Old news, but first time I’m seeing it … (thanks KevMath for the embed code) … a very positive-for-poker segment on Good Morning America, with George Stephanopolous playing a private Poker After Dark sunrise sit-n-go against Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Lee, and Steve Begleiter. George played admirably and finished 3rd, after getting it in with the best hand.
Nice. What I couldn’t help but notice:
Sweet mini-gig for Ali Nejad, getting to host an event on Good Morning America.
Duke, who understands a thing or two about Washington and proper patching up, wore no UB.
Hellmuth did however — and not just UB.net, but dot-COM. Did Phil miss a memo or something?
Seriously, not to take away from the respectability of this sorta TV play … nice job by all, and hearing Stephanopolous declare his excitement about playing Ante Up for Africa-DC probably couldn’t have been a better result. But really … UB.COM? Notably either bold, ignorant, or inconsequential.
Even more semi-pokery TV … Shaquille O’Neal is in town, doing some filming at Planet Hollywood for his new Shaq Vs. program, which debuts tomorrow at 9pm ET/PT on ABC.
While the entire show seems to be athletic-based — there’s no challenge to Elton John for some dueling pianos, e.g. — poker seems to have slipped in there. (Props to Disney sibling ESPN?) According to @Phil_Hellmuth, he, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, and Erick Lindgren are on set right now filming an episode that we can only presume is Shaq trying to beat the best at Texas Hold’em.
Not sure about the format, but gotta think Lindgren’s got the edge after all his experience on Face the Ace.
This story seems to have legs. ABC News has a piece — where they lede with a guy who so far is unable to buy into the WSOP main event. I found this story at the top of the Drudge Report … which means everyone in the mainstream media (who doesn’t read Pokerati) is also well aware of the situation. (FWIW, the ABC News story ups the number of banks targeted from four to five.)
“Internet gambling is a complex and delicate area, and we do not want to dictate how the U.S. should regulate its market. However, the U.S. must respect its WTO obligations,” said E.U. Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton in a statement.
[…]
“The report comes to the conclusion that these proceedings are legally unjustified as well as discriminatory, because the activities of E.U. companies took place under the cover of U.S. WTO commitments,” the Commission said in a statement.
At a minimum, this guarantees that federal authorities (beyond a lone Assistant US Prosecutor) should be taking a real look at how “American-friendly” online poker sites process the dollars that transact in peer-to-peer poker games taking place on offshore sites before being shipped to American banks.
It’s official. Shannon Elizabeth has been eliminated from the Dancing With the Stars competition on ABC.
The sometimes-poker player made a good showing with partner Derek, but the dancing duo was sent home in fifth place. Though she seemed to give 100% effort to the task, the judges were unimpressed with her lack of hip action and fluidity in the dances. And the audience may have been put off a bit by the couple’s emotional/angry reaction two weeks ago to the judges’ criticisms, something for which they apologized the following week.
To find out way too much about Shannon’s most recent journey, check out Wicked Chops and their obsession coverage.
Sad to see Shannon get so far and be eliminated. Sadder that I must now watch the remainder of the season to see who wins.
As posted a month ago, Shannon Elizabeth is going to be on Dancing With the Stars. Well, Shannon fans, her premiere episode is tonight. Technically, the premiere was last night but the women don’t dance until tonight.
Shannon and her friends are asking for votes, so here is the info she passed along:
Voting for this week is tonight, Tuesday the 18th. The number changes each week so make sure to keep checking back for the new number.
Phone & text lines open at 9pm East and West Coast and will stay open until 30 minutes after the end of the show (show ends at 10:30-so 11:00pm polls close).
Online voting will remain open until noon Eastern Time the next day.
Everyone should be able to vote 6 times this week (12 next week because you get a vote for every person on the show so as people get eliminated you lose 1 vote each week) from any single IP address, 6 texts (AT&T customers only) and 6 calls.
For more info go to abc.com and click on the Dancing with the Stars link.
1-800-VOTE4-07
1-800-86834-07
Text Code: 3407
If you’re so inclined, rock the vote!
UPDATE: Shannon did a great job. She seemed nervous but got a good score and looked great. And yes, I voted… 6 times online.
When I met with Shannon Elizabeth two weeks ago to do an interview for a Poker Pro Magazine cover story, I was pushing my deadline. She asked if I could wait two weeks to go to press, which I could not, in order to include some news that she just couldn’t tell me yet. I was thinking it was a major role in a film, and I was so wrong.
It was announced on Good Morning America (though I read about it on Wicked Chops) that Shannon will be one of 12 competitors on the new season of Dancing With the Stars on ABC.
The show begins airing on March 17, and there will be new episodes every Monday and Tuesday night thereafter. The other dancers sharing the stage with Shannon are radio host Adam Carolla, actor Cristian de la Fuente, actor Steve Guttenberg, magician Penn Jillette, R&B singer Mario, actress Marlee Matlin, actress Priscilla Presley, tennis star Monica Seles, football star Jason Taylor, actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.
Upside? She will get a lot of publicity from this, as – shockingly – it is a very popular show. And guys, she will also be in even better shape, if that’s possible.
Downside? Um, it’s Dancing With the Stars!
Even so, I’ll be setting my DVR to watch Shannon’s progress. I’m ashamed. Go Shannon!
