LAS VEGAS–Loyal Pokeratizens might know this guy … Josh Evans from Dallas is the Day 1d chip leader, with about 240,000:

(We watched him take down a second-chance tourney last year.)

UPDATE: The fact that I am eating my first Poker Kitchen fruit salad of the entire WSOP right now — just like the one the chip leader is eating! — is testament to the notion that non-online-poker-room endorsements, sponsorships, and product placements really work. Yum.

One of the asses he is currently kicking belongs to Paul Magriel, quack-quack.

With Day 1 (all four of ‘em) minutes away from coming to a close done — and almost 2/3 of the field eliminated — various poker dreams and fantasies are really starting to spin in people’s heads … though possibly not in the minds of those who actually have a chance to win it.

LAS VEGAS–If you had the over in any main-event field-size over-under bet … you almost certainly won. Considering the hit poker took as a whole since last year’s WSOP, everybody seems pretty happy about the numbers for 2007. Small dip … Clearly the 2017 WSOP will feature between 25,000 and 250,000 players.

For 2007:

6,358 players
621 spots paid
621st place — $20,320
1st place — $8.26 million

Thanks to Justin from PokerPages for the early info.

LAS VEGAS–For the first time since the UIGEA “devastated” the poker world, WSOP officials have given an, er, official pronouncement about the expected number of players for the 2007 WSOP main event. Not sure who it was, but a voice over the intercom announced that there are [inaudible] players in todays Day 1c … “So we’ll easily have more than 6,000.”

Poker bizzers breathe a sigh of relief to know that the lack of online qualipaloozas for American players doesn’t set the magic measuring stick back even a year … as 2007 will end up falling to a number bigger than 2005, when Joe Hachem won it

LAS VEGAS–We’ve got a doozy brewing in the final points event of the 2007 WSOP … with much more on the line than a single bracelet in the $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/ Rebuys.

With 60 players remaining …

Tom Schneider, WSOP Player of the Year points leader, is currently 3rd in chips. Jeff Lisandro, who is only 20 points behind him, is currently 4th in chips. (Phil Hellmuth is also still alive in 2-7 Lowball, but he is a below-average stack, and has never made a WSOP final table in a non-hold’em game … so not much of a threat.)

Click here to follow along.

UPDATE: Players are on dinner break, and Lisandro has jumped into the chip lead. Tom is 6th in chips. Also kinda interesting that Tony G — the man behind the money behind PokerNews.com — is second in chips. Wonder if it’s too late for Tom to hire someone to pull a Nancy Kerrigan on Lisandro’s ass.

Lisandro reportedly wants Player of the Year so badly that he was willing to invest $100k in this event. Tom took a more fiscally conservative approach — taking a rebuy and double add-on for $20,000 total.

Not only does WSOP Player of the Year come with a certain amount of cache, but also it comes with extra cash. The winner receives an automatic buy-in to next year’s main event ($10,000), a buy-in to a circuit main event of his choice ($5,000), entry into the WSOP Europe main event ($10,000), and $5,000 in walking-around-money … adding up to a mano-y-mano lasts-longest battle for essentially a $30,000 overlay and any added business goodies that go with Player of the Year accolades.

More…

RE: HammerWear

LAS VEGAS–There’s a sale at the Rio! That’s right, get your non-freebie swag! Last year so many T-shirts were being given away, I’m sure it was hard for the official joint to hawk its merch. This year no one’s here to give away the goods gratis … so apparel is being sold on the corner (like literally — prime location at the Amazon room crossroads) for $25 a pop. Or shall we say $17.50 a pop?

A few featured selections:

Wow. Kinda hard to believe that these shirts have the officially licensed WSOP logo, no? Oooh, Dead Man’s Hand! Pizz-izz-zashhaw! Don’t Hate the Playa, Foo! Booh-yah! Perhaps the worst shirt for sale — one commemorating Phil Hellmuth’s historic 2007 WSOP victory:

click to enlarge

These shirts have been on sale for about two weeks now … guess how many they have sold.

More…

Fellow blogger Crispin Glover Jeffrey Pollack (photo of Crispin Glover not Jeffrey Pollack) reported Friday night he would be addressing the temperature of the Amazon room here at the Rio as well as the limit structures, next day breaking order, space between players and railbirds, the infamous-tent comfort zone and visibility of the tournament clocks. All of us in the media room are shivering with frostbite anxiously awaiting the solutions.

And in other poker related news…Patrik Antonius is starting day two in the 10k PLO as a chip leader. Lance Bradley of “The Poker Biz” is salivating and not because Patrik is the sexiest poker player in the world (at least Lance’s wife hopes not) but because he’s on his Fantasy Poker Team.

Pokernews will have the live updates.

LAS VEGAS–Yesterday was kinda a crazy day — full moon and all — and today looks to be just a shade less looney.

Play has just three hours ago gotten underway in the last $1,500 NLH. According to Mean Gene:

Eerily Quiet
You put 3,000 people in a room you’d think there’d be a bit of noise, but as with the other $1,500 events we’ve covered the room falls nearly silent when play begins. For so many of these players this is their first World Series event and while they have their game faces on, it takes some time for them to find their voices. A dry mouth will do that to you.

The final table of $1,000 7-stud Hi Lo gets underway at 3 pm. This was supposed to be just a two-day event. TOM SCHNEIDER entered into nine-handed play last night (with a random fifth alternating between two tables) as the shortest stack; he’ll take his seat as the CHIP LEADER.

Hoyt Verner 129,000
Scotty Nguyen 203,000
Hieu “Tony” Ma 60,000
Saundra Taylor 202,000
Tom Schneider 275,000
Tommy Hang 110,000
Miguel De La Cruz 253,000
Woody Deck 110,000

SCOTTY NGUYEN should be sober by then. He gave Tom a lot of chips as he got drinky and aggressive in the wee hours, turning over bluff after bluff as Tom drank with him and laughed it up while rebuilding his stacks.

Dallas poker lady SONG WEBB, by the way, won $4,498 for finishing 26th; and OLIVER TSE (who started the day at Tom’s table) scored his first WSOP cash (in 11 tries) with a 21st place for $5,106.

Oliver stuck around last night long after he busted because, in his off-the-table attempts to become the BRIAN BALSBAUGH of non-American players, he was chasing down a couple GERMANS fighting for a seat at the final table.

Click here to follow today’s bracelet-eyed action semi-live.

Garthy giving a shout out to the Batfaces.

Getting underway about an hour ago is the final table of $5,000 Short-handed No-Limit Hold’em:

Seat 1: Greg Pohler - 655,000
Seat 2: Alex Bolotin - 2,010,000
Seat 3: Gioi Luong - 570,00
Seat 4: Bill Edler - 535,000
Seat 5: Dutch Boyd - 705,000
Seat 6: Erik Friberg - 2,795,000

Some friendly North Texas faces made quite a showing in this event …

Raj Kattamuri (left) finished in 13th place, winning $27,031. Vandy Krouch got $16,766 for finishing 26th. And GREGG MERKOW eeked into the money — 78th place, $6,159.

Other notable cashers include: Tobey Maguire, Vicki Coren, Jamie Gold, Scott Clements, Men the Master, Justin Bonomo, Phil Hellmuth, and Dustin Woolf.

Day 2 of the $2,000 NL Hold’em event is rolling — playing down from 147 players to a final table. This event also featured a ROUNDER CLUB cash: GINA Salinas-Torres won $4,080 for finishing 180th. Way to go, Gina!

Check this out:

A drunken THOMAS WAHLROOS showing how the Euros like to have fun fucking with HELLMUTH …

[via Shuttergypsy]

The EUROS are arriving in force. ENGLISH-ONLY is becoming more and more of a rules call throughout the Rio and Las Vegas. Just ask STEVE WONG, who finished 7th in the SHORT-HANDED event, or MARCEL LUSKE, who fell short of winning a bracelet yesterday in $2,000 Omaha Hi Lo …

LAS VEGAS–The $50k HORSE event finished up this morning … and FREDDIE DEEB is officially crowned the best all-around poker player in the world for the time being.

You can only presume HARRAH’S OFFICIALS are breathing a sigh of relief — after having pimped the tourney as the biggest deal, it makes a much better story to give the title to an immigrant who came to America to save his family from war and turned to poker as a way to make good while AMERICAN IMMIGRATION BUREAUCRACY futzed around with his ability to earn a living.

Had JOHN HANSEN won, the story would’ve been about a relatively unknown bad-ass from the NEW YORK hardcore poker underground. Less savory.

Speaking of LEGALLY QUESTIONABLE poker players, did you know drug kingpin JIMMY CHAGRA — released from prison earlier this year — played in the SENIORS EVENT?

He was on “Talkin’ Trash” with BRIAN WILSON just a couple days ago. [via Gary Wise on 2+2.]

JEFFREY POLLACK did a little semi-live blogging from the HORSE final table. Maddest props to the Commish — not only for letting us know what he heard from the poker-players town hall, but also for providing his first-ever outbound link. Puts him on a short-list of people who just-might qualify for Pokerati posting privileges some day. We’ll be watching as he continues to cut his Wicked blogging chops.

In the meantime, The Jeffster tells us:

1. There is insufficient play in the middle levels of limit games and too much in the beginning.

2. There are some instances where the color-up process isn’t being handled correctly.

3. The tent is not a comfortable place to play.

4. There needs to be more room between the spectators on the ropes and the players.

5. The next day’s breaking order should be posted when an event ends for the night.

6. We need to improve media access to final tables.

7. The sequestered tables are tough to cover for the media and follow for the fans.

8. Tournament clocks should be more visible.

9. The Amazon Room is too cold.

10. We should continue and better publicize escort service to the parking lot late at night.

Yesterday’s “other” bracelet went to a guy named SAIF AHMAD, who won the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event with relative ease.

View from the rooftop of Pokerati’s VEGAS EDGE bureau:

ERIC ROSENBERG poses an interesting question on his new-ish blog — about why official poker “stats” don’t subtract known tournament buy-ins from “winnings.” The WSOP, of course, has records of every bracelet-bound buy-in … so it could be done. Likewise, they bar-code initial seat cards, so it’s theoretically possible to provide PokerNews or whoever with the basic info on every single player whose chips they try to track.

Maybe next year?

Rosie has also spurred further conversation about BACKING-DEAL DISCLOSURE — specifically as it pertained to BILL CHEN’S WSOP-approved chip-dumping agreement. It’s not about gratuitous rabble-rousing so much as it is about decisions that will affect the future of poker, regardless of what they are.

So the $1,000 7-Stud Hi Lo continues today. Pokerati’s own TOM SCHNEIDER sits down with 4,300 chips. We’ll find out if North Texas pokerer DAMON RAMIREZ is still alive. And DOYLE BRUNSON takes his second stab at bracelet #11 with 10,700 chips. Pokerati fantasy man STEVE WONG also ain’t too far behind.

Follow the 7-Stud Hi Lo action today here.

Today’s other tournament action:

Day 1 of $2,000 No Limit Hold’em
Day 2 of the $5,000 World Championship of Short-handed No-Limit Holde’m.

And the final table for $2,000 Omaha Hi Lo gets underway, with at least one familiar professional face, who will see if he can hold on to the chip lead.

Seat 1- Martin Corpuz, Jr. 292,000
Seat 2- Ming Lee 373,000
Seat 3- Mitch Maples 70,000
Seat 4- Thang Luu 238,000
Seat 5- Jess Robinson 255,000
Seat 6- Frankie O’Dell 318,000
Seat 7- Marcel Luske 427,000
Seat 8- Marvin Ryan 104,000
Seat 9- Stuart Paterson 58,000

LAS VEGAS–Donkey Bomber is playing in the $1,000 7-stud Hi Lo and is hanging on by a thread as Day 1 nears a close. I’m following via infrequent text as I am currently not at the Rio and PokerNews hasn’t noticed he is in the tournament yet, which is fine, because really, Tom’s bracelet was so early-June 2007 — like what has he done lately? — and his stack is small.

One thing I found kinda interesting is what I think is a new feature (it’s possible journo types can miss something, ya know) on the chip-count leaderboard … check it out, and you’ll see a column for “sponsor.” I like it … though all are currently blank, even though, indeed, there are a few folks playing with the backing of another company.

You know another reason why this is relevant — beyond the fact that so much of the 2007 WSOP has been about making the World Series sponsor-friendly? Because there’s so much talk about backing deals … and whether or not these should be disclosed. At least one Pokerati journo believes they should be, for multiple reasons — most generally in the spirit of being fair, open, and honest.

The soon-to-be-poker-standard-setter WPA – whose black-and-yellow spade patches have become the red ribbons of the 2007 WSOP — hasn’t had anything specific to say about the notion of sponsorial disclosure, but they probably should … as well as something about whether it should apply to just corporate backers or individuals as well.

LAS VEGAS–Will be an interesting final table in the $1,500 Razz event. Not just because Men the Master should be sobered up by 3 pm (pacific) today when cards go in the air; and not just because German poker lass Katja Thater is showing she really knows her shiznit … The big question mark buzzing over lots of heads right now is about Eskimo Clark — who made the final table, despite collapsing twice en route, stopping tournament play while he received medical attention. Oh, and O’Neil Longson is going for his second razz bracelet in three years.

From Bodog Beat:

Paul “Eskimo” Clark collapsed at an earlier event while in the heat out in the “poker sauna”. The incident was attributed mostly to poor health triggered by the conditions in the tent. However, today in the air-conditioned Amazon Room during the $1,500 Razz event, the same convulsions put him on the floor again. Twice.

After both episodes (one of which involved Clark County Fire and Rescue), Eskimo was helped back into his chair to keep playing pursuant to his request to do so (he actually was gripping the bumper of the table, not wanting to leave). At the time, poker players around him were visibly upset at the decision to let him continue, but at time of publish he seems cognizant and well - although no one is sure for how long he will remain so. Whatever the issues are, he is also playing a mean game of Razz. He is currently second in chips with only 12 players remaining. Hopefully, he will remain well enough to play in the final table tomorrow.

When I walked up on it all, paramedics were making their way through the Amazon Room to tend to Eskimo, who had just suffered his second collapse of the day (third of the Series). With play temporarily suspended, players and fans were texting fiercely and making calls, presumably about more than just chip counts. “I don’t know why,” said one rubbernecker on the rail. “He just started twitching and shaking.”

Meanwhile, floor supervisors were keeping an eye on the tournament area as people got moved back. They were discussing rules and plans as it pertained to handling his chips. “That’s what we’ve gotta do. But still call Jack, he needs to know.”

It wasn’t mayhem per se. But there clearly was a frantic buzz inside the ropes. Rio security and Clark County medical were all professional and methodical as they moved (through) the masses. So were the dealers and tourney staff charged with protecting both players and chips. It’s times like these — with both money and actual lives on the line — that certain people’s jobs really matter, no?

At least a few folks in the media believe that, I know. And not to make it about media coverage — because really, it’s not, or at least it shouldn’t be. But there were those who were clearly aware that something newsworthy was happening and kicking into gear while others, just like old times, were physically trying to stand in our way. I suppose the difference is between those who see the WSOP as a public sporting event, and those who see it as a casino marketing event. If I coulda taken any picture, it would’ve been of a wife taking a souvenir photo of her smiling husband posing with a gracious Jennifer Harman, as Paul “Eskimo” Clark lay on the ground semi-conscious (but in the money!) about 12 feet away.

For different unofficial perspectives, check out Wicked Chops and The Poker Biz.

LAS VEGAS–Perhaps connected to the push for mainstream sponsorships, perhaps not … the $1k Ladies NLH event going on right now has more than just money and a bracelet at stake. Both Corum Watches and the Los Angeles Sparks (of the WNBA) have added something to the prize pool. Click below to read the press release. Then try to come up with a funny twist on the phrase “overlay.”

More…

LAS VEGAS–Hmm, trouble … the man seen here at right is in my teammate’s Rob Mariano’s seat … but that’s not Rob. And whoever he is, he’s not wearing any Milwaukee’s Best Light apparel!

Upon further reporting, we have learned that Rob did indeed bust out of the $1,500 NLH event. Bummer. Especially from a Pokerati photography perspective. Of course, assuming Rob has further poker aspirations, he can always qualify for the main event via Milwaukee’s Best Light freeroll here. (In theory, at least.)

Fortunately, here at the World Series, you can always rely on ImageMasters to provide you with the shot you need. At least that’s what they tell us. But they didn’t get a shot of Mariano either … perhaps because Pokerati didn’t ask for them to take one, but still:

LAS VEGAS–The WSOP commish has entered the world of blogging.

Wonder if he’ll be able to play in tomorrow’s WPBT event at The Orleans. (I know a lot of the bloggers hustling in the Amazon trenches are wondering the same thing.)

LAS VEGAS–Dude, Michele, maybe I’m biased … but you’re a pretty good hallway reporter. I’m sure, as usual, our readers will let everyone know if I am wrong.

Here’s Michele interviewing Mel Judah, who has more to say about the diversity of WSOP events and the actual fear evoked by Tuesday’s windstorm:

And this interview, with J.J. Liu, I found particularly fascinating. Not just because Michele shows her Sam Donaldson chops, but because of some hubbub I heard from presumably reliable sources just a couple days earlier … about Liu’s scandalous past. First, the video (watch for tells):

According to Oliver Tse, who was previously J.J. Liu’s agent, he had to “fire” his first client in his quest to become the Brian Balsbaugh of Asia because “her reputation [in Taiwan] is worse than O.J. Simpson’s.” Yeow, Oliver, how do you really feel? Apparently, she fled Taiwan some 20-plus years ago and came to the U.S. to escape some big bank-fraud scandal, Tse says, and then when that statute of limitations expired, she was able to come back from exile after her lawyer went on to become president of the country. Or something like that … I was eating a terrible $7 cheeseburger when he was dressed in coat-and-tie and giving me the critical skinny.

Either way, aren’t full-time poker characters great?

I don’t want to give the name or town for this reader who writes in — because I plan to make fun of him and I think I might have figured out the identity of one of our punk-ass anonymous commenters!

Whats up, it’s [...] How’s life? Who are you working for now?

I was curious what the heck is going on about pokerati’s predictions for 2007 WSOP. 2005 it was 5600 players, then 8770 players. If I’m correct you are saying only 4000 players in the main event? I’m not sure why you think so. I remember reading an article awhile back saying the casino holding the event this year predicted 11k to 12k. I’m just curious on your thoughts on this. Thanks and good luck in the $1,500 event!!

Aaron in Carrollton, you see, back in October there was this law change … bad bad law … and it sent the online poker world into a tizzy. Though the poker bubble may not have officially burst — we’ll see in the coming months — it certainly has been deflated. At least here in America. To stay legally clean, the WSOP has changed its process for registering online qualifiers … and considering that about 6,600 of last year’s main event entrants got in that way … well that’s pretty much how we came up with the number.

Things are good. A little crazy at the moment as I was originally planning on being on the road right-about-now — but I still have clothes in the dryer and keep getting all these whack emails! Garr.

I’m working for you.

A few more fun WSOP graphs for your geometric contemplation:

The question I am asked more so than any other in recent weeks is an estimate on the size of the main event field. Pokerati is sticking to its over/under of 4,001 — though we acknowledge that there are all sorts of mitigating factors that could come into play and seriously alter the differential between projection and reality, one way or the other.

This first one shows the growth of the main event over the decades, with the blue orbs representing the size of the prize pool.

The Main Event: Bubble Fixin’ to Burst?

This next one shows the amount Harrah’s took out of the prize pools in 2006. I’ll be honest, I expected this to be more troublesome, and to be showing a disturbing trend since the casino behemoth took over the WSOP. But that’s simply hasn’t been the case. The following graph is posted on a logarithmic axis … not sure what that really means, but it makes things fit a little better … so take that into account when assessing what that main-event spike really represents.

More…

There were three items that weren’t covered in Steve’s letter that are very important to me and some of my professional poker friends. Resolving these issues would make competing on the World Poker Tour more profitable, and therefore more enjoyable, for the players the WPT depends on.

1. Payout structure - In the WPT championship, the winner received $4 million. Sixth place got $300,000. This difference is not the only reason, but is one of the main reasons that people are complaining about the blind structures. If this difference were significantly smaller, players might not be as bothered by a crapshoot. I’m sure other people will comment on how to improve the blind structure, but I would like the payout structure narrowed. Viewers will be impressed if the winner gets $2 million or $4 million. Both numbers are amazing to people that watch poker. This top-heavy prize structure is one of the reasons so many poker players are going broke. Finishing 6th among 600 of the best players in the world should get paid better than 12to1.
2. Deal Making - The WSOP allows deal making and their shows are great to watch too. The viewers don’t know, and even if they did, they might find the negotiation process interesting to watch. The inability for players to make deals when the variation in prize money from first to sixth is so vast is another reason why the blind structure is so important. The final table is not real poker and is being played for more money than most people have ever seen, and we can’t make deals. If we could make deals, I wouldn’t care so much about the blind structure. In addition, if a deal was made, it would speed up the tournament reducing your production costs and would spread the prize money over a greater number of players.

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Anyone who’s covered the entirety of any World Series in the poker-boom era knows that the Main Event is pretty much an altogether separate entity than the dozens of events leading up to it. The security is different, media is different, and even the fans are different. I think this funky little graph of the 2006 WSOP — where the bubbles represent the size of the prize pools in each event — illustrates the concept pretty well. Click the image below to enlarge:

x axis = event number
y axis = number of players
bubble = prize pool

What’s interesting is that, obviously, the number of online qualifiers has everything to do with the size of the ME. Last year, they represented 6,600 of the 8,800 entrants. But with the preliminary events, there were relatively very few getting in via online satellite. So I can’t imagine these lesser planets will change much at all this go-round.

For comparison’s sake, below is the same data charted for 1985 and 1975.

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Just sitting at home doing a little blog-piddling — you know, because I’ve got a million important things to do — and I’ve got Day 4 coverage of The Colonial golf tournament on in the background. One of the ads — for tourism in Michigan — struck me as rather similar to a Full Tilt ad. Watch below and see for yourself …

Golf

Poker

Both are pretty good, no? Perhaps they were made by the same company? Either way, I gotta think one was inspired by the other — and it’s pretty cool if the golf biz (and a state intertwined with it) sees a similarity between the duffers and donkeys one might want to reach.

UPDATE: Oooh, try watching them at the same time — audio on and everything. Fun!

I think I’m flummoxed. I mean sure, SEO is so 2006 … but Pokerati’s traffic has been growing, our content has been improving, other blogs continue to find reason to link us up, and we’re ready to bust nuts at the super-big frickin’ WSOP! Yet in the eyes of almighty Google, we are less than we once were — as Pokerati’s “page rank” has dropped from 5 to 4.

This may not mean much to most of you, but it’s kind of a bummer to poker web geeks, especially those of us who just finished reading Search Engine Optimization For Dummies. You see, we have long been a 5 here at Pokerati, and frankly, kinda felt like we should be a 6 … or at least wanted to become one because all my friends were 6s. But Big Brother Google must have recently recalibrated its algorithm or something, because their page ranks have dropped, too. Check it out:

Pauly dropped from 6 to 5
PokerProf — from 6 to 4 (LasVegasVegas dropped from 7 to 5)
Bill Rini — from 6 to 5
The Fat Guy — from 6 to 5
Iggy — from 7 to 5
PokerBlog (run by the SEO team at PartyPoker) — from 6 to 4
Wicked Chops — from 5 to 4
PokerWorks — from 6 to 5
CardPlayer — from 7 to 6
Bluff — from 6 to 5
worldseriesofpoker.com — from 7 to 6
PokerStars Blog — hanging tight at 6
Up for Poker — hanging tight at 5
The Poker Biz — from 4 to 3

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Really good story in yesterday’s Star-Telegram about the rise and fall of Eon Marshall, grandmaster of WorldPokerParty.com. It gives a little background on Marshall from his pre-poker days … where he seemed to be running something scammy in California … and talks about a semi-religious tale of Eon’s showing up in his signature white limo for a neighborhood Bunko game.

OK, really, I’m not gonna pick on him … too easy to kick a jackass when he’s down. But it’s an interesting reminder about what happened to at least some of the con-men out there who tried to bank it big during the early days of the American poker boom.

Click below to read some of the comments I got via not-for-attribution email about the pleasure that went with this federal-court affirmation that certain types really don’t get to live the good life … at least not for long:

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Here’s a name from the past … and I hope I’m not messing with the poker-karma river gods by taking delight in his misfortune praising their good work. Remember Robert Eon Marshall?

Last I heard he had disappeared and was on the run from the Feds. Well, the FBI caught him — and he’s been sentenced to 10 years in prison (with no parole) and ordered to pay $900k in restitution for the people he defrauded with his failed online poker affiliate venture, WorldPokerParty.com.

Marshall (seen here at left, next to Sommer, en route to bubbling at the 2004 Pokerati Invitational), you may recall was the bombastic $2/$5 NLH maniac who reportedly made his fortune by hitting a $36 million Powerball. He also claimed to be the 20th ranked poker player in the world and bought himself a Super Bowl-style ring that said “No Limit Hold’em Champion.” Very classy-sad, no?

More on Eon Marshall and his abrasive table demeanor here.

Beyond being the bearer of so many bad beats to so many better players, he also was connected to one of the first “good folds” I made in the poker biz … he had some money ready to go to start a poker magazine, and while I was excited about the possibility, in the end I decided this guy with assault rifles and glorious stone fountains in his South Arlington strip-mall office was just too shady to get in bed with — especially when I saw him yell at his daughter for putting stickers on poker chips the wrong way. It was the right read, because his whole business was a failed Enron-style investment scheme based around convincing old ladies to buy-in (and rebuy) into an online poker affiliate model that was going nowhere.

ALT HED: All Incarcerated

ED. NOTE: Eon had a limo driver whom I talked with at length a couple years ago … but I don’t remember his name nor do I have his contact info handy. If someone has a clue who I am talking about and/or how to get in touch, please let me know.

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Dumb
Found at CraigsList, here

Join The Fastest Growing Industry In The World…Become A Pro DEALER
——————————————————————————–
Reply to: job-314136637@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-04-18, 10:08AM CDT

OK, ITS ALL OVER THE NEWS!!! THERE IS A BILL IN AUSTIN RIGHT NOW TO LEGALIZE POKER IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS. THIS BILL IS CALLED “THE POKER GAMING BILL OF 2007″. THIS BILL IS EXPECTED TO PASS AND WHEN IT DOES EVERY BAR WILL BE OPENING A POKER ROOM AND WILL BE IN NEED OF PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED DEALERS LET “THE ALL AMERICAN CASINO DEALERS ACADEMY”, THE ONLY PROFESSIONAL DEALERS SCHOOL IN TEXAS GET YOU CERTIFIED NOW BEFORE THE RUSH. ALL INSTRUCTORS ARE CASINO CERTIFIED AND MOST ARE RETIRED PIT BOSSES OR DEALERS. DAY AND EVENING CLASSES AVAILABLE…CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION METRO (817) 857-3567. JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE!!!

If I have to tell you why this post is dumb, this blog is too intelligent for you. And that’s a very sad thing indeed.

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Or not … our beloved little HB 3186 still has a ways to go. But we are “this much closer” to legal-better poker in Texas … at a minimum, people in the law business are becoming more and more familiar with our “issues” … and an increasing number of political bidders are looking at dollar signs (and calculating implied pot odds) on an unusual bill that has, let’s say, 75 percent public support …

Here is the testimony presented earlier this month for and against legalized Texas poker to the legislative committee charged with making the first rounds of decisions about this bill. You will find it either totally boring or C-Span fascinating … and if you’re in the latter camp, you’ll probably hear much that you find encouraging. Listen closer, however, and you may get a sense that some hardline politicking has only just begun:

House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Austin, TX - 4/3/07

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If any bloggers were considering backing any players at the WSOP or WPT beware pimping your player. CNET reports about the online media and the conflicts of interest.

Like seriously, if I were to back Dan…I would NEVER keep my readers posted on his play! Of course, Dan hasn’t IPO’d yet.

Headed to AUSTIN in a few hours … cards go in the air on Tuesday for a high-stakes political game that I sure-as-heck don’t wanna miss … $1 billion and the future of Texas Texas Hold’em is on the line. Like seriously. No April foolin’.

LYLE BERMAN, CRANDELL ADDINGTON, MICHAEL BOLCEREK, ERICK LINDGREN, Dallas DA CRAIG WATKINS, CLONIE GOWEN, Pokerati, et al. will be making the push for [tag]HB 3186[/tag] in front of the Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee.

Poker we know can make good TV, and you can find the live House video stream here. I get roughly THREE MINUTES to state my name for the record, tell bad beat stories, and scream “Go Batfaces!”

Hold’em Radio (which started in Austin) has moved into a NEW STUDIO in Las Vegas — at Binion’s, right by the poker room. Very cool! Live poker radio 24/7 and subsequent podcastable shenanigans just got more interesting.

Check this out … seen on I-20, en route to SHREVEPORT … a BAPTIST CHURCH dropping [tag]the hammer[/tag] in a cyber-evangelical effort to save degenerate gambling souls:

Two weeks ago, the GARDAI in NORTHERN IRELAND forced the cancellation of a similar not-so-underground event.

ONLINE GAMBLING is running into some problems in the CZECH REPUBLIC. But the companies behind the betting industry there are circumventing the legal nuisances by setting up shop in MALTA.

OK, circling back the globe … here’s the article (scroll down to the very bottom) … they are now running SATELLITES to the PPT (emphasis added):

Airport Casino Filipino Parañaque will host the first Metro Manila satellite/qualifying tournament for the 3rd Philippine Poker Tour (PPT) Million-Peso Hold’em Championship on March 31, 2007. Registration starts at 1 p.m., and tournament at 2 p.m.

[...]

Details of prize structure and tournament rules for the 3rd PPT Million-Peso Hold’em Championship are posted in the official PPT website, www.PhilippinePokerTour.com.

Meanwhile, POLAND is joining forces with ENGLAND, and I think ITALY … taking steps to officially legalize and regulate online gambling.

Speaking of ENGLAND, they’re getting on the charity poker kick there, too, raising tens of thousands of pounds for kids with learning disabilities via a PARTYPOKER televised event.

In CONNECTICUT, they’re using poker to send Pee Wee baseball players to COOPERSTOWN.

PHIL HELLMUTH is breaking new ground in non-pokery poker marketing … having just signed an ENDORSEMENT DEAL with an energy drink called “Pro Player.”

Could ENERGY DRINKS be the next poker? They’re exploding like online poker rooms in 2005, and there’s too much unregulated profit margin in these arguably addictive chemical products (that teens love!) for the Feds not to eventually take note/want their cut.

The World Trade Organization has confirmed that the United States and our laws against online gambling violate international trade agreements.

I’m not really sure what this latest “ruling” means for all practical purposes … I guess we’ll see in coming years just how much clout the WTO carries. The US has about 14 different appeals and redraws should they choose to even acknowledge the decision has been made. But a most basic translation of the WTO message: The rest of the world thinks the US is wrong when it comes to the prohibition against online gambling — well the rest of the world except for Turkey and France — and the world may soon authorize the mighty nation of Antigua to try and wield fiscal harm in an effort to get America to change its protectionist ways.

Hey, the world loves an underdog, right … ?

PartyGaming’s stock surged more than 10 percent on the news.

Interesting story in today’s New York Times about Alberto Gonzales, the beleaguered U.S. Attorney General … “whose tenure at the Justice Department may still be in peril as lawmakers in both parties have called for his resignation, questioned his credibility and raised doubts that he can lead the department.”

Gonzales, of course, is a key factor (if not driving force) behind the crackdown on online gambling. So you gotta think getting rid of him would be a good thing, right? But we should also remember that, especially in the Bush administration’s waning years, just because there is a call for a resignation hardly means it will happen. And when a bureaucracy is troubled, just like a field of donkeys, they are apt to make rash, harmful decisions. So while maybe Gonzales (who was in Houston yesterday) may not be able to explain his mysterious firings, he conceivably could press even harder against online gambling just to change the subject.

My read on Alberto (in the face of growing criticism): total landmine.

NOTE: Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not … PartyGaming’s stock went up 2.5 percent when the NYT story broke.

The Stardust opened in 1958 when “the skim” could cost a limb (or your knees), but is now but a page in history (or on your “Casino” DVD). Imploded in the middle of the night on Tuesday, onlookers stood by to say goodbye to this famous landmark.

Here’s a longer video of the whole shebang:

About a million major poker developments have taken place over the past couple weeks … but before we get to those, there are some important links out there that I have been neglectful in sharing:

First off, check out RawVegas.tv … a great new “I-TV” channel put together by CHOPS (from Wicked Chops) and BRIAN BALSBAUGH of Poker Royalty.

Poker is just a small part of it all, really … but on this week’s episode of “Prop Bets,” JOE SEBOK takes GAVIN SMITH for $3,000 by eating an extra half of a fajita, and DANIEL NEGREANU now keeps his videoblog there, too, where you can see him do things like shave his head.

MICHAEL CRAIG has amicably parted ways with the festive gang at PokerWorks — he can probably feel pretty good knowing that it essentially took nine top-quality bloggers to replace him. He’s now blogging for Full Tilt.

Poker author JAY GREENSPAN has gone indie with his new blog, Annals of a Fish Hunter. Read his first post on how it’s a bad time to launch a new poker blog and you’ll be hooked.

Speaking of new blogs, the venerable POKER SHRINK is back to blogging. I always enjoy Dr. Tim Lavalli’s neurological analyses of poker, but have missed the unfiltered rants and insights that made him the most prolific poster over at our beloved-but-dormant PokerBlog.

Over at Up for Poker, CJ has blog-ficially changed his name to LUCKBOX, and apparently has begun thinking about life beyond The Hammer … with some fresh and familiar faces bringing us a new sports blog and Hollywood blog. Doesn’t he know sports is just a fad?

And speaking of Up for Poker … if you haven’t read it already, check out “The Last Poker Game” by OTIS … as he turns his adventures in the Carolina underground into some of the best, most colorful poker writing we’ve seen in long time. Think secret lovechild of ERNEST HEMINGWAY and ANDY GLAZER. Can only wonder what these two mighta produced had either one of them stuck around long enough to start a blog.

UPDATE: PokerBlog alum Jen Leo got herself a presumably sweet new net-geeky gig — writing the Daily Deals travel blog for the L.A. TIMES.

Perhaps her crossover into mainstream media has inspired others? I got no fewer than six LINKEDIN invitations today from bloggers. Never thought I would have so many friends contemplating the concept of a “job.”

Kinda big news being discussed over at 2+2. That’s about all I know right now.

Could be good news for the likes of “No Americans!” sites such as PartyPoker (which had a reportedly two-year $20 million deal in place last year) if the 2007 WSOP does indeed turn out to be the Year of the Europeans.

NOTE: Party’s stock has been up big over the past week. And Pokerati’s secret robots tell us that they have made some adjustments to their corporate blog in recent weeks.

This play-it-ultra-safe decision from Harrah’s should have a big impact on the Gaming Life Expo as well. Oh yeah.

Now think about this … What if all those poker teams listed below faced off against each other? Let’s say, for example, 15 teams, 10 players each — $100k collective team buy-in, $1.5 million prize pool, and a really cool trophy. Money awarded to 1st and 2nd place only … because it’s a team payout to 20 players total.

That would be fun and cool, right?

With top-caliber pros seeking a collective monetary goal, collusion, chip-dumping, and protection would be expected — part of the strategy, in fact — with hand signals and code words that probably still abide by the rules of English Only …

But with those same pros returning to battle in open-tourney free-for-alls, would that be good or bad for poker? (And either way, I’m starting to wonder if it’s not just a reality we may have to face without some sort of standards about declarations of backing deals.)

This weekend I’ll be competing in something called the [Dallas-area suburb] Poker Bowl II. It’s a $240 buy-in for six-player teams. I’m on the Suicide Kings. Am definitely looking forward to it … as well as our pre-game meeting at Cracker Barrel to go over “a few things.” The last time I played in a “tag team” event I won it. (Yo, shout out to Fubu, we did it man!) This is a little different, but I expect to do well. Regardless of how we fare, however, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll feel the need to bathe immediately or soon after.

ALT HED: Go Team!?!

It occurred to me while watching an episode of Poker after Dark that Sammy Farha was the only guy not wearing any sort of online poker room logo. And that made me wonder … why the heck isn’t he sponsored? Sang came up with the gayest possibility ever: “I’ve noticed he wears a lot of couture clothing. Maybe he just thinks it would look bad to have a logo on his [sweet threads].”

OK, so what about Phil Laak, then?

Considering the pros and semi-pros who are all-but-desperate to turn their bodies into stock cars (looking at Tom Schneider and Michele) and that David Lee Roth is back together with Van Halen, it got me thinking about who is and is not with each poker team. Would love to figure out why certain folks are not sponsored — perhaps it’s by choice? — and when are non-online-poker sites going to get in on the Nascarization?

Below is a not necessarily comprehensive list of who’s decked out in whom’s paraphernalia:

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Hot Off The Press from CardPlayer for you Full Tilt Players…
“Full Tilt Poker Adds MyWebATM to Payment Options”
While it’s always nice to have more options, looks like this one comes with a price. Don’t forget to check with your local authorities to see if online gaming is legal in your state!

Falstaff reports that Mansion Poker (seen at right, as sponsor of the Tottenham non-poker Hotspurs) has closed its doors to US players. Taking their ball and keeping it in Europe.

Meanwhile, Tom Hicks is buying the Liverpool Football Club (for a reported $450 million) …

The NFL, as we know, played a significant role in booting the likes of Mansion out of the USA. Gotta wonder if they haven’t helped make the UK the more favorable economic environment for “football”.

Mentioned in a previous post that WSOP Europe is on its way — this year no less. Makes me wonder … considering the legal battle Harrah’s is waging for control of WSOP.com (Frederico Schiavio is still fighting away), can we expect similar Big Casino arm-twisting for WSOPEurope.com?

As it stands now, WSOPEurope is a semi-shill site, declaring power to the amateur pub-league players on the other poker continent. But it is based in another continent, too. Stay tuned …

Dorkin’ out with the cushy headphones on … just came across an interesting interview over at Poker Podcast World. (via Shamus.)

Click here to hear Max Shapiro breakin’ down with WSOP tourney director Jack Effel.

Max Shapiro = the Diane Rehm of poker?

In this episode, Jack talks about the efforts the WSOP is going through to unionize? ensure a highest standard of dealer and floor personnel. Apparently last year’s complaints were heard loud and clear. He also reveals that a new WSOP Europe could see cards in the air as soon as September 2007. Harrah’s has other plans in the works, Effel says, for spreading the WSOP brand to the Middle East and Asia as well … coming soon: WSOP-Macau.

Oh, he also makes his “prediction” for the size of the 2007 main event field. It will certainly “grow,” says Effel, or maybe “decline a little bit.” He puts the over/under at somewhere between 7,000 and 11,000, and specifically pshaws the number set by Pokerati.

Tim in Switzerland informs us that the World Trade Organization has just thrown a wrench at the United States’ crackdown on online gambling. Granted, it’s an allen wrench, but still … the WTO has upheld Antigua’s accusations that the US is engaging in unfair protectionist practices for allowing some online gambling (horse r