Radio Free Pauly

I taped my interview with Sean on Friday night, live from the floor of the Rio, for the Lord Admiral Card Club Radio Show and Podcast. If you don't know by now, it's the best podcast dedicated to poker in the universe. Over the last few months, I've become a huge cult figure in Canada. I'm happy to be a part of their amazing show.

Sean and Brent are working hard every week to get their podcast done (for free) so stop by and show your support. They taoe dthis show outdoors.

You can download the MP3 of this week's show... Episode 34: Here. (Right Click and Save As)
You can download the MP3 of this week's show... Episode 33: Here. (Right click and Save As)

We discuss the fifth week of WSOP action including several sound bytes that I picked up at the Full Tilt party including a hilarious interview with Daniel Negreanu and a great one with Wil Wheaton.

If you want to catch up and listen to previous episodes, please visit their archives over at Brainscat. Stop by their site and download the extra nuggets. Thanks again to Sean and Stacks for having me on.

More Vegas Droppings

I didn't get much sleep again. The natives were a little rowdy at the Redneck Riviera. A decent portion of the people in my building unit are construction workers and they get paid on Friday. So Friday nights means two things: binge drinking and hookers.

The drunks were hootin' and hollerin' last night. Too much damn country music. Plus the ladies of the night were roving around the complex doing the infamous "hooker walk" which happens a lot when you have an irritated crotch.

I'm still a little sad that I've been working so damn much that I haven't been able to chat with my favorite stripper who lives upstairs. She said she wanted to go see Star Wars with me. Eat your heart out Geek! I've seen her kids playing around in the dumpster with the malnourished inbred pot-bellied kids who live in the building unit next door, but no strippers in sight.

I went for the Rio breakfast buffet this morning. I got a $10 off coupon for playing in the $1500 event a few weeks ago. My brother is a big buffet guy, but I'm not. I was so hungry that I decided that I would stuff myself. I made some cool things. I snagged a plate of hashbrowns and went over to the "Mexican food" section and topped it with salsa and melted cheese and wrapped it up in a pancake. I also made my own bacon, cheese, and sausage biscuits.

I bumped into a faithful reader of my blog from Staten Island, NY. His name was Petey Pizza. He looked like Big Pussy from The Sopranos. He owns three pizza places in Brooklyn and Staten Island. His son, Frankie Pizza, was knocked out yesterday by Carmel. Anyway, he said his friends run a new card room in Staten Island. When I told him it was a hike to get there (plus I don't want to take the damn ferry) he told me, "I'll send a car for you!"

Even mobbed up guys read my poker blog.

I also ran into another fan. His name is Lonnie Boeding from Kansas City. He won a seat last September. He's been looking for me for about a week. We finally ran into each other. Great guy. And I'll be keeping tabs on him as well as another fan I ran into yesterday named Eric Ellisen from Florida.

Fox Articles

Here are a few things that I wrote for Fox Sports, which were recently published:

Top WSOP questions that need answers
Players to Watch
Cursing Controversy

Live WSOP Blogging

I'm posting live updates of the WSOP on my poker blog. Check them out!

Press Conference and Media Tournament

I just sat through the WSOP press conference. They inducted two new hall of famers... Crandell Addington and Jack Binion. The Rio is a zoo. There are thousands of media folks here now. Ouch. I can write circles around all of them, so I'm not too worried. I'm more cocnerned about getting my shit stolen.

Al Cant Hang is here for a few days and I finally met Wil Wheaton. I showed him around the Rio.That was the first time we met.

Here is my latest article from Fox Sports called: Players to Watch.

Damn, I'm wicked hungover.


WSOP Celebrity/Media Tournament Recap

About 260 players came out for the WSOP Celebrity/Media tournament. Here are some of the celebs who participated: James Woods, Brad Garret, Dick Van Patten, Shannon Elizabeth, Penn, Oliver Hudson, and Oklahoma Johnny Hale. Nicole Ritche was sweating her boyfriend. Notable bloggers and media types: Lou Kreiger, Otis, the Poker Prof, Jen Leo, the Poker Pages crew (Amy, Dayrn, Sharla, and Steve), BJ, Jay Greenspan, NYC Poker Babe, The Irish Twins: Tom Murphy & Mike Lacey, Dan & Shane from Pokerati, and Sherry. I'm sure I'm missing a few and I'm sorry if I did.

Here's who was at my first table: Otis, Touramnet Director Gary Thompson, Vegas Sun writer Sal Deflipino, the Poker Prof, Sharla from Poker Pages, and some Chicago comedian. I forgot a few of the folks there. Dan from Pokerati had James Woods to his right. Sherry had Penn at her table. She knocked Penn out.

$1500 chips to start. Blinds are 15 minute levels and they go up fast. Early on in Level 1, I had the Hilton Sisters and limped UTG. There were two raises in front of me. I moved all in and they both folded. I flipped over the Hiltons.

In Level 2, I found AQs on the button. I bet $400 and the little blind called. That was the Chicago comedian that nobody knew about. Anyway, the flop was Jack high. He bet $100 and I moved all in. He called. I said, "I'm behind." and showed my AQs. He had 10h-3h. What? He missed the flop completely. I won with ace high and knocked him out. I also doubled up. Otis lost a big pot with Kd-Qd versus pocket tens. That crippled him.

5:49pm... Otis dropped the hammer.

In Level 3, Sal's AA were cracked by Gary's pocket sevens. Then I got one of the hands that put me on a run. Otis moved all in with a shortstack. He had 33. Gary moved all in with JJ. I moved all in wtih AA. I knocked out Otis. I crippled Gary. I had $6500.

On the very next hand, I found AA! 40,000+ to 1 shot that happens. Gary had to call with 77 and some photographer guy (I think his name was Kevin) called with AKs. I knocked them both out and I had $9300. By then I had a slew of railbirds.... Al Cant Hang, Glyphic, Otis, Shirley, and everyone I knew who got knocked out.

In Level 4, The Poker Prof was knocked out by Sharla. NYC Poker Babe was moved to my table. I doubled up Sharla. Mike Lucky Blind was moved to my table. He was eventually busted along with Sharla and NYC Poker Babe. I moved tables. I had T1400.

In the middle of Level 5, I got moved to David from ESPN's table. Also there were TK from Blonde Poker, Lou Krieger, and Mark from Poker Pages. Lou was seated to my left and we chatted about his trip to Alaska. Check out his kick ass dog sled pictures on his blog.

Anyway, in Level 6 and in LP I moved all in with Qs-10s. Mark called with 8-8. I had overcards and caught two spades on the flop. I rivered Mark and stacked up a mountain of chips while the railbirds cheered me on. TK raised on the button. I knew he was on a steal, especially with the accelerated blinds. He told me that he was going to fold pocket tens and flashed one ten. He then showed a 2. I flipped over As-6s. I had 27K in chips.

In Level 7, I was moved to Shannon Elizabeth's table. She had the most railbirds. I won a big hand with As-Js. I moved all in against Shannon's big blind. She thougth about it for a minute o two. And she stared me down! Yeah, I had the American Pie chick looking me up and down. She folded. At that point, I won the last longer bet. The pool was $260. Otis tossed it on the table. Score.

In Level 8, the blinds were $2K/$4K. Shannon Elizabeth moved all in. I found two black jacks and moved all in to isolate. No other callers and she flipped over pocket aces. Ouch. Everyone hooted and holelred from her entourage. I had Otis and Al and a few other bloggers cheering me on. After the flop came out, I pointed to the spot were the river card would fall. I continously pointed at it and said, "Put a Jack up right there." The turn was a blank. The river... was a Jack and the room exploded. Half the crowd was shocked and the rest were cheering for me. Shannon was wicked pissed that I rivered a two outer on her. I saw her later in the hallway and I apologized. I told her the story about Charlie and she took the bad beat a lot better after that. She told me to win it for Charlie. I had 60K in chips.

During the break, I met a guy named Jon from Wisconsin who read my blog as well. I signed my first autograph! He had Shannon Elizabeth's autograph and since I knocked her out, he wanted mine too.

I was moved to yet another table. There were 19 players left inlcuding Amy Calistri. I folded all my marginal hands. AMy bubled out and the final table was seated. I had $51K in chips and was in 3rd place. One guy at my table read my blog. Cool, huh? The blinds were $5K/$10K and the antes were $1K. Three players were busted and one guy had been running over the table. He moved all in and I made a stand with Ad-6d. He showed 8-8. I was behind and he caught a four flush. I was knocked out in 6th and won $250 for Charlie Tuttle's foundation. If I came in 1st, I would have won $10K.

So that's it. I made the final table at a WSOP and cashed. I was inspired by Charlie and all my railbirds including Glyph and Al Cant Hang. I think it's funny that the last longer bet was more than the actual prize money!


The main event of the WSOP starts tomorrow. Wil Wheaton plays on Day One. I can't wait. I've been working up to this moment for five weeks. Now, the real funn begins...

Full Tilt Drunkeness

Daniel Negreanu, two Irish guys, and I were the last people to leave a trendy Las Vegas nightclub. It sounds like a punchline to a joke, but it's not. It's my life, man.

Suffice to say, I had a great time tonight. I'm doing a little drunk blogging because I wanted everyone to know that I'm not always haunted by the dark side of Las Vegas. After five weeks of hardcore writing and blogging, I finally had a blast tonight at the Full Tilt party held at Le Bete in the Wynn casino. I have only been to the Wynn once before with Derek, and I expected La Bete to be up on the roof. It was located downstairs in the basement at the base of a waterfall. I was impressed.

Michele, the lovely PR rep at Full Tilt invited me to the party weeks ago. I made sure I got the Poker Prof on the invite list. We headed over to La Bete around 9:45. He wanted to shmooze with the big wigs, for business purposes of course. I was there for one thing only: abuse the free booze offered by Full Tilt. In fact, the majority of my liquor consumption at the World Series of Poker has been funded by Full Tilt, either from the hospitality suite or at said party. I had no less than seven Southern Comforts on the rocks. All of them were doubles except the one I got that was at least four shots worth. Al Cant Hang would have been proud.

I didn't go there to meet poker pros. Been there. Done that. I was there to get shitfaced and hang out with the other members of the media that I befriended, including the only poker pro that I hung out with Shirley from Poker Babes. The Poker Prof had been busting his ass the last five weeks (and beyond) so he needed a night on the town. We let him out of his bunker in an undisclosed location in the Nevada desert near Area 51 so he could attend the gala event.

The night club was downstairs. I shaved and got all dressed up and fit into the category of L.A. Chic. We had to get the clearance from the "lady with the list" out front before we were let through the ropes. Three guys the size of NFL linemen carefully guarded the ropes. As soon as we got the go ahead, they let us right through. The stairwell led down into a square room with marble floors. We walked through two small hallways draped in red Italian silk. We finally entered the club and right in front was the dance floor a half a level below. To the right and left were bars. I was surprised to see that La Bete had some decent lighting and the music was manageable enough so you could talk without having to yell. Most clubs are poorly lit and and have the techno cranked up to the highest levels. The first thing I did was hit the bar. The open bar. My new friend.

I found Jay Greenspan at the bar. Where else do writers hang out? I grabbed drinks for me and the Poker Prof before I wandered down to the dance floor level where people were mingling. I saw that they had Full Tilt jerseys that the were going to auction off along with a poker table signed by all the pros. To the right was where the poker tournament was being held. I bummed into Foiled Coup (aka Steve Hall) and Heather from Poker Wire right away and BJ wandered by soon after. Then I found Shirley and Amy Calistri. Soon after John from Poker News and Jen Leo arrived, while Jen from Poker Wire happily showed off her brand new pink Manalo Bahlik's, which she paid for using some of her WSOP winnings after her cash in the Razz event. Eventually Sherry, Daryn, and Dan from Pokerati and his boys from Dallas filed in. All the ladies looked stunning and sensational in their swanky cocktail dresses. I made sure I individually complimented them on their choice of shoes. Note to guys: always tell the ladies that you like their shoes. Trust me on that one. Andy Bloch wore the coolest shirt by far.

I drank steadily and watched Shirley get pictures with Marcel Luske, Phil Laak, and Jen Tilly. Jen Leo told me about the outside portion of the club where you could see the waterfalls. I met one of the editors at Bluff Magazine and did some palm pressing and ass kissing. Jen Leo introduced me to Phil Gordon's PR people and I chatted with them for a few minutes and they made me promise that I'd go to Phil Gordon's birthday thingy at the Palms, which starts in 8 hours! I found NYC Poker Babe and also ran into those two hot girls who invited me to that film screening. I figured they wouldn't remember me but they came right over and busted me for not showing up. Yeah, I blew them off to write two freelance articles. They said that someone from a local Fox affiliate showed up to cover the event. They thanked me for having that done. I told them that it was the least I could do for not showing up. I lied. They bought my bluff.

Here were the pros I spotted: Nergreanu, Andy Bloch, Max Pescatori, Jesus, David Singer, Jen Harman, Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, Clonie Gowen, Karina Jett, Paul Darden, Gavin Smith, Matt Matros, Marcel Luske, Phil Laak, Layne Flack, Erick Lindgren, Antonio Esfiandari, Josh Arieh, David Williams, and Russell Rosenbloom.

La Bete had some good food. The chocolate mousse was exquisite, which was served in an oversized martini glass. I also had macaroni & cheese & ham in a martini glass. And the best was the beef stew with mashed potatoes served in a martini glass. Kind weird, right? Shirley was great because she kept fetching me drinks at the bar.

I didn't see too many really wasted wasted, but I sure as hell did a bang up job there. Jen Harman was super tipsy and at one point she was held up by David Singer and Lindgren. I have a great Jen Harman story that I won't blog and I'll save for my Las Vegas book. Y'all have to wait a year to read all about it. It was just too hysterical.

We spent most of the party outside near the waterfall. I chatted with David Williams briefly for a few minutes and told me to head over to Pure afterwards for the second leg of the night's festivities. I finally bumped into the two Irish bloogers, Tom and Mike "Lucky Blind" from Antesup.com. They were chain smoking and drinking heavily. My kind of guys. Great to finally meet them and we started to get rowdy. Mike ran inside and got Daniel Negreanu to join into the outdoor blogger festival.

We all took pictures like drunken idiots while Negreanu swigged on his Heineken and cracked jokes. Dan and I got some cool audio stuff from Negreanu. Yeah Cinci Sean is gonna love next week's golden nugget... a drunken interview with Negreanu at 1am. It started out serious and then trailed off into something hilarious. I won't spoil the surprise, but you'll have to stop by the Lord Admiral Card Club poker podcast next week to hear it. Priceless. Dan and I both had out our recorders. Poker Prof grabbed Phil Gordon and he ran outside for some more drunken photos and he began his own podcast. We all wished him a happy birthday.

The next thing I realized, it was 2am and the staff was kicking us out. I thought Las Vegas nightclubs were open until sun up? I guess Full Tilt only had the place for five hours. As we wandered out, I realized that the Poker Prof and I were the last ones to leave the party, along with the Poker Wire girls, Andy Bloch, Daniel Negreanu, Dan, and the two Irish guys.

Here are some random photos:


Sherry & Dan


Amy, Jen Leo, and Foiled Coup


The Poker Wire Gals


Poker Prof and his harem


Happy birthday Phil!
More photos to come after I get them fromt he rest of the crew. Just another night in Las Vegas. The media event starts tomorrow at 5pm. I'm seated at the same tale as the Poker Prof and Otis. Watch out for falling Hammers!