Sundays with Dr. Pauly - Week 4 Update and the November Truckin'

By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

Let's start off with pimping the latest issue of my literary blogzine. The November installment of Truckin' contains about 60% Key West themed short stories, including submissions from AlCantHang and Change100. Veteran Truckin' authors Sean A. Donahue and Sigge S. Amdal are also back.

Truckin' - November 2007, Vol. 6, Issue 11

1. Existentialist Conversations with Strippers: The Afternoon Shift by Paul McGuire
The club was just the type of seedy place where you might find William Kennedy Smith or any other soused heirs to the Kennedy name, knocking back cheap scotch at 3 pm while aggressively fondling the sketchy girls with visible c-section scars and multiple fresh bruises all over their cracked-out bodies.... More

2. Lonesome Cowboy Bill by AlCantHang
My comfort zone is a dive rock club where I can chain smoke, power drink, and have my head assaulted with decibels equivalent to a jumbo jet taking off. The next step down the ladder would be the pubs and bars the exist for sole purpose of its patrons getting blitzed on various hardcore drinks. Then comes the sports bars, strip clubs, snooty yuppie bars, and hotel watering holes. Near the very bottom would generally be any place that plays country music... More

3. Seven Minutes with Olga by Change100
Olga led me all the way to the back and sat me down. She took her top off and grabbed my hands, placing them on her very soft, very real breasts... More

4. The Sleep Deprived Memoirs of I by Sigge S. Amdal
I might as well go to sleep, I thought. And I thought about sleeping forever, the eternal sleep, and how it could feel – was it cold or was it cozy – had it not been for facts contesting life after death in terms of subjectively sensory experience... More

5. Their Father's Love by Sean A. Donahue
Tying to explain the differences and the complaints of a failed marriage is too complicated for a four-year old to understand. I think I heard the phrase, "But why daddy?" more than I ever thought I could. But it wasn't my kids' fault... More

If you like these stories, then please tell your friends about your favorites. It takes a few seconds to pass along Truckin'. The writers certainly appreciate your support. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you know anyone who is interested in being added to the mailing list.

Thanks again to everyone for wasting your precious time month after month with Truckin' and for your continuous support. Until next time.

* * * * *
Sundays with Dr. Pauly - Week 4 Update

Thanks again for everyone who participated in Sundays with Dr. Pauly over at Fantasy Sports Live. Congrats to Bobby Bracelet. He's the first player to qualify for the season ending freeroll. He beat my score in three consecutive weeks!

The following players have beaten me in the previous two weeks and need to beat me this weekend to qualify for the freeroll: RTrizzle, ebk03001, Chewbot, bonds, and Mattazuma.

I have been off my game. After a hot start, I slipped a bit the last two weeks because I have been in Australia for work and vacation. The last weekend was tough because I didn't have internet access for a couple of days and threw together a team at the last moment. I'm back in America now so I have no more excuses.

Congrats to Chewbot who took down Week 4. RTrizzle is leading the entire series with a score of 599.5.

Week 4 Results:
1 Chewbot 158.3
2 RTrizzle 142
3 BigHeeb91 140.7
4 VinNay 135.4
5 PokahDave 134.4
6 Pokerpeaker 133.3
7 Jevanstar 131.3
8 Mark 129.7
9 change100 127.3
10 Proehl 126.9
11 Big Pirate 123.7
12 BobbyBracelet 123.7
13 Mattazuma 122.8
14 jek187 122.3
15 Troyinator69 122.1
16 KenB525 121.6
17 ebk03001 116.9
18 mush237 116.5
19 bonds 116.5
20 Drizztdj 112.3
21 Expensive Wino 110.6
22 Pauly 110.4
23 jakehead 108.6
24 HermWarfare 107.1
25 bayne_s 107
26 GCox25 106.4
27 Chuckdnb 106.2
28 Party Matt 106.2
29 Lounge9 102.3
30 Victory 101.7
31 Madden 93.9
32 Joe Speaker 92.7
33 spotcheck13 89.5
34 Garthmeister J. 84.1
35 Zeem 82.5
36 johnnieb 81.7
37 McGuyver 81.2
38 belly2bar 77.1
39 Betty Underground 73.8


Overall Standings:
1 RTrizzle 599.5
2 ebk03001 587.7
3 bayne_s 561.4
4 BobbyBracelet 555.3
5 Pauly 546.6
6 Chewbot 533.5
7 HermWarfare 527.1
8 jek187 519.6
9 Expensive Wino 519.3
10 Party Matt 517.6
11 bonds 508.8
12 change100 503.2
13 Mattazuma 498.3
14 Big Pirate 496
15 Pokerpeaker 486.8
16 BigHeeb91 469.6
17 Zeem 469.1
18 KenB525 445
19 Proehl 441.1
20 jakehead 436.3
21 Drizztdj 418.8
22 Garthmeister J. 418.2
23 Joe Speaker 408.3
24 Betty Underground 406.6
25 Mark 401.8
26 belly2bar 388.2
27 mush237 382.5
28 PokahDave 337.8
29 Lounge9 324.9
30 donkeypuncher 322.9
31 Chico's Bail Bonds 319.1
32 Victory 278.9
33 Alpo_Splatr 274.4
34 VinNay 242.3
35 scurvydog 220.3
36 GCox25 205.5
37 Mookie 188.2
38 johnnieb 179.7
39 Digger 173.5
40 AlCantHang 164.4
41 Bill Belicheat 155
42 Miami Don 151
43 $mokkee 140.2
44 Jevanstar 131.3
45 Troyinator69 122.1
46 RJ 121.6
47 Jack D 121.1
48 fantasy 116.9
49 Bad Ass Mofo 114.8
50 DontDoItPls 107.2
51 Chuckdnb 106.2
52 Lord Bodak 104.5
53 23skidoo 103.5
54 Family Guy 102.4
55 Madden 93.9
56 Otis 90.7
57 spotcheck13 89.5
58 Draft Master Mike 84
59 McGuyver 81.2

Just a reminder that you cannot sign up for more than one entry. If you do, any of your multiple entries will be disqualified and only your first entry (not the highest) will be included in the promotion.

And for all you bottom dwellers who play in at least eight contests, there will be a secret Gigli booby prize for the person who comes in dead last.

Feel free to join us this week for Sundays with Dr. Pauly over at Fantasy Sports Live. Thanks and good luck out there this weekend!


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

I Got Quoted at ABC News

By Pauly
Sydney, Australia

I got a call on Tuesday morning (late in the afternoon in New York) by a reporter from ABC News who wanted a quote about the recent shooting at an underground NYC poker club. He tracked me down in Australia and we spoke for a few minutes. I ended up getting quoted in his article. That's not the first time I got ink as a source in a mainstream media organization. Last October, I got quoted in Business Week about the UIGEA.

The only thing that sucks was that the reporter at ABC News failed to mention my blog! Instead he listed me as "a reporter from PokerNews.com." Talk about a bad beat. Sure that's great news and PR for the folks at Poker News, but I must admit I was disappointed that the Tao of Poker was not mentioned. Oh yeah, and out of everything I said in the conversation, the most retarded thing I said ended up getting quoted. Oh well.

Anyway, check out the article... Underground Poker: A Deadly Game?


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

The Worst Poker Room in the World

By Pauly
Sydney, Australia

I would have written more about my Sunday in Sydney but the hand was bothering too much. I typed what I could and took some time off to heal. I'm only typing with one hand. Anyway, here's a more verbose explanation of the events.

I woke up hungover on Sunday. Change100 and I had arrived in Sydney the night before. We checked into our hotel in Kings Cross and headed out to dinner. In January, Brandon Schaefer and I stayed in a hostel near Kings Cross and we got to know the area pretty well. I remembered a delicious and inexpensive Italian restaurant named Fellini's on Victoria Street and took Change100 there. We drank a ton of wine then wandered around Kings Cross. We found ourselves at a cafe with a covered awning. We played Chinese Poker and then the sky opened up and rains came pouring down. We were sort of stuck there until the rain let up... which it never did. Alas, we continued to drink and drink. One of the waitresses was a cute German girl who looked like Cate Blanchet. She dropped off our drinks and then got real close up to my face and asked what we were playing. She had been making eyes at me since we sat down and I told her it was Chinese Poker. She said she didn't know how to play and wondered if I could teach her. That quickly tilted Change100, who was ready to gouge out her eyeballs.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, my body was paying for all that Shiraz and bottles of Carltons that I consumed. I did what I could to shake off the hangover and fired up my Betsson account. I put a bet in on another Allsvenskan Swedish Hockey League game. I befriended a Swedish fan of the Tao of Poker who used to play professional hockey in Sweden. All he does these days is play online poker and watch hockey. He gives me tips from time to time and by taking his advice, I ran 200 Euros up to 2.2K since my arrival in Australia.

Change100 woke up and we got ready to meet my buddy Nigel down at the Sydney Fish Markets for yum cha, or dim sum. Nigel is a local and the editor of a Aussie travel magazine, who happens to be an avid reader of my sites. In January, we met for the first time. He invited Brandon and myself over to a BBQ at his flat and we had our Almost Famous moment as we mingled with real locals and made mojitos in his kitchen. I was looking forward to hanging out with him again.

There was an idle cab in front of the hotel and we jumped in. I slammed the door on my hand and my pinky quickly dislocated. It's a recurring injury that I've had for almost 15 years. Josh Webber originally knocked it out during my fraternity's flag football practice. Since then it has popped out during hoops pick up games and other random times like when I was moving to Seattle or once during rough sex.

I usually pop my finger back in place but it wouldn't budge. The second bone on my finger was wedged above the third bone. And it hurt like a mother fucker. In the past it would slide back into place after a hard yank. But I couldn't get it to snap back.

I was distracted for most of our lunch and excused myself to the bathroom. I tried and tried to snap my finger back but no luck. I gave up. Although I play a doctor on the internet, in real life, I'm just a regular guy. I couldn't get my finger back in place and needed the help of a professional. Upon my return to the table, I asked Nigel if he could recommend a good doctor or perhaps the closest ER. We quickly finished up lunch and then took a taxi to the ER near Sydney University.

I don't have health insurance and in the past if I made a trip to the ER to get my finger fixed and it cost me over $2,000. That's why I always popped it back in myself. To save money. Lucky for me, Australia has an amazing health care system. Even though I was not a citizen of their country and even though I was without health insurance, they treated my injury and didn't make me feel like a piece of shit. The last time I went to the ER in America and said I didn't have insurance, they put me at the bottom of their list and barely paid attention to me.

All I had to do was pay a $100 fee to see a doctor in Australia. Compared to a $2K bill in NYC or $3K bill at Cedars-Sinai in Hollyweird, that was a sweet deal. Nigel was enraged that I had to pay one cent. He was used to the amazing free health care system in Australia and felt I should have been given free care. I explained to him the god awful situation of the health care fiasco in the US and suggested that he see Sicko.

The triage nurse checked out my finger and told me that I had only a few people ahead of me. The entire trip to the ER took about ninety minutes and that included treatment. As I waited to see a doctor, a second nurse came out to the waiting room and handed me two pills and a cup of water.

"Take these," she said.

I quickly popped them and mentioned, "Er, so what am I taking."

"Oh," she laughed. "I guess I should have told you that they were pain killers."

"Why didn't you say so," I blurted out. "I could really use two more."

She said to wait until they kick in. I didn't want to tell her that there were instances when I'd pop two before I got out of bed that day. I was a veteran pill popper and needed a higher dosage.

Another nurse appeared and took me to get x-rays. That would be a fortune in America. In Australia, the cost was... free. The radiologist said that nothing was broken and that the doctor would see me shortly. Five minutes later, the doctor appeared. He asked me to call him by his first name. I explained what happened and he peeked at the x-rays. He gave me more painkillers and asked me if I wanted a local anesthetic to numb my finger. He pulled out a huge needle and I fuckin' hate needles. He shot me up and he accidentally hit the bone and a sharp pain rocketed throughout my body. Instantly, I became lightheaded and woozy. I wasn't looking at the doctor injecting the needle because that would have freaked me out. Instead, I focused on the curtain in the examination room. It had a trippy pattern and as soon as he took out the needle, I had a vivid acid flashback. The entire curtain rippled in a psychedelic kaleidoscope as I uttered, "Sweet!"

I had not seen that many vibrant colors since I followed the Grateful Dead. The doctor let the injection sit for a couple of minutes as my entire hand went numb and most of my forearm up to my elbow. That's when he snapped the finger back into place.

I thanked the doctor and asked about check out procedures. He told me to just walk out the front door and that if I owed the hospital anything, they would send me a bill. I had used Change100's mailing address, so maybe they'll send me a bill for $100. Nigel thought that they wouldn't even bother billing me and that I probably got treated for free. Ship it!

I just had a $2,000 swing. Had this happened in America, I'd be stuck with an expensive ER bill and they would have only given me extra strength Tylenol. As is, I was treated extremely well by the Australian health care system and became even more angered at our politicians and the suits at insurance companies for fucking us over. I'll save that rant for another time.

Moving on...

The painkillers had kicked in and I was floating about a foot off the ground. Nigel, Change100, and myself had made plans to hit up the poker room at Star City Casino after yum cha. Although we had a brief detour, we decided to continue with our plans. We caught a taxi and headed straight to the casino.

Star City's poker room has the reputation for being the worst poker room in the world. Ask the locals and they will tell you. The wait list is always long. The players are atrocious. And the rake is insane. For a 5/10 limit game, you have to pay 75 cents just to get dealt a hand! There's no rake for that game, but it cost you $7.50 to see a full orbit. The low limit NL tables charge you $5 an hour time charge plus a 10% rake while they 2/5 NL tables charge you $10/hour plus 10% rake. Since there is zero competition, they own the monopoly.

There was a huge wait so we put our names down. I intended to play the 2/5 NL game, but since I was shitfaced and could barely see straight, I opted for an $80 buy in 1/2 NL table. They text you when your table is ready and we used Nigel's mobile to get our update. We headed to the bar and started pounding beers.

Change100's 5/10 limit seat was available and she headed over to play. Nigel and I continued to drink. I told him that I needed some action so we walked over to the sportsbook and bet on the races. We thought it was a greyhound race, but we ended up betting on the ponies from Hobart in Tasmania. I picked a horse named Miami Jack. It went off at 9-2 and it won by two lengths. Before I left, I put a bet in on am NBL game. The South Dragons were a -7.5 favorite over the Wollongong Hawks. I thought it would be a lock. (Sadly, Wollongong only lost by seven and I lost my bet by a friggin' half a point!)

We left the sportsbook and I stumbled back to Change100's table. We sweated her for a bit and watched as she went up $350 in the first hour of play. I finally got called for my game and got seated next to Nigel. On the second hand that I played, I was all in with 8h-3h. I had flopped second pair with a flush draw and a guy who looked like Ross from Friends called my all in bet with 10-8o. I missed my flush, but the turn and river were both paint so we split the pot. The river saved me.

That would be one of two pots I won all day. It was pretty much me, Nigel, Ross look-a-like, and a slew of crazy Asian gamblers. Since it was a 1/2 NL table with an $80 buy-in, any re-raise was virtually and all in shove. Yes, the table was a push fest. I got stacked by one CAG when I got all my money in with a flopped spade flush. He called with Ks-Qh. I held 6s-4s and also redrew to a gutshot straight flush draw. He rivered a spade to bust me. A few hands later, I got all my money in with two pair against another CAG who flopped bottom pair and a flush draw. He rivered me as well. Rebuy!

Nigel took a slew of bad beats as well. He got all his money in with A-K against a player with K-2 and lost. The sickest beat I saw was when Ross look-a-like called an all in bet with just a gut shot on a paired board with two flush cards. His opponent held K-K and Ross rivered his straight. Unreal. These players were willing to gamble and piss their money away. But I didn't catch any cards in three hours and when I got my money in ahead... I couldn't keep the lead. I ended up losing about $300. The painkillers wore off and I decided to leave.

Change100 was up a bit and cashed out. She had been on a good run playing in Oz. Me? I played twice. I had won a drunken SNG with a bunch a dealers in a casino employees bar in Melbourne and got my ass handed to me in Sydney by CAGs at the worst poker room in the world. Thank God for Swedish hockey and the amazing health care system in Australia. If it weren't for both entities, I'd be stuck big time.

We left the Star City Casino and headed back to the hotel room. I popped a couple of Vicodins and drifted as Change100 watched Breakfast at Tiffany's. I liked the flick but was angry that the film version of the book omitted the fact that Audrey Hepburn's character Holly was actually a prostitute. I eventually feel asleep muttering, "She's a fuckin' hooker! George Peppard is in love with a hooker."


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

A Day in the Life

By Pauly
Sydney, Australia

How was your Sunday? Here are my highlights:

1. Woke up.
2. Bet on Swedish Premiere League Hockey.
3. Slammed taxi door on right hand and dislocated my finger.
4. Met Nigel for yum cha (dim sum) at Sydney Fish Markets.
5. Ate lunch.
6. Asked Nigel to recommend a hospital.
7. Took taxi to ER.
8. Sought medical attention without health insurance.
9. Nurse gave me painkillers.
10. Had x-rays taken - nothing broken.
11. Doctor gave me more painkillers.
12. Had a wicked flashback.
13. Doctor snapped finger back in place.
14. Left ER totally jacked up on painkillers.
15. Hailed taxi and went straight to Star City Casino.
16. Put name on wait list for the "worst poker room in the world."
17. Got drunk at nearby bar.
18. Bet on horse races from Hobart.
19. My horse named Miami Jack won at 9-2.
20. Bet on an NBL game: South Dragons -7.5 over the Wollongong Hawks.
21. Sweated Change100's 5/10 game as she went up $350 in an hour.
22. Finally got seated at a NL table with Nigel.
23. Stacked twice by two different crazy Asian gamblers (CAG).
24. Left casino and hailed a taxi back to our hotel in Kings Cross.
25. Popped more painkillers.
26. Passed out while Change100 watched Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Sundays with Dr. Pauly - Week 3 Update

By Pauly
Lorne, Australia

Thanks again for everyone who participated in Sundays with Dr. Pauly over at Fantasy Sports Live.

Congrats to ebk03001 for winning Week 3. ebk03001 has also taken over first place and is the overall leader.

If Bobby Bracelet can beat my score in Week 4, he'll qualify for the freeroll.

If any of these guys can beat my score in Week 4 and Week 5, they'll qualify for the freeroll.... ebk03001, Bill Belicheat, RTrizzle, HermWarfare, Alpo_Splatr, Chewbot, BobbyBracelet, bonds, Party Matt, Mattazuma, and bayne_s.

Week 3 Results:
ebk03001 165.5
Bill Belicheat 155
RTrizzle 154.2
HermWarfare 146.7
Alpo_Splatr 138.3
Chewbot 136.8
BobbyBracelet 135.1
bonds 131.3
Party Matt 131.2
Mattazuma 131.2
bayne_s 128.3
Pauly 127.5
Betty Underground 122.9
jek187 122.8
BigHeeb91 118.6
Garthmeister J. 115.9
Bad Ass Mofo 114.8
Expensive Wino 113.7
change100 109.5
Drizztdj 107.8
DontDoItPls 107.2
Joe Speaker 106.2
Zeem 105.7
Pokerpeaker 104.3
Digger 102.9
KenB525 102
Big Pirate 100.1
PokahDave 99.7
GCox25 99.1
jakehead 95.1
Proehl 94
donkeypuncher 90.1
Chico's Bail Bonds 89.3
Lounge9 86.6
belly2bar 86.5
Draft Master Mike 84
Mark 57
mush237 38

Overall Standings:
ebk03001 470.8
RTrizzle 457.5
bayne_s 454.4
Pauly 436.2
BobbyBracelet 431.6
HermWarfare (Derek) 420
Party Matt 411.4
Expensive Wino 408.7
jek187 397.3
bonds 392.3
Zeem 386.6
change100 375.9
Mattazuma 375.5
Chewbot 375.2
Big Pirate 372.3
Pokerpeaker 353.5
Garthmeister J. 334.1
Betty Underground 332.8
BigHeeb91 328.9
jakehead 327.7
KenB525 323.4
donkeypuncher 322.9
Chico's Bail Bonds 319.1
Joe Speaker 315.6
Proehl 314.2
belly2bar 311.1
Drizztdj 306.5
Alpo_Splatr 274.4
Mark 272.1
mush237 266
Lounge9 222.6
scurvydog 220.3
PokahDave 203.4
Mookie 188.2
Victory 177.2
Digger 173.5
AlCantHang 164.4
Bill Belicheat 155
Miami Don 151
$mokkee 140.2
RJ 121.6
Jack D 121.1
fantasy 116.9
Bad Ass Mofo 114.8
DontDoItPls 107.2
VinNay 106.9
Lord Bodak 104.5
23skidoo 103.5
Family Guy 102.4
GCox25 99.1
johnnieb 98
Otis 90.7
Draft Master Mike 84

Just a reminder that you cannot sign up for more than one entry. If you do, any of your multiple entries will be disqualified and only your first entry (not the highest) will be included in the promotion.

And for all you bottom dwellers who play in at least eight contests, there will be a secret Gigli booby prize for the person who comes in dead last.

Feel free to join us this week for Sundays with Dr. Pauly over at Fantasy Sports Live. Thanks and good luck out there this weekend!



Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Poker in Australia

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia


Andi Lew (famous TV presenter in Oz) shows off the Poker News Cup
The Poker News Cup is over. It was one of the best events that I covered in 2007. Mainly because there wasn't an ominous shadow of suffocating pressure which I felt every single moment at the WSOP being part of the official media team. Conversely, the Poker News Cup was fun and relaxing. Plus, I work with several amazing people at Poker News and the owners, CEO, editor-in-chief and other suits appreciate and understand the workload, obstacles, and random bullshit that we endure when covering a poker tournament.

With the completion of the final table early on Tuesday morning, Dory Zayner won the main event and $300,000. That officially marked the last gig of 2007 for me. After an extremely long, grueling, and amazing ten months on the road, I finally get to go home to patch my bones. I don't have to cover another tournament until the Aussie Millions starts in January of 2008. Yep. I get a two month reprieve from doing chip counts and writing bust out hands. I feel like a little kid who just finished the last day of school before summer vacation.

I get the next two months off and will be enjoying every second of it, especially the five or so weeks I get to spend in New York City (and a week in Las Vegas) before I have to load up the backpack and head back down under for the Aussie Millions. I have spent almost four months outside of America so far this year. 40%. I gathered up material for a book, several Truckin' stories, and plenty of stuff to write about for my Bluff column called On the Road.

The more time I spent outside of America traveling, I gain more perspective. And I eventually return home with a stronger sense of love for my country and miss the things which make it great. On the other hand, I also return home completely infuriated because I see how other countries operate and wish the powers to be in America shared a similar philosophy to education and health care. Alas, I'll save those rants for another time. In the end, I'm very lucky to be an American and I'm even luckier that I get paid to travel and see the world. Ultimately, all of those experiences and conversations help me to become a well-rounded person and evolve into a better writer.

Once the assignment was over and I finished uploading winner's photos, I quickly headed to the Las Vegas bar in the poker room. One of the Crown officials had a running tab for the staff and I got to drink for free. At some point someone suggested that we all play on a PokerPro table. The Crown Casino has several PokerPro tables and at 2am, there were a few empty ones. Gaz purchased a stack of $20 pre-paid cards and off we went. I had just gotten off work, so I wasn't as tanked as everyone else. Suffice to say, everyone was shitfaced and in good spirits. Here's the line up:

Poker Pro Tables Kangaroo Fest:
Seat 1: Gaz
Seat 2: Cory-Ann
Seat 3: Angelica
Seat 4: Pauly
Seat 5: Danny McDonagh
Seat 6: Paul Khoury
Seat 7: Theo
Seat 8: Change100
Seat 9: Jonno
Seat 10: Ozzie

Ozzie had made the final table and busted out a few hours earlier. He had been celebrating heavily with friends. That was the first time I actually had a chance to play poker. We had tons of fun. Everyone was hammered, yelling, screaming, and pushing all in with junk. The best part of the machines is that they display your winning percentages on the screen.

Theo jumped from $20 to $280 in less than 15 minutes. That's how crazy the game was. People would bust out and Gaz would toss you another pre-paid card. We decided on an hour time limit for the table. When we reached that point, Theo had donked off the rest of his stack. Cory-Ann had over $350 and Change100 was the only other player left with chips. She had almost $80. The two girls cashed out and headed out to consume more liquor.

There's a pub located a few blocks from the Casino called Pit 5. It was owned by a former employee of the casino who wanted to have a place to drink right after work ended. It is open until 7am! It's essentially a dive with a couple of couches, two pool tables, dart boards, karakoe machine, and several poker tables. As soon as you walk inside the dimly lit bar, there's a large poker table. A group of ten people were on that. They all worked at the casino and were enjoying a few drinks... at 4am.

I'm not joking when I say that AC/DC was blasting on the jukebox when we walked inside. Thunderstruck. We grabbed a few drinks at the bar and I shot pool with Change100. Our friend Slippers set up a poker table and got everything ready. You can play poker for money in pubs in Australia as long as they don't charge a rake. You pick up a chip case at the bar. We sat down at one of the smaller six-handed tables and played a seven-handed $20 SNG. Top two won prize money with $100 to first and $40 to second.

The Pub SNG:
Seat 1: Frank
Seat 2: Jonno
Seat 3: Change100
Seat 4: Theo
Seat 5: Pauly
Seat 6: Slippers
Seat 7: Sally

I played with five poker dealers or former dealers. That was good and bad. Dealers in Las Vegas are habitually known as loose poker players and action junkies. That was the good part. The bad part is that they knew all the rules and called you on any infraction. Here's an example. On the first hand I got dealt pocket nines. Blinds were 25/25 and I picked up a black 100 chip and tossed it out. They quickly said that was just a call. They were right. I never announced raise. Even though I was drunk, I should have known better. Two face cards hit the flop and I bailed.

Frank busted out on the first hand. He flopped two pair, but Jonno caught running clubs to drag the pot with a flush. The second rules incident involved the hand where I busted Change100. From UTG, I wanted to limp. Blinds were 100/200. I tossed out three black chips by mistake. They made a ruling and I had to complete a minimum raise of 400. I had 5-4o and shrugged my shoulders as I tossed in the extra chip. Everyone called including Change100 in the big blind. Flop was 10-4-4. Change100 shoved with K-10 and I quickly called. Not only did I bust her, I ended up knocking out everyone else. I badbeated Theo when my A-10 outflopped his Big Slick. I bullied Slippers in a few pots before I busted him. My A-9 held up against Sally's A-2 and then I found myself heads up with Jonno. It only lasted two hands. On the second hand, he shoved with K-10 and I called with A-Q. Next thing I knew, it was 5am I had won our SNG.


What $500K in Aussie bucks looks like
We had a full day off to recover on Tuesday and last night, I played Chinese Poker with Schecky and Change100 at a bar on Southbank. I went on a heater and took down the session. Schecky had a $100 black casino chip left. He said whoever won the session would get to pick which six-square of roulette numbers to bet it on. I went with 1-6. It fell into #5 then popped out at the last second and fell on 25. So fuckin' rigged.

In other degenerate sports betting news...

I won one big bet on the NFL this week. Detroit +6 over Da Bears. The Lions came through. I've also been on a sick run betting on the Swedish premiere hockey league. I ran my Betsson account up from $200 to $2K since I arrived down under. When I get back to the States, I'm starting a new blog dedicated to gambling on Swedish hockey and maybe I'll throw a few greyhound racing bad beat stories in there.

I'll be in Australia for another eight days before I fly back to Hollyweird. Going to take some time and explore a little bit. First up is a drive along the Great Ocean Road. I'll take some pictures for sure. We're also going to visit Philip Island so I can show Change100 kangaroos, penguins, and koala bears. Then we'll visit friends in Sydney before we return home. Australia is one of the most amazing places I had ever visited. I'm lucky that I get to come back in two months.

* * * * *
Some quick links...

I almost peed myself when I watched Tony G's latest video blog. The G is getting fit. Check it out. Loved the bit where he's betting on the greyhounds.

Check out Mean Gene's piece over at Las Vegas Vegas titled Online Poker Legal and Political Opponents...Part 1.

Check out an interview I did with Michele Lewis. I'm one of her "Studs of Poker." Weeeeeee!


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Poker News Cup Final Table

By Pauly
Melbourne, Australia


Jordan "JL514" Lamberg playing late on Day 2


JL514 next to Jenny Son and the chipleader Kenny Ng (on the right)
Congrats to fellow blogger JL514 who is among the final eight players at the Poker News Cup main event. He has a great story why he's playing. Kaja won his seat but could not make it down under. Luckily JL514, who is studying in Australia this semester, could be a last minute replacement. And now the college student from Miami, FL is on the cusp of making the final TV table. He played great poker on Day 2 and made one sick call. For the last few hours he had to deal with the chipleader and always erractic, Kenny Ng, at his table.

Ozzie Yildiz also made the final eight. He and his fiance Angelica work at Party Poker in the Gib with Bill Rini.


Moments ago... JL514 getting some last minute makeup at the TV table
Change100, Jonno, Theo, and I will be providing live updates of the Poker News Cup final table starting around 1am EST or 10pm PCT. I'm also doing the majority of photos for Poker News during the main event so I've been channeling my inner Flipchip and trying my best. Check out all of our coverage including live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos.


Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.