GoDaddy.com will be the presenting sponsor for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, according to the official press release with dates and other pertinent info. Big news, really. When a company like GoDaddy.com embraces the poker industry by sponsoring such an event, it lets other major corporations know that’s it’s okay. C’mon in. There’s money to be made from this kazillion dollar industry!

In truth, it’s a brilliant move from GoDaddy.com to make itself a friend of the industry, as poker is filled with internet-savvy, blogging, html-minded people, some of whom (not naming names!) tend to buy domain names like they’re rebuys in a tournament. And it doesn’t hurt that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship ends up airing on NBC, which is some solid air time on a major network. Welcome to our little niche, GoDaddy.

Just because my poker telecasting career the PokerBowl seems to have fizzled under a cloud of overt mishandlement (like the video’s gone and everything), don’t think the concept of organized semi-collusion has been simply tried and dismissed. A different operation — Dream Team Poker — pulled off a successful invitational at the Hard Rock in November, and sure enough, as is always the case with these team poker events … everyone had a great funky-slightly-different-poker time. And the winners (Bluff publisher Eric Morris, editor Matt Parvis, and tournament ringer ZeeJustin) actually got paid — $39k divvied up accordingly.

Dream Team Poker 2 is ready to go — Mar 27-29 at Caesar’s — and this one will be an open event … so any threesome with $1,650 ($500+50 per person) can get in on the action. Because the buy-in is both big enough and low enough, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this be something of a good-ole-fashioned pro-am event … especially if some of the pros who have been buying into similarly priced Venetian Deep Stacks lately feel they have an edge because they’ve played in a couple of these team tournaments already.

Click here for tourney details and to preregister online.

One of Pokerati’s WSOPals is up for an award: Lina Olofsson is a finalist for Scandinavian Female Poker Player of the Year in some Scandi Poker Awards from PokerStars. Honestly, though I know she had some good success at the tables last year, I don’t know much else about her play other than that she cashed in a $2k NLH at the ’08 WSOP. So here’s what they’ve got to say in PokerStars Scandiland about the poker media’s favorite Swede:

Lina placerade sig i pengarna i ett WSOP-event efter att hon även lyckats vinna två säten till WSOP Main Event till ett värde av totalt 28 000 dollar. Hon gick sedan långt i online-SM där hon kom på 22:a plats av 1788 startande. Lina kom också 4:a i Casino Cosmopols stora turnering i Göteborg, Spring Poker Week och vann 99000 kr. Hon har spelat in över 160 000 kronor på turneringar under 2008.

Right on. I couldn’t agree more. Especially the Spring Poker Week. Sweet as pie, and talented writer and photog … so we’re giving her the offiicial nod. You should, too.

Click here and scroll down to vote.

This is more than just Rumorati … it’s based on actual purported facts and second-hand semi-verified info:

Word is that the IRS has been in direct contact with at least two important and well-informed online pokerers who may or may not have important data on Russ Hamilton and the money stolen via Ultimate Bet. And this is not just some computer in Washington DC sending out form letters — there’s apparently a special agent in Nevada currently investigating the case.

What they’re interested in is 20 million untaxed dollars. And as is starting to get revealed since RawVegas went commando with their cameras, there is clearly more to this case than just an online poker cheating scandal and subsequent tax evasion … there could be some money laundering involved … which is kinda funny (not funny ha ha) because money laundering was one of the primary reasons given for the UIGEA … and now we have an example of how the law to prevent it may indeed have facilitated it.

I don’t know enough about how IRS investigations work to know what kind of teeth this thing really has — but I’d like to think that so long as the Feds keep an eye out for one-way tickets to Costa Rica by any R. Hamilton’s … in the end, one way or another, his fate is not going to be left in the hands of the Kahnawake.

Tough times for Lyle Berman … the World Poker Tour and PokerTek honcho apparently lost a bunch of money to the Russ Hamilton of Wall Street.

Annie Duke vs. Joan Rivers … whom do you like in that fight!?!

In conjunction with Jean-Robert Bellande’s (brief) appearance on Survivor, I’m getting the sense that poker pros may not mix well with people whose bullshit they can see through the non-poker masses.

In Las Vegas, there are lots of opportunities to replenish, even in these difficult economic times:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/media/video/sex_business.html

While this is kinda amazing just because it’s in a mainstream paper … 10 minutes of work to earn a standard 2/5 NL buy-in? I gotta think Tbonezzz will be considering it if he doesn’t cash in today’s Venetian Deep Stacks event, which he qualified for via satellite.

Where in the world is Jamie Gold these days? Maybe he’s looking for the plethora of jobs that aren’t available in Hollywood. Could be that he’s trying to develop “America’s Unemployed Hot Chicks.” But in the world of poker, he does have a gig. Bankroll Boost is reporting that Gold has signed on as a sponsored player at Aced Poker.

Say what?

Good for Gold in finding a gig in these tough times. Honestly, kudos to anyone who is securing work instead of being on the unfortunate end of losing it right now. Maybe we’ll hear more about Aced Poker in the near future, if the site decides to promote him (which they have yet to do – Aced has no mention of him on the pages of its site thus far). And come to think of it, Betfair wasn’t big until it signed Annette Obrestad and Sorel Mizzi, and Cake Poker still hasn’t signed any players to a roster but continues to gain popularity. Aced Poker is clearly trying to work its way into the upper echelon of sites in the American market by signing a recognizable name to promote it. Keep your eyes open for “Aced is Gold” and other oh-so-clever promotions.

Highish-stakes pro David Plastik, looking to take down a $330 deep-stack tournament at the Venetian.

The 1st of four Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganzae got underway this week … and sure enough, the chance to play a skill-heavy event (deeper stacks, longer level times) for a low buy-in seems extra appealing (at least value-wise) in the current economic client.

I don’t have too many specifics, but I can say the fields seem to be bigger than last time, or at least are staying in the same ballpark. They definitely haven’t shrunk, relative to the world economy, that’s for sure. At this moment, the Venetian poker room and 30-something extra tables set up on the main casino floor aren’t packed, but they are full. Some familiar faces (on very quick glance) about five levels into today’s $550 NLH include Gobboboy Jimmy Fricke and PokerNews expat John Caldwell.

In a few minutes About an hour ago, the final table from yesterday’s $330 got underway. Bryan Micon from Neverwin was there, along with David Plastik, a couple other solid players, and a couple donks (according to Micon, who has since busted). First place: $28k.

To give you another example of the field sizes the Venetian’s 2009 DSE-1 is drawing, Event #1, on Monday, another $330, saw 447 players and a $129k total prize pool. 36 got paid …

1st – $40,117
2nd – $21,029
3rd – $10,353

Some other familiar faces who have been hanging at the Venetian this week: JJ Liu (she hasn’t missed a day), Kenna James, Susie Isaacs, Daniel Alspach, Adam Schoenfeld, and Lacey Jones. Some bloggers seem to be filtering through here, too … just ran into BWOP, and I hear Grubette is on her way.

UPDATE: Also in the $550 hizzouse — Haley Hintze and Mike Laing. Maybe this sorta turnout is nothing new, but it seems to me these events are being taken much more seriously than previous Deep Stacks.

Must-see … via Wicked Chops … the RawVegas red carpet crew gets some face-to-face time with alleged Ultimate Bet supercheater Russ Hamilton (wearing a clubUBT.com visor, interestingly enough) to see what he has to say about being the Bernie Madoff of Poker:

Watch RUSS HAMILTON UltimateBet Super-User Cheating Scandal (Exclusive Video) on RawVegas.tv

Kudos, btw, to the WCP/RV guys for reminding us that old school gotcha journo-ing does have a purpose.

… is coming up. Be sure to tune in live here. Not exactly sure what’s on the agenda today — I just go wherever Scott Huff tells me to — but I’m pretty sure I’ll be talking about Clonie’s lawsuit, UIGEA developments, and other assorted poker hubbub.

We’ll have the podcast version up here, too, as soon as it’s recorded.

Show starts in 5 minutes.

UPDATE: Podcast ready …

The Poker Beat
5 Feb 2009

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.

via PokerRoad

It seems that the United States economic depression recession has stayed out of the Los Angeles card clubs, at least that was the case in 2008.

The Los Angeles Business Journal reports that 2008 earnings were actually up 1.2% from the previous year. Those numbers come from a former executive of the California Gaming Association and include figures from the seven largest card clubs in the L.A. metro area, including Commerce Casino and the Bicycle Casino.

Speaking of Commerce, the L.A. Poker Classic is in full swing, and that ever-popular tournament has seen no sign of the depression recession either. The first event alone – $335 NLHE – drew a field of 1,592, which is a 401-player increase from the 2008 series. Maybe the U.S. government should host a $1000 NLHE event for the entire country, take a few hundred dollars in juice on each buy-in, and clear up that nasty zillion dollar debt.

I know what you’re thinking… I never see enough of Gus Hansen. I wish I could see videos of him going about his daily life. I miss Gus!

Okay, could be wrong on that, but Gus TV is coming to a computer near you anyway, beginning on February 21. It seems that the Great Dane has a side to him that he wants to show to the world and has created Gus TV for just that purpose. “Gus TV is for poker players, by poker players,” the front page of the website says. “When you watch, you support the making of a free poker TV channel.”

The first video will be the much-talked-about boxing match between Hansen and Theo Jorgensen, a fight that will take place live on Gus TV in Copenhagen on the same day as the final table of the EPT Copenhagen. The two will duke it out for 200,000 DKK, which is approximately $35,000 in U.S. buckaroos, though Hansen is so convinced of his physical superiority that he claims he will only accept $25K if he wins.

According to Casino City Times, the boxing match on February 21 will launch the online TV site, after which new content will be posted on a daily basis. Gus fans will see him at tournaments, discussing strategy, and hanging out with friends.

… at the LAPC drew almost 200 players. Jordan Rich is still in. Norman Chad is out.

This is really interesting stuff. As I alluded to in an earlier comment with respect to this case, the rubber will meet the road for FT when they have to testify with respect to the operation of the various companies and the contractual arrangements with other members of the FT Team. Looks like that will happen with the court-ordered depos of Bitar and, most interestingly, Ferguson. As I have said before, I cannot imagine that anyone with FT wants to talk about their dealings with Full Tilt Poker in such a forum, under oath, as it would seem to be tantamount to providing a knife to the butcher wanting to kill the goose who’s laying golden eggs. Plus, now there may be e-mails out there Clonie references that, at least, reference her deal? Wow, again, no way FT wants to go there.