Semi-related to poker … was working on a post over at Soccerati (our baby brother site), about how an online gambling op (188Bet.com) has come in to buy up the jersey space on two English Premier League teams. It just seems kinda funny to me — considering that the NFL is so anti-online gambling, and the EPL is so pro. Soccer in general seems to have totally embraced the online gambling biz. Such a clear distinction between American football and European football.

In fact … check this out … you have very major teams across the pond (and a few minor ones) that have direct links and betting pages on their official sites. The Spurs, for example, are supposedly working with their sponsor Mansion to develop a Tottenham skin, and already host weekly freerolls for game tickets.

The people making money off Peyton Manning jerseys hate online poker; meanwhile the other kind of football teams proudly support it — or are being supported by it.

Now you know I’m not much of a boycotter — really, I generally think they’re stupid and ineffective — but it does occur to irk me how much “free advertising” poker players give NFL teams by wearing their jerseys. Considering that American football gives nothing back to poker, and in fact subtracts from it … maybe it might be time for poker players to hang up their lucky Tony Romo jerseys, ya know? Just sayin’ … all it takes is watching a little soccer to realize how wearing any NFL promotion at the WSOP wouldn’t be too different from wearing a Bill Frist or Jim Leach campaign button un-ironically.

One of Pokerati’s goals for 2008 is to re-introduce the phrase “in your kitchen” to the poker lexicon. (Basically it means “having someone’s number” — and the ability to play head games to the point that you have a specific opponent making all the wrong moves against you.) While we haven’t yet heard it much at all around the various tables in Las Vegas, we are delighted to see the whole kitchen concept starting to rear its head in England, where our good friends at PartyPoker have introduced the idea of “bageling” Phil Hellmuth.

Click below to read all about how its been shaking down in the Party Premier League in Leyton, where on non-poker days the Party-sponsored Leyton Orient have been kicking arse and are looking strong as they seek promotion from League One to the Champions League. Though things aren’t going as well for my beloved Wigan, the likelihood that they could be relegated as my second-beloved Leyton gets promoted, thereby putting them in the same league is kinda exciting regardless of all the great poker that is getting played overseas.

I still find it funny that the currency used in the Party Premier League is dollars, not pounds.
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