don't know. I always, always learn a lot by playing with you all. I had a great time, as usual. As always a huge thanks to Tiger and Jazbo for making all this happen. Already looking forward to next year! [1] OF COURSE he won with it. Bob Dainauski Allentown, PA

BEWARE! This post is abnormally LONG so either print it and read it later so your eyes don't melt from the radiation the monitor emits or read it in parts. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hello RGP. I haven't written to this forum in a long while because I really haven't had much to say. It also didn't help that Deja.com was bought out by Google so my preferred form of reading this group was not available for a long time. It is Monday and I have much to say about the ATLARGE event over the weekend. This will definitely be a lengthy trip report so please sit back, make some popcorn, open a bottle of suds and enjoy the reading. I didn't do so well in the tournaments but that wasn't a big deal. I did, however, have a great time meeting all the RGP folks and attaching a face with a moniker. Just to run down a list of the notables that I met. Jazbo, Tiger, Dangerous Dan, AlwaysAware, Jacksup, Rebuy, Sippy, Dave!, JT, Cactus Kev (who I didn't know was a guy I used to play with on Tuesday nights), a guy named Stevie (he won a 7-Stud tournament at the WPO, I think) Escargot Beth (I don't know if that's her posting name but that's how we were introduced), Nolan, Action Bob, Brad and Raydon. There were others that I met that I either already knew or didn't know their names. So where do I begin? If you want to go from the beginning then I guess that would be Thursday night when I arrived with my friend PSU72. He stayed at the Trop while I stayed out on the pike. I think next time I'll make reservations at the Trop. It was a pain in the ass to wait for the shuttle to pick me up and the cab fare was $12 one-way. Anyway, I digress. There's a 7pm Hold'em limit tournament on Thursdays for a small buy-in so I decide to get a little practice in before the events over the weekend. I have some time to kill since we arrived and checked-in by 5:30pm so I get on the waitlist for $10-$20 Stud and play $5-$10 Stud while I'm waiting. To make a long story short, I think I was stuck $200 in the $5-$10 game and $300 in the $10-$20 game before I even hit the tournament. Don't ask me how and don' t ask me why. It just happened. I don't recall anything that jumped out at me in particular other than I was stuck. The tournament went pretty well until I had a few suckouts right after the color-up break. I probably went out in that tournament at 55th or thereabouts. After the tournament was over I picked the $10-$20 Hold'em game to sit until I was too tired to play. I didn't make any headway so it was basically a push until I left at about 3am. Highlight of the night: Playing heads up with Val, $10-$20 Hold'em and only losing one small bet. If anyone who's reading this knows Val then you' ll know what an accomplishment I made. We played only ½ hour and it was a ton of fun. From what I understand he made his way to the pink chips game after we played and Friday morning I met my friend at the Trop at approx. 12ish and we went to the cardroom. There were no games going so I put myself on the $10-$20 Hold' em list while I played $10-$20 Stud. The Trop holds a Friday $100+$15 limit Hold'em tournament at 4pm. I won in January so I, of course, am hoping that I make the final table again. My dreams were cut short when I flopped a set of 7's and my opponent goes runner-runner Broadway on me and the same opponent spikes a King on the turn to kill my pocket Ladies cold. The worse thing about that hand was he raised with KQo UTG then I re-raised. Everyone folds and he calls to see a flop of Ten high rainbow. He checks, I bet and he calls. When the King hits the turn I know it hits him. He makes this story that the pot was too big to fold and if I didn't re-raise he would have folded on the flop. Whatever. From what I understand he was doing very well so good for him. I was also at the table with Nolan and Jacksup, both of which are from my neck of the woods and both great people. It turns out that they've asked me about my home game but haven't been able to make the trip. Hopefully they will be able to make the trip once in a while. Anyway, I bust out one or two hands later and I'm going to the Taj for some action. I jump on the Taj $10-$20 Hold'em list and don't wait too long before I'm sitting down with the tourists and regulars. The table starts to break and it's still fairly early so I head to an open seat in the $15-$30 game. The were a couple of memorable events. This one guy on my left who seemed to play every pot that I played and always sucked out on me on the river. It was quite frustrating and causing me to play worse. He was on my left so I couldn't shake him. I eventually got a seat change. This time it was the new guy on my left that decided to play every pot I played. I'm totally on tilt by this point and I'm getting tired but see red Aces UTG. I make a raise and the guy on my left (GOL) and the BB are the only callers. The flop is Kc 3s Ac. The BB bets, I raise, the GOL calls and the BB folds. The turn is a blank, I bet and GOL calls. The river is the 3c and I check the flush. GOL bets and I feel myself boiling. I angrily say, "Nice way to crack a set, but I'll call anyway to keep you honest." I hear the dealer, through the fog of what is my TILT, say, "Full house." I look at the board again and am stunned. I then reflect back to the flop. "Didn't I say to myself, Self, wouldn't it be nice if the 3 of clubs hit?" I think out loud that I must be too tired to play if I miss the full house and glance down at my watch to see 5am staring back at me. I call a cab and hit the bed by 6am. I ended up being stuck $500 for the evening. Saturday I make it to the Trop at about 12ish-1ish and the joint is jumping. The ATLARGE tournament is going to start soon (2pm) and all the hopefuls are here. I sit at $10-$20 Stud while I wait until the tourney starts. When 2pm rolls around I meet with Tiger and he gives me an envelope with my name tag and receipt. I try and calm myself down with little bits of advice and go to my table. I'm sitting on the left of Jazbo but don't recognize the others at the table. Jazbo and I talk from time to time and mix it up in one pot but that was about the extent of that table. Our table broke fairly early and I find myself sitting with Cactus Kev (the guy I mentioned above). I was the chip leader at my table before it broke and was close to him being the chip leader at this table. I get a little action here and there and make my mistake to Kev when I have pocket Tens and he's holding Cowboys. He made a raise of T200 and I came over the top for T400. I think he wants to make an all-in re-raise but does something wrong and its approximately T400 more. The flop is small and he puts me all-in. I don't believe that I have enough to survive with the blinds being 50-100 so I make the crying call and pray for a Ten. It doesn't make the board and I'm the 22nd person gone. Not a very strong showing for Buckshot-B in the tournaments and, to tell you the truth, not a very good weekend all around. But they say that poker is a strange game where fortunes can change with the turn of a card. I take it they didn't have me in mind specifically but it was certainly something to ponder when I made my first attempt at Pot Limit Hold'em. Before I get into the Pot Limit game I went to Hooters and ate with my friend who also went out of the tournament with pocket Tens. Blatant male non sequitur to follow. Will everyone agree that most of the women in NJ are gorgeous, but all have big noses? Or maybe it's just the ones in Hooters? I don't know, maybe it's just me? End of blatant male non sequitur. We discuss poker a bit and how we went out of the tournament. I was very disappointed in the way that I went out. I knew he had an overpair to mine and yet I didn 't fold. It was just plain dumb poker on my part and as all the books say, "If you think your hand can't win then make the fold." I should not have called the re-raise by him and I still would have been in a good place with about T800 in chips. Cest Lavie. I watch my alma mater beat Georgia State. After a few beers I go back upstairs and see if I can make a difference in my attitude and play better poker. I put my name on the $10-$20 Hold'em list and find my friend and sweat him for a little while. There's a pink chip game going and I notice that there's a lot of commotion at one table with one seat open next to the pink chip game. I make my way over there and see that it's a $1-$2 Pot Limit Hold'em game and everyone is talking about rules and the such. Carbonara is looking at the game and it looks as if he wants to play. I ask him if he's going to sit and he says, "I don't know." There isn't anyone else that looks as if they want to play so I ask him if he doesn't want the seat if I can sit. He says no problem and I find myself in my first Pot Limit Hold'em game. I don't know what to say about Pot Limit Hold'em. I can say that it is a totally different mentality than limit games, but you already knew that. I can say that I was a little bit jumpy, but you probably already knew that too, especially if you watched me play the game. So let's skip all the bull and get on with the game. I only had $700 left of the money that I brought with me. I kept $200 in my pocket and placed $500 in play. I let myself know that the $500 was all I was going to wager and if I lost it all, so be it. Needless to say the game was good, REAL good. I never had to worry about losing the money on the table because I never lost a pot. Let me repeat that because it sounds like a lie even as I see it being typed. I NEVER lost a pot. If I was in the pot to the river I raked the chips. Every time. I think the best thing about not losing a single pot was I was always in the lead and never sucked out on anyone. I have many, many stories so I'll just got through them one at a time. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed playing and I hope to convey the same excitement as I felt while I was playing. Here's the table seat by seat: #1 Asian guy by the name of Chucky(?). Apparently unlimited BR and loves action. This guy made the game enjoyable. #2 Dangerous Dan. Good player. Very personable. #3 Greek guy. Peppered hair, pleasant guy. He gave me a couple of tips on playing Pot Limit. #4 ME! A great guy with a brilliant smile and verve. Wonderful to talk to #5 JT. Investment banker. We talked throughout the night. According to him, he's overpaid and enjoys his job but it's very monotonous. I take it that he plays poker to break that monotony. He also gave me some Pot Limit tips. #6 Corky. I've seen him at the Trop before so I take it he's a regular. I remember playing with him in the first No-Limit tourney I entered at the Trop. If you look in the archives you'll see the hand I'm talking about. He had AQ in the SB and I had pocket Queens in middle position. The flop was AQx. Need I say anymore? The main thing I remember about him is that night is he dropped $600 on one hand and had to rebuy. After that loss he was acting a little whiny and just generally irritable. There was a rule that you didn't have to post if you didn't abuse it and after Corky lost that pot he had a problem with that rule so we had to post thereafter. When he left the game we changed the ruling back. #7 Tony P. Clothing store owner and Trop regular. He also made the game good. #8 Brad. RGPer and good guy. Kinda looks like Billy Idol but only better looking. LOL. #9 Guy named Stephen. Did very, very well at the table. He made some good hands and one amazing call. I'll get into that later. He's also good guy. #10 Ralph. He was the ATLARGE Stud winner last year and plays Pot Limit at the Sands on Friday nights. That was the lineup when the table opened. There was no dispute that Stephen in seat #9 and myself did the best out of everyone that night. I took my buyin and left $2000 up for the night. I played a few hands very poorly but played some hands pretty well. I made only one tough call but that wasn't until Sunday morning. Anyway, the first hand that I played was the 3rd hand dealt in the game. I was in the BB and had AQo. There were a few players limping so it was relatively small. When the action got to #1 he raised and made it $10 to go. I think the button and SB called and I called. There were a few other callers. The flop is AKT rainbow. It gets checked around to #1 and he bets the pot. It's folded to me and I call then it's heads-up. The turn is a blank and I check again. #1 bets and I call. We check the brick that hits on the river and I beat his pocket Jacks. After the hand was over I tell myself that I'm such a woman and want to know if my husband plays the game. Being as it was my first ever Pot Limit hand I didn't know what to expect. I didn't want to lose to a straight just in case. I was willing to make the calls but I wasn't willing to put in any bets until I was more comfortable with how the game is played and how the players played. I'm sure that this type of play is detrimental to survival in Pot Limit. It didn't take me long to catch on to the game. I noticed that raising big pairs early didn't do much for limiting the field. I also noticed that I naturally wanted to play connectors, suited connectors, Ax suited and small pairs because it was so cheap to see a flop. Position did play a big part in the game but I wasn't afraid to limp UTG with something like 8s9s. A couple of times I raised hands like 7s8s on the button after the field limped. I guess I'll have to get some material on the game and study. I'm sure that stack size and image plays a big part in the game but I never seemed to have any issues along those lines. Like I said earlier, I did not lose a pot at showdown all night. I tried not to put myself in a bad place and tried to pick my spots carefully. As the night wore on I played more and more hands. I played a number of pairs that won when I bet the pot on the flop. I had pocket 7's once on a Jack high board and everyone folded when I bet. I must have flopped what felt like ten sets. I had pocket Kings about five times and won most of them. There were a few hands that I had I want to talk more about because I thought they were either exciting or fun or complex or all of the above. If you'd like to comment of how I played the hand or comment on my thoughts on a particular hand then please do so. I would enjoy the criticism. Hands of the night: I'm on the button with AJo and the table is mostly limping. Our friend in #1 raises the pot to $5 and everyone calls. There's about $40 in the pot when we see the flop. The flop is KQx rainbow. It is checked to #1 who bets the pot, #2 and I call. I figured that calling the $40 was worth it if a Ten hits the turn. No one could be on a flush draw and if anyone had flopped a set they would have bet it out knowing that #1 would protect their hand with a re-raise. It was normal for #1 to make that kind of play. Most of the time he did it just to make the pot big in case he did hit his hand. Everyone up to #1 folded. The Tc hits the turn and I'm about to piss my pants. #1 is first to act and immediately fires about a pot sized bet. I think it was $100. Dangerous Dan (#3) is next to act and calls the bet after thinking for a little bit. When I raised the pot, I think it put me all-in (I had about $900). There is much deliberation before #1 decides to call and #3 folds. I' m hoping nothing hits the end that would have us split the pot. I was happy to see the 2d hit the river. #1 turns his hand over and shows AQ. That was the first and only time that I was all-in a pot. It was the most incredible adrenaline rush that I have ever experienced. Well, skydiving is a pretty f-ing intense rush too so I guess it was along those lines. If you've never been skydiving I suggest that you give it a whirl. It's better than sex and lasts longer. LOL. As I said before, #1 made the game. I think he put $5,000 into the table before he finally left. Somewhere before this hand #6, Corky, has left to get something to eat and another buy takes his place. By this time there is a must move table feeing this one. How sweet is that? The only thing that I can remember about this guy is that he glasses were tinted yellow. I have pocket Aces UTG and make a little raise of $5. I know its not going to knock anyone out of the pot but I figured to build a pot nicely then bring the hammer down on the flop. There are a few callers so the pot opens at $40. The flop is AK5 rainbow. Sweet! I figure if I bet it will be folded around since my image has been fairly good. Unless someone caught two pair I wasn't going to get any action. I think about checking in the hopes that someone will bet it out. Certainly a free card can't hurt me but the more I thought about it the more I felt betting the pot was better. I didn't think I was going to trap anyone here since the board looked as if it hit my hand and checking wasn't going to fool anyone. So I decide to bet the pot. The #6 yellow tinted glasses man raises! Everyone folds to me and I'm just elated. I can't think of anything except spout a smart assed comment under my breath. I say, "I must be in trouble." I know it was an asinine thing to say but it just escaped me. I re-raised the pot and the amount just about covered him so he raised all-in. I showed my Aces and he says he can't win unless he goes runner-runner. A deuce hits the turn and he gets up and leaves. I mutter an apology about the hand and he pays no mind. There is new blood about this time. #8 leaves to eat at the banquet; #1 is busted so we get a couple more people into the game. #5 also leaves because he's playing in the Stud tournament so he wants to catch some good sleep for the event. Right before #1 gets busted out this hand goes down as the most amazing hand of the evening. I'm on the button with Ac6c. There are a couple of limpers but the people involved are #9 and #1. The flop comes down 5h5d6d. Everyone checks to #1 and he bets. I take a good look at him and my first instinct is to raise, but then I talk myself out of it in case he has the 5. I say to him, "I know you have the 5 but I'll just call you anyway." Everyone folds to #9 who also calls. There's about $150 in the pot on the turn. The Qs comes off and I'm left wishing it was a 6 or an Ace or I made a raise on the flop. #9 checks and #1 bets the pot. I've got no choice but to fold now. I didn't really believe that he had a 5 but I figured he must have a face card at least and I wasn't about to put anymore in with another person to act behind me. I make the fold and #9 calls. Well, between the two of them I know I was beat. The river is a 4 and #9 checks and #1 bets the pot one last time. It's a $300 bet to #9 and he says what I've been saying all night when I called #1 down on a hand, "Just to keep you honest I'll call." It turns out that #1 was on a total bluff with KTo and #9 called pairing the 4 on the end with 4c7c. It was most definitely the biggest call of the night. We must have talked about that hand every chance we got. I don 't think that I'll ever forget that hand for as long as I live. Stephen, #9, had the biggest brass iron balls hands down. Corky comes back into the game for a little bit and we tussle together in a hand. I am UTG with Cowboys and make the bet $5. Tony P., who was sitting in #7, has since moved directly on my left and calls. Corky has replaced #3 and is sitting on my right. There is $40 in the pot on the flop. The flop is Ks9s6d. I bet out the pot and Tony P. calls. It is folded around to Corky who also calls. I figure they are both on flush draws or maybe a weak King. I think real hard that I want to see the 6s hit the turn so their hands will be made. Much to my chagrin the 8s hits the turn. I'm not sure what the best play is here. If I bet it out and Tony P. raises I have to figure I'm looking at a flush and I have 10 outs. I think Tony has me covered so it's a matter of whether or not I believe they have the flush. I've played Tony in the $10-$20 game so I can read him pretty well. I've never played in a ring game with Corky so I'm not able put a read on him just yet. I do "feel" that he's not the type of guy to part with his money with nothing. I decide to check the turn and hope that Tony doesn't bet so I can see that the river makes me full house. Tony does make a bet. He bets only $100 like he's tryin g to get everyone to call. I don't think he has the flush, but I do but him on two pair. The $100 bet doesn't scare me and I start to push my stack in the middle. Suddenly I hear this voice on my right. "Re-raise all in dealer." Corky has just moved almost $400 into the pot. Now what the hell did I get wedged in-between? Are there two flushes? I think real long and real hard about the hand. I start to muck my top set and say, "This is the biggest laydown I will have made all night." I push the cards to #1 and Dangerous Dan takes a peek at the hand too. #1 just about goes bananas when Tony folds. #1 shouts how he'd put his entire business up to call the hand. I don't know. Maybe I did do a stupid thing by folding but I just couldn't call. It's not like limit Hold'em where it's only going to cost a big bet of $20 or $40. This was $400 and if I was wrong I was going to put a big dent in my stacks. Not only this but Tony still needed to act. If he comes over the top of me then I'm really screwed. There's no way I can call another raise. I think I made the right decision but we'll never know since we didn' t get to see the river and Corky doesn't divulge his hands. I'm not pressed about the fold although it would have been nice to see if I would have made the house or not. What would you have done? I don't think there were other memorable hands that night except when I had flopped a set of Kings and a guy named Alan, who apparently played Pot Limit at Resorts back in the day, flopped a set of 9's. That was about the extent of Saturday's game. AlwaysAware, Dave!, Sippy and some other RGPer had sat down after the guy in #1 left so it soon became a RGP event. I'm sure Sippy was very happy to see pocket Kings in his very first hand but the thrill was quickly diminished when his friend pushed him all-in with Aces. Welcome to the game! Sunday morning. Feeling refreshed and fancy-free I notice that the Pot Limit game is still going. There are mostly new faces but there are a couple of RGPers playing. This is when I met Chuck who's a pro tournament player. I chat with him for a bit about being a pro player and mention I'd like to take some time off to travel with him and see what it's like to live that life. I said that I would write a book and use his life as the fulcrum character that drives the epic. He gave a jolly laugh and said that you have to love poker to do what he does and cannot be affected by half the stuff that happens to you "out there". The main thing I notice about him is his demeanor. His countenance isn't creased from worries or etched by anxiety. He is a guy that's happy to be healthy and playing cards. He tells me a John Bonetti story that's a classic and I hope to use it someday. At the final table in the USPC and John limps UTG with pocket Aces. One other guy pushes all-in with pocket Kings and John eagerly calls. The man with the Kings declares what he's holding and asks John what his cards are. John quickly retorts, "I have an overpair." Is that classic or what? I sit in the #10 seat and the couple of people that I recognize are AlwaysAware and JT. The ATLARGE Stud tournament is about to start so AlwaysAware has to leave the game to play Stud. Well, to make a long story short (too late) I lost my first Pot Limit pot. Let's break down the details. I have pocket Aces on the button. There are a few players in the pot so I give it a raise. The pot is $40. The flop is Js5d2d and everyone checks to me I bet the pot and the SB gives it raise to $80 everyone folds to me and I come over the top for $200. He thinks for a minute and I'm hoping that I didn't make a mistake. There is the possibility that he's got a set and if he plays back I think to myself that I have to fold. He calls and it's heads-up. A diamond hits the turn and we both check. Now I figure he probably has two pair or a set and he wants to be but he hesitates on the diamond seeing the flush and decides to check. There's no way I'm going to bet and I'm praying for a miracle Ace. A blank hits the river and he bets $40. How can I not call that? He shows 52o for the flopped two pair. I hear him talking with Raydon about how he thought I might have had a set of Jacks. I dropped one of my Aces on the table before I muck the hand. Damn! It didn't cost me that much and I had a sneaking suspicion that I was beat, but damn, I didn't want to lose to 52o. During that same session I had 52o in a walked BB and flopped two pair only to lose to a straight on the river. 52o is the bane of my existence. Those were the only two pots that I lost that day. I don't need to get into the hands that I played Sunday except one that I made a major bluff with. I have Presto on the button and the same guy that had the 52o is in the pot. I'm pretty sure it was heads up and there might have been a raise pre-flop. I'm sure there was a raise and I think I was the one who made it. Anyway, the flop is 9d9hJd and it is checked to me so I bet the pot. It is folded to the 52o guy and he check raises me. I get out of my seat and do some complaining and I come back to the table and call. I look at him as the turn is the 8h. He makes a pot sized bet and I stare at him and say, "You've got the 9 don't you?" He comes back, "Yes, I'll be honest I have a 9." I start to stack my chips like I'm going to call and say, "Well, I guess we'll see who has the bigger kicker. Raise the pot." He thinks as I put my chips and cash up which I think amounts to $345. He mucks and Raydon says, "He had pocket Jacks or something." Then he looks at me and asks what I had. I reply, "I didn't have pocket Jacks." After a while Rebuy comes to the table and asks for a seat change button. I offer to give him my seat which he politely accepts. Honestly, the only reason I wanted to give my seat is so I can sit on left. This will backfire on me because he plays the first 2 hands that he's dealt and wins at least $600. I start laughing and tell him he has to pay me a small commission for me giving him that seat. Then he starts laughing. Yeah, like he's going to give me a nickel. LOL. Lastly, I make a really, really bad call with Kc5c against Raydon. We're in a family pot together and the flop is 3K7 rainbow. I give it a check and it' s checked around. I figure my King might be good so I bet the pot which is about $80(?) when the 2s hits the turn. It is folded to Raydon and he raises the pot. Everyone folds to me and I'm stuck thinking he might have 2 pair but my guts are telling me that he's making a play. I deliberate for a little while and finally make the call. I know it's not the best play to make but I just couldn't put him on two pair. I thought that maybe he had a 7 and if I hit a 5 on the river I would be really, really happy. The 8s hits the river and we both check. He shows the exact same hand that I have except he's offsuit. It was said to be the second amazing call of the game, the first being the 4c7c the night before. Raydon extends his hand to me and gives it a shake and says nice call. I know it was bad poker but like I've said before I'm not too familiar with the mechanics of the game. The only thing that I had going for me in that hand was that I was almost 100% sure that he was making a play for the pot and I was almost 100% sure I wasn't going to lose. I didn't think we were going to chop but I wasn't going to complain. I guess that's about all I have to say. I guess that's also about enough, eh? I won a grand playing Sunday so the weekend was good for me. I wish I had done a little better in the tournaments, but there's always next year. I don't know if Props and Slops are a tradition on RGP but I like them so I' m going use them. It isn't like you're going to stop reading this super long report now, are you? PROPS: PSU72 for driving to AC and back. Carbonara and Jacksup (Matt Matros) for being a great guys and talking me into the Pot Limit game. Escargot Beth for the hug when we first met. Nolan for being the reason that the phrase "Oh, you're NOT going to like this.." swept the cardroom. Doing the wave at the first NL tournament table to loosen everyone up. heh. Pot Limit Hold'em. Seat #1 Chucky(?) JT and the Greek for giving me that little bit of advice that helped me to calm down. Jazbo and Tiger for making ATLARGE such a big success. Pink Chip game. Aii-Yah! T.K. for running the tournaments perfectly. Stephen and Brad for telling me laying down the set of Kings was a good play. Ralph for all the great Resort Pot Limit stories. Having Cowboys about 5 times and losing only once with them. Flopping about 124289832765947 sets. Not losing a single pot Saturday night. Hooters. Hooters waitresses. Tropicana. Having the nuts and someone else raising the pot. He-he. Dennis and Chris for making the final table in the ATLARGE 7-Stud Tournament. Chopping a pot with Raydon. Chuck the Tournament Pro player. Hooters waitresses. Maryland making the Sweet 16. and of course Presto! SLOPS: 52o Corky for being a dweeb when he lost that pot and then asking how much money was in front of me when it was clear that I had him more than covered. Me not seeing the perfect card hitting the river and almost mucking a full house. The two fights that erupted at the Trop before the NL tournament. Me making that call with Kc5c. I should have played the hand better. Cactus Kev for having a big chip lead and still busting out early. Well, that's about it fellow RGPers. I hope everyone had just as much fun as I did. There wasn't a single RGPer that I met that wasn't a pleasure to meet. Take care everyone and I'll see you next year or sooner. ~stephen aka Buckshot-B

For those of you who have never attended Atlarge, either because you don't know much about it, or feel you are too much a "low-roller" to play with some of the "names" of RGP poker, scroll through this mini-trip report. I'm Pubinfoguy, self-proclaimed leader of the "Minnow Division" of Atlarge. That means I'm only recently a regular at the 1-5 stud level, and have most of my several thousand hours of play at the 1-3 game. Atlarge VI was my second experience with the group. As a regular at the Tropicana Poker Club, I had seen these people with Atlarge badges in '99 and asked what it was about. So I signed up last year for Atlarge V and my wife and I had a great time, even though she only attended the banquet and not the tournaments. I was "allowed" to participate as it was our wedding anniversary weekend and that was my present. Naturally, I didn't expect to win anything last year, and I didn't. It was just a familiarization tour to see if we enjoyed the events. Now, all you low-limit players, Atlarge draws in some big poker names, but without the big stakes it takes to compete at big name and costly tournaments. Hell, the two tourneys, no-limit hold'em and stud, are only $60 each. Even a Dad paying off college loans up the wazzo can afford that once a year. But I digress. I didn't expect to win anything this year, either, but ...heh, heh, heh. Despite not being much of an experienced hold'em player and only playing no-limit for the second time in my life, I lasted two hours in the Saturday tournament. I was the 38th player knocked out in the field, so no disgrace there, especially since the first poor soul out was gone within four minutes of the cards being in the air. Then to the banquet and a pleasant dinner with Nolan Dalla and some other fine folks. Nolan knows as much about politics as he does about poker and the NFL., so the conversation was extremely pleasant. Poker Gods are approachable by us mere mortals! Art Santella, another fine poker writer was in attendance, although his hair was not. Sunday moring was the stud event, $300 in play chips to start. Having played in a few of the $25 toruneys and some of the freerolls, I was familiar with the structure and have even placed in the money on rare occasions. However, say I, what chance do I have at Table 6, seat 7, sandwiched between Will Espin, founder of the Trop Poker Club, to my right, and ICE to my left? Despite some early setbacks, and a numb feeling that I might be one of the early ones out, I got good cards at just the right time, several times, and survived as others fell by the wayside. One of my mentors, Dr. Alan Schoonmaker, author of "The Psychology of Poker", told me a few weeks ago ""DAI - Don't Assume Intelligence". So I took a page out of his book and did some rather dumb things myself. About mid-way, I was moved when my table broke down, and on the very first hand a young man (can't remember his name) came blasting into my forced bet. I had split duces and a hidden ace. Being stuborn and not seeing anything special out of his hand, I held on for dear life and won the thing with only those duces vs. his ace high. Go ahead and beat me, but don't try to intimidate me. The VC couldn't, so you won't either, a philosophy I developed more than 30 years ago in a combat zone far deadlier than a poker table (although I see similarities). Anyway, I'm using my short term luck to hang in and am amazed to see folks like Tiger and Jazbo (who did a wonderful job of organizing) knocked out, along with Will Espin and even the immortal "Ray Don", Ray Di Donato, profiled in Card Player this month. It was a pleasure on Saturday to chat with a fellow Vietnam Vet like you, Ray, and I was fully prepared several times Sunday to be punched out and give you a hug, but still survived. So then its down to two tables, and players are dropping. I survive to the final nine. Talk about "Survivor"! Who will be kicked off the island and out of the money? It looks like me, cause I'm being anteed and forced bet down low with only garbage that can't possibly be defended. Then, wham, two guys go all-in and it's down to the magic eight. A guarantee of 99 clams! As the final table starts, I yell, "Anybody want to make a deal?" and am willing to settle for $100. Actually, I believe deal making is bad for tournament poker and I may expound on that in a later post. Can you even begin to imagine the thrill of making this particular final table? Here I am, short chipped and obviously the player from the lowest stakes ring games, and out-experienced by several miles, but still alive! When the ultimate winner of the tournamet is wearing a World Series of Poker cap, and it ain't something he picked up at a flea market, the Minnow has reached uncharted waters. Well, that's the greatness of Atlarge. An ordinary player has the ability to rub elbows and learn from the best at an affordable cost. And these guys, and girls, may know your main purpose is to build up the prize pool, but they still are nice about it. So here I am, and suddenly the first player goes down. A few hands later, I've got split Jacks and sevens at fourth street against Mordicai's open fours. I'm all in and turn over as does he. And I'm ahead of his two's and fours ... until short term luck rolls in his favor at the river when he hits his four. Still, I place seventh for $132 bucks. I had told Nolan Dalla Saturday night at the banquet that I was no threat to his Poker Ratings chart. Gee Nolan, how about a measley half a point or so :). So if you haven't been to Atlarge yet, I hope this tempts you into siging up for next year, even if you are a little fish like me. Who knows? You too might make that astonishing final table.! Pubinfoguy - Glenn R. Nickerson

One of my top three RGP pals, Arti Santella, and I left Arti's house in Norwalk, CT, at 9 AM on Thursday, March 23 bound for ATLARGE '00 and four days of fun & poker. In that precise order. If you've never been in a car with Arti for several hours you will have missed one of life's great treats. He can speak to just about any subject and the time flies. Of course, what also flies is the "f" word, which, to Arti, is essentially verbal punctuation. By the time we crossed the Hudson I had counted at least 19 permutations of this ubiquitous word . . . 18 of which are either physically impossible or linguistically inappropriate. My kind of guy! We arrived at The Trop in due course and, as is our custom, went directly to the Poker Room while our room was being made up. Bad mojo from the start, as I got involved in a $10-$20 holdem game which did not provide me with one playable hand for an hour and a half. (- $230, all but one hand in blinds) The usual early crowd (Foldem, Robert Hwang, etc.) were there when we got there and we shook welcome hands all around. Sad (for us) news from Foldem . . . he has retired from F.I.T. and is relocating to the Bay Area. Our major loss; their major gain. Peter is hoping to set himself up as the owner of a small card room. (To be called . . . what else? . . . "Foldem's".) I was quite surprised to learn from Peter that a very small card room (even just one table) can make a profit. But, of course, "small" means very hard work and long hours for the proprietor. If anyone I know can make it work Peter can. For my money he is the most universally liked person in RGP and his card room will be a "bees to honey" one, especially with all his close poker friends in the area. I don't think he aspires to a giant Gardena-like operation, but I can easily envision an eventual 20-or-so-table room where Peter's splendid personality can be felt in every part of the operation. If I were a betting man I would seek to be an early investor. (Hey . . . what the hell? I am. So perhaps I will.) After my slow start in $10-$20 I decided to back off to a lower stakes game. No point in blowing too much too soon. So I played a little $5-$10 for a small profit and finally got up to our room about 4 PM. But not B4 I made my first of many swings by the dice table, where I had a decent score and got back all of my holdem losses and then some. The poker-rated room ($49 on week days, more on Friday & Saturday nights) was only "adequate". I am not a frequent AC visitor ever since Foxwoods opened up so I don't have any basis for comparisons, but you can get a lot more for your money at Foxwoods (during tournament week and FARGO). Room service absolutely sucks. I paid nearly $30 for a modest breakfast on Friday and the eggs were cold. However, the location in the South tower made up for it . . . down in the elevator and you are right at the back entrance to the poker room. The first major event of the weekend was the Smoker at The Old Waterway Inn. With many people yet to arrive in town and a continually growing reluctance to poison one's lungs we had only 12 people in attendance. But, needless to say, those present were the usual suspects . . . all major fun seekers . . . and the evening was a great success. I pigged out with a decent Pouilly Fuisse to accompany my baked clams appetizer and incredibly good Chesapeake Bay crab entre and the tab came to only a little more than $50 apiece for the 12 of us. Far cry from the $100+ I spent at Fiore during BARGE '98. Without Nolan there to assume the risk of setting the over/under on the bill, Foldem handed it with his usual good sense: We all put $5 and a number on slip of paper and the $60 went half to the winner and half to Kevin, our waiter (who had already been generously toked on the total bill). I forget who won. Back to the Trop where, because of heavy drinking earlier, I played only low stakes holdem. In a $5-$10 game late at night I was getting nothing but rags but they weren't hurting me too much. At 3 AM, stuck for about $300, my body required sleep. So I made a promise to myself to play around to my blinds and leave. All of a sudden the table turned toward me and I had an incredible run. I was playing anything just to see the flop. Among other hands of note I held a pair of 3's and flopped the other two. Then I held a pair of ducks and flopped a full house. No skill here . . . just the poker gods smiling. I finally did go to bed at 7 AM up $800. That's a swing of $1100 in just 4 hours. That, as we all know, is NOT supposed to happen. Arti, who I had not seen since 2 PM yesterday, quietly left the room and let me sleep until about 3 PM B4 he called me to come down for the Trop's $100 + $15 no limit holdem tournament. (That's when I had my room service $30 eggs-over-easy. Sheesh.) I had a pretty good run in the tournament but ended up finishing in the middle of the pack. Not surprising since I was wedged in between two of the best players in the game . . . Greg Pappas to my right and Jimmy Boyd to my left. Jim was there just for the day since he was headed out for the big one at Tunica. He and I go way back together to the early days at Foxwoods annual tournaments and I was sorry to hear that he wouldn't favor us with his company for the entire weekend. I will get no dispute when I say that Jim Boyd is arguably the best liked guy in professional poker. I played heavily in the pink game for awhile where, as Arti pointed out to me, "It is alright to lay down a hand now and then." But then grave misfortune visited me. I bought into the baby pot limit game ($1 - $2 - $5 to go, aka "Jazbo's Game"). There was a lot of talent in the game, mainly Sippy. I had not seen him since ATLARGE '97 at Resorts, where I voted him the best holdem player in the group. One would think that a kind gesture such as that on my part might cause Sippy to go a little easy on me . . . but it was not to happen. On my last hand I was well ahead and I came up with 10's full of my hole card Aces on the turn . . . the nut full house. The pot at that point was about $500 and I was first to bet. Naturally I bet it all. Everyone folded except Sippy who came over the top of me, putting me all in. Needless to say he held the only card that could beat me . . . a 52-to-1-shot case 10. I was so miserable that I didn't even check to see if he did a river suckout on me. But knowing Sippy I doubt that he did, since the turn card was a 10. Sippy thinks it was less than this (and I respect his superior RAM-based intellect) but I think I had about $1500 in that pot. Double sheesh! Then to the crap pit with the regular ARG junkies . . . Foldem, Jester, et al. I'm not sure if it was at this session, but we had a bunch of people with us who were (a) intent upon learning the game or (b) on our growing list, mainly female, of craps groupies who were only there to be able to brag the next day that they "played with the stars". Memory fails me, but I believe the "a" group included Bob Dainauski (Polski, yadje masjh) who was my pupil. I hope he came away from the session winners, but more importantly I hope he learned the very simple basic rules of winning craps . . . Make ONLY line (or come) bets and take maximum odds. NEVER play any bet in front of the stickman (the "proposition" bets). NEVER place a number except 6 or 8, if one of them becomes the point. (And the latter is only marginally OK) If you MUST place any other number (NOT recommended) you should "buy" it. Among the "b" group was Alan Richman's charming S/O, the lovely Nanette (aka "No No") who was destined for finer things on Saturday night at the banquet. If I were 30 years younger I would kill for Nanette. Saturday Morning. Since writing Part I of this endless trip report I have read a couple of others written by people who wondered how some of us get up bright & early after a late night/early morning's carousing. The answer is disarmingly simplistic. We just don't go to bed. It's hardly the best preparation for a major tournament, but a worse mistake would be to go to bed about 5 AM with a wake-up call for 8. Warm engines start up much more quickly than dead ones do. So I played through the wee hours and woke Arti up at 8 AM because I was not about to spring for another $30 breakfast and you can trust Arti to know where the good values are. He led me to the boardwalk and a 3-minute walk to starboard took us to the coffee shop at the neighboring Holiday Inn. We enjoyed a splendid full breakfast which cost about $12 for both of us. Back in time for the no-limit holdem event . . . my best game. I had an agreement with T.K. that he would nudge me if I began to slump over on my hole cards but it turned out to be unnecessary since I tapped out rather early. Bad cards, not bad living, were my downfall. (That's my story . . . and I'm sticking to it!) Then, because I had earned it, I was finally off to bed for a 3-hour snooze, waking up in time for a long hot soak (bummer: no Jaccuzzi) and a cold shower and then off to the banquet. Many of you know me as a Wild Turkey guy but when I want to fire for effect it is always a Martini. There's something about a Martini, A tingle remarkably pleasant. A yellow, a mellow Martini, I wish that I had one at present. There's something about a Martini, Ere the dining & dancing begin. And to tell you the truth, it's not the Vermouth; I think, perhaps, it's the Gin. - Ogden Nash Arti, who I swear was not sucking up to get my vote for the ADBs, was plying me with Stoli Martinis . . . since I was sticking to my vow to give up gin for Lent. We had a swell table, mostly ADBs plus a couple of hopefully surprised new inductees. Apart from subs/grinders/hoagies/po boys etc. I am not big on Italian food. And, to me, chicken is more of an adjective than a noun. So, after a polite bite or two, I passed my plate over to Arti . . . who commenced to eat two dinners, his & mine. He farted a lot that night and bored everyone at breakfast with his endless stories about the damage he had done to his gastrointestinal system. You have to pay the fiddler Arti! The highlight of the evening, as at all ATLARGE banquets, was the recognition given to all those who helped make it happen: The very lovely Kate Dumas, the cute & charming Patrice Munafo, Tiger, Foldem, and of course T.K. A word here about T.K. I've been at this game longer than most of you have been alive and I have never known a finer floorperson than our Tommy. Apart from keeping everything running smoothly & fairly, he makes you feel like you are his most important player. I had met him only once B4, but he remembered my poker name, my legal name (William Alan Hafey), my home address (right down to the street number) and the fact that I was a holdem player. What a guy! Attention Trop Management: Take notice of this fine employee. There were enough ADBs present to form a minyan and we met briefly to name three new ADBs . . . the most ever, I am told, to be inducted at one ARG event. All of them have demonstrated the necessary qualities and we welcome . . . Nanette Merkelis . . . . . . ADB "No No" John Luckini . . . . . . . . . ADB "Luke" Arthur Santella . . . . . . . ADB "Arti" Kate & her staff handed out nice gifts to all present and a fine time was had by all. Back, then, to the tables. I don't take good notes and, for some odd reason, I am not quite sure what I did on Saturday night. Suffice it to say that it was either poker or craps. Somewhere in there a bunch of the more durable fun seekers (all, as I recall, ADBs) repaired across Atlantic Avenue to a seriously dumpy watering hole where we commenced to solve most of the present day problems of the planet and beyond. Dave Trinidad (ADB "Iceman") made us all turn green with envy as he described how he traveled to ATLARGE . . . in his own airplane. I beat Nolan out of three bucks on an easy movie trivia question. Bruce Kramer, to our delight, explained (albeit unsuccessfully) the meaning of life. The lady bartender was in possession of the largest pair of tits I have ever seen, causing several of us to have impure thoughts. Arti had not yet begun to fart all night long. All in all, a fine time was had by everyone in attendance. Eventually Foldem, Jester, and I made our way back to the dice tables where, at one point, I got myself totally tapped out. I went looking for an ATM until I realized that I had left my debit card in the room. But Jester was kind enough to take my marker for $500 and I was able to begin my long crawl back to a decent playing stack for our final day. Sunday Morning Coming Down. Well I woke up Sunday morning With no way to hold my head it didn't hurt. And the beer I had for breakfast tasted good So I had one more for desert. I reached into my closet for my clothes And found my cleanest dirty shirt. Then I brushed my teeth and combed my hair And stumbled down the stairs to greet the day. - Kris Kristofferson Prior to an early 9 AM start of the stud poker tournament many of us gathered in the lounge just outside the poker room to have coffee, juice, and what they laughingly presented as croissants. BS and bad beat stories prevailed. A quiet young man name of Bob Baugh asked Arti and me if we would mind him sitting with us. Mind? Hell, we were glad to see him. We had already "sang up every song we ever knew" (KK again.) Bob told us this was his first ARG event so Arti & I pointed out some of the poker luminaries in the room . . . Herbie Allen, Greg Pappas, Steve DelBorell, Bud Frampton, Tom McHugh, etc . . . and introduced him all around. Bob may go back home proud to have met some of these people, but a few years from now he might very well be one of them himself. The Bob Baughs of year 00 are going to be the future of poker folks. On to the stud tournament. I played well, but stud just isn't my game. So I finished in the middle of the pack again and wandered off to where the smoking lamp was lit. Congratulations are due to the organizers for making the tournaments non-smoking. It is the correct thing to do and those of us who have the foul habit seemed not to mind it at all. We will observe the same rule at FARGO in October just as we did last year. Since it is still morning another nap was in order. But I had some personal business to discuss with Nolan and that led to an invitation to join him, Bruce, and Dave Trinidad for lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant. Nolan ordered a garlicky white pizza with broccoli and insisted I have a taste. Since my system rejects all leafy vegetables, I brushed them off (Nolan asked if I would brush them ON to the remaining pie!) and tasted the best pizza I have had in years. Then to my nap. I got about 4 hours in . . . my longest single sleep break of the weekend . . . then back to the tables. Nothing spectacular to report as I was not going to attempt to get well again at poker. However I managed a small win (about $400) which helped a little. At dinnertime many of the punters had left and there were only a few of us left for our last night at The Trop. I had business to discuss with Jester so I invited him to dinner at Pier 7, the better seafood restaurant right next door. I eat little else but seafood during Lent, but the Tournedos sounded tempting and proved to be the best I can remember having in recent years. Prices were a tad lower than the A.C. Steakhouse and we greatly enjoyed a bottle of "off campus" Bordeaux (i.e. NOT LaFitte or Mouton) from the vineyards of Baron Rothschild. I highly recommend everything about this small restaurant. Then, finally, our last visit to the dice tables. Jester, Foldem, and Y.O.S. We were not making much of a score after the first hour or so and Foldem left to try his luck elsewhere. Suddenly the table turned golden. In a half-hour I had made enough to pay back my $500 marker to Jester and we just kept rolling and winning. Both of us were playing $10 line bets backed up with $50 odds, plus one or two similar come bets, on every hand. I ended up plus > $1000, and Jester must have done about the same. Back to the poker room for one last effort. I played $10-$20 holdem until about 3 AM and closed out my gambooling weekend with a net loss of only ~ $500, much of which was actually eaten up by cash outlays and tokes. Considering that I was stuck by > $3K at one point I thought I had done quite well for the weekend. To bed early, then a quick room service continental breakfast of O.J., croissants, & lots of coffee. $12 plus tip. I am in the wrong business. The trip home was uneventful. With gas prices being at an all-time high, I thought it fair that I should spring for a decent dinner so I suggested the "21" Club in NYC. Arti, however, opted for his favorite . . . the last Burger King on the GSP. I must say that the Double Cheese Whopper was perhaps the best I have ever tasted . . . done medium rare, as ordered. Good choice Arti! We hit no traffic to speak of and were back to Arti's seaside home in Norwalk by suppertime. Arti showed me his "communications center" in the basement, which complimented his massive antenna array on the roof. (Arti must have serious juice with the local zoning board in this ultra rich Gold Coast town.) I felt as if I was in command central. Posted around the room were call signals and memorabilia from people all over the world that Arti talks with regularly. Among them was a handsomely framed 8x10 glossy inscribed to Arti by the late King Hussein of Jordan, a prominent ham radio guy is his time. Then 70 miles more to my home in Avon, CT, and the end of the best ATLARGE weekend ever. Bill Alan Organizer Emeritus, FARGO Addenda: It was good to see Jazbo at the holdem tournament. We mustn't forget that he is the originator of "off Broadway" BARGE-like events. His pioneering of ATLARGE in 1996 has led to FARGO, ESCARGOT, MARGE, SARGE, and now CARGO . . . a poker cruise to the Western Caribbean in September. I confidently expect that these regional events will be expanded to many more, giving all of us many opportunities to enjoy the camaraderie started by Mike Zimmers et al at BARGE. Also Will Espin, for whom The Trop created a special commemorative $5 chip. We all wish you good health, Will, and hope we will see you on a regular basis in the future.

ATLARGE 2K was my second ARG event, and it was great! I have nothing but good things to say about all the fine people I met at ATLARGE. Still, not knowing who does or doesn't want their name appearing on the net, I'll stick to using people's nicknames or first names only. You know who you are. I scratched a few notes, but this is 99% from memory. I'll apologize in advance for any errors, exclusions, etc. I also chose to get this report out the door unpolished, before memories fade, so it's a little rough around the edges. Sorry about that. First, many thanks to: Rob "Action Bob" H - Scored me a room in the Trop so I didn't have to shuttle 6 miles to the Sheraton West. With my parents along, this was a double help. Can't thank you enough Rob! And, as promised, I managed to prevent my mom from trashing the room rock-star style, so your good name and credit rating are safe! Tiger and Foldem - Made ATLARGE happen in short order and did all the work so we could do all the play. Danke schoen! I only got to talk to Tiger for a minute or so. I don't think I got to express my thanks for all he has done for ATLARGE and RGP, so I'll do it now. Patrice, TK and Kate - Hosted our group again, and treated us fantastically! So nice to everyone, and nothing was ever a problem. Thanks! PRM - who I once again played many hands with, who once again confused me to high heaven, and who once again proved what a great guy he is through several nice gestures. Once I locate a suitable white chip, it will be on its way to you! RGP note: I didn't realize how many people read the group consistently, and remember what they have read! At least five people who I met for the first time said something like, "Oh, you're the trip-report-template guy," referring to a trip report spoof post I posted 7 months ago. Be careful what you write, people do read this stuff! Pretrip: I know you want to know this stuff so here goes. I'm planning to head to ATLARGE early Saturday morning. I work 4x10, so Friday afternoon - as I am anticipating ATLARGE - confirms Einstein's theory that time is indeed relative. Friday afternoon lasts, by my watch, a little longer than grad school. From work I zing out to Toys R Us, because I wouldn't come *back* from a trip without something for my little girls, ages 5 and 2, and I don't think a felt roulette surface will go over well. Now I head straight to some volunteer work - by which I mean work I have been volunteered for :-). No, actually it is for a school library, so it is a good cause. 2.5 hours there. Home, family, pack. Put the girls to bed. They don't want Daddy to go tomorrow, because they will miss him. They're breaking my heart here! We negotiate a settlement. It is now very late. I jam in 15 minutes of exercise anyway, because I know Saturday and Sunday will have none. Shower. Quick review of Cloutier's excellent Championship No Limit and Pot Limit Hold Em. A few concepts stick: AQ is trouble up front. If you have KK and an Ace flops no more money goes in, etc. BTW, I love TJ's road stories. They are too few and too brief. I'd like to see a book from him just about what it's like to live a life fading the white line. Sleep. Four short hours later the alarm goes off. Tired? No way! It's time for ATLARGE! We're on the road by 6 and make excellent time, even through Philadelphia (1.7 million people, 2 lanes). I'm very happy to be bringing my parents. My dad had bypass surgery less than a month ago. The morning after the operation I go in for the 11am visit. He is sitting up, reading the paper, looking for all the world like he is ready to go home. "You've got 4 weeks," I tell him, "To get well enough to go to play some poker with me." He smiles and says, "I know. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be ready." There was never any doubt. Got there just past 8am. Put my name down on some lists. Any games 5/10 or below open? Just 2/4. OK, what else am I going to do at this hour? Take a 2/4 seat and immediately see why it was vacant. The persons on either side of me are having an ongoing verbal dispute, including threats of physical interaction. I play my usual properly tight starting requirements. When I finally enter a pot with a raise and win with an overpair, the guy on my right informs me that "even a blind squirrel finds a walnut once in a while." "Acorn," I tell him, "even a blind squirrel\u2026you know what, never mind, walnut." He keeps taunting the guy on my left, suggesting he is cheating with his "cousin" down the table. The guy keeps saying "those Greeks are cheating\u2026." To which the guy on my left yells "WE'RE NOT GREEK! I KEEP TELLING YOU!" Colorful words are exchanged, floor is called, etc. I know if I stick around these guys will produce some golden trip report material, but I can't handle sitting right between them, so I retire to the bar to slam a few cups of coffee. Big crowd around one table, so I drift over. It is the 2/5 PL game. I had expressed interest in the baby PL game (1/2/5 to go). I don't think it went anytime Saturday, although I got on a list. Let's take a peek at 2/5/20 to go. The first player I see is Jedi, a young guy whose real name I remember from the USPC results in Poker Digest. Oh, and he's got something like 15K in wrapped bundles of hundreds in front of him. I guess this is not the learner game :-). I watch a hand. Decent pot building. Flop is Q high, No ace or K appear on the board. On the river, one player raises the pot, another calls all in after a long, long hesitation. Pot is about 2K. First guy has KK. Other guy shows AQ. AQ no goot, Cloutier correct. Somewhere in here I met two nice guys I've traded some Email with, BPK and Jim "Yellow Fin" K. I eventually played a little with Yellow Fin, but I don't think I sat with BPK. NL Tourney time. Allow me if you will to complain about my table assignment. The lineup included Mordecai, whom I knew to be a good ring game player, and who I started the NL tourney with last year (he made the final table) and I knew he was aggressive; Tom, who was new to me; Tray Racer who has probably made more RGE final tables than anyone else; George W, a good guy who I had not played NL against yet; a guy who sits on my left who looks like a muscular Gary Sinise (the guy from "The Stand," among other features) who turns out to be Pain - who I understand is a good player; ADB Bigboy who sits down with a rack of Oreos (funny!); Mitch BFB who would go on to eliminate me; Nolan two to my right which is horrible because I know he will is aggressive; myself, and\u2026.and\u2026..and\u2026.I must be forgetting someone. Doh! Before we start playing I get to meet Nolan. If poker ever needs an ambassador, here is my nomination. What a congenial person. He makes sure everyone at the table gets included in the conversation. It was a pleasure playing at the same table. This is the guy who should be pumping out books. I remain hopeful. NL Tourney: Or, "You Should Have At Least Played a Few IRC Tournies" This is my second lifetime NL game. It shows. I mentioned I have Nolan two to my right. That's bad, m'k? From reading his stuff, I know Nolan is aggressive. I also know is capable of betting at a flop with nothing. I'm also sure he is observant. So, he steals some blinds from me. I have absolutely nothing, however, and muck my hands (which include 72o and other such gems) face up. Anyway, I think we both know he is going to put pressure on me. So I decide my only hope is to wait for a good hand, and then slowplay it. Eventually, I get AKo in one of the blinds. Nolan makes about a pot sized raise, right on schedule. I smooth call. Good flop, please! I like the flop: KXX two suits. I check, Nolan makes a pot sized bet. I might have smooth called, but I didn't want to give up a chance to make three of a suit on board, because I know Nolan will represent that, and I don't know what I will do then. I'm all excited that my plan has come together, so I put together a pot sized reraise. Well, my excitement and 10 cups of coffee (no exaggeration, maybe more) show as I make a shaky bet. Doh! Even I know about that tell! Argh! Nolan definitely sees it, because he mucks immediately and says "Nice hand," as in I don't mean nice bet I mean nice hand, as in that ace-king you had there, as in they might as well deal your cards face up if you're going to play like that. Oh well, that's why I am here, for experience, so that these things don't happen when I'm at the final table at the WSOP, which I plan to be one day. Pain departs when his AA is cracked by Jerry's 74 which flopped a straight. What would you do: A little later, I get AKo and raise. Nolan calls. Flop QcTcX - I have no club. Check, Nolan bets the pot. I think, think, think, fold. What would you have done? I do nothing for a while, and soon I am shortstacked relative to the blinds. I get AKs. Someone makes a pot sized bet. Mitch who has chips to spare calls, I call all in. The flop is low rags. I show my hand to my neighbors and they like my chances when it gets checked around. Turn brings a J, which Mitch bets. That's not a good sign. His AJ sends me to the rail, just about in the dead center of the pack. AJ would prove to be my NL tournament nemesis. I realize, a little too late, that with this sort of structure one has to play a little faster than the style CLoutier writes about. On to some 5/10 HE where I booked a nice little profit while waiting, and waiting, and waiting to get called for the pink game. The pink game was cool. I decided I wanted to try it, even though I generally play 5/10. I got in (eventually) on Saturday afternoon. Met Tom H here, a young guy, very nice, and a tough player. I showed my inexperience on this hand, which I played terribly, but at least I managed to confuse Nolan (-: I limped in with 66. Nolan raised behind me, possibly on the button. I called. Flop came none too threatening with a 6. Something like 962. I check raised Nolan and he called. On the turn the board was 962K. Now, again showing my inexperience my immediate thought was, "what if he was on KK?" I should have bet it anyway, of course. I _absolutely_ know this, all I can say is that my brain froze. I checked. Nolan bet, giving me a chance to put in another check raise, which would have been a very nice play, but I called. The river hits something like 962KT. By the river card my brain has thawed, so I bet out. Nolan pauses, wonders out loud what hand could possibly justify my betting pattern (heh, your logic cannot help you!). He calls. 666 goot, and of course draws remarks from ADB Satan, who was chatting it up and making the table a lot of fun to be at. I'd like to get in a -EV game run with him someday, I bet it is a blast. The dealer gets double toked for the hand of the beast and we carry on. Another botched hand from the pink game: Mordecai, a very friendly guy and tough player who I got to play against for a few hours, raised from early position. He had been playing solidly, so I put him on AKo, minimum, and more likely a big pair. There were 2 callers to me on the BB. I had 4c2c and decided to call, figuring if the flop didn't slam into me I would fold. Flop: 8x4h2h. I check raise. Mordecai reraises. I call. I still put him on a big pair. AhKh is possible. A set of 8s is pretty unlikely, but not impossible. Turn is a blank non-heart. In my worst play of the day I check and then call, deciding I will try to check raise on the river if it is not a heart. I know that was a very bad idea for several reasons. No excuse other than stupidity. The river pairs the 8, which I don't like at all. I check to Mordecai. He pauses, I know he's wondering if I could have an 8. He puts me on a heart draw and bets. I half ask, half state "Overpair ?/." as I call. Yep, KK. My dumb move saved me a bet, as it happens. Mordecai was playing great, and killing the pink game both days. Despite these and other boneheaded plays, my overall game was reasonable and I took about 400 out of the pink game Saturday. Banquet: I sat with Joan, Rebuy, Tray Racer, Yellow Fin, PRM, Davles, and ADB Iceman. Great time. Nice meeting Joan who I had exchanged some Email with. She's not only a fun person, but is very committed to improving her game. Watch out for her down the road! We discuss the influence of a woman at the poker table, which got pretty interesting. Davles has some funny comments about on-line poker and why he doesn't play it :-). Tiger, Nolan, and Arti each said a few words and awarded some awards. All very nice, and yes, Tiger did limit his talk to less than 38 pages (-:. Dinner itself was excellent. I had neglected to eat up until then, so I was starved. The Trop put on a very nice banquet for us, many thanks! Everyone got a prize for attending - whatever was written on a slip of paper in a little bag at each seat. I scooped one of the top items, a Trop jacket, making this a +EV event. Woohoo! I go to the office to get the jacket; I thank Patrice for the banquet and she remarks how much she enjoys ATLARGE weekend. Also, this merits pointing out: She gave me a size L jacket, which I tried on. It fit well, I thought. Patrice thought it could have been a teensy bit bigger. There was no XL on hand in the office. I was perfectly happy with it as was, and said so. The easy thing to do would be to say 'OK.' But Patrice went out of her way and insisted on running upstairs to get an XL to try. The XL turned out to be a better fit. That's *really* going the extra distance. Thanks Patrice! MATS. The lineup was myself, Jerry, Jester, Rebuy, Ross, Russell, Joan, Tom, Davles, and Kevin. After my NL tourney debacle, I resolve to play better here. I feel like I did play a little better here, but did not get a lot by way of cards. Thanks to Llew for dealing! First hand Davles pushes all in from middle position. The hand opens up a discussion: If you were in the WSOP with KK and someone jammed the first pot, what would you do? The consensus said fold. I lose a few chips early when I try to steal with ATo and someone, Joan I think, puts in a big raise. Joan played a very good game, and repeatedly showed she was not afraid to commit all her chips. My best hand came pretty early. I was second to act and raised 2X pot with KK. All fold to Jester who jams. I call all-in (he has a few more chips). Board comes JxTTx. He has AJs, so I double through. That left Jester crippled. I didn't play any big hands against Rebuy, but I was impressed with his aggressiveness and poker face. A few times he slid all in. I watched him. Eyes down to the pot, not even a blink. I think he sort of slips into a state of suspended animation or something. I get a long run of unplayable cards. People start to drop. We're down to four players but I start to get relatively short stacked as the limits rise. Soon I need a hand to make a stand with. I almost go all in when Llew deals me the 3c and Rules for Draw Poker, because it's the best hand I've held in 20 minutes, but I lay it down. People are raising my blinds, but I have things like 63o, and cannot pull the trigger. Finally I catch AQo, which looks like gold at this point. I slide all-in. Ross, with the big stack, has already told me that when I make my move he will have to call blind. He calls. He has AJ. So does the final board, and that's all for me. I leave Ross, Jerry and Tom to duel it out. A great time with some very friendly people. Congrats to Ross who played outstanding poker and went on to win. Back to the poker room. I bounce through a few games, pick up a few chips. Watch the white game a bit. You have to see this game to appreciate it. The table looks just like an architectural model of a city! Even the jaded locals were coming by to see what was going on. I wish I had gotten in on that, maybe next year. I get back into the pink game fairly late. Briefly meet Jaeger, whose posts I never skip, and who kicked butt all weekend. Foldem dropped in, primarily for a massage but to play a little as well. Finally met him in person (Actually, I met him for 2 seconds last year, just enough to say 'hi.'). All the good things people say about him are true and yes, he does embody the ARG spirit. He is another person who is a pleasure to have at the table. Best wishes to him as he takes his good spirits westward. Bill (ADB VC61) took the seat to my left. We had never met. We talk a bit about sports betting scandals. Interesting stories, I could listen to this all night. Bill played basketball against Bob Cousy in college. Somewhere around 2-2:30am Foldem, Carl, Pete C, Yellow Fin, Bill, Jester, and a few others were pulling up to head to the dice tables. I asked if I might tag along, having never played before. I received a gracious invite and off we went. I have to thank Bill, who was above-and-beyond kind. He treated me like a nephew, and I really mean that. Bill stood next to me at the craps table and helped me out, telling me about the good bets and placing odds, and which bets were lousy. What a fine gentleman and class act. We started off pretty cold. Foldem lacked the faith, and bailed out to go defy all known laws of probability at the Let It Ride tables. I dropped 160 pretty fast at a 10 dollar table, but I kept the faith. It took about an hour, but we started to dig out. Still down some, we were ready to pull up but decided to wait out one more ATLARGE Shooter, Pete C. Good choice! He made 4 or 5 points which, combined with odds, "made me well," as we craps shooters like to say :-). By 3:30 I felt OK but I knew I had better get a little sleep. I'm the first of the ATLARGErs to wuss out. I wandered toward the North tower elevators and noticed a young lady loitering there. Asian, and very pretty. She was wearing knee high boots and not a lot else. Like a dope, I make eye contact. She starts talking to me. Seemingly an hour later, the elevator arrives. She gets in with me. I push he button for floor 7. "What floor?" I ask. She glances at the lighted display. "Seven is good." I smile and say "What a co-inky dink." (I really said this) She smiles and says, "Yes, isn't it?" Aiyah. "What's in there?" she asks - gesturing toward the fanny pack around my waist. Not too worried that she's going to overpower me, I say "Chips!" and open it up. It's stuffed with mostly pink chips. "Wow," she says, "You must be really lucky!" "Uh, yes." "You want another chip?" she asks me. I search for meaning in that statement and say something like, "Duh?" "Here," she says, and hands me a red $5 chip. Not knowing what to do, I take it. "Thanks." I'll leave out the rest of the conversation and just state, unequivocally, that no further business transactions took place. Thus, I am career +EV in dealings of that nature, a claim I suspect few can match! I get to the room and sneak in. Last year, I hit the hay around 4am. I had snuck into the room all quiet, only to find it empty! My parents came in later than me! This year, at least, my parents called it quits around 2, which was good. I hate it when my mom calls me a lightweight ;-). Just about 4am I'm tired but my head is spinning from the cigar I had shooting dice. I eventually doze off, but don't sleep very well. 7:30 my mom wakes me. They are both all showered, dressed, and eager to go. Geez, I can barely hang with my parents! I shower and shave quickly, and we go to breakfast. It's not quite 8am yet and I'm wondering if I am the only ATLARGER awake at this hour (except maybe for those who never went to sleep). Nope, I spot Bill and Arti going for breakfast too. How do they do it? When I left the craps table Bill was still there. I think maybe the ADBs have learned how to function without sleep. Stud tournament. My table, from the 1 seat: Bwana (doh!), Jim "JT" T, Bruce "ADB Bigboy", Nolan, someone I did not know or meet, Robert J, Me, PRM. At least I got to meet Bwana briefly, which is appropriate since I have often used his name in posts as the prototypical tough tournament player. He assures me that he is not so good at stud. Sure. He also confirms for me, firsthand, the reputation he has for leaving tournament tables for prolonged periods while still doing well! I didn't last too long. I had been hovering about at the buyin stack size (T300). I'd played only a few hands, and none of them very big, winning one or two and losing one or two. We had just gone to T5 ante (all players), T25/50 bets, forced bring in of T15. I had a little less than the initial T300. I was dealt (QdXd)Ad and raised the bring in, which was a 2 sitting in front of ADB Bigboy. JT called behind me with a low card, and Bigboy called too. I thought maybe JT had a big pair in the hole, and I wasn't sure about Bigboy. I caught a K, but not the Kd on fourth street. JT got another small card and Bigboy caught a Q to have Q2 showing. I bet out again. JT called, and Bigboy raised. We both called. Fifth street brought a diamond, I check-called Bigboys bet and JT folded. Sixth street I caught the Kd, making my flush and a pair of Kings showing. The boards were: Me: (Qd Xd) Ad Kx Xd Kd Bigboy: ( ) 2x Qx Xx Xx I bet out all in (T40). Bigboy called. The river cards were dealt. Bigboy said "I need a Q or a 2." He got it, making Qs full of 2s or 2s full of Qs. I forget, but either was more than enough. I was happy enough with my play of the hand. Some nice words were said and it was back to the ring action for me. I played a little in a 5/10 stud game with Llew and Mordecai (I played a lot with Mordecai - either a coincidence, or more likely he liked my action :-). No hands here. The only decent cards I catch are a pair of Queens, but the other two queens are already showing. They call down the pink game again and I depart. Funny story: Jazbo raises in the pink game from early position. Folded to Nolan in the BB. Nolan says "I know I'm behind so I'm going to lay this down," flipping down AJo. Jazbo incites tilt by rolling over JTs! Nolan carries on at length. So funny! Funny remark: At the pink game, well known tournament player Greg P is walking by. Someone asks how he is doing in the stud tournament. "Well, there's this guy at my table," he says, "who has a huge pile of chips, and he's a real a.h." Pause as everyone at the pink game looks up for the answer. "It's me!" Midafternoon I call it a wrap. No cash from the tournies but the ring games were good to me, despite all my errors. Monday my coworkers ask me about my weekend. I explain I was in Atlantic City. The following true dialog represents the difference between RGPers and normal people: Coworker: "Atlantic City? How is the ocean there?" Me: "Ocean? Oh, yeah! I, uh, I didn't get to the ocean this time." :-) It was a pleasure gang, hope to see you all again soon! Bob "BobbyD" Dainauski Allentown, PA

This past weekend I had the great pleasure of attending ATLARGE V at the Trop in Atlantic City. Before I give MY version of my experience at the tables, I would like to thank 4 people for making this past weekend a memorable one for me, a GREAT poker weekend. First and foremost, Tiger and Foldem for picking up the reins of a run away horse initially tamed by Jazbo, and making ATLARGE V possible. Secondly, Kate and Patrice, (I hope I am not horribly mis-spelling your name Patrice). These two ladies, with the help of their outstanding staff in the Trop Poker Club, treated ALL of the ATLARGE crowd like high rollers (even those of us that seldom see the 10-20 table). Now, for the real time play by play of my ATLARGE Holdem tourney action. I start the tourney in seat 4 table 1. Hand 1 - 83o - fold Hand 2 - AcAh - UTG folds, I make it 100 to go, 2 seats to my left, Jaeger, (Eric) makes it 200, and the table folds to me. I thinking, "Ive got you now!" go all in to the tune of 500, which Jaeger eagerly calls. I roll over my rockets to watch him roll over, you guessed it, his rockets. At this point I'm thinking, well that got the blood going, now I will be awake for the rest of the tourney, figuring there is this small matter of flopping 5 cards, and the dealer pushing back our chips and splitting the 15 blinds. About this time I here someone say "hey, one of these two may have a free roll!" and watch the dealer flop Heart    Spade    Spade Turn - Spade River - (WAIT FOR IT!) SPADE IGHN The good news is Jaeger used his skill and my chips to make it to the final table. Oh, I went outside to the boardwalk to watch the Swedish Bikini Team do a photo shoot on the beach....much better use of time. Any way, even though I spent all of 10 minutes in the tourney I had a great time and am already looking forward to next year. /Loboc

This will be short & sweet, after reading the wonderful trip reports others have already posted. I certainly wish I could write as well as you folks do! The Stud Tourney got off at 9AM on Sunday, so yours truly wasn't around to see it get off, but Rachel Croson was kind enough to track the bustouts which started with Bill Alan's new protege, David Baugh. Tough luck David, but you'll do better next year. The tourney ran long enough that I begged cajoled and arm-twisted Robert Jacobs into handling the finish so I could play in the Trop Stud/8 tourney. Thanks Robert! Here's the run-down, based on Robert's notes. You final table guys can chime in with your thoughts... Final Table: seat/name 1/ Eric "Jaeger" Holtman 2/ Ralph Ballario 3/Greg Pappas 4/Bill Lewis 5/Tiger "The Organizer" 123 6/ David "Davles" Fruchter 7/Ernst-Dieter "Jupiler" Martin 8/ Peter "TrayRacer" Segal Some thoughts on the final table... Eric Holtman had locked up the Overall when Mitch Kramer went out with two tables left... Peter Segal must have the best final table appearance record of all time at *ARG events, with about 50%... Greg Pappas is certainly the gabbiest player I have ever heard, a constant stream of jokes, abuse and laughter... Segal is out in 8th place, followed in 7th by Bill Lewis when Pappas rivers a third 5 to beat Lewis' trip 4s. E-D Martin is Pappas' next victim with 30 miles against Jupiler's K high. Tiger falls next in 5th place when he and Fruchter both have aces up, but Davles has KK to beat Tiger's 33. Tiger adds: -------------------------- well, there was a little bit more to the hand than that. ;) we were down to five players, with an ante of T100, bring-in of T200, and limits of 500/1000. i had just under T3000. david had the second biggest stack. earlier at the final table, when i had raised the bring-in, david (to my immediate left) re-raised me on two occasions and i released my hand each time. in this hand, i had split aces with a trey. ralphie brought it in, greg folded, and i raised. david, showing an eight, re-raised. eric folded, as did ralphie. david was *not* happy when i made it three bets. he hesitated and called. as it turned out, david had split eights with an ace kicker. if he were to assume that i really did have split aces, there were only three cards in the deck that could help him: the other two eights and the case ace. of course, it was possible that i had pocket kings or *maybe* pocket queens, since i would have played these hands exactly the same way. on fourth street, i got a medium card, and david caught an ace. he was high with the eight, and checked. i bet and he check-raised. i didn't even believe that he had caught a case card, so i re-raised all-in. yup. he did buy the case ace and i was *way* behind. even though i paired my three on fifth street, david caught two running kings on sixth and seventh to make aces and kings. my only win was one of the two remaining treys....but i found one more cowboy on the river, and i had to leave. ------- End Tiger's comments Now it's Ralph all the way home as Pappas finally falls when Ballario shows a six high straight. Next Fruchter's busted draw puts him in 3rd vs Ralph's Kings up. Finally Ralph Ballario shows TT77 to defeat Overall Champ Eric Holtman's wired 88 to take the Championship. That's my report. I don't think Mike Paulle has anything to worry about :) Thanks again to Kate, Patrice, TK and the great staff and dealers of the Tropicana for showing us a great time. And a special thanks to the 100 or so RGP'rs who once again have shown the poker world that you can be a winner and have fun at the same time! See you at BARGE, Peter "The mouth of a happy man is filled with beer"      - Egyptian Proverb (as told at Hollywood Park)

It was less than a year ago that I started to play poker and read this newsgroup. Though I have enjoyed or learned something from most posts or posters, some things were beyond me and I knew it, while other things were beyond me and I didn't even realize it.... what unaware?.... how can that be when I am "alwaysaware"? (grin) oh yeah, I wasn't "alwaysaware" back then, I used my real name..... anyway..... Three months ago I went back and re-read Patri's WSOP trip report. When I first read it last May, I thought he was a good writer and a great story teller.... I loved how he called KQ that this guy was playing a trash hand... what a sense of humor I thought he had... cuz, I thought he was kidding (KQ sounded good to me limit/NL, KQ who wouldn't play it?) Wow, what an enlightened understanding I got of how far I had come since May of last year. Then a few days ago, I was re-reading a hand by hand played trip report from.....never mind (do your own research :) When I first read it a few months ago, there were certain "plays" that the writer opened for debate that I didn't fully understand even after reading the responses... BINGO.. the recent reading was crystal clear.... again, a reflection on how far my poker knowledge is coming along... Today, I re-read a posting of mine on playing AJs in a NL tournament, and even I could now answer my own pondering... maybe not as well as some (or most) of you... but still.... I now better understand what I didn't then....POSITION...... And the point of this post? heres, a clue....title, or ATLARGE Trip Report Part II.... With ATLRAGE coming up, I have been thinking about my play in the NL tournament at FARGO I came in 17th(?) out of 70-80(?) players, by playing super tight and getting lucky Back then I didn't know AK "was a hand, you could call a raise with" and in the first level alone folded it three times when Jeff Calkins put in a small raise, (on my left he was) but I now recognize that as an attempt to steal (and quite successful he was I might add - grin) If I knew then what I know now.... I could have been a chip leader early on and done so much better (or busted out much earlier...but we will address that issue any other day) So anyway,,,, the point of this post?..... ATLARGER's WATCH OUT, ALWAYSAWARE IS COMING TO PLAY! Yup, that's right...Not only will I be playing the pocket rockets (AA) and the cowboys (KK), I've added nutnopair (AK) to my playable hands (smile) joan who will now only be playing tight, instead of super tight - smile The Widow Sees A Ghost... or, ATLARGE Report Part III *** WARNING: This Post Contains Poker Content (a rarity for me :) *** Due to even MORE problems with my vehicle, this time a dislodged vacuum hose, rendering it undrivable (at least to AC) I finally give up and drive "the land boat" i.e. the suburban. I miss the smoker ;-( Even though "the boat" has a kick ass stereo system I drive in silence, thinking about how to outplay Scott (and others), thinking about various NL tourney situations. Since this is a parkway there are no 16 wheelers and I am the biggest thing out there... it is nice to rule the road... (well, nice until I stop to fill the gas tank....ouch!) but it gets me in a "ruling the table" fame of mind. After three hours I give in and turn on the kick ass sound system. An hour later I arrive at the trop, find an excellent spot to park "the boat" and proceed to the poker room. I am immediately paged and look over at the podium and see Llew, my roommate for the weekend. She gives me a key to the room, I go eat dinner, then get my stuff and head to the room. I have promised myself not to play any limit ring games until the no limit tournaments are over. I want to stay focused... I want to win... I do not want to be distracted in trying to make the necessary adjustments from/to limit/no limit. I go to bed. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I wanted to go to the smoker, cuz I wanted to meet people, to know faces, to be able to hang out and say hi to someone.... but alas, it was not to be. I take this as a sign to continue with my focusing plan. I avoid everyone on Friday. I walk the boardwalk, I review my plan, I continue to think about NL tourney scenarios. At 2PM I sign up for the Trop monthly NL holdem tournament, and disappear yet again... absolutely NO DISTRACTIONS (grin). At 4PM I wander to my table and who do I find? Raydon - oh no (smile) one of my favorites but starting at the same table will either be good news, as he is very aggressive and tries to rule the table early and often busts because of it. Or, it will be not so good, as he will become a chip leader early. Also at my table is Jason Viriyayuthakorn, he came in 3rd at the final event of the USPC this last December, (Daniel N. had mentioned him in an article in Card Player magazine). I am actually excited about this. I want to see how he plays, I want to play him. I realize that this may mean an early exit for me, but still I am glad for the challenge. It is also now clear to me that these two must exit this tourney early, or they will be too dangerous later. I approach Jason, introduce myself and congratulate him on his win at the Taj. I want him to know that I know who he is. I want him to wonder if I can play. I kid him that I do not like that he is on my left (2 to my left). He kids back, that is a good thing, I could now trap him...hmmm., thanks for the idea Jason :) I don't have any playable cards. I wait. I look down and see the KQ of clubs. I want to play it...damn Patri for educating me (smile).. I muck... turns out it would be the winning hand on a huge pot (never mind that I would have had to chase it to the river) I secretly curse Patri (just kidding:). I start to get cards, I am raking pots. Jason has been crippled. Raydon is hurting. I am the big blind, Jason fingers his chips and I think, oh great, can't play my Q3 now. But, he just limps as do some others. The flop is Q high. Can't bet it with a 3 kicker, it is checked around.. The turn is another Q, which I check (what was that about a trap Jason?:-) Jason bets out 120 a little more than 1/3 of his stack. It is folded around to me. I raise it. He immediately releases his hand saying if you waited that long to act you must have something. He probably also saw my hand shaking. I certainly did, and it surprised and annoyed the hell out of me. I thought about smooth calling but if he had a middle pair that hit on the river, I could be in a world of hurt. A few hands later, Jason pushes all in with a short stack, 205 I believe. Raydon makes some comment about what kind of hand is needed to take him out or get the job done some such....but I am not paying attention to Raydon (I learned long ago to ignore him :-)... I have the J10d. I am only thinking that I like the odds on this hand, it is folded around to me and up to me to "fight" him. With no help I rethink my hand. If I call and lose it will not hurt me, I am chip leader and after all I did just take 135 (120 bet plus limp call of 15) from Jason. My only concern, my biggest concern is if I lose - what Jason can do with those chips... he is dangerous....very very dangerous... I hesitate. I then think it is only me and him. If he wins he only gets my chips no one elses. I finally decide that my goal upon arriving at the table was to take the players out and this may be my best shot at Mr. Danger. I call. I don't remember what happened as Jason didn't turn his cards, so neither did I... but I believe a ten hit the river. Jason asked if I got any of it and when I turned my cards he mucked his. He probably had A high (or 72 off and trying to steal). Someone later told me that Jason was moaning in the pot limit game that "she played J10, Can you believe it?" (Smile) Well, it was suited....(Bigger Smile) Later, Jason thanked me for taking him out early as he made a killing in the pot limit game. I asked for a percentage.... haven't seen any check yet.... but I'm an optimist (grin).. In the event you are reading this Jason, my address is: I then get pocket K's which I decide to slow play. I know the danger, but I am learning how to read the players. The flop has a K and I get action, I check raise and I am called. It is now heads up. He checks. I bet. He calls. He checks the river card and I say no way... I put the number of chips he has left in the middle. He hesitates and says he has to call. He has top and middle pair and a seat on the rail. (Slow playing here definitely got me all his chips. First it got him to play a trash hand, and secondly it gave him no indication I had a hand until the check raise, at which point I think he had fallen in love with his two pair flop) At this point someone nicknames me the widow. A player unknown to me is now all in (a short stack), I have a decent hand though I remember not what is was. I decide not to call him down and comment that I will probably regret it later in the tournament. I do. Turns out he is one of the eventual winners that chops four ways, Stevan G. Congratulations! Play well at TOC. Now, had I known at the time it was him I would have called, just cuz.... but that is a long story. He and I then traveled many tables together but alas, never another opportunity to take him out, looking forward to "widowing him" next year :) The Tournament progresses, Greg Pappas makes a comment that if he had my chips he'd have the table cornered by now. Greg is short stacked, but not for long. My chips fluctuate, by the second break I am down to 1800 (from 4000). I look at the structure sheet and see that the blinds are 500/1000 with 100 antes. I panic, well not panic, if you knew me you would know not much phases me,... not muggings, not being at home during a break in, not even street lamps that sail through my car window as I am driving. I seek Raydon, as I am the big blind and have no time, he tells me how he would play it. I return to my table and discover that the blinds are 100/200 and the antes are 25, whew!...but it is a wake up call. I need to do something soon or I will be in real trouble. I have a great image, I have only shown down premium hands, I don't play a lot of hands. It is time to take advantage. Of the next five hands I play three. I now have about 4700 (of the total chip count of 47,500), there are 13 players left. I am about even with Greg Pappas, and the guy to my right is not too far behind us. There is a player at the other table that has a mountain of chips....many many players are short stacked. I have gotten healthy, I have had healing hands. The guy on my right makes the comment that he always makes it this far, but never in the money I also look at my watch and realize that I have been playing my A game for 4:41 minutes, wow really impressive for me. This should have triggered a bell in my head (warning you are looking at your watch), but if there was a ding, I clearly did not hear it. I get AQs utg, I decide I will finally try a steal, I raise it to 600. Greg clearly thinks it's a steal, and is probably thinking a utg steal(?),as he hesitates and then mucks his cards. Everyone folds to the big blind, the guy that "never makes it in the money" he calls, hmmmm....and then says "I check the flop", before the flop is ever flopped...now this really throws me off, is he trapping me? (mistake #1, giving him too much credit, he is not a player) The flop comes Q 3 x, I have top pair with top kicker, guess what I do?...... .... Nope....that would have been the correct move. I now make mistake #2, I check behind him, d'oh....... a 3 on the turn, and he bets out 1000. I ask how many chips he has left, 2700. I then call. River is a K, he bets 1000. I hesitate, then push all in.....powerful move (egad) What was I "hoping" for?, that he would fold, of course, believing that I had trip K's. Well, the hesitation before pushing all in was pretty clear evidence that I don't have trip K's. Greg Pappas then whispers to his neighbor, I don't know if this is good or bad... I have played well and If I have a hand, 7000 chips in my hands would be damaging... If I have bungled this hand the chips in his hand are not a threat, he can't hold them for long. He waits for me to turn my cards, it was my action, I am forced to muck or show. I can't bring myself to muck in the event that by some miracle I have beat him. I show AQs.....he then shows 36 off, and he wins with trip 3's. I could not have misplayed this hand any worse than I did, I lost the maximum I possibly could on this hand. Had I bet or pushed all in on the flop, I probably would have won this hand (36 he's gonna fold, if he doesn't he is a donkey for playing bottom pair, and if I then lose, no shame in pushing all in with the best hand) My next hand is KJ, I am the big blind, I don't have enough chips to wait for a better hand, I call all in and lose. So close, I was playing well, I should have placed, perhaps won. I have experienced first hand, why they call me the widow :) The interesting part is I feel no different from when I took Jason or the other 12 out...it is a feeling of "oh, well" no emotion... only one regret.... I go to the room to get a FARGO hat for someone, I am gone about 8 minutes. I look at the guy who had my former chips....they are gone - he is now under 3000 and only minutes later busts out in 9th place. I wander over to the pot limit game and Tiger says I heard you took a bad beat, I smile and say you heard wrong, it was suicide. I played that hand in such a way that it was impossible to survive. I could have stopped at ANY point including just calling the river and still had more chips than I had 9 minutes earlier. Why? any thoughts... anyone been there?..... No longer able to sustain an A game?.... greed?, thinking only of getting ALL his chips?.... Fear of success? Inability to think? inability to recover after being rattled by "I check the flop," before the flop was flopped? So, close yet so impossible. Or did I just need to chant I will not see ghosts... I will not see ghosts.... If I get trapped so be it, but I will not see ghosts.... ********************************* Actually between the time I wrote this and posted, I have found my own answers, recognized my own demons. In a nano second I have gone from my A game to my BJ&E (bad judgment and ego) game. Any of you that played on funcom.com this summer have witness my BJ&E game first hand. This is where I make a betting mistake and instead of releasing the hand, ego steps in and I say "I had the best hand before misbetting, and it WILL improve. If It doesn't I will just bulldog my way through and YOU WILL FOLD!" Never worked there either :) I had one regret immediately after crashing and burning, Greg Pappas who will be at the upcoming NEPC, witnessed this train wreck. I felt it gave him too much information about my bungled steal attempt... now that I understand my own warped logic in playing this hand, I am not worried that he will be able to "use It against me", in fact it may even help me to "trap" him at some point (he never reads rpg - so not worried about posting this....sssshhhhh, no one tell him, ok?:) I now have no regrets. Better to have happened now than in a big important tournament, gives me important information with which to patch the holes in my game.... Joan btw: the way to outplay Scott is to avoid him in the ring games and pray he is not at your table during the tournaments :) It worked well, God answers prayer!

Due to popular demand (well, anyway, Nanette said I should) I am filing my semi-mandatory trip report on my virgin Atlarge appearance last weekend. Why so late, you ask? Sadly, the fantasy world known as work pulled me away from the reality of live, casino poker. No paycheck, no poker - one of life's nasty surprises. This minnow, who is a denizen of the Trop Poker Club, no-smoking small stakes room, had noticed a few crazy people in March of '99 wearning Atlarge tags and became curious. As mostly a lurker at this newsgroup, it ultimately became apparent that something potentially interesting was up. After reading all 4,867 chapters of Tiger Tours the Tables, I was hooked. Here was a chance to swim out of the shallow waters of 1-3 and 1-5 stud into the shark-infested Atlantic Ocean in a real, live tournament instead of a free-roll or a $20 Tuesday night extravaganza. Of course, my late posting of this report is symptomatic of my prognastication and I signed up somewhat late for Atlarge, making it difficult to get a Trop room, even though a regular. This complicated matters as it was our 33rd wedding anniversary weekend (the dreaded event actually taking place on Monday, the 27th). It was this fortituous coincidence which persuaded wifey to agree to go, although she stayed a railbird for the tournaments. After hounding the charming Patrice for over a month, she fulfilled her promise and coughed up a room at the last minute. It was she, not spouse, who received the flowers. One of the best things about the Trop is the quality of personnel, all around. Since I find myself paying about $5 in rake for every dollar I get to keep, this is indeed an attribute all poker players should expect, but do not find in all AC poker parlours. I digress. Sadly, despite taking Friday off from work, the ring games fared poorly. We went to LaPalais at Resorts for our "official" anniversary dinner. Much to our dismay, Baked Alaska, which had been on the menu last year, had melted away. Does anyone know where to get a good Alaska, or, for that matter, Chateaubriand in AC these days? Saturday morning I was poised for my first ever no-limit hold'em tournament. As I have only played hold'em once for money and only a few times in free tournaments my expectations were nil for this event. I just don't care for the game as it seems to be too much a game of money, not cards. I drew Table 4, seat 7, and, much to my chagrin, seated to my immediate left was one of the Gods of Poker, Art Santella. He was charming to a rookie, and calmly answered my question as to why the East Coast seems to be lacking in noted tournament players. Maybe in 50 years the East Coast will catch up. I vowed to play only premium hands, whatever they might be, and watched the action. Oh, precious moment, when I saw I was not the first one out! But, it didn't take long. Imagine my pleasure to find pocket rockets dealt to me. The flop came up with a Q,J.T and I needed only a K for a straight. My flop bet was raised by Art and called by seat one. At the end of the hand, to my dismay, Seat one's QJ were paired with the original flop. Art was betting on one Ace in his hand. The end was near, and I knew it. I politely asked Art if there was a bounty for taking him down with me. Can you believe I outlasted him? My sole triumph of the weekend. After being blinded to death, I won an all-in hand. Six or seven more of these in a row, and I win! Alas, it was not to be. My pocket Jacks went down to ignomious defeat and I was 77 out of 86. Back to the ring, where again it wasn't so hot. The banquet was a pure pleasure. Good food, good company, and a relaxing time. My gift slip in the Trop baggie said "2 week Hawaiian Vacation", but was recognized as a clever forgery. Had to try! Why, Marie even remembered beating me up last year for suggesting she was married to Chickenman. Back to the ring and a slight recovery. I watched in amazement from another table as the White Chip Mountain game got underway. I din't mind the noise (though others did and had the players bounced out of the no-smoking room). My concern was the frequent call of "incoming" which threatened to set off a major case of post traumatic stress syndrome acquired 30 years ago in an Asian paradise which is the homeland of many a poker dealer. Had I only known how the world would turn, I would have kept up my Vietnamese language skills. Sunday morning came, and here, thought I, the small minnow can go for glory. Having placed several times in the final table at the Tuesday events, I was falsely encouraged, it seems. I drew seat 8, my personal nemisis as it seems all the cards are used up by the time they hit that spot. One encouragement - only 72 players were in the stud tournament, so I HAD to finish higher that the day before. Before the game started, I had a pleasant chat with Nolan Dala about his political column in Card Player, which I had read just that morning. Remember, Nolan, the Web site is "govote" and will give you a survey to determine your personal political philosophy As for me, "Anarchist bombthrower" comes to mind.. Wil Espin was at my table, fidding away the time until one of the soon to be built Marina casinos hires him on. Best wishes Wil, and build it right. By the way, I never found one of your commemorative chips, but even if I had, would it have been worth five bucks at the cashier's window? I'm sentimental, but five bucks is five bucks ... Again, the sharks circled and the guy to my right had won the stud event last year. Again, a quality hand left me hopelessly crippled. Trip fours in four cards were hammered by a pair of kings which turned out to be kings full. Maybe everyone else at the table knew what he had, but head to head in four cards, I had no better chance than then. So, there I was, gone at 65 out of 72. Almost all of the people I met were gracious to the minnow, and I wasn't the only small-timer present. Hey, you should be nice to us. Our $50 is what feeds your big-time habit. A few of the "hot-shots" displayed a bit of ego attitude, but that's to be expected. I'll just keep on learning, reading, gaining experience and a bigger bankroll. And, if Atlarge is held again in 2001 at the Trop, I'll definitely be back for more punishment. For now, back to the shallow waters. PUBINFOGUY - Glenn R. Nickerson

This is somewhat of a departure for me, as I am not a very prolific writer, nor do I take very good notes during RGP events. However, I had a pretty good time all around this year and thought I would share a few of the experiences with all of you. Just a quick warning: I tend to get a big long winded. I have tried to sectionalize this note; so that you can go to the sections you want and skip the rest. But I am sitting on a flight from Philly to Chicago with little else to do. Also note that I may have some of the facts mixed up (names and hands) and if I offend anybody like saying "Nolan called with a 2Qo" instead of "I called with a 2Qo" then call it fuzzy memory and not a legitimate changing of the facts. But before we begin, I would like to publicly thank Tiger and Pete for the fantastic job that they did in organizing the event and making sure that things ran smoothly. They had some very big shoes to fill following the last four years with Jazbo. And while I hope that Jazbo returns to us next year, I know that at least there are some of us out there who can take over the reigns and pull off what must be an administrative nightmare. Second, I want to thank Patrice, Kate, Marie, TK, and the staff at the Tropicana for another fabulous event. Each went out of their way to welcome us, and while organizing an event like this - along with their normal duties must have been a hassle, they never showed anything but extreme pleasure in hosting us. I am going to put my writing skills to use after this note in one to the Tropicana management expressing my experiences. Smoker I arrived on Thursday afternoon with the intentions of making the smoker. I missed it last year because of a scheduling conflict, but it is a great event in its own. For those out there who have not joined us before, I urge you to consider it for next year. I can count on my fingers how many cigars I smoke during the year. In fact, seeing what Bruce Kramer keeps in his traveling humidor is more that I have probably smoked in my lifetime. But the real purpose of the evening is not the dinner or the cigars; it is the socialization outside of the poker room. I see a few of you during the year, whether it is to play a round of golf, or during a quick weekend trip to Trop. But there are some of the people that I would otherwise only see at one of the RGP events and only during the poker-related events. This is a chance to socialize about things outside of that realm. One of the highlights of the evening was listening to Bill Alan relate stories about old baseball/basketball/football players. I am a fan of most of these games and (at least in baseball) its history and Bill recounts some great stuff. I didn't have much to add to the conversation although I count(ed) Richie Ashburn, Chuck Bedenarik, and Robin Roberts as family friends. It was great listening to this stuff. BTW - If anyone wants to meet Uncle Chick, just stop by http://www.totalbaseball.com/player/h/hafec101/hafec101.html or http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/hafe... The second highlight of the evening is Kevin, our waiter. Having been a waiter/bartender during my many years in college, I know it can be difficult to deal with people. During this event, Kevin gets a chance to join in on the fun, tell us what he REALLY thinks, and make a few bucks for himself. I was playing a little 5-10 stud prior to the event and had to leave at 6:30 for the smoker. I was down $20 at the time - but I figured that I could easily make that up with Nolan's over-under. Unfortunately Nolan couldn't join us this year - bad beat for me. Speaking of bad beats, Tiger dropped by to give us a bad beat story - with the obligatory $1 going to the Kevin the waiter who had to endure the story as well. There was about 12 or so people there who chipped in $5 for the "closest to the bill without going over" contest. I was in pretty good position with my $785 guess. Someone had a $780 guess so his span with basically $4. The next highest was like $900 giving me about a $115 range. Unfortunately, I overestimated by over a hundred dollars - where was Warren and his bananas Foster when I needed him most. Dinner (with tax and tip) came in at about $65 a person - a great deal for this event, and for Bruce who banked 660 frequent flier miles on his Visa. Golf There was a group of about 12-15 people who showed up on Friday morning at Brigantine Golf Links for a round of golf. The weather was near perfect but a little too much water on the course for my tastes. This is both the standing water (which means that it rained like a bitch and that the puddles are still there) and there was designed water (lakes, creeks) on many of the holes as well. To begin with, I am a 24 handicap. This means that if a course is rated for "par" at 72, if I am playing my normal game, I would reasonably expect to break 100 - barely (if you want a more technical explanation visit www.usga.org). However this was the first time I had played this year (although I did go to the driving range last weekend to see if I remember how to swing) and I was playing with new fairway woods. Now, the TV advertisement said they would knock three strokes off my game and I bought three of them so I should be at a 15 handicap, plus the brand new putter (3-6 strokes according to Carbite). Basically with all my clubs, I should be AUTOMATICALLY getting my PGA tour card in the mail any day now. Of course I can't compete with Greg (?) who had the Purespin diamond-faced, Kevlar-shafted driver. Mine is only titanium with composite graphite - negative EV for me. We got in to our foursomes and mine consisted of Nolan Dalla (my partner), against Bruce Kramer and Dave Trinidad. I've played with Bruce before; he is learning the game but can surprise you with some excellent shots. Both Nolan and Dave were using rental clubs, although a decent set, they're just not yours. So we played a team-best ball, $2 per hole match, skins match. This basically means that everyone hits a ball and then the team chooses the best one. Both players hit from this spot. At the end, whichever team has less shots gets $2 from the other team. To cut this short, Nolan and I were up by 5 holes on the front nine, and Dave/Bruce, after much negotiation, got to pick 5 holes where they would get an extra half stroke (so if we tied on one of these holes - then they would win). Well you guessed it, Nolan and I had a worse back nine and Bruce choose their holes well and we were only one-up standing on the 18th tee. I won't bore you with the final hole. Needless to say zero dollars changed hands. One interesting thing, we talked about a lot of stuff over the 3-4 hour round, but for four guys who were there to play poker, the subject didn't even come up until the 17th hole. Back to poker (**Actual Poker Content**) I decided to take a little break from thinking with a few hours of $1-5 stud. Much like $2-4 HE, people will play any three starting cards (2Q8x - no problem, I can fill in my boat on the river). Well anyway, I sit down at the time and buy-in for $49. The table is full and there is one other ATLARGEr there (although I don't know his name). To my right is a guy who works at Taj in the IS department. He does the development/maintenance of the rating system. We had a long talk about how to get around the system. I am not much of a Taj fan (the word "zoo" comes to mind) but I may try one or two of the ideas. Since I was just there for a little enjoyment, I decided I would practice my patience for the next few days' events. Sometimes you will play an 89Tx and sometimes you won't, depends a lot on the order of the cards, your position, what else is already out, and your other players. I will leave it to Sklansky/Malmuth/Caro, and others to give you better advice, but I decided I would only play very high quality starting hands. Long story short - I went on a run with some very high-quality cards and very loose players and cashed out with $205 (plus 1.5 racks in about three hours). I have won and lost more than that on a single hand at other games/limits but it was still fun. One interesting note - back during ATLARGE I, I took first place in the stud event. Part (OK, most) of this was that I got every card I needed exactly when I needed it, but a lot of it was that the people who came to ATLARGE for the most part did not play stud. There were a few of you who were very good at both games (Bruce and JP comes to mind) and a few who were good at one or the other (Tiger for example being a very good, patient stud player). One thing that I noticed over the years is that many of you have started to broaden your skills. I have seen Sippy sit down at a stud table and look like he actually enjoyed it. Good for RGP, good for the game, bad for me. Holdem Tourney After golf, we rushed back to make it in time for the Tropicana HE tourney. One hand of note, as we come back from the break I notice that Russell was severely short stacked. He's a good guy and I thought I would have a little fun. I asked him how much he had. The answer was $225. I made a smart-ass remark about getting it from him the next hand. The dealer (Eileen - more about her later) dealt the hand and I (first position) looked at my cards immediately raised $225. Folded around to Russell (BB) who smiled and folded. I showed AA. My final play wasn't all that terrible. I was short-stacked (I know - chip and a chair) with AQx (can't remember). Jerry Gerner had been eating away at my stack all day and I either called or raised (again, not important). Flopped 7Q3 rainbow. I go all in, Jerry calls, other players fold. After a trash, trash on turn and river we turn over the cards. Of course we all know what Jerry had. Without an expression on his face he turns over 77. IGHN. BTW - this was the first NL tourney I have played with what I'll call the "chips in hand" rule. My understanding is that if you make a forward motion with chips in your hand, that's what's in the pot. There are some guys (I won't mention any names) who take a pile of chips and "peel off" the amount they want by stacking them on the table. So you cannot if you pick up a stack of 20 reds and then put $50 in reds (2 piles of 5) and return the chips to your hand. I like the rule, other players were grumbling. ATLARGE Holdem Tourney It started innocently enough. My expectations for this year were to make it through the break and hopefully in the top half of the field. I haven't seen the final tallies from Tiger, but at least the first part was true. I tried to play as patient as I could. I waited for the cards and bet (for the most part) appropriately when I got them. This was a good field, and I had a good table. I stole one or two here and there but nothing out of the ordinary. As people started to drop and players rotated into our game I found myself sitting to the left of Tom Godwin. For those of you who don't remember, there was a $25 bounty on him. And thinking this was my chance to get some money out of this tourney, I took a chance here. I might not get this exactly right, but close enough. He was the small blind with me as BB. Folded around to Tom who raised (either all-in or I re-raised him all-in, probably the former). He asked if I had a pair and I said no. Flop comes AAx. Turn J, river 3. He turns over a middle pair (77, 88, or 99) while I turn over my J3s. I am not sure whether he left the table thinking I would play it or what. Long story short I was gunning for him plain and simple. Linda (Llew) also rotated into our table. She had a $50 bill taped to her nose and I wanted to gun for that as well. For a $60 tourney, I could walk away with $75. Unfortunately the 6 hands or so that we saw before I busted were all folded pre-flop by Llew. Time passes... I get moved to another table to find myself to the left (fortunately) of Will Espin. Not much to report. Final hand. I was doing fine until I went on tilt and all-in with KK against another all-in (AJ) and Timmy (AQ). Guess what flopped. Bad all around play, and bad betting - but I never said I was a HE player. And now I don't have to. (** End Poker content**) Nickel Heaven So after my ignominious exit (thanks TheKiller for the new word) I headed back to my room in the South Tower. These are elevators from hell, but on the second floor is the slot area called "Nickel Heaven". Since I had about 3 hours before the banquet, I decided to see how much heaven it was and took a $20 into one of the machines. Now I remember when slot machines were easy. Basically you pulled the handle, then BAR-BAR-BLANK would come up and you knew you lost. These days, you have little chickens and dynamite, and KQJTA, and pirates and everything. And, you seem to need a PhD to figure out combinations that win coins. So I slip twenty bucks (400 credits) into a machine that look like playing cards. Press 9 way, 2 coins (18 credits) and immediately get a straight. Apparently that is worthless, as is most everything except trips (in a row). I move to another machine that looks more interesting. And fortunately the woman sitting next to me is apparently a PhD. So these little chicken things come up and the machine starts ringing and beeping and then she says - OK press this button, then the chickens literally try to cross the road without getting run over. Long story short I win 2000 nickels (>1600 is hand pay). I promptly give back 500 nickels and cash out to another machine. Long story short, I carry 2200 nickels to the cage for a +$90 slot win. I would call this +EV except that I think I have a $100 orthopedic bill for putting my arms back in shape. 2000 nickels are HEAVY. Banquet Not too much of note went on at the banquet. Ice quickly discovered the hidden gift in each of the pouches, so I found me a clock (after 3 tries), although the frame had a nice picture of a family as part of the package. And this family looked much happier and much more photogenic than my family. George Wattman pulled a good one when he switched the clock for a frame and when I got to Patrice I was dismayed to find the paper that said "frame". He 'fessed up and I got my clock sitting in my home office (batteries were included). MATS (**Actual Poker Content**) Hang on to your hats for this one. Last year I wanted to join the MATS tourney. Jerry organized it but didn't play. It was held in Dave Trinidad's room on a closet door covered blanket. I was the 12th player so I did not play but stuck around to be a sub dealer and official timekeeper. Well after a single hand of dealing, Llew promptly took over the reigns. I can type over 100 words a minute but cannot deal HE to save my life. This year, I signed up as early as I could with a "golden promise" to Jerry. Not wanted to break my promise I joined the tourney (which I had all intentions of doing anyway). So I am 1-0 on my golden promises in case I make one to someone again. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to see Jerry and give him the money. So I saw Paul McMullin and tried to hand him money. Now I know Paul, I have played against Paul, and I still have the 1994 BARGE chip he used as a bounty in ATLARGE IV stud. However, I still Paul and Jerry do have the same look-n-feel. So when I saw Paul sitting in a ring game I try to hand him money. He doesn't have a clue. And apparently neither do I. Anyway, we start the MATS event in Jerry's room (741 - just like a telephone keypad - thanks Llew) and Jerry has the bed taken apart and the chairs brought in. Foldem shows up with the new cards, big-ass dealer button, and we are off. Jerry wants to finish this quickly so they are shortish rounds. With two decks and a shuffle-master (Dave Fructer/Joan Hadley) we move along at a good pace. This is good for me. I can keep my concentration for only so long before I start to loosen-up. To my left is Tom Godwin on the SB with me in the BB. Folded around the Dave Fructer who promptly announces that he will go all-in. I ask Dave if he is serious. Tom looks at his cards and folds. I look at my cards and see JJ. CRAP! I call time and think for a second - then fold. Dave shows a AKo. A sidebar discussion ensues about hand and probabilities, but long-story short, I live to see another day. I am playing very patiently, only playing quality hands. At one point I fold 16 in a row (IRL I would have folded less). But when I do play Llew is dealing me EVERY card I need. I win a lot, Jerry, Tom McHugh and I get people all-in and win and I have a good lead with three left. Tom is short-stacked, and I have SOOO many chips they wont stay on the bed. He goes all-in with AQs I call with K5o. Damned if Llew doesn't flop 246 turn a 3 and just for the hell of it, river an ace. Jerry and I trade blinds for a little while. Then he calls a hand and I look down to see 92 spade. Flop is xxJ (Js), Jerry goes all-in and I call. Llew again provided - spade/spade. Jerry turns over two pair and I show him the 92 spade. Jerry gets a book and I am off to Vegas. So I am off to TARGET. I am working on a way to get Llew her dealer's license and figure out how she can fit in my suitcase. Stud Tourney There were a total of nine tables to start with. At the ninth table (which was a HE-sized table) we had Ice, Jester, Doug, Bill Alan, Arty, , and myself -plus two dead stacks. They played the ante button as required and were folded when the action got to them. But we had an amazing statistical anomaly. For all the hands we played until our table broke, the two dead stacks got a very low percentage of the forced-bets. Statistically they should have gotten the low card 1 in every four hands or so. However it seemed that Doug (sitting between the stacks) got an inordinately high number of bring-ins. And when he wasn't getting them, Arty was getting a 2 (of diamonds). Eileen the dealer (see above) would get toked $3 (Ross, Doug, Jester) for every deuce that Arty got. She probably made $15 or so in tokes. I feel much more comfortable playing stud than I do HE. I am working on my HE skills and hopefully will vastly improve by the next RGP event, but I said that before. However I played very aggressively for the first two tables and ran over most of my other players (building a nice stack). Eileen (the dealer) provided me with EVERY card I needed WHENEVER I needed it to win. But on the third table I met up with Tiger who promptly took some of them away from me (Eileen was on break). I had to build them back up. The second to final table, Eileen was back from break to again CONSISTENTLY give me every card I needed when I needed it. And like all players - when I am on this kind of streak I am nearly unbeatable (and pretty cocky about the cards I play against short stacks). When we moved down to two tables, Eileen had completed her tournament duties and I met up with the anti-dealer - Cyndi. Final hand was pretty straightforward. Cyndi, the dealer, had been eating away at my stack for about a half hour. We were at $25 ante with $100 forced bet. I know that the dealer does not control the cards (except to the extent of the shuffle) but Cyndi (who is very attractive and personable - IMHO) nearly consistently provided me with the low card and nothing else. At least she was enjoying my "aw, your killin' me" comments (as I watch my stack dwindle to nothingness). I know how statistics will even out over time, but I would expect my 50-50 chances to be somewhat evenly distributed, not "heads" for a straight hour and then "tails" for the second hour. Final hand was Player was table/tourney chip leader and called my raise. I catch aces up (showing A6 on board) and raise all-in. Damned if the anti-dealer didn't roll him onto to a flush and blank me on the river. IGHN. At least I finished 12th and not 9th. I did learn a new rule. We had an empty stack (who was low-carded from another table) brought to my table. During one ante, the dead stack was all-in. I was middle position and called the forced bet. I raised out the other players for the side pot and we turned over the dead hand who beat me (Kings up, or trips - can't remember). Mine was lower. He wins the main pot (small pot). When relating this story to Tiger (who joined our table) he said that the dead hand cannot be turned over. Live and learn. An hour after the tourney, Eileen (back off break) approached me and told me that the group were the nicest bunch of guys she had the pleasure to deal to. Kudos all of you. Saddenz There were a few people that I didn't see this year (Jazbo did stop by, Kman was missing, and others as well), ATLARGE 2001 is just a scant year away. I also missed getting a Will Espin chip, AND missed getting him to sign it. Oh well. On a brighter note, I did get to meet/play against some new people such as Carenbon, Ice, etc.