Time for some Friday recapping:

Casino Employees Cashing

The first bracelet event, $500 Casino Employees , finished play at the end of level 10 with 53 players remaining. The chip leader is Kent Washington, from Oakland, California with 168,300 in chips. Jonathan Kotula, who won this event in 2008, is in 2nd (108,700). The only other recognizable name remaining is Bellagio tournament director Jack McClleland (19,700). The tournament is scheduled to resume at 2:30pm today, although the 1k donkament may delay that start. The schedule notes they’re playing down to a winner today, but circumstances may prevent that. If they play down to a winner today, it may put a damper on the plans looking to take part in Bluff’s Streak 2 Seven contest to win a 2010 or 2011 WSOP me seat, as mentioned on this week’s episode of the award-winning Poker Beat.

Players’ Championship Moves to Day 2

Day 1 of the $50,000 Players’ Championship concluded earlier this morning with 105 of the 116 players remaining. Chip counts haven’t been finalized, but it appears Erik Sagstrom will be the chip leader at 329,100. Other notables in the top 10: David Oppenheim (313,800), “Miami John” Cernuto and Joe Serock (265,000), Justin Bonomo (255,000), Barry Greenstein (240,100), and early chip leader Daniel Kelly (223,000). Tom Dwan, Brian Townsend, and 2009 dual bracelet winner Greg Mueller started off down $50,000 at the WSOP, eliminated on Friday. The remaining field will return at 3pm today as the field is scheduled to play six 90-minute levels.

Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

For those who get eliminated early enough, you can watch guys trying to beat the shit out of each other at the MGM Grand Garden area for UFC 114 tonight. The highly anticipated main event features Rashad Evans v Quinton “Rampage” Jackson topping an 11-fight card. For those looking for a preview of the fights, or looking for some good betting tips, check out www.mmafix.com and www.rawvegas.tv.

More later today, but in the meantime be sure to check Pokerati, on Twitter and hit up the official WSOP site over at www.wsop.com

[via Wicked Chops]

Watch Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Show The Globetrotters How To Play Basketball on RawVegas.tv

Watch WSOP 2009 Viewing Party at ESPN Zone on RawVegas.tv

Watch The Toke – Absolute Poker’s Mark Seif on RawVegas.tv

In response to some of Seif’s comments, Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles offered a response on RawVegas.tv a few days later.

Watch The Toke – Dan Druff on RawVegas.tv

Watch Scotty Nguyen Talks about the 2008 50K HORSE Event on RawVegas.tv

For all J-Pollack V-logs, click here.

For the original Degen Update from the pseudo-media dude with revoked credentials (supposedly related to his video of a player smoking meth) and a tale of violence around a rule dispute in a $65 satellite, click here.

Watch Scotty Being Scotty Premier Episode! on RawVegas.tv

Based on the premier episode of Scotty being Scotty, I think they might have a hit on their hands. (Watched the whole dang thing and will definitely watch the next one …) No?

And for those who haven’t seen it yet, click here to see the Doyle Brunson vs. Amarillo Slim scooter race and $50k prop bet.

Watch Joe Navarro on Russ Hamilton Video on RawVegas.tv

Word is that the IRS has been in direct contact with at least two important and well-informed online pokerers who may or may not have important data on Russ Hamilton and the money stolen via Ultimate Bet. And this is not just some computer in Washington DC sending out form letters — there’s apparently a special agent in Nevada currently investigating the case.

What they’re interested in is 20 million untaxed dollars. And as is starting to get revealed since RawVegas went commando with their cameras, there is clearly more to this case than just an online poker cheating scandal and subsequent tax evasion … there could be some money laundering involved … which is kinda funny (not funny ha ha) because money laundering was one of the primary reasons given for the UIGEA … and now we have an example of how the law to prevent it may indeed have facilitated it.

I don’t know enough about how IRS investigations work to know what kind of teeth this thing really has — but I’d like to think that so long as the Feds keep an eye out for one-way tickets to Costa Rica by any R. Hamilton’s … in the end, one way or another, his fate is not going to be left in the hands of the Kahnawake.

Watch RUSS HAMILTON UltimateBet Super-User Cheating Scandal (Exclusive Video) on RawVegas.tv

Kudos, btw, to the WCP/RV guys for reminding us that old school gotcha journo-ing does have a purpose.

From the always clickworthy good folks at RawVegas.TV

For the first time, I listened to the NWP Radio show last night because it was a tribute to Brandi Hawbaker. Her suicide has deeply affected me, and I hoped to hear some interesting perspective on her life and death. Almost two hours into the show, I did hear those things from Brandi’s ex-boyfriend Brandon and friend Jenn, though they were abruptly cut off in the midst of a very interesting discussion at the show’s end.

Dan Druff, who I know didn’t mean his comments in any sort of malicious way, exemplified many of the opinions I’ve heard since the news of Brandi’s suicide became public. People who have no personal, family, or friend history with mental illness have a rather narrow-minded and simplistic view of most types of mental difficulties. Brandon and Jenn did their best to dispel myths and shed some light on the complexities of people inflicted with such a disease, but it seems to be very difficult for outsiders like Druff to comprehend it.

Over the past week, I’ve had numerous conversations with people in the poker community about Brandi’s suicide. Most of their comments are rooted in pure shock at the thought of someone taking her own life. “It’s the most selfish thing someone can do,” someone said. “She must have done it to get back at the people who were mean to her,” another commented. “How does life get so bad that you want to die?”

Let me first say that I only knew Brandi through a handful of encounters. I met her during the 2006 Bellagio Five Diamond series when she tagged along for a meal with Dutch Boyd and me. It was a time that neither of them was in a good place, and it was a disturbing day to say the least. At the 2007 WSOP, I saw Brandi several times, and she made sure to mention to me that I was the only female in poker who was nice to her. While I’m sure that is not true, it made me sad to hear her say it. She also tried to get me to spend a day at the spa with her, but I was too busy with my work schedule at the time. In no way can I say that I knew her or had any personal insight into her thoughts or actions.

I’d like to also mention – in a roundabout way – that I have my own history with someone very close to me who suffered from depression throughout her life. Though I do not have any personal knowledge of personality disorders, such as the kind that Brandi reportedly suffered from, I feel that I know enough about suicide to make a few points.

It was stated on NWP Radio that Brandi’s mental illness was hereditary. She had been through counseling and taken medication, but neither helped enough to save her. Despite being highly intelligent and receiving the only type of help that people knew to give her, and while she hated hurting people and doing things that she couldn’t take back, it was part of the disease.

Again, while I can’t speak to the personality disorder, I can address suicide. And though I have absolutely no idea about what actually went through Brandi’s head prior to the suicide, I know what leads many people to go through with it.

Most people who contemplate suicide do so because they suffer from an incredible amount of pain – mainly a deep depressive psychological pain – that only gets worse over time without the proper treatment. The pain becomes so debilitating that there are few ways to ease it. Brandi was a cutter; she showed me the cuts on her legs. Sometimes, cutters feel that the release of blood will ease the pain. But when it doesn’t work, the cuts can get deeper and the yearning for relief becomes overwhelming. Not every person in this state of mind resorts to cutting, and those who don’t have no other way to stop the internal pain other than to end the life altogether.

Some who commit suicide do so in a lonely state of mind, believing that no one cares. Others have such a distorted view of themselves and those around them that they truly feel that they are a burden on others. By committing suicide, it is a way to end the suffering of those around them, who will no longer have to be hurt, embarrassed, sad, or angry.

Those who are left behind after a suicide of a friend or family member are devastated and riddled with guilt. It is inevitable and will only subside over time. Hopefully, Jenn and Brandon will consider counseling to help them through the rough time, but instructing them not to feel guilty is not the answer. They must go through a process of examining their own actions – not because they did anything wrong or inappropriate, but it is the natural progression of dealing with a tragedy such as this.

I can say with much confidence that most suicide victims do not intend to leave their loved ones with such guilt, but their thoughts are so distorted that it is nearly impossible to think of it as anything but a favor to those people. There is enough self-blame in the picture – on the part of the deceased and those left behind – to go around. But I will speculate just as Jenn and Brandon did tonight that no poker forum, poker player, or incident in the world of poker drove Brandi to end her life. Blame of any kind in this situation is counter-productive and a waste of time. The people involved have their own feelings to sort through, but most know that blame is not the answer.

My reason for posting this is that there are such misconceptions and ignorance about mental illness because it has traditionally been a private, secretive disease. It can be so terrifying that those who have never dealt with it simply cannot fathom the realities of it.

Look around. Chances are you know someone with a mental illness – whether it is being treated or not. Listen to those people – don’t judge or draw conclusions based on generalities. Whether you can help or not may be a moot point, but it is important to try to understand and be aware. More than 32,000 people commit suicide each year.

I hope that Brandi has found the peace she sought for so long.

Jenn and Brandon have created a tribute video to Brandi that can be found at RawVegas.tv.

With a staff of 12, they’ve put up more than 1,100 videos, generating more than 35 million views. [via Robin Leach]

Congrats, dudes! Pretty impressive for a web-something that “has nothing to do with Wicked Chops,” according to RVTV president Steven “Chops” Preiss … it’s amazing how many eyeballs you can capture by putting up high-quality vids (I mean resolution-wise, mixed quality content-wise) in players that always work and are easily link/embeddable. Having a sassy lass who isn’t afraid to grab her own boobs while doing the news probably also helps, as does Barrett Applegate:

In the other corner, we have Dan Druff, who is really Todd Witteles, an online poker pro who is part of the NeverWin Poker team. He met with Raw Vegas to record his rebuttal, saying that he has never accused Seif of anything, only presented the facts and asked that Seif come clean about his involvement or lack thereof.

So, who is the winner in this round? Could it be that this is only the beginning and the gloves haven’t come off yet?