This is an “extra special episode” for Benjo and will be the last time Dr. Pauly, Dan, and Benjo record an episode for the 2011 WSOP…
2011 WSOP – Episode 20: Adieu, Benjo (8:40) – After almost a week of speculation and rumors, Benjo confirms that he’s leaving Las Vegas and heading home to France. His brief stint at the WSOP is officially over. One chapter ends, and a new one begins. Dr. Pauly, Dan and Benjo hang out in the dive bar inside the bowling alley at Gold Coast to listen to Benjo bid his farewells.
Just another random Sunday night (err… Monday morning) in Las Vegas with Dr. Pauly and Benjo after they encounter a tweaker…
2011 WSOP – Episode 12: The Tweaker Edition (4:02) – Benjo and Pauly hang out at the Gold Coast and watched a tweaker get 86d by security. They later encounter the tweaker in the parking lot, and Benjo asks Pauly for a quick tutorial about the seedy Las Vegas meth scene.
[audio:https://pokerati.com/podcast/tao/TOP_W11_12_Tweakers.mp3]
The Tao of Pokerati has officially returned for the 2011 WSOP. The trio of Dr. Pauly, Dan, and Benjo reunited for the first time since last summer and they recorded a special welcome back episode during a meal at a sushi joint away from the Strip.
2011 WSOP – Episode 1: Woe Is Benjo (3:59) – Pauly, Dan, and Benjo returned for their first episode of the 2011 WSOP. Dan and Pauly are upbeat about the upcoming summer, meanwhile Benjo reveals he’s not looking forward to the suicidal tendencies which crop up three weeks into the WSOP. Dan and Benjo also discuss a potential prop bet about whether or not Howard Lederer makes an appearance at the 2011 WSOP.
There’s a lot going on going into this (American) Labor Day Weekend. Some happenings in poker you may want to follow, or follow up on:
On the tournament trail …
WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs, Iowa Blair Hinkle wins $1,500 Main Event, Robert Georato “Casino Champion”, qualifying for $1m National Championship at Caesars Palace in May. WSOP.com
WPT London :: Final table set, Party qualifier eligible for $500,000 bonus with win, £15k High Rollers starts this afternoon PartyPoker Blog
Partouche Poker Tour, Cannes :: Over 750 players, prize pool nearly €6 million, live streaming w/ hole cards starting Monday at Partouchepokertour.com. Follow along en Francais w/ Benjo at Winamax.fr
The River – Winstar, OK :: Raymer, J. Mercier, Chainsaw, G. Smith, Flack among hundreds of North Texas locals fighting in the $2.5m guaranteed main event this weekend
Commerce Holdem Series :: – Encouraging numbers halfway through 500k guarantee opening event despite rumblings of a boycott. Commerce Tournaments
UPDATE:
Gulf Coast Poker Championship – Biloxi, Mississippi :: $5,000 Main Event starts Saturday. BeauRivage.com
WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond tournaments to add more than 40 $10k Regional Championship seats to their tournaments – WSOP.com
Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert and Billie Brown get inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame tonight. US Ladies Championship Saturday at the Golden Nugget. Women in Poker Hall of Fame
Episode 69: Cutting Loose with Change100 – Dan and Pauly give Change100 a little guff for working “Michalski hours” after showing up at 9pm. Her WSOP assignment is official over, but she’s at the Rio to check out the last bits of Day 7 as a self-admitted scenster. A potential elimination hand occurs during the beginning of the episode and Pauly ditches the crew to cover the action inside the ropes. Meanwhile, Dan and Change100 have a leisurely chat about how much more enjoyable the WSOP is when you don’t have to be running around like a madman covering hands.
Episode 70: Emerging Narratives and November Nine No-Names with Benjo – The power trio returns for a rare episode featuring Dan, Benjo, and Pauly. While sweating the final four tables, Benjo quickly recaps some of the more interesting narratives from the Main Event. The discussions shifts towards whether or not we care if the final nine players are a bunch of unknowns.
Episode 71: Vampire Weekend with Benjo – During the last break of Day 7, the agents were slithering around the Amazon Ballroom and the hallways sucking the blood out of anyone in still alive in the Main Event without an endorsement deal. Benjo and Pauly discuss the sleazy side of poker and their plans to take over the live updates and become the biggest player management agency at the 2011 WSOP with BrokeDickPoker.com
I suppose the first big hubbub of the 2010 WSOP was Michael Mizrachi’s run in the $50k Mix. And the second, had to be Tom Dwan, who essentially did the equivalent of calling his shot when laying up to 3.5:1 odds on himself for a bracelet — resulting in 7 (or maybe 8 ) figures of high-stakes-gambler money on the line as he fought to take down donkament gold … not to mention the biggest payday of his 23-year-old life. For about half a day, he had a bunch of TV pros sweating turns and rivers unlike what they’ve grown used to on Poker After Dark.
To bring you breathtaking excitement (and palpable tension) from the Amazon floor last night, I’m gonna skip ahead in the Tao of Pokerati storyline … and catch up with Pauly and Benjo, who were of course right there as Durrrr’s chip-stack had a collection of prop-bet gamblers re-evaluating their futures.
While the final table of Event #11 was being set up, Benjo spotted a group of the Big Game regulars who bet against durrrr having a quick meeting. The T.O.P. crew speculate on a potential bracelet bet buy-out if durrrr continues to dominate the donkament.
Moments after the big donkament ended and durrrr took second, Benjo and Pauly headed over to the rail of the $10k Stud-8 event to watch the reactions of pros who bet against durrrr winning a bracelet and dodged a massive bullet.
Be sure to check out Pauly’s recap of Durrrr “calling his shot” (my metaphor, not his, obv) only to hit a long, barely foul ball and all the details available on his surrounding bracelet bets.
Everyone in poker seems to really care about the French these days.
And for all you us pathetically unilingual Americans, here is an easy-to-bookmark tinyurl for Benjo’s “Las Vegas, off the record”, with his personal take on any and all WSOP action robo-translated from French to English: http://tinyurl.com/38r4wdd
Just a brief update for now, but in what could be Tom Dwan’s biggest winning day, he’s the current chip leader with 9 players left at the $1,500 No-Limit Holdem final table. First place would officially pay Dwan more than $600,000, but he has plenty of bracelet bets with pros, leading to this tweet from Benjo, along with a brand-new Tao of Pokerati episode bringing you to the floor where this major side-action is happening. :
Surreal. A congregation of Big Game players are currently having a sit-down, most likely discussing offering Dwan to buy out of their bets.
I like to tell any newbie interested in working the WSOP that the key is simply to show up. As for how to survive the WSOP, on certain days the key is to not show up. One of these days, both Pauly and Benjo will get it. Until then, they’re both consistently hanging around the action, to keep me you within earshot of all that is important going down. You’ll also see why, all things considered, I’m clearly getting the best of any three-way deals.
Rare Michalski sighting at the WSOP, so Benjo and Pauly ambush Dan the moment that he steps into the press box. Benjo gets compliments for filling in during for Michalski during the important 50K final table. He also reveals how you certain qualified people can win a piece of Pokerati.com.
After two years of cameos and being a special guest, Benjo finally convinces Michalski and Pauly to give him his own key to the castle. Well, not exactly to the entire castle, just a couple of rooms. In this episode, we discuss Benjo’s new and lucrative deal as a partner in Tao of Pokerati, Inc.
Everybody’s favorite angry Frenchman arrives on site, so he and Pauly can express their heterosexual fondness for each other during the $50k Players Championship. In words lifted from Pauly himself, they kill time in the press box late on Day 2 by watching lesbian kissing videos on YouTube. The two offer up analysis and play-by-play while pondering a future as professional lesbian kissing video commentators. But there was a sudden and unexpected twist at the end of one of the videos that left everyone in the press box aghast.
Benjo joins us all the way from France … and boy, have you ever heard our favorite poker Frenchman so excited before? That’s what happens, apparently, when Darvin Moon attempts to make a play … and let’s face it, always a better episode when Benjo’s in studio.
OK, I swear we’re going to stop making this blog PhilHellmutherati. But here’s more of the Champ, speaking to the French media about his concerns that Harrah’s forthcoming online poker site could do damage to the WSOP.
Beyond his repeated request for more food and cheaper rooms (previously Hellmuth was seeking “free”), he actually raises some good points, which seem to tie in with his November Nine coaching client’s WSOP beefs.
What he states is fact when acknowledging that a Harrah’s online poker site potentially puts the WSOP in competition with money that has really supported the World Series since it became a Harrah’s property.
He also reiterates his love for Jeffrey Pollack and Ty Stewart, while sending a message plea to their corporate overlords:
Yes, I’m aware that the weekend is half over, but gimme a break, will ya? Got a couple of things worth watching while checking out the Sunday majors tomorrow or…if your weekend just needs a little poker pep in its step.
First, the EPT Kyiv (that’s how they insist it’s spelled) reached its final table today and will see it play out tomorrow. One of the most interesting aspects of the European Poker Tour is its EPT Live broadcast, with whole cards and great commentators to break down the action. PokerNews reporter Gloria Balding takes us behind the scenes in this video, with a cameo appearance from Benjo. (BTW, big congrats to Short-Stacked Shamus for taking down the media tourney last night/this morning!)
Second, ESPN’s Inside Deal show has kept me interested for three weeks and looking forward to each new show. It’s turning out to be an informative/funny/fresh idea that is pretty dang well done. Check out last Tuesday’s episode with Barry Greenstein as the special guest:
And finally, a few lot of words from Daniel Negreanu in his latest Raw Vegas video diary. He discusses many of the issues he addressed in his blog recently, such as Phil Ivey reaching the WSOP main event final table and his feelings about the Poker Hall of Fame (his nomination, etc.), but he also touches on a recent trip to Toronto to visit his still-hospitalized mother. Thoughts go out to Daniel as his decisions get tougher in the months/years to come.
Union talks with Benjo are going well — we still haven’t come to complete resolution, but it’s good we’re still all at the table — and thus, to the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner on American Independence Day / La Quatrième de Juillet, he joins Pauly to give a report from Day 1B as Doyle Brunson gets cards in the air … But not before the sometimes-Angry Frenchman is put on self-loathing tilt by a fucking wanker someone wearing a Zidane jersey and America’s insistence on calling soccer football.
The money bubble bursts in the $40k NLH — Neil Chriss suffers — and Pauly, Benjo, and I are there to capture it live while talking about sheep hookers. By the time this event gets to the final table, it’s about whether Greg Raymer is old-school or new-school, and if I would ever spend my Sundays at a strip club. (A few hundred Lodge players, of course, know the answer to that.) Plus: how a four-figure strip-club bill in Week 1 turns into a five-figure blowout by Week 6, and who knows what kinda party’s in store when a Frenchman wins a bracelet.
Benjo is back, just in time for the first ever “brasslet” ceremony, which raises a burning new question of poker etiquette that players never before had to consider: To stand or not to stand for the national anthem when you’re in the middle of a hand? Pauly and the Angry Frenchman also speculate on which will be the first non-American nation to book a WSOP win. I show up for the night shift, of course — just in time for hand-for-hand in the $40k — only to have Pauly fill me in on everything I missed between my arrival and my last reading of the Tao.
Episode 69: 
