Tao of Poker

Semi-Tilt Down Under

Derek, Iggy, and Change100 can tell you that I've been on a downward spiral of tilt during the last few days. A combination of getting my credit card stolen, having the internet access at the hotel go down, lamenting the future of Truckin', and random technical difficulties at work caused me some minor vaginal irritaion.

Guess what? I'm off tilt. Sort of. Why? Well... here's the first reason why:


Yes. That's really HDouble in that photo. He flew from Dublin to London to Singapore then to Australia just to be here for a few days with the Full Tilters. It was good to see the friendly face of an old friend. Also here are Jay "Big Shot" Greenspan along with the dynamic duo of PokerWire Heather & Amanda.

Another reason I'm off tilt is that BoDog decided that the Tao of Poker is worthy of sponsoring the next few months, including the during the 2007 WSOP. Thanks to BoDog for having faith in the Tao.

Reason three why I'm off tilt... since the intertubes were down for four plus hours today, I had a free session with the Poker Shrink today. Good news... I'm not as fucked up as I thought. Bad news... I couldn't score a prescription for Vicodin.

And the fourth reason I'm off tilt is that I got the opportunity to play in the Aussie Millions Media/Celebrity Event. I've made the final table in the two of the three previous Media/Celebrity tournaments that I've played in.

I felt good about my chances but ended up donking off my table chip lead. My table was a cool one and dubbed the Poker News Table which included fellow co-workers Damon, Gareth, Cory-Ann, and Shecky Caldwell himself. I felted Gareth twice with A-K and busted both him and Cory-Ann in the same hand. I rivered a King with Big Slick to come from behind to beat Cory-Ann's 10-10.

There were random Aussie celebs in the event like a few TV stars and cricket players, but I had no idea who they were. All the cameras were focused on Shannon Elizabeth's table. She sat right next to tennis pro Andy Roddick, who is supposedly going out with Maria Sharapova, who was spotted wandering around the poker room.

Here are some random pics from the Media Event:


Yes, I raised with this hand


Gareth and Cory-Ann

And yes, the Full Tilters finally arrived in full force and the entire staff at the Crown was pretty geeked out about that. Justin and Caldwell went to the airport to shoot some footage of the pros clearing customs.


Click here for the video if you are viewing this via Bloglines or an RSS reader.

Both the pros and online qualifiers flew into Australia today. I met up with a reader of the Tao of Poker named Bayne, who won a satellite into the Aussie Millions via FT.

I also heard wild stories about Phil Ivey dropping almost $1 million at the baccarat tables and another half a million at the black jack tables last year. In case you were wondering, it's rumored that the Crown Casino offered Ivey a $1.5 million $2.5 million line of credit.

I crashed the Full Tilt party upstairs and that's where I ran into HDouble. After several Crown Lagers, we caught up and I talked ice hockey with a couple of hilarious Swedes who were shitfaced.

Here are some random stories you should be reading:

2007 WSOP Schedule
Dr. Pauly's Day 4: Rebuy!
Gary Benson Wins Event #4

And if you care, the final table of the PLO with Rebuys is underway. Kristy Gazes, Jesse Jones, Mark Vos, and Andy Black made the final table. I'm live blogging the final table as we speak over at Poker News.