A cover story in the latest issue of Forbes magazine (the main story asking if Al Qaeda is bankrupt) features an article discussing the US government’s possible crackdown on online poker with the impending June 1 deadline for the UIGEA to be enforced. The article can be found on their website here and includes a slide show of the big names behind online poker.
I just had to check … and sure enough, he’s not driving around Las Vegas with his Full Tilt name on display:
If only I had a collection of cars, I’d name them all … Free Pokerati T-shirt to anyone who outfits they’re vehicle with the above or any of the following pokertastic plates, all of which are available, some surprisingly so:
This (long) weekend’s #WPBT festivities are coming to a close … and as I type the poker bloggers are gathered for Sunday football at Lagasse’s Stadium in the Palazzo. There some of them are experiencing, for the first time, what many say is the future of gambling: handheld, semi-portable real-money action.
A new-ish device, “eDeck”, lets you gamble Blackberry/iPhone-style theoretically from anywhere, but currently within the confines of three Las Vegas casinos — the Venetian, Palazzo, and M Resort. Global Gaming Business Magazine named it Best Table Game Product or Innovation for 2009. And none other than Doyle Brunson has been pimping it:
This week, featuring Phil Hellmuth in studio for an interview, a preview of the WPT Doyle Brunson Classic at the Bellagio, Chino Rheem (the defending champion) discussing a key hand with Justin Young, and other stuff. As usual, parts 2 and 3 appear on the next page:
The charity poker season here in Vegas is in full holiday swing. And one of the bigger tournaments (celebrity-wise) is this Saturday — the second annual All In for CP at the Hard Rock. (More info here via Facebook.)
It has a $550 buy-in (with $200 rebuys through the first hour). Early RSVPs include the likes of Doyle Brunson and the usual crew of high-stakes Las Vegas charity-circuit rounders, along with Phil Laak, Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, and others. Here’s a video invitation from Tilly, with more details about the tournament itself.
This event is put on by everybody’s favorite omnipresent scooter-rider at the WSOP, Jacob Zalewski, and raises money for his One Step Closer Foundation’s fight to make life easier for Cerebral Palsey sufferers like Terrance, featured in the video below:
Wow, awesome. Joan Rivers appears on a sports-talk radio show (790 AM The Ticket) and ends up talking poker, before getting frustrated and hanging up on the guys.
She doesn’t know who Texas Dolly is and says he has no ground to stand on criticizing her until “he’s 76 years old and had a career like I’ve had”. Some truly laughable poker-hating gems.
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UPDATE:
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I wasn’t in the car for more than 30 seconds before I heard some excited WSOP Final Table buzz in parts usually not related to much anything poker … it was on Las Vegas local KOMP 92.3 FM (The Rock Station!) … and they’re hosting a WSOP viewing party at the ESPNZone in New York, New York. They’ve got a special guest and everything — Doyle Brunson — who will be there pimping his new book, The Godfather of Poker.
Neato. “It’s gonna ROCK!”
That’s what we wanna know … after Saturday/Sunday’s marathon 9->2 session … how long do you think the heads-up battle between Darvin Moon and Joe Cada will go?
They’re currently in Level 39, with blinds at 500k/1000k + 150k.
Moon has almost the same number of chips he started with, 58,850,000, while Cada, who started with just 13,215,000, now has all the rest — 135,950,000.
What they’re fighting for, essentially: $3.36 million in cash, and then everything else that goes with being WSOP champ.
NOTE: In our previous unscientific poll, Moon got the second-most votes … Cada fourth-most.
The record for WSOP heads-up battles is 7 hours 10 minutes, set by Chip Reese vs. Andy Bloch in 2006. Before that it was 7 hours, in the 1983 main event … where after Doyle Brunson busted out in 3rd on a semi-bluff, an unknown from Michigan, Tom McEvoy, beat Rod Peate for $580,000:
BTW, for a fun historical perspective, watch the start of the television coverage of the 1983 final table here.
While the battle for the bracelet heats up on stage, Doyle Brunson is taking care of business in the lobby of the Penn & Teller theater where he’s signing copies of his books, including his new autobiography that goes on sale soon.
You're not putting this on eBay, are you?
Who says you need to final table to make money at the WSOP?
From GSN’s press release:
Besides Kevin Schaffel, Mike Sexton discusses his being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, the latest poker news, previews of tonight’s WSOP episodes (the first half of day 8 coverage) and Phil Ivey’s ESPN: The Magazine cover appearance.
It’s always generally amusing when poker pros semi-catch the attention of those charged with letting us know about celebrities showing up at various locales around town. Yesterday, at the Palms:
Former MLB athlete and manager, Pete Rose dined at N9NE Steakhouse inside Palms Casino Resort Saturday night (10.3.09). Wearing a white dress shirt, blue jeans and white alligator boots, he joined his friends Mike Bertolini (sports memorabilia agent), Todd Brunson (professional poker legend) and Brunson’s son Doyle. They gathered for a short while to enjoy some cappuccino, leaving a little after 10 p.m.
Todd really is a legend when you think about it … but didn’t realize he had a coffee-drinking squirt named Doyle, LOL. A little curious what they musta been talking about with Pete Rose and a sports memorabilia agent. Perhaps Rose is thinking about making a go at the Poker Hall of Fame?
Teams are 3/4 of the way there …
Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman
Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier, Patrik Antonius, Ilari Sahamies (aka Zigmund)
Also more on the format:
The Caesars Cup will feature the game No-Limit Hold’em with two teams of eight doing battle over a series of Heads Up and two-man doubles matches, with single points awarded for each match. The doubles formats will include alternate betting. The first team to 4 points will win.
The first match will be Doubles: Alternate Bet where two players compete per side. One player per side will play pre-flop and on the turn; the other player will play the flop and the river.
Once players are designated, their roles will not change. Two matches of this format will be played, so that 4 of the 8 players on each team will be featured.
The next two matches will feature Doubles: Same Stack where two new players compete per side. They share the same chip stack. They alternate playing two hands at a time so both have the button.
After the doubles matches conclude, the matches change to Heads-Up – if necessary. Team captains will select which members of their teams play heads up and it will be an alternate selection process, where if the European team names their player first for Match 1, the Americas team will have to name their player first for Match 2. That format continues until one team has accumulated 4 total points. The strategy of when to use a player and whom they match up with will be critical in determining which team will come out victorious.
LOL, and BJ thought my “family poker” concept event seemed gimmicky.
One skillucky Euro, of course, can still qualify for one of that team’s two remaining seats online at Betfair.
Play kicks off for this new-fangled made-for-TV event in London on Sept. 25.
Watching the latest episode of ESPN’s Inside Deal … Laura Lane had a question for Howard Lederer, about who would win between him and his sister vs. the Brunson clan. Though Howard’s non-committal answer shows he is definitely learnin’ himself some politics, it got me thinking … really, who are the biggest poker families?
Though naturally I see yet another Dream Team tourney possibility, there could be other ways to quantify the “first family” of poker. Off the top of my head — based on people who play at least semi-regularly and have had some semblance of decent results in biggish events — you have, in no particular order:
The Brunsons
Doyle
Todd
Pam
The Lederers
Howard
Annie (Duke)
The Greensteins
Barry
Joe (Sebok)
The Mizrachis
Eric
Robert
Michael
The Williams
David
Shirley
The Schneiders
Tom
Julie
The Nguyens (Master)
Men
Van
The Heimowitzs
Jay
Lonnie
The (Belcore) Zogmans
Dan
Mary Jo
After Doyle Brunson voiced his opinions about the Poker Hall of Fame nominees the other day, Daniel Negreanu decided to write a little ditty about it himself. Considering Negreanu is one of the nominees, it is interesting to note that he agrees with Brunson and feels Sexton deserves the most votes.
I don’t get a vote, but if I did it wouldn’t be a tough decision for me at all. For the same reasons that Doyle believes Mike Sexton should be the #1 guy, I agree 150%. He’s played “high enough” is well respected “enough” for his play, and has been around along time. He simply has no equal, however, when it comes to contributing to the growth of poker.
As for his own nomination, Negreanu feels that it’s not his time. Though he’s pretty confident he’ll get in to the Hall of Fame eventually, he doesn’t feel he should get the votes in 2009.
As for me, I was flattered to be nominated, but don’t feel at all like I should be voted in. I don’t feel like I have a lot to prove exactly, and I do think I’ll get voted in eventually, just not now. Mike Sexton needs to go in now. There are also a few other older guys who should go in ahead of me. I always kind of figured, back when we used to hang out a lot, that me, Ivey, Juanda, and Cunningham would all go in together, but I don’t see that happening.
Doyle Brunson has become quite open in his blogs and tweets over the past year or so, which is great for poker, in my opinion. Being privy to his opinions on issues gives the poker community a perspective from one who’s been in the game longer than most. His latest “deep thoughts” pertain to the Poker Hall of Fame, as his membership in the elite club garners him a chance to vote on this year’s list of nominees.
He pulls no punches, noting in his latest blog post that Mike Sexton is his top pick, and he also likes Tom McEvoy, Erik Seidel, Scotty Nguyen, and Barry Greenstein. Interesting that he notes he’s admired Men the Master’s “work ethic” for years without any mention of numerous and widespread allegations of him cheating in live games.
With Doyle ready to make his picks, his thoughts likely echo many of the other Hall of Fame voters. See below for specifics:
Another down day for today’s Main Event as only 873 registered for day 1b, the lowest day 1 figure since the poker boom began. Reports indicate that over 2,700 players combined have already registered for days 1c and 1d, combined with the 1,989 who have already registered means the 5,000 figure should easily be reached. Another rumor, this one reported by ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, says that Days 1c and 1d will play 5 two-hour levels, followed by 4 two-hour levels for Day 2b. The Day 1a and 1b survivors will then play 5 two-hour levels on Day 2a so everyone has played nine levels when the field combines for day 3.
On to what’s known, and that is the Day 1b field is on their fourth and final level of today’s play, with about 720 players remaining. Notables who have already been eliminated: Chris Moneymaker, Doyle Brunson, Vicky Coren, David Pham, boxer Winky Wright, and Marlon Shirley, who will definitely get some airtime during ESPN’s Day 1b coverage.
The unofficial chip leader is Nick Maimone, with 129,000 in chips. Some notables with chips includes: Ali Eslami (85,000), Fabrice Soulier (66,000), Erik Seidel (59,500), Shaun Deeb (53,000), Joe Sebok (42,500), and Amarillo Slim (36,000). You can follow the live updates at www.wsop.com here.
See what other rumors get started or squashed at Pokerati in the evening hours and early morning and I’ll be back with more stuff in the morning.
Union talks with Benjo are going well — we still haven’t come to complete resolution, but it’s good we’re still all at the table — and thus, to the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner on American Independence Day / La Quatrième de Juillet, he joins Pauly to give a report from Day 1B as Doyle Brunson gets cards in the air … But not before the sometimes-Angry Frenchman is put on self-loathing tilt by a fucking wanker someone wearing a Zidane jersey and America’s insistence on calling soccer football.
Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NVEpisode 11.29: Poker de la Liberté (feat. Benjo)
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This really was a big one … beyond the coolness of seeing a guy dominate an entire variant of poker (a la Hellmuth/Hold’em), here’s more from Nolan on the significance of Jeff Lisandro’s three bracelets in the month of June in 7-stud Hi, 7-stud Hi-Lo, and 7-stud Lo-Lo … and how it compares to similar accomplishments in bigger and smaller years past:
More on Jeffrey Lisandro’s Win (Historical Implications) –
· Lisandro became only the fifth player in WSOP history to win three gold bracelets within a single year. The other four players to accomplish this feat were:
Puggy Pearson (1973)
Ted Forrest (1993)
Phil Hellmuth (1993)
Phil Ivey (2002)· Lisandro has a reasonable chance to become the first-ever four-time gold bracelet winner (single year) in WSOP history. The closest any player has ever come to accomplishing this feat was Phil Hellmuth in 1993 when he finished 1st, 1st, 1st, and 2nd in four events. Lisandro still has 14 more events to set a new record — with 10 gold bracelets remaining on this year’s schedule in Las Vegas, plus four more events in WSOP-Europe to be played in September.
Recapping the first half of Saturday tournament action.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The final table of the $10,000 Stud 8 or Better World Championship is now being streamed over the Internet at www.bluffmagazine.com/live and wsop.pkr.com The official final table has been reached, in the following chip order:
Abe Mosseri
Jeff Lisandro
Farzad Rouhani
Yan Chen
Frank Mariani
Doyle Brunson – 7th
Justin “Boosted J” Smith – 8th
Mike Wattel
Watching should be interesting, as most of the cards will be visible, but the Bluff coverage is more suitable to games that have a flop. Also unknown is if there will be “expert” commentary or they’ll just point some cameras at the table and broadcast what the tournament director on the mic says like they did in Phil Ivey’s win in the 2-7 NL Draw event. Tune in and find out what happens.
Happy Saturday, ya’ll! This is Dan here, taking over for KevMath this morning so he can enjoy a well-deserved day off to show him who’s boss. So here we go, recapping last night’s action from the Amazon room and beyond … (brought to you by the internet):
Lisandro
Rouhani
Smith
Schneider
VahediIn the $10k 7CS-HL (or “Split” as @TexDolly calls it) Doyle Brunson is going for his Hellmuth-tying 11th bracelet, while Jeff Lisandro looks for his second of 2009 while making a surge up the Player of the Year leaderboard. Below’s who’s left. No plans yet (as far as we know) for Bluff or ESPN360 to be carrying this live — though we wouldn’t be surprised if that changed should Brunson and/or Scotty Nguyen make the final table.
Abe Mosseri 950,000
Jeff Lisandro 786,000
Doyle Brunson 525,000
Farzad Rouhani 494,000
Yan Chen 476,000
Perry Friedman 378,000
Lyle Berman 333,000
Scotty Nguyen 298,000
Frank Mariani 267,000
Justin ‘Boosted J’ Smith 237,000
Mike Wattel 96,000
Anthony Rivera 92,000
Rouhani, btw, is Iranian. In case you poker-only degens weren’t aware, there’s some big shit going down in his homeland right now — and to some extent (especially after Iran’s protesty soccer team got eliminated from World Cup contention this week) isn’t a 7-Stud Hi-Lo World Championship exactly what that country needs?
In $2,000 NLH, 17 (out of 1,695) players remain — competing for prizes ranging from $21k to $586k. You may not recognize many of the remaining players in this one, but most have found success in smaller tourneys, circuit events, and, of course, online. Spread around the final two tables, there are zero bracelets in the mix, 49 WSOP cashes, and six WSOP Circuit money finishes. The favorite is probably Jordan Smith (from Texas!). Click here to follow throughout the day and see who’s really ready to step up on a bigger stage.
In the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event, 107 out of 446 players remain. David Baker is the chip leader, while some known names still alive in the field waiting to get eliminated include Scott Lazar, Rafe Furst, Diego Cordovez, Phil Hellmuth, Greg “FBT” Mueller, John Monnete, Marcel Luske, Maria Ho, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Schneider (part of some strange Minnesota Limit Posse), Shannon Shorr, and Abdol Vahedi — who for the moment we are presuming is Amir Vahedi’s brother or at least cousin, as both Iranians hail from Sherman Oaks, CA. Day 2 gets underway at 2 pm pacific — click here to see who else is left in the field and where they’re sitting.
So there you have it. Hopefully KevMath will be back next week, or otherwise you may never have it again.
Yours truly, meanwhile, got a call from some of his old homies and will be playing (poker, not basketball) in an NBA charity event later today.
Recapping the overnight action from Tuesday:
Daniel Alaei won his second career WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship, to win over $445,000. Alaei took the chip lead from Scott Clements as the final table progressed, as heads-up play with Clements lasted just two hands. Daniel Negreanu finished in 4th, John Monnette finished in 5th.
The $2,500 NL 6-max event finished with 11 players at the 3am deadline, who get to return at 12 noon to reach the feature table, with final table coverage on ESPN360. Joseph Serock is the current chip leader, with Brock Parker in second place looking for another WSOP bracelet. Here’s how the final two tables will be situated when play resumes:
Seat 1: Alexander Ivarsson – 734000
Seat 2: Clayton Newman – 501000
Seat 3: Brian Meinders – 423000
Seat 4: Joseph Serock – 1745000
Seat 5: James Sudworth – 247000
Seat 6: Russell Crane – 672000
Seat 1: Alexander Wilson – 603000
Seat 2: Brian Friesen – 258000
Seat 3: Jay Kinkade – 542000
Seat 4: Jesse Rios – 745000
Seat 5: Brock Parker – 1603000
Day 2 of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem event returns at 2pm today with 61 players remaining, all having made the money. Jason Dewitt is the chip leader at 184,700, with Mark Seif (83,000) and David “The Maven” Chicotsky (82,400) among the top 10. Selected notables: Glynn Beebe (62,700), Erik Seidel (61,400), Mike Sexton (35,000), and Joe Sebok (24,000).
Day 2 of the $3,000 HORSE event drew a field of 452, up nearly 40 from last year, with 197 players remaining. Rob Amereno is the leader at 96,800. Featured notables: Markus Golser (52,500), David Singer (48,700), David Levi (35,600), Doyle Brunson (32,800), Shirley Rosario (31,100) and Michael Binger (28,700).
The 12pm tournament, as Dan noted in below, is the $1,500 NL Holdem Shootout event, which looks to be maxed out at 1,000 players already. 100 tables of 10 each play down to a winner, with the 100 players remaining coming back on Day 2. Last year, Jason Young won the bracelet in another maxed out field of 1,000 for over $330,000 in winnings.
The 5pm event today is the debut of the $10,000 NL 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw World Championship event. Players start with 10,000 in chips along with two additional “rebuy” chips that can be used at any time in the first three levels. Phil Ivey won the $2,500 version of this event last week in a field of 147. The WSOP Staff Guide states that 85 players projected for today, so dead money will be hard to find. The projection appears a smidge high, so expect a field of 74 when registration is closed.
More stuff during the day at Pokerati and this afternoon at www.wsop.com
Here’s tonight’s action in brief:
Four left in $2k NL on ESPN360: 4 left, currently on dinner break until 9:40pm Anthony Harb and Peter Rho chip leaders.
Nine left in $10k Mixed Event: Doyle out 13th, Scott Dorin leader, Huck Seed 2nd, Todd Brunson 9th
81 left in $2.5k NL holdem, Alex Keating chip leader.
39 left in $2.5k Limit holdem 6-max, 36 get paid. Shawn Buchanan chip leader.
366 return from dinner break in $5k NL, starting field was 655, down about 80 from last year.
359 entries in 1.5k 7 Card Stud, Mark Seif and Tom Schneider among very early chip leaders.
More updates at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and Pokerati (maybe) during the evening.
Another day, another two final tables delayed at the WSOP yesterday. Starting with the $2,000 No Limit Holdem event, 25 players return at noon on Saturday to play down to the winner. The reason for the early start is in the hopes that a final table will be reached around the scheduled 2pm time that the final table would air on ESPN360 (http://wsop.pkr.com for those outside the US). The chip leader when play resumes will be Mike Carlson with 858,000 in chips. Others people may have heard of include Jim Geary (511,000), and Jose Rosenkrantz (187,000).
The other event will definitely have a more intriguing final table, as the $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship is down to its final 20 players, all of whom are in the money. Huck Seed will be the chip leader at 645,500. In a father-son battle, it’s Todd Brunson (374,500) with a slight chip lead over Doyle Brunson (335,000). Other notables remaining include Mark Gregorich (266,000), Mike Wattel (210,000), Michael Binger (132,000), Eric Froehlich (102,000) and a mystery person who name and chip count wasn’t reported. They’ll get to return at 1pm, and with the average stack having just 10 big bets, a final table may not be that long in the offing.
In the two final tables that concluded earlier this morning, Ken “Teach” Aldridge schooled the final table to win the $1,500 NL Holdem 6-max event for $428,259, and Rami Boukai took down the $2,500 PLO/PLH (HA) event, which was worth $244,862.
More tournament news after the jump:
It’s a special moment as Vitaly Lunkin, from Moscow, receives his bracelet for the $40k, and Benjo and Pauly are there to hear the first ever playing of Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii, aka the “State Hymn of the Russian Federation” — while contemplating what a European bracelet and Harrah’s diamond card means for international relations. Meanwhile, yonder down the Rio hallway, two elderly Texans race their scooters on what reliable sources say is a $50,000 prop bet. But with Amarillo Slim on his comeback tour, did Doyle Brunson take a dive?
Las Vegas, NVEpisode 11.9: Ruskies Win
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Episode 11.10: Scooter Race Action
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WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack’s latest v-Log, giving his marketing pitch critical assessment one week into the 2009 World Series:
And for those who haven’t seen it yet, click here to see the Doyle Brunson vs. Amarillo Slim scooter race and $50k prop bet.
I’m sure many people missed last night’s High Stakes Poker episode on GSN to watch Annie Duke get slowrolled by Donald Trump. The show featured the debut of the day 1 lineup with a few new faces so check it out below:
Annie Duke vs. Joan Rivers tonight … (getting underway live … we West Coasters have to wait a bit). I’m still not sure whether or not they’ve already done their task … my guess is they have, so tonight, “live”, is the final boardroom. Either way, @TexDolly is having fun coming up with some “Boo Joan!” doozies:
Joan Rivers got trapped on an escalator. The power went out,
12:45 PM May 8th from webJoan Rivers has a concussion. She was getting a drink and the toilet seat fell on her head.12:27 PM May 9th from web
Meanwhile, you can follow Annie (@RealAnnieDuke), and probably even better, her boyfriend (@JoeUgly), before-during-after tonight’s finale. Likewise for @JoanRivers___.
Others on-set or nearby:
@CelebApprentice (@MelRivers and @brandenroderick got the official tweeting gigs)
@Zappos
@tomgreenlive
@Andy_Bloch
@natalie_gulbis
@howardhlederer
Just some early-morning semi-pokery stuff that’s caught my eye … actually, first part’s not so pokery, but I think a lot of poker fans might be curious about this upcoming ESPN piece on the governor’s efforts in Delaware to bring sports betting to that state:
(And no wonder Doyle Brunson loves it in Montana.)
And this job ad, for a new position in London … Investigator – Poker Specialist. I don’t have much to say about the specific position (London usually means PartyPoker, but not always) … except that I’ve never seen such a title before. New.
Key Responsibilities:
• Fraud prevention, detection and investigation
• Understanding of international online payment methods
• Knowledge of Money Laundering detection and regulation
• Knowledge of foreign language/customs
• Experience of reading Poker hands in relation to chip dumping cases.
An LOL from @TexDolly:
Joan Rivers is so dumb she named her Zebra Spot
I think the finale is tonight The semi-finals are tonight … I can tell people are starting to watch it on the east coast. Doyle Brunson’s watching it, too, apparently, but I guess he’s got some special cable/satellite hook-up that doesn’t make him wait for the same time-zone delay that has me waiting.
(And yes, I’m waiting. Apparently Pokeratizens got it wrong when, pre-episode 1, we thought the only show it would beat ratings-wise was World Poker Tour reruns. Turns out to be one of the hot shows of the year worldwide, even among non-poker people — much because of the Annie Duke/Joan Rivers disrepute.)
Everybody and their dogma seems to be jumping on the Twitter bandwagon these days. Whether texting your whereabouts will prove to be fad or societal fabric a few years from now remains to be seen. In the meantime …
Doyle Brunson’s loving it as a way to share what’s going on in Bobby’s Room.
Annie Duke will let you eavesdrop on semi-private convos with her boyfriend and her catfight with Joan Rivers.
And now Jeffrey Pollack says Twitter is the way he’ll remain accessible to the people during his ever-hectic WSOP.
UPDATE: Interesting … Pollack is with Joan Rivers today in BH (Beverly Hills) … funny coincidence or evil WSOP ratings plot being hatched?
Right now you can follow the final table of the WPT Championship via Twitter, and the activities of their lead reporter, BJ, for a little unintentional real-life behind-the-scenes.
UPDATE: Bertrand ‘Elky’ Grospellier just locked up WPT Player of the Year.
Pauly’s a little bummed I think … because last year Twitter was his semi-secret cybernook where he could relay the real WSOP dirty for his loyalist, most technologically advanced fans … but now this space is anything but “under the radar”.
UPDATE: @Pauly openfaced jerkchicken sandwich w/ jack cheese & dijonaise mustard …
Pokerati’s on the Twitter train now, too. Still trying to figure it all out — but so far definitely not “good for my poker”.
Feel free to add any peeps in the comments that you think we might-should pay attention to; and/or weigh in on whether or not you think this internet-texting convergence thing is “good for poker” will stick around.
Doyle Brunson is on the grid, that’s for sure. In his latest blog post, which I read via Facebook, he tells us he’s really getting into Twitter. Here’s his address if you want to follow him: twitter.com/texdolly
In doing so, you’ll learn why he’s not playing in the WPT Championship, and that Phil Ivey lost $1 million in Bobby’s Room last night.
And then, back to his blog, he explains to all the Teabaggers out there why he thinks they should STFU!
I headed over to my CPA to get my taxes done and ran into a traffic jam. Hundreds of people were blocking the streets having what they called a “tea party”. I think they were protesting the current financial crisis our nation is going through, but some of the signs were ridiculous. “Impeach Obama”, “What comes after trillions”, “Stop spending our money” and other statements blaming our president. For Pete’s sake, let’s give the guy a chance to straighten this mess up. I got a lot of heat for voting for McCain, but I knew when I cast a late vote, John didn’t have a chance to win. I was just being loyal to the Republican Party. But now that the nation has spoken that they wanted Obama, we should all support him.
While the cause of death is being investigated, Doyle Brunson wrote in a blog post today that it was a prescription drug overdose.
It seems like yesterday when my nephew called and gave me a message that made my blood run cold, “I think Chip just died” he told me.
It happened again yesterday, only this time it was Chip’s only son, Casey Reese. Casey was found in his apartment from an apparent overdose of prescription drugs. I had seen Casey a few days ago and he looked great. He was very handsome and extremely personable. I will always remember the closeness between Chip and Casey.
My deepest condolences to the Reese family. I feel like I’ve let Chip down but I don’t know what I could have done to help Casey.
For whatever reason, tonight’s High Stakes Poker got uploaded to GSN on Youtube in 3 parts. This is the last show with this lineup:
It took a while, but GSN finally got the episode on Youtube:
When poker and non-poker entities collide, it can produce interesting results. Case and point, Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak – an odd but somehow perfect match.
Doyle Brunson proved he (or his people) had connections when he first recruited Pamela Anderson to rep for Doyles Room. That was before Doyles Room left the U.S. market and came back complete with Doyles Casino. Since the return, there have been numerous C-list and B-list celebrities lined up for his celebrity bounty tournaments, like Nicky Hilton and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. But this week, the Godfather of Poker has outdone himself. Not only does he have Eve (rapper, sometime-actress, and big deal for hip-hop fans like me) set up as one of his bounties, but he has Mickey Rourke. That Mickey Rourke who just won a Golden Globe for best actor in The Wrestler and was nominated for the Oscar. They will all be participating in this Thursday’s $25K Celebrity Bounty Tournament at Doyles Room.
Doyle wrote about his friendship with Rourke in his blog:
Twelve years ago, through a mutual friend, I met the talented actor Mickey Rourke. His life story should be made into a film because nobody has ever had more ups and downs than Mickey over the past 20 years.
Mickey was one of the hot new movie stars after his hit 9 1/2 weeks with Kim Basinger. Then, because of some personal problems, he walked away from acting to pursue a boxing career.
He boxed from 1991-1995, proving he was indeed a rebel who marched to the beat of his own drummer. Mickey then returned to his first love, acting, and with the completion of his new 2008 film, The Wrestler, he got rave reviews and won every award except the Academy Award. Mickey, who is genuinely a nice guy, decided to try poker. He remembered me, gave me a call and agreed to be one of the bounties in DoylesRoom’s weekly bounty tournament. So come play with Mickey this Thursday at 9:30 eastern in Doyle’s Bounty tournament.
On the other hand, poker doesn’t always mix well with “celebrity,” as Jose Canseco’s accountant can attest to. According to the Los Angeles Times, he dissed the Golden League in 2006 and the subsequent marketing contract he had with them in order to play poker in Reno and attend a party at the Playboy Mansion. Whoops. And for reneging on that contract, he now has to pay $258,750 for his addictions ego choices.
Just mere moments after it just aired, GSN puts up this week’s episode on Youtube right away for you to enjoy. Barry Greenstein drops a new phrase on the GSN viewers early in the show.
GSN dawdled quite a bit this week in putting up episode 3 of High Stakes Poker on Youtube, but better late than never I say.
They’ve been playing all day weekend, and are down to two at the NHUPC. And regardless of how it turns out Vanessa Rousso has arguably earned her keep as the Danicka Patrick of Poker.
(I’m keeping up with results on my own time at PokerNews, btw.)
I ranked her 55th. Overall, the ESPN panel put her 49th. But hey, just goes to show you, anyone can get an easy draw. The laughable field the newest GoDaddy spokesmodel had to beat, in order: Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, 2007 NHUPC champ Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu, and online wunderkind Bertrand Grospellier, aka ‘Elky’. Hmm. Wow.
Meanwhile, my bracket’s turned to shit. Of the 96 players in on PokerRoad/Pokerati’s fun, eight people picked Vanessa Selbst to win it all, yet no one … as in ZERO! … picked Vanessa Rousso.
Of the final four, here’s how many people picked them to win it all:
Vanessa Rousso – 0
Sammy Farha – 0
Huck Seed – 5
Elky – 9
CORRECTION: Technically Mike Matusow is GoDaddy’s newest spokesboy. He went out in Round 1.
We kick off the new year with our very last installment of Perspectives Weekly! Plus, a look back at the most important online gambling events of 2008 and current news, including Doyle Brunson vs. Anurag Dikshit with an explanation of what the PartyGaming co-founder really was thinking.
I’m about to head over the the Golden Nugget (in an hour or so) … so then I’ll have an official count on who’s playing … but there were some last-minute swaps in play.
Yesterday, both Peter Eastgate and Barry Greenstein were hanging around waiting for an open seat. When Sam Simon decided to call it quits, Greenstein took it … seniority?
David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Ilari Sahamies, Eastgate, and Greenstein supposedly have their seats for today locked up. Eastgate was playing highest-stakes at the Bellagio on Friday in preparation, and lost $100k to Daniel Alaei and some player named “Brinn”. (My phonetical translation of what I heard from Eastgate’s heavy-accent recount.)
Phil Hellmuth was supposed to play today, but he backed out. Likewise for Phil Ivey. Ivan Demidov considered taking one of the empty seats, but ultimately declined. As of late yesterday, Chino Rheem was a probable, and Alaei was a possible.
UPDATE: Just got word from the set … players are late. Start delayed a half-hour.
CORRECTIONS: Tom Dwan took Sam Simon’s seat. Hellmuth was never officially on the sked. But somebody told me he might play. Perhaps he just felt the games on UB were better for him?
From an email from GSN:
GSN’S ‘HIGH STAKES POKER™’ HEADS BACK TO THE GOLDEN NUGGET HOTEL & CASINO WITH LARGEST EVER BUY-IN FOR ENTIRE RUN OF A TELEVISION SERIES
WHAT: GSN invites press to come watch the exclusive taping of the highly-anticipated fifth season of HIGH STAKES POKER™. The new season features the returns of poker stars Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra, along with players new to HIGH STAKES POKER such as Tom Dwan and reigning World Champion Peter Eastgate, and recreational players like “The Simpsons” creator Sam Simon, Bob Safai and film director Nick Cassavetes. The stakes have never been higher for the players as the minimum cash buy-in of $200,000 is the largest buy-in for an entire run of a television series. The show returns to the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV where HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON ONE took place. Please see below for a preliminary list of players scheduled to appear.
More…
If you haven’t voted a few times already, there’s a poll right over there ( –> ) asking you what’s your favorite poker blog by a bona fide poker pro. Daniel Negreanu is running away with it, as he probably should be. My personal fave: Doyle Brunson’s blog.
Not only do I enjoy the Doylism of the Day, but also, Big Poppa can write! In his most recent post, he explains why having backed John McCain doesn’t make him anti-poker any more than it makes him a racist:
First, I’m about as far away from being a racist as you can get. I’ve had black friends all my life, and I mean really good friends. That was back before it was “fashionable” to have blacks as friends.
Hmm, that might be a dig at anyone like me who has specifically been courting black girls, thinking interracial intercourse is about to become all the rage (just kidding LaTasjia — you’re still my #1 shorty). But seriously … check it out — not only does Doyle’s blog have other good blogstuff such as a relatively personal Flickr gallery, but also he was able to make a solid point for voting McCain in four paragrafs that neither Tom nor my dad could do in four weeks of email manifestos and belligerent phone calls. It’s the kinda writing I’ve grown to expect from Brunson, who clearly has refined his skills in the 36 years since authoring Super/System.
Another pretty good one comes from Annette 15. Even though the Michelle Wie of Poker (?) says she’s really more of a forum girl, Annette Obrestad’s blog (added to the poll by a reader) is filled with worthwhile reads from a young pro making her way through the high-stakes world, live and online. I really dug her post introducing “set mining” to me (the phrase, if not the concept), with a simple, straightforward math-based explanation of when it’s worth seeing if you’re pocket pair can trip up.
Anyhow, just a couple that I’ve found worth the clicks and eyeball time, and possibly a few votes.
Affected by the IP ban:
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
Nevada
Oregon
South Dakota
Utah
Wisconsin
Washington
Kentucky
Not sure how Nevada’s being included in this affects Doyle Brunson’s ability to play on his own site.
I attended the grand opening/premiere/LV poker mixer for The Real Deal at the Venetian on Tuesday. I’m still processing what I witnessed — but I am pretty sure it was the official jumping of the shark for poker, as some 500 poker fans (including Tim Conway, Robert Wagner, Bob Newhart, multiple poker agents, WSOP officials, and the owner of the Venetian and president of the Sands, who walked out after 25 minutes) witnessed painfully how getting lots of airtime on ESPN, GSN, and Fox Sports comes nowhere close to making you a Vegas entertainer worthy of a $100 ticket twice a night, let alone twice a lifetime.*
*Exceptions: Lacey Jones and Vinnie Favorito were great.
Wicked Chops and RawVegas were there, too. And they took advantage of the red carpet to poll a few well known poker players on who they’re backing in the presidential election:
The breakdown:
Daniel Negreanu — Obama
Scotty Nguyen — McCain
Doyle Brunson — Diplomatic: likes McCain but “Obama is better for poker” (?)
Todd Brunson — McCain
Lacey Jones — Undecided: Worked in previous McCain campaigns, but “on the fence”
Eli Elezra — Filibuster: Obama “right guy for poker … but I’m a businessman also”
Gavin Smith — Obama
Dennis Phillips — Diplomatic Filibuster: House and Senate elections matter more
Early reports from the $15k main event of WPT Festa al Lago (at Bellagio) … Michael Phelps showed up to play … he’s out. And our favorite Donkey Bomber also just got bombed … he got it all-in with Aces only to have his opponent flop quad Queens.
Yikes, when I said “Feel My Pain,” I didn’t mean it so literally.
I’m following the so-so coverage not-so-closely via CardPlayer.com. A lotta pros … looks to be smaller than last year. Big-name pros playing mostly today (Hellmuth, Brunson, Negreanu, G.Smith, et al), probably because they’ve got the big premier of their poker musical (The Real Deal) at the Venetian tomorrow night.
Mike Sexton apparently has a new gig over at my personal poker news RSS reader PokerNewsDaily, and in his debut column shares his real thoughts on the 2008 WSOP. They are respectful (of course) but, the WPT television co-host doesn’t hold back from addressing his concerns about WSOP floor staff, cheating, and death.
Some highlights:
Another problem I have: “What if someone dies before the final table is assembled?” Putting a little casket on the table and blinding a guy off would not only create a morbid setting, it would also change the strategy players might induce to move up in the money. And although a legend didn’t make that final table (such as Doyle Brunson), what if they did and then they died in October? What might have been perhaps the greatest final table ever would now be a very sad and tragic final table.
Michael Phelps made history at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics by winning a record eight gold medals. And his comments to the press about wanting to play some poker in the future garnered much attention from the poker community, as in offers from the Asian Poker Tour and Betfair regarding the WSOP Europe. Neither offer was accepted.
It seems that the swimming legend does things on his own terms. Phelps recently traveled to Las Vegas with some friends as guests of the Palms, and one of his wishes was to meet Doyle and Todd Brunson and Hoyt Corkins.
According to the most recent post on Doyle’s blog, he received a call and brought his son and Corkins, along with Jennifer Harman and Marco Traniello, to meet Phelps for a dinner at Nine Steakhouse at the Palms. “What a nice kid!” Doyle wrote. “Phelps and some of his friends wanted books so I took Super System 1 and 2 to them and they asked all kinds of poker questions. Michael said all he wanted to do in life, was to eat, swim and play poker.”
Oh yeah… I can already see Phelps with a Doyle’s Room cowboy hat at the WSOP in 2009. Obviously, no deals have been signed at this point and Phelps has not accepted any invitations to play in tournaments thus far, but I can see an NBC National Heads-Up Championship and World Series in the kid’s future. Just a personal prediction…
The story of Jimmy Chagra’s life is a colorful one, to say the least. His early years included a heavy investment in the drug business, high-stakes gambling, which included poker with the likes of Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese, and crime.
It was the drug trade that seemed to make Jimmy’s word go ’round. By all accounts, he took his drug profits to the casinos and lost large sums of money at the poker and gaming tables, then made it all back with drugs – living on the edge in a whirlwind of activity that finally took him to prison. He plead guilty to charges of heading up an assassination attempt on the Assistant US Attorney in 1978, and he was alleged to have set up another hit – this one successful – on Judge Wood, the man who handed down his first prison sentence. The story gained great publicity because the hit man supposedly hired by Jimmy was Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson.
Jimmy’s prison stint was finally ended in 2003 for health reasons, and he was placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program. But living in hiding didn’t sit well with the notorious criminal/gambler because he showed up at the 2007 WSOP to play a little and conduct a few interviews.
His sister reported that Jimmy died on August 19 at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer.
