BARGE
Trip Report Part 2
So
I sit down at lucky table 7 for the HOP
and find a typical field: Jim Bullbert,
Connie Kellers, Tiger 123, myself, E Stephen
Mack (Zeigen), Len Granowetter, Tom Goodwin
& Harry Baldwin. The table is pleasant,
and I'm able to get some chips. It started
good for me: the first hand (draw) I have
K's. Connie raises (required when entering
a pot; from herein I'll just say "bet")
& I call. I pickup a K & raise Connie
and take the pot.
In
the big blind I get trip 4s. Zeigen bets;
Tiger & 1 other call; I raise; all call.
Zeigen calls post-draw (he had A's & K's).
A couple hands later I get 9's & 2's;
Tiger calls with AKTjoker but doesn't
get there. I'm even able to bluff (with
2345 draw, not getting there) and pick
up a pot. My image is helped when, a few
hands later, I start with TT and draw
555 (against Connie).
Into
lowball where I don't get much but watch
a cute hand. Bullbert calls Tom's raise;
Bullbert draws 3 and Tom stands pat. Jim
bets! Tom calls, but Jim picked up a wheel!
One other confrontation: Tom vs. Tiger,
both standing pat; Tom had a smooth 6
while Tiger a rough 7. I'm at $1275 at
the end of round 2.
My
highlight (in round 3, draw) is when Zeigen
& I each draw one and make our hands;
unfortunately for him, I have a flush
and he has a straight (he called my re-raise).
I lose some chips in round 4 (lowball)
when I pickup a smooth 8; Tom & Harry
calling. Tom & I are pat but Harry's 1
card draw gives him a 6. Near the end
of the round Tiger bluffs Zeigen with
a pair of K's. I've got $1250 at the break
(end of round 4).
As
far as I can tell, no one has been eliminated.
I think it's Dave Croson who bust first
during round 5. At our table Tiger is
first to go when (during draw) his Presto
loses to Jim's Q's full of A's. I get
quad deuces vs. Zeigen but he doesn't
call at the end.
In
round 6 Connie is knocked out by Tom's
7-6. Tiger's replaced by a Dead Stack
and Connie by Nathan Hess (Woodstock --
I'll see more of him in the NLHE). I've
got $1775 at the end of round 6.
We
move to no-limit (draw, to start, in round
7). I've never played NL draw (or lowball,
for that matter); I decide to play it
like HE (very good hands with no position
and stealable hands in position). Nothing
much happens to me (I'm up to $2100 at
the end of round 7).
I'm
moved to Table 6, seat 7 and watch as
Lou Krieger gets busted (6/1) on the very
first hand. John Reed (2), Mark Trombley
(3), Sean McGuiness (Oscar) (4), Ron Galicia
(Jalapeno) (5), Andrew Prock (6).
I
bust Jalicia; and then comes a humorous
hand. Sean ends up with a 6 and I have
a slightly worse hand (smooth 8). Sean
checks, I bet all-in, and then Sean realizes
his error. I get my bet back (7 rule)
and Sean misses his 1st chance to eliminate
me. Of course, I'd have an interesting
decision if Sean bets -- should you go
all in? After the hand I said I'd probably
have done so but who knows? I'm down to
$1300 at the end of round 8.
Back
to draw. I get up to $2900 with A's &
Q's and then Aces. Beth Even & Jeff Shulman
join our table -- but on their very first
hand Jeff eliminates Beth; both have aces
and Jeff's kicker beats Beth's. Andrew
survives an all-in with trip 10's. Oscar's
set of 5's knocks out Mark Trombley. At
the end of round 9 I'm down to $2500.
In
a 3-way pot (Jeff, Andrew & myself), I
knock out Jeff (J vs. Q) but lose the
main pot to Andrew -- I stay even. I move
to Table 5 for a couple of hands and then
move to Table 1: Spencer, W A Rulla, Thomas
Hummel, John Fleming, Corey Imsdahl, Gillian
Groves (who hosts some of our home games),
Michael Wiesenberg and myself. But Corey
& John are quickly eliminated, replaced
by Jerrod & Harry Baldwin. I'm down to
1700 and raise all-in with a 7. Spencer
re-raises; Jerrod calls all-in. Spencer
(pat 9) knocks out Jerrod (drew 1 to get
a J); I take the main pot and get a few
chips. Harry is knocked out on the next
hand with a pair.
I'm
moved again; Andrew Prock, Sean (Oscar),
Crunch & Thomas Hummel are among the people
at my new table. We're down to 2 tables.
I lose some of my chips (down to 2700)
when I face Crunch's pat 7, and then I
pick up A2344. Thomas raises (to 3000?);
Andrew goes all-in. I think it's clear
to go in -- if I win (we're down to 15)
I should have enough chips to make it
to the final table. We all draw 1: Thomas
drew a 3 to A256; Andrew threw away his
T but got a K. I picked up a J and am
done at 14th.
Well,
I'm never happy about getting close to
the money but not cashing -- but it happens.
We head to the Mirage for the Buffet (good
food, better conversation with Mike McManus)
and their NLHE tourney. I'm seated at
3/10, facing a mostly Barger table (Paul
Phillips, Oz, NB (non-barger), Bingo,
NB, Robert Hwang, and 2 NBs. Early on
I raise (to 60) in my small blind with
8's; Paul calls. Flop: 77K check, check.
Turn J check, check. River 7. Paul bets
75, I call. Paul shows & then mucks his
AT. I bring up this hand not because it's
important (it really had no impact on
the end results of the tourney) but because
of how one thinks in a NLHE tourney. When
Paul calls one of the hands he could have
is a K-T/J/Q. Paul knows I probably have
something (I'm fairly tight early). After
the hand Paul said that he made a mistake
not betting the flop -- I'd almost certainly
give up on the hand.
I
get pocket 10s in the BB; Oz had made
a standard raise (in early position).
I reraise (all-in); oops: he has AA. REBUY,
table 3....
In
round 3 (after the rebuys are over) I
pick up AKs. A very active non-barger
raises to 250; I move all-in (1000); he
calls. His AJs doesn't get any help and
I double through. Barry doubles up (KK)
from Bingo (TT).
Oz
raises to 300; Bingo goes all-in, Oz calls
with AA (vs. QT). The board looks good
for a Schmengie: QJT. But they're all
clubs, and Oz has the Ac. The 6c on the
turn sends Bingo packing.
I'm
at $2975 at the end of round 4. During
the next round we gain Crunch, but Oz
loses much of his chips when his QQ faces
Barry's KK. Then Paul goes out (to a NB)
when his Ax is turned by KQ (board of
636/K/4). Oz (A5) is then eliminated by
Barry (KJs) when there's a K on the flop.
Paul McMullen, Charles Natkins, and Henry
Nowakowski join our table. Charles (A7s)
is eliminated by Barry's KK. I'm at 4000
at the end of the round.
During
the next round I witness a run of cards
I've never seen before. In 15 hands I
see AA, KK, QQ, JJ, and 6 AK. Unfortunately,
I hold none of those cards: a non-barger
named Mike gets **all of them.** I steal
a couple times (I'm down to $2400) when
I get KQs. A small stack in front of me
goes all-in (~$1200). I go all-in. Henry
wakes up to AQs. OOPS IGHN.
As
I leave I notice Jerrod has a decent stack.
And it became a lot more than decent --
Jerrod ends up winning the tourney!!!
WTG, Jerrod (hopefully he'll get around
to posting a trip report).
(A
footnote: Henry & Mike complement my play.
I'm not sure how much of this is BS but
at least it's kind words).
After
playing CHORSE at Binion's for a couple
hours (losing $21), I head to sleep. Breakfast
at Main St. Station (change of pace),
and then the TOC. Ahem, those who have
said you have faced "death tables;" I
beg to differ. I don't know about you,
but would you want to face: Steve Nissman
(1), Scott Barrington (2), Nolan Dalla
(3), Thomas Hummel (4), myself (5), Matt
Kristis (6), ADB Fitch (7), Jim Bullbert
(8) and, just to top it off, some guy
named JP in seat 9. When the first several
hands of Omaha 8 are raised, you know
it's a tough table. And several of these
players know how to play stud. I didn't
know the play of Scott, Thomas, Matt and
Jim before this year's BARGE but I was
impressed by all of them. Stay away from
my table!!
A
humorous hand from the first round of
Stud. Tom has the bring-in with (??)3.
I have K(K9). Thomas brings it in and
I complete. I happen to notice that Thomas
meant to bring it in for the completion.
Why, I wonder -- is he rolled up? I catch
a 9 and Thomas a 6. When I bet and Thomas
raises I quickly fold. Yep, he was rolled
up.
In
HE, Bullbert faces JP. The board has a
mishmash of low cards and a K. Jim apparently
catches a draw -- and JP's facial expression
is a classic (I wish I had a camera).
I'd guess that JP had an A and Jim caught
up with KQ?
I
then pick up JJ, but the dealer decides
it's a stud round. It's not, so a misdeal.
Aghhh! I'm at $2660 at the end of round
2; $2200 at the end of round 3.
Bullbert
gets the best of Nolan when each has an
AJ, but Jim's doing the betting and when
Nolan folds his AJ into the muck Jim shows
his! (the board was KKT). Nolan then loses
with Presto to Fitch's 76s when the board
has a 7. Presto continues to fare poorly
when Fitch loses with it to Nolan's A8
(8 on flop). I'm down to $1975 at the
end of round 4.
In
the Omaha round that follows I'm dealt
a death blow when my boat loses to a bigger
boat. I'm officially knocked out -- first
at our table -- when my JT9 in stud goes
nowhere.
I
run into Dave Roemer and we head to the
Mirage -- but there's no game that Dave
likes their so we head further south to
the Bellagio. Dave finds a sweet $30/60
HE game that he dominates (taking home
a very nice win) while I find a tourist-dominated
$6/12 Omaha game. I only get $50 out of
it (I don't get very many decent hands)
but I watch something I rarely see: tourist
1 drops $200 in 30 minutes (try it, it's
tough to do in Omaha) and tourist 2 drops
~$250 in about 2 hours (somewhat easier).
I'm annoyed I don't get more of their
money but Omaha is a game of patience
-- you must be willing to wait for good
starting hands.
Back
to the Nugget for the Symposium, er, Calcutta.
Much better job with the food this year
-- it was spaced out. My pair (I'm paired
with Dave Huberman's best friend, Ed Pizzarello)
for $120 to Foldem's syndicate. I buy
myself back for $32.50, a good investment
as it turns out. I end up buying Nissman
& Langdon ($130, but I get half back when
Langdon ends up being a no-show) and Maverick
($70).
Ok,
razz me for buying him but he's a pretty
good big-bet player (from what I've seen).
His methodology for playing NLHE is different
than mine, but it worked last year. I
thought he was worth the money.
Back
to Binion's for the CHORSE. While Team
Orange Crush (Gerry "gerdog" Petersen,
Gillian Groves, Walter Hunt, Chris "Ploink"
Straghalis, Clark "clarko" Olson and myself)
didn't win, we sure had fun, and, by far,
the best t-shirts! WTG Gillian!
Part
3 of the trip report will deal with the
NLHE event.
Russ Fox
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