|
I was at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, covering the Aussie Millions. On the night before the Main Event started, I got off work early and played 2/3 NL. I was up $350 and cashed out after two hours. I fl opped quad kings on the fi rst hand that I played and picked off two bluffs from a crazy Asian gambler and an angry old Greek man.
I headed to the Vegas bar in the poker room and drank with a couple of young Aussie pros, Emad Tahtouh and Jethro Horowitz. After a few drinks, they decided to visit the Spearmint Rhino. I almost joined them, but got sidetracked — thanks to Gavin Smith.
My buddy Hux was playing poker with Paul Wasicka, Matt Savage, Gavin Smith, and Gavin’s fi ancée Cindy. They played in a private 2/3 NL game with a $200 buy-in. In true Gavin Smith fashion, he was three sheets to the wind (well, more like forty-three sheets) after getting smashed at a party welcoming all of the Full Tilt pros and internet qualifi ers to the Aussie Millions. I wandered by their table and watched on the rail for a few minutes. There was an open seat. Hux and Gavin encouraged me to sit in. I had four $25 chips in my pocket and sat down. I lasted a couple of hours and got felted by Gavin… twice.
Gavin Smith is a walking party. He’s always having a good time and in a jovial mood no matter where he goes. He had arrived earlier in Melbourne that day on the Full Tilt fl ight from LAX. After the party, Gavin headed down to the poker room. He wanted to play drunken 1/2 NL, but the poker room at the Crown Casino only offers that limit on the PokerPro tables. The lowest NL tables they spread are 2/3.
The Crown arranged a private game at a table on the rail. My friend Gaz was one of the original players. He had spewed off at least a grand in the game (possibly more), all of which ended up at Gavin’s fi ancée’s end of the table. When I sat down, she had over 3k sitting in front of her at a $200 max buy-in. Gaz had quit and I took his place.
Seat 1: Matt Savage Seat 2: Paul Wasicka Seat 3: Hux Seat 4: Pauly Seat 5: Cindy, aka Gavin’s fi ancée Seat 6: Gavin Smith Seat 7: Andy from Fox Sports
There were spectators on the rail several deep checking out the action. Gavin was super drunk and talking smack to everyone… to the railbirds, to the dealer, to Paul Wasicka, and even to me. At one point his fi ancée caught a runner-runner fl ush against Paul Wasicka who had turned trips.
“Nice! Way to get some of that $4 million!” Gavin shouted, alluding to Wasicka’s $6.1 million score at the 2006 WSOP Main Event when he took second to Jamie Gold. I open shoved for $90 with 7-7. Gavin called with A-9 and rivered an ace. Bastard. Gavin was ribbing me pretty good after he made me rebuy. He kept shouting out my poker blog’s URL to the railbirds. “That’s the best poker writer in the world right there!” he slurred. “He’s totally ugly but he’s the best damn writer in poker. Go to www.taopoker.com and see for yourself!”
The game was super loose and tons of fun. If one person limped, everyone limped and it was a family pot. If one person raised $20, everyone called and it was a family pot. The chips fl ew around the table and Gavin and Wasicka must have rebought a dozen times combined during the time I was there. They were having fun and everyone on the rail was eating it up. Gavin bought drinks for everyone at the table. Every few minutes, a cocktail waitress dropped off a fresh round and removed all of the empty glasses, before she repeated the process.
At one point, Hux knocked over Wasicka’s beer and it spilled all over his lap. Not to be outdone, Gavin simultaneously knocked over his rum and coke and his fi ancée’s fl ute of champagne. The glass fl ew off the table and nearly hit my girlfriend on the rail. She stepped out of the way at the last second as the table got soaked in booze.
Jonno decided to deal a couple of hands. He used to be a dealer back in the day before he became one of the directors of tournament operations at the Crown. Jonno got in the box and he was my good luck charm, because I won a three-way pot against Hux and Wasicka. I turned two pair with J-10 against Hux’s fl opped smaller two pair and Wasicka’s open-ended straight draw. My hand held up and I tripled up.
Sadly, I spewed off those chips to Gavin a couple of orbits later. My K-J lost to his Q-9 on a board of Q-J-7. I pretty much lost all of my profi t from earlier in the evening, but I felt it was better spent if I donated it to help pay Gavin Smith’s astronomical bar tab, instead of wasting it away in the VIP room at the Rhino.
After the Aussie Millions, my girlfriend and I explored New Zealand for a week. We spent our last night in Auckland before we fl ew back to America. Nicky fi gured out that our hotel was a few blocks from the Sky City Casino and she wanted to check it out.
The poker room at Sky City was small, with only six tables. I got on the wait list for 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL and gave them my mobile phone number. They texted me when they opened up a new 2/5 NL table. Nicky sat down at a newly opened 1/2 NL table.
There’s no time charge at the NL tables at Sky City, but the rake is ridiculously high. They take out 10% up to $15. Unreal. I thought that the rake at Star City Casino in Sydney was horrible, but Sky City was just as bad.
I had the big blind in the fi rst hand. Old Kiwi in Seat 6 raised to $25. Action was folded to me and I peeled back my cards. I found two jacks and tossed out four more red chips. The fl op was Q-7-3 rainbow. I checked. Old Kiwi bet $35. I thought that was odd and considered a check-raise to fi nd out where I was in the hand. I have no idea why I just called. The turn was another queen. I fi red out a bet about 2/3 of the pot and Old Kiwi moved all in. I tanked for about four minutes.
“I can’t believe I’m going to go broke on the fi rst hand,” I said aloud. “Do you want me to call?” The old guy sat and breathed heavily. I put him on A-K. My gut told me that I was ahead and I called. I tabled my jacks and he did not show his hand. The king of clubs spiked on the river and I almost threw up in my mouth.
“Show me your Big Slick,” I said as I slid my hand in my pocket ready to rebuy. The Old Kiwi fl ipped over a pair of tens. My jacks were good and I doubled up on the fi rst hand. Since I had been talking during the hand, the rest of the table knew I was American. It appeared that everyone else at the table was local and knew each other. “The Yank sniffed out your shit,” the guy next to me said. Then he said a phrase that I cringe whenever I hear it... “You’re not that blogger, are you?”
As I raked in the pot, I sighed. There I was in a random casino in New Zealand, and a fan of my poker blog was sitting to my left. I told him that I was who he thought I was. “You guys better not play like a retard,” he announced to the rest of the table. “Otherwise Dr. Pauly will write on his blog about how bad you play.” Luckily no one else was a reader (or at least they didn’t admit it).
On the second hand, I found Kd Qd in the small blind. I called a $15 raise from the cut-off. The big blind called. The fl op was Q-4-3. I fi red out $30. The big blind min-raised and the original raiser folded. I called. The turn was a blank, and we both checked. The river was a king. I bet $100 and he called with 4-3. I showed my bigger two pair and won the pot. That’s when I got the nickname “The Lucky Yank.”
A couple of orbits later, I felted two players on the same hand. Crazy Asian in Seat 1 raised $15. An androgynous person (who was a dead ringer for Pat from Saturday Night Live... you know that infamous recurring sketch: “A lot of people say, what’s that? It’s Pat!”) called. I found Ks Qs in late position and called. The fl op was K-Q-9 rainbow. Crazy Asian bet $40. Pat called. I reraised to $220. Crazy Asian moved all in for about $140 more. Pat called off the remainder of his/her stack worth about $100. I tabled my cards and they did not show theirs. The board ran out 5c on the turn and the 8h on the river. Pat insta-mucked and the Crazy Asian showed the Kc and mucked his other card. I dragged the pot. I was up three buy-ins in twenty-fi ve minutes.
I decided to take the money and run, even though everyone at my table was super friendly and having a good time. I went to the bar and drank a beer and waited for Nicky. She quit within an hour and we both walked away winners.
“I have never had a losing session in the Southern Hemisphere,” she remarked as we walked out of the casino and headed across the street to a liquor store. We decided to celebrate our nice run in New Zealand with an expensive bottle of wine. Next stop… Denmark.
|
