Tao of Pauly

Tuesday Night at the Blue Parrot

"Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Signor Ferrari hosted his first game of 2005, this instance on a random Tuesday night with the Orange Bowl on in the background. We had a good mix of regulars (Joel & Asphnxma) and first time players at the Blue Parrot. Although the Blue Parrot isn't the same without Rick (living in California), Ugarte (self-imposed exile), Swish (working in DC), and Coach (on a cruise with Mrs. Coach) adding to the dynamics of the games. It had been a long 71 days since the last game and I was eager to play live after being sick for over a week and losing a huge chunk of my online bankroll since Christmas. The four new players were lawyers (and Ferrari knew them through Ugarte who is friends with Toni) and once again I found myself at a table with Ivy League minds.

The Players:
Seat 1: Asphnxma from Riding the F Train (arrived late)
Seat 2: Cliff
Seat 3: Joel
Seat 4: Signor Ferrari
Seat 5: Steve
Seat 6: Andy
Seat 7: Toni
Seat 8: Pauly

The game started a little late and right away I liked the new guys (and girl). They brought oil cans of Fosters to drink. Cliff impressed me the most after he busted out a bottle of Absolut early on and steadily drank vodka on the rocks all night. I had a few beers which is something I never do when I'm playing online. The last few times I played in casinos, I found myself having one or two pops (and in Vegas I had a lot more). One of the best feelings in the world is cracking open your first beer with friends at a poker table. Apparently I almost played poker once at Toni's home game. I had gotten an invite to one of her tournaments last year sometime and declined. I think I was in Rhode Island writing Gumbo at the time, so it was good to put a face to the name. Ugarte told her about me so I was wondering how much info he gave up... and if she actually read my blog.

Toni won the button to start and called a round of hold'em. Just in case you did not know, the buy in at the Blue Parrot is $100 and it's dealer's choice. We generally play rounds of $2/4 Texas Hold'em and $2/4 Omaha hi/lo and seven card stud, $1-5 spread. Although wild cards games are frowned upon by the purists at the Blue Parrot, they have been called from time to time. And some late nights, the stakes get bumped up to $3/6 or Pot Limit for hold'em and $10 max bet for stud. I always call hold'em or seven card stud.

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WPBT in NYC: The Blue Parrot Invitational


Signor Ferrari has agreed to host the first ever NYC bloggers NL tournament called The Blue Parrot Invitational. The tentative date is for Saturday afternoon on February 5th. That's the Saturday before the Super Bowl. Because space is limited, we have to restrict the seats to Coach and poker bloggers. Hopefully Ugarte can make his return to the Blue Parrot and I hope to see Derek, Mas, Joaquin, and Toby make their first appearances. If any else is interested (like Diane and Monte Christo) shoot me an email.