None other than KevMath stepped into a new dimension across the pond last week, appearing on The Poker Show with Jesse May. Our favorite 2+2 moderator — and arguably the second or third most mysterious man in poker — shares his refreshingly sober analytics from what May calls “the best AND worst journalism about poker”. Check it out … there’s a lot to be learned from the guy charged with shepherding ducks on NVG (and cleaning up their mess).

They also get into the personalities at the NBC Heads-Up Championship for a bit, and talk about the peculiar appeal of Luke Schwartz — what’s behind FullFlush’s rising star in the UK, and why is he more than just a 2+2 blowhard?

Really good stuff from a new (to audio) voice serving a necessary role in the poker world. He clearly does it all for the glamour:

KevMath on The Poker Show

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Also last week, kinda funny, I had just shown up in the tournament room at the Commerce when I was supposedly simultaneously in front of a computer, chatting in the LAPC livecam chat room:

(Thanks to all looking out for this site’s good name.)

6:54 pokerati: maybe we can get uyou involved somehow with some streams like this..
6:54 WhoJedi: Pokerati is Dan, is this Dan?
6:54 WhoJedi: That would be cool.
6:54 pokerati: nosir
6:55 pokerati: i did NOT no there was a pokerat that wud be cinfused
6:55 pokerati: i am NOT impostering
6:55 WhoJedi: lol
More…

Kevin Mathers — super-moderator at 2+2, valued contributor who likes to call me out on errors here at Pokerati, and Poker News fact-checker extraordinaire — speaks with Shamus about the uber-glamorous life as a poker forum moderator and gives some insight into how 2+2 ticks. Click here for more on the process from one of the most mysterious men in poker this side of Isildur.

This — a live cam from above the floor of the Commerce — is pretty cool. Would be extra-awesome if a fight were to breakout or some girl decided to go streaking. But whatever, anyhow, check it out, if you want to watch — at present — three or four tables of a super-satellite at the Commerce. (They just got back from break.)

I think the plan is to stream the final table of the $1k w rebuys event later tonight …

They don’t quite have play-by-play to make it a real show (yet), but there is a chat moderator to answer questions about what you’re looking at. This UStream thing … so much potential to be either really good or really bad. Jury still out … but interesting they have it … and the audio now in my background (have heard a few screams and stomps, calls for somebody named Sam, and lots of chip-clicking) is more compelling than the NBC analysts for pairs figure skating.

Webcam chat at Ustream

I don’t quite get what’s possible when they say, “You can send video here by putting the show’s hashtag, #veerob, in the title when you record! Enjoy!” Are they implying someone at the table could run video, too, and put it in the same thread?

I can see World Series coverage really changing in coming years if people can self-cover themselves on video similarly to reporting their chip counts via twitter.

Follow the goings-on at the Commerce a little less pathetically with @LAPokerClassic.

For those who missed it, on last week’s episode we bid farewell to co-host John Caldwell … then got to business discussing the PCA and the new breed of Tiger Beat PokerStars. And then we get into the first annual Poker Beat Awards … where the crew waxes gay about Phil Ivey and all his accomplishments or lack thereof in 2009. I woulda voted for him (maybe I did?) but he wasn’t even at the ceremony to accept his awards. What a jerk!

We also talk a little Clonie vs. Full Tilt lawsuit and say our goodbyes to those who left us in 2009.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
1/14/10

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The entire world got a reminder about life, death, and nature this week … the Haiti earthquake gave us all at least a bit of pause to find ourselves, at least momentarily, caring about people we didn’t think we cared about.

We know how charitable poker players can be — it’s our one saving grace — and I’m sure at least a few of you have made donations already toward some humanitarian relief. PokerStars has set up “dummy tournaments” and accounts where players can transfer money to help the cause … funds the online poker site will match and send to the Red Cross. Likewise, Calvin Ayre has issued a $1 million matching-donation challenge to the entire online gambling industry.

With all the donating options out there — and the ever-present uncertainty over the difference between efficient humanitarian aid and exploitive charitable graft — I just wanted to weigh in and give a thumbs-up to one specific Haitian charity that I personally know does meaningful work AND has a little poker in its blood.

It’s called Project Medishare. They’re a bunch of doctors and volunteers who since 1995 have provided medical services, equipment, and training to some of the poorest villages in Haiti. Currently, they’re flying in trauma surgeons while helping coordinate relief with Haitian officials. And their chief blogger chronicling these efforts and helping drive online donations got her web-media start in poker.

photo: Jennifer Browning / 2006

More…

It’s been a busy year for Pokerati — so much effed up poker news to chatter at, presumably at the expense of workplace productivity. Final year-end stats are in …

Unique visitors: 492,404
Visits: 1,119,809
Page views: 5,353,853
Avg. Visit: 7min 13sec
Bandwidth: 1.176 Terabytes

Damn, sounds like a lot … but fuggit, let’s double that shit for 2010; I don’t care how many terabytes it takes!

Shouts out to our top referrers in 2009. Our best friends of the year, in order, are:

Wicked Chops
2+2
Tao of Poker
Twitter
Poker Grump
LasVegasVegas
Facebook
Pocket Fives
Poker Road
Benjo
Hardboiled Poker
Youtube

Also, some notable newcomers, whom we hope to see still lurking around these parts of the internet even more in 2010:

Pokernews
Bluffmagazine
PoliticalWire
BigSoccer
Bartcop

And, of course, we wouldn’t want to forget our foreign-lingual pals … without whom we couldn’t spread our loose-aggressive reporting worldwide as if it might actually be fact:

http://www.pokeritieto.fi
http://tiltkontrolle.blogspot.com
http://www.pokerisivut.com
http://forum.pokerzysta.pl
http://poker.deluxe.hu

Good year. Go readers, skimmers, and clickers!

Unconfirmed … but that’s the word we’re spreading, based on possibly drinky information from a semi-reliable source, a presumably reliable source, and a plausibly reliable source.

The status of PokerPages has been up in the air ever since they announced they’d be closing up shop effective Oct. 31. That day passed and they still kept publishing — and even sent two reporters to cover the November Nine. But no original content has been put up on the site since Dec. 3. Everyone was expecting some sort of sale, and now that has apparently gone through.

PokerPages, of course, is one of the oldest poker information sites on the internet – having reported on tournaments since 2000 … and having built a massive tourney/player/results database in the process.

What PokerStars plans to do with a site they haven’t yet told many people they’ve bought (or intend to buy) remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the transition from NeverwinPoker to Donkdown seems complete — with the old NWP forums successfully transfered over to their new home. Donkdown is now a Bryan Micon and Todd Witteles (aka “Dan Druff”) joint, with no more Tony G or Dustin Woolf, who is now the lone face for his namesake site.

Speaking of forums … 2+2 honcho Mason Malmuth has sued Dutch Boyd (and a guy named Anthony Scocozza) over domain squatting issues.

Oh, and our once-superbeloved PokerBlog.com … yeah, they’re apparently gone. For at least the past week, visiting the site gives you this message:

Fatal error: Table ‘./pokerblog/cache’ is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: SELECT data, created, headers FROM cache WHERE cid = ‘variables’ in /home/pokerblogcom/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 66

R.I.P. Yeah, seems kinda appropriate. PokerBlog was/is a PartyPoker operation … but now they seem to be focussing blogging efforts on their more official company blog.

UPDATE: PokerBlog is back. Looks like we can expect some WPT coverage there.

NeverwinPoker.com, the filthiest, most offensive poker site on the internet — filled with racist, sexist, drug-addled degeneracy and perverse nudity that provided a voice for a notably vile, socially maladjusted segment of the poker world — is no longer, or at least no longer what it used to be.

Tony G and the semi-corporate interests at PokerNews, who bought a controlling interest in the “gossip site” two years ago, have turned off the infamously uncensored forum. It simply wasn’t “converting” supposedly.

But don’t expect thousands of black-cock refugees to suddenly flood 2+2. Neverwin pioneer Bryan Micon is launching a new site for his toxic flock of angry outcasts at www.donkdown.com.

Meanwhile, PokerPages is somehow staying afloat — producing semi-regular new poker articles — despite declarations that they’d be fully out of business by the end of October.

(Left to Right) Andreas Oscarsson, a man charged with trying to extort him, billionaire investor Stefan Bengtsson, and former Hells Angel president Thomas Möller.

A 44-year-old man allegedly tried to extort PokerListings for nearly $2 million; the site’s murdered cofounder, Andreas Oscarsson, was to testify against him this week on aggravated racketeering charges. The unidentified man claims he was working for operatives of billionaire Stefan Bengtsson, an early investor in PokerListings and one of the richest men in Sweden — supposedly trying to collect promised monies withheld after passage of the UIGEA.

At least that’s what we can tell from Swedish-to-English Google translations … should be interesting to see what comes out in the extortion and racketeering trial, which may or may not have provided a motive for killing Oscarsson this past summer.

Haley Hintze (former editor of PokerNews) is following the story closely, and she’s dug up the latest from Swedish press (and 2+2). Highlights from her work below, along with a few more clicks worth of info about some of the characters emerging in this tragic tale of a boomtime poker media pioneer who became somebody’s target and a violent casualty after the online affiliate bubble burst.

Plausibly important allegations, defenses, and partially verified connections:

More…

I gotta say, @Phil_Hellmuth really is turning into one of the best poker reporters out there … I read his blog, follow his tweets and generally occasionally love his vids; you can tell he is actively working on his 21st-century media game.

Most recently, at his own TASER Foundation charity tourney in Phoenix — the biggest high-society charity poker shindig of the year in Arizona — he was there to report on Brandon Cantu’s being shot with a taser gun … Cantu was paying off a prop-bet he lost at last year’s event with Clonie Gowen.

Damn, ouch … but cool … didn’t realize you could bounce back so quickly from those things.

BTW, an extra-funny … @DonkeyBomber was there as one of the “star poker players” who help make the event extra fun for the Big Charity donors who play … but even on his home turf, our favorite business-exec-turned-author-turned-2007-WSOP-POY-turned-struggling-poker-pro is no Layne Flack or even Roy Winston:

More…

From the current issue of Bluff Europe:

We never thought we’d say this, but Barry [Shulman], we salute you! Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to go and throw up.

The new World Series site just went live, just in time for the November Nine … check it out at either WSOP.com or WorldSeriesofPoker.com.

For the past couple years, Bluff has been running the WSOP website — they actually paid them for the privilege. But now Harrah’s has said we don’t want your stinkin’ money! what, you can’t keep paying us? Fine then, we’ll run it ourselves … and the keys to the WSOP internet machinery (now a division of Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment) have since been handed over.

Topics this week include the emergence of Darvin Moon and Phil Ivey in the press, tournament spotlights (Shulman def. Negreanu @WSOPE, Gustafson def. Eastgate @EPT-London, UB’s Aruba-fest), and the demise of PokerPages (feat. former PP EIC Amy Calistri) …

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Caldwell, Michalski, Wise, Nemeth, Calistri, Stapleton
10/8/09

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What has been a well-respected staple and in the poker media for years is now among the outlets that have bitten the dust. PokerPages announced today that it will officially close up shop on October 31, 2009.

The Closing of PokerPages.com
by PokerPages Managment

It is with sadness and regret that we must announce that Poker Pages and all of its related services will be closed on October 31, 2009.

For many years Poker Pages has enjoyed providing the best source of poker related content, arguably the Internet’s largest and most complete live poker tournament results and listings database, as well as a place to play poker for free. These services will certainly be missed, but we realize that the most appreciated benefit of our products and services has been the community created by our user base. We thank you for the many great years you allowed us to provide you with the best poker content on the Internet and wish you all the best in your future poker endeavors. It has been a pleasure and a privilege serving you over the years!
-Poker Pages Management

Rumblings over the past year that the site was in financial trouble, combined with complaints from readers that the content was in desperate need of some organization and updates, made this announcement somewhat predictable. However, it is still sad for many of us who got our starts in the poker media by working at PokerPages. (My first WSOP reporting in 2007 was done for PokerPages, and it was where I dipped my toes in the waters of the blogosphere.) And it is certainly a sign of the tough financial times for the poker industry, as a site with such history and assets could not survive.

Here’s to the good years at PokerPages, and best wishes to those now out of work due to the shutdown.

Andreas Oscarsson, founder of PokerListings.com.

He was the first guy I met (at the 2005 WSOP) who taught me that not all affiliate-based “shill sites” were inherently bad. As a co-founder of PokerListings.com, Andreas Oscarsson helped build a company that not only has been extremely profitable by funneling online players to major poker sites, but also has shown a commitment to solid, informative, and entertaining poker news reporting, tournament coverage, and reader service.

http://www.pokerlistings.com/pokerlistings-founder-passes-away-43083

We are very sad and shocked to confirm that Andreas Oscarsson, founder of PokerListings.com, has tragically passed away while visiting his childhood home in Sweden.

At this point, we do not have any details other than he was found dead in his bed on the morning of August 3rd. He had been shot.

Oscarsson cashed out of the full-time poker website biz two years ago — opting instead for more family time after the birth of his son — but remained an emeritus figure on the PL team, serving as an advisor and sometimes more. He was 36.

UPDATE: Apparently police have ruled out suicide. Sweden’s English-speaking newspaper:

Several relatives, including the 2-year-old boy, were in the house where the man was found dead on Tuesday afternoon, Thord Haraldsson, head of the police anti-crime unit in Trollhättan, told news agency TT. None of the man’s family members are suspected of being involved in the murder, however.

The man moved to the United States ten years ago but originally came from Trollhättan and had been on holiday in Sweden when he was shot dead, Aftonbladet reports. He had planned to leave Sweden on Tuesday.

“A forensics investigation has been conducted at the scene and a preliminary investigation has indicated murder or manslaughter,” said Robert Edh, commander of the police communication centre in Gothenburg.

Wow. Sad. Wow. It’s sometimes about way more than just poker.

Setting foot in a casino card room for the first time since the WSOP yesterday, I did so to support my local L.A. poker spot The Bicycle Casino. The lovely Marketing Director Kelley O’Hara invited me to play in the media tournament in the brand new Event Center to kick off the month of Legends of Poker tournaments. While I opted not to play and only observed for a short time, I must say the Event Center is a vast improvement over the tournament room of the past. The spacious room is bright, welcoming, and about as elegant as Bell Gardens, California can get. Players at Legends events will be very pleasantly surprised.

Seems that about 180-200 people turned out to play in the tournament, including players like Annie Duke, Joe Reitman, Men Nguyen, and Jamie Gold. Some of the celebs spotted were Camryn Manheim and Sara Rue, along with local TV newscasters like hottie Phillip Palmer. It was no surprise that Duke took it down, though, and donated the winnings to Ante Up for Africa. (I get the feeling she’s really dedicated to that there organization.)

We all knew this sorta thing would be coming … but how it would come (and continue to shake down) is, of course, a little less clear. The buzz:

• Matthew Parvis has resigned from his position as editor-in-chief of Bluff. This is confirmed fact.
• Supposedly he is headed to PokerNews.com. Not confirmed, and in what capacity not sure.
• Lance Bradley will take over as EIC of Bluff. Confirmed, and makes sense, since he has previously served as the top editor of Bluff’s website, and by proxy, WSOP.com, which Bluff loses control of any day now.
• Nick Geber has reportedly been “fired” from Bluff, or at least “let go”. Not confirmed … circumstances unclear. Nick is supposedly a part-owner of Bluff Media, too … so extra layer of complexity there.

Interesting … to at least about a dozen or so Pokeratizens. Also, we can go ahead and debunk the wild rumor started here that Nick Geber’s kerfuffle at Bluff was sparked by his intent to go to Soccerati.com to replace SangyFarha. Simply not true.

Wicked Chops reported today that Jeff Shulman, who is still in the top ten in chips on the final day of the summer WSOP, would throw away the WSOP Main Event bracelet if he happened to win it. Throw away…as in the trash…as in one of the most ridiculous stunts should he actually go through with it.

Shulman reportedly believes the selling of WSOP media rights is unfair and that the coverage now is unacceptable.

That is interesting. Let’s think back for a moment to the time, only two years ago, when the World Poker Tour sold the live tournament reporting rights to, ummm, CardPlayer! And didn’t CardPlayer provide its own mediocre coverage of the WSOP about three years ago? The Shulmans and their poker company seemed to have no aversion to buying exclusive media rights coverage until they were outbid and outdone by other companies.

Throw the bracelet in the trash can? Methinks that says more about the intended thrower than the WSOP.

As you know, Poker Shrink put together a little pool amongst a handful of media making our picks for the final table with 64 players left. Here’s the complete list of who picked whom, and who stands to win the $320 winner-take-all:

More…

Today is finally the Big Money Day — where the remaining field is competing for the bankroll-relevant cash. (Save for maybe Phil Ivey, who needs to get pretty close to the final table for that.) Shamus has a good write-up of his day at work yesterday, and the relevance of the action today (particularly as it relates to the blinds).

The 64 Player Question

Good explanation of why it’s been kinda a bummer to see Tom Schneider, Joe Sebok, and Dennis Phillips go down early today, too. Media-friendly “good guys”.

So of course now we (as in everybody) still have Ivey — really, does anyone see him not making the final table at this point? — and Antonio Esfandiari (Go Iran!) … and a handful of non-American countries have their remaining players of choice to root for.

Kinda surprising kinda not that there seems to be no groundswell of support (from the media or online poker sites) for the 420-loving CardPlayer heir/editor Jeff “Happy” Shulman, who’s currently 11th in chips.

But beyond that, we don’t really know yet who’s who, and who will be remembered for anything more than just “going deep” or maybe “really deep”. That, of course, is what tomorrow will be all about.

Currently 29 players left. Playing down to 27. All the action, chip counts, and prize payouts at WSOP.com.

How smart are we? Wait…That’s a loaded question. Rephrase: How close can we come to predicting the November Nine?

We shall see! The Poker Shrink is putting the poker media to the test by encouraging our degeneracy asking us to bet on our picks for the November Nine. With 64 players remaining, some media members are picking our favorites/randoms to go all the way over the next two days at the WSOP. Who are we to shy away from a challenge?

Jen’s Picks:

Dennis Phillips
Phil Ivey
Billy Kopp
Ben Lamb
Ludovic Lacay
Leo Margets
Tom Schneider
Nick Maimone
Andrew Lichtenberger

Dan’s Picks:

Phil Ivey
Tom Schneider
Tommy Vedes
Antonio Esfandiari (Go Iran!)
Ludovic Lacay
Eugene Katchalov
Ben Lamb
Andrew Lichtenberger
James Akenhead

Kevin’s picks:

Billy Kopp
Phil Ivey
Jeff Shulman
Eugene Katchalov
Tom Schneider
Andrew Lichtenberger
Jeff Duvall
Nick Maimone
Ludovic Lacay

We are sad for those who didn’t make it … but happy our lone remaining Team Pokerati-er, Tom Schneider did … and with many chips no less! 797k, 404 players left. Today was the fight for the money. Tomorrow is the fight for the real money,

The back “patio” area, at this point, has some two dozen people on it — and it seems like all of them are speaking foreign … and different foreign at that! As the field whittles down, everyone’s attaching themselves to their remaining representatives.

Semi-interesting … The handicammed foreign media in action:

Seen on a coffee table in Pokerstarzistan’s WSOP embassy (aka Joe Hachem’s “Champion’s Lounge”) … a new edition of All In Magazine (where I got my poker-media start):

Huh. We kinda figured “the world’s leading poker magazine” had lost the All-In lasts-longest bet to the energy drink. I guess not. Expect some reverse payouts in a few dead-or-alive props, too.

Players can register for the event at the Dream Team Poker Registration booth in the Rio Convention Center Rotunda across from the jersey wall
Hours: 10am –9pm (Friday & Saturday) 9am – 12noon (Sunday)

A soon to be coveted Last Place media trophy, paying proper homage to The Hammer.

Pauly’s got a great write-up explaining YTF we all get so into this Dream Team Poker stuff … the accolades honestly aren’t just because we’re pimping partners. It’s more the other way around — we’re willing to do their bidding because they do such a fine job, which was evident in their dress-rehearsal for tomorrow’s event, which looks to be the biggest event ever (in terms of field size, at least) of its kind.

Mad from the Pokerstarsblog (aka the Pokerstarzistan state-run media), has taken part in some team poker events over in Europe but still saw this one as a bit of a gimmick — everyone’s skeptical at first — and yet by the time she was eliminated and her hopes left hanging on teammate Dennis Phillips, she described it as “the most fun I’ve ever had in the Rio — on this side of it at least.”

In footage that we like to think of as rawer than RawVegas, I took a bunch of pictures really really fast to give you a glimpse. Seriously, may well have been the first WSOP media event ever — at least in the 21st century — that had a sizable rail. And while the turbo format knocked people out quickly, it should come as little surprise that a bunch of media on their “day off” stuck around to behave like Japanese tourists:

More…

2,044 players remain when the World Series of Poker resumes Friday afternoon for Day 3, so today will mostly consist of the Commish’s media briefing and media tournament down at the Rio. The chip leader when play resumes appears to be Amir Lehavot with 610,500 in chips. An unofficial list of players for Day 3 is now up here. Five levels of play are now scheduled for the duration of the WSOP, with the money expected to be reached for Day 4 Saturday afternoon.

Page 2 consists of Nolan Dalla’s Tournament Report from the conclusion of play with further details:

More…

The remaining 1700 players are currently playing the fourth and final level of play today for day 2b, which will join the survivors from yesterday to return Friday at noon as the field will be together for the first time. Troy Weber remains the chip leader with 475,000 in chips. Other notables with chips: Brian Lemke (275,500), Phil Ivey (265,500), Kenny Tran (220,000), Hevad Khan (177,000), Antonio Esfandiari (173,000), Tony Hachem (155,000), Phil Hellmuth (139,000), Ville Wahlbeck (109,000), Kirill Gerasimov (105,000) and Tuan Le (102,000).

Notable eliminations: Bernard Lee, Robert Williamson III, Phil Tom, David Sklansky, Gavin Griffin, Howard Lederer, Scotty Nguyen, Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles (who was at the ESPN feature table with Hellmuth), Shannon Shorr and Erick Lindgren.

Check out the updates and chip counts at wsop.com here and more stuff from Pokerati during the late hours. WSOP Media tournament and media briefing tomorrow, I’ll be with Team Pokerati in spirit in the tournament. The Commish has quite a few announcements tomorrow, including the Poker Hall of Fame nominees so come back tomorrow.

Still liking our 3,000-12,000 number for the overall size of the 2009 main event.

Until I can get back to the Rio (tomorrow hopefully) — and since honestly, I hardly care about Day 1 chip counts ever — I’m following the action of course here, and mostly here, and then a little bit here. Not saying you shouldn’t also be looking elsewhere, but at the moment I have to really limit my computer screen time, so before I can catch up with everything more in depth online and in real life, I’m sticking with the clicks that I know will give me the most in a few seconds of skim. I’d include Wicked Chops, but I get their goods daily via email … and you know, trying to cut back on the screen-stare.

For those who missed it live … here’s this week’s episode of The Poker Beat, where the topics of the day include Jeff Lisandro, the Lindgreanu / Greensandro bet, National Poker Week, and Miami John coverage.

on PokerRoad

The Poker Beat
Huff, Nemeth, Wise, Michalski, Stapleton
6/25/09

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Interesting … for the month of June, my favorite people, in order, are:

Tao of Poker
Wicked Chops
Pokerisivut (Finnish)
Poker Grump
Twitter
Poker Road Nation
2+2
Pokerista (Finnish)
Benjo

Certain media colleagues consider me something of a cooler to have superpowers. Though I disagree with this assessment, I do my best to not get in the way and alter turns and rivers with my aura. However, some people’s jobs require then to do so, and at least one media friend, Marc Hodge, has earned a nickname amongst the pros: The Grim Reaper.

@howardhlederer was able to capture the image of looming death using his iPhone (there’s an app for that) — who legend has it appears whenever a player gets dangerously short stacked:

One cool adjustment to this year’s WSOP is that the media tourney will be played Dream Team Poker-style. I think it was a pretty brilliant move. Because even though way back in the day playing in the media event — with Cousin Sal at my table and Jim McManus in the same tourney — was the highlight of my 2004 … over time it’s gotten a little less important to me to spend a WSOP off-day playing in a turbo live event with only a feel-good charity donation on the line. In fact, I’ve missed the last two, because you know, whatever …

But this year, I’ll definitely be back, captaining the Pokerati Hotties:

DanM
California Jen
Kevin Mathers

Mathers apparently won’t be able to make it, so playing in his stead will be alternate Robert Goldfarb.

As anyone who has participated in a team poker event has discovered, these things are extra fun. And, frankly, I’m looking forward to accumulating jerseys. You already know about Team Tao of Pokerati — Pauly, Shaniac, and myself … and indeed, we’ll be playing in the real-money event on July 12 (and hopefully July 13). Not only do we want to redeem ourselves, but we figured since DTP took the boldly progressive move of sponsoring our little podcast, the least we could do is buy into their big event.

If you want to play in this $500+60 x3, Team Wicked Chops is hosting an online freeroll (June 25) for a seat on their squad. Tao of Pokerati woulda offered something similar, of course … but we don’t know you, so we couldn’t really take that chance.

Pokerati continues to be all over the banner sponsorship deals taking shape at this year’s WSOP, particularly amongst former main event champions from the early ’90s whose banners happen to be hanging right above the press box.

Said the fabric of Jim Bechtel’s image about the surprise deal he inked with Ultimate Bet: “It’s a proud day when a guy like me gets to be on the same team as Tiffany Michelle and Hollywood Dave. I also think Annie got totally screwed on the Apprentice!”

Benjo and I put in the extra-long hours to bring you a show when almost nothing’s going on at the Rio — you know, save for some big cash games, tired cash games, masseuses, cocktail waitresses, satellites, logistics maneuvers, etc. Not another media soul in site to witness the late-nite mayhem.

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

Episode 11.17: Graveyard Shift
4:18

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presented by …

Before Pauly skipped town to go all hippy on the leeward side of the Appalachian Trail, he and I had a little chat about the press setup at the WSOP (with an unintentional guest appearance by TD Steve) in which he gives off a tell that he might be serious about blowing this joint … And then we have another chat about what goes into backing bloggers in bracelet events and the general strategy employed by guys like Tony G putting players into a donkament.

presented by:

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

Episode 11.15: Press Badgered
3:05

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Episode 11.16: Blogger Backing
4:14

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Talk about a shocker, I know … and even though all our contacts at Full Tilt are being completely mum on the issue, that’s the word from the press box. Have a look for yourself at the Russ Hamilton main event champion banner, which just so happens to be hanging right over media row where some people may or may not occasionally leave patches lying around:

Necessary(?) FYI: JK

Our Tao of Pokerati mobile studio made BJ’s PokerRoad Nation photoblog … which clearly, you can now see, totally ups the quality of poker photography:

Says BJ:

Two of poker’s most experienced WSOP reporters, Dan Michalski (left) and Dr. Pauly McGuire, record an episode of their joint podcast, The Tao of Pokerati, from media row on Sunday night. Michalski has been blogging from the WSOP at Pokerati.com since 2004, and McGuire at TaoOfPoker.com since 2005. While some media outlets see the others as competition, bloggers like Michalski and McGuire see themselves more as coworkers and peers — working together improves everyone’s coverage.

Meanwhile, a Tao photographer using a hidden camera smuggled into Pokerati headquarters reveals our secret to podcasting success:

view on flickr

Combining the poker industry with hip hop makes Cali Jen a happy girl! Looks like PokerStars has been working on product placement with none other than hip hop star Fabolous. His new video “It’s My Time” begins with Fab and friends playing poker on a table with the PS logo right in the middle of the poker table.

Most of the poker industry are feeling the harsh realities of the recession, which is evident in fewer companies sending reporters to the WSOP, major media outlets sending less reporters and cutting wages, poker magazines cutting pages due to advertising cutbacks, and reports of various online poker sites having severe financial problems. But PokerStars, on the other hand, seems to be thriving enough to handle product placement endeavors. Getting the PS logo into a Fabolous video might not sound like a big deal to some, but Fabolous is one of THE most popular and well-respected rap stars in the biz.

Not sure what this partnership might have cost, but the audience it will reach is a target demographic that many in the poker industry seem afraid to go after but could prove to be a very lucrative one. Why was Nelly paid by PokerStars to travel to Monte Carlo, one of the most expensive locales in the world, for the EPT Grand Final? There’s a market to reach, and it seems that PokerStars is the only company with the funds to pursue it.

Side note: A song titled “It’s My Time” has a nice ring to it for any poker player, huh? As in a theme song…?

We know Pokeratizens already know to get your official hand coverage and chip counts at PokerNews WSOP.com, while supplementing it with some sex Wicked Chops, drugs Tao of Poker, and rock-n-roll PokerRoad.

But a few other spots on the internet you may not want to forget about this 40th WSOP:

Hardboiled Poker — Shamus is covering the action on-the-felt for PokerNews, but he provides his real analysis of summer life at the Rio at HBP.

BJ’s Photo Blog — a higher level of poker photography.

Poker Shrink — Dr. Tim’s doing “The Poker Mind in Depth”, where he ignores the concept of doctor-patient privacy and takes his couch sessions with Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, and Phil Hellmuth semi-public.

Benjo — If you speak French, you naturally will want your fix of les World Series of Poker from the Frenchiest French guy on media row.

For those who missed it … or those who like to play the same song over and over again on CD or iPod … here’s the audio from today’s conference call — featuring WSOP Commissioner Chief Twitterer Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP Media Honcho Seth Palansky, WSOP Top Dog Tourney Director Jack Effel, and ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming and Free Online Poker Pimping Doug White, letting us know what’s in store for the 2009 poker haj:

WSOP Media Conference Call
April 28, 2009

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Pollack, Palansky, Effel, White, reporters

For a scan of what this hour+ call covers, check the live-blogging from Wicked Chops.

The WSOP just sent out their 2009 Media Guide, and damn, gotta say … there’s a lot of stuff in there.

In an attempt to show the true bigness of it all … Beyond the basics like schedules, past winners, etc. (complete with bar-graphs of bracelet winners so you can get a visual understanding of how Phil Hellmuth’s 11 bracelets compare to Doyle Brunson’s 10), this thing has: stats and factoids, history, info on the Hall of Fame and new HOF selection process, details about the PAC …

Click here to download and peruse the 45 pages for yourself.

I know if Shronk were around, he wouldn’t be happy with all the ink he’s been getting … but he’s not, he’s left … so fuggit, sorry dude, you’re outta luck — here’s another tribute that beautifully explains why everyone who regularly dons a poker press badge is still so friggin’ bummed:

http://www.aimlesslychasing.com/?p=352

For those of you who didn’t know Shronk — or perhaps even more so for those who did — Matt over at Life’s a Bluff has dug up a not-too-old “Random Questions” video out of the archives that really tells you a lot about our friend from PokerRoad … who all of us in the poker media will still be thinking about for quite a while as we go about our daily tasks:

For those that like to follow the live updates at poker tournaments, it can be frustrating waiting for your favorite player’s status in a tournament. You could be someone who’s upset that some kid hired off Craig’’s List who can’t tell the difference between a straight and a flush messing up your bustout hand and making you look like stupid. The best way to combat this would be to be your own live updates reporter to get your side of the story out there. During last year’s WSOP, there was a site called FT Sweat was available for those who wanted to provide updates, but it was rarely utilized. Pokerati has it’s own CSR which works within the Pokerati community, whenever it gets updated. The hot application these days is Twitter, and the poker community is following the millions who’ve discovered Twitter.

Want to follow the shortened ramblings of an egomaniac, your favorite poker tournament reporter or blogger, or follow Pokerati (just don’t expect any updates).

Everyone’s hustlin’ gigs these days … and beyond status updates to my Facebook page, I’ve found two welcome homes for some non-Pokerati writing — at Bluff, and most recently What’s On … where I let the not-so-poker-geeky Vegas tourists know about happenings of interest from the LV poker scene, such as:

The Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza (which I think ended yesterday or today!) and, coming up, Dream Team Poker.

The WPT L.A. Poker Classic main event is in full swing at the Commerce Casino in cloudy-but-mid-70’s SoCal, and the turnout for the $10K main is spectacular. It started on Saturday with 696 entrants according to PokerNews and 695 according to WPT Live Updates, but either way, it’s the largest turnout second only to the 791 number in 2007. With TD Matt Savage at the helm, players are excited about the structure and anxious to get into the money today or tomorrow.

As noted previously, more media outlets made the trek to L.A. with the understanding that the Savage-run tournament would offer a lifting of the usual WPT media restrictions, the ones that typically keep non-official media out of the tournament area with the exception of 15 minutes per level. Turns out that Savage’s wishes on behalf of Commerce weren’t enough to override WPT contracts, so companies like PokerNews have been very limited in their ability to cover the tournament or provide chip counts. (F-Train is one of many frustrated reporters on scene.)

It was interesting to note, however, that a WPT executive commented on the beauty of the media-filled stage at the back of the room. But when he realized that it was not the norm, that WPT restrictions usually prevent much of the poker media from coming to WPT events anymore, he seemed to understand the problem. Whether he can or will do anything about it going forward remains to be seen.

For now, catch the official tournament reports from the WPT Live Updates team.

One of Pokerati’s WSOPals is up for an award: Lina Olofsson is a finalist for Scandinavian Female Poker Player of the Year in some Scandi Poker Awards from PokerStars. Honestly, though I know she had some good success at the tables last year, I don’t know much else about her play other than that she cashed in a $2k NLH at the ‘08 WSOP. So here’s what they’ve got to say in PokerStars Scandiland about the poker media’s favorite Swede:

Lina placerade sig i pengarna i ett WSOP-event efter att hon även lyckats vinna två säten till WSOP Main Event till ett värde av totalt 28 000 dollar. Hon gick sedan långt i online-SM där hon kom på 22:a plats av 1788 startande. Lina kom också 4:a i Casino Cosmopols stora turnering i Göteborg, Spring Poker Week och vann 99000 kr. Hon har spelat in över 160 000 kronor på turneringar under 2008.

Right on. I couldn’t agree more. Especially the Spring Poker Week. Sweet as pie, and talented writer and photog … so we’re giving her the offiicial nod. You should, too.

Click here and scroll down to vote.

A handful of us know a little secret … and are preparing morning posts revealing the details of and changes to the WSOP schedule for 2009. There’s plenty of exciting stuff to discuss, but for the most part, I think all in the poker media are respecting the info embargo. But oops … silly to expect an AP reporter (and editors of AP-subscribing papers) to do the same. After all, the organization known for its WSOP drop-ins that always require at least one poker-media-er to give up his or her feature-table seat has ignored similar requests from generals and presidents before … and the local-paper editor(s) who may or may not actually be the ones behind embargo-shembargo decisions could obviously care less about whatever national security interest related to the WSOP is in play.

Anyhow, the first cat out of the bag, via the San Jose Mercury-News, is that the November Nine concept — 4-month break included — is coming back for another go.

Seen last night outside the new cash game room at Binion’s:

The reason for this seeming disparity?

A. Bluff too deep and heavy for casual reading.

B. Bluff has superior distribution channels to keep its supply always well stocked.

C. National Finals Rodeo in town — not huge John Juanda fans.

D. First issue of Bluff with an article by Dan Michalski.

E. Rounder has a better rack.

Inspiring shit over at Tao of Poker — with reports from the LAPT’s ill-fated venture into Nuevo Vallarta. Shame on me for not considering the imminent dangers … as I forgot whom we’re dealing with here:

Someone suggested that we remove our badges. For a couple of moments, I was on edge and extremely concerned at the safety of Change100 and myself and my fellow media reps like Owen, Otis, Joe, Alex, and everyone else. I never thought that I’d get tossed into prison in Mexico for a non-drug charge. Then I got really freaked out. The federalies wouldn’t throw me in jail. They’d whack me. Journalists are the enemy in third world countries and forty-five journalists were killed in Mexico since 2000. According to Reporters without Borders, Mexico is considered the most dangerous country for journalists with the exception of Iraq.

In the end there would be no gunfire, but a tense standoff between an international poker company and a shady second-world gov creates a pretty dramatic look at the sociopoliticonomic world we live in — with nearly a million dollars in play, one side walks into a trap, while the other shoots itself in the foot … everyone else scrambles in the crossfire.

Click here to get the full story of Otis’ Amazing 35th Birthday Party.