On January 29 – February 1, at the fabulous Resorts World Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the BARGE (www.barge.org) group will be hosting their Winter event in Vegas: EMBARGO. At this point, I couldn’t tell you what EMBARGO stands for, though it is probably on the website. BARGE, however, stands for Big.Aug.Rec.Gambling.Excursion which is to say it is an acronym from the early days of the Pre-Modern Internet.
Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, one could dial up on a modem and connect to the cyberworld through electronic message boards and fancy “newsgroups” on something called the USENET. Again, don’t ask me what it stands for, but as a kid in those days, I would race home from school to connect my very slow computer to these nascent networks before my parents got home from work and might want to use the telephone to do this archaic thing of “talking” verbally to friends, relatives, and telemarketers. So, I would race home and do what any nerdy geeky 12 or 13 year old would do which is start arguments with earnest well meaning adults 10 or 20 years older than myself over who was the better Captain… Kirk or Picard? Or, better yet, I would insult their very detailed technical explanation for how warp drives work and bait them into a rage over minor inconsistencies in character’s behavior on Star Trek. This all happened in alt.tv.star-trek.tos and rec.arts.star-trek which were newsgroups devoted to what I’ve just described.
Meanwhile, a small group of folks in their early 20s and 30s who had more important things to do than argue with dumbasses like me would congregate in an adjacent area called rec.gambling and would talk about things like blackjack strategy or who was the better captain… Kirk or Picard? Some of these fine folks found themselves at the same conference in the early ’90s because the conference was in Las Vegas and it was for something technical and nerdy. And remember, these folks liked to gamble. They had so much fun, they decided to meet again the following year.
By the third year, the gambling discussion and play started to focus on poker as these smarties realized you can have an even bigger edge on the rubes than if you are counting cards against the house. By this point, they had carved out their own little group on the internet where they could send messages to each other all year long and plan their gambling for the summer meet up and of course argue about who was the better Captain… Kirk or Picard? They called it BARGE because it sounds good and is easy to remember rather than Big.Aug.Rec.Gambling.
I was not a part of the group back then and I think both the group and I are very thankful that I didn’t discover them until the mid-2000s, when poker was going through its golden age. While I would still argue who is the better Captain, I would also say dumb things like “When UTG makes a 3x raise and the button re-raises and I have JJ in the SB and…. what should I do?” They welcomed me with open arms and took my money freely.
Since 2007, I’ve never missed a BARGE and I was an enthusiastic proponent when they started the smaller winter version called EMBARGO in 2011. Poker was starting to wane in popularity and poker rooms were closing so the organizers thought maybe it would be a good idea to do a smaller event to try out another venue just in case something happened and Binion’s no longer wanted to host us for our poker shenanigans. This is what the narrator would call foreshadowing.
Anyway, since then BARGE and EMBARGO have been held annually, one in the summer and one in the winter. The venues and dates (BARGE is now in July?!?!) do change periodically but the faces stay the same. The games at EMBARGO tend to be slightly more chaotic and carnival style and the ones at BARGE are perhaps 10-20% more reigned into traditional styles of play. The members are earnest, well-meaning, and competitive but you won’t find use wearing sunglasses and hoodies. Our vibe is relaxed and we are there to have fun. While many of us are grey or bald, you will find some of our children joining in the fun as they have aged up into their 20s.
The tournament buy-ins are inexpensive (high two-figures and low three-figures) and the conversation around the table flows like you would expect at a big family reunion, with people like me playing the role of Cousin Eddie. Did I say we are here to have fun? We really are. Sure, we all want to win but no one cares if you didn’t realize you were the big blind and no one raised but you still folded your hand… give ’em the cards back and lay out the flop, dealer!
We love playing mixed games at these events. As soon as enough players bust from whatever crazy tournament is going on, there will definitely be a $4/8 dealer’s choice cash game going. Our members have invented a bunch of games that no one remembers and a few that I’m sure you have heard of (Action Razz anyone?).
EMBARGO 2026 DATES
Come join us Thursday, January 29 – Sunday, February 1 and treat yourself to some fun. Don’t be shy. If you see me walking around (we all wear name or nickname badges because it is hard to remember people’s name the first time you meet them) be sure to tell me who is the best captain… Archer or Pike?
Registration and schedule for EMBARGO 2026: https://barge.regfox.
Pre-registrations is highly encouraged!
Ed. Note: Credit for all images to Barge.org
