The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a L.A. County Superior Court Judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by two poker players against five L.A. County casinos in which the players had contended the casinos falsely advertised their jackpot games in which a buck was taken from pots for the jackpot as being “no purchase necessary.”

In May 2009, poker players Dennis Chae and Jeff Kim sued five L.A. County casinos — the Bicycle, the Commerce, Hawaiian Gardens, Hollywood Park, and the Hustler — arguing that the $1 taken from the pots in jackpot games didn’t jibe with the casinos’ claim the games did not require a purchase to play. Judge Emile H. Elias ruled both that players couldn’t sue to recover gambling losses, and that Chae and Kim “chose to play the games despite the knowledge that they would be charged” the jackpot fee.

In a state law dating back to 1989, jackpot games are considered “illegal lotteries” in California if they require a fee to win. Since the mid-1990s, casinos have therefore advertised poker games in which a jackpot is taken as “no purchase necessary,” a disclaimer which apparently includes a promise to deal jackpot games without a fee upon request.

Sounds sort of like those giveaways at McDonald’s in which one doesn’t technically have to buy a Big Mac and fries to play, but folks rarely ask to play without buying something. As Commerce Casino general counsel Andy Schneiderman explains, “there are very few players, if any” who request to play jackpot games without paying the fee. Schneiderman also notes that all the games the Commerce offers “are approved by the state, including jackpot games,” and so the casinos were confident they’d win the case.

Read the full article here.

I’m still alive, but Pauly’s out. Before bringing our Hollywood poker weekend to a close, we decide we should get a firsthand taste of the real Commerce degen experience, so Pauly escorts me to the ATM to make good on an a charitable WPT rebuy acquired-at-the-table debt before he jets off to Uruguay.

Episode 5: ATM Roulette

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This would be our last episode of the book on the 2010 WPT Celebrity Invitational. In the end, cards didn’t fall my way as I finished sans audio and had to twitter in my results:

@Pokerati Out to vince van fuckhead. All in preflop my AQ < 57s. I respect his play
12:55 AM Feb 21st via txt

Your intrepid player-correspondents catch up on the first break at the star-studded WPT Celebrity Invitational to talk about how the tourney is going … I’ve battled back from chip-and-a-chair conditions at a table full of pros (and rebought with Pauly money) to stay alive, while Pauly has been taunted by errant nipples and offered blow in the bathroom. We’re not even deep, but we’re already taking note of would-be final tableist Trishelle Cannatella, too, before getting distracted by the pathos of Commerce steerage.

Episode 4: A Roomful of (Hollywood) Cliches

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

We were still waiting for cards to get in the air at the WPT Celebrity Invitational when we found the red-carpeted smoker’s terrace at the Commerce. The first ever PartyPoker Party in LA, too — LA: It’s Very Different than America — as Tao of Pokerati runs into its first ever security issue.

Episode 3: Newcomer’s Welcome

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Pauly and I arrive at the Commerce to see more big-name degens than we do celebrities, but it’s still early …

Episode 2: Commerce She Bangs

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

While you listen, be sure to check out some more detailed WPT Invitational tales on Tao.

For those Pokerati readers who missed out on what’s going on, here’s some stuff that’s happened over the past few days:

The first PokerStars.net NAPT event in the US got off to a roaring start on Saturday, with 872 players putting up $5,000 at the Venetian as part of their Deep Stack Extravaganza. 149 players started day 3 a few minutes ago, with 128 making the money. Hand for hand play has just begun, and the tournament staff is hoping to play down to 24. You can follow the action over at PokerNews, PokerStarsblog.com, or PokerListings. The winner when play ends on Thursday will collect $827,648.

Reality show star Trishelle Canatella made the final table of the WPT Celebrity Invitational, part of the LA Poker Classic currently running at the Commerce Casino. The final table will resume on March 3rd with this lineup:

Seat 1: Steve Elliott – 1,520,000
Seat 2: Thor Hansen – 1,480,000
Seat 3: Trishelle Cannatella – 1,540,000
Seat 4: Sean Urban – 2,090,000
Seat 5: Neev Baram – 1,900,000
Seat 6: LeRon Washington – 1,790,000

In other LAPC news, Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri took down his 3rd preliminary event of this year’s LAPC, winning the $2,100 Ironman event, a tournament with no scheduled breaks. Barbieri pocketed almost $60,000 for the win, plus a seat to the $10,000 Main Event, which starts February 26th.

The NBC National Heads-Up Championship is just a few days away, with the draw party on March 4th at Pure at Caesars’ Palace, followed by the tournament from March 5-7. The full list of 64 participants hasn’t been announced yet, but over 20 players already received their invite through a series of criteria, including last year’s winner, Huck Seed. Other automatic invites include: Phil Ivey, Joe Cada, Vanessa Rousso, Darvin Moon, Jason Mercier, Eric Baldwin, Sammy Farha, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Barry Shulman. One invitee who had to decline: Jeff Lisandro, who has a prior commitment in Australia which prevents him from attending.

The EPT Copenhagen event, which drew 423 entries, concluded Sunday evening with Sweden’s Anton Wigg outlasting Italy’s Francesco de Vivo in a four-hour heads-up duel to win 3,675,000 Danish kroner ($6782,918). Other notables who cashed: Roberto Romanello, Peter Eastgate, Juha Helppi, and Bertrand Grospellier.

This — a live cam from above the floor of the Commerce — is pretty cool. Would be extra-awesome if a fight were to breakout or some girl decided to go streaking. But whatever, anyhow, check it out, if you want to watch — at present — three or four tables of a super-satellite at the Commerce. (They just got back from break.)

I think the plan is to stream the final table of the $1k w rebuys event later tonight …

They don’t quite have play-by-play to make it a real show (yet), but there is a chat moderator to answer questions about what you’re looking at. This UStream thing … so much potential to be either really good or really bad. Jury still out … but interesting they have it … and the audio now in my background (have heard a few screams and stomps, calls for somebody named Sam, and lots of chip-clicking) is more compelling than the NBC analysts for pairs figure skating.

Webcam chat at Ustream

I don’t quite get what’s possible when they say, “You can send video here by putting the show’s hashtag, #veerob, in the title when you record! Enjoy!” Are they implying someone at the table could run video, too, and put it in the same thread?

I can see World Series coverage really changing in coming years if people can self-cover themselves on video similarly to reporting their chip counts via twitter.

Follow the goings-on at the Commerce a little less pathetically with @LAPokerClassic.

Good story in some non-poker media on Matt Savage, tournament director at the Commerce Casino in California … specifically about what it takes to keep players happy (and business churning) at the largest poker room in the world (160 tables) when your job is to entice customers into events — bad economy and all — where 90 percent of them are guaranteed to go home losers.

More challenging than a lotta people think …

Semi-interesting video from Steve Hall and Michael Chung … an overhead time-lapse shot of one of the events going on at the Commerce Hold’em Series in California.

The plot of this silent short-film: You’ll see a packed field piddling in pots early, and they seem to do that for awhile, but then things really pick up as bustouts accelerate and tables break — boom-boom-boom! And not to give away the ending, but the climax comes not with a final table, but a dramatic pan that makes you realize this event is even bigger than you thought it was … but this time, when players are gone, it could be because they’re just on break …

(Sigh.)

Check out PokerGossip.com for more of the ongoings at the Commerce, where Matt Savage’s experimental lower-middle-stakes festival is still going strong-ish.

The Commerce Hold’em Series just got underway yesterday in California. It’s a 2+ week festival with limit, no-limit, and pot-limit hold’em tourneys … most of them in the $200, $300, and $500 range … and some with fun little twists such as knockout bounties and creative payout structures. They got off to a good start with 1,217 entries on Day 1A in their $220 NLH — with a $500k guarantee — and It all culminates in a $2,580 main event (also with a $500k guarantee).

But the event that’s most intriguing to me: Event #15 — a $1,600 “Ironman” tourney, on Wednesday, Sep 23.

The concept, from a Commerce spokesman:

$1600 Ironman Tournament. 10,000 in starting chips. 1 hour levels starting at 25-50, with slow progressions. Includes 50-75, 250-500, 900-1800 blinds. The key is that there are no breaks! We will play from start to finish without interruption. 3 meals provided as long as you are in the tournament. Must play down to one player. Paying only the final table with 50% for first.

Wow. Awesome. Cool. While part of me thinks this might-should be called the Meth-head Invitational, it will be really interesting to see who plays the best under those conditions. Short-stacked smokers at a disadvantage, but hey … them’s the (only) breaks.

UPDATE: Event #1 seems pretty unique, too. Each Day 1 plays down to 27, and 90 players have already made the money. An additional funky caveat — those who have already busted can re-enter on Day 1B or Day 1C. What-the …

Few details, other than that I think you can now bet on horse racing there … as of a few minutes ago, or at least today. (No sports betting?)

My source is @CommerceCasino:

And awaaay they go!! The Racebook at Commerce Casino is now open!!
3 minutes ago from web

While we know sports betting and poker have gone hand in hand ever since Stu Ungar introduced the concept of winning millions playing cards and almost immediately losing it all on the Bengals, I’m not so sure there’s as much overlap between the horses and poker. Could be wrong … and still, the convergence of poker and horses is kinda what we were going for in Texas earlier this year, except we had horses first and were trying to add poker, as opposed to the other way around.

This should be a semi-fascinating case should it not get insta-folded as frivolous: Two “recreational” California poker players, Dennis Chae and Jeff Kim, have sued the Bike, Commerce, Hustler, Hollywood Park, and Hawaiian Gardens casinos — alleging that the dollar-a-pot raked for bad beat jackpots makes them illegal lotteries.

In a 2005 advisory, then-Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer cautioned casinos that the promotions violated state law unless players were allowed to win the jackpots without paying the fee. It’s the same legal principle that requires McDonald’s to give away game pieces for its popular Monopoly game to consumers who ask for them, regardless of whether they buy anything.

On its surface, the lawsuit seems like a hustle. I’m not sure how much in damages are they’re seeking, but the suit requests class-action status and hopes to enlist 10s of thousands of poker players as plaintiffs. But at the same time, Chae and Kim may have a technical point, at least to the extent that casinos advertise these promotions. We’ll have to see about how the finer details of rakeage break down according to California law. Honestly, can’t see this getting too far … but then again, it’s hard to say how many people might jump at the chance to score some rebate and slightly improve their EV retroactively.

OK, I wonder how long I can think these are hysterical funny-not-stupid … so far so good. Another fine poker-themed movie made on XtraNormal.com, called Damn You Two Plus Two:

(probably not audio-SFW)

(Hmm, no wonder why the Focus on the Family types don’t like poker people.)

More make-your-own-movies from the “brilliant” minds at 2+2 here and here.

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.

Funny, for all the poker entertainment on TV tonight, I probably won’t make it over to Fox Sports to see the latest Season 7 episode of the WPT. However, I can’t help but find myself following their celebrity invitational on the internet. Don’t really know what that means … maybe just that I definitely want some WPT action, but I’m just as happy following chip counts and hand updates at my leisure while I flip between WSOP Europe, High Stakes Poker, and maybe even a little Annie Duke meets Donald.

Seriously, looks to be an interesting final sprawl shaping up with 13 players remaining (Steve Sung and Paul Darden just went out). I bet the vibe inside the Commerce is pretty electric. This, frankly, is poker I’d probably want to watch on TV right now:

Remaining Players

Player	Player Name	Chipcount
	Jose Tavares	1,250,000
	Tom Hall	1,200,000
	Scott Clements	1,080,000
Average Chipcount: 666,153
	Frank Hustek	600,000
	Ottavio Tassone	520,000
	Nicholas Gonzalez	440,000
	Freddy Deeb	410,000
	Ali Nejad	400,000
	Bob Ruhl	300,000
	Teddy Monroe	250,000
	Jack Haley	225,000
	Mekhi Phifer	200,000
	Haig Papaian	200,000