Lady Gaga has a new tattoo. WTF — no spade, heart, club, or diamond?

Not exactly … but like Michael Phelps, she did get a special invite — as the pop singer will be playing a show at the Galaxy StarWorld Casino at the same time. Personally, I’m gettin’ a little tired of being bluffed by muffins, but that’s neither here nor there when you’ve got a chance to make a cameo appearance in Johnny Chan’s forthcoming Chinese-language “Poker King” movie, right?

From EarthTimes:

Dear Lady Gaga,

“I wanna hold them like they do in texas please, fold’em let em hit me raise it baby stay with me.” We certainly hope so and cannot believe the coincidence that you are playing live in Macau on Saturday 15th August while the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival is in full swing at the Galaxy Starworld.

Your ‘Fame Ball’ Tour has been a huge hit and we are sure the plaudits in Macau will be the same as in Osaka, Tokyo, Seoul and Manila but imagine the reaction if you showed your poker face at the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival! Not only will the venue be full of the world’s best poker players, the tournament is also the backdrop to the first ever Chinese language poker movie ‘Poker King,’ which people would go ‘gaga’ for if you took on a cameo role. Forget the wigs, keep the bleached blonde hair and think about the exposure to a huge audience!

More…

The day 2a field has returned from dinner break with less than 900 players remaining from the starting field of 1,476. Notable eliminations include: Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, Mike Caro, Tony G, Jennifer Tilly, Shaun Deeb, Todd Brunson, Barry Greenstein and Mel Judah.

The current chip leader is Samer Rahman with 325,000 in chips. Other notables: Greg Mueller (223,000), Andy Black (164,000), Tom Schneider (140,000), Vitaly Lunkin (120,500), Jimmy Fricke (105,000), Joe Sebok (94,000), Sam Farha (70,000) and Amarillo Slim (48,000). More chip counts and updates can be found at www.wsop.com here.

As a few people have noticed, the water in the Amazon room has changed. No longer is it All In … Johnny Chan’s “energy water” … it’s just the generic Rio bottled stuff. Clearly something has gone awry between All In and the WSOP. Back in November, the excited word was that All In would be the official energy drink for at least two years. But then, much to our surprise, we saw Red Bull being served this summer, and no All In banners … just All In water.

Hmm, now call it a coincidence, but that All In water disappeared from the Amazon room the day after this article ran on the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in which the least championed 10-bracelet winner says:

Not everyone is as happy about the World Series as Harrah’s Entertainment, which bought the series in 2004. One of poker’s legendary players and a two-time main event winner lashed out at how the gaming company has run the event and treats the players.

“In the old days, when Jack Binion owned it, he never took a penny out, but we always tipped the dealers good anyway,” Johnny Chan said, complaining about how the gaming company has increased its cut of the players’ pool. “Now Harrah’s takes out 4 to 10 percent.”

The company also has cut back on its comps to players, Chan said. Harrah’s gave him only a $100 food coupon when he entered the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event last week, he said.

Chan has not been much of a presence this year at the WSOP. He has shown up for a few big events (4?), but hardly sticks around once he busts. In fact, he sneaks out a back door, whereas last year he was constantly in the hallways at his company booth, or in the VIP lounge, which was also heavily labeled with All In signage. And that was before he became a supposedly official sponsor. Might someone have made a deal and forgotten to pay the water bill?

Johnny F’ing Chan Falls Well Short of Bracelet #11

Johnny Chan lost to Jamin Stokes in the quarterfinal round of the $10,000 NL Holdem Heads-Up World Championship. Currently, the semifinals are ongoing with Stokes playing Leo Wolpert and John Duthie taking on Nathan Doudney.

Rico, Suave

Rico Ramirez is the current chip leader with 6 players left in the $1,500 NL holdem donkament. Mike Eise, Jason Potter, Zack Fritz, Jeff Chang and Barry Berger round out the sextet.

Chad in the Fast Layne in $2,500 PLO

Chad Layne, JC Tran and Steve Sung are the top 3 players with 19 remaining in the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event as they play down to a final table tonight. Phil Ivey scraped his way into the money, finishing in 44th.

HORSE is Rodney’s Pardey, and He’ll Cash if He Wants To

Rodney Pardey is the current chip leader in the $1,500 HORSE event with 87 players remaining, 72 of which will be paid. The chances of them getting to their final table appear extremely remote unless the money gets reached shortly.

Monday’s Tournaments in Very Brief

The $2,000 NL Holdem event has 600 players remaining from a starting field of 1,534. The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship started with a field of 185, 182 of which remain.

Apologies for the briefness of the update, check out www.wsop.com for further updates.

Johnny F’ing Chan Going for Bracelet #11

The $10,000 NL Holdem Heads-Up World Championship has 8 players remaining who return at 2pm Monday to determine the winner. Here’s the matchups for the quarterfinals, which will also air on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com for those outside the US:

Leo Wolpert v Dustin Woolf
Jamin Stokes v Johnny Chan

Nathan Doudney v Bryan Pellegrino
John Duthie v Stephen O’Dwyer

Simmons Looking to be the Poker Guy

Joe Simmons starts day 3 of the $1,500 NL Holdem event as the chip leader (1,100,000) with 27 players playing down to a winner. You can take a look at who else is left at this link.

Tran Riding the PLO Train

J.C. Tran (176,900) is the chip leader at the start of Day 2 of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, with 61 players remaining, only 45 get paid. Chad Layne (106,000), John Juanda (85,300), Ross Boatman (75,000) and Phil Ivey (56,600) are among the notables who return at 2pm today.

Sebastien Rings the Belle for Day 2 HORSE

Sabic Sebastien leads the field of 220 who return at 2pm today of the $1,500 HORSE event with 72,700 in chips. Marco Traniello (55,000) Andy Black (54,300), Jean Gaspard, (40,300), Ming Lee (32,500) Fabrice Soulier (32,200), and Vanessa Rousso (30,900) make up some of the notables returning to the baize.

Monday’s Tournaments and Projections

The noon tournament today is the $2,000 NL Holdem event which was won last year by Blair Hinkle in a field of 1,344 for just over $500,000. The 5pm tournament is another World Championship event, this time it’s $10,000 Limit Holdem, which was won last year by Rob Hollink in a field of 218 for almost $500,000.

The WSOP Staff Guide projects 1,344 for the $2,000 NL event (take the under for 1,275), while the $10,000 Limit Holdem event is projected for 229 (take the slightly under for 210).

Check back at Pokerati frequently for more updates during the day.

Covering the afternoon coverage of Sunday afternoon at the WSOP:

de Wolfe wins de Triple Crown

Roland de Wolfe became the second player (after Gavin Griffin) to win poker’s Triple Crown (Winning a WSOP bracelet, WPT main event and EPT main event) with his triumph in the $5,000 PLO 8 or Better event, defeating Brett Richey in heads-up play. Dual Omaha bracelet winner Scott Clemens finished in 3rd.

Obligatory Limit Holdem Winner Mention

Sweden’sTomas Alenius defeated Jason Tam heads-up in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event. Day 3 chip leader Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri finished 3rd. Fortunately for the WSOP staff, they have Sweden’s national anthem already downloaded.

Heads-Up Down to Sweet 16

Round 5 of the $10,000 NL Holdem Heads Up World Championship is down to its final 16 competitors, with one more round of play before the winners return on Monday. Among the survivors: Jason Mercier, Mike Caro, Leo Wolpert, Roberto Romanello, Bryan Pellegrino, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf, Johnny Chan and WSOP runner-up in 2008, Alec Torelli.

$2,500 PLO Debut a Success

A larger than expected field of 436 started the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event, with 153 returning after the dinner break. The unofficial chip leader is Jesse Rios, with another four levels of play to finish the day.

Late Night HORSE

The $1,500 HORSE event started about three hours ago and a field of 770 left the starting gate. No established chip leaders at this time, but they have eight levels of play to leader going into the first turn. Check out www.wsop.com and give Pokerati a visit during the rest of your Sunday evening/early Monday morning.

Thang Luu (pronounced “Tang”) just took down the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo … and while normally an Asian dude winning a smallish mixed game bracelet would hardly merit more than polite applause, this win is truly impressive because Luu won the same event in 2008, and took second place in its nearest equivalent — $2,000 OHL — in 2007.

The last player to do something similar — booking back-to-back same-event bracelets — was Johnny Chan, who won the WSOP main event in 1987 and 1988 … and then took 2nd place in 1989.

ALT HED: Luu, Thang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ Ta Fu-k Wit

UPDATE: I wasn’t entirely correct about Johnny Chan. Yes, he was the last one to get two 1sts and a 2nd in three years, but here’s the complete list of back-to-back WSOP champions:

Johnny Moss — $10,000 World Championship (1970-1971)
Lakewood Louie — $5000 Limit 5-Card Draw High (1978-1979)
Bones Berland — $500 7-Card Stud (1978-1979)
Doyle Brunson — $10,000 World Championship (1976-1977)
Stu Ungar — $10,000 World Championship (1980-1981)
Johnny Chan — $10,000 World Championship (1987-1988)
Susie Issacs — $1000 Women’s Seven-Card Stud (1996-1997)
Nani Dollison — $1,000 Women’s Mixed Stud/Hold’em (2000-2001)
Thang Luu — $1,500 Omaha High-Low Split (2008-2009)

NOTE: Be sure to read the comments for the “more complete” list of back-to-back champions.

Crap, one of my final four picks is already out. Erik Seidel. I so almost went the other way with that one, too.

Otherwise, all is well in my bracket. Got the 4 3 other matches right — Farha d. Cunningham, Eastgate d. Bloch, Lindgren d. Lederer, Elezra d. Chan. Alas, we will not be seeing Gowen vs. Lederer deep, which Ali Nejad reminded us yesterday woulda been great for poker, because it probably woulda been followed on Court TV.

CORRECTION: I guess I changed my pick on Chan vs. Elezra / didn’t go with my gut. Of course Eli was gonna win.

If you wanna follow a little more play-by-play, take your pick:
CardPlayer.com
PokerNews.com
PokerListings.com

Flipchip for really good photos.
Audio stuff TK at PokerRoad.

And it’s still not too late to get in on the bracket-picking action … though points scored on matches already started won’t count in the end. We’re doing this with our forum friends at PokerRoad. Show who’s boss.

UPDATE: Yang defeats Gowen! Boo Jerry Yang! Makin’ us rankers eat it!

It seems that All In Energy Drink is getting recognized in non-poker markets. Who knew?

The Examiner recently took notice of the Johnny Chan-sponsored drink, and it’s getting good reviews. In the Caffeine Examiner column, Big Red Boots (the caffeine guru, evidently) reviewed the grape and citrus concoctions of All In Energy Drink with the following results on a scale where 10 is the highest score:

Tasty grape poker themed drink keeps your game face from sagging:
Taste: 7
Nutrition/Buzz: 8
Packaging: 8
Website: 9

Citrus poker energy drink puts fear in competition:
Packaging: 8
Nutrition/Buzz: 8
Taste: 8
(Assuming the same website gets the same rating, it would be a 9.)

Mr. Peanut demanded too much money to call the opening cards in the air, so the WSOP got Michael Buffer instead.

As the 2008 WSOP was coming to a close a few days ago, Pauly and I couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be no new sponsors that weren’t already around for in the summer. Disappointing, sure — but maybe it’s just the general economy?

I began to speculate that WSOP marketing honcho Tye Stewart must be in BIG trouble, dude! couldn’t have been too happy that the most celebrated deal inked between July and November was an extended contract with Johnny Chan’s All In Energy Drink. About 10 minutes later, though, Jeffrey Pollack was speaking to the crowd, giving specific thanks and extreme kudos to Stewart as the successful, hard-working architect of the The November Nine vision. And indeed, we now know the broadcast returned some admirable TV numbers; and even as players got eliminated, there were lines of people in the Rio hallways to fill the Penn & Teller Theater’s 1,200 seats. So maybe now, with something definitive to sell potential backers in the future, what looked a little disappointing while riding up and down the escalators is actually a sign of better things to come?

Below is a pictorial look at some added value for official WSOP banners (and inflatables) in action:

More…

Players are off on dinner break … and the chip counts are nicely on display for all to see:

Ivan Demidov: 30,725,000
Peter Eastgate: 27,175,000
Dennis Phillips: 26,950,000
Ylon Schwartz: 20,475,000
Scott Montgomery: 20,300,000
Darus Suharto: 10,600,000

Damn, that’s tight poker. And I don’t mean tight tight … I mean close-tight.

Before dinner break, btw, Phil Hellmuth introduced Johnny Chan, and Hellmuth got more boos than Tiffany Michelle. He said, that’s OK, boo all you want … and the crowd that is at this point tired-drinky (think post-football game tailgate in college) obliged.

They were announcing a multi-year deal between the WSOP and ALL IN energy drink. Oy, I guess all I can say for now is that after going through my bajillion cases … I didn’t rebuy.

Did anyone ever play at the site? ChanPoker did launch in the summer of 2006 with the inclusion of U.S. customers, but months later it went strictly overseas due to the passage of the UIGEA. Well, despite its cool Chinese lettering as the logo, it has closed up shop officially today. At least Johnny still has his All In Energy Drink biz…

Here is the message posted on the site:

We are sad to inform you that Chan Poker will be ceasing operation effective this Thursday, August 21, 2008. Effective immediately we will no longer be accepting deposits. On August 21 our poker clients will be disabled.

More…

474 players remain when play starts again at 1pm, some happy to have made the money, others hoping for a much bigger prize later this year. Brian Schaedlich, who started day 3 with over 800,000 in chips, ended up with a much smaller stack of 22,000. The leader at the start of play this afternoon appears to be Jeremy Joseph, who will have about 1,470,000 to start play today. Jeremiah Smith, the one time tournament reporter over at www.pokerwire.com, will be in 2nd with 1,300,000. Alan Jaffray, who tried to enter the ladies’ event earlier in the Series, is among the top 10. Other notables include 2008 Aussie Millions winner Alexander Kostritsyn, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Shawn Sheikhan, Phil Hellmuth, Hoyt Corkins, Mike Matusow, Raja Kattamuri, Johnny Chan and Chad Layne looking to keep their head above water in the killing fields that make up the Amazon Room. Another 5 two-hour levels are scheduled for today, will play start slowing down now, or does the carnage continue unfettered? We’ll know more for certain later this afternoon.

To see where your favorite remaining player is starting, head to page 2:
More…

The WSOP party season has begun… I’ve hit two of the parties this week and plan for more as the week progresses, but I can’t see myself getting crazy with it. I must say that it’s a nice break from the daily grind of tournaments, though.

On June 30th, I attended the All In party at the Palms pool. The place was packed with more people than I expected. On the other hand, the door was completely disorganized. Some people got right in, while others who were supposed to be on the list were held up for quite awhile. I was supposed to be on the media list, but no one ever checked or even seemed to have a list, so I finally just got in on my word. And when I attempted to get a VIP pass through a friend, they had run out of them and looked a little panicked about it.

More…

My 1 percent of Tom in the $50k HORSE now = 0 … 75th place last night … but meanwhile, Johnny Chan (who ended up with many of Tom’s chips) seems to be the gift-giver that keeps on giving …

More ALL IN has arrived at my doorstep — the “energy water”:

All In Energy buys the shirts off the WSOP waitstaff’s backs … and fuels a large-ass playing field with All In “energy water” — meaning it’s “powered by” PokerNews proprietary water molecules that have been personally purified by Johnny Chan!

This time, your Tao of Pokerati hosts discuss the Nascar-ization of Poker, one poker-medio’s addiction to a liquid Chan enterprise, and what the success (or failure) of a pseudo-freeroll bounty tourney just before the main event means for the future of poker. Damn, that’s a lot to swallow in three(ish) minutes … hence the need for a chaser.

Episode 13: Energy Bucks

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.

It is common knowledge that poker players in Las Vegas flock to Bellagio for cash game action, primarily on the higher end of the buy-in scale. While there seem to be a plethora of cash games going on at the Rio around the clock during the WSOP, anyone looking for games higher than $10-$20 usually heads over to Bellagio. Since I am such a high-stakes player can always use a change of scenery from the Rio, I took a trip on over on Monday night around 10pm to see what was happenin’.

Craziness.

More…

Once upon a time, we used to actually talk about hands on this here blog. Don’t worry, we still think it was a good idea to replace the important strategy talk with much easier to understand poker cartoons … But I did come across Daniel Negreanu’s video blog (via Wicked Chops), and in his latest update he talks about a really interesting Pot Limit Omaha hand against OMGClayAiken — aka Phil Galfond — one that leads Negreanu to the conclusion that the up-and-coming onliners are indeed threats … but not much more than that.

OMGClayAiken is currently the chip leader in the $5k PLO event with three players remaining. David Benyamine and Adam Hourani are the others … as all three have outlasted a final table that included Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, John Juanda, and others.

The $5,000 PLO w/rebuy event is down to its final 3, with Phil Galfond the dominating chip leader, David Benyamine is a distant 2nd. Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and John Juanda were eliminated in 8th, 7th and 6th respectively in a short period of time. Johnny Chan was later eliminated in 4th place. The $1,500 NL event finally reached its final table, with Vitaly Lunkin currently the chip leader with 7 left.

The $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship is closing in on the money with about 45 left. Current chip leader is two-time bracelet winner Eric Froehlich. Others near the top include Hoyt Corkins, Michael Mizrachi, and JC Tran. The $3,000 NL event is currently on dinner break with 30 left. Alex Zaslavsky is chip leader, with new father David Singer in 2nd.

The only tournament to start today was the $2,500 NL 6-handed event, which started with a field of 1,012 already down to 190 at the dinner break. Notables in the top 10 include “Devilfish” Ulliot, Max Pescatori, Kenna James and Dario Minieri.

More from me tomorrow with final results, and the Tuesday preview.

Reviewing what happened last night…

In a final table that ESPN SHOULD be covering (instead of ESPN360), the final table of the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys final table has been set for around 3pm.

Seat 1: John Juanda 694,800
Seat 2: Phil Hellmuth 119,000
Seat 3: David Benyamine 1,041,000
Seat 4: Kirill Gerasimov 558,000
Seat 5: Phil Galfond 1,393,000
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu 460,000
Seat 7: Brian Rast 1,176,000
Seat 8: Adam Hourani 300,000
Seat 9: Johnny Chan 624,000

The three names that may not appear familiar to the poker fan, but those who follow the online scene know OMGClayAiken, tsarast and the_houdini very well.

Other action from last night after the jump:

More…

So wow, apparently I am on a $300 freeroll now, for the All In Energy tourney July 1.

Heard a knock on my door early this morning. Look what I found:

Johnny Chan is so serious about making All In Energy Drink a success that he has dyed his hair red and is throwing a tournament that almost sounds too good to be true.

You know that feeling when you shove all-in with nothing … You’re pretty sure it was the right play, but you’re nervous it wasn’t, but even then oh well, because if your read was off at least you’ve got two live little unders working on your behalf?

Uh-huh … That’s kinda how I feel, having recently put $300 into Johnny Chan’s All In Energy Drink(s).

All In is all over the WSOP this year — they’re the official energy drink, making them the Red Bull alternative at the tables, and their patches are all over players. In an effort to drive online sales and overall poker-player awareness, they’ve got a big booth right outside the Amazon Room, too, where the promotion they’re pushing is a $500k free(ish)roll on July 1 and 2 … which I will be playing in because I bought 144 cans of the stuff. Yep, should be arriving at my doorstep any day now … [whistling phrroo-hoo] .. yep 12 cases make me one of their top 1,000 customers … yep, any day now …

It all made sense mathematically at the booth … I’m getting a bunch of energy drinks (and energy water) for a Sam’s club price ($2/can). And I actually like the stuff — the root beer is totally unique and fantastic in my minority opinion. So in making this purchase, I get to play in a fun tourney where not only am I competing for a $125k first prize, but also there’ll be a bunch of pros in it with $1,000 bounties attached to their heads. Positive EV, right?

click to enlarge

The only thing that’s giving me a little grumble in the tumble is that the numbers don’t seem to add up on the other side of the felt. I mean let’s see, the prize pool is $500k “guaranteed” … the promotion says it’s limited to 1,000 players … I paid $300, people who bought multi-cases of All In before me got in for only $100 … now the price is $500 … and then all the pros who may or may not be freerolled … and two WSOP main event seats added to the prize pool. Would probably sound better were it not for All In’s play with the word “cases” … technically I bought 12, even though it would be 6 if I were buying 144 cans of just about any other beverage. I dunno, it just kinda feels like the Poker Bowl, ya know? The difference, of course, is that this event has Johnny Chan’s name and backing attached to it, but when it comes to honorable reputations among the top 3 bracelet winners of all times … um, let’s just say Phil Hellmuth is a solid second.

But hey, I’ve got an open mind, an enthusiastic desire to bust some pros, and if I wear the patch that came with my receipt, I get free All In root beers throughout the duration of the WSOP! (Go Hevad Khan-ish behavior!) Should be interesting to see what happens — because either this tournament is a model for corporate-sponsored events in the future, or it’s gonna prove a money-loser for All In. Could be both and just a marketing loss-leader, of course, assuming the 144 doses of an unregulated, arguably addictive product sold over the internet arrive by US mail.

UPDATE: Still waiting …

Update: Event #9 ($1,500 NL 6-handed) sold out just after play started at noon at 1,236 entrants.

What’s going on at the WSOP while I try to get an invite to Low Stakes Poker.

First the important news, Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider is chip leader at the end of day 1 of the $10k Mixed Event World Championship with ~140,000 in chips. 94 89 of the starting field of 192 in this inaugural event remain to play down to the final table of 8. 2006 WSOP POY Jeff Madsen is in 4th, while Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey are all in contention. Play for them begins at 3pm.

More results from yesterday after the jump:
More…

Check out this video I just found:

It seems to be a promotional jig for All In Energy Drink, and features Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, and Layne Flack … with Alexander Neal, Raw, HollyRae, and ProHoeZak. Kinda rocks, no?

Mark your calendars before the dollar goes even lower against European currencies … WSOP-Europe 2008 is set for September 19-October 1. Click below for further details and the full press release:

More…

This just in on the Pokerati newswire:

[Johnny chans girlfriend arrested at bellagio for holding out aces]

Hmm. Wow. We’ll give it semi-confirmed rumor status for now …

That’s the not-so-quiet buzz around some of the bigger tables at Bellagio … that Chan’s known ladyfriend Anna was (reportedly) taken out of the room in handcuffs “recently” for (allegedly) bringing some of her own aces into the $100/$200 limit game. More TK, I am sure.

I admit it. I check TMZ periodically to get my tabloid fix. There are worse things…

Who do I see being tapped by the paparazzi? Johnny Chan! Who knew that the Britney-stalkers were aware of a poker player?

Click here for the TMZ story and accompanying video.

The video shows Johnny leaving Mr. Chow in Hollywood with a painting of himself and trying to fit it into his car. And it shows a handicapped parking pass hanging from his rear view mirror.

A. Is Johnny handicapped?
B. Does he really need a special pass if he valet parks everywhere he goes?
C. Was it such a slow night in Hollywood that the paparazzi filmed Johnny Chan?

Day 1A is underway at the 2007 WSOP and it’s a madhouse. Mel Judah, Liz Lieu, Johnny Chan, Tobey Maguire, Jeff Gibralter (Dallas player) and Pokerati’s Tom Schneider are playing today. Vinnie Vinh did an infamous no-show and received a refund thanks to Houston’s Jimmy Tran. “The Poker Biz” has the story on Vinnie Vinh’s stack here.

Three more days make up the first round and the growing field has rumors of a sold out Monday.

LAS VEGAS – The long hallway of the Rio conference center has many doors leading to big and small rooms. Right now in one of the little rooms sits Johnny Chan playing faux poker with Phil Hellmuth while filming a commercial for a new energy drink. Yes, let me repeat, another energy drink. These two poker players have a long track record of competition on the felt but now it’s in the beverage world as Johnny Chan is the new face of All In.

Unlike other brands, All In uses herbs, vitamins and less caffeine to help you conquer your fears. However, read the fine print…this product will not cure any diseases.

LAS VEGAS–With Doyle Brunson still alive at the final four tables of the $5,000 limit hold’em event, Phil Hellmuth just won his 11th World Series of Poker bracelet. Because of a weird quirk pertaining to the super-secret semi-live internet broadcast, the official site won’t have this info up for another hour.

But we know it happened … because Doyle and Johnny Chan just made the bracelet presentation.

We still don’t know who finished second and third, by the way … so I am just going to assume it was Rick Fuller. Nice job, dude!

CORRECTION: Rick got 3rd, winning him $247,518. Silver medal goes to Andy Philacheck ($395k) And Phil got the 11th bracelet … and $637k.

UPDATE: Doyle Brunson went out in 35th place in the quest for the next limit hold’em bracelet.

I spoke with both David Levi and Steve Wong this evening for their updates which you can view on CardPlayer. David was not excited about ending day1 with 25k in chips but worked hard to finish today with 230,000k in chips and Steve Wong is rocking the Fontana in 4th with 476,000 bones! They both humbly said they were feeling good about their play but knew they had a long way to go. Two of my favorite Bellagio Sports Bar friends Amir Vahedi & Freddie Deeb are tied for 23rd with 240,000 in chips.

The Donkey Bomber is not only in 14th place tonight but CardPlayer even mentioned his name! Go Tom, more from you Dan/Karridy.

Fellow Houstonians, Sammy Farha is 9th with 345,000 and John “whadayagonnado boys” Bonnetti is hanging in there with 30k.

Other notables still in are Joe Sebok, Phil Ivey, Lyle Berman, Andy Black, Tran and Chan and Barney Boatmaaaan. But leading the pack is one of the greatest players in the world, Phil Hellmuth with 528,100 (don’t lose that 100 dollar chip, Phil).

Sadly Marcel Luske, Gavin Smith, Joe Bartholdi (who told me Friday he was ready to play this tournament) and Doyle Brunson have been eliminated.

And last but not least…The Ladies or as Wicked Chops Poker would say…crazy bitches.
Newcomer Anna Wroblewski leads the women with 350,000 in 7th place with Vanessa Rousso behind her in 53rd stacking up 115,000. Other ladies holding their own are Isabelle Mercier, Melissa Hayden, Erica Schoenberg, Jennifer Harman, Liz Lieu (who won her seat in a satellite), Kathy Liebert and Kristy Gazes.

Good luck to all and to all a good night.

It’s snowing outside. If you don’t mind, please bear with me as we shut down about 30 open Firefox tabs that Pokerati has accumulated over the past few days.

First off, happy February 14. If you do a Yahoo! or Google image search for “valentine poker” (quotes excluded) here’s the first thing you see:

HOLLAND has officially legalized online poker, licensing the game to its government-run land-based casino. This development comes shortly after a round of raids on AMSTERDAM home games. (See the connection?)

UTAH has no intentions of legalizing gambling, but the state did amend some recent legislation to ensure that AMATEUR TEXAS HOLD’EM is allowed in bars.

Meanwhile, WYOMING is one step closer to legalizing “social” cash games in bars and restaurants, though big tourney action may still be outlawed.

A lot’s going down in MACAU, which apparently generated more gambling revenue than LAS VEGAS in 2006. This sorta expansion has Virgin pioneer RICHARD BRANSON putting a few billion into the Asian gambling pot.

But Chinese casino mogul STANLEY HO isn’t gonna let the round-eyes gank all his action.

JOHNNY CHAN has plans to eventually open shop in Macau (and elsewhere) — has partnered with the makers of The Block to create “the world’s first poker hotel.” Tourney director extraordinaire MATT SAVAGE is part of his team — we can only hope this doesn’t mean all of China will be taught to do the flop one card at a time.

Here’s a pokery valentine, from CUBA:

Speaking of communism, you probably have heard by now that the US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE has seized $55 million worth of Neteller funds as evidence.

About $520 of that belongs to yours truly. I suppose that makes me COLLATERAL DAMAGE in the [tag]War on Poker[/tag]:

Here is what Neteller has to say about how and when we will get our money.

Amy and the Shrink have an update on the investigation into a seriously BOTCHED COLOR-UP during last year’s WSOP main event.

It coincides with news that HERSHEY’S has been named the Official Chocolate of the 2007 WSOP. Mmmm, two million extra chocolate chips!

POKERTEK, makers of dealerless electronic poker tables, is being sued by TELLIS, a TEXAS-based software company that doesn’t even have a website.

Haley continues to investigate the legal battles between HARRAH’S and FREDERIC SCHIAVO over the rights to WSOP.COM.

This valentine from PKR.com suggests that while a man’s hand may seem stronger than a woman’s … it’s still possible that she’s holding the nuts:

UPDATE: Just re-watched the vid, and the lady actually would need some help on the turn to make her straight-flush.

Did you know the proportion of WOMEN PLAYING POKER continues to grow? The XX-chromosome set reportedly represents 30 percent of online players now.

BRANDI HAWBAKER, cute-as-pie poker girl and Full Tilt nipple-cover model, has reportedly found a new way to fund her bankroll by stripping at SPEARMINT RHINO. (Congrats on the new sponsorship deal!)

Remember, on February 14 and forever …

LAS VEGAS–Johnny Chan has been trying to help his super-stacked protege Jamie Gold win. And right now he’s reportedly a little perturbed that Gold has been taking on Allen Cunningham in the wrong way. Steve Rosenblum reports that Chan has supplied Gold with info on a big Allen Cunningham tell, one that he may or may not have failed to exploit.

(I think … am a little confused, because the tell Rosenbloom references would require Gold to go into the tank to pick up on. But apparently Chan wants Gold to put Cunningham to the test … which is pretty much straight-up poker, of course.)