Tao of Poker

Carolina Blue at the Blue Parrot


One of my Omaha 8 hands
It had been a while since Ferrari hosted a regular game at The Blue Parrot. Sure we had The Blue Parrot Invitational (a.k.a. NYC Poker Bloggers Tournament) that featured the return of Ugarte. But aside from that, I've spent more time playing at The TowneHouse than at The Blue Parrot. It was a special night featuring the championship game of the NCAA college hoops tournament in the background. If North Carolina won... Derek would win my pool, Coach would take second, and I'd make the money in third. Yeah, most of my mind was on the basketball game.

The Lineup:
Seat 1: Marie a.k.a. Galadriel
Seat 2: Gil
Seat 3: Orin
Seat 4: Ferrari
Seat 5: Pauly
Seat 6: F Train
Seat 7: Coach
Seat 8: Joel

We started a little late than normal. I usually sit in the corner... Seat 8. Since it was the worst seat to watch the TV, I took Seat 5. F Train came a little late so for a while I was in between Coach and Ferrari. Here's how F Train described me in his write up:

Seat 5: Dr. Pauly - Narcissistic writer and gambler. Also extremely fond of Hawaiian shirts. Last night's shirt was blood red, an appropriate color given all that bleeding that Pauly did in Omaha Hi/Lo which, as already pointed out, was called more often than usual.

And yes, before you ask, I'll be wearing the shirt in Vegas. Anyway, I played with Orin for the first time and it's always nice to see Marie and hear her lovely British accent again at the table. She was nice enough to seek out and bring me some of my favorite beer... Red Stripe... the official favorite Jamaican export of the Tao of Poker. It's not the type of beer that you find in every bodega. I appreciated the effort. She also brought chocolate chip Teddy Graham's. Joel passed out his new business cards.

8:08pm EST... Joel slowplayed his AA in a round of Hold'em. Ferrari flopped top pair with Qx. That would happen a lot early on. Ferrari would flop top pair and end up losing.

8:16pm EST... Orin hits quads in Hold'em.

8:25pm EST... Coach called Seven-card Stud Push/Replace (where you have the option to push or keep your up cards). I had trip 7s and Coach had a solid low. We ended up chopping the pot.

8:38pm EST... Anaconda. This is a game where I'll win a huge pot or lose a big one. I had a full house Kings over Nines. It was pretty much me heads up with Marie going for the "high" end of the pot. Coach had the low locked up. I showed: K-K-9-K. She showed: 10-10-Q-10. I was concerned that she had quads. She looked like she was worried that her full house was not going to win. But I was a little suspicious when she uttered, "Does he have the King?" If she did have quads it would have been one helluva an acting job. She had a Queen and I had the King and I won half the pot. Coach and I split a $180 pot and I was up almost $100.

9:08pm EST... Even. I bled almost $100 out of my stack playing too many hands in Omaha. Behold the new Pauly Mantra:

Two pair is a bad hold'em hand. It's even a more pathetic Omaha hand. Save your dignity and fold.

9:20pm EST... By tip off I was down $6. Carolina went up early. Gil went on a rush and won 3 straight Omaha pots. He admitted that it was the first time he played.

9:33pm EST... F Train caught quads Aces in Omaha. Ferrari and Coach got into a verbal spat over a raise on the end and they ended up each getting a 1/4 the pot. I wasn't paying attention because I had my mind on the basketball game. I put their conversation on mute for that hand, kinda like what I do to Briana when she starts talking about shoes. As soon as the topic shifts, I turn back up the volume. Hopefully F Train can tell you what all the ruckus was all about. At any rate, that was the second Quads of the night. Live poker is rigged, man.


F Train's quads Aces in Omaha 8
9:59pm EST... F Train had a misdeal in a round of Hold'em. Ferrari flipped over his hand before F Train could try to fix his error. Everyone tossed their cards in the muck and F Train cursed Ferrari as he looked at his hole cards... pocket aces.

10:05pm EST... I had A9s on the button. Everyone folded to me. I raised the blinds. F Train called and Coach folded. The flop: A-6-2. I check raised F Train and he came over the top! I capped and I check-call on the turn. He had A7 and river'd a 7. Ouch. We played that hand in less than 60 seconds. Someone commented that it looked like speed chess.

10:10pm EST... By Halftime I was down 18. Carolina was up by a lot. Marie wanted to get a "cool nickname". Ferrari ended up suggesting Galadriel. I forgot about the earlier suggestion that F Train recalled in his write up. Here's his take:

"She wanted a nickname; the best anyone could come up with was Guinevere, but a certain doctor protested that he didn't think his spellchecker would correct that when he misspelled it."

10:26pm EST... I was bleeding so much in Omaha all night long, I was going to start nicknaming myself Nebraska Kotex. Here's how F Train described my Omaha misadventures:

"I watched him catch bottom two pair on the flop in Omaha Hi/Lo and just mentally shook my head. I knew it would end badly for Pauly, and it did. Bottom two pair = death in Omaha Hi/Lo. It took Pauly a while to realize that."

10:40pm EST... -77. Coach called an odd game that I called "Take Pauly's Money." It is called Seven-card Stud High Roll Your Own Low Card Screw. I think that's the name. The low card in the hole is your "wild card" and it's normal seven-card stud roll 'em rules after that. Plus, you can choose to get your seventh street card "up" for $5. I had a straight flush showing (I had an ace high flush and a straight flush draw). Coach had a hidden straight flush with two 6s below and I missed my straight flush draw and lost a monster pot to Coach's Straight flush.

10:50pm EST... -35. I river'd The Wheel in Omaha and beat out Gil's set of Jacks to scoop the entire pot.

11:29pm EST... -33. UNC wins after blowing a fifteen point lead. Good for Roy Williams. Ferrari and Orin lost money on Illinois. Coach won $100 in my pool. I called Derek to tell him he won $200. I took third and $60. I ended up down for the tournament for the first time in years!

11:54pm EST... -35. I won a hand of Seven-card Stud (high only) with A-4/A.

12:08pm EST... -34. In the last hand of the night I won the low with The Wheel. I was dealt A2345 and had to give away the 5 since you must pass three cards to start! Luckily I got another 5 passed to me to lock up the low.

The Final Tally:
F Train +63
Ferrari +53
Joel +50
Coach +11
Gil -29
Orin -40
Pauly -34
Marie -61

It was one of those nights when everyone had swings and no one really walked away with a lot of money. The game ended unusually early compared to previous sessions. It was odd walking to the subway and still seeing random people walking around. When I leave the Blue Parrot, normally it's 4am and I have to side step homeless guys asking me for cigarettes. That's it for now, until the next Blue Parrot game.