Blue Parrot

I received a special invite from Pauly to play in the world famous “Blue Parrot” game hosted by Ferrari. I felt this to be an honor to play so I showed up on time because nobody likes people who show up to a game late. Plus, I would get to sit where I wanted to sit…which would later cost me to the raising machine known as, Pauly.

Right off the bat I see Dr. Pauly and the crew of Spaceman and Derek downstairs laughing up a storm and chatting away. I brought Spaceman’s Yankees cap for him to wear being that he’s from the South and despises what our boys in pinstripes stand for…in the words of Johnny Drama, “VICTORY”. Nuff said.

Ferrari came in the hall quickly after and took us up to the lair de Senor Ferrari. Everyone who showed brought beer. Myself, well I brought my Bud Light Tall Boys (yes kids, those are 16 oz. Dogs for your little pups that are asking), Pauly brought some cold Coronas and something else…I think some Heinekens. Beer of the night goes to Ugarte who brought some Newcastle…struggling stand-up comedian my ass.

One of the neat things about Senor Ferrari’s place is not only the view, but the set up he has for his poker table. It’s a regular glass table that he puts like two layers of mats on then a green felt…it’s awesome and lets you shuffle cards rather easily.

So the cards are in the air and every single person that comes in says that they want to sit to Pauly’s left. Of course, being the dork I am I sit to Pauly’s right. This after he pulls up the chair to his right and says, “Joaquin Buddy…sit right here.” I was oblivious to the raises that would be coming so I figured we would get a chance to get caught up since we haven’t spoken in some time.

I don’t remember a lot of the pots, but I do remember that Pauly kept feeling obliged to raise every pot. Before I knew it I had a huge stack of chips…I think I was up to 270.00 at some point. I figured that would hold me for a while. Then the beer started to kick in. That’s why I never drink when I play. I bled off a couple of 20’s and decided to let my Jewish Brother Ugarte take my seat.

I watched the game from a far and saw some big pots being scooped and Ferrari and Derek had the biggest pot of the night…Derek was almost on empty and rebuy mode when his set beat out Ferrari’s set. I have to tell you that both guys had some balls ramin and jamin like they did.

Random thoughts that just came to my mind…
1. F-Train was a bit silent compared to how I know how he can control a no-limit table…god bless us that we didn’t play no-limit. I heard later that he didn’t catch any cards.
2. Ferrari is a solid player who kept trying to call Anaconda…which I don’t play since I really don’t understand it. But I know the pots can get rather big and I’m glad nobody agreed to that game.
3. Pauly’s aggressive game had a few people mixed up to what he was playing for the most part. With Pauly it’s either junk or the nutz…you make the call.
4. Diana really surprised me with her aggressive play which helped her gain a nice chip stack at the start of the game.
5. Once Om settled in he was a tougher player and towards the end of the night he had lots of chips.

I lost a few big hands after I re-bought and should have stayed in a few pots. But that’s just the way things go from time to time…sometimes you have the nutz but lay it down at the flop or turn only to hit your one outer on the river.

All and all I had a great time and I wanted to thank Ferrari for having me over his place. It was a joy playing with everyone and seeing some old familiar faces in the audience. I really look forward to playing our Razz game out in Vegas especially maybe sitting with F-Train and going over hands…he seems to have a better grasp on the Razz game than myself.

Well I’m off to party with the boys tonight and I shall contact you if there are any instances of pissing on the streets of NYC.

posted by Joaquin "The Rooster" Ochoa @ 1:41 PM