Kristy, Amanda, and Gloria better watch out … a new generation of on-camera floor reporters is rising through the ranks … check out Katie, arguably the best poker interviewer in middle school. This adorable underage YouTube reporter tracked down legendary Louisville hoops coach and NCAA Hall of Famer Denny Crum during a March Madness charity tourney to talk a little poker:
Though technically the hand he recalls may not be a bad beat considering the unfortunate player got it all-in after the flop, it really is a pretty rough way to go out, first hand of the WSOP main event … and Katie’s ability to assess the situation and multiply by 10,000 makes her a nominee for Top Poker Reporter in the Under-12 division.
The World Series of Poker has released the rules for their 2009 event. There’s a couple of interesting changes from last year that will be interesting to see how they are enforced.
36. Harrah’s prohibits the use of obscene or foul language in any public area of the casino at any time. Any player who uses such language or makes a foul, profane, obscene or vulgar statement, or speaks abusively or in an intimidating manner to another player, a dealer or a Tournament staff member, will be penalized. These penalties will be levied based on Rules 31, 52 and 53.
Nick Calathes lost lots of money playing online poker because he just couldn’t lay down his beloved pocket 3s.
Online poker found itself in another brouhaha in the non-poker press last week — in Florida, where UF’s star point guard Nick Calathes (and prospective NBA first-round draft pick) was under investigation for NCAA violations over a $600 gambling debt. The investigation found he did indeed lose money playing online poker, but the NCAA only penalizes athletes who gamble on sports … or commit criminal acts. So Calathes is in the clear, and online poker, by the transitive property, is declared an acceptable recreational activity fully within the law. Yay-win! Go team.
It probably didn’t help, however, that one of the dudes hosting basketballer home games was a former walk-on who previously had been busted for allegedly hooking up the team and others with weed. (Though a friend with weed is a friend indeed…) probably not the kinda guy you want handling money transfers online.
An online-casino-biz response to situation and the suggestion on how his industry needs to work openly with the NCAA.
Alligator Army laments the nonsense online poker hubbub distracting them from the b-ball at hand.
Microsoft, we know, likes to fight … and the company fired their first shot against cheaters in their online Xbox Live community by conducting a little neighborhood sweep. They aren’t banning players, but instead dropping their player points down to zero and marking their profiles with the digital equivalent of a scarlet C. Not sure how that would work in poker … but it shows the relevance of poker issues in a non-poker world, and perhaps suggests some potential allies who have an interest our fights. Online gam(bl)ing and online gaming, after all, aren’t that far apart.
Online video game competitions for money are already in play — the Fifa Interactive World Cup, for example, awards $20k to the winner. And the shoot-em-up game Kwari has started offering real-money competition, where you win cash for kills and the house takes its cut by charging you for ammo. Bullets, chips … tomato, D’amato … Seriously, how familiar does this sound:
Pokerati: @GlobalGamingBiz generally speaking, of course. A reliable source? An imaginary source? The gov's maid's husband's poker buddy's dog sitter? 12 hours ago
lasvegaspokers: First world prob RT @Megadactyl: Co-worker just started a sentence with "you know what sucks about owning a vacation home?" No. No, I don't 32 minutes ago
