This is an “extra special episode” for Benjo and will be the last time Dr. Pauly, Dan, and Benjo record an episode for the 2011 WSOP…

2011 WSOP – Episode 20: Adieu, Benjo (8:40) – After almost a week of speculation and rumors, Benjo confirms that he’s leaving Las Vegas and heading home to France. His brief stint at the WSOP is officially over. One chapter ends, and a new one begins. Dr. Pauly, Dan and Benjo hang out in the dive bar inside the bowling alley at Gold Coast to listen to Benjo bid his farewells.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives or subscribe to the Tao of Pokerati feed.

Dr. Pauly finds KevMath at a dive bar playing video Keno…

2011 WSOP – Episode 19: KevMath Keno System with KevMath (6:31) – Pauly and KevMath hang out at the dive bar in a bowling alley at the Gold Coast. KevMath was in the middle of crushing a video Keno game, when Pauly asked him to share a couple of his big secrets to beating the game.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives or subscribe to the Tao of Pokerati feed.

Just another random Sunday night (err… Monday morning) in Las Vegas with Dr. Pauly and Benjo after they encounter a tweaker…

2011 WSOP – Episode 12: The Tweaker Edition (4:02) – Benjo and Pauly hang out at the Gold Coast and watched a tweaker get 86d by security. They later encounter the tweaker in the parking lot, and Benjo asks Pauly for a quick tutorial about the seedy Las Vegas meth scene.
[audio:https://pokerati.com/podcast/tao/TOP_W11_12_Tweakers.mp3]

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives or subscribe to the Tao of Pokerati feed.

Maybe this is old news, but new to me … while scouting out the pre-2011 WSOP bowling-alley bar scene late Saturday night — things were bumpin’ — I popped by the Gold Coast poker room and saw this:

click to enlarge

The Gold Coast poker room is apparently no longer … The flat-screens were dark, and tables had been replaced by video-poker and slot machines. And according to the sign they intend to turn the previously post-boom-downsized poker room into a slots and video poker tournament area. Not that anyone misses one of the least raucous, nittiest $2/$4 limit games in town … and I don’t think you can say much about this being a trend of poker continuing to recede or anything like that, but it may say something about smaller rooms being unable to justify their existence when small-stakes players gravitate to the bigger rooms in town.

As the sign says, all Gold Coast player(s) are being shipped over to The Orleans, which seems to be re-emerging as the big-little off-Strip room that locals like for the sake of convenient parking if nothing else. (Their Friday-night tourney continues to set field-size records, consistently drawing 100+.)

Supposedly poker is dying (a slow and painful death). Poker rooms are closing, dealers can’t get jobs, and one of the top tournament directors in the world is running a relatively rinky dink room in Vegas. (No offense to my dealer friends at the Rio.) But hey, the basic laws of biology say that without death there can be no life … and low-stakes, locals-friendly poker seems to be getting some new life at the Gold Coast. At least that’s the plan, as seen in this pic taken there tonight:

I know. Amidst the WSOP main event, the Tiffany Michelle hubbub, and the Russ Hamilton-UB connect-the-dots game, you’ve really been wondering, What ever happened to the awesomely exciting Pokerati Bowling Series?

We did have one final session, smack dab in the middle of the main event on July 11. One night, we just couldn’t take the Amazon Room for one more moment and headed over to the bowling alley at the Gold Coast. Prop bets ran amuck, and might I say that it became a bit (understatement) competitive. Team Pokerati member Whit Blanton came in a bit (understatement) tipsy from celebrating his WSOP main event cash and ESPN feature table appearance, Tuscaloosa Johnny smoked his Pokerati writing mates, and Team Pokerati player Jerry Randack took a ton of betting action from the sidelines. Short-stacked Shamus came up just a little short of his goals, but I can see a possible name change to Striker Shamus (or something more creative) if his last frame was any indication, and Haley fell short of her expectations and experienced a (understatement) bit of prop betting/bowling tilt. Harris just hustled us all.

PBS – Event 5 – Game 2A

PBS – Event 5 – Game 2B

All in all, for most of us, it was a great way to end the PBS for the summer. And while many in the poker biz await the trip to Vegas for the “November Nine” at the WSOP final table, some of us may be secretly honing our bowling skills for the 2008 PBS, Part Deux. Bring it!

The Daily Show had its Stephen Colbert and Happy Days gave us Mork from Ork. At Tao of Pokerati we’ve got Benjo, the sometimes Angry, sometimes -orny Frenchman. While a little drinky at the Gold Coast, the top blogger in all of Europoker stepped up to the mike for the betterment of American and non-American listeners alike. In these episode add-ons, Benjo reports on what you learn from watching poker on a colleague’s computer; Bellagio tournament chips being used to pay (stupid) hookers; and the under-the-table pressures on a grown-up French schoolboy working the WSOP …

Episode 17.1: Barely Legal

Episode 17.2: Tournament Hooker Chips

Episode 17.3: Le Masturbe

Tao of Pokerati walk across Valley View Blvd. to enjoy cheap (but good) beer, low-stakes gambling, and conjugal visit weekend as the WSOP gets ready to kick into high gear.

Episode 17: Gold Coasting

The other night was a get-together for drinks as an early celebration for Change100‘s birthday, and since we were enjoying the cheap drinks and laid back atmosphere of the Gold Coast, it was only natural to head up the escalator after midnight and take advantage of the graveyard $1 bowling. Little did we know that approximately 20 people would be interested in participating, and it was a blast!

The blog-happy crew with so much action spread across three lanes of fun included: Pauly, Change, Spaceman (and Mrs. Spaceman), Shamus (and Mrs. Shamus), Tuscaloosa Johnny, Haley, F-train, Dawn from I Had Outs, Benjo, CK, “Homer” and Stephane and “Roscoe” from PokerListings, and Las Vegas Pokeratizens 85Nutz and TBonezz.

It’s difficult to gauge who won. Sure, we could look at the scores, but let’s just say that there were no winners or losers, prop bets excluded, and that scores were meaningless in comparison to the bonding experience. (Work with me here, people!)

For the record, I will not be joining any pro bowling tour. That ship was never in the harbor has sailed. And Dan may be required to enroll in an anger management course to deal with his bowling emotions.

As you might remember from earlier in the week, the Pokerati Bowling Series (PBS) gained a little momentum. The interest of several people the masses prompted another installment last night.

The Gold Coast was the place, and players included Dan, Karridy, SNG Steve, Short-Stacked Shamus, Ryan, and Cali Jen. Mean Gene came to sweat the second game after he finished covering a tournament at the WSOP. Since it happened to be a Saturday night, we played in the disco-lighting and surround-sound of the rock-n-bowl sort of environment, and while the music was entertaining, the bowlers around us were not so educated in the etiquette of the game – bowling out of turn and using our specially-chosen balls. (Comment as you will…) Still and all, it was a fun night!

SitNGo Steve rocked the first game with a 137, and Dan, Shamus, and I lagged behind.

The boredom of watching us massacre the first game allure of being part of the PBS prompted Karridy and Ryan to join by the second game. Steve kicked our asses again, but Karridy was a close second in the end. Shamus stepped it up with three spares and hit the 101 mark; he may subsequently be missing some days at the WSOP in order to feed his new addiction.

Next event may occur sooner than you think. This is becoming somewhat of an obsession.

Nearly three weeks after the start of the Pokerati Bowling Series (PBS), the second event went down last night at the Gold Coast bowling alley.

Though we are making our own schedules here at the WSOP in Vegas, the workload is pretty chaotic at times and doesn’t allow all of us to get together as we’d like. So, last night, when Dan and I were trying to fit in an impromptu Pokerati weekly meeting, a hankerin’ for some bowlin’ took over. We combined business and bowling at the Gold Coast at 1:30am-ish. Bonus: Mondays-Fridays after midnight, $1 per game. Sweet!

Still unsure how the betting on these games will work, we bet $10 and the cost of the next PBS event on the first game. Dan cheated won the first game 139-132. Bowling is so rigged.

PBS – Event 2 – Game 1

Double or nothing, the second game went down, and Cali Jen got her groove back. In all fairness, we were both super tired, as it was probably 3am at that point, but it all came down to who was able to shine under pressure. *wink* Anyway, I cheated won the game 157-107. My goal is to break 200 by the end of the PBS this summer, then consider options on the pro bowler tour.

PBS – Event 2 – Game 2

Obviously, the next event in the series is unscheduled, but we hope to arrange it in the coming days – on the spur of the moment, most likely – with Pauly, Change100, Benjo, Shamus, Jason, and other suckers invited parties. Bring it!

With Pokerati contributors descending upon Vegas for the 2008 WSOP, it only makes sense that hijinks ensue. Thus, we present the 2008 PBS – Pokerati Bowling Series.

The inaugural and somewhat impromptu and unofficial match-up took place last night at the Gold Coast bowling alley. What started off as a friendly game morphed into a bet on the second and last game of the evening; loser between Dan and I pays for the next match-up. One unnamed part of the duo was so sure that he was bowling a superb game that the final score was that much more special. Final score: Jen 128, Dan 127.

Short-Stacked Shamus was on hand, and for not having bowled in quite some time, he showed he’s got game. Whether his WSOP schedule will permit regular bowling outings remains to be seen…

The 2008 PBS still has to work out the terms of the series, as little details like stakes and list of participants has yet to be determined. Minor snag.

Side note: Drinks at the Gold Coast bowling alley bar are cheap! Two bottles of beer and a mixed drink were $9.50, and the bar was spacious with wallpaper that looked eerily like the new Pokerati site’s wallpaper. And it’s just across the street from the Rio. Enough said.