November 9, 2009

From the Twitter of Washington Post reporter blog-shadowing Darvin Moon (@jfdulac) comes a story from the Baltimore City Paper, detailing Darvin’s numerous past transgressions over the past few years. It includes him pleading guilty and receiving probation for forgery and theft, along with three counts of passing bad checks. Court records also show Moon posting bail for others on two occasions, in 2002 for a man who plead guilty to drug dealing and is serving a 10-year sentence, and once for an apparent relative on assault charges.

From the BCP’s look at his financial and legal past:

But it is Moon’s record of civil judgments against him that may come into play in the future, given the kitties he’s been winning in Vegas. Court records show liens filed against Moon for nearly $20,000 owed to City National Bank of West Virginia, a little over $1,000 owed to Miners and Merchants Bank, nearly $13,000 owed to Pasadena Receivables, and about $1,000 owned to Southern Auto Supply in Moon’s own community of Mountain Lake Park, near Oakland in Western Maryland.

His creditors, no doubt, will be much obliged to share in his recent winnings.

The Fox series “Lie to Me*”, featuring favorite of Jennifer Newell Mekhi Phifer, prominently features the WSOP Main Event in the episode Nov. 16(?) at 9pm ET/8pm CT.

The episode, entitled “Fold Equity” has the following synopsis:

Lightman, Foster (Kelli Williams) and Reynolds (Mekhi Phifer) go to Las Vegas to help locate a missing finalist in the World Series of Poker. Lightman uses his skills to reach beyond the other finalists’ poker faces to figure out which one knows about the disappearance. Meanwhile, Loker (Brendan Hines) and Torres (Monica Raymund) analyze Loker’s new relationship and as a result get closer to each other.

For those who miss the episode, you can catch it on Fox’s site or over at Hulu.com on Tuesday.

CORRECTION: The WSOP episode airs next Monday, not tonight.

Confirmation that Darvin Moon and Jack Link’s Beef Jerky should be a match made in thick-forest heaven … @washintonpost-er Josh du Lac tweets:

Darvin Moon’s brother, Bill, says folks wanted him to pose for a pic w/Jack Link’s mascot Sasquatch. “Hell no reminds me too much of Darvin”

I, meanwhile, couldn’t help myself when I saw such a happily hirsute homonid:

Though personally I don’t expect Darvin Moon to look anything like Sammy Farha en route to 2nd place … you gotta love the debate going on over who will, and who should win … let alone whose victory would be “better for poker”.

Super-young but true online pro vs. the “Ultimate Everyman” … you know, if everyman happened to cut trees for a living.

As you know by now, I’m probably as much a Cada fan as I am an Aston Villan (I’ve got Fake$100 invested in his winning) … but the hubbub going on right now reminds me a bit of funny-in-retrospect conversation as WSOP things got down to heads-up in 2003 …

From my first poker magazine piece in the first issue of (the recently resurrected) ALL IN:

On the last day of the 2003 WSOP main event, a handful of eliminated pros gathered around the final table to watch the action. Moneymaker — the Tennessee accountant who had never before played a live tournament — had amassed a sizable chip lead when Mike Matusow turned to fellow professional Eric Siedel and said, “I can’t believe another donkey is going to win the World Series of Poker.”

“You better hope he wins,” Seidel responded. “If Moneymaker can pull this off, it’s going to be worth at least $5 million to you and me over the next two years.”

“Are you crazy?” Matusow said, dismissively.

The only difference this go-round, of course, is that the world has already been introduced to online poker, and the Sammy Farha pro character is being played by a 21-year-old who stands to be the youngest WSOP main event champ in history (for the second year in a row).

That's one damn fine-lookin' Tomato Salad Phil Gordon ordered at N9NE.

As you know, poker players gotta eat …

From the official non-gaming pimpers for the Palms, on Friday night:

Phil Gordon, professional poker player, author and commentator, had dinner at N9NE Steakhouse with five friends on Friday evening (11.6.09). He enjoyed a Tomato Salad and 12oz Filet accompanied by Mushrooms and Asparagus. Also at N9NE Steakhouse was Gary Sheffield, MLB outfielder for the New York Mets, who was joined by two friends for dinner. Sheffield enjoyed the Lobster Bisque followed by Surf n’ Turf.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, through the connecting “skytube” over to Palm’s Place, the PPA was hosting a very private dinner with some of their biggest supporters at Simon. There wasn’t much tweeting about it from those in attendance — including Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Mori Eskandani, Erick Lindgren, or even @PPAPoker — but we can deduce that this had something to do with the PokerPAC arm of things … and @RealAnnieDuke was kind enough to give us a little peek of Lindgren multitasking during the meal … though we’re not sure what the poker political big-wigs + Joe Reitman were chewing on.

photo: PokerStarsBlog.com

For a good bio, check out this good old-fashioned newspaper article about Joe Cada, the reigning poker hero of Metro Detroit … written before they knew he’d be the one playing heads-up against Darvin Moon. It’s been a wild ride, he says, since making the November Nine — one that ended with a $150k losing streak leading up to the big dance.

Here’s an interview PokerStars did with “the kid” (now “the comeback kid” in Stars parlance) — who started his career as on all-American online pro at age 18 shortly before the start of this weekend’s great-big sit-n-go:

Coulda told you all along he was gonna win it. (I know he hasn’t yet, but still …) Looking back at some emails with The Poker Beat crew (we were tossing around the idea of an on-air prop-bet) … sure enough, Cada was the dude I picked! Joey Stapleton apparently saw something in “the kid”, too:

(Note: You don’t see the other guys’ picks because I mucked things up by showing mine to soon. I also thought Darvin Moon’s name was “Garvin” at the time.)

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It’s pretty safe to assume that Darvin Moon didn’t get the memo that complementary promotion of the NFL goes against the ways of the pay-for-play online sites. However, it is not clear if his donning of attire for his local card room came at a cost. Check it out … though I didn’t see this yesterday, he’s clearly getting some good logo placement for the Wheeling Island Casino in Wheeling, West Virginia:

click for more Darvin

We’ll see if we can’t find out what sorta deal is in place there if any, or if this is just a friendly gesture to the card room where he won his seat into the WSOP. Regardless though, it does make you wonder why sponsorships from the likes of The Venetian, Caesar’s, Bellagio, and other B&M card rooms have yet to come in play.

Beyond being the alligator on Darvin Moon’s Izod, here’s what we do know about the place, via the ThePokerAtlas:

Great Room
Wheeling Island
Wheeling, West Virginia
by fiftyouts

Even though this room has only 20 some tables it is very nice. Great staff and friendly folks. This is a “MUST PLAY” room if you’re in the area. The casino is upscale (you might think you’re in Vegas) with good action. This is the ‘Best Kept Secret’ of West Virginia !!!

photos: IMPD for WSOP.com

How the final hand was called early on Bluff’s Internet audio stream Sunday morning at the WSOP Main Event final table with David “The Maven” Chicotsky”, Phil Hellmuth, and Bluff’s Eric Morris:

I wasn’t in the car for more than 30 seconds before I heard some excited WSOP Final Table buzz in parts usually not related to much anything poker … it was on Las Vegas local KOMP 92.3 FM (The Rock Station!) … and they’re hosting a WSOP viewing party at the ESPNZone in New York, New York. They’ve got a special guest and everything — Doyle Brunson — who will be there pimping his new book, The Godfather of Poker.

Neato. “It’s gonna ROCK!”

Funny … Last night (in relative poker hours) there was a bit of a fracas in the Joe Cada fan section that almost turned in to a full-scale donnybrook, but witnesses who were not tossed out of the WSOP&T Theater insist it had nothing to do with Darvin Moon:

photo: WSOP.com

That’s what we wanna know … after Saturday/Sunday’s marathon 9->2 session … how long do you think the heads-up battle between Darvin Moon and Joe Cada will go?

They’re currently in Level 39, with blinds at 500k/1000k + 150k.

Moon has almost the same number of chips he started with, 58,850,000, while Cada, who started with just 13,215,000, now has all the rest — 135,950,000.

What they’re fighting for, essentially: $3.36 million in cash, and then everything else that goes with being WSOP champ.

NOTE: In our previous unscientific poll, Moon got the second-most votes … Cada fourth-most.

The record for WSOP heads-up battles is 7 hours 10 minutes, set by Chip Reese vs. Andy Bloch in 2006. Before that it was 7 hours, in the 1983 main event … where after Doyle Brunson busted out in 3rd on a semi-bluff, an unknown from Michigan, Tom McEvoy, beat Rod Peate for $580,000:

BTW, for a fun historical perspective, watch the start of the television coverage of the 1983 final table here.

Here’s my favorite pic I’ve seen so far of the November Nine spectacle from this weekend. With all the great, mainstream media-oso’s in the house, it was none other than Flipchip from LasVegasVegas, the most experienced WSOP photog in the Rio, who found the one spot that really highlights the enormity of the event going down in the WSOP&T Theater:

Still looking for other great shots out there on the internet that maybe I’ve missed …

UPDATE: This is a pretty good one, too, from Wicked Chops … capturing the French fan contingent at an Antoine Saout double-up:

As the November 9->2 comes to a close, Pauly and I evaluate the make-up (TV- and industry-wise) of the Final Three … and when Antoine Saout goes down, a double-crushed Benjo finds himself baffled by Joe Cada yet still tickled that his countryman’s play allowed him to lock himself in a giant room for 17+ hours to witness this final table spectaculaire.

Episode 7: The Final 3

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Episode 8: Wave the Flag

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In a move PartyGaming says is specifically part of their positioning themselves for re-entry into the US market …

9 November 2009

PartyGaming Plc
(“PartyGaming” or “the Company”)

Acquisition of World Poker Tour completed

PartyGaming, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, announces the completion of the acquisition of the business and substantially all of the assets of WPT Enterprises Inc. (“WPTE”) for a cash consideration of $12.3 million plus an additional minimum aggregate payment of $3m over the next three years relating to an ongoing revenue share agreement.

The assets being acquired include, inter alia:

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