Dogbites, Dandelions, Sex Pistols, Chowderheads, and a Leap of Faith

"I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a mirror." - Sid Vicious

There's no philosophical significance to the title of this entry. It sounded cool and I needed a starting point. Well there's some good news in my world. I finally completed the second draft of Gumbo! I'm done for now (and will wait to get some feedback before I write a third draft and hand out copies) and now I can jump back into the Party Poker aquarium. Oh, and even better, I can get back to infecting the cyber world with my half-baked assertions on a variety of poker and gambling topics. No more Phish (they broke up). No more politics (four more years under the Bush Junta, well at least I live in a blue state). No more Yankees (baseball season is over). So that means you can expect to be reading 100% poker content on this blog in the near future.



I'm done with major writing projects for the next few months and I intend to celebrate the completion of my fifth novel by partying my nuts off and playing lots of poker nonstop through the Spring. I work hard and I definitely play harder. I've been a good boy the last few weeks with my sobriety and passive lifestyle resembling more like a Catholic nun than the nomadic, unshaven burnout that snarled at me in the mirrior at the end of the summer. I was speeding in the fast lane of life all summer and if you offered me a line of drain cleaner, I would have snorted it in a second, and chased it with a half a bottle of cold medicine. Definitely feels good to have cleaned up my act. Spending time in Rhode Island helped out a lot and writing is always a life saver. If you like bad boy Pauly, never fear. My squeaky clean image will be shattered at first sight of Al Cant Hang ordering a round of SoCo shots in Las Vegas.



Vegas in how many days? I cannot wait until I smirk at the bright lights and brush off the advances of silicon happy escorts at the Bellagio. Vegas couldn't come quicker. Grubby sent me an email this morning. He wants to go to Atlantic City for a few days before Vegas. Don't tempt me, bro. My bankroll is still hurting after I lost a $500+ pot to the Grubster at the Borgata in Septmeber.



Someone recently asked me... What's your novel about? I didn't have an answer at the time because it wasn't complete. Now after penning over 54,000 words, I can honestly say that it's 100% pure Americana trash. Indeed, Gumbo is nothing short of pure narcissistic drivel. For all you poker addicts out there, I included a random poker scene. A chapter of the novel takes place at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Other locales include Amsterdam, New York, and Seattle. I let my friend Briana take a sneak peak at Chapter 1. When she was done she had a horrified look on her face. When I asked her to share her thoughts she muttered, "Wow, you weren't kidding. Sex, drugs, AND rock and roll." She was only on page 9.



Escorts and Hold'em



Alexa, my favorite NYC escort by night, blogger by day, recently jetted off to Vegas with her girlfriends. She wrote up some of her trip report called Texas Hold'em - Sin City. Here's a bit:

The dealer turns over the final card on the green felt. "How much can I bet?"



The dealer replies, "As much as you have on the table. There's no limit at these tables."



"Oh, is that what all in means?"



"Yes."



"OK, then I think I'm all in." I reach over and start pushing my chips in.



The man sitting next to me takes his dirty baseball cap off, scratches his head and spits into an empty beer bottle. He's been chewing tobacco and spitting the whole time. Disgusting.

Alexa is a fan of the Tao of Poker and I'm sure I've mentioned her blog on my sites(s) before. Glad to see she's having fun in Sin City. Does the poker content qualify her as a poker blogger? I'll ask her if she wants to play in Holiday Classic. Check out her site.



Vegas Bloggers Tourney... Mini Update



I expect to have more details on the Holiday Classic at Sam's Town in Las Vegas, including an updated list of participants. Sadly, the Poker Geek is out (he's working on a film), but we have a few more probables... Bill, - EV, Coach, and Mas. At this point, we have maxed out the seats. I can add your name to the wait list (there are a lot of maybes out there, so there's a small chance you can get in and there's a possibility that Dick from Sam's Town will expanded the tourney to four tables). Email me for more details.



If you are playing and want a cool T-shirt, contact Maudie ASAP and tell her your shirt size.



Iggy the Chowderhead?





Iggy's!

Lastly, here's a special picture for Iggy. I was staying down the road about a half a mile on the beach from Iggy's (which is on Ocean Road, right across the street from Aunt Carrie's, one of Narragansett's most popular summer eateries). I wanted to break in and try to steal something for Iggy but never had the chance. Maybe next time.



Coming Attractions... Never Mind the Bollocks!



In the next few days, I should be writing up my Foxwoods trip report from a three weeks ago when instead of writing, I snuck off to hang out with Felicia and Glenn during the World Poker Finals. I played some low limit stud and sweated Felicia in a $1000 Stud tourney. That's where she introduced me to two pros, Fossil Man and Jean Gaspard. Can't wait to write that up.



I will write up my money finish in a Stud multi on Poker Stars where I had the chip lead and blew it! I only played poker three times since I left for Rhode Island on November 2nd and will tell you all about those sessions.



Bankroll moi? I just had a long talk with a friend of mine. Briana is not a degenerate gambler but has a lot of faith in me. She agreed to bankroll my online play for the rest of the year... on a trial basis. If it works out, we'll sit down and figure out a game plan for 2005. I have never been bankrolled and she's never bankrolled a player. Hopefully this won't ruin our friendship. Time will tell. I dunno who's the sucker in this partnership. This is probably a very bad idea since I definitely have fervent feelings for this woman and vice versa. This is doomed to blow up in our faces. I'll discuss my weakness for blondes and being bankrolled in more detail later this week. Never mind the bollocks, for now, just think about what would have happened if Nancy bankrolled Sid on a trip to Vegas. And if you missed that obvious reference, I suggest you brush up on your 70s punk music history and not come back to my blog until then.



That's it for now. It feels good to be back. See you at the bloody tables.