Tao of Pauly

Monday Already?

The weekend flew by quick. I forgot what day it was yesterday. I called my brother a bunch of times and couldn't reach him. That's when I recalled that he went up to Maine for the weekend.

Last night was tough. I was up until 6am and at the casino until past 5am. The day was the toughest I experienced so far. Lots of bullshit to deal with but I gutted through it.

The Yankees won which was a bonus. The game was on ESPN via a huge plasma screen right behind me but due to the heavy volume of work (and catch up work) I saw three pitches in total. I caught the highlights in the Tilted Kilt Pub during my dinner break at 9pm. And for dinner? Two pints of Stella and a loaf of garlic bread.

The routine has been getting up around 10 to write. Nicky and I are on slightly different schedules which poses some problems with one car. I usually have to start a little later than her so either I go in with her or I drop her off and go back to the Del Bocca Vista to write which is about a ten minute drive with traffic.

By the way, the biggest pothead poker pro that I now, Shaniac, also lives at the Del Bocca Vista this summer.

We've been trying to avoid the Rio to eat lunch or breakfast. We opted for two other casinos closer by (the cafe at Palms or at the Orleans). I'm burning out n Texas Toasters at Sonic. I can only handle that twice a week.

By first meal is some sort of bacon and egg combo with wheat toast. I build my own sandwiches and stock up on fuel for the day. I subject myself to the horrible food in the "poker kitchen" once a day around 6 or so. I drink on my dinner breaks.

A couple of celebrities have been spotted at the WSOP including Shannon Elizabeth, James Woods, and Jeremy Sisto... the guy who played Elton in Clueless.

Here are some random notes I posted over at the Tao of Poker:

We told Filipe (our photographer from Portugal) that he should say, "No habla anglais," when people from other rival outlets asked him questions. I started saying that when tourists were asking me stupid questions.

Saturday night at the Rio which meant that the hookers were out in full force. One short old guy had a buxom fake-blonde on one arm and a slim black girl on the other arm. He strolled through the Amazon room showing off. Too bad everyone breathing knew that they were pros. Instead of hanging out at the Hooker bar, a few ladies of the night were proactive and trickled down into the convention center. Hey, the poker pros flock to Vegas during the WSOP because of all the dead money flying onto town. Same goes for the working girls. They know that everyday more marks are flying into town and showing up at the Rio. Who can they fleece or roll today?

Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson were in the VIP lounge during one of the breaks. They made a prop bet to see if Hellmuth could sink three putts in a row on their faux putting green. Hellmuth nailed all three and Brunson forked over $18,000.

I missed the mad rush at the Tilted Kilt according to Kari and the other kilts. I drank a couple of pints of Stella and ate chicken fingers with spicy ranch dipping sauce. I had been craving that for months. Kari told me about the one new girl they hired. The guys in the kitchen think she's a man. The waitress wanted to prove them wrong and asked Kari to take a picture of her vagina to prove the guys wrong. Where was Flipchip when you needed him? I offered up my services. Alas, I did not get to snap any pictures of Tilted Kilt waitresses' cookies. If I was able to pull that feat off, that would have put Otis on mega tilt for the rest of the decade.

On Saturday, there was a Dan Michalski sighting in the Rio. I have not confirmed if that is true or just a ghost of Michalski past. The figure had a similar bald spot but he was not wearing a pink polo. I don't think it was him. We have a theory among the veteran media that Michalski will be outsourcing the WSOP content on Pokerati by using illegal immigrant day workers to write his blogs. I can totally picture Michalski pulling up to the parking lot at Home Depot and asking, "Puede usted contar virutas? Usted desea trabajar en la serie de mundo de poker?"

(Side note: Michalski insists that the first thing I ever said to him when we met for the first time was... "Yo Dan, do you have any weed?")