Here’s the latest episode — a good one with Phil Hellmuth in studio talking a little EPT-Berlin robbery, significance of the NBC Heads-up, and his recent non-collapse collapse at Bay 101.
They also talk with his “mindset coach” Sam Chauhan … and the process of keeping players focussed.
It doesn’t get weird until Andrew Feldman and Bernard Lee start to talk about Hellmuth shirtless.
A little Google-translate suggests there’s a lot more to this case than just a guy in Florida getting carried away with online poker money transfers. Apparently the detainee, Michael Schuett, is an accused fraudster in Germany who has been on some sort of run hiding out in the USA. A German website exists for the sole purpose of outing this man’s alleged crimes — USAG24-Betrug, or, in English, USAG24 Scams: As Michael Schuett Still Cheating.
The basics:
Preface
You might wonder why there is this page. Well, I also have the services of Michael Schuett, alias adopted USAG24 Inc. and has been cheated a lot of money. Meanwhile, there are quite a lot of people who feel the same way.The people who have resisted and have published their case as the Internet, were then put massive pressure from Michael Schuett and most have agreed to the cancellation of their websites. This of course happened after agreeing a settlement, for example, was paid some money from Michael Schuett so that the matter is created from the world. Most of these people have only received a fraction of the lost money again and had to return the sites to take from the net.
Thus Michael Schuett is still continuing its Betrügerein. I will not comment on such a comparison and the money had already been written off as dearly as I will have to deal with this person any more. However, I would keep everyone else from dealing with that person and any company business.
Your USAG24-dupe
Now for all we know this is just one disgruntled ex-colleague. But he’s had a twitter feed set up for the past three months just to track the whereabouts of this one person. @usag24betrug has three followers.
And here’s a half-hour lifestyle documentary on Michael Schuett, apparently chronicling his move to Florida:
Very strange. Might online poker sites be a victim of a fraud here? Or just tangled up with the wrong guy? I’m still not sure what to make of it all, but I do get the sense now that this situation may turn out to be about more than online poker …
The PPA was in Massachusetts this week, testifying before a joint committee on behalf of H4069, which would classify poker as a game of skill — apparently important as that state considers a variety of casino-related legislation.
Go Massachusetts Skillaments, but elsewhere, far more is at stake for states that could care less about the nuances of what is and is not technically gambling amongst avowed gamblers. Thus, PPA Executive Director John Pappas has been crisscrossing the country addressing states considering intrastate online poker, trying to persuade them not to muddy the online semi-gambling waters with legislation that comes to the table inherently flawed, legally and from a competitive market standpoint.
Pappas was in Florida last week, addressing a Senate committee on regulated industries. Florida, as we know, has been working on more and more legal poker for the past five or six years with much success, so why not extend that to the internet? Well, Pappas explains, because problems needing fixin’ at the federal level first. Without it, anything any one state creates, he says, automatically will exist in a a legal gray area that could be challenged in a variety of federal ways. And because of this gray area, and the way poker works, regulated “state monopoly” sites will struggle to compete against the unregulated likes of Full Tilt and PokerStars. (He doesn’t mention those sites by name, but players know that’s who he’s talking about.)
It’s an important argument to begin honing, because right now we have California and Florida moving aggressively in the intrastate direction — supposedly with Iowa and Wyoming about to jump on the bandwagon. Legislation can be a rather cut-and-paste enterprise these days, so if those four states go, then it’s only a matter of time before some 40+ others follow suit, which could undermine, or at least complicate, years of work on by poker’s favorite grassroots advocacy group.
Have a listen. In addition to bringing the California arguments to Florida, for the first time we hear the PPA start to lay out some of the details on how internet poker taxation would work under either the Frank or Menendez bills — with provisions included for individual states to receive their revenue share from the federal regulatory system. We also learn of a new organization — the Poker Voters of America — that has effectively brought the idea of intrastate online poker to the Florida legislature. On its surface, the PVA doesn’t look too different from the PPA. But strategically, they’re fighting the UIGEA in a much different way. Well-meaning but misguided is the gist; can we have your donor list?
Even though I’ve gotten hooked on two-minute video interviews and have kinda taken a personal change-of-interest-pace and started paying attention to actual tournaments … big names are starting to win at the LAPC, WSOP-Circuit Tunica is kicking it old school, everyone wants to know how the Venetian Deep Stacks is gonna shape up with PokerStars heading to town, and I really gotta make it over to the M Resort to check out this whole PartyPoker Premier League thing … I still tune in almost-weekly to APCW Perspectives Weekly for a little catch-up on the international poker and online-gambling-related political scene for 10 minutes at a pop:
This week J Todd keeps us abreast of California and New Jersey’ desires to get in on the online gambling game from a state-size perspective, updates us on the online gambling fund-transfer cat-and-mouse game with MasterCard and Visa getting more serious (just three months before they are legally required to do exactly what they are trying to do), fingers the Eldorado Casino as a potentially shady site to avoid, and tease me with some affiliate business stuff that I don’t really care about but am interested to watch because of the hidden-camera + foreign-accent nature of the upcoming interview.
Here are a few other semi-related newsy links about how things are going elsewhere in the poker world:
The Mayor of Baltimore is pushing for poker+table games despite the governor of Maryland having less of an interest in making expanded gambling a priority.
Michael Barnier, the newly appointed EU Internal Markets Commissioner, promises to straighten out inconsistencies in European online gambling laws.
Police in suburban Alabama are cracking down on / raiding the real-money tournament scene there.
Another good video from the LAPC … in this one Matt talks with Eric Baldwin (aka “Basebaldy), the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year. We, of course, got to know him as he was tearing through a Venetian Deep Stacks field prior to showing what he really was in town to do at the WSOP.
Anyhow, hate to make this all about the LAPC when tourneys are going on around the world — from Copenhagen to Tunica … but this gives a good glimpse at someone who is now a “big name” in poker though few have gotten to know him yet:
In the above video they talk about Baldwin’s efforts to snap his 0-fer history at the LAPC and where “taking it easy” fits in to the upcoming Ironman competition.
It apparently was just a one-time deal, but still … I’ve never played for the Washington Generals, have you played for the Washington Generals? Pretty cool … as Team Tiffany and Maria continue on their 15-minutes-of-farewell tour, throwing themselves into as many non-poker spots as possible until the next season of The Amazing Race forces the Harlem Globetrotters’ opponents to retire their numbers:
[via Wicked Chops]
Watch Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Show The Globetrotters How To Play Basketball on RawVegas.tv
Some pokery political types are in London right now for the International Gaming Expo. Figure out for yourself why there might be foreign interest in the likes of the Poker Players Alliance, right as this bill gets ready to go into “mark-up”. Our pal J. Todd is there and he tracks down PPA Exec. Dir. John Pappas to talk about the 2010 Barney Frank bill, what’s the strategy behind it, and what makes it different from previous online poker legislation.
It’s apparently all gonna be twitter-based this go-round — www.tweetforpoker.com.
Good interview helping mak sense of it all:
She theoretically has my vote:
Sure, we know Isildur1 was like sooo 2009, but couldn’t help starting the new year checking out this breakdown of the biggest online poker hand in history. The video replay (with decent commentary) includes the two hands of Pot-Limit Omaha that led up to $1.3 million going in on the flop between the mystery Swede and Patrik Antonius on Full Tilt:
A few other interesting links of late:
The upcoming LAPC is the best tourney-fest since sliced bread/the WSOP?
A guy who could pass for Phil Ivey’s dad at a Bob Marley concert.
NBAers Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton draw guns in what could be a standoff over poker debts?
This video overwrite is almost two years old … but new to me, and kinda funny to post Hitler stuff around Christmas considering the issues emerging related to an online site’s control of a player’s funds:
(And this came out even before the maker of it could know that Joan Rivers accuse Annie Duke of being Hitler1.)
Also makes you wonder … surely there is at least one world leader out there, good or bad, who has an online poker account (or three). Brings us one step closer to the day where international trade disputes and military conflicts can be replaced by heads-up sit-n-gos …
The armed robbery of what looks like probably a 5/10 game was the lead story on KXAN’s 6 pm broadcast … and they spoke to longtime friend of Pokerati (and Texas state director of the PPA) Lavigne in Austin about the robbery at the Gaines Ranch Apartments for the skinny on what’s really at stake with these masked gunmen poker things:
“From what I understand, investigators are at a stalemate,” said Commander Chris Noble with APD’s organized crime division. “The victim is not being cooperative.”
But, Mike Lavigne, the Texas State Director for the Poker Players Alliance , blames antiquated laws for the robbers’ success and the unsolved crimes.
“A lot of times people don’t even call the cops if these places get busted by a thief because it’s not legal for them to be necessarily running that room in the first place,” Lavigne said.
[...]
“It’s not seen as a crime in most parts of the world,” said Lavigne. “It just happens to be the leftovers from some old laws in Texas. It’s not clear what’s legal or illegal in our state right now.”
UPDATE: Here’s the video:
Perhaps inspired by Wicked Chops’ telling him to please stop, Jeff Madsen apparently has rented 8 Mile and/or got laid this weekend:
ALT HED: Poor Girl
This (long) weekend’s #WPBT festivities are coming to a close … and as I type the poker bloggers are gathered for Sunday football at Lagasse’s Stadium in the Palazzo. There some of them are experiencing, for the first time, what many say is the future of gambling: handheld, semi-portable real-money action.
A new-ish device, “eDeck”, lets you gamble Blackberry/iPhone-style theoretically from anywhere, but currently within the confines of three Las Vegas casinos — the Venetian, Palazzo, and M Resort. Global Gaming Business Magazine named it Best Table Game Product or Innovation for 2009. And none other than Doyle Brunson has been pimping it:
Check it out … Phil Gordon (”dean” of the Full Tilt Academy) sits down with one of Isildur’s key opponents, Patrik Antonius, to discuss what’s really going on in these highest-stakes online games vs. the biggest mystery opponent of 2009/in history.
Part 1 is an 18-minute interview where they discuss the Isildur1 phenomenon, the advantages of playing anonymously, and other matters relevant to those risking six- and seven-figure sums against him.
Part 2 gives nearly 30 minutes of actual hand analysis where Antonius discusses what was going through his mind at the time.
Everybody likes a sneak peak into high-roller hotel rooms … and this YouTube vid gives more than a glimpse of the Bruce Willis and Marilyn Monroe suites at Planet Hollywood. PHo’s poker room is under new management, btw, that seems to be working hard to bring good, friendly customer-servicey low-stakes action ever since their previous management team turned out to be a bunch of (alleged) crooks:
Back in the day, you know, like 2007, rooms like these — with amazing views, foosball, and a bidet — were reserved for people willing to pay a few thousand a night or gamble with 10s of thousands. Now, as 2009 comes to a (bittersweet?) close, such suites are being given away for free to semi-famous YouTube bloggers who know a guy who knows a guy who once worked at Best Buy and sold stereo equipment to a previous high-roller with leftover comp points.
Economy prediction: Bargain luxe + favors will be hot in 2010, too.
Finally, someone asked President Barack Obama semi-directly about gambling legalization. The college-student questioner didn’t specify online gambling, and he lumped us in with drugs, prostitution, and other non-violent crime with revenue generating potential.
But it does give a little insight suggesting that we probably shouldn’t expect President O to wholeheartedly support the efforts of Barney Frank et al.
ALT HED 1: Come on, Flip-Flop!
ALT HED 2: Is that Isildur?
Free Pokerati T-shirt to anyone (college student or otherwise) who can get an on-the-record audience with the Prez and can ask essentially the same question, but being a little more specific about “online gambling”. Throw a few government stats in there, too, and phrase it in a way that allows less generic wiggle room.
(Or not. Maybe now we know we don’t want Obama getting involved in our issue?)
Technically I think Madsen is the MC, and really, it all would work better (for my hedline at least) if he were to rhyme-partner with Scotty Nguyen … but oh well, this still made me LOL:
ALT HED: P.W.A. Straight Outta Bellagio
Joe Cada is no longer a 21-year-old — he turned 22 last week … and spent the weekend on the sidelines of the Michigan-Ohio State game (Wolverines < Buckeyes) after this recent (to me) appearance on ESPN's First Take. He breaks down his backer deal (again) ... and also says, as might be expected from a young online pro, that he doesn't put much stock in physical tells. Gotta wonder though what Joe Navarro might say about his comfort level when discussing the age when he got his start.
I gotta say, @Phil_Hellmuth really is turning into one of the best poker reporters out there … I read his blog, follow his tweets and generally occasionally love his vids; you can tell he is actively working on his 21st-century media game.
Most recently, at his own TASER Foundation charity tourney in Phoenix — the biggest high-society charity poker shindig of the year in Arizona — he was there to report on Brandon Cantu’s being shot with a taser gun … Cantu was paying off a prop-bet he lost at last year’s event with Clonie Gowen.
Damn, ouch … but cool … didn’t realize you could bounce back so quickly from those things.
BTW, an extra-funny … @DonkeyBomber was there as one of the “star poker players” who help make the event extra fun for the Big Charity donors who play … but even on his home turf, our favorite business-exec-turned-author-turned-2007-WSOP-POY-turned-struggling-poker-pro is no Layne Flack or even Roy Winston:
Funny … just about everyone in poker is trying to branch out of it, including Phil Galfond, who is trying his hand at artsy film movie noir:
via PokerListings. Thanks Gary Wise for the tip/man-lover cheerleading.
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.”
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:
The RawVegas gang caught up with the new WSOP main event champ at the viewing party held at ESPNzone in New York, New York. Good little glimpse of what he’s all about, how he’s handling friends who will inevitably hit him up for money, and the process of amicably (presumably) parting ways with his backers Eric Haber (”sheets”) and Cliff Josephy (”JohnnyBax”) …
As you all have probably heard, Phil Ivey didn’t exactly want to do a bustout interview after his AK lost to Darvin Moon’s AQ. But as he tried to sneak out the back hallway — to the back lot at the Rio where his RV and Hummer were parked — a few people were able to block his exit and force him to talk, which you can see here:
Afterwards, according to The Maven, Ivey reportedly darted to his automobile with Howard Lederer trailing behind him, and Lederer said, “You wanna race?”
Ivey’s response: “I don’t like races.”
World Series bossman Jeffrey Pollack scoping out the scene during setup at the WSOPenn-and-Teller Theater:
Watch Jeffrey Pollack Vlog: Setting the Table at WSOP 2009 on RawVegas.tv
While we’ll happily take credit for being the first to recognize the amazing gayness cultural importance of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face … props to WCP for tipping us off to this major sociopolitical statement wrapped around a poker-themed song:
UPDATE: And so long as we’re pilfering Wicked Chops content today … they’ve got the latest episode of PTV Cribs up, with Evelyn Ng showing her new pad in Panorama Towers (I’m pretty sure) after being foreclose-booted out of her previous rental at the property. She talks a little DJ Hero, too … so hey, we’re still on theme:
More douchebaggerous debaucherous good times leaking out from the UB’s big annual Aruba event … the kinda special gathering that even Full Tilt Red Pros attend. And here we see some guy I hadn’t heard of before, Poker Rapper, show Jeff Madsen that the one-time WSOP Player of the Year will never be the Eminem of Poker. (He almost sounds like he’s crying when he tries to comeback from the schooling by kicking it into Marshall Mathers gear.)
via PokerNews
Suze Orman had another poker player call in to her “Can I Afford It?” segment seeking her approval to buy into a $1,200 tourney in Las Vegas. Young guy. Spoiler Alert: Quickest denial ever!
LOL, apparently Suze doesn’t understand that players like Brian are “good for the game.”
We’re goin’ the stand-up comedy route this week … rising humorist Daniel Tosh apparently knows a thing or two about poker, and he’s made it part of his routines. The poker bit here starts at 6:20 (and ends well before 7:00) … frankly it’s one of his weakest jokes in the show, but hey, poker poker poker!
This Daniel Tosh poker joke is funnier, but no video to go with it:
In and of herself … yeah, bring it! But sitting next to the also-at-least-partially naked Scotty Nguyen, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu (who’s covering his left breast with a PokerStars patch) … eww, uh, yee …
Incontrovertible living proof that poker is definitely not a sport:
From a feature in the new issue of ESPN the Magazine.
(The poker nakedness occurs for half-a-blip at about 3:15, perverts.)
via PokerNews
Not to get all Lady Gaga over Phil Ivey … but seriously, the dude who’s only the third-biggest tournament winner in history seldom speaks to anyone not engaged in some sort of gamble with him for more than 30 seconds at a time. But he sat down for nearly 9 minutes with Poker.se and tells what it took to develop his game (15-16 hrs/day, 4-5 yrs), how rough it is to make it as a pro, bankroll management, the importance of Bobby’s Room during the WSOP, his bracelet prop-bet odds, November Nine preparation, etc.
via PokerNews
We have two major news stories in online gambling. The first is that former BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers has withdrawn his guilty plea in Missouri. And the second is the closing of Pitbull Poker, with rumors of criminal activity and arrests in Costa Rica. Those stories and other industry news.
I apparently missed this a few weeks ago. In case you did, too:
via TheHitWoman.com
It was a seemingly epic battle for a queen’s ransom that went well into the wee hours GMT … old-school poker in Poker’s N€w World, if you will.
And making his second consecutive go at the WSOP-E main-event title, runner-up Daniel Negreanu would come up two outs short of being “happy” that he just became the biggest winner in the history of tournament poker.
Negreanu knocked out six of the other final table-ists to get heads-up. And yet in the end Barry Shulman — CardPlayer’s overlord emeritus — held strong in a war of presumably tight aggression to win £801,603 (= $1,283,687 USD). That, of course, is almost exactly the amount his son Jeff has been guaranteed for making the November Nine. No added pressure/father’s shadow issues for sure.
Negreanu’s second-place finish and £496k payday propelled him to the top of the all-time tourney-money leaderboard, passing Jamie Gold and Phil Ivey — who now needs to finish 6th-or-better this November to re-pass Negreanu as the winningest tournament player ever.
(Thanks, Lance, for the deets!)
Here’s video of the final two hands from The Casino at the Empire, Leicester Square:
(If for some reason the above vid disappears, you can find the original page here.)
For those of us debating how ESPN and PokerPROductions (a different film crew than the gang producing WSOP-LV episodes) should do their broadcasting jobs … it seems this 6-day event will be shown in 2 hours, not 20 … and that includes squeezing in the Caesar’s Cup! While that may not seem to do poker-junkie justice to a tournament that kept a bunch of us jaded, immune-to-tourney-hype types checking in on the action for more than 16 hours of final table play, I suppose movie-length could work, too.
UPDATE: Clarification of ESPN’s programming intent in the comments below (from ESPN sources who would know). They plan to give it way too much more coverage than implied above.
Click below for Nolan’s official write-up/script:
He’s not broke, he swears, but he is, like everyone, way more money-minded than before … because he has to be! You have no idea how much a prop bet against Phil Ivey can affect the price of a barrel of oil.
Phil Hellmuth sat down for an hour with PokerTube.com the other day (an hoouuurrr), and while most of it’s gag-worthy, I did find his explanation of bankroll management and his personal cash sitch interesting:
He really really really wants you to buy his stuff at PokerBrat.com.
The WSOP-E main event is well underway … they’re getting into the money today, playing down to 27. We’ll wait ’til a few more get knocked out before we see what kinda final table is really taking shape. Lots of interesting names still alive — including a couple November Niners. But one player long dead: Phil Hellmuth, aka Caesar.
Check it out, he did a repeat performance of his Caesarian entrance … but this time with actual animals parading through the streets of London. Gag away:
But here’s the funny part … so he had all his tunic-clad ladies, each representing a bracelet … but when they got to the casino door, they couldn’t get in because they didn’t have their ID’s!
More details here:
A new video came out yesterday … the long-awaited premiere of “Forever” by Drake (featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem) … which apparently is the second single off the soundtrack to More than a Game, a forthcoming documentary about LeBron James.
Check out how the video starts … an awkwardly cut opening with LeBron in a limo playing online poker (on PokerStars). Can’t quite tell what stakes he’s playing for, but his screen name is “RealLebron”, and he appears to be playing a short-stacked heads-up tourney (against “Royal 00′/”). Blinds are 10/20 … the little blind calls and the NBA star smiles, seemingly ready to move all-in for 970 more with pocket 4s.
Nice!
Then you realize he must be multi-tabling, playing a 6-handed cash game, too … then, PokerStars cameo complete, the real song begins.
Semi-interesting video from Steve Hall and Michael Chung … an overhead time-lapse shot of one of the events going on at the Commerce Hold’em Series in California.
The plot of this silent short-film: You’ll see a packed field piddling in pots early, and they seem to do that for awhile, but then things really pick up as bustouts accelerate and tables break — boom-boom-boom! And not to give away the ending, but the climax comes not with a final table, but a dramatic pan that makes you realize this event is even bigger than you thought it was … but this time, when players are gone, it could be because they’re just on break …
(Sigh.)
Check out PokerGossip.com for more of the ongoings at the Commerce, where Matt Savage’s experimental lower-middle-stakes festival is still going strong-ish.
You know that glorious feeling of having a cocky opponent check-raise into your top set with a nut flush draw? “Meet the Monster” … distinctly poker music by Five Finger Death Punch. The band kicks off their new tour at Wasted Space in the Las Vegas Hard Rock tonight … like not even a 25-second walk from a relatively tame 1/2 No-Limit Hold’em game:
Definitely a good tune for either your tournament or cash game iPod. 
So this Face the Ace lawsuit … yeah … you’ve got a lone amateur TV-show concept-creator trying to take on (lawyers for) PokerPROductions and NBC with claims that they stole his legally protected idea to put out a ratings-bomb game show … and therefore owe him $85 million.
OK.
Similarities between Brandon McSmith’s video pitch for All Star Poker Challenge and Face the Ace are one thing … and this video, shot outside what appears to be Poker PROductions studios in Las Vegas and posted on YouTube in July (and pointed out to us by a reader yesterday) is another:
Umm …
Click below to read the rejection letter sent almost two years earlier from Poker PROductions honcho Mori Eskandani that may or may not have put McSmith on tilt:
Lady Gaga’s Poker Face officially became the most downloaded song in UK history last week.
A California thrash version by Of Mice and Men:
(For better audio but less crowd-hopping and no guitarist in a soccer jersey spitting on them, click here.)
And then in this corner, British band You Me at Six making a similar attempt to get people to listen to them:
Here’s their preview video … gotta say, call me a homer, but I’m already a fan. Go purple!
I think you can see from this who is going to be the domineering personality … and I think you can tell they will probably go far. And you haters commenters can say all you want — LOL on their claims of $1 million in tournament winnings — but one of the things I like about reality TV is the risk the participants are willing to take. It’s not a new phenomenon … we know how it works, how the producers need to create storylines, and to do that they need characters. They need nice guys, meatheads, bitches, sluts, all that good stuff. And if you give them repeated indication of any distinct characteristic, they will edit away to make that seem like that’s all you’re about. And for the most part your true colors show.
Take Annie Duke on Celebrity Apprentice, for example. Extremely divisive character. Half the people thought she was a super-smart, savvy woman. The other half saw her as a total control-freakish bitch. Yep, no offense to Annie, but that pretty much lines up with all I have heard about her over the years within the poker world, and at least two of the above descriptors line up with my own personal observations and conclusions.
So while reality stars often claim they are misrepresented, frankly, in the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, some might contend that you actually do get to see the real person even better when all the superfluous “personality” is stripped away and left on the cutting room floor. With that in mind, I’m looking forward to getting to see and know “Maria and Tiffany” — whom I suspect will come off a little different but not too much so from the Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho we already know.
Do you like fast cars? I like fast cars. Hassan Habib likes fast cars — red ones — and he gives me hope that a rapidly balding man can compensate for the onset of inadequacy as he shows off his 2004 Ferrari f360 Spider … all with an entertaining Pakistani accent:
New to me … Here’s a (just-barely) safe-for-work video by the Norwegian rock band Jaqueline, called “Olivia,” about the convergence of poker and strippers … and all the potential tilt associated with both:
Sexy. You’ll notice the attractive presence of Kem cards in what looks to be a game of Omaha on a table by Cardmeister, a high-end Scandinavian tablemaker.
Wow, I don’t get this, but kinda awesome … or terrible depending on how you interpret Barry Greenstein’s rubbing on his nipples to the tune of Phil Hellmuth’s demise:
I guess you could say the “art” of poker is going a little more surreal.
(via PokerNews)
CORRECTION: Greenstein technically just boasts about his nipples, but doesn’t rub. Chau Giang does the actual rubbing.
Part 2 of his tutorial with Kristy Arnett … this time Schneider talks about how to play “royalties” and deuce-to-seven in the middle … along with some additional strategy to out-point your opponents.
It was dinner break on Day 7 of the main event — and hoping to finalize our patch deal with the really big money (and camera time) getting nearer, I joined Tom Schneider, along with Julie and Robert Goldfarb, at a Vietnamese restaurant with less than 30 minutes before play resumed. But alas, so much for Team Pokerati cracking the top 50 … all they wanted to do was play Chinese for $10 a point.
Here’s his latest instructional vid, teaching Kristy Arnett how to play everybody’s favorite 13-card game:
