Totally coincidental, I happened upon this keyless keyring while cleaning out one of my poker closets last week and couldn’t help but lol-chuckle that none of these three operations made it to a second birthday despite significant hype and promotional spends.

Me in Oceanside, CA

Ahhh, California...

My brother Chris and I, hiking Runyon Canyon above LA

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably either a poker player or fan of the game in some fashion. You know that the games in Las Vegas are plentiful on any day of the week. The weekend crowd consists of tourists from all parts of the US escaping their routine lives for a few days in the desert. During the week, the player ratio skews more towards Europeans on extended holiday, mixed with the company conference crowd and conventioneers. There are always locals in the game and during the daytime, they can represent 50 percent or more of the table lineup, even at Strip properties.

At nighttime the ratio shifts more towards the out-of-towners, but where the tourists are, there will always be local regs scattered about.

It’s so fun playing a heads-up tournament. You get to play every hand… what more needs to be said?

As a poker player and/or fan, you might’ve heard that while Las Vegas is the gambling epicenter of the US, when it comes to poker, the true Mecca is actually located in Los Angeles. And after a recent return visit to my old stomping grounds, I was quickly reminded of that fact. The LA cardrooms are different in so many ways from their Vegas counterparts in everything from the atmosphere to the feel of the cards to the player makeup to what’s comped and what isn’t. At any one time in the Commerce, Bicycle, Hustler or any other casinos that occupy very non-glitzy East LA districts, you won’t find more than 1 percent of the player pool designated as “tourists”. No tourist is going to take time out of enjoying gorgeous Malibu or exploring the weirdness of Venice Beach to grind Commerce Casino. These places are packed with locals who love poker, love gambling, and very much love action. They absolutely have to… how else could you explain these folks braving horrific Los Angeles traffic to get to Bell Gardens to play $2/$3NL midweek? It’s true, you do get comped food from a rather impressive menu at the Bike, as opposed to free cocktails a la Las Vegas. But I have to assume it’s more than that. Poker has become a real part of several cultures that make up Los Angeles’ diverse demographics. It’s been that way for decades now, before the no-limit era and now well into it.

You might be thinking, why would I want to play amidst a sea of local regs? Aren’t the tourists the ones who make the games playable and beatable? In Vegas, yes. In other parts, that just isn’t the case. In fact, if I could replace all the tourists in Vegas with the current makeup of players in the LA cardrooms, I would probably do it. Of course, who knows if they would play the same way if they didn’t have to drive through LA traffic on their way to the poker room. (I’m serious, I think this has something to do with it. It’s impossible to travel two miles in LA without experiencing at least some level of tilt.) But in any case, there is unbelievable, inexplicable poker action in LA. I often wonder why my friends who play 5/10 regularly live in Vegas because if it were me, I’d probably spend the majority of my time elsewhere. The cost of living in Las Vegas is nearly unbeatable, but if I were earning enough to support a comfortable lifestyle in, say, Manhattan Beach, I would have to jump on it.

That all being said, you still have to run good. Not only that, there is an adjustment period when playing these manic California poker games coming from Las Vegas. I’m pretty sure you should be nitting it up, because when people finally arrive at their LA cardroom of choice, they aren’t in a folding mood. You should raise bigger for value and then just pound away for more value. After that, it’s in the gods’ hands as always. And the gods were not smiling upon me on this trip. I will spare you the bad beat stories (all in on the turn 3 ways 82% favorite $800 pot wtfffff!) and give the cliff noted summary of: it was a losing trip. However, it is always good to be back in LA. I absolutely love it there. I hiked Runyon Canyon with my brother, made it to some bars in Silverlake, and came back to Vegas recharged.

I drove back into the desert the night before St. Patrick’s Day. I really wanted to come back by then because I had an idea for one of my ChipTracker session reports, which you can find here. For me, especially lately, it’s been much more enjoyable playing with more of a purpose than simply winning money. Whether it’s writing one of the session reports, or doing longer write-ups in blog form, I’ve been a lot more inspired to work when I know there will be more to my efforts away from the grind itself. I’m starting to get more heavily into what I guess I could call “other project” mode. I’m really trying to find ways to use poker (both my playing and the time that my profession provides me) to fuel other endeavors, whether they are artistic or business minded.

I played a few sessions, did some writing, and mostly broke even in the cash games upon my return to Vegas. I played a PLO tournament with no results but I didn’t have high hopes, as I left my chips on the cash game table to return to post-bustout. There was another tournament I had my eye on: the $130 heads-up NL, 64 player max at Caesars. I had actually won this tournament before, and it stood as my only title on my official poker resume. So I bought my way in the night before the tournament to make sure I was in under the player cap.

It’s so fun playing a heads-up tournament. You get to play every hand… what more needs to be said? Each player starts with 15k in chips at the 100/200 level, which means not an incredible amount of play but not completely horrendous by any means. My first match went relatively smoothly. My opponent took an early lead and was actually ahead 2/1 in chips, but he found an unwillingness to fold QJo twice all-in preflop vs. my A10, and I was able to hold both times for the win. My second match was a blur, but my third match was interesting. Heads-up is easily, for me, the most interesting poker format. I’ve played more heads-up PLO hands online than any of my friends by far, and had pretty good results. You start out making small jabs to get your oppenent to reveal him or herself. Heads-up play forces your opponent’s poker soul to be on display, and the trick is to simply adjust accordingly vs. that player type. It’s very similar to ring games where you adjust to the table dynamics and then to your opponent(s) in a specific pot, but you have to try and find out what type of player you’re up against quickly and only with your own chips, whereas at a full table you can gather info by observing other players battling each other. Add to this the aspects of how your opponent is handling winning/losing, and then tells on top of that, and you have layers upon layers of a poker match.

The really fun part comes when trying to figure out how thinly to value bet and when to call off with A high. Some players make it extremely easy, bombing away with their strong hands and checking no-pair type hands. Such was my third opponent, raising to 500 preflop and c-betting 5000 on the flop for fear of getting outdrawn. My fourth opponent was the opposite type, playing far too weakly, limping in too often, never floating c-bets and allowing himself to get run over. My final two opponents were good players. They both played unpredictably and didn’t give too much away. I ran good in the semifinals, grinded my opponent down below 10bb’s, then shipped a suited connector and was able to get there for the win.

The final was best two-out-of-three. Earlier in the day, my buddy Jaymes thought it would be humorous to tweet his prediction that I would take second place in the event. I was feeling great after winning the first of our finals matches, and feeling pretty annoyed after losing the second when I flopped top two pair vs. my opponent’s flopped straight. I was pretty exhausted at that point. If you think playing poker for 10 straight hours is draining, try playing a heads-up tournament for that long where your attention is demanded every single hand. I forced myself to bear down and took an early lead in the third match, and committed myself to grinding my opponent down without giving anything away. I had a bigger than 2-1 chip advantage and had my opponent below 10 bb’s again when I limped A5 on the button to induce a shove. He had done so a couple of times previously where I probably shouldn’t have limped in the first place and was forced to fold. My opponent obliged with another shove from the big blind and the A5 held up for the tournament title.

It’s always gratifying to be the last man standing at the end of a tournament. This win was especially gratifying for me because of my previous HU tourney title. Any one person can win a single no limit tournament, and you only need to look at the countless number of amateurs to bink a bracelet or other big score and to never find another win on their resume. Having booked a second win in the same tournament format really felt like it legitimized my first win.

The conference is really an interesting concept. True to the symposium definition, different authors with familiarity in the gaming space – and anyone else who wants to attend – are getting together, presenting a series of papers, and critiquing them. Later, each writer or writing team will return home and make further changes and amendments to her, his, or their article. The whole collection of papers will then be published as a book by the UNLV Gaming Law Journal sometime in the fall.

The symposium and the resulting book has as its objective the compilation of selected worldwide best practices in the regulation of Internet gaming and betting. Topics that will form discrete chapters include location verification; fraud and cheating detection and prevention; responsible gaming; accounting, reporting, and audit requirements; taxation; and, advertising. I don’t expect that the presentations will just rehash the papers. I hope that mine, for example, goes beyond what’s in the article to try to explore where international regulation of the igaming sector is going.

This is really an excellent opportunity to engage with and learn more about the sector from global authorities in gaming, including Anthony Cabot, David Schwartz, Tony Coles, and Lawrence Walters. Some of the best gaming law firms and minds in the world will be speaking and exchanging ideas. I expect that the discusison will be edifying whether you’re new to the sector or a seasoned veteran. It’s also only one day long. This event should really be worth your while.

The cost is $299 per regular attendee. There is a discount for Boyd Law School alums (lucky folks). Current Boyd students and faculty can attend for free. (This covers your lunch and a post-conference reception.)

For those looking for a printout instead of a link, a media alert is available here. I look forward to seeing and meeting many readers there.

Well you’re not gonna believe what our balder, gastronomically larger, bi-braceleted pal is up to now: Country music.

Seriously, have a listen to First 5-Song CD, Created in December 2011, a title he apparently shortened prior to mainstream release on iTunes with the simpler, more memorable “EP”, which some say could be subtle commentary on the plight of a one-time WSOP POY seeking recognition as a real pro by Epic Poker.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tom-schneider/id435732204

You know I wanna mock the ’06 PI Champion now as some sorta wannabe Dwight Yoakam of Poker, presumably doing country things like chewing on straw and watching Barbara Mandrell videos on YouTube. But dag-nabbit if the music’s not actually pretty darn good … seriously, the Tom Schneider EP is like almost professional-sounding and shit!

This is no karaoke endeavor by a disgruntled poker pro. On the contrary, these five collected tunes are uplifting musical tales of a hard-workin’ joe pullin’ himself up by the bootstraps, and even though you’re not gonna hear references to being all-in nor hardcore hand analysis set to gangsta rap a la Ghostface Killah … it is a poker life that Tom Schneider writes about, you can tell, with songs like Kick My Own Ass (about waking up at “the crack of noon”) and Wrinkled Clothes (about “wrinkled clothes”).

Have a listen, and if you like, email me for a free pirated copy! buy it now to help fund a country music singer/songwriter’s bankroll for the 2012 WSOP.

This was THE nit festival of all nit festivals. Your normal hourly rate simply does not translate when you remove the fun-loving, didn’t-come-to-fold tourist factor and replace it with the game-has-obv-passed-me-by-but-I’ll-still-sit-here-and-fold-for-$10/hr-zomg-dreams-do-come-true jaded older Vegas reg. I mean, it was truly miserable.

Las Vegas is awesome. We all know about the availability of booze and gambling 24/7, and the ability to keep whatever sleep schedule you desire. As cash game poker players, we never have to endure the pain of an alarm clock’s rouse, as Vegas embraces daywalkers and nightowls alike. The cost of living is relatively low, especially considering the quantity and quality of entertainment options available as compared to other cities with similar offerings, such as LA, San Francisco, Miami. If outdoor adventure is your thing, you can find plenty of that at places like Red Rock Canyon; hikes such as the Gold Strike near Hoover Dam, which takes you all the way down into the Colorado River; and weird natural beauty like the Valley of Fire. And for those less willing to leave Clark County, there’s the peaceful Summerlin suburbs, and the increasingly interesting downtown Vegas scene.

But as much as I love Las Vegas and as great a fit certain aspects of this city are for my personality, I can only go so long before an excursion out of town becomes necessary. I’ll be heading to California for a good couple of weeks and am really looking forward to it. As a low stakes grinder I can’t really afford to just take an entire month off from playing. Well, maybe I could, but it would be a guaranteed whack to my bankroll and I don’t think I need a vacation that much. I just want a change of scenery for a bit … so San Diego and Los Angeles, here I come. I’ll be doing more of the ChipTracker session reports while in CA and should have plenty to write about from the LA cardrooms.

As for my poker results since my last full blog post, I can happily report that things took a nice turn for the better around the middle of January. The night that I wrote that update was definitely a low point. Seeing as such, I decided to change my gameplan, which at the time was (as it is now) to play cash games wherever I felt like playing that particular day. I took a day off to make sure I was composed mentally, and then, at 11am the following day, parked myself in what I would discover were the most miserable $1/2NL games I’ve ever played in: the Tropicana day shift.

You may have heard about a few of the poker rooms around Las Vegas that have started offering cash back to players who play a certain number of hours per day or per week. At the time the Trop was giving $10/hr if you played all 8 hours between 11am and 7pm. When you’re losing every single day for almost two weeks straight, this seems like a fantastic deal. I knew I was running bad, but I still had a decent hourly rate overall and figured if I added $80 per day, well hell, how could I go wrong? The problem is that these games take away the number one weapon a professional poker player living in Las Vegas has in their arsenal, in my opinion, and that is game selection. This was THE nit festival of all nit festivals. Your normal hourly rate simply does not translate when you remove the fun-loving, didn’t-come-to-fold tourist factor and replace it with the game-has-obv-passed-me-by-but-I’ll-still-sit-here-and-fold-for-$10/hr-zomg-dreams-do-come-true jaded older Vegas reg. I mean, it was truly miserable.

However, there was one very important lesson that I needed to be reminded of while grinding out the Tropicana games. It was that I’m not doing this to make fancy plays to keep myself entertained at the table, or because it’s some glamorous job like a lot of people who don’t play poker might be led to believe. It’s to sit down and grind out a paycheck at the end of the day, so that I can drop it into my bank account, so that I can pay my bills. And that’s done by playing solid, don’t-get-out-of-line poker. I played a handful of days at the Trop booking very modest wins, but more importantly, tightening up some screws in my game that were coming loose. I branched back out and into my other regular rooms around town and from the middle of January and for at least a month straight, keeping that lesson in mind every single day, it resulted in booking a solid win at the tables almost every single day. Yes I was definitely running better but I was playing much more disciplined poker–the kind that keeps variance minimized and decision-making simpler. I put together a great string of wins and moved back up to $2/$5NL at the Bellagio, where I continued my rungood for a few sessions.

Unfortunately, over the last week or so, my upswing has hit the breaks somewhat. But it has to be expected at some point I suppose. Even though I think I have less ego than a lot of other full-time players, it’s always tough to go back down to smaller limits. It makes it twice as hard to stay disciplined when you’re playing for about half the stakes, but it’s always vital because the lower you are on the ladder, the more important it is to just play an ABC-style game. It is what it is though. Once I string together a few wins at $1/$3NL I’ll take another shot at the next level. Hopefully I’ll find that next uptrend in California.

No? Regardless, as part of the process of eventually “getting there” legislatively, and staying true to Pokerati’s motto In Negotio Pro Poker Meliori, my contribution to policy noise today will be addressing online cheating. Below are my notes from which I plan to wonk out with my donk out:

Kathy played yesterday, and Stacey takes her seat in just a couple hours — so get to the game @PalmsPokerRm ASAP! Today’s event is a $100 NLH with $50 rebuys. More Epic satellite details here.

While it is true that nowhere in Vegas could you “run it twice” in a 1/2 game before Pokerati NLH/PLO came to town, now plenty of poker rooms hardly blink when two or more players get it all-in and want to reduce variance by seeing more than one river … just like they used to do it on High Stakes Poker.

So crap now the secret of the Pokerati Game’s success is out:

• Offer games people want to play, at stakes they’re comfortable playing
• Give preference to poker rooms with skillful, supportive staff (and maybe a really big sign)
• Treat low-stakes players no differently than high rollers (h/t Benny Binion)
• Suck out often to keep the nits away

That’s pretty much all it takes to host a game that attracts tourists and locals alike. And now that I can expect casinos everywhere to be spreading Pokerati-style live action, I suppose my pioneering days are over and I can go back to being just another poor-man’s Jean-Robert Bellande.

Scott Chaffin is dying. Now now, before you say WTF? know that I am, too. And so are you, and you, and you. In fact, I challenge you to find one living person on the planet who isn’t “dying” … you can’t do it. Fact of life.

But some of us have to fight a little harder to stave off the grim reaper. And Scott, at age 54, got called into life-battle recently upon learning his nagging smoker’s cough was actually full-blown lung cancer.

Scott is one of the original poker bloggers (c. 2002) — and one of the original bloggers for that matter — who has been a big part of Pokerati since the near-beginning. Horrified by an all-flash direction I was headed with version 2, he took over the controls for all things techy in Pokeratiland more than five years ago. Since then, The Fat Guy has overseen three redesigns, bailed me out on multiple occasions after I broke something big, and has written tens of thousands of lines of code for 146 half-baked Pokerati projects since abandoned. All for no pay, mind you … and added bummer as I learn now that our small-business health plan here at Pokerati may not cover actual sickness.

So if you like Scott and like this site and/or just hate cancer … help keep The Fat Guy around a while longer — he’s still got work to do, dammit! — by donating to his cause via PayPal. (Link takes you to TFG.com, w donate button on top right.) And if you have any complaints about how things run on this site, well dude, c’mon … you know, [hush] cancer.

GoDaddy has been a strong supporter of poker and poker bloggers with not-so-inexpensive domain-buying habits for years.

So I’m lettin this one go — WSOPolitics.com — it’s expired and I’m not gonna renew. It was a brilliant idea ahead of its time Not sure what I was thinking, duh … so let the bidding war begin? In lieu of an option to “buy-it-now”, I’ll consider trading the web property for up to $50k on Full Tilt or the magic green dice on Zynga.

UPDATE: Ooh, pokerishy.com is available, too! Who wants it?

PERKY: Merchdawg’s in Vegas, and a sparkly green Escalade awaits.

Next Pokerati Game, btw, is tomorrow, Thursday, usual start time. Hoping Merchdawg et al(canthang) play when they’re done with the tournament coverage. Somebody asked me, lol, “Is this a WPT event?”

Apologies to @PokerGuyJoeV and/or @BobbyGriff9, btw, if every 1/2 PLO/NL player now thinks you can hook them up with airport rides just because.

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

2011 WSOP – Episode 4: Team Pokerati Update and the Men the Master/Hollywood Dave’s Fracas (4:58) – Dan and Pauly hang out on the rail of Event #3 $1,500 Omaha 8 after the money bubble bursts. They discuss updates on Angry Julie, a member of Team Pokerati, along with detailing the highlights of argument that almost turned into a brawl when Men the Master (ironically) accused Hollywood Dave of being a cheater.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives or subscribe to the Tao of Pokerati feed.

Friendly Faces at WSOPC National Championship
Caesars Palace, LAS VEGAS
As far as Pokerati’s concerned, La Sengphet is the player who made the WSOP-Circuit most fun to follow. Whether it be strong-playing “the Hammer” or testing the limits of “the Harris” … not since Dwyte Pilgrim has there been such an engaging minor-league pro story. La criss-crossed the country for months to earn her seat, where she finished 4th for $100k this weekend — staking her claim as the #1 most successful female on the 2010-11 WSOP Circuit. Also notable at the final table was Josh Evans, longtime friend of Pokerati and frequent opponent of La’s back in the Dallas Jackie’s days. He won $135k, finishing 3rd. Television coverage of the WSOP-Circuit leading up to this event event airs on Thursdays on Versus, starting June 2. NOTE: La kept her winning ways alive, chopping an Aria nightly four ways for $1,600 the following day.

Orleans Open Raising
The Orleans, LAS VEGAS
Another strong Pokerati lady player proving she can compete against fields with or without penises, Stacey Nutini had been moneying often in recent months in various small tourneys around town, and even tore up events online post-April 15 to pad her theoretical play-money bankroll. But yesterday, the defending LIPS Grand Champion — who’s probably taken more Maven Training than anyone else — showed she could turn it on with real money on the line. @LasVegasPokers destroyed a 166-player field in the $550 main event at the Orleans Open this weekend for a solid, WSOP-warming $24k score.

Poker Pro Wannabe FTW!
Caesars Palace/the Rio, LAS VEGAS
When not working undercover to confirm the whereabouts of Howard Lederer, new Pokerati on-and-off-the-felter Marie-Lizette admits she still has “the dream” … and to that effort took down an $85 nooner at Caesars for a $1,440 bankroll boost, and then binked a single-table-satellite for a seat in today’s WSOP Event #1, the casino employees event. (Added props to Pokerati alum Kevmath, who won the same Caesars daily the night before.) @MarieLizette to see her excitable tweets from the WSOP.

Elsewhere …

PokerStars, Made in China
Grand Lisboa Casino, MACAU
With the Macau Poker Classic underway this week, PokerStars is essentially saying if they can’t have America, they’ll be in China before Caesars … establishing a foothold where the WSOP can’t by staging their second MPC in three months — complete with three events determining the APPT “Official” Asian Player of the Year. Click here for the latest standings, and remember to divide by 8 for a rough conversion from HK to US dollars.

High Schooler Wins WPT Spanish Championship
Grand Casino, BARCELONA
18-year-old Lukas Berglund from Uppsala, Sweden is the youngest champion in the history of the World Poker Tour after winning the Season X WPT Spanish Championship. Berglund, who graduates from high school this week, scooped €206,000 after crushing the field and knocking out every single player on the final table en route to victory.

All patched up and places to go ... Sengphet prepped for her shot at a hard-earned championship bracelet.

So cards just got in the air for the first televised event of the 2011 WSOP, and of the 10s of thousands of players who had a chance to be here, three of them are from Dallas (though one has since moved to Las Vegas), and one has been part of Team Pokerati since she got a lotta chips in the 2010 WSOP ladies event.

LIVE UPDATES here.

Go La Sengphet! Also go Josh Evans! And though for a while I wasn’t sure if I had first seen him at Jackie’s in Dallas or maybe was just confusing him with a guy seen once at the Venetian, go Charles “Woody” Moore! All three of these players and the others are anything but luckboxes in a sit-n-go … they are real grinders and rounders with skill … and a win here, my contention, is a ticket to the real big leagues … as the winner of today’s event will be known all around as a real real player, and will have the bankroll — $300k for first — to prove it for as long as they can hold as a true and successful pro.

You’ll have to forgive any Pokerati bias toward La … Not only is Sengphet ’11 our most successful Team Pokerati player since Tom Schneider ’07, but really, she’s just a good poker story in and of herself, with or without Pokerati:

• A 21st century rounder, almost old-school style, on the poker road with boyfriend.
• David Clark, the boyfriend, qualifies for the WSOP-Circuit National Championship, too.
• La shows she can dominate in ladies events, winning one in the same venue where she’s playing today.
• By winning two rings to become one of only two women to qualify for the 100-player million-dollar freeroll, she can crush it in open events, too.
• She has been playing her ass off, working hard, and seeing results, making this table the next-level culmination of a climb that began with $65 four-table tournaments in Texas several years ago.
• Though not sure whether or not it has anything to do with Laotian-ness, the poker-Valentine couple celebrates victory by chowing down on crawfish

Follow along on WSOP.com (or the Pokernews iphone app, which is also pretty good for this on the road, and consider how things start to see that once the poker gods decide to do whatever they will with Woody, the first big name of the 2011 WSOP is pretty much anybody’s game. (Though it really seems to me like La is gonna win … and I was sure not to post this until after cards went in the air, lest Pokerati mess with her head.)

Don’t wanna say too much because, you know, don’t want any cooler-jinx factor in play … but La Sengphet is the chip leader going into today’s action for the WSOP-C National Championship. 97 players started … (three no-shows) … 35 remain. Top 10 ITM, $300k FTW.

We’ll save for later discussion of there being more Pokerati patches in the field than Full Tilt wearers … as well as jokes about Allen Kessler and the EV of a 97-way chop. For now, the story putting at least a few butterflies in stomachs in and around Caesars Palace … from WSOP.com powered by PokerNews:

Headlining today’s field is La Sengphet with an amassed 165,000 mainly courtesy of a huge call with second pair on a four-club board on one of the final hands of the day. Only two other players sit in the six-figure club with Huy Nguyen (122,700) and Jonathon Poche (121,400) snapping at Sengphet’s heels.

Charles ‘Woody” Moore (95,100), Curt Kohlberg (94,600), Doug ‘Rico’ Carli (72,800), Bernard Lee (70,900), Dwyte Pilgrim (36,300) and Allen Kessler (23,100) are just a handful of notables still in contention for capturing the $300,000 first prize and coveted gold bracelet.

Traci Brown (the only other woman to qualify for this event) and Pokerati pal Josh Evans are also still alive — though both small-stacked with about 33,000 chips and a chair.

Blinds are 600/1,200 + 200 as play gets underway right about now 20 minutes ago!

They play down today to a final table of 9. Follow along here.

La N Dc
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! Finally heading HOME! After 3wks of grinding I am happy and proud to say my Baby has successfully crawled his way into the 10k seat freeroll. Great job Baby, so proud of you!! We now have 2shots at 300k

For at least a few players, today is a day kinda like when high-school kids wait to get their college acceptance/rejection letters … waiting to see the final points tally to be official, so they know whether or not they qualified for the WSOP-Circuit National Championship — the $1 million freeroll that will kick off the 2011 WSOP.

Click here for the national leaderboard to see who’s got a seat for sure, and who looks likely as we wait for WSOP officials to turn orange squares into red

Team Pokerati’s La Sengphet is a lock (8th among non automatic qualifiers with 155 points, 2 rings, 7 cashes, $67k) … yay La! You go girl! … and, of course, she also won a non-points pendant for her 1st place finish in the WSOP-Caesars ladies event. And it looks like her other half, David Clark, also will make the cut but just barely (112.5 pts – 1 ring, 9 cashes, $59.5k) … DC made a final table in a non-ring PLO/8 event at WSOP-NOLA for good measure without the points … and he finishes just ahead of Steve Zolotow, who qualifies with the same point total, no rings, just 3 cashes, and $43k in earnings to give you an idea who got in at the bottom of the field.

At the very bottom, interestingly enough, with 100 points, is John Riordan, who won a ring and $210k in Florida. But he will not get a seat this year because he is not yet 21. Will be curious to see how the WSOP handles this case … will he simply get a rain check for when he comes of age? Because if so, when will we see bona fide WSOP-Teen events?!? You know, of course, that I am in the minority willing to admit that I think poker is good for kids.

Another late qualifier is longtime friend of Pokerati’s Josh Evans … who finished 3rd in the WSOP Southern Regional championship last week at Harrah’s New Orleans. Thrilled about that, as it gives us another excuse to re-run that highly acclaimed but not quite award-winning film we created about Josh as he got 6-figure deep in the ’07 main event:

[CORRECTION: Josh got 3rd in the WSOP-NOLA $1,600 main event ... which still gives him enough to qualify (140ish pts, 7 cashes $81k) but did not give him the guaranteed seat as just making a Regional Championship final table does.]

The DOJ’s virtual handcuffing of Full Tilt and PokerStars two weeks ago not only neutered two industry giants (who made billions in North America while others sat on the sidelines), but also supposedly leveled the playing field worldwide for US-abstainers who supposedly found it harder to compete in Europe or anywhere against companies benefitting from the vast liquidity American players provided.

Thus the inaugural iGaming North America conference in Las Vegas next week is kicking off their new-era industry confab with a special session called Assessing ‘Grey Friday’ and the Expected Fallout … get it? Black + White = Gray Grey.

Should be interesting to hear from gaming industry insiders who’ve never appeared on Poker After Dark or in Day 1 chip counts speaking about “the road to regulation”, as per the theme of @iGamNA‘s shindig.

Check out the lineup here. You’ll see both Stu and I are serving on panels. @GamingCounsel‘s gonna be schoolin’ about Canada …

… while I’m a panelist for the closing session:

There’s no live-stream as far as I know, but I’ll be sure to report back as influential industry experts (and a token blogger) assess the important questions moving forward … for me probably starting with, do I need to get a tie?

We were just telling you how well La Sengphet was playing … when boyfriend David Clark gave me a buzz to let me know, yo dude, don’t hate on the short bus! But lest he start thinking he could keep up with his better half … yesterday she took down her second WSOP-circuit ring of the season — winning the last event of WSOP-St. Louis, a $345 NLH.

Not sure on the number of players or payout yet … we’ll of course let you know. And pretty sure that’s another 50 circuit championship points, too, which would put her 4th in the pool of 34 potential non-automatic qualifiers. And depending on the other deep runners in her event and the main … it looks like she may well have won the crown for Harrah’s St. Louis “casino champion” … which would guarantee her a seat in the WSOP’s million-dollar circuit freeroll in late May.

Meanwhile, they are celebrating La’s victory all across Laos … though we did just learn they aren’t doing this all for La … it also happens to be Laotian New Year all week.

CORRECTION: Turns out we overlooked two cashes for David in St. Louis and one in Florida. Pokerati regrets the error(s) … and, of course, basing the entire premise of a post around them. WSOP.com still working to rectify their contribution to the misinformation.

La Sengphet, seen here signing off on her latest final table chipstack, is becoming a familiar face deep in WSOP circuit events.

DC, not so much …

When resident Team Pokerati lovebirds La Sengphet and David Clark started off their 2011s with matching WSOP circuit rings, we thought we might see another Sosa/McGwire sitch … a back-and-forth poker slugfest propelling the Dallas couple to seats in the new WSOP Circuit National Championship million-dollar freeroll that’ll kick off the 2011 WSOP in late May. It seems we were at least half-right.

Most recently, La made a final table in a $345 Omaha Hi Lo event in St. Louis and followed that with a 13th place finish in a $345 NLH — enough for her to surpass her boyfriend’s total winnings for the year. But perhaps more important — and a more exciting reason for me to be paying attention to relatively minor events at Harrah’s Mid-America — she played her way to 30 more WSOP circuit points!

Of those who don’t automatically qualify, there’ll be some 34 seats won … and La is currently tied for 16th. Click here to understand how WSOP circuit points work. (I just learned myself.) And click here to see the current national leaderboard.

At this point, with just three more circuit stops left — Caesars Palace, Chester, PA, and a regional championship in New Orleans — there’s an extra level of intensity to these otherwise smaller events. Not sure if the national championship, which should prove to be one of the more skill-packed tourney fields of the year, is helping create a new generation of rounder pros, or just answering their call. But either way, with so much on the line for these minor leaguers hoping to build a career … how awesome is La’s hat?

See below, the 2011 family scorecard for Pokerati’s favorite poker couple currently on tour:

Jan 7: WSOP-Choctaw
DC – 1st / $50,921 – $345 No Limit Hold’em

Jan 9: WSOP-Choctaw
La – 2nd / $4,953 – $235 No Limit Hold’em Ladies Event

Jan 21: Borgata Winter Open, Atlantic City
La – 29th / $1,156 – $500 No Limit Hold’em

Feb 10: WSOP-Tunica
La – 1st / $ 32,394 – $555 No Limit Hold’em

Feb 13: WSOP-Tunica
La – 10th / $11,121 – $1,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event

Feb 28: WSOP-Palm Beach Kennel Club
DC – 44th / $506 – $345 No Limit Hold’em

Feb 28: WSOP-Palm Beach Kennel Club
La – 35th / $558 – $345 No Limit Hold’em

Apr 2: WSOP-St.Louis
DC – 20th / $1,749 – $345 No Limit Hold’em

Apr 3: WSOP-St.Louis
La – 7th / $1,897 – $345 Omaha Hi Lo

Apr 5: WSOP-St.Louis
DC – 14th / $1,546 – $345 No Limit Hold’em

Apr 8: WSOP-St.Louis
La – 13th / $2,113 – $345 No Limit Hold’em