Dead Money = Sir AlCantHang

Post WSOP Changes

2012-08-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

It usually takes between ten days and two weeks for me to feel like myself after a summer at the WSOP. It usually depends on the amount of Vegas scum I have caked on my soul after watching the same jackholes throw good money at bad bets. This year it took a shorter amount of downtime to detox Vegas from system, probably because I spent more time away from the casinos then most years.

The unwind was even more necessary after the last few weeks of personal crap which included an old friend giving me crap for telling it like it is, a new friend getting herself in deep with the needle, and a whiny blogger giving me a not-too-subtle jab. It was time to get offline.

The process usually includes staying away from the bars, reconnecting with friends, and getting back on a schedule that doesn't involve "wake up-go to casino-watch idiots-drink heavily-pass out". I failed mostly at staying away from the bars because that's how I reconnected with my friends, so I got a solid C+ for my performance. The revised schedule was easier to handle.

After four years of doing nothing but poker related work, I moved on and began working with a company with zero interest in the game. Two days before heading home from Vegas I accepted a job designing websites for a pretty large company and managing content across several platforms. I nice mash of my former job(s) which allowed me to work from anywhere and my old career with some techno fun.

I'm not shutting the door on future work in poker (still helping out Dan with Pokerati.com so I get my poker fix), but I'm certainly not going out of my way to find something and no one is knocking down my door. A win for all.

Feels good to be a little closer to a normal member of society, though I'll never go back to an office job and regular hours. Degens gotta degen, drunks gotta drink.

My new office chair courtesy of the WSOP?

2012: WSOP Complete, Back to the Grind

2012-07-22T16:05:00.000-05:00

Things were cruising right along at the WSOP until my normal schedule of "wander into the Rio whenever I want, write whenever I want, drink whenever I want, leave whenever I want" was interrupted suddenly by employment which required silly things like showing up at specific times and working until my feet were numb.

That kept the debauchery level down for the rest of the summer right up until the Main Event, I was back to being a free-wheeling degenerate right as Otis and Benjo hit town. From there it was a few crazy nights at the hooker bar, reportedly some bowling shenanigans (that's a little fuzzy), and Pai Gow until I almost missed my flight out of Vegas.

I'll start wrapping my head around the past and future but until then I loaded a few images from the summer.

In the time I was gone, I did not neglect my duties trying to get a proper blogger tournament schedule up and running with Face Up Gaming. There were quite a few disconnect issues (or in my case, no-connect issues) during the last blogger freeroll but those have been corrected. I've spent the last month pounding away at their Gold Membership tournaments with a decent rate of return, although it doesn't look like I'll be able to grind my way into their $20,000 or $30,000 league finals. I blame work since I missed the juiciest league events.

We have ironed out a much more "blogger" friendly schedule for the BBT league with games on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights between 9pm and 10pmET. That should work out much better for our mostly US, mostly family-oriented, real-day-job type players.

I've reached out to many of you via email but now that I'm back from the WSOP, it's time to get things back in gear and have some blogger pokery fun. More coming soon.

I had a few special t-shirts for the summer
The ol' Johnny Cash was pulled out at the start of the obscene $1,000,000 buy-in tournament

Junk food central, Pop's cheesesteaks and candy safely locked up away from me

Things get a little squirrely near the end of the WSOP
Here's WhoJedi with a (non-CGI) lightsaber, and then his new home

Kara Scott with her own lightsaber and a Full Tilt bowling ball
(the last was a little surprising to find)

Finally, home sweet home
Dockside with a Lager

Blogger Tournament Dos

2012-06-28T18:57:00.001-05:00

Friendly reminder for anyone around Saturday afternoon looking to sling some virtual chips at your blogging brothers and sisters, the second Blogger Tournament will held at 3pm ET on Face Up Gaming. I'll be there chipper and happy as a clam at noon my time in Vegas after a long night at the Rio. I'll be even easier money.

I'm considering putting a bounty on Waffles and a few others, just need to find something properly degenerate to taunt people into playing any two cards against him.

Cheers, see you there.

Tournament: Bloggers 2
Date: Saturday, June 30th
Time: 3pm ET - Noon PT
Buyin: Freeroll
Password: battle2

2012 WSOP: Night with Nolan

2012-06-24T18:02:00.001-05:00

This post began three days ago when I was able to just muddle my way through the WSOP looking for anything interesting or someone to hit the bar with me. Then my gig with ChipTic kicked in and actually making me work for a living. Delayed but delivered, even if somewhat less than what I intended at the beginning.

It feels like Nolan Dalla has been around the WSOP since the first event in 1970, not true but it's damned near close. He's one of the good guys who's been around since the time at Binion's and continues to serve as their media director. No matter the issue, all he cares about is protecting the game. This all means the man has stories you've never heard and will never see in print.

Since he covers every final table, generally two a day ending in the wee hours of the morning, you are lucky if you can find a few minutes to shoot the shit before he bolts off towards the other room. There are usually two times during the series when we all have a chance to sit around and have a real conversation. The day before and the day after the Main Event. The last few years we've all gathered at the hooker bar after the November Nine is set in stone to tell tales of the summer and talk wistfully about the past.

This summer we were lucky when an impromptu gathering of poker media types at the Gold Coast bowling alley turned into an early morning, mostly sober (if you can believe that), time of sitting around the bar with Dalla, WhoJedi, and CaityCaity. One of the few notable times when no one within shouting distance of the Rio gave a flying crap about anything WSOP related. Instead it was an enjoyable evening of talking about music, movies, books, hardcore HARDCORE politics, and a little poker at the beginning.

It was one of those great nights when you somehow find out new things about people you've known for years, and interesting things about people you rarely see outside of the poker room. The biggest revelation of the night was finding I was booked into the Gold Coast in the very room Nolan Dalla interviewed Stuey Ungar in the midst of a coke-fueled summer for what would later become One of a Kind: The Rise and Fal of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar.

Unfortunately, I only spent 60 seconds in the room when I asked for another room because my lazy ass didn't want to walk so far to the elevator. History be damned, thank god I didn't keep it and pass out of the floor. The embedded coke might have gotten into my system.

~

Less than a week until the next Blogger Tournament on Face Up Gaming. Lots of swag and a ton of fun.

Tournament: Bloggers 2
Date: Saturday, June 30th
Time: 3pm ET - Noon PT
Buyin: Freeroll
Password: battle2

Blogger Tournament Part Dos

2012-06-19T23:23:00.004-05:00

Ready my friends for the next installment from our friends at Face Up Gaming?

They've scheduled a 2nd blogger tournament for June 30th, plenty of time to check out the site, get registered, and get in the tournament. They just finished a system upgrade this weekend to address some issues including some big improvements in the lobby and continue to improve the product each time.

The tournament will also be running at an East Coast/West Coast friendly time of 3pm ET/Noon PT. This means I can play the tournament on more than 3 hours sleep (and I still beat most ya'll to the final table). Giving away more swag and we're getting enough players to kick off a regular BBT league so we can go back to crushing each other's souls on a regular basis.

If you have any questions, drop me a comment or an email.

Tournament: Bloggers 2
Date: Saturday, June 30th
Time: 3pm ET - Noon PT
Buyin: Freeroll
Password: battle2

See you there (and don't forget Bonus Code ACH, they're tracking our results against all others).

2012 WSOP: Wait for the Book

2012-06-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

Sunday was quiet in the Amazon Room, if you don't count the 3,000 lemurs and random old folks railing the Seniors Event. Only a mild 105 degrees outside and the upset dealers are talking about a mass walkout. Again. (This seems to happen every year around this point, after they've received their first paycheck). Pretty standard issues from everyone else including the players, who have never been the cheeriest bastards in the world.

The last few days have been uneventful according to my liver indicator. Spent a few hours hanging at the Hooker Bar (which, by the way, has it's own Twitter account @HookerBar courtesy of @WhoJedi) with WriterJen Newell and CaityCaity. The weekend was rounding out to be nice and slow until we got the call, a call to return to the Rio, and events which will never truly come out until I get permission and put that shit in a book.

Twas that good.

Cliff Notes version of Friday night included an early exit from the Rio, degenerate gambling at the Gold Coast before getting a call to return to rail Kirk Morrision's dad in the Seniors. That turned into a few beers, big leaguing Gavin Smith moments after he busted the Deuce-to-Seven event, weird conversations in the Rio hallways and then fast forward hours to that "oh shit balls, the sun is up and my ATM card is on fire" moment.

Things were said, promises broken, and random vomiting. All this happened when I was surprisingly the most sober and sane person in the mix. Those night/days/morning I can usually be found on the floor somewhere between my hotel room door and the bathroom or bed. Some day I'll get to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but it won't be this summer and it won't be here.

This promise needs to be kept.

~

Feel free to jump over the Pokerati where I'm putting up a few posts a week which do not include booze, nudity, or craziness. Just my infrequent douchebag-ness, a little snark, and a bit of poker.

2012 WSOP: Series Interruptus

2012-06-14T15:45:00.002-05:00

In all the juggling aroun,d filling needed positions and finding my way to Las Vegas, I somehow neglected to mention the return of Mastodon Weekend. One of my recent favorite times of impromptu degeneracy and good times. The history of this gathering near the gates of Bob Jones University is short but a metric shit ton of fun.

I'm not sure what the G-Vegas guys are thinking this time around though. The most strenuous thing we did at the last Mastodon Weekend was a pub crawl down several blocks of downtown Greenville, SC. Now those crazy crackers want to, and I can barely even type this out, throw a long distance run smack into the middle of the debauchery.

Naturally I will be in town to support those chuckleheads but I'll mostly be there to take up the drinking slack since I'm sure they will take it easy.

Here are the details, as best as I can figure them out. On October 27th is something called "The Run Fest" in Greenville South Cackalacky with cute little names like "Punkin Run" for events which include a marathon, half-marathon, and 5k Run. Sign up, run with the (redacted) or stand on the sidelines with me and a case of beer. Click the link above if interested in the events and register under for the "Mastodon" Team.

I'll be town the entire weekend, leaving Sunday for either Philly or Las Vegas for the ~~November~~ October Nine.

Just to get everyone ramped up, Otis threw together a little trailer for the weekend. Forgive my presence if you can. You should definitely stick around until the very end of the video.

Mastodon Weekend 2012 trailer from Brad Willis on Vimeo.

~~~~

Alright my blogging brothers and sisters. Throwing another reminder out there for anyone who signed up on Face Up Gaming for last weekend's Bloggers tournament. If you registered as a Gold Member, there is a $5,000 cash tournament this Sunday at 3pm (Noon for us Vegas/West Coasters). This is separate from their month end league events and is alone worth the membership.

I'm also in the process of setting up the BBT Blogger League once we have the details locked down. I've been playing the other league tournaments as often as possible trying to earn my way into the $30,000 and $20,000 cash events at the end of July. Check out their promotion page (other promotions besides this weekend's $5,000 event) and league page for details.

Tournament: $5,000 Cash
Date: Sunday, June 17th
Time: 3pmET (Noon PT)
Game: NLHE
Buyin: Membership required

2012 WSOP: Early Mornings or Late Nights

2012-06-11T00:52:00.000-05:00

It's easy to hate the long days hanging around the Rio for the WSOP. The obvious exceptions are when friends win bracelets, I spend hours at the bar, or something historic happens. Friday night was an example of the really bad when I ended up leaving the Amazon Room with WhoJedi at 6am after watching a nearly 4 hour Stud/8 heads up battle. By the end I didn't care who won, although it would have been nice for occasional drunken cohort Todd Brunson could have won it all.

But none of that mattered because one of the good guys, one of the Bash at the Boathouse alumni, won his first WSOP bracelet. Most of my blogger brothers and sisters met Brandon Schaefer either during the 2005 blogger drunkfest in Vegas or in 2006 at the Bash at the Boathouse. I was going to recall those stories and then remembered that Pauly always does it better.

Moments of Clarity: Bash at the Boathouse Part II (For the record, I didn't even remember the first night tournament until tracking down the recap. Booze is good.)

He's a great guy who was unsatisfied with the life of a pro poker player and followed in his brother's footsteps by joining the US Army to become a helicopter pilot. He was actually in Vegas for the Electric Daisy Carnival mass party and decided to play one event while he was on leave before pilot training. He just went ahead and won the damned thing.

Cheers!

~

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday morning for the first blogger tournament on Face Up Gaming. As you can tell from the writeup above, I left the Rio at 6am and was (kinda sort) back awake for the start of the tournament at 10am from somewhere in North Las Vegas.

144 players showed up with a week's notice and a nice representation from the bloggers of old. It looks like lightning36 was the longest lasting of my group of bloggers and will pick up the bonus iPad along with his other swag. Oh yeah, and somehow I managed to finish 9th.

We're planning bigger/better things and this was a good first step. They are interested in hearing back from the bloggers about the tournament experience. Hit my comment section (or my email if you know it) with anything you have to say about the software, structure, the interface, etc. They are making a big push now and taking all the input they can get.

FYI for anyone who signed up for Gold Membership while registering, they running $5,000 cash tournament next Sunday, June 17th.

2012 WSOP: Back to the "Grind"

2012-06-08T16:20:00.001-05:00

After missing the first week of the WSOP, I was contacted by ChipTic (the company working to supply damned-near-live chip counts. When the bugs are ironed out) about coming out to do some work. I was starting to get a little home sick for the Rio and took the offer. I was 30 feet from the door when someone offered up their bad beat story, the homesickness is gone.

It didn't take long to get back into the swing of things drunken degenerate-wise either. A well known pro would be picking me up off the floor of the hooker bar before I was in town for 24 hours. Time zone change, lack of food, and seeing old friends just made dumping a bottle of booze on top a little fool hardy. The sainted life of the idiot.

And the hooker bar had themselves a little upgrade. Say hi to Erica on the right. They found a new way to suck extra money from my pockets in the form of generous tips.

Other than the first night of insanity, and perhaps a little more of the same Wednesday, it's been a slow start to the summer and building up. The in(s)ane Electric Daisy Carnival Kill a Puppy rave is in town meaning every hotel is packed with zombies wearing bikinis and tutus.

Those are just the guys.

More fun to come as a few friends have gotten very close to winning a bracelet and I haven't checked out the new Vanessa Rousso, Liv Boeree, Maria Ho mansion which say nearly half a dozen trip to the ER during their first party.

Back with more later, I'm also posting over at Pokerati for Dan while I'm in town to keep things hopping.

Don't forget tomorrow's Blogger Tournament on Face Up Gaming. Cruise for 2, iPads, and other swag up for grabs.

Date: Saturday, June 9th
Time: 13:00ET
Game: NLHE
Buyin: Freeroll
Password: BATTLE (password is case sensitive)

1st - Bahamas Poker Cruise
2nd and 3rd - Blue Shark Optic Sunglasses - Value $150
4th - 6th - Face Up Hoodie
7th - 10th - Face Up Logo Wear
11- 20th - 300 tournaments points

The iPads will be awarded to the top performers from other blogger leagues (Pokerati, Ante Up, ACH, and PocketFives).

Here We Go

2012-06-04T19:52:00.002-05:00

Everything has been ironed out and we have our first "Blogger Only" poker tournament setup on Face Up Gaming. They've pulled together some prizes to give out for our first event and I'm hoping for a great turnout (or at least let me win the thing). Top prize is a Ante Up cruise for 2 courtesy of Face Up Gaming plus other swag including 3 iPads.

(In non-pimping thoughts, oh man are the fields soft. So soft that I can beat them. Early Party-fishtank soft.)

The tournament runs this Saturday, June 9th at 13:00ET and it's open to bloggers and readers. You do not need a Gold Membership to register, just signup and play. This will be a great test run for the future and a big showing will give us a chance to expand and make ourselves a nice home.

I'll be playing from the pressbox at the WSOP, so I'll be distract and even easier money then before.

Date: Saturday, June 9th
Time: 13:00ET
Game: NLHE
Buyin: Freeroll
Password: BATTLE (password is case sensitive)

1st - Bahamas Poker Cruise
2nd and 3rd - Blue Shark Optic Sunglasses - Value $150
4th - 6th - Face Up Hoodie
7th - 10th - Face Up Logo Wear
11- 20th - 300 tournaments points

The iPads will be awarded to the top performers from other blogger leagues (Pokerati, Ante Up, ACH, and PocketFives).

Poker with the bloggers again, and I expect Waffles to remind me why I gave up playing against him.

Face Up Gaming Wants Bloggers!

2012-05-31T18:32:00.000-05:00

And our action!

This break in my walk down the 2011 memory lane is brought to you by more free stuff.

I've been working with Face Up Gaming and we're getting closer to bringing back a series of tournaments for the bloggers and readers with actual money (and other real world prizes) instead of play money chips on Stars. It looks like we're going to be able to warm this thing up slowly and build it back up to where we were on April 14th last year starting with a few private tournaments awarding poker cruise giveaways and some iPads.

Face Up Gaming is also starting their next season of their tournament league tomorrow, June 1st, with a bunch of qualifying tournaments over the next two months. This past weekend they awarded $50,000 in cash for the latest tournament league and that's what is on the line at the end of this season. None of which I collected because I came to the game too late. Other promotions they have coming up include a seat in this year's WSOP Senior's Event, CardPlayer Cruise packages, and the LIPS Poker Queen Grand Championship. They also have two $5,000 freerolls coming up on June 10th and 17th.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think. I like the software, it has actual real prizes, and the soft soft fields you would expect from a new site. They make my level of play look high. By tomorrow I will have details about when the blogger tournaments will run and what they will be giving away.

Bonus code ACH (I really should have picked up Bonus Code IGGY!)

2011 Roadtrip: Home and Foxwoods

2012-05-24T19:42:00.001-05:00

I did something last week which would have generated two thousands words of blog spew just a few short years ago. But now it just resulted in some irritation and excessive drinking. My laptop, barely a year old, completely shit the bed with an irreparable hardware issue causing random shutdowns. If your system won't stay up long enough to get through 2 minutes of porn, it's time to reload.

I handled it in such a way that it will no longer bother me and I'm surprised I forgot to grab a picture of the final solution (Was never able to use those two words together when I worked for Siemens). After finding a replacement system, I removed the hard drive even though my files were sufficiently backed up. I then calmly picked up my old, trusty laptop and snapped that sumbitch across my knee in such a manner as to neatly separate the two halves. The results were placed in their proper receptacles and I walked to the bar to get snookered.

So there's the simple explanation for dropping off the grid for a few days. The birth of a new system.

~

After spending most of January 2011 on the road, the local dive bar welcomed me back with open arms. And booze, pizza, cigarettes, and candies. In the middle of my short time in Philly I was summoned to Foxwoods Casino for some fun with WhoJedi, Timtern, etc. No matter the fact that Foxwoods forcibly enforces it's ridiculous last call and drinking policy, a good time was had by all.

Tasty tasty

BigMike tracking our various Super Bowl prop bets, I lost

Cruising past NYC on the way to Foxwoods

Short-rib Stroganoff at David Burke's Prime...

followed by the "Can of Cake"

Battle of the Bloggers 6?

2012-05-19T20:11:00.004-05:00

Mayhaps.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the folks behind the new poker site called Face Up Gaming. It was a round-about process which included Riggstad, Pokerati Dan, about a dozen missed calls and a spam box full of messages never reaching the promised land. They are a new subsciption based model and were wondering about running a similar blogger series like the Battle of the Blogger tournaments I ran while toiling away at Full Tilt Poker. I sent out a few feeler emails (if I missed you, I apologize. My old blogger email database was lost in a blown up laptop drive poof last year) but the response has mostly been "show me what you've got".

We're still working out details a BBT-type setup but they already have everything in place to run individual leagues which seems to work well with what I have in mind. Now I just need to find out what I can get to dump even more on top. So far I dig the software (multi-tabling!) and it doesn't require a software download.

They are running a $5,000 freeroll on Sunday at 3pm ET (12:00 PT) if you want to kick the tires and check it out. It will require a membership to register for the tournament but it's also a 14 free trial to give it a try.

I'd be interested in everyone's opinion and thoughts, hopefully I can have something rock solid for prizes and a schedule next week. You can register with the link above or the banner below. In the old manner of the Blogfather, BONUS CODE ACH!

2011 Roadtrip: January in New Orleans

2012-05-17T15:40:00.000-05:00

After spending two very cold January weeks in Chicago and Minneapolis, plus five very uncomfortable hours stuck in a train in Wisconsin, my initial plan was to make my first ever visit to Hawaii. Old friends made a move there and offered up their guest room for a few weeks of fun in the sun. Then they moved home just two weeks before I was to step foot on the plane. I ran through several warmer climate options and came up with New Orleans. My favorite city in the world and I hadn't been back since Hurricane Katrina. I fell back in love with the city and went back two more times before the end of the year.

Two of the first places I stop for grub in Nola, ACME Oyster House and Lucky Dogs after I'm wasted

Hand Grenades!

Had to swear to my friends that it wasn't me being hauled out on a stretcher in the middle of the day

Alley to the greatest heavy metal dive bar in the world, followed by feats o' strength

St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square

Dinner at Delmonico, lamb tenderloin (with bonus sausage) followed by Banana's Foster

Absolutely addicted to beignets, my typical breakfast was a bacon and egg sandwich and order of beignets

2011 Roadtrip: January in Chicago and Minneapolis

2012-05-15T16:36:00.000-05:00

What the hell, why not get right into it. Not like I have anywhere to be or things to do. I'm going to start shipping up a metric shit ton of photos the next fews days that I collected over the last year. I'll start with January and see how far I get before I get tired of editing pictures and loading them aboard.

The first trip of the year was an impromptu trip to Chicago in the middle of January. Not the best time for my first real time in Chicago but our boy GamblingBlues was just a few weeks away from moving to Australia and a bunch of us flew in to suprise him. Booze, great food, good times, and more booze.

"Brunch" time for beers and basketball

Learn it, Live it, Love it

The bar tab from the previous night including "basket of bacon"

Shots!

Menu at the famous Kuma's Corner

Decided the Mastodon burger was the way to go, I was correct

After Chicago, I went north to balmy Minnesota for some Drizzle prop betting on Big Buck Hunter...

and this idiotic thing

Naturally this happened

Time to Catch Up

2012-05-14T22:18:00.001-05:00

"Where the hell have you been?" is the question not asked by many people. Somewhere along the line I forgot the notification that my hosting account was expiring and it never occurred to me until someone sent me a message asking why I shut my site down. Never known for it's high brow content or deft touch at handling tough topics, the site (which at one points WAS a real site and not just a blogspot mirror) was so far in the back of my mind that I couldn't even remember the various logons to get it all back.

Then a few people tweaked me about letting it die, a few more situations came up where I wished I had a proper place to vent, and then I found myself unemployed for the first time since I was in high school. So it's back alive and actually restored pretty well thanks to a rigorous backup strategy so I would not lose 600mb of half or completely nekkid girls. God damn priorities.

Plus I missed my blogging brethren. I still chat with Pauly and Otis and Iggy (when his ass isn't knee deep in swamp) but I've avoided most of the blogging world once "blogging" actually became a job with Full Tilt and then the behind the scenes work with Epic Poker. Two companies. One DoJ indictment, one Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. I rule. But it seems things keep right on rolling as I'm going through my ancient links on the right and finding a number of old friends still splatting the internet with written diarrhea.

I was saddened when I learned Pauly was hanging up Tao of Poker. He was the first one around these parts who I met in person, and like everything else turned into one of the funny/crazy stories we continue to find ourselves playing out. The site will be missed if it never returns, it was a bright spot in the land of quote poker media unquote which is covered from end to end with under-qualified chuckleheads getting into the gig just to meet their favorite players instead of actually reporting on anything of substance. Pauly never gave a fuck what anyone thought and still doesn't.

~

2011 was cruising along like a goddamn champ. I was making good money with Tilt, spending most of my time flying from one fun location to another, meeting a ton of great people, and usually drinking every bar out of SoCo. I was a roadtripping fool. Then my phone blew up while I was travelling back home from Ocean City, MD on April 15th and my life went sideways when the Department of Justice indicted Full Tilt, PokerStars, and UB. It wasn't a complete cock up of my life because somehow I managed to save a few ducats and bounced a few more trips including hitting Las Vegas even though Tilt was dead.

My next gig went something like Jennifer Newell put me in touch with old blogger friend Michael Craig who turned around and got me in touch with the bigwigs at Epic Poker. That was a *short* fun gig acting as content manager but more importantly continued money flowing into my account to keep up my roadtrip. Before the end of the year, my silly schedule had me flying over 75,000 miles all within the continental US.

Three separate trips to New Orleans where I fell back in love with a city. It has everything you can find in Las Vegas without the soul suck and the food/music/environment is better. I went to California a few times, most importantly with the boy to catch the Big 4 Festival just a few days after Black Friday. Reno, the Outer Banks, Daytona, Key West as well as the requisite half dozen trips to Las Vegas rounded out a year that was probably too much fun for one guy to handle.

Perhaps I'll begin to fill in the blanks for everyone as I go along. There were too many to plug them all in with my first "screw it, I'm back" post but I'll throw some pictures up over the next few days as the poor writer's crutch.

~

Another thing I actually missed last year was running the always anticipated, eventually hated Battle of the Blogger tournaments. If you don't know, that was such a huge pain in my ass it took a big kick in the ass for me to ever get it in gear. But the stat geek and fine hearted man I find somewhere down deep went ahead and built it back up to give away a bunch of free WSOP seats or whatever else they threw my way.

That's all gone the way of the doodoo bird unless you count the free home games on PokerStars but where's the fun without prizes. I've actually been talking to a new company about doing something similar to what we used to do but no promises at the moment. Everyone talks great until it's time to put their money where their hole is located. Battle of the Blogger Tournaments 6? I'd give it about a 20-to-1 shot, mostly because I'm not sure I want to put myself through that crap again.

~

Steve and BadBlood wait for Slayer

2012-04-13T14:24:00.001-05:00

2010 WPBT: Good Food Good God

2010-12-21T18:24:00.001-05:00

Philly 'burbs
December 2010

It's not uncommon for me to wake up on my hotel room floor in Vegas. First nights and last nights get me on a regular basis plus a few times during the WSOP I would go off the rails on occasion. Day 2 starting off that way seemed normal.

Even so I didn't feel too bad when I finally opened my eyes. It was just a matter of climbing onto the bed, make sure all my pieces were where they should be, and naturally check Twitter to see if I made a fool of myself. Twitter is a blessing and a curse. What I did find on Twitter was something from Joanada, it seems someone died that night out by the jacuzzi.

Could it be possible we finally killed someone on these trips?

I chanced the blazing Vegas sun to peak out of window and sure enough there was police tape help up by various plastic lawn furniture and traffic cones. Luckily our entire crew was accounted but some poor dude's last moments on this earth were tragically spent at the Imperial Palace. If I go out that way can someone please drag my corpse somewhere like the Rhino or Aria?

It was a wasted "non-hangover" day since there was nothing on my agenda except the Geisha bar and friends. Whatever booze left in my system was washed out by bottles of water and blessed pound cake (professional pre-stocked hotel room) and I was ready to hit the Venetian/Palazzo for football and setting up Lagasse's. That portion of my day consisted of walking over with CK and Snuffy, running into the G-Vegas degens, getting lost in the Palazzo, and calling bullshit on the packed sportsbook.

Back to my comfort zone, Geisha bar.

I would just butcher so many names or leave them out if I went for the list, but there were a shit ton of bloggers getting looped around the bar. The rest were equally dispersed between the craps and pai gow tables. The Blogfather was holding court, Falstaff once again drinking from his private beer pitcher (no cup required), I was knocking back shots and everyone was complaining about the technological black hole that is the IP.

It was the Garthmeister who came to the rescue with a good reason to stay sober-ish. There was a spot to join a crew for dinner at Picasso's in the Bellagio. I snap called.

I am a life nit. I will find the cheapest flights, hotel rooms, deals, specials, anything. Except for booze and food. For those two I will mortgage the house without blinking. Naturally I was up for a fantastic meal with friends. Luckily this is Vegas and they won't care my entire wardrobe consists of jeans and t-shirts, cash plays.

Garth, Saunter, Gracie, SSPablo, OhCaptain, Katitude, and Drizzle were a witness to the crimes committed in the name of fine dining. Five course Chef Degustation is basically a meal consisting of whatever the hell they decide to send your way and you kick back and enjoy.

Potato and Leek Soup

Maine Lobster Salad with Apple-Champagne Vinaigrette

Pan Seared Boat Scallops with Potato Mousseline and Jus de Veau

Sautéed Steak of Foie Gras

Roasted Lamb Chops with Zucchini Farci and Bordelaise Mustard Sauce

Warm Chocolate Fondant with Almond Mocha Ice Cream, Amaretto Caramel

Every dish was one more step along the path until we sat back with those silly "fat and happy" grins. The most intense was the "Steak" of Foie Gras. I love me some sauteed fatty goose liver but god damn, this was a STEAK. Biggest piece anyone has put in front of me and I'm just a little ashamed I did not finish it.

Ending Day 2 with great friends and great food was a fine way to go out. I tried to drink after dinner but was just too damned full to have any effect. I chose my "one big meal" over booze and it was an easy decision.

~

Funny moment of dinner was running into Antonio Esfandiari in Picasso's celebrating his victory the night before in the WPT Five Diamond event. His table was loud and packed, our table was loud and packed, but in the end we won the night as the last table standing.

Also, below you can see the view we had from the restaurant (taken with crappy iPhone). It was a little distracting with water cannons exploding every 30 minutes but we put up with it just fine. We know how to sacrifice with the rest of them.

WPBT 2010: National Irresponsibility Day

2010-12-15T19:36:00.000-05:00

Philly 'burbs
December 2010

It looks like everyone has returned from blogger hijinks in Las Vegas all in one piece. I know I feel a whole lot better returning from this trip then normal. It usually takes a few days hunkered under the blankets before I can pull my head of my ass and resume life in the real world. But I set some weird drunk record by only waking up on my floor once during the trip and then making an appearance in the morning AFTER sleeping instead of still being awake.

Wednesday was going to be my easy day. No responsibilities other than getting silly, catching up with friends, and perhaps drown in a bottle of Soco. I didn't have anywhere to be until sometime late Thursday night living a big window open for a possible alcohol induced coma. Day 1's are always rough on my system.

The flight out was uneventful, check it went smoothly, and I found the Joanada/Buddy Dank contingent sitting at the Geisha bar as my welcome. My next step was stock the shitty IP hotel room for future good health. I loaded up the place with bottles of water and food-ish items for bounce back assistance. There would be no rehash of the Burger Palace hangover stumble or gag inducing room service pizza.

Things kicked off just like every other drunken mess, Geisha Bar and shots. CaityCaity and BWOP joined us at the Geisha Bar where somehow I got it in my head they were loving the cheap shots of Gentleman Jack. Turned out to be a bad read but not before I pumped 3 or 4 shots down some guts setting the foundation for later.

It seemed like a great idea to walk over to the Bellagio where they were taping the final table of the Five Diamond Classic with Bob (aka @scsuhockey10). There was a big line to get into the room but thank god the Fontana Lounge was right there for drinking entertainment. It seemed like every time we grabbed a shot, another person we knew walked by. Before long my head was swimming and we were chastised by the film crew for yelling during hands, who knew it was just a thin curtain between us and the action.

CaityCaity, BWOP, and PokerVixen set up a nice, goofy 3/6 mix game at the IP while we were busy getting ourselves in trouble. We thought it best to stagger back in that direction to spend money on buyins instead of bail.

/insert fuzzy head

I don't remember much about the game other than I was winning games I'd never played and losing games (and badly misreading my hands) in those I've played before. Two days later my neck was inexplicably sore until I remember getting a massage at the table that night/morning. If I didn't fall asleep, I'm surprised. I finished pretty much even for the session before one last drink(s) with PokerVixen at the bar.

A few hours later and I said good morning to my hotel room floor.

Nasty Imperial Palace poker chips

WPBT Additions

2010-12-03T14:10:00.011-05:00

The WPBT drink-fest/poker tournament is just a few days in the future and I decided to add a little to the mix. Not to be left behind by PokerStars, I went to my Full Tilt Poker overlords and pulled some resources. We kicked around some ideas and here's what we came up with.

Full Tilt is kicking in another $1,000 to the WPBT tournament prizepool at Aria on Saturday. It will be distributed with $100 save for the bubble boy/girl, $300 for first, $200 for second, $175 for third, $125 for fourth, $100 for fifth.

Full Tilt is also adding five $100 bounties on random players which will be announced before the tournament. I'm working on a few "blogger friendly" FTP pros to pop in so you can knock them out. Both the added prizepool and bounties will be transferred to your Full Tilt account (as per the casino rules, not mine)

The big ticket item doesn't come until Sunday, football day. I have reserved the big room at Lagasse's Stadium in The Palazzo. Full Tilt is putting up $2,000 for the food tab throughout the day, that is a lot of tasty Emeril food to go around.

April has all the details of the WPBT tournament.
Facebook event page to RSVP for the tournament.
Up for Poker has the complete list of added on prize money.

~

For those who will question, Full Tilt is not paying for any part of the booze tab. I did not want them responsible for anyone over-indulging (that would be me) plus not everyone drinks. This gives everyone a piece of the action. Eat up.

That also means we will have a separate check for the booze, everyone drinking is on the hook to pay their part. Last year quite a few people pulled the old drink and dash leaving behind a big tab. I'll leave it up to your imagination what will happen if you ditch on my tab this year.

~

While I'm busy doing announcements, we've also set up a poker training session before the WPBT tournament. I realize every poker blogger in the world is already the best on the planet but who couldn't use a refresher?

Alex Outhred from Deepstack University, friend of bloggers and drunks, has offered a drastically discounted rate for a little two hour session. The cost is $25 and runs at Aria from 10am until noon (start of the WPBT tournament). $10 from each will go back into the prizepool in the form of bounties on players.

The session caps at 18 players so let me or April know if you are interested.

Dive Bar Fail

2010-12-01T15:52:00.005-05:00

Philly 'burbs
November 2010

Last night I decided to do everyone a favor and get myself happy at the same time. I walked up to the dive bar, bringing along my new Flip cam to take a short video of the place to show what I was speaking of yesterday. We could all decide whether my description was accurate or I was full of crap.

Then I had my first huge shot and the next thing I know the bartender was dropping me off at the house 3 o'clock this morning with a prestine, and video free, camcorder.

I did manage to meet a girl there who was way out of her element. She wasn't fall down drunk, twitchy from various drugs, or spewing filth from her mouth. Some would say the only downside to this 23 year old girl was her taste in music, she asked me to put some Foghat and .38 Special on the jukebox. I complied and still ended up with a ride home from the staff. It's in their best interest that I don't die on the way home.

~

During my "hiatus" you may have noticed Dr. Pauly released Lost Vegas upon the world. I'd love to do a proper review but I'm not exactly an objective writer. Somehow I manage to find my way into a few spots throughout the novel without seeming to be a complete wacko. I'm still waiting on someone (ahem Julius Goat) to finish up a proper review for me to post on the Tilt blog but the few readers I have left already own it. Here are some of the early reviews.

I personally enjoyed it, brought back some old memories and highlighted some stories I hadn't heard before. You can pick it up here a Lulu or at Amazon.com (both print and Kindle versions). Click on the link above for your options.

I was excited to see Dr. Pauly is also doing a rewrite on his first novel Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. I'm lucky enough to have an early manuscript and it is easily my favorite story. I can't wait.

~

Random crappy iPhone pictures

You can tell by the attention, I was cooking bacon

Some tailgating supplies for an August Phillies game
Unable to prop bet anyone into eating all the cheesy puffs

Two great tastes that taste great together
Bonus points if you can name the bar

Catching Up

2010-11-30T16:19:00.004-05:00

Philly 'burbs
November 2010

So what the holy hell have I been doing with myself over the twelve months since I barely posted during 2010 with the exception of getting reamed for BBT5 by friends and enemies. I honestly spent a good part of that time getting nice and drunk without apology.

I found myself a little dive bar which fulfills most of my desires, my version of the FDA requirements to call itself a "dive bar".

Starts off with the tobacco cloud filled tiny room thanks to a Pennsylvania loophole which allows certain bars to allow smoking. There is one tiny pool table with the expected rips in the felt and the usual arguments between players, players/drunks, players/drunks/players/bouncers, etc. They have a series of beer coolers across the back wall containing various beers, coolers, and malted liquors available for takeout. I understand their selection of 40 ouncers is top of the class. 1970's style linoleum lining the slightly off plumb bar top, drunk old guys sleeping face down, a bathroom that is literally a hole in the wall.

None of those are necessarily negatives, just a little color in a world gone bland. Throw in cheap shots of booze plus women of questionable morals and you've got yourself a recipe for a fine home bar. It's also walking distance giving me no excuse to slow down. We plow right through last call after I was granted "favored patron" status. You would think it was an after-hours bar with the number of times I've stumbled down the middle of the road during sunrise.

Throwin' the drunken goat

It's good to have a home bar even if it's for just a short amount of time.

Another quick story/brag. The bar used to be covered in that 70's linoleum and only had a two tap system with Yuengling and Bud. It turns out I spent enough money there during the spring they did a little upgrade while I was in Vegas for the summer. I came back and the owner proudly showed me the upgraded bar top and new 6 tap system so they could expand to such premium brands as Miller Lite, Bud Light, and Coors Lite. I'm so proud.

~

What did I miss around the blogging world while I was ratholing stories and shielding my eyes from others? Not very much it seems. It was nearly impossible to pour through thousands of hand history posts and the worst I could find was some insignificant gruff about Doc Chako enjoying his well earned success. Chuckleheads and Douche Canoes abound. I've got a Porsche in my future if I'd just get over this addiction to booze and travel.

My most recent accomplishment was probably why I'll find it so easy to just jump back in here. For the first time I gave NaNoWriMo a shot and managed to finish a few days early. 50,000 words during the month of November, with a week spent working in Las Vegas, was pretty damned tough. I have an all new respect for guys like Dr. Pauly, Otis, Falstaff, etc who do this on a regular basis.

Turns out I could find all those words just talking about my old days of banging around the bars before I started putting them here. My formative days ya might say. I doubt anyone would give a flying fuck enough to read a bit of it but the he process was cathartic (big fancy writer's word right there) and it felt good to get through it all.

So no, you can't read it although I may pull out some of the better stories to put on here.

Holy Crap!

2010-11-29T20:23:00.003-05:00

Philly 'burbs
November 2010

It's been a long time since I've thrown anything down in this space. If it wasn't for the occasional reminder from my hosting company about bills coming due it might completely slip my mind. I would love to say I miss this blackhole of drunken desperation but don't know if I can. I spent a lot of time putting my thoughts down in print, those things I could remember, for a few people to read along.

But I've enjoyed the reprieve from the desire to share. I throw my liver in a wagon, drag it off to the local dive bar and let it have it's fun. Sure I spew a few golden idiotic quotes out in the twitter world but the vast majority of the craziness is safely confined in my ever slowing brain. I have the ol' Full Tilt blog to keep me busy during the "work day" but there is little creativity involved and not nearly as much degeneracy as you would expect from a professional poker blog.

You'd think spending another summer in Las Vegas would provide a shit ton of stories to spew further upon the world but for the most part it was just taking care of business. Doesn't mean there were more than a few occasions when I found myself waking up on the Gold Coast hotel room floor surrounded by piles of room service trays or a camera full of images requiring instant deletion. There were plenty of nights which ended with me passed out for a few days, but I'm keeping those to myself.

For now.

Things have been uneventful since returning to the east as I prepare for a 2011 which promises to kick my ass. I've squirreled away a few dollars here and there, been relatively responsible with my drinking (which means I'm going to cheap bars, not drinking less) and I'm ready to hit the road with the new year. Plans are already set in motion to take me everywhere from the east coast to Texas to Minnesota to California and even a little hop across the Pacific to Hawaii. No particular order so far but I'm packing up the laptop, camera, and even a brand new Flip cam for some video.

I'm going to fit some "work" into the trip as well, figured I might as well throw some poker in as a common theme and visit as many casinos, home games, back room session that I can fit into the schedule to provide a little content for my Tilty overlords. Just give me a passable internet connection, bottle of booze and pack of smokes then I'm good to go.

Before that of course is the little blogger gathering which is going down in just over a week. After flip flopping several times I decided to head back to the desert to drink with my degenerate friends. Not the easiest decision after spending the summer (and a week in November) but there are enough reasons to make it happen. See y'all at the geisha bar.

I miss checking in for some of the crazy inter-blogger silliness. Flame wars, hurt feelings, and other silly things. It's been so long since I've read a poker blog that I didn't even realize bloglines.com went belly up, I managed to copy my blogroll over to Google and it stopped counting at 1000+ unread posts. I'm trying to catch up so you'll have to be patient. It's fun to run across posts from last spring ripping me for the BBT Challenge, good times.

So time to fire the old drunken story telling machine back up and see what she has left in the tank. Here are a few pictures from the last six months.

Decided to go fishing with Eva and the new hubby, no tuna on the line but I did manage to pull in a nice mahi mahi

We had a hitchhiker later in the day as this wee lil bird hopped on the boat and took a liking to everyone on the boat except me (I told him he probably tasted like chicken)

Sunrise 90 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean

Sunset on the way back into to Belmar, NJ

September brought a nice week long vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, this was the final dinner sitting beach/ocean side

That trip also introduced me to the "John Daly" which is sweet tea vodka and lemonade
The picture on the right is my "shot" for the Drunk Olympics

This is what we found each morning, it was a good week
There was also an evening that involved a bikini contest

In October I had a nice double header, Eagles game in the afternoon and Phillies playoff game that evening

2010 WSOP: Beer Pong Warmup or New Home?

2010-05-31T00:23:00.004-05:00

Las Vegas, NV
May, 2010

I have one major problem with spending so much time in Las Vegas. It's very tough for me to find a bar that fits me, somewhere which feels like a damn bar should. Everything thing here is either in the middle of the casino, a god forsaken dance club, or a sportsbook. Even going to catch a Steel Panther shows feels more "clubby" then a proper rock show. There are still a few hidden gems, including the one bar in Vegas that a lot of us have claimed as our own and is still mostly secreted away from the creetins.

Wednesday I found a place that felt like home.

A few weeks before heading out west I was approached about participating in the Doyle Brunson Beer Pong Invitational to be held a few days before the WSOP kicked off. I'm always up for a little craziness so I immediately threw my name in the pool and looked forward to a little boozy release before the grind. Nevermind I hadn't thrown a ping pong ball at a plastic cup in a decade, booze and friends were a worthy draw.

The tournament was schedule to kickoff sometime after 2pm at Hogs and Heifers downtown. Never one to delay the inevitable, I grabbed a cab and was the first person to enter the bar. Cute bartenders barely dressed in tiny leather bikini tops, beat up bar, HUGE surly bartenders, classic rock. Workable first impressions. My first drink was a Bass instead of jumping straight into the hard stuff since there was no way to know how decent my head would need to be.

Lesson learned from being fucking ripped out of my mind at the blogger tournament in December.

I enlisted Matt "All In At 420" Stout as my partner thinking he likely had more recent experience at the game and had the tolerance beyond most. We drew Hoyt Corkins and Steve "gboro780" Gross in our first match right in the middle of the room. We quickly fell behind 6-1 in cups with them hitting the final cup but Stout saved us with the rebuttal. From there we battled back to get heads up cup-for-cup. We were the team of destiny! That's what we kept telling ourselves. We kept repeating it after we lost and were chugging shots at the bar while the Corkins team moved on.

But now the real fun kicked in. The bar owner, Michelle Dell, was standing on the bar yelling out the action over a bullhorn while we were shooting our match. She seemed to take great join in my CantHang nickname and called it out often. Remember the "Lil" character who owned the bar in Coyote Ugly? That was her, except louder. And cooler. I was already doing shots with the bartender before my match (Jameson, go figure that one) but it was time to get friendly with a bar owner.

I haven't a clue what hell-mouth kind of booze she was knocking back but it looked a combination between whiskey and moonshine. Shot, shot, carbomb, beer, shot, etc. All this was going on during the tournament and the CantHang yell would be heard from atop the bar. My call to pony up for more liquid torture.

Have a great conversation with some poker friends, time for shots. Meet some new people, time for shots. Random hot girls walk into the bar, time for shots. The theme was repeated constantly until I realized two things.

One, I was completely broke.

Two, the bar was empty of every "poker" person.

It was just me, the bartenders, big burly bouncers and the regular Wednesday crew in downtown Las Vegas. Neither situation was terrible, it was just a matter of hitting up the Bank of CantHang then continuing the destruction. The second crew of bartenders took their spots while the first shift pulled up a barstool on the drinking side. Stories were passed around as much as the glasses, there might have been some dancing, there was certainly a lot of fun.

When the fuzzy alarm went off in my head I decided it was time to hoof my wasted ass back to the hotel. Problem was finding a cab on this little street and actually having enough money to get back to the strip. I was pointed towards Binion's with a laugh where I found someone willing to take my last few dollars bills to get me home. I amazingly ended up back at my hotel without getting rolled or buried in the desert because I passed out the second he pulled away from the cab.

The next morning I found a note in my pocket. "Come back anytime CantHang, Michelle".

I found my new drinking home. Watch out.

~

Some horrible iPhone pictures from the night

Shots were all over the place

A little dancing on the bar

Cute bartender through the five-hole of the bar owner

TUBE SOCKS! Wish the picture was better

2010 WSOP: Getting Ready

2010-05-25T17:38:00.003-05:00

Las Vegas, NV
May 2010

Greetings from the Gold Coast Casino in the desert of Vegas. It's not elegant or spectacular or noteworthy other than a place to distract me from the Rio. It also holds two of my favorite late night Asian eateries and a place which will make me a milkshake exactly when and how I want it. Plus the best Pai Gow action in town. I'm not a hard man to please.

I'll spend the next two months splitting my time between here, the Rio Convention Center, and just about any place which serves a decent shot of booze. If I'm given the chance to prop bet on ridiculous things, that's just a bonus. It's pretty cool sitting here with a few days still sitting between myself and the start of the WSOP. That feeling will quickly change sometime around Saturday when we have the first $1,000 running of the lemurs.

This will be just my second full WSOP I'll be here but I have a good idea of what to expect. It will feel weird with MeanGene as one of my drinking partners this year especially with those Philadelphia Flyers making the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. Last year I watched him just about jump out of skin throughout Penguins run. We do have Spaceman making coming out for the summer so I hope he packed his drinking shoes for those "dinner breaks" with CaliJen and the Miller.

I only have a few days scheduled off between now and the end of July but they should be fun. The US/England World Cup match will find quite a few of us camped out at a sportsbook on June 12th, I plan to invade the Binion's LO8 tournament with CK (and whoever else) to blast away at the drunk-tards, I'll have to take a day off when BigMike and crew make an appearance later in the summer. The rest of the time will be spent sitting on media row or walking the tournament room. It's the glamorous life. There will also be a few WSOP related parties that I'll be attending for purely work-related stories.

CK has been keeping a tab on when various bloggers are coming in town for different events. You should check it out and let her know. I will certainly try to make a little time when I can but you'll understand that work comes first. Feel free to flag me down, yell at me, buy some shots.

The majority of my poker content will be posted up on Poker From the Rail and I plan to write as much as possible the other interesting things which occur but don't necessarily meet the professional constraints of The Man. The camera is charged for a combination of stills and videos, the recorder is ready for those silly conversations which pop up at various bars. Overall I'm pretty well set up mentally, emotionally, physically ready to make my way through the insanity of the WSOP.

We start off the festivies on Wednesday where I somehow made the field in the Doyle Brunson Beer Pong Invitational Tournament. I'm brought in Matt "All In At 420" Stout as my partner which somehow made us the favored team by both Dr. Pauly and the entities at Wicked Chops Poker. I don't see it happening but it should be a fun way to start the summer.