I’m not sure how much we’re supposed to be sayin’ about this … it seems like a major change in online-gambling law could still be in play in 2009 … but if so, our peeps in DC may be trying to keep it all on the downlow. At least that’s what a staunchly anti-gambling Republican in Utah is trying to suggest.

“I’m raising the red flag,” Chaffetz told the Deseret News on Wednesday. “I feel the imperative to get this organized before it is too late.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz is speaking to his constituents sounding the warning bells that the billions and billions from online gambling that government just may not be able to say no to could dramatically alter everyone’s way of life. And he doesn’t just mean the positive stuff that we see from being able to play in safe and secure US-based games …

Chaffetz says a chance meeting he had with Frank makes him worry that unlike similar past efforts that went nowhere, Frank is deadly serious about legalizing online gambling this year, and it could come up quickly without much time to organize opposition.

“I saw him in the airport in Salt Lake a number of weeks ago,” Chaffetz said. “I said, ‘Barney, what are you doing here in Salt Lake?’ He was traveling back from Las Vegas, which led to our discussion about his Internet gambling bills.”

Chaffetz said, “He assured me that come this fall, he would be getting these bills through his committee, and I believe him … He may be bluffing, but we can’t afford to take that chance.”

[...]

“This has an unfortunate and real potential of happening,” he said. “This is a big deal. I can’t impress upon you how big of a deal this is.”

Wow. Cool. Awesome. We know we have public support for “our issue” and in general our facts fall on the right side of the law … so I gotta think we only stand to benefit if a guy like Chaffetz is using Frank’s efforts to rally his own base in preparation for 2010 … because really, isn’t that his game here?

Link props: @TheEngineer2008.

UPDATE: Chaffetz is on Twitter, too, as @JasonintheHouse. And he’s also star of a new reality series on CNN called “Freshman Year”.

It is TV ratings season … and mainstream media folks tend to figure a few times a year that gambling stories are “sexy”.

Guilty pleasure, I suppose. As a man who has misread my own standing and floundered prolifically before, I’m finding it oh-so-enjoyable — cringe-tickley, I’d say — to watch two hot(ish) poker girls (one of whom I kinda-sorta know personally) gloriously stumble for my amusement. Seriously, mocking each other’s failures and belittling successes is the foundation of some of my strongest, most enduring friendships! I think it’s how guys show love.

In the premiere episode of The Amazing Race, we see Tiffany and Maria start out in 1st, drop down to last, and rebound to finish in 7th. In the process they paint themselves (and poker pros) in a less than favorable light.

According to the E! Online blog:

The first team to put a bitter taste in our mouths, however, are unendearing professional poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, who incurred a two-hour penalty after losing two of their group. The shady duo rival Johnny Fairplay’s dead-grandma fib by telling teammates they work as counselors for a nonprofit organization helping homeless youth…a great lie, if you can keep it up for more than an hour. They couldn’t—when recognized at the airport by a poker fan, they basked in his adulation…within earshot of their amazed competitors. The duo also shared another “savvy” strategy: flirting with cute brothers Sam and Dan McMillen. Both of whom are gay—and playing their cards right by flirting right back with the femmes fatales.

Click below for more highlights, lowlights, and poker-focussed observations from episode 1:

• Two members of the Harlem Globetrotters get to wear shirts promoting their brand. But no Ultimate Bet paraphernalia. Total bullshit, right?
• Maria and Tiffany say they don’t like Zev and Kevin — who unbeknownst to them had already shown themselves to be the darling “good guys” of the cast.
• Zev, who has Asperger’s Syndrome (a type of autism), says he doesn’t get a “warm fuzzy feeling” from Tiffany and Maria.
• Other TAR players — we’re only one episode in — call them “liars” and “shady”. Gee, such labels attached to an Ultimate Bet pro and associate? Shocking.
• Maria and Tiffany say they don’t believe Lance is a lawyer. He is, albeit a douchey one.
• Tiffany believes she and Maria are “rich” … as in wealthy.
• Maria lets Tiffany down by not eating a golf-ball size chunk of wasabi fast enough.
• The purple duo go through a spell where they aren’t talking to each other.
• Tiffany lets down Maria by “losing” two of 20 Japanese tourists when it was her responsibility not to do so. Needle-in-the-haystack search for them on the streets of downtown Tokyo=funny.
• Maria knows how to make really good Vietnamese food.
• Tiffany showed she has some skills when it comes to herding ducks.

I’m still rooting for the girls, of course … surely they’ll make it past the halfway point with qualities that seem custom-made for competitive reality TV.

Their post-race interview here, where the purple team begins to come to grips with what they’re really in for.

“It’s obviously different from competition at the poker table,” said Ho, who came in 11th place at this year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. “It’s outdoorsy. This is physical and mental, but we will definitely be applying whatever skills we have as gamers to this competition and push ourselves in different ways that we’re not used to doing.”

Their combined bio can be found on the CBS website and describes them as well-traveled, extremely competitive, strong-minded, and savvy. (Funny – but not really – that they’re described by most poker media as simply “hot.”) Despite my usual ban on reality television, I’ll set the DVR to see how far the ladies make it. The premiere is Sunday, September 27.

New (to me) from ESPN:

(Did I flat miss this video during the Scotty Nguyen HORSE episodes, or is it only standing out as more relevant in television hindsight?)

Also, btw, big kudos/thanks to ESPN for making their vids embeddable. I think you guys are on to something. Pretty slick … kinda like the other dude’s YouTube montage, only better.

I thought it might be interesting for you to be able to follow me through this process and experience the ups and downs in (almost) real time.  I have set up a twitter account so I can text message updates on a regular basis so that anyone who cares to can see things unfold.  I don’t know how often I will wind up posting updates, but I plan on doing it as much as i can.

If you really want to experience the heart-pounding thrill of my updates, I might be willing to sell a few small pieces of myself in each event I play.  Email me at robertgoldfarb@gmail.com

There are a lot of chips , tables, fancy custom tables and chips and tables for sale, of course, and for $15 a made-for-TV WPT video game. WSOP: Tournament of Champions for the Playstation goes for $8

For $150k you can have documentary footage of the rise and fall of Jamie Gold.

A WSOP baby’s blanket.

More chips, from the Aladdin, and from the Atlantic City Playboy Club. “Omaha Table” from Sante Fe Station.

Perhaps frighteningly, there are even poker bots for sale. At least one suspicious reader is questioning whether or not this is legal.

Remember seeing ads for 24/7poker shortly after the UIGEA? They have apparently gone out of business … and you can now pwn them for $25k.

Another defunct site wants $150k.

Poker domain names for sale for significantly less.

A new online poker room is looking for hot chicks to help them stand out among the better-established competitors at the WSOP.

And perhaps coincidentally, three presumably hot chicks have a room for WSOP players in a nice house for $200/wk.

Or for the same price, WSOP players can stay in this beautiful RV. Hey, if it could be parked in the Rio lot, might be tempting.

Or…

We are looking for 6 women age 18-25 for a cable/dvd reality show shooting in Vegas this summer. You will be living in an amazing house for two weeks along with 5 other girls and 6 guys. The show is a cross of World Series of Poker, Jackass, and The Real World. This is a cable/dvd show, it will be more “R” rated then most network shows (drinking, nudity, etc…)

PokerNews is looking for WSOP interns.

Rounder Magazine will also be at the WSOP … but they’re just looking for hotties.

A 37-year-old real estate broker-online college student-newbie poker pro sees sharing a Vegas high-rise with a model-like babe as a matter of good bankroll management.

One of the top play-chip players in the world/on MySpace — and he’s willing to sell his entire play-money bankroll for $800.

This guy is looking to sell real Full Tilt money, so he can pay his taxes. Kinda sums up the 2008 political debate about online poker, no? Would it or wouldn’t it be a better world if you could simply initiate a transfer on Full Tilt directly to “Uncle Sam”.

A guy is desperate for $300 — and thus is selling art, a poker table, and an ammo can.

Sweet stereo system, won in a poker game.

Hundreds and hundreds of baseballs, branded with Absolute Poker, in search of a good home.

Used poker books for sale.

Two pros seeking $20-200k worth of backing, just in time for the WSOP. This guy is looking for something similar, but for NBA betting.

A player wants a certain dealer.

A dealer wants a certain player.

Awesome …

ALL poker players are sore losers and the worst people and tokers (rude, no toking asswipe idiots)
I’ve been dealing 21 for a long time and every single time some idiot from the poker room finds his way to the pit there’s always a problem. They are all sore losers, rude to the dealers and the other players, shit tokers if they toke at all, and they always try and run all the shit they are allowed to do in the poker room past the 21 dealers. And they all do the most annoying thing known to man – every one of them shuffles their cheques…over…and over…and over again. Like it’s some badge of honor.

Listen up all you poker fucks – keep your rude, sore losing, no toking asses in the poker room where you belong. I’ve watched you assholes do little kid shit like spill drinks on purpose to get a new deck and bend the cards so they’re useless. You idiots should keep away from the pit. Oh yeah, and fuck you.

Awesomer …

Fat Slob – but very rich – seeks stunning knockout for Vegas Trip – 50

After suffering a bad beat at the tables, some like to shake off the tilt with a good-ole-fashioned gangbang. Others, when hitting a royal flush, want to celebrate with a bisexual threesome. And at least one “ultra high stakes amateur” (still) wants to have a baby.

Special use of the WSOP logo: “I am looking for a classy lady, wearing hot lingerie, heels and garter belt”.

Fun Female needed for a poker game. Nice tits a plus. Good Pay

Topless girls also needed just to pose on poker tables.

And this guy won’t charge you anything for his poker services … he’s just a lonely MWM looking for a way into the Batface home game.

Whether you think Tom is full of applesauce or not, his idea clearly demonstrates how the hosts of Beyond the Table are willing — indeed, eager — to think outside the box, to push the envelope, to destroy old paradigms . . . .

You know. Screw with us.

Which is why we get not one but two new shows almost simultaneously. Though one isn’t a “real” show. That’s right. The one on which Tom, Karridy, and Dan all appear — titled “BTS: The Cheating Beating” — should not be mistaken for a regular installment. (BTS = “Beyond the Show.”) Listen to hear the trio’s sober debate on ethics and online poker. (Full summary here.)

Meanwhile, we are to understand the one featuring Dan and guest co-host Robert Goldfarb — “Booty Call” — to be a “real” episode. What makes one “real” and one not? Hard to say, although it appears we’ve got ourselves an indisputably authentic BTT show whenever Dan gets drinky and starts talking about strippers, Scotty Nguyen bobblehead dolls, yard sales, religion, Tom’s POY chances, and/or hits his mute button.

Don’t trust me, though. Go listen to both and decide for yourself. And tell ’em what you think — about blind structures, strippers, “reality,” etc. — by emailing theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or calling the listener line — (888) 820-8091.