Interesting to see the code explained, visually, for a clearer understanding of how God-mode in the UB Scandal probably worked … then extra-curious to realize Jim Ryan, CEO of WPT-parent Party Gaming, was CEO of Excapsa Software, Ultimate Bet partner, during the heyday of cheating on their site.

And while some may think little of it, because hey, it’s just pretend money … we all know free-play online poker isn’t just about the joys of truly amateur poker … it’s about preparation for real-money online gambling. The WSOP is pushing their free Facebook-app game throughout the Amazon Room, after all, and Zynga takes a rake in their “cash games”. Do a Google search for “Zynga poker rigged” or “Facebook poker scam” … The screams of cheating and scandal are more outrageous than AP/UB/Cereus ever coulda had to cover up.

Whether the apparent security flaws at Club WPT are a matter of coincidence, ignorance, incompetence, or shenanigans, it does make you wonder who will be ready for American players when real-money online poker comes into play.

On this week’s episode, BJ reports from the LAPC about field sizes and Scotty Nguyen’s repeat performance in the $10k HORSE Event; I chime in to discuss WPT Season 8 and try to fill BJ with job insecurity; Parvis and Gary Wise get all Durrr Challengy vs. Patrik Antonius; and podcast newbie Chops joins the fray to break down the Erick Lindgren vs. Dane Cook comedy feud and Mike Matusow’s fiddna to go ballistic on Russ Hamilton.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Nemeth, Michalski, Wise, Parvis, Chops, Stapleton
2/19/09

NOTE: The five guilty in South Carolina just got fines, not jail time.

To add a little more speculation to the mix, this contractual friendship between WPT and FTP could lead to bigger and better things should the WPT Enterprises end up going private in the next few months. With the WPT having officially dropped any hopes of running its own online gaming site, with the exception of ClubWPT (that inside sources tell me is not doing well), the company could very well be entertaining the idea of partnering in a bigger way with Full Tilt in the future. Speculation only at this point…

For now, here is today’s press release:

FullTiltPoker.net is Exclusive Educational Poker Sponsor for WPT Season VII Episodes Airing on Fox Sports Net and in Mexico

LOS ANGELES, Nov 06, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — World Poker Tour(R) creator WPT Enterprises (Nasdaq:WPTE) and FullTiltPoker.net(TM) today announced a television sponsorship deal, aligning the leading powerhouses in televised and online poker. The deal–which is based on a unique sponsorship model for the sports and entertainment television industry–further boosts WPTE’s growing sponsorship business.

Under the agreement, FullTiltPoker.net(TM) receives title sponsorship and exclusive rights to in-show educational gaming brand integration for the 26 all-new WPT Season VII episodes scheduled to air on Fox Sports Net in the United States, as well as Season VII episodes that air in Mexico.

“We are delighted to be in partnership with FullTiltPoker.net(TM) and bring together two very strong brands with proven global reach and a loyal network of poker fans,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPTE founder, president and CEO. “With WPT’s incredible brand value and TV distribution through FSN coupled with FullTiltPoker.net’s massive online following, this partnership opens more channels to reach new fans and continue feeding the appetite for new poker content.”

FullTiltPoker.net(TM) is one of the leading online poker instruction sites, featuring Team Full Tilt – 13 world-renowned poker pros. Team Full Tilt is a select group of the world’s finest professional poker players, including Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, John Juanda, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham, and Patrik Antonius who have collectively won 10 WPT titles, 35 World Series of Poker bracelets and more than $80 million in career earnings. FullTiltPoker.net(TM) offers players the unique opportunity to Learn, Chat and Play with the best poker pros in the game.

Let me start by saying that I’m a fan of the WPT and have been since I was employed in their accounting department. I always secretly pull for the WPT to do well. And in truth, despite my criticisms of the company and its decisions at times, I feel that they’ve weathered some storms and still managed to put together a quality product every time. That is why it pained me to watch ClubWPT when it premiered on Saturday.

The premise of the show is to take six tournament qualifiers from the ClubWPT subscription website, send them to Los Angeles for a ritzy stay at the Four Seasons, and arrange for them compete in a live SNG where the winner takes the $5K prize on camera. The six that made the first show were…saying it gently…beginners. Frankie, the irritating New York bartender who loved to trash talk, was the only one who seemed to have any real grasp of live play. Granted, this is a show about amateur players, but most of them seemed to have never handled real chips before. Some of them may have played before but were on camera for such a short time that they weren’t able to show it.

Announcers Barry Tompkins and Bart Hansen did as well as they could as commentators, questioning plays in a way so as not to disparage the players but indicate that there were better plays to have been made. I’m not familiar with Tompkins but Hansen I know from Live at the Bike and PokerRoad podcasts, and he is a great announcer, though seemed a bit nervous for the moments he was actually in front of the camera instead of just calling the action. All in all, they were in a tough position of analyzing play without insulting anyone.

The TV hostess, Alison Waite, was there in full-makeup to take the show to and from commercials and plug ClubWPT as “exciting!” at every opportunity. Again, considering it was the first show, it is understandable that she was a bit nervous, but her feigned enthusiasm was a bit much to take. If she gets more comfortable in the spot, or if they’d let her talk to the players – anything to be in a more relaxed setting – she might seem more at ease.

And the players. Oh, the players. The whole idea of the show is to put the online players in a new setting and see what happens, but what happened was almost embarrassing. Every other play had me shaking my head, either at the betting amounts or the cards they were playing. And more than once, a player acted out of turn.

Frankie and Betty ended up in heads-up action for the winner-take-all prize money. Frankie continued to trash talk Betty, the mild-mannered truck driver who was clearly inexperienced in live play, which was like watching a high-school kid try to bully a kindergartener. He even made a crack at the tournament director with regard to his inexperience, and that TD just happened to be Bellagio’s own Jack McClelland, one of the most respected TD’s in the country. Betty tried to make some witty comebacks, but they were overshadowed by her inability to handle her cards or chips; she had a tough time counting out her chips and remembering what amounts each represented, and she was completely unaware of the who-bets-when action in heads-up play. I’m not even sure she was aware that she won when she did.

All in all, I thought the production quality looked cheap and flavorless, the complete opposite of what we’ve come to expect from WPT by watching the World Poker Tour. And between the discomfort of the players and the level of inexperience with live play, it was tough to watch. I hope to see it get better as the season progresses…

Earl Burton wrote a review for Poker News Daily in which he pointed out some of the faults but proclaimed it a “refreshing change to poker television” because of the possibilities that lie in WPT’s hands, such as creating a tournament of champions or bringing winners in to play with top poker pros. In that respect, I agree that there is potential.

The last woman standing at this year’s WSOP Main Event, Tiffany Michelle, officially becomes part of Team UB.

For those of you waiting for checks from Bodog, you may be waiting even longer for that money now that the Fed has taken $24 million of the site’s money.

Speaking of the government, four pro-UIGEA Representatives ask the Federal Reserve and US Treasury for clarification as to what is”illegal Internet gambling”

The FSN/WPT alliance gets a bit stronger in September, with a TV series tied into the WPT’s subscription based site ClubWPT.com

A few impressions from the press conference with Antonio Esfandiari and Steve Lipscomb:

~Antonio is immensely happy about this deal. He has a deep respect and fondness for the WPT. Though he was being cool, as always, he was close to just bubbling over.

~Antonio is going to be representing the WPT on television, in advertising, with Club WPT, and with anything they do in the global market, including WPT Online.

~Steve seems to have a lot of respect for Antonio as well. He feels that Antonio represents players from every background and culture, but he is one of the classy players who doesn’t insult others, has an incredible passion for the game, and will represent the WPT well. Steve mentioned more than once that when Antonio won his WPT title, he went straight to his dad’s place to surprise him with a huge chunk of $$$ and told him to retire; he was particularly struck by that.

And click below for a few quotes from today’s conference:

Steve: “We are here today with incredible enthusiasm to announce the fact that the patron son of the World Poker Tour, Antonio Esfandiari, is going to join us as the face of the WPT Poker-Made Millionaire… We at the World Poker Tour, for some time, have had internal debates, trying to figure out how it would make sense for us to join with the players that we have worked so hard to help build their franchises, and build our franchise in such a way that makes sense for us. Literally, we kept coming back to Antonio as someone who represented the paradigm of what we want the aspiring player to be. We think of the World Poker Tour as being the only sport in the history of televised sports that you can watch it, dream it, and then be it. And if you look at this guy, that’s who this guy is. And anybody who knows Antonio knows another thing that is particularly important for us, and that is he’s pretty much the nicest guy in the world… He’s the kind of guy you want representing a brand like the World Poker Tour, and that matters to us. With the comfort that we have literally bringing him into the family as we move forward, we’ll have him working with us in all areas of our business.”

Antonio: “I never even dreamed of winning a World Poker Tour event. And to be up here and now to be the spokesman of the World Poker Tour is maybe the greatest honor in my life. Next to moving to America and retiring my father, I think this is the third best thing that’s ever happened to me, so thank you very much, Steve. Thank you, Commerce Casino, because it was here four years ago where it all started… There is no other company I’d rather be with. Everyone knows the World Poker Tour is the crème-de-la-crème.”