POCKET ACES

Saturday, December 16, 2000
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Pocket Aces

BARGE: In Poker, It's Not A Boat (Unless It's Full)

By Maryann Guberman

It's likely that other "clubs" have come into existence as a result of Internet user groups, but probably none has turned into as big a success as one called BARGE, an acronym for Big August Rec.Gambling Extravaganza, and a word that has become familiar enough to poker players to be included in practically every poker glossary and dictionary in print.

Back in 1991, some of the folks who posted messages on the newsgroup rec.gambling.poker (covered in our last article) discovered that they'd be in Las Vegas (in August) for a convention related to technology and on a lark, they arranged to meet one another. The connection took place at the Frontier on the Strip and extended to Gambler's Book Shop, giving these individuals a chance to "put a face" on those mysterious USENET handles. A year later, still unstructured, they did it again, drawing a few more attendees and adding a spontaneous tournament. Through various postings, the participants began to develop a following, and eventually, BARGE was born. By the third gathering, thirty people attended with twenty of them participating in the tournament. One more year tripled both attendance and tourney participation.

In 1995, the annual tournament became a part of the World Series of Poker venue. (Even though the WSOP takes place in May, it didn't make sense to change a perfectly good name to BMRGE. Alternately, the "A" also stands for "Annual.") In no time at all, the annual event became more extensive, incorporating video poker and blackjack tournaments (both of which, like poker, require a high degree of skill), a Calcutta auction for the tournament, banquets, and meetings with featured guests, including Arnold "The Bishop" Snyder, Mason Malmuth, and Mike Caro.

In 2000, there were three "major" tournaments, a History of Poker Tournament consisting of three games played in rotation: five-card stud, ace-to-five lowball, and five-card draw, BARGE Tournament of Champions-Style Poker Tournament with three games played in rotation (limit hold'em, limit seven-card stud, and limit Omaha (eight or better) progressing to no-limit hold'em at the final table, and the BARGE no-limit hold'em championship. None of these are high-roller events as the buy-ins are $50 for the first two and $70 for the latter. And, in keeping current with the changing face of poker competition, each one is a qualifier for the new Tournament of Champions. These events draw both amateur and professional players, all of whom have an abiding connection to the game.

As with many successful organizations, in order to accommodate those who either don't live near or can't make it to Las Vegas annually, BARGE gave birth to several other like events. These include (in alphabetical order) ATLARGE (Atlantic City Annual Rec.Gambling Extravaganza), held in late March; FARGO (Foxwoods Annual Rec.Gambling Outing), usually held in October; MARGE (Mississippi Annual Rec.Gambling Extravaganza), a November event in Biloxi; CARGO (Christmas Annual Rec.Gambling Outing), an on-again, off-again event; ESCARGOT (Experimental Southern California Annual Rec.Gambling Outing and Tournament) a February gathering in Los Angeles; and TARGET (The Annual Rec.Gambling Entry Tournament), centering around the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Surprisingly, the whole BARGE phenomenon is handled voluntarily by Chuck Weinstock (and Michael Zimmers (one of the original founders), who updates information on the Internet www.barge.org, and anyone is eligible to participate by contacting that site. Other annual events take place according to the scheduling and availability of other volunteers.

It's not unusual for the newsgroup to be bombarded with "trip" reports by the numerous attendees, with contributions from amateurs and professionals alike, and rec.gambling.poker becomes a true interchange of theory, history, education and entertainment. But the real joy comes from the annual gatherings with person-to-person and group interaction. A lot of friendships and even some fun rivalries have grown out of the meetings but true to the universality of the game, no one of like interest is excluded. No details have been released as yet, but since 2001 will be the tenth anniversary of BARGE, it will likely prove to be an event worth attending.