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Poker Blog established in 2003 as the first stop for poker news, poker stories, and bad poker advice.

December 30, 2007

WPBT Holiday Gathering: The End...the end

by Otis

WPBT Holiday Gathering: The End, Pt. 1

When I found a certain make of Moleskine notebooks, I knew I would never again have a reason to ignore notetaking as part of the writing process. The notebooks have a soft cover that feels a lot like a paper shopping bag. They fit perfectly in my back pocket and mold to my ass.

Throughout the Vegas trip, I had taken a lot of notes and continued to do so up until we hit 20 players in the tournament. Then, apart from writing down who was sitting at the final table, I didn't take another note.

I guess I decided to play poker.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 28, 2007

WPBT Holiday Gathering: The End...Pt. 1

by Otis

I began my Saturday in Vegas like I begin most Saturdays in the city. I was tired, mildly hungover, and stuck. Had it not been for winning a dime playing Pai Gow and sucking out on a fellow blogger in a poker game, the roll in my pocket would've been a lot smaller. Regardless, my stomach and eyelids had met somewhere in the middle. As a result, I had a lump in my throat and had a hard time putting down the cheesesteak at the Venetian food court.

The only thing that felt right was my sense of optimism, and even that was odd. Normally, as my poker game is concerned, I'm wearing Charlie Brown's storm cloud. That particular morning, though, I was talking as I felt.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 27, 2007

God needs a Devil

by G-Rob

Nobody ever became a better poker player during a winning streak. I'm trying to remind myself of wisdom like that while I watch another of my favorite sports teams get crushed again. I'm sure there's some glory to gain from all this misery.

Note : The Bengals would be much better if they could actually tackle. When I was growing up we called this full-contact football "Tackle football" to distinguish it from two hand touch. I don't think the Bengals play "Tackle Football".

Anyway, nobody ever became a better poker player during a winning streak.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts

December 26, 2007

G-Rob's Worst Nightmare

by Otis

Sometime before the end off the year, I should have the final installment of my Vegas trip report ready to go. In the meantime, I offer without further comment the one table at which I'd love to see G-Rob draw a seat.

For those intererested, the painting is titled "Grand Old Gang" and is by a guy from Missouri named Andy Thomas. Hat tips to my wife for pointing it out to me and Jen Newell for writing about it on PokerWorks

Permalink | Otis' Thoughts

December 19, 2007

WPBT Holiday Gathering: Making good on debts due

by Otis

As I left the MGM, I heard Miami Don's voice behind me.

"Otis, I think your luck just changed."

I couldn't help but believe him.

We walked across the catwalk and into New York, New York. There appeared from nowhere one Shane Nickerson. He bought me a beer for no other reason, apparently, than I was standing in front of him.

It made me believe Don even more.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 18, 2007

Too Cool to Party

by G-Rob

Pardon the interruption dear reader of trip reports and gambling godness. I didn't go to the big blogger Vegas shindig. I haven't played much live poker. I am, in effect, semi-retired.

But because I love you and because Otis finally gave me grief about my absence here, I wanted to bring y'all up to speed.

Here's what G-Rob did while YOU were in Vegas :

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | G-Rob's Thoughts

December 14, 2007

WPBT Holiday Gathering: Friday, Bloody Friday

by Otis

The elevator was out-performing its capacity specifications. It had reached the point at which, when we stopped on every floor, the people on the outside took one look and said, "We'll wait for the next one."

A not-too-worldly girl was pressed against the mirrored wall in the back. Tight quarters and a need for attention forced her to say something. She went with, "Gawd, it seems like half of Australia is here."

I was too tired to correct her. She'd figure it out eventually.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 12, 2007

WPBT Holiday Gathering: A 24-hour trip

by Otis

In the time it took me to leave my bed Thursday morning to the time I went to bed Friday morning, I nearly could have driven from G-Vegas to Las Vegas. Thursday night, as I sat in the one-seat at a Pai Gow table, this fact didn't occur to me. In fact, very little entered my mind except for the probability that I would own the Imperial Palace before morning and that my wife might be a little curious why a pretty Asian girl was shoving her elbow into my back.

Beyond that, it was all noise.

Very happy noise.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 11, 2007

WPBT Holiday Gathering: A prelude

by Otis

The rubdown girls at the MGM poker room wear black shirts. A tired designer in some backroom Las Vegas t-shirt shop has created an Old Vegas logo on the back of the uniform. The one word logo looks like it was based on a casino sign from Fremont Street. It's gold, blocky, and has just the right amount of of flair to give a sense of importance and drama.

I was working on a decent amount of sleep--six hours--and was not the least bit hungover. Further, I had only sipped a couple of beers over the four hours I had been sitting at the poker table. I convinced myself I was not at all on tilt. Not half an hour before, someone had suggested it might be time to take a walk and do something else.

"I'm fine," I said.

Now, I was looking at the back of the black uniform and my eyes registered the one word on the back. It read:

MASSACRE.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 5, 2007

Gone, monkey, gone

by Otis

I just got back from the drug store.

I spent $57 on various painkillers, stomach medications, travel-size toiletries, sleep aids, and awake aids.

I went to the bank and turned small bills into big bills.

Now, all that's left is waiting for the alarm to go off before I can go pick up BadBlood and head to the airport.

Here's what my "away" message looks like:

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas

December 3, 2007

Tilting the testosterone

by Otis

In December of 2004, G-Rob and I survived one long night on a Las Vegas diet of car bombs and cover stories. During one conversation that still haunts me to this day, I was a surgeon, G-Rob was a minor league pitcher, and the third member of the mind-meeting was a...buckaroo.

One of us wasn't lying.

That's the kind of thing that happens when you put a bunch of poker bloggers in the same city with a bunch of cowboys in town for the biggest rodeo of the year.

More in this Poker Blog! -->
Permalink | Las Vegas