Matt Salsberg
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Matt Salsberg €380,000 – WPT Rendez-Vous à Paris
Pratik Ghatge £71,700- UKIPT London Main Event
Matthew Colvin $21,097 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #1
William Byrnes $20,440 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #2
Tom Franklin $11,930 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #3

It’s fun when something interesting happens in poker, especially when it’s on the results page. Something to temporarily make us forget the muddled, confused state of poker in the world. This week it was one of the fun guys in the game winning a big tournament across the Atlantic Ocean after grinding his way along for several years.

Matt Salsberg is better known as the man behind the scenes as a writer/producer for popular cable shows Entourage and Weeds. He is a regular at the Commerce Casino and a favorite among many of the professionals (especially Matt Stout, but I can’t imagine that has anything to do with “Weeds”). This weekend he put himself firmly on the poker map by winning the WPT Rendez-Vous à Paris at the Aviation Club beating a tough final table including Philipp Gruissem, Tim “Tim0thee” Adams, Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania, and Fabian Quoss. He defeated Theo Jorgensen heads up to grab the title and €380,000.

He then immediately hopped a plane to the States in enough time to catch Day 1B of the WPT Borgata Poker Open.

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Tweet of the Day – While Salsberg was busy winning his WPT event, the folks at the Commerce put the live stream up on the big screens. Here Matt Savage checks it out while WhoJedi does the grunt work.

Photo: The LAPC Sweats Matt @msalsberg Salsberg Heads-Up in Paris bit.ly/QhENNX

— Commerce Hold ’em (@LAPC) September 15, 2012

Exclusive: FTP Former Shareholder Speaks Out, Interview with Andy Bloch – The poker world has been waiting for some of the former Tilt owners to tell their side and first up is Andy Bloch. My favorite line from the interview is about the GBT offer on the table with a little jab at the PPT debacle, “I was in favor if the players had been “made whole”. But their version of ‘make whole’ is like the french definition of ‘guarantee’.”

The Lederer Files: An Introduction – The Bloch interview was a big deal for a few days but there comes word today from PokerNews about an interview with none other than Howard Lederer. That is a blockbuster scoop which every media outlet would have killed to nab. PokerNews has over 7 hours on video and will release them over a series of time. I suspect they will see a spike in viewers.

Feds eye poker champ’s assets – Of course that Lederer interview occurred on September 8th, before the DOJ filed a second amended complaint against him. Howard Stutz has a look at exactly what Lederer purchased with his ill-gotten gains including a few interesting looking automobiles.

Season XI WPT Grand Prix de Paris: Champion Matt Salsberg – The fun loving Kristy Arnett interviews Matt Salsberg, where the video just happens to last exactly 4:20.

We’ve gotta move on from all this talk of Black Friday, I know … it was nearly a year and a half ago, and we’ll be hearing about its cases moving forward in various capacities probably for another 2+ years.n But if the million-dollar buy-in tournament without certain people does indeed kick off a new era in poker — a hypothesis I’m currently formulating from the mothership — then consider this a farewell to economic powerhouses in the industry who suddenly aren’t, as you can tell by their absence.

The question’s in the subhed … Who would probably be playing in a million-dollar buy-in tournament (who currently is not) were this tournament being held in 2010? I’ll start off with whom I’d put on my list … we’re gonna presume the cap wouldn’t be at 48 either … 64 maybe, or 72 or even 96, but we can start there — on assumption without fact that the WSOP woulda made this thing a little bigger had they counted on the likes of:

Howard Lederer
Andy Bloch
Chris Ferguson
Full Tilt Qualifier and/or PokerStars Qualifier
Tony G
Doyle Brunson
Scott Tom (?)

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Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi of Miami became the first two-time winner of the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship on Thursday night at the Rio in the World Series of Poker, dominating the field to earn $1.45 million.

Mizrachi, 31, who won the event in 2010, collected his third career World Series of Poker individual event championship bracelet, and ran his career earnings at the tournament to almost $7 million over 29 in-the-money finishes.

The event, considered the tournament’s second-most coveted title after the Main Event, drew a field of 108 competitors. Mizrachi became the first person to have his name engraved twice on the Chip Reese Trophy, named for the late winner of the inaugural event in 2006.

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David Baker
Photo: WSOP.com

Today’s WSOP Bracelet Boxscore

Craig McCorkell $368,593 – Event #36 $3,000 NLH Shootout
David Baker $271,312 – Event #37 $2,500 8-Game Mix
Dung Nguyen $607,200 – Event #38 $1,500 NLHE
Jan-Peter Jachtmann $661,000 – Event #39 $10,000 PLO

For the second time this summer, a long suffering poker player has finally picked up their first WSOP bracelet. Following in the steps of Andy Bloch, David “ODB” Baker won the $2,500 8-Game Mix event to earn his first ever WSOP tournament after 27 cashes.

Baker’s first WSOP cash came back in 2004 and he made six final tables with three 3rd place finishes before this event. He had over $1,000,000 in career earnings at the WSOP but now can be included amongst the champions. Call him “ODB” or “The Original” but you now you also call him a WSOP bracelet winner.

On a side not, have two players with the same name won bracelets in the same year? I will have to ask Nolan Dalla or Kevmath.

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Tweet o’ the Day – Say what you want about Shaun Deeb, but if he’s able to keep a 12-time bracelet winner away from a WSOP event then he must have him hooked on the line pretty well.

Just realized I’ve been playing Chinese poker “roll your own” w @ShaunDeeb for 20 hrs str8…Skipped WSOP tourney–Bad decision!

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 24, 2012

Nevada Gaming Commission Approves First Online Licenses – BLUFF Magazine has a run down of the current state of affairs regarding online poker. Biggest news of the week was the Nevada Gaming Commission approving an Internet poker license to two companies. Baby steps.

Poker Chip Stack Art Shots – Everybody likes pretty pictures. Especially in poker, when reading is secondary to 140 characters of snark or lengthy, grammar-challenged forum posts. Matt Showell at PokerListings has all the chip-porn you can get on his latest Picture Book.

Einhorn Enters $1 Million Buy-In Poker Tournament – David Einhorn, co-founder of Greenlight Capital Inc., has thrown his name into the ring to participate in this year’s $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop event at the WSOP. This brings the number of “confirmed” players in the event up to 42. Einhorn has one WSOP cash to his resume, he finished 18th at the 2006 WSOP Main Event for $659,730. He promptly turned around and donated the entire prize to charity.

What Event Would You Like To See Added to the WSOP Schedule? – The BLUFF video team asked Erik Seidel, Lauren Kling, and Sorel Mizzi what events they would like added to the WSOP.

Be sure to check out our new sponsors at Face Up Gaming. Legal, subscription-based online poker with plenty of great prizes including cash, WSOP seats, and poker trips. Sign up with Bonus Code pokerati.

Andy Bloch

Today’s WSOP Boxscore

Aubin Cazals $480,563 – Event #6 $5,000 Mix-Max
Andy Bloch $126,363 – Event #7 $1,500 7-Card Stud
Herbert Tapscott $264,400 – Event #8 $1,500 Omaha/8
Ashkan Razavi $781,398 – Event #9 $1.5k NLHE w/Re-entry
John Monnette $190,826 – Event #10 $5,000 7-Card Stud
Vincent Van Der Fluit $265,211 – Event #11 $1,500 PLO

Score one for the good guys. Andy Bloch was atop a list of the best poker players to have not won a WSOP bracelet but he took care of that Saturday night. Bloch had 27 WSOP cashes in his career including a famous runner up finish to Chip Reese in the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. This time he beat Barry Greenstein heads up for the $1,500 Seven Card Stud bracelet and will never have to hear people ask when he was going to win one.

It looks like Michael Binger and Shawn Buchanan are now on the clock as ESPN’s Andrew Feldman points out both have 20+ WSOP cashes and over $2,000,000 in career earnings.

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Tournament Tips with Will Reynolds – PokerNews caught up with Will Reynolds for some poker strategy tips. “Tighten up early, lossen up late” is his advice. In other news, water is wet and the sky is blue.

ESPN Poker is The Nuts – Andrew Feldman has their latest poker rankings based on a voting panel of 10. Steve O’Dwyer finally makes an appearance after running over the Euro events. But somehow Phil Ivey is still sitting in 2nd.

BLUFF WSOP Photo Blog – Everybody likes pretty picture and shiny things. Heather Borowinski always does great work and this post has just a few of her pics, worth tracking down the others.

The WSOP Daily Shuffle – Nolan Dalla has been documenting the game longer than most others. Easy morning he posts an article about what happened and what is going to happen.

Ty Stewart Responds on QuadJacks – After the long weekend of problems at the Rio, WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart sat down with QuadJacks to discuss the issues.

As December’s American political dialogue takes shape — lame-duck tax policy, North Korea, Wikileaks, don’t-ask-don’t-tell — online poker (and “poker only”) is registering a few blips on the national radar. It still will take some time before the main-mainstream really takes hold of our issue(s) … but what the big-media talking heads have to say on these matters is taking shape here in Nevada.

Check it out as Andy Bloch appears as the informed, sensible voice of poker — and current efforts to legally mainstream it — on Face to Face with Jon Ralston, a Vegas-based poli-pundit. I think this is like a mainstream media undercard — big match on a medium stage featuring a couple rising media welterweights … or maybe more like a WSOPunditry circuit event?

OK, might-gotta workshop a few mixed metaphors myself … but regardless, Bloch’s appearance begins at about 2:40, where he potentially lays out a starting point for future poker news-talks:

Quick review: well-opened with the suit-and-tie banter, but questionable play with the arrest-talk shove.

UPDATE: There’s a second segment, too. (Click the second little square in the player.) Much better in the second-round subtopics, imho.

Thursday morning at the Rio, Andy Bloch was part of a panel at Netroots Nation titled Internet Freedom: Protecting Rights in the Digital Realm. Many in the poker community have heard Bloch’s points about how the government is infringing on the freedom of poker players (UIGEA), but to most in the audience, it was new information to them.

Andy Bloch talking poker and Internet freedom (Photo by BJ Nemeth)

Bloch stated three reasons why they should care, even if they’re not an online poker player: Basic freedom, the implications and side effects a ban on Internet gambling would have and how it could move to other areas of the Internet, and that people need to be organized and actively defend their rights. Bloch related a story about how he was playing a $1 SNG online (not mentioning Full Tilt Poker, but he was wearing a PPA patch) with an individual who was visually impaired. He stated that the person he was talking to, and others like him, would not be able to play in a brick and mortar casino. He also described how the UIGEA was passed in the middle of the night in 2006, attached to a must-pass bill. At the time, the PPA and poker community weren’t as mobilized as they are today in the effort to regulate Internet gambling.

The other two individuals on the panel, James Rucker of ColorofChange.org discussing net neutrality and Amelia Donoley of the Center for Media Justice discussing how Internet freedom affects migrant and Latino communities. Most of the audience questions (which were difficult to hear on the video) appeared to be geared toward the net neutrality issue, with the fear that big corporations would control the flow of the Internet, forcing out smaller companies and non-profit groups. Andy stated that there are big corporations supporting net neutrality, as well as to help regulate online poker.

At the end of the panel, each panelist had one final opportunity to promote their efforts. Bloch brought out a poker chip with a bar code to enter into a drawing for an Ipad. The other two panelists seemed impressed with his offering as they each picked up a chip. To watch the hearing, it’s available below:

Andy Bloch played over 30 tournaments at the Rio during the WSOP this summer, but he’ll make one more visit to the Rio Thursday morning as part of Netroots Nation (formerly known as the YearlyKos Convention). Netroots is a gathering of progressive voices to help better influence public debate on a variety of issues taking place at the Rio through Sunday, July 25th. An example of what you can expect during the weekend include these panels: Tweeting the Revolution: How Hip-Hop Transformed 140 into 360, Deepwater Disaster: Response and Recovery on the Gulf Coast and Bringing the Snark after Winning Elections. A variety of social events include a poker tournament sponsored by the PPA on Friday evening at Buzio’s.

Bloch will be part of a panel entitled Internet Freedom: Protecting Rights in the Digital Realm in a section of the Brasilia Room, home of the Bad Beat Bar during this year’s WSOP.

The description of the panel:

Freedom must be protected everywhere it is threatened. The FCC has an opportunity to protect Internet users from telecom interests seeking to exploit them. This session will dissect the fight for an open Internet to this point and share strategies for building grassroots support to achieve real Internet Freedom.

The description of Bloch mentions his work with the PPA as part of a grassroots effort to protect the rights of poker players live and online. How much of that will be mentioned during the panel is unknown, but you can watch the discussion from 10:30am-11:45am PT on Ustream.tv.

That’s the word Annie put out about 10:30 pm last night, via twitter:

AnnieDuke Heading to DC tomorrow. Testifying Wednesday at 2pm in front of Chairman Frank’s Committee on his new legislation to regulate online gaming.
about 4 hours ago via web

Apparently it’s the real deal taking shape in DC. Annie, of course, has been in this position before and delivered admirably … and that was before she had faced off several times in front of Donald Trump in the Apprentice board room.

Still unclear how far the current package of poker-related bills can go this year. (Frank Bill, McDermott Bill, and think one other in the Senate but have lost track.) Not to be a doubter nor pose as a political Joe Navarro, but it doesn’t look promising in what’s sure to be a contentious election season when the three most powerful Dems in America (Obama, Reid, Pelosi) are kinda speaking volumes with their silence on the awesomeness — nay, the righteousness — of internet gambling.

Maybe that’s what this week’s hearing is all about?

With Annie testifying in DC, her brother Howard Lederer stepping out in a new way, and their good friend Andy Bloch taking the lead for poker engaging a wider community concerned with internet freedoms as a whole, you can tell — or at least it seems — that poker political forces have shifted gears.

An overview of the rest of Wednesday night’s action with two more bracelet winners

Warga wins second bracelet, makes history

The $1,500 Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better winner is David Warga, becoming the first player win the Casino Employees bracelet (in 2002) and win another WSOP bracelet. Warga defeated Maxwell Troy heads-up, winning $208,862 while Troy pockets $129,253. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report are available at wsop.com.

Haydon hacks his way to 2500 6-max bracelet

William Haydon defeated Jeffrey Pappola heads-up to take down the $2,500 No-Limit Holdem 6-max title, earning $630,031. Pappola’s runner-up finish was good for $391,068, the full list of results and Dalla’s report can be found here.

Proulx on precipice of Omaha prize

Miguel Proulx (877,000) leads the remaining 12 players when day 3 of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha resumes at 3pm. Among the notables who cashed: Adam Junglen, Chau Giang, Christian Harder, Tad Jurgens (now leading with 5 cashes), TJ Cloutier and Michael Binger. Get the chip counts and follow live updates at PokerNews.

Ray leads final 13 in 10k limit holdem

Another event resuming at 3pm is day 3 of the $10,000 Limit Holdem World Championship, with Kyle Ray leading the field with 643,000 in chips. Other notables: Dave “Not Bakes” Baker (543,000), Matt Keikoan (418,000), Brock Parker (351,000), Michael Mizrachi (256,000) and David Chiu (144,000). Chip counts and updates available at PokerNews.

Lehmann leader in 1500 NL

Day 2 of the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event will resume at 2:30pm with Markus Lehmann (135,200) leading the field with 261 players remaining. Other notables: Carlos Mortensen (108,500), Matt Stout (74,800), and Jean Gaspard (63,300). The full list of chip counts is available at PokerNews.

Reslock leads HORSE

Day 2 of the $1,500 HORSE resumes at 3pm with 246 players returning. The current chip leader is Ming Reslock with 50,000. Some of the notables returning: defending champion James Van Alstyne (40,900), Allen Kessler (36,900), Tom Dwan (34,900), Brandon Cantu (29,100), Andy Bloch (26,800), and Chip Jett (21,300). The full list of survivors is at PokerNews.

Thursday’s tournaments

Two tournaments yet again get underway at the WSOP. Starting at 12pm is the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 6-max event, won last year by Matt Hawrilenko for just over $1,000,000 in besting a field of 928. The 5pm tournament is the $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha event, with nine hands of each game played before switching. Last year’s winner was Rami Boukai, defeating a field of 453

Wrapping up Friday night’s action, with two bracelets awarded in the overnight hours:

“Bakes” wins $10,000 2-7 NL Lowball

David “Bakes” Baker earned up his first bracelet, along with $294,314, in winning the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball World Championship defeating Eric Cloutier heads-up. The event drew a field of 101 players, but over 40 had already won a WSOP bracelet, what should be the highest bracelet/entrant ratio of the WSOP this year. The full list of results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report is available at wsop.com.

Buchman’s best in $2,000 Limit, Bracelt for ’09 November Niner

2009 November Niner final tablist Eric Buchman defeated Brent Courson heads-up in the $2,000 Limit Holdem event, earning $203,607. Full results and Dalla’s tournament report are up at wsop.com.

Ladies’ Championship moves to day 2

Day 2 of the $1,000 Ladies’ No-Limit Holdem Championship concluded after 10 levels with 136 remaining, with 117 making the money. The leader when play resumes at 2:30pm is La Sengphet with 148,500 in chips. Notables also returning include Linda Johnson (64,400), Liv Boeree (57,700), Evelyn Ng (55,200), Jess Welman (25,500), Maria Ho (21,500), Lacey Jones (15,500) and Michele Lewis (13,700). The full list of chip counts is now online at PokerNews. For those who wish tor real Pauly’s take, click here.

Queen Leads limit holdem 6-max

The $2,500 Limit Holdem 6-max event drew a field of 384 entrants, with 122 returning at 2:30pm for day 2. The top 36 will make the money with the winner on Sunday collecting $234,065. The chip leader is Alexander Queen at 74,400. Other notables near the top: Justin Bonomo (56,900), David “Not Bakes” Baker (51,200), JJ Liu (45,600), JC Tran (41,700), Vitaly Lunkin (31,200), and Andy Bloch (26,900). The full list of returning players is now available at PokerNews.

Medic looming large at PLO final table

The first of two final tables gets underway at 2:30pm Saturday with the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha final table:

Seat 1: Trai Dang – 500,000
Seat 2: Nenad Medic – 1,504,000
Seat 3: John “Tex” Barch – 546,000
Seat 4: Ashkan Razavi – 294,000
Seat 5: Tyler Patterson – 139,000
Seat 6: Blair Rodman – 272,000
Seat 7: Chris Hyong Chang – 195,000
Seat 8: Denton Pfister – 167,000
Seat 9: Klinghammer Thibaut – 366,000

Sorel soars to lead for stud final table

The $1,500 Seven Card Stud final table gets underway at 3pm, with this lineup:

Seat 1: Christine Pietsch – 194,000
Seat 2: Richard Ashby – 276,000
Seat 3: Pat Pezzin – 211,000
Seat 4: Dan Heimiller – 241,000
Seat 5: Jon Turner – 83,000
Seat 6: Sorel Mizzi – 435,000
Seat 7: Darren Shebell – 320,000
Seat 8: Owais Ahmed – 78,000

Saturday’s tournaments

The third $1,000 No-Limit Holdem tournament gets underway at 12pm with another 3,000+ expected over the two day 1’s. At 5pm is the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better World Championship, won last year by Daniel Alaei for $445,898 in defeating a field of 179.

Check out wsop.com and PokerNews to get updates, chip counts, videos and more from the WSOP.

Voting for the WSOP Tournament of Champions closes on June 15, and the final seat in the 27-player field will be determined in a nine-person tournament on June 10th. The nine players taking part in the tournament June 10, with the winner playing the $1,000,000 TOC June 27 are:

Tom Dwan
Andy Bloch
Michael Mizrachi
Sorel Mizzi
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Liv Boeree
Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen
Don Cheadle

The tournament will be filmed for the online version of WSOP Academy, with commentary provided by Ali Nejad and Phil Hellmuth. You can also follow the action as it happens on WSOP Academy’s Twitter. More information can be found at WSOP.com.

Here’s a recap of the Sunday afternoon activities, with issues regarding the 1k NL event coming to a head early Monday morning.

Problems with Payouts?

Day 1b of the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem event drew a field of just 1,744 entrants for a total of 4,345 over the weekend. This means that 441 players will make the money, with first place taking down over $625,000. Day 1a ended with 276 making it through the end of level 10. Updates from the PokerNews and WSOP.com sites report that they will either play down to 170 players or to the end of level 10, whichever comes first. There were around 550 players remaining when the field returned from their 90-minute dinner break, so it’ll be intriguing to see how far they’re able to go tonight. In lieu of chip counts for today’s event, read Michael Craig’s blog for the story of a player banned for life for trying to steal an absent player’s chips during the 1k yesterday.

Kostritsyn in Control of Players’ Championship

Full Tilt pro Alexander Kostritsyn is the current chip leader of the $50,000 Players’ Championship as they head to their dinner break with approximately 35 players remaining. Kostritsyn, known online as “PostFlopAction”, is the only player with a seven-figure chip stack (1,430,000). Another Russian, Vladimir Schmelev, second with 830,000 in chips and Robert Mizrachi third with 810,000. Other notables: Erik Seidel (720,000), Erik Sagstrom (656,000) and Andy Bloch (604,000). Three more levels are scheduled, although that may change if they near the money, at 16 players.

Late Night Omaha 8

Play started this afternoon in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better missing it’s two-time defending champion Thang Luu. There had been talk during last year’s WSOP about Luu being banned for life for injuring a dealer’s hand in a cash game. Reports now indicate that he was banned for one year. A field of 818 signed up for some split-pot action, with eight levels of play scheduled tonight. 81 players will make the money, with the winner pocketing over $237,000. One very early casualty was Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, his third straight early elimination from a tournament.

I’ve been a fan of John Stossel, and his willingness to call bullshit on conventional wisdom, since the days I started noticing the difference between good journalism and bad. He has since moved from ABC News to Fox, where his libertarian shtick is a tea-party-friendly line of fiscal conservatism that challenges the moral contingent who want to impose on personal freedoms. Thus, the newest cause he’s taken up (at least for a week) is gambling … specifically online gambling.

Stossel outs himself as a recreational poker player in an episode of his namesake show on Fox Business that aired Thursday: Bans on Betting.

The show re-aired throughout the weekend, and will be on one more time tonight, Sunday, at 10 PM ET.

His efforts to bring the online gambling issue to the fore last week extended far beyond his own show. Here he is on The O’Reilly Factor:

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HR 2268, now HR 4976, aka the McDermott Bill, aka the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2009 2010, got re-introduced yesterday … it’s pretty similar to IGRTEA 2009, with two key differences:

IGRTEA 2010 specifies money for states and tribes — 6 percent — and attaches a dollar amount for a specific beneficiary, roughly $1 billion a year for foster-care programs. It’s being pitched as a sin tax, really — a simple addition to the tax code to allow one more group of disadvantaged youth to still get its government cheese. But if that’s the road they’re going down, perhaps they should earmark the $1 billion/year these kids will get from PokerTaxes.net as being for foster kids with cancer and cleft palettes? How can you be against helping foster children make that abused foster children with cancer and cleft palettes.

Here’s the actual bill itself. Just three co-sponsors out the gate, one of them being Barney Frank.

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