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08-02-2006, 06:46 PM
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Davidross trip report...Long
Well, after 5 years of playing poker almost every day, I’m heading for the big show. The main event of the WSOP. I’ve played 1 other big buy in event, The PCA at Atlantis last January, and I was fortunate enough to cash in that one for 12K, a nice return on my $600 satellite entry. I’ve qualifed for the WSOP as well through a satellite at Poker Stars, but this time it took me 2 tries for an investment of $1300. My game seems well suited to the Stars qualifiers, long 30 minute rounds, with a nice starting stack (2500) and no premium on finishing first. My conservative style works best under these situations. In fact although I’ve done extremely well in these format satellites, my other results at Stars are dismal. I’ve won a 60K first prize in a Party 200K and twice have won close to 30K in Supers also at Party, where the blinds in relation to your starting stack give you a lot more play. In comparison, I think I’ve only made 2 or 3 final tables at Stars in the regular events there.
I’m due to start on Saturday (Day 2) and I’m flying into Vegas Thursday afternoon. If I arrive on time I hope to get checked into the Palms, pick up my Poker Stars gear (I assume it will be very similar to the bags they gave us in Atlantis, which were amazing except the Poker Stars Logo is plastered on everything, and since I rarely advertise that I play poker,not much use to meoutside of a casino) and then race over to the Rio to play the last Super Sat before tomorrow’s kick off. I’d love to get some play in the Rio ballroom just to get comfortable, check out the temperature, and maybe win 10K to start off the trip. I play live so rarely that I need to get in gear before starting. Friday I’dlike to go over to the Rio and watch the event start, then go somewhere and play some limit. I’m planning on meeting up with a few people this week. Steve Stolzman (his son John won the Tunica WPT event last year) and his wife Linda befriended my wife and I in Atlantis, and although my wife couldn’t join me this trip, I’m hoping to spend some time with them. I’m alos hoping to meet some of the guys I have corresponded with for several years through 2+2 but never met. And I need to find Brandon Shaefer and Steve-Paul Ambrose because the 2 twenty-something millionaires made me pay for everything when we went to a Blue Jays game back in May, so I’m sure they’ll repay me with free cocktails at the Rio. Thursday No delays on either flight, I had to change planes in Denver, but arrived on time ine Vegas. I decided to rent a car, and already I’m regretting my first decision. I got a $159/wk rate and figured that had to be better than cabs every day. Of course by the time the taxes, insurance and extras were added on my bill for 8 days is $472. Ouch. Then I got to deal with afternoon traffic. I brought my GPS with me just in case, and it gave me directions to the Palms, all of 8 kms from the airport, 12 minutes according to the GPS. 40 minutes later I arrived. Crazy traffic until I got across the strip. And hot like I’ve never experienced. It may be a dry heat, but it was draining. The Palms is an easy walk from the Rio, but with the temperature I decided to drive. Well by the time I put the car in the self park, I was just as far from the front door as I was at the Palms. The good news for me was that the Satellite was pushed back to 8:00 PM and then to 8:30, so I had lots of time. I had to line up to register, which went quite quickly, and then again to pay for the satellite, which didn’t move so quickly. The cashier line went out the door and around the corner, and was still like that 6 hours later with people buying in to the main event. To make it worse, anyone wanting to cash out after playing ring games had to join the same line. I met up with John (formerly CoorsKid) and we had some beer and dinner, then I walked around the Expo which is remarkable. Every site trying to outdo the next with sexy girls and little giveaways. I then got my poker week off to a dreadful start. I lasted until just into level 2. We had 3000 chips so there is no excuse for going broke with blinds at 25/50. I had around 2500 chips and got into a 6 way limped pot with Ks Qs. When the flop came 9s 7s 3d it was checked to the big stack button who bet 500, seriously overbetting the pot. Folded back to me I decided he was trying to buy it. I pushed on him thinking I was a coin flip anyway with the overcards and the flush draw, but he called in a flash with top 2. My spade didn’t come and suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands. I got into a 20/40 game that was remarkably soft. As the trend seems to be, there are a lot more no-limit games being spread, and the guys playing limit are older guys like me. I managed to make $300 despite having aces cracked and trips rivered twice so it took some of the sting away. Planning on going over to the Rio to see the kickoff of the main event Friday, then maybe to Caesars to check out the new poker room there. The Stolzmans have invited me to join them for dinner so I think I’ll do that and have an early night before my start on Saturday. FRIDAY I walked over to the Rio to see the start of the Main event. Just a zoo. It was so crowded outside the tournament area at 11:30 (12:00 start), and they weren’t letting anyone in yet. Then when they did, it was players only, and they were not allowed to wear anything with .com on it. So now friends and spouses were stopped at the door, making the traffic jam worse, and players were changing clothes or taping over their advertisements. I gave up and went back to the expo and spent some time at each booth. It really is crazy in there. Bodog has beautiful girls in lingerie on a bed, and if you line up you can have a pillow fight with them and get your picture taken. Live at the Bike has adult film stars autographing posters, and Poker Stars had playboy bunnies asking the skill testing question of whether the card they cut would be an ace or not. I did buy some books that I haven’t been able to get in Canada yet, Harrington’s 3rd book and Kill Phil, plus the Devilfish’s new book. So off I went to Caesars. I figured if I was going to eat there later I might as well play there too. I always forget how huge that place is. And the new poker room is beautiful. But the biggest game they spread was 10/20, and it was just an interest list at that time. I went and had some lunch, and only had to wait 20 minutes for the game to start. It was a great fun game. People chuckling it up, 3 of them were from the same bachelor party, and the play was pretty loose, so of course I got down a rack right away. The guy on my left was a card rack for an hour or so, 3 betting me every time I had a hand, and then hitting the flop. At one point he called his own hand correctly pre-flop 3 times in a row (QQ, AQ, AQ) and got paid off anyway. SO on the next hand as the dealer puts out the flop he yells “seven”!, and 2 7’s flop. He jumps out of his chair, yells “Quads”! and then bets. 4 guys fold, and he turns over 77. I found it hilarious, but maybe you had to be there. I made some money back before dinner ending up down $200. Dinner was amazing (Mesa Grill in Caesars), and the company was good. Linda is a great sport putting up with two wannabees talking poker all night. I guess she’s used to it. I went back to the Rio after dinner to see if I could spot anyone. They were down to 1200 at 10:00 PM, blinds were 100/200 with a 25 ante. I made a note to myself not to be out this early. John’s original table had already been broken, I couldn’t see him anywhere, but that really doesn’t mean anything. I saw John Duthie (The EPT) founder, Gus Hansen, Matt Matros, and Kristy Gazes, but really couldn’t see chip stacks or any play. So I headed back to the Palms. I’d had a lot to drink by now, so sleeping shouldn’t be a problem, but I didn’t want to wake up at 5:00 AM either, so I went to the little card room the Palms has and played some 2/5 No limit. I’d never played a no limit ring game before so I thought I’d take a chance. I got down a little early calling off river bets that were indeed value bets, but I did make some hands later and got back to even and headed to bed. So now it’s the big day. I’ve got butterflies in my stomach, and I have no idea what Stars wants us to wear today. I’m going over for their breakfast and I’ll ask. I hope I have something good to write about tomorrow. Saturday Well as expected it was a mob scene at the RIO. I went over for the Pokerstars breakfast, but only ate some eggs and a Danish. Didn’t see anyone I knew and was leaving when I spotted ZBThorton who introduced me to Jurollo, and gave me someone to spend the last hour before playing with. I also went a bought some pieces of fruit hoping I would last all day and giving me something to snack on. After getting seated I didn’t recognize anyone at my table, but we had 2 empty seats and I was wondering if maybe Phil Hellmuth was going to show up, but eventually they filled. I played pretty conservatively for a few orbits, finally winning my first pot uncontested. Then the pot that actually set the tone for my day came with me in the BB. I got a free play with Q2 and the flop came 652. It was checked around and when another 2 turned the SB bet out. He made a pot sized bet and I just called. Everyone else folded and a Q rivered filling me up. He quickly bet again and I just called. I don’t know why I didn’t raise, I did think about it, but something about his play made me worried he had 66 or 33, and I decided he wouldn’t pay me off with anything else so I just called. He showed A6 and I turned over my cards and got a lot of strange looks and comments. So I left maybe 400 chips on the table, but the credit I got for that call down. I didn’t have a post-flop raise called for the next 15 hours. I was pretty lucky with flops when I did get into a hand. I raised with AK 3 times and was called, and the 3 flops were AKx, AKx, and AAx. Unfortunately I didn’t get any post-flop money on those hands. I also picked up KK twice and AA once but only won the blinds. I won the blinds a lot all day actually. The table was pretty tight which suited me well. At the first break I had 12K, 2nd break around 13K and at dinner I was at 17,500. Level 4 pushed me just over 20K and level 5 was my best when I peaked at 32K. Unfortunately level 6 I dropped way back to 25K or so before I managed to climb back up to 29225 where I finished the day. Certainly still ahead of average but way behind the leaders. There will be around 3200 of us left when I play again on Tuesday, with blinds starting at 250/500 I have lots of play left. Star watching- big names near me were Doyle Brunson, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, and of course at the feature table for a very short time, Phil Hellmuth. Tempers were raging all around me, the table behind me called the floor 4 times in disputes and the one on the other side of me had a big dispute over exposing cards too. The funnies occurrence happened at Brad Garretts table where someone flopped a Royal Flush, when he showed it he said Get the Fu** out of here, won the pot and a 10 minute penalty. He said it was worth it. Interesting hands for me. I’m in seat 1, and the british guy on my left (a real nice guy named sean whom I enjoyed playing with and watching play all day) were in a button/blind showdown. His play is pretty transparent by design, I think he wants everyone to know how he plays and perhaps use his image later to steal, but twice he pushed all-in pre-flop with blinds only 25/50 or 50/100, then showed aces and said “I don’t want to get them cracked”. It certainly paid off for me much later. Anyway, I raise on the button to 300 (blinds 50/100) with KJ. He calls in the SB as he did almost every time in the blinds. He called blind several times from the SB in an unraised pot and also in raised pots in the BB. It became the running gag at the table because every ragged flop seemed to make him 2 pair or a straight. Anyway the flop seemed to be good for me KQT. I bet close to the pot and he immediately raised me. I don’t remember the exact amounts but I think my flop bet was 400 into the 700 pot and he raised it to 1200. I called the 800 more. The turn was a little rag and he bet 2000. Yuck. I’m really worried about AJ. This guy hates to raise pre-flop so I don’t think he would have re-raised AJ so it’s a real possibility, J9 too. KQ, KT, QT all of them have me. Probably a pretty easy laydown here before the damage gets too big, but I couldn’t shake the feeling I was ahead, plus I had straight outs..maybe. I grabbed 2 of my precious yellow chips and called. River is the beautiful Ace, he checks, I toss 3 more yellows in and he folds, flashing me a K. Just the K. I honestly feel I was ahead the whole time, but he sure made it seem Like I drew out on him. Hand 1 with the Hungarian. Young kid from Hungary in the 5 seat. Has been tight and aggressive, and we have similar stacks close to 20K with blinds now at 100/200. I raise to 600 with As Ks, and on the button he re-raises me to 1900. Folded back to me and I tank. I’ve got the sunglasses on and I’m staring right at him and he’s staring back, and I’m trying to figure out how to play this. He plays medium pairs with a call, so he has a big pair or a big ace. Against me I’m sure it’s not even AJ. I’m ashamed to say my first instinct is to fold and not risk any of my precious babies (chips), but I’m proud to say that the inner man in me forced me to at least call. But I took my time and thought about what would happen post flop if I just call. 2 out of 3 hands I’m going to miss, and although I think he might check behind if he misses I can’t be too sure. So I keep thinking about how much better it is to be the aggressor, suck it up and decide that I’m willing to go the the felt here if he has QQ and I reraise to 6K. He visibly doesn’t like that, and I think phew, it’s not AA or KK. He takes so long I’m pretty sure it’s not QQ either. Now I think it’s JJ or AK and I’m real glad I made the re-raise. Here’s where my image paid off, he mucked AK (which really surprised me) and I told him I had KK. Hand 2 with the Hungarian. He’s in a bit of chip trouble now a little later, blinds still 100/200 but the antes have begun. He raises and I’m in the SB this time with 55. I call his 700 chip raise and the BB folds. Flop is the beautiful K65. I know he is still wondering about the last hand we played, and what a perfect time to come over the top of him he’ll never get away from it. I check and he checks behind..doh. So when the turn is a 9 I bet 1000 at him and now he raises me to 2500. Yikes. Now I’m thinking AA or KK. I just call not really sure what I’m going to do on the river. The river is a Q, and I check, and he checks right behind me and shows AK. Man I left a lot of chips out there on that one. My first ever WSOP bluff. I’ve had a problem with trembling hands in the past when I make a big hand. For the first time ever I had it with a bluff. I made a steal raise from the button with J8s, and the young kid in 3 called. 100/200 25 still. Flop is T63. Check check. Turn is a 9 giving me an open ender. Check and now I bet 1000 into the 1750 pot and he calls quickly. Ruh ROh. River is another 9. He checks again and I pause a second,and go for my chips and notice the tremble. I don’t know if he did too, but I bet 1500, keeping it a fairly small bet to make like I want the call, and he folds….phew. Value. Frustrated guy in the 9 seat, hasn’t made a hand all day, open raises to 700 and I call with 77. Flop is 642. He bets 1000 and I call right away. Turn pairs the 6 and he checks. I think about betting, I do hate to give him a free card, but I also thought he was getting desperate and I hated to give him a chance to bluff check-raise me so I checked behind. River is another 4 and he checks again. Now I would normally just check here, but with the 2 pair on board and (presumably) an Ace in his hand, my check on the turn could help me here. I bet 1000, and with only 4K left he makes the call and my 7’s are good. Maybe I suck. Last big hand of the night for me. We’re in level 6, it’s between 1 and 3 PST (4-6 AM for my body) and although I felt great all day I’m starting to drag. For the first time all day my stack has shrunk. I think the long online sessions I play help me here, but there is no doubt I’m physically tired, and maybe mentally too. You tell me. I played this had in the BB against the 9 and 10 seats. 9 seat joined us at the start of level 6 with around 15K (I had 30) and the 10 seat had been there all day. Nothing fancy but solid. I re-raised him twice in SB/BB showdowns and he laid both down, one time flashing me an ace (I had a better one). But at the start of level 6 and young kid in a Party poker hat sat down with over 80K and in the next 20 minutes made 3 of the worst plays I can remember giving almost all of his chips to the 9 and 10 seats. SO now they both have close to 50K. The 9 seat open raises from the button and I have AJ. I’m getting ready to blast over the top of him when the 10 seat smooth calls in the SB. Now I’m not so sure so I just call. Blinds are now 200/400 with a 50 ante. The raise was 1500 so there is 5K in the pot. Flop is A52, with 2 hearts. I don’t have a heart. The SB bets out 3K. I’m almost positive I’m ahead. I’ve played with him all day and I’m sure he would have re-raised with AK or AQ. He would also slow play trips. So he’s got an ace-rag or a flush draw. So I’m most afraid of A2 or A4. He also has a mountain of chips. Still I can’t ignore the fact that I think I’m ahead. I’d hate to bust out this late in the day, but I’m not willing to run away from that 8K in the pot. I raise it to 8K leaving me 15K (I know because both the button and SB asked to have it counted). The button really starts humming and hawing. Long enough that now I’m sure he has an ace. He could have AQ or AK and then I’m screwed, but finally he lays it down (A9 I found out later). The SB asks for a count again, and pushes. Ouch. I want to throw up. Now I’m sure he has A2 or A4, but maybe still the flush draw. There is 31K out there now so I’m getting 2-1 and I call pretty quickly. I don’t know if it was fatigue or resignation, but when he turned over AJ it was relief. No one had a heart so we were chopped. Quite a day, it took 2 beers even at 4:00 AM for me to get to sleep. 2 days off and back at it with both the 9 and 10 seats at me new table but on my left this time. I spent most of today with the big stack in seat 2, and now I’m faced with it again on Tuesday. On the plus side, neither one is an intimidating player, so if I get my share of cards I hope I can get through another day. SUNDAY Decompression day. Slept until noon local time and decided to play the big Sunday events at Stars and Party. Ooops, the stars is the $540 buy in not the $200, I emptied my stars account except for $500 for spending money here, so I just played the Party one. I also played a FPP qualifier for Barcelona (actually a qualifier to get into a qualifier) just to have 2 tables going. I was way too distracted though, catching up on e-mails and WSOP updates, not a good way to play. With blinds still very low I lost 80% of my chips playing AJs in the SB. Flop was J high, I check raised the original raiser who came over the top all-in, a big overbet and I called. He had QQ leaving me 750 chips. I made it last for 2 more levels before succumbing, but I did win my 4000 FPP points at Stars, whoopee. So I went and lounged by the Palms pool, which should have been my first choice. Unbelievable women in the tiniest bathing suits I’ve ever seen in person. I took a bunch of poker magazines and ordered fruity drinks I wouldn’t dare order at the 2+2 dinner. Definitely +EV. I then went to the kickoff party for Johnnie Chan’s new website, it was at the Hard Rock in a Suite that had a bowling alley in it. I had one beer and ate sushi off of a nearly naked girl who served as the serving dish. The room was filled with asian girls in gold bikinis, who just seemed to talk among themselves. The room got very crowded very quickly, and made no sense to me. The whole theme was Japanese, and I thought Johnnie was Chinese. So I headed over to the Wynn, where I lost $1300 in 3 hours playing 15/30. I’m not kidding, I won 1 pot in 3 hours. So back to the Palms it was for me, and 2 very drunk and cute girls convinced me to play roulette with them. I put $200 into play and had a couple more drinks I really didn’t need and had a great time for the next 2 hours, running my $200 up to $800 playing my kids birthdays. Monday is the 2+2 dinner, looking forward to it. MONDAY My best day here by far. I played no poker, but got to meet around 50 2+2’ers. I actually wanted to play but circumstances kept getting in the way. I slept late, had lunch here at the palms and then decided to go play at the MGM Grand, which seemed to be the closest room to New York New York where the 2+2 get together was scheduled. But after buying a magic trick for my son who will turn 13 this Saturday, I discovered that the MGM room was spreading 6/12 as their biggest game. So I watched a bit of the Lion show and decided to try the Venetian. Same story there, they had an interest list for a 10/20 game but nothing else. So it was now around 3:00 PM and I figured I wouldn’t get into a game anywhere until at least 4:00, and would have to leave by 7:30, I hate short sessions, so the Palms Pool won out. No fruity drinks today though. I have to play tomorrow so I’m not starting until I get to the 2+2 dinner. I took my new book on the Devilfish down with me and actually managed to read 1 chapter in between staring at unbelievable bodies and bathing suits. Hats off to ZBTHorton for organizing the dinner. It was great. We had free drinks, and a choice of 4 meals in a private room at the ESPN Zone. I know I’ll miss some people…sorry guys… but the guys I already knew were Horton and Jurollo, Shaeffer, Colson, and the infamous Zee Justin, who I was very glad to see back in public. I like Zee a lot. He arrived with Ozzy who I had also met in the Bahamas as well as at Turning Stone. I got to meet, Rizen, Sirio, Adanthar and Lloyd. UCLAbruinz, yabastid, cardsharpcook, Woodguy, DonT77, TylerDurden and Mlagoo. MLG didn’t make it which was too bad because I like his girlfriend. He could have sent her at least. Rizen’s wife was there, she’s expecting their 2nd child and she was great to talk to. We seemed to have a slightly better than average split as to who was still in, compared to the general public, but it was pretty clear the guys who were out were quite dejected. Most of them are heading home early. So back to the grind tomorrow, I’m getting nervous again. TUESDAY Well the dream died just before the dinner break. I’m still not sure if I goofed or not. It was so different from day 1 where I stayed in the same seat all day. I played at 4 tables in 4 hours. I really liked my first table, but we broke around 30 minutes in with my stack pretty much where it started. Table 2 was another non-intimidating table and I managed to build up to close to 40K. Table 3 was quite a bit different. For the first time almost every raise was being called or re-raised, and there was clearly some history I had missed between some of the guys. I got as high as 45K and was right on the average before I started sliding back. When I moved to my last table I had a little under 40K and the average was around 50K, but the blinds were still only 400/800 with a 100 ante. Lots of play in relation to the blinds, but I was the shortest stack at the new table, by a mile. Richard Brodie was at the table, and a young kid I had seen earlier chatting with some real good players. Also the guy (I think his name is Maclean) who I’ve seen on the last 2 WSOP broadcasts going out in heartbreaking fashion. This table was by far the most aggressive and active I had been at. It seemed every pot had 3 players for a raise, but their stacks were so deep it was like the 1st round at my original table. 2 Orbits had me down to 35K, when the guy on my right made the really strange opening raise of 9K (11 bb’s). I have AK in the cutoff. I don’t think I gave this enough thought. I pushed for 35K. I wish I had made it 24K or so to make it look even more like AA or KK and increase my folding equity. As it was I think I might as well have turned my hand face up. He called pretty quickly with JJ and I didn’t improve. I think I have to play that hand. I could wait a long time for a better one, and if I win the race I have 70K and I’m in a good podition to make the money and play some hands. If I felt I had a big edge at the table I suppose I could just fold it, but there were no small stacks for me to hook up with , so I’m not disappointed with choosing that hand to play. I think his big raise kind of committed him too, I don’t imagine I could get him off it, but I would have had a better chance by raising less than all-in, There was a Queen on th flop too, so maybe if he flat calls my raise, he folds to a flop bet??? Maybe not. I don’t ever remember feeling so disappointed before though. Everything had been going so well, I think I just expected to win the race. It’s the only time I raced, and to be honest with myself, I knew I would have to win a few of those to go deep, it just didn’t happen this time. Overall I was pleased with my play. I went out of my comfort zone a couple of times and it paid off. Interesting hands from day2 My 2nd table, I think the blinds were still 250/500 with a 50 ante. I’m in the BB and a short stacked button (maybe 14K) makes a tiny raise to 1200. Costs me 700 to call a pot of 2450. I call with 97. Flop is 988. I check and he checks behind me. I was ready to raise him. Now an Ace turns and I curse my luck for waiting. I check again and he bets 2 thousand. I was watching him closely and he looked really uncomfortable, like seeing the ace gave him a chance to bluff. So I paused for a 5 count then raised him 6K more and he insta-mucked. Boy did this guy goof. Same table, blinds are now 300/600 with a 75 ante. I raise to 2100 from EP with 77. Folded to the button who doesn’t see me raise. He announces raise, but only puts 2200 into the pot. When he’s told there is already a raise he says all-in (about 10K more for him), but they make him make the min raise to 3600. I call. I was ready to call his all-in since I put him on a big ace, but this seemed even better for me, allowing me to get away from it if the big cards flopped. So the flop comes J9x. I check, he pushes, but is clearly not happy about it and I call. He tables AK and my hand holds up. This got me up to around 40K. My 3rd table. I hated this table breaking. Pretty loose play, lots of limping and calling of raises, and 3 or 4 short stacks who might give me 10-12K in one shot. Anyhow the guy with all the chips (over 120K) is playing almost every hand and is on a heater. I raise 2100 with ATs from the 6 seat. Blinds are still 300/600. He’s the button in the 1 seat and makes a min re-raise to 4200. I wished he had made it bigger so I could fold. I call. Flop is AQQ. I check and he checks. Turn is the beautiful A. I check again hoping he’ll take a stab, but he checks again. No I figure I’m not going to get another penny, but the river is another Q. “I have a full house” he jokes when it hits. “Me too” I say and I throw 9 yellows into the pot. He calls so fast I wish I had gone all-in. I’m positive he would have called and doubled me. As it was it got me to 45K, which unfortunately was my high point. So it was fun, sort of. Unfortunately I can’t change my return flight unless I pay another $800 so I’m here for a few more days. Maybe next year. 
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#2
08-02-2006, 07:38 PM
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Re: Davidross trip report...Long
Thanks for the trip report, enjoyed reading it.
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#8
08-02-2006, 09:33 PM
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Re: Davidross trip report...Long
"I got a $159/wk rate and figured that had to be better than cabs every day. Of course by the time the taxes, insurance and extras were added on my bill for 8 days is $472. Ouch."
Next time you rent a car skip the insurance. It's a major ripoff.
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#9
08-02-2006, 09:44 PM
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Re: Davidross trip report...Long
$472?? wow.
yeah, no insurance when you rent. except he doesn't have american car-insurance since he's from Canada. Does that make a difference?
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