Tao of Poker

Blue Parrot Send Off: Call Me Nurse Pauly

"Marijuana gives you ESP." - Coach

I must add the disclaimer that Coach does not in any way condone the use of marijuana in any non-legal and non-medicinal forms. He was simply stating the obvious about midway through last night's game. However, the Tao of Poker is an "herb friendly" blog if you haven't noticed.

Anyway, back to the game. Ferrari was kind enough to throw a game together at the last minute in honor of me departure for Las Vegas. A late night at the office and a 10pm conference call did not deter him from hosting another game at the Blue Parrot.

Derek made his first cash game appearance at the Blue Parrot. Both he and Toby played in the Blue Parrot Invitational, also known as the first ever NYC Poker Bloggers tourney a few months ago, but they never sat in an actual cash game. Coach and F Train were there. We also had some familiar faces like Julie and Marie, who brought a couple of bottles of my favorite beer... Red Stripe. Hooray beer, mon!

I didn't take too many notes. I just drank a lot and shot the shit with everyone. Most of the pictures were taken by F Train using my camera!

The Players:
Seat 1: Toby... she's a famous writer and the author of The Bad Ass Girl's Guide To Poker. She even wore a cool pink shirt sporting the logo of her book, which I forgot to photograph. I wanted to see her reaction when I said, "Will you let me take a picture of your chest?"

Seat 2: Derek... the Jim Belushi of poker bloggers is looking to wipe out his losses at Toni's Bon Voyage Bash last Saturday with a nice win at the Blue Parrot in his last live games before he heads off to Vegas. Derek had Coach convinced that he could read his hole cards with his best Karnac impression.

Seat 3: Julie... she was Coach's last minute replacement at the WPBT Holiday Classic at Sam's Town last December. She took advantage of that opportunity and not only did she make the final table but she also came in third place. She knocked Dr. Pauly out in the bubble (6th place) at Sam's Town and he's been looking to exact revenge on her ever since. And she also chopped the NYC Poker Bloggers tournament with Toni.

Seat 4: Ferrari... the proprietor of the Blue Parrot was swamped with work and still managed to pull off a Farewell game. He had a few tricks of his sleeve which he tried to pull off later in the game. And yes, he saw Star Wars only once and did not get dressed up like a Jedi according to rumors I heard over at Rick's Cafe.

Seat 5: Marie... she adds a tinge of class and grace to the table whenever she appears at Blue Parrot games. I think it's the British accent, or perhaps it's the Red Stripe she always brings me!

Seat 6: Coach... the Dan Harrington of the Blue Parrot was stumping everyone with his extensive knowledge of 1980s TV trivia. We should all pool our money and back Coach in a side trivia cash game against that Ken James dude from Jeopardy. Coach would crush him.

Seat 7: F Train... he's been on the steroids watch list by the WPBT officials since his first appearance on the tour. He will not confirm, nor deny rumors that he used both the Clear and the Cream during his short stint trying to beat the $15/$30 tables on Party Poker. Then there's the scandal that the San Francisco Examiner had leaked about the incident where F Train was caught buying kangaroo urine at a gas station in Malibu, in order to pass it off at as his own if he won the WSoP Razz satellite on Full Tilt.

Seat 8: Pauly... your hero. He's sporting a clean cut look with a haircut and a shave. He's been playing a lot of poker during his series of good-bye/bon voyage/farewell/get the fuck out of town games. It's been his second such event in three days.

8:14pm EST... The bleeding of my stack began early during an orbit of Omaha hi/lo. Derek won the button and called Omaha. Marie went on a quick rush and built up a massive stack after she scooped two big pots from me and a couple of more during the orbit.

8:43pm EST... Ferrari called a round of $2/$4 Razz. Only F Train and Derek seemed thrilled. Razz and Pauly do not mix. I forgot to wear my cup and the bricks hit me in the junk hard and fast.

8:48pm EST... F Train won the biggest Razz pot in the history of the Blue Parrot. $80. Damn. I was glad I folded there.

9:18pm EST... Toby's Hilton Sisters crack F Train's Hammer.

9:19pm EST... Julie's Hammer lost to Marie's 44. As the pot got pushed to Marie, Julie uttered, "That's the only time I ever played the Hammer!"

9:20pm EST... The hand of the night.

Ferrari dealt as Derek came back from the bathroom. I asked him how many times did he ever come back to the table and find pocket aces? I got pocket kings once at the Excalibur. Anyway, I was in early position and found The Hammer. I thought that was odd. Three Hammers in a row... with F Train and Julie playing them in consecutive hands.

I bring it in for a raise. Toby folded and Derek shouted, "Reraise." Ferrari re-raised Derek. Marie called and Coach capped the betting! I was in trouble. I put Derek and Coach on high pairs. F Train folded and I foolishly called a capped pot preflop with the Hammer. $60 in the pot preflop.

The flop: 2c-7c-7s. That's when I sensed something fishy was up. I bet, Derek raised. Coach re-raised and I think capped it. The turn: Ac. Ferrari joked that he had a flush and I checked to make sure that there wasn't a straight flush possibility. I told everyone at the table that I had the Hammer. I even showed F Train and Toby who were out of the hands. Coach finally bailed out of the hand and Derek and Ferrari stayed in to the river. When the 5c spiked, I knew Ferrari had 3c4c. At show down, Derek had AA and Ferrari 3c4c. At that point he fessed up that he set up a cold deck. I knew right after the flop. No way could I hit a flop like that in real life. On Party, most likely, but never in real life.

9:38pm EST... Coach called Seven-card Push. Derek won a big pot.

10:03pm EST... I was down 12. I made back some money playing hold'em. Joanne called for a Dial-a-Shot. She was playing int he 30k MTT on Party Poker and was the chipleader at the first break. We popped outside for a smoke break while Ferrari took his conference call. Derek was the new chipleader after Marie left early.

10:53pm EST... -39 after a round of Omaha. At that point Julie started calling me "Nurse Pauly."

10:59PM EST... -59 after more Omaha. The bleeding continued.

11:21pm EST... F Train's QQ ut flops Julie's Big Slick. The flop: KQ8. Ouch.

11:30pm EST... Live poker is rigged. Check out this flop (see pic on the left). AAA. Wow. Tom had AT too and went all the way to the river with Julie who thought he was bluffing. Derek folded 77 on the flop too.

11:35pm EST... Coach called $2 ante Anaconda. I was down $65 at that point.

12:14am EST... On the last hand of the night, F Train took all of Julie's remaining stack in Anaconda. Derek had the low locked up and F Train had T-T-T-9 showing. Julie had A-Q-Q-Q showing. Who had quads? Did they both? The way F Train was betting, I was positive he had it. He flipped over a ten on fifth street as Julie showed her ace. Lucky for F Train that the Blue Parrot does not require a piss test before you cash out.

The Final Tally:
F Train +91
Marie +48
Coach +40
Toby +15
Derek +11
Ferrari -25
Pauly -65
Julie -98

Thanks again to Ferrari for hosting one last game before I took off to Vegas. It was a fun night and I'm glad everyone could make it on such short notice. See everyone when I get back!