The gambling ramblings of Pauly -- a writer, traveler, and degenerate

 
EPT Grand Finale Day 3

By Pauly

Here's my recap of the EPT Grand Finale Day 1b: Chad in Charge and EPT Grand Finale Day 2: Back in Black from Poker News.

I'm back in the luxurious Salle des Etoilles at the Bay Casino in Monte Carlo for Day 3 of the EPT Championships, where there's a red Ferrari parked in front and hot Swedish chicks from bettson.com and poker.se are wandering around the tournament area getting chip counts, while nipping out and distracting extremely tired American media reps such as myself and Otis. You haven't lived life until you've seen the protruding supple nipples of nubile Swedish girls wearing tight jeans and even tighter t-shirts. I might have to re-located to Sweden.


Photo courtesy of Otis
It was a weird Day 2 as both starting flights combined for the first time. Plenty of big names busted out such as Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstien, Patrik Antonius, Erica Schoenberg, Phil Hellmuth, Noah Boeken, George "Scarf Boy" Danzer, Shaniac, Michaela Johansson, Katja Thater, Bill Chen, David Benyamine, Anthony Holden, Isabelle Mercier, Jan Van Halle, and Carl Olson.

When it was all over Andy Black was the chipleader with Josh Arieh second in chips. Arieh had the quote of the day. After he scooped a monster pot and snagged the chiplead (for a moment) a member of the foreign media who had no idea who he was, asked Arieh for his name. He coldly responded, "Billy Madison."

I stood behind Arieh at the time and started laughing which drew odd looks from the other media around the table. Since then, I've been calling him "Billy Madison" in my updates over at Poker News.

Check out this creepy interview that Tiffany did with Devilfish yesterday. It's hysterical but sleazy too. And you know that Devilfish was on his best behavior. As Shronk said, "I wonder what he's like in a stripclub when he's hammered?" Worst, I imagine.


Click here to view the Devilfish interview.
By the way, stop by PokerNews to follow Day 3's action:

Live Blogging Updates (from yours truly)
Photos (from Filipe)
Videos and Player Interviews (from Shronk and Tiffany)

Oh and check out this link to the EPT Live, where you can follow along the action by watching the feature table online.

And before I go... I have to post a parting shot of Sweden's Michaela Johanssen who failed to make it to Day 3. Yes, I know... I was just as crushed as you were. At least I won a prop bet with Otis. We had a last longer bet... he picked Isabelle Mercier and I had Erica Schoenberg. Isabelle busted out a few minutes before Erica and I won 10 Euros which is like $256 US dollars these days. I won enough for a half of a cheeseburger.


Photo courtesy of Filipe Pacecho
Oh and in case you were wondering, I like Ohio State +1 and UCLA +3.5 today in the Final Four. I dunno if I'll be able to watch the games, but when I woke up this morning old school Scooby Doo cartoons were on... in French.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/31/2007 09:47:00 AM | Permalink |

 
EPT Grand Finale Day 2: Swedish Massage and Ducth Bananas

By Pauly

I wrote a recap of Day 1a for Poker News. Day 1b should be posted soon. By the way, I had my first ever article translated into Portuguese. Now all my readers from Portugal and Brazil (such as Maridu) can follow along.

I logged another 18 hour day at the Bay Casino in Monte Carlo and yet another night where I was up past 6am working. Ah... thats why I get paid the big bucks which I blow on 20 Euro cheeseburgers and overpriced luke-warm beers served to me by surly and devestatingly slow French barkeeps. Let's start off with more tales of urination with Euros and then some pics of sultry femmes?

Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next to...
1. William Thorsson
2. Hasse Eskilsson
3. Anders Hoyer Berg
4. Stefan Mattsson
5. Chad Brown

And now some pics of the hot Swedish massage therapist that has been repsonsible for a slew of chubbies in the tournament room. Thanks to Filipe Pacheco for the amazing photos. He's the editor of Poker News Portugal and our staff photographer here in Monte Carlo. Filipe should get a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize for his outstanding photojournalism. OK, take a deep breath now...




I hope those pics from Filipe satisfied any of you horny guys and/or lesbian readers. There's certainly more to life than poker... such as buxom Swedish chicks.

Moving on...

We'll be playing Day 2 at the EPT Grand Finale as the first two flights of Day 1 were completed around 3:40am last night. About 340 or so players remain. I'm still waiting on final numbers.

Chad Brown ended Day 1b as the chipleader with over 140K. He amassed his monster stack after he busted two players on the same hand including Gus Hansen. On a King high flop with two clubs, Hansen flopped bottom two pair with 10-7o. One guy had A-K and CBrown had 9c-6c for a gutshot and a flush draw. He got there on the river as he sent both players to the rail. That had put him over the 100K mark and he never looked back.

Here are the Top 10 starting chip counts for Day 2:

Chad Brown (USA) 150,425
Christopher Ulsrud (Norway) 133,875
Hans Vimmo Eskilsson (Sweden) 110,600
Jani Vilmunen (Finland) 95,925
Steve Jelinek (UK) 95,375
Dario Alioto (Italy) 87,850
Thomas Wahlroos (Finland) 87,625
Andrew Black (UK) 86,925
Peter Christiaan Dalhuijsen (Holland) 82,600
Maurice Kenter III (USA) 76,500

Defending champion Jeff Williams was elimianted along with Phil Ivey, Joe Hachem, Ram Vaswani, Tony Bloom, Roman Yitzahki, Adam Junglen, Juha Helppi, Vanessa Rousso, and Marcel Luske.

Both Phils were in the field yesterday which created a buzz in the room as spectators and media swarmed their tables. Only Phil Hellmuth survived, but he's short stacked. Phil Ivey busted out before the dinner break. By the way, did you know that Hellmuth lost over 536K to Phil Ivey in a game of heads-up Chinese Poker where the Poker Brat was playing 2K a point? Check out the interview we did with Hellmuth where he talks about that incident and his bout of what Shronk refers to as... Phil-anthrophy.



Click here to view the Hellmuth stuck 536K video.

Tiffany and Shronk also did a rare interview with Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend. Here are some other intersting videos from Day 1b:

Day 1b Montage
Phil Ivey interview
Gus Hansen interview
Shaniac interview
Erica Schoenberg & David Benyamine

Oh an I forgot to talk about the hot Dutch girl who's with a documentary film crew. She has been randomly interviewing Dutch players and walks up to them after hands while they are sitting at the tables. Let's just say, she doesn't wear a bra and you can see her bananas when she bends over. Snoopy from Blonde Poker and I had a celestial moment as she honed in on one player. Mon dieu! Rest assured, I have a new assignment for Filipe... Dutch bananas.

Oh... I almost forgot about the prop bet with Otis. I have a last longer bet. He picked Isabelle Mercier and I have Erica Schoenberg. Both were shortstacked late into the evening. Since Erica had twice as many chips as Isabelle, I had to give Otis 2 to 1. Rat bastard. Minutes after we shook hands, Isabelle doubled up. They are close to even when the day ended.

Isabelle was sporting an "Amsterdam" shirt for most of the day then changed clothes after dinner break which I'm sure Change100 would be drooling over her double outfits everday.

Head over to PokerStars Blog to follow Otis' coverage of the event. I love their photos of broken glass. Here's what I wrote yesterday in the Poker News Live Reporting Updates called Shattered Glass:

There seems to be a lot of players knocking over their drinking glasses. Every half hour or so, you can hear the shrill sounds of a glass shattering in the distance. Here in Monte Carlo, players are given Evian water and Pellegrino to drink with fancy long stemmed glasses. They look nice, but are fragile to the touch. Since there are so many spectators, media, staff, and players roaming around the tables... it's inevitable that someone bump into the small tables with the bottles and glasses. The result... one of the staff sweeping up the shattered glass.

Before I go, I must post one last photo. This one is of Michaela Johanssen from Sweden. I first met her at the Aussie Millions and she's wuickly become one of my favorite Scandi poker players here in Monte Carlo. She ended the day as one of the short stacks and we're all hoping she can make it through one more day.


Michaela Johanssen
Action will resume at 2pm local time. Head over to Poker News to follow our live updates, videos, and photos.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/30/2007 04:30:00 AM | Permalink |

 
EPT Day 1b: Pissing Scandis and 20 Euro Cheeseburgers

By Pauly

First of all, head over to the Tao of Pauly for random pictures of Monte Carlo and a hilarious YouTube video I posted of Beverly Hills 90210 dubbed in French.

* * * * *
By the way... back by popular demand!

Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next to...
1. Jani Sointoula
2. Theo Jorgensen
3. Ambjorn Haga
4. Kristian Ulriksen
5. Victor Ramdin

The first day of the EPT Championships was a long one. I logged a 16 hour day in the casino and skipped dinner break to do catch up work. I ate a 20 Euro cheeseburger in media row. Ugly. Beers are 7 Euros. I did get to have one beer with Otis at the start of Level 7 around 2am.

The best thing in the media room is free drinks; Coke, Coke Light (Diet Coke), coffee, OJ, Evian water, and Pellegrino. Only in Monte Carlo. The media room is massive. The tournament was actually held in this room last year. There are 200 international media reps from all over covering the EPT Grand Finale.


The Media Room


The tournament area
329 players started Day 1a and they are expecting about the same amount of runners for Day 1b. When the first flight was over, 159 players remained with Chris Ulsrud from Norway as the chipleader with T133,875.

Players making the cut included: Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Josh Arieh, Victor Ramdin, Johnny Lodden, Harry Demetriou, Carlos Mortensen, Mark Vos, Theo Jorgensen, Pete "The Beat" Giordano, Noah Boeken, Mark Gregorich, Jan Boubli, Carl Olson, Chris Moneymaker, Katja Thater, Jan Von Halle, Fabrice Soulier, Dave Colclough, and John Shipley.

Players busting out on Day 1a included: Gobboboy, Annette_15, ActionJeff, Humberto Brenes, Max Pescatori, Rob Hollink, Barny Boatman, and Ben Grundy.

The best thing so far... is all the Swedish chicks here in media row covering the Swedish poker players and all the hot ass in the poker room. Here's what I wrote over at Poker News for their live coverage:

Several of his tablemates deeply respect and admire (Chris) Moneymaker for what he's done with poker, especially how he, as an unknown player won a seat online, headed to Las Vegas to play in his first live tournament and eventually take down Sammy Farha en route to his 2003 WSOP victory. One of the players at his table noted about how big the EPT has gotten.

"I started all this," he joked.

Everyone at his table laughed and thanked him for his contribution to poker. I also want to thank him for the international "Moneymaker Effect." Because of him, thousands and thousands of Swedes now play poker. They bring their buxom blonde girlfriends and their friends (for some odd reason Swedish women travel in packs) to poker tournaments and stand on the rail. Thanks to Moneymaker for all the Scandi eye candy. It makes covering tournaments in Europe a lot more fun with plenty of talent on the rail to gawk at.

Photos of hot Swedish ass courtesy of PokerStars
Head over to Poker News to follow our tournament coverage. We'll have plenty of photos and videos so stop by and check it out.

Day 1B players include Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Patrik Antonius, Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Isabelle Mercier, Bill Chen, Vanessa Rousso, Anthony Holden, Swedish singer Dilba Demirbag, Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, Emad Tahtouh, online pro Ansky, Per Ummer, Marcel Luske, Andy Black, Erica Schoenberg, David Benyamine , Juha Helppi, Mel Judah, Patrick Antonius, Ram Vaswani, Dave Ulliott, Iwan Jones, Jeff Lisandro, Ross Boatman, Surinder Sunar, William Thorsen, Julian Gardner, Lars Bonding, Jeff Williams, Joe Beevers, John Gale, Martin De Knijf, and Willie Tann.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/29/2007 07:15:00 AM | Permalink |

 
EPT Championships Day 1A

By Pauly

I'm currently sitting in media row at the Bay Casino in Monte Carlo. The media room is where the actual tournament was held last year. Now it's set up to house over 200 international media reps. The EPT has come a long way since September of 2006 when I was one of a dozen media people (with the Antes Up and Gutshot guys) huddled around one table underneath the staircase at the Casino Barcelona.

This year's prize pool is close to 6 million Euros. The TD's had to set up an extra day to accomodate the record number of players. The defending champion is Jeff Williams, a 19 year old kid from Atlanta, GA. He won 900K Euros last year. This years winner might take home close to 2M Euros.

Last night there was a cocktail party sponsored by PokerStars at Jimmy'Z, the hottest night club in Monte Carlo. I was invited and took advantage of the open bar. I bumped into PokerStars staff like Otis, Mad, Ali, Conrad, and Tamar. I also saw players such as Isabelle Mercier, Chad Brown, Katja Thater, Joe Hachem, Humberto Brenes, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Shaniac, Luca Pagano, Bill Chen, Carl Olson, Gobboboy, Brandon Schaefer, Noah Boeken, and Lee "Final Table" Nelson.

There are rumors that both Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey will be playing today.

I will be heading up the live blogging team over at PokerNews. Stop by and check out our live coverage starting up at 2pm local time or less than an hour away.

Otis will be blogging over at the PokerStars Blog, so take a peek. And Jan from 50 Outs is blogging over at PokerStars German blog.

Take a peek at our first video of the day featuring the lovely Tiffany Michelle:



Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/28/2007 06:52:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Iberia

By Pauly

"Where the fuck is Iberian?" my cabbie asked as he drove me to JFK airport.

"It's not a place per se," I mentioned. "It's the name of the airline."

"I'm fuckin' horrible at geometry. I don't know where anything is. Iberian? Sounds like it's in fuckin' Iraq. Be careful kid, you don't want your fuckin' balls shot off by those towel heads."

I let it slip out that I lived in Las Vegas and was going to Monte Carlo.

"Monte Carlo? Is that were fuckin' Iberian is at?"

I didn't want to get into the semantics of Iberia which is a geography reference to Portugal, Spain, and Gibraltar. My cabbie looked just like Big Pussy from The Sopranos and about every sixth word was a derivative of "fuck." He could have been an extra in any mob flick and within five minutes of picking me up, he told me a craps bad beat story.

"I went to fuckin' Mohegan Sun this weekend," he said as he cut off a truck and flipped the driver the bird. "I was up 3Gs when I hit a cold streak. Next thing I knew I was broke. That was a tough drive home. I spent the rest of the weekend in my fuckin' pajamas chain smoking."

My cabbie was in the middle of the worst losing streak of his life. He had one that was pretty bad a few ears ago and took five months off and avoided Atlantic City, Foxwoods, and Mohegan Sun. He eventually built up his roll and headed back as he recanted his system of grinding it out. He started throwing dice when he was 13 years old growing up in the Bronx. In his late teens and early 20s, he played in various Italian social clubs.

"Back in the day, those games were fuckin' hot," he said. "Any action you wanted you got. I used to come out of there with a few grand every fuckin' week. When I started dating my wife, we had plans to go out to the movies. It was a Friday night. That's what we fuckin' did every week. A dinner and a fuckin' movie. Well I got off of work and headed to the club. I lost my entire paycheck shooting fuckin' dice. When I went over to her house she asked what fuckin' movie we were going to see. She was changing a light bulb at the time as I explained what fuckin' happened. She was pissed and smashed the fuckin' lightbulb over my head. I was so fuckin' pissed but I understood where she was coming from."

The ride to JFK took a little over an hour while he spoke and I listened. He told me that he drove an elderly couple down to AC twice a month. He'd drop them off on Tuesday morning and pick them up on Thursday. He charged them $600 for the round trip. They were in their 80s and only played blackjack. Sometimes he'd shoot dice at the Trop after dropping them off. If he lost, he headed back home and drove the cab. If he won, he'd come down early on Thursday and let it ride.

He asked me if I needed cigarettes.

"My cousin Petey runs cigarettes," he said. "I get a great fuckin' deal. Give me a call if you need fuckin' smokes."

His phone rang and he picked it up as he weaved through traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway.

"Where's my fuckin' money!" he shouted.

After his brief call, he told me that he was also a small time bookie. One guy was stuck so badly last NFL season that he owed the cabbie over $40K.

"You should have faded his picks," I mentioned.

"I thought about it. But with my fuckin' luck, the week I faded him is the week I lose my shirt."

He also mentioned that he played online poker and played the numbers every day. He blurted out, "Patience is the key to all gambling."

I picked up on the Zen musings of a Bronx cabbie. He was right. Patience is the key to so many elements in life, especially poker.

"And poker? Don't get me fuckin' started on poker. It's all about who has the biggest balls and who gets lucky first."

We finally arrived at JFK and I gave him a $21 tip. He asked for my business card and I lied and said I didn't have any left. He wished me a good flight to Iberia and I told him that I hoped he got unstuck from his craps losing streak.

If you want to read about the rest of my flight to Monte Carlo, head over to the Tao of Pauly.

* * * * *
While I waited for Shronk's flight to arrive in Nice, I spotted Snoopy and Jen from Blonde Poker as they walked out of baggage claim. They're two Brits who were in Las Vegas covering the WSOP last summer and we had some fun times with them in the media room. Otis and I teased Snoopy incessantly how he should be our British butler and personal assistant, getting us things like beers, chocolate shakes, and random chip counts.

It was good to see some familiar faces in Nice, France of all places. Of course, I get to hang out with Otis a little later tonight for the media event and tournament. The EPT Grand Finale starts on Wednesday at 2pm local time. I'll be blogging for PokerNews.com, which has a much smaller team than originally planned. Tim Lavalli hurt his back on Sunday and could not make it to Monte Carlo while Schecky was busy with work related stuff and had to stay behind.

Alas, we have an interesting team made up of myself, Shronk, Felipe (our photographer from Portugal), and Tiffany Michelle who will be doing all the video interviews for PokerNews. Stop by and check out the videos, pics, and live coverage of the EPT Championships starting at 2pm local time (or 8am NYC time). It's gonna be a lot of work, but we're going to do our best to have a ton of fun.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/27/2007 11:29:00 AM | Permalink |

 
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.
posted by Pauly at 3/26/2007 01:00:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Elite 8 Day 2 Picks

By Pauly

This will be a short post. I got unstuck yesterday with UCLA's win. Today, I'm letting it all ride on UNC. I'll be putting a tiny bet down on the Ducks. Overall I'm 27-17-4.

Here's Sunday's lines according to BoDog:

2:40p Oregon +7 Florida
5:05p Georgetown +4 North Carolina

I'll be betting on:

UNC -3.5 (got the bet in yesterday)
Oregon +7

Here's the Top 5 in the Pauly's Pub March Madness Pool:

1 Ladies Love Mean Gene 2 (MeanGene) 940
2 warren coolidge all-stars (Hector31) 930
3 Logan's Run (Gracie) 870
4 Capt. Tom and the P.O.B.s (Change100) 850
5 Jack Tripper Stole My Dog (Pauly) 840

Best of luck today. I leave Vegas later tonight, flying the redeye back to NYC. I leave for Monte Carlo on Monday night.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/25/2007 11:18:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Elite 8 Day 1 Picks

By Pauly

Sometimes there are moments in life when suicide is a viable option. The world makes no sense whatsoever. You feel embarrassed, humiliated, dejected, and sitting in a cold puddle of utter depression which may or may not include your own urine. When Wall Street traders and gamblers lose big, they are bombarded with waves of those demure feelings.

I don't know how I got into that position, but someone... anyone... shoot me now before the pain sinks in deeper.

I didn't sleep much last night and it wasn't the insomnia keeping me up. It was a big loss that went down after a day that started out perfect. Within a matter of a few minutes, I experienced a 6K swing. If North Carolina and Oregon don't cover, I win big as my March Madness roll increases to the size of a small poodle. There's a fine line between going 4-0 and 2-2 and I got my ass ripped apart last night.

I went with all of the underdogs and by mid-afternoon, I was walking on air. I nailed an easy NBA bet with the Mavs -8.5 against the Celtics along with Butler and Vandy getting points. I knew that Georgetown and Florida would win but by a small margin. I felt the same way about USC and like Vandy and Butler, they jumped out to a comfortable first half lead. Only with the Trojans, the shit hit the fan in the second half. The Heels outscored them by 19 (including an 18-0 run) with Tyler Hansborough scoring a paltry 5 points for the entire game. That's what happened when you commit 10 more turnovers and get outrebounded. Not to mention shooting 5-18 from downtown. In the last two minutes, they took four shots... all treys... and missed each one. USC didn't score a single point in the last three minutes and scored just two points in the last 4:25. Talk about a bad beat.

The UNLV game was pure torture. The sportsbook at Red Rock was filled with UNLV fans and alumni wearing red to support their team. They looked good early but then out of nowhere Tajuan Porter had the game of his life and every three pointer that he hit was a tiny little dagger that pierced my heart. When the dust cleared, Porter dropped 33 points on UNLV including 8 treys. He went 8-12 from downtown. UNLV shot 9-33 from three point range and scored just one more than Porter's 8 treys. They also shot crappy from the floor and FT line.

UNLV looked like they were dead until an amazing 17-4 run late in the second half to pull within 4. They would get as close as 2 with a few seconds left. The money line bet was toast, but I was ahead with the points. I was getting 2.5 and 3 on two different slips. Of course, Oregon nailed the free throws to put the game out of reach. Another wild beat.

I can't recall ever losing so many games by 1 and 2 points in a single year during March Madness. I'm 26-16-4 overall. I'm up for the entire March Madness even though all my Las Vegas gains were wiped out thanks to North Carolina and Oregon.

I was wicked pissed after the last two loses and stewing in a pot of gambler's anger. Since I was in the middle of the sportsbook, I had to contain myself and walk away silently. If I was alone at home and suffered those loses, I would have punched a hole in the wall the size of Webster. I would have kicked my dog if I had one. If I had a litter of kittens, I would have tossed them in the microwave. Consumed with ire, I wanted to head butt the lone Oregon Ducks fan in the casino. I wanted to find an LA douchebag with a Mercedes and key his fucking car. I wanted to piss and shit on Tim Floyd's mother. In essence, I just wanted to die.

The hardest part to being stuck in Las Vegas was to ignore the temptation to get it back at the tables. Luckily, I just headed to the cafe and ate a late dinner with JW, Friedman, Derek, Senor, and Change100. I brooded my loses and couldn't wait until Saturday morning to come around so I could bet on the Elite 8 games.

Senor got super drunk and couldn't stomach the last five minutes of the games. He headed to the pits and tried to recoup his sports book loses.

"I walked by the craps tables and put $100 on the field. Then... fuck!!!!"

He headed over to the $25 blackjack tables and bet big. When he stumbled into the cafe, he admitted that he won back 25% of his sportsbook loses playing blackjack. He was bummed because I promised him a trip to the Rhino had I won big.

"Tomorrow's another day!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He's right. We have two games on Saturday and after we win both, we're going to eat high off the hog then head to a stripclub. Or two.

Here's Saturday's lines according to BoDog:

4:40p Memphis +2.5 Ohio State
7:05p UCLA +2.5 Kansas

And I'll be betting on:

UCLA +2.5
Memphis +2.5

After almost losing the last two games, Ohio State is lucky to be still alive. They have an awful record against the spread while Memphis has great numbers as an underdog. I'm also going with UCLA and an upset of Kansas. The Bruins have been shooting better from the FT line. I want to write more about both teams, but I'm out of time. Bottom line, I'm betting the dogs. In the last two days, dogs are 5-3.

* * * * * Random Live Updates * * * * *

1:30pm... Will be able to do a little live blogging today watching the games from my room. We might also have a few special guests providing you updates. Stay tuned.

1:40pm... Change100 says: "Ohio State won the tip. Of course they did. They are wearing white uniforms, and teams wearing white uniforms were 8-0 during Sweet 16 play."

2:06pm... Derek says: "I won a 3 team parlay yesterday. Fuck all you crackers!"

2:20pm... Miami Don says about Antonio Anderson who's bleeding: "A couple of stiches and he's ready go!"

2:30pm... JW says: "Memphis better pick up the pace or Anderson won't be the only one bleeding today. Anyone need a drink ticket?"

2:45pm... OSU up by 3 at the half. I got Memphis with the moneyline too. Looking for a big second half from Calipari's crew.

3:00pm... Miami Don says about one of the refs: "Ted Hillary is crooked. Always look for the crooked refs."

3:26pm... Derek says: "Crooked Ted . . . the fix is in for the Ohio State Luckeyes. Never trust a drunk Irishmen referee."

3:53pm... Looks like the Memphis pick was a dud. A big fuckin' dud. 0-1 for the day. If I had a kitten, I'd drown it right now. (Disclaimer: No actual animals were harmed in the writing of this blog)

4:30pm... Derek says: "Daddy likes em stout!"

4:35pm... Derek says: "The gang is wondering how much dope Bill Walton and Robert "the Chief" Parish smoked together. Over/under 2.5 pounds?"

5:00pm... UCLA up by 4 at the half. We're looking good for now.

5:15pm... Miami Don says: "There's a lot of talent on that UCLA cheerleading squad."

6:15pm... With 45 seconds left and UCLA up 8, I'm close to winning my big bet of the day (and biggest bet of the tournament).

6:20pm.... Ship it! UCLA gets me unstuck for today and the last two days.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/24/2007 11:18:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Sweet 16 Day 2 Picks

By Pauly

Another wild day in Las Vegas. I'm shacking up at Red Rock Casino in Summerlin and avoiding the insanity of the clogged Las Vegas Strip. It feels good to side step the masses that embarked on a Vegas Vacation from their various flyover states. I often prefer smaller groups to travel and party with and finally had my first non-blogger Vegas trip with my brother in years.

Senor's flight from Rhode Island was delayed and by the time he arrived at Red Rock, I had already put my bets in at the sports book. We were at the sports book three hours before game time to ensure we had good seats for the games while Change100 was cleaning up in the adjacent poker room. Derek and Miami Don started drinking heavily by 1pm. It started out with cocktails chased by double shots of Patron. Total animals. By the time I left Miami Don at 11pm, he was still going strong.

Yesterday was one of those days where I'm going to look back and think, "Holy shit! I wagered more money in a five hour period than my old man used to make in a month."

Of course at the time, the concept of American currency ceased to exist. I was betting on numbers on the big board. Gambling on a bunch of 20 year olds in uniforms as I'd trot up to the window and mutter, "Number 668. Ummm... $1,100 to win $1,000."

And when it was all over, I emerged the day as a winner. I went 2-2 overall for the gut wrenching session. I split my two smaller bets, lost my medium bet, and won the monster bet on UCLA. Seriously, nothing in life is sweeter at a sports book than cashing that four figure ticket. (But wait, how about five figures? Of course that would be swell and dandy, but then you have to deal with tax forms and all that mess. It's always best to keep those bets under 5K and make multiple ones if necessary.)

We also bet on four NHL games (went 1-3 on our parlay betting home dogs) and two NBA games. Although the Grizzlies covered against the La-la Lakers, I took the Nuggets with the money line as they lost a one point game to the Bulls on a bucket with 0.2 seconds remaining. As Miami Don said, "Talk about getting rivered."

I'm 24-14-4 overall since March Madness started last week, and up gambling wise. The dogs went 3-1 yesterday. The one pick I had the least confidence in (Memphis +3.5) ended up winning. Ohio State made one of the most amazing comebacks that I had ever seen in the Sweet 16. Down by 20, they came from behind to win and almost covered. They won back-to-back heart attack games.

I blew donkey cock on Kansas. Horrible pick. Alas, no one is perfect.

For Friday's plays, I decided to bet all of the dogs, especially UNLV heavily. I'm taking the Runnin' Rebels with the points and I think they are going to win outright, so I'm going with the money line as well.

Here are the lines courtesy of BoDog as of 10am:

7:10p Butler +10 Florida
7:25p Vanderbilt +7.5 Georgetown
9:40p UNLV +3.5 Oregon
9:55p USC +8 North Carolina

Here are today's bets:

Butler +10
Vanderbilt +7.5
UNLV +3.5
USC +8
UNLV with moneyline +140

I might also hedge with a parlay with the favorites and take UNC, Georgetown, and Florida. But that will be a game time decision.

Derek likes Florida because as he said when they win, they win big. But I'm feeling the dogs today. Friday is the day of the dog. On paper, Florida has covered in five of the last six games. But in reality, Butler is one tough team and if they can convert from downtown, they can keep the game close. I don't need them to win, just to not lose by more than 10! I know that UNC, Georgetown, and Florida are all going to win their games. Alas, I'm betting that they'll win close games, kinda like Kansas and Ohio State yesterday.

UNC is my favorite team (along with pick to win it all in my pool). It will be hard to bet against them, but it's for cash so I'm willing to swallow some Carolina pride for the love of money. The Vandy game is a tough one, but since all the teams from Tennessee covered yesterday (Memphis, Tenn, Grizzlies, and the Predators) we have to go with Vandy!

Here's an unofficial update of the Pauly's Pub March Madness Pool where the chicks are dominating:

Top 5:
1 warren coolidge all-stars (Hector31) 690
2 Logan's Run (Gracie) 670
3 Capt. Tom and the P.O.B.s (Change100) 650
4 Ladies Love Mean Gene 2 (Mean Gene) 620
4 Chico's Bail Bonds (Derek) 620

Oh in case you were wondering, I played an hour of $10 Pai Gow with Change100 around Midnight last night. She dropped a buy in and stormed away from the table after getting cold decked and losing 7 hands in a row. I won $3 and tossed my winnings to the dealer as a tip. My Pai Gow losing streak has finally come to a close.

I have not played one hand of poker since I arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday. And you know what? I hardly miss it, although I signed up for 8/16 Hold'em with a half-kill yesterday and by the time I was called, the first March Madness game was underway.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/23/2007 09:50:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Flight of the Stripper and March Madness Sweet 16 Day 1 Betting Lines

By Pauly

My brother and I were on the same JetBlue flight from JFK to Las Vegas. We both booked separately and ended up getting seated in 19D and 20D. He was right in front of me sharing a row with an old guy. My row was empty and just before the flight attendants closed the airplane doors, two extremely loud women with Fendi purses rushed in and sauntered down the aisles. One was a skinny black woman wearing oversized Chanel shades carrying a pink jacket. The buxom blonde wore a pink Juicy track suit and had the biggest and worst fake boob job I had seen since the days when I lived at the Redneck Riviera. Her tits look like she had two pugs stuffed in there. Her weathered face suggested that she had been living a hard life of booze, drugs, and whatever else accompanied life on the pole. Even the botox could not hide the fact that everyone on the plane knew that they were strippers. And they were seated right next to me in 20E and 20F.

"I think your brother got a better seat assignment," the WWII vet joked with Derek. "He got the broads while you got stuck with the old fart."

Despite all my bad airplane karma the last few months having to sit next to crying babies and having several canceled and delayed flights, I finally got lucky and had two NYC strippers on their way out to Vegas to work the clubs or various hooker bars for the weekend. Man, sometimes I fuckin' miss the underbelly of Las Vegas. Sometimes.

The strippers next to me were like finding 10-10 in a short-handed game with four callers and then watching three overcards flop. It looked good pre-flight, but by the time the plane flew over the Rockies, sitting next to strippers got old.

They retired to the bathroom every thirty minutes (on a five and a half hour flight) to snort lines of blow. The black chick carefully climbed over me. She was thin enough to squeeze by. The blonde was not as limber. The one time she did that, I nearly suffocated in a sea of silicon. The bitches never even offered me a bump.

They yapped incessantly and drank like AlCantHang and BigMike on a bender. The blonde guzzled Skyy vodka and Sprite while the black chick ordered double Bloody Mary's.

"Are you going to drink with us?" they'd squeal everytime they ordered another drink.

"Nope," I said. "I'm high right now. On Jesus."

I lied. I wasn't high on Christ, just generic Vicodin. But I discovered that when you mention the Lord's name in vain, annoying strippers tend to leave you alone.

"By the way, where you girls working this weekend?" I asked somewhere over Ohio.

They were not happy that I called them out on living the total cliche of a life of a stripper and one muttered, "I'm retired."

They constantly rang the flight attendant light which drew the ire of the crew who did not like to be bossed around by wasted strippers. On our descent into McCarran, one flight attendant got snippy with the strippers because they wouldn't stash their purses underneath the seat. The other fussed around with her Blackberry and wouldn't shut it off.

"So strippers don't have to follow FAA rules?" I muttered. Their act was old and I couldn't wait to get off the plane.

When we finally arrived in Las Vegas, the buxom blonde shouted, "Time to double down!"

"If you're working at the Rhino, tell Brandi Hawbacker that Pauly says what's up," I mentioned as I gathered my bags and rushed off the plane. I hope that I didn't contract hepatitis C or some other venereal disease.

Moving on...

It's the Sweet 16, so who really cares about my random interaction with strippers, right? You junkies want the lines and to see who I'm betting on. I had gotten off to a hot start and that run fizzled out on Sunday. I'm still up for the tournament at 22-12-4 and looking to cash in big time as I'm going to throw out bets no less than 1K over the next four days.

Here are the betting lines for Thursday's games courtesy of BoDog as of 8:30am ET:

7:10p Southern Illinois +9 Kansas
7:25p Texas A&M -3.5 Memphis
9:40p Pittsburgh +3.5 UCLA
9:55p Tennessee +5 Ohio State

Here is what I'm betting on:

Kansas -9
Memphis +3.5
UCLA -3.5
Ohio St. -5

I have two games that I feel great about and two games I keep wondering if I should go the other way. On Sunday night, my gut shouted out Kansas, Memphis, UCLA, and Ohio State. I'm sticking with my gut because everytime I switch a pick at the last minute, I get fucked.

I can't wait for that UCLA game to start and wish I had the balls to put 10K on it. Alas, I don't but it will be my big bet of the day, as I hope UCLA comes to play. Pitt fucked me after blowing that 19 point lead against VCU and I'm bitter with those guys. UCLA has been shooting better from the FT line the last few games, while Pitt is 4-8 against the spread in the last 12 games, although UCLA has not fared well against Big East teams.

Memphis is the only lower seeded to team to be an underdog. Why? The game is being held in San Antonio Texas, which makes the game a virtual home game for Texas A&M, which is located just down the road in College Station. This game is the toughest on the board and I keep waffling. The numbers are against Memphis who has had a tough time covering recently. Acie Law is too good of a player to bet against, but Memphis has some very quick players. I'm praying that Memphis overcomes that loyal hootin' and hollerin' A&M crowd to prevail. They are the only dog I'm taking today and will be the smallest bet that I lay out. Very little confidence in Memphis, but they are hard to ignore getting points.

The Salukis' run should end today. All the numbers point towards taking them as the heavy dog against Kansas, but I'm not. I definitely liked the spread earlier in the week when it was at 8. After the games I saw, Kansas is much stronger and can beat S. Illinois by ten or more. I usually pick the better FT shooting team and that's what is going to be the difference between a 5 point Jayhawks victory and a 10 point win... knocking down those FT's in crunch time. Everyone I know likes the dog in this game, which means I'm going against convention and betting on a Kansas blowout.

The Ohio State pick is a game that I have confidence in, just like UCLA. A lot of action in Vegas is going on Tennessee because they have a solid record as a dog. After that scare against Xavier, I'm betting on that OSU will get their shit together and play much smarter (and better defense) against the running and gunning Vols. OSU is a better FT shooting team, a better defensive team, and a better rebounding team. In their matchup against Tenn this year, OSU won by 2 but failed to cover. They are going to have to play better perimeter defense to shut down Tenn's barrage of three-pointers. Teams that live by the trey, often die by the trey. Aside from chucking up shots from the cheap seats, Tenn's half-court offense is weak. If OSU slows down the pace of the game, the Vols will get impatient and force up several bad shots. If there's a day when their shooters get cold, I hope it's today.

Sometimes in the stock market and in sports betting, you have to go against the tide and ignore what the pundits think. I'm doing just that and sticking with my gut for the Thursday games. I'm favoring the OSU and UCLA games so if I lose the Kansas and Memphis games, it won't really affect my March Madness roll.

Oh, and I might just play a little poker or even some Pai Gow today as I wait for my buddy Senor to arrive from Rhode Island. When Senor is in town, you know what we end up doing... strip clubs. Last year, we took an epic side trip to Scores with Grubby, JoeSpeaker, and Change100. That's when the stipper twisted my nipples and made out with Change100. Perhaps later tonight we can stop by the Rhino and say hello to those strippers on my flight to Vegas?

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/22/2007 09:40:00 AM | Permalink |

 
R.I.P. Tilted Kilt

By Pauly

I ate lunch with a friend of mine in Midtown today. He's your average 40-something New Yorker. He works in advertising, has a Master's degree, and you could barely pick him out of the crowd in a sea of suits on the subway. He's that average guy in sitting in the cubicle next to you in your office and he told me the funniest story today during lunch. He lives in Manhattan and had been dating a divorced woman from Long Island. Out of the blue, he dumped her because he discovered that life was easier getting hookers.

"Here's my situation," he said. "One, she lives all the way out on Long Island. Two, she's a drug rehab counselor and I like to drag a little weed from time to time and have a bump once a month or so. And three, she has two kids. What does all of that add up to? I'll tell you... it says, 'Hey, fuck you buddy!'"

My friend explained that he recently stumbled upon a local business entity that features in call and out call sexual relief services.

"I get a rub and a tug twice a week, sometimes in my own apartment. I don't have to schlep out to the Island just to get laid. Those girls are amazing. It's like the United Nations of hookers. I got a Ukrainian broad the other night. Last week, I had a Brazilian chick that looked like J. Lo. And you know what? She watched the end of the Rangers game with me. She lathered me up in oil, blew me, and then we watched the Rangers blow a lead against Ottawa."

My buddy was not afraid to simplify his situation. He was honest with himself and confronted the fact that he was only in a relationship for sex and that the time and effort he put into said relationship was not worth continuing what he felt was ultimately a dead end relationship.

Here's where I relate visiting hookers to poker. I came to the conclusion that tournaments were like long term relationships that included an arduous courting process where you put in hours and hours into foreplay without getting laid. Whereas cash games are like those ladies you pick up at the Hooker Bar in Las Vegas. You know exactly what you are getting yourself into and although the pay off down the line is not as big as a score in a tournament, you do get instant satisfaction and gratification. If taking a few bucks off the table and walking away with a freshly fucked glow is your goal, then stop playing and bubbling out of elongated tournaments and hit up the cash game orgy. Short-handed NL tables are like singles bars on a Friday night. Everyone there just wants to score. Quickly.

But always be careful, wear a rubber, and don't forget #20 of my infamous Las Vegas Tips... Don't get rolled by a hooker. That's one tip you can apply not just to Las Vegas, but to life itself.

Moving on...

What I love about having my own blog is the freedom to write whatever I want and when I want. I mentioned blow, hookers, and the Ottawa Senators in the first 300 hundred words and somehow pulled a half-baked correlation to poker out of my ass. Believe me, I could write essays and books on pimps and hookers. Life is a trick. You're either pimping or getting pimped. You're either chugging for a paycheck or paying for a good time. And sometimes in my jaded world, I'm the john, hooker, pimp, and vice cop all rolled into one.

The term "Hooker Bar" is an expression that I use for a specific place but it can also be applied to any drinking establishment where ladies of the night congregate to meet potential clients. The bar at the IP last December was an early morning hooker bar. That's where Daddy offered to show a portly prostitute his "vanilla gorilla" if she paid him. And then there's the Bellagio where 3K barely gets you a lap dance from those top shelf trollops.

At the 2005 WSOP, I spent the majority of my dinner breaks drinking at the Hooker Bar with Otis as he picked up Quads eight hundred and forty-six times on the loosest video poker machines in all of Las Vegas. I ignored all the ladies of the night, those annoying dancing cocktail waitresses, and soaked up every moment away from the madness of media row.

At the 2006 WSOP, I found that the Hooker Bar had been discovered by more media reps and poker people. My time away from work was complicated by the same folks I was trying to avoid. The Hooker Bar became that after-work bar that everyone went to and that wasn't where I wanted to be on my breaks. We could never find a spot to sit so we searched out a new destination to destroy brain cells and add on extra weight due to copious consumption of beer. That place ended up being the Tilted Kilt.

The Tilted Kilt featured a full bar and hot food which was a bonus. The average bar food was served by scantily clad waitresses that may or may not have been strippers in a previous or current life. By the end of the WSOP, we knew a few by name and they loved our generous tipping habits. One even admitted that she read my blog. The best part of the Tilted Kilt was that when you entered, you really felt like you left Las Vegas completely and the entire WSOP nightmare had disappeared, if only for sixty Stella-soaked minutes. You were still in a casino, only thirty feet away from a slot machine, yet you could not help but feel like you were in time's forgotten space.

My buddy JW sent me the sad news in an email. It appears that Harrah's is getting rid of the Tilted Kilt and adding a McFadden's there instead. Rat ass bastards! With the Hooker Bar and the Tilted Kilt no longer viable options for me to get soused during dinner breaks, my future is resorted to hanging out in the parking lot and huffing glue with disgruntled WSOP dealers behind Michalski's car. Oh joy.

Writers and bars have always had an unique symbiotic relationship. I've had a few meaningful moments at places like Dooley's in Atlanta, the Blue Moon in Seattle, and the Cedar Tavern in Manhattan. I spent many hours pontificating the utter absurdities of life while slumped on a bar stool at the end of the bars I just mentioned.

Some days I drank because I was happy. Other days I drank because I was sad. Sometimes I wanted to escape, other days to hide out. Sometimes I drank because I wanted to watch the game with other sports fans and share the highs and the lows. Other times I drank because I wanted to get laid. Sometimes I craved the social scene and wanted to be around people while I drank. Other times I drank alone because I needed time away to sit and think.

And sometimes there's so much stress and you hate what you're working on so much, that it takes a sip of liquor at 6pm to take the edge off. You know you got twelve more hours of that shit to shovel, but at least for a moment, work is the last thing on your mind and your biggest concern is whether or not your waitress is wearing panties or a g-string.


The Tilted Kilt is no longer going to be a part of my life, and that makes me shed a little tear. I actually have some semblance of warmth in my cold black heart. Alas, beer is beer, but I'm really going to miss all that hot ass the most.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/20/2007 05:45:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Interview with Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot

By Pauly

3:30am. Sunrise, Florida. I sat in a corner booth at Denny's a couple of weekends ago and sipped an unsweetened iced tea with my voice recorder on as I captured a rare interview with Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot. While I had been soaking in some amazing music, he had been roaming around the parking lot of the Langerado music festival hustling hippies and frat boys while knocking back Jack Daniels and Lemonade and shooting dice. He's the TJ Cloutier of the Keno circuit. He was born in Texas, just like TJ. He constantly wins, just like TJ. But has a horrible weakness for craps, just like TJ. Here are his thoughts on Keno, life, and other topics.


Pauly: Let's talk about your humble beginning in West Texas. Is it true you started out as a competitive eater in Lubbock, Texas? I heard a story that as a teenager, you once ate forty-seven chitlins inside of ninety seconds. Fact or fiction?

NF: No! No! This is why everyone hates you crackers in the media. I'm only doin' this interview with you to set the record straight. Muthafuckas be talkin' shit out there and be gettin' shit all mixed up. So I used to play football. Started three years until I blew my muthafuckin knee out. I used to drink malt liquor in the parking lot behind Dairy Queen for cash. I was the fastest chugger in Lubbock County. I schooled all those muthafuckin crackers and then I slept with their bitches.


Pauly: Did you really get shot in an illegal bingo game in the basement of the Second Christ Baptist church outside of Big Spring, TX?

NF: Yeah, I've been shot at and shot at. But man, you are gettin things mixed up. When I used to play bingo, I ruled that game. Those muthafuckin blue hairs feared PKPNF (Profesional Keno Player Neil Fontenot). They'd be pissing in their Depends as soon as I walked into the church hall. But the reason I got shot was that my baby's momma was pissed that I slept with her sister. She grabbed her granddaddy's shotgun and went after me. Man, I'm lucky that bitch was a bad shot, or I wouldn't be here talkin to your muthafuckin ass.


Pauly: What are your favorite Keno numbers to play?

NF: Listen up muthafucka, I'm not gonna tell you what my favorite muthafuckin' numbers are. Reveal the secrets of PKPNF? You must be a crazy cracker. I play my shit and my shit works. Pauly, you're a cool dude but you gotta learn some muthafuckin respect.


Pauly: Come on, humor me. You don't have a favorite number?

NF: (Sighs). Fo! Yeah muthafcka and forty-fo.


Pauly: What was the worst losing streak of your life?

NF: Dice. Man, dice is my own personal Vietnam. I used to roll up to Plano, TX to steal money from the high school punks. Then I'd lose it in dice games in Hamilton Park. Lost every day for like two muthafuckin years. That's when I had to get a job driving a muthafuckin taxi in Vegas driving around dumb ass drunk tourists all night. I started dating a Mormon stripper from Glitter Gulch and we both got addicted to crystal meth.


Pauly: Why did you decide to relocate to Reno, NV?

NF: 775 in the house! Reno people are God's people. My kind of people. I roll with the people who know the playas. Not those muthafuckas who think they are playas in Gay Vegas. 702 was yesterday. 775 is the future, kid.


Pauly: You are not just one of the best pros on the Keno tournament circuit, but you are also considered the best Bingo cash game player in the world. How does it feel to routinely fleece senior citizens out of their social security checks?

NF: I'ts not just social security. Those muthafuckin blue hairs give me brokerage account checks. Granny don't have to worry about her RMD when PKPNF is in town.


Pauly: Outside of the gambling and Keno world, who do you draw inspiration from? (i.e. famous politicians, athletes, musicians, philosophers...)

NF: UFC fighter Tito Ortiz. Anyone long dickin Jenna Jameson got my respect. You wanna talk about politics? Anyone who runs on the platform of pussy and ass kicking has my support. I also have to give a shout out to my boy K-Fed. We've been tight ever since we met at the Playboy Mansion. He got caught up with that Britney bitch and look what happened? She's a muthafucka pyscho cutter. She shaved her head and snorts too much crystal meth. She's bad news for K-Fed. When he sorts all this shit out, were gonna cut a record together.


Pauly: You used to play football. Any pros you admire?

NF: Just like T.O. is God's gift to football, I'm God's gift to Keno.


Pauly: Describe your pre-game Keno ritual.

NF: I usually roll over to the back of a 7-Eleven to play a muthafuckin' dice game with some poor punk ass kids who think they are from the streets. After I school them, I'm ready to roll in Keno.


Pauly: Do you have any superstitions that we are not aware of?

NF: I hate midgets, man. Short ass muthafuckas freak me the fuck out.


Pauly: In the summer of 2002, the pro Keno circuit was rocked with the infamous "Grannies on Blow" drug scandal, of which they are finally recovering from. Although you were never convicted or found guilty, a lot of Neil Fontenot haters in the press have printed false rumors attributing your success to usage of steroids, horse tranquilizers, and injecting Geritol into your stomach. Care to comment?

NF: See this is the shit I'm talkin about. All lies! Don't the crackers in the media have anything else to talk about like Bush and Iran or some serious shit like that? I've been clean for five years. I haven't touched muthafuckin crystal meth since the incident with my pregnant Mormon stripper girlfriend in the fruit section at Smith's in Vegas. That lawsuit is still pending so I can't talk shit about it.


Pauly: What are the female groupies like on the Keno circuit?

NF: Leathery. Round. Soft. And they smell like muthafuckin ultra 100 methols. Wanna smell my finger?


Pauly: You spoke about one of your kids. How many do you have exactly?

NF: I got four from four different bitches. Only two were from groupies though. I love my kids. Every dollar I make that I don't lose at muthafuckin dice goes to them. Be careful of women who only think about money. Never trust 'em. The bitches always say they are on the pill, when they're not. They were just after my roll. But I love my kids. More than God and the Dallas Cowboys combined.


Pauly: What are their names?

NF: I named the three boys after the cities they were concieved in. Des Moines, Boise, and Reno. And then there's Marley. She's my angel.


Pauly: Keno is catching like wildfire overseas. You were named Croatia's most popular Keno player for the last two years. In Japan, you are considered a cult hero and fans flock by the thousands just to catch a glimpse of you. How has your international rock-star status affected you as a person? And how has it affected your game?

NF: This is exactly why I moved to Reno. I gots to keep a low profile. 775 represent!


Pauly: What's currently on your iPod?

NF: K-Fed, Vanilla Ice, Insane Clown Possie, Creed, ABBA, Ludakris, Christina Aguleria, and ZZ Top.


Pauly: When is your book coming out? And what is the title going to be?

NF: "Yo Bitch! Get Out of My Casinio, I'm Playing Muthafuckin Keno" will be in stores at the end of the summer.


Pauly: What's the coolest thing about being a professional Keno player?

NF: Shit, Pauly, you don't get it, dogg! Ain't nuthin cool about bein' a muthafuckin keno player! My world is tuff. (Laughs) But I make this shit look eeeaaasssyyy cause I'm Neil fukkin Fontenot, professional keno playa!


Pauly: What advice do you have for young players who are considering dropping out of college to become a professional Keno player?

NF: Stay in school muthafuckers. Anyone smart enough to get into college needs to stay there. You want thrills? Play online poker at PokerStars with all the other crackers, you sissy pussy ass muthafuckas. Keno is a street game, yo.

* * * * *
I will be doing a follow up interview with PKPNF in a few weeks. Please submit your questions (shoot me and email or leave them in the comments) and I'll be sure to ask him.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/19/2007 06:01:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Round 2 Sunday Picks

By Pauly

I hate writing about bad beats in poker, but I won't refrain from mentioning two that I took yesterday in sports betting. That meaningless basket at the end of the OSU-XU game killed me. OSU rallied back and was up by 9... in overtime! Yet, they didn't play defense on the last play of the game and I lost by one point. Unreal. And I pushed in the Texas A&M game. That's never fun. Plus two of my teams blew big leads late in the second half. They came back to win, but failed to cover as I ended the day 3-3-1. I'm still up overall at 20-8-3, but that OSU-XU debacle had me on tilt the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Anyway, the second round games on Saturday were some of the most exciting I had seen this year. Three OT games? One double-OT game? The suits at CBS must have been jizzing in their pants.

I also developed a new found respect for two freshman guards. Mike Conley from OSU went to high school with Greg Oden. He hit several big shots including the first seven points in overtime. He's been overshadowed by his friend and teammate, but the kid can flat out play. Then there's Edgar Sosa from New York City. Rick Pitino snagged him up and he's an amazing catch for Louisville. The kid lit up Texas A&M and showed no fear. He missed a couple of clutch free throws and a shot to win the game, but aside from that, the kid played nearly flawless. I must say that I'll be keeping an eye on both Conley and Sosa. Those kids can shoot the rock and can drive to the hole.

Here are the betting lines courtesy of BoDog as of 8:30am ET:

12:10p Tennessee -3 Virginia
2:15p Purdue +12 Florida
2:30p UNLV +5.5 Wisconsin
2:40p Virginia Tech +1.5 Southern Illinois
2:50p Winthrop +4 Oregon
4:45p Nevada +5.5 Memphis
5:00p Kentucky +8 Kansas
5:15p USC +3 Texas

Here are 7 games that I'll be betting on today:

Tennessee -3
Florida -12
Wisconsin -5.5
Winthrop +4
Memphis -5.5
Kansas -8
Texas -3

Another tough day. In the first round, the favorites prevailed. Yesterday, it seemed like the underdogs were hot going 6-1-1 for the day. I should go with that trend, but my gut is telling me otherwise. I was going to skip the Florida game, which means they'll win and cover, so I decided to pick them afterall.

Can Winthrop head to the Sweet 16? They are the highest seed still playing. They are 13-4 on the road this year and you gotta love their best player Craig Bradshaw, who is a Kiwi and has played for New Zealand's Olympic and national teams. He dropped 24 against Notre Dame and needs to come up big for tiny Winthrop. Besides, Oregon fucked me on Friday when I but the Ducks and they failed to cover.

UNLV is having their best season in years, but their run is going to end. They'll have a tough time with Wisconsin, who finally got their shit together late in the first round game. High scoring Tennessee is going to outgun UVA. I have a tough time betting against the Salukis from S. Illinois, even with them playing the erractic Hokies of Va. Tech. That's a game I should probably avoid and at the last minute, I decided not to give that game any action.

That 5.5 spread in the Memphis-Nevada game looks like a trap game to me. Memphis should win by ten, but why is the spread so low? Because they can't shoot free throws. Usually I avoid betting on teams with poor FT shooting percentages. Not this time. Let's hope they hit enough to cover.

I'm going with Kevin Durrant and Texas over USC. The Trojans had an easy game in round 1 but they are going to have their hands full with Durrant.

Bill Self should have his #1 seeded Kansas Jawhawks ready to whoop on Kentucky. They score more points, play better defense, and have a better record on the road. Kentucky is a better FT shooting team but that won't be enough to win.

I have a bad feeling about today. You might want to fade a few of my picks. You have been warned.

* * * * * Random Live Updates * * * * *
11:52am... Pauly's Pub March Madness Update: Through Day 3, JoeSpeaker is in first place with 430 points with Senor not far behind in second. One of my sheets is tied for 5th. Everyone's favorite Hollyweird blonde is tied for 3rd.

1 Backdoor Inuits (JoeSpeaker) 430
2 Stimulation (Senor) 420
3 Capt. Tom and the P.O.B.s (Change100) 410
3 warren coolidge all-stars (Hector31) 410

12:50pm... It was the J.R. Reynolds show as he took control of the game. UVA snagged the lead with 8 minutes to go in the first half as Reynolds scored 22 of UVA's first 32 points. Tennessee struggled fron 3 point range and picked up a few ticky-tack fouls. They were up 7 early on before Reynolds schooled them and UVA umped out to a 9 point lead with 5 minutes left.

1:10pm... UVA had an 11 point lead, but Tenn came back and outscored them 10-2 in the last four minutes. Tenn trails 38-35 at the half. They can score a lot in a small amount of time, but they need to shut down J.R. Reynolds who is playing out of his tits.

1:45pm... With Wayne Chism on the bench with four fouls, Tenn tied it up with 16 minutes to go. They opened up a 10 point lead after a couple of treys from Ryan Childress and a few buckets from JaJuan Smith.

2:37pm... With 2:30 to go JaJuan Smith nailed a three-pointer to put Tenn up by 5. Sean Singletary nearly killed me when he hit a three to make the score 73-72, as he scored seven straight points for UVA with 0:13 to go. Tenn's Chris Lofton hit six clutch FTs in the last thirty seconds to help me push my bet as Tenn won 77-74. The day starts with a non-loss. 0-0-1.

3:07pm... Florida chipped away at Purdue's big lead and tied it up with 1:22 to go. At halftime Purdue is up 31-29 after an unimpressive and flat performance from Florida. My buddy JW sent me a text, "I'm gonna play Florida big in the second half." Man, I hope they get their shit together.

3:21pm... The Badgers can't score in the first half. That much is obvious after watching them for the second time in three days. Unless they start knocking down some shots, I'm toast. UNLV up by 12 at the half.

4:18pm.... Wisconsin stormed back to take a five point lead after UNLV blew a 15 point lead. Florida should win their game, but they were up 9 and then played Swiss Cheese defense and let Purdue hit a three. Covering would be a miracle for both teams.

4:27pm... Florida won by 7 but didn't cover. I slipped to 0-1-1 for the day. I originally didn't ant to bet Florida and got gun shy with the S. Illinois game, so I took the Gators instead. I blew it and should have stuck with the gut.

4:40pm... UNLV upset #2 Wisconsin 74-68. They didn't play like a #2 seed. UNLV advances to the Sweet 16. Another bad pick on my end. 0-2-1 for the day. Ugliness. Dogs are 2-0-1 so far.

5:03pm... If you faded my picks, you'd be 3-0-1 right now. Winthrop got thumped like a cheap hooker. How come when I bet on Oregon on Friday, they didn't cover? Bastards. I slipped to 0-3-1 for the day. I need to go perfect for the rest of the day to save any sort of dignity. Thank God I decreased my bet sizes on Sunday due to the utter lack of confidence in my picks. I have all favorites in the last three games; Kansas, Memphis, and Texas. Time for my luck to change.

6:06pm... All three games are at the half. Kansas, Memphis, and USC all have small leads.

6:45pm... With five minutes to go, Memphis is up by 4. Texas is getting their arses whooped by USC. Kansas opened up a 14 point lead as UK's offense went dry.

7:07pm... Memphis led Nevada 64-62 with 6:17 remaining. That would be the last time Nevada scored as Memphis shut them down and won 78-62. Finally! My first win of the day. 1-3-1.

7:27pm... #1 Kansas rolled against Kentucky with a 12 point victory. Hey, a team I picked actually covered! 2-3-1 for the day.

7:35pm... It's official. USC upended Texas as the Trojans advance to the Sweet 16. That was one of the few games I actually had confidence in. Oh well. Kevin Durrant dropped 30 in what might be his last game in college before he jumps to the NBA. 2-4-1 to finish the anemic day. My first losing day in four tough days of betting. 22-12-4 overall for the first two rounds. I'm down for the day, but still ahead.

9:27pm... Pauly's Pub March Madness Pool Update: At the end of Round 2, Hector31 is the unofficial co-leader with Sweet Sweet Gracie.

Top 6:
1 warren coolidge all-stars (Hector51) 510
1 Logan's Run (Gracie) 510
3 Ladies Love Mean Gene 2 (Mean Gene) 500
3 Meat Me in the Urinal (Daddy) 500
3 Stimulation (Senor) 500
3 Paboo's Phighting Phalli (Pabbo) 500

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/18/2007 08:09:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Round 2 Saturday Picks and Happy St. Patty's Day

By Pauly

First of all, congrats to Katja Thater for making the final table of EPT Warsaw. You can follow the action over at Poker News's Live Reporting section. If you didn't know, I'll be a part of the live coverage team for the EPT Grand Finale Championships in Monte Carlo at the end of the month. Best of luck to Katja!

* * * * * *
St. Patty's Day usually falls sometime around March Madness. What could be better than binge drinking and gambling on schools you never knew existed until the brackets came out a week before?

The luck of the Irish will be out in full force today. I usually have awful results on the Ides of March and pick up the slack on St. Patty's Day. This year was different, however.

I actually had a decent Ides and started out 8-3-1. Yesterday's outstanding 5-0 start to Day 2 really helped me as I struggled with the early evening games. The night games were stressful until my teams finished strong to end the day. That helped push me to 9-2-1 and a mind-blowing 17-5-2 overall.

I never expected to be doing this well so early in the tournament. I'm afraid that I used up all my good mojo early. Round 2 starts today. There are eight games total as all of Thursday's winners will be slugging it out to see who advances to the illustrious Sweet 16. I'm going to pay less attention to the stats again and go with the gut since that's the strategy which got me to this point.

Here are the betting lines courtesy of BoDog as of 10am ET:

1:10p Xavier +8 Ohio State
3:20p Butler +6 Maryland
3:40p Louisville +3 Texas A&M
5:40p Vanderbilt +2 Washington State
5:45p Boston College +8.5 Georgetown
5:50p Virginia Commonwealth +7.5 Pittsburgh
8:05p Indiana +7.5 UCLA
8:15p Michigan State +10 North Carolina

Here are 7 games that I'll be betting on today:

Ohio State -8
Butler +6
Texas A&M -3
Vanderbilt +2
Boston College +8.5
Pittsburgh -7.5
UCLA -7.5

The games are extremely tough today. I'm avoiding the UNC game because I picked them to go all the way and they are my favorite team in the tournament. And you can't bet with your heart. That is unless I'm really stuck for the day and then I get desperate and put out a last minute bet on the Heels.

The boys in Vegas set some difficult lines today and I only had less than a day to examine the picks. One point either way and I could easily go with the other team. I'm having these thoughts like, "Georgetown is gonna win, but it's going to be a close game. Have to pick BC and their flex offense."

I feel the same way about Maryland against Butler. The Terps will win a close game, so I have to pick Butler and the points. How could you bet against A.J. Graves who's from Daddy's hometown in Indiana? It will be interesting to see how Butler's slower pace matches up against Maryland's running and pressing fast-paced style of play.

Wazzu is a headache for me. I don't want to get into that trap where I bet against one team in Round 1 and lose, so I take them in the second round and promptly lose. Or I bet against one team the entire tournament and they fuckin' win every game. I'm praying that Vandy and SEC player of the year Derrick Foster comes to play. Vandy needs to shoot better from downtown. Both are tough defensive teams, but teams that play great defense and don't score much often struggle in the tournament. That's why I picked against Wazzu in the first round. They average around 66 points a game compared to Vandy's 76. I'm also hoping history is on my side. Wazzu has never won two games in the same March Madness tournament since 1941.

Indiana has a less than impressive road record and if UCLA can shut down their guards, they can coast to a ten point victory. I also think that VCU shot their load against Duke, who wasn't as strong as most people expected. They beat one of the worst Duke teams in recent years. So what? They will have a tough time with Pitt's big trees down low along with Pitt's defense. I only wish the spread was a point or two lower. Don't we all?

In case you were wondering, the Pauly's Pub March Madness Pool had 39 entrants. We had 40, but DoubleAs forgot to do his picks! First place should pay out $400 and the top 4 win prize money. Paboo is out to a quick lead after picking 30/32 first round winners. The only two ladies in the tournament not far behind in third place. Yes, it's true, Gracie and Change100 are tied for third. Visit the Tao of Pauly for a complete update.

Pauly's Pub Round 1 Update... The Top 6:
1 Paboo's Phighting Phalli (Paboo) 300
2 Stimulation (Senor) 280
3 Logan's Run (Gracie) 270
3 Capt. Tom and the P.O.B.s (Change100) 270
3 warren coolidge all-stars (Hector31) 270
3 Backdoor Inuits (JoeSpeaker) 270

* * * * *

By the way... the last time I pimped Miami Don's Big Game on a Saturday, I won it!

* * * * *
1:25pm... Ohio St out to a slow start against Xavier, who are holding their own on the boards. OSU has 11 to XU's 9. Xavier scored 6 unasnwered to take a 10-9 lead, as Oden picked up a carless offensive foul.

1:50pm... Jamar Butler drilled two treys (one from way way downtown in NBA range) as OSU pulled out to a 6 point lead with six minutes to go. Xavier strugled from three-point range missing their first 7 attempts. As soon as Oden went to the bench for a breather, XU took advantage and attacked the basket. Brandon Cole was fouled on a layup. He scored but failed to convert the conventional three point play.

1:53pm... Five point swing. Oden was called for basket inference as Xavier came down and hit their first three-pointer of the game to pull within 1.

2:00pm... Halftime. Just when OSU looked like they were going to close out the half strong, XU's Josh Duncan hit another three. OSU headed into the locker room with 4 point lead and has seriously outrebounded XU 21-14. OSU needs to shoot a lot better in the second half if they are going to cover for me.

2:30pm... Xavier came out fired up and took the lead as Justin Doellman lit them up. XU were up three until OSU tied it up with 15 minutes to go. OSU needs to cut down on those turnovers, and Oden has to stop missing those layups!

2:45pm... The lead keeps changing hands in this exciting match-up as Xavier is living and dying by the threes. They extended their lead to 6 after Justin Cage dropped another three. Oden picked up his third foul (and his second offensive foul) with 10 minutes to play. At this point, I'm worrying less about OSU covering and need them to win outright to keep every pool I have intact!

2:55pm... Justin Cage is playing out of his tits. They took an 11 point lead after a barrage of three-pointers. OSU is starting to panic with plenty of time left. Oden picked up his 4th foul with 5 minutes to go.

3:11pm... Both teams played below average for the first 30 minutes. I expected that OSU would step up and outplay XU in the last ten minutes, like #1 seeds are supposed to do. Alas, they kept turning the ball over, failed to convert on the offensive end, and was unable to stop Xavier's sharp shooters. After starting 0-7, they went 8-12 from downtown. Then it came down to who had the biggest heart in crunch time. OSU rallied to within one point after Jamar Butler rained down a big three and then OSU picked up a steal on the inbound pass, followed by a bucket from Ron Lewis, a foul, and a FT. With a minute to go, XU has a two point lead.

3:16pm... OSU could not score as Oden fould out with 14 points. With 9 seconds to go, XU was at the FT line with the lead. Justin Cage hit the first and missed the second. That would cost them the game. OSU rushed down the court and Ron Lewis drilled a three pointer to tie the game with 2 seconds. Overtime! Covering is still a possibility for OSU, but Oden is on the bench with five fouls. What a comeback.

3:21pm... Freshman Mike Conley outscored XU 7-2 in the first 2 minutes of OT, as XU looks flustered. If they pull this out and cover, I owe that kid several lapdances.

3:31pm... OSU came from behind to win by 7. Spread was 8. OSU was up 9, but I was killed by a meaningless basket from XU. Ugly. Fuckin ugly. That's like a classic suck, then re-suck on the river. At least I got a nice head rush for the last thirty minutes. Mike Conley from OSU stepped up big time. That kid has balls of steel. 0-1 for the day.

4:05pm... Butler up by 5 at the break. Daddy's buddy AJ Graves has 9 points, all from three pointers. Maryland is crushing Butler on the boards, but Butler is outscoring the Terps 21-3 from three point range.

4:50pm... Thanks to Mike Jones deft long range shooting, MD erased a six point first half deficit to pull even against Butler 46-46 with eight minutes to go. The Texas A&M and Louisville is tied at halftime. The Aggies led for most of the game.

5:10pm... Butler was up by six, but Maryland came back led by two buckets from DJ Strawberry. With 2:11 to go AJ Graves hit a trey from the corner to extend Butler's lead to 5.

5:22pm... It's over. Butler goes to the Sweet 16 after they upended Maryland 62-59. #5 Butler's win put me at 1-1 for the day.

6:00pm... Lousiville's press has been irking Texas A&M as their lead slipped away. Rick Pitino's NYC recruit Edgar Sosa is lighting up A&M's defense for 29 points. He hit two big baskets including a three to put Louisville ahead by 6 with six minutes to go. I need A&M to step up. Quickly.

6:20pm... A&M up by 1 with less than a minute to go. Another gut wrenching game for me. Edgar Sosa was 15-15 from the FT line and seemed like a lock to drop two. He missed both.

6:27pm... "A push is not a loss!" exclaimed my brother as Texas A&M beat Louisville by 3 points. I feel bad for Edgar Sosa. The Louisville guard played his guts out, dropped 31 points, and then made a couple mistakes late with the two missed free throws and a missed three pointer to win the game. The Aggies advance to the Sweet 16. The push put me at 1-1-1 for the day.

7:11pm... Georgetown went on a 10-0 run take a two point lead over BC with 11 minutes to go. Pitt is up by 15 at the start of the second half, while Vandy took the lead with nine minutes to go on consecutive threes from Derrick Byars.

7:43pm... Shan Foster hit a huge three with 1:08 to give Vandy a one point lead. With the game tied at 60, Wazzu took the final shot and missed as Vandy picked up the rebound with under two seconds to go. The refs used replay and tried to figure out when they actually called the TO. It didn't matter and the game headed into overtime. Second game today. If I had any hair, I'd be pulling out divots right now.

7:47pm... With 1:03 to go, G'town held a four point edge over BC. They locked up the game after a reverse dunk (followed up by the free throw for a three point play) by Patrick Ewing 2.0. They flirted with the spread, but G'town won 62-55 as I picked up my second win in four games. 2-1-1 for the day.

7:58pm... Double OT for Vandy-Wazzu. Pitt blew a big lead and is only up by 3 with three minutes to go.

8:06pm... Pitt played with their heads up their arses for the last five minutes of the game. They scored only five points down the stretch as they pissed away a 19 point lead. Pitt had VCU on the ropes and let them back in the game. VCU took the lead with 55 seconds to go. With game tied, Levance Fields missed two big FTs with a chance to win the game for Pitt. No such luck as the game headed into OT. Third OT game today. Amazing comeback from VCU and Pitt deserved to lose the game. They got a second chance with the OT. We'll see if they can fuck that up. Covering would be a miracle right now. Bastards. You should all be shot.

8:12pm... Talk about an exhilarating game. Two OTs. Big threes down the stetch. Plenty of missed FTs. What more could you ask for? #6 Vandy advanced to the Sweet 16 after beating Washington St. 78-74. That win put me to 3-1-1 for the day.

8:27pm... Pitt won by four and didn't cover. I slipped to 3-2-1.

9:31pm... I was online at FT and donked off my chips in a token event for the Big Game as I ran 6-6 into 8-8. Guess I'll buy in directly. Still working off a bonus. Michigan St. could not stop Tyler Hansbrough who dropped 19 on them in the first half, but they outplayed them in the first five minutes to take a one point lead. UCLA and Indiana played an ugly game. It's 20-13 at the half.

10:03pm... UCLA came out of halftime on fire. They scored the first seven points. UNC opened up a six point lead with five minutes to go.

10:45pm... UNC won by 14 and actually cvered, but I didn't bet on it. The only game today hat I had no action on. Tyler Hansbrough scored 33 points with 9 rebounds. He was everywhere and MSU couldn't handle him. UCLA blew a big lead as Indiana went on a 13-2 run in the last five minutes to pull within 2.

10:59pm... Busy day as three overtime games and a couple of near upsets as eight teams advanced to the Sweet 16. Add UCLA to that list. Indy tied UCLA with about a minute to go, but UCLA prevailed with an ugly 54-49 victory. Once again, a team that I bet on squandered a hefty lead late in the second half and hold on to win, but not cover. Plus add those two games where I lost by a point and pushed. Ughhhhhhhhhh. So close today. Alas, I broke even (minus some juice) as I ended the long day at 3-3-1. I'm 20-8-3 overall since March Madness began. Still up and I have eight games to bet on tomorrow.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/17/2007 09:42:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Round 1 Friday Betting Lines

By Pauly

I managed to side-step the weirdness of the Ides of March and went 8-3-1 in the first day of betting action. It was a solid start and if I didn't waffle the Oral Roberts/Wazzu pick, I would have gone 9-2-1. I'm sticking with my gut for Day 2 along with avoiding too many underdogs. Both dogs I picked yesterday lost.

Here are the betting lines courtesy of BoDog as of 11am ET:

12:15p Albany +8.5 Virginia
12:25p Georgia Tech -2.5 UNLV
12:30p North Texas +19 Memphis
2:35p Winthrop +4 Notre Dame
2:45p Long Beach State +7.5 Tennessee
2:55p Texas A&M - Corpus Christi +13 Wisconsin
3:00p Creighton +2.5 Nevada
5:05p Miami (Ohio) +9 Oregon
7:10p Illinois +3 Virginia Tech
7:10p Niagara +19.5 Kansas
7:20p Purdue +3 Arizona
7:25p New Mexico State +8.5 Texas
9:40p Holy Cross +8 Southern Illinois
9:40p Villanova -2 Kentucky
9:50p Jackson State +27.5 Florida
9:55p Arkansas +2.5 USC

Here are 12 games that I'll bet on today:

Virginia -8.5
UNLV +2.5
Winthrop +4
Tennessee -7 (current line is at 7.5 but I got it in at -7!)
Wisconsin -13
Nevada -2.5
Oregon -9
Virginia Tech -3
Texas -8.5
Southern Illinois -8
Kentucky +2
USC -2.5

The last three bets (S. Illinois, UK, USC) have not been put in yet and are subject to change depending on how I'm running today. Generally in the opening round, I avoid betting on the #1 or #2 seeds with spreads that are over 20 points. Those teams rarely lose and when the games are a blow out, the coaches empty the benches late in the game in order to avoid risking player injuries which fucks up the point spread. That's a factor I don't want to deal with as walk-ons are jacking up threes and your 25 point lead gets cut down to 19 by a bunch of nobodies. There's too much risk involved so I try to not play those games. I'm skipping Florida, Kansas, and Memphis although I'm tempted to play Kansas and Jackson State over Florida. Yesterday, the 20+ favorites (Ohio St, UNC, and UCLA) went 2-1.

I'm a big fan of S. Illinois and the Salukis! Heck, Walt Clyde Frazier is an alum, so how could I pick against them? I'm concerned about Va Tech. Will the team that beat UNC twice show up? Or will the team that lost to Marshall and NC St three times show up and play like a bunch of scrubs? I'm hoping that StB's Badgers put an ass-whooping on Texas A&M at CC.

I'm picking three dogs today; Kentucky, UNLV, and Winthrop. Kentucky's coach Tubby Smith is on the hotseat, so he's got added pressure to win against Villanova. That Winthrop games is bothering me because they have won 18 straight and are due for a loss. But they have a Kiwi on the team, so I'm going with the sleeper in this year's tournament. UNLV has been on a roll and is looking for their first win in March Madness since the Jerry Tarkanian days. The last time the Runnin' Rebels advanced into the second round of the NCAAs... the Luxor, Bellagio, Wynn, and Mandalay Bay had not been built yet.

Best of luck with your picks and pools.

* * * * * Random Live Updates * * * * *
12:10pm... I didn't put any action down on the Arizona/Purdue game. My buddy JW wrote me:"I like Purdue over Arizona. If they can keep the game a bit slower and not get caught up in a fast paced game, they can take the Wildcats. Purdue played Ohio St. really well last week and they are a bit underrated."

1:06pm... Good start with both picks up. UNLV is out to a 10 point lead while UVA is up 20. CBS is giving us the potential upset of #2 Memphis versus North Texas as Memphis just regained the lead with an Andre Allen three pointer. I had CBS gamecast up but got kicked out. Now I'm 25,458th in line.

2:09pm... UNLV blew a 14 point lead as Georgia Tech dominated the first four minutes of the second half and managed to tie the score at 40-40. Tech tied it again at 44 and 46, as UNLV failed to pull away as Kevin Kruger (son of coach Lon Kruger) bricked up a couple of wide open treys. As a team UNLV had missed 19 three-pointers with 10:00 remaining, going 7-26 from behind the line while Tech shot just 3-9 from downtown. UNLV finally made a run led by Wendell White and went up by 6 with 8 minutes left, as CBS finally put the game back on network TV. Of course they played for ten seconds before a commercial break.

2:17pm... Virginia got off to a quick start and led by 20 at the break. The Poker Nerd's Alma Mater never looked back as they extended their lead to as much as 30 before winning by 27. J.R. Reynolds lit Albany's defense up for 28 points on 9-13 shooting including 5-7 from three-point range. UVA advances and covers the spread, as I start the betting day 1-0.

2:43pm... Tech took it's first lead of the game with 3:32 to go after Anthony Morrow hit two free throws. Senior guard Wendell White put UNLV back on top when he blew by two defenders at the top of the key and scored on a layup. Tech tied it up at 59 with two minutes to go. Even though UNLV was undersized, they caught a little good luck when they missed three shots in one possession and scrambled to get three big offense rebounds, resulting in Wendell White getting fouled on a layup. He made the shot, but missed the free throw to put UNLV up 61-59. With 50 seconds to go, UNLV's Wink Adams forced a five second call against Tech as they turned the ball over. UNLV went 6-8 on FT's in the last ninety seconds as they picked up a 67-63 victory. The Runnin Rebels advanced as I went 2-0 for the day overall.

3:17pm... Winthrop went on a 13-2 run to end the first half. The #11 seed is up 32-28 against Notre Dame. Tennessee is up by 12 which keeps me sedated for a bit. But Wisconsin is getting smoked like a cheap joint, down 7-0 to TAM-CC.

4:20pm... Today's smoke break is brought to you by the letter "E".

4:29pm... With 5 minutes to go, Notre Dame stormed back to within one point. Winthrop blew a 20 point lead and lost composure. It came down to who played better in crunch time, and the Fighting Irish looked liked drunken hooligans. Craig Bradshaw completed a traditional three point play but Notre Dame answered with a three-pointer. They scored on the next possession to take the lead, but another layup from Bradshaw put Winthrop back ahead. Chris Gaynor nailed a trey to extend the lead to 4 with seventy seconds left as Winthrop finished the game strong for the 74-64 victory. The win put me at 3-0 for the day.

4:48pm... With 4 minutes to go, Tennessee was up 107-82 against Long Beach State. Plenty of Swiss Cheese defense in that game. West coast hoops players are infamous for not playing defense, while Tenn's reputation is that they're a bunch of chuckers. Put them together and you got a 200 point affair. I knew I should have bet the over, but I made a promise to myself to not bet over/unders. The final score was an outstanding 121-86, as three starters had at least 22 points each. That 121 points might be a record. Tenn pushed me to 4-0 overall for the day.

5:15pm... With 15 minutes remaining, Wisconsin made a 12-5 run to pull within four. With 10:15 to go, Kammron Taylor drilled consecutive three-pointers to even the game at 47-47, and then hit another jumper to give Wisconsin its first lead of the day. He dropped another trey, as he scored 11 points in under two minutes. Nevada (Reno) trailed Creighton by a couple of buckets for most of the day in a very close game. With two minutes to go, Nevada tied the score at 59-59. They had too many chances and couldn't convert in crunch time. Overtime.

5:33pm... Marcelus Kemp hit a couple of clutch FTs to seal Nevada's overtime 77-71 win over Creighton. That nail biter meant I was 5-0.

5:36pm... Wisconsin's Kammron Taylor had scored zero points in the first half and dropped 22 in the second half. His four free throws put Wisconsin up 14 with 1:20 to go. They'd end up winning by 13, which meant it was a push. I'll take it considering an hour ago, I pretty much wrote the Badgers off. 5-0-1 for the day.

6:55pm... First loss of the day. The Ducks won by 2 against Miami (Ohio) but didn't cover. Where's Prefontaine when you need him? 5-1-1 overall.

8:15pm... Going into halftime, Texas and Va Tech ain't looking so good. I need strong second halves from those guys.

8:45pm... Pauly's Pub Update: Paboo is ahead in the Pauly's Pub March Madness Pool with 220 (or 22 correct picks). There's a three way tie for second with Senor, JoeSpeaker, and Change100 each having 210 a piece.

8:56pm... The Hokies have been outshot and outrebounded. No wonder they trail by 9 with six minutes to go.

9:20pm... Illinois hit a dry spell as Va Tech pulled within 2 with 1:32 to play. They were down as many as 13 points. Deron Washington dropped a jumped with 47 seconds to play to give va Tech their first lead in the second half. They outscored Illinois 12-0 down the stretch for the 54-52 come from behind victory. Of course, the spread was 3, so I lost another game, this instance by one fuckin' point! 5-2-1 overall for the day.

9:40pm... Hook'em muthafuckin' horns! Texas was up by seven with 2:30 to go. Their long range shooting was lukewarm, but they were nearly perfect from the free throw line which kept my hopes of covering the spread alive. I prayed that New Mexico St. would miss a series of shots then quickly foul Texas as they padded their lead. New Mexico's chances slipped away when Tyrone Nelson picked up his fifth foul on an offensive charge. As expected, Texas hit their FT's (25-26 overall) as they sealed the victory and covered! Swingman Kevin Durant from Texas led everyone is scoring with 27 points, including several big FT's in the last two minutes. I needed that Texas win to end the two game slide. I'm 6-2-1 overall.

10:03pm... I shoulda went with the gut and Kansas. 40 point blow out. Yikes. The Jayhawks stomped the Purple Aces. JW's Purdue pick ended up coming out right.

10:50pm... Florida is making it interesting as the Gators only up by 2. I'm winning 2 out of the 3 bets I have left, with two of those games at halftime. Kentucky is up 2 and the Salukis are winning but not covering. USC is cruising along.

11:23pm... Playing 5/10 with Zeem on Full Tilt. I'm currently clearing a bonus.

12:01am... UK opened up a 7 point lead with 11:14 to go as Nova continued to shoot poorly from everywhere on the floor. Nova's Scottie Reynolds was shut down and scored his first FG in the second half with less than 3 minutes to play. He led all scorers with 23 points. Kentucky won a first round game for the 16th consecutive year. Talk about having one of the most solid hoops programs in the nation. UK won 67-58 as I improved to 7-2-1 for the day.

12:06am... The S. Illinois Salukis held on for a 10 point victory over Holy Cross, who only played seven players. The Crusaders were tossing up bricks all night going 1-11 from the line and shooting under 30% from the field. The Salukis covered as I improved to 8-2-1 with USC in command.

12:21am... USC breezed to a 77-60 point victory over #12 Arkansas. There were no upsets from #12 seeds this year. I really didn't see it happening. I didn't like the match ups. I figured a #11 seed would upend and #6 except I picked the wrong one. The USC win pushed me to 9-2-1 for the day and 17-5-2 combined for the first two days. Outstanding. Let's hope that I can keep up that pace for the next round.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/16/2007 10:58:00 AM | Permalink |

 
March Madness Round 1 Thursday Betting Lines

By Pauly

Beware the Ides of March! Over 2050 years ago on this day, Julius Caesar was whacked by a cabal of disgruntled senators. Today, as the Ides is upon us, I'm ready to get my ass kicked across the board; poker, the stock market, and March Madness. Let the onsluaght begin...

Here are the betting lines courtesy of BoDog as of 11am ET.

12:20p Davidson +7.5 Maryland
12:25p Texas Tech +3 Boston College
12:30p Stanford +6 Louisville
2:40p Oral Roberts +7 Washington State
2:50p Old Dominion +2 Butler
2:55p Belmont +17 Georgetown
3:10p Pennsylvania +13.5 Texas A&M
5:10p George Washington +4 Vanderbilt
7:10p Virginia Commonwealth +6 Duke
7:10p Central Connecticut +20.5 Ohio State
7:20p Michigan State -2 Marquette
7:25p Weber State +20 UCLA
9:40p Wright State +10 Pittsburgh
9:40p Xavier -2 BYU
9:40p Eastern Kentucky +27.5 North Carolina
9:55p Gonzaga +1.5 Indiana

Here are 12 games that I'll bet on today:

Maryland -7.5
Texas Tech +3
Louisville -6
Oral Roberts +7
Butler -2
Texas A&M -13.5
Vanderbilt -4
Duke -6
Michigan State -2
Pittsburgh -10
Xavier -2
Indiana -1.5

Best of luck today!

* * * * * Random Live Updates * * * * *
2:33pm... I went 2-1 in early action. Louisville thumped Stanford. Had I known that was going to be a layup, I would have bet 3x more. Maryland made it interesting. Talk about a nail biter for 39 minutes. The high tempo action actually favored Davidson and thank God that Mike Jones drilled that trey with 2:12 to go. Definitely needed that bucket. It's like filling in a flush on the river. I owe that kid a lap dance. And kudos to the Terps for hitting their free throws down the stretch. Nothing makes a gambler happier that free points with the clock not running. Then there's Texas Tech. Bastards. Bobby Knight (during his Indiana years) usually went out in the first round or went deep. I actually split Texas Tech and BC in my pools. This was a coinflip to bet on and I figured that Knight would have solved a way to defend BC's flex offense. Texas Tech kept it close but they blew too many layups and missed a couple of crucial three pointers late in the second half. They were only down 5 with 29 seconds to go, but couldn't catch a break. It would have been nice to start March Madness 3-0, but I'll take a 2-1 start. And yes, I've been watching the games on mute.

4:27pm... Lost the Oral Roberts game. I flip-flopped my bet at the last minute, something I never do. I know that Derek has a problem with avoiding his gut choice. Whenever he switches a pick or a player in his fantasy teams at the last minute, it ends up back-firing on him. That's why I always tell him to stick with his gut. Of course, I failed to heed my own advice as Wazzu prevailed over the Orals. They actually had a two point lead at the half and were down by 6 with eight minutes left, but could not get any closer. 2-2 overall.

5:05pm... The ODU-Butler game was ignored by CBS suits as they gave the NYC metro area the G'town blowout. Eventually CBS switched over to the Butler game. It was an ugly first half as Butler trailed 21-19. What's this HS girls hoops or something? After Butler's AJ Graves hit a trey, ODU led 33-32 with 11:16 remaining. ODU would go on a six minute dry spell as Butler pulled away. AJ Graves finished with 18 points. He grew up in the same Indiana town that Daddy lives in. Small world. Butler won by 11 as I improved to 3-2 overall.

5:20pm... Another close one. Texas A&M blew a 14 point lead and was behind those Ivy Leaguers at Penn. With 13:04 left to play, it didn't look good for the Aggies until Joe Jones threw down two big dunks as A&M regained the lead. Penn went on a six minute stretch where they didn't score as the Aggies took control of the game. I was worried in the last few minutes with A&M ahead by 13. They had the game won but they had been shooting terribly from the free throw lane. When it came time for Penn to foul, would they be able to convert at the line? Luckily, Penn missed a few shots and A&M held on for the 16 point victory even though they shot 15-27 (55.6%) from the FT line. If they want to go deep in the tourney, the Aggies better start hitting their second half FT's. That win put me up to 4-2 overall for the day.

5:38pm... Just got a text from my buddy JW. He said, "Picking Indiana over Gonzaga??? You are crazy! Want to take any side action on that one or BYU?"

6:46pm... CBS went to local news, so I had to follow the Vandy-GW game via ESPN. They won by an impressive 77-44 victory. Again, I wish I tripled my bet in that game. I'm 5-2 overall. I have action on 5 out of the last 8 games today. I'm thinking about changing my Xavier pick and going with BYU instead. I have a couple of hours to decide. Perhaps JW talked some sense into me?

8:45pm... Sticking with Xavier and going with the gut. Besides, I caught Dickie V on ESPN and he said BYU was a lock, which means bet on Xavier becuase you always fade Dickie V's picks. Since I can't stand to watch Duke, been watching the other games online at CBS.sportsline. In my games, Michigan St. is leading by a lot while Duke is barely covering.

9:35pm... Michigan State started out with a 14-0 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 12 point victory. Tom Izzo's crew beat up on Marquette, who at one point made 10 3-pt FGs and just 5 regular FGs. Some teams live and die by the three, however when your shooters go cold, it's simple... you lose. Marquette missed something like 17 treys. MSU's win made me 6-2 overall for the day which I needed since Duke's in big trouble.

9:40pm... We have our first upset of the tourney as #11 seed VCU picked off #6 Duke. Bittersweet. I hate Duke, but I bet on them. They lost so it's hard not to be too upset. They blew it too and had a 7 point lead with seven minutes to go when they gave up consecutive three pointers to VCU who quickly took over momentum. Duke missed three big shots in crunch time and two free throws which could have sent the game into OT. I didn't like any of the #12 seeds and did not pick any of them to upset this year. I closely examined the #11 seeds. Unfortunately, on one of my sheets I picked the wrong #11 seed and went with GW to upset Vandy and then knock off Wazzu in Round 2 as they advanced to the Sweet 16. Boy was I wrong. That was a longshot at best because I ended up betting on Vandy. Anyway, Duke's loss put me at 6-3 for the day. I have Xavier, Indiana, and Pitt going in the late games. Will I choke and end up 6-6 or can I improve to a magical 9-3?

11:42pm... Drew Lavender came through in the clutch. Xavier's guard scored just 2 points in the first half yet dropped 15 in the second half including two big baskets late in the game. I thought Xavier was going to pull it out when Danny Ainge's kid missed his second shot in crunch time. By the way, I know I'm getting old when there are players and coaches I used to watch when I was a kid who all of a sudden have their sons playing and coaching. Patrick Ewing, Darryl Strawberry, John Thompson, Danny Ainge all have kids playing/coaching in March Madness and there's plenty more. Alas, BYU scored when seemed like meaningless basket as time expired as Xavier squeaked out a two point win 79-77. Anyone who bet on BYU got lucky as they picked up a draw, while folks like me who bet on Xavier were wicked pissed. Yes, I pushed. Boooooooooooo! I'm 6-3-1 with two games to go.

11:50pm... Rod Wilmot nailed 6 three-pointers and DJ White put up a double-double as they led Indiana to victory over Gonzaga 70-57. Indiana was up for most of the game and pulled away with a ten point lead with 10 minutes to go. The Hoosiers win pushed me to 7-3-1.

12:10am... Sometimes you just have to convert more buckets than your opponents to win. Pittsburgh hit twice as many three-pointers as Wright State. They also shot better from the field. Pitt led by 13 at the half and jumped out to a 23 point lead in the second half as Wright State could not stop them. All of Pitt's starters scored in double digits as they kept Dashaun Wood (19.8 ppg during the season) in check as he only scored 13. The win by Pitt put me at 8-3-1 overall for day 1. Both underdogs that I took today lost.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/15/2007 11:39:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Balance

By Pauly

"Be soft, yet not yielding. Be firm, yet not hard." - Bruce Lee

I spent the past week down in sunny and breezy Florida visiting several old college friends and taking in the Langerado Music festival which featured some of my favorite bands and musicians. Over four days, I caught 21 different musical acts... Grey Boy All Stars, Yerba Buena, JJ Grey & Mofro, Perpetual Groove, Medeski Martin & Wood, My Morning Jacket, STS9, The Heavy Pets, Dubconcious, Lotus, Tea Leaf Green, New Monsoon, North Mississippi All Stars, Galactic, Bela Fleck, Trey Anastasio Band, Taj Mahal, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Matisyahu, Toots & the Maytals, and Widespread Panic. The major highlight was My Morning Jacket's set. Once again they proved why they are my new favorite band. Check their website and the next time they come to your town... go see them.

I went to this musical festival with the usual crew of Change100, the Joker, and Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot. Sweet Pablo and his buddy Chris made a cameo as well. Feel free to stop by the Tao of Pauly for setlists, recaps, and pictures. I have not had time to edit the video footage.

Here are the recaps:

Langerado Day 1
Langerado Day 2
Langerado Day 3

The music and partying was fun, as usual. However, the best part of my week in Florida was the reunion with some old friends from college. I had not seen them in a few years and it was amazing to be around people who have known me since I started college in 1990. I must have lived a couple of lifetimes since then. Seeing college friends reminded me about the journey I have taken in the last 17 years since I first left home in NYC and moved to the South for college. The reunion experience was humbling, entertaining, and inspiring.

I often draw inspiration from my close friends, especially those I've known for a decade or more. They are the ones who have encouraged me to be myself and have been an amazing support group and willing to make sacrifices for me in my selfish pursuit of the arts. Their generosity and work ethic is admirable and I often try to examine their individual success in order to see if I can apply anything that they do to my line of work.

My friends included four different guys who grew up all over the country.... Long Island, Miami, Texas, and believe it or not... G-Vegas. Today, they are all successful in their own way. Two attorneys, a real estate guru, and a broker. They have four kids among the group and have careers that most of the population would be envious about. Aside from being friends with me, what was the one thing that they all shared in common? Balance.

They all lived balanced lives and each person attributes their individual success to a little luck, a lot of hard work, but at the end of the day... it was a balanced life that enabled them to avoid burnout. Living a varied life was crucial so that their sole existence was not just work, work, work.

Balance is one of the most essential aspects of Taoist philosophy. The Tao has basic respect for the natural balance in all things. For example, you don't try to usurp the balance of nature. You simply have to adjust to its flow. Respecting balance is one of the keys to success in whatever you do. Being able to handle the daily stresses of life, work, family, and poker requires you to possess the ability to maintain your sense of balance when things are not going your way.

Your boss just chewed you out and you are on major asshole tilt. Do you let that affect the rest of your life and allow it to spill over into your office work, relationships, or even at the poker tables? The simple answer is... of course not. But it's not an easy task to let something like that roll off you and not seep into your thoughts while at a meeting with a client, or while having dinner with your family, or while you are close to the money bubble in a tournament.

Back to the Bruce Lee quote... "Be soft, yet not yielding. Be firm, yet not hard." He's preaching balance and flexibility. Both are traits that my friends have and utilized in order to arrive at a successful point in their lives.

One guy is a lawyer by day and a musician by night. He taught me how to play guitar and he's played in bands since college and during law school. He attributed his guitar to what helped get him through stressful moments during law school and during the first few years in the workplace. No matter how awful his work load got, he always had that Friday night gig to look forward to, or as soon as he'd get home, he'd have his guitar in hand before he even took off his tie. Instead of hitting the bottle hard like most lawyers I know, he let out his daily aggression out through music.

Another guy is a real estate guru who once told me that I needed to stop writing for other people and focus on building up the Tao of Poker. That was three years ago. And, he was right. He used to be one of many real estate brokers in a big office and decided to go out on his own. He hit a homerun. His advice to me was to stop thinking about getting a few hundred bucks here and there and start thinking about the bigger picture. Six figures. Seven figures. He believed in my talent and said that I need to have faith in myself. Since I was still an unknown, I had nothing to lose. I made a lot of bad decisions along the way in my freelance career (like writing for outlets who have not paid me such as High Roller Magazine), but I also made some interesting gambles which paid off immensely. That guy's idea of balance was the work hard and play hard philosophy. He'd work for everyday for three weeks straight then get shitfaced in the Bahamas for four days before he returned to work for another 21 day run before he flew off to Europe. He was a machine and I'm not surprised he's sitting in a fat mansion in Coconut Grove.

My other buddy is also an attorney and he carefully balanced out work with friends and family. It was important for him to stay in touch with friends and be active in everyone's life. An avid golfer, he was always on the links which helped soothe the soul after a long day at court. He also focused on a serious relationship which eventually evolved into marriage and fatherhood. Having a family was important for him because it helped keep his passion of the law going strong. He told me that it was not hard letting a bad day of work get to him when he'd come home to his house and see his wife and kids.

The last guy is a broker and another a musician. He played guitar and drums in various bands over the last ten years. His clients think it's awesome that he's a musician and he definitely uses that as a selling point. They don't see him as a scumbag broker who wants to churn and burn their accounts. He's also a serious outdoorsy type of guy who loves hiking and skiing. He balances music and skiing with his tough work schedule. He couldn't think of life without either. That makes him happy and confident which his friends (like me) feed off of and it's also what makes him attractive to prospective clients.

What all four guys had in common was the willingness and ability to maintain a healthy balance in their lives. They understood what they wanted in life (which was a bonus) and pushed themselves as the surpassed their personal goals and milestones. They understood that you have to work but also knew that they would never allow their jobs to define their existence. The balance is what made each aspect of their lives special. The balance also helped breed confidence which is a necessary trait to being a successful person.

Over the last year, I tried my best to implement the important cornerstones that helped my friends get to where they wanted to go. I figured out that in order to keep myself sane and to avoid burnout, I desperately needed time away from the poker scene and from the tables. Less poker and more life. I worked hard, and partied hard. I made sure that my daily life encompassed many things, not just poker. I took on less freelance work and added more personal traveling to my schedule. I got back in touch with my musical roots and made a conscious effort to see as many concerts as I could. I limited my time online (sorry that I haven't been answering emails; something had to give!) and I spent more time outdoors. I also got into a relationship with an awesome chick despite the fact I basically live out of my backpack and are never in the same place for more than a couple of weeks at a time. Somehow, we've made it work for almost a year. I have a more balanced life now, and even though there's been a ton of bad shit going down (getting sick and the UIGEA), I've been somewhat calm despite the dire circumstances.

There are some people who are successful by doing nothing but playing poker, or trading stocks, or billing out 90/100 hour work weeks. But they will tell you that they are missing something. That something is balance. And unless you are able to give balance full respect, you eventually will be disrespecting yourself.

I've traveled the world, been to many cities all over the globe and met many different people from all walks of life. The one thing I learned from conversations with others is that life is incredibly short. Some of the happier people I've met have a special balance in life, while some of the more dour souls are the ones who are caught in a rut.

Instead of saying, "I wish I had more time to do......" Stop what you are doing and do it.

My friends were not afraid to pursue other interests outside of work and instead of coming to a crashing point where they wondered what life would have been like if they played in a band or had a wife and kids... they went out and did just that. Someday, you'll be gone. You might die a quick death but what if get sick and it takes a while before you finally kick off? Do you wanna be laying in a hospital bed in a puddle of your own shit and piss with tubes sticking out of you wondering what life could have been like? Or do you wanna be in that same spot and welcoming your impending death because you lived your life your way and you didn't have any regrets?

Balance means different things for different people. If that means quitting your job to play poker full time, then do it. If it means taking a shot at the WSOP main event, then go for it. if it means walking away from poker and gambling and pursuing a different hobby, then stop reading my blog.

There is more to life than poker. But, if you want to be successful at poker and what it to be an integral part of your life, you need to balance that out with something else. It's up to you to determine what that is. And trust me, when you're running bad at the tables and want to die because a you got sucked out on for the umpteenth time by the same donkette, you will feel a lot better when you step away from the tables and focus on something else like taking your kid to soccer practice or trying to pick up high school chicks off of MySpace or planning out that trip you always wanted to take to Kenya.

A balanced life will be able to fend off all of that anger, frustration, and depression that often accompanies a rough day at the tables.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 3/14/2007 07:52:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Dysthymia

By Pauly

Dysthymia: chronic depressed mood for most of the day, more days than not, for at least two years. Often considered to be a "characterological" depression - the depression is the very core of how the person operates and thinks. These individuals experience chronic feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. The symptoms are thus similar to Major Depression, just not as severe. There is, however, no "loss of interest in pleasurable activities" nor an "inability to experience pleasure" which sometimes accompanies Major Depression.

I'm sure that the Poker Shrink would have more to say about the topic of dysthymia, but if there's one word that could aptly describe my poker play at some point in my life, it would be... dysthymic. The first few months of 2006 were the height of my dysthymic period when I lost a chunk of my bankroll online.

We've all been down about our poker game. Usually we're stuck in a rut and unable to make good things happen. Sometime we're caught in the middle of a horrendous losing streak. Or perhaps you're hitting the wall day after day and bubbling out of tournaments after several hours of solid play only to get sucked out on by some 14 year old kid from Finland.

Pros tell you that losing streaks are a part of the game. Some even admit to going broke more than once. Some pros go broke a few times a year. What they don't tell you is that losing streaks are what set apart the pros from the amateurs. Some newbies give up after they go broke and never return to the game. Other beginning players fail to adjust their games during losing streaks as they slide deeper and deeper into oblivion. Pros often will look at their game in terms of the bigger picture. Have they been making solid decisions? If not, then they need to plug those leaks. If so, they carry on to play another day knowing that over the long run they can and will beat the game.

However, after you drop your tenth buy-in at a 10/20 limit table inside of a week, you start to question everything in your poker arsenal.

Am I playing too many hands? Wait, I'm playing too tight. I need to limp more with big hands. I need to stop being a pussy and raise more with junk hands. I need to re-raise more in position because that's what Doyle would do. I should jam more with draws. Suited gappers are underrated. I'll never play A-Q again. I need to play more aggressive on the turn and stop worrying about getting sucked out on. Maybe I need to play more passive post-flop because I keep overplaying my hands when I miss the flop. I need to take better notes on my opponents and stop downloading Shaved Swedish Teen porn. I need to pay more attention to the stats because numbers never lie. I need to play more tables simultaneously because that will mean I'll play tighter. I need to switch to NL so I can get a big score because I'm sick of those inbred fucktards who can't fold any ace or any two suited cards in limit. PLO is the future of poker so I need to stop playing Hold'em. I am fat. I am repulsive. I cannot bear my own reflection. I need to hang out with more pros so I can learn more about poker. Ah, fuck those assholes. They're just degenerate lucktards and most of them are backed anyway. I need to stop playing short-handed because I'm getting killed in rake. I need to read old poker books and brush up on Super System. I need to read less about poker and more about philosophy and military strategy. I need to read less forums and I need to find some new poker blogs to read. I need to turn off my chat. I should hide myself from searches because all my railbirds are bad luck. Maybe I should only play on weekends? No, I should only play on weeknights. Never during the day, because that's when the pros play. But the sharks wait until the weekends to fleece the fish. Maybe I should only play at Midnights on Tuesdays. Maybe if I put less bad beats on people, I won't get so many in return? I lose too much on Poker Stars so I'm only going to lay on Full Tilt. Fuck, do I miss Party Poker. I never had losing streaks on Party Poker. Maybe I need to develop an addiction to speed? And not trucker's speed, the real shit. The stuff Air Force fighter pilots get. I need to quit poker and get out while I still have some dignity left. This isn't fun anymore. I should write more about competitive eating. No, I'm going to finally sit down and write that Las Vegas book, even if it kills me. No, on second thought that screenplay idea needs to be hammered out. Who wouldn't want to see Reservoir Dogs meets Bring It On? Maybe I should join the Peace Corps and teach people on the Solomon Islands how to built huts and purify their water? Wait, what city am I in again? Don't I have a plane to catch?

Of course that internal conversation runs through my head on every hand that I play. After a few hours, I'm mentally exhausted. Throw in a losing streak and I'm completely spent after a session.

I'm from the school of thought that if you are in a rut, you plug away and play through it. Whether it's writing or poker or life, I keep on going because eventually the tide has to turn. After the major loses in early 2006, I managed to stop the bleeding and became a break even player before I started winning again. I had a couple of decent months and a few bad months, but I avoided any bad losing streaks aside from the stretch in December when I got my ass handed to me in Las Vegas during the blogger trip after I got seriously cold-decked playing Pai Gow. To this day, I often wonder how any sane person could lose $1K playing $5 Pai Gow. Yet, that's what happened. Sometimes, I'm addicted to losing.

That's when I decided that there are times when you should avoid poker during a losing streak. How do you stop losing money during a bad run of cards? Don't play. That will guarantee that you "break even." Lou Krieger suggest watching movies during a losing streak. There are plenty of other things you could be doing to improve your life. Go spend time with your family or friends. Read a book. A non-poker book. Clean your house. Go exercise. And how about this... go out and get yourself laid. If you have to pay women to fuck you, go spend some of your bankroll and get a rub and a tug. If you have any mojo, go get shitfaced at the local bar and go home with a complete stranger. If you are a female, just walk outside and show some cleavage. Within five minutes someone will hit on you. Sex is a great distraction. Trust me. A chilling orgasm will make you forget about the river donkeys in a heartbeat.

That time you spend away from the tables will do wonders for your daily existence along with giving yourself a necessary break away from poker. Those feelings of worthlessness (due to your losing streak) will eventually subside if you spend a substantial amount of time away from poker. You will experience that there is indeed more to life outside of poker, so when you do return to the tables, your losing streak is less relevant and appears less severe in your mind.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.
posted by Pauly at 3/12/2007 12:21:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Poker News Videos and Truckin's L.A. Issue

By Pauly

Shronk has been busying splicing together a batch of amazing videos from the LAPC and WPT Invitational for Poker News. Here are three you should take a peek at:

Click here to view the Sabina Gadecki interview.


Click here to view the Wil Wheaton interview.


Click here to view the Jason Alexander interview.

* * * * *
I finally published the March issue of Truckin' which happens to be the second annual L.A. issue featuring some of your favorite L.A. writers and bloggers.

Truckin - March 2007, Vol. 6, Issue 3

1. Slices by Paul McGuire
I'd spent most of my time partying hard doing blow with C-List actors while avoiding the daylight and roaming the city late at night during one of the most rowdy benders I'd undertaken in the past few years. We were vampires, sleeping during the days and partying every night until sunrise. I would not crash until 6 AM and by the time I'd wake up, everyone on the East Cast was leaving work for the day... More

2. The Next Block by Joe Speaker
The crowd was a stew of unwashed urchins. My kind of people: musicians, writers and hustlers. Feast or famine in this town; the middle class doesn't pass the velvet rope, or lead the newscasts. Sally from Chatsworth is home making fucking meatloaf... More

3. Killing Independent George by Wil Wheaton
We played on for another few levels, the clatter of shuffling chips frequently interrupted by the TD announcing the exit of famous actor after famous actor. I will admit that it felt good to be outlasting them., though I will also admit that it was the most Pyhrric of Pyhrric victories: where it really counts in Hollywood, they all have their names on call sheets, while I have mine on a blog... More

4. Everything You Need to Know About Driving in LA by Change100
In order to become a true L.A. driving warrior, you will sometimes have to be the asshole. This doesn't mean you're a bad person -- it only contributes to your overall savviness. By understanding that this attitude is just an unfortunately necessary part of your own survival, inner peace will come much easier... More

5. 15 Seconds by Dan Keston
With minimal experience and a microscopic budget, I found a way to make a movie about kids and guns that was not only interesting enough to be one of sixteen selections out of five-thousand entries at the most prestigious festival in the world, but also the topic of a story on NPR and the lovechild of the largest gun lobby in Washington... More

6. Three Strikes and You're In by Dr. Tim Lavalli
It was then that I realized I may have made a mistake trying to have a 'break-up' dinner here. Becca's gastronomic creations always put me at ease but ease was not the best place for easily ending a relationship. Besides the vaunted 'do it in public break-up' was a cowardly way out... More

I ask that if you like these stories, then please do me and the rest of the writers a huge favor: Tell your friends about your favorite stories. It takes a few seconds to pass along Truckin'. I certainly appreciate your support. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you know anyone who is interested in being added to the mailing list.

Thanks to the writers who exposed their souls to the world and wrote for free! Thanks again to you the readers for wasting your precious time with Truckin'. Until next time.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.
posted by Pauly at 3/07/2007 02:55:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Beverly Hills Home Game

By Pauly

I attended a Beverly Hills home game last week. I busted a 91 year-old woman at the final table and had pocket Aces slows played against me by a 16 year old high school girl on my way to taking third and cashing in the tournament.

Schecky had invited me to play in his regular home game a few times over the last couple of months. That's where Jen Leo first learned how to play. I had always been busy and did not have the time to play. Change100 had played in it before and had a blast, so when we were invited last week, we could not resist the offer to play with Schecky, Jen Leo, and some of Schecky's friends that he's known for almost twenty years.

The game was held in Beverly Hills a few minutes down the street from Change100's apartment. The area is so exclusive that there are special parking rules and you have to leave a special code written on a piece of paper in your dashboard otherwise, the federalies come and tow your car and hold it hostage.

The host is a good friend of Schecky's and they run a two table $20 buy-in tournament along with all you can eat food and drinks for an extra $10 donation. That night, the menu featured Philly cheese steak sandwiches. I would have drank excessively if I wasn't still coming off an illness and jacked up on medication. I had one Stella and had to limit myself to mineral water the rest of the night.

I've played in many different home games over the last twenty years and the majority of them are constructed for social interaction. The stakes don't matter because it's about hanging out with friends and having a good time. Competition and skill are secondary to the camaraderie and relaxed atmosphere that the games instill. That's why I find it difficult playing in high stakes and ultra competitive home games.

Who likes taking their friends' money? Sadists and assholes do. That's social misfits tend not to get invited to home games (or invited back) because when the goal is to have a fun time, those folks tend to ruin the philosophy of the night. Most people work hard and are looking for an evening of stupid jokes, drinking, and getting away from the spouse and kids. Home game poker provides that for a couple of hours.

Last year, when Ferrari wanted to raise the stakes at the Blue Parrot to 5-10 NL with a max 1K buy-in, I protested along with F Train. The whole point of a Monday night home game was to have a random sports game on in the background, and keep the investment at a level where you can win a few bucks but not lose your shirt if you just want to have a good time.

Sure, I like a little mental challenge from time to time, but if I want to make money, I'll play online or in a casino. If I wanna have a few laughs over a game of cards, then home games are the way to go. The emphasis was on people, not poker.

The regulars in Schecky's game could afford to play for much higher stakes, but that was not the point. They hosted the games because they loved poker and enjoyed being around cool folks. The crowd was an interesting mix and was an even 50/50 male to female ratio with an age variation from 16 to 91. Yes, there was a 91 year-old woman who was sweet as can be playing in the game. She started playing Stud years ago and is a regular in the Beverly Hills game. Like half the folks in the room, they were all originally from (or lived at some point) in New York City. The eclectic crew featured a rabbi, a television writer, a former entertainment lawyer, a comedienne, a former NBA basketball player, a travel writer, a CEO of a global media empire, a student at Beverly Hills high school, and a film producer. It was an interesting mix of people, which added for a flavorful night.

I must add that the home game coincided with a birthday party for the hostess’ dog. Yeah, I kinda crashed a dog's birthday party. He turned 21 in dog years and was allowed to drink. One of the women who played in the tournament was only there for the birthday party and brought her puppy along for play time with the other dogs. While the game went down, several dogs ran amuck throughout the house and would dart underneath our table. One of them had a bladder accident right behind my chair and I inadvertently stepped in dog piss. That rarely happens at the Bellagio.

Change100 and I drew the same table in the den while Jen Leo and Schecky got the other table in the dining room. Before I even sat down, I was on tilt after the comedienne introduced me to the rest of the players as Change100's husband. I subsided eventually but the hostess also leaked out that, "Pauly has played in the World Series of Poker with Schecky."

The rest of table took note of and a few admitted that they were scared of me, which was funny. I never think of myself as the shark. I was there to have fun and not there to take everyone's money.

"I'm just a freelance writer. Hack for hire," I joked. "I'm actually here for the dog's birthday party."

Here's my starting table:

Seat 1: Mark aka Schecky's best buddy

Seat 2: Woman who showed up for dog's birthday party and bought in because we were playing, "That Texas poker, like the stuff I see on TV?"

Seat 3: Comedienne with a diabetic cat

Seat 4: Russian guy

Seat 5: Hostess

Seat 6: Former NBA player

Seat 7: Change100

Seat 8: Young Asian woman who won the week before

Seat 9: Your Hero

I managed to have a last longer bet with Schecky and that was the only thing that I wanted to win. I did not get any cards early on and could not pay like a wild maniac. Instead, I sat and mucked all of my hands as I watched everyone play and crack jokes. The dogs kept running around and the hostess brought out cupcakes from Sprinkles for dessert. She even had little ones made up for the dogs.

The woman who didn't know how to pay caught some sick cards. Like a newbie she didn't raise with her premium hands and was a calling station. Alas, the deck hit her in the face and she even flopped the nuts with a full house. The comedienne played fast and loose because she had a 11:15pm curfew because she would have to get home in time to inject her diabetic cat with insulin.

The Russian guy busted out early when his A-K ran into the hostesses A-A. The NBA player lost a lot of chips to the woman who showed up for the dog's birthday party.

I heard some hilarious things that you would only hear at a Beverly Hills home game. Such as:

"I had my aura photographed last weekend."

"Everyone knows you need a great agent and an even better plastic surgeon."

"Did you know Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch has been rented out as a retreat for priests? And it happens to be across the street from a middle school for boys. Creepy."

"I just wanted to buy a pack of pens at Office Depot. I came out an hour later and spent $400. I even got a cash register for $100, which I don't really need."

"I was wondering if you could take a peek at the last new draft of my screenplay?"

"How often do you feed your dog lamb?"

"Who would want to rob me? All they would get is my Prius and a diabetic cat."

"Anyone know any good acupuncturists?"

"I spent $40,000 renovating my bathroom. It was $38,000 for the marble and two grand for the toilet."

Schecky and Jen Leo busted out early and I won the last longer which meant that I was freerolling the tournament. After getting chipped down, I started making moves with junk hands when the blinds jumped up to a decent amount. I raised a few times with decent hands and showed and then used my image to pick up a few pots. I eventually made the final table along with Change100 and we were 6th and 7th in chips.

The final table featured Dave the host who grilled the steaks, the 91 year old woman, and the host's niece who I had no idea she was 16 until I discovered later in the night. I thought she was in her early 20s, and she clued us in about her age when she mentioned, "It's late. I shouldn't be driving after 11pm."

"You on probation or something?" I asked.

"No. You can't drive after 11pm in the first year you get your license."

"Wait, how old are you?" I wondered.

"I'll be 17 soon."

"So you're 16?" I said.

She nodded.

"How's this year's crop of freshman chicks looking?" I said as Wooderson's voice from Dazed and Confused echoed through my mind. "That's what I like about high school girls. I get older and they stay the same age."

Yes, I was seated in between Change100 and the 16 year-old high school girl. I was sweating like Nabakov. I was a walking Amber Alert waiting to happen. Alas, I stayed on my best behavior.

Change100 and the Comedienne busted on the same hand in a four way pot. The high school chick had Q-Q. The host had A-10. Change 100 had K-10 and the comedienne had A-J. The flop was 10 high as the high school chick scooped the monster pot.

I raised preflop with 10-10 and the 91 year old woman called me. At the time she was the chipleader and doubled me up when I pushed on the flop with all undercards and she called with A-Q. I doubled her up a few hands later when she won a race against me and I eventually busted her when my small pair held up over her overcards. Two for three with coin flips against the 91 year-old woman. I felt bad about busting her and offered to play high stakes bingo for $100 a card next weekend.

I made the money and with four to go, I was shortstacked. I sucked out on Mark when I cracked his Kings with the tourist. I rivered the Ace too. He busted out in third and it was three-way between myself, the host, and the high school chick.

I found Ks-Kc and was all in preflop against the high school chick. She had K-10. I joked, "I'd hate to see an A-Q-J flop."

The host was dealing and he peeled off the flop cards. Ac-Qc-Jc. The high school chick flopped the joint but I had a royal flush draw. The turn was the Qs, which gave me more outs with a boat. That's when the 10c spiked on the river and everyone still left went nuts. The high school girl was stunned. I would have taken any club, but the 10c was clutch as I rivered the royal flush.


I tried to slow play aces and didn't get paid off. I was tied for the chiplead when I thought I had a monster that would seal the victory. I had 8-8 and min raised from the button. The host called in the small blind as did the high school chick. They checked to me on the ragged rainbow flop and I pushed all in. The host folded and the high school chick instantly called as she flipped over two black aces.

Ouch. Slow played by a high school chick who had black nail polish on her fingers.

"Don't you have a curfew?" I snapped.

She laughed as she stacked up all of my chips.

The games end at Midnight no matter what and we played a few minutes past since the host was still in the game. We ended up chopping it up and I had the least amount of chips and finished in third place. The high school chick took second and the host won it all.

It had been a while since I played in a home game and I had a blast. Jen Leo was worried that I didn't have a good time. She thinks that if there's not an eight ball worth of blow on the table, then I'm bored off my ass. Usually that is the case, but in that instance, I was having a great time meeting new people and playing some cards.

I've experienced the dark side of poker over the last few years and it's refreshing to see instances when poker is just a friendly game and a conduit for a good time among good people.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.
posted by Pauly at 3/05/2007 02:01:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Flipchip's NBC Heads Up Photos and the Tao of Search

by Pauly

Flipchip is in Las Vegas covering the NBC Heads Up Championship. Stop by Las Vegas and Poker Blog and check out his red carpet photos of the epic event. Flipchip also actually has a rare photo of Phil Ivey smiling in his Day 1 collection! Take a peek.

I have two photo galleries complete at Flickr. Check out the various shots I took in Australia. The first is all poker related photos. The second is my general Flickr account and it includes all random touristy shots of my time in OZ.

Tao of Poker's Aussie Millions gallery (19 photos)
Tao of Pauly's Australia gallery (182 photos)

Congrats to Nordberg for winning the WSOP Circuit event in San Diego two weeks ago. I hung out and drank with Nordberg at the Aussie Millions and he's a cool dude. I'm happy that he won his second Circuit event. Good job, bro.

Thanks to everyone who sent me traffic in February, especially the Top 10 Referrals. Tao of Pauly came out of nowhere to send me the bulk of my traffic. I'm just as shocked as you are. Some of my friends in poker tell me that Tao of Pauly is their favorite blog. The traffic there is growing at a much slower pace than the Tao of Poker, but I'm glad that anyone is reading it. Feel free to add Tao of Pauly to your Bloglines or RSS reader.

Top 10 February Referrals:
1. Tao of Pauly
2. Las Vegas & Poker Blog
3. Chris Fargis' 21 Outs Twice
4. Wicked Chops Poker
5. NeverWin Poker
6. Aaron Gleeman
7. Shaniac
8. AlCantHang
9. Pot Committed
10. Guinness & Poker

Top 10 Random Hilarious Google Referrals:
1. Spearmint Rhino Brandi Habawker stripper
2. Las Vegas NBA all star weekend fights, shootings, thugs
3. Cylcona Gowan naked pics
4. Girls blogs about testicle size
5. Brandi Hawbaker blog ninja insane
6. Clonie Gowen natural breasts
7. Phil Laak heroin Thailand
8. How to maintian strong and healthy dread-locks
9. Mr. Cashman tournaments held at the Taj Mahal
10. My cousin became addicted to crack cocaine she became a crack-whore after getting addicted to online poker

Top 5 Random Yahoo Searches:
1. Rhode Island midget stripper
2. David Williams porn with all the toe-sucking
3. Amish donkey bong bong chicks
4. Where can I find photos of women putting bottles in there pussy
5. (from Yahoo.fr) Sister and brother blow job

Man, those folks who search via Yahoo are a batch of deviant fuckers. I wish that I could make this stuff up. And I had no idea that the Unabomber was a junkie.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.
posted by Pauly at 3/03/2007 02:59:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Unknown Wins $2.4 Million at L.A. Poker Classic

By Pauly


Do you know who Eric Hershler is? He's the lucky mofo who played in his first live tournament and came from behind to beat JC Tran to win $2.4 million at the L.A. Poker Classic. The suits at the WPT must be cumming in their pants after a nobody came out of nowhere to win the largest WPT $10K event in their five year history. Yep, that's tournament poker these days, where the luckiest player beats out the best players in the world.

I wrote a full recap of Day 6 and the final table for Poker News. Take a peek.


JC Tran
(Photo Credit: Amy Calistri)
JC Tran has proven himself to be one of the toughest players on the circuit. He also won the largest ever online tournament a few months ago when he took down the WCOOP at PokerStars.

Paul Wasicka is not a fluke. The 2006 WSOP runner-up put on an impressive performance at the Aussie Millions and he played amazing poker for six straight days at Commerce.


Daddy's favorite: Chau Giang
(Photo Credit: Amy Calistri)
Chau Giang is one of the best players in the world. He loves poker, plays in the highest stakes cash games in Las Vegas, and will gamble on anything.

Yet, Hershler, the amateur who's originally from South Africa, emerged victorious and took home $2.4 million after he outlasted 790 other players. He also won a $25K seat into the WPT Championships next month at the Bellagio. Hershler now joins an elite group of previous winners that included Gus Hansen (2003), Antonio Esfandiari (2004), Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (2005), and Alan Goehring (2006).

JC Tran blew a tremendous chiplead to finish in second place. He doubled up Hershler on two decisive hands which cost him the tournament. On the last hand and the only hand of heads-up play, Tran flopped an ace with A-7, but Hershler flopped two pair with Jd-6d. Tran still won $1.1 million for his efforts. Here's the final table results:

1 Eric Hershler $2,429,970
2 JC Tran $1,177,010
3 Jacobo Fernandez $607,490
4 Paul Wasicka $455,615
5 Chau Giang $341,710
6 David Bach $257,425

You can head over to Poker News to read the live blog of the final table.


Eric Hershler - 2007 WPT LA Poker Classic Champion
(Photo Credit: BJ Nemeth)
Poker News blew everyone else away at the LAPC as far as media coverage goes. That's a testament to the amazing crew that Schecky assembled which included Shronk, Lavalli, Calistri, Change100, and Tiffany. Thanks to everyone who linked us up and followed along. And special thanks to the other members of my team who stepped up when I got super sick last week.

The next event that I will be doing for Poker News will be covering the Euoprean Poker Tour's Championships. The EPT Grand Finale will be held in Monte Carlo at the end of the month and a few of us will be there providing top notch coverage.

Aussie Millions. LAPC. Next up... the EPT Championships in Monte Carlo.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.
posted by Pauly at 3/02/2007 04:41:00 AM | Permalink |

 
L.A. Poker Classic Day 6: The Final 6

By Pauly


There are six players remaining at the L.A. Poker Classic and JC Tran still holds the chip lead, although it's by a slim margin. Daddy's favorite player Chau Giang squeaked into the final table and he joins WSOP runner-up Paul Wasicka, Jacobo Fernandez, Eric Hershler, and David Bach. The final TV table is set to go off at 5pm local time at Commerce Casino, and by the end of Day 6, a champion will be crowned and someone will walk away $2.4 million richer.

Final Table chip counts:
1. JC Tran $3.47M
2. Paul Wasicka $3.39M
3. Jacobo Fernandez $3.37M
4. David Bach $2.27M
5. Eric Hershler $2.16M
6. Chau Giang $1.37M

Final Table payouts:
1st Place: $2,429,970
2nd Place: $1,177,010
3rd Place: $607,490
4th Place: $455,615
5th Place: $341,710
6th Place: $257,425

Revenge on Tran's mind? Perhaps. JC Tran has his eye on the big cash after he squandered the chiplead at the final table last year. He eventually busted out in 5th place after he took a wicked bad beat from Alan Goehring. Tran had A-A and flopped a flush draw against Goehring's 5-5. Gohering was down to just one out, which he promptly spiked on the river. In 2004, Tran bubbled off the final TV table. So in the last four years at the LA Poker Classic, Tran has made two TV tables and was the bubble boy in a third. Tran also made the final table at the WPT Tunica in January and is at his third overall WPT final table.

I wrote a Recap of Day 5 which has been posted over at Poker News. You can also read my previous recaps:

Day 1 Recap
Day 2 Recap
Day 3 Recap
Day 4 Recap

Head over to Poker News for our Live Reporting updates of the final table of the L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce Casino.

There's are also plenty of photos courtesy of Amy Calistri in the LAPC Photo Gallery.

Don't forget to check out Poker News' video galleries such as the Day 4 Recap and an interview with Vinny Procopio.


Schecky and Mike Gracz agree that each other is indeed... the man.

Money winners on Day 5 included:
7 Bill Edler $189,840
8 Vincent Procopio $151,870
9 Benjamin Johnson $121,500
10 Jay Chang $91,125
11 Tad Jurgens $91,125
12 Jason Strasser $91,125
13 Chris Bell $72,140
14 Joseph Cordi $72,140
15 Juan Alvarado $72,140
16 Kristy Gazes $58,470
17 Shan Jing $58,470
18 Richard Munro $58,470

The final table resumes at 5pm local time, so don't forget to stop by Poker News and check out the Live Reporting of the LA Poker Classic.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.
posted by Pauly at 3/01/2007 12:33:00 PM | Permalink |