Per an announcement and big whoop-tee-do on June 1st, Patrik Antonius joined Full Tilt Poker as one of their A-list pros. It was an obvious move and one that was probably a long time in the works.

According to the press release, he joins the following list of Full Tilt Pros:

Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, John Juanda, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, and Allen Cunningham

The thing is…there is one glaring omission in the official Full Tilt statement - Clonie Gowen. The website still lists her name and picture in the Full Tilt Pro section, though Patrik hasn’t been included there yet. Why the slight? If it is a hint, Clonie certainly doesn’t know anything about it. If it is a mistake and FTP just mistakenly left her out of the loop, that’s not good either.

See the full press release here:

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The final table of the $5k main event at the WSOP-New Orleans goes down tomorrow at 2 pm central. Semi-live video coverage at worldseriesofpoker.com.

Click below for all the official details after the jump. I’ll be paying attention to Marc Fratter, from Clonie’s hometown of Murphy, TX. (Kinda near where my folks live, too.) He seems to have his game on these days, and if so seems well-seated with a medium stack:

Fratter

SEAT 7: Marc Fratter
HOMETOWN: Murphy, TX
CHIP COUNT: 311,000
Marc Fratter is a 36-year-old attorney from Murphy, TX. He has a three-year-old daughter named Kate who loves to play poker with her dad. Fratter was the co-champion of the 2007 Caesars Indiana Poker Championship. He won $117,000 in that tournament. He also cashed in the 2007 Red River Roundup. This is his third time to cash in a major tournament.

Go Mark! I mean Marc!

He’s going up against Timothy “TK” Miles, who won a $1,000 WSOP-Circuit event in New Orleans this past winter and has the chip lead.

The WSOP-Circuit final table, however, is in a tough time slot tomorrow — going up against the UEFA Cup finals, being broadcast live from Moscow. (Bluff Media video honcho and former Fox Football Fone-in host Nick Geber is presumably ocnflicted.) Honestly, the soccer game will probably get most of my attention even though I’m not sure whom to root for — Chelsea vs. Manchester Utd. — since I usually just root against those two teams. (Go Liverpool/Wigan/Blackburn Rovers!)

Chelsea, of course, is are the bad-ass team from the yuppity side of London, loaded with great players, most notably Drogba from the Ivory Coast. Man-U are the working-class faves from Britain’s Second City, with bratty high-paid hotshot Wayne Rooney … who likes to gamble (badly) and used to play Texas Hold’em in a rough-and-tumble Man-U home game.

Again, click below for details on the poker event going up against what is essentially, worldwide, the Super Bowl:
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Ed. Note: This post woulda been much more relevant and timely had it gone up yesterday, when it was written.

Despite slightly lower numbers, the WPT World Championship will still likely end up being one of the five biggest tournaments in the Milky Way this year … and Day 2 has just gotten underway. Pokerati would love to beyotch about not having access to the makeshift WPT TV studio at Bellagio to do our brand of non-chip coverage, but we’ve been invited to a WPT Party tonight with free food and booze, so we’re obviously all good with the status quo.

421 of 545 starting players remain … A few names that I’ll be paying attention to for various reasons, and where they stand in relation to their starting 50k chipstack include Carlos Mortenson (defending champ - 172,075), Tom Schneider (25,400), Clonie Gowen (93,975), Gregg Merkow (40,075), Nenad Medic (12,425), Rodeen Talebi (18,000), Ray Henson (89,550), and David Sklansky (41,050).

Click below to see how the whole pro-studded field shaped up as of noon-Pacific today, and click here to follow the action throughout Day 2.

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We discussed a poorly received tourney idea on Beyond the Table a year ago — the concept being a “men’s minority event.” I loved the idea because we’ve all played dudes-only before and women have ladies tourneys … but while all women players have been the only representative of their gender at a table before, that’s a dynamic that guys simply don’t get to experience.

Psychology would be fun, results would be interesting …Logistics was the tough part — how to limit the field to 10 (or 15) percent men and still attract the necessary entries. But one thing we never considered was a simple invitational sit-n-go.

So much to my delight, the new episode of Poker after Dark just came on and lo and behold the players this week are Gus Hansen, Vanessa Rousso, J.J. Liu, Clonie Gowen, Beth Shak, and Erica Schoenberg. Very cool — well cast with Gus, who knows they know he knows they know he can be a tad horny influenced by his respect for the ladies.

“We should make all the guys play this format one time,” Clonie just said. Barack Obama presumably agrees, as he just sat down for a very similar 6-handed sit-n-go on The View:

In addition to those state-by-state member numbers, the PPA put out a press release this week announcing its new state directors. Good to see poker players getting more involved in grassroots activity as the politi-dudes looking out for us in Washington DC continue to develop into a real Beltway force. However, there’s one state where the director curiously isn’t named — and that’s Texas.

Um, Mike …? Has there been a change to your resume that you might wanna blog about that you might wanna blog about?

UPDATE: Lavigne in Austin en-route-to-Wichita-Falls confirms via Blackberry that he is indeed still a state director for the PPA, and showed off his political skills by dodging my follow-up question about “why the ‘TBA’ then?” by reassuring me that the poker political machinery in Texas, having been built and tested now, will be well-oiled for 2009 with real Texas Hold’em in Texas in 2010 so long as I don’t write anything to muck it up.

The 64-player field competing for $500,000 (on a $20k buy-in) this weekend has been set (up) — with pairings drawn last night at a kick-off party at Pure.

Click here to see the full bracket and make your picks. (This bracket-maker is kinda new to me, so not sure whether or not you can see my predictions here.)

Some of the more interesting pairings to me:

Tom Schneider vs. Gavin Smith
Clonie Gowen vs. Jennifer Tilly
Sammy Farha vs. Doyle Brunson
Hooman Nikzad vs. Greg Raymer
Chris Ferguson vs. John Juanda
Chris Moneymaker vs. Jerry Yang
Jean Robert Bellande vs. Sam Grizzle

The NBC Heads-up Championship is proving to be one of the more highly anticipated big poker events of the year … LV Sun columnist Jeff Haney has his own odds — Tommy Boy comes in at a middle-of-the-road 50:1. Other Pokerati faves Clonie Gowen and Hooman Nikzad are lumped together in a 4:1 field bet.

Though I’m not sure how official these are, some odds on who’s gonna win the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (Feb. 29) are out … and Tom Schneider is listed in the middle of the pack at 45:1 — the same as David Williams, Jennifer Harman, Huck seed, and TJ Cloutier. Duuude. Not bad. Clonie, after all, is 80:1, which is almost as good as Jerry Yang’s 60:1.

Click below to see the full list … and while doing that, think how funny it is that this sorta poker ink comes from marijuana.com. (And Tom says I do nothing for him …)

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Congress is bucking up for a new legislative season — in a presidential election year, no less — and our representatives have to make calculated principled educated decisions about which bills to stand behind. On Monday, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) signed on to cosponsor HR 2610, aka the Wexler bill or Skill Game Protection Act, which would effectively remove poker (along with bridge, chess, backgammon, and mah jongg) from the aegis of the UIGEA.

Sessions is the second Republican to align himself with this bill, and he promises to lend more than just his signature to the poker cause. “If we decide to get in this thing, it’s not because we’re [just] gonna use my name,” Sessions explained, “we’re doin’ it to get it done. Otherwise it’s like a warm bucket of spit — it’s no good.”

* * * * * * *


Before saying yea or nay, he wanted to hear more about the issues behind the legislation from the people it affects. So with the help of Lavigne in Austin, a small group of concerned constituents – including pros Clonie Gowen and Robert Williamson – joined lobbyists from the Poker Players Alliance in Sessions’ Dallas office last month for a roundtable discussion about this bill and online poker in general.

This was a real opportunity to inform an influential congressman in greater detail about the horrors impact of the UIGEA and plea for emergency humanitarian aid a federal bailout sensible government intervention. It also provided a privileged glimpse into how our system really works and a chance to see the new leadership of the PPA in action … But yeesh, 9 am is a little early, no?!?

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LAS VEGAS–I just woke up from a dream about the World Series, the Rio, Clonie, and the guys from Wicked Chops (who were waiting in line but had no potato chips). Took another big hit at the table yesterday but am still up for the whole 2+ month trip … but just barely. Today/yesterday I met another “fixer” — who can hook me up with all the drugs, whores, limos, five-star personal chefs, and/or young boys one could ever want. (But no younger than 18! “This is Vegas, dude, but that would just be wrong.”) A good chunk of his client list supposedly includes aging rock stars and elected officials. I also suffered my first slot machine losses of the century — $20. It’s clearly time for me to go.

(Actually I am running a little late — should face some tough California traffic in the morning, as I am taking the long way home.)

Big ups and mad props to the gentlemen of Rounder Club West for putting up with me for my post-WSOP encore. Thanks Don and Doc. But I’m gonna get outta here before you see what I did in the corner.

UPDATE: Got a voicemail from Doctor Steve while I was napping, and he (finally) cashed in a Sahara tourney for $600. Congrats, Doc! Knew you could do it! Next step is winning it all. Our work here is finished just beginning …

LAS VEGAS–OK, this will probably be my last update of the night, because I have TWO parties I HAVE to get to. One is with my old-good-good-ole friends at PartyPoker, and the other is a bikini party at a pool. So I am sure you understand.

Clonie Gowen is out. Not happy.

Chris Como is holding together nicely, with about 33,000. UPDATE: Just took a hit and looks a little bummed. But now with about 24,000, he still has almost as many chips as Tom Schneider.

Randy Brown, whom you all know as “The Big Randy” is in the top 10 or 20 in chips for the day, with at least 115,000.

Um, Go Batfaces/Watch out Arizona Posse!?! Sorry folks … yes, I’ve got pictures, but they are going to have to wait. Enjoy what’s in the Pokerati Flickr files in the meantime.

LAS VEGAS–Wolfman Eskimo Clark has collapsed three times thus far in the WSOP. Not sure what the doctor’s are recommending but it looks like the odds of Eskimo taking their advice are the same as Al Sharpton showing up to support the disbarment of Michael B. Nifong. Nonetheless, he’s fighting, going deep and proving to be as tough on the inside as the outside.

Phil Hellmuth has made another final table. Albeit, it’s a ten-handed final table rather than the normal nine-handed. How will this work Lance?
Thor Hansen ,who has been cashing like a mofo, introduced me to Norway Poker Pro Tore Lagerborgo in the hallway moments ago.

The World Championship $5,000 Heads-Up NL Hold’em event finally has cards in the air. Pros playing are David Williams, JC Tran, Jen Harman playing Ted Forrest, Freddie Deeb against Daniel Negreanu and a match between Clonie and Amir (like Madonna vs. Bono, no last names needed).

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–Shuttergypsy sends word of an ado brewing yesterday between Clonie Gowen and Brandi Hawbacker, seated to her left. According to Gutshot (scroll all the way to the bottom) Clonie wasn’t too appreciative of the apparent coaching being given to Brandi (dubbed the Lindsay Lohan of Poker by Pauly) by master game theorist (and young-girl lover) David Sklansky.

For whatever reason, Clonie insisted it was not Sklansky but rather some random old guy — because surely Sklansky would never violate any terms of rules and etiquette, right? With all due respect to the original boom-era poker babe, I am willing to bet, oh, I dunno, how ’bout $250, that Clonie is so wrong. Not about the coaching, but about the identity of the bald and scruffy rail rooster, who looks very similar to this guy, shot by Shuttergyp last year wearing his lucky shirt:

Just saw Clonie Gowen — she’s back to blonde (with some dark streaks). Her fellow Full Tilter Perry Friedman also has an interesting, goth-like red streak in his do.

Pictures TK. If not here, then all over the internet, to be sure.

They’ve got a poll up at Neverwin Poker inquiring who’s the poker hottie du jour. They didn’t have a box for write-in candidates, so I voted for Olga Varkonyi. Clonie apparently isn’t what she used to be back in the day when her primary babe-monicker competition consisted of Evelyn Ng, Kathy Liebert, and Annie Duke. The top two vote-getters at present are Jennicide and (Dallas expat) Chantel McNulty.

Or not … our beloved little HB 3186 still has a ways to go. But we are “this much closer” to legal-better poker in Texas … at a minimum, people in the law business are becoming more and more familiar with our “issues” … and an increasing number of political bidders are looking at dollar signs (and calculating implied pot odds) on an unusual bill that has, let’s say, 75 percent public support …

Here is the testimony presented earlier this month for and against legalized Texas poker to the legislative committee charged with making the first rounds of decisions about this bill. You will find it either totally boring or C-Span fascinating … and if you’re in the latter camp, you’ll probably hear much that you find encouraging. Listen closer, however, and you may get a sense that some hardline politicking has only just begun:

House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Austin, TX - 4/3/07

[display_podcast]

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There were two hands talked about in Austin last week more than any others. One was relayed by Crandell Addington … when Doyle Brunson flopped a set of Aces and laid down a boat on the turn in like 442 AD. (Brunson was right … the other guy had quads, which would go on to lose to bigger quads on the Nile.)

The other was this hand, between Clonie and Vanessa Rousso on Cash Poker … which is basically like High Stakes Poker, only a bit smaller of a game and grittier:

Wow. After that, somebody clearly needs a big hug.

AUSTIN–It took me to get awhile to get some wi-fi here at the Doubletree across from the capitol … but eventually I hooked into the system by going to the front desk and asking for a password, which they were happy to provide at no cost.

5:17 pm — There is nothing to report. We are waiting. Crandell Addington says he won’t tell bad beat stories … but he will apparently tell “amazing fold” stories that take a long time to listen to. Lyle Berman is the smartest man he knows. Just ask him.

7:36 pm — Still waiting. The Fresh Princess looks pretty today. Clonie is missing a button in the middle of her blouse. Crandell is nodding off. We’ve busted out the Chinese poker. Erick Lindgren had to go home.

7:38 pm — We just got the call. Headed over to the capitol in five minutes.

So as Karridy tells us, Tom has had a successful Day 1 so far at the WPT World Poker Challenge in Reno, nearly tripling his stack. Sweet. It’s still early, so lots of people are still alive. But I couldn’t help but notice that Clonie is also kicking ass, as is Chantel McNulty* … and her old beau Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf. Juicy. And speaking of juicy, Karridy’s favorite Texas man-with-big-hands, TJ Cloutier, is alive and fine with a slightly below-average chip stack.

I wonder how many days Tom will have to survive before CardPlayer (which so far seems to have the best coverage of this event) will take note. From CP:

Sun Mar 25 12:06:00 PDT 2007
Big Names in the Field
The Big names that have already been spotted are: Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Ted Forrest, Erick Lindgren, Victor Ramdin, Barry Shulman, Chau Giang, Clonie Gowen, David Singer, David Williams, Devin Porter, Gavin Smith, JC Tran, Nam Le, James Van Alstyne, John Juanda, Layne Flack, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Laak, Ralph Perry, Sean McCabe, and Bill Edler.

UPDATE (10 pm pacific): Clonie is out. Chantel still kicking butt. Tom just took a huge hit, but I don’t know much about it, because CP doesn’t pay attention to his cards.

UPDATE UPDATE: Text from Tom (at 10:34 pm pacific) says, “Fuck everyone im out”. Yikes, dude, sorry. Interestingly, the CardPlayer Live Updates did not take note of Tom’s exit. I am typing this extra small because I don’t think this is the sorta thing he would really want to hear right now.

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A concerned reader writes in wanting to know:

hey…you did not mention to the poker world that [tag]Clonie[/tag] would be on Poker After Dark this week. did you not know this yourself or has the flame died and you just don’t care?

Ed

Ed, I was not aware that she was on until I watched the show myself last night. It looked like she was getting crappy cards and playing them well. It also occurred to me that this was her first time playing in an ultra-personality driven show. I mean sure, she has made plenty of TV appearances, but not one like this … one that follows the High Stakes Poker model, putting the real personalities (sometimes under pressure) on display. Two-and-a-half hours of relatively unedited interaction can be rather challenging, I suspect. But so far …

I think she’s doing great … and I can’t help but totally dig the cowboy hat and cleavage cute shirt. Really brings out her tingly charm.

CORRECTION: **Two-and-a-half hours** should be five hours … assuming she makes it that far. Based on the previews for tonight, it looks like she successfully manhandles her sparring match with Tony G and will make it to Friday heads-up against Chris Ferguson. We’ll see.

UPDATE: According to Sang, we apparently were watching two different shows. He claims she “got hammered” by Tony G …

One of my favorite new Pokeratizens has been Irish Mike, who is trying to start an Irish poker forum (where the place they play happens to be called “The Lodge”). Met him at the latest Vegas blogger gathering, and we got on quite well … particularly after I ordered an expensive scotch on his tab and returned the favor with a domestic beer on mine. It’s been a pleasure to see his IP address logged with regularity.

But while doing some research on retaliatory online vitriol recently, I stumbled across one of my first pieces of poker writing — penned before Pokerati (b. 4/20/04) even existed — and lo and behold its none other than my new good blarney friend engaging subsequent Dan-bashing!

Date: 11 Jan 2004 05:53:16
From: Irish Mike
Subject: Re: Clonie Gowen - Poker Watch Be Still My Running Hearts

” > pulling me aside later to tell me how much potential she thought I had.
> “You remind me of Devilfish,” she whispered.”

Well bucko, she told me I reminded her of Robert Redford, only way smarter. She said I was the greatest poker player she had ever seen. She whispered that if I gave her the word she would leave her husband and run away with me. Sadly, I had to turn the poor lass down because Brittany Spears just dumped her new husband and proposed to me. Oh, I almost forgot - then I hit the megabucks lottery for seventy million and I’m going to use the money to save Binion’s Horseshoe in Vegas.

Irish Mike

“I stood on the Dublin docks and my future was uncertain, in a place where fortunes are won and lost on the dealing of a hand”

Wow. Where’s the love?

ALT HED: “Bucko”?

While Todd is in Tunica, Clonie may or may not be hiding from him at the Aussie Millions. She must be really scared, too … because she has dyed her hair black. Apparently Goth is the new blonde bombshell Maxim cover trend something.

She appears about two thirds of the way through the video.

via Change100 via the Hendon Mob

It’s a tough event filled with mostly pros … a combination of known names, touring circuit junkies, and recognizable big-cashers at just about every table, competing in the $15,000 “Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic.” Click here to follow the chip-by-chip action. After Day 1A, Clonie Gowen is the chip leader … and here’s what she had to say:

And check out this kinda cool video that shows most of the entire day in about a minute. Nice riff:

While there are lots of well-known poker entities in solid chip position, one player of particular note is ZeeJustin Bonomo — the disgraced PartyPoker self-colluder. He has been around the Bellagio all week — and doing well having made a final table. In an earlier tournament, the CardPlayer video children crew stopped him for an interview, and asked him all the standard questions about how his event was going. But they failed to ask, essentially, “so what’s it like to be back on the poker scene after your self-imposed hiatus upon being ‘busted’ for online cheating?”

Is it that hard, CP? It’s a legitimate question — one we all want to know the answer to. And what benefit is it to you by not asking such questions?

When the hot little CP video chicky (derisive, sexist undertones intentional) was asked why she didn’t inquire about ZeeJustin’s public return to poker, she allegedly replied, “Because we’re not allowed to. We can only ask non-controversial questions.” Ahh, we see. And that, CardPlayer, is why, even though you do plenty of good stuff on your confusing, selfish, non-linky website, we will continue to see you as journalistic pussies deserving our respect scorn and contempt.

It’s also why we will always opt to send our readers to PokerWire whenever possible for the same coverage you try to provide. Just an FYI in case you care, which presumably you don’t.

UPDATE: ZeeJustin is doing really well at the 5-Diamond … having made three final tables in the past week-and-a-half. CardPlayer has the stats — something they actually do a good job with. Now if only his bio page linked out to various hedlines giving real scoop on punk-bitch methods and related (important) discussion about real threats to poker fairness that exist online …

It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with what’s going on in the poker world. Thank goodness I didn’t decide to try and cover football … because that would be near impossible. In no particular order of importance:

ANNA BENSON is no fan of Wicked Chops Poker. For shame.

But Wicked Chops knows its PR (that’s what they do for their day jobs) and thus they have mad respect for RICHARD LEE’S crisis management chops.

Note to San Antonio TV news and Police Department: 6th place does not make someone a “world champion.” If this were the case, OTHER would be the World Champion of Presidents.

Bic Lighters are about to go poker-crazy. They gave a lot of their fire-sticks away at the WSOP, but sadly, most of them had to be left behind at McCarran International Airport.

The US SENATE reconvenes next week. With legislation to ban most semblances of online gambling on its agenda, our future is currently in their hands.

Anti-poker bill sponsors REPS. JIM LEACH (R-IA) and BILL FRIST (R-TN) are holding a “field hearing” in Iowa today (Thursday) to hear what the people have to say about the matter.

Oops, I’m wrong … the field hearing isn’t about listening to the people — it’s about rallying support for the anti-online-poker measures.

Note to supporters of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act: Build more jails.

Meanwhile, in DENVER, a SWAT team busted a small-stakes poker room. No word on whether or not this bust was made-for-TV as was the case in DALLAS. Had the cops known they would have found cocaine, they probably would’ve used smaller artillery.

Note to poker-room operators: Dudes, keep the coke out of your game. (Adderall, after all, is a much better poker drug.)

STEVE HALL has become addicted to homemade Bollywood movies. He also thinks Mansionpoker.net might be hurting for money and running a scam.

He also has an intersting list of well-known pros who failed to cash throughout the entire WSOP:

Liz Lieu
Eli Elezra
An Tran
Gus Hansen
Alan Goehring
Kenna James
Al Ardebili
Norm Ketchum
Antonio Esfandiari
Scotty Nguyen
Ram Vaswani
Noah Boaken

BATFACES who faced similar fates include:

Troy “Darling” Phillips
The Big Randy
Scott Fawcett
Eric “Tulsa” Celeste
Dan Michalski
Eric “the Freeze” Pfeifle
Dan “Hong Kong Sue” Ballenger
Todd “Tiny B” Phillips
“Gentle” Shane Keller

On the pre-eve of WPT Ladies Night — the event that made her famous — CLONIE near-bubbled in the WPT Legends of Poker.

Go Dallas Poker?

LAS VEGAS–Was looking for an update on Dallas pokerer Lloyd Shinn (pictured, right) in Event #44, $1,500 NLH. Pokerati wasn’t there, and apparently neither was anyone else. I can tell you he finished somewhere between 10th and 22nd, winning more than $4,000 but less than $13,000. Well done, Lloyd!

Here’s a picture of Shannon Elizabeth/Fadel, who also cashed in this event (her third money-finish of the series) … but not as much as Lloyd:

Here’s a picture of Clonie Gowen … (why do so many people insist on misspelling her name?) … en route to her second cash of the 2006 WSOP.

She was playing in a satellite, presumably to get into Event #43, also a $1,500 NLH bracelet event. She placed 19th, winning $2,867. (Interesting.) Others who did well in that tourney included JC Tran (2nd), Can Kim Hua (5th), William Chen — another final table! — (7th), Tom McEvoy (11th), Bob Feduniak (13th), and Max Pescatori (34th).

Not sure what’s going on in Event #45, yet another $1,500 NLH event (can’t they at least mix in some Omaha, or blackjack?) … but a bunch of pros were in that, too … including Clonie … and Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth.

It seems like they are still playing right now.

Not sure how either Clonie or Doyle did … or any other pros for that matter. But they’re down to four players and Hellmuth is 2nd in chips. Will be an interesting start to the final day of the main event if everyone wakes up to Phil Hellmuth having won his record-setting 11th bracelet.

LAS VEGAS–Clonie is out on day 1. She just couldn’t seem to get much going. What were the odds that Fawcett would outlast her?

LAS VEGAS–Thum is griping that Pokerati’s not keeping up with the WSOP news. (I miss you, too, Tummy!) What he says couldn’t be further from fiction. You see, I’ve become rather busy here at the World Series. What started out as a simplish gig doing the PartyPoker corporate blog has transformed into spearheading a new project called PokerBlog.com. Go there for a little more thorough coverage. Or at least more regular coverage …

But with his tactful reminder, I feel like I do need to give a little something more to the readers. So here’s a recap of what’s going on right now at the Rio: lots and lots of poker. But no cash games — all tourney tables today.

Oops, my camera accidentally went off here.

Not enough? OK, I think I can find something here in the lost archives … ah, yes, here it is. There’s been much talk about Clonie’s sexy Maxim photo shoot this year. But did you know she did a lingerie photo shoot a while back with Pokerati? Sure, she may have been a little drinky at the time, and possibly unaware that the shoot was going on … but that didn’t stop the good times at last year’s La Riata in Dallas.

Oops, this time my zoom lens accidentally went off.

I don’t think I was the only one who noticed.

LAS VEGAS–Went to a little party last night in the Full Tilt suite — very nice place. The free booze, bracelet showcase, and Mike Matusow are admirable, to say the least. The occasion was to celebrate Clonie’s appearance on the “cover” of Maxim’s July issue.

According to CardPlayer, it was a “cover shot and centerfold” in a special edition of Maxim. According to Pokerati (and the actual pages it was printed on) it was a “special advertising section” — meaning Full Tilt ponied up some big bucks to turn Clonie into masturbatory fodder for teenage boys the Farrah Fawcett of Poker.

(By the way, if anyone out there would like to transcribe her interview — it really is good — Full Tilt PR has given me the go-ahead to post.)

The above photo comes from a larger-than-life banner hanging up in the Full Tilt suite. You know the best thing about that shot? No, it’s not come-hither look nor the devil-may-care attitude about chips as she lies on a table … it’s the hand she’s holding. Check it out … I think she’s sending me a message!

You see, way back when, I asked her to do me a favor … “Never let some photographer pose you holding a royal flush,” I begged. Not only is it the most cliche shot in poker, but also it’s unrealistic. Who cares how you play your royal flush on those super-rare occasions when you get one? I explained to her that it would be a much more respectable photo shoot were she holding something like a full house, like maybe Queens-full-of-Kings … or better yet, Aces-full-of-Queens. After all, that’s the kinda hand she makes her living on.

So take a close look … whaddya see? That’s right: Q-Q-A-A-A.

Thanks Clonie. I, of course, feel the exact same way. (However, I do wonder if we should be a little concerned that the boat she’s showing includes two aces of clubs.)

(Pronounced: IN-stah-WHOA-sop.)

LAS VEGAS–So wow … I’ve arrived in Vegas, checked in at Rio media center, and haven’t watched a single hand of poker. Yet there’s already so much to report on. Where do I begin?

First of all, the numbers are clearly bigger this year. This is evident in the parking lot. The Rio parking lot wasn’t this full last year until a few days before the main event. They also have valet parking this year.

As we speak, JOE HACHEM is at a final table with DUTCH BOYD in the $2,500 6-handed NLHE event. But am I even allowed to report that? Dutch is the big stack. He may or may not have at some point played an ace.

UPDATE: Hachem and Boyd are heads-up. Good poker battles right from the git-go. Sorry we can’t live-blog it. OTIS has some decent updates going on.

RE-UPDATE: Boyd just pushed all-in with A5, Hachem called with AQ, Dutch caught his card (and his bracelet) on the river.

OLIVER TSE pointed out earlier this morning that if Dutch wins, a lot of folks would like their money back … and it’s time for ESPN to address the POKERSPOT.COM issue.

Oliver’s forum posts were not met kindly by the corporate Harrah’s folks. PR Honcho GARY THOMPSON called Oliver in for a private meeting. “I was just taken to the woodshed,” Oliver says.

Upon being told he is not supposed to post anything negative about ESPN, Oliver was challenged (by Thompson, I believe, but am not sure), “Are you a journalist … or are you a blogger?” The ESPN/Harrah’s suits (who have their own internal tiff going on) are apparently under the impression that bloggers are rabblerousers, and journalists get their stuff cleared by PR directors before they publish. Amusing, no?

There’s NO SMOKING inside the Rio Convention Center this year — even in the corridors.

A FIRE ALARM went off today. While it left a handful of media guys locked out of the media center, the games kept going with hardly a pause. A few players and dealers looked up in an effort ot listen to the voice giving instructions, but when it became evident that they could hardly make out what she was saying, play carried on unfazed.

Bic is the official lighter of the WSOP.

The MEDIA CENTER is bigger and better this year. But it’s farther away from the action.

The food is way better — and acceptably priced. ($6 for a half-pound ANGUS BURGER, with two slices — two slices! — of cheese.) All this action is going down in the POKER KITCHEN. You know, part of my poker dream has long included seeing the phrase “in your kitchen” added to the poker vernacular. I guess this is close … but still, the kitchen has yet to reach the level of stature as “the hammer.”

Bathroom situation: also vastly improved — plenty of places to pee.

A lot more slutties scantily clad women hired to sell stuff milling around here, too. The SAPPHIRE strip club has a booth at the WSOP.

A lot of media seems to be on tilt. There’s even talk of an internet blackout day and legal action against CardPlayer. The phrases “First Amendment” and “tortius interference” keep coming up. But some of the more experienced journalists (from a non-poker-media background) are just going about their jobs. After all, it’s just poker … not a GULF WAR.

My new favorite place — the MILWAUKEE’S BEST LIGHT GARAGE. It’s outside “across the street” from The Kitchen … like a sports bar … with lots of crappy-but-cold beer, cushy leather chairs, a convenient smoking area, a pool table, tires, mufflers, funny signs, and get this … three DART BOARDS. Alas, they are soft-tip, not bristle. But beggars can’t be choosers, right? If someone wants to bring a real dart board, perhaps we can convince them to let us put it up put it up without anyone noticing the change.

CLONIE cashed in one of the three events she has played thus far.

Eavesdropping on an attractive young blonde talking with an old man of noticeable heft; she was wearing lacey panties. Their conversation began with discussion casinos in SHREVEPORT and OKLAHOMA, and soon turned to “a bust in Dallas” at “a place called ACES.”