Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is speaking right now just spoke a little while ago … he’s a friend of poker!

Jackson is one of four cosponsor’s to Rep. Pete Sessions’ (R-TX) HR 6663. That bill, of course, is the most straightforward fix to the UIGEA — simply limiting its reach to online sports gambling — yet one of the more controversial because of, um, politics.

Perhaps shockingly, he didn’t mention anything about the critical importance of being able to easily compete in online WSOP satellites in his five minutes he had to address the world … but hey, that’s where we stand: We have a young, pre-introductory Day 1 speaker to the Democratic party (his debut performance on such a stage) aware of our issues and philosophically on our side, though not exactly the way the PPA would like him to be.

Speech transcript / Video

Another guy you may see representin’ at the tables: Pat Poels. Pat, of course, is the only two-time bracelet winner on the team. (Tom is just a “Friend of Pokerati” for now, while we haggle over contractual obligations.)

Not sure what Pat’s playing’ in now … probably $1,500 HORSE. He tried to qualify for the $50k — got close in some super-sats a coupla times, engaging in three chops for about $15k — but spent about $12k to win said $15k … so in the end, his satellite success just wasn’t enough to justify making up the difference.

Pat is a casino host at Casino Arizona and thinks he will be able to sneakily kick major ass in the $500 Casino Employee’s event (Event #55, starting July 7).

UPDATE: Pat was playing $1k PLO at Binion’s. Busted out about 20 minutes ago (@ 8:30 pm).

With the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event coming up in a little over 3 hours, there are still players scrambling to get in. And Harrah’s has responded with a $6K buy-in mega satellite starting in a few minutes.

The tables are set up and ready to go in the orange section of the room, and the staff arranged them to have ample space between tables for the comfort of the players and the ESPN cameras.

The powers-that-be seem to be optimistic, as there are 23 tables (8-handed), which will accommodate 184 players. Hmmm. Could my 175-player prediction be closer than everyone thinks?

We’ll know in a few hours. Stay tuned for photos and updates from the event…

This just in …

Saturday was not the last HORSE mega-sat. Two more have been added. Just now. Suspect it’s a simple matter of WSOP supply meeting demand?

From the WSOP newswire …

Attention Poker Media & Players,

The Rio Poker Team has added 2 special H.O.R.S.E. Mega Satellites to the schedule.

Monday, June 23 & Tuesday, June 24 at 5:00 PM in the Satellite Room at the RIO Convention Center, poker enthusiasts can vie for a seat in the $50,000 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. that begins on Wednesday in the Amazon Room.

For just a $2,250 entry fee, poker players can win their way into the largest buy-in tournament in the country, the World Championship $50,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Details on tournament structure can be found here: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/horse-wsop-satellite.asp

I’m really starting to think the main event is going to be pretty huge this year — bigger than last year, just shy of 2006. But perhaps HORSE might be smaller? If so, gives a pretty firm indication of life at the top of the poker pyramid these days. Either way, I think we were just sayin’ something about everybody wanting in … keyword, of course, being wanting, as opposed to actually buying.

Well actually, for the most part, poker is shrinking here. But just because some rooms are shutting down doesn’t mean new ones aren’t gonna pop up to see if they can’t succeed where the others failed. And one previously hip Las Vegas spot is finally getting on the poker bandwagon. Though not yet officially announced, August 15 is the opening date we’re hearing for the Hard Rock poker room. They’re smart, of course, to be doing dealer auditions now, with so many card-pitching job-seekers in town for the Series.

Perhaps unrelated perhaps not, Sully Erna is doing a solo concert at the HR tomorrow eve – presumably trying to earn himself some WSOP buy-ins, though no word on whether or not he’s requested to be paid in lammers.

Looking for a golden ticket into the wsop main event? Get in line…and a long one at that. With a few people willing to back my action (not with sex or anything remotely close) it has left me with a dilemma on whether or not I want to play in the main event. Hmmmm, decisions can be hard to make sometimes. I would put up most of the money but I’ve spent my tournament budget on earlier events and I’m very strict about money management. I want to play but I’ve been so busy writing and working on business endeavors that it has left me with very little time to play cash. My days are filled with writing, my days off are given to my children, and nights are the crumbs given to my husband. Fortunately, he’s a supportive and understanding player.

Dreams and deals are made often in the hallways here. Swaps, saves, chops (not wickedchopspoker), 50/50, 50/50 after taxes, 60/40, 70/30 and even worse deals occur when you’re desperate, owe money or favors. At least three people have asked my husband for money. I had one guy ask me for $200 today. Last year a man interrupted a conversation I was having with Freddie Deeb to ask him for money. And after all that…isn’t such a large field a crapshoot?

I just ran into a pro from Houston who told me:

I stood in line last night to register for the main event. While waiting, I looked around and could only recognize two people in the room. I got to the window, took out my 10k and put it back in my pocket and decided I’m not playing this year. I then went over to play ten and quarter and won 7500 dollars. If I win a satellite I’ll play but I’m not buying in because it’s too much of a crapshoot.

In every event I played this year I was crippled by a three outer which brings to mind Hellmuth’s line “If it weren’t for luck I’d win every time.” That poem being said…I’m done with playing the WSOP this year (pacifying words).

However, if you read that I am in the 2007 WSOP Main Event then that means one of three things:

1. I had 100% backing
2. The live update was wrong
3. I sold my media badge on ebay for 10k!