As action gets underway on day 2B, we’ve got a few players you may or may not know that we’ll be paying a little extra attention to. Be sure to check in with CSR for some chip reports from and about:

Whit Blanton — He’s a wannabe semi-pro from Dallas, who’s almost made enough money in poker to quit his job. He sat at the same table as Pokerati teammate (P-mates?) Tom Schneider on Day 1, and took a little extra pleasure in reclaiming the chips that Tom had given to Mark Newhouse … particularly doing so by cracking Newhizzle’s aces with a skillfully played 68s. Whit starts the day in strong chip position with 101,450. The question to him on Day 2 is how he will wield it, especially when fueled by the boost of confidence a near-double-up at the end of Day 1 provided.

Pat Poels — He’s a two-time bracelet-winner and host at Casino Arizona who’s had an “OK” WSOP. He’s made more money than most of his buddies this year, but hasn’t yet had the big score to make his 2008 WSOP highly profitable. He had some stretches of really good cards in Day 1, which forced him to make some really big/frustrating/difficult laydowns. He goes into Day 2 with 64,650 chips.

Jerry Randack — Jerry’s a well-rounded player who burst onto the scene with a strong 2nd-place finish in the 2007 Pokerati Invitational, and has since found much success at the small-tourney tables. He cashed in a NLH event at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge III, took 2nd in Triple-Draw Lowball in the Oklahoma State Poker Championship, and final tabled earlier this summer in a Binion’s Poker Classic PLO event. We’ll find out how he handles the Day 2 pressure of a short-ish stack — 29,700 — with blinds beginning to rise.

The Big Randy – TBR played comfortably throughout Day 1, and though he starts with a below-average stack — 27,100 — the self-proclaimed top-ranked all-around Batface (cash-game and tournament results) really likes the structure and recognizes the deep-stack nature of this tourney is still in play. “Feels like ‘05,” he says, referring to his first main event where he nursed a much shorter stack for four day before cashing for $40k.

Robert Goldfarb – After “Goldfarbing” his way into the main event, he sits with 21,025 chips and has just been playing his game … though the cards haven’t yet come and he hasn’t yet gained any real traction. How the start of Day 2 goes for him, I think will be critical.

The bi-weekly “donkaments” carry on … Event #49 — $1,500 NLH … 2,700 players. A few of them are people Pokerati cares about covering … Pflaster is back in action, Robert Goldfarb is in the field and texting in updates via CSR, a few other “no names” from my old stompin’ grounds … Tom is not playing, however, as he showed up to register 10 minutes before start and was shut out — sorry, full field, no alternates, the registrar said.

There’s a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ going on in the Amazon room … The cash-game quadrant is absolutely packed, and the feature-table stadium is going arbusto about something … what I have no clue (kinda weird how the media is prohibited from going places where the general public can; story for later perhaps) … but apparently there’re three righteous internet kids poppin’ for a bracelet in the $1k NLH+R … so lots of excitement and buzz as we kick into the graveyard shift. Only downside: the ATM in the hallway is out of cash.

Meanwhile, on Court 2, I just watched an exciting Razz hand … Tom had supposedly been hemorrhaging chips, and he was in a hand with a total Ginger, who had a very strong 3-5 in the hole, against Tom’s 6 then 4 showing. Robert Goldfarb and another Schneider sweater were going pop-out-of-their-chair nuts when there was all sorts of raising and calling and Tom didn’t even have a made hand yet! By the time he got a 3 on 6th street Goldfarb practically Panteragraphed Tom’s hand to everyone in the small $10,000 World Championship of Crazy Mixed Games quadrant — “RrrrII know he’s GOT an 8 higggghhhh!!!”

Sure enough, Tom check-raised on the river, and the little Ginger called … Tom’s stack was suddenly close to healthy again, and the table broke, as they were now down to 16 players.

UPDATE: They’re down to 14, and Tom’s pretty short-stacked … about 68,000 chips … avg. stack is 280k. He just put a brand-new black hoodie on — I suppose it’s time to get serious. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m feelin’ like 12th, maybe 11th place. Either that or 4th.

Robert Goldfarb — the Arizona Posse-ite who is, um, due? — is doing double-time as a player and a reporter (without a media credential, no less) … and after some technological snafus, his cell phone is linked up again with Pokerati … so be sure to check in with his P*ttering for some reports from the higher stakes tables.

He’s chronicling his own pursuits, his observations from the tables, and Pat Poels’ already being hard at work trying to win his way into the $50k HORSE event.

Today I head to Las Vegas and begin my journey that will forever be known as The 2008 World Series of Poker.  I am going to have a big WSOP, just you wait and see.  My attitude has never been better, and neither has my game.  I have been going deep almost every time I enter a tournament whether live or online.  I can feel it about to happen, I am going to win a big one (or three) very soon.  Why not make it happen at the WSOP?

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

Just flipping channels while changing Pokerati’s spark plugs … and Lucky You is on HBO. I’m Tivo’ing it. It’s only fair that if we’re gonna continue to look at this movie as the Greek Tragedy that poker has become, I should actually watch it.

5 minutes in — Dude’s in a pawn shop muttering … losing interest.
7 minutes in — Fontana Room, Sammy Farha saying “raisey daisey” … don’t care … ooh, wait, it’s the fat guy from Borat? At-the-table hand analysis and Andy Bloch’s hat … hmmm.
11 minutes in — Horatio Sanz as Robert Goldfarb?

18 minutes in — OK, tuning out for now. Got better things to do. Online poker joke, ha. Flush got there, damn.

The BTT crew: Poker talk fused with gay jokes and fat commentary was all the rage in 2007.

Some of you have been wondering, why no new episodes of Beyond the Table? Tom, Karridy, and I have been wondering the same thing. It’s been a good run, and with drinks in the air, three guys who clearly love/hate the sounds of their own voices are calling it podcast quits.

Back when we started, our show about poker but not really about poker stood out as revolutionary in a sea of lame poker interviewcasts with questionable audio quality. Soon after iPod sales were booming as more and more of the world got hooked on downloading poker audio with funny intros and Angry Julie cameos. But Tom couldn’t handle the celebrity and Karridy developed a crack addiction lives got busy and producers for Beyond the Table fared about as well as drummers for Spinal Tap. The show hired Shamus at a fraction of a Cambodian farmer’s wage to pump up our numbers — did he ever get his T-shirt? — but with a new generation of poker podcasts getting better and stronger (Lou Kreiger, Gary Wise, 2+2, Pocket Fives, Ante Up, Poker Road, et al) old-school payola wasn’t enough to save us from going out on the podcast bubble.

Listen below to a heretofore unpublished episode (recorded on 2-27, my dream flop) as your favorite semi-amateur yammerers phone it in for the last and final-ish time:

Beyond the Table: Fin

Thanks for listening via RSS, iTunes, play-in-popup, and direct download … we already miss ourselves.

You can still prank call Karridy on the Beyond the Table listener line at 888-820-8091.

… at the World Poker Challenge at the Grand Sierra in Reno, finishing 28th out of 261. Ouch. But not all is lost for the Arizona Posse … Tom may have gone out early on Day 2, but the crew’s other double-bracelet holder Pat Poels is still alive and well — with a slightly below average stack.

Click here to follow the Day 3 action – where because of legally questionable exclusive media deals, you have no choice but to read coverage from a guy who clearly would rather write in a way that reveals he can’t wait to go home (or to the tables, or the bar) as opposed to figuring out the names of fewer than 30 players left in a field?

(If it’s fair to expect NFL television announcers to know every name on two rosters, is it really too much to ask that any “reporters” know every name once a tourney gets below four tables? There are breaks, after all, where you theoretically could go find out what you don’t know by asking someone. But whatever … it’s not Pokerati’s job to bitch about crappy, uninspired coverage just because we happened to have a conversation with someone else about whether or not we have a right to post numbers and letters like the ones below and/or haven’t had our coffee yet this morning.)

And click below to see the starting stacks going in:

More…

And maybe Tom … and their nice friend from Phoenix whose name I forget:

Somewhere along the way to posting six losing sessions out of eight and after receiving a severe tongue-lashing from Robert G (with echoes of Tulsa in my head) I abandoned my soccer-shootout tally and quest for five wins in a row. Hadn’t given it a thought since then, really, until today, upon seeing the results of my past four sessions:

DATE — VENUE — HRS — GAME — BUYIN(s) — CASHOUT — EXTRA — NET
15-Mar – venetian — 5.5 — 2/5 nlh — 600 (2) — 776 — 2 — 174
21-Mar – paris — .25 — 1/2 nlh — 200 (1) — 249 — 2 — 47
22-Mar – golden nugget — 3 — 1/2 nlh — 200 (1) — 1709 — 0 — 1509
24-Mar – venetian – 2.25 – 1/2 nlh — 200 (1) — 1262 — 2 — 1060

I swear I won’t be thinking about it next time I play.

I recall a short while back reading Tom Schneider opine at length here on Pokerati about tourney blind structures. In a memorable post, Tom suggested an innovative arrangement wherein the blinds would go up in proportion to the number of players remaining (or average chip stack — same diff.), as opposed to having timed levels. For those who missed it, here’s the post, modestly titled “The Blind Structure Solution.”

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.

Donkey Bomber Pokerati Tom — my words, not his — is at another final table today. That’s about all we know. I think it’s in a $2,500 Venetian/NPL Vegas Open event — I know it’s not at one of the preliminary Bellagio 5-Diamond tourneys where most of the pros are playing — but can’t be sure because, frankly, Tom tends to slack off from his frontline tournament reporting duties whenever he’s playing well (or vice versa). Too bad Goldfarb’s not making more final tables, because even if he can’t post directly from the table, he loves to send me the suckout-by-suckout recaps.

Tom Schneider starts today third in chips … I do know that much. And yeah, looking again, it’s gotta be event #3, because that’s one that counts toward Player of the Year. He really wants to win it, and thinks he can. Personally, I don’t think he stands a chance — though I suppose technically it’s possible and the Arizona Cardinals could win the next Super Bowl, as neither have been mathematically eliminated from contention.

In the meantime, keep up the good work, Tom (6)! We’re rooting for you against David Pham, Jonathan Little, Scott Clements, Bill Edler, JC Tran, David Fox, James Van Alstyne, Jared Hamby, and Danny Wong! Actually, I’m kinda rooting for Danny Wong, too … because he’s on my fantasy team. And Travis Rice, who is Dallas Poker’s highest ranked player in the CardPlayer standings at #11 — 5 spots, and 680 points behind Tom.

UPDATE (from Tom):

Belagio 2500 started yesterday 247 players

Hmm, OK, so I guess it was not one of the Venetian tourneys … it was a 5-Diamonder. Oops! But can we say sic.?

CORRECTION: Despite his own reports to the contrary, Schneider starts the day second in chips, not third. Click below to see who’s at the final table …

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FYI, another episode is up … for those of you who haven’t yet subscribed or synced your iPods. In this episode, our favorite non-bracelet-wearing cruiser-stakes pro sits in for Tom.

[display_podcast]

• Robert G drinks the BTT Kool-Aid.
• WSOP scheduling, the Houston poker bust and felony charges, an Illinois amateur poker crackdown, Charles Nesson as the Timothy O’Leary of Poker.
• Gratuitous pimping: Up for Poker and the PokerStars Blogger Championship.
• Action junkies and Karridy’s online sit-n-go multitabling master plan — big screens and upside-down calculator words.
• Tom goes to Spain in search of plaques and CardPlayer points.
• Karridy hits the Stockyards in search of family values and professional online poker dreams.
• The Fort Worth police vs. Beyond the Table.
• Dan tries to take credit for bringing the Mob into Texas poker.

I gotta say, it’s kinda fun watching the Pokerati peeps in PokerStars’ World Blogger Championship of Online Poker from the electronic rail. Just wish I could chat/heckle.

After the first break, Karridy (”Karridy”) is out — in 1,048th place out of 1337. But it wasn’t him playing … was a “friend from work” he insists. By the way, for those wondering, that does fall within the PokerStars substitution rules. (Scroll down to the bottom.)

California Jen (”Cookie_555″) was briefly 3rd in chips … and is still sitting pretty in 76th out of 770something remaining. She contends having this many chips is a relatively new experience for her. UPDATE: She just moved up to 37th, out of 730 remaining.

Big Robert won’t tell me what his screen name is/was … but he reports:

All in on 8 hi flop. had kk v qq…q on the turn. out.

Ouch, Robert. You woulda done better had you had the queens. But like Princess Leia as a Jedi, there is still hope for the Arizona Posse, as Green Lisa (”HelloCity”) hit her 10-outer on the river to get comfortable.

Ed the Commenter (”hungerfan”) is out in 800somethingth place.

The prizes everyone is playing for haven’t been released yet, but it’s : about $40k worth of assorted cash and goodies. (Thanks Lisa!)

I was noticing that I was playing VERY sloppy SnG’s lately. I had a nice MTT win and had pretty much pissed it all away before deciding to try to occupy myself with a few more tables, hoping it would keep me from trying to get too tricky, which seemed to be my major downfall. I think my test went very well in the short time I applied it. It started going better when Robert (Goldfarb) suggested that I use the “aim for third” strategy. I’m a little disappointed that during this period, I decided to play 6 tables at a time, as opposed to the 4 that I was playing before. It was a little tough to handle and I think Robert’s advice would have paid off even better otherwise.

My results so far…

Total Tables: 14
Total Fees: $176
Average Fee: $12.57
Won: $297
Profit: $121
Profit Per Table: $8.64
ROI: 68.75%

Granted, this is a small sampling size and pretty short “one round” sessions (For better or worse?)… I wanted to do some rough projections. If I were able to maintain this and played 50 SnG’s a day, I would net $432. Not a bad daily rate. If I stepped it up to $20 SnG’s, I believe my win rate would be the same or better, because the players will be a little better and at these stakes, that’s a good thing. So, keeping it the same and playing 50 a day, I would drag $864. $30 SnG’s makes it $1296.

This all sounds great, but I know my rate would suffer as the day went on. But then again, who’s to say that I have to play all of these in one chunk? I also know the competition would get a little steeper, but I’d be fine with even a 20 percent dip in ROI based on these factors.

Not very scientific, but interesting I think.

Robert and Tom have both made it to another pay level … with 15 players left, the worst either can do is cash out with 44k. Tom’s stack is still healthy … Robert’s is still tiny … just like he likes it.

By the way, regarding that marked ace Robert pointed out … very nice diversionary tactic tourney officials won’t notice the inevitable colluding that will should be going on between Robert and Tom.

I can’t stop following the action here.

UPDATE: After fighting long and hard, making it to the final two tables, Robert Goldfarb exits in a very respectable 15th place, taking home $43,440. Congrats on grinding that short stack! - Karridy

UPDATE: It’s TV table bubble time. Tom slowed a set of 5’s to let Thu Nguyen find false hope in a river King, building Tom’s stack to right at 3 Million. He is currently the chip leader, and is looking good enough for me to book a flight to Burbank. - Karridy

Here are the seating charts for the final two tables in Wednesday afternoon’s Legends main event. Below that are the payouts the players are fighting for. If Tom were a real friend, he would dump chips to his home-game buddy.

Table 13
Seat 1 – Mike Jung – 191,000
Seat 2 – Thu Nguyen – 490,000
Seat 3 – Franco Brunetti – 218,000
Seat 4 – Mike McClain – 684,000
Seat 5 – Lee Markholt – 873,000
Seat 6 – Raymond Davis – 539,000
Seat 7 – Brian Powell – 248,000
Seat 8 – Shi Jia Liu – 476,000
Seat 9 – Joe Sebok – 1,057,000

Table 17
Seat 1 – Peter Feldman – 853,000
Seat 2 – Dan Harrington – 370,000
Seat 3 – Robert Goldfarb – 296,000
Seat 4 – David Pham – 1,007,000
Seat 5 – Don Zewin – 378,000
Seat 6 – Sean McCabe – 183,000
Seat 7 – Wayne Chang – 281,000
Seat 8 – Tom Schneider – 803,000
Seat 9 – Billy Pilossoph –788,000

More…

OK, so maybe it’s not earth-shattering … but I take great pleasure in reporting the results of the WPT Legends tourney before CardPlayer did. No media badge needed, and I didn’t even pay a dime for the privilege! Woo-hoo, poker journalism is easy!

So anyways, yes, we they have moved on to Day 4 … with 18 people still in contention for the $1.6 million win. One of those players is our own Tom Schneider, who is 5th in chips with 803,000, and our newly beloved Robert Goldfarb, who has a little better than half the average stack with 296,000. That whole M=11ish thing again.

Blinds start tomorrow at 5k/10k + 1k.

All remaining players are guaranteed at least $34,000 (net: +$24,000) and the tournament resumes tomorrow as they play down to a 6-man final table.

The Legends of Poker tourney is at the money bubble, and Pokerati’s two Arizona bitches “main men” are still alive. Tom Schneider seems to have floundered a bit, but that’s probably just a ploy, as he claims to be in some sort of “zone.”

Robert Goldfarb is hanging on via my favorite strategy of getting the money in when you are behind and taking full advantage of a favorable board:

2nd to last hand of night I moved all in for 17,500 with QT. Dutch Boyd called me with TT. When the cards were turned up I said ‘im pretty good at these’ 44k.

Awesome. Can you see why I love this guy?And then most recently, today, as in like a few minutes ago:

Pushed 34k with 55, Ali [Sarkeshik] calls with KK. What was he thinking. 74k.

Click here to follow the action as they play down to 18(?) tonight.

UPDATE from ROBERT:

$

Can we get a Boo-yah?

NOTE: Condolences are in order for Arizona’s Mike Wattel, who obviously needs to work on his card-catching/dodging skills.

As Tom Schneider stays near the top of the field in the Legends tourney, our embedded reporter Robert Goldfarb picks his first spot as he tries to claw his way up the leaderboard:

All in for 6000…3 callers…cunningham raises 20..all fold…he has jj, i have kj…he never stood a chance. 30k.

Awesome. All he needs to do now is quadruple up and he’ll be an average stack!

UPDATE:

Moved in from c/o w/33 dutch called with aT. 58k.

Go Big Robert! I’m roo … er … you do what you gotta/know-how-to do. You are still small enough that they won’t even see you coming. Nine-touple up and you’ll be even with Tom!

UPDATE:

AA in the bb. 90k.

Ahh, welcome back. Maybe the CP-WPT crew will notice you now. It’s my lunch hour, so I gotta step away from the computer and drink.

NOTE: Actually just noticed the average stack is now 140k, and the leaderboard hasn’t been updated to include Danny Wong’s elimination … so it could be hire than that. Keep punching, Robert!

Day 2 of the $10k main event of the WPT Legends of Poker is well underway in California (aka the Oklahoma of Las Vegas).

Click here to follow the chip-by-chip coverage.

The Arizona contingent of Pokerati is representin’ … Donkey Bomber is second in chips right now (behind Dutch Boyd) and Big Robert is hanging on, trying to make it to Day 3. With 89 players left, he’s a shortish stack with 30k. Blinds are 800/1600 +200. Other Arizona peeps doing well/on fumes include Danny Fuhs and Mike Wattel.

Beyond all those guys, I’m watching the fake Todd Phillips and Batface fantasy-teamer Danny Wong — who’s got a plenty healthy stack as he guns for his third WPT final table in a row.

By the way, there’s also lots of crazy poker media stuff going — this being the first WPT event with semi-closed coverage after a legally questionable deal between Berman/Lipscomb Inc. and CardPlayer. California girl Jen Newell over at Wisehand should have some decent insight … as she used to work with the WPT, has covered their events before, and knows her way around the back-halls at The Bicycle Casino, unlike Gonz, who gets kicked out when he goes there.

Sent an encouraging message to Robert G (who is not being covered by the WPT-CardPlayer junta) while typing this post regarding his 30k: You are definitely good enough to work with that. M=11? Please.

His response: 15k.

I suggested he shift into panic-and-pray gear, but he tells me he’ll find a spot to 1-2 punch his way out. Alas, I also told him yesterday that I was “rooting for him.” Oops … kinda forgot, as plenty of old Lodge players can attest … that’s kinda the kiss of death.

I guess it shouldn’t surprise us that a bunch of top players in Arizona made the final table of the Arizona State Championship today. Though Pokerati’s horses keep dropping, it’s good to know we can keep adding horses from the soon-to-be-recognized and reckoned-with Arizona Posse. (OK, that name is starting to grind on me — perhaps we need something else — like the Scottfaces?)

Our embedded reporter Robert Goldfarb went out in 130somethingth place.

Our favorite Chinese Poker champion Jesse McGinty made the final table and finished 9th. Still waiting on the payouts.

Danny Fuhs finished 8th.

CORRECTION: Hooman Nikzad (also an AP player) finished 8th. You can see how we confused the names. It’s kinda a shame that a state championship doesn’t count in the various tournament-ranking databases, no?

Still alive from the Scottsdale-based crew are Ben Tang and Ryan Hughes (pictured), who won his first WSOP bracelet this summer. According to Tom Schneider, Ryan went to the final table with “a monstrous chip lead and will probably win it.”

UPDATE:

More…

More “exclusive” semi-live coverage of the Arizona State Poker Championship in Scottsdale from Robert Goldfarb, who seems to be surgically navigating the field with his short stack:

[Pacific times]
2:55 pm
Oh baby. Just moved all in for 4975 w/qt h, no callers. 7750

2:56 pm
158 left

3:03 pm
[avg. stack is] 30k

Damn …

3:06 pm
Moved all in for 4500 from cutoff with a3d, button called with ak….ighn. (i go home now)

That sucks, but probably for the best, as I’ve got to go to Sweet Texas Jimmy’s wedding now. Woulda been a pain/questionable form to update from the nuptial ceremonies.

ALT HED: Thanks for Playin’

The Arizona State Poker Championship has gotten underway — and Pokerati’s embedded reporter Robert Goldfarb texts in an update from the front lines:

11:07 am (Pacific)
396 players remain 450 started. I have 11.7k/10k start. 1st break.

Nice start. Clearly Goldfarb’s game is on. Go Big Robert!

Click below to read the Casino Arizona press release with some more basics about this event.

UPDATE:

1:23 pm
Lost big pot all in preflop had kk v a5 4000 now

Yikes, not a preferred situation. I don’t know enough about Goldfarb’s play … does he go on tilt easily or almost never when the chips are down but he’s still alive and kickin’?

1:38 pm
I don’t tilt.

OK ok. Now don’t you have a tournament (and a short stack) to be focusing on, Robert? Just so the readers know, I did some fact-checking, and hmm, wow, apparently you are indeed capable of not going on tilt en route to victory.

1:40 pm
Got allin with qq v k2, up to 7250.

Oh yeah … back in action, beyotch. By the way, the longer you can stay alive, the longer Pokerati gets to serve as the unofficial “exclusive” semi-live update provider of this event. Your paycheck depends on it No pressure.

2:48 pm
All in for 2k w/88 flopped set. 6k

More…

SCOTTSDALE, AZ–As I make my way back to Texas, I heard there was a big Chinese Poker game taking place in the Valley of the Sun, on a table made of suede no less, so I had to go check it out. Donkey Bomber was at the table — fresh off a plane from North Carolina, and frankly, a little shocked to see me there having not applied for media credentials through him — as was two-time bracelet winner Pat Poels, a dude named Rocky, Pokerati’s newest sexy blogger Big Robert, and Jesse McGinty … a Chinese Poker champion who apparently gets no love from CardPlayer, journalistic or otherwise. He won the inaugural $5,000 “Grinder” Chinese Poker Championship at Planet Hollywood (taking home about $50k) … but try to find mention of him in the magazine and it’s near impossible, even though CP was all over this event. (Was I the only one who went to a J-School that gave us an automatic F if we misspelled a name?) Also find it curious that Bluff didn’t include this Chinese Poker tournament in their rankings — even though it was a $5k event, which is the line they use — and vehemently defend — to determine which tourneys matter.

Anyhow, it’s starting to become clear to me … the Arizona Posse gets no respect. No wonder they are all so angry all the time.

The Chinese contingent of the Arizona Posse: (L to R) Robert Goldfarb, Jesse McGinty, Pat Poels, Nekpal Singh, and Tom Schneider.

They were playing $25-a-point (with royalties), which would grow to $50-a-point and then $100-a-point and then betting on drawing seven cards at random from the deck and making the best five-card hand. (I almost bought into that action. In fact, now that I think about it, getting 4:1 on $50 with no skill disadvantage … probably a mistake not to.) Learned a lot about playing Chinese from these guys. For example, I had no idea you could play five-handed with two decks, but you can! And when I questioned their use of non-Kem/Copag cards — they went with the more papery Bicycles — it was not because they were cheap, but because 100-percent plastic cards are a little too slick for optimal Chinese splays. Who knew!?!

(The AZ-Posse, that’s who.)

The Bellagio-like spread health-conscious buffet at Casa de Goldfarb.

Though I left before the game broke, McGinty seemed to be the guy to beat, as he was up a couple thousand dollars by 2 am.

CardPlayer’s non-embeddable video coverage of the event won by the Irish Italian guy above. Click to watch.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ–Robert, one reason you should feel pretty good about your chances in the Arizona State Poker Championship next weekend … well, let’s just say the signs are there! Hanging inside the Casino Arizona poker room — pimping the tourney and its $250k first prize — is a big banner that looks all too familiar. Basically just take the crest-like thingy pictured below, swap out the Batface skull with a CA logo, change the word “Pokerati” to “Arizona,” and there you have it. Seriously, everything else is the same.

click to enlarge / use your imagination

Fascinating, I know … especially if you happen to be into poker clip-art non-copyrighted templates.