November Nine – Naming Names (Ep 2) by taopokerati
Dan and Dr. Pauly discuss the November Nine players, or rather, Dan’s lack of care to learn who made the final table. But Dan has a cheat sheet — the live chip count list — that appears on a big screen adjacent to the stage. A nice improvement to the WSOP set-up.
A lot of people have been wondering where I’ve been this WSOP. I’m ready to admit it — I suffer from an addiction … one that snuck up on me when I least expected, but I can no longer deny. I’m addicted to Zynga Poker. I’m at level 43.
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.
2011 WSOP – Episode 16: Brickless Cash Games Reprise (3:22) – Dan and Pauly recorded a quick follow-up to their previous episode while they hang out on the rail of the high-stakes cash games. They spot Eskimo Clark, “Cowboy”, and other broke dicks lingering around seeking handouts from the high rollers.
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Dr. Pauly and Timtern are covering the final table of a Donkament inside the Mothership. Here’s their story…
2011 WSOP – Episode 18: Mothership Stench with Timtern (2:43) – Pauly and Timtern are in the press section inside the Mothership, while sweating the final table of the Donkament. Timtern shares a story about a couple of railbirds who put him on mega-tilt, including the guy who took off his shoes. Pauly also describes the sketchy, yet pungent scene inside the Mothership.
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I sparred a bit on Twitter with @TurboPokerOnlin about his belief that record fields in WSOP 1k’s would be a “major” story … and eventually conceded that it might-would probably come in at #9. (NOTE to self: Do a “WSOP Top Ten Stories” post.)
But what I didn’t expect as a top story that now is .. the non-bracelet daily “deepstacks” at the Rio — specifically the $235 2pm event. Say what you will about the value in playing in a tournament with 20 percent rake … this event has more people talking about it, multiple times a week, every week, consistently, probably moreso than any other at the WSOP. It started off with a few hundred players each day (nice), and soon began drawing more than 600 (kinda wow) … and then 800 (for sure wow) and then just a few days ago (OMG!) 1,100 — a record field size for such a non-bracelet event at the WSOP. The suits, we can suspect, are practically speechlessly giddy.
There’s an old axiom in poker room operations that “action breeds action.” To some extent, the whole World Series is testament to the concept … and these Venetian Deep Stacks Knockoffs show it in microcosm. No wonder Caesars eventually began catering to “smaller” customers wanting a low-cost taste of the WSOP while playing for more than just satellite tokens.
When all is said and done, more than a football stadium worth of people will have dropped a couple hundred bucks into mini-WSOP events that are becoming less and less mini … whether that be in spite of, or because of, all the similar such tourneys — Venetian Deep Stacks, Caesars Palace MegaStacks, the Golden Nugget Grand Series, Binion’s Somethingorother Classic, the WynnSOP Whatever … I think I’m even missing a few others — that came before what’s currently going on at the Rio.
Action breeds action. At the WSOP and all over Vegas … Click below for more detailed numbers about how the Rio’s 2p $235, 6p $185, and 10p $135 have grown by the day:
(Special thanks to Heath @WSOPIntern for the data help. Can you do 3-D graphs?)
Please forgive any apparent smugness of prescience … I didn’t know about the appeals court ruling when Pauly and I recorded an episode two days ago, where we addressed certain ironies about neither Clonie Gowen nor the people who may or may not have wanted to squash her being at the WSOP.
Pauly published yesterday, and even though we’ve got a fancy autofeeder here at Pokerati, I did not … but LOL(ish) … this episode was next in the queue:
Dan and Dr. Pauly hang out in the hallway and try to figure out what the 2011 WSOP is missing…2011 WSOP – Episode 8: Eskimo Yes, Jesus No (4:22) – Dan and Pauly try to pinpoint which pros are noticeably absent (Clonie, Jesus, Howard Lederer), while Eskimo Clark sightings have been rampant. They also try to figure out where the old Bat Beat Bar and Lounge went and why its been replaced by a oxygen bar.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.
Glitz. Glamor. Excitement. So far, the 2011 WSOP has had none of these things, and honestly, I’m finding the whole thing kind of sad. It’s not the World Series of Poker we all know and love… it’s more like the World Series of Meh.
The thing is that after spending a number of hours wandering around the Rio during the first week, it’s hard to put a finger on what’s different about this year’s event. Maybe it’s fallout from Black Friday and the fact that sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker don’t have their usual suites. Maybe it’s the fact that the first week’s events were tailored more toward professional players and featured more mixed games and higher buy ins than the casual player is comfortable playing.
Or maybe I’m just jaded.
The halls feel emptier, the rails aren’t as jammed, and people just seem more serious than usual. Event numbers have been good, but no one appears to be having any fun.
Still, jaded or not, the fact remains that the Rio just doesn’t have the same excited vibe that I’m used to feeling during the first week of the Series. The halls feel emptier, the rails aren’t as jammed, and people just seem more serious than usual. What makes the feel of this year’s Series even stranger is that the event numbers have been good. People are playing cards, but no one appears to be having any fun.
So, is there anything that the Rio and WSOP staff can do to loosen things up and pump some more excitement into the proceedings?
Ahhh … though Vegas is crawling with poker-related license-plate culture on any given day, the World Series is when the finest work from the Nevada Department of Corrections really comes out.
Seen outside the Rio today, this high-performance Mustang either being offered up as a gift by someone trying to recruit WSOP exec Ty Stewart over to the WPT or it’s probably the ride of an appreciative WPT champion at the WSOP going after a different brand of bracelet.
You can’t be sure from the 7-max tags that these guys play poker … but factor in when and where they were spotted — Rio, WSOP — and yeah … someone we know probably knows at least one of these guys … and depending how big they play, may have helped pay for the car.
Got an email the other day from an entity @WickedChops … a pic of a distinctly pokery license plate, taken “w/ iPhone before leaving WSOP from players parking lot where RVs were”, to which I thought cool, thanks, awesome! gahdammit you always gotta be showing off with your fancy photography and special rail-girl cameras …
Then I saw the plate and thought, pfft, dude we so already got that one … but it is a nicer pic, I guess. Just an iPhone, really?
Then I went back to the original post about this specific license plate, also spotted at the Rio during the WSOP, shortly before the main event … and WTF?
Seen on one of the Day 1s at the 2010 main event in the WSOP valet lot …
Corvette-ness makes the hedline seem plausible. Would have to cross-reference Clark County impound records with arrest reports from Las Vegas Metro to be sure … and though the presence of stripper-glitter in the passenger seat could be a telltale sign, windows were too tinted to be certain.
UPDATE: Or you could just check Wikipedia … to be reminded that Layne Flack does indeed hail from the state that some people consider the Oklahoma of Nebraska.
UPDATE: Little of what’s below, if any, is accurate. [Link]
The end of an era is upon us … with Harrah’s finally selling the Rio — that horrendous dump of a property at 3700 W. Flamingo Rd. that reminds us how quickly Las Vegas luxe can deteriorate …
But also a place that the World Series of Poker and so many of us connected to it have long called home — at least for most of our 21st century summers.
More details TK.
Credit @LasVegasMichael for getting the pseudo-confirmation and other info as it emerges.
Our extra-reliable sources at Pokerati confirm as much. Everyone knew it was coming, but supposedly the actual sale went down yesterday. To “one of those name name and ampersand venture capital companies.”
I’ve long held that Caesar’s would be the most likely new home of the brick-and-mortar equivalent of CaesarsCasino and CaesarsBingo dot coms. But early word without having talked directly to all those people we know extremely well and would be the ones who actually do know … Planet Hollywood … that will be the new home.
Again, all of this technically unconfirmed, but place your bets on the wherabouts of the 2011 WSOP-Ho here.
Thursday morning at the Rio, Andy Bloch was part of a panel at Netroots Nation titled Internet Freedom: Protecting Rights in the Digital Realm. Many in the poker community have heard Bloch’s points about how the government is infringing on the freedom of poker players (UIGEA), but to most in the audience, it was new information to them.
Bloch stated three reasons why they should care, even if they’re not an online poker player: Basic freedom, the implications and side effects a ban on Internet gambling would have and how it could move to other areas of the Internet, and that people need to be organized and actively defend their rights. Bloch related a story about how he was playing a $1 SNG online (not mentioning Full Tilt Poker, but he was wearing a PPA patch) with an individual who was visually impaired. He stated that the person he was talking to, and others like him, would not be able to play in a brick and mortar casino. He also described how the UIGEA was passed in the middle of the night in 2006, attached to a must-pass bill. At the time, the PPA and poker community weren’t as mobilized as they are today in the effort to regulate Internet gambling.
The other two individuals on the panel, James Rucker of ColorofChange.org discussing net neutrality and Amelia Donoley of the Center for Media Justice discussing how Internet freedom affects migrant and Latino communities. Most of the audience questions (which were difficult to hear on the video) appeared to be geared toward the net neutrality issue, with the fear that big corporations would control the flow of the Internet, forcing out smaller companies and non-profit groups. Andy stated that there are big corporations supporting net neutrality, as well as to help regulate online poker.
At the end of the panel, each panelist had one final opportunity to promote their efforts. Bloch brought out a poker chip with a bar code to enter into a drawing for an Ipad. The other two panelists seemed impressed with his offering as they each picked up a chip. To watch the hearing, it’s available below:
Andy Bloch played over 30 tournaments at the Rio during the WSOP this summer, but he’ll make one more visit to the Rio Thursday morning as part of Netroots Nation (formerly known as the YearlyKos Convention). Netroots is a gathering of progressive voices to help better influence public debate on a variety of issues taking place at the Rio through Sunday, July 25th. An example of what you can expect during the weekend include these panels: Tweeting the Revolution: How Hip-Hop Transformed 140 into 360, Deepwater Disaster: Response and Recovery on the Gulf Coast and Bringing the Snark after Winning Elections. A variety of social events include a poker tournament sponsored by the PPA on Friday evening at Buzio’s.
Bloch will be part of a panel entitled Internet Freedom: Protecting Rights in the Digital Realm in a section of the Brasilia Room, home of the Bad Beat Bar during this year’s WSOP.
The description of the panel:
Freedom must be protected everywhere it is threatened. The FCC has an opportunity to protect Internet users from telecom interests seeking to exploit them. This session will dissect the fight for an open Internet to this point and share strategies for building grassroots support to achieve real Internet Freedom.
The description of Bloch mentions his work with the PPA as part of a grassroots effort to protect the rights of poker players live and online. How much of that will be mentioned during the panel is unknown, but you can watch the discussion from 10:30am-11:45am PT on Ustream.tv.
Spotted this California beemer in the Rio front valet … so there’s no guarantee it belongs to a poker player. But all those dBags who’ve shown up en masse this year have to draw their inspiration from somewhere:
(I take it all back, of course, if this car happens to belong to Webber Kang.)
@V3CEO now i'm confused. i was offering action on what i thought was an assertion that BO was gonna lose in Nov
SportsCenter is about to show it 1,000 times. RT @alexpokerguy: RT @AustinRiversYo I shot that shot 1,000 times in my driveway. What.
Echoes of Hitch --> RT @Slate: The Russian Foreign Minister’s appalling, hypocritical defense of #Syria: http://t.co/rl6X0FHV
@skputts the only difference between Madonna and Keith Richards is that I could interpret the words she was singing.
@OnAFoldDraw holy shit. Yea...hard to hate that night lol. So did you guys get the dog?! And what name was decided on? #behindontwittertoday
