Compare for yourself … Layne Flack starting his night on the red carpet at Pure, and finishing it on the cold concrete floors of LV city jail:

photo: Wicked Chops

Related:
Layne Flack in Jail for DUI

photo: LVMPD

Tom Dwan doesn’t slowroll, and you shouldn’t either.

My latest Bluff column is now up online … in this episode I call out the Scandis for potentially causing a violent international incident:

Without a doubt, for low stakes players MGM cash games can be a test of nerves…. Little did I know it would be a test of my sanity, not to mention my criminal intent.

The villain in this story is a slowroller, so I’m sure most will understand. Before the night was over he had an entire table plotting revenge. The plan was to gang-tackle him in an elevator, beat him senseless, take his money, then beat him some more, and then, just to let him know we weren’t really crooks, roll up the cash and wedge it in his facial orifices. Or at least that’s what one of us was thinking… that’ll teach him proper etiquette!

Thanks to the good folks over at GSN, Episode 2 of High Stakes Poker is now available over at Youtube, and embedded below. Plenty of big hands on this week’s show, with lots of talk in the forums about the last hand on this week’s broadcast.

Here’s how it all turned out:

And goodish times had by PokerRoadies and Pokeratizens who competitively made their bracket picks … swag headed various people’s ways. Here’s how it all turned out:

More…

The heads-up Championship wasn’t the only red-carpet poker going on in Vegas this weekend. Paris Hilton was in town for her 28th birthday party (at Body English) and recouped the next day by playing a relatively low-key sit-n-go at the Hard Rock with boyfriend Doug Reinhardt and crew. No word on the buy-in ($500? just a guess) or whether or not they kept to TDA-sanctioned random seat draw regulations … or even if she mighta been paid to play … but still, glad to see her make poker part of her birthday weekend and Vegas trip.

Thanks to Vegas-scene photog Erik Kabik for the pics:

Photo: © Erik Kabik / RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com

High Five: Paris Hilton and friends celebrate pocket jacks holding up during her 28th birthday tournament at the Hard Rock Poker Lounge in Las Vegas, March 6.

More…

They’ve been playing all day weekend, and are down to two at the NHUPC. And regardless of how it turns out Vanessa Rousso has arguably earned her keep as the Danicka Patrick of Poker.

(I’m keeping up with results on my own time at PokerNews, btw.)

I ranked her 55th. Overall, the ESPN panel put her 49th. But hey, just goes to show you, anyone can get an easy draw. The laughable field the newest GoDaddy spokesmodel had to beat, in order: Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, 2007 NHUPC champ Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu, and online wunderkind Bertrand Grospellier, aka ‘Elky’. Hmm. Wow.

Meanwhile, my bracket’s turned to shit. Of the 96 players in on PokerRoad/Pokerati’s fun, eight people picked Vanessa Selbst to win it all, yet no one … as in ZERO! … picked Vanessa Rousso.

Of the final four, here’s how many people picked them to win it all:

Vanessa Rousso – 0
Sammy Farha – 0
Huck Seed – 5
Elky – 9

CORRECTION: Technically Mike Matusow is GoDaddy’s newest spokesboy. He went out in Round 1.

One pairing at the NHUPC drawing party at Pure that might deserve a little attention: WSOP Commish Jeffrey Pollack, who was in attendance to draw a few pairing balls out of the keno hopper, showed up with (and left with) Jon Miller, Executive VP of NBC Sports, and apparently the network’s top acquisitions dealmaker guy.

Pollack and Miller are supposedly longtime pals … and with the WSOP’s contract with ESPN expiring next year, the two sure did seem extra-chummy. And though I’m not sure who would be courting whom, at least one well-informed, scotch-drinking little birdie tells me there’s more going on between the two of them than just a casual one-night hook-up at a Vegas club.

Here they are on the red carpet with what some might say look like bedroom eyes for each other as the two discuss what makes for good poker on TV:

And here (starting at 2:04):

Lara Miller of the PR firm Diamond Draw Management has issued a statement from Layne Flack. Here it is in full: 

I attended the Draw Party at Pure on Friday night and then met with my brother, who had flown into Vegas for Heads Up. I was under the impression that I was to play in the last bracket the next evening at around 8 pm. I was pulled over for speeding and refused a breathalyzer test as I have been instructed to do.  I have no idea why I was written a ticket for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. There were no emergency vehicles around, besides the police car. A test, given by the Las Vegas PD, later revealed that I had a blood alcohol content of zero. I also took a blood test, as I have nothing to hide. I was held for the mandatory 6 hours and released. I always go out of my way to not drink and drive. I regret that I was not able to play in NBC Heads Up and hope to be invited next year to play in this prestigious event.

There’s little reason to doubt Layne Flack’s version of events at this point. Refusing a breathalyzer test isn’t that unusual, because the blood tests are more accurate. 

If his blood-alcohol level was really zero, then the DUI charges would likely be dropped. That leaves two other relatively minor charges (speeding and the failure to yield to an emergency vehicle), which means that Layne Flack could come out of this untimely little episode with nothing more than traffic tickets — and a missed opportunity at the NBC Heads-Up Championship.

Clarification 1: Layne Flack was not in a car accident. Some of the earliest reports of this situation came from a statement that Mori Eskandani gave to some reporters at the NBC Heads-Up Championship, saying that Flack had to withdraw because he had been in a car accident. He wasn’t. (11:00 am PT)

Clarification 2: Lara Miller has followed up to say that Flack claims he had just one drink at Pure that night. Also, Flack took the blood test to prove that he was not just alcohol-free, but drug-free as well. (11:30 am PT)

Update 1: Andrew “good2cu” Robl blogged that he “ended up getting quite drunk” with Layne Flack that night, taking shots of tequila. This side of it seems to be turning into a he said/he said situation, where the tie will ultimately go to the results of the blood test. (12:00 noon PT)

Update 2:  Andrew Robl has edited the Layne Flack story out of his blog without an explanation. (6:30 pm PT)

Virginia Heffernan, a tech writer for the New York Times, has an article about online poker appearing in this Sunday’s The Times Magazine. Heffernan seems to have been hanging around some poker forums and found the self-pity of the “bad beat” story to be worth writing about. (She also refers to 2+2 as a “funny poker site.”)

An excerpt: 

Whether or not poker interests you, the bad-beat story is a form to study; everyone needs to know how to tell one. It’s an especially useful genre during a recession. With its combination of numbers, magic, hunches and statistics, the bad-beat story furnishes a nice range of narrative devices to frame a lament about losing, while making it crystal clear that the loss wasn’t your fault.

The article is much more thorough than it appears at first, going from the start of online poker in the late ’90s to Chris Moneymaker to the recent scandals at Absolute and UltimateBet. It gives the Times Magazine readers a nice overview of online poker, with one big, notable exception — Heffernan never once mentions the UIGEA (or the fallout). The overall tone of the piece is that online poker is a normal, legal activity. 

While there’s no new information for Pokerati readers, it’s a well-written article worth reading just to see how the NY Times is presenting online poker to the masses this week. One more time, here’s the link:

“Flop,” by Virginia Heffernan, The Times Magazine

I guess the bad beats finally caught up to me … I was near the top of the leaderboard all day, but in the last quadrant got smacked … as did Gavin Smith, via bad beat, who was my pick to win it all. Phil Hellmuth also advanced by suckout to my detriment.

Here are tomorrow’s match-ups:

Don Cheadle vs. Paul Wasicka
Phil Ivey vs. Vanessa Rousso
Scotty Nguyen vs. Ted Forrest
Daniel Negreanu vs. Dario Minieri

Gabe Kaplan vs. John Juanda
Zigmund vs. Elky
Jeffrey Ishbia vs. Phil Hellmuth
Tom Dwan vs. Barry Greenstein

Eli Elezra vs. Erick Lindgren
David Williams vs. Scott Fischman
John Phan vs. Jerry Yang
Sammy Farha vs. Peter Eastgate

Kenny Tran vs. Jennifer Harman
Phil Laak vs. Layne Flack David Oppenheim
Gus Hansen vs. Huck Seed
Glen Chorny vs. Brad Garrett

Click here to see the complete PokerRoad/Pokerati bracket standings after Day 1.

(Mathers is 10th, I’m 26th, TBR is 46th. And even though both Shronk and “Stapes” are both tied for 53rd, overall the PRR forumers are kicking Pokeratizen ass.)

photo: Wicked Chops

He’s there right now … in Clark County City of Las Vegas Detention Center, charged with DUI, driving more than 21 mph over the speed limit, and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/information/17503.htm

CORRECTION: City of Las Vegas Detention Center, not Clark County. The city booking unit is a much drearier place — it’s where they take locals to be charged with misdemeanors, while the fancy new CCDC is for tourists and alleged felons.

A typical stay-time in this joint is usually about 13 hours (I think they legally have to keep you for 12 to sober up) … so not knowing what time Layne’s Drawing Party festivities ended, it’s hard to speculate on whether or not he was involved in an accident that required medical treatment. When he does get let out, the unit he’s in doesn’t allow direct releases into the industrial North Las Vegas neighborhood … so you don’t just walk out the door. They take a van-load of inmates downtown and drop them off right outside the Golden Nugget.

UPDATE: Flack has been released. Neverwin Poker confrms.

OK, since we don’t know his medical status, we’ll hold off on making jokes about train wrecks. From the PokerNews live-action team:

During the break after the Diamonds Bracket concluded, we asked producer Mori Eskandani why Flack had been replaced, and why Oppenheim was the replacement rather than Chiu. Eskandani stated that Flack was in an automobile accident last night and was therefore unavailable to play today. Chiu, the first alternate, required four hours notice due to the fact that he’s based in Los Angeles. NBC was unable to give him that notice and therefore substituted Oppenheim, who lives in Las Vegas, at the last minute.

Is he the Orel Hersheiser of 2009? Would be kinda funny since he was the bottom-ranked player by our little ESPN panel of “experts”.

We’ve got some 80 people competing in the PokerRoadRadio/Pokerati bracket game. With half of Round 1 complete, here are the leaders:

Crap, one of my final four picks is already out. Erik Seidel. I so almost went the other way with that one, too.

Otherwise, all is well in my bracket. Got the 4 3 other matches right — Farha d. Cunningham, Eastgate d. Bloch, Lindgren d. Lederer, Elezra d. Chan. Alas, we will not be seeing Gowen vs. Lederer deep, which Ali Nejad reminded us yesterday woulda been great for poker, because it probably woulda been followed on Court TV.

CORRECTION: I guess I changed my pick on Chan vs. Elezra / didn’t go with my gut. Of course Eli was gonna win.

If you wanna follow a little more play-by-play, take your pick:
CardPlayer.com
PokerNews.com
PokerListings.com

Flipchip for really good photos.
Audio stuff TK at PokerRoad.

And it’s still not too late to get in on the bracket-picking action … though points scored on matches already started won’t count in the end. We’re doing this with our forum friends at PokerRoad. Show who’s boss.

UPDATE: Yang defeats Gowen! Boo Jerry Yang! Makin’ us rankers eat it!

Our good friends at Betfair have gotten in on their own version of the make-your-own-movie fun … with WSOP Europe final table interviews rendered in Lego art:

(Very funny that John Juanda is yellow … )