Had a brief little run-in with Ivan Neville (of the Neville Brothers, and now Dumpstaphunk), who’s a low-stakes poker regular at Harrah’s New Orleans, any casino town he plays music in, and online. Not only did he sing the National Anthem at the USO/PPA charity event last night, but also he’s gone to some meetings with Congresspeople representing Louisiana and Texas … and in at least one case, his presence helped poker win out on a double-booked sked. Oh, and in addition to inspiration for further political involvement, he got an education on how the rebuy period really changes tournament action.

Says Neville: “Poker’s a friggin’ American pastime!”

Neville Brother on Poker+Politics

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Click below for Nolan’s official report — all the data you could want, complete with quotes from celebrity players, information on who exactly played (and won), and info about the fundraising component. A few things that stand out to me:

• 138 entries. Up from 88 last year, which was way down from 167 in 2007. Wonder what’s up with that — The economy? Celebrity Apprentice?
• The Scheinbergs played? I was under the impression that the family atop the PokerStars pyramid was taking a long vacation from the United States, particularly in light of the payment processor crackdown … but maybe not? Different Scheinberg family from New York?
• Philip Tom, dad of accused online-poker bad guy, cashed, finishing in 10th place. Charity makes everything good.
• Belorussian wins. (Should this event be included in the Pokerati World Standings?)
• Who was the one player who didn’t play ball with the donation process?

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Richardson, accused of taking a less-than-charitable payout option.

Kinda bummed I missed Ante-Up for Africa yesterday … Hollywood A-list celebrity-related traffic aside (and pictures of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Charles Barkley, Don Cheadle, Jason Alexander, Dean Cain, Brad Garret, Herschel Walker, and Sarah Silverman playing poker) … this is arguably the biggest charity poker tournament of the year (in the world) … and I was curious how the money worked. It was my understanding that originally, 50 percent of the prize pool went to Refugees International a charity* … and the big winners, being already-rich folks moved by the excitement of no-limit hold’em and thoughts of a tax-deductible feel-good gesture, often chose to give their cash prize over to the honorary good cause as well.

But this year people were telling me it was a mere request for generosity — that winners give at least 50 percent of their prize payout to AUFA, which would be shipping the money to the Sudanese cause via the Enough Project (and the IRC?). That seemed a little odd to me, because hey, if the wrong person wins, there could be a problem. Sure enough, an email just came in over the transom — skewering a player named Adam Richardson, who most recently finished in 143rd place in a $1,500 NLH at this year’s WSOP, and 624th in last year’s main event — with the subject line, “What a Prick!”:

Not sure if you got this news. But the prick who won second place in the World Series of Poker charity event which is Ante Up For Africa, completely stiffed the charity.

Players do not have to give any money, according to the rules. But all the players know this is an important event set up to help a very good cause.

Many witnesses said the player was approached afterward by some of the organizers. He was asked politely if he cared to leave a donation, and replied that no one could do anything to stop him and that he was leaving with all the prize money. He walked out the door with like over $100,000.

The player was rude during the tournament and obviously had his own agenda, which was not in the spirit of helping the Ante Up for Africa cause. He likely saw a softer than usual field and took advantage. He had every intention of enriching himself at the expense of the charity.

The player’s name is Adam Richardson, from Poway, California.

He is bad for poker and needs to be called out for taking an angle shot in this event. I hope you will agree this is despicable behavior. The guy is a total prick. Roast his fucking ass.

Hunter

Hmm, if this is true, indeed, arguably poor form. We have not confirmed any of this (and I wasn’t there for the actual event), but the above is the email that’s circulating, and it at least raises the question why a certain chunk of the prize pool isn’t automatically taken out for the charity itself (as it is with most charity poker events).

* Ante Up for Africa “designated charities” have included the Enough Project, Not on Our Watch, and the International Rescue Committee. Refugees International was the recipient of Annie Duke’s Celebrity Apprentice fundraisers.

NOTE: Adam Richardson (unconfirmed) responds to “Hunter’s” accusations in the comments below.

That’s what’s happening here … new faces showing up, old faces showing up, events coming to a close, PokerPalooza getting set up, parties every night … all in preparation for what the rest of the world calls “the World Series” … and what we call “the main event”.

Oh, my, and I almost forgot about Ante Up for Africa … plausibly the biggest charity event in all of poker for the entire year — with tons of Hollywood celebs and presumably real bona-fide non-poker paparazzi and an after-party that lots of people want to get into.

We’ll be sure to bring you coverage of something, in some way … but what, I’m not so sure. As you may or may not have heard, I’ve suffered an injury, which you can see below (watch the guy on the right):

The ESPN feature table has been transformed all hockey-y for today’s special tourney. If fans are lucky, there’ll be a fight!

NHLers are all over Vegas this week — mostly for tomorrow night’s NHL Awards, which guys like Daniel Negreanu plan to attend regardless of what tournament he’s missing. And today they’ll be all over the WSOP — along with the Stanley Cup, which will be on stage as JC Tran receives his bracelet to the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner. Should be pretty cool, as nonsensical as it may seem.

I touched the Stanley Cup in ’99 (Stars!), and at least one Canadian tells me his people are none-too-happy with my ignorant yankee soilage of the ice people’s grail. In their eyes, apparently, you’re not supposed to touch it, even if your team wins, unless you played an active role in winning it. I suppose it’s like taking communion at a Catholic church if you haven’t received the sacrament and cleared your soul of mortal sins. But whatever … Pantera got to dent it.

Anyhow, there’s a special hockey-themed tournament at the WSOP today — The NHL Charity Shootout Presented by Pokerstars.net — a 5th televised event that non-PokerStars players have no chance of getting in on, as much fun as it would be to send Matusow or Hellmuth to the penalty box:

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A bunch of PPA state directors and politically involved pros are already booking their plans for after the WSOP — they’re headed to Washington DC for an aggressive play by the PPA supposedly dubbed National Poker Week.

Should be a most interesting gathering — different from previous pokery political collectives in that there are so many legal issues playing out in real ways right now (Kentucky, Minnesota, Pokerstarzistan, etc.) … and all this with a pretty important-looking nuts-and-bolts online banking regulation bill in play … with non-pokery representatives finally aware of the online poker murmurs, and public opinion clearly leaning in our favor.

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Cool event went down this week in Washington DC — a fundraiser for Put a Bad Beat on Cancer, where a bunch of politicos got together with Team Full Tilt Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, and Rafe Furst to experience the joys of getting beginner poker lessons and playing in a terrible an exciting, luck-friendly blind-structure tournament (with rebuys!) … all for a good cause.

Check out the video coverage from Politico.com:

My observations:

• Had Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) read Joe Navarro, he’d know that we know he’s probably not being truthful when he says he’s happy to be there … unless, of course, that’s just his baseline response.
• Multiple politicians admit to experimenting with poker “when I was in college.”
• Barney Frank (D-MA) says he doesn’t play poker because he doesn’t enjoy it … but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to “repeal the foolish law that makes it illegal for people who want to gamble to gamble over the internet.” (So we can say “illegal” now?)
• Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) gets credited with having the best poker face … and I hope state legislators back home take note that even some gray-haired, vote-conscious conservatives are totally cool with poker.
• Nice closing line by Lederer about politics being just another form of poker.

photo: Stephanie Moore/NBC Sports

Fresh off her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover advertorial, followed by her GoDaddy spokesmodel deal (and Danica Patrick commercial), followed by her impressive run to a $250k televised cash at the NHUPC final-final table … Vanessa Rousso is back at her old stomping grounds, doing a monthlong, seven-stop, three-casino run through Florida — with lectures, seminars, charity tourneys, and a “series of instructional workshops grounded in ‘Game Theory’ and Sun Tzu’s teachings about The Art of War”.

Ahh, now I see, her master plan kicked into gear with the PokerStars bikini shoot is all starting to make sense … she’s now got documented cred in looks, personality, skill … if only she could share her grasp of high-level contemporary mathematics and ancient eastern military philosophy with the troubled kids in her old hood!

(Isn’t 26 such a fun age?)

Click below for Vanessa’s Florida pokery homecoming itinerary:

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Some of you may know Walter Whitehead, a Dallas player and semi-regular at the still-going Lodge Amateur Poker tourneys. He’s one of those super-nice friendly Cowboy-hat-wearing tablemates who always seems to have a good time while working on his game. Well, his son, John, was murdered last week in Plano, and he’s having trouble paying for the burial. Meanwhile, Walt’s grandsons — Grayson, age 5, and Jonathan, who turned 8 yesterday — are left without a father and face a future less certain than they can understand … and a difficult one for their dad’s dad to deal with.

Sorry for being the bearer of rough news, but I thought a few of you specifically might want to know. Any financial assistance would be greatly appreciated and can be sent to:

Jonathan B Dwayne Whitehead Memorial at American National Bank of Texas

Here is the bank’s info … funds can be snail-mailed or wire-transferred to any branch. And if you’d like to offer any other assistance, don’t hesitate to contact Jay Wagoner (aka “Cowboy” or “Gandalf” to Lodge players), who can put you directly in touch with the Whitehead family.

Rough times, to say the least. But it’s good to know he’s got family, church support, and poker friends to help make it all a little better.

There’s a big deal pending with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott right now, and though his opinion is technically not be legally binding, his decision will set a standard that impacts thousands and thousands of players in Texas … and will affect the state’s ability to raise millions of dollars for charity via poker.

The Kerr County Attorney has asked for an opinion on charity poker galas. He wants to know if hosting a pricey dinner that happens to include an optional poker tournament violates Texas gambling laws if the winners are awarded prizes. Likewise he wants to know if leasing a ballroom or banquet hall for such an event constitutes a “private place” defense.

Click here to read the specific and official pending opinion request.

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With a cold coming on, I juiced up on cold medicine and headed down to Commerce Casino last night for the pre-tournament WPT Invitational cocktail party. In more of a stuffy-headed fog now, I give you a few observations from the festivities:

photo: pokergossip

William Hung was the first “celebrity” I noticed, as he arrived as soon as the red carpet was ready for action. And the poor guy was the only one from the red carpet featured by Perez Hilton today, and not featured in a particularly good way.

Food was excellent as usual, with a random assortment of Asian and Greek set-ups, along with the yum-yum appetizers floating around the room on waiters’ trays.

No DJ in the outdoor area like last year’s event, but it actually made for a more conversation-friendly atmosphere on the patio.

Wicked Chops scored seats in the tournament. I spent way too much time trying to figure out how that happened.

photo: pokergossip

Reports of the demise of the Phil Laak/Jennifer Tilly relationship were evidently untrue, as the two looked typically couple-y as usual – Jennifer in a beautiful outfit, Phil in saggy jeans and a hoodie.

Some celebrities on the “confirmed” list were no-shows, such as Camryn Manheim, Montel Williams, and Nelly. (Yes, I was more than disappointed about one of those absences!)

CORRECTION: Manheim was there, and Jen was still disappointed. -DM

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough are still a couple and just as adorable as ever, with Shannon checking on Derek and his amateur poker experiences throughout the evening.

Contrary to all reports from the tournament, Antonio Esfandiari was not the first person eliminated from the tournament, as Mike “SirWatts” Watson (former WPT champion) was out of the tournament and standing with us at the bar when that announcement was made. Ouch.

New to my social radar were Mike Watson and Shane Schleger, both of whom were introduced to me by Gavin Griffin and Kristin Roberts and very nice to chat with.

Also met Jamie Gold for the first time, who was extremely friendly and psyched about his Aced Poker affiliation, though my question about his possible ownership in the company was met with the standard “details of the contract cannot be disclosed” line. Good brief chat anyway. (His calling card gives him the title “Poker Philanthropist.”)

Mekhi Phifer took the reigns during the rebuy period, grabbing the mic and encouraging players to rebuy (or even just donate) to his charity, The Vine Group, to help educational efforts in Africa. He was a great spokesperson for the organization and raised $78,270 for it, while managing to maintain his usual humble but outrageously sexy demeanor.

Interesting story out of Detroit, about a struggling horse track (and thriving bowling alleys) suddenly offering No-Limit Texas Hold’em … thanks to a little legally creative finagling that allows third-party fundraisers to run poker games to benefit properly accredited tax-exempt endeavors.

You follow? Basically they’re taking something akin to the old Red Men’s model … run a game, make sure some charity really does get a cut … and making it fit within Michigan law. Presumably inspired by the recent success in Florida with poker rooms in race tracks.

They’re limited to running games four days at a stretch, so each week is technically a different event, with a different charitable recipient. The first beneficiary was a high school theater club. Should be interesting to see who lines up to get in on the action.

UPDATE: Though the above news article is only a couple hours old, according to the Northville Downs website, they’ll be running games 7 days a week starting, um, tomorrow.

Here’re more specifics about the charity hold’em set-up in Northville, and for folks in Texas and other states fighting to play the game above-ground … a glimpse of what even barely legal poker could look like. You’ll NOTE: It’s not just NLH … they’ve got a $1/$2 Hold’em/Omaha round-of-each game, and $3/$6 Omaha Hi-Lo.

NEATO: Northville is an outer Detroit suburb, and the new poker room is located right off 8 Mile road — Eminem’s hood! (Or at least his street.)

UPDATE UPDATE: OK, really, I had no idea how much charity poker action there was in Michigan. Check it out. So I guess what’s new is just that the horse tracks are finally getting on board, realizing the slot machines and/or “video lottery terminals” they’ve been fighting for just may never come. Lesson for Texas horse tracks?

One-time Pokerati contributor (and my hunting coach) Nick in Dallas writes in with a request for some charity theatrical poker tourney assistance:

Hey Dan,

So some friends and I are going to throw a poker tournament in February here in Dallas as a fundraiser for a theater production company that we started this fall (www.UpstartTheater.com). Blue Mesa Grill is going to host the games (free appetizers and happy-hour-priced drinks) and we are going to have a $20 per player donation buyin with rebuys. I was wondering if you had any advice/suggestions:

– How often should we up the blinds so that a game starting around 3 on a Sunday will be over by 8 or 9 at the latest?
– Do you know any poker company/group willing to lend/donate us enough chips and cards for 100 people or so?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in donating a prize?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in financially sponsoring the event (we’re tax deductible) in exchange for publicity on our event fliers, website, and performance playbills?
– Do you know ways to publicize this to the Dallas poker-playing community?
– Anything else you think would be helpful?

thanks a lot,
Nick

Nick, as always, good to hear from you. One of these days you will find purpose in your life and ditch the restaurant-service/medical-technology career combo, as well as your passion for the arts and philanthropy, to discover your true calling as a poker blogger. Either that, or you are clearly nothing without Markus and Andy.

In the meantime, click below for answers to your questions:

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An interesting prop bet reportedly went down this weekend … good, clean, generally non-lethal fun between Clonie Gowen and Brandon Cantu.

I wasn’t there nor have I spoken to either of the principals, but reliable sources say it was a simple lasts-longest bet (at a Phil Hellmuth charity event for the Taser Foundation for Fallen Officers, at Fort McDowell Casino in Arizona) with the winner getting to tase the loser.

Um, OK.

As you probably know, these high-society fundraiser tourneys don’t exactly have the best blind structures. But they do have great gift bags, which at this event apparently came with gift certificates for taser guns. At one point Cantu supposedly had Clonie out-chipped like 5:1 … and she was getting really nervous. But he took a few bad beats and soon was out. So now Clonie gets to zap Cantu with 50,000 volts at the time and place of her choosing.

UPDATE: The authenticity of this report has been confirmed.

ALSO: Tase-Mania … and award-winning story on the greatness of high-voltage, police-force shocking.

One of the patches on Dennis Phillips’ shirt (and the shirts of all his fans) — ThePokerLawyer.com.

TPL is actually The Schindler Firm, out of St. Louis … Josh Schindler being the main dude … he got that space via Dennis Phillips’ eBay auction, making a $19,350 donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in exchange for the space.

Schindler practices many areas of litigation, including some specialty in gaming law. We’ll have to add him to the list.

Meanwhile, a fourth spade just showed up on the turn … the crowd gasped (followed by shushes) … Ylon Schwartz pushed all-in, and Scott Montgomery folded.