And Brunson reports — via the often unreliable Twitter — that he got paid his Full Tilt balance of about $150k … in a way that suggests Lederer is either going door-to-door making payouts (perhaps tidying up affairs before he has to “go away”?) or possibly just living out of his car …

ToddBrunson

He asked how much I had on tilt and I told him 150k.. He said come with me. We went to his car and he opened his trunk and paid me!!!!!! 23 hours ago

ToddBrunson
Look who I just ran into.. I told him the wsop killed me and I was cash short…… http://lockerz.com/s/121600156 23 hours ago

Either way, the stress seems to be doing Lederer right, physically at least, as the previous poster boy for the well-fed high-stakes “poker body” seems to have shed a few (dozen?) pounds around the saddle.

Persona non grata: You mean you haven’t been paid yet? Have you submitted your W-9?

And while it would be nice if someone really did get their Full Tilt balance refunded … it can’t be an ideal structure for payouts when they’re happening out of the trunk of a car, even if it is a $250k Audi.

Doyle said to have been buying up Full Tilt dollars at a discount

Meanwhile, since we’re relying on Twitter here … this seems as good a time to pass on a “rumor” that I feel confident enough about the source — someone inside Bobby’s Room — that it might reveal why Brunson’s father, Doyle, has been extra sour on poker as of late.

Supposedly, a few weeks ago, Doyle was playing in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, and he was tweeting about his slaughter of Billy Baxter. Soon, talk shifted (off-Twitter) to Full Tilt’s money problems. Brunson reportedly said he was confident they intended to pay, and believed they eventually would … and with that began buying up Full Tilt accounts for about 60 cents on the dollar. Can’t confirm the exact amount he purchased … but the kinda money that people playing in the highest-stakes cash game in Vegas might have on Full Tilt Poker.

The next day, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended Full Tilt’s license, effectively shutting the site down indefinitely.

The attorney who filed the suit, David Chesnoff, is kinda a big deal. He’s the former law partner of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, has been an ABC Legal News analyst, and recently secured walks for Bruno Mars and Paris Hilton on cocaine charges. Other celebrity clients have included Vince Neil, Jamie Foxx, Mike Tyson, the Jackson family, Leonardo DiCaprio, Shaquille O’neal, Andre Agassi, Martha Stewart, Suge Knight, Nate Dogg … the list goes on and on — mostly criminal cases, some civil. But beyond having an A-list media component to his practice, Chesnoff is also a semi-regular high stakes poker player in Las Vegas — no stranger to the banter in Bobby’s Room and thus the inner workings of the poker world — with a remarkably successful record, legally, against the Feds.

Chesnoff is the guy who helped Doyle Brunson beat the SEC on a $700 million WPT pump-and-dump rap … which may or may not have had anything to do with his getting an invite to the ’06 NBC National Heads-up Championship, where he finished 9th. He also helped Shawn Shiekhan avoid deportation in the face of charges from the Department of Homeland Security. His other big wins against state and federal prosecutors include an acquittal for a “Scarfo” mobster facing the death penalty; an acquittal for a dude busted with 15 tons of hashish in California on grounds of entrapment; and a hung jury in case against kingpins snared in a $6.9 billion cocaine seizure — the biggest drug bust in US history.

He also scored a huge win for Terence Watanabe, one of the biggest whales in Vegas history, who faced severe civil and criminal penalties for welching on nearly $15 million in casino markers, by getting Caesars (then Harrah’s) to drop their claims on the grounds that management at Caesars Palace and the Rio shouldn’t have gotten him so drunk.

Chesnoff’s success runs the gamut — in courtrooms from Clark County to the DOJ’s Southern District of New York — all in all the kinda guy you’d think a Full Tilt exec might wanna hire. But that, of course, is no longer an option with the Ivey suit.

Other Chesnoff poker clients have included Mike Matusow, Kenna James, Johnny Chan, Crispin Leyser, and Russ Hamilton.

We’ll see where the Ivey case goes, obv … and what other criminal and/or civil actions may or may not get wrapped up in it. But beyond seeking $150 million, Ivey vs. Full Tilt marks a huge rift in Full Tilt ranks and fits curiously with statements of intent from Chesnoff’s firm’s own web bio:

Chesnoff & Schonfeld have taken the most difficult of cases, developed new law and have set precedents in the fields of constitutional, criminal and forfeiture law.

“A major distinction between our firm and other law firms is we take cases with the understanding that we’re taking it to trial.”

Fans of Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio will be happy to hear there is an equivalent in the Aria poker room and it has already been put to use. Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, David Benyamine, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Patrik Antonius were all spotted playing in the secluded VIP lounge on Thursday evening, the day after the casino opened. While the room is semi-private, ogling railbirds can get a peek at their favorite high-stakes players through the glass front door. According to one of the employees at Aria, Phil Ivey is currently in talks to loan his name to the room in the same fashion that Bobby Baldwin did at the Bellagio, so news of big games being played in “Phil’s Room” could be on the horizon.

Two questions come to mind:

1. Is there enough room for two “Big Games” in this town?
2. Big-name players supporting poker rooms or poker rooms supporting big-name players?
3. What’s MGM/Mirage’s vision for poker across its competing properties?
4. When are they gonna put this highest-stakes shit on 24-hour webcam?

OK, that’s four. But hey, CityCenter is big … and so far, just a few days old, it raises more questions about Las Vegas’ future than it answers.

via PokerNews

That’s the name of the day, today, June 16, in Las Vegas.

The town’s Partyer-in-Chief, Mayor Oscar Goodman, declared it such in celebration of the uber-bendy, adult-acid-trippy Cirque du Soleil’s 25th anniversary. To honor the day, the name of the Strip has been changed — with plausibly confusing street signs and everything — from Las Vegas Blvd. to Cirque du Soleil Blvd. And at 1 pm today, outside Bellagio, some 300 people will be walking around on stilts as part of the festivities and a six-city worldwide effort to break the Guinness record for stilt-walking.

More than 90 million people have seen Cirque shows, which explains why its creator, Guy Laliberte, is the 261st richest man in the world, with $2.5 billion in net worth. He is also, of course, a poker player … much to the delight of Bobby’s Room and the regulars on High Stakes Poker. Without a doubt, both directly and indirectly, he has been a valuable contributor to the poker economy.

Also this week, Laliberte’s lawyers are protesting the release of a new, unauthorized biography that details some of the ballerest Dionysian fests in Vegas that only the creator of Mystere could imagine — A-lister orgies with the finest food, booze, drugs, music … and hookers flown in from Montreal.

In September, Laliberte, 49, plans to take an arguably well-earned vacation by traveling to space via Russian rocket for 12 days.

Click below to read more about what Guy Laliberte was allegedly doing when he wasn’t playing poker:

(Or click here to see David Benyamine win a $1.2 million pot from Laliberte.)

From The Independent:

During the parties, global business leaders, politicians, and Hollywood stars were entertained by Cirque du Soleil performers, and provided with millions of dollars of fine food and wine. Author Ian Halperin, who quotes dozens of former guests, details heroic displays of debauchery. “Everything you wanted was available at Guy’s parties,” said Myra Jones, a Milan-based fashion model who attended several of the events. “Drugs, the best music spun by famous DJs flown in from Europe and the USA, and the wildest sex you could ever imagine.”

The book claims that Laliberté’s assistants invited busloads of prostitutes from his native Montreal to the parties, which were attended by the likes of Robert DeNiro and Sir Paul McCartney. Mere B-list guests were required to sign a confidentiality agreement before attending.

“It was beyond crazy; it was complete insanity for hours. Everyone was so beautiful and so free,” said Angie Everhart, a Playboy model. “If there was a straight person in the house they must have freaked out watching everyone else trip. They would have thought they were the one on drugs.”

In doing so, you’ll learn why he’s not playing in the WPT Championship, and that Phil Ivey lost $1 million in Bobby’s Room last night.

And then, back to his blog, he explains to all the Teabaggers out there why he thinks they should STFU!

I headed over to my CPA to get my taxes done and ran into a traffic jam. Hundreds of people were blocking the streets having what they called a “tea party”. I think they were protesting the current financial crisis our nation is going through, but some of the signs were ridiculous. “Impeach Obama”, “What comes after trillions”, “Stop spending our money” and other statements blaming our president. For Pete’s sake, let’s give the guy a chance to straighten this mess up. I got a lot of heat for voting for McCain, but I knew when I cast a late vote, John didn’t have a chance to win. I was just being loyal to the Republican Party. But now that the nation has spoken that they wanted Obama, we should all support him.

Craziness.

First of all, the entire casino was packed, as was the Strip on the way over there. After plowing through the tourists and slot machines, I arrived at the poker room, which was just overflowing with players. At least 20-30 people were milling about near the front of the poker room, the majority of whom were waiting for seats to open up. Among them were David Pham and Padraig Parkinson. And Davood Merhmand was looking for a love connection was enjoying a glass of wine.

As I shuffled past and made my way into the upper level/back room, there wasn’t much room to move around, but I immediately saw Antonio Esfandiari, along with many unrecognizable faces. I was told that those tables were playing $600-$1200 and higher, but I didn’t see anyone I knew well enough to ask for specifics. The intensity of the players was obvious in their faces, though; these were some serious games at relatively high stakes.

And on to the Big Game in Bobby’s Room. There was a small crowd gathered around the door and windows to the room to catch a glimpse of some of poker’s biggest names. Sammy Farha and Minh Ly were at one table with several young internet-ish-looking players, and Sammy looked happy to have the fresh meat. The other table included such names as Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, David Oppenheim, and Johnny Chan. I was told they were playing $3000-$6000 mixed games. (What better way to prepare for the upcoming $50K H.O.R.S.E. event at the Bellagio in two days?)

According to one source who is a regular in the Bellagio $400-$800 mixed games, it has been a tough road this year. Since coming to Vegas for the WSOP, he has noticed a marked change in the caliber of player in all of the higher limit mixed games. The fields are very tough, much tougher than last year, as if the high stakes players made a concerted effort of late to step up their games. He said there are very few soft spots, and every game is a struggle. When asked about taking the limits down a notch to $200-$400 or lower, he said with certainty that it wouldn’t make a difference. He has friends at those levels, and it is the same story; there isn’t as much money to be made in cash games this year. Standard no-limit hold’em and other games might be different, but the mixed game players have brought, played, and mastered their A-games.

Nevertheless, those who crave the high-limit action go to Bellagio, despite the difficulty of the tables or the wait to get on one. There is no other casino in Vegas that spreads such a wide range of games at such a variety of limits, and Bellagio has a reputation for running one of the best poker rooms around. No matter the hard economic times or bad runs at the WSOP, the Bellagio poker room is bumpin’.