Tao of Pauly: 07/01/2011

Saturday, July 30, 2011

S.F. Photo Dump - Bacon and Bars

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

A few pictures of note from San Francisco...

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Hills, Dive Bars, and Walking Around City Streets

By Pauly
San Francisco, CA

I've been in San Francisco since Monday. I won't gush too much about the change in my post-WSOP routine. In the past, I spent a week on the beach in Malibu decompressing with Nicky. This year, we opted for a few days in San Francisco. It was the wise choice.

Our friend Halli lives in Lower Pacific Heights and has the entire second story of one of those Victorians you see on TV and in the movies. We let her crash at our house in Vegas for a couple of days and she wanted to pay us back with an open invite to San Francisco. It was hard to pass up even though we had to head back on the road only three days after unpacking from Vegas. But hell, it was worth it.

I forgot how much I missed living in a real city. LA is a fake city and Vegas is hardly a city -- it's America's playground and a tourist destination, but it hardly constitutes my definition of real city. Think NYC, London, Tokyo. I've always said that I'd feel more comfortable living in Tokyo than having to live in a small town in Iowa. I'm a city guy. That's just how I am, which complicated my living situation in LA the last few years. Let's be honest -- I was only in LA because it's where my girlfriend lived and it was somewhat close to Vegas, which I had to be for work.

But San Francisco... is definitely more akin to my personality than the plasticity of Los Angeles. Best example is this -- inside of 2 days, I visited more bars in San Francisco than I did living in LA for four fucking years. Yeah, Nicky and I never went out to bars, and if we did it was to see a band at a club or other music venue. We're fans of Stout, but we're really there for the burgers and not the bar aspect of the joint. I think the last time we went out to a different bars was when Benjo was visiting two summers ago and last summer when a couple of colleagues (Remko the Dutchie and Alex the Aussie) stopped by to visit LA. Aside from that, the bars are simply too pretentious to visit. And don't get Nicky started on the annoyance of parking and drinking/driving.

Drinking in San Francisco is a different beast. You can hit up a few bars within a few block radius. Throw in a couple of cabs and some walking, and you can hit up ten different bars in an evening.

Nicky and I have been to San Francisco numerous times so we didn't give a shit about doing nay tourist stuff. We had a chance to stay with Halli and experience the city as a local. We basically asked Halli to do what she usually does and we'd just tag along. Monday night was a poker game with her brother and close friends. Tuesday night included bar hopping -- in the Haight, in Lower Haight, in Lower Pacific Heights, and the Marina. I made a joke that we think Halli's an alcoholic because in two days the only places she showed us were dive bars. In her defense, that's what I requested.

Bars in Vegas are either bars in casinos that hav video poker machines embedded into them, or it's a trendy, chic club with red ropes and long ass lines to get in. Neither are not my speed. I'm not a club guy and I'm not an alkie/degen slots player that I'd spend all my time at those types of casino bars. Alas, I'm not usually drinking unless it's at a Pai Gow table with friends.

In Denver, the Joker introduced us to a couple of cool spots where you could hang out and listen to kick ass music without dealing with the uber-Vegas party scene or stuck-up lounge LA scene. Nicky preferred those bars because she didn't get annoying glances from other chicks judging her on her selection of shoes and purse. Me? I liked Denver bars because you don't have to shout to be heard (no thumping terrible DJ) and you can toke a doobie in the back without being 86'd by a burly security guard.

San Francisco bars have the similar vibe to Denver. Sure, there's a few hipster-laden joints and clubs with ropes that I'd never be caught dead in, but the city has more than its share of places where I'd be comfortable to drink. Halli took us to a few of those places over the last two nights. I'm not much of a bar person, but I definitely enjoyed myself -- especially because I wasn't drinking that much and never felt pressured to keep on drinking. Laid back. That's what I like about going out to have fun. A laid back approach to socializing. Yep, I'm all about kicking back and enjoying life with a small group of people, enlightened and loosened-up by booze but involved in stimulating conversation. The alternative is going out to be seen or heading a specific club to increase your coolness factor, or have pics to brag to your fake Facebook friends.

Then again, I'm approaching 40. You don't go out to bars when you're 40+ unless you're in a mid-life crisis or trying to get laid or an alcoholic. At least, that's how I felt in Vegas and LA. Both cities were blunt about not catering to my needs as a social drinker. That's what I missed about New York City -- because within a ten block radius you could usually find a bar to cater to different groups of people and personalities. Same thing applies to San Francisco. Just a quick jaunt around the San Francisco with Halli and we were aware of so many more fun options.

Ah, enough about bars. How about those hills? Yeah, the hills are tough, especially someone like me with a bum back and sore hip. But luckily Halli lives near the bottom of Pacific Heights so we didn't have any of those monstrous hills to deal with. I definitely enjoyed the ability to walk around the city -- something I never do in Vegas (it's too hot and everything is spread out) and in LA (I'm like the only person walking around sometimes that isn't walking to their parked car). Yeah, whenever I went back to NYC, I also set aside a few hours to just walk around the city and let my mind wander. I always feel as though I write better after those meandering sessions, because it allows me to work out a few things. The alternative is to sit on your ass and nu,b yourself with bad TV shows and handcuff yourself to the machines/intertubes and get caught up in the static stream (Twitter) or wasting hours and hours on random stupid sites like Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Beiber.

Walking around. Hanging out in dive bars. Listening to people make fun of LA. Yeah, it's been a fun few days. I'm actually bummed out that I have to go back to LA, but at least I will return in a couple of weeks to see Phish play in Golden Gate Park. Now, if I can only figure out how to actually stay here longer and ditch the plastic hills of Hollyweird...

Monday, July 25, 2011

Reality Haikus

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Monday morning's writing session was crudely interrupted by a leaf blower going off at 7:30am. Talk about a super early start for one of the many landscaping crews working the area. That's part of the daily bustle of the city that I didn't have in Las Vegas. I don;t think I saw a single person roaming around our subdivision. Living in a house in a burb-like secluded area was the opposite of a constant flow of people that walk through the alley or wander by in front of our house. LA is not what you would calla pedestrian city, but we experienced more foot traffic in one day than two months in Vegas. No one walks outside in the desert. Why would you?

Nicky liked the house because it was quiet and serene. Aside from two goats that the neighbor had, there was not much noise except hearing the blowing wind -- or something related to the wind,like a piece of paper flapping around or something getting knocked over by a strong gust.

I missed the sunshine, especially the blinding light that rushes through the window in the dining room. That's where I like to write in the mornings when Nicky is asleep. As the sun shifts, so do I around the massive table. On overcast mornings, the sun is blocked by a marine layer until it burns off and the usual California sun punches through the littlest of openings in the sky.

I missed having to squint as I wrote to whatever melodious sounds were flowing throughout the apartment. I missed the excitement of jumping out of bed to write instead of slowly crawling out of bed to see what sort of drama bomb exploded when I was asleep and to finish writing what I never got down the night before. Ah, I always write better when I want to (LA - morning sessions) than when I'm supposed to (Vegas - freelance or covering the WSOP on Tao of Poker). It's the shit you always do for yourself that means the most. I cannot explain it in any other way.

The last few days have been lazy. Maybe it's what most folks do on a weekend -- lounge around on the couch and watch mindless TV shows, movies, and sports -- but it's not something I do very often because I'm always working on something and don't have time to waste vegging out in front of the boob tube. Alas, I forced myself to rest on the couch and not move for hours at a time. I caught up with recorded episodes of Hoarders, along with a few episodes of Intervention and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. I got a little wasted while watching those reality programs and wrote haikus to sum up the drama.

Here's a few reality TV inspired-haikus:

Hoarders #1
Freaky doll lady
Living in trash heap bedroom
Pissing in bottles

Hoarders #2
Obese nerd buys toys
Shelves and shelves of old used games
Relics of lost youth

Hoarders #3
Lazy old redneck
Raising her ginger grandchild
Dark clutter towers

Intervention #1
Good girl falls from grace
"My best friend is heroin"
Full time working girl

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares #2
Chef lost his mojo
Avoid the sushi pizza
Empty restaurant

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares #2
Incompetent chef
No surprise the food sucks ass
Daft owner busto

Inception #1
Juno builds mazes
Dreams within dreams within dreams
Leo's totem spins

Yes, I snuck a Hollyweird flick haiku in there. I watched Inception for the first time (and second time too). I fell into the pitfall and listened to the hype from the critics and my friends. Although not really the same concept, but harping on a similar theme, I preferred how Charlie Kaufman approached the conundrum between reality and non-reality and how it bleeds into one. Ah, maybe I just wasn't fucked up enough to fulling grasp Inception. I doubt I'll have 2+ hours to give it a third viewing. But for now, it sort of let me down.

I caught Super 8 in the theatres with Nicky and her sister. We grabbed dinner at the Pink Taco and got seated next to a hipster b-day party. One of the guys wore a fluorescent orange tank top, jorts (jean shorts) and cowboy boots. I caught him doing blow in the bathroom. Anyway, after dinner we headed to the theatre and I fell asleep twice. Nicky had to wake me up both times. The first time I was snoring somewhat loudly. The second time, I had dozed off more stealthily. The second act had a few lulls that literally put me to sleep. One of my friends added the Chuck Klosterman line -- "Seeing Super 8 reminded me how much I missed watching Steven Spielberg movies." Yes, I too have a longing for Spielberg flicks from my youth. I caught Close Encounters a few months ago and it still held up to Jim Cameron's flying blue people and over-the-top visual landscapes created by a CGI'd sci-fi effects spooge-fest.

Ah, I wish I had more time to just go off on a 4,500-word tangent about the vauge barrier between reality and the dream state, along with a dissertation on Spielberg flicks from the 1970s. Maybe I'll save that for later in the week. For now, I gotta finish packing and head out to the airport. I was home for less than four days before it's time to get back out on the road...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Happy Pills, Sheeple Shuffle, and Closed Library Conspiracy

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

I'm not quite done with Las Vegas because when I write the location in current blog posts, I'm still writing "Las" as in "Las Vegas" before I hit the BACKSPACE twice and finish off with "Los" for "Los Angeles." It's sort of like writing the previous year on checks in January of the new year.

The mind is a peculiar thing. Sometimes it's set in the past -- when it comes to dating checks or writing blog posts. Sometimes the mind is focused on the anxiety-ridden future. How many hours a day do you obsess with scenarios that never happen? Yet you lose your mind worrying about them?

It's one thing to mentally prepare yourself for an unexpected turn of events, but it's a whole other to freak out over the smallest things that no one cares about. I guess that explains the reason why pharmaceutical companies are swimming in profits -- because people are obsessed with the quirkiest things which either makes people anxious in social situations or morbidly depressed -- either way, no one wants to leave the house.

That is the main reason why wonder drugs that get people off their couch and interacting with other people are prescribed every day by shrinks. It's an easy way to churn your insurance carrier into paying the drug companies to hand out happy pills, but at the same time, a doped-up populous is important because the wheels and gears of capitalism will come to a halt if people stop going to work, stop buying things, and stop going to social gatherings (where they usually spend money on entertainment, dining, and/or booze).

Happy pills are the lubrication of so many aspects of society, but then again, so is speed when it comes to the manufacturing and distribution of goods, but that's a discussion for another time. Happy pills keep the utterly miserable get back in line and continue with the daily "sheeple shuffle" as the masses go about their daily routines. The bigger the herd, the less disruption in the system.

It's those who go astray that cause the biggest headaches for the Shepard. Sometimes those rogue animals and former sheep wander so far off the reservation they gain perspective on the entire sham. It's a rigged game, life that is, and it's always been a rigged game, but too many people are well aware of it -- deep in their subconscious, yet ignore it on the surface, which is why deep down they can't get out of bed or walk out their front door with pangs of melancholy and utter disdain for the human race. They get trapped, like the unlucky schmucks in the first act of a zombie flick who become infected then spend the rest of the movie chasing around the good guys.

The best happy pills are the ones that life generates itself. You just have to be willing to seek those out in the strangest of places, which are always off the beaten path. But that's the tough thing about our planet these days -- any thing/place dubbed super cool has been overrun by commerical interests who sell those remote beaches in travel packages, or hype up those exotic adventures in extreme travel brochures. You can't even visit Ayers Rock or Machu Picchu without a tour bus of annoying Americans nearby.

The only place you won't find hipsters (trying to be cool) or sheeple (being told what is cool) is the library or bookstores -- because no one actually reads anymore.

I've been in LA for a couple of years and can't even tell you where the local branch of their public library is located. When I visited NYC briefly, I walked past the new branch that was being opened in my old neighborhood. Even in Vegas, we drove by one of the library buildings -- albeit it was rather small and looked like a dentist's compound. But Vegas has a lot of older people and retirees -- those of whom would actually use those free services like the internet and the ability to borrow books.

But in LA, the lack of libraries seem like a bad inside joke from a dystopian novel that the big suits in the Hollyweird studios met in secret to create a cabal to get rid of every book inside the City of Angels, so the sheeple would be forced to watch bad movies instead. And when I say bad movies, I really mean bad re-makes or re-boots of classic films and franchises, or creating post-modern versions of comic book classics, or printing money with watered-down sequels, or other really bad milk-toast romantic comedies with pretty stars and a third act that goes nowhere.

Sometimes I wonder if I have more books in my apartment than in the LA Public Library. Aside from travel, buying books is probably my only vice because I'm constantly seeking out new authors, trying to catch up on huge gaps in history, or constantly trying to educate myself about a new topic. Right now, I have a pile of books next to my desk. The pile consists of titles I started in 2011, but never finished before I left for Vegas two months ago. In addition, I have a brand new pile of books I never got to read before I left for Vegas, along with a few new books that I acquired over the summer. That pile is bigger than the original pile. I also have a dozen new book recommendations (from friends and colleagues) that I'd like to delve into -- but not until I made progress on either of the other piles sitting in my office.

Then again, maybe books are the keys to a more enriched life instead of happy pills?

Give it a shot. Try reading a book instead of zoning out in front of the TV. Instead of drowning yourself in relentless anxiety, why not turn to a book instead and escape into the words instead of being strangled by your own misguided thoughts?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Home Sweet Hollyweird

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

"You've been gone for two months. It's good to see you."

That's what the staff at the local coffeeshop in the Slums of Beverly Hills told me when I walked inside for breakfast. A couple of the staff members did a double take when I opened the door -- it was like seeing a ghost -- which freaked me out because I had a near death experience in Vegas and I'm not 100% convinced I'm alive which is why I have moments every day when I think I'm dead and my active experience is not life, but post-life so I'm just haunting my friends and girlfriend.

I never said goodbye to the kitchen staff when I departed LA just before Memorial Day. I never like goodbyes anyway, but the staff at the coffeeshop is used to my odd schedule -- sometimes they will see me every day for a couple of weeks, then I don't show up for a week or so because I'm on the road traveling or working. I lived in the Slums for almost four years now, so they know I leave Los Angeles for two months at the start of every summer for a work assignment. Regardless, they still did a double take when I walked inside. After the initial wave of shock, they welcomed me back.

It felt good to be missed. Being a good tipper will earn you that sort of loyalty.

Even the hipsters upstairs missed me and I don't tip them. Well, at the least they missed my belligerent outbursts that I was prone to during basketball games. As one of them said to Nicky, "It was weird not hearing your boyfriend scream at the TV during the NBA finals."

Yes, I reserved the "Hit your fucking free throws!" vitriol for sessions when I was sweating the game(s) in Vegas at a sportsbook or McFadden's pub with AlCantHang. The upstairs hipsters had a calm and soothing two months of quiet. Luckily football season doesn't start for another month or so, and even then I might not be here when it begins. The upstairs couple still has to deal with my morning routine of opening up all of the windows in the apartment while I write and jamming jazz tunes from different iPod mixes as the melodious sounds spill out into the alley. The sounds inside the apartment help drown out any of annoying sounds of the daily grind in the Slums of Beverly Hills -- from eardrum shattering leaf blowers, the woman leaning out her second-story window and chain smoking menthols while conversing on her cell phone in Farsi, the incessant barking dogs, the random old Asian lady across the way yelling at her deaf husband, and the steady flow of dumpster divers rattling around the recycle bins for beer bottles and soda cans.

I missed LA. I missed the perpetual sunshine and swaying palm trees and the soupy smog and even the jackoff texting while driving his shiny Beamer who cut you off on Olympic Blvd. That's what happens when you loathe Vegas so much, but after another arduous summer, I fled Vegas with a new-found disdain. I'm caught up in a rut that's tough to break out of -- I need Vegas as a hub of commerce. It's the only city where I know I can make money because I'm virtually unemployable anywhere else on the planet (well, with the exception of Paris -- because thanks to Benjo's translation and Jerome's PR strategy, Lost Vegas in French is a huge success -- but as much as I'd like to live in Paris someday, the language barrier is too difficult, plus it's too fucking expensive). Yeah, I'm torn because I need some time away from Vegas for an indefinite amount of time before I return, but that's problematic because Vegas is the only place where I can generate money, and that cash is the fuel that funds group projects, personal writing projects, and travel excursions.

I doubt I'll be spending much time in Vegas in the future and I need a new place for me to hunker down for a while to reflect on life and heal my mind and body. Vegas is the last place I want to be. I don't have time to explain everything right now, but the story will definitely unfold over the next few weeks and months. But for now, all you need to know is -- I'm loving every second I'm in LA, which is bizarre because I can't stand Hollyweird.

There's only two times a year I enjoy living in the City of Angels...

1) Immediately after the holidays when I fly back home after spending Christmas vacation with my family and need to get as far away from my crazy mother as possible, not to mention my body is not used to the frigid New York temperatures because the balmy California sun in January is a welcomed contrast to the dreary winter of discontent on the East Coast.

2) When I return home from Las Vegas after I cover the WSOP during a two-month assignment. It's like getting out of jail because covering the WSOP is like a prison sentence. In fact, my favorite day of the year is not my birthday, or Christmas, or the first day of March Madness, or a Phish festival, or some other holiday -- rather it's the day I leave Vegas with my girlfriend and we drive back to California.

I can't describe the happiness, the jubilation, the excitement of leaving Vegas behind in the rear-view mirror of life. It's a chapter I hope to never re-live, especially backwards in Kierkegaard terms. I'm always drained and exhausted at this time of the year, but this summer was as tough as I ever had it with a couple of unexpected twists and turns. The more I think about it -- 2011 might be the worst WSOP I've ever had since I started covering the most prestigious festival of poker in 2005. The 2007 WSOP was sheer hell because I had one day off and was overworked and underpaid. That'll always be my least favorite year but the 2011 WSOP is edging closer and closer to becoming my worst Vegas experience.

So much happened that future trips to Vegas are in jeopardy. I'm supposed to return in November (for work) and again in December (for play) but if I had to commit to going right now -- I'd opt out of both -- especially the December trip because I could think of a lot more other places I'd like to party with friends than Vegas. That's how much disdain I have for that city that almost killed me a second time. I'm not brave or foolish enough to volunteer to return so quickly. It'll take a huge bag of money to lure me back to Sin City and crawl back into the anus of the beast, but in these difficult times, there's less and less money flying around the poker industry, so I doubt I'll be back for a while unless someone "shows me the money!"

This summer had several highlights that matched many of my favorite Vegas experiences of all time. I guess that tells you how awful the lowlights were -- because even my most favorite memories of this summer were tainted by all of the darkness that engulfed me, my soul, and my brainwaves. Alas, I try to focus on the happy, fun memories from this summer in order to quell the negative thoughts and demons that followed me home from Vegas, a city in the middle of the desert that is nothing more than a black hole for souls. I lost a lot a respect for some colleagues, which happens every summer, because you never really know if you can trust people until they are put to the stress test. It's a necessary process, sort of like Friendship Darwinism, when you see which ones evolve and which ones fail to adapt.

I want to end on a positive note, so I look toward the bright side of life (in a very ironic Monty Python sort of way) because I made a couple of new friends, strengthened older friendships, and mended a couple of broken ones. It's going to take a while before I look back on the last two months on think about the fun and bubbly times, but as the saying goes, time heals all wounds.

What a fucked up world it is when I seeking solace in the City of Angels. Such is life, but I'm thrilled to be home, that is, if I'm actually alive. If Vegas is hell, then I hate to think Hollyweird is heaven. Or then again, maybe this is hell, which means I'm equally fucked.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Third Batch - Summer WSOP Podcast - Tao of Pokerati

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Here's the third (and perhaps final) batch of episodes from Tao of Pokerati podcast, which is a quick podcast anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes in length. My partner in crime is Dan Michalski, but when he wasn't around, I often asked a couple of my friends to join me in random discussions about gambling, Vegas weirdness, and the World Series of Poker.

Before we begin, here's a quick rundown of some of the co-hosts...

- Dan... editor of Pokerati.com, originally from Dallas, and he's a talking head, yet admittedly he knows nothing about poker.
- Change100... aka Nicky, she spent more time this summer playing poker than actually writing about it
- AlCantHang... former rockstar from the AlCantHang Experience, he gave up the life as a heavy metal headbanger and became a computer geek before he turned into poker industry party animal
- Benjo... co-host from Lille, France, he translated Lost Vegas into French and no longer chain smokes, but he loathes the poker scene as much as we all do.
- Snoopy... writer from London whom I auditioned to be my new sidekick because he has a funny accent, just like Benjo, but he was a valuable resource on all things British
- WhoJedi... photographer from Indiana who is a total Star Wars freak.
- KevMath... the most knowledgeable person in the world about poker, which is why we all suspect he's really a computer.

Okay, now that you know the cast of characters, here's the podcasts which we recorded in the last week or so...

Episode 29: Media Mania and Golden Toilets with Change100 and AlCantHang (3:08) - Pauly is still in the media event, so Change100 takes the opportunity to chat with AlCantHang. They both busted rather early, especially AlCantHang, who won a dubious honor of being the first player to bust out. His reward? A Golden Toiler trophy for last place.

Episode 30: British Beef with Snoopy (8:01) - As play progresses on Day 3, Pauly and Snoopy hang out and discuss the finer aspects of British beef. Well, not really, but the title sounded rather cheeky. Actually, the two chatted about which Brits were remaining in the Main Event, along with a quirky story about sharing electric shavers and Neil Channing's bustout. Snoopy us to keep an eye out for the up and coming Chris Brammer.

Episode 31: Secret Bubble Boy with WhoJedi (1:31) - The Main Event crawled toward the Money Bubble, which historically speaking is always the most exciting time in poker. However, this year's bubble popped in the corner of the room and happened so quietly that everyone almost missed it.Luckily Pauly and WhoJedi were on the scene to give you their quick assessment.

Episode 32: Semi-Live WSOP, Live from the Palms (3:21) - The WSOP is being broadcast on ESPN with a 30-minute delay, and it's also being streamed online at ESPN 3. Dan has not been at the Rio, because he's been keeping an eye on the Main Event by watching ESPN's coverage. Pauly mentions that finally watched some of ESPN2's coverage, which was on in the background while he and Dan played in the Pokerati mixed game at the Palms.

Episode 33: Two Brits, One Irishman with Snoopy (5:09) - Snoopy gives Pauly the latest British report with three tables remaining in the Main Event. Snoopy clues us in on the two Brits (Sam Holden and JP Kelly) still alive along with Eoghan O'Dea from Ireland. Even though O'Dea is Irish, Snoopy and Brits are still keeping an eye on their "adopted" player.

Episode 34: Tent City (5:01) - Dan and Pauly went outside and wandered around tent city, where all of the ESPN live feed production trucks and Poker PROductions trailers were located. Pauly hasn't seen much of the semi-live coverage on ESPN and Dan clues him in on what he's been missing...

Episode 35: Patchwork Orange (6:06) - Dan and Pauly hang out late on Day 7. Dan tells everyone how his girlfriend checked out the Main Event for the first time to check out all the hoopla. The discussion shifts to patch deals and lack of huge sponsorship money on TV tables.

Episode 36: KevMath WSOP Exit Interview with KevMath (8:50) - Kevin "KevMath" Mathers is officially done with his WSOP assignment, but he stopped by the Rio to watch the action on Day 8. He bumped into Pauly, who sat him down to discuss his favorite moments (and least favorite) during his first ever WSOP. Pauly also quizzes him on any strange "fan" encounters along the way.

Episode 37: Pseudo-Final Table (6:02) - Dan and Pauly are on the rail of the Mothership as action resumes for the pseudo-final table of ten, otherwise known as the November Nine bubble. Plenty of tension in the air because the final table will be set with just one more elimination.

Episode 38: Pucked Up Hand (4:48) - Dan and Pauly thought they were recording an episode during an elimination hand, but they mistakenly got the players mixed up. Instead of a bustout, they witnessed a double up by Matt Gianetti. The simple error leads to a suggestion that perhaps the WSOP needs to highlight all-in players with special colored spotlights.

Episode 39: Bruno's New Toy (4:20) - Fun Warren brought a batch of dolls to the WSOP. The dolls, resembling famous poker pros, were custom made in London . He left a couple behind for Pauly and Dan. Pauly got Phil Hellmuth, while Dan seems a little disappointed with Daniel Negreanu. Dan suggests that he'll probably give the Negreanu's doll to his dog Bruno, so Bruno will now have a new play toy.

If you want to listen to all of the episodes from earlier in the WSOP, visit the Tao of Pokerati podcast archives. You can also tune into episodes we recorded during previous WSOPs (2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), November Nine final tables, and other random stories, like when Benjo and I were in Budapest covering a poker tournament.

Oh, by the way, I compiled a list of a dozen favorite episodes from the earlier in the WSOP,which included my colleague Remko (a writer from Holland) and the legendary Johnny Hughes (author of Texas Poker Wisdom). Here they are...

Summer Favorites - Tao of Pokerati Podcast

Episode 6: Ivey's Lawyer (4:17) - Dan and Pauly chat about the Ivey drama that transformed the opening days of the WSOP into the "World Series of Phil Ivey." Dan also shares some inside info on Ivey's lawyer, renown criminal attorney David Chesnoff.

Episode 7: Sahara Liquidation with Remko and Benjo (6:12) - Benjo and Pauly discussed the Sahara Casino liquidation sale/auction with one of the members of the Dutch press, Remko. Both Remko and Benjo expressed a keen interest in acquiring a slot machine for super cheap, while Pauly has his eyes set on a Pai Gow table. Meanwhile, Benjo and Remko try to figure out how to ship a slot machine from Vegas to France and Holland.

Episode 12: The Tweaker Edition with Benjo (4:02) - Benjo and Pauly hang out at the Gold Coast and watched a tweaker get 86d by security. They later encounter the tweaker in the parking lot, and Benjo asks Pauly for a quick tutorial about the seedy Las Vegas meth scene.

Episode 14: Old School Cheats with Johnny Hughes (6:02) - Pauly sat down and chatted with a special guest -- the legendary Johnny Hughes -- who has been in poker circles for 50+ years. Pauly asks Johnny to share some stories about old school poker cheats and the "fear" of getting caught, which kept a lot of shady characters in line.

Episode 16: Brickless Cash Games Reprise (3:22) - Dan and Pauly recorded a quick follow-up to their previous episode while they hang out on the rail of the high-stakes cash games. They spot Eskimo Clark, "Cowboy", and other broke dicks lingering around seeking handouts from the high rollers.

Episode 17: WSOP Fashion Report with KevMath (5:10) - Pauly chats with KevMath, who is a self-described "fashion expert." The two compare and contrast the different styles of clothing worn by members of the media. KevMath also reveals why he won't wear shorts.

Episode 19: KevMath Keno System with KevMath (6:01) - Pauly and KevMath hang out at the dive bar in a bowling alley at the Gold Coast. KevMath was in the middle of crushing a video Keno game, when Pauly asked him to share a couple of his big secrets to beating the game.

Episode 20: Adieu, Benjo (8:40) with Benjo - After almost a week of speculation and rumors, Benjo confirms that he's leaving Las Vegas and heading home to France. His brief stint at the WSOP is officially over. One chapter ends, and a new one begins. Dr. Pauly, Dan and Benjo hang out in the dive bar inside the bowling alley at Gold Coast to listen to Benjo bid his farewells.

Episode 21: New Dynamic Duo with Snoopy (5:59) - Pauly holds auditions for a new sidekick with only one requirement -- a outrageous accent. Snoopy, a writer from London, nails the audition. In this episode, they discuss modeling their new dynamic duo on the Batman & Robin television series, in addition to re-locating the Bat Cave to England and installing bat poles in the press box.

Episode 23: Brazil's Mothership Invasion with AlCantHang (2:50) - Pauly and AlCantHang are on the rail inside the Mothership watching the heads-up battle between American Nachman "The Landlord" Berlin and Brazil's native son Andre Akkari. Al and Pauly record a quick episode moments after Akkari won a decisive pot to cripple Berlin, and the Brazilians went berserk.

Episode 26: Main Event Begins! (6:34) - The Main Event is upon us and before the cards went in the air, Pauly is hanging out and listening to TD Jack Effel's long-winded introduction and a quick rundown of the rules to all Main Event players. Jack then introduces Texas Dolly to utter the famous phrase, "Shuffle up and deal!"

Episode 27: Almost Famous with Snoopy (3:32) - While players return to their seats after the dinner break, Pauly and Snoopy notice Jason Alexander posing for pictures with fans. Snoopy explains why Seinfeld wasn't a big hit in England and Pauly discovers someone dressed as Snow White in the crowd. Pauly also wonders if Snoopy would ever dress up in a costume for the Main Event.

If you want to listen to more episodes, visit Tao of Pokerati podcast archives.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I Do Not Freebase Cocaine

By Pauly
Las Vegas< NV

Thanks to @Character_Zero for this gem of a video, which has been keeping me sane today....

Monday, July 11, 2011

The Circuit

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

My colleague Alexander Bradley (an Aussie ex-pat living in Paris) started an amazing project called The Circuit, which focuses on life on the international poker circuit. Alexander focused on Europe the last few months but has since arrived in Vegas to shoot a couple new covers, in addition to creating video versions for PokerListings.

Here's my cover of The Circuit...

And here's the video...

Check out more editions of The Circuit.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Second Batch - Tao of Pokerati Podcast

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Here's the second batch of links to episodes of the Tao of Pokerati podcast, the quickest poker podcast on the intertubes. My buddy Snoopy from London has filled in for Benjo as the foreigner with the weird accent after Benjo left Vegas and returned home to France. But we also got some cameos from AlCantHang, Timtern, JoeDub, and KevMath.

Episode 18: Mothership Stench with Timtern (2:43) - Pauly and Timtern are in the press section inside the Mothership, while sweating the final table of the Donkament. Timtern shares a story about a couple of railbirds who put him on mega-tilt, including the guy who took off his shoes. Pauly also describes the sketchy, yet pungent scene inside the Mothership.