A little more about WPT operations and their current state of affairs:

From Form 8-K:

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On May 23, 2008, WPT Enterprises, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into Amendment Number 3 (the “Amendment”) to the television license agreement, dated as of April 2, 2007, by and between the Company and Game Show Network, L.L.C. (the “GSN Agreement”). In the Amendment, the parties agreed to amend the GSN Agreement to provide for a one-time extension of GSN’s option pickup date to broadcast the seventh season of the World Poker Tour series (formerly on May 24, 2008) to June 7, 2008.

And click below for more info about how the business is currently set up:

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So the days keep ticking by — May 24, June 1, June 7 … and still no word on the future of the World Poker Tour. The best guess is that the WPT is still trying to renegotiate something with GSN. It’s all a shame, really, not just because once upon a time the WPT did so much for poker, but also because this current season — #6 — is proving to be one of their finest in years. Seriously, have you watched any episodes this season? They’re really good. Loved the set for Turks and Caicos, and the action and commentary on all the other episodes has been significantly better than in previous seasons.

But it may be too little too late according to insider gossip and semi-substantiated rumors. The first piece of evidence we have, of course, is the stock price (WPTE), which is continuously descending beyond its all-time low. $1.16/share=not good.

Now let’s go back to non-poker Christmastime … when the WPT supposedly held some sort of employee-appreciation pizza party, and CEO Steve Lipscomb reportedly told his people that things were not looking good for the WPT — specifically that he wasn’t sure if they’d make it to the end of 2008, and that they might-wanna start looking for other work. Yikes. This information is secondhand rumor from two or more reliable sources, at least one of whom may or may not still be working for the WPT.

CORRECTION: Have crossed out some possibly erroneous info above. Supposedly what Lipscomb really told his people was that 2008 was going to be a “very rough year” … and some in attendance drew those conclusions simply on their knowledge of what it takes to nurse a super-short stack until better cards/times arrive.Crap, there goes my whole premise for this post.

Furthering suspicions, a California headhunter says her office was flooded with resumes from managerial and executive-level employees of the WPT in January of this year. 17+ is the number we’re hearing.

So there you have it — rampant speculation deduced from public information combined with whispers on a semi-informed street suggesting that whatever does or doesn’t happen with GSN, it may be a last-ditch effort to save the show a struggling business. Read into it whatever you must, and in the meantime we’ll keep checking Steve Lipscomb’s blog for an update but won’t expect much …

(Have a look at his fifth most recent comment, from yours truly, left in January ‘07. Still waiting for a response …)

It seems that the WPT/GSN renewal decision has been postponed until June 7th.

As May 24th came and went, no word… but the Poker King reported that WPT Enterprises filed papers with the SEC today to note an amendment to the WPT/GSN agreement. This allows the previous deadline of May 24th to be extended to June 7th.

Completely speculative reasons (multiple choice):

A. WPT and GSN executives simply too busy to discuss minor details like TV show contracts
B. GSN wants to pay less money or dump the show; WPT needs more time to negotiate
C. WPT is not being picked up and wants to wait until after the WSOP begins in order to fade the news
D. WPT and GSN are in the middle of a love fest; GSN is throwing wads of cash at WPT, too much to have counted by May 24

As I was writing this post to report on some rumors about Mike Sexton possibly leaving the WPT, I received information to the contrary.

The idea that Sexton would not return to the World Poker Tour for Season VII stemmed mainly from the fact that his contract is up for renewal, and it seemed plausible… but it is not true.

The public relations department at WPT Enterprises just answered my inquiry. “I can 100% confirm that Mike is returning for Season VII.”

Bingo, bango, bongo! (Had to get that in there somewhere.)

Well, well, well. It’s the end of another WPT season, and the end of another hostess. Layla Kayleigh and her British accent have been sent packing. Wicked Chops first broke the story today that Layla would not be returning for Season VII of the World Poker Tour.

Pokerati has obtained a statement from the WPT:

Layla Kayleigh brought great edge, wit, and personality to the World Poker Tour as hostess in Season VI, and we sincerely wish her well as she continues to explore her TV career. We are currently casting for the Season VII TV hostess role, and look forward to introducing her to everyone soon.

That confirms it but leaves much to speculation, such as whose decision it was and what prompted it. A reputable source noted earlier in the season that Kimberly Lansing, the WPT video hostess, was a little perturbed about having to share camera time…

There was at least one person who predicted that one of the ladies would be gone by the end of the season. That would be yours truly. So much for my image as a bad prop bettor, huh?

My prediction was as follows:

Maybe it’s my catty intuition, but I’m thinking that they’re stepping on each other’s territory. The WPT doesn’t need two hostesses, and they don’t need ANY hostesses who are out of control. (Remember Courtney Friel?) Anyone want to lay odds on whether one or both of them will be let go by the end of the season?

Honestly, though, is anyone really surprised by the ousting of Layla?

I like to troll Craigslist every so often for some hot, anonymous NSA poker action. Not looking for games — there’s no shortage of ‘em here in LV — just wanting to take the pulse of what people are pushing related to poker. Look at the ads all together and you get some interesting tells on the state of the poker world and its semi-anonymous inhabitants:

There are a lot of chips , tables, fancy custom tables and chips and tables for sale, of course, and for $15 a made-for-TV WPT video game. WSOP: Tournament of Champions for the Playstation goes for $8

For $150k you can have documentary footage of the rise and fall of Jamie Gold.

A WSOP baby’s blanket.

More chips, from the Aladdin, and from the Atlantic City Playboy Club. “Omaha Table” from Sante Fe Station.

Perhaps frighteningly, there are even poker bots for sale. At least one suspicious reader is questioning whether or not this is legal.

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Just for funsies, I thought I’d make predictions on the final 6 with 61 players left — hey, if they can change a rule mid-tourney, why can’t I change my theoretical horses? So that was last night, but I fell asleep before the official chip counts went up … hence no post until now, with 45 players remaining, and all “my guys” still in (sorry, Tom, I just didn’t “feel” a monster comeback). I did make one change, however, after seeing play develop a little bit today:

Gus Hansen
Jeff King Steve Billrakis
TJ Cloutier
Jonathan Kalmar
Robert Mizrachi
Tom Dwan/Durrr

Anyone got an over/under on how many of these I’ll get right? Or perhaps their own picks based on who’s well-chipped, favorably seated, and generally playing well of late?

Tommy-boy started the day as one of the shortest stacks in the WPT World Championship at Bellagio, and with 55 players left, he managed to squeak out an extra $13k for himself by finishing 50th. Nice job, Tom, way to represent.

Click here to follow the action as the remaining players fight for position in competing for the bigger money and real paydays.

UPDATE: I could be totally wrong … it’s possible Tom was the artificial bubble boy going out in 51st place. Will let you know …

They’re into the money in the $25k WPT World Championship Event. Every remaining player is guaranteed $39,570 (a $14.5k payday) while they compete for the $3.4 million first prize.

As of this moment, there are 85 players left — Anna Wroblewski just went out … she was looking strong all tourney long. Our best friend Tom Schneider is still alive with a slightly above average stack. (Notice he’s our best friend as opposed to just a friend or Pokerati contributor now that he’s secured the money. If he can make the final table, he’ll be our super-best-very-best friend … and I’m sure that’s what’s motivating him.)

Other names of note (to me) that are still live include Carlos Mortenson (defending champ), Rhynie Campbell (met him last night, he seems funny and cool), Mark Seif (who’s been keeping people posted about the condition of his wife’s cervix), Isabelle Mercier and Kristy Gazes (attractive women), Jared Hamby (Go Texas!), Tommy Le (one of my MySpace friends with a really cool name), Steve and Danny Wong (Go 2007 Fantasy Team!), and TJ Cloutier (Go same Dallas flight!)

I loved being a tournament director — training dealers was particularly fun at the Lodge, and I can think of no truer example of getting to be a benevolent dictator. You have some basic big rules to follow, and then lots of little rules that you can interpret in any number of arguable ways … but the ultimate determination is left to a supreme court of one — and there are no appeals, unless, of course, you decide to change your mind.

Bellagio tourney director Jack McLelland introduced a little democracy to the WPT today — responding to some complaints on Daniel Negreanu’s blog* — by putting his show-one-show-both rule to a vote among the remaining players, who overwhelmingly supported this seemingly sensible mid-tourney change. The short-stack lobby, however, was unsuccessful in persuading the Bellagio’s Dear Tourney Leader to lower the blinds.

From the WPT Live Updates:

Rule Change!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:15 PM PDT

Before the start of play, Daniel Negreanu and Jack McClelland stood up on the stage next to the featured table to make an announcement.

McClelland talked about Negreanu’s blog, stating that Negreanu’s complaints about the show one card, show both rule may be valid, and that he would like to put it to a vote.

So he asked the room if they would be opposed to a rule change. The response was overwhelming to say the least. Nearly every person in the room voted to change the rule.

McClelland responded with, “In the words of Steve Lipscomb, “Ahh…. F#%K it,”" and just like that the rule was changed.

Players are still not allowed to flash a card in the middle of the hand, however. The rule only allows you to flash a card after the hand is over.

After McClelland gave himself a 20-minute penalty [for language], he did warn the players that he has been training the dealers for three years to turn both cards over, and that they should be patient with them as they learn the new rule all over again.

*NOTE: Still looking for a direct link to the post McClelland was referring to. If anyone has it, please pass along. Thanks.

Cards go in the air for the 2008 World Poker Tour World Championship at noon pacific … 188 out of 545 remain … Our boy (when he’s winning) Tom laid low with about 20k in chips pretty much all day yesterday, only to finish super-strong. (I liked his push with 3-4 suited, which “got there” on the turn.)

Click below to see the official chip counts going into Day 3, and click here to follow the action as the remaining players fight for the money — top 100 get paid.

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Ed. Note: This post woulda been much more relevant and timely had it gone up yesterday, when it was written.

Despite slightly lower numbers, the WPT World Championship will still likely end up being one of the five biggest tournaments in the Milky Way this year … and Day 2 has just gotten underway. Pokerati would love to beyotch about not having access to the makeshift WPT TV studio at Bellagio to do our brand of non-chip coverage, but we’ve been invited to a WPT Party tonight with free food and booze, so we’re obviously all good with the status quo.

421 of 545 starting players remain … A few names that I’ll be paying attention to for various reasons, and where they stand in relation to their starting 50k chipstack include Carlos Mortenson (defending champ – 172,075), Tom Schneider (25,400), Clonie Gowen (93,975), Gregg Merkow (40,075), Nenad Medic (12,425), Rodeen Talebi (18,000), Ray Henson (89,550), and David Sklansky (41,050).

Click below to see how the whole pro-studded field shaped up as of noon-Pacific today, and click here to follow the action throughout Day 2.

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Today’s paper, seen here in a box at DFW airport, seems a bit ironic.

DFW AIRPORT–Argh. After getting my arse kicked by various turns and rivers in the Batface home game last night, I am now waiting in an airport terminal for a heavily delayed plane. One of the other passengers got a good read on the situation before we boarded — “It’s never a good sign when you see your pilot hanging out the window cleaning his own windshield. Don’t they have people for that?” Sure enough, we got on the plane, waited for an hour, then were asked to deplane. (I’ve never before been told to get off a plane once getting on it.) US Airways pilots and managers and ticket agents are outside looking at the plane trying to figure out what’s wrong with it. Not a good sign.

I booked this early flight so I could make it to the Jennifer Harman charity event. Note to J-Ha: sorry, don’t think I’m gonna make it, but you should probably still have the event. T.J. Cloutier is also on this flight — headed to V-town for the $25k WPT World Championship at Bellagio — as are Dallas/WSOP dealer Beth and her poker-playing boyfriend Brice, who are taking a Vegas vacation together for the first time … and there’s one other passenger dude I don’t know but I recognize from a table somewhere, either in Las Vegas or Dallas.

Have a feeling today is going to be really fun … for traveling poker players and non-players alike.

NBC Heads-Up Championship was on today. Did anyone see it? I saw about 10 minutes of it — but I blinked so I missed Tom.

However, interestingly, I was watching it with a non-poker-player … and he was a little confused, thinking it was live. He seemed a little disturbed when I explained it was shot like 6 weeks ago or so. Then, unsolicited from me, he said, “Why don’t they show poker live? That would totally be sick. I would really get into it if it [were] live.”

“What you are saying is more interesting than you realize,” I said. “It’s kinda a hot topic right now.”

“So you already know the winner of this?” I nodded and he changed the channel to hockey.

Tomorrow be sure to watch the World Poker Tour on GSN. Tom is back to his old tricks finishing in fourth place and getting a full 10 seconds of TV time.

I can only speculate on all the stuff that is going on at the WSOP regarding the discussion of changing the final table format, but here are my thoughts on what has already been discussed.

Given the same payout structure, would you rather make a final table last year or this year? If you say last year, STOP! PROCEED DIRECTLY TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST. Think about this. How many people outside of poker know Jerry Yang? Answer = 0. How many people outside of poker know the guy who finished 7th? 0! Did someone actually come in 7th? I don’t remember.

Can you imagine making the final table under this potential change? Many people outside of poker will recognize all the players that make the final table. Before the final table takes place, all players are the same. In essence, all of them are winners, and why shouldn’t they be? They beat 6,000 players. This is amazing. It really is too bad that we only have one winner out of 6,000. A final table at the main event is one of the most impressive accomplishments in poker.

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Erik Seidel – Courtesy of World Poker Tour

The marathon that was the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic started out with Seidel as the chip leader, Ted Forrest second in chips, an online pro, a semi-experienced tournament player, and two relative amateurs.

After nearly 12 hours of play, it was Seidel as the last player standing. He claimed his first WPT title to add to his already impressive resume that includes 8 WSOP bracelets and numerous prestigious accomplishments.

The final payouts were as follows:

1st: Erik Seidel – $992,890
2nd: Robert Richardson – $558,792
3rd: Andrew Barta – $281,011
4th: Frank Cieri – $200,261
5th: Adam Katz – $151,811
6th: Ted Forrest – $103,360

All of the details of the final table action – and hours of inaction – were chronicled by the WPT Live Updates team.

See the bracelet?

It’s definitely different than any championship bracelet I’ve seen… Sterling silver and titanium with a diamond in the spade on the logo. Interesting and original design, I must admit.

I’m sure it looks much nicer in reality than in this photo.

There are comments just waiting to be made, but I won’t do it. Please do it for me.

The World Poker Tour has announced that a ceremony will be held on April 21, during the WPT World Championship at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, to award bracelets to each of the 96 past WPT champions.

What a great idea! To memorialize a poker tournament victory with an expensive piece of jewelry that symbolizes the grandeur of what those players accomplished… Wait, haven’t I heard this idea somewhere before? It’s just not coming to me at this moment…

Anyway, the private Ceremony of Champions will take place at the “O” Theater at the Bellagio, where the players’ victories and accomplishments will be celebrated, and each will be awarded a Tiffany & Co. personalized titanium and diamond bracelet. Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will be the Masters of Ceremony.

From the press release:

“There are so many incredible stories to celebrate from the six World Poker Tour seasons and we are thrilled to pay tribute to each of our WPT Champions,” said WPT Founder, President and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “The championship bracelet has become synonymous with poker as a symbol of achievement and respect, and we are honored to continue the tradition that Benny Binion began over 30 years ago.”

When Benny Binion began the tradition… DOH!

The World Series of Poker has bracelet events, and now each WPT event will be a bracelet event. Really? I don’t want to say that one company is trying to be like another, but… Is there no other way to congratulate poker players than with a bracelet? What about a gigantic 25-pound bejeweled poker chip? Or a diamond-encrusted wallet to hold all of their dough?

Originality is dead.

So I’m kinda surprised to see so many people so bothered by proposed changes to the WSOP main event. I know folks like TBR are a little concerned that a new schedule would require him to take more time away from making babies/the law donuts, but I gotta say … bitch all you want, as imperfect as it may be in v 1.0, this delayed final table concept is great — nay, brilliant! — and here’s why:

Better Sponsor Deals for Players
In three months a player has time to get their business affairs in order and sell their bodies if they wish. Currently, the only deals offered up are by online-poker-site thugs hovering around the final few tables with bags of cash and swag. And while some more experienced players might recognize the off-table opportunities that go along with guaranteed television exposure while it is all taking shape, do you really want to be making business decisions while in the middle of a big tourney?

Say someone like TBR were to make the final table … he has ins with Whataburger, but there’s simply no way he’d be able to hook anything up with a non-poker company in two days. With the extra time, however, he might be able to convince them (in theory at least) that doughy poker players are the perfect people to market the 24-hr drive-thru to. Boom: Whataburger hat, extra cash. If Lacey Jones were to make it, her peeps would have plenty of time to work something up with Revlon, for example. These sorts of deals simply aren’t possible in the current set-up.

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Courtesy of the World Poker Tour

The WPT World Poker Challenge wrapped up in Reno this evening.

David Pham attempted to claim his first WPT win after finishing third in the same event in 2007. Lee Markholt was at his first WPT final table in 15 cashes – six in the current WPT season alone – and tried to seize the moment. Bryan Devonshire was going for his first major tournament win after a second place finish at the 2007 WSOP.

In the end, Markholt beat Bryan Devonshire in heads-up action in only two hands. Not sure who wanted that title more, but Markholt clearly had the chip advantage that allowed him to take it so quickly.

The final results of the final table were:

1st place: Lee Markholt – $493,815
2nd place: Bryan Devonshire – $271,625
3rd place: Zachary Hyman – $149,862
4th place: Jason Potter – $103,030
5th place: David Pham – $93,664
6th place: Jeff DeWitt – $84,297

Congrats to Lee! And congrats to Devo for an admirable run at the title!

All of the details of the final table can be read over at WPT Live Updates.

Side note: Last year’s World Poker Challenge brought 425 players out for the $5k buy-in event. This year, the buy-in was raised to $7500, and only 261 players entered. Thus, the small prize pool and payouts. Coincidentally – or not – Reno was not on the recently-released Season VII WPT schedule.

… at the World Poker Challenge at the Grand Sierra in Reno, finishing 28th out of 261. Ouch. But not all is lost for the Arizona Posse … Tom may have gone out early on Day 2, but the crew’s other double-bracelet holder Pat Poels is still alive and well — with a slightly below average stack.

Click here to follow the Day 3 action – where because of legally questionable exclusive media deals, you have no choice but to read coverage from a guy who clearly would rather write in a way that reveals he can’t wait to go home (or to the tables, or the bar) as opposed to figuring out the names of fewer than 30 players left in a field?

(If it’s fair to expect NFL television announcers to know every name on two rosters, is it really too much to ask that any “reporters” know every name once a tourney gets below four tables? There are breaks, after all, where you theoretically could go find out what you don’t know by asking someone. But whatever … it’s not Pokerati’s job to bitch about crappy, uninspired coverage just because we happened to have a conversation with someone else about whether or not we have a right to post numbers and letters like the ones below and/or haven’t had our coffee yet this morning.)

And click below to see the starting stacks going in:

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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!

Phil Ivey – Courtesy of the World Poker Tour

In the most exciting World Poker Tour final table in recent memory, Phil Ivey used everything in his power to win the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic.

Phil Hellmuth left in sixth place with only a minor indication of tilt, and it looked like the two relative newcomers – Scott Montgomery and Charles Moore – looked like they might be able to squash the pros. But Montgomery took a dive to get out in fifth place, then Nam Le in fourth, and Moore in third. Heads-up play only lasted two hands between Quinn Do and the overwhelming chip leader Phil Ivey.

Ivey won with a full house over Do. While it looked at the beginning of the final table that Ivey may lose it when he lost several big pots in the first round, he calmed down and used as much patience as he had to pick his spots more carefully throughout the remainder of the action. At his eight appearance at a WPT final table, he finally won and pocketed nearly $1.6 million to boot.

For all of the action as it happened, check out the WPT Live Updates summary.

Congrats to Phil!

Seriously, look at this line-up:

Seat 1 Quinn Do – 1,450,000
Seat 2 Nam Le – 1,180,000
Seat 3 Phil Hellmuth – 2,380,000
Seat 4 Phil Ivey – 4,100,000
Seat 5 Charles Moore – 1,510,000
Seat 6 Scott Montgomery – 2,680,000

Could the WPT have asked for a better final table?

Whether you love or hate Phil Hellmuth, he’s going to make for great poker and interesting television. Phil Ivey has been at multiple WPT final tables but never been able to take a title. Quinn Do and Nam Le are friends and both quite capable of pulling this off. The wild cards are Charles Moore and Scott Montgomery, but can they really compete under the lights and cameras against such experienced pros?

Enough with the questions. Check out WPT Live Updates for all of the action when it begins today at 5pm.

UPDATE: Phil Hellmuth was just eliminated in sixth place. Ouch. The upside is that he crossed the $10 million tournament earnings mark with this finish.

The final 18 players are set to begin play at 12:30 today to compete for the six seats at the WPT final table. Oh, and a little $1.6 mil is up for grabs, too.

Today’s action is going to be exciting. Seriously. Phil Ivey is the chip leader right now, though Blair Hinkle (who?) is a close second. Phil Hellmuth is third in chips, with Nam Le not far behind. On the lower end of the chip counts are Jennifer Tilly, Theo Tran, Quinn Do, and my personal fav David Singer. Any of these players have the capability of chipping up or doubling up quickly to get back into contention.

Note to the poker gods: Please, please make this a great final table! One unrecognizable guy is acceptable, but please give us some seasoned and well-deserving pros! *End of plea.*

Here are the official chip counts and seating assignments, courtesy of WPT Live Updates:

TABLE 1
1. Nam Le – 1,254,000
2. Theo Tran – 410,000
3. Mike “SirWatts” Watson – 987,000
4. Charles Moore – 921,000
5. Quinn Do – 285,000
6. Wei Kai Chang – 751,000
7. Jennifer Tilly – 417,000
8. Brian Taylor – 228,000
9. Yury Parad – 214,000

TABLE 2
1. Phil Ivey – 1,543,000
2. Mike Carson – 1,049,000
3. Pete de Best – 291,000
4. Matt Brady – 497,000
5. Jeff Schwimmer – 413,000
6. David Singer – 285,000
7. Scott Montgomery – 386,000
8. Phil Hellmuth – 1,399,000
9. Blair Hinkle – 1,541,000

UPDATE: Singer was eliminated in 18th place. Boo!

UPDATE: Tilly finished in 12th place for $61,610, courtesy of Phil Hellmuth. (Sorry, Ed!)

As the players on Day 3 of the L.A. Poker Classic approach the money bubble, there are still some very well-known players atop the leader board – Phil Ivey and David Singer. Jennifer Tilly doubled up through Humberto Brenes and is doing well. Alan Goehring, former LAPC champion, is hanging on to make a run at another title.

Sadly, however, Antonio Esfandiari seemed to be on a bad run this evening, then took a hit from Kyle Burnside, and just got eliminated. He’s had a great week with the announcement of his partnership with WPT, but a shot at a second WPT LAPC title would have been icing on the cake. It wasn’t meant to be, but there’s the NBC Heads-Up in a few days, along with the WPT Invitational next weekend. Momentum could take him far if he lets it.

Click below for some semi-gossip-y notes:

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The $10k buy-in World Poker Tour main event of the L.A. Poker Classic got underway today at Commerce Casino. The final number of entrants was 665 – less than last year but impressive nonetheless. First prize will be over $1.6 million.

Walking around the tournament tables at the beginning of the day, it was obvious that it was a stacked field with pros everywhere – Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Freddy Deeb, Phil Hellmuth, Huck Seed, Erik Seidel, David Benyamine, Tom Schneider, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Gavin Griffin, Bill Edler, John Juanda… etc. Also in the field were the WPT’s own Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, both of whom are obviously now (WPT change of contract terms?) allowed to play. And the celebrity quotient was filled by Montel Williams and Rick Salomon, if the latter is considered a celeb by anyone other than the tabloids.

Side note: Daniel Negreanu was sporting an Obama ‘08 shirt. That Barack guy is all the rage these days, eh?

Official live updates reveal that David Singer led the pack at the end of Day 1.

PokerListings and PokerPages are also in the media hizzouse (excuse the lame attempt at hipness – it’s late) providing updates as allowed.

Has a familiar ring to it, eh?

It seems that the World Poker Tour is in the process of creating some type of WPT Europe, in addition to the WPT schedule that pretty much stays within the U.S. border with the one exception of Canada. The WPT signed an agreement, the details of which are yet to be released, with Group Perelada in Spain.

In today’s press conference, Steve Lipscomb only touched on the subject but said the following:

“We are expanding our presence in Europe and other international markets as we go into the online gaming space, and as we do that, we’re taking those markets piece by piece… This year, we’re going to do a WPT Europe event. We’re going to be doing regional tours similar to what we’re doing in China… Those audiences, as we understand, are very hungry for programming as they grow their own poker world, and we’re going to help them and grow it together.”

Antonio at the WPT press conference

A few impressions from the press conference with Antonio Esfandiari and Steve Lipscomb:

~Antonio is immensely happy about this deal. He has a deep respect and fondness for the WPT. Though he was being cool, as always, he was close to just bubbling over.

~Antonio is going to be representing the WPT on television, in advertising, with Club WPT, and with anything they do in the global market, including WPT Online.

~Steve seems to have a lot of respect for Antonio as well. He feels that Antonio represents players from every background and culture, but he is one of the classy players who doesn’t insult others, has an incredible passion for the game, and will represent the WPT well. Steve mentioned more than once that when Antonio won his WPT title, he went straight to his dad’s place to surprise him with a huge chunk of $$$ and told him to retire; he was particularly struck by that.

And click below for a few quotes from today’s conference:

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That’s what it seems like they’re banking on — you know, along with restructuring tournament operations and slimming down staff. Steve Lipscomb just announced today at a press conference (at the Commerce in LA?) that Antonio the WPT-Made Millionaire will be the new face of the World Poker Tour.

And despite the reduced schedule, the WPT also apparently has a WPT-Europe in the works. Should be interesting to see how this all shakes out over the course of 2008. My prediction is that the WPT will, several years from now, be seen as the AFL* of Poker.

* And by AFL I mean American Football League, not the other AFL that looks out for the hard-workin’ little guy.

The Season 7 sked is out … and sure enough, the Mirage and Mandalay Bay tourneys have been axed — along with five other events. So the WPT is now more like the North American Poker Tour, with 14 events instead of 21.

Also interesting is that they have scrapped Ladies Night. Gotta wonder if that has something to do with California’s new ruling on gender-stacking tournaments.

Bob at CardPlayer has a pretty good article breaking down the Rise and Fall of the WPT.

Players have spoken and Steve Lipscomb has apparently listened. As the WPT tries to recover from the fiscal beating it’s taken for the last couple years of generally crappy programming ratings at a time when High Stakes Poker was just finding its stride and the online poker world was in a tailspin … (why did the PPT collapse again? Those shows were great!) … a simple adjustment to a Berman-Lipscomb-Corp. policy stands to put a little more money into players’ pockets. An email sent out a month ago:

Dear WPT Player,

This is a quick email to announce that we are revising the rules for WPT Final Table Player Sponsorship. In previous seasons, pre-approved sponsors were required to send WPT a list of their players prior to the start of each event. If one of the listed players made the Main Event Final Table, the Player would be able to wear the sponsor’s pre-approved logo. No other logos were accepted for that player.

NEW RULES TO WEAR A LOGO:

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Just clicked over to the WPT website to see if there was any word yet about the Season 7 sked (there isn’t) and what tourneys if any have been axed/rescheduled.

However, I did notice one interesting thing — that Abraham Gray is the leader for “Highest Cash Percentage” [WPT profile]… finishing in the WPT money 57.14 percent of the time. Nice job. You may recall, however, that Not-So-Honest Abe was the dude reportedly arrested in October 2006 by the Nevada Gaming Commission at the Wynn poker tables for allegedly marking cards.

I use all those disclaimers because I don’t know whatever became of his case, and haven’t yet figured out how to check the status of NGC-wrought charges. But still …

From the looks of the press release that just came in, all is well in WPTville. At first glance I thought I was gonna have to do an, “Oops, we were wrong!” post … but then I realized this is simply announcing the TV schedule for Season 6 — on GSN instead of the Travel Channel — and not anything about upcoming events for Season 7.

Will be interesting to see what effect the move to GSN has on WPT ratings and revenues … and can only guess that the bosses at WPT are thinking the same thing. At a minimum they have made it easy to compare, as last year’s sked seems rather robust:

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The World Poker Tour will be announcing its Season 7 schedule next week, and according to some recent banter around the high-stakes tournament tables, at least two (not-so?) major events will be, er, disappeared — the WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship and the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown.

A company spokeswoman could neither confirm nor deny, but did say that WPT Enterprises has “really looked at the market and listened closely to feedback from players.” So I suppose we’ll see next week when the official press release comes out.

In the meantime, here’s Pokerati’s super-undercover investigative reporter Tom Schneider with the report:

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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:

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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!

I had a good time in Tunica. I came in 8th at the WSOP circuit event and didn’t play the WPT. I had an opportunity to play the WPT because the circuit event had a day off between day 2 and the final table, but I would have had to accumulate a ton of chips in order not to get blinded out on day 2 while I was playing at the final table.

Had I known that I would come in 8th, I definitely would have taken a shot at it. Had I tried to do it and made it through the first day of the WPT, I would have been able to blame my 8th place finish on being distracted, or at least Angry Julie would have reminded me many times.

I like Tunica because of its friendly environment, loads of PLO and the food. The food is pretty good but very fattening. I did happen to lose weight on this trip because I have totally changed my eating habits. I am now eating a very balanced diet with big emphasis on vegetables. I hate them, but I do like the way I’m starting to feel.

Late in December of ‘07 I declared that ‘08 is going to be the year of health. I weighed more than I ever have, and I was starting to feel it. In the past, I have always lost weight by working out hard and always being hungry. I haven’t been hungry once and have lost about 10 pounds since the beginning of the year. I have changed my ways of eating to something I think I can sustain for the rest of my life, at least that’s the plan.

A few comments about Tunica …

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The WPT, perhaps in response to years of hubbub over the arbitrary selection process for WPT Ladies Night, has added a $1,500 Ladies Championship event to its line-up, which should prove to be quite the hit. (I like the low buy-in to encourage as many ladies to play as possible.)

Michele Lewis has a good post up with more details, and an insightful list of reasons why she loves these gender-biased tourneys.

Two years ago, poker items were the hottest holiday shizznit in the retail stores. It didn’t matter if you were shopping at Oshman’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, or CVS … the poker goodies were on prominent display and selling like proverbial hotcakes. Then last year, you saw some of these same items — only they were marked down on clearance, as their didn’t seem to be too much demand for the crappy variety of poker supplies. I’m guessing the real poker merchants still did fine, but don’t know for sure.

This year, I again took note of poker’s place amongst the Christmas merchandise … and here’s what I found:

Who knew that Popeye the Sailor Man played poker? This t-shirt did, and it was the only poker-related apparel I saw in the whole mall.

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The Five Diamond World Poker Classic brings the best in the poker world to the Bellagio each year, and 2007 was no exception. The preliminary events began in late November, and here are some of the better-known winners:

• Event #3 – $2,500 NLHE – 247 entrants, Dutch Boyd won $237,685
• Event #6 – $1,500 NLHE – 508 entrants, Chris McCormack won $239,590
• Event #7 – $2,000 NLHE – 362 entrants, Roy Winston won $230,365
• Event #8 – $2,500 NLHE – 319 entrants, David Pham won $279,845
• Event #12 – $5,000 NLHE – 307 entrants, JC Tran won $523,075

It should be noted that Tom Schneider came in fourth place in Event #3, and Courtney Harrington of PocketFives and PokerRoad made two final tables. Sully Erna, lead singer of Godsmack, came in second to JC in Event #12. Other notables who made final tables included Theo Tran, Kevin Saul, Jared Hamby, Nick Binger, Amnon Filippi, Dan Alspach, Marco Johnson, Shannon Shorr, and David Williams.

David Pham also sealed his status as the CardPlayer Player of the Year.

Next up was the $15,000 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic main event. The total number of players was 664, and the prize pool was $9,661,200 – the biggest prize pool ever outside of the WSOP main event and WPT World Championship.

Hopes were high that several big names would make the final table, but many of them just couldn’t get there. Phil Ivey was the Day 1 and Day 2 chip leader but imploded on Day 3 to be eliminated. Gus Hansen was doing well for days until he busted in 22nd place, and Daniel Negreanu took a chip lead into Day 5 but was sent home in 14th. Other bustouts included Erick Lindgren in 10th, Jimmy Tran in 8th, and Raymond Davis in 7th.

Five Diamond Final Table – Courtesy of the World Poker Tour

The best known player at the final table was David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Ryan Daut is a young player who won a WPT title in January, and Jordan Rich and Eugene Katchalov are young pro players. Ken Rosen is a virtual unknown, and Ted Kearly is a 75-year old former college football coach.

In the fastest WPT final table on record, Eugene Katchalov took his final table chip lead to victory for a $2,482,605 payday. All of the action was summed up here.

WinStar: November 25th $300+30 Event
THACKERVILLE, OK – WinStar Casino Poker Room is throwing a 200 player max. $300+30 No-Limit Hold’em tournament on Sunday, November 25th, starting at 1pm. This tournament will have 30 minute levels and players will start with 3000 in chips. Registration begins at 9am day of the tournament. Contact the WinStar Poker Room for more details at 800-622-6317.

Borgata: Illegal Sports Betting in the High Stakes Poker Room
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – 18 people were arrested this week for participating in an illegal sports gambling ring in the high stakes poker room at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. Of those arrested, 6 were casino employees and 4 have ties to the Philadelphia mob.

Foxwoods: World Poker Finals Winner
LEDYARD, CT – Mike Vela won the WPT World Poker Finals at Foxwoods Casino earning $1,704,986, and a $25,500 seat into the Season 6 WPT World Championship in April, 2008. Second place went to Season 4 WPT Foxwoods champion Nick Schulman for $864,652.

Mohegan Sun: Brings Poker Back
UNCASVILLE, CT – Mohegan Sun in has returned to the poker arena by installing 12 new automated PokerPro tables from PokerTek, a precursor to their Summer 2008 grand opening when Mohegan Sun will unveil its $740 million hotel/casino expansion which includes a new live poker room.

South Central Kansas: Destination Casino To Come
MGM Mirage and Foxwoods Development Company submitted an application this week on behalf of their Unity Gaming partnership to the Kansas Lottery Commission to develop and manage the Chisholm Creek Casino Resort.

read daily: Poker Room News

Not to toot my own horn here, but sometimes I come across players who seem to have “it.” When I first read about Scott Clements winning his first WSOP bracelet in 2006, I knew that was only the beginning. He has been on my CJF (Cali Jen’s Favorites) list for awhile.

Last month, I interviewed Scott for a Poker Pro Magazine article, which is now going to be the cover story for the December issue. At the time, we discussed his achievements to date, some of which were:

• 2006 WSOP $3,000 Omaha Hi-Lo victory
• 2006 WPT $2,500 North American Poker Championship victory
• 2007 WSOP $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha victory
• 2007 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event final table – fifth place finish
• 2007 $500 Legends of Poker No-Limit Hold’em victory

Then he goes and wins the big WPT North American Championship $10k event last week for over $1.3 million! And he signs a sponsorship deal with Full Tilt. It has not been a bad year for Mr. Clements.

In the interview, I also discovered that Scott is a very grounded person. He doesn’t get caught up in the wild ways of some of the young pros on the circuit – no prop betting, no extravagant bottle-service nights at the Vegas nightclubs. He travels with his wife who exercises with him daily, encourages a healthy diet, and makes him quite happy. He consistently tries to examine and improve his Omaha and hold’em games, and he thrives on the competition he finds on the tournament circuit.

And in only two and a half years, he has racked up over $2.6 million in tournament earnings.

Maybe I should start betting on players instead of bowling and other random prop bets. Yeah, that’s a post for another day…

OK, so I already talked about how the Barcelona gypsies took my money, and you may have read about how I busted out early in the WPT Spanish Championship – I should have re-raised with Aces instead of calling a raise with them – but what about the rest of the trip?

I’m normally not much of a complainer, but I want the people that aspire to be a professional tournament poker player to get a realistic idea of what that grind can really entail. Winning sure is fun, but traveling 50 hours in total, flight delays, losing your luggage and most all your C-notes is what it’s all about sometimes.

We arrived in Barcelona at noon on Wednesday. Julie got her luggage at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Let’s just say this would have been a good time for an “Angry Julie” segment on Beyond the Table. The good news for her though is that she had packed her very special curling-iron-blow-dryer-brush in my suitcase, so she didn’t have to go without that until I blew it up by plugging it into the wrong electrical converter. I wish I had recorded that. Then she gets into the shower and I hear, “To-oo-mmm!” Oh shit, what now? The shower’s not draining and water’s getting all over the bathroom floor. Just as we unpacked all our clothes we had to switch rooms.

Our new abode had a 4-foot obstruction right across our whole window. Excellent. And it had a similar problem with the plumbing.
Julie and I did play some cash games, and some even stranger things happened at Casino Barcelona.

First off, if you leave a cash table without picking up your chips, you will be blinded off just like in a tournament. This rule seemed to keep people from taking extended walks and leaving games short-handed, however, I don’t believe that the rule encouraged hand washing after relieving oneself – don’t want to take a 30 Euro dump.

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I made the trip to Barcelona to play in the WPT Spanish Championship. This trip was a big mistake in so many ways, but for this particular post, I’m going to reveal what a true dumbass I really am.

My friend John lives in Barcelona and has for several years. He takes Julie and I down to this famous street called the Ramblas…don’t know if that’s the right spelling, and I don’t give a shit either. He looks at Julie’s wedding ring and suggests she not wear it and says that the only real crime in Barcelona is pick pocketers, so watch your purse and your wallet. I’m guarding my wallet like a pit bull and watching Julie’s purse like a trained assassin.

We are walking down the street and we see statue people. They dress up in unusual costumes and people pay them for this. We stumble onto this group of people in a circle making a lot of noise. I always like to see what’s going on so Julie, John and I squeeze in. The guy has 3 tops of match boxes which he rotates and scrambles while hiding a pea underneath one of them… in essence a shell game. The strange thing about this shell game is that people are winning at it and the pea is actually easy to spot in many cases. Enter dumbass.

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Like the US Poker Championship, the Ultimate Bet Aruba Classic lost its TV deal (with the WPT) … Have a look at how its field size has changed over the years:

2002 – ??
2003 – ??
2004 – 647 players (Eric Brenes d. Layne Flack)
2005 – 647 players (Freddy Deeb d. Josh Schlein)
2006 – 512 players (Devin Miller d. “JohnnyBax”)
2007 – 548 players (”TravestyFund” d. Jim Mordue)

While the WPT has been lounging working to host a tournament in Turks & Caicos this past week, they’ve also been documenting some prop bets through the live updates and video updates.

Side note: Kimberly Lansing has been in better form during this tournament – no rapping or other embarrassing less-than-professional antics. And so far, Layla Kayleigh has stayed away from the video camera and Kimberly while she’s schmoozing flirting working.

The prop bets, while common amongst poker players, are normally silly but not life-threatening… until now. Sean McCabe willing to pal around with sharks, even entice them with “chum” to increase the danger level, is swimming in the danger zone. I think they’ve gone too far.

The first big bet recorded (thanks to BJ Nemeth) in Turks took place yesterday, during a day off before the WPT final table. Matt Gianetti, a player from Austin, TX, took a $15k bet that was based on being able to stand in the deep end of the pool for 12 straight hours. He came out severely pruned but alive and well. No harm, no foul.

The second bet didn’t take place… yet. But the details of it are a bit disturbing. Mark Seif challenged Sean McCabe to stand shoulder-deep in the ocean for 24 hours. The bet was supposed to be for $100,000, but after discussing the risk of sharks and other dangerous ocean creatures, Mark was willing to place odds at 2-1 if he could toss blood and fish guts in the water surrounding Sean. Sean claimed to have the upper hand as a certified rescue diver, but they were arranging for a local doctor to be on call during the bet because of the dangers of the situation.

The bet actually fell apart because Mark finally became concerned about the safety issues involved, though Sean claims he is willing to take the bet if someone will put up the money.

Boys, boys, boys. Putting lives in danger? I understand the appeal of the money, but are these guys so hungry for action that they’ll step over that line? I may sound like their mother telling them not to run with those scissors, but someone is going to come close to death (or actually die) in one of these prop bets, and then they’ll be sorry.

Being a former WPT employee has its perks, like having friends who still work there and give up the inside information. This news isn’t the kind we like to report, but late on Thursday, September 6, the World Poker Tour semi that is decorated with the WPT logo was on its way to the tour stop in Biloxi, Mississippi when it crashed into another semi. In the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, the collision occurred and injured both truck drivers. Sadly, the driving trainee, along for the ride and taking a nap in the back of the WPT truck, was ejected upon impact and died.

The truck contained the entire WPT television production set, and a source said it was “trashed.” By the time the final table took place in Biloxi only a few days later, Kevin King, WPT Art Director, and his crew were able to reconstruct about 50 percent of the set, but there was reportedly a bit of a solemn air behind the scenes as the production staff was informed of the accident.

WPT has not released an official statement yet but is planning to do so.

UPDATE: The following statement was sent from WPT Enterprises:

While traveling though Texas in the early hours on Thursday, September 6th, the World Poker Tour semi truck that transports our set for WPT final tables was involved in an accident that tragically claimed the life of one of the drivers. The accident also damaged the final table set, which WPT is currently working to rebuild and restore to its original design. We hope to have it back on the road for the North American Poker Championship at the Fallsview Casino in Canada next month. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved in the accident and the family of the driver who lost his life.

For starters, here is a video of WPT video hostess Kimberly Lansing and WPT show hostess Layla Kayleigh from the recent WPT tournament in Biloxi:

Now, go to Wicked Chops and watch the two videos of Kimberly and Layla putting on a show specifically for the Wicked Chops boys. Seriously, I would love to bitch-slap both of them (and not in a sexy way), but that’s beside the point. The videos are ridiculously embarrassing, admit it.

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Chris Bell and WPT champion Michael Gracz were playing what appears to be a $1,000 tournament with about 70 players when police rolled in and stopped the action. Ahh, reminds me of the good-ole-days of the Dallas poker scene (which is now a shell of its old self, for better or for worse).

According to CardPlayer:

The misdemeanor gambling charge is akin to a speeding ticket, which Gracz said we would probably just pay. All of those charged were free to go home and the whole process took about four hours.

C’mon, Gracz, fight the power! Make an issue out of this you pussy! distinguished poker ambassador. Sure, it’s only chump change to you, but fighting your ticket to the fullest (like the gentleman you are) could mean a lot more to all those other players in North Carolina.

RELATED: Other poker cases moving through the system in New Jersey and Kansas. It’s kinda understandable why the cops running one of these poker rooms had to plea guilty, but the barber should be in good shape to claim otherwise.