…Actually, I’m just the opposite. I went out middle, at level 6. Four PP’s (55,77,99,QQ). I hit one flop, never saw a turn all day, much less a river. Never played a loser through… until about 10 minutes ago. Never been so card dead. *cry,bitch,moan,walk*

Shawn Rice is nursing a short stack of about 7k, as we enter $400/$800+$75. We are at that pivotal point where all you can hear is “Seat Open on X”.

As I noted in a comment to a prior post, one player actually advanced with a single chip. That drive will suck. Another player advanced with ZERO, after coming in 2nd in a 3-way all-in. No word on whether he has to drive in to collect.

I still can’t get my hands on yesterday’s survivors. I’m packing it up and going home. The media table is now officially empty. (Again)

According to Craig’s list, the Winstar Thrusday chips are a hot property, as people are asking $3,000-$5,000 for the sold-out $2,100 seats. I’m curious as to how many of those folks are having any luck. Comments? Anybody? Personally, I’m not seeing any deals working and am thinking that there will be a lot of late comers who couldn’t flip their chip.

Thursday is starting up the TV crew is running about. I’ve requested Survivor updates for Wednesday and should have those later today. I would already have posted them, but the person with the goods told me that he didn’t want to walk over to the poker room and get it. He’s a nice enough guy, but when, oh when will Winstar figure out that there’s live “Beyond The Tent”. (Is that domain available?)

Updates to come.

While I hate to push down Dan’s post on the HardRock, here’s some video goodness from the Pokerati people who still give a damn about Texas Oklahoma.

Here’s the survivor data thus far. I’m pretty surprised that I don’t recognize more names than I do. One name that we’ll all know and didn’t make this leader list is that of Mr. Scott Clements, who enters the Saturday play-down with $68,000.

I’m not gonna be here long, but I’ll try to get a chipleader update and at least one interview. Like I’ve told the folks here, without more up-front coordination with online media, their coverage is going to be sparse, if anything. If I had brought my camera, I’d show you the lonely “press table”. But picture this: There’s one semi-handsome fellow seated there all by himself. …And I can shit in his pants. Cumon, Winstar!

As Dan has informed me, my gambling has become a problem. However, the compulsive gambling that I’ve been accused of takes place nowhere near a casino. And quite honestly, in this game of roulette, I’m betting on the house.

Pokery Domains I own… And, yes, would consider selling

*** Oklahoma Poker ***
REDRIVERROUNDUP.COM/.NET - I don’t think Winstar abandoned this one after the rebranding. I’m thinking they never thought to buy it.
WINSTARBLOG.COM - Not bad. I actually know the guy who bought WinstarPoker.com,.net, etc. He’s somewhat to blame for my addiction.
OKIEPOKER.COM
OKPOKERBLOG.COM,.NET
CHEROKEEPOKERBLOG.COM,.NET
CHOCTAWBLOG.COM,.NET
CHOCTAWLIVE.COM,.NET
INDIANPOKERBLOG.COM,.NET
INDIANPOKERNEWS.COM,.NET

*** WSOP/Harrahs ***
THENOVEMBERNINE.NET,.CO.UK,.INFO,.ORG,.TV - Not sure why somebody doesn’t buy all versions of the domain. Didn’t they learn anything from the WSOP.com ownership battles?
THENOVEMBER9.NET,.CO.UK,.INFO,.ORG,.TV
THENOVNINE.COM,.NET,.INFO
THENOV9.COM,.NET,.INFO

More…

Photo(s) by Danm

Now if I just had about 8 more LCD’s… this would make a hell of a multi-monitor wallpaper. Let us know if any of you guys want the 9.4mb Hi-Res version.

Isn’t the proper etiquette to wait two weeks when responding to a prop bet challenge via a blog post?

Ok, so in my defense, I was actually out-of-town when Karridy posted his challenge.  The 9 days since I’ve been back in town? Karridy stole my other defense - so I’ll just go with “I’m a slacker”.

With my timeliness out of the way - let’s get back to the challenge.

I’m definitely a “Hell Yeah!” for another prop-bet challenge.  The loser “has to wear a dress all the way to Vegas”?  I’m gonna go with a big “NO” on that part:

1. You already frequently wear a dress as a fill-in for: Dan’s lover Sang; and for Tom’s daughters.  How then is that a punishment to you when you lose?
2. Now that you’ve decided to play in more than one event - we are flying out to Vegas at separate times.  How will I get good video to share with everyone of your traveling to Vegas in a dress if we aren’t on the same flights?
3. The terms of the first prop-bet state that the loser of that bet would be the one issuing the rematch.  So - the initial terms should come from me.
4. I’ve proven I’m a good sport when it comes to the prop-bets:
   
   so I don’t want to hear any bitching from you about how you won’t be able to wear a dress.

The inspiration for my challenge hit me as I was reading Pokerati on my mobile device from the shitter my “other office”.  It got me thinking of an old Beyond The Table episode where I was lamenting of how I was the only one of the crew who was not attending the 2007 WSOP.  I declared then that I would attend the 2008 WSOP.  As things tended to do on BTT - the conversation then went down the drain… literally.  While there, I promised that I would interview people “Senator Craig” style from the safety of my own stall - asking questions like “Do you know who Tom Schneider is?”.  I think an even better idea is that the loser of our prop-bet has to conduct interviews from a restroom frequented by tournament players at the Rio, with the audio then posted on a public website.  Some, or all, of the interview questions would come from suggestions from our fellow pokerati.

Here then is my official challenge (we can haggle on further specifics in private):

• SitNGoSteve to play Karridy in a best of 7 heads up match in No Limit Hold ‘Em. 
• The matches must be completed before May 30th, 2008.
• The loser will conduct interviews from a bathroom located in the Rio hotel in Las Vegas that is frequented by WSOP 2008 players.
• The interview(s) must be conducted between May 30th, 2008 and July 7th, 2008.
• The loser must conduct the interview from within a closed bathroom stall - it is NOT sufficient to just ask questions while in the bathroom (i.e. while people are washing their hands).
• The interview questions will mainly be comprised of, but not limited to, suggestions from our fellow pokerati.  Karridy and SitNGoSteve will finalize the specific questions before traveling to Las Vegas for the WSOP 2008.
• The official interview list will contain no less than 5 and no more than 10 questions.
• An interviewee is defined as a person who has answered and responded to all of the pre-defined interview questions OR has at least responded to the majority of the questions.
• The loser will interview no less than 3 people and will produce no less than 15 minutes of audio of interviewees responses.  The only exception is as interrupted by security or law enforcement.
• The loser can NOT utilize any written materials to communicate with an interviewee.  i.e. no slipping paper under the stalls that say things like “I lost a bet and have to interview people in the bathroom”.
• The audio must be published to a publicly consumable website within 14 days of the loser returning home from Las Vegas.
• The audio must be of “acceptable” quality.  i.e. the loser should place their recording device below the bathroom stall divider to hear their interviewees responses clearly.
• The winner, or a pre-defined appointee of the winner, will be present in a capacity that will verify that the loser met and honored the spirit of the above terms.

What say you Karridy?

p.s. California Jen: Karridy only shared his sushi with you because he doesn’t really like Sushi - so that shouldn’t stop you from rooting for me to win!

…Okay, that title may be the single gayest line I’ve ever typed. My bad. I’m draining Dos Equis and blogging via Hooters WiFi.

I’m about to fire off an email to friends, family, etc., inviting them to take a piece of me in a second $1,500 NLHE Event, which I wasn’t originally planning on playing. I’m actually interested to hear your opinions on how I’m handling the two-event split and the Main Event equity parlay.

Check out the details at my super-new personal blog (blog.karridy.com), and let me know if you think I’m drawing dead.

ALT HED: For sale: BackerTracker.com - $1,500

Still no word from SnG Steve on whether or not he’s man enough to wear a dress.

I’m sure he’ll say that he was busy at work… Whatever. Stephen, if you’re truly afraid of the dress, you can always get iced out.

The rest of you haterz can get yo Poker Grillz HERE.

SnG Steve… You can run briskly walk, but you can’t hide.

Via our friend, Short-Stacked Shamus:…

In “Family Pot,” our intrepid trio (sans SitNGo Steve, who for this episode stood up and went) carefully interweave a number of anecdotes and observations thematically linked by the subject of family. Recorded Thanksgiving eve, discussion begins with a detailed cataloguing of various family traditions, most of which seem to involve tableware. While the phrase “somebody gets stabbed and there is rolling on the floor” is uttered, the overall tone here is in fact light-hearted. Jovial, even.

The conversational tête-à-tête-à-tête then turns to consider non-traditional “families.” Such as the one comprised of all of those poker bloggers presently assembling in Vegas for the big WPBT Winter Gathering. Concerning which, do head over to Tao of Poker and check out Dr. Pauly’s instructional post “Bloggers Invading Vegas Tips 5.0” (from 11/19/07). Add to list “never call a ‘post’ a ‘blog’ when speaking to Dan.” Not that any self-respecting poker blogger would. The tone during this middle section? Vaguely combative.

Finally, looking ahead to Christmas and the new year, the group collectively resolves to make some resolutions. And perhaps write them down somewhere. Here the tone becomes sentimental — even maudlin — as Tom, Dan, and Karridy demonstrate they, too, form a kind of “family.”

Maybe they should consider sending out cards this year.

Check out this week’s show. And ride the BTT hosts’ coattails along with me by emailing them at theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or calling the listener line: (888) 820-8091.

You can read Shamus’ real poker musings over at Hard-Boiled Poker. Thanks, Shammy-Poo.

It has been a while since I posted, but the Texas Poker PAC is still working towards our legislative goals. The next Texas Legislative Session begins in 2009, so we are working behind the scenes to get ready for our next push.

In the meantime, I have been appointed as the Texas State Director for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). The PPA is beginning to work individual states and I believe that what we are doing in Texas will serve as a model for other states.

Currently we are working on individual U.S. congressional districts. So, today I ask if any Pokerati readers live in Texas Congressional District 32. You can see the district boundaries by looking here — it’s mostly parts of Dallas, Richardson, Irving, Addison, and the Park Cities. If so, please send an email here.

More news to come I’m sure. As always, thanks for all of your help.

A few quotes from walking around the tables well into the late hours.

(An annoying, brash internet player is debating making a large call against an all-in)

Annoying Player: Cmon, what do you want me to do? Tell you what, I’ll do whatever you want me to.
All-in player: You will?
Annoying Player: Yeah, what do you want me to do?
All-in player: …Bust.

***

(Player makes a big fold)

Player 1: I wanted to call. You all know what I had.
Player 2: Oh, you had aces?
Player 1: (Hesitates) I can’t tell you, I’d be giving out too much info.
Player 2: Oh that’s okay, I’m a horrible player, it wouldn’t do me any good.

This year, to cram in 55 events, Harrah’s added several 5 pm bracelet tournaments. I’ve been told by an unreliable source the new schedule allows players to bust from the noon (usually) No-Limit Hold’em events then register for the afternoon tournaments (usually) Stud, Omaha and Limit Hold’em.

Here is the problem, limit tournaments take a long time to lose players which means you need a good 14 hours to make it to the money with a large field (1200-ish) and possibly more with a small field (300-ish). Last year when playing in a noon limit event you could make it to the money by 2 or 3am, however, this year the door to the vault doesn’t open until close to the end of day two. Unfortunately, this prevents players from playing in the noon event the following day.

While having a NL event first provides earlier eliminations at a faster rate, limit events at 5pm are just a little too late.
IMHO.

LAS VEGAS - The Pot Limit Omaha Event started today at high noon. Notable players in the Amazon room - Devilfish, James Van Alstyne, Chris Ferguson, Freddie Deeb and Jeff Madsen. Fellow Houstonian and a Pot Limit Omaha fan, Sammy Farha, lost his chance at another bracelet in this event after an early elimination. Brandi Hawbaker was also eliminated early but not before her presence created a buzz.

The 5pm Stud Hi/Lo event has more pros at every table than Seattle has coffee (not per capita). Marcel Luske, Mel Judah, Todd Brunson, Annie Duke, Bill Chen, Mike Sexton, Steve Wong, Barney Boatman and Chip Reese are just a few pros. And I mean few in the sense that I only named a few because there are really more than a few. And did I mention TOM SCHNEIDER?

More on Pokernews.

LAS VEGAS–Yes, I know you are all jealous that I will be playing poker with a bunch of hot chicks today. You should be…you will be missing out on cleavage, cat fights and maybe even a few soft hair mustaches.

Ok, let’s take a moment to be serious. I have always had a great time in these events and have actually made some great friends. The women are funny, nice and the room smells better. It’s just…the cat fight thing makes for a better story for all of you drama addicts.

Among the favorites today will be defending champ Mary Jones, Clonie (who needs not a last name) Jen Tilly, Jennicide, Vanessa Rousso and Isabelle Mercier who will be playing on the Queen of Hearts Team. Veteran player Karina Jett will be playing on the feminine felt, while Annie Duke will be skipping out on the gender game, making her way to the Amazon Room for this afternoon’s $5k Limit Championship. Annie, I’m jealous.

I’m sure Wicked Chops Poker will have a lot of cleavage photos because those guys are a bunch of perverts. I only name-call because I was unsuccessful in my attempt to persuade any of them to register into this event. How funny would it be to see two guys at the final table of the ladies event? And the winner of this year’s ladies event is John Doe!

BTW…I covered the WSOP Ladies Academy this past weekend, which was awesome. More to come on that gig.

Ok,… So we won’t make anybody famous. That’s just a quote from my favorite cinematic series. However, we will put you on the air! …err… in the bytes. Whatever.

Beyond The Table has a new Listener Line and maybe it’s a mistake, but we want to hear from you. Dan, Tom, and I just wrapped up our latest show and already a handful of callers have been featured and will be heard in our upcoming episode. Give it your worst!

Beyond The Table -Listener Line-
(888) 820-8091

UPDATE: Our first listener call after this was posted came from a WSOP bracelet winner. That’s good company.

Partially inspired by a recent Fresh Princess post, BeyondTheTable’s new producer, Sit-n-Go Steve, and I decided to settle our long running fued over who is BeyondTheTable’s true heads-up stud. I understand that there are more characters in the BeyondTheTable cast, but a recent BTT episode featured Dan admitting to squandering his ENTIRE online bankroll in heads-up SnG’s while hopingly chatting with on the phone with his female ex-tolerator. As for Tom,… well… it’s been a while since he’s seen heads up action. (Tom, unlike Dan, my ribbing is intended purely for motivational purposes Yeah, that’s it).

The Players: F I2 O G G Y (Karridy, duh.) -vs- Raistlin32
The Prop: Online heads-up, Best of seven.
The Bet (Summary): Loser will wear a sandwich board, created by the winner, for 30 minutes at the intersection of the winner’s choosing.

More…

Just when Bob Daily thought his resignation from Harrahs was final, DG Holdings Ltd (United Kingdom) and their online gaming division pulled him back in.

Robert Daily stated:

“After my resignation, DGH approached me to join their group as a board member to provide leadership to their online gaming platform – especially poker – and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I have made many great friends within the poker industry and I look forward to working with them in the future from a different perspective.”

Bob was appointed as the 2006 WSOP Tournament Director and again for 2007.

For the past few months, Pauly (TaoPoker) and I have been discussing the possibility of a sweet WSOP prop bet. We haven’t ironed out the details yet but it would involve Dan dressing in drag to register for the Ladies Event at the WSOP. Known in the Amazon Room for his pink shirt and girly glasses, he should have no problem getting a seat, no?

Joe Sebok is fond of WSOP costumes maybe he will join in the action…

If you haven’t had enough of famous politicians running for President, now you can throw a playa into the mix.

Greg Raymer for (Vice) President!

Hmmm, I see campaign contributions flowing already.

If you were thinking you needed to get some tournament play before heading out to the WSOP at The Rio then now is the time.

The Mirage Showdown and WSOP Circuit Event New Orleans are two perfect festivals to attend.

While The Mirage is the first of the WPT Season VI, the New Orleans Circuit Event is the last before poker pros start filling up The Amazon Room to play for a bracelet.

For those of you that have not played New Orleans you’re truly missing out. New Orleans is a fun city with amazing food and Phil Gordon will be there giving a seminar.

I highly recommend staying at the very swanky W Hotel as it is directly across from Harrahs. Furthermore, New Orleans rarely hosts legal poker tournaments and you (Texans) can drive!

Yes, we women think from time to time — or at least the men allow us. Especially down here in Texas where all men are rednecks and women are stupid, no? Offended? See fine print below. Anyway, I was thinking about HB 3186 and the paradox of why we are unable to play raked poker in Texas. Here is just one example:

Considering the process of Natural Selection, poker tournaments are a great example of Darwinism. When the first poker hand is dealt, Herbert Spencer’s phrase “Survival of the fittest” becomes most poker player’s motto. We are forced to learn this scientific theory in our public schools while forbidding Creationism. Let’s get something clear right now…Creationism over Evolution is not the point of this post. Darwinism vs. Creation or Intelligent Design is not the point of this post, either.

My point is … why do we force children to learn the scientific theory of evolution over the 5,000-year-old historical book of Genesis only to tell postgraduates they’re unable to practice the forced theory and make decisions on their own in life. Isn’t it confusing the government will choose what you learn in school such as capitalism, free trade and freedom (which we pay for) only to forbid these things later in life? Is it me or does it seem the government takes religion away from children and then uses it against adults?

*Sew - Pun on women being stupid and knowing how to sew. Also read the comments on this post.
*Fine Print
The statement pertaining to Texas men being rednecks and Texas women being stupid is not true. State names have been changed to protect the ignorant innocent.

But at the moment, I am looking for someone intelligent and colorful and well-spoken who has been busted in a poker raid in the past year. Being an upstanding citizen with a good job is a plus. Must be willing to speak on the record. Am looking for tonight or tomorrow … please be in touch and let me know if you are the m/w I am looking for.

The Fontana Room Race for the gold continues as the field of 639 players has now been reduced to 27 lucky little devils skilled men.

David Levi ended the first day without increasing his starting stack while Scott Fischman was in worse condition ending with only 17k in chips. Yet, Scott and David stepped up to bat on day two and hit several home runs placing them currently in 8th and 9th.

But they better not slack tomorrow because Phil Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, Paul Wasicka, Roland De Wolfe & Paul Lee are apparently wanting to win this little tournament.

Today’s notable eliminations were Lyle Berman (WPT Chairman of the board), Justin Bonomo and Dan’s crush.

I spoke with both David Levi and Steve Wong this evening for their updates which you can view on CardPlayer. David was not excited about ending day1 with 25k in chips but worked hard to finish today with 230,000k in chips and Steve Wong is rocking the Fontana in 4th with 476,000 bones! They both humbly said they were feeling good about their play but knew they had a long way to go. Two of my favorite Bellagio Sports Bar friends Amir Vahedi & Freddie Deeb are tied for 23rd with 240,000 in chips.

The Donkey Bomber is not only in 14th place tonight but CardPlayer even mentioned his name! Go Tom, more from you Dan/Karridy.

Fellow Houstonians, Sammy Farha is 9th with 345,000 and John “whadayagonnado boys” Bonnetti is hanging in there with 30k.

Other notables still in are Joe Sebok, Phil Ivey, Lyle Berman, Andy Black, Tran and Chan and Barney Boatmaaaan. But leading the pack is one of the greatest players in the world, Phil Hellmuth with 528,100 (don’t lose that 100 dollar chip, Phil).

Sadly Marcel Luske, Gavin Smith, Joe Bartholdi (who told me Friday he was ready to play this tournament) and Doyle Brunson have been eliminated.

And last but not least…The Ladies or as Wicked Chops Poker would say…crazy bitches.
Newcomer Anna Wroblewski leads the women with 350,000 in 7th place with Vanessa Rousso behind her in 53rd stacking up 115,000. Other ladies holding their own are Isabelle Mercier, Melissa Hayden, Erica Schoenberg, Jennifer Harman, Liz Lieu (who won her seat in a satellite), Kathy Liebert and Kristy Gazes.

Good luck to all and to all a good night.

The Jennifer Harman Charity Event (photos)was successful and fun. For a $300 donation plus $30 the event raised $125,360 for the warm fury friends. The Las Vegas SPCA is a no-kill shelter which means if you lose your pup and it goes there you may just get him back. Shelters that euthanize will terminate your family pet after five days. It is expensive to house so many animals and it is up to the public to help these organizations keep up there great work. Seeing as how Jennifer Harman appeared in Card Player a few years ago with her puppy love, it comes as no surprise she would be hosting this benefit.

Texas funny man, Robert Williamson III, hosted the live auction encouraging his poker colleagues to spend, spend, and spend. In fact, someone purchased a pair of Robert’s socks for $500. Christie Shulman and Angela Brunson both bought a commissioned portrait of their pets. While Andy Black (another funny man) decided on a more contemporary piece of a rooster’s head. Robert Williamson declared the art work a portrait of his….a part of his body. Andy outbid himself until he donated a respectable amount for the portrait. Yes, that’s correct, he was the only bidder.

It was fun if you like playing in a tournament with a list of players like this:

More…

The clock is ticking and if you haven’t called/emailed your state representative yet ( Thanks for the reminder Dan), then get your arse in gear. Don’t just stand on the rail, participate in what could be a historical event.

In other words, if you don’t call your rep, then NO DEBBIE DOWNER-ING Texas poker and no more negative comments about how they will never legalize it here (you know what I mean by legal, right?). After all, what have you done for Hold’em lately? And I don’t mean that in a Janet Jackson sort of way.

I’m off to Caesar’s Palace next week to play in Jennifer Harman’s Charity Event to benefit the SPCA (a no-kill shelter). As many of you know, my beloved cat (Miss Kitty) passed away last month and we quickly adopted a new kitten (Socks) from a “kill” shelter. Sadly, when a mother gives birth to kittens and puppies they are all put to sleep together if not adopted within the shelter’s time frame (usually 7 days). Raising funds for a no-kill shelter, such as the Nevada SPCA, allows these organizations to keep the animals alive until adopted.

Since the tournament is the day before the Bellagio WPT main event there will be many pros like Kristy Gazes, Evelyn Ng, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chip Reese and many more to help raise funds to feed the little guys that need a home.

I’ll have an update on what happened, who was there and how much was raised for our furry four-legged friends.

The Main Event at The Bay 101 starts this afternoon. Liz Lieu, Steve Wong and Nam Le (who won last year) will be vying for this year’s title. Unlike The Wynn main event (won by Zachary Hyman) , The Shooting Star will be televised so the poker pro turn out should be mucher higher. Yesterday was the 2k event and Dan’s fantasy poker player Steve Wong finished 11th.

“Yukon Brad” Booth makes an impromptu appearance on tonight’s live broadcast of Beyond The Table // Dan gets called out for not reading his own Blog // Brad tells us why he would have lost money on the HUC results // Brad gives acclamations and predictions for HUC Champion, Paul Wasicka.

(Download (4:10, 3.82mb))

I’m not so sure what is classic about a new tournament but it will be held in a “classy joint”. Here is what I love about the Wynn Casino:

• Beautiful Poker Room without fake air freshener
• Wider buy-in range (I’ve seen 20k on a 1-2 game)
• Gorgeous Hotel Rooms
• Blackjack at the pool (with a lot of topless men)
• Easy access to poker from your room, garage and valet

Another bonus is the owner, Steve Wynn, the man that has always built a nice poker room (The Mirage & The Bellagio).

I will be playing in the limit event on Wednesday. I hear Marcel Luske and James Van Alstyne are already there. Should be a lot of fun with a tough field.

Came across Houstonian Matt Dean’s blog yesterday. Matt finished 7th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event and cashed in the 2005 Main Event as well.

Seems like he has quite a bit of poker content on his site…cough, cough.

I received this instant messenger transcript from our friend, SnG Steve. He obviously wants me to rag on him. Who am I to deny him of his masochistic urges? But seriously, I think all married pokerers have had this conversation at one time or another. Some of us more than others *Karridy sheepishly raises hand*. But rarely, if ever, do we get to witness it agonizingly chronicled in 10pt font.

Angela says: by the way…do you think it sounds OK for me to go to the Oscar Watch party that Erin is having
Angela says:
I need to email her back
SnG Steve says:
that’s fine with me
SnG Steve says:
can you check March 24th on calendar?
SnG Steve says:
that’s the other poker tournament I was telling you about

More…

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone. Remember, share the love, share the love.
Karridy, I’m leaving it to you to purchase one of those cute Teddy Bears for Dan. Or perhaps you will sing to him live on the air tonight, no?

To appreciate this photo you have to understand my friend, Stephen. Prior to this Extreme Makeover - Cube Edition, Stephen’s cube walls were lined with $5 bills that he had won by betting on the Bears against everybody else in the office. Let’s just say that there was never a debt paid that didn’t recieve more than adequate dose of smug verbal fandom from our resident IT bookie. Somewhere under the balloons is a genuine Bears helmet that his dad gave to him and will surely and sadly be further bequeathed. He actually flew down to Florida with his Dad and two brothers to attend his beloved Bears Superbowl defeat in person. He’s due back in the office today. Stephen, we missed you.

I just saw this commercial on TV. I would have pushed all-in that my husband was watching an SNL commericial but no this was real. In fact, SNL did a teddy bear valentine commercial last year.

This would be a perfect gift for my 3-year-old daughter (or for me if you have already made the purchase).

Hit the link and on the bottom right is the t.v. commercial. You have to watch for yourself.

For those who don’t know, I’m a mild-mannered programmer by day. Okay, I’m actually an Internet Applications Developer. But lately, I’ve been earning the title of C.P.O (Chief Poker Officer). It’s not a bad gig, either. And since I don’t do football or fantasy versions thereof, I can rest easy knowing that I’ve still got a little cooler-speak always on deck. Sure, I might be a lacking conversationalist on almost all other topics, but if you want to debate ways of playing small pairs in early position, well… I have very open-door policy. As I said, It’s a great gig if you can get it.

I do, however, have a word of caution to any person considering treading this rung of the corporate social ladder. Make sure you can back it up. I would like to believe that I can, however a certain recent event proved anything but.

Still fairly new to the company, I accept the task of co-hosting our IT department’s newest team-building exercise. A company sponsored, multi-table freezeout. It truly says something about the perception of poker when a well-to-do, finance-based company kicks in for prizes for such an event. No red tape. No talking to legal to ensure that cash games would not break out. For that matter, I should also mention that we were kindly greeted with a keg of beer for what was intended to be a two-table tourney. Not a bad ratio of beer to player.

Tables are setup and chips are distributed. Poker Timer is running on the big screen and away we go. Fast forward to about 30 minutes later. I am dealt 8c8s in early position. I make a 4x raise, as I’ve been pretty inactive and hope that I have enough image as CPO to induce folds around. Two callers. Board comes 4JJ, rainbow. I bet out and find out that I am exactly where I want to be. A pot size bet is called and the turn brings trash. I am short-stacked and pretty committed at this point. I don’t want to see any more cards, so I move in. After about 30 seconds of thought, I get called by QhKd. No pair, King high. The turn brings the Queen and the CPO is the first player eliminated. My prize is a well-deserved copy of “Poker for Dummies,” which is, semi-ironically, co-authored by one of mine and Dan’s Hold’em Radio colleagues, Lou Krieger. Next up in my Amazon wishlist… “Walking the Walk - for Dummies.”

Just got word from Pokerati’s Houston correspondent Michele (aka “Fresh Princess,” aka “Michelf”) that she’s out of the $1,000 limit event at Commerce. There were 200 entries (a couple dozen more than last year) and she finished 50somethingth. (27 got paid.) Tomorrow she’ll try again, in the $1,000 Ladies NLH event.

Click here to follow. Can’t seem to find any live coverage …

Oh, she also reports that she figured out who that short Asian pro with the black hair was … some guy named Men the Master.

Awesome. Clearly Pokerati material!

LOS ANGELES–I stepped into the Commerce Casino last night for the first time, and I don’t think I have ever seen so many poker tables in one place (not counting The Rio Convention Center). It looked as though every seat were taken … and to top it off, my new friend Selma said the games were “very loose.”

While David Williams, JC Tran, and Steve Wong will not arrive until the main event later this month, Cyndy Violette and Freddie Deeb were both there — playing back to back at cash tables. (Cyndy was looking very sexy with her new black streaks.) And Young Phan was upstairs playing satellites. “I will be playing everyday,” he said. “Everyday!”

Some pro busted me out of a satellite, but I don’t know who he was. Asian guy, short, black hair, with a WPT final table jacket. I know I have seen him somewhere before.

It’s different from the normal Vegas routine of high noon here, as tournaments start at 3:30 pm. Maybe they think this creates an edge for The West Coast defeating The East Coast, not to mention us wayward Texans stuck in the middle with our Third Coast.

I went for a walk and now I’m off to the L.A. Poker Classic to try my luck skill in the $1k limit and $1k ladies events. Last year’s limit event had a total of 176 players and the ladies event had 120. A nice surprise is this year the ladies event entry fee has doubled from $500 so it should be interesting to see if the number of entries will change.

It would be nice to have one of those sweet sponsorships to pay my entry fee. You know, the online site deals where they fly you all over the world, put you in a nice hotel and basically pay you to “play.” But it looks like my hands will be digging in my own pocket handbag. Thanks to Brian Balsbaugh on Beyond The Table last week for giving some insight on how to score one of those sweet deals.

One of the great things about poker is what it can teach you about tilt. Seldom can you see a clearer example of how some less-than-premium early results can force you into a downward spiral of bad decision-making:

ALT HED: Inverse Gonz

A Batface Rotisserie Poker update … Zach is in the lead, followed by TBR:

Ballenger
Michael Mizrachi 444
Joe Hachem 0
David Daneshgar 256
Anthony Reategui 0
Joe Tehan 0
Gioi Luong1138
An Tran 424
Ralph Perry 0

2262

Brown
Daniel Negraneu 1160
Nam Le 0
Roland DeWolfe 0
Alex Jacob 0
Nenad Medic 0
Can Kim Hua 0
Robert Mizrachi 755
Nick Shulman 0

1915

Michalski
John Juanda 0
Steve Wong 0
Eric Seidel 0
Huck Seed 0
Jeff Madsen 0
Harry Demitriou 0
Tom Schneider 0
1/15 Justin Bomono 0

0

The St. Jude’s senior citizens group (in Allen, TX) is planning a trip to Shreveport next month, and I was looking forward to hitching a ride on the bus. It’s always good to spend time with Therese-in-Fairview, and I thought it might be a nice way to take the pulse of a reliable Christian voting block to find out more about where they stand on proposed Texas gambling legislation. But it looks like there might be a slight change of plans:

Dear Dan,
I changed my mind about Shreveport. 4-5 hours on the bus, hotel $77. They said 2 nights, changed to 2 days, the second day we leave 9AM. Really I wont get even 24 hours. Plus pay the bus & pay meals. Same day Feb 6, our club house, has tour to Oklahoma, 1 hour on the bus, 8 hours at the casino, gambling coupons, buffet lunch, I will pay $25. It seems better for me.

The picture frame you gave me for Christmas, all the pictures are long. Your Dad had to turn it around. Now it is beautiful. Thank you again.

Love, Grandma

No problem, Grandma. Thanks for the update … your decision makes sense to me — shorter commute=positive EV. Good thing the church has two separate senior-citizen casino retreats on the same day! So hey, Grandma, would you say that when it comes to slots and Bingo … convenience is a very important issue to you and your friends and priests?

(That’s probably good to know.)

John writes in with more about the Neteller arrests, and word of interruption to at least some poker lives:

Hey Dan,

I’m surprised you haven’t commented on this yet. Apparently effective Jan. 16th, 2007, the instaCASH option at Neteller is no longer available to US customers. This coincides with the arrests of two former executives of Neteller, who were passing through a US airport, that no longer work for the company. Apparently this was phase two of a plan they implemented last year after the passage of the UIGEA and not related to the arrests.

http://www.pocketfives.com/96A9211C-39F7-40B7-B787-15FDB5B5E918.aspx

Interesting stuff. I wonder how this news will further affect online poker. There seems to already be some Chicken Little “sky is falling” posts around where people are feverishly trying to get all their money back on home soil in the wake of this news.

-John

Just logged in to Neteller to see if I noticed any difference … was greeted by a screen informing me I could raise my deposit limits. Specifically, “You are eligible for a higher weekly instaCASH limit!” the page says. “Would you like to upgrade … ?”

Interestingly enough, however, I do have one instaCASH transaction still pending that probably shoulda cleared by now. Note to Adam: It may be another day or two before you get your money.

I can tell you that almost exactly one month ago, PartyPoker informed its contractors that they would no longer be able to pay us via Neteller. And they were pretty emphatic about not using it any more, even though for many of the PokerBlog crew (we finished working Dec. 14) these were to be the last payments they’d receive. Gotta wonder if this was just coincidence, or if PartyGaming might have been given a heads-up that something with Neteller was afoot.

A big shout out to the readers — you all we’re a “great help” on this one …

Below are my picks for Batface Rotisserie Poker. Whaddya think? Though I don’t yet really know the rules and I’m not sure what it is we’re playing for, apparently some of these guys will end up on my team, and when they win, I’ll win, too. Whee!

John Juanda
Steve Wong
Phil Hellmuth
Joe Hachem
Phil Ivey
Rolande de Wolfe
David Williams
Eric Seidel
Huck Seed
Jeff Madsen
Harry Demetriou
Michael Mizrachi
Daniel Negreanu
Tom Schneider
Annie Duke
Gregg Merkow
Antonio Esfandiari
Robert Mizrachi
Danny Smith
Kenna James

The Batfaces are putting together a fantasy poker thingy. (Sorry, you’re not invited — you know, beta version.) But anyhow, I have to pick a bunch of players. I have no idea how the actual rules of this thing will work — what tournaments qualify, which don’t, how we get to add or drop players on our team — so basically I am left just trying to figure out who will kick ass (tourney-wise) in 2007.

Any suggestions? Draft is apparently tonight.

Here are the end results for 2006, as per CardPlayer. Bluff has their own tournament player ranking system … and in fact, they used to have a whole fantasy poker thingy. But I can’t seem to find it. Perhaps they simply concluded that the whole concept was a waste of time?

UPDATE: Some clarification on the rules, via Sommer and Tiny B (one of whom may or may not be the commissioner) …

From: Todd Phillips
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 2:20 PM
To: danm
Subject: Re: Fantasy poker

4 free agent pick ups for the year, plus trades will be allowed. you will not be given a players points retroactively. If you pick up a free agent on April 1, you will get that players points for the rest of the year.

—–Original Message—–
From: dan michalski
To: Todd Phillips
Sent: Mon Jan 08 14:17:25 2007
Subject: FW: Fantasy poker

Can we drop players and pick up “free agents” once we start? Say I’ve got a “hot tip” on a player that I know no one else would pick … will it make sense for me to NOT include him on my list since there is no need to snag him right from the start? <<

More…

Pokerati seeks to be more significant, more relevant, more big-picturey with its coverage in 2007 … Here are some pictures I stumbled upon of Paris Hilton playing poker (at the Wynn). Hadn’t seen these before — would be a shame not to include them in the archive.

And in case you forgot what originally made us care whether or not she played poker, click below for a transcript:

More…