I no sooner received the news yesterday on Gordon Long, had my snifflie cry, talked with Jennie (Josh’s best half) about my relationship with Gordon and Carole, when I picked up my phone to find a text message from Carmen Bates that Paula Halford had passed.  Super SHOCK!

I met Paula when the Mirage opened and we dealt together.  She was a young beauty, carefree, fun loving, and reckless with gambling and drinking.  We became life long friends.  No matter if we didn’t see each other for awhile or saw each other yesterday, when we did meet again, she was open, warm, caring and genuinely happy to see me as I was her.

We started a fun group of people with some of the players at the Mirage that used to meet us on our night off at one of the local clubs for dancing – and lots of drinking.  I was never a big drinker that boasted of being able to keep up with anyone or capable of drinking all night long – I hit a point and I’m just DONE or I’m going to be terribly ill and not have any fun at all. Paula and I always hit the club first, got our table, ordered our drinks, and never waited for anyone when the music started…we danced.  We laughed our asses off and danced.  By the time our crew would start to straggle in we had a line of followers that got up just to dance with us, male and female, and some of them would join our table/s for the night.

One particular night we started doing shots of tequila and I – for some idiot reason – matched Paula for the first hour or so.  It was a huge mistake.  The crew ended up going to other casinos to dance spots and propping me between them as I staggered on, comatose.  Literally.  I don’t remember most of that night.  A friend took me back to my car to get my house keys and drive me home, I decorated the parking lot, I don’t even know how we found my car.  I was sick for four days from that one, woke up vomiting the next day and continued periodically the rest of the day.  That was it for me on the maniac drinking thing…to feel that bad and know I did it to myself was unreal.

I’m sure it was a great picture with me propped between two guys dragging me into a casino with the rest of the crew surrounding us.  I heard later that the Gold Coast security didn’t even want to let us in with the condition I was in…Kee-rist!…I probably looked like I was dead.  It’s much funnier now.

Paula was single when I met her, except for her dog Perry that was the love of her life, she lived alone.  She did some great art and even gave me picture she had done with crayon and a hot iron.  I packed it around with me for years and then managed to lose it from the Mississippi move back to Vegas in 94.

I went to Mike and Paula’s wedding.  She was beautiful.  I took a stack of kleenex with me, I always cry at weddings, and when she started down the aisle with tears running, raced out to hand her some.

Paula did have a physical condition that stressed her all of her life, pertaining to her lungs, and that was the main reason she had moved to the dry climate of the desert.  Although I’m not sure why she died, that may have been one of the causes.

I saw her last at the WSOP 2009 playing in a live game.

I have met a lot of people that touch my heart and warm my memories, Paula, you are right up there with the best of them.