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photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

Hey there, pokernuts. Ol' Mickey's been trying to stay cool and hanging close to home of late. I'd planned for a break due to the BARGE event usually scheduled around this time-o-year at the Plaza. It gets a little crazy in the poker room with all those rgp-ers and I'm rather fond my bankroll, thank you very much, and not hankering to see it go to folks who acutally know how to play poker.

photos by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Whoa, pokernuts, has another week gone by already? I've been buried at the back tables over at the Rio playing the cash games and lost track of time. Those games are just as juicy as I'd predicted. I told the regs over at the Plaza, it'd be a while before they'll see me again.

You hardly even need to leave the Rio - with all the "hospitality suites" open around here and some good timing you can get fed, watered and even get a change of clothes if you work it right.

Well, the send off for Ol' Sammy at the Plaza was a real tear-jerker, lemme tell ya'. All the regs - Gus, Jimbo (who wheeled in anyway despite the fact the battery on his chair had died), 'One-Eye' Mac, Vera, and Edwin all showed at Table 3 to show their respect. We all sat down, hoisted a Bud and then Marvin (Ol' Sammy's favorite dealer) dealt a round of cards with two hole cards to the empty 6-seat in honor of Ol' Sammy. I got a little choked up when Marvin turned Ol' Sammy's cards up at the end of the hand and, sure enough, he'd sucked out on the river with his J-3 off. Just like he'd never left us. Kinda gets you right in the gut, don't it?

photos by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Alright, pokernuts, the WSOP lifts off in a few short days and I've been hustling my ass off. The cash games'll get juicier 'n juicier as folks hit town with nothing but big dreams and money in their pockets - and I'm more than happy to help lighten their load. I can't wait for the internet kiddies - the Vegas Virgins who've never seen the inside of a casino, let alone sit down at a live cash game - they don't know what they're in for and thank the poker gods fer that. Fishalicious.

Well, hey there, blognuts, damn, how time flies when you're....

It's been a week already and I'm wondering where it went. Probably the same place my bankroll disappeared to - gone. Damn, what bad timing that is - the World Series of Poker is looming just a few short days around the corner and with no scratch for a buy-in, I'm scratching my butt trying to figure what the, oh, gosh, heck went wrong and how I can, golly, gee, get it together in time to roll with the big boys.

But, if I can't con play my way to the Main Event and ease into a seat at the final table, I'll have to dig $24.95 out of the sofa and pony it up for the ESPN pay-for-view WSOP Main Event final table LIVE broadcast. That just makes me all tingly. Or maybe that's just the starch in my shorts. Anyway, it feels kinda... oooh yeah.

Soooo... with only a wad of lint lining my pockets these days, it would behoove me (coughobviously) to pay closer attention to what I'm reading out there in poker-land, yeah? Let's crack open a cool one and take a look at a bit of what the web-world has offered up this past week, shall we?

Chris over at Wired Aces has been honing his short-handed no-limit game of late and concludes, almost zen-like, that 'tis better to fixeth your own leaky vessel than to be concerneth with the leakage of others; Jim at Railbird's Nest is puzzling over a play from the big-blind that made him the target of chat-box spewage; 'L'artiste' of Le Suckout Artiste (from that french-like place up north called Quebec - not Kwabeck, but Kehbeck, pfft...), reflects on the effect on one's game after getting pummeled black and blue by a gang-war of bad beats; But They're Suited has Sooted asking whether 'tis nobler to buy in max or chip up with the min; veteran CJ from Up For Poker ponders the precipice the rush of winning can be while Otis, another of UFP's partners-in-crime, balances warily on a teeter-totter between cash game dearth and tournament bounty.

I got nothing but backwash left, and the 12 pack is decimated, so it's time to head for the 7-Eleven. My buddy, Anwar, who works the graveyard cuts me a good deal on dented Buds. I'll be back next week with more poker-blogger wit and wisdom to throw at you (better than what you'd get visiting the monkey cage at the zoo, pal) - the line's still open for new blogs to add to the pimpage stable so e-mail me at mickeyzee at gmail d c with your picks.

Remember to tip your dealer - see you in seven!