I think I had you at the first five letters…

Evidently, the Pussycat Dolls are being paid enough to like to play poker, and they are willing to do it with the winner(s) of this contest on bwin poker. The first two winners will fly to a mysterious place called PokerIsland to spend the weekend at a luxurious villa with the Pussycat Dolls from August 16-19. It seems that every week, two more freeroll winners will make the trip, all leading up to a grand finale of some sort in October, the winner of which will be a year-long sponsored player of the bwin team.

1. Has anyone had any experience with bwin?
2. Did anyone read anything I wrote after Pussycat Dolls?

Sounds like a fun contest. And if you can take a guest, consider Dan, who just might need a vacation from his vacation per his CSR posts.

UPDATE: PokerIsland seems to be in Ibiza, Spain.

The last of the $50K H.O.R.S.E. mega satellites is going on now. The $2250 buy-in mega caught the eye of about 40 people, including Anna Wroblewski, Mike Wattel, and Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke. Oh, and Tom Schneider, who is no longer seated because he is now headed out of the Amazon Room. “Outski,” he said. “Outski and Hutch.”

At the first break of the mega, Tom stated that he was short-stacked and would probably be out soon. (Ding!) Regardless of the satellite outcome, he plans to play in the $50K event tomorrow and was very honest about how he would do so. He has sold some pieces of himself and is in discussions with a few other possible takers. At this point, he believes he will have to put up a good chunk of the buy-in himself, somewhere in the range of $20K and $35K.

While Tom doesn’t seem too thrilled about forking over that kind of dough, he doesn’t see being able to skip this event with so much prestige and money on the line. So, with bias firmly intact, go Tom!

In an effort to talk to more pros about playing in tomorrow’s $50K H.O.R.S.E. event, I ran into two players who are weighing their options and making decisions today about what to do.

Kenna James admitted that he does not have the money for the buy-in, though as Dan has previously noted, how many people really do? Kenna noted that a backer had contacted him about the possibility of working a deal, and he is considering that, as well as trying to win his way in through a mega satellite, the last of which is this evening at 5pm. With the announcement of the two additional satellite opportunities over the past few days, this gives him more outs. Personally, I didn’t get the feeling that he was super determined to play the H.O.R.S.E. event, but that remains to be seen.

Mark Newhouse is feeling good this year. With the disagreement with Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf out of the way and a backer firmly in place, he can be found walking around the Rio all the time, even standing around watching other tournaments on his own tournament breaks. He seems more determined than ever to make waves. For this reason, the $50K H.O.R.S.E. has definitely been on his mind.

While Newhizzle has a backing deal for the entire WSOP, he chose to exclude the H.O.R.S.E. event from that deal because “I don’t want that kind of makeup.” He also noted that despite his self-confidence, he doesn’t feel like a huge favorite in this particular event and wouldn’t want to take a chance on it by buying in directly with a backer’s money. He played two mega satellites last week and was not able to score a seat, but when I told him that there were mega opportunities still available, he immediately called his backer to discuss that option. If he wins a seat, he will play.

He fought through a field of 713 players, came back from a chip deficit at the final table, and kept his faith through a tough heads-up battle to win the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament at the 2008 WSOP. Along with the $214,131, David Singer finally took home a WSOP title.

There are a number of players in poker who are quite accomplished, have paid their dues in poker, and show millions of dollars in tournament winnings…but have no World Series of Poker title. David was one of those players… Before tonight’s long-awaited victory, he had over $3.8 million in tournament earnings (this win puts him over $4 million), 8 WPT cashes (two of which were televised final tables), and 16 WSOP cashes (half of which were final tables). Most notably in the past two years of the WSOP, he gained recognition for finishing in sixth place both years in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament, arguably the most prestigious of the WSOP events in recent years. He also won the Mirage Poker Showdown heads-up tournament in 2006 and the Caesars Palace Classic main event for $1 million in 2007.

All of that, and he finally now has a WSOP bracelet.

Well-deserved and well done, David. Congratulations!

At the World Series, it is not uncommon for players to play more than one event on any given day. Many pros buy in to numerous tournaments, even if it means they have to run back and forth from table to table. It’s insane but happens more than you’d think.

Catching up with Dutch Boyd in the smoking area, he let me know that he’s only playing one event at a time. “I’d rather concentrate on one tournament at a time. No double dipping for me.”

Good to know.

The WSOP got underway with a bang and a band. The UNLV marching band entered the Amazon Room with a rendition of “Viva, Las Vegas,” followed by a bit of an uncomfortable silence that was broken by welcome announcements from Jeffrey Pollack and Jack Effel.

Pollack told the crowd of gathering players and media that bracelet winners from years past and going forward will be given Diamond status at all Harrah’s properties around the world. Not a bad perk for the players. A few other welcoming comments and new rule advisories from the duo, and the cards were in the air.

And we’re off. Or we’re on. The $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em World Championship has begun, and though we still await the final numbers, it looks like about 350 players signed up for Event #1. The cash games are buzzing, media is getting settled in, and players are excited to be here, with the exception of those who have already busted.

More updates to come!

…Okay, that title may be the single gayest line I’ve ever typed. My bad. I’m draining Dos Equis and blogging via Hooters WiFi.

I’m about to fire off an email to friends, family, etc., inviting them to take a piece of me in a second $1,500 NLHE Event, which I wasn’t originally planning on playing. I’m actually interested to hear your opinions on how I’m handling the two-event split and the Main Event equity parlay.

Check out the details at my super-new personal blog (blog.karridy.com), and let me know if you think I’m drawing dead.

ALT HED: For sale: BackerTracker.com - $1,500

A recent player bashing discussion has evolved on the 2+2 forums regarding tipping dealers and tournament staff upon winning a major event. Specifically, this is in reference to Brandon Cantu’s recent World Poker Tour $1 million win at the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament.

Evidently, unlike many tournaments on the circuit, Bay 101 didn’t take anything from the buy-ins to tip the staff, but Brandon was unaware of this. CardPlayer has done an interesting two-part article, which includes some words from Brandon and TD Matt Savage.

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.

So many interesting questions arise from this discussion, as they did when Jerry Yang won the 2007 WSOP main event.

Should the players be told up-front about the tipping policy at that particular venue?
Is it the players’ responsibility to find out or that of the tournament director to inform everyone?
If a tip is taken from the buy-ins, should players still tip on top of that?
Do only the winners tip? Or should everyone at the final table tip?
What is the correct percentage to tip?

This is a subject that should be discussed in length. I’d love for some tournament pros to weigh in on this.

Photo taken by Kaelaine Minton of PokerPages

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event wrapped up late last night in San Jose, California. The player who walked away with the $1 million prize and his first WPT title was Brandon Cantu.

This tournament is always a unique one, with bounties on numerous pro players worth $5k each, and $10k bonuses for the chip leader at the end of Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 2. Players typically enjoy the unique aspects of the game, and the fans can’t get enough. There are fans everywhere seeking autographs, photos, and a glance at the pros in action.

The final table was set to be a great one…

Seat 1: Noah Jefferson - 842,000
Seat 2: John Phan - 374,000
Seat 3: Brandon Cantu - 3,323,000
Seat 4: Steve Sung - 474,000
Seat 5: Jennifer Harman - 541,000
Seat 6: Michael Baker - 1,964,000

Phan was the first to go, followed by Baker and Jefferson. The lovely Jen Harman put up a solid fight but finished in third. By the time heads-up action began, Cantu had over 6 million chips to Sung’s 1.3 million. It didn’t take long for Cantu to seal the deal.

Cantu had a stellar tournament. Not only was he the Day 1A chip leader for a $10k bonus, but he ended up collecting six bounties throughout the event for an extra $30k. And in the end, he maintained his final table chip lead, which is an usual phenomenon these days, and took the WPT title and cool mil. He is now one of the elite group of players to have won a WSOP bracelet (2006 $1500 no-limit hold’em) and a WPT tourney.

Congrats, Brandon!

Lou Krieger mentioned this, and I just checked it out and bookmarked it.

iPokerCal is a new website that lists all things poker - internet tournaments, live tournaments and events, and televised poker. It looks to be a comprehensive listing of everything going on in the poker biz, including a page of poker room reviews that will surely be growing as the site expands.

It seems that the California Bureau of Gaming Control doesn’t take too kindly to discrimination.

On January 18, the Bureau released a statement that rejected “ladies only” poker tournaments because they violate the state’s anti-discrimination laws. Not only will such events not be allowed to discriminate in admittance prices or services offered, but they can no longer advertise tournaments as ladies only, since men must be admitted.

PokerNews ran an article about it, noting that the Bicycle Casino and Commerce Casino do allow men to enter the events and will change their advertisements to remove the word “only” when referring to the ladies tournaments.

The WPT, which recently launched its Ladies League, said, “The intention of WPT Ladies is not to prohibit or promote against male players from joining, playing or receiving equal prizing in WPTL tournaments, but rather to encourage the growth of women in poker and provide opportunities to test their skills in the tournament environment.”

Curious to see how this all plays out – if men will start entering these ladies events to make a point or if they will leave the ladies alone.

See the entire Bureau of Gambling Control press release by clicking below:

More…

Gavin & Kristen

In Atlantic City, New Jersey, tonight, Gavin Griffin won the WPT Borgata Poker Classic, making him the first player to win a WPT title, EPT title, and WSOP bracelet.

The final table set out to be a good one with names like Lee Watkinson, David Tran, Noah Schwartz, and Griffin. When it was all said and done, Griffin won a tough heads-up battle against Tran (the final hand detailed here by WPT Live Updates) to win the title, along with the $1,401,109 prize, a Tag Heuer watch, and a customized Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Griffin won his first major title in 2004 by capturing a WSOP bracelet in the $3000 Pot Limit Hold’em event, then took the poker world by storm with the 2007 EPT Grand Final win at Monte Carlo less than a year ago. Tonight, he took his first WPT title and solidified his place in the game’s history.

On a personal note, I had the pleasure of meeting Gavin and his girlfriend Kristen several months ago in L.A., and I had drinks with Kristen just a few days ago in Las Vegas. They are both incredibly kind, charitable, and fun people. And today is Kristen’s birthday - I can confirm that a major celebration of many sorts is going on at the Borgata tonight.

Congrats, Gavin!

The L.A. Poker Classic begins its month of preliminary tournaments tomorrow (January 24) at Commerce Casino. In fact, it is actualy in Commerce, California, but L.A. - City of Dreams, Hollywood, City of Angels, LaLa Land - sounds so much more appealing.

Prelim events range from $300 buy-ins to the $10k main event, and there are tournaments in limit & no-limit hold’em, stud, Omaha, six-handed and tag team hold’em, and shootouts, so there’s something for every donkey sucker player.

It all wraps up with the WPT $10k championship event that begins on February 23 with the final table on February 28. And the star-studded Celebrity Invitational runs from March 1 - 3.

Click here for a complete schedule.

Since Dan everybody calls me Cali Jen, I will be there when I can to get the inside scoop on who’s in the house, who’s winning and losing, any drama that ensues (did someone mention Brandi?), and which players and celebrities I have crushes on respect and admire.

It’s that time of year again. The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is on the horizon, and many players have already confirmed that they’ll pay the $20k to get some camera time compete in the event. Sixty players have been announced, leaving four open seats for qualifiers yet to be announced.

Festivities will begin on February 28th at Pure Nightclub at Caesars in Vegas with the drawing party to determine the match-ups. The following day brings the first matches, and a winner will be determined and get his/her $500k on March 2.

Previous champs Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest, and Phil Hellmuth will be playing, as well as numerous first-time players like David Singer, Bill Edler, Scott Clements, Jerry Yang, Brian Townsend, Tom Dwan, celebrities Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett, MLB player Orel Hershiser, and the 2007 CardPlayer favorite WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider.

Click below for the list of players:

More…

Tom Schneider makes another final table, this time in Tunica. It was only back in November that he made the WSOP Circuit final table at Caesar’s Indiana, though then he was short-stacked.

Tomorrow, Tom will begin final table play with a healthy stack of 422,000. (Correction: The final table is Tuesday at noon CST. Thanks, Kevin!)

There were 180 players entered into the $7500 buy-in event, and the winner is guaranteed $428,210. Not a bad way to kick off 2008…

PokerListings is doing live updates from the event, which is where you can find the following info (and more):

Here are the final table seats and chip counts:
Seat 1: Tom Schneider $422,000
Seat 2: Ben Sabrin $417,000
Seat 3: John Devia $929,000
Seat 4: Giovanni Marcacci $465,000
Seat 5: Jordan Rich $147,000
Seat 6: Mark Garner $213,000
Seat 7: Bart Tichelman$164,000
Seat 8: Don Nicholson $325,000
Seat 9: Ryan Young $521,000

* Blinds: $4,000/$8,000
* Ante: $1,000
* Average Stack: $400,000
* Players Left: 9
* Tables Left: 2

Strange. Just listened to the latest episode of Beyond the Table, the first of the new year. If you haven’t queued up “ . . . Who Needs Enemies?” yet, let me forewarn you. The guys talk about poker. That’s right. Poker. I mean like all the way through.

What the hell?

After a brief rundown of the several January tourneys presently ongoing, Tom offers some winning wisdom regarding tourney selection. Then, prompted by a question from Karridy, there follows a smart, insightful discussion about differences between cash game players and tourney players. Yeah, I know. “Smart” and “insightful” usually ain’t what us BTT fans are looking for. But there it is.

Next the trio turn their attention to Dan’s first poker session after moving to Vegas, as well as the rambling, gambling fortunes of Dan’s friend, Bob. The show concludes with a stunner of sorts regarding CardPlayer’s recent 12-page, comprehensive overview of “Poker’s 2007 Odyssey: A Review of the Year’s Historic Events.” (Hint: The article ain’t as comprehensive as one might have hoped.)

Oh, there were opportunities for the hosts to get away from the pokery content. Other topics arise, such as Dan’s sex life, Barack Obama, and froteurism. (Not at the same time. Ahem.) But somehow none of these offered enough turbulence to divert Beyond the Table from its poker-specific flightpath.

Do let the BTT hosts know how you feel about this strange new development by calling the listener line at (888) 820-8091 or emailing theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com.