Archive for the 'WPBT' Category

This will be an attempt to finish my WPBT report…but don’t hold your breath as I’m not holding mine. If you visit the first pages I put up, there are a few corrections with pictures and names and blog urls attached - instead of unknowns. Thanks everyone for sending me an email. During the coming weeks I may post a picture and if one of you knows the mystery blogger, please send me the name and URL. And if your picture is up, and your eye color isn’t exactly as you remember it was when you looked in the mirror this morning, it’s because you had major red eye in the picture I have of you and I ‘touched’ it up. Live with it…ok? (more…)

The WPBT - what an event. There’s not enough energy in my fingers and brain to fill in everything that happened today or to even begin to express my feelings about all the fantastic people that introduced themselves to me. I’ve never felt more welcome and secure in a group of people that simply come together to have a good time, try to beat each other’s brains out in a game of poker, and then go home and write about it. Incredible! I’m just a little old granny, pecking along in cyber space and slinging tickets across the green felt…but D-A-M-N!!! They made me feel like I’m a super star. (more…)

It’s ‘Blogger’s Eve’. I wish I was out pillaging and screaming with the rest of the crew, taking Vegas by storm, but this kid’s butt is dragging. Long day and it started early. I had to go across the world to Camping World - way early - and leave my truck for the fifth wheel hitch installation and then across a continent or two to Wheeler RV where I finalized the deal on my fifth wheel. When Darian and me, include Riot, pulled up at the office, my fifth wheel was sitting out in the ‘walk through’ parking, waiting for me to drive it away, and it is HUGE! For some reason, sitting in amongst the other fifth wheels and motor homes, it looked sort of…well…sort of…quite not so big. But when I’m pulling up next to it in a truck…Kee-rist!

The whole process at Wheeler took much longer than I would have liked, especially since I’d had very little sleep, and Riot was engaged in being what his name implies…a real riot. He was racing everywhere as soon as we let go of him, running into private offices, screaming, “Puppy!” when he saw a cat, and yelling, “Bye-bye!” as he waved to everyone and went past them on a dead run…intermingled with a, “Hi,” now and then. Damn it! He’s so cute and so much fun. I really enjoyed every second of him and felt that he was pretty well behaved for a 20-month-old kid with an attention span that lasts as long as it takes for his eye to light on the next object.

Finally the papers were signed, my fifth wheel went back to the hold lot, it is going to get a special coat of Xzilon…hell yes I’m paying for it…and I will do the ‘walk through’ next Saturday and drive - it - off - the - lot. *Swallowing hard* Damn - it’s big. But then so is my truck. That’s a helluva lot of big.

And then it was back across the continents to Camping World where I ordered a generator and a w/d for the fifth wheel, picked up my truck, and headed back across the world for home. Too much ‘doin’s’ in one day for this kid. I was dragging.

*****

Here’s what I’m missing right now - NOT!

Oh yes, the scenery is beautiful, the setting so serene, but when winter rolls in it gets downright damn mean. Although this picture is taken by Flathead Lake (my MT buddette, Boly, furnished it - taken a few days ago), most of MT is colder than a well digger’s ass at the North Pole - freaking cold. My sis, the Ickster AKA Vickie, lives about 80 miles S. of Flathead Lake, in Missoula. Vickie told me - by phone - that it was -14 when she got up today. And last week it snowed six inches one night and was expected to snow six more the following day - with wind. No thank you! I’m freezing my ‘tee-tees’ off here when it hits 45.

But back to Blogger’s Eve. The tournament cranks off tomorrow at the IP - noon. Meet and greet happens around 9:30ish. From my angle, I’ve called in Michael Craig - The Banker, The Lawyer, and The Suicide King - he is a featured speaker and is going to play in the tournament also. BTW - he says he is a ‘donator’…isn’t that what they all say as they take your chips?

I asked Ron Rose to show - he did last year - and he responded that he’s going to be in LA. But he would if he could and I appreciate his efforts.

I asked Daniel Negreanu to come - he can’t make it - some filming thing going on that particular day but he sent me to his assistant, Travis, for some gifts for the Bloggers. After numerous phone calls, Travis and me hooked up for a few minutes tonight at a gas station on Lake Mead and Rampart…might have looked like a classic drug deal. I pull up, jump out of my truck, he jumps out of his car, ‘hi’ - ‘how ya doing’ - gifts exchanged, jump back in the rig and fly…all under three minutes.

These are the kewl gifts:

I think the signed picture should go to the BUBBLE. It’s such a drag to get so far and receive ‘zip’. I’m going to push for it.

And why not give the poker chip set to the first person out? I know…I know…the Gigly. Since I made the effort to land these kewl prizes…let me do the distribution…please! But no one will even be reading this before blast off tomorrow a.m. so it doesn’t matter anyway.

And I also sent an email to Barry Greenstein a few days ago. Asking him to attend our ‘meet and greet’. I found him at the poker table on Thursday night and asked him if he got my email. He said he did. That he hadn’t responded because he plays poker late night. If his timing permits, he will definitely be there. I told him he didn’t have to speak. He said if he made it, he definitely wanted to. He felt the bloggers had been very good to him every since the Charlie Tuttle experience. I thanked him much for his time and left with my heart singing that he would try to make it. Yippee!

I love this picture of Charlie; it was taken at my home, during the March Clan Jam.

Charlie won the tournament at my house. I was so happy for him then because he was so damn happy. When I found out later that Charlie was seriously ill, I was even happier that he’d won it.

So tomorrow, the day of bragging rights for the top poker playing bloggers is about to happen. I’m not much of a bragger but I’d sure as hell like to win.

Saturday morning found me struggling out of bed with very little sleep. Worked my full shift on Friday and I’d been invited to dance with the Bloggers at Sam’s Town at a 10:00 a.m. breakfast and meet and greet. The dance? A NLH poker tournament at 1:00 p.m.

The breakfast was great, literally, a wide assortment of fresh, sliced fruit, bagels, flavored cream cheese toppings, coffee, juice…heaven! The people were even better. I was hugged, ego coated in a whipped sugary topping, greeted by some as if I were ‘the one’, and made to feel right at home in the midst of a lot of people I’d never met before.

Joseph AKA PokerProf was wonderful. He’s a gem that needs no polish or brilliant lights to bring out the best of him. Joe Senior “Flipchipro” - you’re great too. BTW - both Joes, I can’t find an email address for you…help!

A few people came to say hello to us “bloggers” and then were off to the tournament at Bellagio. Marcel Luske, Kirill Gerasimov, Evelyn Ng, and Ron Rose.

Ron Rose arrived about the same time I did. He brought each of us bloggers one of his books. I still find myself laughing over the following incident. Felicia Lee made a comment that went something like this, with the queries by Ron. She didn’t like his book - why? - because of some of the players that were in it - like who? - John Bonetti.

Ron opened the book to a certain page, ripped the page out, went to another page and ripped it out. He then folded the pages in half and then ripped them in half and pushed her the book with something like, “I aim to please.”

I’m still laughing over it. It was funny as hell then and maybe more so now. He did it so smoothly and with a straight face. It looked like he’d rehearsed it but I think it was all spur of the moment. Ron’s book is “Poker Aces” and you can find out more about him here.

A most amazing event. Charlie Shoten gave us a speech on his new book and his new look on life and learning to live with himself. That’s not exactly the way he phrased it but that was what he meant. What actually happened is I watched Charlie step out of himself and look at what’s inside Charlie. Fascinating.

Tom McEvoy - for the first time in somewhere around 17 years of off and on dealing to Tom, I witnessed a real person with a sense of humor. Tom spoke to our group also. Entertaining. He does teach by the way, if you’re interested in learning from him. I don’t have his contact info though.

Jeff from Check and Raise Poker was at our meeting with freebies and answered any questions posed about playing online poker.

Dick Gatewood, the card room manager at Sam’s Town was a wonderful host and I spent a few minutes with him before we tripped down stairs to draw for our seats in the tournament.

Beat up and Busted by the boys on Table 5. We drew for the Button, I got the Ace of Spades. I yelled, “Woo hoo! May the best woman win!”

The 7s snorted that “she” would. “She” was his wife and she was at the next table. A woman did win but it wasn’t his wife. Felicia Lee took home the prize and honor of first place.

I sat next to Brad “Otis” Willis. Great company, nice presence, and someone I’d love to spend more time visiting with…he was the one that sent me the invite to the dance.

The first hand dealt, I looked down to K-Q off suit. The player in the 4s raised it. Everyone pitched. The 4s turned over 7-2 off AKA The Hammer! *screamers, cheers, hoots*

I picked up zip, zero, zilch for cards. I called a small raise twice and pitched on the flop when I faced a bet. We were in the 3rd level of blinds when I picked up 6-6, UTG, and went all in. Got two calls - the first one from the guy that said his wife would win the tournament, he held A-Q off suit - the second one from the Button that held K-K. My timing was about damn perfect. A lonely little Ace hit the Flop and I was out…hell, I couldn’t beat K-K either. Glenn - 1s, laid down A-K suited in that hand.

I said my goodbyes. I was too tired to be alive and wanted to get out of there before my face slid off onto the floor. The Bloggers had the weekend scheduled and I, unfortunately, only had a short time period to spend with them. Hopefully there will be another time soon when I won’t be married to the ‘time’ clock of life and work. It was a very memorable experience.

Pauly did ask me about my tattoos…probably disappointed when I told him my son did them and I waited until I was old enough to know I wanted them before I got them. Your a Kool Kat Pauly…come back soon.