If you just saw it on the street, you might not know it had anything to do with poker. But indeed, according to 2+2 NVG, this fine Nevada license plate is attached to nearly $100k worth of Beamer, a 650i, that Ben Lamb recently purchased:

Would be much cooler if the “1″ represented a bracelet, and he got a new car for every one he won. But oh well, sometimes third place and $4 million will have to do.

ALT HED: Germans Win Again

Oh, and almost forgot to post … here’s Pauly and I on scene doing some Tao of Pokerati during the moment from the final 3 with him that we’ll all remember:

Tao of Pokerati: First Hand Fireworks FTW? by Pokerati

Slip off your coat and make your way into my small corner of Pokerati — a newly built alcove in Dan’s diamond-encrusted virtual mansion where I’ll bring you a weekly caché of poker and gambling news that the American-centric poker media may have overlooked. So put down your rodeos and pretend football as we give the poker globe a spin to discover piquant revelations and heart-warming tales of human endeavour from elsewhere around the world.

Dodgy Maths at the AGCC #

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission fell under the terrifying gaze of Subject Poker this week. The Commission’s report on their Full Tilt Poker hearing claimed that US Department of Justice had seized $331 million worth of FT cash. The real figure is closer to $159 million, argues the Subject reporter, with the larger number including money lost over and above Black Friday seizures. Either way, more numbers for Full Tilt and Alderney that don’t add up as they’ve been presented. [Subject Poker]

Mass Walkout at William Hill’s Israeli Office #

British bookmakers William Hill are at panic stations after a large chunk of their customer support staff enacted an impromptu strike last Sunday. The staff were upset at rumoured plans to move the office outside Israel. Will Hill Online deny they have any plans to relocate, but for a while it seemed like the civil unrest might spread, with offices in Bulgaria and the Philippines laying down their telephones in solidarity? [Telegraph.co.uk]

Turkey and Sportingbet Go to War #

Sportingbet have been fluttering their eyelashes at Ladbrokes for the past few weeks in vain hope of encouraging an acquisition. Any deal would’ve been conditional, however, on Sportingbet’s withdrawal from the volatile Turkish market; and although negotiations with Ladbrokes have broken down, Sportingbet were hours away from selling ‘Superbahis.com’ to GVC Holdings PLC. That was until the local government suddenly blocked the website. [The Guardian]

Denmark Unveils Plans to Regulate Online Gambling #

The European Commission are so happy with new Danish gaming regulations that they are recommending them as a model for all other EU nations to follow. But the new rules controversially require lower taxes from online gambling companies than those paid by existing land-based casinos. [Financial Times]

Apparently at Pokerati we’re supposed to take pride in any appearance of not working, so I’m off to the rainswept British coast for a week of holiday, but will be back to let my distinguished American cohorts know what they missed while I was gone and they were sleeping.

Tonight’s semi-random collection of websites that have recently caught my eye for various reasons is brought to you by Suited Cribs — your 2011 WSOP housing hookup and VIP services connek!

OK, the links:

G2E Asia — the AGA brings its trade show to Macau, prepping Western gaming industry round-eyes for a new level of expansion in China and across Asia.

PokerGrump — an accidental low-stakes Vegas grinder, respected colleague on the license plate beat, and another guy I read often but don’t link up enough … generally thoughtful insight, and fun “guess the casino” posts, though few are as hard as this one:

highlight for answer

Mandalay Bay

PokerGives.org — Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, and Jan Fisher’s philanthropic endeavor has undergone a website redesign as they continue efforts to make sure charity poker tournaments give back as much as possible.

DFW Gambler — don’t know who runs this site, but it kinda-sorta picks up where Pokerati left off upon skipping town, keeping the Dallas/Fort Worth poker scene up to date with solid, regularly updated info on local charity tourneys, big events in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and different free games — whether they be WPT Amateur Leagues or lesbian bar poker at Sue Ellen’s. Bingo, too!

The Poker Life Coach — Jen Dunphy was once responsible for keeping Harrah’s employees on their A-game, and now brings her motivational services to MGM Resorts. Not sure if she’s more happy drill sergeant or corporate therapist … but for poker players needing to work on their life skills (she won’t give up names of clients? Balls!) it seems she’s no Sam Chauhan … but then again, she’s also no Sam Chauhan.

Live Poker Training — Not sure if Shaun Deeb needs a life coach or just a mom. But either way, he’s got a boot camp March 26-27 … for players wanting to learn how to win so much money it doesn’t matter if you never learned to throw away pizza boxes or lift the toilet seat.

Zynga PokerCon 2011 — you know they are new to poker when they call their inaugural event Poker CON. But the best we can tell, even though the folks at Zynga supposedly have made millions without paying out any winners, they aren’t the second coming of UB … but they could well be proof that recreational players are more valuable than online pros. And they’ve hired me (along with Michele Lewis and BJ Nemeth) to tell you all about the Zynga version of BARGE — so already we think they’re great, obv!

Allied Service

Suited Cribs — The guys to handle your WSOP housing needs, and all variety of poker services, from laundry runs and VIP transportation to nightclub line passes. Say you heard about them from Pokerati for a special surprise AND to have me personally check out your summertime Vegas rental to make sure the internet works and no pillows smell like urine.

A few quicklinks, as I clean off my desktop while getting ready for the pseudo-final stage of the 2010 WSOP, which got started pretty much earlier today …

USA Today declares: WSOP is recession-proof.

Also from USA Today: Emmit Smith has an increasing love for poker, sparked by charity efforts backed by Full Tilt.

Timtern’s got a new Top Tweets column in Bluff. The follow-up editorial is what makes it better than most.

@Pokerati got props in Vegas Seven’s own top-tweets column, called Tweets of the Week.

Lacey Jones profiled in Vegas Seven magazine.

Lon McEachern wearing Tom’s Loudmouth jacket, via the WithLeather sports blog.

Do we have to fear the WSOP-Media event becoming the next ladies event? Technically it’s discriminatory and demeaning to media. But for some reason far fewer protested when Michael Craig’s assistant Shauna took his seat to play her first ever poker event.

Meanwhile, while there are plenty of signs of (Lost) Vegas refinding its economic way, the once luxurious Riviera has filed for bankruptcy.

Some more links to catch me up on keep you clued in about what else has been going on that may or may not be of interest to folks at the WSOP. Some of these stories vaguely connected to poker could actually turn out to be important:

First of all, for a succinct recap of what Week 3 really was all about, chock full of well-organized important details, be sure to check out BJ’s WSOP Report. [Tao of Poker]

The Shaun Deeb+Annie Duke vs. Daniel Negreanu+Linda Johnson WSOP-Ladies tourney brouhaha made national news in Philadelphia. [Philadelphia Inquirerer]

Attack of the Math Brats – a non-poker magazine’s take on “the aggressive new players whose pushy online style of play has put the old guard on the defensive”. [Time]

Speaking of defensive, the player-turned-shooter at the deadly poker robbery near Dallas has turned out to be a journalist — a cameraman for Channel 11. [Uncle Barky]

The EPT-Berlin robbers went on trial in Germany last week … and they’ve apparently admitted to everything about the heist. Only €4k unaccounted for. [BBC]

At 4 pm PT today, the second episode of Wicked Chops’ This Week in Poker will be streaming live, in a way where you can call in, or at least email and tweet. Guests to include Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, and Sara Underwood. [This Week in]

Despite what looks like increased entertainment traffic on the Vegas strip, Nevada’s jobless rate hit 14 percent — making it highest in the nation. [Las Vegas Sun]

The Silver State now officially kicks Michigan’s ass when it comes to macroeconomic destitution. [Christian Science Monitor]

But Paris Hilton is back in Vegas to party it up for the first time in a long while. [Twitpic]

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has declared September 2010 “Poker Month”, to honor and support the charitable efforts of Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and Lisa Tenner. [PokerGives.org]

With poker and other table games opening up in Pennsylvania and Delaware, New Jersey casinos are getting hammered. [Wall Street Journal]

In an effort to turn things around (and bring higher rollers to town) the Atlantic City Hilton is turning to performances by political rock stars — including Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, and a duet show with Ann Coulter and James Carville. Tickets range from $100-$350. [Press of Atlantic City]

Trump Taj Mahal is targeting a slightly different clientele, with Gay Bingo Night on Fridays. [Press of Atlantic City]

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers there are calling for a sports-betting and online gambling “summit” — an effort to bring together competing interests currently fighting over whose online gambling bill gets to move forward, and discuss how they can all get on the same page(s). [Press of Atlantic City]

In Massachusetts, they want more gambling+poker, but the fight is also over which bill gets to move forward, Senate or House … and where the new casinos get to be located. [Boston Globe]

In Rhode Island, a casino measure that would include poker, breezed through the House and Senate, and now awaits to governor’s signature before being sent to the voters for a referendum. [Boston Globe]

In Connecticut — Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun specifically — the Indian tribes are making a concerted effort to court Asians. [Hartford Business Journal]

Is that Bernard Lee?

Harrah’s is apparently struggling to find a good buyer for the Rio — despite entertaining multiple offers; reportedy, negotiations have included deals that would allow the WSOP to stay at 3700 W. Flamingo, and contingency plans that would move the series to Caesar’s. [Las Vegas Sun]

The WSOP parent is looking to go public again, but maybe sooner than initially anticipated? [Las Vegas Review Journal]

The Wynn just cut 261 jobs — a move that allows the casino to restore wages and salaries for 3,700 employees that had to take pay cuts earlier this year. [Las Vegas Sun]

Sands (Venetian) CEO Sheldon Adelson is in Singapore, opening his $5.5 billion casino project — the Marina Bay Sands Resort –and is looking to India next. Despite being rebuffed by the Indian government in 2008, the man who once took a risk on The Real Deal, is making a second attempt at convincing the billion-bodies nation that they need tourism — and he’s the one who can bring it to them with a Vegas-style Strip. [The Economic Times]

MGM Resorts (no longer MGM/Mirage) is apparently salivating over India, too, with a letter of intent between them and Indian developers to begin plans for a Bellagio-Mumbai. [DNA India]

The Wappo indians in California are fighting over land in Wine Country, and seeking to restore their tribal status with eyes toward opening casinos in Napa and Sonoma. [Napa Valley Register]

A new bill — by U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy (D-NY) — intends to clarify the UIGEA … making it easier to use your credit cards to bet on horses online. [Times Union]

A multitude of random click-worthy links and watchable videos, with or without context, that may or may not play into your evolving, overall world poker view … brought to you by 1/2 NL/PLO at the Hard Rock, now playing Tuesdays, Thursdays, late Fridays and by request:

The new This Week in Poker is here. Probably not quite ready for an Emmy nomination yet, or even a Webby if there is such a thing. But smart people behind it all … and possibly eventually a show that comes in to its own somewhere around the convergence of the internet and TV. [Wicked Chops]

I love caption contests — have won many of them. But gonna let someone else take down the wordsmither’s glory (and Full Tilt prize points) on this one, featuring funny and plausibly awkward image moments from the WSOP. [Full Tilt From the Rail blog]

Dissension and Disagreement: APCW Perspectives Weekly for June 18, 2010. Internal fights with Indians mucking up intrastate online poker efforts in California; Big Casinos blocking progress in New Jersey; Malta fighting with France over Euro suckage. [YouTube/APCWperspectives]

Also, last week I missed his take on the GCB’s take on dot-net poker sites taking part in any Nevada casino take. (6:20 in)

Meanwhile, PokerStars’s Big Game is the show poker fans are currently most buzzing about. [PokerStars.net]

PartyPoker’s Big Game IV also looks pretty cool, with a very similar concept. [YouTube/PartyPoker]

One blog I enjoy reading regularly throughout the WSOP (personally check in on it about twice a week) is Adam Goulding‘s, aka Snoopy, who always provides a unique and worldly perspective on Poker America. [BlackBelt Poker]

Likewise, don’t forget to keep up with Dr. Shamus, who knows how to always keep the intellectual poker stimuli percolating. [Hard Boiled Poker]

I’m also checking in regularly on the people set to do the 360-streaming of final tables. Technology is supposed to be much improved from their WPT Championship debut, and word is they just got the green light from Nevada Gaming for the 2010 WSOP … but still not sure exactly when and where I’ll find the live action I’m looking for — hope to know soon! [All360Poker]

Also keeping up with the PokerNews Nightly Turbo for a basic rundown of news going on outside the WSOP. [PokerNews]

And probably the best video quick-taste of the flavor of a WSOP day, like yesterday, seems to be coming from WSOP Live! [YouTube/PokerListings]

The specific WSOP event I’ve been following, and will be tomorrow, is the Seniors Event, where rookie senior and Team Pokerati captain Tom Schneider is pounding around at the top of the leaderboard, and I’m still looking for Toothless Bob. [WSOP.com]

UPDATE: Going into Day 2, with 450 players remaining from a record field size of 3,142, Tom is the chip leader. A little concerned that I couldn’t find Bob amongst the list of entrants.

Oklahoma Johnny Hale, apparently the driving force behind the Seniors Event, got a special trophy for his pioneering work on behalf of the Social Security-minded set. [Bluff Magazine]

Did you know David Plastik used to be a rock’n'roll photographer in the 80s before becoming a professional poker player? His photojournalism seems to wash through the bright lights and make-up for a grittier view of a glam music in a newspaper era. [DavidPlastik.com]

Hey, that mighta been my best link-dump ever! Actually led to fewer open windows on my desktop, not more, and took only about an two hours to provide you with 6+ minutes of targeted, purposeful pokery web browsing.

Oh oh oh … and one last thing (for the moment) … We’re kicking so much Tao of Pokerati arse ever since the Benjo partnership and giving Pauly a key to the server farm, I can’t even keep up with it all. But fortunately the Best Little Short-Podcast in Poker gives you so much for so little, it doesn’t take much to get caught up. Meanwhile for a little closer-to-real WSOP experience in condensed space and time, be sure to check for the latest in the Tao of Pokerati archives. There’s a Matt Savage and PPA buzz, while Benjo’s on a lesbian kick in the Rio again. [Tao of Poker]

This Week’s Tourists at the Table:

(L to R) Team Pokerati WSOP-Ladies Event Final Tablist La Sengphet, Stuey, her boyfriend DC, and Good Chuck showing the Vegas grinders that Dallas players know a thing or two about PLO.

OK, gonna try again at this link-dump thing … no writing, no context, not even any particular order or story arc here … just a random assortment of Safari tabs and windows over-cluttering my computer while I try to do Pokerati’s WSOP thang-luu …

“We all agree that one political party is stupid and the other is evil; all we are debating is which is which.” Something for certain poker media types to think about when we go twitter-crazy trying to spread political insight on current events, but really may be just contributing to negative stereotypes of tourney journos being little more than (poorly paid?) chip counters. [Poker Shrink]

Crap, guess that’s technically writing right there … before you know it, brevity with a single href= spins out of control into its own multi-link set of tangents, as happened when I tried to note, simply, that Harry Reid won a primary. [Pokerati]

Ask Brian Nadell what happens when poker players step into potentially hostile political territory. He may be an accomplished poker pro with 13 cashes and eight final tables at the WSOP, but that doesn’t necessarily make this online player at PokerStars suited for Washington DC.

At least he recognized as much before June 1, and dropped out of the Nevada senate race. One look at his campaign video and you’ll see why sometimes, no matter how badly you wanna win, it just makes sense to chop. [Hendon Mob, Nevada Appeal]

Good move?

Blowing off the primary homestretch did leave Brian Nadell with extra time (and presumably cash) to play early events at the WSOP. And on Monday this week, he appeared on Poker Road Radio, live from the Rio. [Poker Road]

One more Nadell link: an interview circa 2006 bemoaning the fate of a longtime player who never quite learned the meaning of FTW! [PokerStarsBlog]

Back to chip-counting, Daniel Negreanu calls out PokerNews for poor updates. [Daniel - Poker Journal]

PokerNews normally does a really good job with everything they do, but what in the world is up with the chip count coverage at the WSOP this year? They have a page for it, but clicking on it would be a complete waste of your time because not only is it rarely updated, it’s also nowhere near accurate.

Yeow. Can you imagine if Negreanu and @AllenKessler had children?

Similarly, a generally fine poker granny pundit has strong feelings about the quality of this year’s WSOP reporting, saying, “the live coverage has reached a new low.” [Poker Hag]

Looking forward, btw, to what looks to be the second coming of Poker2Nite … This Week in Poker. June 15, on the internet. [Wicked Chops]

Be sure to check out Change100′s Fashion Report where she looks into disturbing trends in douchebaggery. [Tao of Poker]

But does douching really matter if you’re buying tournament shorts from Tom? [Loudmouth Golf]

Now let’s take a momentary break from linking for …

Pokerati Trivia: Which international flag hung proudly in the Brasilia Room last year, but is not on display in the Pavilion Room this year — despite it’s strong connection to poker?

Ooh, I know!

An email yesterday from a poker media-y colleague: “today officially started my World Cup fever!!” I agree. Lots of jerseys showing up at the Rio, and peeps starting to make plans for where they’ll be watching the first matches. Just two days left to fill in your Wicked Chops FC brackets. [Soccerati]

Man-U midfielder Darren Fletcher’s Scottish national team didn’t qualify for the Cup, so instead came to the WSOP; he lasted about 90 minutes in the $1,500 donkament that The Other Guy (not-Durrrr) won. [PokerStarsBlog via CalvinAyre]

Annie LePage, one of Pokerati’s favorite Las Vegas small-tourney rounders, comes to the 2010 WSOP looking to cross the 5-figure line in cashes. While she would make fine Team Pokerati material, she instead is representing for PETA (and the Maven). Check her out as she expounds on the evils of meat + good poker health via Vegan living. [Hendon Mob, PETA.org]

OK, cool, but that’s not counting barbecue, right? On that note …

Extra-big ups to The Fat Guy, who used to write about poker, but now just writes about “Food, Music, Books, and Tractors”. TFG recently overhauled Pokerati’s technological infrastructure to better accommodate Tao of Pokerati. With bigger online media ops facing early-WSOP heartache and unconstructive criticism due to “faulty hamster wheels”, I’m pretty thankful Scott (and his trusty sidekick Ed), have kept Pokerati’s machinery running relatively smoothly for five years — pretty much 24/7 actually, ever since the Great Crash of 2007 when we ran out of duct tape. [Tao, The Fat Guy]

OK, good enough for now … More-better random links TK. OK, maybe one more …

Funny: the Bad Beat on Cancer banners seen around the Rio show a hand that isn’t actually a bad beat — the pocket Aces got there on the river! [Poker Grump]

I’m trying to get on the link-dump bandwagon … but for reasons of my own personal weakness, I have a problem giving Pokerati readers a quick directory to relevant content elsewhere on the internet without turning one-liners into a complex narrative that often looks pretty, but defeats the whole point of one-click simplicity for those wanting greater understanding of what’s crossing our radar.

So if you’re in a hurry for WSOP- and poker-related nutrition …

German authorities arrest the alleged mastermind behind the EPT-Berlin robbery. [CalvinAyre.com]

Wicked Chops says they’ve got their hands on the UB superuser account list. [Wicked Chops]

Former PokerNews editor Haley Hintze says this list may be loaded with fakes, confirming her investigative, fact-based conjectures that various scandals at AP and UB are turning out to be a much larger multimillion-dollar matter of Cereus conspiracy and coverup. [Haley's Poker Blog]

Wicked Chops is also on the trail of @AsianSpa … picking up where Donkdown, Pokerati, and Joe Sebok have come up short, failing to unearth the identity of poker’s self-proclaimed “righter of wrong-doers” who loves hating on UB-people and the Mizrachi family when not providing professional handjobs in Las Vegas. [Wicked Chops]

A 2010 WSOP Resource Guide that clearly overestimates gets the genius of Pokerati. [Part-Time Poker]

If soccer is not the new poker by the end of 2010 World Cup in South Africa, it darn-well should be. [Soccerati]

Here’s a pic of the new WSOP bracelets, by Joe Cada’s favourite DeltaBeta designer, Steve Soffa:

And speaking of DeltaBeta couture … Victory Poker is supposed to be making a big splash this WSOP, but so far all they’ve done is raise the sexism alert level for poker pundits thinking they may just be pissing in generally progressive WSOP waters. [PokerGrump and Pot Committed]

Meanwhile, speaking of chasing skirts bracelets, Team Pokerati’s 6x Weekend Warrior may have missed his first tourney, but he has made his twitter updates easier to follow by changing @JohnHarrisTTU to @85nutz.

There, that took me only a couple hours so you can keep up with the most important poker buzz with just a few minutes of well-focussed reading and everything else you need to know only a click away.

And we’re just getting rollin’, holy shit …

I left out all the political stuff you should be reading — trust me, lots of casino-y biz and law going on — and instead am emptying out my frivolous notebook (some of it) and giving you a good-ole-fashioned link dump … full of random timely poker buzz that, imo, is def click-worthy.

The LAPC and NAPT/Venetian Deep Stacks may be on-hype right now … but some of the most fearsome high-stakes competition going on in Vegas is shaking down at the M Resort. You can follow the quirky, made-for-TV Premier League on PokerNews.

From the Dept. of: That’s Different

The PokerNews hand reporters have been allowed to see the hole cards and whisper them in Tony G’s ear write about them. (Usually, if reporters are so privileged to see inside the security truck, they usually do so with a promise not to divulge hole-card info.) It didn’t take long for the players — who are stripped of their cell phones and PDAs upon entering the set — to check laptops for the revealing live updates while on breaks or out of a hand/scene.

PartyPoker is clearly trying to pump up Luke Schwartz’s badboy image — taunting him for his ineffectual come-ons of Kara Scott. Here he is on the tricycle Tony G brought for him to ride out on:

Also, btw, check out the PartyPoker blog … where Warren from Party is shedding some of his corporate stick-ness to share some real life-on-the-PartyPoker-trail shtick. AKA Warren “the” Lush and “Fun Warren“.

Pokerati Restaurant Review

M Resort Buffet

It’s not quite Wynn or Bellagio-level … but it’s pretty close. And for a $14.95 lunch/$22.95 dinner, the extra touches — beer and wine available buffet-style, too, and a cappuccino bar — make the pig-it-up-dude! offerings worth wading through the hordes of senior-citizen locals who show up en force to let clever packs of bikers know, hey, this is our joint!” They also do the Tina Martini live cooking show there, which makes the M Resort’s Studio B like the Steel Panther of Buffets.

Price: Freeroll
Food: A-Q
Atmosphere: set of 4s
Service: 9-9

Another new-to-me blog I’ve been enjoying of late: crAAKKer
I am become Death, destroyer of Aces, slayer of Kings, tilter of D-bags

PokerListings has a solid (and controversial amongst people who think they know such things) list of Top 10 Players to Watch in 2010. I don’t think the haters get it … That is who Matt Showell and his people will be watching — whether you like it or not, bitch.

Spoiler Alert:

1. Phil Ivey
2. Cole South
3. Yvgeniy Timoshenko
4. Annette Obrestad
5. Jason Mercier
6. Matt “ADZ124″ Marafioti
7. Isildur
8. Nanonoko
9. Jeff Madsen
10. Lex Veldhuis

Tao of Changerati

Start listening to Lost Vegas: The Podcast, with Pauly and Change100, around the premise of pimping his forthcoming Lost Vegas book. It’s about a blogger living with his blogger girlfriend while he endeavors to spread his poker genius worldwide. She has a way of laughing at him like no one else can, as if she’s seen his junk or something.

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

ALT HED: The Sonny and Cher of Poker?

Rumorati

From our secret sources on the ground at the LAPC: “Amanda leatherman out at wpt. will be the new hosetess for napt on espn2. Wpt will have a temporary hostess at celeb invitational and is looking for a full time hostess”

If you want to follow the real, non-poker Premier League, you should be getting into Soccerati.com. Especially if you want to bet on soccer. UEFA Champions League getting underway.

We wouldn’t mind more followers @Soccerati on twitter, too. Might even start to send out some tweets as important games kick into high gear.

The Soccerati roster currently includes AlCantHang and JoeSpeaker … with The Rooster headed to South Africa for World Cup 2010 and thus still in negotiations over starting minutes with SangyFarha and DA Hasselbaink.

And, poker blogger creative success story …Chris Hanel — aka Pokergeek and one of some 30something bloggers who over the years have graced these not-so-hallowed Pokerati pages, btw, albeit briefly — is getting big internet kudos for his Hitler video of all Hitler videos, as featured on the ever-viral boing-boing:

via Mean Gene

Even though I’ve gotten hooked on two-minute video interviews and have kinda taken a personal change-of-interest-pace and started paying attention to actual tournaments … big names are starting to win at the LAPC, WSOP-Circuit Tunica is kicking it old school, everyone wants to know how the Venetian Deep Stacks is gonna shape up with PokerStars heading to town, and I really gotta make it over to the M Resort to check out this whole PartyPoker Premier League thing … I still tune in almost-weekly to APCW Perspectives Weekly for a little catch-up on the international poker and online-gambling-related political scene for 10 minutes at a pop:

This week J Todd keeps us abreast of California and New Jersey’ desires to get in on the online gambling game from a state-size perspective, updates us on the online gambling fund-transfer cat-and-mouse game with MasterCard and Visa getting more serious (just three months before they are legally required to do exactly what they are trying to do), fingers the Eldorado Casino as a potentially shady site to avoid, and tease me with some affiliate business stuff that I don’t really care about but am interested to watch because of the hidden-camera + foreign-accent nature of the upcoming interview.

Here are a few other semi-related newsy links about how things are going elsewhere in the poker world:

The Mayor of Baltimore is pushing for poker+table games despite the governor of Maryland having less of an interest in making expanded gambling a priority.

Michael Barnier, the newly appointed EU Internal Markets Commissioner, promises to straighten out inconsistencies in European online gambling laws.

Police in suburban Alabama are cracking down on / raiding the real-money tournament scene there.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s going on in one of the hungriest industries out there, and, game of skill or not, the parent biz of our beloved little poker world:

ALABAMA — A small little gambling fight is going down in the land Spencer Bachus represents, over a matter of semantics, technology, and the millions of dollars bingo machines represent. Bingo is legal in ‘bama … but should video bingo be? The fight is a dirty — complete with one agency repeatedly trying to raid a well-monied operation that believes it’s on the right side of the law.

CHINA — After a slow start, gambling revenues in Macau are reaching record levels.

IOWA — The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s computer system got hacked, and they’re blaming China:

Chinese foreign ministry officials strongly disputed the report, issuing a statement calling it “full of bias and ulterior motives.”

Personal information in the breach included names, Social Security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth. Most of the people in the licensing database are Iowa residents, but it also includes residents of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and other states, Ketterer said.

The list includes workers such as card dealers, slot machine technicians, jockeys, trainers and owners of horses and greyhounds.

LOUISIANA — The New Orleans-to-Shreveport casino-biz is in a definite recession, one not planned for when the state planned on becoming the central-coast alternative to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. They blame Texans for not gambling enough Oklahoma and Mississippi for cutting in on their action.

NEW JERSEY — Big fight going on over laws related to the building of Revel — the east coast’s $2.5 billion version of CityCenter. Should be an interesting development to watch go up (or down) as New Jersey fights to stay competitive with the smaller casino operations set to open shop in Delaware and Pennsylvania, but not Maryland.

MARYLAND — Gov. Martin O’Malley is saying Maryland’s not gonna jump into the gambling expansion fray, despite assertions that his state is gonna lose out as neighboring locales up their casino offerings to include table games + poker.

OHIO — As we know, Lyle Berman has effectively bought himself a piece of all the newly legalized action to come in Cincinatti, Cleveland, and Toledo. But he’s run into some blowback over the location of a new casino in Columbus. The constitutional amendment voters approved in November called for a full-blown casino-resort downtown, but now a referendum on a May ballot will decide if the Penn Gaming development should be moved to a blighted part of the city.

Related: “It’s Lyle’s Ohio Now”

UNITED KINGDOM — Once upon a time, Great Britain was leading the world in all things online gambling. But regulations and tax issues are messing that up — and it’s turning into a battle of Labour vs. the Tories for the UK’s gambling future. Good rundown on some British gambling-law history and where the different parties stand on gambling in the UK … as the rest of Europe catches up.

Sure, we know Isildur1 was like sooo 2009, but couldn’t help starting the new year checking out this breakdown of the biggest online poker hand in history. The video replay (with decent commentary) includes the two hands of Pot-Limit Omaha that led up to $1.3 million going in on the flop between the mystery Swede and Patrik Antonius on Full Tilt:

Instapoker

A few other interesting links of late:

The upcoming LAPC is the best tourney-fest since sliced bread/the WSOP?

A guy who could pass for Phil Ivey’s dad at a Bob Marley concert.

NBAers Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton draw guns in what could be a standoff over poker debts?

Bill Rini has a well-thought-out response to the datamining issues raised by Beanie’s Pokerati op-ed.

Apparently our good friends across the pond are a bit more optimistic about the notion of the US opening its online gambling market in 2010 than we are … and in preparation, the buzz around England is that Betfair — the British online poker-and-more company and title sponsor of WSOP-Europe — is getting serious about making an estimated £1.5 billion ($2.5 billion) initial public offering.

The intent would be to raise capital in preparation for all sorts of crazy consolidation and forthcoming acquisitions in the online gambling sector.

At least one Betfair exec dismisses the talk as little more than speculation, despite meetings with Credit Suisse and other banking advisors that have the European financial press getting their knickers in a bunch as “companies seek to position themselves to enter the world’s biggest gambling market.” Should the rumored floatation happen, it would be the first major listing on the London Stock Exchange since the global economic collapse.

$400k HORSE

At the same time, Betfair last week made another move toward American soil by pledging $400,000 to the New York (Horse) Racing Association as an overlay should two specific horses face off against each other in October at Belmont Park:

Rachel Alexandra, the first filly to win the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown since 1924, has won her last eight races. Zenyatta is undefeated in 12 career starts, including the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic.

LOL, I didn’t even realize they had ladies events in horse racing!

Across the Chunnel: Refashioning French Poker

Arnault.

Betfair also just got themselves approved to enter France’s online gambling market, which is set to open next year … apparently with some nice poker-friendly alterations to the rake. (The new French law originally had players paying tax on every bet and raise, on every street … which can totally screw with your pot-odds calculations!) Helping get Betfair to the front of the French licensing line, with a better rake structure no less? Heavy lobbying efforts from billionaire bling merchant Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton, 10 percent owner of Betfair, and the 15th richest person in the world.

New-and-improved Yahoo! Poker Coming Soon

We’re talking Yahoo! Uk & Ireland, of course, not Yahoo! USA. The British arm of the web behemoth just re-upped its partnership with GTech G2, for two years, to provide real-money gaming options — and part of that deal includes plans to unveil a fully downloadable real-money Yahoo! poker room, not just the (lame) in-browser version currently available.

Magazine Moguls Jump into Mobile Gambling

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan recently said that the biggest threat to established online gaming brands comes from major media outlets, not current competitors. And sure enough … Dennis Publishing — the mega-magazine company behind Maxim, MacUser, Computer Shopper, Bizarre, Men’s Fitness, and more than a dozen other publications (including PokerPlayer, Inside Poker Business, and Stacked) — just launched its Monkey Mobile Casino, offering real-money online gambling on handheld devices. (The current issue of Monkey, fwiw, features a picture of Lady Gaga’s recent nipple slip.

The Swedish Taxman Cometh

Meanwhile, the Swedish Tax Authority (Skatteverket) has been studying all forms of internet commerce tax evasion since 2007, and has concluded that online poker companies with offshore servers are one of their biggest sources of uncollected e-commerce taxes.

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):

Players to Watch

Brunson

Lisandro

Rouhani

Smith

Schneider

Vahedi

Brunson Bracelet Countdown

In 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?

Advanced Beginners

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.

Oh Brother, Who Art Thou?

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.

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.)

E:60 Delaware Betting Preview

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.