Phil Ivey recently dropped off ESPN’s admittedly subjective player rankings, The Nuts. ESPN’s was the last of such lists to still include the self-exiled Full Tilt Pro in their Top 10. (Homers.)

I found this out via PartTime Poker, which seems to be doing a pretty cool monthly bit over there — breaking down player standings across four different ranking systems, each with their own calculation biases and level of subjectivity in determining the best poker players in the world.

Perhaps surprisingly, I still recognize most at least half of the 21 names comprising the four different Top 10s … but I’ll bet the rest of the world surely doesn’t. There’s a reason, after all, Jason Mercier doesn’t even have a Q-score.

So with subjectivity in mind … best player, winningest player, field strength, skill measurement, tournament luck, run-good ratios, late position likability, backer’s credit score …

Kevmath 2.0

Kevmath

Kevin Mathers, the venerable 2+2 moderator and longtime blogger-editor at Pokerati, will not be posting here for the foreseeable future.

No joke … he has been relieved indefinitely from Pokerati blogging duties. Technically, we had to “let him go”. Sucks, but we just couldn’t afford the increasingly valuable services of the hottest independent info-tweeter in poker. Here is a copy of his termination papers:

Kevin, I saw your interview on TWIP. Good job. I also just read Can you send me relevant threads from 2+2?

Hey, so, you are fired. Sorry. Hard times.

I really wanted to believe you were a bot.

See you on Twitter or something?

Rumor is Kevmath is headed to the minor leagues Bluff, where he and Jess Welman would form quite the menacingly mighty poker-reportage duo. Of course without Kevmath, Pokerati will change … we’ve got Gahagan to work double time and some other changes in store, but we might have to cut back on some previously standard coverage elements, such as “facts”.

But @Kevmath did leave behnd a Pokerati farewell … after 30 months, 579 posts, and 1,642 comments, all of which helped make this a better place … seriously, how lucky were we to have him as long as we did? Glad the “for hire” media finally came around.

Check back to read what hopefully won’t be the last time we see @Kevmath around these parts.

Check it out, the blind structure for the $230 Pokerati No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha with one $200 Rebuy tournament is here for your perusal, along with all the other blind structures for the Detox Poker Series, August 13-22.

BTW, turns out my event is one of the few that does not meet CardPlayer POY criteria … bummer, and oops on contending otherwise … but hey, kinda a rookie here on the Vegas real-money poker scene, ya know? Just look at the event title and try to say it out loud … sure, I agree it sounds kinda sexy, but you can tell I still might have a few things to learn about running tournaments in the land of Big Casino.

Still promise a fun, challenging event with great food and (re)invigorating action. Mark your calendars (Aug 18), book your flights, and send your kids to summer camp. Come (back) to Vegas to annoy the locals and/or abuse the tourists!

Matt Savage: What do you think of the jump in antes at level 6 in the Pokerati event?

Allen Kessler: I’m not sure the single rebuy offers enough equity without POY points in play even when you consider the implied free-food equity. I mean ha-ha, what good is that when you’re not guaranteeing a take-home box!

Keep up to date with what is sure to be the best late-summer, chill-stakes miniseries of the year on twitter @DetoxPoker.

WSOP Main Event Note: Matt Savage is still alive at the Day 3 dinner break with 155k. Current official scoreboard here.

As Stephen A. Murphy over at CardPlayer suggests, this news perhaps comes as a bit of a head-scratcher. But then again, poker players have come to expect high variance when it comes to state courts’ attempts to decide the issue of whether poker is a game of skill or chance.

Reversing a ruling from early last year, a Pennsylvania appeals court this week ruled that poker was more chance-based than skill-based, thus making it a form of “unlawful gambling” according to the state’s predominance test. The court voted 2-1, with Judge Robert Freedberg authoring the opinion. “While the outcome of poker may be dependent on skill to some degree,” wrote Freedburg, “it is predominantly a game of chance.”

The ruling thus goes against the January 2009 decision in the case concerning a private home game of $1/$2 no-limit hold’em. In that one, Judge Thomas James explained that “in conjunction with analyzing skill versus chance… it is apparent that skill predominates over chance in Texas Hold’em poker.”

The Poker Players Alliance chimed in to express “disappointment” in the ruling. The defendants’ lawyer has suggested the case will likely be headed to the state’s Supreme Court.

Read more about the Judge Freedberg’s decision over at CardPlayer.com.

Fahrenkopf: Click your mouse for the house FTW!

As much as we try to resist, about twice a year CardPlayer.com does something uniquely worthy of sending you to them. (See, their spade points up, ours points down … that’s why we’re generally not link-friends.) The first of 2010 come from Stephen Murphy’s interview with Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association. It’s a great getting-to-know one of poker’s most powerful potential allies in Washington DC … and he provides a solid explanation of where, from the Big Casinos perspective, all the current legislation, in DC and the various statehouses, stands.

First thing is that Fahrenkopf acknowledges the AGA has officially changed its position on online gambling. For years the folks at AmericanGaming.org were against, and more recently shifted to neutral. Now, overall, they can be chalked up as for. “Open to the concept” means they’ll get behind it, so long as it’s done the “right” way.

However, Fahrenkopf informs us, the AGA’s voting membership is leaning more towards a state-based regulation model, and are maintaining a neutral stance on Barney Frank’s federal bill specifically. Also, he acknowledges, there actually is a need for the UIGEA if we really want the safe, protected internet gaming that we all purport to be demanding.

Good stuff that you can’t find anywhere else … and something that anyone following how the legislative framework that will shape poker’s future is, er, taking shape … will want to read.

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.

Congratulations to the Hendon Mob, who were picked by Pokerati readers as the clear favorite when it comes to looking up a player’s stats.

The Mob got nearly half the votes. CardPlayer got roughly half the remaining half. And an interesting 3rd-place finisher: PokerPages … which as we recently learned is going out of business.

Word on the electronic street is that at least two entities that didn’t make a strong showing in Pokerati’s unscientific poll are beginning the process of trying to buy PP’s player database at a fire-sale price.

Meanwhile, be sure to check out our new poll — sidebar, toppish-right — wondering: How many November Niner names do you know?

We’ve got a new highly unscientific poll up. I’m curious … where do you like to go for information on players — whether it’s to see how a well-known entity has done over the course of a career or to see just WhoTF some new-name is?

Cast your vote over yonder in the sidebar on your right.

Totally subjective criteria. And though there have long been accusatory murmurs about who steals data from whom, I’m looking at the thoroughness and accuracy of their records, ease of use, and any creative touches that make theirs different. Though I suspect others exist* sites I’ve visited for player stats and (live or online) tourney results include:

Bluff
CardPlayer
Hendon Mob
PokerListings
PokerPages

Trying to decide on one as my go-to source.

* and some I knowingly omitted, like WSOP.com and WPT.com, because they include only their own tourneys, and what use is that to me beyond summing up totals?

NOTE: I also removed PocketFives from the list (they had no votes) … because they, similarly, only have profiles for their own members … though if you are looking for data and results from serious online screen names, they seem to have the best info, well-presented.

UPDATE: Just discovered (in the process of doing this post) PokerListings’ online-player database — complete with their cool MarketPulse thingy — and theirs may be better than P5′s.

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:

In the last edition of Card Player Magazine that I may receive (canceled the subscription after his initial WSOP comments), November Nine member Jeff Shulman takes the sly opportunity to make another unclear accusation point about the WSOP and Harrah’s.

To refresh memories, Shulman was headed for the final table of the WSOP Main Event in July and made some comments regarding the possibility of winning the bracelet, namely that he would throw the gold in the trash. Two days later, CardPlayer.com published a story allowing Shulman to clarify his feelings. He noted therein that he was disappointed in how the WSOP is run, and that it is no longer run by people who care about poker or have the players in mind. Some of his comments:

“Look, I love poker and entered with the hopes of winning,” Shulman stated. “But, more importantly, I support making the industry stronger and better for the players, and to do this, there needs to be some major changes to the way the World Series is run at the highest level. Hopefully, by doing something like this, people will start talking about those changes. I am going to stand by my commitment, but instead of pointlessly throwing it in the trash, I have come up with a few ideas.”

Jeff Shulman’s alternative bracelet ideas:
1. Auction off the bracelet and give the money to charity
2. Hold a tournament for all players shut out of the main event and award the winner the bracelet
3. Give the bracelet away in a SpadeClub.com tournament
4. Give the bracelet to Stephen Colbert

As the Card Player Media President and COO, Shulman has the magazine at his disposal in which to write a lengthy explanation of what is so wrong with Harrah’s and how he could fix poker. Instead, though, a page in the September 1 issue is dedicated (as always) to the Card Player TV show entitled “The Scoop with Adam & Diego,” and this time Shulman was the guest and excerpts were printed from the interview. Right off the bat, Diego Cordovez asked a question that baffled me coming from someone in the poker press:

“Now, the last couple of days, the poker press, what there is of it, has started to quote you and stir up controversy, which you initiated…”

Anyhooo, his answer? “…I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say that somebody’s got to do something about it. I’m not sure I’m the right guy, being that I’m in the industry, but it’s not like we have some special relationship here. They hate us, for whatever reason… I think they hate anyone who’s not a celebrity, or maybe it’s just that they treat the celebrities so much better than everyone else that they have special rules, they don’t get penalties. I’ve never seen anything like it. If we really want to take poker to the next level, you can’t have different rules for different people.”

Evidently, by disrespecting the WSOP bracelet and Harrah’s (and all the players who would do anything to be in his final table position), he plans to take poker to the next level. Would that be the rude and insulting level? Would that be the vague and evasive level? Would love to hear some thoughts on this issue…

(The opinions/insinuations herein are Cali Jen’s views and not necessarily those of Pokerati or Pokeratizens.)

Beating almost everyone’s expectations, the November Nine was established before 11pm Wednesday night with chip leader Darvin Moon cracked Jordan Smith’s aces, flopping a set of eights. Here’s how the final table is scheduled to be seated when the players return on November 7th to the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead – 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000

As some Twittered earlier this morning, the appearance of Phil Ivey at the final table caused much joy to the WSOP staff, ESPN, and the poker forum community. You’ve got the chip leader a good ol’ boy from Maryland who’s involved in the most dangerous job in the US (logging), meaning those who wonder what happens if someone in the November Nine passes away or is incapacitated may have their wish come true. You have Begleiter, a former executive at Bear Stearns, You’ve got two European players (Akenhead and Saout), you’ve got the lightning rod for the “bad for poker” audience in Shulman, who made statements that he would throw away the bracelet if he won, criticizing the WSOP’s stance on exclusivity in poker reporting. These stories and many others will be played out in the coming days, and Pokerati will be there to sift through them all, starting this afternoon on The Poker Beat over at www.pokerroad.com.

Frankly, I’m starting to see the “value” in having a bitter, Harrah’s-hating heir to an unloved magazine at the final table (seriously, ripping on CardPlayer has been kinda our shtick from the get-go! If it weren’t for them and their incompetence unfriendliness back in the day, we honestly might not be here). And while everybody wants to see Phil Ivey make the final table for millions of reasons … really, do you see him charming the crowd on David Letterman if they’re not willing to wager a few months worth of normal-people income or more?

Here’re the final 10, and their chip positions

Darvin Moon 44.3m
Eric Buchman 36.78m
Steven Begleiter 26.495m
Jeff Shulman 17.9m
Jordan Smith 15.43m
Joseph Cada 13.4m
Kevin Schaffel 13.08m
Phil Ivey 10.21m
Antoine Saout 10.2m
James Akenhead 5.1m

UPDATE: Jordan Smith is out. November Nine is set. We’ll be learning more about them in coming hours/days/weeks/months, I am sure.

Wicked Chops reported today that Jeff Shulman, who is still in the top ten in chips on the final day of the summer WSOP, would throw away the WSOP Main Event bracelet if he happened to win it. Throw away…as in the trash…as in one of the most ridiculous stunts should he actually go through with it.

Shulman reportedly believes the selling of WSOP media rights is unfair and that the coverage now is unacceptable.

That is interesting. Let’s think back for a moment to the time, only two years ago, when the World Poker Tour sold the live tournament reporting rights to, ummm, CardPlayer! And didn’t CardPlayer provide its own mediocre coverage of the WSOP about three years ago? The Shulmans and their poker company seemed to have no aversion to buying exclusive media rights coverage until they were outbid and outdone by other companies.

Throw the bracelet in the trash can? Methinks that says more about the intended thrower than the WSOP.

101 players remain as the players return from their dinner break shortly. The current chip leader is Darvin Moon of Oakland, Maryland with 5,700,000 in chips. Some notables returning with chips: Eugene Katchalov (3,600,000), Fabrice Soulier (3,550,000), Jeff Shulman (3,200,000), Phil Ivey (2,680,000), James Akenhead (2,500,000), Antonio Esfandiari (2,300,000), Dennis Phillips (2,200,000), Tom Schneider (1,571,000), Prahlad Friedman (1,280,000), Peter Eastgate (940,000), Noah Boeken (481,000), Joe Sebok (300,000) and Kenny Tran (262,000). There are still two women left as well: Nichoel Peppe (1,300,000) and Leo Margets (1,195,000).

Notable eliminations: Joe Hachem, David Benyamine, J.C. Tran, Theo Tran, Bertrand Grospellier, Blair Hinkle and Joe Serock.

The Dream Team Poker event is down to Kenna James versus Judy Tejwani for the individual title. Congrats again goes to the Tao of Pokerati team for clinching the team title a few hours ago. Live updates now available for the Main Event at www.wsop.com and more stuff from the rest of the writing team during the evening.

It’s that time of year again… Poker players descend upon SoCal for the L.A. Poker Classic, and the Commerce Casino buzzes with tournaments and cash games of all shapes and sizes. I finally made my first jaunt over there on Monday to check out the $10K HORSE event, the first of its kind at the LAPC, and was taken aback by the masses in the tournament room – 1,362 to be exact – for the $335 NLHE rebuy. Word was that the $100K guarantee was the draw, but the final prize pool was nearly $400K. The line of alternates wound through the hallways, and it took so long to thin the field that the $10K HORSE start-time was pushed back.

With Tournament Director Matt Savage running the LAPC show for the entirety of the series, all poker media was invited to cover it. Steve Hall has been there for the majority of it, providing some updates and gossip as only he can. (Personal fave: report of Nelly’s random appearance to play high-limit cash.) With the Monday HORSE event and subsequent $10K heads-up, PokerRoad settled in for their live shows, Life’s a Bluff came to pick up some interviews, and CardPlayer got comfortable for the duration to provide live updates of the major preliminaries and the main event. Word is that PokerNews will even be showing up for the main, as Savage welcomes the coverage, overruling (in most areas of coverage) the usual WPT media restrictions.

The pros have been all over the 2009 LAPC, starting with David Plastik winning Event 2, Fabrice Soulier taking Event 16, Jason Mercier Event 19, Frankie O’Dell Event 22, Jeff Madsen Event 24, and Scotty Nguyen grabbing another HORSE title in Event 29 (the aforementioned $10K event). The $10K heads-up will find its winner today, and the $10K WPT main event begins on Saturday.

Side note: Scotty Nguyen is evidently unable to win a HORSE event without controversy. CardPlayer reported that he taunted another player and began to show signs of his 2008 WSOP behavior, though he calmed down after a warning from Savage.

From CardPlayer updates:

As his chip stack has grown at this final table so has the level of Nguyen’s voice. He specifically taunted Matt Graham after he busted him in fifth place in a manner that definitely crossed the line.

Really? Damn.