B.A.R.G.E
Encyclopedia
BARGE, the Big August Rec.Gambling Excursion, is a yearly convention held in Las Vegas during the first weekend of August. It consists of a series of tournaments both of poker and other gambling games, as well as a banquet and a host of informal social and gambling activities organized by attendees. Some of the well-known poker players who have participated either as speakers or players in the no limit holdem tournament include: Howard Lederer
, Chris Ferguson
, Phil Hellmuth Jr
, Greg Raymer
, Mason Malmuth
, David Sklansky
, Mike Caro
, Steve Watanabe, Lou Krieger, Linda Johnson
, Phil Gordon
, Paul Phillips
, Andy Bloch
, William Chen
, Jerrod Ankenman, Andrew Prock, Sabyl Landrum, Doyle Brunson
and many others.
BARGE is formally open to "members of the rec.gambling" community, but registration must be done in advance over the Internet. BARGE organizers include Chuck Weinstock (emeritus), Peter Secor (emeritus), Michael "mickdog" Patterson (starting in 2007), Nick Christenson (starting in 2008), Bree Goldman (starting in 2011) and Mike Zimmers (emeritus).
In its earlier years, BARGE attendees were interested in Blackjack as much as they were in
Poker. Some famous Blackjack players (card counters) who have attended BARGE include Andy Bloch
, Stanford Wong
, Arnold Snyder
and 'Mr. M.' Since around 1998, BARGE attendees and BARGE activities have centered much more around Poker.
In 2006 BARGE was moved to later in the month of August due to a conflict with the World Series of Poker as some attendees participated in both events. Since then BARGE has returned to its traditional 1st weekend of August.
BARGE is the progenitor of all the other annual "ARG" events, including ATLARGE (held in Atlantic City), ESCARGOT (held in the Los Angeles area), FARGO (held at Foxwoods), MARGE (held in Biloxi), EMBARGO (Winter Las Vegas event) and others.
Perhaps the most famous BARGE tradition is "Presto!" as a nickname for a hold'em hand of pocket fives. The term was originated by Frank Irwin (as slang for a blackjack) but its poker meaning is far more widespread, making appearances on multiple sets of commemorative chips, badges, etc.
Other BARGE traditions include multiple poker tournaments, a blackjack tournament, a video poker tournament, the Official ADB Darkside Craps
Crawl, a Sushi outing with Sake tasting, Karaoke night, and the only known Chowaha games played in casino settings for real money. Chinese Poker
has also been played at BARGE for many years.
After the BARGE banquet on Saturday evening, another tradition is played out. 'Reindeer games' -- various exotic poker games -- are spread. These games include or have included Chowaha, first spread at Binion's
in 1997; Binglaha (a variant of Omaha, in which whether the game is played high-only or high/low is determined after the flop betting by a roll of a die), first spread at Binion's in 2003, 'Must-drink, must-toke HORSE
', and Lowball
.
Whenever anyone busts out of a BARGE tournament, they are given a round of applause; not as an ironic gesture, but as a thank-you for participating in BARGE.
The winner of the No-Limit tournament is traditionally tasked with designing a set of chips for next year's BARGE, with some sort of commemorative design. These chip sets are then sold the next year. The BARGE Chip Committee, currently headed by Patrick Milligan (circa 2008), helps the winner with the logistics and artwork.
Howard Lederer
Howard Henry Lederer is an American professional poker player and brother of poker professional Annie Duke, and author and poet Katy Lederer. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
, Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson
Christopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
, Phil Hellmuth Jr
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
, Greg Raymer
Greg Raymer
Gregory Raymer nicknamed "Fossilman," is a professional poker player. He is best known for winning the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event.-Early life:...
, Mason Malmuth
Mason Malmuth
Mason Malmuth is an American poker player, and author of books on both poker and gambling. He is the owner of Two Plus Two Publishing, which publishes books and runs an online gambling discussion forum.Malmuth was born and grew up in Coral Gables, Florida...
, David Sklansky
David Sklansky
-Life and career:Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked...
, Mike Caro
Mike Caro
Mike A. Caro is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, author of poker books, and casino executive.-Author:...
, Steve Watanabe, Lou Krieger, Linda Johnson
Linda Johnson
Linda Johnson is an American professional poker player, journalist and consultant, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was elected into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2011.-Early life:Linda Johnson was born in 1953 in Long Island, New York...
, Phil Gordon
Phil Gordon
Philip Stewart Gordon is an American professional poker player, commentator and author.-Personal life:Gordon was born in El Paso, Texas. He spent his formative years in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon began attending Georgia Tech at the age of 15 while still attending high school...
, Paul Phillips
Paul Phillips (poker player)
Paul Phillips is an American entrepreneur and poker player.-Programming:Phillips wrote the Boa web server while attending the University of California, San Diego, but no longer maintains it...
, Andy Bloch
Andy Bloch
Andrew Elliot Bloch is a professional poker player. He holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law School.-Poker:...
, William Chen
William Chen
William "Bill" Chen is an American quantitative analyst, poker player, and software designer.-Biography:...
, Jerrod Ankenman, Andrew Prock, Sabyl Landrum, Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
and many others.
BARGE is formally open to "members of the rec.gambling" community, but registration must be done in advance over the Internet. BARGE organizers include Chuck Weinstock (emeritus), Peter Secor (emeritus), Michael "mickdog" Patterson (starting in 2007), Nick Christenson (starting in 2008), Bree Goldman (starting in 2011) and Mike Zimmers (emeritus).
BARGE History
The first BARGE was an informal gathering of a small number of participants of the rec.gambling newsgroup in Las Vegas in 1991 during SIGGRAPH, a computer graphics convention. The next year, many of the same players got together and had a poker tournament at the Mirage. The poker tournament was No Limit Hold'em (as it still is, while additional poker tournaments have been added), and nine players participated. Since then, BARGE has been held at various Las Vegas locations (see below for a list). Attendance has grown steadily, with up to 300 participants expected for 2008.In its earlier years, BARGE attendees were interested in Blackjack as much as they were in
Poker. Some famous Blackjack players (card counters) who have attended BARGE include Andy Bloch
Andy Bloch
Andrew Elliot Bloch is a professional poker player. He holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law School.-Poker:...
, Stanford Wong
Stanford Wong
Stanford Wong is the pen name of John Ferguson, a gambling author who is best known for his book Professional Blackjack, which was first published in 1975 and is still in print. Wong's computer program "Blackjack Analyzer", initially created for personal use, was one of the first pieces of...
, Arnold Snyder
Arnold Snyder
Arnold Snyder is a professional gambler and gambling author. He was elected by professional blackjack players as one of the seven original inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame for his record as a blackjack player and his innovations in professional gambling techniques...
and 'Mr. M.' Since around 1998, BARGE attendees and BARGE activities have centered much more around Poker.
In 2006 BARGE was moved to later in the month of August due to a conflict with the World Series of Poker as some attendees participated in both events. Since then BARGE has returned to its traditional 1st weekend of August.
BARGE is the progenitor of all the other annual "ARG" events, including ATLARGE (held in Atlantic City), ESCARGOT (held in the Los Angeles area), FARGO (held at Foxwoods), MARGE (held in Biloxi), EMBARGO (Winter Las Vegas event) and others.
BARGE Traditions
Traditions are extremely important to BARGE. For example, Scottro (a prominent BARGE participant) denied that his much-washed originally red hat was actually pink, resulting in dozens of players wearing pink baseball hats at the 2006 BARGE, held at the Venetian. "To Throw Down the Pink Hat" has subsequently come to mean "to challenge someone to a heads-up poker match."Perhaps the most famous BARGE tradition is "Presto!" as a nickname for a hold'em hand of pocket fives. The term was originated by Frank Irwin (as slang for a blackjack) but its poker meaning is far more widespread, making appearances on multiple sets of commemorative chips, badges, etc.
Other BARGE traditions include multiple poker tournaments, a blackjack tournament, a video poker tournament, the Official ADB Darkside Craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...
Crawl, a Sushi outing with Sake tasting, Karaoke night, and the only known Chowaha games played in casino settings for real money. Chinese Poker
Chinese poker
Chinese poker, also Pusoy , is a card game that has been played in the Asian community for many years...
has also been played at BARGE for many years.
After the BARGE banquet on Saturday evening, another tradition is played out. 'Reindeer games' -- various exotic poker games -- are spread. These games include or have included Chowaha, first spread at Binion's
in 1997; Binglaha (a variant of Omaha, in which whether the game is played high-only or high/low is determined after the flop betting by a roll of a die), first spread at Binion's in 2003, 'Must-drink, must-toke HORSE
HORSE
H.O.R.S.E. is a form of poker commonly played at the high stakes tables of casinos. It consists of rounds of play cycling among:*Texas Hold 'em,*Omaha eight or better,*Razz,*Seven card Stud, and...
', and Lowball
Lowball
Lowball is an early type of railway signal indicating danger/stop. The ball signal was a light or indicator suspended from a rope, that could move upwards and downwards, held by a weighted ball...
.
Whenever anyone busts out of a BARGE tournament, they are given a round of applause; not as an ironic gesture, but as a thank-you for participating in BARGE.
The winner of the No-Limit tournament is traditionally tasked with designing a set of chips for next year's BARGE, with some sort of commemorative design. These chip sets are then sold the next year. The BARGE Chip Committee, currently headed by Patrick Milligan (circa 2008), helps the winner with the logistics and artwork.
BARGE Guest Speakers and BARGE locations
Each year, the Saturday night banquet features a guest speaker. Past speakers:- 2011 - Binion's - Mori EskandaniMori EskandaniMori Eskandani is a producer of many American television poker programs such as Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship....
- 2010 - Binion's - Barry Tannebaum
- 2009 - Binion's - Doyle BrunsonDoyle BrunsonDoyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
- 2008 - Binion's - Tom SchneiderTom SchneiderTom Schneider is a professional poker player from Phoenix, Arizona. Schneider was a certified public accountant and former president and chief financial officer for three Arizona companies before beginning his poker career in 2002...
- 2007 - Binion's - Gavin Smith
- 2006 - Venetian - Phil GordonPhil GordonPhilip Stewart Gordon is an American professional poker player, commentator and author.-Personal life:Gordon was born in El Paso, Texas. He spent his formative years in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon began attending Georgia Tech at the age of 15 while still attending high school...
"Being Highly Overrated" - 2005 - Plaza - Wil WheatonWil WheatonRichard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
- 2004 - Binion's - Greg RaymerGreg RaymerGregory Raymer nicknamed "Fossilman," is a professional poker player. He is best known for winning the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event.-Early life:...
- 2003 - Binion's - Howard LedererHoward LedererHoward Henry Lederer is an American professional poker player and brother of poker professional Annie Duke, and author and poet Katy Lederer. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
- 2002 - Binion's - Linda JohnsonLinda JohnsonLinda Johnson is an American professional poker player, journalist and consultant, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was elected into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2011.-Early life:Linda Johnson was born in 1953 in Long Island, New York...
- Steve Lipscomb "World Poker Tour Preview" - 2001 - Binion's - Phil HellmuthPhil HellmuthPhil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
- 2000 - Binion's - Chris FergusonChris FergusonChristopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
- 1999 - Orleans - Mike SextonMike SextonMichael Richard Sexton is an American professional poker player and commentator. He is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
- 1998 - Binion's - Mike CaroMike CaroMike A. Caro is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, author of poker books, and casino executive.-Author:...
- 1997 - Binion's - Arnold SnyderArnold SnyderArnold Snyder is a professional gambler and gambling author. He was elected by professional blackjack players as one of the seven original inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame for his record as a blackjack player and his innovations in professional gambling techniques...
- 1996 - Binion's - Mike CaroMike CaroMike A. Caro is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, author of poker books, and casino executive.-Author:...
- 1995 - Binion's - Mason MalmuthMason MalmuthMason Malmuth is an American poker player, and author of books on both poker and gambling. He is the owner of Two Plus Two Publishing, which publishes books and runs an online gambling discussion forum.Malmuth was born and grew up in Coral Gables, Florida...
- 1994 - Luxor - none
- 1993 - Rio - none
BARGE No-Limit Hold 'em Champions
- 2011 - Rich Bremer
- 2010 - Chuck Humphrey
- 2009 - David Heller
- 2008 - Dan Chevrie
- 2007 - John Pickels
- 2006 - Mordecai Schwartz
- 2005 - Don Perry
- 2004 - Gavin Smith
- 2003 - Paul Person
- 2002 - Mike McBride
- 2001 - Russ Fox
- 2000 - Jeff Bartoszewicz
- 1999 - John Harkness
- 1998 - Lee Jones
- 1997 - Steve BrecherSteve BrecherSteve Brecher is an American professional poker player.-Poker career:In 1999, Brecher placed 8th in the World Series of Poker $2.5K No-Limit Hold'em event for $15K. In 2004, he reached the final table of the World Poker Tour $25K No Limit Championship, finishing in 6th place and winning $232K...
- 1996 - Mike Zimmers
- 1995 - Tom Sims
- 1994 - Dave Hughes
- 1993 - Roy Hashimoto
- 1992 - Steve Jacobs