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

 
WSOP Day 5 - Live Blog for Event #2 40K NL Final Table and Event #3 1K Donkulus Day 1B

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

The first significant final table of the WSOP is about to kick off shortly on an extremely busy day that features the final table of Event #3 Omaha 8, the second flight of the Donkulus, and the Main Event Champions Freeroll.

Event #2 40K NL - Day 4 & Final Table
Remaining Players: 9
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400

Final Table Seating Assignments:
Seat 1: Ted Forrest
Seat 2: Noah Schwartz
Seat 3: Alec Torelli
Seat 4: Isaac Haxton
Seat 5: Greg Raymer
Seat 6:Justin Bonomo
Seat 7: Lex Veldhuis
Seat 8: Dani 'Ansky' Stern
Seat 9: Vitaly Lunkin

End of Day 3 Chip Counts:
1 Isaac Haxton - 5,955,000
2 Vitaly Lunkin - 4,565,000
3 Lex Veldhuis - 3,805,000
4 Greg Raymer - 3,345,000
5 Alec Torelli - 2,340,000
6 Justin Bonomo - 1,685,000
7 Dani 'Ansky' Stern - 1,300,000
8 Noah Schwartz - 660,000
9 Ted Forrest - 560,000

Final Table Payouts:
1 - $1,891,012
2 - $1,168,566
3 - $774,927
4 - $548,315
5 - $413,166
6 - $329,730
7 - $277,940
8 - $246,834
9 - $230,317

One of those nine players will win the 40th Anniversary bracelet. Stay tuned for live updates.

Ironically, I'm the chip leader at the final table of a private tournament hosted by Wil Wheaton. We both made the final table and I knocked him out in 7th place when my nines held up against his A-10. I actually finished in 5th place. At the final table, I ran into Aces three times and lost to quad Queens. Yet somehow, I managed to finished in 5th. Thanks for hosting Wil, and thanks for the kind words on your blog.

* * * * *
2:01pm... Final table has been delayed as ESPN's crew sets everything up. A waitress was spotted handing out free beef jerky to the final table players. Greg Raymer snagged a bag. I felt pretty jealous so I headed to the media room for a few bag of Steak Nuggets. I know that you're jealous. MeanGene and I are gonna start running a beef jerky racket and sell the free samples that I get in the media room. Black market jerky. Sometimes, I love Las Vegas.


Photo by Benjo
So MeanGene and I drafted final table players for a prop bet...

Team Pauly: Haxton, Raymer, asnky, Zee Justin
MeanGene: Lex, Lunkin, Torelli, Tedd Forrest.

Poor Noah was the odd man out looks like he'll win the entire fuckin' thing!

* * * * *
2:50pm... Cards in the air!

After an expected delay (TV tables are notoriously late to start), Jack Effel recycled the story about how the 40K came to be. His lovely wife suggested a 40K buy-in for the 40th Anniversary of the WSOP. Anyway, I'm investigating the rumor that the winner of today's event secures both a bracelet and a year's supply of beef jerky.

Be sure to listen to the latest episode of Tao of Pokerati featuring a cameo from Benjo! We discuss the final table for 40K NL and stray off topic and discuss the Frenchies recent trips to strip clubs.

Tao of Pokerati
Episode 11.8: $40K Final Table Dance (4:25)

* * * * *
3:23pm... Bonomo 1, Raymer 0

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 9 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Isaac Haxton
Shorties: Ted Forrest

Not much to report. There was only one flop through the first dozen hands.

And then we had our first potential elimination when Justin Bonomo was all in pre-flop against Greg Raymer. Justin held A-J versus Raymer's A-8. Raymer's hand did not improve and Justin doubled up to almost 3M.

* * * * *
3:38pm... Ansky Doubles; Ted Forrest Eliminated in 9th place ($230,317)

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 8 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Isaac Haxton
Busto: Ted Forrest

We had another all in with Ansky fighting for his tournament life. All in preflop. Lex called with Ac-Kc vs. Ansky's Ad-Js. By the turn Ansky picked up a flush draw. Although he missed on the river, he won the pot when a Jack spiked. Ansky doubled up. The Dutch press was rooting for their hometown hero, Lex, and they were pissed when Ansky rivered the jack. "Donk-a-shame!" they screamed.

On the nexthand, the two short stacks battled. Ted Forrest was all in with Jh-10d vs. Noah Schwartz's pocket trey's. Noah's treys held and Forrest eliminated in 9th place ($230,317).

* * * * *
3:52pm... Noah Schwartz eliminated in 8th place ($246,834)

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 7 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Isaac Haxton
Busto: Noah Scwartz

Short stacked Noah Schwartz moved all in w/ A-K against Greg Raymer's A-A. Raymer's Aces held up despite getting them cracked twice yesterday. Noah Schwartz headed to the rail in 8th place. Down to 7 with Haxton still the chipleader.

* * * * *
3:57pm... Raymer 1, Haxton 0

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 7 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Vitaly Lunkin

Isaac Haxton was all in with pocket Jacks vs. Greg Raymer's 6-6 on a flop of 9-6-5. Raymer's set held and he doubled up versus the chipleader. Raymer doubled up and Haxton still retained the lead despite the hit.

* * * * *
4:20pm... Smoke Break, Champions Invitational Annoucements, Fossilman = Chipleader

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 7 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Greg Raymer
Shortie: Alec Torelli

The 40K NL is on an extended break.

Greg Raymer is the new chipleader with 6.4M. The Russian is not far behind in second place. Action was paused while all eyes in the Amazon Ballroom were focused on Jeffrey Pollack announcing the former Main Event champions. Jesus, Scotty Nguyen and Doyle Brunson got the loudest ovations.

Amarillo Slim played but Russ Hamilton obviously was not there.


Photo by Mean Gene
Peter Eastgate is currently AWOL. Nicholas Levi, a French pro on Team Winamax, knows Eastgate and called him to find out his whereabouts.

Anyway, the winner of the Champions Invitational gets a free car. No cash. But they also get a Binion's Cup. That would be cool to have on your mantle. Props to Greg Raymer for focusing on the 40K NL bracelet event instead of this PR freeroll.

Today's smoke break is brought to you by PokerStars...


And since it's 4:20pm... I want to let all the Phisheads out there know that I'm also live blogging the set list of Phish's epic show at Fenway Park in Boston. Head over to Coventry Music Blog for set list info and live updates of Phish in Fenway. Thanks to my boys Kid Dynamite and G-Rob for the set list info.

* * * * *
5:20pm... Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis eliminated in 7th place ($277,940)

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 6 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Greg Raymer
Shortie: Alec Torelli
Busto: Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis

The Dutch Pro Lex, also known as Evelyn Ng's boyfriend, was one of the short stacks. He was all in with Ad-7d all in vs. Raymers Kc-Ks. Rayner's Cowboys hold up. Raymer runs good. Down to 7.

* * * * *
5:36pm... Alec Torelli Eliminated in 6th place ($329,730)

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 5 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Greg Raymer
Shortie: Ansky

Short-stacked Alec Torelli was all in with Ah-2h vs. Isaac Haxton's As-10d. Haxton's hand held up. Torelli busted in 6th. Down to five.

Over in the Champions Invitational, Jamie Gold was the first player to bust out. Fitting said Benjo that he'd be the first world champion to head to the rail.

* * * * *
6:15pm... Ruskie Chip Leader; Omaha Final Table Set

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 5 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Vitaly Lunkin
Shortie: Ansky

It's true. The Ruskie, aka Vitaly Lunkin, has taken over the chip lead from Greg Raymer. Aside from that, not much else has happened in the last hour or so.

Over in the Omaha event, Sebastian Ruthenberg bubbled off the final table in 10th place. A final table of nine is set.

Seat 1: Ming Reslock
Seat 2: Jordan Rich
Seat 3: Pascal Leyo
Seat 4: Ed Smith
Seat 5: Freddy Deeb
Seat 6: Senovio Ramirez
Seat 7: Thang Luu
Seat 8: Robert Price
Seat 9: Jim Gear

* * * * *
6:15pm... Dani 'Ansky' Stern Doubles Through Fossilman

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 5 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Vitaly Lunkin

Short-stacked Ansky moved all in with As-10h. Greg Raymer called with 7s-7d and led until Ansky spiked a ten on the river to double up to almost 420K.

ZeeJustin has been rather quiet. Just sayin'.

* * * * *
6:50pm... ZeeJustin = ZeeGone; Eliminated in 5th Place

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 4 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Isaac Haxton

Cooler. Justin Bonomo was all in with J-J against Isaac Haxton's A-A. Aces hold. Bonomo eliminated in 5th ($413,166)

We're down to the final four. Ansky. The Ruskie. Fossilman. Haxton.

* * * * *
7:27pm... Moneymaker Eliminated from Champions Freeroll

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 4 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Greg Raymer

Over in the Champions Invitational, Chris Moneymaker was the last player to bust. He went out in 19th place. No car for Moneymaker. Down to 18 with Carlos Mortensen the chipleader.

Greg Raymer regained the chiplead after he flopped the Wheel with 5d-2d! Gotta love that Raymer was open-raising with Gus Hansen hands. The Ruskie is not far behind and also has 8M plus.

* * * * *
7:50pm... Dinner Break

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 4 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleader: Greg Raymer

The final four players are currently on a dinner break. Action resumses around 9:20pm.

* * * * *
7:50pm... Ansky Eliminated in 4th Place ($548,315); Greg Raymer Eliminated 3rd Place ($774,927)

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 2 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400

Shortly after the dinner break, Ansky took a big hit when Isaac Haxton doubled up with a flush. Ansky busted out shortly after when his Q-10 lost to Haxton's Big Slick. Down to three players. Greg Raymer has a slight chiplead, but the remainign two... Haxton and Vitaly... all have similar sized stacks.

Just when it looked like action was going to slow down, there was another all in preflop. Haxton's 9-9 was ahead of Raymer's 5-5. Haxton's nines held and Raymer was dunzo.

Down to two players. The Ruskie and Haxton with Haxton holding the obvious chip advantage. with 16M to 7M.

Champions Invitational
Remaining Players: 16

Amarillo Slim was the last player to bust out in 17th place to a warm applause when his name was announced over the PA. According to Oliver Tse's twitter feed, Jerry Yang, busted out in 18th place when his Aces were snapped off by Scotty Nguyen's Queens.

* * * * *
11:44pm... 11 Champions Sitting on a Wall

Champions Invitational
Remaining Players: 11
Total Prize Pool: Just a car and a cup

And they're down to 11 players vying for the sweet car and the Binion Cup. Johnny Chan was the latest casualty as he headed to the rail in 12th when he ran into Jim Bechtel's pocket Aces. Jesus left the building in 13th and Scotty succummed in 14th place. Brad Daughtery was eliminated in 15th place. Daugherty is not the former UNC hoops player but the pro who wrote several books with TJ CLoutier. Obviously they were poker startegy books and NOT craps strategy books. Of Course, if I wrote a craps Strategy book, it would be one page cotaining two sentences... "The major key to NOT being a losing player in craps? Don't play."

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 2 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400

26 hands of heads up play? Slow. Tedious. Haxton had almost a 2 to 1 lead to start, but the Ruskie chipped away within ten hands. He picked up a few small pots until he took over the chiplead on Hand #120.

* * * * *
12:11am.... Back-to-Back Luu

Congrats to Thang Luu for winning a bracelet in Event #3 $1,500 Omaha 8. He won the same event in 2008, and in 2007, Luu finished in second place in a $2,000 Omaha event. Talk about an amazing feat in the last three years. Fear Thang Luu. Can Luu threepeat in 2010?

Champions Invitational
Remaining Players: 10
Chipleader: Carlos Mortensen
Shortie: Phil Hellmuth

With Joe Hachem's elimination in 11th place, the final table is set. Action will resume at 3pm tomorrow. Winner gets a little red Corvette.

* * * * *
12:31am.... Bouncin?

I took a walk aound the Amazon Ballroom. The cash games are spilling over from the red section into the orange section. After all those broke-dicks busted out of the Donkulus, they headed straight to the cash games. Wasn't that the evil master plan all along? Churn 'em and burn 'em. Scarf Boy aka German pro George Danzer is playing nearby.

The Donkulus is on the verge of finishing up. The board lists 400 players but that number is a little lower. They will return tomorrow along with the 376 who survived Day 1A.

* * * * *
1:20am.... Swings and Swings; Ruskie Runs Good

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 2 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400

Just when it looked like the Ruskie was on the verge of winning his first bracelet, Isaac Haxton caught some timely magic. He doubled through Lunkin when he snapped off Aces with K-10 to take lead. Yeah, he rivered a ten to double up and re-take the lead. Lunkin got it right back when he rivered a flush two hands later. The Ruskie has over 18M to Haxton's 6M.

Oh, and happy 4:20 to all of my East Coast readers.

* * * * *
1:34am... Vitaly Lunkin Wins $40K NL Bracelet

Event #2 40K NL - Final Table
Remaining Players: 1 out of 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400

After a grueling heads-up match, we have a winner.... Vitaly Lunkin. Wait, who the hell is that guy?

Well, the guy I referred to as the Ruskie, Vitaly Lunkin, won the $40K NL bracelet and $1,891,012 for first place. Unfortunately, Isaac Haxton bused out in a disappointing 2nd place and collected $1,168,566. Not a bad pay day for a runner-up.

With the completion of the final table, the live blog is closed. Thanks for following along. I'll be back tomorrow for more live updates. Stay tuned for a Day 5 recap which I'll start writing as soon as I get home.


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 5/31/2009 03:44:00 PM | Permalink |

 
2009 WSOP Day 4: Nostrum Donkulus

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas is a city of contrasts and contradictions. We're technically sitting on the edge of Death Valley in the middle of the desert, yet a sprawling and pulsating city has been built up from scratch.

On one end of the Amazon Ballroom, the upper echelon of the poker competed for almost $2 million and bragging rights about winning one of the most expensive NL tournaments in Las Vegas. Several members of poker's established old guard battled it out with the new wave of young, brash, and seasoned veterans of the tempestuous world of online poker. New money vs. old money. But the one thing they had in common? The proper financial backing and the testicular fortitude to brawl with at least one hundred of the premier NL tournament players in the world.

And on the other end of the room, several thousand members of the proletariat and poker enthusiasts enduring economic hardships took advantage of a discounted donkament that otherwise became known as the Donkulus.

"WSOP Bracelets! Get your discounted WSOP bracelets! 33% off!"

The promotion worked so much so that the event was sold out. 6,000 runners took advantage of Harrah's bailout package. It was a sincere gesture of populist proportions to give the working class stiffs, tourists, amateurs, dreamers, broke dick poker players, and everyone else an opportunity to win a coveted WSOP bracelet. The sympathetic powers to be obviously understood that the WSOP had to creative something to address the ephemeral cycle of economic decline and at the same time attract more players and fans than in previous years.

The lower buy-in opening weekend tournament attracted plenty of riff raff. With six thousands players converging on the Rio, more than a handful were hostile individuals with questionable morals. It also meant that a high percentage of players were on tight budgets due to the credit crunch. A hearty reminder of players trying to save money included the procession of people walking down Flamingo from the Strip to the Rio on the overpass covering the I-15 freeway. They could barely scrape together $1K to buy-in to the Donkulus, let alone scrounge together some cab money.

The night before, instead of unfurling a wad of Benjamins, I spotted several disheveled runners counting out single dollar bills as they pushed a small pile of small bills towards the cashier. A couple of homeless-looking guys even paid with rolled-up pennies. Several desperate people took cash advances on their credit cards in order to pay for the buy-in.

Although the Donkulus event attracted a couple of top pros, they were anomalies among the scores of dead money that loitered around in the hallways starting an hour before the tournament kicked off at noon. A couple of players tried to sneak through the side door in an attempt to take their seats early. I commented on Twitter that, "If you show up 35 mins early to take your seat in a donkament, I can 100% guarantee that you won't be winning this tournament."

It's funny because it's true.

I've witnessed the bloodshed in different clashes including both the Main Events and $1,500 donkaments. It's virtually impossible to keep up with the inescapable slaughter. The rate of players falling on Day 1A was an astonishing five players for every minute.

Yes, every five minutes, the Killing Fields claimed another victim. Most of the media avoided the plight, especially ESPN who never considered covering the Donkulus for a second when a scintillating tournament transpired in a cloistered corner of the Amazon Ballroom. Security was super tight as surly guards roamed the areas surrounding the 40K NL event. It was a safe or green zone where the upper crust could cheer on their peers without being swarmed by the ravenous fans. The guards kept them out along with all the stray donkeys who lost their way.

In order to prevent myself from being attacked by any rabid donkeys that wandered up into the press box, I attempted to purchase donkey repellent before the WSOP began. Unfortunately, I was unable to acquire that item on such short notice. Alas, it was on back order so I picked up bear pepper spray. It's highly affective and stuns donkeys (and bears obviously) by simply squeezing the trigger.

And where did I get bear mace? From one of those 2012 Armageddon websites that suggested you use bear spray to thwart assailants in a home invasion during the impending apocalypse.

I apologize for the tangent. Moving on...

The popularity of the Donkulus forced the Rio to set up tables in the hallway in front of Buzio's, even though they promised that they would do their best to not have to utilize that spill over (and highly inconvenient space). The only good thing about that area? It's within walking distance to the Hooker Bar. Heck, as soon as you busted out of the Donkulus, you could make a bee-line for the pleasure consultants, which of course were the lowest rung on the harlot ladder since they were humping the afternoon shift of a donkament. It's not like the Bellagio hookers feasting on high rollers during the WPT Championships or the flock of high end working girls who arrived just around 50K HORSE began and hovered all the way through the Main Event.

Over in the 40K NL event, the action on Day 3 started out lightning quick with four eliminations. Despite Tony G's short stack, he avoided an early exit, but the same could not be said for Andrew "Good2cu" Robl, Frank Kasella, David Chiu, and Neil "Bad Beat" Channing. Andy Black, who was dressed more like a player in the Donkulus instead of the pseudo-high roller event busted out in 19th place.

When the final two tables were set in the 40K NL event, the carcasses from the Donkulus were grounded up and mixed with kangaroo meat, which the Poker Kitchen passed off as hamburgers. And the rest of the expired donkeys were left out to bake on the roof of the convention center, where the leftover entrails shriveled up in the scorching Nevada sun. Now, you know where all that free beef jerky came from, sort of like that shocking scene at the end of Soylent Green, when the Charlton Heston character discovered that the evil dystopian Government fed little green wafers to starving humans that were made up of human corpses. Soylent Green is people. Donkey jerky. You get the picture.

It took a couple of hours before the 40K NL field dwindled down from 18 to a final table of nine players. Matt Glantz, a bracelet hopefully this year, busted out in 17th place. The final ten players consolidated onto one table with five minutes to go before the dinner break. Several players wanted to finish out the level, take a twenty minute break (instead of an hour dinner), and then continue play until one more player busted out. They sought out an early day. However, a couple of players objected including Tony G.

"I can't wait to have some wine during dinner. It will loosen me up," said a jovial Tony G. "Oh and instead of a sixty minute break, I'd like to take ninety minutes."

The G was postponing the inevitable. He was short stacked for all of Day 3 and somehow bubbled off the final table in 10th place. With his departure, play was suspended and the final nine were set... Ted Forrest, Noah Schwartz, Alec Torelli, Isaac Haxton, Greg Raymer, Justin Bonomo, Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis, Dani 'Ansky' Stern and Vitaly Lunkin. When Day 3 of the 40K NL event was complete, Haxton held the chip lead with a shade under 6M.

And over in the first flight of the Donkulus, only 376 players survived out of 3,000 or so. Guess what? We get to repeat the liquidation of thousands of broke dick donks. More dead donkeys. More beef jerky.

* * * * *
Bouncin Round the Room on Day 4...

The Commish introduced me to Jack Binion in the press box. I shook Binion's hand. It was very cool to meet the legend himself. He uttered the famous, "Shuffle up and Deal." Jack created the first satellite to the WSOP. They should have cast a bronze statue of Jack and place it in front of the satellite room. Much like rubbing the belly of a lucky Buddha, on their way inside the satellite room at the Rio, downtrodden poker players would rub Jack Binion's statue to improve their poker karma.

Nelly was playing in the Donkulus. He could easily afford to play in the 40K NL, but his skill level of the more suited for the Donkulus. Heck he had two bodyguards with him that looked like NFL linemen. Their salaries alone were probably more than $40K a piece. And yes, Nelly busted out early. I am getting so hot, I'm gonna donk my chips off.


Photo by Mean Gene
Norman Chad tried to steal Annie Duke's thunder during a taped ESPN segment, where he challenged pros to different contests. On that instance, it was a lemonade stand against Annie Duke, who was fresh off of her runner-up performance on Celebrity Apprentice. Hundreds of fans lines up to buy lemonade from either Norm Chad or Annie Duke. Norm spiked his batch with booze and promised to pocket the proceeds, while Annie whipped up a booze-free batch with proceeds going to the charity of her choice Refugees International.

Poker Road's Joe Stapleton busted out of the Donkulus courtesy of a little bad mojo from his railbirds... myself and Joe Sebok. We stood behind him during his elimination hand. The Jacks in the Hole co-host went out when his Jacks lost to A-A in a multi-way pot. There was an Ace on the flop and a Jack on the turn, but he couldn't suck out with the case Jack and headed to the rail.

And yes, there was an Amarillo Slim sighting in the Amazon Ballroom. He was spotted in both the press box and lurking around the final two tables of the 40K NL. His appearance indicates that there's a strong chance he will play in tomorrow's Champions Freeroll featuring former WSOP Main Event Champions.

Plenty of railbirds sweated the final ten players in the 40K NL. Some of them waited an hour during the dinner break in order to get a good spot on the rail. Evy Ng sweated her boyfriend RaSZi and even held up a sign from time to time. Standing next to her was everyone's favorite spicy Brazilian dish, Maridu. Former champion Joe Hachem also hung out and rooted on Greg Raymer.

In addition to making the final table of the 40K NL on Sunday, Greg Raymer is also scheduled to play in the Champions freeroll at 4pm. With 1.9M and a bracelet on the line, Raymer will definitely focusing on the 40K NL. Besides, that tiny little match box car that they are giving away? Raymer barely fits in there. Yes, the Champions Event is a freeroll where the winner gets a car. No cash. Just a car. Oh and a month's supply of beef jerky.

There were whispers on the rail that Tony G declared that if he won the event, he'd double everyone's salary. A nice gesture, but a semi-bluff at best since he was super short-stacked to begin with. Regardless, the G busted out in 10th place. He won $172,120 which should cover his at-table-massage bill for the entire series.

Don't forget to check out Flipchip's WSOP photos.

And yes, back by popular demand...

The Last Five Pros I Pissed Next To....
1. Minneapolis Jim Meehan
2. Ray Davis
3. JC Tran
4. David Daneshgar
5. Johannes Strassman

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 5/31/2009 09:03:00 AM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Day 4 - Live Blog for Event #2 40K NL - Day 3 and Event #3 1K Donkulus Day 1A

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Today is the first busy day at the Rio for the 2009 WSOP. There's two re-starts (40K NL and 1.5K omaha 8) and the first donkament, otherwise known as the donkulus because Stimulus + Donkament = Donkulus.

Today's live blog will focus on the remaining 23 players in the 40K NL event. However, I will be providing plenty of snarky commentary about all of the broke dicks playing in the reduced buy-in event.

To start off, here's some important stats for the 40K...

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3 Starting Chip Counts:
Justin Bonomo - 2,678,000
Ted Forrest - 2,586,000
David 'WhooooKidd' Baker - 2,367,000
Greg Raymer - 2,287,000
Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis - 2,103,000
Alec Torelli - 1,725,000
Keith Lehr - 1,257,000
Vitaly Lunkin - 1,166,000
Matthew 'adz124' Marafioti - 1,003,000
Brian 'tsarrast' Rast - 912,000
Doshi Suresh - 771,000
Dani 'Ansky' Stern - 762,000
Clark Hamagami - 691,000
Brian Townsend - 671,000
Matthew Glantz - 671,000
Noah Schwartz - 541,000
Isaac Haxton - 539,000
Tony G - 481,000
David Chiu - 318,000
Neil Channing - 270,000
Andy Black - 210,000
Frank Kassela - 167,000
Andrew 'good2cu' Robl - 112,000

And here's the starting seat assignments for the 40K NL Day 3...

Table 1:
Seat 1 - Frank Kassela - 167,000
Seat 2 - Brian Townsend - 671,000
Seat 3 - Justin Bonomo - 2,678,000
Seat 4 - Keith Lehr - 1,257,000
Seat 5 - Clark Hamagami - 691,000
Seat 6 - Ted Forrest - 2,586,000
Seat 7 - Andrew Robl - 112,000
Seat 9 - Greg Raymer - 2,287,000

Table 2:
Seat 1 - Doshi Suresh - 771,000
Seat 2 - Alec Torelli - 1,725,000
Seat 3 - David Chiu - 318,000
Seat 4 - Vitaly Lunkin - 1,166,000
Seat 6 - Neil Channing - 270,000
Seat 7 - Matt Glantz - 671,000
Seat 8 - David Baker - 2,367,000
Seat 9 - Isaac Haxton - 539,000

Table 3:
Seat 1 - Ansky - 762,000
Seat 3 - Brian Rast - 912,000
Seat 5 - Tony G - 481,000
Seat 6 - Noah Schwartz - 541,000
Seat 7 - Andy Black - 210,000
Seat 8 - Matthew Marafioti - 1,003,000
Seat 9 - Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis - 2,103,000

* * * * *
12:10pm... Here Come the Donkeys

I purposely arrived early because the crowds swell to uncomfortable amounts. Since this was a special "stimulus" event and Harrah's was generous to offer all those broke dick players a bailout package worth $500 per player. Instead of a $1,500 donkament to kick off the first weekend of the WSOP, the schedule included a $1,000 buy-in event. The result? A sold out tournament with almost 6,000 players.

The lower buy-in also meant that there was plenty of riff raff assembling in town for the event. I never saw so many people walking the bridge over I-15 from the Strip to the Rio. Those were the downtrodden souls who could barely scrape together $1K let alone cab money. Last night, I spotted some people paying for their buy-in with single dollar bills. A couple of homeless-looking guys paid with rolled-up pennies.

The donkulus players who couldn't afford hotel rooms camped out in the Rio's parking lot in a make-shift tent city. Unemployed donkeys in tents. Plight in America has not been that bad since shanty towns sprang up all over the States during the Great Depression. The media called those establishments Hoovervilles, which were named after President Herbert Hoover. In the spirit of that vernacular, I'm compelled to call the tent city in the parking lot... "Pollackville."

Yes, within a few minutes, the Amazon Ballroom will be covered in donkey blood. In order to prevent myself from being attacked by any rabid donkeys that wandered up into the press box, I attempted to purchase donkey repellent. Unfortunately, I was unable to acquire that item. It's on back order. Instead, I picked up bear pepper spray. It's highly affective and stuns donkeys (and bears obviously) with just one spray.


Bear mace that's highly effective donkey repellent

* * * * *
1:10pm... Annie Duke's Lemonade Stand

Norman Chad is trying to steal Annie Duke's thunder and as a part of a bunch of ESPN segments, he's challenging pros to different events. This one happened to be a lemonade stand against Annie Duke. Hundreds of fans lines up to buy lemonade from either Norm Chad or Annie Duke. Norm spiked his batch with booze and promised to pocket the proceeds, while Annie whipped up a booze-free batch with proceeds going to the charity of her choice Refugees International.

I wandered up to the casino and noticed that the tables in front of Buzio's were utilized even though there was a vague promise that those tables would never be used again for WSOP events. Oooops. Bill Chen, Maridu, Shaun Deeb, and Jason Mercier were among the pros stuck in the hallway. The other spillover rooms were also in full swing not to mention the Amazon Ballroom. There's a rumor that the Omaha 8 re-start will be pushed back to 3pm because the donkeys are not busting out as fast as they anticipated. The slaughter has been slowed down due to the triple-stack format of today's donkulus.

* * * * *
2:25pm... Down to 19 (aka That Was Quick)

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 19
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo and Ted Forrest
Shorties: Andy Black, Tony G
Busto: David Chui, Neil Channing, Frank Kassela, Good2cu

I stood around the re-start area for fifteen minutes and four players busted. They happened so fast that I couldn't even write down the hands. Thank God for using twitter as a notebook. The first to bust was Andrew "Good2cu" Robl in 23rd place. He went out against Greg Raymer in a battle of the blinds situation. Next up was Frank Kasella who hit the rail in 22nd when he ran into Brian Townsend's Aces. David Chiu was the next player to fall in 21st place. And everyone's favorite Brit, Neil Channing, is nolonger with us. Channing's run ended when he went out a minute later in a three-way pot. Bad Beat Channing busto in 20th place.

Down to 19. I anticipated the action to flow at an accelerated pace to start Day 3, but this was much faster than expected.

Alas, The G is shortstacked and looking for a spot to double up.

* * * * *
3:33pm... Andy Black Eliminated; Down to 18

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 18
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, Alec Torelli
Shorties: Brian Townsend, Tony G
Busto: Andy Black

Tony G doubled up but he's still one of the short stacks.

After a rapid pace to start Day 3, action slowed down until Andy Black it the rail. Ansky took him out. Down to 18 and the final two tables.

* * * * *
4:20pm... Glantz Eliminated; Down to 17

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 17
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, RaSZi, Alec Torelli
Shorties: Brian Townsend, Doshi Suresh
Busto: Matt Glantz

Just before the break, Matt Glantz hit the rail in 18th place. Down to 17. 8 more eliminations and we'll have a final table. Justin Bonomo is out to a substantial lead. Only two people have more than 3M.... Bonomo (3.6M) and Dutch pro RaSZi (3M).

At this point, ESPN's second unit has been filming the final two tables. Tucked away in the shadows of the stage, a small group of spectators are tightly packed on the rail watching the final 17 play down to a final table. Tony G has been rather quiet today.

Today's smoke break is brought to you by PokerStars...

* * * * *
5:30pm... Suresh and Hamagami Eliminated

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 15
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, RaSZi, Alec Torelli
Shorties: Brian Townsend, tsarrast
Busto: Doshi Suresh and Clark Hamagami

Ansky took out Clark, while the best-dressed player in the 40K NL event just hit the rail. Doshi Suresh ran into Raymer's Queens and was elimianted in 16th place. Wasn't Suresh the name of the doctor in Hereos?

We're down to 15 players with Zee Justin out in fron.

MeanGene is a huge Penguins fan and just skipped out to watch some of the game in the sportsbook. Unfortunately, I never had that issue during the WSOP. My favorite hockey team is the NY Rangers, and they suck. In the previous five summers, I have never reached a point of conflict where I had to absolutely watch a game but had to work at the same time.

And yes, there was an Amarillo Slim sighting which indicates that there's a strong chance he plays in tomorrow's Champions Freeroll featuring former WSOP Main Event Champions. Winner gets a match box car and a year's supply of beef jerky.

* * * * *
6:30pm... Down to 12; Townsend Busted; I'm the Cooler

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 12
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, RaSZi, Alec Torelli
Shorties: Keith Lehr, Tony G
Busto: Brian Townsend, tsarrast

Tough break for short-stacked Brian "tsarrast" Rast. He shoved with Kings but lost to Vitaly Lunkin's pocket fives when Lunkin flopped a boat.

Brian Townsend was next to go and busted in 13th. That pot pushed Torelli past the 5M mark.

Poker Road's Joe Stapleton busted out of the Donkulus. I think both Joe Sebok and I were coolers because we stood behind him during his elimination hand. The Two Jacks in the Hole host went out when his Jacks lost to A-A in a multi-way pot. There was an Ace on the flop and a Jack on the turn, but he couldn't suck out with the case Jack and headed to the rail.

In Event #3 Omaha 8, Matt Savage is clinging onto dear life and trying to make the money. He's sitting at a table that includes both Todd Brunson and Annie Duke.

* * * * *
7:50pm... The Almost Final Table; Ten to Go

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 10
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: RaSZi, Alec Torelli, Vitaly Lunkin
Shorties: Tony G, Noah Schwartz
Busto: Keith Lehr (11th)

The final ten players considlated ontoone table with five minutes to go before the dinner break. A couple of players wanted to finish the level, take a twenty minute break (instead of an hour dinner) and then play until one more player busted. A couple objected including Tony G.

"I'm waiting for the dinner break to get a glass a wine. It will loosen me up," he said. "Oh and instead of an hour, I'd like to take ninety minutes."

Here's the final ten seating assignments...

Seat 1: Ted Forrest
Seat 2: Noah Schwartz
Seat 3: Alec Torelli
Seat 4: Isaac Haxton
Seat 5: Greg Raymer
Seat 6:Justin Bonomo
Seat 7: Lex Veldhuis
Seat 8: Dani Stern
Seat 9: Tony G
Seat 10: Vitaly Lunkin

One more bustout and Day 3 will be complete.

* * * * *
9:05pm... Nothing to See Here

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 10
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: RaSZi, Alec Torelli, Vitaly Lunkin
Shorties: Tony G, Noah Schwartz

Nothing really happened during the first level after the dinner break. Greg Raymer picked up Aces again and found himself all in against Ted Forrest's Aces. Chop it up.

The G is super short and should be making a stand shortly. Isaac Haxton has taken over the chiplead with 5.5M. Plenty of railbirds sweating the final ten. Some of them waited an hour during the dinner break to get a good spot. Evy Ng is on the rail sweating her boyfriend RaSZi. Standing next to her is Maridu. Joe Hachem is also hanging out and rooting on Greg Raymer. At one point, Amarillo Slim was on the rail checking things out.

* * * * *
9:25pm... Tony G = Busto

Event #2 40K NL - Day 3
Remaining Players: 9
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: RaSZi, Alec Torelli, Vitaly Lunkin
Shorties: Noah Schwartz

The G is nevermore. He failed to make the final table. There were whispers on the rail that Tony G declared that if he won the event, he'd double everyone's salary. A nice gesture, but a semi-bluff at best since he was super short to begin with. Regardless, the G made a stand and whiffed. He bubbled off the final table in 10th place. He won $172,120 which should cover his at-table-massage bill for the entire series.

The final table of nine is set. Action will resume tomorrow at 2pm.

Seat 1: Ted Forrest
Seat 2: Noah Schwartz
Seat 3: Alec Torelli
Seat 4: Isaac Haxton
Seat 5: Greg Raymer
Seat 6:Justin Bonomo
Seat 7: Lex Veldhuis
Seat 8: Dani Stern
Seat 9: Vitaly Lunkin

End of Day 3 Chip Counts:
1 Isaac Haxton - 5,955,000
2 Vitaly Lunkin - 4,565,000
3 Lex Veldhuis - 3,805,000
4 Greg Raymer - 3,345,000
5 Alec Torelli - 2,340,000
6 Justin Bonomo - 1,685,000
7 Dani 'Ansky' Stern - 1,300,000
8 Noah Schwartz - 660,000
9 Ted Forrest - 560,000

Greg Raymer is also scheduled to play in the Champions freeroll at 4pm. With 1.9M and a bracelet on the line, Raymer is definitely focusing on the 40K NL. Besides, that tiny little match box car that they are giving away? Raymer barely fits in there.

* * * * *
11:11pm... German Leads Pack in Omaha, Annie Duke and Erick Lindgren Still Lurking

Event #3 1.5K Omaha 8 - Day 2
Remaining Players: 52
Total Players: 918
Chipleaders: Sebastian Ruthenberg
Shorties: Andre Akkari
Busto: Chip Jett, Julie Schneider, Matt Savage

DonkeyBomber's lovely wife, Julie, went deep in the Omaha event. Sadly, she just busted out in 58th place and made the money. She outlasted Matt Savage, Robert Goldfarb from Team Pokerati, Toto "Please Don't Call Me Doug Lee" Leonidas, Fabrice Soulier, Greg "Flash" Pappas, Todd Brunson, and David Daneshgar. They all cashed as well.

Plenty of familiar faces left... Layne Flack, Annie Duke, My main Man Freddy Deeb, Erick Lindgren, and Eli Elezra. German bracelet winner Sebastian Ruthenberg leads the pack.

* * * * *
1:05am... After Midnight Edition: Lindgren Eliminated

Event #3 1.5K Omaha 8 - Day 2
Remaining Players: 30
Total Players: 918
Chipleaders: Alex 'Dracula' Michaels
Busto: Erick Lindgren

Yeah, the golden boy is busto And some dude named Dracula is the chipleader.

FYI... My buddy Wil is hosting a private tournament on PokerStars on Sunday. You're invited...

What: The Wil Wheaton Invitational
When: Sunday, May 31. 11am PDT
Where: PokerStars.com
Tourney Number: 168008111
Buy-in: $5.50
Password: Monkey

I think that's it for tonight's live blog. I have a potential content thief to chase down and a recap to write. Thanks for following along. Hope to see you tomorrow.


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 5/30/2009 02:10:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Tao of Pokerati - The Poker Kitchen Episodes

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Here's two more episodes of the shortest podcast in the poker world featuring yours truly and Michalski. We taped these inside the Poker Kitchen on Day 1...

Tao of Pokerati at the 2009 WSOP

Episode 11.3: High School Musical (2:50) - Pauly and Michalski compare the first day back to returning to your old high school.

Episode 11.4: Getting Pissy (3:19) - We almost killed this episode thirty seconds into the recording, yet held on strong and gutted it out. I'm glad we did because the listeners will catch a glimpse of our off-the-air personalities and the ribbing and shit we routinely give each other.

To listen to older episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.


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 5/30/2009 04:20:00 AM | Permalink |

 
2009 WSOP Day 3: The Valley of Ashes

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Poker is a selfish and lonely pursuit and played in Las Vegas, a city swamped in moral decay, there's the potential for disaster in the quest for wealth and indulgent pleasures. Sin City corrupts people and leads them down a path of self-destruction. The end result? Their intoxicating hopes and unattainable dreams were annihilated. Burnt to a crisp in a valley of ashes.

It's absurd to pony up $40,000, compete against the elite NL tournament players in the world, and then 36 hours later end up with absolutely nothing. That's what happened to quite of few players in Event #2 $40,000 NL whom did not make the money. Only 27 players were fortunate enough to guarantee a cash out of the original 201 runners. 89 of them began Day 2 with Chris Moneymaker among the chip leaders. By the time Day 2 ended, Moneymaker's march towards glory came to a shocking halt and only 23 players survived. They each advanced to Day 3 and have to fade 22 more players to win a bracelet.

Chris Moneymaker represented a modern day Jay Gatsby. Much like the main character from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, Moneymaker and Gatsby both were self-made millionaires. They earned their money in unconventional ways; Moneymaker through poker and Gatsby through bootlegging in the 1920s. They achieved a status of fame and fortune that epitomized the fulfillment of the American Dream and became the center of the party.

However, Jay Gatsby's fate included a tragic ending when he was unable to come to grips with his past. While Moneymaker's future has been slowly unraveling before us, the $40,000 NL event gave him a chance at redemption. He wanted to prove that he wasn't like the "monkey on the grinder" while paraded all over the world by PokerStars like some sort of carnival side attraction like Siamese Twins or the Bearded Lady.

Chris Moneymaker has been chasing his own shadow since 2003. Every single person in poker today has been effected by his monumental victory inside Benny's Bullpen, and as poker continues to grow, more and more pressure gets thrust upon his shoulders. Folks like me and other results-oriented-obsessed media types constantly write about what he hasn't done in the last few years, instead of bestowing him with accolades for achievements off the felt by inspiring thousands and perhaps millions of people to play poker and actually believe that they too have a chance of taking down the best pros in the game.

I've seen him carry the burden as far away as Monte Carlo and Argentina. He's walked in jam-packed poker rooms all over the world and chuckled as he said, "I kinda started all this." Yet he also knew that he had a target on his back no matter where he went.

Moneymaker began Day 2 second in chips to Bruno Fitoussi. At one point Moneymaker snagged the lead and for most of the afternoon, he was consistently in the Top 5 in chips. He had been diligently working on his game and plugging leaks (especially blowing huge chip leads and playing smarter in the early stages of tournaments). It seemed as though his tweaked game plan was working, until his run abruptly ended. Inside of a short period of time, Moneymaker went from the penthouse to the outhouse. He crashed and burned way before the money bubble broke. A dejected Moneymaker wandered by the press box as he left the Amazon Ballroom. He, more than anyone in this world, knows how vital it is to get an opportunity of a lifetime. He was well within reach of making poker history but the poker gods had other things in mind.

As Moneymaker faded away, Greg Raymer flew under the radar and emerged as the chip leader shortly after the dinner break. He lost and regained it a couple of times. But when Day 3 ended, Raymer found himself fourth in chips and trailed the leader by 400,000. Justin Bonomo finished up Day 2 with 2.67 million. Ted Forrest, aka the Suicide King, was sitting in second place despite missing a substantial amount of Level 15. He took a nap on his dinner break and overslept. Even though he was being blinded off, he woke up and returned to the tournament. He managed to have a late night surge and finish up with almost 2.6 million in chips. David 'WhooooKidd' Baker was third, Raymer fourth, and young Dutch pro Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis found himself fifth overall. RaSZi (also known as Evelyn Ng's boyfriend) held a share of the lead at one point on Day 2.

OMGClayAiken busted out in 29th place which set up a somewhat lengthy bubble. When it finally broke, Neil Chriss found himself heading to the rail in a disappointing 28th place. Once the bubble broke, a couple of eliminations ensued including Vanessa Rousso (27th), JC Tran (26th), Sorel Mizzi (25th), and The Dragon (24th).

23 players remain including a couple of familiar faces. $1,891,012 and a bracelet are both on the line. There's still two more days of poker left (action on Day 3 will stop once they get down to the final nine) and anything can happen.

* * * * *
Bouncin Round the Room on Day 3...

When I arrived in the morning, I noticed the car wash being set up in the parking lot. Several strippers from the Sapphire pool were doing some sort of promo with a local radio station. The concept was simple... bikini car wash. The girls were not the cream of the crop and leftovers from the afternoon shift, yet they still managed to catch the attention of different media types. God bless Mean Gene for snagging several photos.

I stepped away from the press box and when I returned, I found an entire bag of beef jerky sitting next to my laptop. Benjo picked it up for me. Supposedly, the folks at Jack Link's dropped off several free bags of beef jerky (retail value? $10 in the Poker Kitchen) in the media room. Heck, the schwill merchants at Milwaukee's Beast never gave us a sip of free beer. But, times have changed and we were given free beef jerky. Those devious suits at Jack Link's are purposely giving us free beef jerky so we'll all get addicted on it and then we'll be forced to buy overpriced jerky in the Poker Kitchen. I smell conspiracy. I'm gonna get Oliver Tse and Alex Jones on the case.

I watched Game 6 of the Lakers/Nugs series at the All American Bar. During halftime, Jerry Buss shuffled by without a care in the world. Surreal.

Benjo spotted someone who looked like Vinny Vinh and he asked me to confirm his appearance. Indeed, it was Vinny. He sweated The Dragon from inside the ropes for several minutes. When he was done, we followed Vinh all the way back to the cash game section where he returned to his seat at a 2/5 PLO table. As Benjo said, it's officially the WSOP when you have a Vinny Vinh sighting.

And yes, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.


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 5/30/2009 12:34:00 AM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Day 3 - Live Blog for Event #2 40K NL - Day 2

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

201 players entered the Amazon Ballroom for the $40,000 buy-in NL special event. Only 89 players remain. Among them? The legendary Chris Moneymaker. Yesterday, he grinded his way towards the top of the leader board. Can he maintain his position or will the pack (mixed with seasoned pros and some of the top internet players in the world) swallow him whole?

The top 27 players win prize money. They should reach the money around Midnight tonight.

Event #2 40K NL - Top 10 Chip Counts:
Bruno Fitoussi - 812,500
Chris Moneymaker - 805,000
Justin Bonomo - 738,000
Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis - 646,500
Kyle 'krisqueen' Wilson - 611,500
Brian Townsend - 609,000
Michael DeMichele - 519,500
Emil 'whitelime' Patel - 494,500
Alan Sass - 491,000
Andy Black - 449,500

Familair Faces Still Playing: David Baker, Ali Eslami, OMGClayAiken, Sorel Mizzi, Mark Seif, Ted Forrest, Isaac Haxton, Ansky, adz124, CrazyMarco, Nam Le, Alex Jacob, MrSmokey1, Frank Kassela, Josh Arieh, Jason Mercier, Tony G, Neil Channing, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, Humberto Brenes, good2cu, David Chiu, Doyle Brunson, Matthew Glantz, Markus Lehmann, Kenny Tran, Greg Raymer, mig.com, The Dragon, Dale Pinchot, John Duthie, Lee Markholt, Matt Giannetti, Steve Zolotow, Vanessa Rousso, JC Tran, Kirill Gerasimov, Adam Junglen, Johannes Strassmann, Bill Chen, Chad Batista, tsarrast, Robert Suer, LarsLuzak, Jeff Lisandro, Scott Seiver, Terrence Chan, William Molson, Hoyt Corkins, SirWatts, amak316, Chau Giang, Mike Matusow, Raptor, Chris Moorman, and Devilfish.

Payouts:
1: $1,891,012
2: $1,168,566
3: $774,927
4: $548,315
5: $413,166
6: $329,730
7: $277,940
8: $246,834
9: $230,317
10-12: $172,120
13-15: $128,666
16-18: $96,171
19-27: $71,858

* * * * *
1:01pm... Eat Me

Um.... yeah. It's true. When I was walking into the Rio this morning, the strippers from the Sapphire Pool were setting up a car wash promotion in the employees parking lot. When I spotted the Poker Shrink, I asked him if he was going to get his car washed by the vixens, he responded, "How about the girls wash me?"


Photo credit: MeanGene

Anyway, the Milwaukee's Beast girls are back and they are cute as ever. I gotta say, I'm digging the Alice in Wonderland look. I's love to eat them. I'd follow them down a rabbit hole any day of the week.

Photo credit: MeanGene

* * * * *
2:15pm... 40K Day 2 Begins; Down to 84

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 84
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Bruno Fitoussi, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Chris Mooran, Raptor
Busto: John Duthie, Bill Chen, Barry Schwartz, and Hoyt Corkins

About 10 minutes in, a couple of players already busted on Day 2 including EPT founder John Duthie. Most of the railbirds are in the corner of the orange section checking out the 40K while virtually ignoring the Event #3 $1,500 Omaha 8.

Prop Betting Tales: I already took a small bet from AlCantHang. He wanted to take under 800 for the number of runners in the Omaha 8 event. I picked 801 because I figured there would be more players in the field in 2009 because this is the only $1,500 o8 event this year. Last year, there were two chances to play the lowest buy-in Omaha 8 event. I figured 801 was a lock and even figured the nu,bers would surpass 900. At last check, it's at 918 runners.

* * * * *
3:15pm... Dolly Down; No Drugs

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 76
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Bruno Fitoussi, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Devilfish, Chris Moorman
Busto: Texas Dolly, amak316, Kenny Tran, SirWatts, Russell Rosenbloom

The legendary Texas Dolly hobbled out of the Amazon Room in front of the press box ans he headed to the VIP lounge. Dolly tweeted his displeasure... "got knocked out....never drug one chip...i beat 128 players, spent a 16 hour day playing. lost 40K..that's why i hate tournaments!!"

According to Matt Glantz, on the breaks of the 40K, he's been playing Chinese Poker with Brunson, Eli Elezra, Mike Matusow, and Phil Hellmuth.

"Mike is firing on all drug cylinders today," explained the Poker Shrink. "The new meds are working wonderful." Matusow switched up his meds and they seem to be working. He doubled up and he's sitting on 225K.

* * * * *
4:20pm... Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 65
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Brian Townsend, tsarrast, Chris Moneymaker, RaSZi, The Dragon
Shorties: Devilfish, Raptor, Kirill Gerasimov
Busto: Devilfish, Michael DeMichele, Adam Junglen, Devilfish, Chris Moorman, Shawn Buchanan, Jess Yawitz, Lee Markholt, Matt Giannetti, Andrew Lichtenberger, David Singer, Josh Arieh, Ville Wahlbeck

Did I forget to mention the free beef jerky in the media room?

Yes, it's true. I take everything back that I said about the beef jerky sponsorship. Shit, those schwill merchants at Milwaukee's Beast never ever gave us free beer! The kind folks at Jack's links hooked us up with Jack Link's Premium Cuts. Benjo scored me a bag of spicy Peppered Beef Jerky. Gotta love it.

Despite taking a couple of hits, Chris Moneymaker still remains in the Top 5 in chips. Frenchman Bruno Fitoussi slipped out of the top spot which is now occupied by Brian Townsend.

Omaha Chicks Update: I found Shirley Rosario. She's sitting on a 5.5 stack (starting chips were 4.5K ... triple chips) and fresh off of her win at Commerce last week when she took down the California State HORSE championship. She's in the hunt for her first bracelet. Meanwhile, Kristy Gazes is also in the Omaha 8 event. I bumped into her in the hallways and she said she was going to focus on the juicy cash games and play in only a handful of tournaments. She also has 5.5K.

Yes, it's 4:20, which means it's time for a good old fashioned smoke break. Today's smoke break is not brought to you by beef jerky, but rather by PokerStars!



* * * * *
5:20pm... Channing Alive

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 58
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Brian Townsend, Justin Bonomo, OMG Clay Aiken, RaSZi, Matt Glantz
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov, Robert Suer
Busto: Andrew Barta, Mark Seif, krisqueen, Steve Billirakis, Antonio Esfandiari, Raptor, Scott Seiver

I forgot to mention that they will be playing eight levels tonight or if they reach 18 players... whichever comes first. The top 27 pay and I'm thinking we'll reach the bubble, but not get below 20. This is the second day of a four day event.

The Bad Beat Watch: A shout out to the Brits following along with today's coverage. Neil "Bad Beat" Channing is still alive and in the middle of the back with almost 365K. He has Jeff Lisandro to his left along with Alex Jacob at his table.
* * * * *
6:20pm... Ivey & Matusow Out; Moneymaker Surges

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 45
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Chrsi Monemaker, OMG Clay Aiken, RaSZi
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov, Jeff Lisandro
Busto: Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Bruno Fitoussi, Terrance Chan, Chau Giang, Jason Mercier, Markus Lehmann, Huck Seed, whitelime, Steve Weinstein, William Molson, Robert Suer

Down to the final five tables.

Phil Ivey got taken out my Sorel Mizzi, while Terrance Chan was taken down by whitelime. Chris Moneymaker has been chipping up. He got up to 700K and then surged towards 1M after he busted German pro Johannes Strassmann. Moneymaker has a couple of big guns at his table including Ted Forrest, Justin Bonomo, OMGClayAiken, and JC Tran. Meanwhile, ZeeJustin became one of the first players past the 1M chip mark.

Omaha Chicks Update: Shirley Rosario has Roy Winston to her left.She slipped to 3K. Have heard from Kristy in a while. Been too busy watching Moneymaker's table and haven't had a chance to head over to the Brasilia Room.

AC Boys: Matt Glantz dragged a monsterpotten and jumped up to 1.1M, while Dale Pinchot is holding as one of the shortest stacks.

Players will be going on a one hour dinner break. Play will resume around 7:30pm local time.

* * * * *
7:30pm... Dinner at the Bar

During dinner break of the 40K NL event, I headed to the All American Bar & Grille for a meal with Benjo, Change100, and Mean Gene. I kept a keen eye on the Lakers/Nugs game. During halftime, Lakers owner Jerry Buss wandered by. Kinda surreal. He looked more like a retired local slumming around at the Midnight tournament at Binion's and didn't look like the guy who owned the Lakers.

During our meal, I bumped into DonkeyBomber. He told me that I was looking pretty sharp.

"DonkeyBomber is the most famous person that Dan Michalski knows," said Benjo about the two-time bracelet winner and former Player of the Year winner who was a previous contributor to Pokerati.

On my way back to the Amazon Ballroom, a lengthy line began to form at the registration desk for the $1,000 NL Donkulous. That's exactly what poker needs... more dead money. Rumor suggest that the event will get around 5,000 runners. There will be two opening flights and you have a chance at playing on Saturday or Sunday.

There will be blood shed tomorrow.

* * * * *
8:20pm... The Fossilman Emerges

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 40
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Ted Forrest, Matt Glantz, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov
Busto: mig.com, Alex Jacob, Dale Pinchot, Chad Batista, Jeff Lisandro, Chance Walker

Wow, how about Greg Raymer coming from out of nowhere? All eyes were on his fellow Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker, but Raymer flew under the radar and snagged the chiplead in the first half hour after the dinner break.

The money bubble bursts at 27 and they will be playing three more levels tonight.

Omaha Chick Watch: Shirley Rosario is back to 4.5K or her starting stack. Kristy Gazes slipped to 2.7K.

* * * * *
8:50pm... Moneymaker Bankrupt

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 38
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Matt Glantz, Keith Lehr, adz124
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov, Chris Moneymaker
Busto: Chris Moneymaker, Humberto Brenes, Chris Moore, Mark Dickstein

Moneymaker went from the penthouse to the basement. He mentioned on the Twittertubes that he was card dead and slipped to under 700K, before he lost a race with Queens versus Big Slick. He bottomed out at 250K as one of the short stacks. Moneymaker busted out shortly after when he ran into ted Forrest's pocket Kings.

Humberto Brenes just hit the rail when he was taken out by Greg Raymer, who still retains the chiplead.

Ted Forrest was AWOL for most of the level after the dinner break, but is back now. He went up to his room and took a nap. He turned off his phone and never heard his friends calling to wake him up. Forrest was being blinded out while he overslept.

* * * * *
9:00pm... Raymer = 2 Million Dollar Man

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 36
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Justin Bonomo, Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Townsend, Tony G
Shorties: David Chui, Ali Eslami, Frank Kassela
Busto: Steve Z

Greg Raymer is en fuego. He's the first player in the 40K to pass the 2 million chip mark, which he did after he sent Steve Z to the rail.

Tony G built his stack up courtesy of Chris Moneymaker. The G is closing in on one million chips.

Bad Beat Channing Update: It's early Saturday morning right now and good news for all of you Bad Beat Channing fans. Well, he's still alive and among the final 36 players. He managed to survive this long with his modest stack.

* * * * *
10:40pm... Zee Justin Chasing Down Fossilman

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 33
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Justin Bonomo, Ted Forrest, Vitaly Lunkin,
Shorties: David Chui, Frank Kassela, Kirill Gerasimov
Busto: Ali Eslami, Crazy Marco, Alan Sass, LarsLuzak

Justin Bonomo passed the 2M mark when he outflopped Crazy Marco. The result? Crazy Marco headed to the rail while Bonomo adde dmore chips in pursuit of Greg Raymer's 2.6M stack.

Bad Beat Channing Update: Channing is almost considered a short stack. He's still alive as action approaches the bubble, but needs a double up before the night is over.

Oh and for your Tao of Pokerati fans who can't get enough of your favorite poker podcast (the shortest in the business...), check out the Tao of Pokerati archives.

* * * * *
11:40pm...

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 28
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Ted Forrest, Vitaly Lunkin
Shorties: David Chui, Frank Kassela
Busto: OMGClayAiken, Nam Le, Evan McNiff, and Kirill Gerasimov

Vinny Vinh was spotted inside the 40K area. He was sweating David The Dragon Pham. Benjo mentioned, "He's looking a lot better than last year."

Benjo and I followed Vinh outsode the ropes and we trailed him all the way to the cash game section. Sow hat is Vinny Vinh playing? 2/5 PLO. Vinh craves the action.

OMGCLayAiken busted in 29th place and action went hand-for-hand as we reach the bubble.

The Bubble Boy? Stay tuned...

* * * * *
12:04am...

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 27
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Ted Forrest, David Baker
Shorties: Tony G, Good2cu
Busto: Chris Neill

Neil Chriss = Bubble Boy

We're in the money. Everyone is guaranteed to win at least $71,858.

* * * * *
12:23am... Day 2 Complete

Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 23
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: David Baker, Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer
Shorties: Frank Kassela, Good2cu
Busto: Vanessa Rousso (27th), JC Tran (26th), Sorel Mizzi (25th) The Dragon (24th)

The following players advanced to Day 3... David Baker, Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis, Ted Forrest, Keith Lehr, Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Townsend, Matthew 'adz124' Marafioti, Noah Schwartz, Alec Torelli, Dani 'Ansky' Stern, Doshi Suresh, Brian 'tsarrast' Rast, Clark Hamagami, Isaac Haxton, Matthew Glantz, Andy Black, David Chiu,Tony G, Neil Channing, Frank Kassela, and Andrew 'good2cu' Robl.

The final 23 players will return at 2pm local time on Saturday. They will play down to the final table of nine. I'll be here providing live updates. See you then.


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 5/29/2009 03:21:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Tao of Pokerati - Bowling for Dollars Episodes

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV


The other night, Michalski and I headed down to South Point and recorded a couple of episodes during a heated heads-up bowling match. You probably saw the video already, but here's the audio portion and the first episodes of the summer.

Tao of Pokerati at the 2009 WSOP

Episode 11.1: How We Roll (2:42)

Episode 11.2: Questionable Tactics (2:57)

To listen to older episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.


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 5/29/2009 02:22:00 PM | Permalink |

 
2009 WSOP Day 2: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Foreclosures. Layoffs. Declining revenue. The collapse of capitalism on the horizon. None of that mattered to the 201 players who paid $40,000 (only the second highest buy-in event in the history of the WSOP) during the middle of the global credit crisis and as the once almighty U.S. dollar continues to lose value. You know it's bad when Bloomberg financial writers are using the declining prices of Latvian hookers to demonstrate that a recovery is nowhere within sight.

$40,000 is a significant amount of money. That number for some poker writers, teachers, and plumbers represents a year's salary. But to an elite group of poker players, that was their ticket towards a shot at a bracelet and bragging rights for winning the highest buy-in NL tournament at the WSOP. All they had to do was fade a field of 201 runners.

TD Jack Effel quickly explained the origins behind the $40,000 event. He wanted to create something to commemorate the anniversary of the WSOP and decided upon an event with a $40,000 buy-in. The amount of the by-in combined with the faltering economy almost guaranteed a short, yet packed field.

I looked out over the majestic Amazon Ballroom from high up in the press box. The unwashed masses gawking on the rail were held back behind the ropes by overzealous security guards. Their sole job? Keep spectators away from the pros flinging chips around the perfectly smooth green felts. They represented the best NL poker players in the world, while the handful of dilettantes in the crowd were obviously some of the more wealthier individuals in Las Vegas. Supposedly, the 4th richest man in France played in the 40K along with Japanese millionaire Masaaki Kagawa who amassed his fortune after creating the equivalent of eHarmony matcmaking site in Japan. And there's been whispers about how much money Howard Lederer and the Full Tilt posse have accumulated in the last couple of years.

In these harsh economic times, only a small percentage of players boasted a large enough bankroll to dole out $40,000, especially at the beginning of the WSOP. A couple of fortunate players satellited into the event, while a few players were good enough to receive the proper funding, a near miracle in an era when large staking syndicates have shrunk to only a handful of backers. And even those horse owners with the cash were reluctant to put a half of million dollars in play especially on the second day of the WSOP. One well-known staking syndicate offered to put players into a $1,500 satellite but refused funding the full 40K buy-in.

And a few wise folks like Rafe Furst skipped the tournament at the last second. Gus Hansen was also noticeably absent. The Great Dane has a 900K bet on Rafael Nadal to win the French Open. He's watching the games live from Roland Garros. As soon as Hansen collects his winnings, he'll show up in Las Vegas. Until then, Hansen's mind is on two things... playing the French version of Guess Her Muff and Sweating his bet.

The big dogs played. As expected. Texas Dolly. Phil Ivey. Barry Greenstein. Daniel Negreanu.

The former world champions were in also attendance... Johnny Chan. Phil Hellmuth. Chris Moneymaker. Greg Raymer. Joe Hachem. Jesus. Jim Bechtel. Scotty Nguyen. Peter Eastgate. Huck Seed.

And as expected several young internet players were well represented... durrrr, amak316, Adam Junglen, ActionJeff, BoostedJ, westmenloAA, r1nnyraid, Chris Moorman, LarsLusak, ansky, whiteline, tsarrast, adz124, Vivek Rajkumar, good2cy, crazymarco, krisqueen, RaSZi, Alex Jacob, mig.com, MrSmokey1, David Baker, and OMGClayAiken.

And of course, there were a few pros (cough, Doug Lee) who you looked at and thought, "How the hell did you find $40,000 to buy into this event?"

It was a festive moment as players took their seats at the start of Event #2. Many of them had not seen each other in months. It was a reunion of sorts as the biggest sharks in poker returned to the Rio in search of a bracelet and a victory in one of the few events recorded by 441 Productions and televised on ESPN. For some unknown reason, there was a nasty rumor floating around the internet forums that ESPN was skipping both the $40K NL and the 50K HORSE. Although the HORSE event will not be on ESPN, the $40K will be televised as scheduled.

Anyway, while the pros were giving each other hugs and joking around, Jeff Lisandro's outfit was the first thing that caught my eye. The always-intimidating Aussie pro via Salerno, Sicily looked like the bag guy who used to collect debts for the local bookie at my old man's favorite bar in the Bronx. Lisandro wore a silk striped shirt. I couldn't tell if he was a referee for the Lingerie Bowl or a member of Vito Corleone's crew. He wore an old school bowler hat and I wondered if he carried around a wad of cash or a pair of brass knuckles underneath.

Tony G made jumped out to an early lead when he crippled a French-Canadian pro named Erik Cajelais. The G had a 300K stack before Phil Hellmuth made his way to the Rio. The G would remain in the front of the pack for the entire afternoon and most of the evening. At one point, the G challenged Corey Zeidman to a $100K basketball prop bet involving a three-point and free throw shooting contest.

Hellmuth finally arrived several hours late but shockingly without any sort of pomp or circumstance. Supposedly, Hellmuth underwent sensitivity training with Harrah's staff in order to improve his behavior at the tables. Perhaps that included a lesson in low-key entrances. Although Hellmuth didn't exactly sneak in the Amazon Ballroom, he carried along a copy of his latest book.

Hellmuth was one of 112 casualties on Day 1. Chris Moneymaker was not one of them. He was more than a survivor and ended Day 1 second in chips behind Bruno Fitoussi. Moneymaker's performance was one of the stories that developed late in the evening. Despite getting Aces cracked in the early going, he slowly grinded his way towards the front pack. When play was stopped, Moneymaker had over 800K in chips.

With the top 27 players getting paid prize money with $1,891,012 going to the winner. Moneymaker would love to get his hands on that loot along with a second bracelet and chance to get the monkey off his back. Was 2003 a total fluke? Or can Moneymaker conjure enough mojo to go deep and make the final table where anything can happen.

* * * * *
Bouncin Round the Room on Day 2...

"I was just offered $5K to shave half the beard," bragged Andy Black.

Andy Black almost considered taking the bet from an extremely vocal Bobby Suer. Black showed up with a bushy beard and wearing Birkenstocks with baby blue socks underneath. He could have walked right out of the parking lot of a Grateful Dead concert. Shit, I might have even bought a hit of liquid sunshine off him on Phish tour. It looked like Andy Black had not shaved in a year.

Andy Black seriously looked like a member of the Irish-Taliban. I'm shocked that he was able to bypass our stringent immigration officers. They must have been poker fans otherwise they would have tossed Andy Black into Gitmo at the first glimpse of him.


Photo credit: PokerNews
Eskimo Update: One of the French reporters mentioned that he spotted a languid Eskimo sitting on a bench in front of the Everest Poker suite. Supposedly, the suite serves free breakfast every morning. Last year, Eskimo was always one of the first people in line to eat. This year, he has serious competition. He's not the only one waiting on free food. Hundreds of broke-dick players camped outside the Rio in tents while waiting to play in the $1K Donkulus (Stimulus Package + Donkament = Slaughter). They can't afford hotel rooms (even though there are plenty of cheap deals all around town) and they barely scratched together the buy-in for the reduced $1K event. They have been standing in lines resembling bread lines from Communist Russia or in America during the height of the Great Depression. Eskimo usually waited at the head of the lengthy line.

* * * * *
Don't forget that I'm also covering the WSOP via Twitter. You can follow me 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 5/29/2009 06:27:00 AM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Day 2 - Live Blog for Event #2: 40K NL

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Five summers ago, Flipchip and the Poker Prof hired me to write for LasVegasVegas.com and they put me up at a short-term place that I dubbed The Redneck Riviera. Times have changed over the last half of the decade. I lived all of Las Vegas since then including the quaint suburban drudgery in Summerlin and Henderson. And this year? We're slightly south of the Strip in a place that we've been calling Stripper Central. The place is swarming with random girls who work on the pole. In the mornings, they are working out in the gym. Usually Change100 is flanked by strippers during her early morning workouts. I told her to befriend the strippers so they can pop on by for cups of sugar and to watch episodes of The Simpsons.

Every morning, I sit out on our terrace and I write. Mean Gene lived in the same complex last summer and said that there were lots of strippers around. He wasn't joking. When we moved in Garry told us that all the strippers walk their little yapping dogs around the complex at 10:30am. He was accurate. Every morning, pole dancers let their purse poodles shit on the front grass.

Change100 and a bunch of us carpooled from Stripper Central to the Rio. Ah, the dreaded walk of shame ensued as I trudged across the already hot asphalt of the Rio's parking lot. Flashbacks of WSOP past flooded my memory banks. I wandered inside the Amazon Ballroom and saw the crew from 441 setting up their gear. They laughed at the rumors on the poker intertubes of their demise. Thank God for Oliver Tse's twitter confirmation that those rumors were false.

The quiet before the storm. Eskimo Clark wandered by and shook the hand of one of the floor staff. I wondered if he was seeking backing into the 40K NL event? Today is a special event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the WSOP.

Stay tuned for live blogging updates of the 40K NL.

* * * * * *
10:55am... Food Tilt

Yeah, I haven't been here an hour and I'm already on food tilt. In a previous post, I wrote about different WSOP food options. I loved Capriatti's sandwiches last summer and I recommended them... until I saw the new incarnation of my favorite turkey sandwich.


The above photo indicates the sign of the financial times. Harrah's and Capriatti's reduced their sandwiches by 33%. What the fuck?

The good news is that the kangarooburgers are back and there's plenty of beef jerky available. The bad news? The beef jerky is not free to members of the media. We don't even get a discount.

* * * * *
12:05pm... And We're Off....

22 tables were set up. Nine-handed.

The sharks are circling. This field is stacked with a hundred of the top NL players in the world. Texas Dolly. Ivey. Greenstein. Negreanu. Raymer. Hellmuth. Hachem. John Duthie. Mike Matusow. Peter Eastgate. Humberto Brenes. Ivan Demidov. Annie Duke. Elky. Dennis Phillips. Tony G.

Jeff Lisandro looks like a mobbed up zebra. Andy Black is sporting a beard and looked like he walked off the parking lot of a Phish concert. I'm gonna hit him up for heady nugs.

Also here... Chris Moneymaker, Eric Mercier, Terrance Chan, Brandon Adams, Gavin Griffin, Shaun Deeb, Jon Little, Nicholas Levi, Bruno Fitoussi, Dale Pinchot, David Einhorn, JC Tran, Ansky, mig.com, Vanessa Rousso, SirWatts, Adam Junglen, Bill Chen, Ted Lawson, Jim Bechtel, Japanese industrialist Masaaki Kagawa, Russ Rosenbloom, ActionJeff, Kathy Lieert, Freddy Deeb, Kirill Gerasimov, John Juanda, The Dragon, David Benyamine, Eli Elezra, Eric Liu, Mark Seif, Sorel Mizzi, Dan Shak, Vivek, Unabomber, and Ludovic Lacay.

The tournament was not even started when John Duthie was already getting a massage.

TD Jack Effel spoke rapidly for a few moments. "He sounds like he's on Adderall," said the Poker Shrink. I then asked the Shrink for a prescription.

Jack introduced Jeffrey Pollock who introduced Main Event champion Peter Eastgate who uttered the famous line, "Shuffle up and deal!"

Cards are in the air. And for the first time in a very long time, the clattering of chips began to echo.

160+ is the unofficial number to start. I had 188 and under 200 in a series of bets.

* * * * *
12:55pm... Sick Tables

189 players and counting. I just lost one prop bet.

I gotta give Harrah's credit. They finally figured out a perfect table set up to allow space in between the tables to allow ESPN cameras and poker media to move without crushing the players.

I took a quick stroll through the tournament area and noticed several stacked tables.

Here's a couple of sick tables...

Peter Eastgate, Humberto Brenes, Barry Greenstein, Joannes Strassberg, Andy Black

Scotty Nguyen, John Dutie, Tony G, Chris Moneymaker, Terrance Chan.

Chris Moorman, Ansky, Gavin Griffin, Andy Bloch, Brain Rast, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Luke Staudenmaier, J.C. Tran.

Shannon Shorr, Nicolas Levi, Doyle Brunson, Greg FBT Mueller, Brian Townsend,
Huck Seed.

mig.com, Vanessa Rousso, John Juanda, Ivan Demidov, Johnny 'Fuckin' Chan.

Jeff Lisandro, Matt Glantz, Dale Pinchot, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, and Dario.

Joe Sebok is not playing but he's sweating his dad, Barry Greenstein.

* * * * *
1:55pm... Fear the G

Total Players: 196
Remaining Players: 192
Chipleaders: Tony G, Unabomber, David Chui
Shorties: Peter Jetten
Busto: Scott Montgomery, Erik Cajelais, and Jim Becthel.

Tony G is among the early chipleaders after Erik Cajelais spewed chips to the G's pocket Aces early on. Cajelais busted shortly after along with former WSOP champion Jim Bechtel.

November Niners are giving back some of their booty to the poker community when the Rain Man.... Scott Montgomery was eliminated. Chino, Dennis Phillips, Demidov, and Eastgate are all in today's field.

I spotted Rafe Furst in the hallway. If you don't know, Rafe is like the 12th smartest human on the planet. I always feel smarter when I read his blog. He was considering buying into the event and has until the end of the second level/beginning of the third level to register. Then again, maybe Rafe is so smart that he's avoiding the pool of hungry sharks.

FYI, Late registrations get a full stack. Starting stacks today? 120,000. This is the triple stacked version of the WSOP. 40K buyin = 120K. As AlCantHang said, "This is a deep stack donkament."

There was a Dan Michalski sighting in the hallway as well. He skipped the first day of the WSOP and finally made it today. He's been on wifi tilt.

The fans have flocked. Chris Moneymaker was walking down the hallway and taking on his phone while a group of amateur paparazzi followed behind frantically snapping cell phone pics of the former champion.

Mike Matusow is a rare form. The garrulous musings of Matusow have been wafting up to the press box. He's been teasing Elky, ripping on Pizza Hut, and talking overall smack. Vintage Matusow.

Phil Hellmuth is late. As per usual.

* * * * *
3:15pm... Officially 201

Total Players: 201
Remaining Players: 189
Chipleaders: Vivek Rajkumar, Tony G, Unabomber, Sandor Demjan
Shorties: Jean Gaspard, Daniel Negreanu
Busto: durrrr, gboro780, Jonathan Little, Dario Minieri, Christian Harder, Ted Lawson, Per Ummer, Peter Jetten,

Hellmuth is still AWOL. We're awaiting his grand entrance.

Howard Lederer was the 201st and final player to buy into the 40K event. Jesus has finally taken his seat in between Barry Greenstein and Andy Black. Talk about a lot of facial hair on all three.

Rafe Furst decided to keep his 40K and not play in today's stacked event. Wise man.

* * * * *
4:20pm... No Gus

Remaining Players: 180
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Ted Forrest, Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Bonomo, Scott Seiver, Vivek Rajkumar, Tony G
Shorties: Daniel Negreanu, Nicolas Levi, Peter Eastgate
Busto: Sergey Rybachenko, westmenloAA, Eric Liu, John Juanda

201 is official. The top 27 will get paid. First place wins $1,891,012.

Gus Hansen will not be here. According to Benjo, Gus has a 900K bet on Rafael Nadal to win the French Open. The Great Dane is in Paris sweating the games live at Roland Garros.

Phil Hellmuth arrived late but not with the pomp and circumstance that he had arrived with in previous years. He was sporting his new book but only had one copy to show his friends which included Phil Ivey and Chau Giang. This is the season for poker books. The Poker Shrink is around and he co-wrote (with Amy Calistri) the Mike Matusow autobiography called Check Raising the Devil. And of course, Lost Vegas comes out later this year.

And for all you NBA bettors.... Cleveland is a 7.5 favorite tonight over Orlando.

And yes, it's 4:20pm. Today's smoke break is brought to you by....


* * * * *

5:25pm... Two Champions Eliminated

Remaining Players: 171
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Matthew Glantz, Antonio Esfandiari, Scott Seiver, Justin Bonomo
Shorties: Nicolas Levi
Busto: Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Johnny Chan, Peter Eastgate

Approximately 10 players busted out during the last hour of play including two former WSOP Main Event champions in Johnny Chan and Peter Eastgate. Negreanu and David Williams are both gone as well.

AC pro Matt Glantz is the current chipleader.

We've been betting on women's softball all afternoon. Spelling bee is starting soon. Action is action.

* * * * *
6:25pm... The Dull Lull

Remaining Players: 161
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Matthew Glantz, Antonio Esfandiari, Scott Seiver, Justin Bonomo, RaSZi
Shorties: Nicolas Levi, Michael Binger
Busto: Annie Duke, FBT Mueller

I wish I had some exciting things to report. Lots of folks are bitching about the intertubes. There is no longer free wifi for everyone at the Rio. And the media feed has been slow and spotty. I'm fortunate that I have an air card, but a few friends have been on slight tech tilt.

The NBA game is on and the players asked for the TVs to air the game instead of the women's softball game.

Somewhere, Joan Rivers is laughing at Annie Duke's elimination. Too bad we can't actually see her laughing with all of the frozen botox injected into her face.

* * * * *
8:50pm... Back from Dinner and Down to 149

Remaining Players: 143
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Bonomo, Matt Glantz, Chris Moneymaker, Bruno Fitoussi
Shorties: Nicolas Levi, pr1nnyraid, Unabomber
Busto: Shaun Deeb, Mikael Thuritz, Phil Tom, Barry Greenstein, Chris Ferguson, Brandon Adams, David Benyamine, Ivan Demidov

Players went on a dinner break and are back. I went across the street to a combo check cashing joint/taco stand with Mean Gene. 99 cent tacos in these humbling times is quite a value. Plus we forged a couple of traveler's checks we stole from Benjo and they gave us a coupon for two free tacos.

A couple of familiar names hit the rail since the last updated. Jesus has left the building along with Barry Greenstein and Shaun Deeb, who I read about both eliminations on Twitter.

La French Update: According to Benjo, Benyamine is out, but three fellow Frenchman are still alive. Nicholas Levi has been short-stacked all day yet managed to stay alive. Ludovic Lacay has been hanging around while Bruno Fitoussi has a decent stack.

And yes, that's Chris Moneymaker surging to the top of the leaderboard.

* * * * *
9:50pm... The Greatness of Level 8

Remaining Players: 129
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: RaSZi, Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Bonomo
Shorties: Nicolas Levi, pr1nnyraid, Unabomber
Busto: Sandor Demjan, Aaron Been, Gavin Griffin, Matt Woodward, Jay Kinkade, Eli Elezra, Gavin Smith, Jennifer Harman, and ActionJeff

Los hombres at Wicked Chops Poker have been busting on Michael DeMichele's get up today. They threw in not-so-obvious gay jokes alluding to that freaky guy on American Idol. Change100 was appalled at his choice of outfits. Meanwhile, MeanGene wondered if he lost a prop bet or something.

My snarky comment? Dario called. He wants his scarf back.


Photo courtesy of PokerNews
Right in front of the pressbox is an interesting table...

Seat 2: LarsLusak
Seat 2: Kirill Gerasimov
Seat 3: John Duthie
Seat 5: Adam Junglen
Seat 9: Nenad Medic

* * * * * *
10:50pm... Down Goes Hachem

Remaining Players: 120
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: RaSZi, Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Bonomo
Shorties: Nicolas Levi, pr1nnyraid, Unabomber
Busto: Dennis Phillips, Joe Hachem, Ludovic Lacay, Andy Bloch, Erick Lindgren, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Doug Lee, Bill Edler

I know that Ludovic Lacay busted because I saw Benjo talking to him in the press box. Pros might be friends with random members of the media, but they don't actively hang out with us during a tournament, especially a $40,000 buy-in. Alas, it was safe to say that Ludovic Lacay sleeps with the fishes.

There has been a little bit of a ruckus at Andy Black's table. He was offered $5K to shave half of his beard by Bobby Suer.

The Toolbox is nevermore. I have no clue how Doug Lee found $40K to play in the event. But he's one of the latest causalities.

* * * * * *
11:50pm... The G Looking for Action

Remaining Players: 106
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: RaSZi, Michael DeMichele, Alan Sass, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Scotty Nguyen, Chirs Morman, pr1nnyraid, Unabomber
Busto: Steve Sung, Dan Shak, Doug Mackinnon, Jean Gaspard, Ludovic Lacay, Philippe Rouas, Shannon Shorr, BoostedJ, Brett Richey, Daniel Alaei, Howard Lederer

This is the end of Level 9. We will play one more level tonight and then call it a night. There should be less than 100 players when the remaining players bag up their chips.

Tony G has been doing well since the first hour or so when he doubled up. Since then he's been near the top of the leaderboard. The former hoops pro down under challenged Corey Zeidman to a prop bet for $100K. The G wanted to demonstrate his deft hoops skills and offered upa three-point and free throw shooting contest.


* * * * * *
1:05am... The After Midnight Edition - Day 1 Complete

Remaining Players: 89
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Bruno Fitoussi, Chris Moneymaker, Emil "whitelime" Patel, RaSZi, Michael DeMichele
Busto: pr1nnyraid, Phil Laak, Raymond Faltinsky, Richard Geyer, Phil Hellmuth, Nenad Medic, David Einhorn, Marco Traniello, Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro, Tim Phan, ElkY, Nicolas Levi, Vivek Rajkumar, Hasan Habib, and Luke 'IWEARGOGGLES' Staudenmaier

And we're done for the night. There are approximately 89 players remaining. The top 27 get paid and we should hit the money tomorrow night. Maybe.

Hellmuth left the building at the beginning of Level 10 when Phil Ivey sent him packing. He arrived late, but in an unusually low key manner. He also left without making a huge scene. He posed for a few pictures with fans and quietly left through the side door.

The big story involved Chris Moneymaker's run as he ended the day as one of the chipleaders. He started at a tough table, yet managed to stay ahead of the pack for most of the afternoon and evening. I gotta say, if Moneymaker goes deep, I'm gonna be rooting for the guy. If it wasn't for Chris Moneymaker, I'd be back to slinging beers to douchebags in the East Village. Because of him, I've had the chance to travel the world and cover tournaments in exotic places.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for tuning in and linking up the coverage on Tao of Poker, or following my half-baked thoughts on Twitter. You've been a great crowd. See ya tomorrow when this event resumes at 2pm local time.


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 5/28/2009 01:38:00 PM | Permalink |

 
2009 WSOP Day 1: No Respect

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

The 2009 WSOP kicked off on Wednesday with Event #1. You probably didn't even notice due to the lack of coverage (even on the Tao of Poker). The majority of media outlets were not covering the de-emphasized Casino Employees event, because for as long as I have been in poker media, there was sort of an unwritten rule that the Casino Employees event was low priority and a "blow off" day.

I always wondered the origins of why an ugly shadow was cast upon the lowly casino workers?

Many media outlets did not cover the event because of the lack of known stars. The tournament was geared towards poker players who worked in the casino industry and not for the likes of Phil Ivey and the other big time players.

When the Casino Employees event was slated the beginning of the WSOP this year, not every outlet had a full crew on the ground. Media reps have been trickling into Las Vegas over the last few days. The WSOP is a long haul and most veterans know the necessity to pace themselves so Event #1 became a casualty.

When positioned at the end of the WSOP, the Employees event was also blown off. They can't win. At that point in the series, everyone was so tired that you only had enough energy left to cover the Main Event.

I always felt sorry for some of the players in the Casino Employees event. Year after year, they got shafted. The worst incident might have been that crazy registration line in 2007 when the event got pushed back to 5pm instead of noon.

I liken the WSOP Employees event to an unknown band opening for a hugely popular band. More often than not, the opening band played to a sparsely populated crowd and the ones in attendance usually talked to friends, drank, and failed to pay attention. Meanwhile, the drunkards in the crowd booed the band and demanded, "Get the fuck off stage!" They paid to see the main attraction and not a bunch of unknowns.

Let's face it, no one cares about the "help" because the majority of poker media were paid to focus on the big stars. They're everyone's meal ticket. Yet, it's the very people who we all look down upon as the "help" who kept things running smoothly in casino operations on a daily basis. The casino workers were the heart and soul of the gambling Mecca of Las Vegas, yet the faceless suits in boardrooms and a handful of absurdly wealthy individual owners reaped all of the profits.

Alas, this was the one day of the year when the proletariat played poker instead of dealing cards. They were all individual Cinderella stories and had a shot at winning a coveted WSOP bracelet. However, their epic feats often fall upon deaf ears. Aside from a Flipchip winner's photo, there was not much about the winner.

The lack of respect for the working class reminded me of the summer before my senior year in college. I worked at an exclusive country club in Atlanta where I prepped clay tennis courts. Yes, I was the kid who drew the white chalk lines. I also brushed and watered the clay twice a day as it baked in the smoldering Georgia heat.

The elitist country club members with lavish tennis rackets sneered at me as the "help" even though I was better educated than most of them and two semesters away from a degree at Emory and a path down Wall Street. One rude member even called me an "inbred cracker." I bit my tongue and didn't say a word. All I kept thinking was, "Dude, I'm from New York. You're from Georgia. So by definition, you're an inbred cracker."

Over 90% of the country club staff was African-American. They didn't like me very much and one day I finally understood why everyone always gave me the stink-eye. I made more money per hour than most of them because the guy who hired me was a racist German who felt that as a college student I didn't have to start out at minimum wage. When I found out about the discrepancy in pay between whites and blacks, I was astonished and ashamed. I quit after that startling revelation.

That summer was a humbling experience and I learned first hand about the subversive racism in the South and the eternal struggle between the haves and have nots.

During the week, the lunch service for the country club members began at 11:30am. Staff lunches were at 10:30am in a spillover room used for large events. We had a half hour to eat amazingly delicious fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, and melt-in-your mouth biscuits... every single item was the best that I have ever eaten. That was 16 years ago and I have yet to taste anything that came close to the stuff that Otis the head chef whipped up. (Yeah, the head chef's name was Otis and he looked like William "The Refrigerator" Perry.)

On Sundays, there was a gigantic breakfast buffet for the entire club's membership. It ended at 1pm. Our lunch time on Sundays was scheduled for 1:20pm. We all lined up in the service entrance and eventually led into the main dining room. Imagine a dining area inside Southern mansion with pristine table cloths, multi-colored floral decorations, sparkling chandeliers, and large bay windows that overlooked a beautiful array of the blooming white flowers on Dogwood trees that lined the 18th fairway.

Once a week, I caught a glimpse of the good life as we gobbled up mac-n-cheese and biscuits from the buffet. That's an image that I still can't get out of my mind... as soon as the rich folks left out the front door, the help were led in through the back and picked at the leftovers.

Although Day 1 of the WSOP was nowhere to that extreme, yet, for some reason those images of the country club Sunday buffet flashed in my head as I wandered through the Amazon Ballroom with 866 of casino employees trying to feast off the the scraps of poker's elite.

* * * * *
Bouncin' Round the Room on Day 1...


Photo courtesy of los hombres at Wicked Chops Poker
The first thing that greeted me when I arrived in the press box? Russ Hamilton's fat mug. That was some cruel joke from Harrah's staff to put the cheating eyes of Russ looming over us, like some sort of Big Brother on peyote. I'm setting the over/under at 5 days before someone defaces or steals that banner. There's no way Russ' mug survives the entire series.

Since the economy is nothing more than a turd floating in the toilet, a horde of players flocked to the Rio's satellite room. On Monday night, two seats were up for grabs in a $1,500 buy-in satellite to the 40K NL event. Several pros were in the mega-satellite including Barry Greenstein, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, and the Grinder. On Tuesday night, according to Twitter, both Chainsaw, (fake) Eskimo Clark, and Erica Schoenberg played in the mega.

Flipchip told me he spotted Capt. Tom's Penis roaming the hallways. He had a young thing in tow. "She looked about twenty.... twenty-two... maybe twenty-four years old," said Flipchip. "I felt obligated to tell her that young women who hang out with the Capt. often end up dead." Wow, first day of the WSOP and Flipchip made the first Brandi Hawbaker reference.

Congrats to Heath Chick for taking second place at the PokerStars.com ANZPT (Australia & New Zealand Poker Tour). I worked with Heath at Poker News and he's also a semi-pro from Tasmania. Seriously. His nickname is the Tassie Devil and he's trying to raise awareness to save the disease-ridden Tasmanian Devil. During his amazing run, Heath's colleagues at Poker News were eagerly sweating his progress.


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 5/28/2009 04:20:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Beer Bowling (aka Easy Money)

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Beer bowling with Michalski is an extremely profitable adventure. It's like stealing money. I haven't make easy money that since my old Wall Street days when complete strangers blindly gave me their life savings to invest in various Ponzi schemes.

Anyway, last night we bowled a couple of games at South Point and it wasn't even close in the prop betting realm. In all fairness Michalski was on Facebook-tilt but he was no match for my mediocre bowling prowess.

Here's some of the action...



I also beat Tom Bostic heads up. I really thought he was gonna smoke me, but I squeaked out a win.


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 5/27/2009 09:09:00 PM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Bracelet Picks

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

It's a known fact that I thrive on action, especially prop betting with degenerate in the poker media. Since most of my colleagues are constantly on the sidelines, we have to concoct prop bets to make things interesting especially over a seven week period.

So, who am I betting on to win a bracelet this year?

1. Erik Seidel - Seidel always flies under the radar, which makes him a dangerous opponent. Betting on Seidel to win a bracelet is sorta like betting chalk. He didn't win one last year (despite two final table appearances), which means he's due this year to win bracelet #9.

2. Elky - Also known as Bertrand Grospellier, the former video game legend from France has been running good since 2008. He's netted $1.5 million already this year including a victory at the $25K High Rollers Event at the PCA in the Bahamas at the beginning of the year. With $5.7 million in career live tournament earnings, Elky is number one on the All Time French Money List. He's also currently 34th on the All Time Money List. Quite an achievement. Perhaps this is the year that Elky wins himself some bling.

3. Matt Glantz - Glantz is a dark horse on the West Coast mainly because he hasn't played a high volume of WSOP events in the previous years. Glantz is primarily a mixed-game player and sits in the highest mixed cash game at the Borgata in Atlantic City. His last three cashes at the WSOP? 2nd place (3K NL), 3rd place (10K Mixed), and 4th place (50K HORSE). Glantz recently mentioned that he's going to be playing more events at this year's WSOP than in previous years.

4. Vivek Rajkumar - I fondly recall Vivek's first WSOP in 2007. "Ship it to Vivek!" his drunken friends screamed on the rail as he went deep in a limit event. Since then, the kid has been on my radar. He made me look like a genius at the Brogata Poker Open last September when I made him my #1 draft pick in the media pool. He promptly went all the way and won his first WPT event. A WSOP bracelet will be a nice addition to his already impressive poker resume.

5. Shaun Deeb - Deeb (no relation to Freddy) has been the subject of some hilarious 2+2 photoshopped images over the last year. And he's an exceptional player topping the PokerStars leader board for 2008. Usually clad in a NY Yankees hat, Deeb is one my short list to win a bracelet this year. Over his virtual poker career, he has played so many MMTs that the numbers would make your head spin. I dunno if any human has seen more hands in online MMTs than Shaun Deeb.


Photoshopped by Snoopy

Bubbling off my Top 5? Allen Cunningham, Soren Kongsgaard, and Kathy Liebert. I have smaller bets that they will each win a bracelet.

On a side note, I have a bet that Gobbo, Adam Junglen, Ludovic Lacay, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Shaniac, DonkeyBomber, and Alex Kravchenko will all make final tables this year. And yes, my outstanding wager that Brandon Schaefer will win a bracelet before Carl Olson is still live through December 21, 2012. So either Brandon wins a bracelet before the Mayan Calendar ends, or we're all doomed.


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 5/27/2009 04:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Nominate Andy Glazer for the WSOP Hall of Fame

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV


Photo credit: Perry Friedman
I never had a chance to meet Andy Glazer. He passed away the summer before I started my job as a tournament reporter. But the ones who knew him, said that he was the best in the business.

Amy Calistri recently penned a post titled Nominate Andy Glazer for The Poker Hall of Fame. Here's a bit:

There is no tribute large enough to encompass the contributions Andy Glazer made to this sport. But I can’t think of any higher honor, for the writers that cover this game, than receiving an Andy Glazer Award for Journalist Integrity.

Please read Amy's piece and then head over to the WSOP website and nominate Andy Glazer for the Poker Hall of Fame (voting is open through July 2nd). His contributions to poker should be recognized.

Nominations for Poker Hall of Fame can be made 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 5/27/2009 04:20:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Twitter and the WSOP

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


Early conversations with different poker industry figures have indicated that Twitter will play a large role in the upcoming WSOP. For the last episode of The Poker Beat, I took part in a panel that devoted an entire segment to Twitter and the WSOP.

So, you're a poker fan who just signed up for Twitter and you're wondering, "Whom should I follow?"

Good thing that you asked, because here are five people in poker that you should be following on Twitter...

1. Jeffrey Pollack (@JeffreyPollack): The WSOP Commish has embraced the latest social media trend. He's been actively promoting the upcoming WSOP and sharing music selections with the Twitterverse.

2. Joe Sebok (@joesebok): Without a doubt, Joe Sebok has accumulated the most followers out of anyone in the poker community. The founder of Poker Road will be utilizing a cool Twitter feature called Poker Road Nation. Stay tuned for more info.

3. Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly): I love the fact that Texas Dolly absolutely loves Twitter. He tells lots of corny jokes and even gives you a glimpse into his sports betting picks.

4. Liz Lieu (@LizLieu): The Poker Diva has been using Twitter since last summer. Since she's an active traveller, she's been tweeting from locations all over the world.

5. Eskimo Clark (@eskimoclark): I'm pretty sure this is a fake account, but it's hysterical. I mean, giving blood for a buy-in? That's gold.

I used Twitter last year as an accompanying feature to my overall WSOP coverage on Tao of Poker... and I will continue to do the same this summer. Signing up to Twitter is free, but make sure you have unlimited text messaging before you opt in for cell phone updates.

Just so you know, my Twitter username is @taopauly. I own @DrPauly and @taopoker but I do not update any of those. My main Twitter feed is @taopauly.


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 5/26/2009 01:11:00 PM | Permalink |

 
The Best of The Tao of Pokerati

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV


Recording the Tao of Pokerati podcast was one of my favorite things about last year's WSOP. I spliced together a compilation of the funniest episodes from 2008. Several selections included cameos from everyone's chain-smoking Frenchman, Benjo.

Download the Best of Tao of Pokerati 2008

Best of Tao of Pokerati Track Listing:
1. Episode 2: Dirty Sklanchez (3:30)
2. Episode 10: Eurotarded (2:26)
3. Episode 12.5: Le Donk featuring Benjo (1:35)
4. Episode 17: Gold Coasting (2:41)
5. Episode 17.1: Barley Legal featuring Benjo (0:55)
6. Episode 17.2: Hooker Tournament Chips featuring Benjo (1:05)
7. Episode 17.3: Le Masturbe featuring Benjo (1:20)
8. Episode 19: Topless Beer Pong featuring Otis (2:44)
9. Episode 23: Bubbilicious (3:46)
10. Episode 25: Maderrall featuring the Poker Shrink (5:32)
11. Episode 26: Agents, Frenchies, and Polacks featuring Benjo (3:48)
12. Episode 28: Exit, Stage Tiffany (6:28)
13. Episode 28.5: Fashion Report featuring Change100 (3:23)
14. Episode 35: No Wiener featuring Benjo (4:41)
15. Episode 36: Unhookered featuring Otis & Mean Gene (3:29)
16. Episode 4.9: The Novembrists (5:31)
17. Episode 4.13: Web Player Down! (3:31)
18. Episode 3.1: EPT Afterparty featuring Benjo (3:39)
19. Episode 3.4: Euro Core-tossing featuring Benjo (3:17)
20. Episode 6.2: Hooker by Numbers, 1-2-3 featuring Derek (3:52)
21. Episode 6.3: Hookers, Keno, and Meth featuring Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot (2:27)
22. Episode 7.1: Jailhouse Rocks and Maniacs featuring Benjo(3:15)

Download the Best of Tao of Pokerati 2008

Enjoy!

And for a complete index of every podcast that we recorded, please visit the Tao of Pokerati Archives.


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 5/25/2009 04:17:00 PM | Permalink |

 
The 2008 WSOP Review

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Here's an index of every daily recaps from the 2008 WSOP.

Day 1: Welcome Back to the Zoo... The 2008 WSOP has reached the pinnacle of greed and poker has become another casualty of the capitalistic mutation of all things cool in the world. If something is cool and deemed cool by the people participating in it, it's just a matter of time before the misanthropes swoop in and ruin everything pure about the game.

Day 2: 4,000 Donkeys to the Rescue?... There's the housing crisis and mortgage fiasco that has infected the Las Vegas valley. Several major construction projects have been delayed due to financing issues, such as Trump's latest vanity project a condo-hotel on the North Strip. He planned on building a second tower, but even Trump is having trouble raising capital. And the future of the $3 billion Cosmopolitan Casino project has yet to be determined since their developer defaulted on a $760 million loan from Deutsche Bank. Yeah, Vegas is in a bit of trouble and 4,000 donkeys are not going to save a sinking ship.

Day 3: Medic Cockblocks Bloch and Full Tilt Antonius... Mike Sexton. Patrik Antonius. Andy Bloch. Kathy Liebert. The Unabomber. Chris Bell. SowersUNCC. amak316. Nenad Medic. It reminded me of a final table from 2004 or 2005. And not like the final tables of the last couple of years where it was a bunch of unknowns, internet pushmonkeys, inbred nits, and the odd assortment of guys who said they were pros but who were really broke-ass mofos.

Day 4: Vultures and the First Mistake... knew one gal who worked marketing for Absolute Poker. Her sole job was to buy off final table players at the WSOP. She had two bags. One had stacks of cash. The other had Absolute Poker gear. Sometimes these negotiations get rough as online sites compete for players. All of this goes on behind the scenes during the hours leading up to the final table. That side of the business is cut throat, nasty, and is just pure anarchy. That's part of the reason why I have a bad feeling about the Final Table Delay. I know the ugliness that goes down the night before the final table. You can imagine all the shenanigans that will present itself during the months leading up to Main Event final table in November.

Day 5: Stakes and Shakes... with staking deals come a whole set of other problems. I've been staked and staked players in the past and it all comes down to a trust issue. Greed always fucks stuff up and that's what staking deals get a little hairy. During the first weekend of the WSOP, one somewhat popular bracelet winner owed another bracelet a six-figure make up. The guy who was stuck had a huge score at one of the PokerStars Sunday tournaments. He used some of his winnings to buy a new car and a trip to Hawaii with his girlfriend. The backer found out and was furious, while the slippery eel avoided him for three days until he got cornered in the hallway.

Day 6: Melting Eskimo's Igloo and Erick Lindgren Wins First Bracelet... Lindgren was one crazy muthafucka. And if he could transcend physical and emotional pain and surpass a rigorous challenge such as that death-defying golf bet, then he definitely had the necessary mental toughness to win a WSOP bracelet. He came close a couple of years ago and missed, but this year he managed to win his first bracelet against one of the toughest final tables in recent history. These days, you never know if you'll get a chance at making a final table, let alone winning a bracelet. Lindgren had his shot and followed through. He begin the final table fourth in chips. Although ZeeJustin held the lead for most of the final table, Lindgren jumped out to a slight lead once heads up pay began. It only took forty hands before Lindgren extracted the last of ZeeJustin's chips and he achieved his greatest moment in poker... a WSOP bracelet.

Day 7: Introducing... Tao of Pokerati, Tao of Five, and Billy Shears... Michalksi from Pokerati and I launched our first ever joint-podcasting venture called Tao of Pokerati. It's our very lazy and ghetto version of a podcast. Episode 1 is around three minutes.

Day 8: Trio of Final Tables, Vinnie Vinh Returns, and the Ghost of Brandi Hawbaker... Eight days into this year's WSOP, the headlines don't sound like something from a sleazy tabloid like Perez Hilton or Wicked Chops Poker. I guess the big story to start this year's WSOP was that there were three amazing tables and Erick Lindgren won his first bracelet. And the fact that the players haven't been bitching about Harrah's deserves some merit. Despite some minor ruffles, the first week of the WSOP rolled along rather smooth. As one pro said, "It took them four years but they finally got their shit together."

Day 9: The Rise of Vinnie Vinh and the First 2008 Ten Bracelet Winners... There were two faces of Vinnie Vinh. One was the masterful poker player who stayed at the front of the pack for most of Day 1 and Day 2 until he late night when he accumulated more chips to end Day 2 as the chipleader. Then there was the erratic side of Vinnie Vinh with random outbursts which obviously stem from whatever inner demons he's wrestling with. Individually the incidents were all minor such as standing up, muttering incoherent things, laughing fits, and other peculiar behavior at the tables. Most of the time I watched Vinh, he appeared in control of the monster within.

Day 10: The Archie Karas Comeback and Vinny Vinh's Final Table...
To final table any WSOP event is a major milestone. To achieve that daunting task under the close scrutiny of fans, media, players, Harrah's suits, and thick-necked thugs seemed almost impossible, yet Vinny Vinh pulled it off. It's a sad and tragic story in one sense and a total reminder of the heinous side of poker and addiction. The Vinny Vinhs, Stu Ungars, Eskimo Clarks, and Archie Karases of the world betrayed their craft. They were given a cherished and rare gift from the poker gods and squandered away their talents in a futile attempt to quench a thirst that can never be satisfied whether it was drugs, sex, craps, booze, or flipping coins.

Day 11: GLOW... It's totally asinine for men to try to buy into an event that is specifically designed for women. I cringe when I hear people bitching and moaning about that. It's like hearing about a flat chested chick trying to sue Hooters because she didn't get hired. The place is called "Hooters" for a reason. The Ladies Only event has the word "only" added for a reason.

Day 12: A Day in the Life of Phil Ivey... The game started right around 6pm. For the next three hours, Ivey could not sit still. He stood up a lot, paced back and forth, and constantly checked his crackberry. I had never seen so much emotion out of Ivey before. His usual expressionless face that was cool as a tenor sax solo from John Coltrane had disappeared and replaced by intervals of anxiety.

Day 13: Unlucky 13 and Mike Matusow Wins Bracelet... Sure, $537,857 was up for grabs. But for some of those guys that money is chump change. It wasn't about the money. It was about pride and bracelets. You see, pre-boom bracelets didn't really mean too much until the media starting hyping it up. We all know about how short-term luck affects poker tournaments, but bracelets are an indication of success over the long haul. The five or six guys who currently have the most bracelets have been regarded as some of the greatest poker players of all time.

Day 14: Daniel Negreanu Wins 4th Bracelet, Phil Ivey Loses 200K Prop Bet, and Vanessa Selbst Beats Aussie Strip Club Owner for PLO Bracelet... The moment after Daniel Negreanu clinched the Limit Hold'em tournament and won his fourth bracelet, he thrust his arms in the air in celebration. He lofted them as high as he could for a few seconds before he dropped them and quickly reached for his mobile device in his pocket. He texted Phil Ivey to tell him to pay up.

Day 15: Tao of Five with Wicked Chops Poker... What I love the best about WCP is that they just don't give a shit what anyone thinks about them and that attitude is why they managed to succeed over the years. Dozens of ripoff sites and hack wanna-bes tried to "borrow" from the WCP model, but they have come and left, since none of them have the snarky wit and an amazing eye for talent. For the last four years, Wicked Chops Poker is among the first couple of sites I read everyday. Doesn't matter if I'm in Las Vegas, Sweden, New Zealand, or Hollyweird... I love Wicked Chops Poker.

Day 16: Archie Karas Makes Final Table, Italian Pirate Wins Bracelet, and 125 Pounds of Razz Fury... Pesactori is well on his way to becoming the greatest poker player from Italy. Ever. Valter Farina and John Spadavecchia are legends and a part of the old guard. Farina was the first Italian to ever win a bracelet and Spadavecchia is number one on the all-time money list. Both had been crushing games since Max was a little one playing football with his school mates in Milan. But with his second bracelet, Pescatori has the most bracelets out of the Italians. And by the end of the 2008 WSOP, Pescatori should take over #1 on the All Time money list for Italy.

Day 17: Pros Continue Dominance as Barry Greenstein and Kenny Tran Win Bracelets... Perhaps karma was in play tonight. The poker gods knew that the money won on Sunday would go to good use since Greenstein and Tran would be sharing the money with those less fortunate. If a young kid won it, he'd blow it all on strippers and blow and other material items. If a guy like TJ Cloutier or Archie Karas won, they money would get lost at the nearest craps table.

Day 18: Never Trust a Junkie... Action. The rush. The buzz. The sustained high. Doesn't matter the medium. Craps. Poker. Slots. Blackjack. Baccarat. Dog races. NBA games. Video poker. It's the anticipation of the outcome that gets everyone fired up. The moment of truth when life sizzles through your bloodstream and you're jacked up on so much adrenaline it takes you days and weeks and months to come down from the cosmos. The anticipation... the crest of the gambler's high... where nothing else matters as the entire world pauses during that millisecond before your fate is determined.

Day 19: Looking Through a Glass Onion... My inner action junkie is the size of Gary Coleman and wrapped up deep and deep inside buried behind so many layers of complicated phobias, addictions, and other unresolved mental health issues. It takes years and decades to peel off all of the excess layers before we get to the source. But if our souls were glass onions and you could peek through all the layers, we'd see the true essence of existence... and that's to constantly challenge and prove to yourself that you're truly alive. And gambling is one of those opportunities when ordinary activities take on a role of vital significance by simply wagering on the outcome.

Day 20: Scandi Ghosts, Degenadario, and the Tao of Deutschland... I first met Dario Minieri at the 2006 WSOP, when I covered the Main Event for PokerStars. I recall saying something to Otis that some kid (who looks like he's 15, doesn't even shave, and may or may not be a girl) had a shitload of chips. Cardplayer had the official media coverage that year and listed him as Dario Roma. Almost, but not quite. He was Dario Minieri and hailed from Rome, Italy. I asked him his name and he said in a very dramatic and flamboyant voice, "I am Dario! Me English not so good."

Day 21: Donkeys, Pigeons, Possums, and Kangaroos... She could have 'big timed' it and blew off security by entering through the back door like Jen Tilly, Howard Lederer, and Phil Ivey have done many times before. Not for Kathy. She wanted to be treated like any of two thousand other players in the event. She also brown bagged her lunch instead of paying for overpriced kangaroo meat that they pass off as food in the Poker Kitchen. When you lather it in hot sauce and dip it in Ranch dressing it tastes just like chicken.

Day 22: Layne Flack Six Pack and the Luckiest Man... Anyone can get up on a soapbox and judge get on someone for being a drunk or a druggie. Unless you've been there you really don't know how much easier it is to give in to temptation than to make a stand and wrestle with those intoxicating demons. Everyone has a weakness. Puggy Pearson told Flipchip that "Every man has a leak." And if you are a vulnerable person living in a city like Las Vegas, it's only a matter of time before you self-destruct. Implode. Lose your mud. Dive into the abyss.

Day 23: The Killing Fields, Benyamine Wins First Bracelet, and the Corridor of Hookers... Location is the key to any successful business. That's why the Hooker Bar was such a popular hang out. But a few girls are hustling in the hallways leading up to the Amazon Room. That's what is great about that long corridor. Inside of thirty seconds you can crash a Mexican wedding reception, buy a cold overpriced personal pie from Pizza Hut, pick up a copy of Bluff Magazine, and negotiate a hummer from a hooker.

Day 24: Belgium Bracelets and Spanish Sundays... I barreled through the crowded casino on a mission. I weaved past the zombies anchored to the slot machines, and ran by the muppets at the craps tables, and rushed by the slow-moving tourists. I was nearly out of breath when I arrived at the window to cash my ticket. Nothing is sweeter in Las Vegas than cashing a winning sports bet ticket. It's a natural high especially after getting jacked up on adrenaline while sweating the results.

Day 25: Save the Eskimo, Save the World... Attention Hippies, The Eskimo needs your help. Put down the bong. Stop campaigning for Obama (Dick Cheney already rigged the November election, the Beijing Olympics, and the next two American Idols) and get your patchouli-smelling ass down the Rio Casino in Las Vegas because the Eskimo needs your help.

Day 26: The Bucket List, Dumb Hookers, and Phan 2.0... Benjo told me a hilarious story about how Bellagio hookers were trying to cash tournament chips at the cage. Apparently, a couple of horny and angle-shooting poker players removed $1,000 denomination tournament chips out of play. They used those chips to pay off hookers, who were not very bright and accepted the chips in return for sexual favors. Of course they did not read the fine print on the chips where it said it's not legal tender and only a tournament chip.

Day 27: HORSE - Day 1... You've seen those "feed the children" commercials where a bloated and emotionally high-strung Sally Struthers openly weeps for the cameras and guilt trips you into sending her foundation money after seeing photos of emaciated African kids covered in flies. For only the cost of a cup of coffee, you can feed all the starving children in the world. There are campaigns where you send $8 a month or roughly $100 a year. At that equation, one buy-in to the HORSE event could feed 500 starving children for one full year.

Day 28: Horse Day 2, The Procedure Part II, and More Existentialist Conversations with Strippers... Former gymnast. Majored in English at some college in Denton, TX. Got knocked up at 20 and dropped out of school. Had a botched back-alley abortion and can't have kids. Her step-father murdered her mother and knocked up her half-sister. She was a real life Jerry Springer episode gyrating on my lap and spilling Grey Goose all over my Ecco shoes.

Day 29: HORSE Day 3 - Texas Dolly... Shortly after midnight, with the camera happy blooming Friday night crowd on the rail, the grizzled gunslinger took over the chiplead with 27 players remaining in the $50,000 HORSE World Championship. With his trademarked white Stetson cowboy hat, Doyle Brunson was sitting plush with the biggest stack in the room and welcomed all challengers as he flashed a wry smile. One hour earlier, the legendary Texas Dolly limped past the press box with the assistance of his crutch. Brunson made his way out into the hallway and was besieged with autograph and picture requests from dozens of rabid fans who wanted a piece of their hero.

Day 30: HORSE Day 4 - Erick Lindgren and the Killing Floor... One side of the Amazon Ballroom was flooded in the carcasses of the losers in the $1,500 slaughterfest. Call them whatever. Donkeys. Emus. Pigeons. Fish. Pigs. Dogs. Rats. They were causalities and within hours of taking their seats, they ended up on the killing floor. When the survivors trudged through the HORSE area, they tracked donkey blood all over the carpet. Harrahs cleaning crews worked around the clock using an extra-strength extract from special Guatemalan fruit (previously used by porn stars in Hollywood in increase the distance of their cum shots) which helped erase the blemishes.

Day 31: Scotty Nguyen = Horsemaster... The agents were swarming. The media were circling. The backers were licking their chops. A couple of hookers strolled the hallways. Just another night at the WSOP. Around 1:30am, Lindgren made a heroic comeback to almost pull even with DeMichele and Scotty. That's when Scotty lost his shit for a full level. He was drunk and irritated. Happy Scotty was gone and Evil Scotty took his place. He was out in the deep end and he berated dealers and started to head down the path towards utter tiltdom.

Day 32: Whore's Horse Afterthought... If the UIGEA never gets overturn and the U.S. economy continues to go into the shitter, it's a matter of time before the Game Show Network shifts their programming philosophy and broadcasted cage matches live from Costa Rica where Erick Lindgren and Phil Ivey fight each other to the death and then the winner wrestles a grizzly bear with Doyle Brunson booking action. Those poker cage fights are a fusion of UFC Friday Night Fights meets a benzy-induced Philip K. Dick short story. Of course they are sponsored by PokerStars, where you can trade FPP points for a chance to wrestle an alligator. Otis will live blog the action.

Day 33: First 51 Bracelets and More Tao of Pokerati Poker Podcast... Yeah, this might be the year of the pro. Plenty of familiar faces and big names won bracelets this summer, including John Phan who won two. 51 bracelets were awarded to 50 different players.

Day 34: Bluff Party and the Stripper on Ecstasy... Then one honed in on me. Fantasia was her name. Nubile blonde from Texas. She rushed over and hugged me. I could tell by the way she was dancing and slurring the words to the Beastie Boys song Girls that she was deep into a ecstasy trip. Maybe two or three rolls. She gigled every time I touch the back of her neck. She gave me a lap dance or five. She was too wasted to keep track and only charged me for one.

Day 35: Main Event Day 1A - Cokeheads, Crybabies, and the Green Box Conspiracy... One incident happened in the men's room across from the Brasilia Room which I mentioned in the live blog. I overheard one guy sitting in one of the stalls and making odd sounds. I assumed that he was taking a rough dump because I thought I heard squealing in agony. Actually, he was sobbing and telling a loved one his bad beat story of how he busted out of the WSOP. Wow, that blew me away. A grown man brought to tears over one little poker tournament. There's no crying in poker! Alas, he was yet another helpless soul violently crushed in the existentialist meat grinder of the WSOP. If you want a happy hobby, try a ceramics class. If you want to have your balls shaved by a cheese grater every couple of hours, then poker is for you.

Day 36: Main Event Day 1B - Yawn... Varkonyi busted Phil Hellmuth at the 2002 WSOP main event. Hellmuth ranted and raved and said Varonkyi was an awful player. Yeah, some things never change. Hellmuth then made a ridiculous bet that if Varkonyi won it all, then he would shave his head. Well, Varkonyi won and everyone held Hellmuth to his word. At the end of that telecast of the final table, Hellmuth sat down and Becky Binion took an electric razor and shaved it all off as Gabe Kaplan tooled on him and Matt Savage milled around in the background and Devilfish was mugging for camera time.

Day 37: Main Event Day 1C and the Tao of Five with Flipchip... It felt like Ground Hog's Day. The third Day 1. 38th day in a row. My brain is/was/is/was fried. Anyway, the biggest field showed up so far at the WSOP world championship and when action ended on Day 1c, Harrahs dodged a bullet and got more entrants signed up than last year with one more flight to go.

Day 38: The Kitten Fields... The majority of their brethren never made it out alive and perished in the existentialist meatgrinder of the world series of sadism. That's why every PokerStars 'premium' schwag bag can be converted into a makeshift body bag. Poor Otis and Howard and Bartley scrambled across the killing floor every hour to retrieve the leftover carcasses from the plethora of online qualifiers. The bottom of the PokerStars shuttle bus was a makeshift morgue which Otis and his crew constantly filled up every inch with the leftovers. You could see the malnourishment in Otis' eyes. The sorrow. The misery. The agony. And you wonder why Otis writes such sad posts. He can't shake the post-traumatic stress syndrome of being the first on the scene after the initial slaughter. If you have to slosh around knee deep in the fish guts and animal intestines for 15 hours a day, you'd be in a somber mood as well.

Day 39 - Off

Day 40: Main Event Day 2A - Isadario... We are what we are... a gaggle of sex-crazed degenerate gamblers. But that's what I love about America... is that or founder fathers laid out the groundwork so that we can become what we choose to be without the government interfering in our lives. Fly to Vegas. Play in the WSOP. Get sucked out by a donkeyfish. Get wasted. Gamble until sunrise. Fuck a hooker. Eat a buffet. Piss next to Johnny Chan. Buy an ashtray. Buy a tube of cream for that rash you picked up. Good bye Vegas. See you next time.

Day 41: Main Event Day 2B - Formula of Donkey Liquification... You can drink beer while playing poker so it's not a sport. Scotty Nguyen. Men the Master. Minneapolis Jom Meehan. They all like a good cocktail at the tables. Sure, old school professional athletes drank during games like Night Tran Lane and Babe Ruth probably knocked back a cold one in between innings while he stuffed his face with hotdogs. Joe D used to smoke in the dugout and the bat boys used to make sure he had a lit ciggie waiting for him when he came off the field and into the dugout. But today? You couldn't see Pedro Martinez walk to the back of the mound, bend over, and take a huge pull off of a tallboy. I'd love to see Mikael Samuelsson do a shot of tequila on the bench before a line change. But that's just not gonna happen.

Day 42: Main Event Day 3 - Bubbles... An assortment of 1,307 people from all different areas of life... online pros, Vegas pros, amateurs, semi-pros, guys who are muppets who think they are pros, and straight up dream chasers... each walked into the Amazon Room with one thing on their minds... survive Day 3 and advance to Day 4. The simple goal? Be among the 666 players who cashed in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Once you sign your slip at the end of Day 2 and bag up your chips, all you can think about is making it to the end of Day 3 to almost guarantee a $21K cash. And for online qualifiers or satellite winners, the rest of the WSOP is a freeroll. Almost all of their earnings are pure profit.

Day 43: Main Event Day 4 - Early to Bed and Iggy's Run... Once the cameras are in position, the producer tells the dealer to proceed. Not a floor person or Harrah's staff... but someone from ESPN. The big crowd attracts more people. Staff, players from adjacent tables, media reps. Even the occasional rule breaker who sneaks inside the ropes to check out the action. A massive circle engulfs the table. When the hand is over,one player is usually sent to his death, while all of the vultures disappear and flock to another table where a familiar situation is arising. It's almost like watching pigeons in the park peck and fight over a couple of crumbs. Throw the bread in one direction (all in and a call) and hundreds of pigeons (hungry media) will go apeshit and peck each others' eyeballs out just to grab a crumb. A morsel. Anything they can get their beaks on. As that song goes, birds of a feather are flocking outside.

Day 44: Main Event Day 5 - The Wretched Squall of Hellmuth and Matusow... I waited 44 days for the sure thing. The defining moment of the summer. The one incident that would set the 2008 WSOP apart from the previous four years that have blended into one long blurry flashback of bracelet winners, bad beat stories, excursions to strip clubs, binge drinking at the hooker bar, pot-bellied mulleted children running amuck at the Redneck Riviera, and lime tossing out back with a sad, tilty, and often suicidal Otis. I stumbled upon a story that could have wrote itself before I even got out of bed in the morning. Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow. At the same table. Right next to each other. With Hellmuth having position on Matusow. At the featured TV table in front of hundreds of drooling, blood-thirsty fans. They were starving lunatics. Broke dick swine. Some drunk on cheap swill. Others mentally imbalanced. And those were my friends. It was almost like the Romans waiting for the Christians to get tossed to the lions. The featured TV table was standing room only. The spectators were spilling out of the Beast Lounge with limbs dangling over metal rails waiting... waiting... for a meltdown. For a blowup. For the bloodshed.

Day 45: Main Event Day 6 - The Battle for Tiffany Michelle's Breasts... I would not want to be Tiffany Michelle right now. The entire fate of poker and all of Western Civilization has been thrust upon her supple shoulders. Should a 24-year old have that much pressure on her? Tiffany Michelle is poker's most marketable asset right now. Michalksi said that out of the last 27 players, she has the potential for the biggest "Moneymaker Effect." In three years, will I be writing about another poker renaissance in America and citing the "Tiffany Michelle Effect?" Come to think of it, that wouldn't be a bad thing. The poker world could use an influx of young women.

Day 46: Main Event Day 7 - Nonagon... I have seen what money does to people. It destroys lives. It tears friends apart. Too much money and it poisons your soul. Too little money and it makes you do desperate an unthinkable things. And during the pursuit of huge sums of money in the seven and eight figure ranges... your once astute judgment becomes clouded in the fog of war. Poker is a simple game. Played among friends, it can be one of the most entertaining experiences in life. But when poker is played in a tournament for millions of dollars in a forum where dozens and dozens of corporations can profit from it... things can get ugly. There is no longer white and black, just shades of grey. Working for four plus years in the poker industry taught me that the more money that is involved... the more complicated things can get.

* * * * *
Nothing can top my first WSOP in 2005, so it is hard to compare to that experience. However, the 2008 WSOP was my second favorite. Let's see if I can top 2005 and 2008!


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 5/24/2009 04:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Run Good 3.0... TripJax and Matt Showell Runs Goodest

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

The gang at Poker Listings from the Great White North were kind enough to throw another Run Good Challenge. This time, the third incarnation included two juicy opportunities to grab three different $1,500 WSOP seats, which were up for grabs during satellites over at PokerStars.

The Poker Grump won the first Run Good 3.0 event last Saturday and already locked up the first seat. This weekend? Two more seats were available. I wanted to win one and freeroll into a donkament. Buy a ticket and take the ride, as the saying goes.

The field of 25 players included an eclectic mix of poker media and poker bloggers. And when then dust settled.... Matt Showell and Trip Jax emerged victorious. Congrats to both lucksacks players. They run goodest.

My starting table...

Seat 1: Michalski
Seat 2: S.t.B
Seat 3: Poker Grump
Seat 4: Jay "whojedi" Newnum
Seat 5: DrPauly
Seat 6: DrunkBlonde
Seat 7: AlCantHang
Seat 8: TripJax
Seat 9: Chops

On the second hand of the tournament, I doubled up with Aces. Shocker. Usually I get kicked in the junk. Some how, the poker gods decided to smile upon thee. I opened from UTG and DrunkBlonde raised to 200. Everyone folded to me and I shoved. She called with Jacks. My Aces held up and she went out in 25th place. Gigli. Before I was even settled in, I found myself the early chipleader.

I took a sip of iced tea. I have been brewing my own iced tea these days in recycled mason jars. Good shit.

I spewed some chips early on when I doubled up TripJax. I love foreshadowing moments and ominous signs, like the candlestick above the mantle in Act 1 of a play because you know someone gets killed with it later on in Act 3.

After TripJax's A-J beat out my K-J, I slipped to the middle of the pack where I'd remain for most of the middle stages of the tournament.

I kept my head above water when I busted Chops who was too busy watching Temptation Island instead of focusing on poker. My A-K held up against his A-J, and Chops was out and back to looking for nipple shots on Drunken Stepfather.

My table got broken and I was moved. I found myself 18th in chips and a super shortstack after I whiffed with A-K versus my nemesis Dan S. We had many previous battles... like the Run Good 1.0 when we played a marathon heads-up battle. And then there was the time in that bar in Calcutta when he fuckin' stabbed me with broken pencil! That's a whole other story for another time. But for now, I was not happy to have him to my left.

However, just when things started to look bleak, I doubled through Iggy with J-8 in battle of blinds to stay alive.

At the first break, I was 10/16 with a paltry 1.8K. Sap-player was the chipleader.

Shortly after the break, I picked up a small pot against Dan S. and improved to 2.5K. I then jumped up to 3.7K when my A-Js held up against his A-6. At the same time, Michalski was involved in a hand with Dan S's fellow Poker Listings colleague. At one point, Michalski held the early chiplead, before he took a small hit. In the hand with Matt, he semi-slow rolled his Aces against Matt's K-10 on a 10-high board. They got it all in on the turn but Matt rivered a ten to win the hand and send Michalski to the rail.

"i am out. have never screamed so loud at my computer ever. (and i have screamed before!)" wrote Michalski on Twitter.

The next thing I knew it, I advanced to the final table. I was 4th in chips, but only the top two won seats. Everyone else got zip. Nada. Nothing. Nil. Zero. Jack-shit covered in cheese.

Run Good 3.0 - Final Table Event #2:
Seat 1: DrPauly (4190)
Seat 2: sap-player (8655)
Seat 3: AlCantHang (2200)
Seat 4: Dan S. (5010)
Seat 5: change100 (3105)
Seat 6: badblood44 (2820)
Seat 7: Matt S. (6990)
Seat 8: Short-stacked Shamus (186) (1860)
Seat 9: TripJax (2665)

Click here for screen cap of the final table.

Early on, I busted Shamus in 9th place. Dan S. opened and Shamus shoved from the button for 1.7K. I woke up with Kings in the big blind and re-shoved. Dan S. folded and Shamus' treys were way behind. My Cowboys held up and he was out in 9th. I was third in chips with under 7K.

Dan S. took out AlCantHang in 8th place. Al's K-9s were no match for Dan's A-K.

I took over the chip lead after I won a pot against Matt. I moved up to 8.6K. Soon after, I busted Bad Blood in 7th place. He open-shoved and I woke up with pocket eights in the big blind. I called and won a race against Qh-9h. Blood was out and I held the chip lead with 11.3K.

Dan S. was eliminated in 6th place when he lost to TripJax's A-K. Jax took over the chip lead at that point and I trailed in second place with five to go.

I lost big hand to Matt. He open-shoved with 7s-6s. I called with Ad-Jd in the big blind. He flopped a 6 and I couldn't chase him down. He won the 7.3K pot.

Matt continued to run good after Change100 lost a race to him. She busted out on the next hand in 5th place. I was second in chips with 4 to go. Then I ran into a bitch of a hand.

Battle of the blinds. I had 10K. TripJax at 11.5K. He limped and I checked my big blind. I saw a flop with 10d-9c. The flop was Ah-10c-6d. He checked. I bet the pot to see where I was and he just called. The turn was the 9h. He bet 950 and I figured he had an Ace or was betting a flush draw. I popped him big and he re-raised to put me all in. I called with two pair and I was fucked. He had A-9 for a significantly better two pair. I was down to two outs... and whiffed on the river. I was out in fourth. Fuck me.

Sap-player went out in third place shortly after the second break. That meant Matt and TripJax won seats. Congrats to both guys.

Thanks again to Matt and the gang at Poker Listings for a fun event and a shot at the WSOP. Hope to see all my Canadian friends in Las Vegas shortly. Travel safely.


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 5/23/2009 01:03:00 PM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Main Event Satellites on PokerStars

By Pauly
Malibu, CA


PokerStars has given away... 777 seats to the WSOP... according to the last time I checked. Heck, they might have even given away one more since I started writing this post.

PokerStars is your short cut to the Main Event. The Main Event doesn't kick off until July, so you have plenty of chance to win your seat through various means... Cash satellites, FPP satellites, and Steps satellites. For a complete list of upcoming WSOP satellites, simply look in the lobby under the Events & WSOP tab.

Here's a description of the Main Event prize packagaes...

PokerStars 2009 Main Event Package...

** $10,000 Main Event buy-in
** 1,000 for travel and expenses
** 8 nights hotel accommodation at the Palms (plus extra nights after July 10 if you are still alive)
** PokerStars player bag
** Shuttle Bus to and from the Rio
** VIP Invitation (+1) to July 9 PokerStars Player Party

** SuperNova Status

Yeah, it's true. PokerStars will deposit 100,000 VPPs into your account which automatically qualifies you for SuperNova status.

If you don't have a PokerStars account and want to play in WSOP satellites, you can download the software below...



Download PokerStars
Good luck to everyone. Hope to see you in Las Vegas.


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 5/22/2009 11:58:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Pauly on The Poker Beat

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


On Thursday starting at 1pm PT (or 4pm ET), I will be making an in-studio appearance as a guest on The Poker Beat over at Poker Road Radio. The Poker Beat is co-hosted by Scott Huff and John 'Schecky' Caldwell featuring journalists in the poker industry. If you have never listened to the Poker Beat, it's Poker Road's version of ESPN's The Sports Reporters.

This week's discussions will include Twitter and poker along with the upcoming WSOP.

Click here to listen to the Poker Beat on Poker Road Radio.

Tune in at 4pm ET or 1pm PT. The show is approximately one hour long.

If you missed this week's show, you can always listen to an archived version... which you can download 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 5/21/2009 02:22:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Atlanta: Where It All Began

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

15 years ago.

Kurt Cobain had been dead for about a month after he supposedly blew his brains out with a shotgun. Online poker was a distant dream in 1994. The only poker in my life at that time was with a rotating group of friends and fraternity brothers. We played in the formal room of our Southern mansion-style fraternity house. During the afternoons and before dinner, we mostly played Spades and even ran tournaments. At nights, the action shifted to poker.

Once we graduated in early May 1994, the games shifted to an apartment that four of my friends shared. Some nights, fifteen or twenty of us packed into the tiny cookie-cutter apartment in the shadows of North Decatur Road. We frequently played until sunrise in a gambling binge that lasted all summer.

Some of my fondest poker memories were not in Las Vegas, but rather in Atlanta in the summer of 1994. Hard to believe that was 15 years ago. May and June of 1994 was an amazing time for someone like me... a Knicks and Rangers fan. Both of my hometown NYC teams were in the playoffs. They went deep and both advanced to the finals. Only one would prevail and the Rangers ended their drought while the Knicks failed miserably against the Houston Rockets. Actually, it was the Knicks, rather John Starks who lost the game and the championship for the Knicks after he shot an anemic 1 for 46 from the floor in Game 7.

That was the same year of the infamous OJ freeway chase that interrupted Game 5 of the NBA finals. OJ had to freak out during the Knicks game, and man, I was so pissed when the local NBC affiliate cutaway to OJ's white Bronco speeding down the 405. The Knicks for fuck's sake! Jerry and I had to listen to the game on the radio in his car.

Jerry was also from NY and he loved both the Knicks and Rangers. We watched the games together at his apartment off campus. Once the games ended, the poker action began.

I finally had a college degree and the suits who doled out the school loans have yet to ask for a repayment. I was free... for a brief moment... and relished a slacker life of gambling, golf, and other stoner activities. Over Memorial Day weekend, we road tripped to Biloxi, MS and hit up the boats. I went on an insane blackjack rush at Casino Magic. I won enough money to cover my expenses for the rest of the summer. I wouldn't have to hump a shitty summer job while I figured out what the hell to do with a degree in poli sci and film studies with a minor in philosophy. In the meantime, we played poker every night.

Here's a typical line up to start...

Seat 1: Teddy B - The "face man" and quintessential "frat guy". He was by far the most aggressive gambler in our game. He had balls... big ones too. If we played NL back then, Teddy B would have been a monster at the tables. Today, he's a stock broker in San Diego.

Seat 2: Mophy - He learned how to play Seven-card Roll'em and Guts games at boarding school and then introduced those action games to our fraternity house. We were hooked. Today, he's a doctor in Puerto Rico.

Seat 3: Rib - My trusted Spades partner and who I thought was the best overall card player in our fraternity (blackjack, poker, guts, Spades, etc). These days, he's an intelligence analyst and we think he works for the cee-eye-eh. But if he told us the truth, then he'd have to kill us, so we don't ask.

Seat 4: Jerry - He was one of the best Spades players in our house. He had the most discipline at the poker table, yet had a lot of gamble in him. He knew the exact moment to shift gears and he kept you always guessing. These days, he's an attorney in Miami.

Seat 5: Singer - Tightest person at the table, which he knew how to exploit. We played poker together in the late 1990s at the Trout House, my local home game in Seattle. We frequently played together at Foxwoods circa 2003-05. These days, he's an attorney in Boston.

Seat 6: Dutch - Son of an oil Barron. He invented his own currency called Dutch Bucks. We later played poker together in Seattle in the late 1990s. He got a master's degree in photography and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Seat 7: Beano - An astute Spades player but he was the slowest dealer. We used to constantly get on his case to deal faster and in turn, he would deal slower! The last time I saw Beano was at a Phish concert in Osaka, Japan. He was getting a master's degree in Athens, Georgia and we lost touch.

Seat 8: Your Hero - 21-year old version of myself had a lot more hair and was a loose cannon.

Seat 9: Smitty - Everyone knew a guy named Smitty in college. Smitty was the youngest in our group and we corrupted him with all of our bad habits, including poker. I was Wooderson to his Mitch Kramer. Last I heard, Smitty was bartending in Atlanta and picking up college chicks.

Our mascot was Smooth, a three-legged cat. I'm not making this up. The cat was missing a freakin' leg. I can't recall which one. The memory is foggy and rather groggy on that one. Any way, the three-legged cat loved cat nip and went nuts over it. Most of the time, the cat hid in one of the bedrooms. As soon as I fired up a fatty, the cat limped out and sat down in front of the TV. Smooth loved the contact high as much as the catnip. Shit, if I was a cat and had three legs, I'd be crocked to the tits every night too.

Games began around 10pm on the dining room, before a second table opened up on the coffee table in the living room around Midnight when the girls from across the girls wandered over. We played without chips. All cash (with one exception I'll explain about later). We all had large change cups that were originally beer cups from (insert party or sorority function here). We literally brought our change cups over and dumped them onto the table and played from piles.

Silver and greenbacks were scattered about the table. Oh, until yellow Post-It notes eventually appeared. They were debt instruments we'd fondly referred to as Dutch Bucks. One night Dutch got felted and had no cash on him. He wrote an I.O.U. to Jerry on a Post-It. Jerry held onto it and we all agreed that his I.O.U. (or whoever owned it) could gamble with it in the game and future games until Dutch paid off the I.O.U. and recalled all outstanding debts. Dutch went to the same boarding school where Howard Lederer and Annie Duke's father taught. Dutch's family was well off and lived in London. His father's oil business was enough collateral to securely back the Dutch Bucks. In addition, he was a stand-up guy and we knew he would pay back his debts as soon as his monthly allowance check arrived.

Dutch went on a losing streak at that point and was cash poor for a few weeks. He injected several hundred dollars worth of Dutch Bucks into the game. It kept him in the game and a chance to win back his losses, but it also elevated the stakes since there was more money on the table every night.

At one point, I had three or four Post-Its stuck together worth $20 or $25 apiece. The yellow Post-Its were sort of like those placards chips you see in European Casinos, except, we were just a bunch of drunken and stoned frat boys from Atlanta.

The amazing thing is that after a while, the value of Dutch Bucks became relevant off the tables. We started swapping Dutch Bucks during our normal every day lives, and this included friends who did not play in the home game with us. Sometimes we'd go out to bars and I'd be short a few bucks for the tab, but I'd offer up to trade Dutch Bucks. Usually, it was an even $1 USD to $1 Dutch Buck. After a while, we all carried around Dutch Bucks in our wallets, because you never knew if you'd come across someone else who also traded in the same alternative currency.

I even bought and sold pot a couple of times in Dutch Bucks.

"Can I buy a quarter of ditch weed? I have $20 and 20 Dutch Bucks."

And of course, once a month, Dutch recalled a percentage of his notes and paid us off. I swapped most of my Dutch Bucks for a weekend of golf in Pinehurst. Dutch's family owned a house in North Carolina and I had the opportunity to play on a top notch course with a cart for free. Well, it was paid for by my poker earnings, but it was worth the trade off.

Our off-campus home game always started out low stakes (nickel antes) and by the end of the night, we were all rip roaring wasted and things took a turn as the stakes were significantly raised bolstered by Dutch Bucks, which in turn were backed by the oil industry. The 3am hour was when guys who were stuck were looking for a chance to get even. The guys who were way ahead wanted to press their luck. And the action junkies? They wanted to keep the buzz going. That's when the Dutch Bucks flew around. Sometimes those pots in the guts games (like Four Barrel) would escalate to several hundred dollars.

Most of the time, our change cups contained ten dollars in coins and twenty dollars in paper bills, and the rest of our bankrolls were yellow Dutch Bucks. Sometimes other players were felted and had to write I.O.U.s, but unfortunately, none of us had the backing of an oil Barron. Our notes were valid while we played that night after that time period elapsed, they were taken out of play. We had to settle those debts privately.

When the sun came up, it was time to call the game. Some of my friends had to catch a couple hours of sleep before work or internships. I was lucky enough to not have a job, because the games and my hording of Dutch Bucks were essentially my job.

Dutch always drove me back to campus where we lived. We passed both a Waffle House and a McDonald's. Waffle House was 24 hours and we stopped there before 6am. McD's opened up at 6am and we ate there if our sessions were really long. After an evening of intense playoff hockey or playoff hoops followed up by a session of poker, we capped the night off with the most unhealthy of meals. The big winner always treated and paid for breakfast, but unfortunately, as much as we created a thriving underground currency, Waffle House waitresses and McD's cashiers did not recognize Dutch Bucks as a legitimate form of compensation. Cash only.

During those nights we played poker in Atlanta, I never imagined that over a decade later, I'd spend my summers in Las Vegas sweating the largest poker tournament in the world. But obviously, what happened fifteen years ago led me down the path where I find myself today.

And yes, I still have some Dutch Bucks lying around. I don't think I'll cash those in anytime soon. The sentimental value is priceless.


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 5/20/2009 08:12:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Beef Jerky and the WSOP

By Pauly
Malibu, CA

I'm interrupting my vacation on Zuma Beach to address a bit of breaking news in the poker world. Apparently, the WSOP has a new sponsor. Milwaukee's Beast is no longer the big dog in Las Vegas. Those swill merchants are still a sponsor as the WSOP's official adult beverage, however, Jack Link's, a Wisconsin-based company best known for their beef jerky production, has snagged top billing. Jack Link's is the now the biggest swinging dick at the Rio.

Welcome to the 40th annual World Series of Poker presented by... Jack Link's Beef Jerky.

Are you fuckin' kidding me?

I thought that the Beast was bad, but at least the Beast was a beer. But hey, on the good side, this company pimps "steak nuggets." According to their LinkedIn Profile...

Link Snacks, Inc. distributes and markets meat products. The company offers steak nuggets, beef steaks and sticks, and deli and tender cuts. It markets its products under Deli Cuts, X-Sticks, and Lil Chub brand names. Link Snacks, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Minong, Wisconsin.

I went to the Jack Link's website and they have Chaka from Land of the Lost pimping their jerky. How bad can that be?

Sadly, the Beast Lounge is no longer and will be replaced by the Wild Card Cafe where you will be able to sample many different beef sticks during the WSOP. What can be better in life than poker and beef sticks?

Nothing.

At first, I thought that the union of beef jerky and the most prestigious event in poker was pathetic. I had not seen a sponsorship deal that shitty since Coach Buttermaker whiffed in a half-baked attempt to secure the Bears sponsorship in the 1976 North Valley Little League season. The washed-up former baseball pro turned alkie pool cleaner somehow convinced Chico Esquandoles from Chico's Bail Bonds to sponsor the little league team made up of misfits.




However, the global economy is in the shitter and the casinos in Las Vegas have been taking it on the chin. The fact that anyone wanted to sponsor the WSOP during a financial meltdown is a sincere blessing. Manna from the heavens. Well, let me correct that... beef sticks from the heavens.

God bless Ty Stewart for saving the WSOP. I mean, this guy should get Salesman of the Century Award for finding someone stupid enough to shell out millions of dollars to sponsor a stagnant product in an industry with a murky future.

Pope Benedict should make Ty a saint for providing the WSOP a secure financial future and also giving me and the rest of the derelicts in the poker media an endless amount of material to work with this year. As one of my Canadian colleagues noted, "Premium meat snacks at this year's WSOP. The jokes, they write themselves."

I haven't seen a deal that bad since the Ruskies signed away Alaska in 1867 to Secretary of State William Seward for $7.2 million. If that Seward's deal never happened, Sarah Palin would be speaking Russian.

Anyway, I want to know... will Jack Link's be sending out a team of scantily clad models to hand out Lil Chub samples? Nothing gets me more excited than models fondling beef jerky. Hey, maybe they're onto something? Hmmmm....

Come to Las Vegas... home of the WSOP, cheap beer, the Hooker Bar, and now... beef jerky.


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 5/19/2009 02:28:00 PM | Permalink |

 
LLT: The Almost WSOP Edition

By Pauly
Malibu, CA

Yeah, we're almost upon the 2009 World Series of Poker. Liz emailed me while on vacation and sent me this photo...


WSOP starts next week. The Poker Diva will be in Las Vegas. How about you?


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 5/19/2009 01:11:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Pusherman Reprise

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

The original Pusherman featured the demise of Pablo Escobar and the dangerous Mexican meth manufacturers. It was nothing more than a subversive attempt to rally my fellow Americans to legalize online poker and drugs. Heck, let's throw hookers in there too, and we'll let gays marry as well.

There's a brutal drug war raging across the border in Mexico right now. I make half-baked jokes about donkey blood on the Tao of Poker, but the streets of Juarez are flowing with the blood of causalities of one of the gruesomest violence since the Opium Wars.

I'm hoping to make enough money with Lost Vegas so I can fund a book about the Mexican drug war. At the least, I'd get a Rolling Stone-type article out of it and a couple of screenplay ideas. I've already pitched one idea to a soused studio exec well into his second of four Martinis... "It's Traffic meets Proof of Life meets Nacho Libre... lots of guns, drugs, and fat guys running around in Mexican wrestling masks."

Sadly, my attempt to bring Harold and Kumar Go to the World Series of Poker fell short of the mark. Poker movies don't do well in Hollywood. And I shelved the poker script I was working on about a deaf-mute Belgium nun who wins the WSOP in order to save an orphanage in Bruges. I'm gonna wait for the next poker boom and dust off both scripts and make a million dollars. Doesn't matter the economic environment... investors will flock to where ever there's potential to earn money and not piss it away.

Alas, for now I have a book to plug. The third draft of Lost Vegas is complete. Due date is still TBA. Let's just say October 2009 for shits and giggles.

The book is about Las Vegas and addiction, two topics I happen to know a little bit about.

Coke and Meth. Did it ever occur to you that those two drugs are an integral part of Sin City? The imported drugs came from somewhere and it's not like the Bellagio has a cocaine lab underneath the fountains, and that they've been cooking up batches of meth inside the Castle for years.

OK, so those are unlikely scenarios. Women and children in Peru and Bolivia are growing and cultivating coca leaves, while the Colombians refine it and flying the product to Mexico where the cartels are slugging it out for financial control of the windfall that they get for smuggling cocaine into the United States which eventually gets shipped up to Las Vegas and snorted off the tits of a stripper in the VIP room at the Rhino. Thomas Friedman would get a hard on at that example of globalization.

According to report from the National Drug Intelligence Center released in June 2008 called "Nevada High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis"....

The distribution and abuse of ice methamphetamine pose the most significant drug threat to the Nevada HIDTA region. Most of the ice methamphetamine available in the region is supplied by Mexican DTOs (Drug Trafficking Organizations) that produce the drug in large-scale clandestine laboratories in Mexico. Mexican DTOs typically have been able to fully meet demand for the drug in the Nevada HIDTA region...

Powder cocaine is readily available throughout Nevada. Mexican DTOs transport the drug into the region from Mexico through POEs in California and Arizona. Mexican DTOs use the HIDTA region as a distribution center for cocaine. These DTOs supply wholesale quantities to other traffickers in the region and to traffickers operating in drug markets throughout the country, particularly markets in midwestern and eastern states. They also supply local African American and Hispanic street gangs with powder cocaine for conversion into crack cocaine. Street gangs typically distribute crack in urban areas, primarily Las Vegas and Reno.

So even the local federales know where it's coming from, but they are unable to stem the flow of meth and cocaine into Las Vegas. Because of the intense demand of narcotics, organized crime groups and gangs have risen to power. According to the report, the Asian mafia controls the ecstasy trade while black and Hispanic gangs in North Las Vegas are cooking up crack and selling meth.

I'm not saying that there are people in Salt Lake City that don't do drugs, it's just that there's a higher demand for the heavy stuff in Las Vegas. Millions of people fly to Las Vegas every year in an attempt to shed moral responsibility and engage in behavior that is frowned upon in their neighborhoods. That expression, "What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas" also includes recreational drug use.

Visitors descend upon Las Vegas to gamble and party... with some solely there for the non-stop party. The casinos don't get rich off of those people since they stay out of the pits. That's why they built chic clubs and bars on the different properties in order to siphon off there money in that manner. Yet, they're in direct competion with the shadow drug trade that operates in the Valley of Death. The club culture is fueled by the triumvirate party drugs: cocaine, ecstasy, and meth. The Strip is cluttered with dozens and dozens of clubs and lounges that are a haven for the illicit trade, thereby creating an even larger demand for narcotics. You didn't think everyone was able to stay up to 11am on a couple of Red Bulls?

Then there's the underground sex industry and the murky world of strip clubs. So not every stripper or prostitute is a cokehead, but sex industry works operate in similar circles of the local drug trade. If they're not sex slaves held captive against their will, the rest of them are slaves to their own addictions which drove them towards a path of immorality. In short, someone has to keep those strippers jacked up.

And how about all those crooked doctors in the Valley? Oxycontin and other opiates in pill form are accessible via prescription fraud where doctors to write you a script for the drug of your choice as long as you grease them with cash. Shopping for crooked doctors is common routine for pill poppers who go through every name in the phone book until they found one doctor with a weakness for cash.

Tin Foil Hat Time. A friend of mine who was a local told me about his conspiracy theory that meth is cheaper in Las Vegas because the powers to be want degenerate gamblers tweaking away the rest of their dollars. That's pretty far fetched that the gaming conglomerates would subsidize drug dealers to keep prices low, making drugs more affordable to the broke-dick gamblers who have a little more money to gamble with. Most drug addicts are always looking for ways to fund their next bender. Las Vegas gives addicts an opportunity for a big score (on a minimal investment... $5 at blackjack or $1 for a slot pull), but when they miss, that's when it gets ugly and crime rates soar. Break ins. Car theft. Credit card fraud. The responsibility of cleaning up that fallout falls upon the shoulders of local law enforcement and the courts.

Maybe it's time to legalize drugs and prostitution inside the city limits of Sin City. Sure, there's going to be more crime to deal with, but the powers to be will making so much money that they might be willing to accept that fallout as a "small price to pay for doing business."


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 5/18/2009 11:11:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Run Good 3.0

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

The cool Canucks over at Poker Listings put together another installment of the Run Good Challenge. In this series, a seat to any $1,500 WSOP event was at stake. Winner take all. The only challenge? Fade a field of 25 players comprised of various entities in the poker media and blogging community. Heck, even Iggy played.

My Run Good 3.0 starting table:
Seat 1: Mad Harper - Everyone's favorite British ex-pat living in Spain played "fast and furious" because she had guests coming over for a dinner party

Seat 2: Amy Calistri - She's been beating up the financial markets ever since she stepped away from poker, but not before she helped pen Check-Raising the Devil with the Poker Shrink and Mike Matusow

Seat 3: change1OO - Everyone's favorite Hollyweird blonde was living the California Dream. The tournament started literally minutes she came home from the gym and fired up a binger of medicinal goodness.

Seat 4: F Train - Former regular at the Blue Parrot games, he shed his suit and tie and left the mean streets of Brooklyn for Sin City.

Seat 6: AlCantHang - The walking party. The next incarnation of the Dali Lama. Flowing robes. Grace. Stunning.

Seat 7: Matt Showell - Everyone's favorite Mac Daddy. He schooled me for a bunch of Hungarian bucks in Budapest on an apple eating prop bet at 4am.

Seat 8: Your Hero - Your hero almost missed the tournament because of Big Brother Tilt. I was slightly paranoid about reading a controversial book in public in a coffee shop frequented by LAPD, who kept peering over at my attempt at opening my mind.

Seat 9: DrunkBlonde - Unfamiliar with this person. I'm assuming it was a bot. Long live the machines.

I took a hit early and lost a pot to AlCantHang. Luckily, I wasn't Gigli. That went to Matt. I busted out in 22nd place. I was getting short and went out with A-K against F Train's pocket fives.

Benjo knocked out Iggy on a crazy hand where Iggy slow played Aces and let Benjo catch a runner-runner flush with 4s-2s. Oooooommmmmph. Iggy rivered a Broadway Straight, but that also gave Benjo his petite-flush.

Here's the final table:
Seat 1: DrunkBlonde (1755)
Seat 2: F Train (3615 in chips)
Seat 3: Mad (3025)
Seat 4: Michele Lewis (3045)
Seat 5: Spaceman (3130)
Seat 6: Poker Grump (3965)
Seat 7: Benjo (13135)
Seat 8: sap-player (3405)
Seat 9: Chops(2425)

Benjo had the chiplead, but Marty from Poker Listings did everything possible to tilt-a-Benjo. Benjo eventually lost the chip lead.

Spaceman played Spaceman heads-up for the seat. Despite the chip disadvantage, Spaceman made a stand, but his comeback fell short and Poker Grump prevailed. Congrats to Poker Grump for winning Run Good 3.0. So what event will you be playing in?

Even though I busted out early, I still had a good time playing with solid folks with tremendous senses of humor. Hope to see everyone from PokerListings in Las Vegas shortly.

Thanks again to Matt and PokerListings for setting this up.


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 5/16/2009 03:44:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Greed Is Good

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

"America has become a second-rate power," said Gordon Gekko.


Gordon Gekko collected Nazi pistols. Gordon Gekko ate raw meat. Gordon Gekko had a robot and a kid who spoke French. Gordon Gekko went to jail. Gordon Gekko will be back in the sequel. Yet sadly, I did not get a crack at writing the script.


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 5/15/2009 04:20:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Today in Tao of Poker History: May 14

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

Flashback time. Five years ago today during the rising tide of the poker boom.

The Hilton Sisters

Wow. Was that really five years ago? What a long strange trip its been.


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 5/14/2009 04:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Food

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

A friend of mine is playing in the WSOP for the first time this year and he wrote me an email asking about food options. He has particular tastes and wanted my opinion since I have been living inside the Rio every fuckin' summer since 2005. I wrote a very lengthy response in an email. I added a few things and wanted to share that expanded email with you.

* * * * *
So, you're playing in the WSOP, you're hungry, and you're stuck at the Rio because you have less than an hour to eat along with a thousand other donkeys. What do you do?

First tip, avoid the masses at all costs. Luckily, as a member of the media, I can leave for dinner breaks five to ten minutes early in order to avoid the crush of starving players in search of food. I have the luxury of getting a jump start, so my best advice to you is to send someone ahead (wife, brother, friend) to wherever you're going to eat and meet them there. Heck, get them to order your meal before you arrive so your food is there the minute you sit down. The more time you save before you eat means you'll have more to to relax before you re-start the tournament. If you have someone that can do that for you, then you can eat almost anywhere and not worry about standing in long lines.

If you're solo and don't have anyone to scout out restaurants for you, then you're going to get stuck in the massive dinner rush. If you have a rental car, leave the Rio (and I'll tell you those food options later on). If you are stuck at the Rio, then you're limited to the choices that they offer. The buffets are an option (the seafood buffet is above average), but I'm not a buffet person (aside from the Wynn or Bellagio) and that's the last place I'd be during dinner rush. As I stated earlier... avoid the masses.

The Poker Kitchen - After the first week, I'm absolutely sick of the Poker Kitchen. Yes, the food has slowly improved since 2005, but they still boil up kangarooburgers. And don't get me started about the cardboard lathered in government cheese that Pizza Hut passes off as food. Do yourself a favor and avoid that at all costs. Plus, the prices are redonkulous. Last summer, the Poker Kitchen offered Capriatti sandwiches. Those saved me on many nights and are hands-down the best foodstuff that the Poker Kitchen has to offer. If you catch a fresh batch of sandwiches, you're in luck. If not... then they're still better than ground-up roo meat and cold pizza.

Sao Paolo Cafe - I'm boycotting them and urge you to avoid the temptation to eat there. After getting horrible service too many times in a row last year, I simply gave up on this conveniently located eatery. The food is average but the service is absolutely horrendous and they have sent me on uber-tilt so many times that I decided to no longer give them my business. And if you know me, I'm an excellent tipper and very patient and understanding when it comes to service staff, which lets you know how bad things were. I will continue a boycott this year unless I get dragged there for a meeting, and if that's the case, I will do everything in my power to change the location. Heck, if you see me eating in there, I will give you $1. And if I see you eating there, I get to kick you in the nuts.

All-American Bar & Grill - Tasty. I love their blue cheese burger and the rest of their burgers are top notch. The place is open late and even has a limited breakfast menu in the morning. It gets crowded at peak times, but service is usually fast. You can grab a quick bite up front in the bar and watch the baseball game, or head into the back area for a full sit down meal.

Gaylord Indian - This is a hidden gem that is often overlooked mainly because everyone walks by it without even giving it a second thought. The service is quick especially if you grease them up front and tell them that you're playing in a tournament. The food is above-average and if you have a strong stomach and like spicy food, then this is a great option.

Rub BBQ Joint - Delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Sweet tea. Cornbread. Rub would get bad reviews in Atlanta, but for Vegas, it's good stuff. Rub is hectic sometimes when the place gets slammed.

Ping Pang Pong - This place is actually located across the street at the Gold Coast, but it's worth the extra five-minute walk to eat somewhere where it won't be as crowded as the Asian joint at the Rio. My brother loves their dim sum.

In-N-Out Burger - If you have a rental car, drive there (less than 5 minutes) and if you don't have a car, ask a taxi to take you through the drive thru. It happens all the time. In-N-Out is located on Dean Martin Drive and is only a couple of blocks away from the Redneck Riviera. Yeah, I used to live within walking distance of In-N-Out and I ate there two or three times a week. The family-owned California-based food chain has a cult-like following. The cups and burger wrappers have markings indicating bible passages. Peek underneath the cups and you'll see what I'm talking about. Regardless of the subversive-religious messages, the burgers are incredible and you'll want to move to California for the chance to eat them every day. Over at the Tao of Pauly, I recently wrote a review about a recently released book about the behind the scenes story about In-N-Out Burger.

OK, let's recap... if you're solo, I'd highly suggest Gaylord the Indian place and In-N-Out Burger if you make it to the dinner break in your tournament. Honorable mentions go to the BBQ Joint and All-American Bar & Grill, but you might have to wait. And don't forget about Ping Pang Pong across the street.

If you have a rental car, then definitely hit up In-N-Out or some of the fast food joints on Flamingo (Wendy's, El Pollo Loco, and Subway are popular choices and Sonic during breakfast time for their Texas Toaster bacon, egg & cheese sandwiches).

And if you don't want fast food, there are a couple of options within a close proximity of the Rio. There's also a mini-Chinatown along Spring Mountain (a couple of blocks from the Rio) with plenty of different Asian-themed restaurants. Thai. Sushi. Cantonese. Mandarin. Korean BBQ.

The Palms casino has a popular Mexican restaurant called Blue Agave. I've never eaten a bad meal there. Yummy burritos. They have several different types of salsa made from scratch.

And if you're looking for breakfast (before/during/after your tournament) and have a car, I'd try the Orleans or the Palms. Check out their cafes. The Orleans offers cheap specials after Midnight and their regular breakfast isn't too shabby. When I began my Sao Paolo boycott, I frequented the 24/7 Cafe at the Palms for breakfast a couple of times a week.

If you want to spend a few bucks, then go to the cafe at the Bellagio for breakfast. The best omelettes in Las Vegas. Hands down.

OK, and if you decided to move to Las Vegas and live in a short-term apartment or rent a house with kitchenware, then definitely take advantage of that situation and cook your own meals, especially if you are a vegetarian or have special dietary needs. Smith's is the local grocery chain and there are a couple of Whole Foods markets (one on Las Vegas Blvd. south of the Mandalay Bay, two up in Summerlin and one in Henderson). You can cut costs by making your own meals and bringing them to the Rio with you. Plus, Whole Foods has plenty of pre-made meals and sandwiches.

If you're going to be around for a few weeks and bust out of a tournament early, leave the casino for your meals. Why would you eat there every day when you don't have to?

Here's something else that I'd recommend... Clif Bars. I never travel anywhere without a couple hidden in my carry-on luggage. Those energy bars are clutch when stuck on airplanes or in foreign countries when I'm starving. As a writer on a deadline, they come in handy because I can get a quick bite and keep working. And for poker players? They are a great way to keep your energy level up during long hours at the tables.

The key to the WSOP is survival. Most players are so worried about poker they forget about the other elements of success. Personal health and nutrition are always forgotten about. You want to gain an edge? Show up at the WSOP in great physical shape, get plenty of rest before you play, and feed yourself regularly and properly within the constraints of the poker tournament. Get a proper breakfast and snack on energy bars and fruit throughout the day.

Hope some of these tips help. Best of luck this year.


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 5/13/2009 01:11:00 AM | Permalink |

 
LLT: The Skyloft

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


I heart Liz Lieu. One simple picture every Tuesday allows me to take the day off from writing about poker today. Weeeeee! See ya tomorrow.


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 5/12/2009 03:33:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Check-Raising the Devil - Due Out on May 12th

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


The autobiography of Mike Matusow, penned by Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli (aka Poker Shrink), will be officially released tomorrow on Tuesday May 12th.

I was fortunate enough to get an advanced copy and I wrote a review of Check-Raising the Devil. Here's a bit...

In America, we're suckers for a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-rehab-to-riches stories.

Mike Matusow epitomized the American Dream and an E! True Hollywood Story all rolled up into one... white trash roots, lived a wild yet misunderstood childhood, harnessed an innate genius to become famous and rich, partied to excess, got in trouble with the law, went to rehab, and bounced back into the spotlight as one of the most noticeable pros in the game... More

Both Amy and Shrink butted heads with their editors over many things including the opening chapter of the book. I read an advance copy and also read two alternate versions (one each from Shrink and Amy). And I gotta say, I prefer either of the alternatives to the one that was eventually chosen.

You can read Amy Calistri's alternative version of Chapter 1... here.

You can read the Poker Shrink's alternative version of Chapter 1... here.

And you can buy the book below...



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 5/11/2009 05:11:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Around the Horn: The Dead, Slums of Beverly Hills, Tweaker Lit, Drug Running, Robbing Cat Stevens, and Lost Vegas Update

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

Here are some the previous week's highlights from the clustering of the different blogs in my world...

The Dead in L.A. - Review and Setlist for 5/9/09 (Coventry): Change100 and I saw The Dead (minus Jerry Garcia with Warren Haynes playing lead guitar) at the Forum in lovely Inglewood.

Shady Street (Tao of Pauly): In case you ever wondered about the neighborhood that Change100 and I live in, well, here's your chance to read all about the slums of Beverly Hills.

Popeye (Truckin'): My contribution to the May issue of Truckin' is something from the new genre called... tweaker lit.

Beginning to See the Plight (Tao of Pauly): The last couple of books I read heavily involved organized crime and drug smuggling. Everything that I had been reading morphed into a couple of older paragraphs that I wrote sometime back. It's sort of building upon an old theme with some new information.

Cat Stevens Claims Coldplay Ripped Off His Mad Skills (Coventry): A short post that I had lots of fun writing which included a few snarky shots at the tossers from Coldplay.

French Roast (Flickr): Benjo took a pic of a blurb in a French magazine talking about Lost Vegas.

2 > 3 (Tao of Pauly): Here's a behind-the-scenes peek into the latest happenings with Lost Vegas. I'm currently in the middle of the third draft and doing a line-by-line read through with a former Hollywood studio executive and a trusted editor.

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 5/10/2009 11:11:00 PM | Permalink |

 
WSOP Main Event Satellites on PokerStars

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA



It's been six years since Chris Moneymaker pulled off one of the greatest bluffs in the history of poker while sitting inside Benny's Bullpen in Downtown Las Vegas. Across the table sat the epitome of cool, Sam Farha, dressed in an expensive suit and an unlit cigarette dangling from his lip. Farha looked like a shady character who stepped out of the shadows in Casablanca. He could have been a dope smuggler, a double spy, or an arms dealer. If Farha sniffs out Moneymaker's bluff... who knows if this entire poker boom still gets facilitated? Without Chris Moneymaker, I wouldn't have a job and have the amazing opportunity to travel the world covering poker tournaments.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be for Farha and the stars aligned perfectly for Moneymaker en route to his victory in the Main Event. And in a flash... Moneymaker went from humping a shitty desk job as an accountant to being flown all over the world to participate in different events on the extensive international tournament circuit created by PokerStars.

Maybe, you can become that next big star? Isn't that why you really play poker? To become rich and famous enough that you tell your boss to fuck off because you quit your mundane day job. You want to win the Main Event to show off to all of those assholes in high school who used to pick on you and to flip the bird to that pyscho ex-girlfriend from college who broke your heart into a million tiny little pieces?

You want to purge all your personal demons? All it takes is a little luck and a PokerStars account. Win the Main Event and you become the biggest swinging dick on the planet.

Moneymaker won his WSOP seat via PokerStars. The next year, Greg Raymer did the same as he rumbled towards his world championship victory. Although Tom McEvoy, Joe Hachem, and Peter Eastgate were not homegrown talent (more like high-priced free agents that your favorite sports team signed after the fact) they still carry the torch for PokerStars as the former WSOP Champions who are representatives of the site and play in tournaments across the globe promoting the premier online poker site.

PokerStars will be giving away thousands of seats to the Main Event. As I'm writing this, 517 players have already qualified for the Big Dance. The Main Event doesn't kick off for almost another two months, which means you have some time to secure your seat. PokerStars is currently running Cash satellites, FPP satellites and Steps satellites. Look in the lobby under the Events > WSOP tab for a list of upcoming WSOP satellites.

Here's what you're playing for...

PokerStars 2009 Main Event Package...

** $10,000 Main Event buy-in
** 1,000 for travel and expenses
** 8 nights hotel accommodation at the Palms (plus extra nights after July 10 if you are still alive)
** PokerStars player bag
** Shuttle Bus to and from the Rio
** VIP Invitation (+1) to July 9 PokerStars Player Party
** SuperNova Status

The best part about winning your seat on PokerStars? They deposit 100,000 VPPs into your account which automatically qualifies you for SuperNova status.

If you don't have a PokerStars account, you can download the software below...



Download PokerStars
Good luck. See you in Las Vegas.


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 5/09/2009 04:20:00 PM | Permalink |

 
2009 California State Poker Championships at Commerce

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


Matt Savage is the premier tournament director in all of poker and right now he's down at Commerce running the 2009 California State Poker Championship. Matt has been utilizing Twitter to post his random thoughts, morning golf sessions, and important info about the California State Poker Championship. And I friggin' love the Chainsaw tweets. Pure comedy gold.

Seven events have come and gone and there are tournaments running over the next two weeks leading up to the grand finale... the $5,000 + $100 buy-in Championship event. That's the same one that Ben Affleck won a couple of years ago smack in the middle of the poker boom. Click here to read the structure sheet for the Main Event.

Since I'm holed up re-writing the third draft of Lost Vegas in the slums of Beverly Hills, I might take an afternoon off and head down to Commerce to check out the action.

Here's the remaining schedule for the California State Poker Championship...

Event #8 - May 8: $500 + $45 HORSE
Event #9 - May 9: $200 + $20 NL
Event #10 - May 10: $1,000 + $65 NL
Event #11 - May 11: $1,000 + $65 Limit Hold'em
Event #12 - May 12: $300 + $35 NL 6-Handed
Event #13 - May 13: $300 + $35 NL
Event #14 - May 14: $300 + $35 Omaha 8 or Better
Event #15 - May 14: $300 + $35 Seven Card Stud 8 or Better
Event #16 - May 15: $200 + $20 NL DAY 1A
Event #16 - May 16: $200 + $20 NL DAY 1B
Event #17 - May 17: $300 + $35 NL
Event #18 - May 17: $300 + $35 Seven Card Stud
Event #19 - May 18: $500 + $45 Heads Up
Event #20 - May 19: $1,000 + $65 NL
Event #21 - May 19: $1,000 + $65 HORSE
Event #22 - May 20: $300 + $35 NL
Event #23 - May 20: $2,000 + $85 NL
Event #24 - May 22: $5,000 + $100 NL Championship ($1,000,000 guarantee)

* All events are two day except Events #16 and #24 which are four day events

FYI, starting times are 2pm local time.


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 5/08/2009 11:57:00 AM | Permalink |

 
PLO Hands: Against Two Flopped Sets....

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

I will not claim to have seen everything in poker. When he's not making Joan Rivers jokes on Twitter, even the almighty Texas Dolly himself admits from time to time... "Well, I never saw that before."

Alas, I came across one of those odd hands that comes up every now and then if you play PLO. I ran into a player who flopped two sets. It's not the first time that has happened to me and won't be the last.

BoneDaddy84: 10s-10c-4c-4h
Pauly: Ad-Qd-5s-3s

Flop: 10d-4d-3c
Turn: As
River: 3h

It happened in the Skillz game on Tuesday night. Down to the final three tables. I was 7th in chips with 22 to go with almost 16K. The chipleader, BoneDaddy84, sat to my right with a 24K stack. Both of us combined had almost 60% of all the chips on our table.

Action folded to BoneDaddy at the CO. He limped for 400. I limped behind him on the button with Ad-Qd-5s-3s. Both blinds called.

The flop was 10d-4d-3c. I had a nut-flush draw, a gutshot Wheel draw, and a paltry bottom pair. The blinds checked to BoneDaddy who bet 800. I potted to 4K and wanted to win it right there. Both blinds folded and BoneDaddy raised to 9,999. A few hands earlier I bluffed him with a pot-sized raise on the flop. I put him on a much wider range of check-raising hands since he knew I was playing very loose in position. At worst, I was a 60/40 dog. I shoved for the rest of my stack. He quickly called with two sets... 10s-10c-4c-4h. He flopped top and middle set, but I had one of those durrrr draws. Lots of outs. 60/40 indeed.

The turn was the As and I improved to two pair. An Ace would give me a bigger boat and I still had a flush/straight draws, but I slipped to a 67/33 dog.

The river was the 3h. I boated up. Alas, my baby boat lost to BoneDaddy's tens full of treys. He won the 32K pot and added even more chips to his massive stack as I hit the rail in 22nd place.

Two sets? One of those days.


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 5/07/2009 02:45:00 PM | Permalink |

 
Soon Come.... 2009 WSOP and the Tao of Poker All Stars

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


One of my favorite bars and live music venues in New Orleans is called the Maple Leaf. If you have ever been there, you know that it's one of those late night gin and music joints that rarely comes alive before 2am.

There are dozens of places like the Maple Leaf scattered around the Crescent City and they have been operating for decades and decades primarily catering to local musicians. That's where they congregated at the end of the night after playing different gigs all around town. They drank, talked music, swapped stories, and got up on stage and jammed together until sunrise.

There are two kinds of musicians... working and not-working. The majority of the working musicians in New Orleans with steady gigs often played sets at the different tourist traps in the French Quarter, while other musicians played gigs at joints Uptown for wealthy locals and Tulane students. All of these working musicians performed for a salary and very rarely did they have the opportunity to play their own music, instead playing mostly cover tunes and standard Jazz favorites. When the Saints Go Marching In didn't exactly satisfy the soul for the musicians (mostly black) who played the song night after night to a crowd of drunken tourists (mostly white). Luckily, those musicians had another outlet which kept them sane.

Sometimes creative people have to suck up their pride and sell a little bit of their talents to the art profiting mongers because they had bills to pay and families to support. The New Orleans musicians adapted to the reality of the situation. There was a demand for musicians, but they had very little if no say on the music they produced on a daily basis. Sure, they were deeply fortunate for the chance to play their instruments, let alone play for money. But those gigs? Just a day job.

However, the city's best musicians poured their souls out onstage during soused late night jam sessions in the dark and smokey clubs like the Maple Leaf. The best music that New Orleans had to offer and where the real magic happened in the wee hours as night bled into day. Some guys played two or three sets at different tourist traps around New Orleans. Even though they were bone dead tired after their sets, they rushed to the other side of town to the Maple Leaf where they pounded a few shots of whiskey, dragged a little reefer, and stepped on stage to speak their mind.

The musicians didn't want hordes of tourists pestering them to play material and compositions that where not theirs. They simply wanted to express themselves and allow the music to flow through them as it should... unfiltered and from the heart. The Maple Leaf and places like it were a refuge for musicians and the place that they looked forward to getting to at the end of the night.

This summer will be my fifth WSOP. Every year I have tried to do something different that I did not do the year before. Last summer, I incorporated Twitter into the mix. And this year? I hope to apply the Maple Leaf concept to the Tao of Poker. Simply put, I'm opening up the stage to some of my closest friends and colleagues. I'm excited that there will be several guest posters and contributors throughout the WSOP which I'm dubbing the... Tao of Poker All Stars.


These contributors all come from all walks of life and offer up unique perspectives on poker. They have been a part of the traditional poker media and because of circumstances beyond their control, they are not permitted to fully speak their mind. During the days, they will toe the company line and keep the wheels in the great poker machine running. However, there is one bastion of freedom and I do not use that word lightly. They will have unfettered access on the Tao of Poker to say the things that they cannot say during their day jobs.

They will tell us their stories. Unfiltered and raw and the way they should be allowed to express themselves.

Some of my friends are extremely talented scribes but have never been able to flourish due to the fluff-factor that drives the poker media. Their talents will not be wasted on sterile hand histories and chip counts, rather, they will tell you the straight dope on what's happening at the WSOP.

Since 2005, the Tao of Poker has always been the place on the web to get the inside scoop on the WSOP and take a peak behind the scenes. That tradition will continue in 2009 because I'm assembling some of the best writers in the industry.

So who's going to be part of the Tao of Poker All Stars? Here's a little clue...


The WSOP begins in three weeks. And in case you were dying to know, I will be writing exclusively for the Tao of Poker, along with several friends of course.

Click here for the 2009 WSOP Schedule.

Stay tuned for more info...


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 5/06/2009 02:22:00 AM | Permalink |

 
LLT: Waterfalls

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA


Did you ever want to have Liz Lieu as your wallpaper? Now you have a chance.


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 5/05/2009 05:55:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Glass Tappers

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. John Lennon said that and he must have been talking about the delirium at the $100 max buy-in PLO tables on PokerStars. While waiting for a $200 max table to open up, I got involved in two pivotal hands, with one good and one bad result. Back-to-back hands.

I'll spare you the mundane specifics of the first hand, but I had my Aces cracked by a Euro Lagtard. I even flopped a flush draw and whiffed. My Germanic opponent was hopelessly chasing a smaller flush and he backdoored two pair.

Nice catch, you schwilly shitbag from Stralsund.

On the next hand, I limped in with Kh-10s-10d-6c from middle position. Six players. The flop was Qh-10h-3h. When action was checked to me, I bet 2/3 the pot. Everyone folded except a Greek guy on the button who min-raised me. I didn't put him on top set of Queens. At best he had a flush and at worst bottom set or two pair. I decided to call and see the turn. That's when the 10c fell. I almost jumped out of my chair. I checked quads. I begged and pleaded and cajoled. I wanted him to bet the pot but he checked behind. The river was the 9h. That was not the best card for me. If he had Kh-Jh or Jh-8h, I was fucked my quads was going to lose to a straight flush. I fired away and bet the pot. If he had the absolute nuts then so be it. When he did not call right away, I knew that I had him and he was probably sitting on a flush. With time ticking down he called with Ah-2h. He flopped an Ace-high flush with no redraws. I chased the Greek down.

That's when he berated my play. Hideous barbs. Of course, I knew that the conservative play was to fold middle-set to a raise on an all heart board. Against a made flush, I'm a 70/30 dog. Then again, there was a chance that he held a meager two pair. The raise was not big enough to get me out, and what the fuck, I was on slight Eurodonk tilt after getting my Aces snapped off and looking to unleash some pain onto an innocent bystander.

If I whiffed on the turn, I probably check-fold to almost any decent sized bet. However, my miracle card fell. The turn gave me quads and I checked. The Greek also checked behind which indicated that he had put me on a set of treys, maybe even a set of Queens and he feared that I turned a boat. My bet on the river was small enough that he reluctantly gobbled up the bait and called.

I knew right away that he was one of those self-indulgent players who bitched and moaned incessantly about a bad beat and couldn't let it go and prattled on hundreds of hands later. You know, because the entire world is out to get him, especially the evil doers at PokerStars. In fact, when I woke up that day, I get an call from the PokerStars overlords on my secret cell phone telling me to specifically target the Greek. As soon as sit down at the table, they flipped the doom switch.

I usually ignore the chat-tards and let them spew their consummate hate. When possible, I turn off their chat and go about my business. Other times, I seize the opportunity to completely shove a player over the edge as he slips into the depths of tiltdom.

The other day at the 10/20 LHE tables, there was a horrible player at our table. I dunno if he was a donk stepping up in levels or if he was someone who played much higher limits and was slumming at our level. I had never seen them before. At any rate, he made really loose calls (even for LHE) and sucked out on one guy a couple of times with a runner-runner straight and a two outer. The losing player from Canada went ballistic and would not leave the guy alone. I tried to diffuse the situation because I wanted the bad player to stay at the table and keep on playing, especially after he won two decent-sized pots.

What's better than discovering a bad player at your table? A bad player with lots of chips.

The fish was on the verge of donating all of his surplus and then some, however, with the Canadian Crybaby created a hostile environment. Who wants to play at a table where you're going to be constantly bitched at and have every single play critiqued? The professional way to handle the beat would have been to not say a fuckin' word and tag the said fish. Instead of trying to blast him in the chat with useless homosexual slurs, the more effective method of exacting revenge would be to simply take note of his play and follow him around until you bleed the fucker dry.

Don't tap the glass.

Within one orbit, the fish swam away as I anticipated because he got sick of the verbal bombardment from the Canadian Crybaby. That's when I lashed out and gave the clown a talking to. His douchbaggyness directly affected my ability to win money. His low-self esteem issues which came out during the game and he scared away the fish. The Canadian Crybaby prevented me from a potential score and chased away my mark, heck he chased away everyone's mark. I quickly searched for the player and I could not find him at any other tables. Shit, that was the only full ring 10/20 table running at the time and those don't come together as frequently as we would all like. That's why I was even more pissed at Canadian Crybaby.

I tried to explain to him what he did wrong, he acted even more like a prickless brute. Within a few hands another player left the table. Then another. All of a sudden we were playing short-handed and I decided to bail. The asshole's whining and lambasting shut down the only 10/20 game running.

Nice work. Welcome to my shitlist.

* * * * *
On Saturday night, I got word that my brother was going deep in a PLO tournament on Full Tilt. I sweated Derek from the final two tables on. He made the final table, but as one of the short stacks. He ended up 6th out of 255. Not too shabby, bro. Good to see those Saturdays with Dr. Pauly skills paying off.


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 5/04/2009 04:16:00 AM | Permalink |

 
May Truckin'

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

Wait, it's not dead quite yet. The written word might be on its last breath, but for now, it's still alive.



The May issue of Truckin' is available. This month's contributors to the literary rag includes Drizz, Art Rosch, Betty Underground, Milton T. Burton, and yours truly.

* * * * *
And before I go, I'd like to take the time out to thank the awesome folks who send me traffic.

Tao of Poker - Top 10 April Referrals:
1. Tao of Pauly
2. Shaniac
3. Twitter
4. Poker Road
5. Wicked Chops Poker
6. Pokerati
7. LasVegasVegas
8. Benjo
9. AlCantHang
10. NY Times

Thanks!


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 5/03/2009 08:57:00 AM | Permalink |

 
Derby Upset

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

In case you missed it...


Mine That Bird was a 51-1 long shot and won the most prestigious race in all of horse racing. That was the second biggest upset... ever. The biggest upset? Back in 1913 when Joan Rivers was kicking off her career in silent movies, a little horse named Donerail was a 91-1 dog and won the Derby.

Lots of Twitter chatter in the 24 hours leading up to the Derby. Not one person uttered Mine That Bird. All of the so-called pundits didn't even have that horse on their radar. It almost seemed as the entire crowd as Churchill Downs was stunned when Mine That Bird charged down the rail and smoked the field during the homestretch.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I got word that the favorite, I Want Revenge, was scratched. I scrambled to find a horse. I sorta liked Dunkirk. It was one of those horses with an impeccable pedigree and sold for $3.7 million at an auction. The high-price tagged horse ended up finishing 19 lengths behind Mine That Bird. Oh, in case you were wondering... Mind That Bird was purchased for a mere $9,500 investment. Sweet Jesus, his owners are going to sell oodles and oodles of Mine That Bird's semen for millions.

I'm a sucker for underdogs. Nice victory, Mine That Bird.

Here's a quick story before I go. There was one horse that had a name that Change100's father was very fond about. Well, her mother insisted that they bet $20 on the horse, even though it was one of the longshots, except they are wholesome Catholics and had no clue how to bet on a horse race. I suggested they drive down to Hollywood Park, but they were not keen to driving from the posh West Side of L.A. to head down to the hood to just place a simple wager. I offered them to book the bet and that I'd do at one of the online sportsbooks. I ended up not even bothering putting in their wager. After all, their horse was a long shot and wasn't even going to come close to winning. I pocketed the $20 instead and decided to book their action by myself.

Man, I dodged a bullet. Their horse never came close, although I would have been shitting bricks if they had bet $20 to win on Mine That Bird. And I's have to pay them a nice chunk of change out of my pocket.

My first and only day as a horse bookie has come to a close. I'm retiring with a $20 profit.


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 5/02/2009 10:50:00 PM | Permalink |

 
PokerStars WSOP Satellites

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

PokerStars finally kicked off their WSOP satellites. I have a few assumptions why they waited until now, but at this point, who cares. The bottom line is that now is the time of year when you polish off your satellite game and try to win a seat into the big dance for a minimal investment.

You know the stories about the Moneymakers and the Raymers winning their seat on PokerStars and then going all the way in the Main Event. Heck, even last year, Iggy won one of the last big satellite promotions (the 200 seat giveaway that usually happens on a Saturday a week or so before the Main Event kicks off) last summer and secured a seat in the Main Event.

This year PokerStars is upgrading every single one of their Main Event satellite winners to SuperNova status. Interesting little twist this year.

I have no idea how many players the 2009 Main Event will get. Will it even break last year's number of 6,844? Or will it sink below the dreaded 6,000 threshold?

WSOP Main Event Champions & Number of Entrants:
2000 Jesus Ferguson - 512
2001 Carlos Mortensen - 613
2002 Robert Varkonyi - 631
2003 Chris Moneymaker - 839
2004 Greg Raymer - 2,576
2005 Joe Hachem - 5,619
2006 Jamie Gold - 8,773
2007 Jerry Yang - 6,358
2008 Peter Eastgate - 6,844
2009 ?? - ????

50K HORSE Champions & Number of Entrants:
2006 Chip Reese - 143
2007 Freddy Deeb - 148
2008 Scotty Nguyen - 148
2009 ?? - ???

Talk all the shit you want about Jamie Gold, but he faded the largest 10,000 buy-in field of all time. I wonder when the Main Event numbers will eclipse 8,773? Or how about 10,000? Well, that answer is easy. If the UIGEA gets reversed or Harrah's starts accepting direct buy-ins from the online poker sites, then the first year back the number will break 8,800 and then the second year the numbers will come close to busting 10,000. Then the WSOP can finally boast that the Main Event is a $100,000,000 prize pool.

If the UIGEA never happened, I think that the 100 million prize pool mark would have been set in 2007. Some day, that might happen. Some day.

Anyway, there's lots of speculation and prop betting over the number of entrants in the Main Event, the 40K anniversary event, and the 50K HORSE event. I'd really like to wait and see the vibe of the 2009 WSOP before I lay serious money on the number of entrants in the Main Event and HORSE. If overall numbers decline for the preliminary events, the numbers for the big events will obviously come in lower. But if the preliminary events attract similar numbers from last year, there's a definite chance of the HORSE and Main Event breaking last year's records.

Pauly's 2009 WSOP Predictions:
40K NL - 188
50K HORSE - 145
Main Event - 7,100

The 40K is tricky. How do you set that line? The 25K WPT Championships attracted 338 runners (down from 545). The 10K Euro buy in EPT Grand Finale (equivalent to $13K or so) attracted 935 runners (up from 842 last year).

Can they get 200 in the 40K? That's a stretch. 150? Definitely. But no more than 200. Let's say 188. That number depends on a couple of things...

1. Selection - I wonder how many players skipped the 25K in favor of the 40K? The 40K is one of the few events that will air on ESPN this year. In addition, it's a bracelet event versus just a WPT championship. Then again, the 40K is going to be stacked. Do you really want to piss away 40K of your money or would you rather spread that around in fields with far inferior opponents? That decision from many second-tiered pros is going to be the make or break the total number of entrants.

2. Staking - I have been hearing rumblings that the big time staking syndicates have been tightening their belts. The money has not been flying around as freely as it once did. The big backers have slashed the number of ponies in their stables. One crew took a bath last summer during the WSOP and lost a huge chunk of change.

So many of Phil Ivey's horses were so deep into debt to him that he threw them all a collective bone and wiped out all debts. Not every pro who had a six-figure make up was so lucky with their backers. Instead of alleviating the debts (no federal bail outs for those broke dicks), the backers cut off the losing players and they no longer can find anyone to stake them until they pay back a substantial amount of their debts. That's one of those desperate Catch-22 situations that poker pros hope never to find themselves in. They need backing to get into an event in order to win enough money to pay off their debts.

As the number of staking opportunities decreases so too will the number of entrants in events and prize pools. But stranger things have happened at the WSOP. Maybe a fat cat from Dubai or a former weapons smuggler from one of the Balkan countries rolls into town with suitcases full of money and they put in hundreds of horses into these events. I'm sure that's every broke poker player's wet dream... to get a call from a Sheik telling them that they'll get a 100K float to play in the three big events at the 2009 WSOP... 40K NL, 50K HORSE, and the Main Event.

Of course, you never know. Only 120 players could show up for both HORSE and the 40K event and the economy might be that bad that less than 6,000 dreamers buy into the Main Event.


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 5/01/2009 07:32:00 AM | Permalink |