Greg Raymer is still alive in the NAPT main event (with 128 of 872 remaining). He made it just in time for the tournament … via Washington DC, where he was at CPAC 2010, bringing “our issue” to the people who came to see the likes of Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, John Ashcroft, Glenn Beck, and Tucker Carlson.

It’s kinda a tough sell when you think about it … the buzzwords in influential conservative circles these days are all about less government, not more. So here we have poker’s Libertarian ambassador trying to persuade GOPers to: forget the moralists in favor of personal freedom (ok, probably doable), set up a new government bureaucracy to monitor our financial activity on the internet (what the …?), and tax him a lot more personally. (”OK, now we gotta hear this; hey Jeb get over here, I think the guy who showed up in your office this summer wearing shorts and sandals with socks is gonna tell a joke!)

Vanity Fair seemed to find it a little bit mockworthy. But according to Time magazine, what really matters is that poker players do know how to party:

But probably the coolest parties that first night at CPAC were secret ones — invite-only passes palmed to a select few. The first one was hosted by the Poker Player’s Alliance and included CPAC’s “It” kids, James O’Keefe of Acorn pimp fame and his three cohorts who were recently entangled with the law for messing with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu’s phone lines; anti-tax champion Grover Norquist; conservative media personality Andrew Breitbart; and 2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer. The open bar at Medaterra got quite a workout with young conservatives ordering everything from beer to shots of Redheaded Sluts, a crimson concoction involving Jagermeister. (After some debate, no one was game enough to try a flaming Redheaded Slut.) Breitbart and the rest of the Louisiana Four — as they were fondly hailed by many at CPAC — then headed over to a party hosted by Mike Flynn, editor of the website Big Government, at Morton’s Steakhouse. Flynn not only had an open bar tab but stacks of fine cigars for guests to chuff on.

BTW, check out CPAC’s straw poll to see what issues matter most to people who consider themselves true conservatives in 2010. You’ll see on page 11 that the runaway favorite for president amongst these folks is Ron Paul (R-TX), who generally hates all things more-government, but as a co-sponsor to the Barney Frank bill, could prove a critical ally.

I’m watching it, for the first time. ESPN just did the sidebar piece on Justin Bonomo’s prop bet on one of the 40something players living in Panorama Towers winning a bracelet. (Does anyone know if he won that bet? I’m sure Panorama Towers had at least as many final tables as Denmark.) Greg Raymer just busted out … Norman Chad’s same ole shtick seems fresh, not tired … and the poker itself is good.

I gotta say, like the way the 2009 season is starting … I could see a few people getting hooked during a weekend marathon. Go ESPN. I think my reluctance to give a shit about first airings might say more about an evolving desire to watch TV podcast-style, at one’s own convenience, than it does about non-excitement for what is clearly a great poker show. Well shot, well edited.

MORE: The cutover to the Champions Invitational … with Raymer coming over after busting out in third, to take a seat amongst a bunch of recognizable-to-grandma champions … nice! Seriously, semi-interested in that tourney now. (If only it had more money at stake.)

Greg Raymer did an online chat with the Washington Post today … relatively interesting stuff, and good to see that while the non-poker-geeky masses may not be charged up about online poker issues, they are starting to understand them … or at least ask better questions.

Still, seems most of the curiosity is about card play itself:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/07/21/DI2009072102508.html

Sometimes I think they’re important to have. Other times, um, lol? From Facebook:

J ***** sent you a message.

Subject: WSOP

“You still in the main event? In the money yet?”

Hey, so if all you could play along … I’m thinking of telling him yeah, it’s Day 3, I’m good for like $160k and am thinking of cashing out before I lose it all. Cool? If he asks who’s winning we’ll say Greg Raymer, OK? Ooh, or even better, Phil Ivey … er …

A reminder of what the main event really is all about — at least for more than thousand true online poker geeks in attendance last night at the PokerStars party — because really, when else would Gregory Raymer ever have a chance to be on the same page as Simon LeBon?

The daily briefing from Pokerati’s always reliable Vegas nightlife informant:

photo: Shane O’Neal/N9NE Group

Rain Nightclub inside Palms Casino Resort hosted the 40th Annual World Series of Poker Event Thursday night (7.9.09), a private event which featured a special performance by Grammy award-winning artist, Nelly. The evening consisted of poker stars and celebrities who joined as one with PokerStars.net to celebrate poker at its finest. Dressed in a white polo shirt and jeans, Nelly arrived with an entourage of 15 people. Shortly after midnight, he hit the stage and rocked a 40-minute live performance in front of a packed house. In addition to singing top hits, “Hot In Herrre,” “Dilemma” and “Country Grammar” he also treated the crowd with two songs from his new album expected to hit stores in the fall.

Others in attendance included: actor and poker player Chad Brown; professional poker players Daniel Negreanu, Gregory Raymer and Barry Greenstein; actor and comedian best known for his role in Seinfeld, Jason Alexander; and actor who was recently crowned the winner of reality TV series, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, Lou Phillips.

English rock band Duran Duran partied at Playboy Club at a VIP table. They arrived with a couple friends and were seen drinking beer, leaving shortly after midnight.

ALT HED: Chad Brown’s an Actor?

First, this note from Nolan Dalla’s latest tournament report:

In the days following the third annual Ante Up For Africa tournament, WSOP officials have received a number of media inquiries regarding the event’s second-place finisher – specifically whether he collected his winnings without donating a portion to the cause the tournament benefits. In light of these ongoing inquiries and certain erroneous media reports that have been filed since the event’s conclusion, the WSOP feels it is necessary to clarify certain relevant facts.

First and foremost, the second-place finisher, to date, has not collected his tournament winnings. Nor has he stated an intention not to contribute to the charity. This player has, in fact, contacted Ante Up For Africa organizers to discuss his plans for the money. Any reports to the contrary are factually inaccurate and should be disregarded.

Day 1b concluded with 655 players returning Tuesday afternoon, joining the remaining entries from day 1a as Day 2a gets underway. The reported* chip leader at the end of play is Brandon Demes with 137,075. Other notables with a decent stack include: Fabrice Soulier (97,725), Joe Sebok (78,800), Bruno Fitoussi (58,100), Shaun Deeb (55,100), Amarillo Slim (48,075) and Greg Raymer (43,750). To see the entire list of survivors, check out the link here.

* Day 1 chip leader Eric Cloutier’s stack was reported as 150,750, it turns out it actually is 15,075.

Day 1c gets underway with a possible change in schedule, as ESPN.com’s Andrew Feldman noted, day 1c and 1d MAY start with 5 levels of play, then playing 4 levels on Day 2b on Wednesday. Day 2a will then be five levels long so everyone has played for the same amount of time. Feldman expects an announcement to made just before play gets underway at 12 noon today. Follow the updates over at www.wsop.com here and maybe some stuff from the rest of Pokerati during Sunday.

The Rumble at the Rio had its press conference/weigh-in ceremony today in the Rio Pavilion hallway to introduce Liv Boeree (representing UltimateBet) and Melissa Castello (representing PokerNews), who will be fighting each other on July 1 for publicity charity. ESPN filmed it, and the poker media was out in force to cover it. Almost every poker media outlet was there to take photos or gather notes to publicize the event.

It is significant to note that only about 25% of those reporters were anywhere near the Poker Players Alliance press conference yesterday. PPA Chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato spoke, along with NV Rep. Shelley Berkley and PPA board members Greg Raymer and Linda Johnson, to announce National Poker Week.

Who says the poker media doesn’t have integrity/priorities?

Recapping the early part of Friday’s WSOP action:

Austin Awesome in $5,000 PLO

Richard Austin took down the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event in stunning fashion, eliminating Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and Sorel Mizzi on the final hand when he hit a flush on the river to take down the coveted WSOP bracelet as well as $409,484. Mizzi would take second place, good for $253,048, while Josephy finished in 3rd for $166,771.

Nguyen Winning $10k Stud 8

Day 2 of the $10,000 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship has Scotty Nguyen, still $4,000,000 short of his goal at this year’s WSOP or he retires from poker, is the current chip leader (342,500) with 33 players remaining. Lyle Berman (280,000), John Hennigan (230,000), Greg Raymer (196,000) and Jeff Lisandro (154,000) are some of the notables remaining. Unfortunately for Pokerati readers, Tom Schneider was one of the most recent eliminations.

Woodall Waxing Competition in $2,000 NL

Warren Woodall, who had a deep run in an earlier $2,000 NL holdem event, is the current chip leader (580,000) with 68 players remaining in another $2,000 NL Holdem event. Corwin Cole (465,000), Christian Harder (375,000) and Ken Lennaard (251,000) make up a few of the notables remaining as they play down to the final table or the 3am deadline, whichever comes first.

Sands Rises in the Desert

David Sands leads the remaining 239 players from a starting field of 446 in the $2,000 Limit Holdem event with two levels left in the day. Sands currently has about 36,000 in chips, followed by John Monette (30,000), Daniel Negreanu (23,500), Alex Kravchenko (20,000) and Mickey Seagle (19,000) as notables on the unofficial leaderboard.

Follow the updates over at www.wsop.com and more pictures of ass crack here at Pokerati.

Six bracelet events are working towards different conclusions this evening. The one that most people are following is the $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball final table, which is now heads-up between Phil Ivey and John Monette. Ivey stands to win about $100,000 in the tournament, plus $3,000,000 in bracelet bets. You can catch the action at wsop.pkr.com or bluffmagazine.com/live

The $1,500 NL Holdem event finally reached their final table this evening and the players went on a dinner break. That final table was supposed to be streamed, so apparently when the Lowball event ends, they’ll move whomever’s left in the Holdem event to this table. Here’s how that final table will begin:

Seat 1 – Steve Karp
Seat 2 – Brian McInnis
Seat 3 – Mark Salinaro
Seat 4 – James McClain
Seat 5 – Walter Wright
Seat 6 – Mike Ciotola
Seat 7 – Kam Low
Seat 8 – Travis Johnson
Seat 9 – Craig McConville

In the $1,500 NL 6-max event, 35 are currently remaining as they’ll play down to a 6-handed final table. Notables remaining include David Fox, David “Bakes” Baker, Manny Minaya, Peter Gould and Praz Bansi. The $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event finally reached the money after returning from dinner break. Greg Raymer and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi went out just short of the money. Amnon Filippi is the chip leader, with Hevad Khan, Surinder Sunar, Ben Grundy and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier looking to be at the final table tomorrow afternoon.

A starting field of 1,646 entered the $2,000 NL Holdem event, and when the dinner break was over, just under 800 were returning, one of which will pick up nearly $570,000. The evening tournament, $10,000 Mixed Event World Championship drew a field of 194, and in the early hours, Vanessa Rousso is the current chip leader. Plenty of big names, including Scotty Nguyen, Ivan Demidov, Victor Ramdin and Barry Greenstein are in the top 10, with plenty of big names looking to take down the $492,000 top prize. For more updates during the evening, point your browser over to www.worldseriesofpoker.com often.

The $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special is nearing its final table as they’re down to 13 players and may stop for the day when they reach their final table. Jeff Oakes is the current chip leader with 2,400,000. Danny Fuhs is currently 2nd. Dan Heimiller and Steve Sung are other notables who are looking to make the final table, which will either take place later tonight or Wednesday at 2pm, as the scheduled streaming of the final table has been postponed.

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event is working their way down to its final table tonight. They currently have 27 players remaining as they went on their dinner break. Jonathan Tare will have the chip lead when the players return, Greg Pappas is currently in 2nd, with day 1 chip leader Jason Mercier is 3rd in chips. Former bracelet winners Dario Alioto, Eric Froehlich and An Tran are some of the notables making up the final three tables.

The $10,000 7-Card Stud World Championship has 45 players remaining while they play down to their final table. The current leader is Fu Wong, followed by Greg “FBT” Mueller, Max Pescatori, Nick Frangos, Hoyt Corkins and Cory Zeidman. A recent elimination was Day 1 chip leader David Oppenheim, along with Phil Ivey, Joe Cassidy and Bruno Fitoussi being day 2 casualties, falling far short of the money that will be reached when 16 players remain.

The $1,500 NL Holdem event got underway today as a field of 2,791 entrants flooded the tournament area, causing delays in the starts of several other events. Returning on the dinner break will be 889 players, with the current chip leader is Jonathan Little, with “Minneapolis Jim” Meehan, Bertrand “Elky” Grospelier, Tiffany Michelle and Chau Giang among the notables off to a fast start. The money will be reached when 297 players remain, with the winner taking home $666,853.

The $2,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Single Draw event started as 148 players took their seats, as plenty of notables round out the field, including Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda, Billy Baxter, Chino Rheem, Gavin Smith and Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider as they play eight one-hour levels tonight. Follow all the tournament’s progress at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and Pokerati for DonkeyBomber and other updates.

The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event started at noon today, and it appeared they were competing with the two Day 1’s of the $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special in terms of winnowing the field in a hurry. As the players go on their dinner break, just 198 players remain from a starting field of 809. There’s a chance that the field will be able to make the money, as 81 players will get paid, with first place taking down just over $237,000. The 75% reduction of the field in the PLO event is greater than the 67% decimation that hit the $1k NL event this past weekend. The early leaders appear to be Jason Mercier and Jesse Rios, both over 70,000 in chips. Other notables still with a chance: Josh Arieh, Amnon Filippi, Shannon Shorr, David Sklansky and Andy Black.

In games where you use two cards, the $1k Stimulus Special is on their dinner break, with play scheduled to end at 3am with the belief that a final table will be close at hand. Zach Melaney appears to be the chip leader (260,000). Notables near the top include J.C. Tran (200,000), Jonathan Aguiar (140,000), Steve Sung (90,000) and Will “The Thrill” Failla (76,000).

The WSOP Champions Invitational is currently three-handed as Tom McEvoy, Robert Varkonyi and Dan Harrington are playing for the Binion Cup and 1970 Corvette. Probably not the final three the ESPN cameras were hoping for, but that’s poker for you.

The $10,000 7 Card Stud World Championship drew a smaller than expected field of 142, down 16 from last year. However, plenty of poker’s elite still make up the field such as: Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, Tony G, Barry Greenstein, David Singer, John Hennigan and Chau Giang. Updates on all of these events can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com all night.

A few recaps while several tournaments are on their dinner breaks:

The 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem final table has 4 players remaining. Greg Raymer, Vitaly Lunkin, Isaac Haxton and Dani Stern make up the final four to take home nearly $2m and the first open gold bracelet of the WSOP. Ted Forrest, Noah Schwartz, Lex Veldhius, Alec Torelli and Justin Bonomo were eliminated earlier today from the final table.

Speaking of Raymer, the WSOP Champions Invitational got underway earlier this afternoon. 20 of the 25 surviving champions accepted their RSVPs to be filmed under the bright lights of the ESPN cameras. Within the first orbit, 2006 winner Jamie Gold was the first player eliminated, while 2003 winner Chris Moneymaker watched his 10,000 chip stack dwindle erode before he finally busted. Raymer was able to get a couple of hands in before returning to the $40k final table. Six more one-hour levels or until the final table of nine return Monday afternoon.

More recaps on the next page:
More…

The money bubble bursts in the $40k NLH — Neil Chriss suffers — and Pauly, Benjo, and I are there to capture it live while talking about sheep hookers. By the time this event gets to the final table, it’s about whether Greg Raymer is old-school or new-school, and if I would ever spend my Sundays at a strip club. (A few hundred Lodge players, of course, know the answer to that.) Plus: how a four-figure strip-club bill in Week 1 turns into a five-figure blowout by Week 6, and who knows what kinda party’s in store when a Frenchman wins a bracelet.

Special appearances by Short-Stacked Shamus and a lovely French woman.

Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NV

Episode 11.7: Bubble Party
4:01

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Episode 11.8: $40K Final Table Dance
4:25

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The first major final table of the 2009 WSOP takes place at 2pm today for the 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem. ESPN will be filming today, the only bracelet event besides the Main Event to bring out their cameras. Fortunately, they’ve made a wise choice as they have a final table with a World Champion, several bracelet winners and some of today’s best Internet players battling out for nearly $1.9 million for first and a gold WSOP bracelet. Here’s how the players will be seated when play resumes:

Seat 1 – Ted Forrest (560,000)
Seat 2 – Noah Schwartz (660,000)
Seat 3 – Alec Torelli (2,340,000)
Seat 4 – Isaac Haxton (5,955,000)
Seat 5 – Greg Raymer (3,345,000)
Seat 6 – Justin Bonomo (1,685,000)
Seat 7 – Lex Veldhuis (3,805,000)
Seat 8 – Dani Stern (1,300,000)
Seat 9 – Vitaly Lunkin (4,565,000)

The unfortunate (for both ESPN and himself) final table bubble boy was Tony G, outflopped by Lunkin on the final hand of play yesterday, but he should be able to console himself with the $172,000 he earned for the 10th place finish.

Day 1a of the $1,000 NL Holdem Stimulus Special is now in the books, with 2,998 entries for day 1a, and only 375 surviving the donkey slaughter to return on Monday afternoon to join the remnants of Sunday’s field of nearly 3,000 who start play at 12 noon. The day 1a chip leader is Jeremiah DeGreef with 132,200 in chips, the only other player who broke the 100k mark was Jonathan Tamayo (107,500). The average stack for the remaining day 1a players will be about 24 BBs (24,000). A more detailed recap of today’s events from me can be found on PokerNews. Today at 12 noon, another field of nearly 3,000 will be taking their seats for day 1b, playing ten levels of poker and then coming back on short rest tomorrow to first make the money, then the final table.

The ESPN cameras will also be focused on the Champions Invitational which will start at 4pm PT today. Somewhere between 20 and 25 players anticipate on being part of the lineup, although Greg Raymer could certainly be excused if he shows up a little later than the others. Russ Hamilton and Bobby Baldwin, as noted earlier, will not be in action today. Chris Ferguson surely has RSVP’d by now, but the remaining champions (Mansour Matloubi, Hamid Dastmalchi, and Noel Furlong) may not bother coming back to Vegas just to play for the Binion Cup trophy and 1970 Corvette that goes to the winner.

The $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event will also come to a conclusion today starting at 2pm, as 19 players remain at the end of play on day 2. Ed Smith is the current chip leader at 433,000 in chips, defending champion Thang Luu is in 2nd (410,000). Other notables remaining: Robert Price, Jim Geary, Freddy Deeb, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Richard Toth, Ming Reslock, and Jordan Rich. Follow all the action over at www.worldseriesofpoker.com and throughout the day here on Pokerati.

The $1,000 NL Hold’em Stimulus Special looks to be a huge success, as day 1a appears to be sold out with at least 2,800 entered. There’s still some room for tomorrow’s day 1b, but it looks like that field will also be maxed out before play gets underway at 12 noon today. The WSOP Staff Guide projected 5,305 entrants and that has already been exceeded, so I’ll take the cheap win and take the over with a field of 5700 who will eventually play this weekend as the WSOP staff finds a few additional tables to put on the floor to accommodate the field.

The 40th Annual $40,000 NL Hold’em event returns for day 3 action today at 2pm with 23 players playing down to Sunday’s ESPN final table. Justin Bonomo will start action as the chip leader with 2,678,000 in chips, Ted Forrest in 2nd with 2,586,000, and David “WhoooKidd” Baker in 3rd with 2,367,000. Greg Raymer is the last remaining World Champion in the field, in 4th place with 2,287,000. Other notable names include Alec Torelli, Dani Stern, Matt Glantz, Isaac Haxton, David Chiu, Neil Channing, Andy Black, and Andrew Robl.

The $1,500 Omaha Eight or Better also comes back at 2pm today with 197 players remaining from their record field of 918. 2008 winner Thang Luu appears to have returned to his winning form, as he’ll start play today as the chip leader with 73,600 in chips. Other notable names remaining in the field include Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Todd Brunson, and Brandon Cantu. Their final table is also scheduled for Sunday, although with much less exposure than what will be a mix of live and online stars of the 40k event or the WSOP Champions Invitational event, which also starts on Sunday. More to come today, with an update soon (?) if the Stimulus Special has sold out.

8am Update: Under 80 seats left for Sunday.
10:30am Update: 5,839 registered from Da Commish’s Twitter

There’s a lot of interesting action going on tonight. The $40k NLH seems to have quite the storylines developing … Chris Moneymaker (@cmoneymaker) is still alive and strong, but the chip leader is now his new-poker-era successor, Greg Raymer. Justin Bonomo (@JustinBonomo) is still proving to be a big threat … all these boomtime champions, yet plenty of old dogs there, too — Steven Zolotow, David Chiu, Ted Forrest, e.g. — representin’ those pre-boom big-time days.

There are currently 38 players remaining, with 27 making the money. Click here to follow the official chip counts – and Dr. Pauly is all over this one, too.

UPDATE: Moneymaker just took a huge hit, losing 2/3 of his stack.

RE-UPDATE: Pauly is ahead of the official counters — Moneymaker is out. So is Zolotow.

There’s also some potential excitement brewing in the ESPN Fantasy Pool, with Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz, one of my guys) way up near the top of the chip counts; and Mathers has Neil Channing hanging on for his team of fantasy scabs.

Vanessa Rousso (@VanessaRousso) is also still alive, though barely. Wouldn’t it be something …

Last but definitely not least, Dallas/Shreveport baller Keith Lehr (pictured) is currently 5th in chips.

Today’s $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better tournament drew a record (for Omaha 8 ) 918 participants, with the eventual winner taking home over $263,000. No clear chip leader has emerged from the field, but some notable players who won’t take home a bracelet include : Barry Shulman, Mike Matusow, Jerry Buss, and Allen Cunningham. As the players near their 90-minute dinner break, nearly 600 will be enjoying their meal.

The 40th Annual $40,000 NL Holdem tournament is now in their hour-long dinner break, with 44 players remaining. For those who were wondering if there’s injuries in poker, 2008 WPT Championship winner David Chiu was receiving treatment for an injured right wrist. How this injury came up is unknown, but an explanation may come out shortly. Justin Bonomo entered the break as chip leader with 1,350,000 in chips, with Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis in 2nd with 1,335,000, and Greg Raymer 3rd at 1,326,000. Day 1 chip leader Bruno Fitoussi was eliminated shortly before the dinner break. When the players return, they have another four levels or 18 players remaining, whichever comes first.

For anyone looking to play in this weekend’s $1,000 Stimulus Special and hasn’t registered, there are over 4,400 who have done so, with over 2,200 registered for day 1a Saturday already. The expected cap for each day 1 is 2,800 and it looks like it’ll be at least one day could be sold out shortly unless more tables get added. Stay tuned for more stuff during the evening.

Lesson #1 in politics: It’s not about what makes sense or creating any legal consistency.

Proof: In Dallas, it’s legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but illegal to ride a bicycle without one.

With that in mind, another law moved forward today that indirectly relates to poker … the Texas House approved a 10 percent tax on admission fees to strip clubs, replacing a $5-per-head “sin tax” that was previously in play. I know this law well … not only because it was a major deal at my old stomping grounds, The Lodge, but also because a good buddy of mine actually wrote it. And when he did, it was a sign to me of everything that is wrong with American politics …

More…

For those who missed it live yesterday … this week’s episode employs a slimmed down cast with just me and Gary Wise, which is kinda like the difference between The Beatles and Wings, but still … with BJ, Parvis, and Ringo off on other ventures, Gary, Huff, and I break down in nitty-gritty detail whether or not Vivek Rajkumar is just a flash in the pan, the $10k field sizes of Bay 101 vs. the Wynn Classic, Dream Team Poker, and Greg Raymer’s ambassadorial efforts on behalf of the PPA. But really, I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but you can skip all that and just listen to the last few minutes for Joe Stapleton’s “Tight Laydown” … I’m starting to believe more and more that the whole “show” we poker journos do really is just an elaborate set-up for the real show, which starts somewhere around the 58th minute.

(Plus “the Insider”, too!)

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Michalski, Wise, Stapleton
3/19/09

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Greg Raymer has always been an avid supporter of the Poker Players Alliance for years, and he has never been afraid to travel/speak/promote when needed. Within the last few weeks, he attended a reception hosted by Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist at the scene of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) conference in D.C.

Subsequently, Raymer was invited to appear on Fox Business News. His message seemed to be well-received, despite the female news correspondent calling him Greg “Rainer” at the end of the interview.

WSOPA Student Interview

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Many Dallas Fort Worth poker players can clearly remember when Winstar didn’t give two hoots about Poker. At that same time, the then soon-to-be ‘big games’ were popping up all over North Texas. Many of those have since come and gone as players come to prefer driving an hour north over getting shot to death. But this alone wasn’t going to do the heavy lifting required to further increase the infamous Texas vs. Oklahoma license plate ratio of the Winstar parking lot. It would take a few years, an upstart tournament series and TV show, and finally one damn nice poker room upgrade. It appears now that the players are taking Winstar as a serious poker venue, so are promoters. Most recently, the WSOP.

Last weekend, I was given the opportunity to join a few dozen amateur players for the most recent installment of the WSOP Poker Academy. This event’s focus was near and dear to my heart; Tournament Strategy. Although I get more than my own fair share of top-notch professional tournament wisdom via poker and biz bud, Tom Schneider, I was very much looking forward to the ever present contrast that would be offered by different pros, including Bernard Lee, Michael Gracz, Greg Raymer, and friends. I would not be disappointed.

More…

Karridy outlasted and out-intimidated “Century 21 Rocks!” and every other student-player at WinStar.

Karridy’s in Oklahoma this weekend, attending the WSOP Academy at WinStar … (note to Texas legislators) … and, sure enough, after a day of schooling, he won their big tournament last night. I don’t know the details — I think it was like 40something players, two of whom may or may not have included instructors Greg Raymer and Mike Gracz … and the prize is something like a fancied-up trip to Vegas and seat in WSOP-A’s tournament of champions. Anyhow, nice job K-man! That’s 2-for-2 for him when representing Team Pokerati.

ALT HED: Karridy Don’t Need No … Edu-ca-tion

Oh, wait, I’m forgetting about the two WSOP 1500’s where he busted out early on Day 1. But regardless, in what is something of a rarity, the entire Beyond the Table hosting crew (SitNGo Steve excused) was playing poker Saturday night. While Karridy was winning his tourney, I was kicking a little ass playing 1/2 online, booking my second $1,000 win in two sessions (might I actually have learned something at cash games college?), and Tom was playing the main event of the LAPC, where he won his seat via satellite but would soon be busting out not too far into Day 1, thereby making him happy for his amateur BTT cohorts, but not so happy about being the biggest loser of the bunch.

Lectures, lab sessions, and lunch are all part of an academic effort to plug your leaks.

Much to say about the WSOP Academy I attended last weekend at Caesar’s … about things I learned, how I performed, and, frankly, what kinda people are shelling out close to $2,000 for anything these days. For some of the 50-or-so poker players in attendance it was just a matter of a buy-in or two for the level they play at. And for others, it was more than half their annual poker budget in a way that doesn’t even account for flights to Las Vegas from Australia or Buffalo.

Prof. Seif: “He may think it’s the right move, but Dan stands to lose a stack of 20-dollar bills this big if he keeps playing that way.”

All in all it was a great class taught by Mark Seif, Mark Gregorich, Alex Outhred, and Michael Gracz — very engaging, informative, and often irreverent — didn’t feel like Saturday/Sunday detention at all. I lost pretty big in the one session of $1/$2 NL I’ve played since WSOP-Acad graduation … I guess they shoulda reminded us to take a nap after class, or they can only do so much with a guy who insists on misplaying KQ generally 8 out of 10 times. (Ah, the painful, humiliating schoolchild memories …) If I could just misplay the hand 4 out of 10 times, that would be some serious positive EV, saving me the theoretical cost of tuition in just a few orbits!

BTW, the next WSOP Academy is at WinStar, February 21-22 — a poker room near and dear to so many Texas player and longtime Pokeratizens. Outhred and Gracz will be part of the Thackerville faculty, along with Greg Raymer and Master Mindset (?) coach Sam Chauhan.

Click here for more info … and really, you should totally think about signing up. Your Pokerati-friendly friends will feed you and everything.

It’s now official, the LAPT tournament at the Marival Resorts and Suites in Nuevo Vallerta, Mexico has now been canceled according to Dr. Pauly over at Pokernews.

How it’s being resolved is that the remaining 89 players (among them Greg Raymer and Victor Ramdin) will evenly chop the prize pool, meaning they’ll each take home about $7,000 got $5,000 from the prize pool, with the remaining prize pool given to the players based on their chip count, plus an additional $500 from Pokerstars for their troubles. Expect a more official statement at Pokerstars.com in the very near future.

Update: Pokerstars released the following statement on their LAPT site:

The Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) confirms that it is cancelling the poker tournament in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, due to an indefinite suspension served on one of its local partners.

The LAPT states it has cooperated fully and in good faith with the requirements outlined by the Mexican government. The LAPT respects and abides by local regulations in each market.

LAPT’s partner in Mexico obtained a formal ruling from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) allowing the event to take place. As the LAPT compiled with every rule stipulated by the Code of the Mexican Federal Law of Games and Raffles, the reasons for suspension are being reviewed by lawyers of all parties.

They report, you decide:

Watch CBS Videos Online

As has been discussed earlier, Mike Sexton, Greg Raymer and Linda Johnson were also interviewed for the story. In this web exclusive, Steve Kroft discusses tells with them, which seems silly to talk about in reference to online poker.

Watch CBS Videos Online

A few weeks back, a bunch of us got a press release from PokerStars boasting that six of The November Nine were Team PokerStars players. Now don’t get me wrong — I’ve got lots of friends at PokerStars and generally like what they do. But c’mon, who ya tryin’ to fool? Those guys aren’t really PokerStars players — at least not in the way Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer were!

So while I’m happy to share the official word on the Stars-heavy WSOP main event final table (even though none only one of their 2,000 true online qualifiers made it), I couldn’t help but try to get a little more info first on what goes into buying a temporary online team in an effort to increase the odds that the buyers will indeed get to be the site that crowns the next American (or non-American) Poker Idol:

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Jen, I was just doing a little research on the upcoming Red River Roundup — recently retitled to the Winstar World Championship Series / The River — and I noticed that Annie Duke is one of the hosts (along with Greg Raymer and Norm Hitzges) … and in their promotional stuff, she’s not wearing any UB.

I’m sure she has almost nothing to do with this — most likely Greg told her it was a good tourney, she was happy to accept a check to show up, and the Winstar’s web people ganked an old PR image off the internet — but still, just found it interesting to see her out of UB uniform. Also interesting to see a Kahnawake squaw working with the Chickasaw. Historically these two nations never battled, but I don’t think you would ever see a Cherokee dude like Scotty Nguyen make the tribal crossover.

I use the phrase “last minute” loosely, because it’s possible this changed occurred back in 2007 and I just missed it … but Change100 points out there’s been a change in how the WSOP calculates its Player of the Year. It used to be that HORSE and the main event didn’t count — the intent being to create a “triple crown” for anyone who might manage to win all three in their lifetime … main event, POY, and $50k HORSE.

But now, according to the official WSOP website, POY points come from all open events (meaning seniors, ladies, and casino employees don’t count) except the main event. I suppose it’s not a bad change — maybe it is, who knows, will reserve judgment for now — but I know I heard some complaints about the old system before from Greg Raymer and others … the beef being that making the final table in HORSE hurts you a lot in the Player of the Year race because you missed out on so many other POY events in that five days.

Again, click here to see where the 2008 HORSE-friendly race stands, and thanks to Change100 for pointing out what I’ve been missing.

UPDATE: Change informs me that the change was made last week.

OPINION OF THE MOMENT: OK, I like it … why shouldn’t this big event count towards Player of the Year? Fuck, it probably should count double. And it doesn’t take away from the Triple Crown concept … in fact, facilitates it greatly, as winning the HORSE Championship and any other bracelet in the same year would take one a long way towards knocking out two of the three triple-crown prongs in one WSOP swoop. I wonder how much, if at all, the added excitement Harrah’s must’ve seen around the June 7 Belmont Stakes factored into a decision that makes a WSOP Triple Crown a slightly more realistic possibility.

Limiting POY points to only open events also seems right, so all contenders theoretically have the same chance.

Took a little trip over to the Rio today to check out the set up. Good things so far.

The Amazon Room was empty except for the ESPN crew setting up the stage, Harrah’s employees finalizing the set-up of the room, and a few cash game players wandering in. The Rio seemed to be trying to get the cash game players to the Amazon Room before they close the casino poker room for the WSOP.

The satellites were getting going around noon in their separate room (where the poker kitchen and media room were in 2007), and a handful of players were sauntering in. Greg Raymer was roaming around the hallways, already being stopped by the few tourists who walked down to see if the WSOP had begun.

While the poker kitchen itself wasn’t open for business, I could see that it is in a building where the poker tent was in 2007. It seems like a much sturdier structure than that tent – more like a shed, a really large shed. Don’t know what’s on the menu, though, since it was closed. BUT, there are numerous other food options set up at different points in the hallways. Besides the full bar (yum!), there was a Pizza Hut stand that offered its signature pizzas, along with salads, sandwiches, and fruit bowls. Directly across was a Java Coast coffee stand with a Krispy Kreme donut oven ($2 per donut!).

Best of all, there was a huge sign for a sushi and noodle kitchen! Set-up is not complete, but the thought of having some great sushi available makes this Cali girl quite happy.

It seems that the Harrah’s/WSOP folks have listened to space and food complaints and made some very positive steps in the right direction. Good times and food ahead!

(On the way to the car, Eskimo Clark was on his way in – alive and kickin’ and presumably lookin’ for backers! Some things never change…)

Danielle in New York writes in with a little more info about the film project they’ve got working:

Another thing you can add if people are being hesitant to being interviewed or showing us their room, we have filmed in underground poker rooms in NYC. I don’t know how familiar you are with the scene in NY but a couple years ago a big bust broke up a lot of the more well known poker rooms in the city. About 6 months before these busts we were able to film in one of the clubs and interview the owner. Unfortunately since the big bust, its been hard to come by more games in the NYC Area.

One angle I’d love to take while in Dallas, it to interview someone who could talk about all the raids either as someone who was at one of the raids or someone who ran a room that got raided. Of course, if there is an issue of not given out the name of a room or the name of the person we are interviewing, we will abide in any way possible to make everyone comfortable.

I’m not sure how much I got into the extensiveness of our project but our goal is to make the most definitive and comprehensive film about poker in America. We’ve gone everywhere from Vegas to New Orleans to Saratoga Springs to Oklahoma. We’ve interviewed people within the poker community including Annie Duke, Jeffrey Pollack (Commissioner of the WSOP), Phil Hellmuth, Steve Lipscomb (CEO of WPT), Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, amateur poker players, tournament directors, and poker room mangers from casinos across the US.

So there you have it … I wonder if the poker-room people they end up talking to will be “good” or “bad” gamerunners representing the Dallas scene.

I’m currently watching the Heads-Up Championship on NBC — round of 16. Mildly entertaining … it was fun to see Orel Hersheiser slightly outplay Freddy Deeb in a hand, and Full Tilt has some pretty cool new commercials. But still, the show as a whole isn’t as exciting as the commercials for the PGA Players Championship. Maybe someday … This would be much better, of course, were it being aired pseudo- or semi-live, when we still cared about our brackets.

The side profiles are pretty good — Doyle Brunson on the old guys, Orel on the similarities between poker and baseball … And I gotta say, Ali Nejad is proving he’s a top-notch color analyst — witty and well-informed.

Overall, the show is sucking me in. I give it a solid A-minus. 90 if you’re using numbers. I know Oliver (Tse, not Nejad) will have many thoughts on the ratings this show is getting, and what that means for the future of televised poker. I say more coverage of the outside tables — with or without hole-card cams — would make it better. (They only had two tables cammed up when they recorded it.)

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6:02 — Who is this announcer guy? Not too exciting nor comprehensive.

6:03 — Funny, he just made it over to the Tom vs. Gavin table … pointed out that Tom was trailing by “a little more than a few thousand chips.” He then seem confused by why Gavin had some book on the table. “Oops! I Won Too Much Money,” he said over the microphone, surprised to discover the author was right in front of him.

6:05 — “Gavin Smith takes down another nice pot. No one at this table is very afraid,” he said, presumably referring to Tom’s questionable call.

6:06 — Robert Goldfarb is on the other side of the room, not responding to my texts inquiring about what is going on over at his end.

6:09 — Chris Ferguson hits a three-outer on the river … I know see a hot blonde girl standing up and clapping, and am pretty sure that is his modeltastic Brazilian girlfriend.

6:13 — TJ Cloutier shows up and is laughing tickled upon hearing the report from Robert Williamson’s little sister (and favorite Pokerati stalking victim) who informs him that indeed, Hellmuth went out on the third hand. “Heh-heh-ha,” says Cloutier in his Hank-Hill chortle.

6:14 — Oh no! My personal sleeper pick and Arizona Posse-ite Hooman Nikzad is out. He got it all-in with the best, but Greg Raymer turned a set to advance.

6:20 — Tom pushes all-in, Gavin folds … to give the Donkey Bomber a 24k-16k lead. Last time these two played heads-up at the same time, both were competing for WSOP bracelets (in different events). Tom won his match, and Gavin lost his. Just sayin’ …

6:22 — At least two very Hammery flops have come in this 8-match quadrant of first round action. Both 7-7-2 flops have resulted in bets followed by folds. Very interesting.

6:30 — There are seats for about 90 spectators in this makeshift Caesar’s viewing coliseum. Twelve media spots (not counting the dozen or so NBC folks who have the run of the floor.

6:31 — Kenny Tran doubles up against Scott Clements thanks to running clubs. “The turn always gives you extra outs,” the announcer said. No it doesn’t, at least four of us in the room are thinking.

6:33 — Back to counting … there’s standing room only for about a dozen squeezed in around the rails.

6:34 — Greg Raymer can’t seem to leave, even though he’s already one. It’s clear (imho) he’s looking for camera time … not Phil Hellmuth-style for ego … but presumably to get some HD-pixel time for his patch-friends at PokerStars.

6:36 — As Raymer loudly mentioned PokerStars, a headphone-wearing producer woman just informed Fossilman that he was getting in the camera’s way and needed to leave. “Aww, c’mon,” Raymer unsuccessfully plead.

6:40 — Scott Clements’ AK holds up against A7, and California Jen’s pick to win it all moves on.

6:41 — Gabe Kaplan knocks out Antonius.

Battle of the Podcast Stars.

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

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

Some of the more interesting pairings to me:

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

THACKERVILLE, Okla.–North Texas player Abteen Vaziri just said now that I know his name I can delete it. He is out. He wins $2,500 for finishing in 55th place. Much of Abteen’s recent success has come from study of Joe Navarro’s book on tells. But he misread a pulsing neck vain for weakness when in reality it was pocket queens.

Sorry dude.

Looks like it’s up to Josh, Troy, and/or TJ to do the Dallas gamers (whose names Pokerati knows) proud.

UPDATE: Troy “Darling” Phillips is out. He got pocket jacks on the button and raised. The ever-aggressive big blind pushed all-in … Troy called … and would learn the sad news that he was up against aces. Ouch!

50th place. $3,000. Still, nice job by the Batfaces favorite sugar daddy curly haired representative. It’s only a matter of time before he runs out of money makes another final table.

UPDATE: Josh Evans also appears to be out. Turned away for a second and his table was gone … and he couldn’t be found elsewhere in the field.

Interestingly enough, while Kido Pham and Greg Raymer were brought out here (and presumably bought in) by WinStar … TJ Cloutier simply showed up on his own and plunked down $1,100. Definitely not a charity event for him. And to think, they don’t even have craps in Oklahoma. Can we say positive EV?

With 45 players left and blinds at 4k/8k+500, Cloutier has about 165,000 chips. Average stack is 111,000.

UPDATE: Just learned that Cloutier was bought into this event by a heretofore unnamed military-ish backer in Dallas … who has 50 percent of the poker hall-of-famer.

THACKERVILLE, Okla.–Woo-hoo, it works! Yep, it took some sore thumbs and a little extra money to Cingular to make things happen, but I am blogcasting semi-live from my laptop in the WinStar poker room. Still have a few kinks to deal with … for example, it’s hard to find a power outlet in this giant tent. (Quick aside … the WSOP might want to consult with the Chickasaws when it comes to building super-big, functional, well air-conditioned poker tents.) Anyhow, it’s a bit longer of a walk to the WinStar casino entrance on a Saturday evening. Our unscientific license-plate spot-check of the parking-lot action north of the Red River:

Texas – 124
Oklahoma – 3
Louisiana – 1
Ontario (Canada) – 1
Missouri – 1
Illinois – 1

They’re getting near the bubble in Day 3-Day 1 of the Red River Roundup. Forty-six players remain, and today they’re playing down to 34. Greg Raymer and Kido Pham both went out early. No other “big names” remain … but we’re about to take a walk on the other side of the ropes to see if we don’t recognize anyone.

UPDATE: Nope, hardly recognize a remaining soul. Across the way in the cash games, however, is another story, where dealers and players alike look familiar … almost like an old higher-stakes Rounder Club tourney at the old P-room! I’m sure there are some good players left in the field, it will just take us a bit to learn who they are. (And hey, one of these days, the Chickasaws may even let us take pictures!)

THACKERVILLE, Okla.–No internet north of the Red River, or at least not at WinStar, where the first of three Day 1s in the $1 million NLH tourney concluded shortly before midnight yesterday. We’ll try to keep you posted from now through the final table, but can only promise so much with two-thumb typing.

Red River Roundup, Day 1 report:

- Event is sold out. 1,000 players. Double last year’s field.
- 333 played yesterday, of which 33 remain and will convene on the other side of the bubble on Sunday.
- Josh Evans and TJ Cloutier both advanced.
- So did Troy “Darling” Phillips. (Go Batfaces!)
- Marco Palacios went out near thw bubble.
- Avg. stack is 50k. Chip leader has about 150k.
- Media coverage is kinda new to WinStar. They haven’t figured out yet whether or not to allow photos.
- New poker room here is very nice.

Day 2-Day 1 has gotten underway. Favorites include Kido Pham and Randy “The Big Randy” Brown. Greg Raymer supposedly plays tomorrow.

Just as the anti-poker side is encouraging their “pro family” members to write their representatives about the plagues that will fall if the UIGEA is undone, pro-poker ambassadors are also hard at work rallying the troops. Click below to see the letter Greg Raymer sent out seeking similar political activity from presumably lazy poker types.

Interestingly enough, I have a PokerStars account and am a paying member of the PPA … but didn’t get this email. (It was forwarded to me by Don the Las Vegas Real Estate Guy.) With the other side well-practiced in their methods of swinging votes, I gotta think the poker side may need some extra coordination to keep up with the competition. Perhaps the three federal bills in play would benefit from something similar to what we used in Texas to electronically connect the legislators and citizenry en masse. Seriously, this relatively small programming effort went a long way toward ensuring our beloved little HB 3186 was a good chunk of the hallway/bathroom buzz around the state capitol at a semi-critical time.

Again, Greg Raymer’s request below …

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LAS VEGAS–The WSOP Academy started their main event camp today at Caesar’s Palace. For $2200, participants will be able to pick the brains of Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Mark Seif, Joe Hachem, Scott Fischman, Alex Outhred and more. Registrants will have the opportunity to play with the pros and have them critique their play. Three long days of camp will also include a seminar with FBI Agent Joe Navarro and ends with a private tournament for a seat into the main event.

Not only did I go on to cash after attending the Ladies camp in June, a fellow happy camper, Sally Boyer, took down a bracelet!

Interested in a scholarship? Send the WSOP Academy a note on why you think it could take you to the next level.

LAS VEGAS–The WSOP Academy hosted their first All Ladies Camp at Caesar’s Palace this past weekend. A sold out crowd of 100 women listened, played and learned from Annie Duke, Karina Jett, funny man Alex Outhred, Joe Navarro and even a surprise visit from the very sexy Jennicide. There was a vast range in players either looking to learn the basics or sharpen their skills and all seemed to benefit from Navarro’s body language seminar. I know I advanced in some areas (although it didn’t seem possible since I’m the 6,432,243,328 smartest person in the world). In fact, immediately following the Academy I entered the ladies WSOP event and focused on my game like a turkey dodging Thanksgiving. Seriously, I used Navarro’s tells to read, Karina’s advice on flirting, Annie’s reminder’s of the math and Alex’s words of wisdom on staying focused.

I would have posted on this yesterday but I was busy cashing in the WSOP thanks to this camp’s wonderful reminders.

Upcoming camps during the World Series will not only include Joe Navarro but also main event winners Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and WSOP Master Phil Hellmuth with a private tournament for a 10k main event seat, VIP Party at Pure Nightclub and banquet.

If you haven’t had enough of famous politicians running for President, now you can throw a playa into the mix.

Greg Raymer for (Vice) President!

Hmmm, I see campaign contributions flowing already.

Bluff announced Tuesday that Greg Raymer’s PokerStars account was accessed by another player by “guessing” the 2004 WSOP champ’s password.

The hacker circus side-show weight guesser other player reportedly signed into Raymer’s account, registered for sit-n-go’s then dumped chips to himself (to make winning the tournament easier).

In a recent interview with PokerNews, Greg Raymer reveals that he is mostly a Libertarian politically (good thing) and is in discussions about becoming the perennially underachieving third party’s 2008 VP candidate (dude, we should talk). Seriously, not trying to discourage … you are exactly what the Libertarian Party needs … and poker certainly needs to be more involved in politics … But I’m just sayin’ — think about it. Or talk to Gonz; he knows, too. Libertarians are fun, but they don’t really know how to “party” play the game.

UPDATE: Then again … as an “issue candidate,” hmmm … maybe it’s not so much about the votes, right? Maybe it’s about finding the best way to put an important issue in front of the other candidates and press … and for Raymer, simply running would do that, actual votes be damned! OK, you could be on to something, here, Fossil-Champ … so carry on … Go poker.

Sorry about the post absence … busy … anyhow, you may have read here or here about a fun poker game that broke out at The Lodge between some Batfaces and traveling PokerStars — a group that included poker-blogger bad-ass Otis, Nolan Dalla (the king of all poker media), and Greg Raymer.

I would be the first (and only?) guy to suck out on Raymer … sending him almost to the felt when I pushed with AJs against his 88. He apparently loves that hand (and his correct sense of being ahead) … but that’s right — ace on the turn — and this one was for you, David Williams! Go Dallas poker!

Raymer would procede to mock my play (in a very friendly way) and call Shane “gay.”

Much fun, too many pictures, valuable podcasts in the making … oh, and some real poker business actually went down, too.

ALT HED: FMFFL!

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