Your body is an intricate and delicate system designed to sense threat, and biologically programmed to avoid it. Your nervous system is a vast information highway that runs every cellular process in the body. From breathing and your heartbeat to movement and thought, your nervous system affects every process of your body.

So what’s happening in your body during a hand?

Because of the unknown outcomes, the variability of chance, and the sheer financial risk, poker is stressful by design. Let me be clear about what I mean. Let’s define stress as a physical, emotional or chemical factor that causes bodily or mental tension and let’s avoid judgment of whether stress is good or bad. Stress simply exists and we live in relation to it.

So during a hand, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or experience at the table, a body responds to stress exactly the same. Stress is a threat and regardless of the size, shape, cause or intensity the body reacts with a Fight or Flight response.

Originally intended to protect you, the fight or flight response causes a release of hormones that:

• Increase your heart rate
• Increase your blood glucose (blood sugar)
• Put you in a “ready” state

Ever have the feeling that you need caffeine, sugar and other stimulants to keep you on your toes? You’re simply prolonging the “high” your body has already initiated.

More…

You can’t really claim to set the “gold standard” for gambling regulation if your licensees still have to submit their reports via fax. Thankfully, as Harry Reid’s home state of Nevada gets its regulations in order to accommodate online poker and probably more — not to mention the new NV law allowing them to regulate future legal online gambling… the Nevada Gaming Control Board just made a rather major shift not just by allowing email submissions, but requiring them.

Seriously, this shift into the 21st late 20th century dramatically alters daily activity in every Vegas casino with a poker room … Wonder if Nevada Gaming learned about this “email” tactic on their junkets to Alderney.

The Alderney Gambing Control Commission — which will be making its own determination on the fate of Full Tilt Poker later this month — partnered with Nevada regulators in January, shortly after the Reid Bill somehow didn’t pass.

2011 WSOP – Episode 31: Secret Bubble Boy with WhoJedi (1:31) – The Main Event crawled toward the Money Bubble, which historically speaking is always the most exciting time in poker. However, this year’s bubble popped in the corner of the room and happened so quietly that everyone almost missed it.Luckily Pauly and WhoJedi were on the scene to give you their quick assessment.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.

Daryl Jace, with over $1.6 Million in online tournament winnings under his belt, is pleasantly surprised at his deep run in this year’s Main Event. With much dedication and transition pains, he has been able to cash in 2 major live tournaments this year and currently 2nd in chips with a mountainous $1.56 million in chips at his seat on the dinner break.

Listen in to our latest update, interviewing Jace about his feat to overcome the aches and pains of Black Friday and how he prepared to have a shot at the title of Champion this year.

WSOP Main Event Interview w/Daryl Jace: Chip Leader and Advice For Online Players by Set You Straight Poker and Pokerati

Brought to you by Set You Straight Poker & The Fitzgerald Hotel & Casino in vintage Downtown Las Vegas. Book Your Reservation starting at only $29/night.

Josh E (right) went from Southern circuit grinder to playing heads-up “live minus five” in Las Vegas for more than $600k and a magic bracelet on my iPhone.

The WSOP-Circuit has been good to many a Pokeratier and Pokeratizen alike. It’s a place where minor-league heroes are born … and some build the bankroll to live life as a real pro. With the Global poker year coming to a close this week, for so many serious players it’s time to think about starting all over and hitting the grind again.

(Only this go-round will be completely without Sunday Millions or Rush Poker bankroll supplements.)

Players get a month-and-a-half break … and then it’s off to Bossier City — “Shreveport,” we used to call it  – for the beginning of the 8th incarnation of the WSOP-Circuit season. (Texas politicians take note: the Dallas market alone is so juicy that the WSOP added a second stop to serve it.)

Below the jump for the details on what’s different this year. New point system, adios $10ks, “12 rings in 12 days.” New stop, obv. It’s Rounders & Road Gamblers — hey, that sounds like “social gaming” — brought to you by the World Series of Poker!

[Beow-neow-neow beow-neow neow ... ]

The WPT has its own version of a lower-stakes Circuit tour, of course — in similar locations — and now Epic/Heartland seems to be stepping in to make something more of the recreational-to-semi-pro players who swarm from up to 250 miles away to compete in mini-poker festivals wrapped around a $1,500-ish main event.

It’s arguably the most competitive part of the live poker landscape in the US these days. Wonder if all WSOP Circuit events will offer free Wi-Fi.

More…

The Barton bill has raised the hopes of poker players, but not everyone is so enthusiastic about the proposed legislation. Also, more Black Friday fallout from across the Atlantic. Plus, regulated online gambling has been put on hold in Washington, DC

2011 WSOP – Episode 30: British Beef with Snoopy (8:01) – As play progresses on Day 3, Pauly and Snoopy hang out and discuss the finer aspects of British beef. Well, not really, but the title sounded rather cheeky. Actually, the two chatted about which Brits were remaining in the Main Event, along with a quirky story about sharing electric shavers and Neil Channing’s bustout. Snoopy us to keep an eye out for the up and coming Chris Brammer.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.

Marvin in Somewhere — shoot, I forget where he’s from, but somewhere in America, I know — writes in to complain:

I’m watching the “Live” ESPN coverage and it sucks. It’s like it was before the cameras. Not only don’t we see all the hands, but we don’t know whether the better has the “Nuts” or is bluffing. Since they are afraid of people telling what the other players have, how about a one hand delay?

Marvin, Marvin, Marvin … c’mon, can’t you see the positives at all? This is semi-monumental … not the kinda Poker TV you see on Versus, ya know? Though not perfect yet, they gotta start somewhere, right? You bring up some good points that I’m sure they’ll consider in the future … but really, remember, while not necessarily “alpha” version of live coverage, it is rather “beta”.

In an ideal world — according to Pokerati — all cards and chips would be RFID’d worldwide and you could watch all poker anywhere in any place at any time, as live as possible as permissible by gaming jurisdiction, and decide for yourself whether or not you wanna see hole cards. (I tend to enjoy guessing sometimes.) With super-duper extra-HD All-360 technology, of course … on my iphone should I so choose. But we’re just not quite there yet!

From the Rio sportsbook: For people not glued to Twitter, "live enough" coverage is ... um ... not too different from reruns usually airing on screens in many sports bars.

Not sure how it would work with exposed hole cards and future "in-game betting" on the WSOP. (Seen at the sportsbook in the Palms, where you can't yet bet that way.)

And remember, one other factor complicating matters here is approval by Nevada Gaming. Even just allowing twitpics in casinos and cell phones in sports books is relatively new territory for them. And there are some people who don’t believe you should be able to know a players cards a half-hour later when your buddy — or even the players themselves — can find out if that key tell thy picked up goes along with the nuts or nothing.

Click the promo banner to watch things as live as we’re gonna get them for now.

Listen in to the latest updates from the Main Event right here.

Change of leader, change of heart, change of chips…find out who, what, when & how by listening in straight from us to you at The Rio in Las Vegas.

Click the link below to listen.

2011 WSOP Main Event: Day 3 Update #2 by Set You Straight Poker and Pokerati.com

Miss the last update? Visit OutontheBubble.com’s Talk Radio Page to catch up from this morning!

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Listen in by clicking on the link below to catch up on the start of Day 3 today here at the beautiful Rio in Las Vegas on Day 3 of the Main Event!

Check back often or follow us on twitter @Pokerati & @OutontheBubble for notifications on updates!

2011 WSOP Main Event: Day 3 Update by Set You Straight Poker & Pokerati.com

Mark and Matt discuss the $50k Players Championship and the first two days of the Main Event on this week's Rabbit Hunt. They figure out whatever Phil Hellmuth has really reformed or not, which Cardrunners players are still in the event, and try to find out what the heck Carter Gill was thinking. All this and more on this week's episode!

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Colonel Nigel Fabersham calls Carter Gill, the guy kicked out of Harrah’s properties and got blinded out of the WSOP Main Event, and interviews him as a reported for the “London Poker Weekly”.  Druff and Micon are on the eve of Day 3 of the WSOP Main Event, both with about average chips.  We catch up with The Iceman and his latest “Ice Girls” project.  We have a discussion of various Harrah’s fail during the WSOP and other associated tournaments of theirs.  Hollywood Dave talks about his run-in with a Harrah’s security guard.  Druff and Micon address the banning of mwh72 and “serious business” threads on the site.  A new guy has shown up on DonkDown with inside information on potential other UB cheaters.

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2011 WSOP – Episode 29: Media Mania and Golden Toilets with Change100 and AlCantHang (3:08) – Pauly is still in the media event, so Change100 takes the opportunity to chat with AlCantHang. They both busted rather early, especially AlCantHang, who won a dubious honor of being the first player to bust out. His reward? a Golden Toiler trophy for last place.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.

I haven’t seen it yet on the big screen, but it should be there soon … celebrities galore expected for its Vegas premiere at the Palms. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry … oooh, the tension! Can only imagine how good Pokerati No-Limit Hold’em/PLO must look and feel in Imax.

As always, you are welcome and encouraged to run it twice.

I won my seat early … and since then I’ve been watching the field grow for Epic Poker’s inaugural $1,500 pro-am at the Palms, Pokerati’s regular low-stakes NLH/PLO home.

With @Donkeybomber so far my toughest potential competition … well, let’s just say I’m starting to get excited about the actual poker at hand in early August. And though TV exposure had nothing to do with my initial interest … that’s apparently now part of it, with Epic’s recently acquired sister company, the Heartland Poker Tour, coming to Vegas to film the tournament for syndicated distribution on its nationwide network of local TV stations, some of which are actually in HD.

(Yay!)

That might seem a little minor-league for the more-pro, less-am players in Vegas … but hey, this $1,500 event will be my second-biggest tournament to play in ever — so HPT coverage seems just about right for me and Tom Schneider at this point in my pro career. Having won my way into the August 5-7 tournament, I’ve clearly got game that’s ready for UHF.

Satellites running at 7pm on Saturday and Sunday in the Key West Room at the Palms.