WARNING: This is one of those videos (and a follow-up) that some of you might see as “3 minutes of my life I’ll never get back”. For those of you with time to spare … (unintentionally?) funny vid from a young British chap named King Gamble … er-3 on what you need to be a “cool” Texas Hold’em player:

And here’s his strategy guide on how to win at poker:

And probably most fascinating — though this one will take more than 6 minutes of your life — is the kids for-educational-purposes-only lesson on “How to Cheat at Poker”:

I think I like the painting chips method best. This kid clearly has a future as a poker blogger, and afterward we can go play with our Star Wars action figures! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?

Just got back from the porn awards (AVN) — it was one of those “love Vegas!” days — and the first pokery thing I found interesting there was one of the hall of fame inductees supposedly was the creator of affiliate marketing on the internet. Poker really is a lot like porn.

The next thing I learned was that Full Tilt is supposedly going to be opening an online sports book. I don’t have a date or any details — other than that it will be only for non-American players, Europeans specifically, and that it’s super hush-hush.

Again, this is just rumor, and I have not called anyone from Full Tilt to confirm — because I’m pretty sure they won’t tell me, and I fear “aggressive interrogation” should I say too much — but I can attest that it comes from a reliable enough source that were there an online sports book that took wagers on such likelihoods, I would definitely bet on it.

One-time Pokerati contributor (and my hunting coach) Nick in Dallas writes in with a request for some charity theatrical poker tourney assistance:

Hey Dan,

So some friends and I are going to throw a poker tournament in February here in Dallas as a fundraiser for a theater production company that we started this fall (www.UpstartTheater.com). Blue Mesa Grill is going to host the games (free appetizers and happy-hour-priced drinks) and we are going to have a $20 per player donation buyin with rebuys. I was wondering if you had any advice/suggestions:

– How often should we up the blinds so that a game starting around 3 on a Sunday will be over by 8 or 9 at the latest?
– Do you know any poker company/group willing to lend/donate us enough chips and cards for 100 people or so?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in donating a prize?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in financially sponsoring the event (we’re tax deductible) in exchange for publicity on our event fliers, website, and performance playbills?
– Do you know ways to publicize this to the Dallas poker-playing community?
– Anything else you think would be helpful?

thanks a lot,
Nick

Nick, as always, good to hear from you. One of these days you will find purpose in your life and ditch the restaurant-service/medical-technology career combo, as well as your passion for the arts and philanthropy, to discover your true calling as a poker blogger. Either that, or you are clearly nothing without Markus and Andy.

In the meantime, click below for answers to your questions:

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All of the speculation has proven true; Annie Duke did participate in the second season of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, according to E! Online and every other media outlet. The 16 participants were announced this week, and Duke’s name was on the list, as was the charity (Refugees International) that she played for.

Photo courtesy of Mitch Haaseth of NBC

The show will begin airing on NBC March 1st with the Donald and the cast, with their corresponding charities, that follows:

* Clint Black, country legend; International Rett Syndrome Foundation
* Andrew Dice Clay, comedian; Stand Up for Kids
* Annie Duke, World Series of Poker champ; Refugees International
* Tom Green, comedian and talk-show host; Butch Walts and Donald Skinner Urologic Cancer Research Foundation
* Natalie Gulbis, professional golfer; Boys and Girls Club
* Scott Hamilton, Olympic figure skater; The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
* Jesse James, TV host, restaurateur and clothing line founder; Long Beach Education Foundation
* Claudia Jordan, Deal or No Deal model; NAPSAC Foundation
* Khloe Kardashian, reality star and boutique owner; Brent Shapiro Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Awareness
* Brian McKnight, singer and Broadway star; Youthville USA
* Joan Rivers, Emmy-winning comedian and red carpet terror; God’s Love We Deliver
* Melissa Rivers, red carpet cohost and producer; Lili Claire Foundation
* Brande Roderick, actress and production company owner; California Police Youth Charities
* Dennis Rodman, former NBA star; Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Orleans
* Herschel Walker, former NFL star; Alternative Community Development Services (Project Turnaround)
* Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, singer, former TLC member; Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia

As for Annie’s charity, Refugees International offers support and aid for displaced people around the world and works toward solutions for crises that cause that displacement.

Vanessa Rousso announced on her inaugural PokerStars.tv video blog on January 4th that she will be taking part in a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated. Evidently, the magazine has this little thing called the “Swimsuit Edition” that is popular in some circles.

“It’s my first bikini shoot, so I’m a little traumatized about that,” Vanessa said. “Let’s just hope it goes well.” She noted that she had taken a recent break from poker to maintain a strict diet and workout regimen in preparation for the photo shoot, but she’s back to the poker circuit now and feels refreshed. (I know, blah blah, poker tournaments.)

Personally, I’m not always in favor of female poker players doing the “spread,” but I have to believe that Vanessa will do this with class and bring some major positive attention to poker in the process.

Watch PCA 09: Vanessa’s Vblog Jan 4th 2009 on PokerStars.tv

Photo courtesy of World Poker Tour

When Tom “durrrr” Dwan wanted to play poker with stakes higher than you can find in your average poker room, he simply issued a challenge to players everywhere. The magic of the big ol’ internet allowed him to get the word out, and he found some takers for his $1.5 million wager. Of course he did. In this economy where people are losing their jobs and houses, cutting back on expenses, and crunching numbers to make sure the basic bills are paid, people like Phil Ivey, David Benyamine, and Patrik Antonius have the ability to play poker for millions of dollars.

Bluff Magazine originally reported that Dwan was ready for some high stakes action, except against friend and fellow online pro Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond. He wanted to play 50,000 hands of $200/$400 PLO or NLHE on four tables. (Multi-tabling must mean this challenge pertains to online poker only, I assume.)

In addition to money won, if the player who has the cajones and bankroll to take up the challenge is even $1 up after rake, he wins $1.5m. If durrrr is up after the 50k hands, he wins $500k. For those who aren’t mathematically inclined, that means Dwan is offering 3-1 odds to any player in the world.

Well, he’s got takers, most vocally Phil Ivey, who announced on his “Tuesdays With Ivey” show on PokerRoad that he accepted the challenge. No word, however, on when the heads-up matches will begin, as those details are likely being worked out.

Others who have expressed an interest in Dwan’s challenge are David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius.

Attorneys for Tiltware, the parent company of Full Tilt Poker, filed a motion yesterday to dismiss Clonie Gowen’s case against them for $40 million as an alleged 1% owner of the company. For those interested in reading the motion, it can be read here.

Pauly and Benjo escape from the bitter gray snow of NYC to report from the high-70s breezes and clear ocean skies of Paradise Island at the Atlantis Resort, where what looks to be the biggest poker tournament outside of the United States in all of history — the 2009 PCA — is getting underway. If poker is dying, that word clearly hasn’t made it yet to the Bahamas.

Follow the on-table action at PokerStarsBlog, and the off-table adventures at Tao of Poker and LV-OTR. Or just listen to Pauly’s report for a conchilicious taste of all the pokery gayness goodness going down right now in the Bermuda Triangle as the ever-French Benjo threatens to disappear sans a contract for podcast big-bucks:

Book 8: The Islanders
Episode 8.1: International Hotspot 3:25

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A leftover story from around Christmastime related to the Choctaw bus and an overall decline in U.S. gambling revenues …

CardPlayer on the poker mini-boom in Oklahoma.

This is probably old news to most, but while rummaging through an ESPN media site looking for a pic for the WSOP Europe post below, I came across these stats, which while familiar to me, I hadn’t seen all together, at least not without the summertime Fog of WarSOP clouding my perspective.

Thought you all might find them interesting, too:

The World Series of Poker — By The Numbers

• $9,119,517 – Prize for the Champion of the 2008 WSOP Main Event
• 28,000 - Number of pounds of TV equipment used to produce the Final Table
• 7,000 – Number of hours taped in July at the WSOP
• 6,844 – Players that began the 2008 WSOP Main Event
• 2,750- number of hands logged during WSOP Main Event taping (up to 300 more expected for Final Table)
• 175 – Total Number of days worked for the 2008 WSOP (Pre-production on May 22- set strike on November 12)
• 124 – The total number of countries and territories represented by players at this year’s WSOP
• 40 – Number of cameras used by ESPN to film the entire 2008 WSOP
• 39 -Number of years the Main Event of the World Series of Poker has existed
• 24 – Hour operation needed to turnaround the Main Event Final table Nov 11.
• 20 – Number of HD cameras used to film the Final Table
• 20 - Number of Main Event hours that will air on ESPN in 2008 (highest ever)
• 15- Average amount of hours worked daily by crew covering the WSOP for 17 days
• 13 – Avid editing systems used to turnaround the Final Table show for same-day airing
• 6 – The number of years in a row an amateur has won the Main Event

Last night was allegedly the debut of season 7 of the World Poker Tour on Fox Sports Net. Since FSN is really a collection of regional networks, it airs at a variety of different times depending on what version of FSN you have in your area. Also, each tournament is broken down into two 1-hour segments instead of the two-hour blocks the programs were shown in its previous six seasons. Their press release stated that there would be a “channel finder” for people to watch their programming. Problem is, they haven’t gotten around to doing that, and they’re still linking to the Season 6 schedule on GSN. Last year, the WPT created a site for people to watch previews and get details on each week’s tournament on GSN. This year, the domain name wptonfsn.com is still available for the taking (hint, hint).

OK, hmm, some new poker on TV coming in less than a month that I’m actually interested in Tivo-ing watching. ESPN’s first ever production of WSOP Europe. They’re playing 4/8 Hour-Limit episodes (with Reruns and a half-kill?) — promising a different feel-and-vibe, and introducing the mobile hole card-cam.

WSOP Europe 2008: John Juanda vs. Ivan Demidov

Alright, I like the sounds of it! Can’t wait to watch the eps with a hypercritical eye and then haphazardly tear apart the hard work of dozens, if not hundreds of people trying to give the whiners and moaners viewers Pokerati readers what they say they want in poker television.

Though I doubt WSOP Europe on TV will have quite the cultural impact of similar-length miniseries such as V, Shogun, and The Thornbirds … I suspect it can be equally as catching as From G’s to Gents.

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Straight from the mainstream press, the gambling industry has fallen on hard times, following the trend of…well…just about every other industry there is. According to Bloomberg, Atlantic City has seen a significant drop in revenue for the second year in a row. New casino projects are on hold or canceled, and thousands of casino employees in AC have lost their jobs.

In the article, one expert predicts that Atlantic City will continue to sink:

James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said the casino industry is vital for the economy of southern New Jersey and for the tax revenue it generates.

“It’s possible Atlantic City is past its peak,” said Hughes, who predicted the situation may worsen next year. “It could never go back to its past glory. It’s a much tougher game now.”

But another analyst predicts a recovery in 2010:

The U.S. gaming industry will “remain under significant pressure in 2009, with a recovery unlikely until 2010,” Michael Paladino, a Fitch Ratings analyst in New York, said in a Dec. 16 report.

In other news, the Wall Street Journal reported that gambling in general is in a downward spiral that will never be the same. *Insert Debbie Downer sound here.* In fact, one survey specialist who clearly doesn’t follow poker trends at the University of Pennsylvania thinks that A) poker is a fad, and B) it has peaked.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that ESPN’s poker-tournament coverage has become ensconced in the culture, card-playing for money among college-age youth declined in 2007 for the first time, according to a survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. “The fad has peaked,” survey director Dan Romer said.

Ummm, Mr. Romer, please note that that ESPN card-playing thingie to which you referred enjoyed its most righteous numbers ever just last month. Methinks we need another survey.

As my first post after the holidays and some taking-care-of-personal-biz time, I am proud to serve this one up. Monks in South Korea were busted by the police for gambling. That’s not very zen, but the visual brings laughter every time.

The Korea Times reported that a group of five Buddhist monks were minding their spiritual business by playing a little high-stakes poker at a hotel in the North Chungcheong Province, where they were staying for a monk-ish convention. There was about 9 million won in play, which translates into roughly $6865 and some nice action. Where monks might get that kinda dough is probably not my concern, but I do not believe it was the best karma decision for the cops to bust them for playing cards with it.

“We were tipped off that a group of monks were gambling,” a police officer said.

On December 31, Ultimate COO Paul Leggett issued an update on previous software issues that happened earlier in December. It’s linked here, or you can click on the button below to read it in full:

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