Tao of Three

My poker blog silently celebrated it's third year of existence last week. Caught up in the post-WSOP malaise, I totally forgot about the milestone until a buddy pointed it out to me. Three summers ago, friends of mine who were loyal readers of the Tao of Pauly got sick of all the poker content. They formed a mutiny and ordered me to start a new blog... the Tao of Poker. Within a few weeks I picked up two readers Iggy and Mr. Decker.

The rest was history. Thanks to everyone for reading and for the support on those numerous dark days when the weight of the world sits heavy on my shoulders.

The inception of the Tao of Poker in August of 2003 set forth a chain of events in the cosmos. And through the blog I've been able to cross paths with so many of you especially a handful of folks that I've been able to become good friends with. Somewhere along this wild journey, I puked in Daddy's car in Indiana, announced the final table of the EPT in Barcelona, picked up a job writing for Fox Sports, and went to the Playboay Mansion with seven other bloggers. In the past twelve months, I tied for first place at the Brad-o-ween Poker Open, got my junk grabbed at the MGM sportsbook, quit blogging for a few weeks, rented out the Tao to a casino, and had my work translated into Swedish and Italian. I spent more time on the road than living in NYC visiting G-Vegas, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Providence, Foxwoods CT, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cincinatti, Kentucky, Tennessee, Denver, Boulder, and of course Las Vegas.

I'm leaving Vegas later today for the first time in over two months. I couldn't escape Sin City without dropping the Hammer and hitting up a strip club one last time. In a fitting moment I won a big pot with a Hammer bluff and used that money to fund my excursion to the Rhino. Some people look at a pile of red chips and think of money. I looked at that same pile and saw nine lapdances.

The one lapdance that stood out were the two I got from Chyenne a dead ringer for Katie Holmes in her pre-Scientology but post-Dawson's Creek stage. Chyenne liked to chit chat about whiny sounding indie rock bands. I ran into a hipster stripper. Plus, never trust a woman who has the first name of a city, especially Las Vegas strippers.

I'm taking a short detour before my triumphant return to NYC after Labor Day. I'm heading to Colorado for a long weekend to spend time with hippies. I'm also seeing one of my favorite bands from New Orleans called Galactic play concerts in Fort Collins and Boulder. I'm going to write up a review for a Euro-trash music rag.

I'm also writing a spec piece on the Boulder Kickball Association. My buddy Professional Keno Player Neil Fontenot is a proud member of the BKA and invited me to one of their practices. Of course, there's also the latest wrinkle in the Jonbenet Ramsey case and I might as well poke my nose around and try to dig up something interesting and try to sell that story. I'm gonna to try to sell three different pieces and none of them are about poker. I couldn't be happier.

Oh and I forgot to mention.... Daddy is going to be making a rare and special apperance in Colorado. Should be an interesting weekend of hippies, kickball, Jonbenet, donkeyfuckers, and New Orleans slamfunk.

After Colorado, I head out to Hollyweird for a week to lounge around at Zuma Beach with Change100 and finish work on the August issue of Truckin'. Aside from that, I'm gonna reacquaint myself with the characters I created almost four years ago in Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. I'm going to read it at least five times when I'm in LA before I return home to NYC. I need to read it ten times to jolt my memory back on track. I'm 18 days away from starting the new draft and I can't wait to write fiction again.

In the meantime, read my archives over the last 12 months. The third year of the Tao of Poker featured some of my best poker writing.

The Archives:
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006


The Best of the Tao of Poker (over the last 12 months):

Existentialist Conversations with Strippers: Crazy Horse and Sapphire
Masturbation and Poker
Bash at the Boathouse 5
Empiricism, Kierkegaard, Catholic High School Girls, and Poker
Female Ejaculation and Squirting
Tao of Risk
Bathroom Fucking incident
Hammers, Hilton Sisters, Dial-a-Shots, and other Post-Modern Poker Vernacular
Strip Club Advice
Circles and Poker
Poker and Porn Funk
Meeting SirWaffle
Crashing Murderer's Row
Gallery of Champions
Bloggers in Wonderland

Guest Post: Daddy's bad Beat Story
Turn This Mother Out
Gilligan's Island and Poker
Muck Marissa Cooper
Market Corrections, Bozos, and Bolos
L.A. Prop Bets, Groovy Sunsets, and Fear the Jaywalker
Bukowski & Poker
Strippers & Blow
The Mansion Part I: The Arrival
The Mansion Part II: Where's AlCantHang?
Female Intern Wanted
April Sojourn
Rebirth
WPT Championship
Glass Eye, Red Rocks, and Omaha Suckouts
The Warrior Within: Bruce Lee, Taoism, and Poker
Through the Looking Glass: April Maelstrom
Mother Lovebone
LaFeltah Vermouth and the Village Drunk
The Wall St. Game
Tao of Keno
Born to Gamble Part I: Where It All Begins
Born to Gamble Part II: Southbound
Born to Gamble Part III: Midnight Rider
Born to Gamble Part IV: Ramblin' Man
Born to Gamble Part V: Whipping Post
Born to Gamble Part VI: Revival
First Day at the WSOP: Buffets and Hookers 1, WSOP 0
2006 WSOP July
2006 WSOP August

I'm not going to predict the future of the Tao of Poker. I do my best work and have the most fun when I don't make a plan. I've been making up stuff as I go along for the past three years. That formula seems to work. Just when I think I've said everything there is to be said about poker... I think of something else to write about. Part of me wants to go on vacation and never come back.

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I posted a photo gallery of Red Rock Canyon
over at the Tao of Pauly