I got a call yesterday at the WSOP from the Butler. I haven’t seen the guy for a couple months — not since me and my jiu-jitsu coach and heavy metal teacher got booted out of our sweet pad (pool table, poker table, dart board, 65-inch HDTV, Strip-view bedroom, fireplace/jacuzzi bathroom, no utilities) on the Eastside. We of course knew all was headed south when the Butler — the guy who set the whole housing arrangement up — walked into our casa unannounced to do a cocaine deal, and shortly thereafter got busted by The Boss (who owned the house, in theory, though not on paper) for stealing rent money.
(I met the Butler last year at the WSOP, as he was trying to sell his private concierge services to poker players and convince me to turn him into a recurring character on Pokerati.)
Anyhow, so I got a call from an unknown 973 number yesterday that I answered in the press box. “Hey, Dan, it’s John. Are you at the Series? How’s it going?”
“Um, uh, pretty good? We’re just getting rolling … so what’s up? Did you make it to Kansas City?”
“Yeah, and it’s not good. I’m calling because I need a stake.”
“Yeow, dude … can’t help you out. Wouldn’t know how to get you money if I could.”
“Western Union.”
“Sorry, man Have you tried Tom? His number is 602-97… .”
Boo-yah! Right on target … that’s how prescient Pokerati can be! Granted, we also said the online poker room market was also probably saturated in April 2004 … hey, you can’t hit a home run every time, right?
We’ve gone through lots of changes over the years, and more TK for sure. Personally, I can’t believe I’ve stuck to anything for four years … but it’s amazing what the burning desire to not work ever will do for you. Anyhow, thanks for reading us once or twice during that time. Kiss off, I don’t need you! We couldn’t have done it without you. So thanks again, happy blog-birthday to me. Maybe next year Full Tilt and Pokerati should have their party together.
Fidel Castro just resigned as el presidente de Cuba, and what better way to celebrate the conclusion of his 49 years of dominance than by playing poker and munching on a Montecristo #4 from Havana? That’s how they roll in Mexico, specifically if you’re an American expat in the Yucatan:
Poker Night at Mercer Cigars
Wednesday nights are poker nights at Mercer Cigars. Everyone who participates gets a free Cuban cigar. Buy-in is $500 pesos and First place takes 60% plus a Romeo & Juliet Churchill cigar. Complimentary refreshments will be served, and beer, wine, food and cigars are available. Call for more information or to reserve your spot!
Location : Mercer Cigars, Prolongacion Montejo 85-3, 15 y 17, Colonia Mexico (next to La Parilla )
Time : 8:30 P.M.
Phone : 944-3647
Sorry if I’ve seemed a little non-posty since setting up shop in LV. I’ve been going to too many porn partiesplaying too much poker busy helping get a new web service off the ground: Thrillist Las Vegas.
Basically, Thrillist will be sending an easy-click email once a week to subscribers about some of the cooler shizznit going down in V-town … only I won’t be using phrases like “shizznit.” In the first edition, we talk about the VIP Suite at Red Rock Lanes (just in time for the PBA Tournament of Champions), the opening of a new restaurant, a more-than-beef-jerky jackpot, a fancy shoe store in the new Palazzo, and how swingers can tell when it’s time for a threesome. All very important to know, of course, whether you’re a local or a semi-regular visitor looking to indulge in ways most can’t find at home.
The premiere non-spam just showed up in subscribers’ inboxes early this AM … and their lives are presumably far better as a result. Did you get it? If not, sign up here.
One of the most poker-friendly Congresspeople (Shelley Berkley, D-NV) has come out today endorsing Hillary Clinton for President, even though the Senator doesn’t play poker. Just an FYI for those of you who care about a world beyond the rails.
Since Dan moved to Vegas last week, he has successfully missed at least one of the biggest parties of the year.
Jay-Z held the grand opening of his new 40/40 Club at the Venetian in Vegas on December 30th. Jay-Z brought Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke, Ne-Yo, Cindy Margolis, Charles Barkley, LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez, and even Rev. Al Sharpton for the bash. And yes, Dan had an invitation to attend but didn’t open his e-mail until a day late.
Could this just be a fluke, a casualty of a semi-chaotic move from Dallas to Vegas?
Pokerati loves to indulge in some unscientific polling … and we have a new one up on the righthand sidebar if you haven’t already noticed. This time we are looking for “the next big thing.” When you think about it, if poker has been anything, it was the first unbridled, boom-market economy of the 21st century. That time has now passed for poker, so presumably something else will take its place.
But we’re not just looking for what will be big — I am pretty sure I was wrong when I declared darts anything close to the next poker — we’re also looking for new niches fueled by a profitable confluence of the internet, TV, hard technology, and live engagement. (Because when that happens, you can also expect a lot of laws and politics to come into play.) To this day, I don’t see why tournament fishing — particularly with the use of “hook cams” that allow you to watch fish contemplating taking the bait — hasn’t taken off. But that probably has more to do with the business behind it all than the thrilling nature of the sport itself.
Anyhow, would love to hear what you think … not just so we can mentally masturbate to the concept of a blog about whatever wins … but moreso because its always refreshing to remember what’s going on outside the poker world that isn’t war.
While this “threat” is real … the truth is bot-prejudice is already taking root in the non-poker world. Think how much you hate it when an automated voice calls you on the phone — guess what, that’s a bot, too. So how these non-human entities get regulated in poker would set some semblance of a precedent for how the non-poker world eventually has to deal with them.
Don’t ask me why, but I am looking for some assistance …
I need to know some of the coolest, neatist, must-do kinda shee-ot going down in Las Vegas right now. Or next month. Can anyone tell me?
I’m trying to figure out if you were a local, where would you direct your friends visiting from out of town? Specifically if your friends were about 25 years old and male, with good enough jobs that they could afford to blow a festive wad off the tables — whether it be at a restaurant, bar, or low-rider convention.
Thanks in advance for your help. Links, of course, appreciated.
It’s about energy drinks (yum!), and newfound health concerns associated with them. Pokerati has long contended, as the hedline suggests above, that the boom-time business of possibly addictive, taurine-infused pharmaceuticals sold at convenience stores (to kids!) for upwards of $3 a can is just waiting for a little government intervention … because there’s simply too much money being made for the politicos to not want their cut.
What we’re not good with here at Pokerati is time. Whether that will take five months or 15 years to happen, we’re not so sure. But I do find it especially interesting that the Channel 8 story above says that last year there were more than 4 billion cans of lightly carbonated liquid meth sold … which would make the energy drink biz a $12 billion industry. Does that number ring a bell? It should … because it was the estimated value of the online poker industry shortly before the passage of the UIGEA.
You see what I’m getting at? Poker is about math. So is politics …
Supposedly Al Qaeda is planning an attack on November 11 — the target being websites that are not-so-Islamic in their values. Considering that the poker boom coincided with the release of the Iraqi’s Most Wanted deck of playing cards, might they have their electronic guns pointed our way?
Pokerati was attacked this weekend — shut us down for a few hours — but we have not been able to confirm whether or not this was a trial run that leaves us eligible for tax relief and/or military assistance.
I made the trip to Barcelona to play in the WPT Spanish Championship. This trip was a big mistake in so many ways, but for this particular post, I’m going to reveal what a true dumbass I really am.
My friend John lives in Barcelona and has for several years. He takes Julie and I down to this famous street called the Ramblas…don’t know if that’s the right spelling, and I don’t give a shit either. He looks at Julie’s wedding ring and suggests she not wear it and says that the only real crime in Barcelona is pick pocketers, so watch your purse and your wallet. I’m guarding my wallet like a pit bull and watching Julie’s purse like a trained assassin.
We are walking down the street and we see statue people. They dress up in unusual costumes and people pay them for this. We stumble onto this group of people in a circle making a lot of noise. I always like to see what’s going on so Julie, John and I squeeze in. The guy has 3 tops of match boxes which he rotates and scrambles while hiding a pea underneath one of them… in essence a shell game. The strange thing about this shell game is that people are winning at it and the pea is actually easy to spot in many cases. Enter dumbass.
I swear Tom and I have not been cheating on each other or Karridy. We just have a sort-of open relationship … the kind where we want to share our aural pleasures with whoever-da-fug will listen all the world. So this week, as in tomorrow, Tom will be appearing on Ante Up! … the other high-quality poker podcast out there. I’m serious — these guys totally don’t suck and are a delight to subscribe to via iTunes.
Meanwhile, I have branched out into the non-poker world — a place where “holding the nuts” has a whole different meaning. Some of you may not know that before converting to poker, I used to advise the readers of Cosmo on what guys are thinking. Funny, I know … and my apologies to all the messed up chicks out there as a result. But regardless, like Frank Constanza going back into the kitchen, I have dusted off those old skills to speak to the ladies of D/FW on Girl Talk. If only Leah’s listeners understood the concept of positive EV!
Jay-Z held the 
Pokerati loves to indulge in some 
I swear Tom and I have not been cheating on each other or Karridy. We just have a sort-of open relationship … the kind where we want to share our aural pleasures with 
![Fidel Castro as the [cards]3s[/cards].](http://www.earth-citizens.net/jeux/newsmax/3-spades.gif){kind=link}