Tao of Poker

Blackouts, Vegemite Prop Bets, and

The third day (actually Day 2 on the schedule with two Day 1s) of the Aussie Millions main event ended a couple of hours ago, and not without drama. The PokerNews site crashed, the internet connection at the casino crapped out, and there was a blackout when the power went out. Yeah, a blackout all over Melbourne during a poker tournament. And that all happened before dinner break on a sizzling hot day that reached 104 degrees (or 40 Celsius). Shit, those are Las Vegas temperatures.

Out of 747 players, 80 are left as the money bubble just broke. Gobboboy is one of the chipleaders. Joe Hachem, Shaniac, Gus Hansen, Andy Black, Christy Gazes, David "The Dragon" Pham, Lee Nelson, Haralabos Voulgaris, Patrik Antonius, Paul Wasicka, Kirill Gerasimov, and Tao of Poker reader Eric Vaughan are still alive chasing down $1.5 million Aussie bucks.

A few big names were busted today including Carl Olson, Brandon Schaefer (slow-rolled by an asshat according to Nordberg), Joe Cassidy, Jesus, Erick Lindgren, JJ Lui, Ed Moncada, Amanda Baker, John D'Ags, Billy the Croc, and the dark-haired Swedish buxom bombshell Michaela Johansen.

I'm up playing poker, stuck playing craps, and up in prop bets.

I went 1-1 for the day in prop bets. I won $50 Aussie Bucks off of Gaz. Matt Savage set the O/U on players remaining at the end of the day at 105. It went faster and when the final level started with 90 players, Gaz said they wouldn't but 10 players in the last 90 minutes to bust the money bubble. And yeah, I felt bad taking his money. I used it to buy two pints of Carlton at the sports bar with Brandon Schaefer.

I lost the other prop bet against Justin (producer/director of multimedia at PokerNews). I bet that he couldn't eat and entire packet (about the size of a jelly packet) of Vegemite. He did it in one gulp and said it was disgusting and very salty. I had to pay for his breakfast.

I still get $50/day comp which I've been utilizing on drinking for free, that is when I'm not being bought drinks. That's what I loved about covering the EPT in Spain and now the Aussie Millions. The generous and sympathetic people around you (particularly players & railbirds) saw you busting your ass (in a casino of all places) and felt so bad that they bought drinks for you while you worked. That doesn't happen in the States as much as it does when I cover overseas tournaments. Wait. I got one of those light bulb moments... maybe I should be covering more tournaments outside of the US?

The best part about the Australia experience has been the people and the second best thing is the ability to drink during breakfast and at all hours of the day and it's perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged.