While the 2009 WSOP Main Event pushes forward, the Dream Team Poker tournament rages on in the Brasilia Room at the Rio with three tables in play. It is an exciting event to watch, especially when friends capture the team prize!

Big congrats to Team Tao of Pokerati, which just found out that their team took down the first place team honors! Lana, Pauly, and Dan will split the $33,017 cashola for outperforming every other team in the tournament (there were 122 of them), and the guys are still in it to win it individually as well. About 20 players remain…

UPDATE: Looks like Dan cashed in 17th place for double his individual buy-in. Congrats! @Pokerati just twittered… “17th place individual. 1st place team. This cashout cage area is pretty cool!”

UPDATE 2: Pauly finished in 13th place for nearly three times his buy-in. Per his twitter… “out in 13th place. my A7 lost to kenna james’ 6-6. boooooo!”

Congrats to the team on a great showing!

Recapping the first half of Saturday tournament action.

Doyle Done in 10k Stud 8

The remaining players in the $10,000 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship rolls along with 6 players remaining, as Doyle Brunson’s attempt at an 11th bracelet ended when he finished in 7th place. Farzard Rouhani, Abe Mosseri, and Jeff Lisandro are the three players over the 1 million chip mark. Yan Chen, Mike Wattel and Frank Mariani are the short stacks battling to stay alive as the limits are at 30k/60k, leaving the short stacks with under 10 big bets.

Meanwhile, at the Other Featured Table…

The $2,000 NL Holdem final table is down to three players, with Jordan Smith the current chip leader at 4,890,000. Laurence Grondin, a Canadian woman, is second at 4,120,000 with Swedish pro Ken Lenaard in third with 1,240,000. Grondin replaces Lika Gerasimova (5th in 5k NL Holdem) as the highest placing female in an open event at this year’s WSOP.

Obligatory Limit Holdem Mention

The $2,000 Limit Holdem event is down to 35 players with Eric Rivkin the current chip leader at 165,000 in chips. Rep Porter is 2nd at 138,000, with David Baker (the one from Texas — 106,000), Phil Hellmuth (100,000), Rafe Furst (73,000), and Daniel Negreanu (45,000) among the notables remaining hoping to reach the 3am deadline with a final table. It was just announced during the Stud 8 event that if Hellmuth makes the final table, they will stream that final table over at Bluff magazine’s website.

Donkament, Chapter Five

The fifth version of the $1,500 NL Holdem event drew a field of 2,715, of which 873 returned from their dinner break a short while ago. Unfortunately, an unofficial chip leader is hard to come by, but expect a chip leader to be revealed in my Sunday morning update.

PLO-wing Through $10,000

The $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship drew a field of 296, down over 80 entrants from last year’s edition. Freddy Deeb is the unofficial chip leader as he’s reporting over 60,000 in chips. Barry Greenstein, Joe Serock and Michael Binger appear in the unofficial top 5, while Daniel Negreanu, Michael Mizrachi, John Duthie, Nam Le and Isaac Haxton are already gone.

Check out more updates this evening at www.wsop.com, and Pokerati for more stuff going around the poker community as Michalski’s may be trying to find out some more about Richard Austin.

House of Cards Radio with Ashley Adams, airs at 7pm ET tonight on Boston’s 1510 the Zone, listen online here, Dan’s interview should start around 7:05pm.

I feel compelled to explain that I am writing this post on my laptop, on the back patio of Risky’s Bar-B-Q in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, during possibly the most beautiful day that Spring will bring to my beloved city. I smile as I listen to one Australian tourist at the table behind me attempt to explain to his mates the American concept of “All-You-Can-Eat Ribs”.

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Doc Fletcher: “It’s like trainin’ a horse. After a while you don’t have to keep whippin’em. They go where you want to go.”

Interview with Stephenville Tournament Director Doc Fletcher 6:58

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Zoom up and out to a poetic blend of southern culture and urban bustle that has made my fair city of Fort Worth a Texas jewel, and the subject of 3.4 million Asian tourist photos. Somewhere a diminutive, fair skinned traveler points out the genitalia of the bovine shaped shrubbery (ala Scissorhands), and covers her mouth to giggle before turning and rushing off in very short, quick steps. And I order another Dos Equis.

A couple of blocks away is the ornate and grandiose Bass Hall. The Hall is big sister to the Maddox Muse Center, which was once slated to host, what was at the time to be, the largest poker tournament in the state of Texas; The Southwest Poker Invitational. Well,… Until the powers that be leaned on us, referencing an obscure liquor license, used for the occasional wedding reception, and shut us down and took tens of thousands of charitable dollars out of play. The call came on Friday; The tournament was scheduled for Sunday. Just like that 325 players and countless deserving beneficiaries of the charitable event were sucked out on at the river. I remember well, because it was my tournament. Go Texas!

More…

We’re going on a little early … 12:30 pacific … as former PokerNews honcho John Caldwell officially joins the crew today. Tune in live or catch the podcast later on PokerRoad.com. Also on today’s episode there’s gonna be some Dan vs. BJ action, over the relevance, facts, and significance of Mitch Garber’s reported heading to Harrah’s. The important question is, of course, which one of us is Hannity, and which is Colmes?

Dannity and Bjolmes.

Hey, I coined a phrase!

http://wordlust.blogspot.com/2009/04/politi-dude.html

Glad to see that all these years of compensating for my limited vocabulary with hyphens has finally paid off. High on the glory and power of being recognized for my creative typing by non-poker strangers, expect many failed attempts to repeat myself to ensue.

In the meantime, enjoy all sorts of useful yet unScrabbleable words here.

Pokerati’s own Dan Michalski took part in an “expert panel” for ESPN with Dr. Pauly, Chops of Wicked Chops Poker, Gary Wise, Bernard Lee, Lance Bradley of Bluff Magazine, and ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman ranking the field of the NBC National Headsup Poker Championship, starting on Friday. Since I’m only able to write an article at one of these sites, let’s take a look at how Dan ranked the field:

More…

Everyone’s hustlin’ gigs these days … and beyond status updates to my Facebook page, I’ve found two welcome homes for some non-Pokerati writing — at Bluff, and most recently What’s On … where I let the not-so-poker-geeky Vegas tourists know about happenings of interest from the LV poker scene, such as:

The Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza (which I think ended yesterday or today!) and, coming up, Dream Team Poker.

Though I’m not yet ready to declare football the new poker — or sports wagering for that matter — it is now safe to tell you about my dominance in something called U Pick’em.

You may recall a post a while back about the heated non-poker competition in the Michalski family, where I was proving my prowess as a no-spread football picker. Of course in the week right after that post, I totally tanked — dropping dramatically on the family leaderboard and several percentage points nationwide.

But as in poker and life, you’ve gotta play 60 minutes of football! … And with that (as well as the knowledge that I probably shouldn’t post about my non-poker greatness) I clawed my way back to the top. With a last-minute switch to the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, my end results for the 2008 NFL season:

Nationwide: 277th out of 145,498
For people playing through the LVRJ: 33rd out of 9,727
Michalski family: Tied for 1st out of 13

Total winners picked: 176 out of 266 (66 %)

So clearly, I need to develop a sports-betting habit in 2009 to make up for all my rivers that don’t hit in poker.

Pokerati’s own Dan Michalski and an all-star cast of poker media will appear on the premier episode of “The Poker Beat” with Scott Huff at 1pm PT Thursday afternoon over at PokerRoad.

The lineup:

John Caldwell (formerly of Pokernews)
Gary Wise of ESPN and WisehandPoker.com
Matt Parvis of Bluff Magazine
Dan Michalski of Pokerati.com
BJ Nemeth of World Poker Tour
and Joe Stapleton of PokerRoad.com with some closing thoughts.

Topics will include the Obama and the UIGEA, the Durrr Challenge, and the L.A. Poker Classic.

Seated from left: Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson and Alan Meltzer, Standing: Tom Dwan, Phil Laak, David Peat, Mike Baxter and Dario Minieri at the taping of GSN’s High Stakes Poker at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino for the show’s highly anticipated upcoming fifth season.

I’m assuming Dan’s at the Golden Nugget watching the taping of day 1 of the latest season ofHigh Stakes Poker, but for those that want to know when it airs, Card Player is reporting that season 5 of HSP will air starting March 1 at 9pm ET on GSN. The network made a recent decision to make Sunday their “Poker Night”, with Season 6 of the World Poker Tour episodes at 6pm ET, and previous seasons of High Stakes Poker at 8pm ET. As mentioned before, the minimum buyin will be $200,000, with the blinds $400/$800 with a $200 ante. Last year’s taping of a $500,000 minimum buyin game last season appears to be gone, as it tightened up the play to the producers’ dismay.

Seen last night outside the new cash game room at Binion’s:

The reason for this seeming disparity?

A. Bluff too deep and heavy for casual reading.

B. Bluff has superior distribution channels to keep its supply always well stocked.

C. National Finals Rodeo in town — not huge John Juanda fans.

D. First issue of Bluff with an article by Dan Michalski.

E. Rounder has a better rack.

Pokerati’s own Dan Michalski will be on Wise Hand Poker shortly (5:45pm PT?) to discuss the 60 Minutes/Washington Post pieces on the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet incidents. To listen live head to www.roundersradio.com.

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In the grand tradition of Rocky Balboa, Return to Mayberry, and The Brady Girls Get Married, your favorite poker podcast returned today with a brand-spankin’ new episode. Five months after announcing their “retirement” — has it really been five months? seems like three — the group collectively determined the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts, and have thus decided to try and recreate the adventure, the thrill, the magic that is Beyond the Table.

Or, as Tom puts it, “We all got bored with our lives.”

The return show finds our intrepid trio (plus Sit-N-Go Steve) in classic BTT form, managing to cover a wide range of topics despite (or because) Dan is sitting on his mute button. Following the awkward reintroductions (“uh… do I know you?”), the fellas discuss the recent WCOOP successes of Tom (a.k.a., “luvgamble”), team poker tourneys, political prop-betting, the differing concerns of amateurs and pros at the WSOP, and UB cheating scandal rumors.

They even get down to brass tacks and answer some poker-related listener calls, suggesting that if you were to call the listener line — (888) 820-8091 — they might well answer your question sometime during the next six months or so, too! You can also email ’em at theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com.

What’s been happening at the WSOP since last night, while Dan Michalski anxiously awaits his attempt to make good on his $300 All-In “investment”:

The $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha final table has been set, this group of 9 faces the hot lights of the ESPN cameras:

Seat 1: Kido Pham 1,080,000
Seat 2: Brandon Moran 1,286,000
Seat 3: Peter Jetten 492,000
Seat 4: Michael Mizrachi 1,767,000
Seat 5: Billy Argyros 729,000
Seat 6: Greg Hurst 637,000
Seat 7: Tom Hanlon 192,000
Seat 8: Marty Smyth 1,068,000
Seat 9: Richard Harroch 372,000

The other final table scheduled for today and the other tournament action on the next page:
More…

Anthropologists and homicide detectives alike know you can tell a lot about a person based on the contents of their trash … yikes, a little scary to see what’s in the rubbish bin at Pokerati’s non-Rio Las Vegas headquarters:

Seriously, that can’t be healthy, can it?

And Tao of Pokerati is all over it a day and a half ago! Listen live, or at least semi-live, as Pauly and Benjo (filling in) speculate on my whereabouts (and the Pokerati sex slave business empire) when their hardcore reporting and potential slander of California Jen is interrupted by Doyle Brunson’s cashing for $124k in the Big HORSE event.

Bonus Episode: Pimp-Doyle News

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Wait, Dan has friends?

I kid. Evidently, he knows the Batfaces, and a group of them are in Vegas to drink heavily play in the World Series. I daydreamed about Mekhi Phifer listened intently as Dan told me about his friends and how their tournaments are going.

Here’s what I caught: Tim, Troy, and Randy are out. Eric (one of them, not sure which) and Todd are still in.

Dan is at the Rio today and walking the tournament floor to text CSR updates about the guys. Go Batfaces!

Dan and Cali Jen ventured into the Rio casino for a dinner & business meeting at Rub BBQ. (Yes, there are jokes in the name of the joint. I won’t even get started…) And of course, the sausage plate, pictured here, couldn’t have been more phallic. Dan did take home my leftovers, for whatever that’s worth.

As we were walking back to the convention center after dinner, a young man stopped us in the hallway. “Dan Michalski from Pokerati?” Ahhh, a Dallas poker player who claimed to have been a fan of Pokerati for years stopped and asked me to take a picture of him and Dan. He said he had pictures with Barry Greenstein and Chris Ferguson, and Dan made that same list.

Dan has fans. Who knew? (I suppose this made me look important to be seen with him. Mental note: Be seen with Dan more often, but don’t get carried away with it.)

If you haven’t jumped on the Tao of Pokerati train yet, whazzup? It’s been up for a few hours now. Get on before it’s not hip anymore.

In order to promote the mini-podcast, here is a promo photo for your viewing pleasure. This is also what it looks like from behind our press perch in the Amazon Room. Welcome to my world.

Dan made the wise decision to let me start posting here during the WSOP. Since I’ll be nowhere near the real action (being from Syracuse, NY), I’ll do my best to give my views on the action from time to time while the rest of the Pokerati crew will be busy doing all the good stuff at the WSOP that makes this poker enthusiast wish to be there himself. Today’s the calm before the storm as a field of ~300 should take part in today’s $10,000 Pot Limit Holdem “World Championship”.

A few questions pre-WSOP:
More…

Bluffing hasn’t gone well for me lately … just curious if anyone would believe me if I told them I lost a big shirts vs. skins prop bet to Pauly:

Matthew Kredell has a good article in the new old issue of Bluff that just went online about poker players’ increased political awareness/involvement. And I’m not just saying that because he references/quotes a highly credible source in ¶’s 6 and 7.

Four years ago today — on the glorious holiday that is 4-20 — Pokerati went live. Our first post was about a new online poker site that also just went live called Full Tilt. Prediction at the time: “I suspect this site will fare well.”

Boo-yah! Right on target … that’s how prescient Pokerati can be! Granted, we also said the online poker room market was also probably saturated in April 2004 … hey, you can’t hit a home run every time, right?

We’ve gone through lots of changes over the years, and more TK for sure. Personally, I can’t believe I’ve stuck to anything for four years … but it’s amazing what the burning desire to not work ever will do for you. Anyhow, thanks for reading us once or twice during that time. Kiss off, I don’t need you! We couldn’t have done it without you. So thanks again, happy blog-birthday to me. Maybe next year Full Tilt and Pokerati should have their party together.

The BTT crew: Poker talk fused with gay jokes and fat commentary was all the rage in 2007.

Some of you have been wondering, why no new episodes of Beyond the Table? Tom, Karridy, and I have been wondering the same thing. It’s been a good run, and with drinks in the air, three guys who clearly love/hate the sounds of their own voices are calling it podcast quits.

Back when we started, our show about poker but not really about poker stood out as revolutionary in a sea of lame poker interviewcasts with questionable audio quality. Soon after iPod sales were booming as more and more of the world got hooked on downloading poker audio with funny intros and Angry Julie cameos. But Tom couldn’t handle the celebrity and Karridy developed a crack addiction lives got busy and producers for Beyond the Table fared about as well as drummers for Spinal Tap. The show hired Shamus at a fraction of a Cambodian farmer’s wage to pump up our numbers — did he ever get his T-shirt? — but with a new generation of poker podcasts getting better and stronger (Lou Kreiger, Gary Wise, 2+2, Pocket Fives, Ante Up, Poker Road, et al) old-school payola wasn’t enough to save us from going out on the podcast bubble.

Listen below to a heretofore unpublished episode (recorded on 2-27, my dream flop) as your favorite semi-amateur yammerers phone it in for the last and final-ish time:

Beyond the Table: Fin

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Thanks for listening via RSS, iTunes, play-in-popup, and direct download … we already miss ourselves.

You can still prank call Karridy on the Beyond the Table listener line at 888-820-8091.

Strange. Just listened to the latest episode of Beyond the Table, the first of the new year. If you haven’t queued up “ . . . Who Needs Enemies?” yet, let me forewarn you. The guys talk about poker. That’s right. Poker. I mean like all the way through.

What the hell?

After a brief rundown of the several January tourneys presently ongoing, Tom offers some winning wisdom regarding tourney selection. Then, prompted by a question from Karridy, there follows a smart, insightful discussion about differences between cash game players and tourney players. Yeah, I know. “Smart” and “insightful” usually ain’t what us BTT fans are looking for. But there it is.

Next the trio turn their attention to Dan’s first poker session after moving to Vegas, as well as the rambling, gambling fortunes of Dan’s friend, Bob. The show concludes with a stunner of sorts regarding CardPlayer’s recent 12-page, comprehensive overview of “Poker’s 2007 Odyssey: A Review of the Year’s Historic Events.” (Hint: The article ain’t as comprehensive as one might have hoped.)

Oh, there were opportunities for the hosts to get away from the pokery content. Other topics arise, such as Dan’s sex life, Barack Obama, and froteurism. (Not at the same time. Ahem.) But somehow none of these offered enough turbulence to divert Beyond the Table from its poker-specific flightpath.

Do let the BTT hosts know how you feel about this strange new development by calling the listener line at (888) 820-8091 or emailing theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com.

Since Dan moved to Vegas last week, he has successfully missed at least one of the biggest parties of the year.

Jay-Z held the grand opening of his new 40/40 Club at the Venetian in Vegas on December 30th. Jay-Z brought Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke, Ne-Yo, Cindy Margolis, Charles Barkley, LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez, and even Rev. Al Sharpton for the bash. And yes, Dan had an invitation to attend but didn’t open his e-mail until a day late.

Could this just be a fluke, a casualty of a semi-chaotic move from Dallas to Vegas?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “diagnosis” as the “determination of the nature of a diseased condition; identification of a disease by careful investigation of its symptoms and history; also, the opinion (formally stated) resulting from such investigation.” Such is the theme of “Card Sick,” this week’s year-ending installment of Beyond the Table.

Co-hosts Karridy, Dan, and Tom collectively look ahead to 2008 by diagnosing one another’s poker games (and/or lives). In so doing, the trio take turns enacting each of the roles typically occurring in yr basic health care scenario — patient, physician, and insurance provider.

For example: Dan spends most of the episode as patient, sharing relevant details about his history and identifying his goals moving forward. Tom acts as Dan’s physician, offering tips for how Dan can improve the health of his bankroll in the coming year. Meanwhile, Karridy explains to Dan the limits of his coverage. Thus when Dan says he’d like to make a final table of a “major event,” Tom assesses the likelihood of such an occurrence (given the patient’s current vital signs), while Karridy reminds Dan he can’t afford to enter that many “major events.” And so forth.

A quiet time of year poker-wise, so not a lot of hard-hitting news in this week’s episode. There is some discussion of the 2008 WSOP schedule, details of which were largely gleaned from Craig Cunningham’s blog. Head over to C.C.’s site for more such info. And perhaps a Christmas carol, too.

And remember you can always send your own diagnoses of BTT (including how new producer Ryan is doing) to
theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or call ’em in to (888) 820-8091.

Following a pattern established by arena faves Frampton, Kiss, and Cheap Trick, this episode of Beyond the Table captures the group in a rare live performance. With no edits, overdubs, or other studio gimmickry, “Live and Otherwise” finds BTT returning to its off-the-cuff, improvisational roots.

The set gets going with a raucous medley of blues-based numbers, including soon-to-be-classics “Queens Done Done Me In (Again)” — featuring a solo from Little Tommy Schneider — and the Askenasy-penned “I Think My Hair Has a Mind of Its Own.” The group then transitions into a surprisingly peppy version of “House Hoppin’ Blues” chronicling Dan’s recent move Vegas-ward.

From there the boys turn topical, with rockers “Flight of the Dragon” (noting David Pham’s having locked up Player of the Year), “Enjoying the Game” (an homage to Chip Reese), and “Guilt Trip” (regarding the Vaughn-Mizzi account-purchasing affair). As an encore, the group surprises the audience with a new title, “Fortune’s Steward,” a brief romp recognizing Falstaff, author of PokerStage and tireless organizer of the recent WPBT Winter Gathering.

Be sure to catch this important live document of the power trio’s development, circa late-2007. And be sure to email your feedback to theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or call the listener line @ (888) 820-8091.

Happy Holidays from the Beyond The Table crew!
And because I am a sucker for this kind of stuff… Click below to watch Tom, Dan, and myself shake our naughty elf asses.

Unbeknownst to Tom, I am offering a copy of his Book, Oops!, I Won Too Much Money, to the person that sends us a link to the most humorous Elf Yourself, featuring your choice of Poker’s more notable characters. In addition to winning the perfect stocking stuffer, the winning submission will be posted here, on Pokerati, and at BeyondTheTable.com. Deadline is 12/23. Game on!

I recall a short while back reading Tom Schneider opine at length here on Pokerati about tourney blind structures. In a memorable post, Tom suggested an innovative arrangement wherein the blinds would go up in proportion to the number of players remaining (or average chip stack — same diff.), as opposed to having timed levels. For those who missed it, here’s the post, modestly titled “The Blind Structure Solution.”

Whether you think Tom is full of applesauce or not, his idea clearly demonstrates how the hosts of Beyond the Table are willing — indeed, eager — to think outside the box, to push the envelope, to destroy old paradigms . . . .

You know. Screw with us.

Which is why we get not one but two new shows almost simultaneously. Though one isn’t a “real” show. That’s right. The one on which Tom, Karridy, and Dan all appear — titled “BTS: The Cheating Beating” — should not be mistaken for a regular installment. (BTS = “Beyond the Show.”) Listen to hear the trio’s sober debate on ethics and online poker. (Full summary here.)

Meanwhile, we are to understand the one featuring Dan and guest co-host Robert Goldfarb — “Booty Call” — to be a “real” episode. What makes one “real” and one not? Hard to say, although it appears we’ve got ourselves an indisputably authentic BTT show whenever Dan gets drinky and starts talking about strippers, Scotty Nguyen bobblehead dolls, yard sales, religion, Tom’s POY chances, and/or hits his mute button.

Don’t trust me, though. Go listen to both and decide for yourself. And tell ’em what you think — about blind structures, strippers, “reality,” etc. — by emailing theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or calling the listener line — (888) 820-8091.

It’s much easier to be in the news than write the news …

Via our friend, Short-Stacked Shamus:…

In “Family Pot,” our intrepid trio (sans SitNGo Steve, who for this episode stood up and went) carefully interweave a number of anecdotes and observations thematically linked by the subject of family. Recorded Thanksgiving eve, discussion begins with a detailed cataloguing of various family traditions, most of which seem to involve tableware. While the phrase “somebody gets stabbed and there is rolling on the floor” is uttered, the overall tone here is in fact light-hearted. Jovial, even.

The conversational tête-à-tête-à-tête then turns to consider non-traditional “families.” Such as the one comprised of all of those poker bloggers presently assembling in Vegas for the big WPBT Winter Gathering. Concerning which, do head over to Tao of Poker and check out Dr. Pauly’s instructional post “Bloggers Invading Vegas Tips 5.0” (from 11/19/07). Add to list “never call a ‘post’ a ‘blog’ when speaking to Dan.” Not that any self-respecting poker blogger would. The tone during this middle section? Vaguely combative.

Finally, looking ahead to Christmas and the new year, the group collectively resolves to make some resolutions. And perhaps write them down somewhere. Here the tone becomes sentimental — even maudlin — as Tom, Dan, and Karridy demonstrate they, too, form a kind of “family.”

Maybe they should consider sending out cards this year.

Check out this week’s show. And ride the BTT hosts’ coattails along with me by emailing them at theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or calling the listener line: (888) 820-8091.

You can read Shamus’ real poker musings over at Hard-Boiled Poker. Thanks, Shammy-Poo.

Via our friend, Short-Stacked Shamus:…

Have had a significant increase in email messages turning up in the ol’ inbox here lately. To what should I attribute my sudden surge in popularity? I think the answer is obvious. My occasional postings over here at Beyond the Table have no doubt spread my fame to places I had never even imagined possible.

I mean I am getting email messages from people I don’t even know, if you can believe that. Just this week I’ve gotten several offers to “find ways to save on [my] meds,” to “eat want [I] want and still lose those terrible pounds,” to “cure premature ejaculation (not just stop it!),” to “give [my] partner the loving she deserves,” to “experience for [my]self the excitement of winning real money online,” and to “become completely happy with the way [my] breasts look.”

Somewhere in there I also received a note from Karridy saying something about a new show, titled “The Fall of Danang.” No special offers, though. Which is fine, as I have plenty of those to deal with at the moment . . . .

Check out this week’s show. And ride the BTT hosts’ coattails along with me by emailing them at theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or calling the listener line: (888) 820-8091.

There’s even more wit where that came from, over at Hard-Boiled Poker. Thanks, Shama-lama-ding-dong.

Depending on when you are reading this, you might be learning of the good news before they do. By “they”, I am referring to my partners in podcast crime, Tom Schneider and Dan Michalski. Just a little while ago, I received a welcomed email from Pokerpreneuer and PokerBowl creator, John Nightingale. It appears that the dick sucking negotiating that I did has paid off and Tom and Dan will be the on-screen commentators for the inaugural airing of the US PokerBowl.

While they do make up a charismatic 50% of Beyond The Table, it will be very interesting to see how the audience reacts to the brewsome twosome once they are presented visually. I, on the other hand, will be doing my best to raise the aesthetic average of the player field when I sit down with TJ Cloutier and the rest of the Dallas Kowboys on October 19th, in Vegas. I wonder if my BFF’s will find it in them to afford me a little favoritism kick-back come game day…

And before he was commentator on Fox Sports Prime-Time, he was getting his 3 minutes on ESPN.

P.S. – The latest episode of Beyond The Table is my all-time favorite. Nothing sexy, just fun pokery goodness.

Alt Hed: Watch out, Balsbaugh!

Ok, so it doesn’t compare to any of Tom’s 3 2007 WSOP Final Table appearances, but Dan talked his way into (apparently name dropping Tom Schneider helps) won his way into a freeroll tournament with total cash prizes of $12,000. Dan is was the chip leader with 8 people left when he texted the following update:

Lost the chip lead. AA – no action. Next hand AA again – cracked by 88. Fold the next hand.. KK next – loses to AQ. Medium stack now. 8 left. Glad I took the guaranteed $1,200. Top 4 get more.

Sounds like Dan ran into some incredibly horrible bad luck, but he’s still in the hunt to take the top prize.

Update from Dan:

4 left. I am short stack. Guaranteed $1,600. Winner will get $600 more.

Final Update:

4th place, but because of multi chops I won the most money – $1,600. James Earl Jones was also in the top 4. His voice is almost as good as Karridy’s.

Dan learned an important lesson today: Resistance against Darth Vadar is futile.

If Dan can cash in another event he’ll he recoup his Blackjack losses – good luck with that.

posted by proxy via SitNGoSteve