Month: January 2013

Super Sports Quizzo This Sunday!

Pat Gallen of Phillies Nation and I will be hosting a Super Sports Quizzo This Sunday at the Field House at 6 p.m. The winner will walk with 4 lower level tix to an upcoming Flyers game and a $50 gift certificate to Field House. 2nd Place will walk with $50 gift cert. Gonna have plenty of craft beers for $3 and $4. Should be a great quiz, with at least one baseball round, one Super Bowl round, and another three rounds on a variety of subjects, from basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis and even a little boxing. The Flyers game will be on TV and there will be plenty of cold beer on tap. Hope you can make it!

Quizzo Tonight

We kick it off at Ugly American at 8 p.m. It was rocking and rolling last Thursday. Hopefully we have more of the same tonight. Save Ear came in and won in hostile territory last week. Can they do it again, or will someone else step up? And yes, I’ll have fries to give away and Lagers will be dirt cheap.

On to the Bards at 10:15 p.m. Steak Em Up is back on another run and you’re going to need to bring you A-game to knock them off…however if it’s gonna happen, tonight could be the night. A speed round designed specifically to keep them in check. Tough quiz tonight, I’ll warn you now, but a good one. And a wild card round inspired by Manti Te’o. Hope to see you there!

Cool Job: Pro Poker Player

Many of you on the quizzo circuit know Vaughn, aka the Sandman. Not only has he been an off and on player for numerous years, he has also hosted the quiz for me on numerous occasions, and done a bang up job from all reports. Anyways, Vaughn just recently stopped being a pro poker player, and is looking to go into writing.  

He enjoyed poker, he made money at it, but to be a pro player these days you need to move to the soulless pit that is Vegas, and that town and Vaughn, who has as much soul as any white boy I know,  just weren’t a good fit. Regardless, here is his story of what it’s like to be a poker player and how he got into it.

JGT: Tell me how you first got into poker.

Vaughn: Well I was always a bit of a gambler. I used to sneak into the Taj to play blackjack  when I was 16-20 years old. Not often, once or twice a year.

JGT: Were you pretty good at it, right off the bat?

Vaughn: Yeah. I was a chess prodigy as a kid. Top 5 in the country age 9 and under, with two therapists for parents. I was kind of born and bred to play poker

JGT: I didn’t know that you were a chess prodigy.

Vaughn: I peaked at age 8. But that movie Searching for Bobby Fisher? I used to play with that kid a lot.

JGT: Ok, so when did you make the jump to cards?

Vaughn: Age 25, working as an assistant in Hollywood. Flew home to Philly for a one week vacation, had a changeover in Las Vegas.

JGT: An assistant what?

Vaughn: I was the assistant to the head writer/executive producer of an ill-fated CBS sitcom.

JGT: Called what?

Vaughn: Ladies Man. Helluva cast but the show never got off the ground. Alfred Molina, Betty White. But it was working 90hrs a week on the Titanic. Anyway, my flight was late out of LA and missed the Vegas to PHL flight. It was 11pm and next flight was 7am. Being a bit of a latent degenerate, I put my bag in a locker and took a cab to the Bellagio. I had 6 hours to kill and knew I couldn’t spend it playing blackjack.

Rounders had recently come out. I wandered over to the poker room, played $1-$5 spread limit stud all night. Finished up $12 and thought it was the coolest f***ing thing. On the way to my flight I went into the gift shop and bought the first book I saw on poker strategy. The book mentioned poker was legal at several card rooms in L.A., including the Hollywood Park Racetrack which was maybe 15 minutes from the Culver City lot where we shot the show. I didn’t go during weeks when we were shooting, but the non-shooting weeks I went a couple times a week and I was a better than breakeven player almost right away.

JGT: Had you found a passion or just a hobby?

Vaughn: Both. Clearly some part of me that been been long dormant just got engaged right away. I mean, is there any way of keeping score more authentic than stacking piles of money? At the time, however, I had pretty much slaved away 3 years of my life to get myself into the position where I might get  a job writing for a sitcom, and I was finally next in line.

Continue reading “Cool Job: Pro Poker Player” →

Quizzo Tonight

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you want to crack the top 10 in the power rankings, the best bar to establish yourself as a champion is O’Neals. Things have been pretty wide open there for months. Action starts at 8 p.m. $3.50 Mexican beers and margaritas, and a $50 gift cert to the winners. And of course the legendary Muhammad in the kitchen and Suzanne behind the bar, screaming at me to repeat the questions.

On to the City Tap House at 10:15 p.m. Been rocking there lately. $100 gift cert for winners every week. Hope to see ya tonight! (Pic above was taken in New York at 55th and 6th. They just HAAAAAD to get a bigger LOVE sign.)

Did the Geator Try to Have Hy Lit Killed?

There are few Philadelphia legends I have become a bigger fan of since I moved here than Jerry Blavat. I mean, this guy’s story is just so unreal. He hung out with Sammy Davis and Frank Sinatra, he was friends with Frank Rizzo and Angelo Bruno, he’s been spinning doo-wop and soul for over 50 years. The Geator was sitting at a table in South Philly when one of his dining partners was the victim of a mob hit in 1981, and in 2009 a mob member wanted to have Jerry himself whacked.

And while Jerry himself has never been indicted for any wrongdoing that I’m aware of, a bombshell dropped in 1995, when a mob informant told police that Blavat had asked Nicky Scarfo to have rival radio DJ and fellow Philadelphia legend Hy Lit whacked. In the above video that I just randomly stumbled across yesterday, Blavat and Hy Lit go on the air to discuss the allegations just days after the report was released. The two had been friends since childhood and friendly rivals in adulthood, but according to the informant, Blavat thought Lit was cutting in on his business and wanted him wiped out. Blavat vehemently denied the accusation. It made for some highly entertaining television, the host and Blavat really sparring repeatedly about Blavat’s mob connections.

While you’re at it, read this excellent Philly Mag story on Blavat in 2008. Well worth a read. And if you want to know even more about the Geator with the Heater, the Boss with the Hot Sauce, you can buy his book which came out in 2011.

Quizzo Tonight

I’m Coming at you live from a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike to let you know that yes, we are on for tonight. Heading home after an overnight trip to New York. Fun fact: while parking tickets are $41 in Philadelphia, they are $115 in New York. Unbelievable. I’m thinking about hosting a fundraiser for myself to pay this thing off. Goodness gravy.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, quiz is on for tonight. North Star at 7. Been rockin lately. Let’s keep it going tonight. On to Sidecar at 9:15. Was quiet last week. Let’s blow it out tonight. See ya soon!

Super Bowl of Sports Quizzo Next Sunday!

Gonna have Flyers tix, gift certificates, and a $3 craft beers next Sunday night at the Field House for our first annual Super Bowl of Sports quizzo. It will cover all sports, but there will be an emphasis on Super Bowl trivia. And we’re gonna have lower level Flyers tix to give away among other prizes.  Action starts at 6 p.m. on Sunday the 27th. Gonna be joined by my man Pat Gallen from Phillies Nation. We put together a great quiz last time. This one’s gonna be good too. And the winner is gonna go home with the Rich Kotite Trophy. Hope to see ya there!