A multitude of random click-worthy links and watchable videos, with or without context, that may or may not play into your evolving, overall world poker view … brought to you by 1/2 NL/PLO at the Hard Rock, now playing Tuesdays, Thursdays, late Fridays and by request:

The new This Week in Poker is here. Probably not quite ready for an Emmy nomination yet, or even a Webby if there is such a thing. But smart people behind it all … and possibly eventually a show that comes in to its own somewhere around the convergence of the internet and TV. [Wicked Chops]

I love caption contests — have won many of them. But gonna let someone else take down the wordsmither’s glory (and Full Tilt prize points) on this one, featuring funny and plausibly awkward image moments from the WSOP. [Full Tilt From the Rail blog]

Dissension and Disagreement: APCW Perspectives Weekly for June 18, 2010. Internal fights with Indians mucking up intrastate online poker efforts in California; Big Casinos blocking progress in New Jersey; Malta fighting with France over Euro suckage. [YouTube/APCWperspectives]

Also, last week I missed his take on the GCB’s take on dot-net poker sites taking part in any Nevada casino take. (6:20 in)

Meanwhile, PokerStars’s Big Game is the show poker fans are currently most buzzing about. [PokerStars.net]

PartyPoker’s Big Game IV also looks pretty cool, with a very similar concept. [YouTube/PartyPoker]

One blog I enjoy reading regularly throughout the WSOP (personally check in on it about twice a week) is Adam Goulding‘s, aka Snoopy, who always provides a unique and worldly perspective on Poker America. [BlackBelt Poker]

Likewise, don’t forget to keep up with Dr. Shamus, who knows how to always keep the intellectual poker stimuli percolating. [Hard Boiled Poker]

I’m also checking in regularly on the people set to do the 360-streaming of final tables. Technology is supposed to be much improved from their WPT Championship debut, and word is they just got the green light from Nevada Gaming for the 2010 WSOP … but still not sure exactly when and where I’ll find the live action I’m looking for — hope to know soon! [All360Poker]

Also keeping up with the PokerNews Nightly Turbo for a basic rundown of news going on outside the WSOP. [PokerNews]

And probably the best video quick-taste of the flavor of a WSOP day, like yesterday, seems to be coming from WSOP Live! [YouTube/PokerListings]

The specific WSOP event I’ve been following, and will be tomorrow, is the Seniors Event, where rookie senior and Team Pokerati captain Tom Schneider is pounding around at the top of the leaderboard, and I’m still looking for Toothless Bob. [WSOP.com]

UPDATE: Going into Day 2, with 450 players remaining from a record field size of 3,142, Tom is the chip leader. A little concerned that I couldn’t find Bob amongst the list of entrants.

Oklahoma Johnny Hale, apparently the driving force behind the Seniors Event, got a special trophy for his pioneering work on behalf of the Social Security-minded set. [Bluff Magazine]

Did you know David Plastik used to be a rock’n’roll photographer in the 80s before becoming a professional poker player? His photojournalism seems to wash through the bright lights and make-up for a grittier view of a glam music in a newspaper era. [DavidPlastik.com]

Hey, that mighta been my best link-dump ever! Actually led to fewer open windows on my desktop, not more, and took only about an two hours to provide you with 6+ minutes of targeted, purposeful pokery web browsing.

Oh oh oh … and one last thing (for the moment) … We’re kicking so much Tao of Pokerati arse ever since the Benjo partnership and giving Pauly a key to the server farm, I can’t even keep up with it all. But fortunately the Best Little Short-Podcast in Poker gives you so much for so little, it doesn’t take much to get caught up. Meanwhile for a little closer-to-real WSOP experience in condensed space and time, be sure to check for the latest in the Tao of Pokerati archives. There’s a Matt Savage and PPA buzz, while Benjo’s on a lesbian kick in the Rio again. [Tao of Poker]

This Week’s Tourists at the Table:

(L to R) Team Pokerati WSOP-Ladies Event Final Tablist La Sengphet, Stuey, her boyfriend DC, and Good Chuck showing the Vegas grinders that Dallas players know a thing or two about PLO.

It’s that time of year again… Poker players descend upon SoCal for the L.A. Poker Classic, and the Commerce Casino buzzes with tournaments and cash games of all shapes and sizes. I finally made my first jaunt over there on Monday to check out the $10K HORSE event, the first of its kind at the LAPC, and was taken aback by the masses in the tournament room – 1,362 to be exact – for the $335 NLHE rebuy. Word was that the $100K guarantee was the draw, but the final prize pool was nearly $400K. The line of alternates wound through the hallways, and it took so long to thin the field that the $10K HORSE start-time was pushed back.

With Tournament Director Matt Savage running the LAPC show for the entirety of the series, all poker media was invited to cover it. Steve Hall has been there for the majority of it, providing some updates and gossip as only he can. (Personal fave: report of Nelly’s random appearance to play high-limit cash.) With the Monday HORSE event and subsequent $10K heads-up, PokerRoad settled in for their live shows, Life’s a Bluff came to pick up some interviews, and CardPlayer got comfortable for the duration to provide live updates of the major preliminaries and the main event. Word is that PokerNews will even be showing up for the main, as Savage welcomes the coverage, overruling (in most areas of coverage) the usual WPT media restrictions.

The pros have been all over the 2009 LAPC, starting with David Plastik winning Event 2, Fabrice Soulier taking Event 16, Jason Mercier Event 19, Frankie O’Dell Event 22, Jeff Madsen Event 24, and Scotty Nguyen grabbing another HORSE title in Event 29 (the aforementioned $10K event). The $10K heads-up will find its winner today, and the $10K WPT main event begins on Saturday.

Side note: Scotty Nguyen is evidently unable to win a HORSE event without controversy. CardPlayer reported that he taunted another player and began to show signs of his 2008 WSOP behavior, though he calmed down after a warning from Savage.

From CardPlayer updates:

As his chip stack has grown at this final table so has the level of Nguyen’s voice. He specifically taunted Matt Graham after he busted him in fifth place in a manner that definitely crossed the line.

Really? Damn.

Highish-stakes pro David Plastik, looking to take down a $330 deep-stack tournament at the Venetian.

The 1st of four Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganzae got underway this week … and sure enough, the chance to play a skill-heavy event (deeper stacks, longer level times) for a low buy-in seems extra appealing (at least value-wise) in the current economic client.

I don’t have too many specifics, but I can say the fields seem to be bigger than last time, or at least are staying in the same ballpark. They definitely haven’t shrunk, relative to the world economy, that’s for sure. At this moment, the Venetian poker room and 30-something extra tables set up on the main casino floor aren’t packed, but they are full. Some familiar faces (on very quick glance) about five levels into today’s $550 NLH include Gobboboy Jimmy Fricke and PokerNews expat John Caldwell.

In a few minutes About an hour ago, the final table from yesterday’s $330 got underway. Bryan Micon from Neverwin was there, along with David Plastik, a couple other solid players, and a couple donks (according to Micon, who has since busted). First place: $28k.

To give you another example of the field sizes the Venetian’s 2009 DSE-1 is drawing, Event #1, on Monday, another $330, saw 447 players and a $129k total prize pool. 36 got paid …

1st – $40,117
2nd – $21,029
3rd – $10,353

Some other familiar faces who have been hanging at the Venetian this week: JJ Liu (she hasn’t missed a day), Kenna James, Susie Isaacs, Daniel Alspach, Adam Schoenfeld, and Lacey Jones. Some bloggers seem to be filtering through here, too … just ran into BWOP, and I hear Grubette is on her way.

UPDATE: Also in the $550 hizzouse — Haley Hintze and Mike Laing. Maybe this sorta turnout is nothing new, but it seems to me these events are being taken much more seriously than previous Deep Stacks.