| 50 things I learned at BARGE 2005 - a trip report |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|10:58 am] |
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| | Def Leppard - Long, Long Way to Go | ] |
50 Things I learned at BARGE 2005
-A Trip Report
1. Northwest airlines sucks. I will never, never, ever fly northwest again. Not only are the seats small and very cramped, but our flights were delayed on the return trip, and they lost oscar’s luggage. Yeah, I saved $30 or so on the tickets. I now know why.
2. Chinese poker is generally a waste of time when you don’t play with the bonuses. And when you do play with the bonuses, well, it’s still pretty much a waste of time. I played for many hours with oscar at $1 a point (we figured we’d stop when one of us was up $25). I owe oscar $4.
3. It’s amazing how potent the smell of new carpet can be. After 5 nights at Main Street Station, I still have a headache (my last night at MSS was a week ago).
4. The newly renovated rooms at MSS are excellent. I’ll gladly stay there again.
5. Getting comped for 3 nights at MSS is good.
6. Oscar is the best roomie ever! He doesn’t even snore, and he doesn’t bitch when I do.
7. The Wynn is a lot better than I’d read from the preliminary reports. Russ, oscar and I played there for several hours, and the place was well run, clean and comfortable.
8. $8/$16 Hold’em played with $2 chips is simply amazing.
9. The new MGM poker room is cool too, but I don’t like it nearly as much as the Wynn.
10. Authors get a 20% discount at the Gambler’s Book Store, but you have to sign a shitload of books first. No problem. Russ and I enjoyed our first signing, and Oscar dumped about 10 books in my arms to buy for him. It all worked out just fine. I felt famous and couldn’t wipe the shit-eating grin off my face for hours.
11. The MGM buffet doesn’t pre-peel their cold shrimp.
12. The Bellagio buffet does.
13. Eating the Bellagio buffet is so much more enjoyable when someone else is paying for it. Thanks Russ!
14. Sushi still fucking rocks!
15. The Bellagio expects people to really love wasabi. The spoon in it was large enough to be called a spade.
16. No matter how hyped I am about BARGE, nothing ever prepares me for meeting all of my good friends for one more week of insanity in the poker room.
17. Hugging your guy friends is cool, as long as it’s cool with them and they initiate it.
18. North Shore Mike really likes to hug, yet we always end up turning to the same side and almost kissing. I think he does it on purpose. I’ll ask Murray.
19. Murray is the absolute nuts! Thanks a ton for the foreign currency loot. My kid loved it.
20. The PLHB is a good guy. He’ll be back.
21. Tom (local who was in all of our big bet games at the plaza) is the biggest fucking asshole I’ve seen at a poker table in a long, long time. Of course, he got his lunch handed to him in the $2/$5 PL game, and lost just about everything, so all is well. I still want to slap him, though. Hard. Real hard.
22. Wil Wheaton rocks. ‘Nuff said.
23. When people try to make fun of you, it’s usually hilarious. At the TOC tournament, Frank Brabec spread pink (salmon really, but nice try) painters caps in every seat at my starting table (except, of course, for my seat). He thought it would tilt me. I thought it was classic and I’m still laughing about it. Frank is one nutty guy!
24. Frank was late with the hats at the NLHE, but he managed to get them there as well. His love for all things BARGE is undying.
25. Murray may have been Murray-drunk, but only one individual was Sheri-drunk. Holy crap!
26. Terrance is way cool, and after all of these years, I finally got to meet him in person. This guy can play.
27. Speaking of people who can really play, Sarah (Steve’s Day’s much better half) can really, really play. I got to sit next to her for most of the PLO tournament. Not only is she friendly, attractive and very entertaining, but she knows her shit. I guess she had a good teacher. Her and Steve make a great couple.
28. There is absolutely no substitute for having friends at BARGE who can offer support and guidance. Steve Day and Terrence really took the time and gave me some great insight on plans for my poker future. These two guys alone made the trip worth the money for me. I can’t thank them enough.
29. Greg Raymer is so damn cool.
30. Maybe I don’t suck at PLO after all. I almost made the money.
31. Fellow bloggers are also very cool to meet in person. Aside from Terrence were Tim Showalter, Bob Jones and several others who I’d never met before. It’s great to feel that you know someone even before you meet face to face.
32. Hours and hours of practice on WinPoker pays off. I hit a royal for $1k and hit quad deuces twice during the trip. Video poker total score: +$1650.
33. Main Street Station loves me. Many more free nights coming my way.
34. It’s really, really going to hurt when they finally pull this horseshoe out of my ass.
35. Although I co-wrote a book on the game, playing NLHE against good, aggressive players is very hard.
36. The Bay City diner in the Golden Gate is awesome. Great Rubens.
37. Russ is addicted to hand sanitizer.
38. The walk back and forth from Main Street Station to The Plaza, although short, can be very, very interesting.
39. Zimmers is out of hiding!
40. Nolan can actually write (or his co-author can). The Stuey book is excellent.
41. Baggage handlers honestly don’t give a shit about your luggage.
42. Listening to music while playing poker is actually pretty enjoyable. I was able to focus much more clearly and tune out the monkeys.
43. The Bellagio $8/$16 is still the best game on the planet.
44. Someone might call you “the C word” if you ask to see their hand. Yeah, it happened to me, and it was actually funny. The guy was a tilted maniac who had bought in at least 8 times. He paid for several of my dinners, my books, and a snack on the way home.
45. Bob creates some excellent virgin shirts. Oh, and he’s a cool guy too.
46. Don Perry’s horseshoe is much bigger than mine.
47. After only 6 years, I feel like a BARGE old timer.
48. There is nothing in the world like hanging out with 200 of your best friends for a week in Las Vegas.
49. There is nothing better than coming home to a beautiful wife and amazing little boy who have honestly missed you while you’ve been away.
50. BARGE is, without question, the highlight of my year. I’m already counting the days.
Best quote at BARGE: “Fuck so off!” –North Shore mike
See you guys next year!
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