Tao of Poker

Pieces of Pauly, Heads Up with Grubby, and More Vegas Pics

So what did I eat in Las Vegas?


My "medium-well" dinner at Palm


Yummy dessert at Palm


Penne Arribgata at Ferrara's


My dessert at Ferrara's


The Poker Prof's sorbet


Lunch at Excalibur


Derek's favorite


That concludes this random photo essay of Pieces of Pauly.

Heads Up with Grubby

Make sure you read Grubby's latest post called: Poker with Pauly. He wrote about playing NL together during my last night in Vegas. Here's a bit:

Pauly and I mostly stayed out of each other's way, but I was looking for a chance to play him again since we were heads-up at The Borgata last September.

Finally, an opportunity.

All fold to him in middle position, and he raises to $15. It's folded to me in the big blind.

Now's my chance. I have 89s. A trash hand under other circumstances. But it'd be good blogging material if I called.

I say, "I'm calling because it's you," and throw out three red birds. (I thought by doing so, this might also create future action, putting a bug in other players' ears that perhaps Pauly might be someone who likes to bluff-raise.)

The flop was 10-J-x. A seemingly innocent and familiar flop. (At The Borgata, Pauly had KK vs. my JJ when a Jack flopped.)

I look at his stack, which I sometimes do to get the person thinking I'm counting him down and preparing to put him all-in. A bet at that point will sometimes scare them off.

Trouble was, I couldn't see his stack because he had his hands clasped in front of it. I remembered how much he had, though, but I wanted the display of looking around his hands so I could "see." The gambit didn't work, because he just stared at the flop.

With a $15 preflop raise, I didn't put him on a high pocket pair. A couple times previously he raised $25, and I figured that for JJ, QQ, or KK.

But at $15 and if I read him correctly, I narrowed him down to AK or AQ. (It could've also been AJ, hitting the flop quite nicely. But I had a hunch.)

I thought about check-raising, but I wanted to give him the opportunity to get out.

I semi-bluff with a bet of $25 (a fifth of his stack)... and he folds.

Ah well, we'll have plenty of opportunities to go heads-up again, I'm sure.

After the Pauly hand, I'm back to folding. Then I pick up my second AA at that table. The first, I got the blinds.

The second, I raise small at $15, am reraised to $45, and I push. The guy calls with QQ and as the cards are run I just knew a Q would come.

This being a classic Hilton Sisters hand that would win a Pauly painting, I say, "Damn you, Pauly" (players must've thought it was strange that I was cursing at someone not in the hand) and I'm halfway up to spin the wheel for getting Aces cracked.

The board kept turning face cards (two Kings and a Jack), but no Queen, and my hand is good. I guess I've been beaten down so many times with the better hand preflop, that my confidence has faltered.

For the record, I had Mrs. Slick and I think she was suited. When you lose a $500 pot and your entire stack to Grubby in Atlantic City, you get a little gunshy even on a belly full of bottom-shelf vodka and a fuzzy head thanks to the painkillers. Nice play, dude. Can't wait for your strip club post!

So, how about random Vegas pics?

Vegas Photo Dump


The Bellagio's Water Show




What Grubby sees everyday...


This is the only place in Las Vegas where I am up for my career!


In the Luxor


More Luxor


The view from our room


In Cesear's Palace




I love these signs posted all over casinos...
Just a quick reminder... see everyone on Poker Stars tonight at 9pm EST for the next event on the WPBT! I will be running another Hilton Sisters Challenge. Be on the look out for pocket Queens...