Welcome to the gambling ramblings of Pauly... a writer, traveler, and degenerate from NYC

 
Sky City Poker

By Pauly
Auckland, New Zealand

Our hotel in Auckland is located only a couple of blocks away from Sky City Casino. Change100 suggested we take a peek. We had nothing specific planned and my mood was slightly sour since we left Queenstown. I had fallen in love with the sleepy little ski town also known as the adventure capital of the world. After toiling for two and a half weeks covering the Aussie Millions inside the Crown Casino in Melbourne, I relished the last two weeks outdoors basking in the sun and enjoying the southern hemisphere's summer in the hippie/surf beachy resort town of Byron Bay, Australia and the bucolic enclave of Queenstown, New Zealand.

There was a casino (also called the Sky City Casino) in Queenstown and although we were tempted to go inside and find the poker room, we avoided it and opted to play Chinese Poker instead while sitting outside in front of the local bars. We also got our gambling fix by prop betting on miniature golf, which we played every day (and twice one day on two instances).

We reluctantly left Queenstown and the luscious south island of New Zealand and headed to the north island and Auckland to finish up our holiday before we fly back to Hollyweird. When we discovered that our hotel was so close to the casino, we decided to investigate the scene.

The Sky City casino reminded me of the Star City Casino in Sydney. Heck, I've been to casinos all over the planet and no matter where you go, you'll always find a geriatric zombie glued to a slot machine, pissing away the last of her spare change while she awaits her turn to dive into the unknown depths of the afterlife. I ignored the pits an the -EV games. There was no Pai Gow, so we headed for the poker room.


The poker room was located at the second floor and we found it completely empty. A huge sign that said, "The Poker Zone" hung on the back wall but the area which held six tables was deserted. Another sign near the front desk showed the times that the poker room were open. On weekdays, the poker room started up at 5:30pm and sign ups for the wait list began at 5pm. It was only 4pm so we left and decided to return at 6pm.

When we returned, there was only a 1/2 NL game running and I got on the wait list for 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL. There was an interest list for 5/10 NL and not one limit table. I signed up and gave them my mobile phone number. They texted me when they opened up a new 2/5 NL table. Change100 sat down at a newly opened 1/2 NL table.

There's no time charge at the NL tables at Sky City, but the rake is rape. They take out 10% up to $15. Unreal. I thought that the Star City Casino in Sydney was bad rake-wise, but that was ridiculous.

I had the big blind in the first hand. Old Kiwi in Seat 6 raised to $25. Action was folded to me and I peeled back my cards. I found two Jacks and tossed out four more red chips. The flop was Q-7-3 rainbow. I checked. Old Kiwi bet $35. I thought that was odd and considered a check-raise to find out where I was in the hand. I have no idea why I just called. The turn was another Queen. I fired out a bet about 2/3 of the pot and Old Kiwi moved all in. I tanked for about four minutes.

"I can't believe I'm going to go broke on the first hand," I said aloud. "Do you want me to call?"

The old guy sat and breathed heavily. If he had flopped a set and turned a boat (or turned trips) he would have not moved all in. I put him on A-K. My gut told me that I was ahead and I called. I tabled my Jacks and he did not show his hand. The King of clubs spiked on the river and I almost shit a brick.

"Show me your Big Slick," I said as I slid my hand in my pocket ready to rebuy.

The Old Kiwi flipped over a pair of tens. My Jacks were good and I doubled up on the first hand.

Since I had been talking during the hand, the rest of the table knew I was American. It appeared that everyone else at the table were locals and knew each other.

"The Yank sniffed out your shit," the guy next to me said.

Then he said a phrase that I cringe whenever I hear it..."You're not that blogger are you?"

As I raked in the pot, I sighed. There I was in a random casino in New Zealand, and a fan of the Tao of Poker was sitting to my left. I told him that I was who he thought I was.

"You guys better not play like a retard," he announced to the rest of the table. "Otherwise Dr. Pauly will write about how bad you play on his blog."

Luckily no one else was a reader (or at least they didn't admit that).

On the second hand, I found Kd-Qd in the small blind. I called a $15 raise from the cut off. The big blind called. The flop was Q-4-3. I fired out $30. The big blind min-raised and the original raiser folded. I called. The turn was a blank, and we both checked. The river was a King. I bet $100 and he called with 4-3. I showed my bigger two pair and won the pot. That's when I got the nickname, "The Lucky Yank."

A couple of orbits later, I felted two players on the same hand. Crazy Asian in Seat 1 raised $15. An androgynous person (who was a dead ringer for Pat from Saturday Night Live... you know that infamous recurring sketch, "A lot of people say, what's that? It's Pat!") called. I found Ks-Qs in late position and called. The flop was K-Q-9 rainbow. Crazy Asian bet $40. Pat called. I re-raised to $220. Crazy Asian moved all in for about $140 more. Pat called off the remainder of his/her stack worth about $100. I tabled my cards and they did not show theirs. The board ran out 5c on the turn and the 8h on the river. Pat insta-mucked and the Crazy Asian showed the Kc and mucked his other card. I dragged the pot. I was up three buy-ins in twenty-five minutes.

An orbit later, the Crazy Asian in Seat 1 got revenge. He limped. I raised with As-10s from the cutoff and he called. The flop was A-Q-J. He check-called a $40 bet. The turn was another Ace. I bet $100 and he called. The river was a low card (3 or 4... I can't recall). He checked. I bet $100 and he check-min-raised me. Wow, that's a play I see Scandis do all the time. I put him on a full house, but for $100 more I had to call and see just in case he was bluffing. Usually, when you get check-raised on the river (especially a min-raise) you're fucked. I pulled out a stack of red chips and he quickly showed his K-10o. He flopped the joint and I walked right into it. That Ace on the turn spelled my doom. I should have gotten away from that hand.

I played another hour and won one medium sized pot with Js-6s. I was up 2.5 buy-ins and decided to take the money and run, even though everyone at my table was super friendly and having a good time. I went to the bar and drank a beer and waited for Change100. She quit within an hour and we both walked away winners.

"I have never had a losing session in the Southern Hemisphere," she remarked as we walked out of the casino and headed across the street to a liquor store. We decided to celebrate our nice run in New Zealand, as she bought a nice bottle of wine.

P.S. While I was writing this post, a PokerStars commercial came on New Zealand TV. It starred Isabelle Mercier with Princess Leia hair kick boxing. I had never seen that one before.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/31/2008 06:23:00 AM |

 
Return of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly

By Pauly
Queenstown, New Zealand

See you on Saturday (Feb. 2) at 4:20pm on Poker Stars!


I first launched a private series of tournaments on PokerStars in November of 2005. Geez, has it been that long? Well, I sincerely thank those of you who patiently waited for the return of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly.

The format will be PLO (Pot-Limit Omaha). Buy in is $10. And the start time is at 4:20pm ET (or 16:20pm according to the PokerStars clock). Why 4:20pm? Because I wanted to pick a time where all of my international friends can play. So that's 10:20pm in Stockholm, Madrid, Munich, and France. It's 9:20pm in the UK and in Ireland. It's 6:20pm in Brazil. It's 1:20pm on the Left Coast and in Vegas. It's 11:20am in Hawaii. And of course if you live on the other side of the globe, it's actually Sunday Mornings with Dr. Pauly... if you live in New Zealand (10:20am on Sunday) or Australia (8:20am).

I'm hoping that the event will bring together poker players from all over the world. And naturally, PokerStars was the best place to run the tournaments. I have worked for them in the past and continue to shill for them on a constant basis. They have been extremely good to me, so when I was approached about running another series of tournaments, I couldn't say no.

Unlike previous events, there will not be a leaderboard.

I have zero intentions on keeping score. Why? Well, I point to a scene in Caddyshack when Judge Smails asked Ty Webb what he shot that day on the golf course. Ty Webb said that he didn't know because he didn't keep score.

"So how do you measure yourself against other golfers?" Judge Smails asked.

"By height," responded the zen-like Ty Webb.

I'll do my best to play every weekend, but there's no guarantee with my schedule. My philosophy for this series of events is to have a weekly gathering place of laid back folks from all over the world. Saturdays with Dr. Pauly is sort of like that cool out of the way bar (like Cheers where everybody knows your name) where you can just hang out and there's no pressure. Life is tough enough, and playing poker is even harder. Saturdays with Dr. Pauly is an option. Everyone is welcome. Come as you are.

Look for the tournament in the private tournament tab. It's not hard to find.

Hope to see you at PokerStars on Saturday for some PLO fun. And if you can't make it this weekend, there will always be next weekend.

If you don't have a PokerStars account and would like to open a new account, you can download the software by clicking here.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/28/2008 01:00:00 AM |

 
Soon Come: Saturdays with Dr. Pauly

By Pauly
Byron Bay, Australia

Yes, the rumors are true. Saturdays with Dr. Pauly will be making a return starting this February. Stay tuned to Tao of Poker for more details.




Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/24/2008 06:06:00 PM |

 
Johnny Hughes Book Review: Texas Poker Wisdom

By Pauly
Byron Bay, Australia

Matthew "Slick" O'Malley has been a Texas road gambler for fifty years. He wants to teach his nephew, Dylan, everything about poker: its strategy, culture, language, history, pitfalls, songs, movies, books, gambling joints, and web sites. "Did you ever want to be anything other than a gambler?" Dylan O'Malley asked his uncle... "There's no percentage in regrets, boy. To me, it's always been about time, not money. I found early on that I was up for about fifteen hours a week of hustling as a gambler. I have always watched everyone hurrying off to work. Not me." Dylan had saved $250,000 in poker winnings in two years. He said, "I love poker. I can't see going back to renting my life out by the hour. I can go anyplace I want all over the world and no-limit Texas Hold 'em will be there waiting for me. It's the purest form of freedom." - from the Inside Flap of Texas Poker Wisdom

Novels are tough to write. I've done it a few times and have a sense of respect for those scribes who complete a manuscript. Writing a poker novel is an even more difficult task. Not only does it have to be compelling, but also the poker scenes have to be accurate, believable, and exciting. I have thumbed through dozens of new poker novels over the last few years, but none of them stood out or held my attention long enough to read them.

That is until Texas Poker Wisdom came my way.

Johnny Hughes contacted me shortly before the WSOP. We had never met, but started a series of email exchanges. He was a fan of my work and often had complimentary things to say about me in various forums. He's always rushed to my defense when I got flamed on a 2+2 thread and offered me up plenty of advice. I guess you can say he had been sharing pearls of wisdom which he gained from being a Texas road gambler.

He also sent me stories which I would end up publishing in Truckin'. He had a knack for writing, and possessed the great gift of story telling.

Johnny Hughes eventually sent me a copy of his novel. I still have the doc file. It was cool that I got to read one of the final drafts before it went to the publisher. Although I was familiar with the material, I couldn't wait to dig into a real copy of the book. Hughes sent me the fifth overall copy, right out of the first box, and he even wrote a warm inscription to me. I was pleased that he included Truckin' as one of the numerous publications he had written for.

The book is a novel. I guess you can say it's a crime novel or a poker novel. There's a murder within the story and lots of poker. The protagonist, Matt, is a older gentleman from Lubbock, TX. He's a man of routine who has been living in and around the Lubbock for most of his life. He spends his mornings as a frequent caller into the local political themed talk radio show. Then he spends his afternoons looking for a good poker game at the various rooms and games around town..

One afternoon during a poker game, Matt comes across Dylan, a young hotshot and realizes that he's his long lost nephew. The first act of the book focuses on the reluctant relationship between Matt and Dylan. Matt's brother (aka Dylan's father) was murdered twenty years earlier, which remained unsolved. In a poignant scene, Matt takes Dylan to the location where he was shot and left for dead.

The second act is located in Las Vegas. The two embark on a trip to Sin City. While Matt prefers the seedier downtown, Dylan can't wait to play at the Bellagio. Dylan eventually gets backed by Matt and goes on a rush.

I won't go into specific details of the third act, because I don't want to ruin the ending, however Matt and Dylan get caught up into some big trouble and have to trust each other if the want to get out of a jam.

My only criticism was the last part of the book felt rushed since the first two thirds seemed to move at a much slower pace.

Aside from that, Texas Poker Wisdom is a fast read at 208 pages. I cranked it out during a cross country flight from NYC to Hollyweird. It's a great subway book or perfect to read on three-day weekend.

Johnny Hughes delivered a fascinating and entertaining novel with Texas Poker Wisdom. He accurately portrayed the underbelly and the shady side of the poker culture with his vivid characters and flavorful dialogue.

Oh and yes, my poker blog, Tao of Poker, is referenced by one of the characters. Pretty cool, eh?

Click here to buy Texas Poker Wisdom.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/23/2008 05:26:00 PM |

 
Aussie Millions Players Party Pics

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia

After the Aussie Millions final table ended, I headed up to the player's party at one of the nightclubs in the Crown Casino. Last year, the final table went late and I showed up at the party very late. This year, I got to hang out longer, because the final table ended just at the same time as the party started.

I guess you can say that I had a rough 24 hour span... starting from the night before the final table when I drank waaaaaaaaay too much and paid for it the next morning. On Sunday I struggled through a category 7 hangover all day and made myself puke before the final table started so I could actually function. Best decision I made in a while. Of course, once the final table was over... I jumped right back on the horse and continued my bender. I dunno when I'll be in Australia again, so I took advantage of the open bar and partying with some new & old friends from the Poker News crew. Yeah, I went a little nutty.


That's the end of the night pic of me icing up my black eye. Falling down is not something that happens to me... at all. I've hung with AlCantHang's crew and managed to always stay on my feet, despite the obvious damage to my internal organs.

Yeah, a rare incident happened. At the end of the night, I experienced an Otis-esque spill after drinking a Jagerbomb, when I fell down after I tripped over a lounge chair. The result? A banged up knee and a black eye. Luckily I didn't break my glasses or my camera. Despite the fall, I had a blast. I hope that I'm fortunate enough to be invited back to Australia and the Crown to cover future events. I have spanned the globe following poker over the last three years, and Melbourne is by far one of my favorite places to visit.

And yes, I have more pictures of the night's festivities. Feel free to pass them around. You can click on the individual photos to get a larger view.

Enjoy....






Yes, that's Brandon Schaefer dancing in the cage....































































































Hope you liked that. Feel free to check out more pics in my Australia 2008 photo gallery.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/21/2008 02:08:00 AM |

 
Borgata Poker Blog

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia

My buddies Friedman and Steve Horton are covering the Borgata Winter Open for the Borgata Poker Blog. Check it out...


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/20/2008 11:27:00 AM |

 
2008 Aussie Millions Final Table

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia

Well, this is the day everyone has been waiting for. Out of 780 runners, the final table is set. Erik Seidel is the last big-named pro remaining. It's not quite the stellar final table that we had last year with Gus Hansen, Gobboboy, and Andy Black finishing up 1-2-3. I'm sure everyone at Fox is hoping Seidel makes a huge comeback to win it... because if he busts out early, the final table has absolutely zero star quality.

Seat 1: Alexander Kostritsyn - 1,439,000
Seat 2: Peter Mobbs - 1,357,000
Seat 3: Antonio Casale - 1,995,000
Seat 4: Erik Seidel - 1,491,000
Seat 5: Nino Marotta - 1,649,000
Seat 6: Michael Chrisanthopoulos - 6,806,000
Seat 7: Peter Ling - 877,000

Final Table Payouts:
1 - $1,650,000 AUD
2 - $1,000,000 AUD
3 - $700,000 AUD
4 - $500,000 AUD
5 - $400,000 AUD
6 - $300,000 AUD
7 - $225,000 AUD

You can follow Poker News's live updates by clicking here.

I made a huge mistake last night, and embarked on a wicked seven-hour drinking bender with a few friends that started out at a local's pub at 8:30pm and ended up at the Las Vegas bar at 3:30am. Probably not such a good idea before I have to cover a final table.

Heck, today is my last day of work. I feel like my senior year in college, a couple of hours before my last final exam. I can't stop thinking about my four month hiatus away from tournament poker, and I'm trying to focus on "the now" which is somewhat hard to do with a pounding headache and a howling stomach. Alas, I'll shake it all off and be ready as soon as cards are in the air at the final table.

Update: After a tough heads up battle, Erik Seidel finished in second place to the young Russian, Alexander Kostritsyn. And yes, for the fourth year in a row, a non-Aussie won the Aussie Millions.




Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/19/2008 06:41:00 PM |

 
Quoted in a Cricket Story

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia


Shane Warne (photo by yours truly, courtesy of PokerNews)
I got quoted in an AFP article about Shane Warne's five minute penalty at the Aussie Millions in a piece titled Texting trouble sets back Shane Warne's poker career.

Shane "Warney" Warne is basically the Michael Jordan of cricket and one of the biggest Aussie celebrities. I think maybe a handful of readers (Garth, Irish Jim, and Conrad) know who Warney actually is.

Anyway, to give you some background info, a while back, Warne got busted sending a text to his girlfriend, but he accidentally sent it to his wife instead! It was a huge scandal down under. Anyway, on Day 1c of the main event, Warne got a five minute penalty for texting at the table. I didn't think it was a big deal since it happens at tournaments a lot. However, in Oz it was huge since Warne is one of their top celebs and he was busted before in a text messaging scandal. Anyway, all the mainstream media outlets went nuts. One international press outlet (AFP) called up the poker room for a quote and somehow one of the floor people handed me the phone. I chatted with the writer for a couple of minutes about poker penalties. Hence, that's why I was quoted about an Aussie cricket player.

As Conrad (a friend from the UK who is a huge cricket fan) wrote me, "Wow! I salute you. First American in the history of history to supply an authoritative quote on a cricket story. And it's a good quote. You absolutely nailed it."

You can read the article here.

You can follow coverage of Day 3 of the Aussie Millions here.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/17/2008 06:27:00 PM |

 
Prop Bet: Who's Taller... Amanda Leatherman or Annette_15?

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia

I made a massive prop bet with Change100. She said that Annette_15 was taller than Amanda Leatherman. I picked Amanda. We finally settled the bet during a PokerNews interview. It's currently Day 1c at the main event of the Aussie Millions. We snagged Annette_15 during one of the breaks for an interview. At the end of it, Amanda and Annette_15 sqaure off. I make a cameo at the end to officially find out who's taller...


If you are viewing this via Bloglines, Google Reader, or an RSS feed... you have to head to the Tao of Poker to view the video.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/16/2008 01:46:00 AM |

 
Back to Australia and Week 1 at the Aussie Millions in 4,500 Words or Less

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia

There are somethings about traveling frequently that gives you specific perspective on things. One of that is locale and the people who inhabit said locale.

I've been to some shittowns that had some of the most amazing people in my life, and there have been majestic places that had the worst kinds of people. Fortunate for me, Australia is one of those rare places with an stunning locale and amazing people.

Getting to Oz is not an easy task. It requires a 15 hour flight from the Left Coast of America as you cross the Pacific Ocean hurtling through the air in a metal tube and secretly praying that the pilot is having a good day and got some solid sleep the previous night.

Change100 and I both had aisle seats, as we had requested when we booked our passage on Quantas. I've flown United and Quantas to Oz and I prefer Quantas, although I flew business class at United on my way back to LAX and that was a divine experience. I hear that business class on Quantas is a step up. Friends of mine have flown Air Singapore or Cathay Pacific business class and say that's the best way to fly. It's too expensive for me to waste the cashola on that luxury. I've done enough flying over the last decade that I can suck up a 15 hour flight in regular seat. The problem is the unwashed mashes with you at the back of the plane.

I got issued a passenger bad beat right away. The guy next to me annoyed the fuck out of me. He took up the entire arm rest and kept invading my space... and that was before we even took off. I knew it was going to be a long 15 hours. Say hello to Mr. Xanax to ease the pain.

I read Sports Illustrated's year end issue and tried to ignore the guy spilling over into my personal space. I also read an entire Jack Kerouac novel, The Subterraneans, before we even reached Hawaii. Most folks overlook that minor piece of Kerouac's work, but the characters in the book are based on his friends including William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Larry O'Hara (the owner of the famous City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco).

I avoided the inflight movies and held out to the last minute since I had seen most of them before. However, after the meal service (a shoddy piece of rubber chicken whose taste was enhanced by the free red wine), I started The Bourne Ultimatum, which I had already seen three times. I passed out halfway and slept for almost three hours - which is almost the same amount of sleep I usually get.

I popped a second Xanax and passed out during the first few minutes of The Simpsons Movie. I woke up with about thirty minutes to go in the flick and was up for the rest of the flight.

The guy next to me kept spilling over into my seat. I'm repeating that same sentence from before, because it kept happening. I got up a lot and walked around when he put me on tilt or when I got totally bored. Change100 had slept most of the flight so we didn't talk much or get a chance to play Chinese Poker.

I listened to my iPod for the rest of the flight (I'm on a Sly and the Family Stone kick) and kept the guy next to me on his toes with an occasional elbow. I barely ate the crappy breakfast they served which included rubbery undercooked bacon and some sort of egg concoction that they also serve to malnourished children at inner city schools.

I got flagged at immigration because my visa didn't match my passport. I was told to sit off to the side while one guy snatched my passport and disappeared for about ten minutes. There was a slight error in the first initial of my middle name on my visa and I had to wait until everything was cleared up. When the immigration official returned, he grilled me about why I was in Australia and where I was going. He wanted to see my return ticket, so I showed him my e-ticket and a printout of my itinerary (which has me flying up to the Gold Coast and then to New Zealand). He eventually approved my visa and allowed me in the country.

As I told Andy Black when I saw him a couple of days ago, "I'm surprised they let you back in the country."

"I'm surprised too," he said.

Well, it was good to be back. Melbourne had become sort of a second work base for me outside of Las Vegas.

In my previous two trips, I spent my first meal with Jules and Graham, which has become a tradition. In January of last year, they took me out to an Italian place on Lygon Street then cooked me a BBQ the next day. In October, Change100 and I went to their house for dinner and wine. So it was fitting that we ate together at Rock Pool on our first night in town.

Rock Pool which is one of the best restaurants in all of Melbourne. They wanted to celebrate a few things... they both just got new jobs and had gotten married a few days earlier in Tasmania.

I posted pics of the meal on Tao of Pauly. And what a fantastic meal it was. I ordered a plate of San Daniele Prosciutto for my appetizer, while Change100 and I shared a "Dry Aged 36 Month Old Grass Fed Beef Rib-Eye on the Bone." Amazing.

We also drank three bottles of Shiraz (which Jules picked out) during dinner and had another after dinner. We had no idea... but the dinner lasted almost four hours long! When we left, it was almost 11:30pm. Time flew. We had so much fun hanging out and talking and catching up. Jules and Graham are tons of fun, and spending quality times with them are one of my favorite things about Melbourne.

We're staying at the Crown Towers, which is the swankiest hotel in all of Melbourne. The Crown Casino has two hotels and in my previous trips I stayed at the Promenade. It's nice, but the Towers is definitely a step up... sort of like the difference between the Mirage and the Bellagio. The Towers are almost on the same level as the Bellagio or Le Meridien in Monte Carlo or the Princess in Barcelona.

Our room has a fat ass Plasma screen and the beds are super comfy. If there's one thing I know about - it's different beds. Sometimes, I sleep in ten different beds a month. When I happen to discover a place on the road with a great bed, it's a blessing.

There's also a very comfortable reading chair by the window where I have been sitting and thumbing through my New Zealand guide book every morning. We also have an actual "changing room" with a big closest and space for multiple sets of luggage. That's also where the safe is located, just in case you wanna break into my room and steal my iPod and bankroll.

Ah, you can tell the opulence of a hotel by the size and detail of the bathroom. The Towers has an amazing bathroom set up. It's spacious and bigger than some bedrooms I've lived in during my life, with marble floors and a jacuzzi/bathtub. There's a TV in the bathroom and you can sit in the tub and watch the boob tube. There's a "private" shitter inside the bathroom with a glass door, along with a separate shower which is as big as some NYC studio apartments. I mean our entire bathroom from our apartment in Barcelona could fit inside the shower here.

We also have a scale. It lists weights in Stone and Kilos. It's slightly off, but according to the scale, I lost almost a 1/2 a stone since I arrived.

I always get confused when I'm in Australia. When I work on my laptop, it's set up for ET, so I always know what time it is in NYC since it's the center of the universe. Poker sites base their events on US ET, as do all sporting events (which I may or may not bet on).

I also rig the clock on my laptop so I know the time to make sure I meet specific deadlines. So I'm looking at it and it says 2:50pm on Sunday but it's 6:50am on Monday in Australia. I know. I know... just add 8 hours and subtract a day to figure out what time it is in NYC.

I preferred living/working in Europe because we're ahead of the US by five or six hours. I could actually make phone calls at 3am because friends were still up back in the States.

Alas, my new friend has been this site... World Clock.

Some of my clients are based out of Las Vegas. One is based out of Sweden another in the UK, and then I also do work for an Australian based company. My friends are scattered about the US in various time zones, my girlfriend lives on the West Coast, and my brother is in NYC. It helps me when I get lost. Some people turn to Jesus. Other turn to the bottle. I turn to the world clock to help soothe my lost soul.

Yes, life gets confusing for me sometimes when I'm rapidly jumping time zones and zig zag across international datelines, but the World Clock instantly tells me what time it is in that particular city, so I know if it's too late or too early to call someone. Without it I'm lost.

My vivid and bizarre dreams have returned. For some odd reason, I recall more of my dreams in Australia. This is my third trip inside of 13 months and that's been the one theme that has been common among all of the trips. Change100 experienced the vividness during her last trip and she's experiencing the same thing on this trip. Conversely, when my friend Ali from PokerStars (who's from Sydney) travels to America, she has extremely vivid dreams. I think it's some sort of dream exchange program with Aussies and Americans.

Schaubs and my buddy Jerry mentioned to me that it's marijuana withdrawal that makes you have vivid dreams. Perhaps that's the case? Who knows. But one of my dreams involved me losing a chunk of hashish in a mailbox and the hijinks that ensued while I tried to get it out. Another one had me backpacking in Germany and getting drunk with locals and taking photos on my cellphone with all my new friends.

* * * * *
On the night before the Aussie Millions kicked off, I had a staff meal at the pub where we got to know some of the Aussie members of the Poker News. Our crew is great with Amanda doing interviews with Tom as our multi-media guru. Garry, Heath, Change100 and myself are on blogging duties, with Damo, Shane, Brendan, Theo, and Dave as floor reporters. Dave (from The Bankroll Experience) was my right hand man during the WSOP this summer when we were assigned a slew of Day 2s. We have two photographers, Jamie and Kirsten, but both Garry and I have been taking photos as well. All in all it's a great crew.

Jonno, who had been head of tournament reporting at Poker News for almost a year, had returned to the Crown as the director of their tournament operations. I was sad to see him go, but it was cool to have him running the show. If we had any problems, we went right to Jonno, who understood what our job entailed, so he did his best to help us out with logistics.

Our staff dinner was short and followed by drinks in the Velvet Lounge. Jen Leo made the trip down under and tagged along with Schecky. In the past, Change100, Schecky, Jen Leo and I have played Chinese Poker in a sort of couples night out in Hollyweird. We resumed our roving game in Australia at the lounge.

My roommate from Amsterdam made a cameo. Johnny Mushrooms rented an apartment across the street from the Crown casino and was tanked when we finally met up. He's a poker pro and has a similar grueling traveling schedule like mine. He spent a total of 10 weeks at his home in Australia in 2007. He wanted to scale back the travel this year and I didn't blame him.

Anyway, after the Chinese Poker game broke up, we got smashed with Johnny Mushrooms and his buddy Luke as we recanted stories about our time in Amsterdam and how I almost shit my pants and took a dump in between two parked cars along the side of a canal or how our other roomie, Benjo (everyone's favorite French poker journalist), would fetch him fresh croissants every morning or we'd make fun of all the hookers who worked around the corner from our apartment.

I have woken up in Oz with a minor hangover most days. I had two wicked hangovers as well. I had only been in Oz for a couple of days, and almost drank a case of wine and a keg of beer. Alas, that's what I do down under... drink. A ton. I'd say that 75% of my total alcohol consumption in 2007 occurred in Australia.

I was excited for work because we had a good crew for PokerNews. I was also apprehensive because I was a bit rusty. That's why the early events in a "tournament series" like the Poker News Cup or Aussie Millions are usually like spring training for me. The first event was a $1K NL event which kicked off the entire Aussie Millions.

The big buzz of the day was that actor Michael Vartan (best known from Alias although I only saw one or two episodes of that show... but I know him better from flicks such as The Pallbearer and Never Been Kissed) was playing in the first event. Since his current show had halted production due to the writer's strike in Hollyweird, he flew down under to play some poker. He admitted that he developed an addiction to poker and said that he played a lot of online poker.

Of course, both Change100 and Amanda were swooning over his appearance at the poker tournament. They couldn't stop talking about how dreamy Michael Vartan was and we snagged him for an interview with Poker News. Too bad, but the pretty boy busted out early, yet Change100 and Amanda still kept talking about him.

Vartan read PokerNews' live reporting coverage and he liked the things that Change100 wrote about him. When she found out, she couldn't stop blushing.

Jules played in event #3 $500 Mixed Stud (Stud/Stud9/Razz). She busted out shortly before the dinner break, but it seemed like she had fun. I got to snap a cool pic of her. Sometimes you get lucky and can capture someone's personality with a picture. I managed to do that with Jules.

In the first three events in the Aussie Millions, Timex, an 18-year old kid from Canada who wore braces took second place in Event #1; Chris Cronis, a local famous fashion designer won event #2; and Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, a 20-year old internet pro from Illinois won Event #3. I covered Gobboboy's run and his mixed game skills impressed me. He went deep at the WSOP-E HORSE event in London and cashed there. Gobboboy gets a lot of shit. He's an easy target because of how he looks, but most of the haters are jealous about his ability. I've had the opportunity to slowly get to know him and he's a great kid that loves playing poker. He turns 21 this spring, and I wouldn't be surprised if he makes at least one final table at the 2008 WSOP.

* * * * *
If you want a random celebrity sighting in Melbourne, just head on down to the Crown Casino.

I ran into Jen Tilly in the poker room. She had a casino host with her and I cut through a crowd of people and nearly smashed into her. She was in town with Phil Laak to play the Aussie Millions. I've spotted them a lot at the different Asian eateries in the food court.

Michael Vartan has been hanging out occasionally in media row. He's digging PokerNews since he never knew it existed before we told him. And yes, Amanda and Change100 are still swooning whenever he walks by.

There was a rumor that a knocked up Pam Anderson would be in town too to play, but she couldn't get sponsorship. Several Aussies have wandered up to the media desk and asked me if Shannon Elizabeth would be here. She attended the event last year and magically appeared one day as she played in a satellite. I heard that she's being sponsored by Mansion Poker.

Schecky said that he saw Andy Roddick. Of course, the tennis pros are in town for the Australian Open and a lot of them are staying in one of the two hotels here. Last year, I saw Roger Federer and rode in an elevator with Maria Sharapova.

My buddy Brandon Schaefer is in town to play in some events. He's being staked and admitted that he didn't have a hot 2007 and has a huge make-up. Too bad that we can't do some traveling this time around since he has to get back to the States for a wedding.

His good friend Carl Olson is here as well. Olson has mixed feeling about poker these days.

"Sometimes I love poker, and most days I'm thinking... what the hell am I doing? Poker is such a bad thing," he mentioned.

Olson doesn't travel as much as some pros on the circuit and only plays in events where he can win a package. We briefly talked about his future, which involves less poker and the possibility of opening up a business in Seattle with Schaefer. It felt good to be able to talk to some pros about how too much poker sucks the soul out of you.

It's kinda funny... but "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" totally applies to poker. Most cubicle monkeys and suits I know what to quit their jobs and become a professional poker player. While most pros that I know are trying to find a way out of poker and start a business or get a real job as they get back into a life of normalcy.

Johnny Mushrooms has been playing a lot of the tournaments and I'm pulling for him and Brandon and Olson to go deep and make at least one final table each. And if they win... maybe they'll throw a victory party at the Spearmint Rhino down the street!

I covered the $100,000 buy-in event, which I think is one of the coolest events in all of poker. I know that Gary Thompson (from Harrah's) reads my blog, so Gary, how about a $100K event at the WSOP? That would be cool and I betcha you'd get almost 100 players.

Last year, the Aussie Millions 100K event drew 18 runners. Erick Lindgren won it and took down $1 million AUD. This year, there were 25 runners. Here's the original seating assignments...

Table 29
Seat 1: Nickolaus Jedlicka
Seat 2: Joe Reina
Seat 3: Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza
Seat 4: Emanuel Seal
Seat 5: Jeff Lisandro
Seat 6: Erik Seidel
Seat 7: Sergey Rybachenko
Seat 8: John Juanda
Seat 9: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson

Table 31
Seat 1: Michael "Timex" McDonald
Seat 2: Howard Lederer
Seat 3: Michael Sampoerna
Seat 4: Tony Bloom
Seat 5: Allen Cunningham
Seat 6: Eli Elezra
Seat 7: Dan Shak
Seat 8: Phil Ivey

Table 32
Seat 1: Tony G
Seat 2: Tom "Durrr" Dwan
Seat 3: Masa Kagawa
Seat 4: Mark Teltscher
Seat 5: Andy Bloch
Seat 6: Sandor Demjan
Seat 7: Erick Lindgren
Seat 8: Gus Hansen

The top 5 would win prize money in the $2.5 million prize pool. First place would win $1.25 million, which at the time would be the second largest prize ever awarded at the Aussie Millions (Gus Hansen won $1.5M for winning last year's main event and this year's main event winner is expected to win more than $1.5M).

Timex drew a monster table. I was interested in seeing how the young internet pros would hold their mud against the established Las Vegas veteran sharks. ActionJeff, Timex, and Durrr took a shot, which was admirable. But their willingness to play big pots ended up being their downfall. Although ActionJeff doubled up early on and held the chiplead for the first couple of hours, the young guns failed to advance to the final table and make the money. Compare their style of play to Howard Lederer's patient and disciplined strategy... and in that instance, slow and steady won the race.

Lederer put on an impressive display of Zen patience and living in the now. He never faltered or panicked with a short stack... something he had for the majority of the tournament. At one point, he never had more that 250K (the starting stacks were 100K). When it was four-handed he had about 250K and that's when he shifted gears are started playing some pots.

Erick Lindgren did not repeat, and it was Lederer who took down the first place prize of $1.25 million after he beat Mark Teltscher heads up to win. Michael Sampoerna took third and Jeff Lisandro finished in 4th place. Nikolaus Jedlicka finished in 5th and got his money back minus the juice.

Teltscher was banned by PokerStars and cannot play on their site or at any of their events. Like JJProdigiy (who turned 18 recently), they were unable to play at the PCA in the Bahamas, since Stars banned them from all live events that they sponsor as well. Alas, Australia has become a refuge for shady online players. That's the only place they can get a game since the PokerStars sponsored APPT and EPT won't let them in the mix. Yeah JJProdigy had been playing in some of the events. When I asked him how come he didn't play in the 100K he said that he wanted to. However, he didn't have enough cash on hand to play. He called up his parents and asked them to wire him some money. When they found out he wanted $100K to play in a single tournament, they denied his request.

The main event of the Aussie Millions starts on Monday. There are three starting flights and the final table will be on Monday. Check out our live reporting coverage at Poker News.

I managed to bump into jeciimd, the fellow blogger who won the BBT2: Aussie Millions Challenge. We chatted for a bit and he's playing on Day 1a.

* * * * * *
I have been gambling a bit since my arrival in OZ. I'm up about 2K in combined poker and sports betting. I played 2/3 NL in the Crown poker room three times. The players are horrible at that level and it's a very profitable game. I won a bunch my first two sessions and donked off some of my winnings in the infamous Gavin Smith/Paul Wasicka donkfest.

I played at the same table as Change100 and flopped quad Kings on hand and didn't get paid off. I felted two guys who were bluffing into me when I had made hands. Sometimes poker can be fun and easy when you have bad players wanting to give their chips to you.

Most of the Aussies I know dig American culture include entertainment (music, books, movies, TV), sports (NBA + NFL, and even MLB), and especially politics. The politics buzz in Australia was about Obama. Everyone's been asking me if that's going to be our new President. Bush isn't the most popular guy in the world and they are hoping we can get a change in the White House and help improve our faltering image overseas. I thought it was interesting that the average Aussie knows more about our political process than most Americans. What a shame.

So, I'm betting on sports again. Albeit, small bets. I started betting on the NBA with Schecky. He picks a random game on the card to bet on. We'd look up the point spread and he'd let me pick a side. So far I'm 0-1 because Memphis fuckin' blew it against Golden State.

On the first weekend of the NFL playoffs, I went 2-2 betting with the local bookies. I had Jacksonville against Pittsburgh and they didn't cover by a half a point. I would have gone 3-1 if it weren't for that game. Regardless, I turned a small proft the first weekend.

Now, the real money came in this weekend after I went 4-0. San Diego, Jacksonville, Green Bay (in the snow), and the Giants. It was one of those rare times when every pick I made turned to gold. It's Murphy's Law... as soon as I starting betting small, I began to hit more of my picks. had I been betting two or three dimes a game, I would have lost all of them.

The biggest clutch bet was taking the money line in the NY Giants-Cowgirls game. Damo, one of our Aussies working at PokerNews, is a huge Giants fan and told me that the money like was +385 for the Giants. When I got my bet in, it had dropped to +325. I knew that was a longshot, but I had a gut feeling about the Giants. Who would have thunk that Eli would be the one Manning that went to the final four this year?

I dunno who I'll bet on next week's games... I might not bet at all. I'm up a bit and won enough to pay for my trip to New Zealand at the end of the month with Change100. I'm gonna use some of my winnings to go bungey jumping off a bridge.

Ah, I forgot to mention that at any given time, either cricket or The Simpsons is on the TV in my hotel room. There's was a controversial match the other day between Australia and India which seems to be making headlines down under. I'm still a cricket novice but I'm slowly learning how to gamble on it. I have a softer and milder approach to sports betting this year, in hopes to curtail my degenerate behavior.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
posted by Pauly at 1/14/2008 12:06:00 AM |

 
Aussie Millions Photo Essay

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia

I'm too hungover to write after drinking until 6am. So how about a couple of my favorite pics? I took these for Poker News over the last eight days. Some of them appear on their site, so these images are courtesy of PN.




Gobbo's stack


Gobboboy's winning hand...


Gobboboy wins Mixed Stud...