Tao of Poker

Sheer Madness

By Pauly

There's a cute waitress at Red Rock who works the sports book. She knows Miami Don and occasionally bets on the games. Miami Don called her "The Mush" because her picks were so bad that everyone instantly wanted to fade them. When she said she had Memphis with the points and the moneyline on Saturday, I knew I was doomed. Derek didn't want to know her picks for Sunday, yet Don asked her anyway.

"I like Florida and UNC," she said as Derek winced in pain knowing that he had bet big on UNC.

At least she chopped her picks today. That's when you know you are in trouble, when you are fading picks from a cocktail waitress show a lot of mid-drift and a hefty amount of cleavage.

UNC certainly fucked me in the ass twice in three days. I bet against them on Friday and took USC who blew a twenty point lead as the Heels won by 10 (spread was 8). And today, the Heels led for 38 minutes before they blew that ugly fucker. The word around the sportsbook from veteran sports bettors was that the fix was in... with Georgetown on the good side. Those guys practically live in the sports book and know a fix when they see one. If you consider that non-traveling call against BC and all of the sketchy calls down the stretch against UNC, it makes you think twice about everything. And I'm not bitching about Georgetown because I lost today. I was on the right side of the fix on Friday and had Vandy with the points. Today, I was on the wrong side. Shit happens.

I dropped about 3K in all during the trip and all of it was at the sportsbook at Red Rock. I must have wagered over 20K in various March Madness, NBA, and NHL bets over the last four days. I'm super lucky that I'm only down 3K and still up a tad overall only because I got gunshy with UNC and didn't bet the rest of my roll like I was going to do. I also hedged a bet in the Oregon-Florida game and took Florida -1 in the second half. That was my only winner of the day.

Senor left early in the morning to return to Rhode Island while Derek and I spent most of Sunday in the sportsbook watching the games with Miami Don and Change100. Everyone's favorite Hollyweird blonde is starting to develop a degeneracy for sports gambling.

When I left Red Rock, the line for the G'town-Ohio State game was a Pick'em while UCLA was -3.5 against Florida. I made two last bets before I left and took OSU and Florida.

I played a little Pai Gow on Saturday night and actually left the pit with a minor profit. I finally played poker in the last two hours I spent in Las Vegas. Dr. Chako was in town for a conference and I got to hang out with him a bit. He was playing NL when I saw him last.

I was seated next to my brother at a 4/8 with a half kill table. I cracked his K-K with A-Js when I flopped two pair then turned a boat. Derek also took a wicked beat when he flopped a boat with 7-7 on a board of 6-6-7. He ran into an old guy with 6-6. Ouch. I won a couple of pots defending my blind with hands like 9-2o and 10-7o. I flopped two pair with 9-2 and cracked Jacks against one pissed off local. That's what I miss the most about playing in off the Strip rooms like Red Rock and Green Valley... tilting the locals.

I'll be back in Vegas around April 20th for the WPT Championships at the Bellagio and then I move back here sometime around Memorial Day for the WSOP. I do not have a place to live yet and I'm looking into different options.

Right now, I'm currently at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas ready to board a red eye back to New York City. I have a 10 hour layover before I fly to Monte Carlo via Madrid, Spain then Nice, France. On my way back, I'm hitting up Amsterdam for the second time in five months.

Why am I going to Monte Carlo? I will be covering the European Poker Tour Championship event for PokerNews.com. Don't forget to tune in on Wednesday for live updates of the start of the EPT Grand Finale. I heard a rumor that both Mad and Otis will be there. I will do my best to prop bet Otis into eating snails and other assorted French cuisine. Stay tuned for YouTube videos and sordid tales of my first trip to Monte Carlo.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.