In Washington state, this video would be grounds for a criminal prosecution on par with with child molesting. But down south, in Portland, Oregon, it’s a super-feelgood story with online poker pro Dusty Schmidt (aka “Leatherass”) gambling for the homeless.
His schtick is playing for rent for the underprivileged, and ends up making $20k for the folks in the process:
A lot of people in the poker industry claim they know who Isildur1 is. I don’t buy any of it (yet) … because when you trace back who said what and how they knew who made who on 2+2, you realize there’s a 50-50 shot that the historic player on Full Tilt was probably in a movie with Kevin Bacon.
But PokerNews ed-honcho Matt Parvis did speak with a heavily accented Isildur1 on the phone recently, for a limited two-part interview:
In Part 1 they address the controversial session against Cardrunners Pro Brian Hastings. And though hardly seeming upset, Isildur does say he intends to file a complaint against presumed datamining violations.
In Part 2 Isildur reveals that he had been playing $200/$400 NL on different sites before coming to Full Tilt in October; he isn’t the other mysterious Swedish nosebleeder Martonas (“Martonas is honestly my enemy in poker”); he learned to play PLO only 8 months ago; durrr is good, Ivey tough; and yes, he’ll be back.
On last week’s episode, we took a deeper look at Jeffrey Pollack’s split with the WSOP, discussed what Joe Cada may or may not mean for poker, speculated wildly on WhoTF this Isildur1 character is … and then they turned to the Wolfman for an update on all things UIGEA, where my take was pretty much: Dec. 1 … I dunno … your guess as good as mine! But could Isildur really be Darvin Moon?
on PokerRoadThe Poker Beat
Huff, Caldwell, Nemeth, Wise, Michalski, Stapleton
11/19/09[audio:http://www.pokerroad.com/upload/radio/23/audio/PokerBeat111909.mp3]
Mark it on your calendars (or just check back here) around October 22. The case of the Governor Beshear and the Commonwealth of Kentucky trying to claim the ability to seize 141 online gaming domains, or “gambling devices” as they were called, to keep them from accessing Kentucky residents will see the halls of the KY Supreme Court next month on an appeal from the Commonwealth.
Many months ago, a group of organizations representing internet freedoms and the rights of online gambling companies won an important appeal in the Kentucky court system, and that victory prohibited the Commonwealth from proceeding with its attempted seizure of those domains. The state promised to appeal to the Supreme Court, and that latest appeal was granted this month. Those fighting the state on the matter include iMEGA (Internet Media Entertainment & Gaming Association), PPA (Poker Players Alliance), ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology, EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), Internet Commerce Association, eBay, and Network Solutions. (Can we win on number of appellees alone?)
According to iMEGA’s announcement:
The Supreme Court has set oral argument in Commonwealth of Kentucky v. IMEGA, et al for 11 a.m. on Thursday October 22, 2009 in the Supreme Court courtroom. The order allots 15 minutes for each side.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, and we’re going to win again,†said Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA’s chairman. “From the beginning, Kentucky law has clearly supported our position, and a win in the State Supreme Court will put the final emphasis on that.â€
Finally got around to watching the new G4 show, Two Months. Two Million, that premiered on Sunday night. To be honest, the preview with the Playboy bunnies made me anticipate a cringe-worthy half hour of programming, but my reaction to it was the opposite. I actually liked it! Granted, the “chicks in bikinis” episode will make me cringe, but Episode 1 was solid.
The guys were likable, as their geeky and awkward ways made them seem like they could be anyone’s little brothers. Their attention to their online poker games was the focus of the episode (duh), and I thought it was explained well to a potentially non-poker-playing audience, complete with the emotions that come with losing/making money. Clearly, these guys have no concept of the meaning of money, but that adds the necessary aspect to the show to make it different. Ultimately, it will be ratings that equal success, so I’m curious to see results.
Personally, I dig Chef Robert and hope he has a bigger part in upcoming episodes.
The folks at G4 have put out some revised bios (below) on the stars of the online-poker-geek reality TV show, which debuts this Sunday (9 pm ET/PT) and runs for 10 weeks.
Wow, so that’s a lot of new poker on TV. Seriously — 2005 again? At least the shows are getting a bit creative and trying new approaches. But will some of this appeal to the non-poker masses, or will they get just downright sick of our kind?
Let’s see, we’re gonna have:
Two Months. Two Million.
2009 WSOP
Face the Ace
Inside Deal (online)
Tiffany Michelle/Maria Ho on The Amazing Race
How’d You Get So Rich (single episode)
Sam’s Game (online)
High Stakes Poker?
WPT?
Poker After Dark?
Are we forgetting anything? Seems like we might be do for a new poll on which Poker TV sucks and which doesn’t. I give 2M2MM a 62 percent chance of being OK or better:
There seems to be a cheating scandal brewing at Pitbull Poker, or at least a group of well-documented incidents that don’t sit well with players, according to an ever-growing thread on 2+2. While they can’t seem to pinpoint what is wrong – not quite a superuser situation – many players are citing the fact that hand histories aren’t easy to examine, they sometimes disappear from the site, and hole cards that sometimes appear randomly.
It’s a bit confusing, but Poker News Daily seems to have broken down the allegations of superuser accounts, stack shaving, odd hand history formats, and software glitches. The latest, as of a few days ago and just before the topic was closed by 2+2, original poster chesterboy wrote the following:
I believe all relevant people and companies have have been identified.
If there was wrongdoing, I believe I should be hearing back from some people that can verify the stories, especially if the sweatshop story has any truth to it.
If there was no wrongdoing, I am now back in productive dialogue with [Network Manager Dave Brenes], and we should be able to verify these things in a somewhat timely manner.
I am sorry things had to get this unpleasant to get an appropriate reaction from pitbull. So far the only verified shortcomings of pitbull are poor communication and slow response times. Kevin, while having a questionable history has not yet been shown to have done anything wrong here. I too do not have a perfect past though it may not show up on the internet so easily. We can’t condemn someone in this case for past wrongdoings.
They have been misleading regarding licenses but this is standard for the industry and not something I intend to pursue if there is no evidence of cheating on the site. I play in a state where poker is banned so it benefits me that some companies are willing to bend the law. Being that they are in Costa Rica it is possible they have not broken any laws.
Anyone have any history with Pitbull? Does anyone even play at Pitbull?
For those who missed our debut special-for-the-WSOP Monday episode live, here’s the podcast … where The Poker Beat crew waxes poetic about Phil Ivey’s bracelet, Daniel Negreanu’s non-bracelet, non-Finnish national anthems, Ladies events, what makes an “online” player, and Joe Sebok’s lie detector prop bet over his knowledge of Beth Shak’s marital status or lack thereof. Also, Chops shows up to declare this World Series the “Year of the Brother” … or maybe it’s the Year of “tha Brothah” … but either way, leave it to the Entities to celebrate poker in all its multicultural greatness.
on PokerRoadThe Poker Beat
Caldwell, Michalski, Nemeth, Chops, Stapleton
6/08/09[audio:http://www.pokerroad.com/upload/radio/23/audio/060809_output.mp3]
This episode, btw, marks my personal umpteenth appearance on The Poker Beat — making me the “last man standing” amongst hosts and panelists (Go free labor!) and the only guy to appear on every episode since the show’s inception. While that factoid may mark a certain pathos, I’d also like to point out that I am the only one — even with all those extra minutes — who has yet to be called out by the Insider for a factual misstatement.
That’s not to say I haven’t made any errors — made a big one about something really important a month ago, but I guess it just slipped by our wheezey, phlegmy ombudsman.
It appears so. From an official WSOP report:
· The Event #11 winner Anthony Harb is to be classified as a pro player. He plays poker full-time (online). Accordingly, the “Pro-Am†gold bracelet scoreboard (excluding Event #1 – Casino Employees) currently reads:
Professionals — 6 wins
(Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb)Amateurs — 3 wins
(Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson)Semi-Pros — 1 win
(Vitaly Lunkin)
