Dig’em.

Is it wrong to care more about the results of this matchup than Daniel Negreanu vs. Isildur1?

Joe Navarro in 2009 … Sam Chauhan in 2010 … every year, we see personalities who burst into poker seemingly outta nowhere generate major buzz without ever playing a televised hand. In 2011, I think it’s safe to say after three episodes my favorite new characters in poker are The Micros.

Good writing, clever animation, and a dash of parody played out by Lego characters in 10-minute episodes on YouTube … It all makes for an LOLably “real” look at the poker world in an internet era, with extra ha-ha on the nouveau poker riche.

And keeping it real in this episode … a bodacious semi-fictional appearance by Tatjana Pasalic:

This technology seems to be wow-level — with the potential to change the dynamic of the “televised” game. An Australian guy developed an RFID-enabled poker table that is now ready for market … allowing just about any game to be “broadcast” in real-time, complete with instant card-showing and hand percentages that viewers have come to expect.

The only downside I can see is dealers having to relearn how to pitch.

Read more about the do-it-yourself kit that makes it possible here.

I definitely want one. Oh, and I gotta know … can the software handle PLO?

CardRunners, as you know, recently celebrated their 5th birthday … quite a milestone when you consider that means Jungleman couldn’t even drive yet when they first came into being.

As a reminder of where you can go for the best ROI on your gifted holiday monies, here’s a peek at poker in the old days, with CR honcho Taylor Caby showing how the poker skills they teach you at CardRunners played out in a different era:

And if you’re still too cheap/broke to pony up real bucks for education, they still have financial aid available allowing you to earn CardRunners credits through Truly Free Poker Training … TFPT is for current CardRunners members as well as those newbies who have yet to take seriously their resolution to be a winning poker player.

I’m surprised to see poker people still speculating on the #ReidBill’s chances for bringing the poker industry a Christmas present or leaving us a lump of coal … as if any of us could be more than donkeys in a game where that word alone means something totally different.

The guys at Wicked Chops are saying “two outer” as if they have the same level of expertise as Pokerati. Dudes, we’ve done more than just take a tour of the White House … we ponied up the extra $9 for an audio guide!

(OK, you’re right, I can’t prove that … but if I had a receipt it would be an easier tax deduction for us than you! And true fact: I did ride paddle boats outside the Jefferson Memorial more times during the Carter administration than I saw Star Wars at a drive-in, so …)

Though just semi-experienced at best, I have been down this special-interest road before … where you’ve got a bill on the table but are running up against a semi-arbitrary not-clearly defined session clock — go Texas poker ’09! Which is why Pokerati is setting its line for #Reidbill passage firmly at somewhere between 8 and 88 percent.

Book it. We should know for sure by Tuesday or Monday or Wednesday-ish.

Though no one in the so-called “poker industry” has much if any political experience prior to Harry Reid’s current term … some poker-biz donkey-pols have learned a thing or two along the way to get us here. For a little perspective, here’s “the Professor” Howard Lederer learnin’ us some Political Science 101 last year at a high-society charity tourney in Washington DC, providing an overview of the game at hand … particularly for small-time players hoping to satellite into a bigger Beltway event:

Check it out, our good sponsored friends at CardRunners like to get a little creative sometimes — making poker training videos that hardly show cards. This one will be extra entertaining for those of you who recognize the name Ernest Thayer.

More nice work from JimmyLegs, aka John Wray.

Have a look at some of CR’s premier filmmaker’s efforts to enjoy himself while making videos generally of online poker screens.

That, of course, is all the more reason for you to sign up and give the training videos at CardRunners a try.

While we get all caught up with life here at Pokerati, you may want to begin getting to know your latest 20something super-champion, which has me wondering … when will be the next time we see a WSOP main event winner who is old enough to rent a car?

Eastgate (22), Cada (21), Duhamel (23) …

There’s a reason we media folk love us some Nolan Dalla … not only does he understand what’s really at stake every step of the poker way, but also he knows how to bring out the best in the game … and here at the Penn & Teller Theater, introducing tonight’s heads-up match, he seems to recognize, hey, I’m on a stage, we’ve got flashing lights, and there’s a poker-loving hairy manbeast behind me — might as well have some fun!

One difference, however … Racener has the Sam Chauhan rubber band, while Duhamel … is from Canada, eh?

It’s not breaktime, but they’re taking a pause … to count chips and change tapes (really? ESPN still uses TAPES?), so it’s a good time to see if our pre-game assessment was accurate or not.

Current chip counts.
Cheong – 62,725,000
Duhamel – 25,800,000
Grinder – 28,450,000
Racener – 39,600,000
Candio – 29,725,000

Blinds are at 500k/1M +1f0k

Looking at the players, the table positions, the chip stacks, the personalities … got together with David Chicotsky from Maven Training and @AgentMarco from QuadJacks to assess the nitty-dirty of the November Nine:

(In a nutshell … gogogo Joe Cheong?)

Again, WTF is up with all the new poker movies, videos, shorts, Poker Beat spinoffs, internet talk shows, reality gigs, and other multimedia poker storylines being put out by folks other than Poker PROductions, ESPN, 441, or PokerRoad?

A new movie — Hitting the Nuts — debuted a couple weeks ago at the Cincinnati Film Festival to overwhelmingly positive reviews and even won the 2010 Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The story is a tale of professional poker’s “farm system” in Scott County, Indiana …it’s supposedly a little Waiting for Guffman, a little Spinal Tap, and by my take even a little Greater Tuna. Not about the actual WSOP as much as it is getting to the WSOP … by way of a big annual legally questionable tournament.

Seems potentially funny-ish … but probably better than the Grand, poker’s last mockumentary, which proved to be a box-office flop despite a star-studded cast with the likes of Ray Romano, David Cross, Cheryl Hines, and Woody Harrelson, who perhaps ironically made his name in Hollywood by playing a character from rural Indiana:

The producers come from LA and Las Vegas improv troupes (we have improv troupes in Vegas?) — and their actors are all no-names. Sure, Cincinnati’s no Cannes, but still … there were only 13 total awards given in Cincy, and Hitting the Nuts was competing with nearly 100 other films … many with award-baiting titles like Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution, Sounds of Beirut, and Trailerpark.

My goodness, how many new poker (and non-poker) internet shows can there be … it’s like everyone in the world has a built-in laptop cam and a connection to the internet!

But this new venture from a couple of Poker Beat cohorts on the tournament coverage frontlines could actually do it for me, as I can’t think of a more morning-friendly way to find out all I need to know about WPT-Bellagio/Festa as it nears the money bubble. It’s like Regis & Kelly for poker junkies in a G4 generation.

Topics of the day include Allen Kessler, Phil Ivey, Annette Obrestad, and Matt Affleck … but really, it’s way more fun that that.

Mickey Petersen: could be the Lebron James of Poker.

Quick lesson today — from another 20-year-old kid who seems decidedly anti-baller despite going on a hella baller tear since he began his “career” two-and-a-half years ago. Now a CardRunners instructor after turning pro fresh outta high school, Mickey Petersen, known among avid onliners as Mement_mori, is in the running for CardPlayer’s Online Player of the Year at #13 … and ranks 2nd in the world over at 5+5, with qualifying results spread across 18 pages.

Though CardPlayer’s OPOY counts only $1.05 million earned with 18 final tables and two wins in the past year, Pocket Fives totals his wins at $2.7 million. But the stat I find most mind-blowing with this Gen-Z Magic player (inspired by the likes of David Williams, Eric Froehlich, and Dario Minieri to make the crossover into poker, he tells CardPlayer) … Petersen’s average cash is $1,527 … in 1,778 money finishes! Gotta think Phil Hellmuth couldn’t claim more than double that (live and online) over his entire life even if he included cash games … which says a lot because Hellmuth had already won the main event before Peterson was even born.

With Peter Eastgate retired and Gus Hansen one of the losingest players of the year (even if he takes down a WSOPE bracelet today ), seems like Mement_mori (Latin for “Remember you will die”) has easy claim as the best player in Denmark even though he has yet to cash in a live event. It doesn’t cost online players a thing to get their Cardrunners schooling with financial aid from Truly Free Poker Training. (Sign up here – promise you’ll qualify.)

It’s a long weekend for most. For those who might need to take their poker multimedia on the road or boat … here’s some watchable and/or downloadable stuff that I’ve taken particular note of recently. You might want to, too:

Online Gambling Guy

APCW Perspectives Weekly :: Actually caught a brand new episode getting the link for this post. Thought I was gonna tip you to J. Todd’s more-than-just-poker online gambling take on payment-processor forfeitures, internet filtering, and French protectionism. But that was like so mid-August. To catch up with the times, this week it’s California protectionism FTW! for the stalemate. [Link]

Charlie Rose + Wicked Chops

This Week in Poker :: TWIP is (slowly) becoming must-watch for me. Not live … that would just be ridiculous. But definitely informative+enjoyable on the download, even if you’re just half-watching and listening in the background. This week’s ep features Full Tilt red pro (?) Jason Calcanis, Donkdown’s UB-Scrutinizer-in-Chief Todd Witteles, and Durrrr. Holy shit, it’s Durrrr!!!! Fast forward … [Link]

Poker Personalities

Under the Gun (with Jon Friedberg) :: First time I saw UTG, some guys were talking fitness and nutrition. Struck me as terrible net-TV odd, yet found it strangely compelling, watched all the way through. A few weeks later was watching a sit-down with Jean-Robert Bellande. I think UTG’s format seems to lend itself to guests who can let down their guard and shoot more from the hip. This week: Alex Outhred, recently relocated to Vegas, shit-shooting about coaching and the cutthroat poker training biz. [Link]

Artsy Euro-Fartsy

TheNutz.TV :: Have seen these dudes before, and remember thinking they were pretty good. Here they are at WPT-London interviewing Lisa Jane, the poker-artist you learned about here. Had to watch to learn more about her show, “Poker in the Eye”, and see if she’s hot. Now all I gotta do is get me one of them “like” buttons. [Link]

Really quickly, before today’s poker news starts streaming in and the main event at Detox Poker gets underway … below is the video from the Pokerati tournament earlier this week. It lasted into the wee hours, not unlike this year’s WSOP Final-10-to-November-Nine … yeah, pretty much exactly the same thing.

Perhaps strangely perhaps not, I have little experience on either side of the bustout interview … but the ever-belletristic Marco from QuadJacks was on hand and presumably half-awake to discuss the finale of Detox Event #11, which saw Lev Serzhenko beat yours truly to claim the $5,184 first prize befitting the newest Pokerati (NLH/PLO) Champion.

Final hand, btw: No-Limit Hold’em, outchipped about 4:1 … I check-raise all-in when my Ace pairs the flop … Lev calls semi-quickly with open-ended straight and flush draws, and makes runner-runner trips FTW! (Dammit.)