Anyone got any updates from WinStar? So far 60 people have moved on … presumably 60. Yesterday’s field didn’t sell out — like 265ish runners or thereabouts. Not sure if they stuck with 10 percent of the field moving on (26 or 27 players) or went with the full 30 to keep Friday’s Saturday’s action at a nice, round 150 players fighting for the final table.

Surely some names we know and care about have advanced, right, along with some others that we don’t yet know we care about? I’ve reached out to my hookups at WinStar, but let’s just say they’re no Nolan Dalla … so info is hard to come by.

It’s Nolan Dalla’s job to feed us media types official information for use in our presumably unique WSOP coverages. And in doing so, he puts in more hours at the World Series than even Pauly. (Sorry dude, it’s true.) When Nolan checked out last night, he said a few goodbyes as he walked from his crow’s nest in the pressbox and made some final announcement saying his last report would be forthcoming, and looking semi-exhaused, with heartfelt sincerity, yadda yadda. The thanks and adieus from the remaining poker journos — it was past 4 am — turned into applause … he smiled, turned and walked across the dark open floor of the broken-down Amazon room to the light of the final table stage.

Below is the last email he sent out, which tells you better than I can the official take on what went down over the past few days and what lies ahead.

 

2008 World Series of Poker

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino

Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Official Report 

Event #54                                                                         

World Championship

No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-In:  $ 10,000

Number of Entries:  6,844

Total Net Prize Pool:  $64,333,600

Number of Places Paid:  666

First Place Prize:  $9,119,517

Total Players Remaining:  9

July 3 - November 10, 2008

 

 

NEWS FLASH:  The WSOP “November Nine” is Set!

 

Tournament Notes from Day Seven:

 

• Eleven days ago, the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event began on Thursday, July 3^rd.  The official Day Seven was played on Monday, July 14^th.

 

• This is the 47^th and final day of a 47-day span which comprises the vast majority of the 2008 WSOP schedule (not including WSOP-Europe, which takes place September 19^th through October 2^nd and the Main Event final table to be played November 9-10).

 

• The day began with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who assembled the final 27 players together and provided some basic information which will be applicable to the nine survivors.  Pollack stated that the WSOP management team will maintain its close association with the surviving players during the 117-day interim period between the close of the WSOP and commencement of the Final Table, which is to be played in November.   

 

• Play on Day Seven began with the “Shuffle Up and Deal” announcement at 12:30 pm PST.

 

• The number of players who started Day Seven was 27.  Play continued until 18 players were eliminated, and the final nine players were determined.

 

• The average stack at the start of the day was 5,070,000 in chips.

 

• The average stack at the end of the day was 15.1 million in chips.

                                                 

• The chip leader at the start of Day Seven was Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, MO).  He maintained his chip lead and now has the biggest stack going into the final table.

 

• Craig Marquis (Arlington, TX) started the day in second place.  He made it to the final table, but is now ranked eighth in chips.

 

• Scott Montgomery (Perth, Ontario – Canada) made the greatest move up the chip ladder during the course of the day.  He started off in 16^th place and rocketed up to 4^th place by day’s end.

 

• Tiffany Michelle (Los Angeles, CA) suffered the greatest setback of any player of the final 27.  She started the day ranked third in chips but ended up busting out in 17^th place.

 

• Day Seven started with only one female player still alive in the tournament.  Tiffany Michelle came in ranked third in the chip count.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to establish the momentum necessary to propel her to the final table.  She ended up finishing in 17^th place, worth $334,534 in prize money.  Michelle’s performance is the best by a female in the Main Event since Annie Duke’s 10^th-place showing in 2000.  The year before, Susie Isaacs also finished in 10^th place.  The best finish ever by a woman in the WSOP Main Event was by Barbara Enright, who finished 5^th in 1995.  Michelle’s earnings – at slightly more than one-third of a million dollars – is the most ever won by a female in the WSOP Main Event.   

 

• Only two former WSOP gold bracelet winners were still in contention when play resumed, including – Phi Nguyen and Brandon Cantu.  Both former champions were eliminated early in the day.

 

•  Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phi Nguyen (Hawaiian Gardens, CA) finished in 26^th place.  This was his second time to cash in the Main Event (164^th place in 2006) and 14^th career in-the-money finish at the WSOP.

 

• Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Brandon Cantu finished in 20^th place.  Cantu was expected to be a wild card in the group, since he has a reputation for playing hyper-aggressive poker.  One fellow poker pro predicted that Cantu would either bust out early or would end up at the final table as the chip leader.  Unfortunately, he had to settle for the former – which meant the last of the former champions was gone.

 

• All players who started play on Day Seven were guaranteed at least $257,334 in prize money.  All players who made it to the final table are now guaranteed at least $900,670.  Players are to be paid the guaranteed prize money on July 15^th, which is the day after the November Nine had been determined.

 

• Tim Loecke, from Highland Park, IL ended up as the 22^nd-place finisher.  Most interesting is the fact that this was Loecke’s first-ever live poker tournament.  He qualified to play in this event by winning a $63 satellite.  His win amounted to $257,334.

 

• Nations still alive in the Main Event include:  United States (5 players), Canada (2), Denmark (1), and Russia (1).

 

• A Russian poker player has now made it to the final table in each of the last two years.  Ivan Demidov follows in the footsteps of Alex Kravchenko, who finished in fourth place last year.

 

• A Canadian poker player has now made it to the final table in each of the last two years.  Two Canadians, Darus Suharto and Scott Montgomery follow in the footsteps of Tuan Lam, who finished in second place last year.

 

• Players from several different nations were represented in the top 100 of the Main Event for the first time ever.  Brazil enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever as Rafael Caiaffa, from Belo Horizonte, Brazil took 55^th place.

 

• Argentina enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever in this event as Jose Barbero, from Buenos Aires, Argentina took 89^th place.

 

• Venezuela enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever in this event as Jamal Kunbuz from Valencia, Venezuela took 33^rd place.

 

• Romania enjoyed its highest world championship finish ever in this event as Toni Judet was Bucharest, Romania took 22nd place.  Note:  Judet had previously been misidentified as “Judet Toni Cristian.  It should be noted that he prefers to be called “Toni” and his last name is “Judet.”    

 

• Play was suspended with 21:50 remaining in Level 33.  Day Seven concluded at 3:29 am PST, about 15 hours after play began.

 

• Day Eight begins Sunday, November 9^th at 10:00 am.  The final table will be played at the Rio Las Vegas.  The venue will be announced later.

 

• This is one of the younger final table fields in WSOP history.  The youngest player remaining is 22.  The oldest player remaining is 53.  The average age of the surviving players is 31.8 years.  Five of the final nine are in their 20s.

 

• When Phil Hellmuth won the WSOP in 1989, he was the youngest world champion in history – at age 24 years, 10 months, and 5 days.  Should either Peter Eastgate or Craig Marquis win this year’s Main Event, the record for youngest champion would be broken.

 

• Here is a list of the final nine players, along with some basic biographical information:

 

Ivan Demidov (Moscow, Russia)

– Age 27

– Professional Poker Player

– Single

– Enjoys skiing and scuba diving

– Playing at the WSOP for the first time, this year

– Finished 11^th place in Event #44

 

Peter Eastgate (Odense, Denmark)

– Age 22

– Professional Poker Player

– High school graduate, no college

– Paid cash to enter

 

Kelly Kim (Whittier, CA)

– Age 31

– Professional Poker Player

– Born in Korea

– Used to work as a business analyst

– Earned his college degree from the UC-San Diego

– Paid cash to enter

– Had three WSOP cashes, all last year

 

Scott Montgomery (Perth, Ontario – Canada)

– Age 26

– Professional Poker Player

– Has been playing poker for about four years

– Paid cash to enter

 

Craig Marquis (Arlington, TX)

– Age 23

– College Student

– Has been playing poker for only about 18 months

– Plays the guitar

– Plans to buy his family a swimming pool with the prize money

– Paid cash to enter

 

Dennis Phillips (St. Louis, MO)

– Age 53

– Account manager for a commercial trucking company

– Actually lives in suburban town of Cottage Hills, IL – but calls St. Louis his home

– Gained entry by winning a WSOP satellite held at Harrahs Casino in St. Louis

– Nickname is “Fordman”

– Earned B.A. college degree

 

David “Chino” Rheem (Los Angeles, CA)

– Age 28

– Professional Poker Player

– Paid cash to enter

– Has been playing poker for about ten years

 

Ylon Schwartz (Brooklyn, NY)

– Age 38

– Former professional chess player, who hustled games in New York City’s public parks for money

– Discovered he could make a far better living playing poker, and has been doing so the last several years

– 12^th time to cash at the WSOP (more than any other finalist); best previous finish was 15^th place in the $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event this year

 

Darus Suharto (Toronto, Ontario – Canada)

– Age 39

– Accountant

– Born in Indonesia

– Earned MBA from Indiana University

– Won satellite entry into the Main Event

 

• Seats were re-drawn on three separate occasions.  When the 27-player mark, 18-player mark, and 10-player mark were reached, survivors were reconfigured into different tables and seats.  Play was consolidated from three tables down to two about mid-way through the second level of the day (or just three hours into Day Seven).  The rate of bust outs was much quicker than had been anticipated. 

 

• Late on Day Seven, although ten players actually sat at a single table, only the nine surviving players constitute the official “final table,” in standard poker reporting and official WSOP records.

 

• The tenth-place money spot is now referred to as the “TV bubble.”  This is because the player will not partake in the three-month publicity built-up to the final table, nor the actual play of the November Nine,” which will be shown on ESPN.  Dean Hamrick ended up as the tenth-place finisher.  His sorrows will be soothed somewhat by collecting $591,869 in prize money.

 

• When play resumes, the finalists are scheduled to play from nine down to two on November 9^th, and two down to a single winner on November 10^th.

 

• The nine finalists are to be paid 9^th-place prize money at this time ($900,670).  That will leave approximately $24 million up for grabs in November.  Since the interest in $24 million for a 117-day period is substantial, Harrahs Entertainment will place the prize money into an interest-bearing account.  The additional funds earned from the account will be added to the prize pool amongst the remaining nine players.  Hence, each player is expected to collect a bit more in prize money than the figures which have previously been announced.

 

• When play resumes, Level 33 will continue with blinds set at 120,000-240,000 and antes at 30,000.

 

• An interesting side note:  The tournament has now reached the point where a single ante represents 1.5 player buy-ins for the Main Event.  Players started this tournament with 20,000 in chips.  Antes are now 30,000.

 

• ESPN’s broadcasts of this year’s WSOP begin on July 22^nd from 8-10 pm EST.  New programs of various tournaments, including the Main Event, will debut each week.

 

• ESPN will broadcast the final table on November 10^th and 11^th, just hours after play is expected to end on the previous days/nights.

 

• The final table will be played just five days after the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election.

 

• Players who have made it to the “November Nine” have now played a total of 65.5 tournament hours, not counting breaks or end of day recesses.

 

• In the 39-year history of the WSOP, champions were citizens of the following nations at the time of victory:  United States (35), England (1), Ireland (1), Australia (1), Spain (1)

 

• Past WSOP champions were born in the following nations:  United States (31), Iran (2), Ireland (1), Lebanon (1), Ecuador (1), Laos (1), Vietnam (1), and China (1) 

 

• This is the largest World Series of Poker in history.  A grand total of 58,720 players entered into 55 gold bracelet events surpassed last year’s number of entries, which was 54,288.  These figures represent an 8 percent increase over 2007.

 

• This was the richest World Series of Poker in history.  A grand total of $180,676,248 in prize money awarded in 2008 makes this the richest event in all of sports.  Note:  This figure does not include the upcoming four events to be played at WSOP-Europe.  These figures represent an increase of 13 percent over 2007.

 

• This ranks as the second-largest live poker tournament in history.  This year’s turnout surpassed 2007 attendance (6,358) by 7.4 percent.  Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event was larger than this tournament — with 8,773 entrants.

 

• This is the second-largest tournament prize pool in history.  The total prize pool amounts to $64,333,600.  The top 666 finishers will collect prize money.

 

• There were at least 118 different nations and territories represented by all players who entered the 2008 Main Event.  By contrast, there were 87 different countries present last year.   This represents a 36 percent increase in international participation.

 

• The 2008 WSOP Main Event winner will collect $9,119,517 in prize money.  The minimum payout is $21,230. 

 

• The full payout list for the Main Event (all places) is as follows: 

 

$9,119,517	1st
$5,790,024	2nd
$4,503,352	3rd
$3,763,515	4th
$3,088,012	5th
$2,412,510	6th
$1,769,174	7th
$1,286,672	8th
$900,670	9th
$591,869	10th-12th
$463,201	13-15
$334,534	16-18
$257,334	19-27
$193,000	28-36
$154,400	37-45
$135,100	46-54
$115,800	55-63
$96,500	64-72
$77,200	73-81
$64,333	82-90
$51,466	91-99
$41,816	100-162
$38,600	163-225
$35,383	226-288
$32,166	289-351
$28,950	352-414
$27,020	415-477
$25,090	478-540
$23,160	541-603
$21,230	604-666

   

No one’s got a better collection of WSOP factoids than Nolan Dalla (no offense, KevMath, you’re also a fact gathering machine) … and here are the WSOP media director’s notes about Day 6 (money, players, storylines, countries, stats, etc.) with potentially relevant info about the field moving forward:

[Hmm, maybe it is still the Year of the Pro, even though most of these pros are relatively unknown outside their home casinos?]

More…

Some updated info about the totality of the WSOP, from media director Nolan Dalla:

· This is the largest World Series of Poker in history. A grand total of 58,720 entries for an identical number of gold bracelet events (55 tournaments) surpassed last year’s number of entries, which was 54,288. These figures represent an 8 percent increase over 2007.

· This was the richest World Series of Poker in history. A grand total of $180,676,248 in prize money awarded in 2008 makes this the richest event in all of sports. Last year’s total prize pool was $159,796,918. These figures represent an increase of 13 percent over 2007. Note: Prize money increased more than the number of entries because there were more events with higher buy-ins and more re-buy events on this year’s schedule.

More…

The ladies event brings out all sorts … supposedly one man entered, and one man left. Because the WSOP wasn’t gonna get themselves into anything resembling a civil rights and discriminatory mess, anyone who stood in line for Event #15 would be allowed to buy in. However, when only one man did this, Nolan Dalla went up to him and politely asked him not to play — refunded his buy-in as he obliged.

One lady who is supposedly playing: Mindy McCready. She’s the country singer-turned-Roger Clemens affairester. Can you imagine if she got seated with a dress-wearing Jose Canseco? Sorry that I don’t have a pic of her in action … but I have to admit, I’m less interested in Day 1 of the Ladies Event than usual. Perhaps it had something to do with a chat I had with Snake, or maybe it’s just because Pokerati fave Evil Omaha Sharron (NSFW) isn’t playing.

Regardless, Jen has pretty much successfully convinced me that non-open events should be non-bracelet events. Ladies, Seniors, Casino Employee’s … since anyone can’t win then they should not receive the same acclaim as those who take down a tourney where technically anyone can.

Of course the problem with this would be that if these events lost their prestige, then they would also lose their crowds, which are an important part of bringing newbies into the game. The solution: partner up with some other entity to make these special events the pinnacle of their season(s). Though I don’t really know much about the LIPS Tour, it seems a pretty big, legitimate deal. Why not bring in them (or some entity like them) to give some special championship prize that still makes the non-bracelet event exciting?

Nolan Dalla’s recap and pic tell the story:

More…

It seems that CBS’ 60 Minutes is in the process of putting together a story about the Absolute Poker cheating scandal. Nolan Dalla discussed it in his blog on PokerListings earlier this week.

Some of the key players in the drama - one that has been playing out in the poker media since the Fall of 2007 - will be interviewed, and the show’s team seems to be investigating it thoroughly.

I’ve been writing about the Absolute Poker scandal for some time as well. I continually bludgeoned the subject in my Poker Player Newspaper column and in any other outlet that would allow it. After the story lost its dazzle in the poker media, I kept it going as I felt it was never sufficiently investigated or resolved.

While I wholeheartedly wanted the poker community to take notice, take a stand, and take action against Absolute Poker, I’m not sure how I feel about a show like 60 Minutes bringing it to the general public. Part of me believes that such notoriety will bring the government closer to realizing that regulation is the key to preventing this in the future. The other part of me is afraid that this will put poker firmly in the “poker is gambling” and “gambling is immoral” category with the unreasonable powers-that-be.

Looking for opinions here… Please weigh in.

LAS VEGAS–Funny how being in Las Vegas has put me so out of touch with all the poker news. I think there are some big tournaments going on, online poker execs in the courts, business deals shaking down, but I’ve got little to report other than poker being played. Still, it’s been kinda interesting to see who you run into at the tables around this town:

The first notable I ran into was OREL HERSHEISER, who apparently just moved here to Las Vegas and sat to my left in a 1/2 NLH game at RED ROCK — fresh after being denied selection into the baseball HALL OF FAME. I tried to play the not-knowing-who-he-is thing — “You lost a vote? Were you running for city council or congress or something?” — but he would end up busting me out when I tried to run a little STOP-N-GO. As I pushed all-in, he asked, “How much money do you have?”

“Um, I’m all-in. About $140 more,” I said, pointing to my stacks.

“No, I mean other money. Because we can make a little side-bet away from the table,” he said, upon showing me THE NUTS.

Red Rock seems to be the OFF-STRIP place to be. On my second post-WSOP outing there, I ran into GARY THOMPSON — World Series of Poker media master and tournament overlord. He was wearing comfortable jeans, loafers, and a button-down shirt while playing 2/5 NLH. With about $800 in front of him, he said he was “down a couple hundred.” But it wouldn’t take long for him to grow his stacks, and a few hours later, he had moved up to the 5/10 game and had what looked to be about $2k.

On that same day, I saw A GUY I BUSTED at the Rio. He was a good player who went with the whole BLACK HOODIE and SUNGLASSES kinda thing, while saying almost nothing and acting with stoic (but angry) CHRIS FERGUSON-like motions. He was playing 1/2 NLH and nursing about $200.

Over at THE VENETIAN in the 2/5 game, I found myself up against a WSOP Dealer — SHAI the ISRAELI GUY. He was sick when I pushed all-in and convinced him to fold his top-pair-top-kicker that would turn into TOP BOAT … only to see the guy who took down the pot from me win with KING-HIGH. A couple hours later I was playing a goofy hand with K-6 offsuit in late position, the flop came K-7-K … he checks, I bet, he raises big, I call. Turn is a 6, he pushes all-in, I call … at which point he shows his POCKET 7s. The table cheers for a FOURTH SEVEN, but it doesn’t come and I send him to the ATM.

One table over, KARINA JETT’S MOTHER was playing — beyond her typical quiet game, she was practically falling asleep at the table (at 3 AM) while nursing about $400. She may not remember this, but she won a $15 PROP BET from me once over a RULES DISPUTE. (My bad … I thought I knew stuff.)

Back at RED ROCK a couple days later, I ran into ABRAHAM, and he really deserves his own post, because he tilted the table unlike anything I had ever seen — and even managed to invoke mockery from a cute young girl who wasn’t playing. Basically imagine the worst personality and poker characteristics of ME, TIM ROGERS and EON MARSHALL all wrapped up into an obnoxious kid who graduated from high school in 2003 and is well aware that he looks like STU UNGAR. Then give him a lot of chips. (His behavior and play was so table-altering it had me interrupting TOM SCHNEIDER’S vacation in ST. THOMAS for some emergency coaching … who advised me well until I played back without paying attention to a guy to my left who had pocket kings.)

I really wanted to KILL THIS KID, or at least make him cry. And so did everyone else — especially the old (presumably) gay man who he busted by calling a $260 raise pre-flop with 2-3 suited only to flop two threes. But he can’t be all that bad, because without provoking from me, he at one point shouted, “THE HAMMER!” with glee. Hey kid, if you are reading this, what I told you at the table after you “bluffed” me with pocket-5s and then taunted (it took me a good five minutes to lay down Ace-high) still applies: “I look forward to seeing you get your education.” Punk-ass. Like seriously, you had at least two of us at the table contemplating how one might go about rolling you in the parking lot.

One of the cool things about Red Rock is that when you need to shake off a bad beat or just step away from a dipshit the table to refocus, you can go BOWL A GAME 24 hours a day — for $3 +$3.50 for shoes. That seems like positive EV.

The picture above is from a day I didn’t actually play poker … but I did walk through the poker room just for funsies after bowling, and whom should I run into but NOLAN DALLA, longtime Dallas poker expat and WSOP media guru, legendary sports handicapper, and Stu Ungar biographer. He was wearing CARGO SHORTS, a frumpled shirt, and seemed pleasantly drinky while playing 5/10 NLH with a couple old friends from POKERSTARS.

“I’m stuck $800 but having a great time!” he screamed upon embracing me with a BEAR HUG. “Isn’t this a great casino!?! Hey everybody, it’s Dan from Pokerati!”

Murmur?

“Oh, right …” Nolan said. “Didn’t mean to blow your cover.”

I also ran into STEVE HALL one night at Red Rock, too. He was playing PENNY VIDEO SLOTS. He had a big hit of some sort of crazy picture combinations that won him about $60.

And then to top it all off, I went to CAESAR’S PALACE with DON JONES (of Rounder Club fame), LEIGH & BRIAN from the Poker Atlas , DOCTOR STEVE, and former Absolute Poker marketing chick JEN TIDWELL to play in their 50-player-max $65 tourney. We all had 10 percent of each other, which proved irrelevant as our top player would bubble.

I was the first to bust out (of the tournament) and would take a seat playing some 2/5. Of all the poker tables in Las Vegas … what are the chances that DAN BALLENGER (aka HONG KONG SUE, father of SON OF SUE) would get seated at my table? It would take more than a full orbit before he realized he was sitting with a fellow BATFACE. He bought in for $500 and cashed out a couple hours later for a little less than that. HKS got most of those chips from me … calling a $100 bluff with second-pair-no-kicker (what was I THINKING!?!) … and then bluffing me out of a $400+ pot on the river, getting me to lay down aces. He mucked at the time, but told me as he left that he pushed all-in for his remaining $135 with an underpair. Wish I hadn’t asked, because it had me semi-tilting for a good 30 minutes or more. I know he was just trying to be nice, but still …

Then JASON from JACKIE’S (in Dallas) and “RICKY ZILEM” showed up. They were just walking through checking out the action. Fancy running into these guys here. Chris/Ricky, said, “I did what nobody does when they first land in Vegas and took a nap.”

Ah, indeed.

Small world. Good times.

LAS VEGAS–Tom is still alive, and getting more comfortable. He’s sitting with about 61k.

Other people we are looking for (but haven’t yet found) are Vandy Krouch — his first table of the day has already broken — and Jerry Randack. Am sure there are a few others of particular interest still left in the field … and indeed, for the first time in weeks, the actual play is getting interesting.

NOTE: If any readers out there happen to have a textual relationship with either of these guys, let me know what table they are on!

They are playing five levels today — Day 2a — or down to 350 players left, whichever comes first.

Click here to follow chip counts.

And here for the semi-live reporting.

By the way, kinda cool that the first episode of the 2007 WSOP on ESPN is airing on the TV screens in the Amazon room. Very strange deja time-warp thing seeing the action on TV just more than a month afterwards, during the same WSOP that is still going on. It’s like almost semi-live. I have a feeling that say maybe a decade from now we will look back and laugh at how this video production turnaround seemed so quick.

UPDATE: Tom has taken some hits and looks to be growing frustrated. Just watched him fold AQ — which gave him “top top” on the flop — to a bet that woulda effectively put him all-in. He’s down to about 30,000 chips. Still haven’t found Vandy, so I am starting to think he must be out.

Media crowding is also becoming an issue. Nolan Dalla just got on the PA to inform us “no sweating” of players. Fair enough. That was met by applause from some players. (I’ve been shushed twice and shooed away once when too near players in the past couple days.) Jack Effel then got on the horn to inform the “new media” that “sweating means watching.” This was met by laughter and further player applause.

Duly noted.

Here’s a great listen — a Lou Kreiger interview on Hold’em Radio with poker-beloved Nolan Dalla and Howard Schwartz (from Poker Player Newspaper). Citizen Nolan is hyped! And a little pissed. With due cause, of course … the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is the topic. And while Nolan is no-holds-barred when it comes to pointing fingers — yes, really, to at least some extent, the UIGEA is your fault — this is probably one of the most intelligent conversations about the new poker landscape yet to be heard. (Assuming you can skip past the first couple minutes of smalltalk.)

Again, click here to listen — or better yet right-click and new-tab it if you’re a PC/Firefox person.

Anyone who’s anyone in the poker media knows Nolan Dalla. As the longtime WSOP media director and the co-author of Stu Ungar’s biography, he’s kinda a guru to degenerates like me and Pauly. He’s a good person, and, quite frankly, he knows his shit. Thus, it’s with some dismay that I learn he has resigned from his post as a consultant to PokerStars. This move came from legal advice, he says … and I gotta believe it, because his PokerStars colleagues aren’t just his business partners, they are his longtime friends. More disheartening — particularly for a guy like me who thinks everything’s gonna be OK — is his insightful explanation of how this legislation will hurt Poker far more than it hurts any particular poker site.

OK, so the Mavericks are in the playoffs. And not only do the Mavs kick ass … but also they love poker. You’ll notice plenty of advertising and sponsorial relationships between the team and online poker sites. But what you may or may not notice is that while ESPN, Fox Sports, GSN, Travel Channel, et al. run ads for nameyourpokersite.NET … the Mavs advertise the previously declared illegal (by the U.S. Justice Dept.) dot-COM varieties.

A couple weeks ago, Greg Raymer, Otis, and other representatives from PokerStars came to town to announce their new relationship with our NBA team. And I asked Nolan Dalla — media director for PokerStars and the WSOP — to explain the difference between dot-com and dot-net advertising for online poker sites … and why Mark Cuban is able/willing to venture into territory that apparently scares the other poker broadcasters.

Click here to have a listen to what the ever-knowledgeable Nolan Dalla has to to say.