High-Stakes Nevada License Plate Squatting

by , Jan 5, 2010 | 1:12 pm

I just had to check … and sure enough, he’s not driving around Las Vegas with his Full Tilt name on display:

If only I had a collection of cars, I’d name them all … Free Pokerati T-shirt to anyone who outfits they’re vehicle with the above or any of the following pokertastic plates, all of which are available, some surprisingly so:



Have your own fun with the Nevada DMV here. Interestingly enough, I was looking for one for Allen Kessler … but Chainsaw is too many letters, and Chansaw is already taken.

Also … DURRR is not available, but DURRRR is.


15 Comments to “High-Stakes Nevada License Plate Squatting”


  1. BJ Nemeth
    says:

    I’m not that surprised. I’ve had personalized plates in the past, but I’d never want “Nemeth” on the back of my car. For more obvious reasons, I wouldn’t want it to say “BJ.” And, if Isildur is actively trying to keep his identity a secret, driving around in a car with that name on the license plate seems counter-productive.

    I’d think less of Phil Ivey if he drove around in a car with a license plate that read “Ivey.”


  2. DanM
    says:

    I too might think less of Ivey if he had his name on his Bentley … but I would definitely think more of the low-stakes hack who puts such a label on his Hyundai Sonata.


  3. BJ Nemeth
    says:

    I have to agree with you on that one. That’d be hilarious!


  4. DanM
    says:

    BJ, you being the AP Stylebook of Poker … what IS the right spelling of durrrrrrrr … I was thinking 3 Rs.

    And what about Isildur … can we just call him Isildur, or is it better to say Isildur1? (And I’m still waiting for Isildur2 and 3 to emerge.)


  5. BJ Nemeth
    says:

    The official spelling of “durrrr” has four r’s, and no initial cap. That’s how it’s represented in his Full Tilt Poker bio.

    Personally, I hold to the style that *all* proper nouns are capitalized, regardless of how they are expressed as a brand. (Adidas and Craigslist also brand themselves without initial caps.) I also decided long ago that when referring to online poker players, I would use the easiest-to-pronounce and easiest-to-spell version of their online monikers. For example, I don’t waste my time capitalizing every other letter in BelowAbove, nor do I use numerals in something like “Imperium.”

    However, if I am specifically referring to their online name, rather than the player it represents, I will try to spell it out exactly as it appears in an online poker room. When I do this, I try not to treat the online identity as a traditional nickname that appears between the first and last name. I will list the player’s real name, and then follow it with the online name in parentheses.

    A few examples:

    Tom “Durrrr” Dwan
    Tom Dwan (online name: durrrr)

    Sorel “Imperium” Mizzi
    Sorel Mizzi (online name: Imperium)

    James “Mig” Mackey
    James Mackey (online name: mig.com)

    For Isildur1, we obviously don’t know his real name. In conversation (like on the Poker Beat), people usually refer to him as Isildur, so I believe that’s how we should write about him. As a general rule, whenever I write, I think about how it will be read aloud — and I don’t expect people to say “Isildur one” every time his name appears in an article. I would use “Isildur1” the first time in a given article or blog post, and then switch over to Isildur after that. Similar to how you use a player’s full name on the first usage before switching to just the last name.

    Some players, like Gavin Smith, have well-known online names that have never reached the level of a nickname. In a cases like these, I will never list the online name in quotes between the first and last names.

    Gavin Smith
    Gavin Smith (online name: BirdGuts)

    Vanessa Rousso
    Vanessa Rousso (online name: LadyMaverick)

    Some players have nicknames that don’t correlate to their online names. The most obvious example of this is Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. It’s a straight nickname, so it’s treated like a traditional nickname.

    Other players, like Doyle Brunson or Daniel Negreanu, have nicknames that are very well know yet very infrequently used. I would never write Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson or Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, even though people know those nicknames. If I felt it necessary to include them in a bio or some other article, I would describe their nicknames contextually in a sentence.

    Finally, there are those players whose nicknames have replaced their actual first names in general poker usage.

    David “Chip” Reese
    Chip Reese

    Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
    Bertrand Grospellier (online name: ElkY)
    Elky Grospellier

    I only made the change recently for Elky, but a lot of casual fans see the name “Bertrand Grospellier” and don’t recognize it — though they know who Elky is.


  6. BJ Nemeth
    says:

    I screwed up the online name for Sorel Mizzi above. It should have read like this:

    Sorel “Imperium” Mizzi
    Sorel Mizzi (online name: Imper1um)


  7. DanM
    says:

    Sweet. So the real durrrr license plate IS available:

    Really good, helpful stuff on all the online player Stylebook issues. You have created clarity on how I’ll think about these matters.

    Between Pokerati and the new BJNemeth.com, we should find a better place to put that stuff than in the comments on a throwaway post about Las Vegas license plates.


  8. BJ Nemeth
    says:

    FWIW, I wrote a blog post about using “Isildur” vs. “Isildur1.” If you perform a Google search for “Isildur interview,” the exclusive PokerNews interview won’t show up anywhere in the first several pages of results. Why not? Because every single time his name is mentioned, it’s “Isildur1.”

    If you use the numeral, and search for “Isildur1 interview,” it’s the very first result. (As it should be.)

    So from Google’s point of view, it’s in your own self-interest to use both names at least once — Isildur1 and Isildur.

    Here’s the link to my blog post: http://www.bjnemeth.com/blog/2010/1/3/google-the-isildur-interview.html


  9. DanM
    says:

    Nice! that’s even better stuff!

    And though Pokerati plans to sell out as much as possible this year, I really really like the clean and pure look of what you’ve got going over there.

    I hope you’ll at least be willing to pimp out your own stuff elsewhere, whether it’s WPT coverage, Poker Road Photo blog, or whatever.


  10. Troy Thomas
    says:

    Dan… when will we be seeing POKRATI driving down the street?!


  11. DanM
    says:

    Troy, probably never. However, the NLH PLO one is giving me inspiration to learn how to win at my own game.


  12. Fawcett
    says:

    Dan, based on your play in Dallas over the holidays I was thinking of plates for you: “DONK1” “UDNTHVIT” “CALL” “REBUY” “DOUTKCK”


  13. DanM
    says:

    “OUTKICK” is available!

    But even as cool as that might look on a totally douchebaggy jacked-up truck … I’d probably go with “FAWCETT” or “THESANG” first.

    Seriously … that should be a Batface prop bet … whoever loses has to drive around in a car labeled “THESANG” for a year. Extra funny for any who have to drop their kids off at soccer practice.


  14. Fawcett
    says:

    I was actually going for “do you take check” with the last one…


  15. Rob
    says:

    Great collection ideas. Old License Plates are even better. When you find a word that means something, now THAT really means something! 🙂