A certain WSOP blogger turns what may or may not be the same age as the WSOP today. We, of course, couldn’t be more delighted to have her spend this day hunkered down for the start of the Main Event enjoying a well-earned day off from the rigors of Pokerati.

After all, it’s not like there’s not gonna be another Day 1 tomorrow, and the next day, and the next … I think you folks can survive for just a little bit. Probably can’t say as much for all the Day 1A players, but still …

photo: Flipchip / LasVegasVegas

Good thing Michael DeMichele didn’t win, or the inscription “Standing the Test of Time” might seem a little presumptuous.

Chuck in Fort Worth writes in with some kudos and a question about the Chip Reese HORSE trophy. I do not know the answer, but I am betting somebody Kevmath does.

Hey Dan,

As like all your other Texas poker god-children I have enjoyed following the WSOP on Pokerati along with your interesting and lively commentary. I have a question that I am sure you can answer for me. I am some what of a trivia buff and enjoy storing meaningful but otherwise useless information in my brain. What is the significance of the hand on the Chip Reese H.O.R.S.E. Trophy, 4 4 7 7 A. Is that the hand that won the tournament for Chip Reese in 2006? Just curious. Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks for writing in, Chuck. From what I understand the intent of the trophy is to make it sort of a Stanley Cup of Poker. We’ll see if that works — frankly I think that will be difficult because it has too many sharp edges, looks to be awkwardly weighted, and is made of metal that is more likely to break than bend. The Stanley Cup is the Stanley Cup, after all, not only because it is hoisted/passed around by full teams — hey, I suppose that’s another issue altogether if, say, Full Tilt had it one year, Ultimate Bet another — but also because it can be dented when taken to a party with Pantera thrown off a balcony into a pool. Those sorts of legends will be hard to create with this award … but still, it’s a good to have, I can only presume.

So bummer that ESPN has bad insurance — and I’m not just sayin’ that because Pokerati’s new made-for-TV patches just arrived. While the ESPN camerapeople are taking some atmosphere filler shots — you know, just in case Erick Lindgren wins his second bracelet — it really is too bad that the WSOP doesn’t have the ability to call a final-table audible or two. (The actual physical table for the bracelet-crowning end of the $5k NL 2-7 lowball single-draw w/ rebuys doesn’t even have hole-card cams.)

Not only is there a great field to follow, and multiple story lines … Lindgren going for his second bracelet, which would put him way ahead in the WSOP Player of the Year race … and speaking of POY, last year Jeff Lisandro and Tom Schneider had everything riding on the results of this event … but also, if you’re gonna show a crazy mixed game on TV, there’s really not a better one to televise than NL 2-7 single-draw.

TV fans are already comfortable with the concept of no-limit … and it won’t take much for them to understand that the best hand in this game is 2-3-4-5-7. Then mix in the poker psychology (wielded by top-notch pros) of a game where you get soooo little information on your opponent’s hand — there are only two rounds of betting — and consider that there are only 5 cards in each hand to think about … and there you have it: great, surprising and unexpected poker TV. (The $5k with rebuys also adds a bigger-money component to it as well.)

When I watched this game last year, I got totally hooked — would love to be able to play it somewhere. And F-Train’s solid coverage of it for PokerNews/the WSOP reflects that he’s finding the same thing. Read along for just a few posts and you’ll have a whole new understanding of a game you previously probably hardly knew.

UPDATE: Tom is now second in chips … click here to follow along.

Hmm, as much sense as it makes to award bracelets only in open events, this sorta change apparently isn’t up for review, according to Michele (who played yesterday under the Queen of Hearts charity banner):

Last night at the Queens of Heart dinner, Jeffrey Pollack made two announcements:

1. As long as he is WSOP Commissioner there will be a Ladies Event awarding a bracelet
2. No man would be allowed to register for the Ladies Event today

With apologies … not even close to the Greatest Deadpan … but it’s getting late here in the Amazon room … (of course the night is just getting started everywhere else in Vegas). Has me wondering why the Amazon room isn’t the Amazon.com room? Poker players like books and other stuff. Or at least they used to.

Even in Vegas, there’s poker going on elsewhere from the WSOP. The Rio itself has left its Westside poker room open — really, I bet it’s more than a mile away from the Amazon room — offering $1/$3 NL, plenty of low-stakes limit, and $2/$5 NL games with a waitlist more than a dozen long. In previous years the Rio shut that room down during the WSOP. But this year it’s open … and it’s boomin’.

There’re also two other tournament series going down in town that coincide super-intentionally with the World Series to offer a high-thrill tournament experience for buy-ins in the hundreds as opposed to the thousands. Basically you’ve got the Minor League World Series at the Venetian (Deep Stack Extravaganza II) and Little League World Series at the Golden Nugget (Grand Series of Poker). I actually wrote about these two poker festivals over at Thrillist this week … along with some info about a kick-ass new steakhouse at the Monte Carlo, a cool near-daily free happy hour that moves around town, and an apparatus you can attach to your penis for greater comfort at the poker table and beyond.

Check it out, and of course sign up if you want a Vegas-minded weekly email of this important-service ilk …

You’ll notice a poll on the righthand sidebar inquiring what you think will be the bought-in attendance for the 2008 main event. Though you really haven’t heard too many estimates thrown out there compared to years past, if this were an Ask the Audience question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, it wouldn’t get more clear-cut that that — just about everybody thinks participation growth will be relatively flat this year — either a little bigger or a little smaller than last year’s tourney.

Meanwhile. a few dozen events earlier, there were a record-setting 3,929 entrants in event #2 — a $1,500 NLH tourney that has turned out to be the largest prelim field in WSOP history. Interesting to realize how much bigger that is than even the number playing in the main event in 2005 (2.576).

Click below to see the payout structure for this monster field as they whittle their way into the money today:

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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.

Today I head to Las Vegas and begin my journey that will forever be known as The 2008 World Series of Poker.  I am going to have a big WSOP, just you wait and see.  My attitude has never been better, and neither has my game.  I have been going deep almost every time I enter a tournament whether live or online.  I can feel it about to happen, I am going to win a big one (or three) very soon.  Why not make it happen at the WSOP?

I thought it might be interesting for you to be able to follow me through this process and experience the ups and downs in (almost) real time.  I have set up a twitter account so I can text message updates on a regular basis so that anyone who cares to can see things unfold.  I don’t know how often I will wind up posting updates, but I plan on doing it as much as i can.

If you really want to experience the heart-pounding thrill of my updates, I might be willing to sell a few small pieces of myself in each event I play.  Email me at robertgoldfarb@gmail.com

Hey Jen, check it out … Pauly has some interesting thoughts on the matter: [via Wicked Chops daily email]

If you play online poker (especially if you are one of the blind fools still playing on UB), it’s in everyone’s best interest to spread the word on this important thread…

Superusers and Silence: How UltimateBet let players get cheated for millions by Steven Ware & Cornell Fiji (2+2)

One of the more interesting things to me, however, is a comment from Change100:

Funny, how on the day you post about the UB cheating scandal, Card Player.com is running these two headlines:

“Absolute Poker Offering Up to 100% Reload Bonus”

and

“Ultimate Bet RAI$E Program Gives Money for Points”

Duly noted. And that, dear readers, is something to keep in mind as you follow the WSOP on the internet this summer. We know your company internet time is limited, after all … and though we “professional” bloggers don’t have nearly the resources of the big-boy poker media, you can probably trust us more not to greedily lead you astray.

Though we make our livings, too, covering poker, it was only a few years ago that we made virtually no money whatsoever … we did it just for funsies and booze/tax deductions … and because of these faint but not-too-distant memories, it’s a little easier for the independent bloggers out here to be semi-principled and give you coverage not driven by the pursuit of potentially dirty cash. Drugs and hookers notwithstanding, of course.

A lot of us WSOP media veterans (this will be Pokerati’s 5th year in attendance, which I think is longer than any other blog) see the World Series as Christmas season for poker. Think about it … right now we’re at about Thanksgiving, and a month from now, the hardcore holidays begin — with the Gaming Expo and main event … and then time to celebrate a new poker year. (Will be a bit different this year, however, without a new champion to ring it in.) It really is pretty impressive when you realize that the WSOP is just another poker brand … and yet poker players all over the world get excited about it. The clicks and shuffles of chips begin this week, and that ever-pokery rattle and hum in the Amazon room won’t stop for nearly 1,100 hours.

What’s new for Pokerati this go-round is that we’re already here. Usually about this time, my personal scramble to get out of Dallas is just beginning, and I’m hoping to arrive before Event #10 while steering clear of the New Mexico and Arizona Highway 5-0. But having crossed the Hoover Dam nearly six months ago … I’m here … yippee. Not sure what to do with myself. I guess I’ll start by reading the official WSOP preview press release — which you can do, too, by clicking below:

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This is a little bit of old news, but I just watched it for the first time, and thought some of you who also might not have seen it yet would be interested in Daniel Negreanu’s very thorough and sober analysis of the WSOP’s delayed main event final table:

In it he reminds even yours truly about how close the World Series was to going out of business in 2004. He’s right, of course, even though I had completely forgotten about that.

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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I wrote this post right after the 2007 WSOP, but I hadn’t pressed publish yet. With all the talk about structural changes and travel plans for the upcoming WSOP, now seem’s a good time for us to think about our (poker players’) behavior for the upcoming WSOP:

I have a request for all poker players. Anyone that wants to complain at the WSOP 2008, please STAY HOME! I don’t care how much dead money you bring to the tables, I don’t want to hear the yakking when I’m taking a leak.

At the 2007 WSOP, bitching was the theme. Here are just a few of the complaints that I heard.

• Harrah’s is making too much money. Have you seen how much juice they are taking out?
• The food is horrible
• The dealers are making too many mistakes
• It’s cold
• It’s hot
• The lines are too long
• The structures are too fast, too slow, too medium
• The walk is too long to the tournament area
• There are too many tournaments
• The cocktail service is bad.

Is that enough or should I keep going?

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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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Check it out — Cali Jen’s article on PokerWorks about the WSOP final table that may or may not be delayed, complete with documented references.

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.

With all of the references to the possible changes to the 2008 WSOP main event final table, I asked Harrah’s for a confirmation, denial, or even a “no comment.”

I received an official statement from a “Harrah’e Entertainment, Inc. spokesperson.”

We have heard those rumors as well but we don’t stoke rumors. If there was news to announce we would certainly share it publicly. We announced the schedule back in December and nothing has changed to it – 55 bracelet events over 47 days from May 30 to July 16.

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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Check out this video I just found:

It seems to be a promotional jig for All In Energy Drink, and features Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, and Layne Flack … with Alexander Neal, Raw, HollyRae, and ProHoeZak. Kinda rocks, no?

As hinted at below, I spent a lot of time last month investigating the Las Vegas housing market by no choice of my own. (I have indeed found a place — it is a renter’s market here, after all — move this weekend.) All this searching coincides with a handful of poker players reaching out for info about WSOP accommodations. The World Series, of course, brings a lot of visitors to Vegas for an extended stay — anywhere from two weeks to two months — yet they’re hesitant about Extended Stay America because of ricin. Fortunately there are plenty of other affordable, non-casino options for those looking for a home away from home during the annual poker hajj, compliments of, at least in part, a housing crisis that’s being debated in Washington as we type.

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Barron Vangor Toth (right) with his Gutshot photog friend Jen B at the WSOP.

Barron Vangor Toth died last week, reportedly of cancer. He was an intelligent poster on 2+2 who would later go on to make his presence known around the WSOP writing for Gutshot … respected for his ability to capture the underlying excitement of limit hold’em and math in action. He was also the Connecticut state director for the Poker Players Alliance.

Prior to poker, Barron ran a shop selling comics and Magic the Gathering supplies … and from there became a game designer — most notably the co-creator of WWE Raw Deal (basically professional wrestling-meets-Magic) — which grew for seven years before being discontinued at the end of 2007. At the time of his death, he was site director for PlanetWWE.

Barron wrote a little about his health struggles here. He was 34.

Sincere regards.

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!

So I’m kinda sorta enjoying the webcast of the WSOP Circuit Tunica final table. But I happen to be on a relatively low-bandwidth connection (courtesy of Las Vegas.net). Thus the stream is blipping out for five or ten seconds every 20 or so. Pesky to say the least. Here’s the thing … since the video is hardly exciting anyway (though it is mighty clear) … it would be nice to have an audio-only stream available of the Nick-and-Tom broadcast. I wanna be doing other things, ya know, while listening in the background.

Including an audio stream isn’t hard computer-wise, and it would make following the event more enjoyable for the readers viewers listeners.

There ya have it — take-it-or-leave-it-advice because Pokerati cares the internet happens to be slow today.

In poker’s version of retiring a jersey number, the WSOP has officially given the $50k HORSE event some honorary name cachet by making it forever (?) the Chip Reese championship event.

From Harrah’s:

World Series of Poker® To Award Trophy To $50,000 Event Champion
In Memory of Poker Great ‘Chip’ Reese

LAS VEGAS – December 12, 2007 – Future winners of the $50,000 buy-in event at the World Series of Poker – currently the HORSE World Championship – will receive a trophy named after the late David “Chip” Reese, according to Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light.

“A true gentleman and the youngest person admitted to the Poker Hall of Fame, Chip Reese was recognized by his peers as the most successful player in the biggest mixed cash games of all time,” Pollack said. “But he was also a great tournament player with three WSOP bracelets, including one for his historic victory in the inaugural $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament in 2006.

“As a tribute to this great player who embodied the very best of our game, next year’s $50,000 HORSE World Championship will be played in Chip’s honor and memory,” Pollack said. “And the winner will receive the ‘David “Chip” Reese Award,’ as well as a WSOP bracelet, to commemorate their achievement.”

More information about the World Series of Poker is available at the Web site www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

Hmm, attaching a name to a specific tournament … interesting concept.

Harrah’s writes in with the WSOP parent-company’s thoughts and condolences:

WSOP’s Statement on Passing of Poker Legend ‘Chip’ Reese

LAS VEGAS – December 4, 2007 – Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. and the World Series of Poker® issued the following statement today to express condolences to the family, friends and fans of poker great David “Chip” Reese, who died today following a brief illness.

“Many consider Chip the greatest cash-game player who ever lived, but he was also a World Series of Poker legend,” said WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “His victory in the inaugural $50,000 buy-in HORSE championship in 2006 won him his third WSOP bracelet.and made him a part of WSOP lore forever.

“On behalf of the WSOP and Harrah’s Entertainment, I want to extend to his family our deepest sympathies,” Pollack said.

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, nearly 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The Company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Harrah’s also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah’s Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. For more information, please visit www.harrahs.com.

Business Week is reporting that Harrah’s may be shopping around to acquire an online poker site in the U.K. How awesome for poker would that be? Imagine if Harrah’s owned an online poker site and players from all over the world (except the US of course) could qualify for the WSOP online. I’d take over 10,000 entrants for the next WSOP for any amount you can count.

There was a story last week (that Tom and I discussed on the next episode of Beyond the Table) about the threat of lead contamination from poker chips. Considering the potential PR disaster for Harrah’s that could result from an Amazon Room full of players dropping dead from poisonous betting units, the WSOP has issued a statement reassuring us that they are looking into the matter and taking it semi-seriously:

Last week’s report by an Arizona television station concerning the lead content of casino gaming chips has resulted in several follow-up stories in the poker media.
Some stories were accompanied by illustrations of official World Series of Poker chips.

We bought new chips for the 2005 WSOP and supplemented that purchase in 2006 to replace missing chips taken as souvenirs the previous year. When we learned of the TV story, we contacted the chip manufacturer, which informed us of its position that when used for their intended purposes, the chips pose no health risk to the public.

We have taken steps to learn more about this matter as quickly as possible. Among other things, we have advised regulators in the jurisdictions where we do business of the TV report and expressed our willingness to work with them to resolve any issues arising from this matter if it’s determined that an issue actually exists.

Our top priority is the safety and welfare of our employees and guests. We are committed to resolving questions about this issue as quickly as possible, and we will communicate accurate information as soon as it is available. Should any corrective action be appropriate, we will take those steps immediately.

A poker room in Kingsport, Tennessee, got raided Friday night — 15 people arrested, one of those being Paul McKinney, winner of the 2005 WSOP Seniors event. Police confiscated nearly $20,000 in cash, and apparently believe McKinney, age 82, was the one running the room.

McKinney was one of two people charged with aggravated gambling promotion on suspicion of organizing and promoting the event, according to police reports. Police also said McKinney was charged with possession of Schedule III narcotics after pills were found in his pocket.

Drugs, too? For shame! My whole belief system is being challenged to learn that the man who at one was time the oldest player to win a WSOP bracelet now takes prescription medication!

McKinney has 34 cashes in major tourneys to his name.

This song, by Ghostface Killah, is a bit older, but sure to be a classic. It also tells you something about why Marcel Luske’s poker-music career didn’t quite take off.

You can kinda ignore the video — they got a hand wrong and everything — but listen to the lyrics, man, and the beat! Takes me right back to the Amazon (Room).

They still don’t know when each event’s gonna be … but Harrah’s has released the general time frame for the 2008 World Series of Poker. So keep your calendars clear May 30-July 17, as Poker Christmas is right around the corner. Click below for official details.

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LAS VEGAS–I just woke up from a dream about the World Series, the Rio, Clonie, and the guys from Wicked Chops (who were waiting in line but had no potato chips). Took another big hit at the table yesterday but am still up for the whole 2+ month trip … but just barely. Today/yesterday I met another “fixer” — who can hook me up with all the drugs, whores, limos, five-star personal chefs, and/or young boys one could ever want. (But no younger than 18! “This is Vegas, dude, but that would just be wrong.”) A good chunk of his client list supposedly includes aging rock stars and elected officials. I also suffered my first slot machine losses of the century — $20. It’s clearly time for me to go.

(Actually I am running a little late — should face some tough California traffic in the morning, as I am taking the long way home.)

Big ups and mad props to the gentlemen of Rounder Club West for putting up with me for my post-WSOP encore. Thanks Don and Doc. But I’m gonna get outta here before you see what I did in the corner.

UPDATE: Got a voicemail from Doctor Steve while I was napping, and he (finally) cashed in a Sahara tourney for $600. Congrats, Doc! Knew you could do it! Next step is winning it all. Our work here is finished just beginning …

Before heading into autumn’s WSOP and WPT events we all have a moment to resurface for a deep breath of reality.

While there are plenty of pretty people in poker that are really, really good looking, a deep breath may be your reaction to this hot player getting naked. And no, it’s not Patrik Antonius who has some nice photos on his website here.

Head over to The Poker Biz for the nudest news.

Photo of not-a-poker-player Derek Zoolander.

LAS VEGAS–Funny how being in Las Vegas has put me so out of touch with all the poker news. I think there are some big tournaments going on, online poker execs in the courts, business deals shaking down, but I’ve got little to report other than poker being played. Still, it’s been kinda interesting to see who you run into at the tables around this town:

The first notable I ran into was OREL HERSHEISER, who apparently just moved here to Las Vegas and sat to my left in a 1/2 NLH game at RED ROCK — fresh after being denied selection into the baseball HALL OF FAME. I tried to play the not-knowing-who-he-is thing — “You lost a vote? Were you running for city council or congress or something?” — but he would end up busting me out when I tried to run a little STOP-N-GO. As I pushed all-in, he asked, “How much money do you have?”

“Um, I’m all-in. About $140 more,” I said, pointing to my stacks.

“No, I mean other money. Because we can make a little side-bet away from the table,” he said, upon showing me THE NUTS.

Red Rock seems to be the OFF-STRIP place to be. On my second post-WSOP outing there, I ran into GARY THOMPSON — World Series of Poker media master and tournament overlord. He was wearing comfortable jeans, loafers, and a button-down shirt while playing 2/5 NLH. With about $800 in front of him, he said he was “down a couple hundred.” But it wouldn’t take long for him to grow his stacks, and a few hours later, he had moved up to the 5/10 game and had what looked to be about $2k.

On that same day, I saw A GUY I BUSTED at the Rio. He was a good player who went with the whole BLACK HOODIE and SUNGLASSES kinda thing, while saying almost nothing and acting with stoic (but angry) CHRIS FERGUSON-like motions. He was playing 1/2 NLH and nursing about $200.

Over at THE VENETIAN in the 2/5 game, I found myself up against a WSOP Dealer — SHAI the ISRAELI GUY. He was sick when I pushed all-in and convinced him to fold his top-pair-top-kicker that would turn into TOP BOAT … only to see the guy who took down the pot from me win with KING-HIGH. A couple hours later I was playing a goofy hand with K-6 offsuit in late position, the flop came K-7-K … he checks, I bet, he raises big, I call. Turn is a 6, he pushes all-in, I call … at which point he shows his POCKET 7s. The table cheers for a FOURTH SEVEN, but it doesn’t come and I send him to the ATM.

One table over, KARINA JETT’S MOTHER was playing — beyond her typical quiet game, she was practically falling asleep at the table (at 3 AM) while nursing about $400. She may not remember this, but she won a $15 PROP BET from me once over a RULES DISPUTE. (My bad … I thought I knew stuff.)

Back at RED ROCK a couple days later, I ran into ABRAHAM, and he really deserves his own post, because he tilted the table unlike anything I had ever seen — and even managed to invoke mockery from a cute young girl who wasn’t playing. Basically imagine the worst personality and poker characteristics of ME, TIM ROGERS and EON MARSHALL all wrapped up into an obnoxious kid who graduated from high school in 2003 and is well aware that he looks like STU UNGAR. Then give him a lot of chips. (His behavior and play was so table-altering it had me interrupting TOM SCHNEIDER’S vacation in ST. THOMAS for some emergency coaching … who advised me well until I played back without paying attention to a guy to my left who had pocket kings.)

I really wanted to KILL THIS KID, or at least make him cry. And so did everyone else — especially the old (presumably) gay man who he busted by calling a $260 raise pre-flop with 2-3 suited only to flop two threes. But he can’t be all that bad, because without provoking from me, he at one point shouted, “THE HAMMER!” with glee. Hey kid, if you are reading this, what I told you at the table after you “bluffed” me with pocket-5s and then taunted (it took me a good five minutes to lay down Ace-high) still applies: “I look forward to seeing you get your education.” Punk-ass. Like seriously, you had at least two of us at the table contemplating how one might go about rolling you in the parking lot.

One of the cool things about Red Rock is that when you need to shake off a bad beat or just step away from a dipshit the table to refocus, you can go BOWL A GAME 24 hours a day — for $3 +$3.50 for shoes. That seems like positive EV.

The picture above is from a day I didn’t actually play poker … but I did walk through the poker room just for funsies after bowling, and whom should I run into but NOLAN DALLA, longtime Dallas poker expat and WSOP media guru, legendary sports handicapper, and Stu Ungar biographer. He was wearing CARGO SHORTS, a frumpled shirt, and seemed pleasantly drinky while playing 5/10 NLH with a couple old friends from POKERSTARS.

“I’m stuck $800 but having a great time!” he screamed upon embracing me with a BEAR HUG. “Isn’t this a great casino!?! Hey everybody, it’s Dan from Pokerati!”

Murmur?

“Oh, right …” Nolan said. “Didn’t mean to blow your cover.”

I also ran into STEVE HALL one night at Red Rock, too. He was playing PENNY VIDEO SLOTS. He had a big hit of some sort of crazy picture combinations that won him about $60.

And then to top it all off, I went to CAESAR’S PALACE with DON JONES (of Rounder Club fame), LEIGH & BRIAN from the Poker Atlas , DOCTOR STEVE, and former Absolute Poker marketing chick JEN TIDWELL to play in their 50-player-max $65 tourney. We all had 10 percent of each other, which proved irrelevant as our top player would bubble.

I was the first to bust out (of the tournament) and would take a seat playing some 2/5. Of all the poker tables in Las Vegas … what are the chances that DAN BALLENGER (aka HONG KONG SUE, father of SON OF SUE) would get seated at my table? It would take more than a full orbit before he realized he was sitting with a fellow BATFACE. He bought in for $500 and cashed out a couple hours later for a little less than that. HKS got most of those chips from me … calling a $100 bluff with second-pair-no-kicker (what was I THINKING!?!) … and then bluffing me out of a $400+ pot on the river, getting me to lay down aces. He mucked at the time, but told me as he left that he pushed all-in for his remaining $135 with an underpair. Wish I hadn’t asked, because it had me semi-tilting for a good 30 minutes or more. I know he was just trying to be nice, but still …

Then JASON from JACKIE’S (in Dallas) and “RICKY ZILEM” showed up. They were just walking through checking out the action. Fancy running into these guys here. Chris/Ricky, said, “I did what nobody does when they first land in Vegas and took a nap.”

Ah, indeed.

Small world. Good times.

Some of you say that you want to get a breakdown of what Harrah’s takes out of the pot and how much the dealers make. It’s none of your business. Some of you have done some horrendous math which indicates that dealers for the main event only made $10.15 per hour, hogwash. Hey, I’ve never used that word before. That was fun. How can you divide the total tip by 700 people working 11 days? I didn’t notice 700 dealers at the final table.

Do you know how much the person at the Gap makes when you go in to buy your plaid shorts? Do you know how much the guy makes that is changing the oil in your Yugo? How much does the Slot Manager at Caesar’s Palace make? Who cares about any of this, and who cares how much dealers make except for dealers and the people hiring them?

What should a dealer make? I say pay them whatever they need to be paid to attract reasonably talented people. The answer I’m guessing is probably somewhere between $20 and $35 per hour. For a full time employee, that’s an annual salary between $41,600 and $72,800.

Excepting errors, does the dealer have anything to do with me winning or losing a tournament? If you say yes, start collecting stamps not playing poker. Since the answer is no, why should I tip them? Do I want them to make a good wage? Of course I do. So here’s the plan. In this plan I will use the WSOP as the example:

More…

The following question was posed on 2+2 and I really liked it. “Who Should Be the Player of the Year”? Here are the five that they proposed as possible candidates. For those of you that don’t know, I won; however I’m not saying that I should have and I’m not asking for your support; however, I think the debate is interesting. Here are the results for each of the players that they listed including total cash won, finishing position, number of entrants and event. If there are others that are worthy of consideration, please review their results for the assignment that I am going to give you.

Tom Schneider ($416,829):
Event 5: 1st/327 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better
Event 16: 4th/382 H.O.R.S.E.
Event 46: 1st/668 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better

Jeff Lisandro ($457,309):
Event 7: 13/145 Pot Limit Omaha W/Rebuys
Event 13: 2nd/398 World Championship Pot Limit Hold’em
Event 32: 1st/213 Seven Card Stud
Event 40: 18/620 Mixed Hold’em limit/no-limit
Event 46: 62/668 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better

Robert Mizrachi ($861,138)
Event 5: 26/327 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better
Event 9: 40/690 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
Event 16: 6th/382 H.O.R.S.E.
Event 26: 5th/192 H.O.R.S.E.
Event 50: 1st/314 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha

Phil Hellmuth ($738,724)
Event 10: 104/1,531 No-Limit Hold’em
Event 15: 1st/2,628 No-Limit Hold’em
Event 28: 6th/827 No-Limit Hold’em
Event 34: 25th/296 Limit Hold’em
Event 45: 31st/728 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed
Event 52: 95/1,048 No Limit Holdem w/ rebuys

Freddy Deeb ($2,291,489)
Event 4: 45/481 Pot Limit Hold’em
Event 30: 27/847 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed
Event 39: 1st/148 World Championship H.O.R.S.E.

More…

After many talks and rumors, Harrah’s finally announced today a $1 Billion expansion of Caesar’s Palace.

According to Harrah’s Release:

Octavius Tower

The heart of the Caesars Palace expansion is the Octavius Tower, located along Flamingo Road on the southeast corner of the Caesars property. The new Octavius Tower will include:

665-room, 23-story hotel tower rising 350 feet;
594 hotel guest rooms (floor plans from 600 square feet);
19 1 1/2-bay suites;
41 two- or three-bay suites;
4 four-bay suites;
3 five-bay suites;
1 six-bay suite; and
3 lavish pool villa suites.
Named for the great-nephew of Julius Caesar, who later changed his name to Augustus, the $375 million Octavius Tower will adjoin and resemble the resort’s Augustus Tower that opened in August 2005 with a new hotel registration lobby and VIP check-in lounges. In addition to convenient access from the hotel lobby and VIP reception areas, Octavius guests also will enjoy panoramic views and direct entry to swimming pools and gardens.

In addition to the new Octavius Tower, the resort’s existing 512-room Forum Tower will undergo a major refurbishment. A regal new front entrance and expanded valet parking will open to expansive new casino interior decor, inviting guests to a remodeled buffet restaurant, redesigned Cypress Street Marketplace casual restaurant and enlarged Race & Sports Book.

Wow, doesn’t this sound exciting? Not sure if they will offer any of the round beds with mirrors on the ceiling that Caesars had in the older days but I’m sure the new rooms will be nice. Perhaps this is to get ready for the WSOP relocation? If so, I may actually miss the Tilted Kilt (even though they don’t serve dessert).

LAS VEGAS - Nope, you’re wrong. A six-handed final table is a…six-handed final table and Hoyt Corkins took it down. I’ve discussed my fantasy poker point system with LB at The Poker Biz, aka Wicked Chops Junior. None for me. Then he scolded me in front of everyone in the media room today for not reading your post. But hey, I’ve got money to lose.

And thanks for the kudos but I have been eliminated from the limit $3k NLH event. My high pocket pairs were up against a higher pocket pair every time. Just down right cold decked. My table was less than exciting but all around me sat Joe Sebok, Amir Vahedi, Annie Duke, JC Tran, Phil Hellmuth, Eric Seidel and David Sklansky.

FYI - This would typically be a comment; however, the comment feature is still unavailable.

Hello? Is anyone out there?

LAS VEGAS - Since you can’t comment, I should be writing about Creation VS Evolution just to get a rise but I will spare you the agony.

I’m currently at The Sin. The Sin is one of my pet names for The Rio since predictive text spells sin when typing Rio. This happened to me everyday last year at the WSOP and trust me it was not the word I wanted to see while gambling away my children’s college funds.

So speaking of gambling…today’s high noon event is PL Omaha with Rebuys and at the opposite end of the spectrum is the 3k Limit Hold’em at 5pm. I’m playing in the 3k and having difficulty getting ready. The media room is by far the most distracting place in the world. With bad ring tones, distracting YouTube videos and/or a few individuals that spend most of the day talking about how great they are (rather loudly), it can be difficult to focus. It’s kind of like Al-Qaeda…there is no real governing body so you can’t hold anyone responsible for bad behaviors. However, I will confess I can contribute to the troublesome of the room. It’s not my loud singing of old Poison songs, nor is it the constant view of my lower back tattoo; it’s usually when I am pretending to be smart by discussing cold fusion.
Check live tournament updates here. And to see pictures of sexy women check here.

LAS VEGAS–Wolfman Eskimo Clark has collapsed three times thus far in the WSOP. Not sure what the doctor’s are recommending but it looks like the odds of Eskimo taking their advice are the same as Al Sharpton showing up to support the disbarment of Michael B. Nifong. Nonetheless, he’s fighting, going deep and proving to be as tough on the inside as the outside.

Phil Hellmuth has made another final table. Albeit, it’s a ten-handed final table rather than the normal nine-handed. How will this work Lance?
Thor Hansen ,who has been cashing like a mofo, introduced me to Norway Poker Pro Tore Lagerborgo in the hallway moments ago.

The World Championship $5,000 Heads-Up NL Hold’em event finally has cards in the air. Pros playing are David Williams, JC Tran, Jen Harman playing Ted Forrest, Freddie Deeb against Daniel Negreanu and a match between Clonie and Amir (like Madonna vs. Bono, no last names needed).