BARGE
Trip Report Part 3
One
correction to Part 2. In my sleep deprived
state I typed North Shore Mike. I had
dinner with Mike Patterson at the Mirage
Buffet. I had a great time talking to
him and wish him and his fianc�e well
in Portland.
Before
getting to the NLHE, I forgot to mention
Bingo's jackpot -- while between CHORSE
rounds he gets a pat Royal and 4000 quarters!
When it hit, a throng descended around
him! WTG!!!!
I
manage a few hours sleep and find a reasonable
starting NLHE table: Walter Hunt, Al Weber
(BigAl), myself, Don "Bingo" Rieck, Scott
Byron (Bwana), Keith "ADB Fich" Fichtemaier,
Clifford Matthews, Ray Tripamer (rkt),
Stephen Benton (buckshot-b) and Alan Bostick.
Except for the fact that Bwana will have
the BB on my button, I like this table.
It's a pleasant table, much better than
yesterday's TOC. I'll again say that I
don't like Scott's position (on me). Last
year I could never read Scott; this year
is no exception. Luckily (for me), only
on a couple of occasions did he take chips
from me.
On
the very 1st hand of the tourney Walter
raises to 200. I fold AQo; Scott & Fich
call. After the flop Scott bets 500 and
gets no callers. He shows his aces; Walter
says he had Presto. I decide then and
their that it's not Presto's day.
All
of a sudden there's applause -- Perry
Friedman has busted out!
On
the fifth hand I go plus when I find pocket
9's. Matthews & Buckshot call my raise
to $175. On a 368 flop I bet $400; they
fold. I fold Presto on my button to Matthews'
early position raise.
Alan
raises; I look down and see QQ (the best
hand I'll hold today). I reraise his $150
to $600; he folds. I'm at $3400 at the
end of round 1.
Scott
raises to $325 on my BB. Ray & Al call;
I go in, all fold. Scott said he had JJ;
Al shows AJ. I'm up to $4325. I go over
the top twice more in the round and am
up to $6400 at the end of round 2 (and
bust Fich with QQ). Bingo busts Ray --
JT vs. A9o. I believe Bingo flops 2 pair
and Ray got no help. Ploink and Bob Matthews
join our table.
In
the next round I pick up T9o in the BB.
Five callers, I check and we see a flop
of QJ8 with 2 clubs (you don't have any).
The small blind checks, it's your turn
to act. Before reading on, decide if it's
time to slow-play or bet out.
If
it were a rainbow flop I'd slowplay, but
I've had bad experiences with coordinated
flops. I've got the nuts -- but their
are too many callers to suit my tastes.
I'll take a small win over a big loss.
So I bet and take a smaller pot.
I
throw away $400 on the river on a bluff
to Al (SB vs. my BB) when I have T9. One
of two mistakes -- thankfully, this is
a very minor one -- that I'd make during
the day. Then Bingo gets lucky: he has
97 vs. Scott's Q9 and watches a board
of 995/2/5 to chop.
I
get $300 back when I make a near-button
raise with ATo; Ploink hesitates for a
long time and folds (saying next time).
Bob (small stack) A3 faces Alan's A6:
the board of KQ8/8/2 chops the pot. On
the next hand Bob has AQ and is all-in
(again) vs. Al's KJ. But this time there's
an A on the flop and a Q on the river
so Bob's still alive.
I
make a button raise with K6. Scott goes
all-in. I fold and am down to $5500. Ploink
(QQ) then busts Alan (AJ?). Walter then
is busted by Ploink's KK. Randy Collack
moves into seat 1 and Beth Even joins
us (with ~$5000) in seat 10. I'm at $5675
at the end of round 4. On thee next hand
Randy's AK busts Bob's KQ. Randy's 66
on the next hand busts Matthews' AT.
Spencer
($6100) and Sheri Brabec ($7400) join
us. I took notes about stack sizes --
it's so very important in NLHE. I pick
up QcJs near the button and raise Al's
small all-in bet to $1050. Ploink hesitates
for a moment and calls. Flop is 763, all
spades. Ploink bets $1000 (I have him
outchipped by ~$2500). What do you do?
Well,
I don't think he has AA/KK/QQ/JJ or AK.
I think he'd reraise with them most of
the time and it's unlikely he has QQ or
JJ (I've got one of each). A middle or
small pair is his most likely holding,
so I go all-in. Say he has TT (which was
his actual holding). I've got three ways
of winning: he may fold (which he did,
after thinking for a while), I may make
the flush or I might pair up. Ploink was
very annoyed when I turned my hand over
(remember, Al's all-in -- he had KJo,
no spades) and upset with my move which
he initially didn't like. But later he
agreed with what I did and thought that
he should reraise pre-flop to get me off
my hand. I'd almost certainly have folded.
I spike a Q on the end and Al's done for
the day.
Soon
after that Ploink (KK) gets most of Buckshot's
(AK) chips. Right after Brian Alpasch
(~$4400) is moved to my right I get QJo
and raise. Scott reraises all-in. I'm
going to learn about late position raises
with QJ but apparently not today. I fold
and am down to $7600. Brian wins a hand
and receives a 15 yard penalty -- I think
that's the distance the floor moved him....
Sheri (AA) then eliminates Buckshot (22)
when an Ace hits the flop.
Our
table breaks (we're down to ~9 tables)
and I find myself at table 5, populated
by Gerry Petersen (gerdog) ($9500), Mark
Rafn (Dagon) ($6500), Roy Cooke ($1900),
Pete Caldes (Taki) ($9500), Spencer ($6500),
myself ($7600), Lennie Augustine ($4500),
Tonda Hall (lonestar) ($2000), Scott Byron
($6000) and Darrell Ticehurst ($10,000).
I'm not that thrilled with this table.
While I don't have Scott in the BB when
I have the button (a plus) Spencer is
on my right and will steal whenever possible
from me. Also, several people have told
me that Darrell is an excellent NLHE player
(nothing I see today will cause me to
waver from that view).
I
typed Roy's name but I needn't have done
so -- he's busted just as I sit down and
we go to 9-handed. I bust Tonda when I
hold AK to her A2. Darrell Takes most
of Scott's chips (but I don't see what
happened) and is busted by Darrell a few
hands later when Scott's AQ faces Darrell's
AA and no miracle occurs. Spencer starts
collecting chips (not a surprise to me)
when he takes $3300 from Darrell & Gerry
by reraising.
Frank
Brabec (nut-z) is moved to Scott's old
seat with about $2400. Spencer continues
to take chips when he reraises to $4000
(from Dagon's $1500 raise) and pockets
$2100. I can't complain, though; I'm up
to $15,000 when we end the $300/$600 blind
level. Brian Alpasch rejoins my table,
now with $8000.
Frank
(KQ) doubles up off Lennie (76); Lennie
has a pair on the flop but Frank re-sucks
out on him when a K appears on the river.
But Frank ends up back where he started
when his JT faces Lennie's Kh9o -- the
board has 4 hearts.
Spencer
(TT) knocks out Brian (KK) when he rivers
a straight. Then comes my second, and
thankfully, last error of the day. I make
a raise with A9. Gerry, who has been largely
silent, reraises all-in (about $4000 more
than my raise to $3500). I should immediately
fold -- it screams, from my knowledge
of Gerry (who is a regular and sometimes
host of our home games) BIG HAND. But
although I think about it for a few moments
I utter the word "call." Oops....
But
1 or two hands later I'm in the BB with
K6o. Spencer, in the small blind, just
calls. We see a flop of something like
JJ3. He checks, I check. Turn is a delightful
looking K. He checks, I go all in (~$4300)
and he calls. I know I'm ahead at this
point -- Spencer would have raised pre-flop
with almost anything (he might have slow
played a Big Hand but I think he'd have
made a small bet on the flop as I could
easilly have a J to see where he is) so
I put him on garbage -- say 83o (he actually
held 85). I double up. Spencer later states
that he was upset that he gave me chips.
So I'm almost back to where I started
before my idiotic play with Gerry ($9700).
Barry
Kornspan ($5100) moves into seat 7 and
Andrew Prock ($26,000) moves into seat
8. I'm at $9800 when we begin the $800/$1500
round.
Now
it's time to watch suck-outs at work;
two in a row by Barry. Barry (33) faces
Darrell (KK). Barry rivers a flush. Then
Barry (AJ) is dominated by
Spencer's
AQ but Barry rivers a straight. At the
end of those hands, which I think were
back to back, Barry has $22,000 and Spencer
is down to $5100.
I'm
down to $8300 when we get down to 4 tables
and I'm moved to Table 1 (Len Greenberg,
myself, Bob Herlein, Robert Hwang, Shelley
Louie & Lennie Augustine) bit I'm up to
$10,000 as we start $1k/$2k blinds. Lennie
Augustine is knocked out when his T8s
loses to Robert's QQ.
We're
quickly down to 3 tables; Johnny D is
moved to seat 9 with about $20,000 and
John Fleming is moved to seat 7 with about
$25,000. Shelley then goes all in to Bob;
Shelley's AQ looks good when the first
card of the flop is a Q but it's not so
good when the second is a 6 and Bob has
pocket 6's.
I'm
up to $25,000 when I'm moved to gulp,
the Jack Daniels, er., Jaeger's table.
Cocktails on Table 2. Jaeger: "I'm buying
for everyone who want a, gulp, drink,
gulp...." Waitress [asking Jaeger]: "What
would you like, sir?" Jaeger: "Water"
[Table breaks out in hysterical laughter].
The
players are Barry Kornspan (?) (my notes
have question marks about who was in seat
2) in 2, Bingo in 3 with $25k, Andrew
Prock in 4 with $9k, John Murphy in 5
with $17k, Jaeger in 6 with $55k, Gary
Brown in 7 with $12k. We go hand-for-hand
(Jaeger raising almost every pot by shoving
his chips, which are all in a rack, into
the pot) and are down to 18 when someone
busts at the table I came from. So we
go on a short break.
When
we come back from the break the 19 of
us sit down. Oops. Yes, we were really
at 20 when we were going hand-for-hand.
Apparently one player had decided to take
a rest room break and the floor counted
heads, not stacks. So someone (at another
table) makes an offer that we take $100
off the top and give it to 19th. Jaeger
objects. Then Jaeger proposes that we
go to 10-9 tables. Ploink objects because
Ming (who is about to have the big blind)
must play one of the next 2 hands. Ploink,
also severely short-chipped, can back
into the money if Ming is eliminated.
But
we're at 7-7-5 and so one of the two seven-handed
tables must lose a player. The floor goes
to Ploink's table and high cards a player.
I don't know why this was done; the rules
state that a player will be chosen by
position when a player is to be moved.
Ploink ends up being high-carded to the
short table. Luckily, he makes the money
with just one $500 chip when Gary Brown
call Jaeger's all-in bet with K9 (Jaeger
had J6); a 6 on the board and we really
are down to 18.
One
humorous hand from the real hand-for-hand
period. Jaeger folds just one hand --
it's when I find pocket Jacks! I hope
Jaeger ends up at my table as he's not
long for the tourney; sooner or later
someone will find some chips.
I
find myself in the big blind as we re-start
play. The gentleman to my left (unfortunately,
I didn't get his name) goes all-in UTG
for $7,000. I find pocket Jacks and call.
Nothing amazing happens and I'm down to
$25,000. On the very next hand Johnny
D raises; I go all-in with AK; he calls
with JJ. An A on the flop and Johnny,
a good poker player and a better human
being, is done.
I
take almost no notes because I'm uninvolved
in the key hands at this table. At the
other table we lose two players (Gerry
Petersen & Bob Wilson) on the same hand
and we're down to 9.
Here
are the "official" chip counts of the
Final table: 1. Myself, $29,500; 2. Peter
Caldes $57,500; 3. John Fleming $41,500;
4. Mark Trombley $131,500; 5. Nathan Hess
$130,500; 6. John Murphy $29,000; 7. Bingo
$21,000; 8. Dave Roemer $3500; 9. Bob
Hurlein $71,000.
I
am indebted to Jeff Okamoto for his log
of the Final Table. Thanks, it makes my
notes somewhat comprehendable.
I
start in the Big blind as one of two ADVers
left (Dave Roemer the other) and the only
SoCal left (Bob Herlein is the only NorCal
left). Only one ADB left, too (Bingo,
Don Rieck). I'm fairly comfortable with
the table -- and I'm thrilled that Dave
doesn't have the large stack. I think
he's the best player left at the table.
On
the second hand John F raises to $8k,
Bingo goes all-in (A9), and John calls
(QQ). The board comes 658/7 making a straight
for Bingo but John escapes when a cruel
(for Bingo) 9 appears on the River.
Dave
starts his come back on the next hand
when he goes all-in with 4's. Peter (A7)&
John F (J9)call (for $4000) and check
him down. Peter wins the side pot but
the 4's hold up and Dave triples.
We
go up to $3k/$6k blinds and Dave again
goes all in (for $10.5k). Mark calls with
87s but Dave's TT hold up (board of 9QJ/A/4).
(Hand 4)
On
Hand 7 John F raises to $12k; Dave calls.
But much of Dave's stack is done when
John's QQ hold up (board of KJ7/T/2) as
they call down the hand.
The
most important hand of the tournament
for me is hand 9. Bob raises to $20k;
I'm in the big blind and see 99. I go
all-in (for $22.5k), hoping that Bob's
on some sort of Ace (which make me an
11 to 10 favorite). He is -- he holds
KhQh. I flop a set: 9K6. Turn is 7 (no
flush possible) and the river's a K --
making me a boat and Bob trips. Whew!
I'm up to $52,500.
On
the next hand Dave goes all in for $9k,
Bob calls. Dave's 3's are outclassed by
Bob's K's. No miracle on this board: 622/7/Q
and Dave is eliminated in 9th Place. Dave,
by the way, is a class guy who is a very
good holdem player. He's a player you
want to see in the **other** game of whatever
limit your playing.
On
the 17th hand everyone actually folds
to my BB! No flops in the last few hands.
On the 22nd hand Peter goes all-in for
$17.5k; Nathan calls. But Peter doubles
up when his Aces beat Nathan's 8's (Board
of 3KA/6/K). When we go on break (after
hand 24), I'm at $42k, Peter $41k, John
F $27.5k, Mark $130k, Nathan $99k, John
M. $42k, Bingo $54k, and Bob $79k. I've
come up at the expense of Nathan; otherwise
we're really close to where we started.
We
start the next blind structure ($5k/$10k)
with my getting a walk. I raise all-in
on a steal on the next hand (I didn't
write down the hand, just a notation of
steal; for me, this means a hand that
I wouldn't play early in such a situation)
and get Pete's big blind. Stealing blinds
is a necessity at a final table -- you
just have to do what you can not to be
called!
On
the next hand John M raises to $25k, John
F goes all-in (JJ), and John M (AQ) calls.
John F doubles up when there's no help
(554/4/2) on the board. John Murphy is
eliminated on hand 30 when Nathan raises
all-in from the SB with Q4 and John calls
from the BB for $4500 with 95. The board
of 7J3/A/8 sends John home in 8th place.
I
get another walk in the BB on hand 33.
I am very lucky to be getting it. Usually
this means I've got a great table image
-- I'm going to start exploiting it.
On
the 35th hand Peter doubles up to $32+k
when his QQ beats Bob's A9 (board of 4TK/J/2).
John F doubles up two hands later when
he calls Bob's all-in raise of $43,000
with his all-in call of $40k. Bob's A9
loses to John's KK (board of 383/7/9).
Bob's crippled at $3k and John's looking
good with more than $80k. Bob's eliminated
on hand 39 when he's all in for $3k from
the BB. Nathan raises with QQ; Bob actually
has a decent hand with KTo but the board
of T74/J/2 sends Bob home in 7th Place.
On
the next hand my BB is raised by Mark
to $25k. I reraise all-in when I spot
JJ; Mark calls with Ac7c. The board of
48T/9/5 doubles me up to $115k. I take
the blinds on hands 42 & 44 (Presto on
44) and then comes "the hand."
Mark
raises to $25k. I look down and see AsQd.
I re-raise all-in. Mark quickly calls.
"gulp," I say when I see his AcKc. But
luck is with me when the board starts
3J3/J.... so at the turn we're splitting
the pot. Mark is unlucky (and I'm very
lucky) enough to see a Q on the river
sending him home in 6th. Mark's a good
player who deserved a much better fate
than my catching a 2-outer on the river.
But I'm now in the chip lead.
We
move to blinds of $10k/$20k. Peter has
just $27k left so when it's unraised to
me I almost have to raise all-in with
any sort of random hand...and that's just
what I've got: 5s3s. Peter survives, though,
as his Q7 holds up (board of K88/K/7)
and I'm down to $205k. This is still a
substantial chip lead, as the other stacks
are Peter $54k, John F $80k, Nathan $135k,
and Bingo $39k.
On
hand 50 I raise (from UTG); Bingo shows
74o. I reciprocate on the next hand when
John raises all-in; I deliberately show
my 82o. I normally don't show hands I
fold with but I do show my BB when I get
a walk (in the BB). I get a walk on hand
56 and take the blinds on the next hand.
Bingo survives one all-in (he raises all-in
for $49k and I call from the Big Blind
with A9o); Bingo has AKo. The board of
468/A/2 sends Bingo to nearly $100k.
On
hand 62 we get down to 4-handed. Peter
is all-in in the BB for $14k. Again, I
must call from my SB with any reasonable
hand; 9s5s certainly is. Peter's A6o isn't
helped by the board of JQ2/5/2 while I
turn two pair and send Peter home in 5th
place.
On
hands 69 & 70 I eliminate Nathan & Bingo.
First, on hand 69, I raise to $80k with
Jd9h and Nathan calls all-in with KhJs.
I turn a straight with the board of 687/T/3;
Nathan ends up 4th. Bingo raises from
the SB all-in for $59k with QTo and I
call from the BB with 4's. I flop a set
(board of 34Q/6/2) sending Bingo home
in 3rd.
I've
got around $450,000 to John's $60,000
(exactly) when we start heads-up play.
John survives 2 all in's before the end
comes on hand 78 (blinds of $20k/$40k):
I raise (effectively all-in) with As7s.
John calls with JTo. We both flop pairs
(5JA). The turn doesn't help either of
us (5) but I river two pair (7) and in
78 hands I've won the 2001 Barge NLHE
championship.
John
played very well to get to and survive
to where he did. I was amazed when he
told me that this was his first tournament!
We will all be hearing more from John
in the future as I'm convinced his name
will appear on the cash-out lists of future
tournaments.
I've
been lucky enough to be at a few final
tables this year but, by far, this was
the most pleasant final table I've played
at. The quality of the players was as
good as any I've been involved in and
the complements of everyone (to me) from
my peers made me feel great. I got a chance
to talk to most of the players at the
final table except for Mark, Nathan and
John Murphy (mainly because of seat location
-- I was in seat 1). What a great group
of people!
I will conclude the marathon trip report
in Part 4.
Russ Fox
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