Once again, at Binion's Horseshoe, 184 players competed in the NL hold'em tournament. Lee "I do *so* have a sense of humor" Jones won. Steve "Crunch" Daniel finished second, and Peter "Taki" Caldes finished third. Andy Latto won the blackjack tournament and Steve Jacobs finished second. This reversed their positions from the same event in 1996. Mike Caro was, again, the banquet speaker, this time at the Golden Nugget. Caro holds the distinction of being the only repeat banquet speaker in the history of BARGE. A second Sklansky Charity Freeze Out was held in which Russ Rosenblum beat David Skalansky in just a few hands.