Tao of Poker

Reader Mail: Timmy's Principal Problems, Popularity, Vegas Poker Rooms, and Time Management

It's that time of month again, when I dip into the mail bag and pull out some of my favorite emails from you, the reader!

Dear Pauly,

It's Timmy again. I'm sorry I missed the sign up for your March Madness Pool. I took your advice and I'm running my own. Here's the bad news. My principal caught me and now he wants 50% of the action or he'll call my parents. What should I do?

Thanks,
Timmy (Pensacola, FL)

Dear Timmy,

Kid, you're so fucked. Man, 50% of your action would cripple you!! My advice to you is try to dig up some dirt on your principal and blackmail him into giving you your 50% back in addition to 10% of his income! Trust me, adults have plenty of skeletons in their closets. A lot of guys have weird masturbation fantasies. If you can find two or three from your principal... then you're fucking golden. I suggest you grab two kids in your class that you really trust and break into his home and personal email account. Information is your friend and the more weirdness you find, the better you will be able to get what you want from your asshole principal. What kind of adult fucks with a kid's March Madness Pool? I want to kick your principal in the junk just on principle alone. Best of luck, kid and stop cold-calling raises preflop with little aces!

Thanks for reading,
Pauly

*****

Dear Dr. Pauly,

Long time reader, first time commenter. Dude, I love your blog. I also just started reading your main blog. Funny shit man! Anyway, you seem like a good poker player, but you are a terrible college basketball bettor. I'd be willing to offer up some advice in exchange for poker tips. What do you say?

Also, what online sports book do you use? Just wondering,

Alex (Sugarland, TX)

Dear Alex,

Greetings to one of my many Texas fans. Thanks for reading all of my blogs. I encourage all of my Tao of Poker readers to add the Tao of Pauly to their daily diet. My goal is to try to increase the readership on my first and main blog. It has a small cult following of friends and poker bloggers. The random readers have slowly increased over the last year or so which is great.

I am getting killed in the games this year. But it's still early. I never bet more than my weight in the first two rounds. Most of those bets were... "feeler bets"... try to see if mid-majors can beat the spread or if TOP 10 teams can cover. When I get to Vegas on Thursday... that's is when I'll be laying some serious action on games. In the next few days, I'll analyze my data and make better picks.

I use BoDog's Sportsbook (Bodog.com) to place bets. They are pretty cool. If you use my referral code P1B5DB7 then I can get credit for turning you onto their site. Let me know if you do sign up and I'll send you something special.

Thanks again for reading and possibly signing up for Bodog using my referral code: P1B5DB7. See ya,
Pauly

*****

Dear Dr. Pauly,

I am a long time reader who finally signed up for Party Poker using your bonus code TAO4. Thanks a bunch for entertaining me at work and when I'm having an unpleasant evening with my wife I lock myself in my den, listen to Pink Floyd records, drink Guinness, and read poker blogs. Poker is my new hobby and I was wondering if you could give me some advice on setting up a daily schedule? I am a horrible organizer. Any tip would be helpful. Thanks.

Doug (Chicago, IL)

Dear Doug,

Thanks for using my bonus code! I'll send you a copy of my first novel: Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. If you can set aside 4 hours a day for six days a week, I think you can become a better poker player in 6 months. If this doesn't work, then let's re-evaluate your situation.

Hour 1: Read poker blogs and poker books
Hour 2 and 3: Play Party Poker
Hour 4: Fire up Poker Tracker and replay your losing hands

It's pretty simple, eh? You can fit the first hour into your work schedule. If you commute by train, you can read books there or int he morning on the shitter. You can take your lunch break to read poker blogs or kill a few minutes before dinner reading up on poker. The bottom line is this... you need to add poker reading to your daily schedule. Your brain is a mental sponge. Allow it to absorb material. If you read every poker book, then read them again. Plus you never know what pearls of wisdom you can pick up reading a random blog.

Playing poker is the fun and easy part. If you are serious about improving your play, fire up Poker Tracker (and make sure you buy Poker Tracker Guide to help you out). Derek and I have been reviewing his losing hands and we identified a leak in is game. Look at his results... 10th in the WPBT HORSE tourney and 3rd in a Speed Tourney the other night. Like Iggy & HDouble mentioned in Poker Tracker Guide... reviewing your play every night is like watching game film. The more you watch, the more you will pick up on things that you missed while "in the heat of battle." Your small investment in time and money will pay off in the long run.

Obviously as time goes on you can change this schedule. But for now, I recommend devoting 25% of your poker time to reviewing your game and 25% of your time educating yourself with books and blogs. I also highly recommend one day off a week. Use some of your bankroll and take the Mrs. out for a nice meal or out dancing. Women like to dance. And if she knows that you've been fleecing the fish on Party Poker to get a few extra bucks to take her out on the town... then that's a great way to justify the fact that you are a poker junkie like the rest of us.

Good luck and thanks for reading,
Pauly

*****

Dear Pauly,

Hoping you can help me out picking poker rooms (in Vegas) and anything else I need to know about playing casino poker. I have only played online and home games.

BTW - Your article on how to write blogs helped me turn a corner in my writing. After reading your suggestions I realized how stale my blog was. Hopefully the content continues to get better.

Thanks,

Andy aka Poker Sponge (Washington, DC)

Dear Andy,

Vegas is tourist friendly place. At some of the lower limit tables, the dealers are extra friendly and help you out. If possible make sure you tell them that you've never played in a casino before. I always do that (to pretend im a fish!) and make sure you order a cocktail too... fits the fishy mage.

Tipping the dealers $1 per pot is the standard (unless you win the blinds and don't see a flop). You'll see the locals tip a lot less. Also, $1 is good per drink from a waitress too.

Chip counts will be tough for no limit or pot limit if u play those games. Unlike online there so no specific count on your chips. You have to pay attention on your own. I stack my chips in columns of 20 (if u have $1 chips each column is $20 or $5 chips will be $100) that way you can glance and see four stacks of $1 chips and know you have roughly $80 on the table.

The Excalibur has spread limit games... $1-3 and $2-6. The $2-6 games are juicy. You get to spin the money wheel if you get your pocket aces cracked! The NL game there is also soft. I heard good things about the Sahara NL game from a dealer in Vegas. That's where he plays! Also, the Aladdin has plenty of fish. Check them out. If you see Edna, tell her that the poker blogger sent you! I love playing at the Mirage. That's the first place I played poker in Vegas. The $3-6 game is a nice place to start. The Bellagio is nice, but I hate having to wait 2 hours to get on a table.

Best of luck with your blog (and the new baby!)... and thanks for reading,
Pauly

*****

Dear Dr. Pauly,

What is the best thing about having a popular poker blog? What is the worst thing?

Thanks,

Annie (Boise, Idaho)

Hello Annie,

Wow, I'm read in Idaho. Pretty cool. The last time I was in Boise, I saw an awesome Phish concert back in 1999. To answer your question... The best thing about having a popular blog: meeting some very cool people. Let's put it this way... I've met some interesting people through my blogs. I can't talk about the weird sex stuff (although that's the shit everyone wants to hear about like one overly friendly female fan of my blog who insisted in having phone sex at three in the morning) but I've been able to meet some cool folks who share similar tastes in music (Phish and The Grateful Dead) and gambling (poker). And there are even folks who share both interests like Daddy.

I'm not embarrassed to say that some of my newest friendships have been cultivated through my blogs. That's the central meeting point of common interests. Hanging out this summer at the last few Phish shows with friends (hard core music fans) who I met through my blog was an amazing experience. Of course, I can point you to the WPBT Holiday Classic in Vegas when I got to meet my favorite bloggers, some of which have become close friends with both my brother and myself. The power of blogs is an amazing thing.

The worst part of having a popular blog: having to constantly worry about getting your content stolen. Writing about poker hands can be boring. I try to spice it up with new lingo once in a while. Some stuff I make up on the spot. Other things take me weeks to figure out. What makes me wanna punch holes in a wall is reading another blog and seeing one of my original expressions used. Sometimes, it's not intentional and I calm down. Other times, it is... and those are the days when I wish I didn't have a blog. Instantly, I lose respect for that blogger and stop reading him. I know that Iggy and CJ have had their entire content stolen... and that sucks. This is a promise... if you steal from my site and I find you... you better have health insurance. If you don't think twice about stealing from me... I won't think twice about kicking your ass. Get used to feeding yourself through a straw. I'm also 100% positive that I'm going to jail after I pummel your ass. That's a small price to pay for protecting my art. I'm friends with plenty of lawyers... so I know I'll have an "All-Ivy League" legal team defending my case.

Shit, I write for free here. I have never asked to get paid to write on my blog aside from the random plug to use my bonus code: TAO4 on Party Poker. Aside from that, I have never asked any of my readers for one cent. Of course, I've had readers and other bloggers ask me for money... and you can add that to the list of "things that suck about having a popular poker blog."

I didn't mean to bitch and moan. I am very fortuante to be read by so many people! But since you asked... I gave you an honest answer.

Thanks for reading,
Pauly

*****

That's it for now. Have a good Monday. See you at the tables tonight.