“Mark my words,” he says.

Phil Hellmuth — fresh off the announcement of his coaching relationship with Harrah’s-hater Jeff Shulman and apparently still on tilt about having to pay for his own room at the WSOP this summer — appeared on the Hardcore Poker Show today (on the internet and Sirius 98) to reveal a Glenn-Beckish unease amongst some big-time pros about the WSOP’s intent to launch its own online poker site … and hints that Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Ultimate Bet might be talking about colluding cooperating to start their own WSOP alternative … a move he suggests could make the WSOP “worth nothing”.

Phil Hellmuth on Hardcore Sports Radio – excerpts
Sep 23 2009

“There’s a huge battle brewing …”

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Find the whole interview here.

In addition to the warning, Hellmuth calls out Harrah’s for “not giving any of [money] back to the players” and takes a pop at Jeffrey Pollack for not reassuring him that everything is gonna to be alright; but it seems, without naming names, that his fear and vitriol is really directed at Mitch Garber — FTP, Stars, and UB’s old rival at PartyPoker, who’s never really played nice with any of them before.

My question: How did UB outplay Doyle’s Room for third position in the unofficial alliance of American-friendly online poker rooms?

Didn’t really see this one coming, but Joe Sebok explained in great detail why he made the decision to join the UltimateBet team. His latest blog post on PokerRoad starts with his skepticism about joining UB when he was asked on previous occasions, and it ends with the reasons he not only agreed to be a sponsored player but a consultant for the company in charge of media and operations.

The stipulation for joining the team came with wanting to ensure that the company moves forward – away from the scandal – in a positive direction and maintains a spotlessly clean reputation and record. Feeling responsible to the poker community that is part of PokerRoad, he wanted to be sure that he will represent a company that he believes in and one that the poker world can again trust. And to show that UB is willing to be as open as possible, the company has agreed to let Sebok’s first priority be the release of all hand histories associated with the scandal and the names of those paired with those accounts. Though KGC wanted no part of releasing the names of Russ Hamilton’s 31 co-conspirators, UB seems to have changed its mind on the subject.

Sebok wrote:

The first order of business with my position at Ub has been to help aid in the release of not only ALL of the hand histories from the super-user scandal, but also the accounts that were used to perpetuate the scandal itself and the actual physical names of those individuals who we believe to have been directly involved in disparate ways with the actual cheating. As most of you know, two-thirds of this has now been accomplished. Please take this as a first step in showing that things will be different at UltimateBet moving forward. I commend Paul and the management team over at Ub for being open to this release and making it happen at my insistence . They deserve all the credit in the world today in taking these first steps in ensuring that this case gets closed, and closed correctly.

While the criteria for getting, retaining, or losing online poker sponsorship deals remains a mystery in many cases, decisions are made, and we regurgitate from press releases report. Some are not surprising, like Jason Mercier signing with PokerStars, while others (like half the Full Tilt roster) are baffling. Regardless, two developments came to light today.

First, UltimateBet announced that Tiffany Michelle has been re-signed to another one-year deal with the site. In addition to again noting her deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, the press release cites “accomplishments in land-based events and UltimateBet’s online poker tables.” Coincidence that the announcement came on the same day as her photo appeared on the Amazing Race website?

“I’m happy to be signing on for another year with UltimateBet and I’m eager to get back to playing in live tournaments and exclusively at their online tables,” said Tiffany Michelle. “The corporate team at UB has been so welcoming and supportive and I’m thrilled to be working with them. I can’t wait for the exciting things in store for us.”

Second, the European Poker Tour Barcelona live reporting team let it slip (after a commentator first did on the EPT Live broadcast earlier in the day) that Isabelle Mercier is no longer a PokerStars-sponsored player. Since sites usually give no reason for dropping players, much less release that information themselves, we can certainly speculate don’t know why Isabelle was dropped. The blurb from the PokerNews reporter:

Incidentally, owing to the folks on the live feed and their tendency towards verbal incontinence, it has just now become public knowledge that Isabelle Mercier is leaving Team Pokerstars. The very best of luck to Ms. Mercier in all her future poker endeavors.

A $2,250 Mega-Sat for the $50k HORSE breaks out right in front of us, where suddenly the seasoned pros are kicking it old-school — playing with jovial intensity and the hope that their real poker dreams can be bought at a bargain. It’s the poker economy, the regular economy, and backer variance in play … with satellite sponsorship deals, backing syndicates, and a question about what kinda team Russian backers will deploy. Special appearances by Michael Mizrachi, Allan Kessler, Bill Chen, et many medium-higher-rolling al.

presented by:

Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NV

Episode 11.21: HORSE Hunting
4:09

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Episode 11.22: The Satellite Economy
5:06

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I’m posting this latest Nolan interview because it touches on some familiar laments we’ve heard around these parts before. Who woulda guessed there were others who wonder how the not-best players get some of the sweeter sponsorship deals:

QUESTION: What were your expectations coming into this year’s World Series of Poker?

LISANDRO: Before it all started this year, I was very disappointed. I could not get a sponsor. I made the usual rounds to find out if anyone needed a player. I could not get a response. I spoke about it with a few of my friends. Finally I said, you know what – never mind. I am going to blast them right out of the water. I think I have done a lot in poker. But I’ve always been a little bit short of doing something really great. So, there was this doubt and maybe an excuse that I had not done quite enough to deserve (being sponsored). This year, I asked around. There was no response. No one got back to me. I’m just going to go ahead and win three (gold bracelets). I said that to a few of my closest friends. And, now I have done it.

More…

Pokerati continues to be all over the banner sponsorship deals taking shape at this year’s WSOP, particularly amongst former main event champions from the early ’90s whose banners happen to be hanging right above the press box.

Said the fabric of Jim Bechtel’s image about the surprise deal he inked with Ultimate Bet: “It’s a proud day when a guy like me gets to be on the same team as Tiffany Michelle and Hollywood Dave. I also think Annie got totally screwed on the Apprentice!”

The face of a Team Pokerati player about to lose all his chips, just in time for the cameras.

So Pat Poels (aka “Patch” Poels) heads over to the press box — a long walk from the Brasilia Room — to let me know he’s in the money in $3,000 HORSE and to get a new patch for his presumed run to the final table …

A few minutes later, I walk over that way to buy Benjo a drink to grab a picture of our latest Team Pokerati money player, and I stumbled onto a hand that looks to be getting big. Sure enough, they’re playing 7cs-hi-lo, and Poels is about to be all-in with the nut-flush and nut-low draw, and two cards to come. His opponent has trips … Pat goes blank-blank … and just like that he’s out — in 47th place, for a $5,277 payday.

Just coincidence, for sure … but it did remind me of patching up Gregg Merkow the other day. Without a doubt, it was a thrill on my end to have a player representin’ at a final table. And by all means, with 9 left, and him in 4th or 5th chip position, I think we all were thinkin’ … yeah, bracelet. Actually, when I went to give him his patch, another player at the table asked for one, too. I denied him, saying we don’t work that way — being a Pokerati preferred player is too big an honor to just give away willy-nilly. In the $2,500 NLH, that player went on to take 3rd place. Merkow …

Gregg Merkow busted out in 9th place, fewer than five minutes after posing for a picture with his new Team Pokerati patch.

UPDATE: @donkeybomber just busted out of his second tournament of the day — $10k 2-7 NL-1D. He’s still 0-fer, and has yet to go deep enough to display his ‘ati affiliation.

A patch-wearing Team Pokerati player goes almost-deep in the $1k Stimulus Special, and Pauly seizes on his own feint connection to the player by becoming an dirty-rotten-scoundrel agent to potentially exploit his winnings. That’s my take on it … Pauly sees things a bit differently, however, and contends he’s the one looking out for players, because he’s the one sweating their action and making sure they get appropriately paid for their torso real estate. All I know is that Pauly claims to now be first-time WSOP casher Cliff Fisher’s representative, and Cliff busted out of the tourney shortly after Pauly started hounding him.

Tao of Pokerati at the 40th WSOP
Las Vegas, NV

Episode 11.11: Donkey Agents
5:05

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Talk about a shocker, I know … and even though all our contacts at Full Tilt are being completely mum on the issue, that’s the word from the press box. Have a look for yourself at the Russ Hamilton main event champion banner, which just so happens to be hanging right over media row where some people may or may not occasionally leave patches lying around:

Necessary(?) FYI: JK

A slightly different take from Pauly. I intellectually don’t agree with his boisterously pessimistic outlook, yet he seems to have a read on many in the poker world’s gut … from Tao of Poker:

God bless Ty Stewart for saving the WSOP. I mean, this guy should get Salesman of the Century Award for finding someone stupid enough to shell out millions of dollars to sponsor a stagnant product in an industry with a murky future.

Pope Benedict should make Ty a saint for providing the WSOP a secure financial future and also giving me and the rest of the derelicts in the poker media an endless amount of material to work with this year. As one of my Canadian colleagues noted, “Premium meat snacks at this year’s WSOP. The jokes, they write themselves.”

I haven’t seen a deal that bad since the Ruskies signed away Alaska in 1867 to Secretary of State William Seward for $7.2 million. If that Seward’s deal never happened, Sarah Palin would be speaking Russian.

The WSOP almost slipped one by us … back in February we reported that Milwaukee’s Best Light had re-upped with the World Series, which was technically true … but our spin-detectors must have been low on batteries, because we totally woulda negatively re-spun the hedline to “WSOP Loses Top-Level Sponsorship” had we recognized that too was technically the case. Very clever, WSOP.

But now we know … the official new name of the biggest annual mass pilgrimage to the desert this side of Mecca is:

the World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky

Mmm, tasty!

Click the link and come up with your own funny pokery sayings that can fit in with Jack’s marketing message that dried beef snacks are a better alternative (from a mom’s perspective) than chips. From our perspective, we’re just happy to be able to provide you a link to a presenting sponsor that honors hirsuteness doesn’t require age verification first. (Hi kids, welcome to poker!)

Anyhow, always interesting and presumably good for the game when a new player sits down. We’ll be sure to let you know what they bring to the table. Click below for the well-crafted official details:

More…

That’s the unconfirmed word on the street … despite what seemed like a semi-big win for Team Aced/Gold at Dream Team Poker … Dream Team can probably go ahead and retire that jersey set, because the new online poker site and former WSOP main event champion supposedly have broken up.

No details yet … just third-hand information over here. But I’m hearing that either Gold said hey, time to pay up and they didn’t have the cash, or Aced said, yo, Jamie, where are all those players you promised us?

Either way … assuming that some element of the above is true, is it shocking that this didn’t last?

Ack … I hate that I wrote a hedline that sounds like something out of a PokerStars press release, but not sure how else it could turn out when Italian soccer star Christian Vieri announced his intention to play in the upcoming EPT Championship at Monte Carlo.

The deeper he goes, the better I gotta think it is for (European) poker.

Thanks, Craig, for the link!

We try not to engage in too much schadenfreude here at Pokerati, but the last post about Amarillo Slim’s efforts to restore his stature in the poker world has me contriving a poll in my head about who are/were the most undesirable people in/from poker.

Current Poker Sith Lords
Russ Hamilton — guilty til proven innocent, and with good cause.
Ernie Scherer III — he’s still innocent til proven guilty, but considering that he faces the death penalty for killing his parents to pay off poker debts — and the last 10 Google searches found on his computer were “countries that don’t extradite to the U.S.“, I think we can rest assured that he will not become a Full Tilt pro anytime soon.

Dishonorable Mentions
James McDaniel — this Dallas poker room operator was convicted of killing an ex-cop, engaged in collusion in Oklahoma (my personal observation and unproven accusation), and is currently on trial for supplying drugs to one of his railbirds who ended up OD’d-dead in a portable toilet.

Reformed Reputations
Jamie Gold
Justin Bonomo
Dutch Boyd

Jury Still Out
David Sklansky — technically crime-free, but young aspiring female players are hardly flocking to his tutelage.
Amarillo Slim — he says he’s not guilty, and his family and a lie detector now apparently agree, even though his criminal record implies otherwise.
Layne Flack — everybody seems to like Layne, but unless he’s working undercover a la Poker Brasco, hanging with Russ Hamilton surely won’t help him get sponsored by Ultimate Bet.

So who else? Really, I’m not looking for a bunch of potentially libelous name-calling … but I am looking to create a list of once and future poker bad-guys, and maybe a rating system for criminals and outcasts and offenses that may or may not attract the attention of law enforcement, but still result in scorn and contempt from fellow poker players.

For the first time in six years, Amarillo Slim’s speaking out on charges that he inappropriately buggered his granddaughter. In Part 1 of 2 of Nolan Dalla’s interview, Slim addresses specific allegations and tells us that charges have been dropped, and family relationships repaired. In Part 2, we learn more details behind what were apparently incriminating plea deals. We hear nothing, however, about his loss of sponsorship at WinStar. I’m having a hard time finding any info about that — but wasn’t he accused of inappropriate sexual advances toward a teenage employee when the casino first opened? I could be confusing that situation, of course, with the parking lot proclivities of any number of my friends.

A few things jump out at me from the pieces … 1) be sure to read Johnny Hughes’ comment about the old days with slim; 2) his declarations of octogenarian impotence — “Back when I could have sex, I don’t have it anymore – I can’t help that – I would have had it when I could. How come I waited until I was impotent to do something like this?”; and 3)

There was a site [WickedChopsPoker] which called me a pedophile. I’m considering suing them if they don’t publish a retraction because none of it is true.

Libel cases are, thankfully of course, difficult for plaintiffs to win. He’d have to show:

1. Blatant disregard for the truth … that should be no problem with WCP, they do that all the time! But it’s also arguably part of their shtick, so …
2. Financial damages … easy enough. Without a doubt, Amarillo Slim missed out on plenty of sponsorship opportunities because of his poker-boom reputation as an extra-dirty old man. But is Wicked Chops any more responsible for this than, say, 2+2 or any other blogs that reported the same things with similar verbiage?
3. Malicious intent … and this is probably what saves Wicked Chops from legal trouble — he’d have a near-impossible time proving The Entities had it in for him and therefore were specifically out to do him harm.

With all this said, am I the only one who thinks there might be more to AS’s coming clean/defending himself? The WSOP is coming up, and World Championship buy-ins can be pretty darn expensive. Being able to wear a patch promoting an online poker room would certainly help the cause, and that simply wouldn’t be/hasn’t been possible with a sexual predator stigma hanging over him.

But now with the likes of Russ Hamilton and Ernie Scherer III out there, and dudes like ZeeJustin being welcomed back at PokerStars, the timing seems right for him to remind the world that, hey, I’m endorsable, too! I’m predicting a Doyle’s Room patch … but wouldn’t it be kinda funny if he ended up as Bodog’s partyin’ grandpappy?