Seriously, not lying when I say I’ve played virtually EVERY DAY of this Series, probably not going longer than 36 hours without logging on — at least to redeem a gift that expires in 1 hour. I’m too embarrassed to be seen playing at the Rio, which is why I stay home … But still, when I am playing, I can’t help but think about the World Series of Poker going on just down the road, on Twitter, on Facebook, on iPhones, via livestream … not to mention the personal text messages and deluge of PR emails … pretty much anywhere with wifi there is Zynga — er, I mean WSOP. To play Zynga you only need 3G.

How rich is this screenshot? To set up the hand, I’m playing Fast-Table 5-handed $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em on my iPhone. It limps around and I call from the small blind, but fold when the BB makes it $1.9k to go. I probably shoulda called, because if anything Zynga is a workshop in implied odds … but dream flops for naughty hole cards aside, zoom in and you’ll see that Sasquatch gets around.

Meanwhile, to show you yes, I may have a problem but I can handle it …

I find about 9 things in this shot rather fascinating … some indicative of why Jack Link’s probably isn’t the only one paying attention to Zynga’s forthcoming IPO … and one because I have screenshots from when I’ve made quads.

Move over Full Tilt Poker dot net. Scotty Nguyen sends the whole table a virtual Corona!

Personally, I don’t think they coulda picked better pros — Scotty Nguyen, Maria Ho, Jean Robert Bellande, and Dani Stern, aka Ansky (not pictured) — even better than a Team of Brunson, Hellmuth, and Negreanu, imho. If you don’t see why these pictured three +Ansky should do incredibly well @RisePoker … well, I could tell you, but, well … let’s say it goes beyond just “Asian”.

We already know about Maria Ho, already repping Team Choctaw and following that deal up with the biggest cash by a woman in WSOP-Las Vegas history … and here’s a video about Bellande’s 2011 WSOP travails — complete with talk of the grind of going 0-for-8 so far at the Series, and starting off with nearly $20k of make-up. Very real.

And though we don’t have any pictures of Ansky … we do have a picture of his license plate, which says a little something about the guy:

Rise — those clothing makers who you may recall came onto the scene a while back as the people trying to remove the d-bagginess from poker fashion — has partnered with Poker Royalty, the pre-eminent poker representative agency, to launch a new fully legal play-for-free online poker site with real cash prizes. Though I do have to wonder when they say their new poker team will include “some of the most recognizable poker players in the world” … are they talking about pros who may or may not have deals currently with dot-net (lol) online sites or the likes of @kevmath?

ZEN Entertainment, the operation powering the new Rise Poker room, is the group that recently launched the Hustler Casino’s online poker site. Though we weren’t necessarily anticipating a clothing line getting in on the action before more casinos … and two doesn’t necessarily make for a statistical trend … Pokerati is feeling good about our newsy speculation that the upcoming 2011 WSOP may indeed be full of free online qualifiers, which would be kinda different from WSOP’s past.

Read below for the official announcement:

RISE Poker Launches Rake-Free Legal US Online Poker Site
For Displaced Online Poker Players

May 19, 2011 (Las Vegas, NV) – It is a new day for online poker. RISE Poker (www.risepoker.com) today announced the upcoming launch of a U.S. legal, rake-free poker site where players can compete for up to $100,000 in monthly cash and prizes.

RISE Poker is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. In addition to $100,000 in cash and prizes, RISE Poker members will have the opportunity to compete for a $10,000 Main Event championship seat at the World Series, a $5,000 kick-off bounty tournament, and other specialty events.

The RISE Poker team will include some of the most recognizable professional poker players in the world. The site will foster a community environment so members can interact with each other and the pros. RISE Poker members will also have access to strategies and tips from the world’s top poker pros and be eligible to receive other valuable benefits and rewards.

“The market could not be better for a new, innovative rake-free site to fill the massive void created by the recent U.S. departures of the largest offshore online gambling sites. RISE Poker will offer these players a safe, secure, U.S. legal option that still offers the thrill of competing for real money cash and prizes,” said Steve “Chops” Preiss, RISE
Poker Executive Vice President of Business Development.

“We plan on changing the way people perceive traditional subscription poker sites and build a brand with long-lasting value for our members,” continued Preiss. “Members can regularly play against and connect with some of the best professionals in the world, improve their game through strategy and training, and be eligible for tangible short- and long-term benefits and rewards.”

Other key highlights of the RISE Poker launch include:

• Tiered membership levels: Members can play for free or pay a $19.99 monthly “Grinder” membership fee for additional benefits. There is also a free Alternative Means of Entry option associate with each membership level.
• Cash and prizes: At launch, RISE Poker will offer members up to $100,000 in real cash prizes, plus opportunities to win entry into premier live poker tournaments.
• Access to top poker personalities: RISE Poker is building a roster of pros who will actively play on the site through bounty and other special tournaments, as well as interact with members.
• Ability to improve your game: Members will have access to training content provided by PokerVT, as well as RISE Poker Team Pros.
• Legal & Secure: RISE Poker is available to customers in 48 U.S. states and additional eligible international markets.
Strategic partners for RISE Poker include:
• ZEN Entertainment, Inc. – The site will reside on the ZEN Entertainment Network®, the leading free-to-play online game network in the industry.
• Poker Royalty – As the industry’s premier talent agency, Poker Royalty will exclusively handle pro sponsorships for RISE Poker.
• RISE Clothing – The poker-inspired lifestyle apparel company will license its brand to the platform and supply VIP club members with gear and other benefits.

ZEN Entertainment CEO Craig Billings said of the venture: “The RISE Poker group is comprised of the preeminent minds in poker today. Working with them represents an exciting endeavor for ZEN. We are impressed with how RISE Poker is going about building its brand and a unique, player-centric approach to its customers. ZEN looks forward to providing best-of-breed, rake-free poker software to power RISE Poker.”

RISE Poker will announce the first Team Pro members in the coming weeks. Register early and be eligible for a $1,000 kick-off free-roll and receive special promotional offers by visiting risepoker.com and entering your email address.

To learn more about RISE Poker, visit www.risepoker.com.
To learn more about RISE Clothing, visit www.riseclothing.com.
To learn more about Zen Entertainment, visit www.zenentertainment.com.

This tournament has grown and grown into one of the biggest of the year in the country … and not that it would be all Ho and Fossilman’s doing … but I have a feeling this year people outside of Texas and Oklahoma will start to take note.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes vid of Maria’s commercial shoot with the Chickasaw … who by the way, just officially bought Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, presumably changing the dynamic of Texas gambling legislation, but that’s a story for another time … right now it’s all about the value of Asian poker hotties playing the role of high-stakes cash game player. That and/or being a WSOP main event champion still seem to play well in the poker endorsement world.

But soon to be announced and official, the hapless poker multimillionaire from western Maryland has apparently caved — signing a deal with the Heartland Poker Tour to serve as their “ambassador” and wear HPT gear in all tourneys, including the WSOP.

This comes from a plenty reliable source; however, said source would not confirm (nor deny!) that Darvin Moon is near-broke and thus rethinking his aversion to wearing poker-related patches … but did confirm that no poker agents were involved in signing the agreement.

Moon, of course, was the unsignable runner-up at the 2009 WSOP … making him pretty much the opposite of Dennis Phillips, and the only November Niner ever not to be patched up at the main event final table. He also snubbed the WSOP this past November by turning down repeated invitations to be part of 2010 November Nine festivities in Las Vegas, opting instead to play a $1k HPT event at the Meskwaki Casino Bingo Hotel in Tama, Iowa.

One of my favorite fights with Katkin is on the value of Darvin Moon as a sponsored player. I dig the dude as a character … and consider him good for … nay, great extra=solid for poker — while Katkin (clearly stuck in his ’06-’07ish glory-days poker-world mindset) I think believes his donk play and non-pro, non-online nature make him the wrong guy for the WSOP to celebrate in their commercials. To which I say … hater.

Anyhow, check it out and decide with minimal information for yourself … Daniel Negreanu, “caught” on webcam via screencap … playing on a site that isn’t PokerStars?

It’s something new called PokerView — which looks like just about any other online poker site except instead of avatars you have webcam video. Very tell-revealing you might think in straight-up play. And Negreanu obviously isn’t making any effort to hide his identity any more than he’s actively trying to promote this new endeavor.

So many stories potentially in play here. Is Negreanu going the way of Hellmuth, Duke, Raymer, and Maven … seeking a new poker home? Does this new site have any connection to PokerStars (the biggest online poker company in the world, save for maybe Zynga)? Could this technology be a major step forward in TOS security, giving a real-time glimpse of who’s really playing and what else might be going on in their seat. Could you mix it with Rush Poker to create online poker’s version of chat roulette? And with that in mind, serious question … how long before people start showing their junk and contend it’s merely a strategic maneuver if your schlong got the other guy to fold?

ALT HED: Show Me Your Nuts

(Thanks, DL, for the tip!) (Shame on you, DL, for trying to play me a chump!)

CONFIRMED: Not a real Daniel Negreanu endeavor.

Matt Jarvis, Fillipo Candio, and John Racener were CR’s table reps — though Racener did switch to Full Tilt-branded gear for heads-up play. No surprise that his original primary patch sponsor would want back in as rules permitted, but it is somewhat unusual (perhaps even unprecedented?) to see ESPN production crews relent to online poker patch-interests over matters of television continuity in a single episode.

The original CardRunners Three

photo: Rob Gracie / Greasie Wheels

But sure enough, with Racener surviving to be the last CardRunner standing, something looked different to TV viewers once they got down to heads-up. Maybe just big money on the table?

Also interesting to note: Full Tilt has produced and/or patched up only one WSOP main event champion — Jerry Yang.

Just a matter of variance?

Hevad Khan, core reason behind the “Hevad Khan” WSOP tournament rule, out.

Gavin Griffin, first player ever to lock up an unofficial triple crown, consisting of a WSOP bracelet and WPT and EPT titles, gone.

Peter Eastgate, 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion, sayonara.

In the end, these three all seem to make some sense. Peter Eastagate has quit retired from poker, though its anybody’s guess how long this haitus retirement is going to last. And if Hevad’s and Gavin’s Hendon Mobs are any indication, neither player has done anything particularly spectacular in the last two years. This coupled with high profile signings of David Williams and Vanessa Selbst earlier this year may have prompted Stars to trim the fat with regards to its pro holdings. Whether they stop here or not is anyone’s guess, but it will be interesting to see if at least the non-retired pros get picked up by a new site in the near future.

Tao of Pokerati
Episode 64: Big Head Randy and the Min-Cashers – Dan and Pauly hang out at the Bad Beat bar and wonder if they are coolers? Or if the Big Randy had busted out because he was not wearing a Pokerati patch. Yes, the Big Randy busted before the money bubble. The discussion shifts to the bubble strategy for PokerStars qualifiers who also have a PCA package riding on the line along with the min-cash.

Fortunately, team captain Tom didn’t disappoint (anyone but himself and his family). Schneider showed up on ESPN this week, playing the main event on the outermost feature table, and for a surprisingly funny bit with him and fellow Team Pokerati-er Julie Schneider, as Norman Chad tries to learn about cooking and/or what makes a poker marriage work:

Be sure to check out Pauly’s post about this episode — scroll down to Day in the Life of the DonkeyBomber and Pancakes with Angry Julie — for some decidedly Tao take on Tom and his Loudmouth living.

Incidentally, you’ll notice in the clip that both he and Julie were patched up with Full Tilt. Tilt was not the only one interested in that space … when ESPN shot it (during Week 1 of the WSOP), Loudmouth didn’t have their patches yet. But, you may be surprised to learn, in the 3-way bidding war for premium ESPN real estate on the Schneider family clavicles … Pokerati actually came in second, with an offer larger than the one from PokerStars.

Click here to see more of the Pokerati patch in action, er, I mean Tom on ESPN pimpin’ the short stack on the tertiary featured table … holy shit his hand holds up!

Episode 56:

Episode 57: Scents and Subtle Sounds of the Main Event with Snoopy – An impromptu episode (with our British colleague Snoopy) to further discuss odor emissions — stemming from loose bathing habits, flatulence, pungent reefer, and a growing desire for luck — as the main event progresses.

David Williams, 2010 WPT World Champion, apparently will be donning the Spade-and-Star of PokerStars during the WSOP main event. I’m pretty sure you can bet on it …

Maybe I just missed the announcement, or any telltale patchwork in the Amazon room … but I hadn’t yet heard whom he’d be allying with, and this morning got an email invite for a little media meet-and-greet with:

Joe Cada: 2009 Winner – World Series of Poker
Vanessa Selbst: 2010 Winner – North American Poker Tour at Mohegan Sun
David Williams: As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $7,893,000

A formal invite is below, please let me know if you would like to RSVP for this event!

Figured it had to be them or Full Tilt … maybe Victory, but probably not, as Williams, upon becoming a free agent this spring just after winning the $25k WPT Championship, seemed to be one of the very few pros with the right combination of image and cred to make him extra-marketable.

All makes perfect sense really. As powerful a duo Williams could make with Antonio Esfandiari, it seems much cooler to match him up with two other current and defending big-event champs.

Now the makers of “The First Argyle Pants for Men in the World!” are expanding into poker, looking to brighten a game where a typical player’s fashion proclivities lean toward drab hoodies, dark ball caps, and Vitamin D deficiencies. Representing the new Loudmouth Poker … none other than Team Pokerati captain Tom Schneider, who will be wearing his new 97 percent cotton, 3 percent spandex duds during the WSOP.

The occasional WSOP star joins Loudmouth’s team of representatives, which includes golfer John Daly, professional long driver Bobby Wilson, rock legend Alice Cooper, and NFL Super Bowl QB Jim McMahon.

“Loudmouth has been looking at a variety of expansion directions such as skiing, skating, tennis, kids, etc.,” says Larry Jackson, CEO of Loudmouth Golf. “With the opportunity to connect with poker players and fans through our Loudmouth friend Tom Schneider at the WSOP, we all saw the opportunity immediately. The WSOP and poker in general is filled with a variety of interesting characters and that is fertile ground for Loudmouth.”

It’s generally good to see new, non-poker entities getting into poker, especially when they’re snazzing up, not scuzzing up the WSOP. Where would we be, after all, without Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Mr. Peanut, or Levitra in our world?

Before and After: Loudmouth pants may spruce up Tom’s WSOP wardrobe, but will they spruce up his game?

Says Schneider of his newly sponsored style: “I’ve always dreamed of being a fashion model since I was a little girl. Now, thanks to Loudmouth, that dream has been realized. I just hope I can win a few more bracelets to go with my pants so I can serve as an inspiration to non-descript 50-year-old suburban men everywhere.”

Ha ha, nice, Tom. And while we like to give the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year a little guff for being the best player whose game no one respects as much as he does … at least now with his Loudmouth pants on, the DonkeyBomber can lay claim to being the Norwegian Curling Team of Poker.

I woke up this morning (really – WSOP media conference call) and noticed a few murmurs on twitter. But surely it was just a poorly worded joke … then ran into a power problem that prevented me from digging for more. But then late tonight, I heard details from a generally reliable source, definitely reliable on this …

And indeed, David Williams is no longer a Bodog pro. What, winning the WPT World Championship and wet-cementing himself as truly one of the top-top players in the game isn’t quite the “Bodog Life”? Maybe his minglings with hot chicks and celebs at Vegas nightclubs doesn’t count as much if he ain’t drinking hard?

Williams (go Dallas poker!), of course, was one of the longest-lasting Bodog pros. The site recently scrapped Jean-Robert Bellande and Justin Bonomo, but they kept Evelyn Ng. Who woulda thunk that second place in a 2004 six-player ladies sit-n-go could ever mean so much!

Oh, and the big news somehow related to it all … Bodog did sign Amanda Musumeci, a hottie-ish 25-year-old American who built her microstakes bankroll into nearly $200k online. (Click for her Betty Page-meets-online-grinder pics.) She goes by the name “Manderbutt“, btw. Kinda looks like a Manderbutt, no?

Anyhow, new chick aboard + Evybaby = Team Bodog. It’s hard to determine if this was a pre-arranged firing or maybe Williams, who proudly wore his Bodog patch during the WPT, initiated the break-up? Perhaps it was as simple as Bodog not being willing to pony up the price Williams, now a WPT World Champion, could get elsewhere and thus they split amicably? They almost always split amicably, right? (Save for Clonie …)

I’m pretty sure we’ll discuss this a little more on the next Poker Beat … but you gotta think whatever was behind this move — again, more crazy industry shifting — it makes @dwpoker one of he hottest commodities in the game.

Unless of course he decides to vigorously declare his online poker independence and run all Darvin Moon with his newfound free agency.

Fun! Now we get to see the types of numbers that Harrah’s, as a private company, would probably prefer to keep private … and we get to watch our friends at WSOP headquarters scramble for a new sponsor while, two months before the 2010 Series, they learn that an $8.4 million check they were expecting is not going to arrive.

From the Las Vegas Sun:

UIM says that in 2008 it agreed to sponsor the World Series of Poker for payments of $6.2 million for the 2008 tournament, $7.9 million for the 2009 tournament and $8.4 million for the 2010 tournament that begins May 27 at Harrah’s Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

[...]

UIM says in the lawsuit it paid the amounts due to Harrah’s for the 2008 and 2009 events, but that on Thursday it notified Harrah’s it is pulling out of the 2010 tournament.

UIM said that’s because in previous years Harrah’s breached the sponsorship deal when ESPN broadcasts of the tournament by an affiliate in France, television channel RTL9, failed to display Everest’s name and logo and instead featured the name and logo of Everest competitor Full Tilt Poker.

French TV has caused poker troubles before. Previously an unresolved matter of translations supposedly resulted in Daniel Negreanu’s removing himself from the Poker After Dark line-up … the problem being that the French television station airing the show was claiming that Negreanu played exclusively at Full Tilt, when in fact he is clearly a PokerStars guy.

Meanwhile, Pokerati now knows we saved $7.899992 million getting our logo on the WSOP felts in 2009 … and thus we’re not too pissed that this image has not yet made it onto French TV:

UPDATE: New reality show idea … 2 Months, $10 Million … the Harrah’s crew are ready to put on the biggest show in poker after having promised to just give away money to their top players, but then a French TV dispute leads to what poker players would call a “bad beat” … can Team WSOP pull it all together and save the Series before cards go in the air? Tune in next week to find out. A

UPDATE: Funny take on it all + a photo of the French TV shenanigans at the center of this WSOdisPute.

Totals:

Full Tilt – 21
PokerStars – 15
UB – 4
Victory Poker – 2
PartyPoker – 2
Doyle’s Room – 1
Bodog – 1
Betfair – 1
Expect – 1
bet365 – 1
Cake (Unabomber Poker) -1
Non-Poker (GoDaddy) -1
Unknown / Undecided / For Sale – 8

Should be interesting to see how at least a few of these unknowns end up. (Darvin Moon, for example, and Jamie Gold.) Click below for a breakdown by player …

The entire field (alphabetical order):

Patrik Antonius – Full Tilt
Eric Baldwin – UB
Andy Bloch – Full Tilt
Doyle Brunson – Doyle’s Room
Joe Cada – PokerStars
Johnny Chan – ???
Don Cheadle – Full Tilt
Allen Cunningham – Full Tilt
Pieter de Korver – PokerStars
Annie Duke – UB
Tom Dwan – Full Tilt
Peter Eastgate – PokerStars
Eli Elezra – Full Tilt
Antonio Esfandiari – Victory Poker
Sam Farha – ???
Chris Ferguson -Full Tilt
Ted Forrest – Full Tilt
Jamie Gold – ???
Phil Gordon – Full Tilt
Barry Greenstein – PokerStars
Bertrand Grospellier – PokerStars
Joe Hachem – PokerSTars
Gus Hansen – Full Tilt
Jennifer Harman – Full Tilt
Phil Hellmuth – UB
Orel Hershiser – PokerStars
Jesper Hougaard – bet365
Phil Ivey – Full Tilt
John Juanda – Full Tilt
Gabe Kaplan – ???
John Paul Kelly – PokerStars
Phil Laak – UnabomberPoker (Cake)
Howard Lederer – Full Tilt
Erick Lindgren – Full Tilt
Mike Matusow – Full Tilt
Jason Mercier – PokerStars
Dario Minieri – PokerStars
Chris Moneymaker – PokerStars
Darvin Moon – ???
Greg Mueller – Full Tilt
Daniel Negreanu – PokerStars
Scotty Nguyen – Expekt (?)
Annette Obrestad – Betfair
Brock Parker – ???
Dennis Phillips – PokerStars
Greg Raymer – PokerStars
Shawn Rice – UB
Vanessa Rousso – GoDaddy / PokerStars
Kara Scott – PartyPoker
Huck Seed – Full Tilt
Erik Seidel – Full Tilt
Mike Sexton – PartyPoker
Gavin Smith – Full Tilt
Jennifer Tilly – ???
Paul Wasicka – Victory Poker
David Williams – Bodog
Leo Wolpert – ???
Jerry Yang – Full Tilt
ONLINE QUALIFIERS (7)

Supposedly, highly reliable sources are saying, Full Tilt brass in Ireland are telling Full Tilt-branded American (and non-American) pros that they are not allowed to play in the Venetian Deep Stacks main event … as it is part of the newly launched NAPT, presented by PokerStars.net. What, are you guys not buying their claim that Stars-dot-net is different than Stars-dot-com? Interesting …

We hinted that something was coming on The Poker Beat a couple weeks ago. Kudos to ESPN’s @GaryWise1 for digging up the confirmation on the above. Listen below to a 5-minute excerpt of the bubbling under.
TPB2510-excerpt

Apparently, Howard Lederer really has stepped away from calling the operational shots at Tilt, and it’s totally news to Bitar & Co. that Full Tilt pros were ever stepping foot in non-Tilt branded events, such as the PCA (PokerStars) and Aruba (UB). Sure enough, the Hollywood snub at the Sharon Osborne Trash Talk Championship of the World (at the Hard Rock) charity tournament was a sign of more serious fissures in the poker world to come.

Kinda funny … because these sites have been so worried how a new Harrah’s-branded online gaming presence would negatively affect other online sites branding opportunities at the World Series of Poker, and now their reaction to the threat seems on track to becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.

UPDATE: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4921898&name=poker

In addition to a slew of newsbriefs and snoozing through the segment on the Durrrr Challenge, we discuss Lee’s signing with Foxwoods as well as the Forbes’ laying the online poker cards on the table/cover for all to clearly see.

The Poker Beat
2/11/10

The Poker Beat
1/28/10

Here are the other winners:

Favorite Poker Personality: Mike Sexton
Top TV Poker Show for 2009: High Stakes Poker
Favorite Poker Podcast: The Poker Beat on PokerRoad.com
Top Poker Blog for 2009: WickedChopsPoker.com
Favorite Poker Forum: TwoPlusTwo.com
Best Poker Twitterer: Doyle Brunson
Favorite Las Vegas Poker Room: The Bellagio
Favorite Poker Room Outside of Las Vegas: The Commerce
Favorite Online Poker Site: Full Tilt Poker
Favorite Online Poker Resource: CardRunners.com
Top Story of 2009: Phil Ivey Makes WSOP Main Event Final Table
Best Online Poker Player: Tom “durrr” Dwan
Favorite Poker Villain: Phil Hellmuth
Favorite Player of 2009: Phil Ivey

From the WPT:

NOTE: Kathy Liebert still has a standing offer to play for Team Pokerati. We don’t pay your buy-ins, but we will put a patch on your chest and clap extra loud for you.