Monday Morning Nugs: Isildur1 Trumps the G, Hellmuth/Duke UB Departures, Otis Wins Pauly's Pub, Meatsticks, Waffles, and Truckin'

By Pauly
New York City

It's the first Monday of the new year, which means that many of you are utterly miserable that the holidays are over, where as many of you are utterly elated that the holidays over. At any rate, for the first Monday of 2011, I have a few nuggets of news and other gems that you can masticate on while you count down the days until the weekend.

So let's begin...

The SuperStar Showdown continued with enigmatic Scandi Idildur1 taking on a new opponent. This one was none other than Tony G. Love or hate the G, the Sunday match drew a lot of attention. Change100 covered the 12-hour long heads-up battle in a recap titled Isildur1 sends Tony G on his bike, banks $44,280. (PokerStars Blog)

If you don't know by now... both Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth officially left UB, and Lee Jones parted ways with Cake Poker. (Riding the F Train)

And los hombres dedicated a podcast to discussing the departure of two of UB's big dogs. (Wicked Chops Poker)

Check out Shamus' three-part series pointing out some of his best writing from 2010. Must read. (Hard-Boiled Poker)

Congrats to Otis for winning the Pauly's Pub Football Pool. Congrats to "Joe" for winning Sundays with Dr. Pauly's TOC over at Sundays with Dr. Pauly. (Rapid Eye Reality, Fantasy Sports Live)

If you're a Phishead, then check out this video, Behind the Meatstick, that included the behind-the-scenes rehearsal of the massive and intricate New Year's Eve number at Madison Square Garden. (Coventry)

Waffles contributed something to my new group project. He eloquently rambled on about the Catholic Church in a piece called My Name Is Waffles and I Know Things. (Tao of Fear)

And the new issue of Truckin' has been published with five short stories. This month's scribes include Dan England, Gerald C. Cruz, May B. Yesno, Ernest, and yours truly. My contribution this month falls under the "junkie fiction" genre. Take a peek at Waiting on Eastman.

And if you like what you read, I encourage you to vote Tao of Poker for Best Poker Blog in Bluff's Readers Choice Awards. Thanks for your support.

That's it. You know the drill. NGTFOOMO.