Here's this week's show in which I won a $100 bet off the great Doyle Brunson. FULL DISCLOSURE, we gave the money to the cocktail waitress who served us in Bobby's Room during the interview. Also, Norm Clarke joined us live to answer the trivia question and explain the Anna Quindlen-Wayne Newton incident. Click on the date below to make it play or right-click to save it and listen at your leisure. You can subscribe, too, (it's free!) in iTunes or in Zune.
Even if you know or care nothing about professional poker, it is hard to imagine you’ve never come across the name Doyle Brunson. Poker’s elder statesmen was there when Texas Hold ‘Em came into being, was there when the concept of the poker tournament was invented and was there when they added hole-card cameras to poker tables to make it interesting for TV viewers to follow the action. Now, at 76, he’s published a surprisingly frank autobiography appropriately titled “The Godfather of Poker” in which he reveals the violent early days of his gambling life, his strained relationship with his father and much more. When Steve spoke to two-time World Series of Poker Main Event champ this week, he opened up some more about the Binion family, mob enforcer Tony Spilotro, Annie Duke, Joan Rivers and Phil Hellmuth, among others. Plus, Steve did the seemingly impossible – he won a bet off Doyle.
In Banter: USA Today’s CityCenter piece, New Year’s Eve is back on top, Harrah’s is buying P-Ho but with what?, Hash House A Go Go is opening a Strip location and more.
I'm just off the line with Mayor Oscar Goodman, whom I had called for another story, and I quizzed him about the TMZ.Com video that came out over the weekend in which he called an auction bidder a "fat and short Bette Midler." Click below to see it for yourself, it's about 45 seconds:
Goodman's response: "If I offended anybody, I apologize. That’s not my style, that’s not my nature to offend people. If that’s how it was taken, I'm sorry."
What's been puzzling about the incident is when and where it took place. I've watched the video a few times trying to identify the ballroom decor, but I've failed. I think it's the Bellagio or maybe Wynn, but it's really hard to tell. Any hard-core Vegasophiles take a stab at it?
Goodman declined to say precisely where and when it was, although he said it was a few weeks ago. He also refused to say what charity was involved because "I don't want to cause them any trouble," but he seems to recall the item out for bid was ... the Mayor.
"It was no big deal. It was nothing when it happened. Apparently someone took a video on a cell phone cam and then they sent it around. Had they called me and asked me, I would have made amends for it. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do is say I’m sorry."
Goodman, however, doesn't even remember mentioning Bette Midler, whom he has never met. He said that he only referenced the singer because the woman resembled her, not because Bette is short and fat. Or at least fat, since she's definitely short. But that's my comment, not his. Here's more of his:
"I don’t recall saying anything about Bette Midler. I thought I was saying about something about the woman who was buying me at the event. I certainly hope I wasn’t calling the woman fat and ugly in a vein where she thought I meant something about her."
Gosh! Why would she get a CRAZY idea like that?
I also asked the mayor if the incident and others like it impact him as he weighs whether to run for governor.
"Not at all. People know me, they know what I'm about. This is a nothing."
And, finally, I had to ask. Was he drinking that night?
Usually, when someone comes out of nowhere to challenge the top cash game pros in the world... they usually get mercilessly slaughtered after the big dogs tear them to shreds and piss on their limp carcass. It happens every week. Unprepared sheep (who think they are actually wolves hiding in sheep clothing) are sheered, skinned, and gutted.
Instead of "rolling up a stake and heading to Vegas" these kids and/or Eurodonks destroy the competition on a secondary site, then roll up a stake and head over to the nose bleed tables at Full Tilt for their shot at millions of dollars in cash.
The Big Game at the Bellagio, although regal in nature, is part of the old guard and primarily set up so the Vegas sharks can fleece an out-of-town billionaire or any hotshot with a big score at the WPT or WSOP who wants a shot at the legendary Texas Dolly.
If you're an 18-year old player from Sweden, you have zero chance of setting foot inside Bobby's Room because of that pesky age requirement to gamble. Bobby's Room is off limits and unavailable to many players, and most of the true grinders know that running bad in tournaments over a year or multiple-year cycle utterly destroy bankrolls, which is why the focus has always been the virtual cash games. Big ones.
I knew that I'd be able to see a $1 million pot online... some day. I never thought it would happen this year and during this severe economic downturn. But that's the beauty of internet poker... unknown figures emerge from the shadows every day. As I stated earlier, most of the guys rolling up a stake and taking a shot get their asses kicked to the curb and we never hear from them again. However, earlier in the month, a player by the name of Isildur1 made waves. Big ones. Like giant tsunmai waves that crashed on the shores of the poker world.
Speculation swirled as he made his way up the cash game food chain. He took on many regulars from the Card Runners crew at the 25/50 tables and eventually found himself playing durrrr heads-up at six tables.
Who the fuck is Isludir1?
Early speculation suggested that the unknown entity was a Scandi named Martonas who had a similar run earlier in the year -- but went busto. Was it him taking another shot at the big time but under a different alias? That rumor was many that got quickly shot down by the Encyclopedia Browns and Nancy Drews who inhabit the internet forums.
All legitimate speculation pointed towards a young Swede by the name of Viktor Blom. Because of the terrible tax/gaming laws in Sweden, he wanted to keep himself anonymous for as long as possible in order to evade the prying eyes of the Scandi Tax Police. They make the IRS and the Fed look like a bunch of girl scouts. Do you want to see an always-cool Scandi loose his mud? Ask him about his home country's tax situation. They will gouge out your eyeballs for even broaching the subject.
So to bring you up to speed, over the month of November a tax-evading teenaged Scandi caused a ruckus at the nosebleed tables. His marathon matches against durrrr and the likes of Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey became the big story across the entire industry. Friends of mine (writers and players alike) would drop everything they were doing to sweat the action.
Isildur1 stole away some of Main Event Champ's Joe Cada and the rest of the November Nine's thunder. Instead of beating those stories to a dead horse in the days after the Main Event finally ended, the poker media focused on the Isildur1 saga. After all, it had the potential to be the biggest story of the year because we were witnessing had the next big star playing right in front of our noses. Everyone loves rags to riches stories, and every single online player wanted to be Isiludr1 -- an unknown who took a shot at the big time. He was living personification of the ultimate dream.
Alas, the Isildur1 run is probably coming to a close. The kid had run up his roll to over $7 million trying to beat the best, but since then, he's been in a downward spiral. His opponents eventually figured out what he was doing and they adjusted accordingly. Isildur1's profits quickly disappeared. Poor durrrr lost his place in line when he had to fly to London to tape a poker program, and in his absence, Antonius and Ivey took turns beating the shit out of the young Scandi.
Is Islidur1 a one-hit wonder? Or will he re-load on the secondary sites and take another shot at the big time? Time will tell.
In the meantime, here are some interesting pieces about Isildur1 that I recommend you read...
An Unstoppable Force Meets... penned by Dogishead, is probably the best analysis that I have seen written about Isildur1. (Card Runners)
Shamus chimes in on the largest pot ever recorded in the history of online poker. (Hard Boiled Poker)
Who Is Isildur1? became the topic of my weekly column where I take a humorous approach to discovering the true identity of the unknown high stakes player. (Poker News)
That's it for now. You can always download Full Tilt so you can watch the nosebleed tables.
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.
You may recall that a few months ago, the Vegas media world was in an uproar over some truly spectacular corruption committed by inexplicably still-employed KTNV anchor Nina Radetich. The anchor had tipped off an auto repair shop that her station was about to air some negative reports and suggested the owner call Nina's own boyfriend, a damage-control PR specialist.
This was as cut-and-dried a case of journalistic ethical corruption as can be conceived. There were taped phone conversations and the TV station essentially copped to the whole thing, with Radetich never once suggesting the basics of the story as broken by Abigail Goldman of the Las Vegas Sun were inaccurate.
That was well over two months ago. At the time, I jumped into the mix even though I typically do not comment on journalism ethics -- my game is accuracy, fairness, word usage and New Media ineffectiveness, mainly -- this one was so over the top and so many people at KTNV were writing to me in a steam that I did.
So how strange is it that now, all these months later, some dude named Mike Zahara, a political activist who has a history with the local Democratic Party but who seems to play it down the moderate middle on his blog, would decide to take a shot at me. This is a guy who has, in the past, written to me to tell me I was a hero of his. And now this:
The shooting continues unabated! Normally, I would be enjoying this, but I generally like these people and their work and I don’t see a value in its continuation.
The most recent battles began with Nina Radetich and her stuff. Not handled as well as it could have been and her media brothers and sisters had a field day piling on her, culminating with Jon Ralston using hisFace-to-Face show and guest Steve Freiss to keep punching away at her affront to ‘journalistic ethics’…while conveniently forgetting to inform that Freiss has no background in ethics education or scholarship and that his husband is employed by fierce rival KVBC across town.
Neither fact was ever disclosed by Ralston or Friess.
Here's the screenshot so, when he takes it down and pretends he never wrote it, you can see the evidence:
So let's thoroughly discredit Mr. Zahara just for sport, shall we?
POINT:The shooting continues unabated! Normally, I would be enjoying this, but I generally like these people and their work and I don’t see a value in its continuation.
COUNTERPOINT: I haven't written a word about Radetich since mid-September. The shooting has, indeed, abated.
POINT:Not handled as well as it could have been and her media brothers and sisters had a field day piling on her
COUNTERPOINT: Actually, it was handled phenomenally well. The Las Vegas Sun broke the story and followed it up and forced a great deal of discomfort for Radetich and KTNV. Nobody belabored the matter; it was in the news for about one week, maybe 10 days. But there were audio tapes and brought up a very serious problem. Media corruption is at least as significant an issue as governmental corruption but much trickier for the media to cover. In most cities, alternative weeklies keep check but here both are owned by the two competing major media conglomerates. So, given that, I'd say the Radetich matter was handled pitch-perfect. Had the press not reported on this, we'd be accused of covering up for our own. It was undeniably a real news story and was handled with plenty of respect. In fact, I was the one who, in my last post on the matter, asked whether maybe Radetich, whose conduct was unforgivable and indefensible, might nonetheless have been set up. That's called being fair to both sides.
POINT:...culminating with Jon Ralston using hisFace-to-Face show and guest Steve Freiss to keep punching away at her affront to ‘journalistic ethics’…while conveniently forgetting to inform that Freiss has no background in ethics education or scholarship...
COUNTERPOINT: No scholarship, eh? I have a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University, widely viewed as the finest undergraduate program in the nation and a program that requires several ethics classes. I've also attended more than one Poynter Institute seminars on ethics, one of which is listed on the resume that is so buried on my website at SteveFriess.Com/Resume. Plus, I've been a practicing journalist for 15 years and have been confronted with and had newsroom discussions about innumerable ethical dilemmas. Meanwhile, Mr. Zahara, who seems to believe that being capable of credibly analyzing the media requires some sort of advanced degree in it, has none of his own but felt competent to write a blog post called "Local Media’s Intercine Warfare Continues" in which he beats the crap out of this city's most respected newspeople, including Jon Ralston and George Knapp. The guy who has not a lick of actual experience as a reporter thinks he can comment on the propriety of what journalists do. And guess what? I agree with him on that. You don't need a degree or "scholarship" to form reasonable opinions about the media, including about me and my work. A little bit of actual information, however, is helpful.
POINT:...and that his husband is employed by fierce rival KVBC across town. Neither fact was ever disclosed by Ralston or Friess.
COUNTERPOINT: In the 30th second of the first segment of my appearance with Ralston, Jon states in introducing me: "He has particular insight into the TV industry as he's married to an executive producer of Channel 3." I'm also quite sure that during my comments, I referenced things I knew about Nina's departure from Channel 3 and acknowledged how I knew this, but I don't see the point in spending any more time on this given how thoroughly I've demonstrated that Zahara has no fucking clue what he's talking about.
And just one more thing, Mr. Zahara: It's Friess, not Freiss. At NU, I would've been failed for screwing up a pivotal name in a piece. I left that for last here, though, because as egregious as that mistake is and as much as it lays bare your inability to fact-check even the most elementary parts of what you write, it's actually the very least of your worries.
There's no Petcast taping this week because Emily's away, so we're going to play the whole Doyle Brunson interview FIRST starting at 4:30 p.m. and then Miles and I will do the whole rest of the show. (It'll be edited into the correct order for the podcast version.)
Also, NORM CLARKE is joining us live at about 5:30 p.m. by phone to answer the trivia question and anything else you might want to know. We'll get the latest on the Vegas angle of the new Tiger Woods drama.
Join us live at LVRocks.Com from 4:30-6 p.m. PT. I'll be there in the chat room the whole time! Listen live via your computer or iPhone or whatever. Or wait until I post the podcast. Your call.
Expensive Wino Wins Week 11 of Sundays with Dr. Pauly
Congrats to Expensive Wino for taking down Week 11 of Sundays with Dr. Pauly over at Fantasy Sports Live. He should have enough money to scratch together a couple of jugs and a box of wine.
I had an abysmal week. Ugly. I blame the vacation-mode that I was in. That Costa Rican sun baked my brain. Now that I'm on Phish tour, I'm hyper-distracted so here's your chance to sneak into the TOC by beating mys core for three weeks in a row. Click here for Week 11 results and updated standings.
Click here for more details, rules, and payout information.
Best of luck everyone in Week 11 and the final Series.
And don't forget to check out Dailyfantasyprojections.com. Buffalo66's guide has been an excellent tool for sure. It's also a valuable tool for hockey and pro hoops as well.
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.
Turkey Cup Attracts 84 Players; Joanne Wins 3.0 Version
Waiting on a train to head on Phish tour, so this will be a quickie.
This year's installment of Turkey Cup attracted a whopping 84 runners! I was blown away by that number. Thanks to everyone who played, pimped, and tweet'd (and RT'd) the annual Turkey Day evening tournament. We had plenty of players from Canada (after all it just another Thursday for them), but we also had a couple of Europeans and Jose was representing South America in the event. Humbling to see a global turnout for Turkey Cup.
The prize pool was... $420. I wish I was making that up. Awesome job, gang.
Here's my pseudo-starting table...
My Table: Seat 1: Dr Thesaurus Seat 3: Runt Cake Seat 4: mtpettyp Seat 5: DrPauly Seat 6: gr8fulmouse Seat 7: Kevmath Seat 8: albethke Seat 9: shakesjp
Gigli honors went to DAJETZ82.
I took a hit early on when my stack was under assault from Kevin Mathers. I folded on the river with 2-pair & A-5 versus Mathers' straight. That knocked me down to under 1K. I couldn't get anything going and did not get any action with Q-Q or K-K.
I folded Jacks on one hand. mtpettyp raised. I flatted with Jacks. gr8fulmouse 3-bet shoved with Aces. mtpettyp called and I folded. I stayed alive, but barely.
Last year's defending champion, Daddy, busted out in 66th.
At first break, I had under 900 in chips. I sat near the bottom of 53 players. Friedman held the chip lead. I busted shortly after the break in 51st. I open-shoved with 10-9s and Idiottax called with 9-9. I flopped two spades, but I could not get there and I was dunzo.
Second break with 17 to go, MoonMonsta took over the chip lead. Bogged down in the middle of a big PLO cash game at that point and sweating the Giants/Broncos game, I was distracted but did what I can to keep an eye on the action.
The final table paid out prize money...
The Final Table: Seat 1: dAAmnhomie (29522 in chips) Seat 2: Garthmeister (2761 in chips) Seat 3: change1OO (7791 in chips) Seat 4: Joanne1111 (18960 in chips) Seat 5: badblood44 (11095 in chips) Seat 6: grouse14 (5409 in chips) Seat 7: MoonMonsta (18496 in chips) Seat 8: TJ PackMan (14700 in chips) Seat 9: oceannlv (17266 in chips)
dAAmanhomie started the final table as the chipleader, but took a couple if beats to lose the lead. The tournament seemed to drag in the middle stages, but the final table went quick. When the dust settled, Joanne took it down after she beat BadBlood heads up.
Click here for a screen cap of the final table for Turkey Cup 3.0.
Congrats to Joanne and thanks again to everyone who played and pimped the event. We will definitely be back in 2010. Hope everyone had fun this year.
And... stay tuned for a special announcement concerning Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. If you're a PLO junkie... never fear. I'm in the process of figuring out my schedule for the next year. At the least, we'll have a monthly version of SwDrP. I don't know about you, but I need my PLO fix!
And you can always follow my Phishy travels over at Coventry and on Twitter.
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 long time ago in a galaxy far far away... on Thanksgiving evening after our family dinner, I played poker at my brother's apartment. I had recently bought a chip set and Derek had just learned the intricacies of the game. We prepped for an impending poker trip to Vegas (our annual brothers trip that one year later would morph into the WPBT Winter Classic). We had a blast that night and forged a bond. Never could we ever imagine the amazing journey that we'd both set off through poker over the next seven years. That momentous evening of cards on Thanksgiving night were the origins of Turkey Cup.
I created Turkey Cup in 2007.... a special Thanksgiving tournament that came to life at the last possible moment. Derek won the tournament and took down the title. The coveted cup and the honor and the bragging rights were all his own.
Last year, Daddy crushed the field (an astonishing 56 players participated) and won Turkey Cup. He's the defending champ.
Yes, that's my brother Derek and myself circa 1980. And you are cordially invited to join us for Turkey Cup. Check the Private tourney tab on PokerStars and you'll find Turkey Cup listed there.
Turkey Cup is a $5 NL tournament hosted on PokerStars at 9pm ET on Thanksgiving night. It's the perfect the post-dinner activity and a chance to get away from your insane family members. Or Turkey Cup is a nifty activity if you are a bored Canuck or a Eurodonk with insomnia.
Everyone is invited. Hope to see you there!
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.
Turkey Hump Day Link Dump: Turkey Cup, Gambling Times Podcast, Grubby Stories, and Isildur1's True Identity
Here's something to kill the time while you're watching the clock to get the hell out of work and enjoy your holiday weekend!
I'm working on a gallery of Costa Rica photos. They will be posted here. (Flickr)
Just a reminder that Turkey Cup is less than 36 hours away! Derek and Daddy are the previous champs. Will you win Turkey Cup? (Tao of Poker)
My old Vegas roommate, Grubby, wrote an honest post about his degenerate gambling habits. Rethinking the UIGEA is a must read from one of my favorite bloggers/scribes. (The Poker Grub)
Tits and ass. Tits and ass. Tits and ass. (RawVegas via Wicked Chops Poker)
Who Is Isildur1? His true identity is revealed. Dancing Queen? (Melted Felt)
Save the Sharks is a piece I wrote on vacation for my Sunday column. I watched a charity tournament in Costa Rica that was hosted by Humberto Brenes. (Poker News)
Have a great holiday weekend. Enjoy your time off.
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 Mentor System is a Level II card counting strategy that is quite popular among professional blackjack players. I would definitely place it in my top 5, although my preferred is the Zen Count.
This Mentor was first introduced in the book "Blackjack Bluebook II" by Fred Renzey. It quickly gained a solid reputation because of it's high degree of betting accuracy.
In many ways, the Mentor is similar to the Zen Count, which is probably why I like it so much. While there is no substantial difference between the two systems, the Mentor performs slightly better with multiple decks (but the difference is so small it is meaningless).
Remember, the Mentor is a balanced count, so divide your running count by the number of decks left in play to get the true count.
"Costa Rica is in Central America," I corrected him.
"My first time in Central America too."
* * * * *
I got robbed at San Jose airport by a sticky-fingered baggage handler from Sansa Airlines who thought that he stumbled upon the motherload when he removed a ziplock baggie with a bunch of electronics and wires. The airline forced me to check my carry-on bag for a puddle jumper (10-person flight) up north to Playa Conchal. I stashed all my essentials (laptop, iPod, pharmies) into a messenger bag and took that on the puddle jumper with me, while the baggage handlers rummaged through my shit the moment that my carry-on left my sight.
What the thief didn't know was that he stole a bunch of wires, cables, power cords, and a wireless mouse. He passed up on stealing my only copy of the latest draft of Lost Vegas, but he snagged the worn-down voice recorder that I used to record episodes of Tao of Pokerati. I had an exclusive interview set aside with Humberto Brenes' shark which posed some problems since the shark spoke Spanish and zero English. I speak very bad Spanglish from growing up in the Bronx so I purchased a book of "dirty slang" which I memorized and cracked up my Costa Rican colleagues.
* * * * *
Playa Conchal is one of the most luxurious places I visited on the poker tour. Kudos to the crew at the Latin America Poker Tour who relocated the Costa Rica event from the main city San Jose to a more remote area where the beach meets the jungle. There are moments when I'm wandering barefoot down the beach and it feels like I'm living one of those travel commercials with models roaming the white-sand beaches and a reggae soundtrack blares in the background. Other moments, I feel trapped in time like a character from Lost, almost praying that I get stranded in this paradise.
Fitting that the all-inclusive resort's name is called Paradisus.
Change100 and I were housed in a luxury hut and Otis was stationed next door. On our first night in Costa Rica, we headed to the LAPT Welcome Party where I sampled the local beer... Imperial. Out of all of my Latin American adventures, Quilmes in Argentina is my favorite beer, but Imperial is a close second which beats the piss out of Corona and Sol. I got very acquainted with Imperial since this is an all-inclusive resort which means all-you-can-drink booze. I told you this place is almost heaven. Oh and did I mention the monkeys, raccoons, multi-colored butterflies, and iguanas?
Most of the crowd at the party disappeared and headed to the convention center -- which was the base of operations for the poker tournament and poker room. On the eve of the LAPT Playa Conchal Main Event, Humberto Brenes hosted a charity tournament to help shark conservation in Costa Rica. Over $30,000 was raised (with Humberto & PokerStars matching the monies collected in the event) which is a significant amount of money for a non-profit marine conservation entity. Team PokerStars Pro Veronica Dubal from Argentina won the charity tournament that was a who's who of Latin poker -- which attracted the Costa Rican paparazzi. The Brenes clan was well represented along with one of the actors from the Mexican version (and original) Ugly Betty.
The biggest crowd standing five and six deep hovered around one table. I assumed they were sweating a famous soccer player or Mexican soap opera actress. I elbowed my way through the crowd and saw a guy in a wrestling mask, who turned out to be the son of Santos. His father was one of the greatest masked Mexican wrestlers of all time. Son of Santos happily posed for a picture.
* * * * *
I primarily went to Costa Rica for a well-needed vacation where I could unplug and relax on the beach. The LAPT event was an after-thought despite many friends were either playing or covering the event. I paid my own way here and hoped to write a few pieces just to break even. I also had plans on expanding my contacts in Latin America. My buddy Rey, editor of Bluff Latin America, wanted to introduce me to several important figures in the gaming industry. Ah, and I was also seeking to interview worthy translator for the Spanish version of Lost Vegas.
Otis and Change100 covered the event for PokerStars Blog and Shirley Rosario (aka Poker Babe) was scheduled to play in the Main Event. Her boyfriend, Sos, tagged along which was perfect because we both had someone to pal around with during the tournament.
It's funny because I spent as little time inside the tournament room as possible. And when I did, I was bullshitting with my friends. I considered that "my vacation" while sadly that's what 75% of the poker media does on a normal day of "work."
Sos and I hung out at the activities center. We shot pool and played ping pong. Within a few hours, Sos had become the most popular guy at the resort and I bestowed the moniker "The Mayor" upon him.
The best job at the resort is the activities center. The college-aged associates are paid to play games with the guests and run fun things. The chick who ran the yoga class was smoking hot and she told me that she wanted to move to L.A. to become a personal trainer for movie stars. I told her she needed to move to Las Vegas and whip most of the poker community in shape.
We originally went to the center to inquire about the Rifle Shooting hour. I wanted to shoot guns, but since that was scheduled for a later time we had to kill some time. Two of the guys who worked at the activities center challenged Sos and I to a game of doubles ping pong. I quickly learned the my teammate Sos was super competitive and he was a sick ping pong player.
We were evenly matched teams. And after the first game I realized that it wasn't just for fun. The Costa Ricans wanted to beat us... badly and vice versa. A small crowd gathered to watch the intense match. The rail grew as the game ran over into the Rifle hour. Our shooting instructor was one of our opponents, so he held up the session until we finished the ping pong game.
When it was over, we were deadlocked at 2-2. Yep, evenly matched over four games. We agreed on a rematch the next day and headed off to the shooting rage.
Sos is a former sniper in the Marines and he gave me some tips -- mostly on breathing before I pull the trigger and how to site a target. After some practice, they ran a tournament. Sos was the ringer and took it down. Me? I tied for last place with the only female in the competition. Plus she was from a city in Canada so I essentially tied for last with someone who had never fired a rifle before.
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.
Don't you just love that? That's the kind of fun stuff that gives me a thrill when I get to walk around a yet-unopened piece of new Vegas. Here's a closer look at this sign which, I'm sure, is already erected:
There it is, in one sign waiting neatly to be stood up and serve, most of CityCenter and its relationship to the Las Vegas Strip summed up in a directional.
I walked around again on Friday, my second tour in about 15 days as I finish up this weekend a major magazine piece on the project. It is impressive how much more cleaned up and polished the place looked and how many new angles I was able to see of these huge, gleaming buildings. Gleaming is a word you're going to see a lot in reference to CityCenter unless it's cloudy throughout December.
I was able to get into Mandarin Oriental for the first time to see the Sky Lobby. There was still a prohibition on taking any interior photos, but I did get some shots of its front porte cochere:
Here's Mandarin PR queen Alyssa Bushey's nifty construction helmut:
It's been said before by Hunter Hillegas of RateVegas.Com and others, but the 23rd floor Sky Lobby at Mandarin is going to be one happening bar. When I walked through, the bar staff was placing those pretty bottles of liquor on glass shelving behind the bar which, too, was in front of floor-to-ceiling windows.
I did ask whether average tourists would be allowed to just wander around the lobby and the answer was actually...not really. A reception person at the first floor will ask you what your business is. You can say you want to have a drink at the bar, but if you're not wearing appropriate attire -- read: those shorts and baseball cap I wore for my $21 burger at Trump last year won't cut it -- they can refuse you entry.
[Aside: VegasTripping.Com offered up this great link to a Mandarin Oriental spa designer's blog with images of what it will look like. It appears to be the first interiors of the space, so if you care, enjoy!]
One of the things I seek out when I'm in CityCenter are moments, angles and locations where I really feel like I could, if I squint the P-Ho out of the frame, imagine I'm really in Manhattan. There's a tall staircase that takes you down to the Mandarin's front door and check out these views looking down and up from the middle of it:
Right? You can see it, yeah? And this view straight up is arty:
There's a glass walkway across the front of CityCenter into the Crystals shopping area, and I thought these views from it were fun:
See, I'm not totally opposed to advertising on the side of buildings. That Gucci sign is hot. But it's also appropriate, not like this crap that MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren himself admitted to me in a recent interview he dislikes, too, but feels dutibound to accept (I still disagree):
One part of the exterior that is more available to see and photograph now versus two weeks ago is some of the public art pieces. For instance, here's the pocket park in the crook between Aria and Crystals where the Henry Moore sculpture sits:
In that image and the following one, we're facing the glass wall behind Aria's registration desk. Here's another view and if you click on it, you might be able to make out Maya Lin's silver -- and fantastic -- Colorado River sculpture:
In an interview I did with Nancy Rubins for this magazine piece I've got going on, she talked about how one of the reasons she wanted to do her soon-to-be-iconic boat-tree sculpture was for the chance to have it cantilever over the road. Here's the best shot I've gotten yet of how it does so:
This classic Claes Oldenburg piece is so whimsical and fun, too:
Finally, I thought the western view was worthwhile, too. As you may know, my father and I are invested in a condo unit in the left-most building you see below:
When that road opens, a flyover of I-15, it should make those buildings more accessible and, perhaps, more valuable as time goes on. Fingers crossed, anyhow.
Yes, I continue to withhold more extensive commentary about the interiors of the various buildings and I'm glad I have done so as some opinions I had two weeks ago have changed -- for better and for worse -- as things have become cleaned up, adorned, appointed and unwrapped. And until real people start flooding the property to actually use these spaces, it's hard to know if anyone's instincts about their functionality is accurate.
That said, I do hope everyone out there is enjoying and appreciating this special period we're in now. It's been a sad time with lots of bad news, and now we're in the throes of the run-up to something we won't see for a long, long time: A major opening. Whether you end up loving or hating CityCenter, I urge you to indulge in its moment. It will be over soon enough and there won't be a whole lot of Christmas Mornings like this for Las Vegas for years to come.
Join us 4-5 pm PT for two live episodes of "The Petcast" and then from 5-6 pm PT for "The Strip" featuring my interview with new Vegas headliner Frank Caliendo. Come to LVRocks.Com and listen via your smart phone and chat in the chatroom with other listeners! See ya there!
MiamiDon Wins Series 2; AceFilledDreams Wins Week 10 of Sundays with Dr. Pauly
And don't forget to check out Dailyfantasyprojections.com. Buffalo66's guide has been an excellent tool for sure. It's also a valuable tool for hockey and pro hoops as well.
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.
Sorry everyone. I've got a deadline on a pretty substantial CityCenter magazine piece to finish up in the next day or so. I'm still Tweeting aplenty because it's easy and quick, but I've just got to get this piece done so I apologize for sparse blogging.
That said, we'll still have an hour of The Petcast and an hour of The Strip tomorrow live at LVRocks.Com from 4-6 p.m. PT. I'll blog the details on that a little later today. So we're not shutting down the store. We're just, if anything, making sure the store is properly capitalized to continue operating!
Friday Link Dump: Turkey Cup, Poker 2Nite, Pollack Legacy, Gambling Times Podcast, and the LAPT Playa Conchal
Finally had a day off from the grind. I might play a PokerStars LAPT side event today or tomorrow. Anyway, here's a few items to keep you occupied until I return from my Central American holiday...
Poker2Nite debut this week. Sure it's a media buy by UB on Fox Sports, but the show actually impressed me. Good shit from Seebs, Huff, and Stapes. By the way, if you need an additional writer... I'm available. However, I don't work for cheap but will work for weed.
* * * * *
The third annual Turkey Cup is coming next Thursday. Everyone is invited. (Tao of Poker)
Two friends of mine from the Carolinas started a new podcast... Gambling Times: WSOP, BadBlood, Origins. Check out the joint venture from Falstaff & Special K. (Gambling Times Podcast)
Tits and ass. Tits and ass. Tits and ass. Tits and ass. (Wicked Chops Poker)
As you know, I'm in Costa Rica because I tagged along with Change100 who is slaving away covering the LAPT Playa Conchal with Otis. While they are working their collective asses off covering the event, I'm frolicking on the beach and exploring the neighboring jungle in search of the local produce. I feel uber-guilty about vacationing while my friends are working, so you need to check out Otis & Change100's coverage of the first stop of Season 3 on the PokerStars.com Latin America Poker Tour. (PokerStars Blog)
And don't forget, you can always follow my international hijinks via Twitter. My username is @taopauly.
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 was going to leave this in the comments section of Waffles' recent blog post, but I figured that I would post it here. The information provided might be of help to some of you some day.
Dear Dr. Pauly,
I need your advice desperately. If I stay at the Hooters Hotel in Las Vegas will I have any of the following problems:
1. Catch weird disease from the sheets 2. Get eaten by mutant cockroaches 3. Get Shot to death in the parking lot 4. Get Gang raped by a bunch of tweakers 5. Anything my lilly white Ass would not like.
Any advice would be appreciated.
You Bestest Fan Ever, Waffles
And without further ado, here are my answers...
Waffles,
Thanks for taking the time out of busy schedule to write me. I'm pleased to hear that the Psychiatric Ward at St. Eligius allows in-patients unfettered access to email. By the way, if you can swipe any extra Klonapin or other anti-psychotic drugs for me I will be gratefully indebted to you. Those suckers sell at a premium in the parking lot of Phish concerts.
Anyway, I can tell by the tone of your email that you are concerned about many bad things happening to you in Las Vegas. Let me set the record straight... only bad things happen to bad people. Which is an Eastern way of saying, "You're totally fucked." Maybe you would rather spend the weekend at Foxwoods instead?
So let's start from the top with question #1 about staying at Hooters. You wrote, "Will I Catch weird disease from the sheets?"
Of course you will. Hooters is an off-the strip property which means they actually clean the sheets once a month. My advice is to sleep in your clothes. And never, for the love of god, never ever touch the bedspreads. That's where hookers fuck their johns and those NEVER GET WASHED.
Onto question #2. You wrote "Will I get eaten by mutant cockroaches?"
Vegas does not have mutant roaches. I'd be more worried about the mutant scorpions. They only attack smaller humans, so you're pretty much screwed.
Onto Question #3, "Will I get Shot to death in the parking lot?"
This has a 6% probability only because most of the gangs conduct drive-bys in North Las Vegas. They rarely target tourists on the Strip. However, you might want to purchase a side arm. If someone starts a ruckus, light 'em up.
Onto Question #4, "Will I get Gang raped by a bunch of tweakers?"
Tweakers don't gang rape. Addicts in the middle of hits of crystal meth are less interested in deviant sexual acts and more interested in finding a way to get more drugs. Tweakers might steal all of your clothes, but I'm pretty sure that you will not be violated as long as you comply with their wishes and hand over all of your drugs and money. Most of them will leave you alone. If you do get gang raped it will be by a gang of angry gangbangers because you said something completely retarded to them. Remember that Las Vegas is real life and nothing like the intertubes, blog posts, social media networks, or online poker chat boxes where you can act like a total jackoff and get away with it. In real life, no one likes an asshole. You will get beat down if you act like a punk.
And lastly, question #5, "Anything my lilly white Ass would not like?"
I don't think you will like the cowboys in town for the rodeo finals. There will be hundreds, if not thousands of them, roaming around like lost cattle. Cowboys don't like Northerners especially flaming liberals from Ted Kennedy's home state. Just tell them you're from Idaho and you'll fit in nicely.
I also think that you might be freaked out by the porn slappers on the Strip. Don't be intimated by the illegal Mexicans handing out business cards of prostitutes. They should be considered your friends and can totally introduce you to some nice women who like to eat Italian food, watch reality TV shows, and will do naughty things similar some of your favorite scenes from She Male Samba Mania Vol. 7. By the way, ask the local tranny prostitutes if you can get rake back. They'll give you a freebie if you find them steady work.
OK, I think that's it for now. Did I answer all of your questions properly? See you in Vegas.
Cheers, Pauly
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.
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I'm off to Costa Rica for a vacation, but I'll also be checking out the opening event of the PokerStars Latin America Poker Tour. I might play a side event or two while I'm down there.
Anyway, my buddy Rey sent me a video that his crew shot on the beaches of Costa Rica featuring models and some familiar faces in poker such as Lacey Jones and Leo Margets.
The last two times I covered events on the LAPT, the federales shut down the tournament (Mexico) and I was involved in a bar fight (Argentina). Who knows what is going to happen this week?
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.
Here's this week's show. At the end of it, Miles shouts out for your Vietnamese and Thai favorites (no Lotus of Siam, please), so go ahead and share if you wish in the comments here. Otherwise, the banter this week is especially amusing and we hope you enjoy it all. Click on the date below to make it play or right-click to save it and listen at your leisure. You can subscribe, too, (it's free!) in iTunes or in Zune.
Nov.16: Good Ol' Boyd [Update 11/17: New link and show audio fixed -sf]
At 77, William S. Boyd could just sit back, count his money and let his children carry on his family’s casino and philanthropic legacies in Nevada. But for Boyd, retirement from running the company means being active in it in other ways, and he remains very much involved in the important decisions of Boyd Gaming. Mr. Boyd speaks to Steve this hour about halting construction of Echelon, making a play for the properties of bankrupt rival Station Casinos and old versus new Vegas.
In banter: Frank Caliendo opens, Steve bets on Cotto for a friend, WSOP ratings are flat, the Rio is NOT all suites, three popular attractions are now neighbors, crazy Bette fans attack and Jim Murren claims he listens to this show.
Here's this week's LVW col. Let's see if the poker peeps can muster the shock and awe that Batsh*t Bette fans did. -sf
After the Flop Poker's time in the sun may have come and gone, if recent ratings are any indication By STEVE FRIESS
If there were ever a year when the World Series of Poker should have enjoyed a renewed boost, it was 2009. The stars had aligned in every conceivable way, and grandiose predictions seemed warranted.
“This is going to be the most-watched Final Table in history,” legend Phil Hellmuth predicted to me before it took place in two spurts on November 7 and 9.
And I believed him. It certainly made sense. Alas, he was wrong.
After all the noise in recent weeks about the conclusion of the 40th WSOP Main Event—the $10,000 Buy-In No-Limit Texas Hold ’Em tournament viewed as the pinnacle of the game’s prestige—virtually nobody bothered to report the outcome that actually mattered. TV ratings for the two-hour Final Table broadcast on ESPN on November 10 were actually down from the 2008 broadcast. The difference was nominal—this year’s show drew about 1.8 million viewers, and last year’s drew 1.9 million—but still, down is not up. Worse yet, ESPN says the 2009 ratings for the 31-telecast, 15-week season had a 1.0 share, which was even with the 2008 season.
All of which invites this important question: Now can we say that poker has plateaued in the United States?
This notion is one that makes World Series of Poker bosses groan. Skeptical journalists have long been taking note of poker’s relative weakness versus its white-hot years, 2003-2006, when poker TV shows were all the rage and Internet poker blossomed into one of the universe’s all-time most profitable enterprises. In 2006, when 8,773 players entered the World Series of Poker’s Main Event and the top prize hit $12 million, there seemed nothing that could slow the game’s stampede into the hearts and minds of American popular culture.
Poker overlords like to note that Congress put the kibosh on poker’s growth by passing a law in the fall of 2006 severely restricting the ability of most Americans to easily put money into their online poker accounts. This certainly is true and did result in a dramatic drop the following year in WSOP Main Event entrants. In fact, in the three years since, that figure has yet to top even 7,000.
That’s all well and good, but that does not explain the waning interest in watching poker on TV, and it is only via TV that tournament poker can become anything more than a peripheral part of mainstream American culture. Why would one’s inability to play online reduce one’s interest in following the pros? If poker wants to be compared to the big sports leagues, don’t they know that the vast majority of people who watch the NFL or NBA don’t actually play football or basketball?
As a non-scenster in the poker world, I do everything in my power to avoid attending poker-related functions. And when I do make a cameo at those parties and events, I do a little glad-handing, crack a few jokes, and find a way to make a quick exit. If I was a serious alkie, I'd probably be loving those parties for the free booze aspect, but I'm not that kind of juicer anymore.
However, I made a welcomed exception for the Poker Hall of Fame dinner. I knew it would be one of the highlights of my week in Las Vegas. As one of the 15-member media panel who determined this year's class (along with the living members of the Hall of Fame), I received an invite (+1) for the dinner and induction ceremony where the industry would honor Mike Sexton as the lone member of the 2009 class. The private event was held in the Brasilia Ballroom during the two-hour dinner break of the November Nine final table. The close proximity to the Penn & Teller Theatre made it super easy to attend. Luckily I have a girlfriend and the +1 on the invite was a no-brainer so I took the lovely Change100 who was equally excited to witness Mike Sexton's induction. Michalski was scrambling at the last minute to find a date and he didn't want to show up to such a prestigious event empty-handed. He found a date and no, his date wasn't a guy nor was it a local harlot he found off craigslist. On the contrary, Michalski's date was a sweet Texas girl and the sibling of a WSOP bracelet winner.
We all sat together at a table off to the corner after arriving fashionably late since the final table ran a few minutes behind schedule. Most of "famous people" sat at the middle tables up front. You know who I'm talking about... Texas Dolly, Jesus, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, and that Phil Hellmuth clown. Sure, my vote counted just as much as Dolly's or Hellmuth's but that's were our equality ended. That's why Michalski and I (and the rest of the media panel) were sitting off to the side and near the back -- sot of like the kiddie table at Thanksgiving dinner. It was a stark reminder that we were skilled enough as scribes to gain access to the ballroom, but we weren't important enough to be closer to the action, which was fine with me since I was surprised that I got a vote in the first place. The cliche fits... I was simply happy to be there.
A poker-themed wine company sponsored the event and provided free wine. The "high roller" wine was available for tasting in the back of the room. I didn't realize that it was a tasting table and I was initially irked at the small portions. The waiters at the tables had full bottles of wine -- albeit a lesser expensive wine. At least they kept the glasses filled to the top.
I ran into Barry Greenstein at the meat station and introduced him to Change100 and although she has been in the poker biz since 2006, she had never formally met the guy known in some circles as Joe Sebok's dad.
"You've got a good man there," Greenstein told my girlfriend.
"I know," blushed Change100.
Greenstein's compliment came before I revealed my votes. Although we could vote for no more than three people, I wrestled with my decision for weeks and had kept my votes private until I revealed two.
"You know Barry, I voted for you and Mike."
He cracked a rare smile. I picked up a tell on Greenstein. He can disguise the strength of his cards, but he couldn't hide the elation that someone actually voted for him.
"Thanks. But I'm glad you voted for Mike. He's the only guy that met all of the criteria. Lots of the (internet) kids don't realize that he hasn't been playing as much because he's busy being an expanding the reach of poker."
Greenstein also made a crack that the Hall of Fame lost some of it's legitimacy "once they let Jack Keller in." Ouch. But that's why I love Greenstein. He's a straight shooter.
I bumped into Padraig Parkinson. I had seen him eight hours earlier at the bar inside the lobby of the Penn & Teller Theatre and he had been drinking steadily ever since. The Irishman (third winningest player from Ireland) was part of a radio show with Jesse May in the UK. Although Jesse and Padraig had me on their show in the past, I had never actually met Padraig. I introduced myself and his eyes lit up. He put his glass of wine on the floor and whipped out his mobile phone.
"I gotta call Jesse!" Padraig said.
Two minutes later, I was on the phone with Jesse May and we were recording a bit for his radio show live from the Mike Sexton Hall of Fame dinner.
I handed the phone back to Padraig and he told me that he had 1% of Happy Shulman at the final table before he made a bee-line for the wine tasting table. That's when Fun Warren from Party Poker emerged from the crowd. Fun Warren is one of the coolest people in the entire poker industry. He's a proper Englishman who knows how to have a good time. Padraig is an old friend of Mike Sexton which was why he was at the dinner. Mike pulled Fun Warren aside and gave him a top secret mission -- be a chaperone to Padraig. Fun Warren's assignment was to keep Padraig out of trouble during the induction dinner. Talk about a tough task. How can you keep an Irishman away from free booze?
During the speeches, Padraig could not sit still and he rushed towards the win tasting tables. Without fail, Fun Warren was always a step or two behind him like a good shepherd to properly guide his soused sheep back to the flock.
A few old school legends sat up on the stage; T.J Cloutier, Texas Dolly, and Jack Binion. They took turns sharing stories about Mike Sexton and busted his balls about being a degenerate sports bettor. Doyle recanted one story many moons ago about Sexton getting tossed in jail after a poker game got raided in North Carolina. Sexton used his one phone call to put in a bet with his bookie.
"Give me Atlanta and the over!"
Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack spoke about Sexton's character. He used the word "class" a few times which is appropriate. Classy guys stand out in the poker world because the majority of people in the business are Grade A assholes and Jerkoffs with a capital J.
Then Tom Sexton took the stage. I had the pleasure of working with Mike Sexton's older brother during the 2007 WSOP. During the down time, Tom told me fantastic stories about old school Vegas, especially dark and deviant tales about Archie Karas and Stuey Ungar. I knew that Tom would give a kick ass speech -- and he certainly delivered. He gave a little insight into Mike's career and his devotion to veterans groups and little league baseball. Mike Sexton is a true American hero.
In once instance, Tom had everyone in stitches and in the other he had almost everyone in tears. Tom got a little teary-eyed when he mentioned their mother who passed away 30 years earlier without seeing Mike Sexton's rise to greatness.
Tom finally introduced his brother, the man of the hour, who took the time to say many positive things about the eight other men who were on this year's ballot. Mike Sexton had the most to say about Tom McEvoy who helped usher in smoke-free tournaments.
Sexton also mentioned his loyalty to Linda Johnson who gave him one of his first jobs in poker. He also suggested that Johnson should be on next year's ballot for the Hall of Fame based on her numerous contributions to the game of poker.
Sexton praised Steve Lipscomb for helping shape the poker world as we see it today with the inception of the World Poker Tour, and of course, Sexton had some funny things to say about his partner in crime -- Vince Van Patten. Yep, VVP was in attendance but no Shana Hiatt (in case you were wondering) but Sexton definitely mentioned Shana as an integral part of the early success of the WPT.
I was fortunate to take part in a special night as the poker community honored one of their most influential members... Mike Sexton.
I also uploaded a video that I stealthily shot during the Hall of Fame dinner. It was a montage of Mike Sexton clips/outakes/bloopers from the WPT. I was filming a big screen and the sound is not the best quality. Just a heads up warning. Regardless of the poor quality, there were some funny moments in the montage.
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.
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