Another weekend with little activity in the poker world except for the WPT Championship, the WPT Championship’s low turnout, Shaun Deeb acting a greedy player by winning again, and players whining about expired Diamond Cards. I’ll take the slow times this week as next weekend brings about a daily overload of WSOP events and before the degens go broke.

Shaun Deeb is just showing off now. Gave him props last week and I guess it was a little too early as he went one louder by winning the $2,100 H.O.R.S.E. for another $46,000 and change. With his other three titles this SCOOP series coming in Stud events, I’ll just make the assumption that he sat out during the Hold’em and Omaha portions of the tournament just to keep it fair.

The only other events of note leading to the WPT Championship this weekend were the Cal State Poker Championship and Heartland Poker Tour Main Events. 316 players entered the Matt Savage operated Cal State Main Event and Nathan Bjerno won the Big Bear trophy and $133,075 after a heads up chop. Just missing out on the final table were David “The Dragon” Pham*, Allen Cunningham, and Gavin Griffin.

The latest Heartland Poker Tour stop was at the Majestic Star Casino located in lovely Gary, Indiana (aka East Chicago). HPT has been running hot this season and just missed a record field at this event, although they topped their numbers from 2011. Daniel Acevedo was the last player standing at the televised final table and picked up $133,081.

* – Not a real dragon

Photo: WhoJedi

This Week’s Boxscore

Shaun Deeb $46,325 PokerStars SCOOP $2,100 H.O.R.S.E.
Nathan Bjerno $133,075 Cal State Poker Championship
Daniel Acevedo $133,081 HPT Majestic Star

Link Dump

White House Responds to Online Poker Petition – Thousands of poker players (but not tens of thousands) signed a capitlization-challenged petition calling on the US Government to licence and regulate online poker. Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, responded with a 339 word “thanks but no thanks”. I’m sure Gaming Counsel might have a more articulate read than mine.

New World Series of Poker Bracelet – The WSOP unveiled their newest champion’s bracelet, which apparently diminishes the accomplishements of THE previous Main Event winners.

Wait until you guys see the WSOP Main Event bracelet.Let’s just say this is THE year to win the Main Event. #blingerisbetter

— WSOP(@WSOP) May 17, 2012

I realize it’s just a marketing blurb meant to pump up the excitement, but I imagine the bracelet could be the most hideous piece of jewelry in the world and it wouldn’t stop players from trying to win the Main Event.

WPT Championship Numbers Down – I meant to write a few words on the significant decrease in the WPT Championship field size but ESPN Poker’s Andrew Feldman 1) beat me to it and 2) is a better writer than this hack. He lays out several reasons for the decline including SCOOP, Black Friday, and the Bellagio treating the event like crap. It will be interesting to see the numbers from the WSOP this summer.

The Micros are back! – A kind of back. The brilliant minds behind the popular web series released a comic the other day to which we can all relate. Enjoy.

Click image to embiggen

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Jeesh, everything’s so serious these days … or stupid. Either way, it’s been too long since we forgot to tell you about the latest from The Micros. It really was a funny episode a month ago. But like always, lol because it’s true!

And we have a bonus late episode — the Micros’ pitch for people to vote for them in the 2011 Bluff Readers Choice Awards, where Rose, Chase, and Tommy somehow got lumped in with all the podcast/video/live radio newsy shows (in the category The Poker Beat always dominated) and cleaned up.

Enjoy, if you haven’t already.

Say what you will about Full Tilt Poker, but you can’t deny that they played a key role in forever changing the nature of poker entertainment. Even post-Black Friday they continue to do so … only instead of bankrolling the creative efforts, now they merely inspire them (whether all lines are deserved or not):

Song: Full Tilt Poker Blues
Artist: The Donks
Genre: Blues
Release: Sep 2011

It was the other Black Friday … I mean Cyber-Monday … er, Merry Christmas / Happy Hannukah! Whatever the day, here’s Pokerati’s guide to some rather unique poker player shopping specials that we are pretty sure are still valid … though the last readily available but still legally questionable space chips will probably be in the hands of an Asian whale before the end of the day.

CHIP UP: Plaque Attack

American players don’t only miss out on online play, but they seldom get to use the larger, squared “plaques” used for extra-high-denomination chips. But now they can play like a Euro-shark in their home games while taking their chip-shuffling skills to a new level.

Use promo code “pokeratigo” at Outplay Poker for a discount on your purchase.

RUN-GOOD: The Micros, Clothiers

It’s becoming common knowledge that players showing up to tournaments big and small have been going deep while dressed as their favorite online poker cartoon character. Just recently poker media yeoman Jay Newnum took down a double-stack turbo tournament at the Commerce Hold’em Series, and then followed that up by winning a table share of the progressive bad beat jackpot Live at The Bike (seat 6) … while wearing his now-lucky shirt. New Micros designs are a sure-hit with the kids, too!

Get yours from The Micros Online Store.

WTF? Burmese Wooly Space Chips

Made from slices of solid meteorite that fell to Earth some 800,000 WSOP’s ago, these poker chips are so hot they’re illegal in the US, and expected to fetch HK$1 million at auction later today. (No prob with the gold, diamonds, or emeralds that encircle each chip, but because the rubies come from Burma, importing the set would be a crime.) The case is hand-stitched Swedish calf skin with reindeer suede lining and 18K white gold hinges and locks. But even more outrageous, included is a set of ivory dice made from … we shit you not … wooly mammoth tusks. Apparently a species can’t be endangered when it’s already extinct — but auctioneers do warn that some customs agents in some countries might not have Googled around enough to realize that prehistoric pachyderm is real, and all the rage.

More details at JamesList about the auction at Christie’s later today.

SELL-OFF: Full Tilt Swag

If diamond-crusted Kryptonite tournament chips are a bit out of your range, head over to eBay for what may or may not become collectible memorabilia from a defunct poker site. For sale are plenty of poker chips, a steel watch ($1.01 minimum bid, $3.99 to buy-it-now), a black velour bathrobe (new, never worn), travel mugs, keychain bottle openers and more. Whether it’s general distaste for FTP or out-of-work red pros trying to scratch up some cash, a lot of great junk promotional gear branded with the ubiquitous red triangle of Full Tilt Poker is on eBay these days at bargain-basement prices.

Get the most Full Tilt stock you can at eBay.

Annie Duke is offering her fans a taste of high-stakes professional poker with a fantasy camp connected to the upcoming Epic Poker event at the Palms Casino Resort on December 10. More than just the usual boot camp, this package includes hands-on training and entry into an Epic Super Satellite. Attendees also get a signed copy of her book, Decide to Play Great Poker, two nights at the Palms (with buffet) and sundry Epic Poker gear, including a hoodie and hat, none of which, by the way, is up for sale yet on Ebay.

Escape for a poker weekend with Annie Duke; better than half price with Living Social.

The first Epic Poker League tournament of their first season ended with Chino Rheem overcoming the rungood of Jason Mercier, Erik Seidel and The Micros to win the first Main Event, earning a cool $1,000,000 defeating the Seiborg heads-up. The final table last over 200 hands, recap the blow-by-blow action starting here or just read @AlCantHang’s recap.

According to Ben Lamb, he was paid in full for money he was owed by Chino. Others, not so much. The forums were no different “congratulating” Rheem on his win.

Final table results:

1st: Chino Rheem – $1,000,000
2nd: Erik Seidel – $604,430
3rd: Jason Mercier – 360,970
4th: Hasan Habib – $237,560
5th: Gavin Smith – $154,260
6th: Huck Seed – $107,980

It’s not The Micros, and I still think the guys at Quadjacks are a little off with their anti-Full Tilt fury … but still, their new video comic has potential for recurring humor with the occasional splash of satire … and years from now will probably be a reminder of the uncertain poker times we’re currently living in. (But hey, at least we can laugh at how stupid we all were … not to mention the clothes lol!)

Episode 1 here … we’ll see where they are by episode 5. They being the Quadjacks creators and/or Team Full Tilt. Meanwhile, still looking forward for sure in a different way for the next episode of The Micros …

Remember how awesome SNL and the Onion were when they finally re-emerged after September 11th? Kinda the same thing, but with less death to navigate in the punchlines. Possibly the best episode yet, imho. (And a reminder for all that while we may take our poker seriously, we prolly shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously unless you want to end up like Durrrr and his flamingo.)

I won’t even list the humorous nuggets embedded in the Chase vs. ROFLs matchup … just watch and occasionally press pause when you see small print for refreshingly funny stuff.

The news won’t stop breaking … and just because American online players may be crying in watered down beers … that’s not gonna stop one magnetic on-camera Croatian from signing a player sponsorship patch deal with Bodog, the original American-friendly online gambling operation to officially go rogue:

Not their funniest effort, but expresses the insta-change in the poker world well. Some things are just made for cartooning:

Effin’ funny as usual. Looking forward to Chase, Tommy, and Rose’s adventures at or distinctly not at the 2011 WSOP. Be sure to keep your eye on the news ticker and other small insertions for extra fun. Pretty sure Doyle Brunson isn’t really dead yet, ha ha! And because it’s a special day, also click here.

Dig’em.

Is it wrong to care more about the results of this matchup than Daniel Negreanu vs. Isildur1?

Joe Navarro in 2009 … Sam Chauhan in 2010 … every year, we see personalities who burst into poker seemingly outta nowhere generate major buzz without ever playing a televised hand. In 2011, I think it’s safe to say after three episodes my favorite new characters in poker are The Micros.

Good writing, clever animation, and a dash of parody played out by Lego characters in 10-minute episodes on YouTube … It all makes for an LOLably “real” look at the poker world in an internet era, with extra ha-ha on the nouveau poker riche.

And keeping it real in this episode … a bodacious semi-fictional appearance by Tatjana Pasalic:

Women’s Poker Hour:

Host Amy Zupko and Jennifer Shahade are joined by Donna Houle to start off this weeks show. Donna is one of the founders of the Pink Ladies Poker Tour. They then move on to discuss the Women’s Poker League on PokerStars before briefly discussing the PCA women’s event. If you want to keep up with some women in poker or ladies only events then check this podcast out. You can listen to the show on WomanPokerPlayer.com or download it directly on iTunes to listen on your iPod later.

Wicked Chops:

With no This Week In Poker this week the entities come together for a TWIP style podcast this week. Just like with TWIP Jess Welman comes on to do “Poker Headlines” before getting into the feature of the show. That feature this week is Erik Siedel who comes on to discuss his recent success, his appearance on “The Micros”, and Rounders 2. Listen to the show on the Wicked Chops site or download it on iTunes.

The Poker Edge:

Eric Siedel is making his rounds this week joining Phil Gordon on The Poker Edge. Before Siedel makes his appearance Andrew Feldman gives this weeks headlines, he is followed by Matt Savage who comes on to discuss the LA Poker Classic and the future of poker. Siedel comes on to close out the show to discuss the high roller cashes that he has enjoyed since the first of the year. The guys finish off the show by handicapping most of the top players chances at winning a WSOP bracelet in 2011. You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

JimmyLegs and Rosenkrantz deliver again with the new episode of The Micros. The three main characters (don’t remember their names yet — the one dude, the other guy, and lego chick …) are enjoying the fruits of one dude’s binking a Sunday Mill. But with a bigger online bankroll come new levels of trouble …

Wicked Chops Podcast:

With no TWIP this week the entities over at Wicked Chops come together to discuss all things that are not the Reid Bill. Possible Rounders 2 story-lines were discussed followed by Chops admitting to trying to pick up the ladies years ago by impersonating Ben Folds (judge on The Sing-Off). After a lengthy discussion on their love of American Idol they move onto The Walking Dead. Listen to the show on the Wicked Chops site or download it on iTunes.

The Poker Edge:

Phil Gordon and Andrew Feldman break down the top stories of 2010 and take a look into 2011 after they discuss the possibility of Phil Helmuth on Dancing with the Stars. 2010 was the year of the Mizrachi’s will 2011 be the year of Durrr? You can listen to the entire podcast on ESPN.com, or download it directly via iTunes.

The Hardcore Poker Show:

The guys come together for their last show of the year and start off discussing the battle between Full Tilt and PokerStars on High Stakes Poker. After a brief discussion on Rounders 2 Pokerati’s own Scarlet_LV comes on to discuss the Reid bill and where thing with poker legislation go from here. Fresh off his final table at APPT Sydney Daniel Negreanu joins the show discussing the High Stakes Poker feud. You can listen weekly on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 98 every Wednesday from 8-9pm ET or you can download it via iTunes.

The Micros – Holiday Special:

Following up on the Pilot episode The Micros come with their Holiday Special with a special cameo from Erik Seidel.