Happy Birthday Molly!

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After Midnight: First Thoughts About My New Job

I'm exhausted. A four day bender in Vegas with seasoned alcoholics was probably not the best thing for me immediately before I begin a job with no days off for the next six weeks.

I moved into my apartment this afternoon. I'm staying at the Budget Suites just a few blocks west of The Strip. I'm a few blocks away from The Orleans casino. I live walking distance from a Wendy's and an In and Out Burger. I'm pretty excited. There are no Wendy's where I used to live in NYC.

Having a media pass is pretty fuckin' cool. I have access to so many areas that the normal public does not have. I've already met a dozen pros. For you non-poker enthusiasts, imagine you being able to be able to walk up to talk to your favorite baseball player or your favorite actor while they are working.

The Rio has set up Wi-Fi internet access and I can blog and surf websites during my down time. In fact, I have my computer set up a few feet away from where ESPN is taping the "final table" of this particular tournament. There's a heavily armed security guard standing over the cash prize money a few feet away from me.

It's amazing to think how much cash is in this huge ballroom. I tried to figure out exactly the average cash stash in the pockets of all the players combined.

Derek stopped by the Rio to say good-bye before he caught his flight home. He sat in the stands for a little bit and watched the final table. During one of his breaks he mentioned that he noticed I was "working pretty hard."

I'm on a break now. There are four players left at this final table and I took some time to jot down these thoughts about my first day on the job.

First WSOP Live Update: Event #4 Limit and Event #5 Omaha Hi/Lo

Wow, I'm sitting in the media room at the Rio. I finally met Amy Calistri, who works for Poker Pages. She's a big fan of my blogs. She just introduced me to Lou Krieger. I called him "Mr. Krieger" and he said, "What's this Mr. stuff?"

If you don't know, Allen Cunnigham beat out Scott Fischman to win Event #2 late last night to win the $1500 NL event. Check out Poker Player Newspaper for more info.

***** ***** *****

Updates: I watched Lou Krieger get KO'd out of the Omaha event. He's a nice guy and said he'd be available for an interview later this week. This is the only event he's playing in until July.

I'm in the media room hanging out with Dan from Pokerati and we're talking shop. Glad he's here to shoot the shit with. Can't wait for Otis to arrive!

Chatted with Nolan Dalla about the Stu Ungar book. He's a great guy and a damn good writer. Bumped into Jay Greenspan and we chatted about his upcoming book. I saw Scotty Nguyen fixing his hair in the bathroom.

"What's up Scotty?" I said.

"What's up, Baby?!" he replied.

Vegas Updates: Late Night Suite SNGs and Sunday Mayhem

"I'm the only one on this room who actually works." - Derek to me, Grubby, Iggy, and the Poker Geek

I watched the sun rise for the fourth consecutive day as it slowly crept over the mountains. We played a few SNGs in our swanky suite late night Saturday/early Sunday morning. The first one was a six-handed. The second one was nine-handed and lasted 3.5 hours!

Suite SNG #1
Seat 1: Human Head
Seat 2: Chris Halverson
Seat 3: Pauly
Seat 4: Derek
Seat 5: Mrs. Head
Seat 6: Spaceman

Spaceman and Derek chopped. I was the first one KO'd, by Derek of all people. We hosted a late night SNG which took forever, Halverson was hitting the SoCo very hard and we were all pretty trashed.

Suite SNG #2
Seat 1: Iggy
Seat 2: Gracie
Seat 3: Halverson
Seat 4: Chad
Seat 5: Spaceman
Seat 6: Pablo
Seat 7: Pauly
Seat 8: Derek
Seat 9: Maudie

The best part was having Drizz hang out and play Full Tilt on my laptop! During a rare lull in the conversation during the game, I heard Drizz bark at the computer screen, "Why the fuck are you calling my raise?" Maudie came from behind to take down Iggy while the Poker Geek played a $20 SNG on my laptop.

On Sunday we played in the noon tourney. We all had pieces of the Poker Geek. Bobby Bracelet, Derek, BG, Spaceman, and myself each backed the Geek in the tourney. He took 9th place and made the final table, only to miss the money by two places.... As sucked out by A2. Read his blog later for the sordid details. He knocked me out when my 66 lost to Geek's AK when he caught an ace on the river. Drizz bought 20% of my action. Too bad I couldn't cash in my second ever Plaza tourney. Derek blew a huge chip lead early and was KOd as well. BG's friend Nate took first place in an impressive effort.

The rest of the afternoon included blackjack, craps with Joaquin, a few bets on the ponies, and more poker included dealer's choice mixed games. The Fat Guy refused to play.

Here are some random pics including the lovely Mrs.Royal who "fell asleep" on the rail watching Royal play.


Mrs. Royal "sleeping" while Royal played at the Plaza.


Metal Head Bloggers.


Derek and Maudie during the Suite SNG


Shots of SoCo


Poker Geek passed out on my couch.
Well that's it for now. Thanks to CJ for organizing the event and special thanks to everyone for showing up. It was truly one of the highlights of my blogging career to be a part of this amazing weekend. Shit, I got to meet a bunch of Canadian bloggers. Pretty cool, eh? I'm sure I'll post some more trip reports in the future.

I must say one last thing... the blogger wives were a cool bunch of folks. Shit, those chicks can sure party. Very impressed with them.

I have to crash now. I start my first day of work in a few hours. Most of the bloggers have already left and the few remaining are bailing soon. Not me. I get to stay behind. I guess I'm finally a local. Expect one of my next updates to be full of WSOP content.

From Gigli to WPBT Champion

Congrats to Bill Rini. Just two days ago, Bill was passed out in my room and now he's the next champion on the WPBT. He beat CJ heads up to win it all. I'll have more specific tourney recaps later. I came in 45th place when my TT were cracked Chad's 99. I put a wicked bad beat on Chris Halverson when my AK beat his KK.

But for now, check out this photo gallery and pay special attention to Mrs. Otis hanging in our suite with a bottle of SoCo. I never thought I'd hear a fine southern woman utter the word super cunt twice inside of thirty seconds. She was cracking me up with her advice on women and her thougths on Otis' gambling.


"Roll them dice, Otis! It's soooo hot!"


Al and the Fat Guy playing video poker


My Bounty courtesy of Al Cant Hang


Poker Geek minus the light saber.


Miss T74's card cappers


The Poker Prof moves all in...


Joaquin flexes while Spaceman calculates pot odds


Flip Chip in action


The Final Two: G-Vegas vs. LA


The New Gigli


Al does a huge shot.


Bobby Bracelet's shirt


Al wears Heather's tiaraStay tuned for more updates.

Update #1: Currently turning a six person SNG in our suite with Derek, Halverson, Spaceman, Human Head and Mrs. Head. Derek knocked me out when I slowplayed top pair. He slowplayed a set and I was knocked out.

Vegas Update 3: WSOP Event # 2 and Other Things Degenerates Do in Vegas at 4am

First of all, I made the money in a tourney today. I took fourth place at the noon NL tourney at the Plaza. Buy in was $110 and I made the final table with Maudie, Bad Blood, and Mrs. Blood. Wait, did you say Mrs. Blood? Yes, I did. She was running all over her table and was talking smack to me! She played great and I was very impressed with her skills. Bad Blood taught her well.

I think I knocked out Bad Blood. It's 4am, I'm shitfaced, and I'm too lazy too look at my notes. Who cares about hand histories anyway? Drizz and G Rob also played. I had Joaquin, HDouble, and AlCant Hang on the rail along with Maudie and the Bloods cheering me on to my 4th place victory.

Felicia and Glenn drove us over to the Rio. I picked up my press credentials and we sweated the bloggers who were supposed to play. HDouble and the Poker Nerd were both shut out and were not registered in time.

Everyone else was knocked out, but I don't know what happened to Russell Fox and if he made the cut. I heard that Easy Cure was knocked down to just a $25 chip on the second hand when his KK ran into AA. Joe Speaker's Hiltons could not hold up a against his favorite hand: AJ. Wes didn't last too long either. Bobby Bracelet's 88 lost. Otis lasted until past 7pm. He was KO'd with a short stack and AK when he didn't win a coin flip against pocket tens.

I found Flip Chip and he showed me the media area where I can get free wi-fi access and free drinks. Flip Chip snapped a great picture of Evelyn Ng. Speaking of which, Derek saw Evelyn Ng crack AA! She read a magazine at the table for most of the time I stalked her.

I caught glimpses of Greg Raymer and Phil Hellmuth. Derek almost knocked over Greg Raymer by accident. I also randomly bumped into my friend, NYC Poker Babe. Daniel Negreanu was knocked out before the first level.

Afterwards we all hit the Excalibur's poker room. About thirty or so bloggers were there. After today's tournament cash and a decent win at Excalibur, I'm up for the trip. I got to play with Derek, -EV, StB, Austin Drunks, Bob, Maudie, and Chad. I met the Poker Geek and JP for the first time. I finally put faces to the April sisters. Derek hit quad 4s. Oh, and the Poker Geek wore a shirt that said, "I am blogging this."

Here are some random pictures:


-EV does a Hellmuthian imitation.


I got chills when I first saw this banner.


In mid-flex, Bad blood watches Otis.


The logo is on the felt of every table.


BAO = Bad Ass Otis


This will be my office the next six weeks.

Damn, I still gonna party until sunrise and we have the tourney starting in less than five hours.