It took a while, but GSN finally got the episode on Youtube:

When poker and non-poker entities collide, it can produce interesting results. Case and point, Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak – an odd but somehow perfect match.

Doyle Brunson proved he (or his people) had connections when he first recruited Pamela Anderson to rep for Doyles Room. That was before Doyles Room left the U.S. market and came back complete with Doyles Casino. Since the return, there have been numerous C-list and B-list celebrities lined up for his celebrity bounty tournaments, like Nicky Hilton and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. But this week, the Godfather of Poker has outdone himself. Not only does he have Eve (rapper, sometime-actress, and big deal for hip-hop fans like me) set up as one of his bounties, but he has Mickey Rourke. That Mickey Rourke who just won a Golden Globe for best actor in The Wrestler and was nominated for the Oscar. They will all be participating in this Thursday’s $25K Celebrity Bounty Tournament at Doyles Room.

Doyle wrote about his friendship with Rourke in his blog:

Twelve years ago, through a mutual friend, I met the talented actor Mickey Rourke. His life story should be made into a film because nobody has ever had more ups and downs than Mickey over the past 20 years.

Mickey was one of the hot new movie stars after his hit 9 1/2 weeks with Kim Basinger. Then, because of some personal problems, he walked away from acting to pursue a boxing career.

He boxed from 1991-1995, proving he was indeed a rebel who marched to the beat of his own drummer. Mickey then returned to his first love, acting, and with the completion of his new 2008 film, The Wrestler, he got rave reviews and won every award except the Academy Award. Mickey, who is genuinely a nice guy, decided to try poker. He remembered me, gave me a call and agreed to be one of the bounties in DoylesRoom’s weekly bounty tournament. So come play with Mickey this Thursday at 9:30 eastern in Doyle’s Bounty tournament.

On the other hand, poker doesn’t always mix well with “celebrity,” as Jose Canseco’s accountant can attest to. According to the Los Angeles Times, he dissed the Golden League in 2006 and the subsequent marketing contract he had with them in order to play poker in Reno and attend a party at the Playboy Mansion. Whoops. And for reneging on that contract, he now has to pay $258,750 for his addictions ego choices.

Coming soon, at least in theory …

Poker Face Wine — my guess: an Australian Shiraz.

Bingo Poker – some silly card game. Knowing nothing about it, I give it no chance of catching on … with anyone.

Multiple Round Pokers — a casino-game variant of poker, played against the house and without shuffling? Plural? I don’t really get it, but I kinda like the bad beat bonus circle!

UPDATE: Oops, the above is from 2006. I guess it didn’t catch on …

Round Card Poker — either poker baseball cards or maybe a Magic: The Gathering-style game? Possibly just cards cut in circles?

Frequently in tournament poker you will encounter players who are re-raising your opens at an inappropriate frequency.

At the lower stakes they tend to re-raise too little, either trying to fold to cash or just call and play passive pots without the momentum of a raise or a strong hand. As you rise up the stakes though, you will start to encounter players who re-raise too much, and against these players you must be prepared to make one of the boldest plays in poker – the re-re-steal.

“If pulled off correctly it can help someone hugely chip up and push on for the win, if it goes wrong it can just look like a massive spew as someone loses a massive pot with a weak hand”

This play can only ever be effective if both players have enough chips that fold equity can be created, as there is no point making a big bluff like this if your opponent is pot committed by the bet; and should only be made against a player whom you know is capable of re-raising you with a lot less than premium hands.

More…

Shaniac has his recap of the event up now, too.

Team Tao of Pokerati hits Caesar’s Palace (and Bellagio) for the first open-field running (second overall) of Dream Team Poker. Have a listen to join Pauly and Dan + Shaniac on our ventures to the registration and jersey-issue cocktail party … a pregame breakfast at Cafe Bellagio (where we declare ourselves the favorites, or at least a Top 10 team) … and then back to Caesar’s for the tournament itself. Along the way we analyze the intricacies of team play, formulate an alliance against TJ Cloutier, negotiate a deal to off Jerry Yang, and show you how big bets on March Madness might be the secret antidote to tilt. Intense strategy talk and hand breakdowns to boot …

Chapter 10: Go Team

Episode 10.1: Gel Time

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Episode 10.2: Shirts vs. Skins

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Episode 10.3: Spam and Eggs

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Episode 10.4: Karma, Villanova, and Thor

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Episode 10.5: Bustout Strategy

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Episode 10.6: Better Luck Next Time

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I don’t think this has much to do with poker directly, but I’m trying to pimp a new blog indirectly it does because ESPN suddenly finds itself with a little extra programming cash on hand — not to mention some extra air time — having lost the rights to broadcast the Champions League in the US to Fox Soccer Channel.

Perhaps Fox got the funds to outbid ESPN from all those Season 7 World Poker Tour/Full Tilt infomercials they’ve been running? And what do you think the odds are that this could mean raises for Norman Chad and Lon McEachern more poker on TV?

You may have noticed that Activision stopped making their World Series of Poker game last year, and apparently have no plans for any special 40th Anniversary edition this year. But that doesn’t mean poker and (video) gaming is dead. The Nintendo Wii now has “Texas Hold’em Tournament” – brought to you by Digital Leisure, the makers of The Incredible Maze and Soduku Challenge! Currently only available only in the EU, with a US release date TBA.

Interestingly enough, the Nintendo Wii played a very important role in the Michalski family Christmas this year. The whole family got really into the super bowling game (where you have up to like 100 pins to knock down) — even my grandmother played — and when I realized four generations were all gathered in the living room competing at once, I realized this Wii thing was something special. Honestly, I hadn’t seen anything like it since maybe Trivial Pursuit in the mid-’80s.

Since then, I’ve gotten requests from my nephews to do some sort of thing where we can trade our Mii characters online so we can compete against each other from afar. I won’t do it, of course, because I can’t beat an 8-year-old in tennis and he taunts me as a result, but still … clearly theoretically, Nintendo Wii+Poker=(good for) Poker / Time.

The cost of this game? 500 Wii points. That’s a whole’nother story, of course, when you consider exchanging virtual currency for video-fied poker action.

Funny … have The Simpsons on in the background, and they just opened the show with a bit where Rev. Lovejoy had to explain to his religious superior why the church’s credit card was declined … he came up with a dismissive explanation of a security hold put on it by the bank after his wife joined an offshore poker club.

(The subtextual punchline being that they were talking about fireplace pokers.)

That Sam Simon … so nice of him to embed a joke just for us.

Ha-ha-ish.

Pauly is a better faster writer than I am — so it’s always good to have him in town to make me work less. Read his detailed recap of Dream Team Poker weekend here and his less-detailed first impressions here.

Likewise, over at Wicked Chops, they’ve got the Hottie Beat covered … and PokerListings has manhandled the actual tournament action.

Tao of Pokerati Dream Team teammate Shaniac has some great music to listen to while you’re waiting for more.

Meanwhile, Team Aced did their thing to keep Aced.com in the public eye as a potentially legitimate newfangled online poker room with celeb-pro representative Jamie Gold, LV poker-room man Houston Waldie, and Gold-girlfriend Ashley Nataupsky — who is still alive for the individual championship — locking up the team title earlier today.

The vibe on Day 2 (final three tables) was quite distinct from Day 1 (field of 444 playing down to 27). From an informed source on the ground at Caesar’s:

It was great. People really had to watch the standings when making plays. They might have had pot odds on a few calls, but people were laying down hands to hold. It turned into one big last longer prop bet.

The Bellagio is gearing up for the start of the 7th Annual Five Star World Poker Classic running March 31 thru April 25.  The Five Star is highlighted by the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship beginning Saturday, April 18.

Complete schedule below:

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El salvador is beating usa? What the?

Stephenville: Up to 160. Maybe leader? 32 left. Pays 25.

Lodge alum david pflaster is near the chip lead