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The tourists have donated their Vegas dollars to the grinders over the weekend, and even the L.A. crowd has headed back to their movie studios and plastic surgeons.

This meant that for the final two days of my week-long experiment in playing Las Vegas daily tournaments, I would have to hit some of the bigger casinos — Caesars Palace and Bellagio.

The 10,000 starting stack at Caesars Palace's nightly tournament.

With a WSOP-circuit event being held at Caesars, I didn’t have trouble finding a comfortable-size field for their nightly 7pm tournament on a Monday. With a $110 entry fee, this event has a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool (Mon-Fri only). The staff and one local at my starting table who had already worked out the math said they would need at least 63 entrants to reach that figure. Caesars’s nightly tournaments sometimes start with even fewer players, offering a healthy overlay.

Of the buy-in, Caesars took $20 as a “maintenance fee” and $10 was for the staff toke.)

Grinders and well-known pros filled the room — the 2008 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Dennis Phillips sat a few tables away playing a cash game and Jeff Madsen, the rapper who also won 2006 WSOP player of the year, was at the final table of the main event in the elevated area nearby. I didn’t recognize anyone at my table who should have given me trouble.

A Week of Whiffs?
I was due for a nice run, having missed the money in my first 5 tournaments. The 10,000 chip starting stack and 20-minute levels felt comfortable out of the gate. I’d have to beat out 59 others to earn the $1,914 first-place prize.

Four players limped in the first hand and many would continue to do the same. Later, when a loose and fishy player made a string raise, the dealer stopped him. In protest, the player delayed so long before playing his next hand preflop that someone called the clock without any previous action having been made. He tried this for a couple more hands, then gave up.

I couldn’t have scripted a more perfect lineup.

The cards, however, would prove to be my worst enemy. I held on for about three hours, but connected with too few boards. I was eliminated after raising KJ preflop, getting called by the blinds and calling off against the small blind’s KT on a KTQ flop. Another finish out of the money, but I remained determined to finish with a bang.

Bellagio’s 2p.m. event on Tuesday was a $125 buy-in that gave me a similar 10,000 chip starting stack. Of that entry fee, $97 goes into the prize pool, and the casino collects $28.

At 50/100, the blinds started a little higher than other events, but the 25-minute levels offered more play.

Before we got started, the tournament director zipped through a long list of rules, which included “no talking while heads up and no phone use while in a hand.”

Doyle Brunson sat behind the glass inside Bobby’s Room, betting in one hand more than the prize that this entire field is chasing.

The 54 players would fight for $1,781, and it was a peculiar battle, filled mostly with older tourists.

Shortly after the start, I was moved to a table loaded with calling stations. Some raised pots would see 6-way action preflop. But yet again, I struggled to make hands and take down  relatively big pots. With more than half the field eliminated, I busted after I was forced to move in with QJ and could not outdraw AK.

And it was over, 0 for 7. A week of whiffs.

If I could have taken one down or at least cash in a couple, that easily would have covered the $830 I spent. Cut another way, I paid $171 in tournament fees in one week, meaning more than 20 percent goes to the house.

It would certainly be a grind to exclusively play these tournaments, but there’s lots of cash out there. And I intend to get some of it.

I’m going to give a few of these another shot — Aria, Bellagio, Caesars and Stratosphere will definitely see me again — and check out some other regular events around Vegas. If you’re playing a daily or nightly tournament and you see me at your table, look out, because my luck’s about to change!

Rake Me

Here’s a breakdown of each tournament I played, and amount paid in entry fees and other charges:

Venetian: $175 buy-in for 10,000 chips, 20-minute levels, $20 goes to the house and $5 pays a “staff bonus.” ($25 total, or 14 percent)

The Stratosphere’s quaint 10-table poker room sits in the back of the casino, past a row of slot machines, craps tables, another row of slot machines, down the ramp past Roxy’s Diner, near the escalators to the Top of the World restaurant — just before the Double Down Pit and Back Alley Bar. On Thursday, there was a sole 1-2NL table of action about 30 minutes before the nightly tournament.

You’d hardly know that this room has supposedly become the new Sahara when it comes to Las Vegas’ most popular small buy-in dailies — with the 7pm event drawing consistent fields of 50 players or more.

I approached the podium and purchased a seat for the event. The buy-in is $45 for 4,500 in chips, plus a $20 add-on that gives you 4,000 more chips, which you can purchase any time within the first hour. (There’s also an option for unlimited re-entry within that time frame.)  With 20-minute levels, that add-on is necessary, especially considering there are no automatic shufflers in the tournament tables.

The rake is taken out of the initial buy-in, $7 of which goes to the dealers and poker room staff and $10 of which goes to “Uncle Stratosphere,” according to shift manager Jennifer Mrkvicka.

“All of the add-on goes to the prize pool, darlin’,” she said. “We don’t touch any of that.”

I think she calls everyone darlin’.

The starting stack was green, black, grey and pink. Blinds started at 25/50. There were 69 entrants, eight of whom got paid. My table started 7-handed, a mix of tourists and locals and no apparent pros. Top prize was $1,221. Not bad if you could hang on.

The man to my left, a local in a knit cap and scarf, would not stop talking.

“I’m only a TDA card holder,” he announced.

Me: What’s TDA?

Poker Tournament Directors Association, obviously.

Mr. TDA would go on to double me up while holding 10-3, misread his hand for a straight and double another player up, then announce “re-raise” when in fact he was making the first raise.

He had a friend across the table.

“They call you Boomer?” I asked.

“That’s my poker name,” he replied.

Just before the first break, Mrkvicka announced that there would be pizza. And it was good.

Shortly after we ate, Boomer was eliminated, which pleased a few of my table mates.

My stack rose and fell for three hours, and I could play a hand or two, despite the quickly escalating blinds. But I couldn’t find spots to build a stack, and things got desperate on the first hand after the third break. I had only 4 big blinds, and I moved in with J9. The big blind called with pocket kings, and my hand did not improve. Finished in 16th place, not far from the money, but not quite close enough, either.

Next stop in my quest to find the best place to cut my tournament teeth is the Orleans, where I hear the 7pm $125 tournament is “juicy”, drawing upwards of 300 players every Friday.

It’s a closed tournament open only to current MBA students and accredited MBA alumni (please show your proof of registration or diploma at the window?) … but with a few hundred chicks and dudes hoping to power-suit their way to the personal 1-percenthood coming to town for multiple days — and tourney instructions that say: “this event has traditionally attracted players who are familiar with Texas Hold-em (so we suggest you read up on the rules before you arrive)” — it might be worth checking out.

Competing with the cash games for their Business School interests are a bunch of “networking seminars” — which are supposedly what draw the MBAers here on this special (to them) pokery weekend.

Check out the vid of what the Caesars Empire currently has populating one poker corner of the Las Vegas Strip:

Photo c/o WPT/Bay 101

There were a ton of storylines on display at the final table of the WPT’s Bay 101 Shooting Star event this week. It was the second consecutive final table for Vivek Rajkumar, who finished second at the LAPC and put on quite a display during this California swing of the World Poker Tour. Mike Matusow made his way to his fifth WPT final table, still seeking a win that has thus far eluded him in his career. But the biggest story of them all was that, for the first time in the history of the WPT, Mike Sexton would not fill the seat in the broadcast booth next to Vince Van Patten. It wasn’t a coup by Tony Dunst, though it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities for Dunst to try something like that, but rather for the first time ever, Sexton made the final table of a WPT event and was unable to fulfill his broadcasting duties.

The story would not have a happy ending, however, as Matusow took cards that were not quite live and turned them into monsters, eliminating Sexton by catching a jack as a 3-1 dog and knocking him out in 6th, collecting his $5k Shooting Star bounty and leaving himself as the only player with that target on his back. Rajkumar would bow out in fourth place to conclude his impressive run, while Matusow would find himself short-stacked before going out in 3rd place. Allen Sternberg would claim the final $5,000 bounty for knocking Matusow out, and that win would propel him to the chip lead. Sternberg outlasted Steven Kelly with a timely two-outer on the river, winning the Bay 101 Shooting Star and the $1 million first place prize.

Photo c/o PokerStars

Kanit Be? Moustapha Wins at IPT Nova Gorica

Nova Gorica, Slovenia

The second biggest prize of the week comes from a somewhat unlikely source. The Italian Poker Tour is one of PokerStars’ regional poker tours, but it’s latest stop, technically not in Italy but on their border with Slovenia, generated a prize pool of almost €800,000. 395 players put up €2,000, and the first place purse ballooned to over €200,000. It remains to be seen whether Mustapha Kanit can be considered a “local” champion, considering the event didn’t happen on Italian soil, but the Italian player bested Marco Mancini to claim the IPT Nova Gorica title.

Photo c/o HPT

Jeremy Dresch Is First to 3 HPT Titles, Sore Loser Makes it Best Out of 7
Shooting Star Casino, Mahnomen, Minnesota

2009 Heartland Poker Tour Player of the Year Jeremy Dresch made history by being the first player to capture two HPT titles. It was made all the more impressive by the fact that he captured those titles in consecutive weeks. Dresch now holds the distinction of being the first to three titles, winning the HPT stop at the Shooting Star Casino in Minnesota. He takes home almost $50,000 after besting the field of 170.

Photo c/o PokerStars

First Brazilian LAPT Champ Crowned in Chile, Hopes for Less Messy Crown Next Time
Viña del Mar, Chile

Last month on the LAPT, the hearts of thousands of Brazilians were broken when they failed to crown their first Brazilian LAPT title in Sao Paolo, Brazil, despite the volume of Brazilian players in the field. The champion was, in fact, a Chilean, and the Brazilians returned the favor this week when Murilo Figueiredo took home the win in Viña del Mar, Chile. Figueiredo defeated 620 other players in the largest LAPT field ever to win $146,000.

Aaron Alanen PWNS 1st Zynga IRL MTT for $15K
Zynga PokerCon, The Palms, Las Vegas, Nevada

There’s not much to be said about this tournament that wasn’t said by Dan. So I’ll just let this tournament recap, as well as these other articles he wrote explain what happened this past weekend at ZyngaCon.

Pros Living Locally in Las Vegas Were “Wynning” This Week
Wynn Poker Classic, The Wynn, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Wynn has pretty quietly been running a successful poker series the last couple of weeks, and more recently with buy-ins in the $2k-$5k range they’ve drawn in quite a few poker pros living locally. The best story has to be the victory of Chad Brown; after undergoing surgery recently to remove a large tumor, Brown showed up at their most recent $2,000 event and won the whole thing, banking almost $75,000. Also winning this week was Bryan Micon, who took down the $500 HORSE event.

Vinnie Vinh Makes Day 2, Shows Up, Wins
LAPC – Los Angeles, California
Vinny Vinh is an enigma in the poker world over the last several years, and rumored debts and drug issues have caused some well-publicized incidents at the World Series of Poker. On two separate occasions, Vinh made Day 2 of a WSOP event, only to no-show under mysterious circumstances. This year’s LAPC is a different story, though, as Vinh decided playing a tournament to completion might be a novel idea, and it worked out pretty well for him. Vinh took down Event 29 last week for a cool $12,000. If you still don’t believe that Vinnie Vinh is anything beyond a figment of your imagination, here he is taking with the great Matt Savage.

In other LAPC news, Tony Ma took down the Tag Team Championship with Restituto Bagaygay, defeating the Road Warriors with a double powerbomb 82 other teams in the process. Jamie Shaevel is on fire, winning three different events at LAPC to lead the Player of the Series race, overtaking Brian Brubaker and David Levi, who won a PLO8 event this week, at two wins each.

Pokerati Player Gets a Ring, too … Circuit Ring, That Is
WSOP Circuit – Tunica, Mississippi
Team Pokerati juggernaut La Sengphet got matching rings this Valentine’s Day weekend, but La earned it on the felt. After her boyfriend David Clark won a WSOP Circuit event in Choctaw a few weeks ago, La won Ring Event #8 in Tunica, pocketing more than $30,000 and becoming the first woman in nine months to win an open WSOPC ring event. La also ran deep in the Tunica main event, finishing 10th — just a bad beat away (A10 < K10) from another final table and a chance to lock up her seat in the WSOPC million-dollar freeroll.

Fossilman Beats DC Politicos
Washington, D.C.
Most of the attention that Greg Raymer has received in the last few weeks has been about his departure from PokerStars, but it hasn’t stopped him from continuing the cause for the legalization of online poker. At last week’s CPAC conference, the PPA ran a charity event to help raise awareness and preach limited government to conservatives. It remains to be seen how effective this message was, but Raymer, as per usual, just seems to keep on winning, no matter what he plays.

Gareth Walker Steals From Rich, Gives to Self in Nottingham
UKIPT – Nottingham, England
This UKIPT £500 Main Event set a record with 1,058 players, the biggest field ever for a tournament on British shores. There were no Robin Hood sightings, but there was quite a bounty for Gareth Walker, who walked away with £109,000, the biggest prize in the history of the UKIPT.

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza Draws Big Names
Las Vegas, Nevada
At the moment, the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza is the biggest game in town when it comes to tournaments, and some big names have made some deep runs in these events. James Van Alstyne finished second in a $1,000 event for just under $20,000, with Dennis Phillips finishing in the money in 13th place in the same event. Joanne “JJ” Liu seems to cash wherever she goes, finishing third in an Omaha 8//b event for over $4,000.

The Borgata Winter Poker Open and the Caesers Classic each held their Main Event,  and the year of the media continued to roll on strong.

Borgata Winter Poker Classic (Atlantic City, New Jersey)

After almost a full month’s worth of tournaments, the Borgata Winter Poker Open culminated in a $3,500 Main Event that drew 718 players and generated a prize pool of over $2.6 million. The top six players each locked down a six-figure score, but Ukranian Vadim Shlez was the last man standing, claiming a first place prize of $533,210. [Borgata Blog]

Caesars Winter Poker Classic (Las Vegas, Nevada)

This $550 Main Event drew over 450 players, which made for a first place prize of over $44,000. The biggest name to make this final table was Bryan Micon, who would have to settle for eight place and $6,500. The big winner on this day was Christopher Johnson, no relation to the Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl running back, but he undoubtedly got paid, straight cash homey. [CardPlayer]

Elsewhere…

Remko Rinkema became just the latest member of the poker media to score big on the other side of the tournament ropes. Remko finished 4th in an Estrellas Poker Tour event in Madrid to the tune of over €26,000… Liv Boeree made her first big splash since joining Team PokerStars by defeating James “mig.com” Mackey to win the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up and $75,000.

The end of an era is upon us … with Harrah’s finally selling the Rio — that horrendous dump of a property at 3700 W. Flamingo Rd. that reminds us how quickly Las Vegas luxe can deteriorate …

But also a place that the World Series of Poker and so many of us connected to it have long called home — at least for most of our 21st century summers.

More details TK.

Credit @LasVegasMichael for getting the pseudo-confirmation and other info as it emerges.

Our extra-reliable sources at Pokerati confirm as much. Everyone knew it was coming, but supposedly the actual sale went down yesterday. To “one of those name name and ampersand venture capital companies.”

I’ve long held that Caesar’s would be the most likely new home of the brick-and-mortar equivalent of CaesarsCasino and CaesarsBingo dot coms. But early word without having talked directly to all those people we know extremely well and would be the ones who actually do know … Planet Hollywood … that will be the new home.

Again, all of this technically unconfirmed, but place your bets on the wherabouts of the 2011 WSOP-Ho here.

Amongst the Americans, we’ve got:

California – 5
Florida – 3
Washington State – 2
Minnesota – 1
Kansas – 1
Texas – 1
Wisconsin – 1

Nevada – 0

That last number is particularly interesting to me. Though haven’t added up the total cash won in the main event, Nevadans got so shut out of the big money it’s almost weird. Only one player — Robert Pisano from Las Vegas — made the starting 27 today, but is already out having finished 23rd.

UPDATE: 17 left, as Scott Clements from Mt. Vernon, WA just went out.

Nice!

Katkin bought in for a single $300 tax-deductible good-cause bullet, and with blinds rising quickly, maintained a 10-20 BB stack throughout to get to the final table. There, he knocked out Howard Lederer and outlasted Allen Cunningham to win $5,000, a week’s stay in a fancy-room suite at the Rio during the WSOP main event, and $1k in food comps at any of the restos there.

Read Katkin’s take on his own game as well as PokerGrump’s impromptu coverage of the event.

This was one of three (that I know of) big charity tourneys over the past week where FullTiltPoker.net sponsored the event and contributed a $10k WSOP main event buy-in to the prize pool for the winner. It was almost like a Full Tilt charity tournament series …

Tuesday, of course, was my ill-fated attempt at charity glory in Jen Harman’s Nevada SPCA tourney.

And Wednesday was the inaugural running of Ante Up for Africa-DC, hosted by Annie Duke, Don Cheadle, and the PPA. The fete raised $70k for Darfur relief and presumably helped convince at least a few federal types charged with determining our industry’s future that Full Tilt are the good guys:

Check it out … even though AUFA-DC was the one event with a field that didn’t include Carrot Top, the Philadelphia Inquirer took note — and found a curious subtext in members of Congress hootin’ it up with Lederer, who has been unabashedly trying to win support for anti-UIGEA efforts at the same time he may or may not be subject of a federal grand jury investigation …

There was a big charity event Tuesday night at the Venetian … part of their Deep Stacks II series … Jennifer Harman’s Charity Poker Tournament benefitting the Nevada SPCA. This has become one of the bigger Springtime celeb draws in poker, and is always a memorable shindig because of the presence of cute animals. You shoulda seen the look on the dealer’s face when Bijou (pictured here) jumped up and scampered around the table. I think half the players nearby were all cued up with jokes of “reraise!” and “floor!” had the pup, um, pushed a potty stack across the betting line.

Anyhow, I don’t know the numbers yet …I think it was actually smaller than in previous years, with 140something entries 30 minutes before late registration closed. But it really was a lot of fun … and the NSPCA seemed thrilled about the money the event was still raising, not to mention the number of rescued pets being adopted.

Pokerati Red Carpet Video

I wasn’t even sure I was gonna go … had an appointment earlier in the afternoon that ran long as well as friends and relatives in town … but decided to check it out. Walked up to the Nevada-SPCA PR guy and got myself a press badge looking to snap a few photos. He said he had just one badge left but was out of lanyards. I told him not to worry … I was pretty experienced at this kinda thing and could take care of it. Then, less than five minutes later (for my first time ever, seriously) I somehow lost my credential. It had to be within a 30 foot radius of the tournament registration, but no luck, couldn’t find it. (And Venetian can be pretty hardcore about stopping photos from anyone who isn’t Flipchip.)

But right around that time, I ran into Sam Chauhan — life/”mindset” coach to Phil Hellmuth, Paul Wasicka, Antonio Esfandiari, and others. He asked me if I wanted to play, presumably unaware that I had donked off what appeared like healthy winnings the last time we ran into each at the Hard Rock. No problem, he said, I can get you in … we walked a few steps, pointed to some people with clipboards, and boom — within a couple minutes I had a wristband and a seat card. Hmm, not bad …

I was pretty excited actually. Team Pokerati-er Jon Katkin had taken second place at the Emily Jillette charity tourney for Opportunity Village this past weekend for a $5k+ score. And he did it with just a single bullet and 1,000 starting chips. This was my turn … I could feel it … was running good.

David Chicotsky, aka The Maven (aka THE MAVEN!!!!) trying to win a prop bet that he could have a Pokerati patch “well-positioned” on his Vegas poker pal Stacey Lynn‘s chest before the final table.

I took my seat and shuffled my teensy starting stack. The biggest celebrity at my table was Carrot Top, who isn’t much of a poker player, but hardly knows a red carpet around town that he doesn’t walk. He was in a lot of hands early. I thought about making a move with A-9 suited, but decided no … I knew I had only one chance to be all-in. Sure enough, he was calling every bet. But after two orbits I got QQ under the gun. With blinds still at 25/50, I limped, as expected Carrot Top raised, and then Barry Dakake (executive chef at N9NE Steakhouse) re-raised. It was an easy all-in for me … original raiser folded, and Dakake briefly thought about it and called.

He showed AK. Ace on the flop, no improvement, and adios Pokerati.

Interestingly, before the turn and river, Howard Lederer had shown up to take his empty seat at my table. As he surveyed the felt, I noticed his eyes do a double-take on my left breast, which was appropriately patched up pimping a poker newsy website that we all know well and has prided itself with its 90ish easily 60 percent accuracy over the years when nosing around in the Professor’s business.

Alas. the dealer gave my empty seat card to the floor before taking Howard’s and dealing him in. As I walked away, Howard pulled out a stack of 100s and began his usual early-level charity strategy of going all-in on every hand, rebuying like crazy, and even sometimes rebuying for opponents whom he sucks out on. Bummer, If there was one guy I was hoping to see and talk to at that tournament it was Howard the alleged honcho at Full Tilt Poker. But unless I wanted to rebuy with an assortment of 20s, 10s, 5s, and even 1s, some of which was slated to fund breakfast tomorrow without a trip to the ATM, I would miss my chance to engage in 3rd-level poker small-talk with one of the most powerful and currently important (if not controversial) figures in the game.

Oh well, all for a good cause, right?

Check later for real red-carpet celebrity coverage here.

Chau Giang, btw, was the winner … OK, maybe the animals were the real winners … but they don’t get seats in the 2010 WSOP main event.

Rodrigo, our go-to source for Strip porn slapping, was unavailable for comment, and likewise PokerStars has not released a statement yet about whether or not they were negotiating a deal with the escort agency to cover her wares with a PokerStars.net logo in preparation for the NAPT. Insert “deposit bonus” joke here.

Fiona in Milwaukee posted the following on my Facebook wall:

Here’s kind of an odd question for you- do you know of any kids classes in poker in Vegas? I realize that it’s a bit of a controversial topic but I happen to fall on the side of believing that it teaches great critical thinking skills (and am amazed that parents who are against it are often perfectly fine with letting their kids sit mindlessly in front of a tv). Anyway, I’ll be in Vegas over Thanksgiving with the kids and my 11-year-old daughter always asks on our trips there if there is a place where kids can play. I’m assuming not but thought I’d ask…

I, of course, think it’s a great concept, and perhaps a sign that Joe Cada has already done a little inspiring?

We just gotta make sure the dudes who enter ladies events don’t see kids tourneys as “soft” fields to play against.

Oh, P.S., I do not know of any kids poker classes in Las Vegas. Wish I did though. No Chris Hansen jokes, please.

Neato. “It’s gonna ROCK!”

LOL, apparently Suze doesn’t understand that players like Brian are “good for the game.”

Former MLB athlete and manager, Pete Rose dined at N9NE Steakhouse inside Palms Casino Resort Saturday night (10.3.09). Wearing a white dress shirt, blue jeans and white alligator boots, he joined his friends Mike Bertolini (sports memorabilia agent), Todd Brunson (professional poker legend) and Brunson’s son Doyle. They gathered for a short while to enjoy some cappuccino, leaving a little after 10 p.m.

Todd really is a legend when you think about it … but didn’t realize he had a coffee-drinking squirt named Doyle, LOL. A little curious what they musta been talking about with Pete Rose and a sports memorabilia agent. Perhaps Rose is thinking about making a go at the Poker Hall of Fame?

KVBC of Las Vegas printed the news release:

BOB STUPAK, LONG-TIME LAS VEGAN, DEVELOPER OF THE STRATOSPHERE, PASSES AWAY AT 67

LAS VEGAS – Bob Stupak, who is best known for revolutionizing the Las Vegas Strip with the development of The Stratosphere, passed away today at the age of 67.

Stupak was with close family at the Desert Springs Hospital this afternoon when medical maladies, including leukemia, took his life at 1:15 p.m. Per Stupak’s request, he will be cremated and there will not be a funeral.

Stupak was born in Pittsburgh, Penn. in 1942. Stupak made his final move to Las Vegas in 1971, and in 1974 he opened “Bob Stupak’s World Famous Historic Gambling Museum” at the north corner of Sahara Avenue at Las Vegas Boulevard South.

In 1979, Stupak opened Vegas World, where he innovated the industry with new twists on promotions and games that would be modeled for years to come. In 1989, Stupak won a widely publicized million dollar wager on Super Bowl XXIII, and later that year he won the Deuce to Seven Lowball Championship Bracelet at the World Series of Poker.

In 1995, Stupak suffered a motorcycle accident that broke every bone in his face and caused him to go into a coma. Although the initial prognosis was that he would not survive, Stupak made a full recovery. He went on to open The Stratosphere in 1996, and sold it to Carl Icahn in 1998. Stupak continued to work in hotel-casino development and as a professional poker player.

Stupak was an integral part of the Las Vegas community, and made substantial contributions to The City of Las Vegas Chester Stupak Family Park, named for his father, the Stupak Community Center, and more.

Stupak is survived by two sisters, Linda Phillips and Nancy O’Conner, both reside in Pittsburgh, Penn., as well as two daughters, Nicole in Sydney, Australia, and Summer in Las Vegas, and his son, Nevada, who also resides in Las Vegas. He is also survived by two ex-wives, Sandra Blumen of Las Vegas, and Annette Hatton of Sydney, Australia.

UPDATE: BW left out WinStar (Oklahoma), which is bigger than many might think.

1. The Venetian Macao
2. City of Dreams Resort (Macao)
3. Foxwoods Resort Casino (Ledyard, Conn.)
4. Casino Ponte 16 (Macao)
5. Tusk Rio Casino Resort (Klerksdorp, South Africa)
6. MGM Grand Macao
7. Sands Macao
8. MGM Grand Las Vegas
9. Casino Lisboa (Portugal)
10. Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa (Atlantic City)
11. Bellagio (Las Vegas)
12. Caesar’s Atlantic City
13. StarWorld Hotel and Casino (Macao)
14. The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino (Las Vegas)
15. The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas)
16. The Wynn (Las Vegas)
17. The Wynn (Macao)
18. Resorts Atlantic City
19. Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino (Atlantic City)
20. Gold Coast Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas)

NOTE: The Winstar World Casino, in Thackerville, OK, is currently undergoing an expansion that will make it the 3rd largest casino in the world.

UPDATE: Looks like the expansion might already be done — though the WinStar is billing itself as the 5th largest in the world … even though its 380,000 square feet of gaming floor space would make it 3rd according to Business Week.

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

Episode 11.30: The Day 1d Debacle (feat. Benjo)
5:51