Jen, I was just doing a little research on the upcoming Red River Roundup — recently retitled to the Winstar World Championship Series / The River — and I noticed that Annie Duke is one of the hosts (along with Greg Raymer and Norm Hitzges) … and in their promotional stuff, she’s not wearing any UB.

I’m sure she has almost nothing to do with this — most likely Greg told her it was a good tourney, she was happy to accept a check to show up, and the Winstar’s web people ganked an old PR image off the internet — but still, just found it interesting to see her out of UB uniform. Also interesting to see a Kahnawake squaw working with the Chickasaw. Historically these two nations never battled, but I don’t think you would ever see a Cherokee dude like Scotty Nguyen make the tribal crossover.

UltimateBet has been dancing around this superuser/cheating scandal for more than six months. Everything was delayed - acknowledgment of the allegations, investigation updates and results, and developments like the alleged ties of Russ Hamilton to the scandal.

Annie Duke has become the spokesperson for UB, and she has had to conduct interviews and give politically correct answers to questions for months as UB has come under fire from every direction. While she is attempting to be the face of UB, as Phil Hellmuth clearly dodges the issue and avoids speaking publicly about it, the company itself is allowing Duke to do what its Public Relations Department - or ownership, for that matter - should be doing. Enough is enough.

Listening to a PokerRoad Radio episode from last week (dated 7/16/08), it became clear that Russ Hamilton will not be defending himself or issuing statements on the UB scandal or his alleged involvement in it. (The discussion of the issue begins approximately 30 minutes into the show.) Hamilton declined the opportunity to speak on the show and clear his name upon the advice of his attorney, though he invited Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok to visit his home and discuss the issue privately. However, Hamilton’s attorney was there, too, and would not allow Hamilton to address the UB accounts supposedly connected to Hamilton. Greenstein and Sebok insisted that they were not taking sides but felt that Hamilton was genuine in his claims of innocence. Hamilton wanted people to know that when the investigation is complete, names will come out but his will not be one of them. And his attorney wanted to tell people, “Can’t you just wait a couple months?”

No. The poker community has been forced to wait long enough. It is time for answers. Not only does Hamilton need to come clean with any information he is privy to, but Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth need to do the same. A source tells me that Duke and Hellmuth were aware that Hamilton was implicated in this scandal well before Nat Arem posted his personal investigatory findings. Russ Hamilton cannot seem to defend himself, so UB seems content to let his reputation be scarred forever - while claiming innocence from behind closed doors - while the investigation goes on…and on…and on. And UB seems to operate under the notion that no news is good news, and the less information that comes out officially, the better. Transparency seems to be a pipe dream as the story gets murkier by the day.

C’mon, UltimateBet. If there is actually a team of investigators on this issue, it shouldn’t take months to find answers. Your reputation in this industry is crumbling before your eyes, and as part of the poker community, you must step up to the plate and put your not-so-secret hole cards on the table. Show us some respect if you ever hope to get any in return.

(The opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily represent those of Pokerati. They are the sole ravings of a frustrated journalist.)

Registration is finally over for the Main Event, and a record 2,461 took to the felt today in their quest to be part of the November Nine and take down the over $9.1m first place prize. Among those who’ve already been eliminated today: Phil Ivey, Jennifer Tilly, Andy Bloch, Jose Canseco, Annie Duke, Allen Kessler, David Williams and Noel Furlong. The leader at the dinner break appears to be Brad Tisdale with about 112,000 in chips. Notables towards the top of the leaderboard: Victor Ramdin, Thomas “Thunder” Keller, Aaron Kanter, Jean-Robert Bellande, Brandon Cantu, Mark Newhouse and Antonio Esfandiari. You can follow the players as they return from their dinner break at the WSOP.com site here.

More updates later this evening…

What’s doing tonight at the WSOP while I welcome Tuscaloosa Johnny to the Pokerati fold:

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better event is down to it’s last 3 with Casey Kastle, Martin Klaser, and Michael Fetter remaining. Kastle currently holds the chip lead, Erik Seidel was eliminated in 4th in his attempt at winning his 9th bracelet.

The $5,000 NL Holdem 6-handed event have returned from their dinner break with 280 out of a starting field of 805 to return. Notable names near the top include Alex Jacob, Mark Vos, Gavin Griffin, and Hevad Khan.

Other tournament action is available by clicking on the more thingy:

More…

Happenings for this evening as I found out from Jen I’ve become a member of the WPA all over again:

The $5,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship is down to the final 3, with Team Full Tilt Pro Chris Ferguson the dominate chip leader. Marcel Luske finished in 4th, Annie Duke finished 5th, you can catch all the action at the WSOP site here.

The other final table for today already has its champion, to find out who it was, click on the jump:

More…

Events from last night at the WSOP, as I try in vain to come up with new ways to say the same old stuff:

As Dan mentioned in the post below, Dario Minieri took down the $2,500 NL Holdem 6-handed event in a final table that lasted almost 200 hands, surprising for a 6 handed final table. Seth Fischer finished in 2nd, putting a brutal beat on Justin Filtz to eliminate him in 3rd when the AK of Fischer ran down Filtz’ AA.

The $5,000 Stud Eight or Better final table was finally set after 7am this morning, and another first almost occurred as both Annie Duke and her brother Howard Lederer were among the final 9. However, Howard was eliminated in 9th, but the final table still has notable names such as Chris Ferguson, Steve Sung and Marcel Luske that will return at 5pm today to determine the winner. Here’s that final table:

Seat 1: Bob Lauria: 44,000
Seat 2: Marcel Luske: 308,000
Seat 3: Steve Sung: 207,000
Seat 4: Annie Duke: 277,000
Seat 5: Alessio Isaia: 398,000
Seat 6: Sebastian Ruthenberg: 663,000
Seat 7: Chris Ferguson: 434,000
Seat 8: Robert Beveridge: 288,000

The other final table today and other action after the thing you click to get to the next page:

More…

One of today’s final tables just concluded, event #10 ($2,500 Omaha 8/Stud as Farzad Rouhani ran over the final table, eventually knocking out Tom Chambers in a brief heads-up battle. “Miami John” Cernuto took 3rd. The other final table, event #9 ($1,500 NL 6-max) currently is down to their final 3. Rep Porter is the current chip leader, Devin Porter (no relation) in 2nd, Nathan Templeton 3rd.

The $5,000 NL shootout has their final table, they’ll get underway Sunday at 2pm, and it will consist of:
More…

It has been reported (and noted by Kajagugu) that Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy signed with UltimateBet to join its roster of pro players.

The interesting thing here is that most sites release a statement about new signings with a quote from the player. I’m so excited to be a part of this team, or something generic like that. But in this case, the only statement released was from Annie Duke: “A Star Player is one who has an undisputed high level of skill, lots of integrity, and is well respected in the world of online poker. One look at his impressive record reveals that JohnnyBax epitomizes a Star Player and is the perfect addition to our roster of respected and talented poker players.”

Strange that Cliff has nothing glowing to say about UB yet.

Even stranger that Cliff would sign with UB right now. RIGHT NOW. With bloggers calling them out, forum posters in a tizzy, and the poker community as a whole awaiting a non-forthcoming and much-delayed response to the cheating scandal, he signs a deal with the site.

*shaking my head*

UPDATE: Cliff did post the following on 2+2:

“Please understand that I would not sign with UB if I was not confident in current management. My signing with UB is contingent upon a satisfactory resolution of the “superuser” issue. I am hopeful a press release detailing the entire situation goes out shortly, players are reimbursed and satisfied, and UB can move forward and give players what they want.”

Danielle in New York writes in with a little more info about the film project they’ve got working:

Another thing you can add if people are being hesitant to being interviewed or showing us their room, we have filmed in underground poker rooms in NYC. I don’t know how familiar you are with the scene in NY but a couple years ago a big bust broke up a lot of the more well known poker rooms in the city. About 6 months before these busts we were able to film in one of the clubs and interview the owner. Unfortunately since the big bust, its been hard to come by more games in the NYC Area.

One angle I’d love to take while in Dallas, it to interview someone who could talk about all the raids either as someone who was at one of the raids or someone who ran a room that got raided. Of course, if there is an issue of not given out the name of a room or the name of the person we are interviewing, we will abide in any way possible to make everyone comfortable.

I’m not sure how much I got into the extensiveness of our project but our goal is to make the most definitive and comprehensive film about poker in America. We’ve gone everywhere from Vegas to New Orleans to Saratoga Springs to Oklahoma. We’ve interviewed people within the poker community including Annie Duke, Jeffrey Pollack (Commissioner of the WSOP), Phil Hellmuth, Steve Lipscomb (CEO of WPT), Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, amateur poker players, tournament directors, and poker room mangers from casinos across the US.

So there you have it … I wonder if the poker-room people they end up talking to will be “good” or “bad” gamerunners representing the Dallas scene.

Annie Duke has been getting healthy and training for a marathon since late in 2007, but something has dampened her hopes of running in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 1. That thing is her pelvis, which she evidently fractured while running. The fractured pelvic bone has her benched until it heals.

Her latest blog post indicates how disappointed she was to receive the doc’s prognosis:

Well, bleh! I am really upset. A little amazed that I kept going out and running three and four miles on a fractured pelvis. But upset that I have to cancel the marathon that I have been looking forward to in such a big way and upset that my body has apparently failed me. I suck

Not only was Annie looking forward to completing a marathon, but she was doing it to raise funds for Ante Up for Africa, the organization she runs with actor Don Cheadle. Even so, the duo have succeeded in raising well over a million for the refugees of Darfur thus far. With more than $700,000 raised at the charity tournament at the 2007 WSOP and over $500,000 at the recent San Manuel event, Annie and Don are raising awareness and much-needed funds for the cause. The 2008 Ante Up for Africa tournament is scheduled for July 2nd at the WSOP, and they are hoping to raise closer to - if not over - $1 million at the event.

I find a new level of respect for Annie Duke every time I speak with her.

Last month, she taught the WSOP Ladies Academy I attended, and we had several chances to speak about life and ladies-only tournaments.

On life, Annie changed hers drastically after the 2007 WSOP. She admitted that she didn’t feel so great after smoking and drinking tons of caffeine throughout the Series, so she just stopped. Cold turkey. She went smoke-free and caffeine-free in one day, and she switched to eating only organic foods. On top of that she began running - not just a mile or two but ten or twenty. When we spoke in January, she was up to nearly 20 miles at a time and preparing to run the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon on June 1st in San Diego. She’s going to challenge herself with the run while raising money for Ante Up for Africa.

Her comments on ladies-only events in poker went into my article on PokerWorks. As always with Annie, she doesn’t mince words or filter herself, which is something I admire.

Now, I’m going to think about her healthy ways while I put on my workout gear and eat some fruit light up and drink my caffeinated tea.

Sure, I’m a lady. (Shut up, Dan.) But I’ve written numerous articles about my anti-ladies-only tournament stance…

When All In Magazine asked if I wanted the assignment to cover the WSOP Ladies Academy in Vegas this past weekend, it required some consideration. I firmly object to women being separated in the poker community, but I noticed that Annie Duke was the primary instructor for the class. Knowing that we shared the same view about ladies-only tournaments, I decided to accept the assignment and investigate. The comped room at Caesars had something little to do with my decision.

Alex Outhred Instructing Students

Glad I did it.

The two-day course was extremely informative, as Annie covered everything from bluffing to betting amounts to detailed strategy for pre-flop and post-flop play. Joe Navarro spent a few hours discussing tells, which even drew some Vegas pros like Tom McEvoy and JJ Liu to sit in. Alex Outhred also helped with the lectures and the live table demonstrations. There were about 75 ladies enrolled in the $1700 course, and everyone seemed glad to have been there.

The lingering question: Why was it for women only?

More…

Watching the Annie Duke testimony (and related non-poker people arguing both sides of pending anti-UIGEA legislation) left me rather impressed. And then I started thinking about Duke’s good work with the Ante Up for Africa charity tourneys … and thus I came to the conclusion … wow, Annie Duke is doing some good stuff these days.

So that has me wanting to know … who currently is the best ambassador in poker? I hate the phrase “good for poker” … that’s the topic of another post, on how it actually hurts the game … but whether it be from a business, political, or game-play perspective, what known poker celeb is using their status to the best of their abilities to make the game better for us all.

Scroll along the right-hand sidebar to let us know your thoughts on who is really representin’.

Reason Magazine has taken note of Annie Duke’s newfound lobbying prowess, too. They were impressed by her ability to cite John Locke and John Stuart Mill.

It’s true that sometimes Beltway outsiders are the ones who can stir things up on the inside. Good stuff. I was about to say how come her Ultimate Bet cohort Phil Hellmuth hasn’t stepped up to the poker politics plate … but on second thought, really, considering what he might have to say and how he would say it, maybe that is for the best.

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held the Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers. Errr, it was about online gaming.

John Conyers (D-MI) chaired the hearing; he has every potential to be a co-sponsor of one or more of the bills up for consideration in Congress, and he visited the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) convention a few weeks ago.

Robert Wexler and Shelley Berkley, both of whom introduced bills supported by the PPA, spoke at the hearing. And representing the PPA was Annie Duke. Her testimony was excellent, and when confronted by members of Congress like Goodlatte, she held her own.

The video of Annie’s testimony (with the introduction by Conyers) is worth listening to…

Anthony in McKinney-ish writes in with more:

Ok, I swear I’m not an email attention whore, but the hits just keeepp ooonnnnnn coming with this Absolute thing.

http://www.pocketfives.com/06D9EA78-E38F-49D3-AFA1-2B4B128CE7E7.aspx

Not to make it all about blogging, but poker players should be proud of the “citizen journalism” at work in this case. When “former” chief operators of a company are allegedly the ones pegged as playing with “superaccounts” … that clearly can’t be a good thing. Absolute looks to have done themselves in here. Short-term greed catches up with the offenders. This page now seems like a sadly ironic case of Strong Means Weak.

So as the evidence against Absolute becomes more and more solid, it raises a lot of other questions, including:

1. Will anyone go to jail? In an unregulated environment can anyone go to jail?
2. What other sites might be engaging in similar activities?
3. How can we trust that any particular site is not?
4. Will politicians in the United States see this as an example of why online poker needs to be regulated, or will it be their case for why it needs to be more comprehensively banned?
5. Since Absolute is in bed with Ultimate Bet, what will become of that relationship? And how connected are they really?
6. Will UB pros — Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke specifically — speak out on the matter? And/or will they leave Ultimate Bet?
7. Will major online affiliates — such as CardPlayer, PokerNews, and PokerListings, for example — stop sending players to Absolute?

Big questions for online poker. How different folks with a vested interest in the answers react to this situation will tell us a lot about what kinda players we really are dealing with in this biz.

UPDATE: PokerListings is currently refusing to send players to Absolute and Ultimate Bet:

PokerListings.com has temporarily suspended the listing of the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet poker rooms as a result of serious problems with both historical and current payments due PokerListings for services rendered. We are aware that our decision not to list these two brands may be an inconvenience, but as a trusted guide and resource, we do not believe it is appropriate to continue listing them.

Sincerely,

The PokerListings.com Team

Running Good: 25-year-old Travis Rice made two final tables at the 2007 WSOP and follows that up with a high-six-figures win in Aruba.[photo: PocketFives]

One of the other major tournaments going on this weekend took place in Aruba — a slightly more scenic destination than New Jersey. The $5,500 buy-in event drew 548 players, and in the end, after enduring a semi-difficult outdoor final table (complete with sun, wind, and bugs) Fort Worth’s Travis Rice was the last player standing — winning $800,000 and providing further proof of the old adage about the success of the Dallas Cowboys being tied to the Ultimate Bet Aruba Classic.

Mean Gene was there ogling the bikini-clad following the official action, as was PocketFives. While a handful of big-name pros competed (Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Robert Williamson, Mike Matusow, Kristy Gazes, et al.), by the time this thing got to the money, the online qualifiers were clearly dominating.

Online players know Travis as “TravestyFund” … but some of you may remember him as a dealer at the now defunct Sixth Street. He has since turned pro, and thus far in 2007 banked nearly $1.2 million in tournament winnings. He celebrated his most recent victory by jumping in a pool.

More photos here.

LAS VEGAS - Nope, you’re wrong. A six-handed final table is a…six-handed final table and Hoyt Corkins took it down. I’ve discussed my fantasy poker point system with LB at The Poker Biz, aka Wicked Chops Junior. None for me. Then he scolded me in front of everyone in the media room today for not reading your post. But hey, I’ve got money to lose.

And thanks for the kudos but I have been eliminated from the limit $3k NLH event. My high pocket pairs were up against a higher pocket pair every time. Just down right cold decked. My table was less than exciting but all around me sat Joe Sebok, Amir Vahedi, Annie Duke, JC Tran, Phil Hellmuth, Eric Seidel and David Sklansky.

FYI - This would typically be a comment; however, the comment feature is still unavailable.

Hello? Is anyone out there?

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–The WSOP Academy hosted their first All Ladies Camp at Caesar’s Palace this past weekend. A sold out crowd of 100 women listened, played and learned from Annie Duke, Karina Jett, funny man Alex Outhred, Joe Navarro and even a surprise visit from the very sexy Jennicide. There was a vast range in players either looking to learn the basics or sharpen their skills and all seemed to benefit from Navarro’s body language seminar. I know I advanced in some areas (although it didn’t seem possible since I’m the 6,432,243,328 smartest person in the world). In fact, immediately following the Academy I entered the ladies WSOP event and focused on my game like a turkey dodging Thanksgiving. Seriously, I used Navarro’s tells to read, Karina’s advice on flirting, Annie’s reminder’s of the math and Alex’s words of wisdom on staying focused.

I would have posted on this yesterday but I was busy cashing in the WSOP thanks to this camp’s wonderful reminders.

Upcoming camps during the World Series will not only include Joe Navarro but also main event winners Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and WSOP Master Phil Hellmuth with a private tournament for a 10k main event seat, VIP Party at Pure Nightclub and banquet.

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.

LAS VEGAS–They’re down to 11 10 players in Event 5 - Omaha/7cs Hi Lo - $2,500, and Tom is still the chip leader, with more than a quarter of the chips in play — and a goofy hat that says “Beyond the Table” on one side and “Oops I Won Too Much Money” on the other. He’s got Annie Duke and Chris Ferguson to his left. Also still alive: Josh Arieh, Scotty Nguyen, John Phan, David Benyamine, and Chris Bell.

Damn.

While writing this post, Steve Hall, unaware of what I was doing and who Tom Schneider is, says, “That’s amazing. John Phan is almost at the final table in the 7-card-stud-Omaha event … You have to actually know poker for that … It looks to be an amazing final table.”

Indeed, Steve, it does. This final table only may or may not be televised. It will be up to ESPN whether to broadcast Tom’s game (is it premature to call it that?) or the $1,500 PL Hold’em final table, featuring Gavin Smith and Marco Traniello. Anyone know any lobbyists?

Also, Mr. Fresh Princess is alive and slightly above average in the $1,500 limit event, and Julie Schneider — Mrs. Donkey Bomber — is thriving in a second-chance tourney in the back of the room.

UPDATE: Tom made it … busted out Arieh to seal the final table deal … he’s got a third of all the chips in play. Mr. Fresh Princess is now hanging “by a thread.” And Julie got knocked out with Ace-Queen … but what’s really funny is how she plowed through the roped off area to tell Tom about it while he was in the middle of a hand.

There was a pretty interesting article in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal about a recent gathering at Harvard University, which set out to bring together some of the brightest minds in academia to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that poker is a game of skill. (Uh duh.) Howard Lederer was the main poker dude on hand, along with famed Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, PPA honcho Michael Bolcerek, and a number cruncher who wants to run the math on billions of hands.

The WSJ’s unscientific poll is currently running 77-23 in favor of skill. Read the article and you’ll see this isn’t about rehashing old theories and debates … because really, what do you think the poll results would be if we asked: “Is life primarily a matter of skill or luck.” I am guessing 77-23 might be pretty close to the results here, too.

In the article, Lederer espouses a new talking-point argument that I hadn’t yet heard/thought of:

The “vast majority” of high-betting poker hands, he says, are decided after all players except the winner have folded. So if no one shows his cards, Mr. Lederer says, “can you legally argue that the outcome was determined by luck?”

Cool stuff — and good to see, in the ivory towers at least, a growing recognition of how some of what is currently shaking down in the poker world reaches into important future matters of internet law, international law, international business, and economics.

After his strategy session wrapped up, Prof. Nesson led the group to a bar for drinks. He was delighted, he said, at how the group “pushed game theory to the level of metaphor.” Sipping a scotch on the rocks, he tossed out the idea of creating a poker university, with himself as one of its teachers. Then, “we could infuse all levels of education with the skills that come from poker,” he said.

I’ve got a fun little speaking gig this weekend — visiting the Beth Torah men’s club to talk poker.

Last year’s appearance went well — in fact, click here if you’ve got 90 minutes to kill listening to some questionable audio — but while regaling the breakfast crowd with poker-boom lore, home-game theory, and tales from the WSOP, I did stumble on one question … “Are there any Jewish poker pros?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “A lot of them. Like, um … uh … um … oh! Barry Greenstein! He’s Jewish, right? Wait, is it GreenSTEEN or GreenSTINE? I never remember.”

Oy.

More…

The WSOP Academy has announced its first all ladies camp, to be held June 8-9 at Caesars Palace. Instructing the camp will be Joe Navarro – FBI agent turned poker tell expert, Alex Outhred (four final tables last year) and Annie Duke (WSOP Jedi Knight). The ladies will finish with a tournament awarding the top ten winners a seat into the WSOP ladies event.

Look for the pink banners with Annie’s new sexy photos like the one here.