Posts on 2+2 earlier this morning mentioned a tentative 2010 WSOP schedule, but for those who take a look at it will note there’s still some work to be done.
For example, the first event on the list is dated May 10th, but it’s event #21 – $1,500 7 Card Stud. Also of note is that almost every tournament except the Main Event is a 2-day event. This doesn’t make much sense since most tournaments have been three-day events in recent years. Another notable change is that the “World Championship” of HORSE now has a $10,000 buy-in. There is however a $50,000 “Player’s Championship” on the schedule. So take the schedule with several grains of salt, and expect a corrected schedule in the very near future.
In related news, WSOP spokesman Seth Palansky talks with the Las Vegas Sun about what’s expected for next year’s WSOP. Among the newsworthy items, there will be no poker played on July 4, and expect more $1,000 buyin events (there’s six on the unofficial schedule).
UPDATE: The schedule has been taken offline for now.
This upcoming Tuesday Tonight … on the Late Show with David Letterman. PokerStars PR is downright giddy about it … the basic deets:
The show will be broadcast on CBS at 11:30 PM EST (check your local listings). Cada is the first poker player on the show since 2004.
UPDATE: I still haven’t seen the segment yet … but did find it interesting that a regular-ole London Newspaper — not a special poker-focussed section or anything — made note of the new poker champ’s appearance on an American talk show that isn’t Oprah.
In an update from an earlier post, Mike Sexton has been named the host of “Shuffle Up and Deal”, which will air on MyNetwork TV with a scheduled run of thirteen half-hour episodes airing in 2010 according to Poker News Daily. Sexton’s co-host will be Brandi Williams, best known in poker circles for her appearances on the Ultimate Poker Challenge. The host/commentator of the UPC, Chad Brown, is scheduled to emcee the live version of the show in casinos across the US in 2010.
A new show launches this week on Fox Sports … Poker2Night … starring Joe Sebok and Scott Huff. I’m not sure if this few-holds-barred-poker-news concept makes The Poker Beat more of a fluffer or a clean-up man, but regardless … good on Ultimate Bet for buying time in a way that helps elevate poker to the level of other sports that have weekly news shows covering the baseball/football/soccer/foosball/whatever biz.
Wednesdays at 11 pm … time zone/cable-service-provider variance not yet clear:
Early tip on improving the show without having seen any of it: More Wolfman!
Greg Sessler: WSOP Lake Tahoe Transgender Champion.
The current stop for the WSOP Circuit series of tournaments is currently in Lake Tahoe, with their $5,000 Main Event starting on Sunday. On Saturday, a field of 96 took part in the $340 Ladies’ Event, including four men who decided to enter the event. Greg Sessler, a 22-year old student at UC-Davis, was the last man standing, along with the one who had all the chips at the end of the tournament, taking down almost $10,000. More details from Nolan Dalla’s tournament report:
Though we probably shouldn’t encourage people to engage in cell-phone photography while driving — it’s tough to avoid blur — we can thank @PokerVixen for sharing this license plate seen on the streets of LV:
In case you can’t see … 2OUTR.
Can only imagine what that beat musta felt like at the hands of a guy who would use the money won to buy a jacked-up, big-tire Jeep with taunting vanity plates.
A little more leftover podcast action … the not-so-pokery crew over at The Black Whole (“raw, uncensored, urban commentary on sports and life”) wanted to know: What happened to Phil Ivey at the WSOP?
Yours truly stepped in Tuesday eve with SuperDave, Cityslickers, and Moopbrown (as the WSOP aired on ESPN) to try and explain, starting at about 44:30 in:
Jim McManus appeared on All Things Considered the morning the November Nine was getting underway, to offer a little cultural (and presidential) history of the game, based on his new book, Cowboys Full.
Not to be a spoiler, but the closing line features a sound clip from Darvin Moon, with weekend host Guy Raz saying, “That is Darvin Moon, and he’s about as far away as you can get from poker royalty.” That is a funnier line than Raz even realizes, considering Moon’s resistance to all things sponsorship.
Raz does a follow-up the next day, just on Darvin Moon:
And for a little low-brow historical perspective on McManus from a pre-Darvin Moon era, here’s my interview with the author of Positively Fifth Street from 2004.
Just like Panorama Towers (across the street from the Rio) seems to be the place to live if you are a bachelor/ette Las Vegas poker pro … N9NE Steakhouse (across the street from the Rio), seems to be a regular dining joint for the poker elite.
This in from our Palms spy earlier today/yesterday:
Greetings,
Poker legend Phil Hellmuth dined at N9NE Steakhouse inside Palms Casino Resort Thursday night (11.12.09). Accompanied by three friends, Hellmuth enjoyed a rib eye and a beer.
That’s it, he was the only notable person there on Thursday. We can only imagine how disappointing it musta been for Phil to find no pro athletes or music stars to exchange cell phone numbers with. Things were different about three weeks ago (sorry, leftover sighting) when, according to our embed, “Matchbox 20 lead singer Rob Thomas was dining downstairs at N9NE, as were former Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer and “Glee” actor Mark Salling, who ordered lobster potstickers and a kobe burger.”
+Devilfish palling around with (aging) British boy-bander
That same night:
In Playboy Club English professional gambler and poker player David Ulliott (known by the nickname Devilfish), was joined by six guests including entertainer Matt Goss who arrived later in the evening with 15 other guests. The group was drinking Ketel One cocktails.
Devilfish’s mate (in the British sense) Matt Goss is, according to an LA Times blog, “the hottest Vegas act you haven’t heard of” … and the newest musician in residence at the Palms. (He sold nearly 20 million albums 20 years ago.)
In lieu of our semi-regular Friday Night Video(s), here’s Goss’ new single, which features writhing chicks in lingerie amidst plenty of poker action:
This week’s episode was all WSOP. Huff spoke about the November Nine as a guy who has seen many a tourney, but never one like this. Caldwell and I offered our thoughts having seen development from freshman to sophomore year, BJ lamented being stuck in Foxwoods, but along with Gary shared how the experience transcended beyond Vegas via the internet and TV.
Oh, plus Phil Ivey, Joe Cada, and Darvin Moon. And maybe a little Antoine Saout.
The Poker Beat
Huff, Caldwell, Wise, Michalski, Nemeth, Stapleton 11/12/09
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The folks over at Wicked Chops Poker were lucky enough to get an interview with the outgoing Jeffrey Pollack, now former WSOP Commissioner on Friday. All three parts of the interview are now online, as the interview was held in the Pavillion Ballroom, home of PokerPalooza! earlier this year and what is likely to be part of the larger footprint of the 2010 WSOP:
That’s what we wanna know … do you think this UIGEA enforcement deadline is gonna pass with out much ado? Efforts to delay this by a year seems to be the current push … though that’s essentially running it through the executive branch … a lotta different interests in play there. And, of course, Congress is still in session … do you see any chance that anyone can close the deal through legislative means? Barney?
Here’s the PPA ED John Pappas giving a little more insight on what this date means to the folks in Washington DC, and what the PPA is doing to fight it. But damn, with the clock having been called, will it be enough?
Don’t forget to vote — right over there, on your right. I mean sheeyot, if you can’t click a button a couple inches away … then maybe we’re due to get exactly what we deserve?
Look for tells on Pappas’ face for any reads on how he might really see the situation.
Good op-ed piece by Rich Muny (@TheEngineer2008) that lays out the current poker argument on our issue. Nothing you haven’t heard before, but Muny’s not preaching to the typical choir … he’s addressing conservative small-governmenters and in addition to laying out some legislative history, explains why (spoiler alert:) regulating online poker and gambling ≠wild, rights-infringing government expansion.
You know, I’m obviously not running the poker-political show, though I do try to follow it. And I’m starting to think it’s time to amp-up the aggression on a grass-roots level. Drew Lesofski, the PPA’s director of grassroots and external affairs may not be as visible as the typical spokespeople (Pappas, Frank, D’Amato, Raymer) but he’s effectively rallied the troops — on state and federal levels — and while I’m pretty sure the new tweetforpoker.com has a purpose … bottom line … and this is only me talking here, not the PPA … might it not be time crash a few tea parties?
The message:
Take our goddamn fuckin’ money! And take it now! We want our damn personal freedoms back, and yeah, we expect America to be a better place to engage in a recreational activity legal in 48 states than Malta. We want to pay you, and those who oppose this pursuit don’t have to pay squat. And even though we don’t expect these bogus societal problems to emerge … hey, guess what, if they do, we’ll pay to clean’em up. Cool?
Hey, have you met our new 21-year-old posterboy Joe Cada? Pretty good kid …
A shocker but not really … Jeffrey Pollack and Harrah’s are breaking up.
The WSOP Commissioner, President, and Twitterer in Chief‘s last day with Harrah’s and the World Series is today.
“I’ve made the decision after four years of successfully leading the WSOP as a global sports and entertainment property,” he says. “[Today] is my last day. Friday the 13th.”
Pollack — who has never played a poker tournament — took over the reigns shortly after the 2005 WSOP, the first year Harrah’s ran the 35-year-old tournament series bought from Binion’s.
The list of accomplishments under his aegis include drawing more competitors from more countries (putting it on par with the Olympics in terms of numbers), supporting women in poker, helping Don Cheadle and Annie Duke build Ante Up for Africa into a Hollywood A-list charity event, and working closely with players (via the Players Advisory Council) to steadily improve what is undeniably the biggest and arguably the best annual festival of poker tournaments in the world. He credits his team for incorporating TV broadcasting (most recently securing a new long-term contract with ESPN), new media, sponsorship, licensing, and summer-time side events that have made the Rio a real home for the WSOP and part of sure-to-endure poker lore.
“I’ve achieved everything I set out to do and more,” Pollack says.
randompoker: RT @MeanPokerDealer: I think it's SO cool how you guys loop the earbuds around your ears so they're hanging there all not in your ears and stuff. I hate you. 44 minutes ago
