After 33 of 55 events …
California is making a real run at Nevada as the most powerful poker region in the world.
In the second tier of American poker (below Canada), Texas can\’t seem to keep up with Florida in terms of kizzash, nor New York when it comes to sealing the winning deal. It seems only a matter of time before the Russians catch up, as Nikolay Evdakov and his comrades keep going deep.
New countries in the WSOP money: Spain, Belarus, Greece, and New Zealand … Welcome! Spanish players (sorry Greece) take comfort in knowing at least a few TVs are showing the Euro Cup in the Amazon Room.
Also making its first appearance on the 2008 WSOP money list: Vermont! It\’s official: All American states and territories that have petitioned to become one have cashed in the World Series. (And Vermont didn\’t just eek past the bubble — Shane Stacey from Hyde Park made a final table … finishing 5th to bank a $166k payday.
Point of order … Shannon Shorr\’s latest cash — 32nd Place in the $2,500 6-handed NLH — is credited under Alabama, not Nevada. (The Euros also cashed big in this event — go figure, they seem to like 6-handed action.) While we did decide to make Tony G\’s Lithuania finish into an Australia (he moved Down Under at age 11), we couldn\’t bring ourselves to put Shorr in potential tax trouble — at least not in a way that messed up all our other numbers on the spreadsheet — as he was the one who presumably declared himself residing in Nevada for his $350k bracelet in Event #7. Surely that won\’t be relevant in our contrived little Cali vs. NV race, right?
Two homeless moneymakers: If anyone knows where Larry Jafee (sp?) or Larry Michaels is from, please let us know. And don\’t go saying Hungary just so they can move past Wyoming and New Brunswick.
Speaking of the Hungarians … Richard Toth scored again for his proud Eastern Euro nation\’s 4th ITM finish. Still not enough to move past Wyoming, but keeping pace …