OSCARS WEEKEND IN L.A.

This past weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, I played charity poker events in L.A. The first one took place at the new W Hotel in Hollywood. It’s a beautiful hotel and a great spot in a neighborhood that had gotten a little rundown. The place is super luxurious and there’s going to be a nightclub opening soon, run by the same guys who do XS and Tryst in Las Vegas. Definitely should be awesome.

Back to my night at the W, I was there for VictoryPoker. We sponsored an Oscars gift-giving suite in the hotel and were topping things off with a two table, celebrity poker tournament to raise money for Haiti. The winner got a $3,000 wristwatch and a $2,000 donation to Haiti. Second place paid a $4,000 donation to Haiti and a really cool painting by an artist named Red (he has a series with Buddha doing ungodly things, such as playing poker and hanging out with naked girls – I have three custom pieces from him in my condo).

Sarah Underwood, Keith Gipson, Alec Torelli, and I represented Victory. Celebs included Shannon Elizabeth, the musician Menace, Michael Kelly who used to be on The Sopranos, and Roger Cross from 24. To make things more interesting, Keith and I had a $500 last-longer bet. He took the excitement away from that one by busting out early. On the downside, I followed soon after, getting all in, preflop, with Queens against one guy who also had Queens and another with Aces. So I was basically drawing dead. The best news is that Sarah was the longest lasting Victory player. We’ve been giving her poker lessons, and they seem to be working.

After Roger won the tournament, we headed down to the W’s lounge where we not only had our own table, but, courtesy of Victory, our own VIP section. That was really cool. And it was made even cooler by all the beautiful women in the bar. L.A. is an amazing place for single guys. The city is a total magnet for the world’s hottest women, most of whom are looking to become stars.

One who definitely did not fall in that category, but hovered around our section, was a lady who looked to be about 55 years old. She was not very attractive, quite obnoxious, and fairly messed up on liquor or drugs. She kept hitting on guys in an overly aggressive way. So, to make the best of it, we started playing a game called Pass the Hag. The object was to make sure she spent as little time as possible with you and as much time as possible with the person you passed her on to.

She talked to me for about a minute before I passed her on to Alec. For some reason, though, he couldn’t get rid of her and was stuck with the Hag for like 15 minutes. It got him completely tilted to the point that he was making his tilt face for a good 10 minutes. That was pretty gratifying and made me feel as if I won twice that night.

On Sunday, while the Oscars were taking place downtown, we were scheduled to attend a black tie party at the Beverly Center. I had been staying with Alec for the last 10 days and had pretty much run out of clean clothing. So I picked up a really cool silk shirt for the occasion. It came from a thrift shop on Hollywood Boulevard, and that made it all the better.

I went to the event with Dan Fleyshman, Keith, Alec, and my friend Jason who used to own Rich and Famous Limos in L.A. He was kind enough to hook us up with his best stretch and we arrived in style. It was another charity event, this one to raise money for foster children. There was a big dinner and you could watch the Oscars in one room or play charity SNGs in the next room. Of course I was getting into the cards, and, I’m proud to say, I won my very first poker tournament as a pro. Yes, I proved that I can beat celebrities and millionaires who don’t know how to play hold’em, but still… And the trophy that they gave me is great.

Phil Hellmuth hosted the event, and I have to say he did a good job of emceeing. I’ve made some negative remarks about Phil on TV, so I thought it would be good for me to thank him for what he’s done to help promote poker. That’s when Phil told me that us younger guys should have more respect for the older guys who’ve been around for a long time. It could have turned into a long, interesting conversation, but I figured it would be best to leave it at that.  Phil hellmuth has done more to popularize poker then just about anyone else and you have to give him props for that.

We all went back to the W after the tournament. Some guys hung out in the lounge, but I went up to my room to get some sleep. That morning, when I called down for room service, they answered the phone with the hotel’s excellent, standard greeting: “Do you have a wish that can be fulfilled?” I was always temped to say, “I have a long list.” But, instead, I just ordered my breakfast.

Tomorrow morning I am off to Cancun for four days of partying, filming, and promoting VictoryPoker. I’ll fill you in on the details soon.