It was the other Black Friday … I mean Cyber-Monday … er, Merry Christmas / Happy Hannukah! Whatever the day, here’s Pokerati’s guide to some rather unique poker player shopping specials that we are pretty sure are still valid … though the last readily available but still legally questionable space chips will probably be in the hands of an Asian whale before the end of the day.

CHIP UP: Plaque Attack

American players don’t only miss out on online play, but they seldom get to use the larger, squared “plaques” used for extra-high-denomination chips. But now they can play like a Euro-shark in their home games while taking their chip-shuffling skills to a new level.

Use promo code “pokeratigo” at Outplay Poker for a discount on your purchase.

RUN-GOOD: The Micros, Clothiers

It’s becoming common knowledge that players showing up to tournaments big and small have been going deep while dressed as their favorite online poker cartoon character. Just recently poker media yeoman Jay Newnum took down a double-stack turbo tournament at the Commerce Hold’em Series, and then followed that up by winning a table share of the progressive bad beat jackpot Live at The Bike (seat 6) … while wearing his now-lucky shirt. New Micros designs are a sure-hit with the kids, too!

Get yours from The Micros Online Store.

WTF? Burmese Wooly Space Chips

Made from slices of solid meteorite that fell to Earth some 800,000 WSOP’s ago, these poker chips are so hot they’re illegal in the US, and expected to fetch HK$1 million at auction later today. (No prob with the gold, diamonds, or emeralds that encircle each chip, but because the rubies come from Burma, importing the set would be a crime.) The case is hand-stitched Swedish calf skin with reindeer suede lining and 18K white gold hinges and locks. But even more outrageous, included is a set of ivory dice made from … we shit you not … wooly mammoth tusks. Apparently a species can’t be endangered when it’s already extinct — but auctioneers do warn that some customs agents in some countries might not have Googled around enough to realize that prehistoric pachyderm is real, and all the rage.

More details at JamesList about the auction at Christie’s later today.

SELL-OFF: Full Tilt Swag

If diamond-crusted Kryptonite tournament chips are a bit out of your range, head over to eBay for what may or may not become collectible memorabilia from a defunct poker site. For sale are plenty of poker chips, a steel watch ($1.01 minimum bid, $3.99 to buy-it-now), a black velour bathrobe (new, never worn), travel mugs, keychain bottle openers and more. Whether it’s general distaste for FTP or out-of-work red pros trying to scratch up some cash, a lot of great junk promotional gear branded with the ubiquitous red triangle of Full Tilt Poker is on eBay these days at bargain-basement prices.

Get the most Full Tilt stock you can at eBay.

PLUS EV: Annie Duke Fantasy Camp

Annie Duke is offering her fans a taste of high-stakes professional poker with a fantasy camp connected to the upcoming Epic Poker event at the Palms Casino Resort on December 10. More than just the usual boot camp, this package includes hands-on training and entry into an Epic Super Satellite. Attendees also get a signed copy of her book, Decide to Play Great Poker, two nights at the Palms (with buffet) and sundry Epic Poker gear, including a hoodie and hat, none of which, by the way, is up for sale yet on Ebay.

Escape for a poker weekend with Annie Duke; better than half price with Living Social.

I hadn’t played at the Wynn in nearly a year … but did so last night, and much to my delight they got rid of their confusing $3 chips in the $1/$3 NL game. They now use the more standard $1 and $5 denominations.

Not sure when the change happened — presumably in 2008 — but I’ll be staying there for the next couple days, and not having to brush up on my base-3 mathematics makes the game that much more enjoyable.

(Played last night there for 2.5 hours … buy-in: $200, cash out: $268. Not bad, but I left a couple orbits too late, as my stacks were over $500 when I got that leaving feeling.)

Not exactly, but close … this picture from Time magazine’s White House Photo Blog, taken in the Oval Office, caught my pokery eye:

Begs the question, of course, of who will make the next administration’s Presidential poker chips … because clearly he’ll have to have some, right?

It is no secret that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama plays poker. The subject was first brought to light in a September 2007 CNN article in which players in Senator Obama’s Illinois Legislature poker game were interviewed.

“By his poker buddies’ accounts, Obama is careful and focused. He’s not easily distracted and doesn’t give away his intentions unless it’s to his advantage. He’s not prone to taking risky chances, preferring to play it safe. But he’s also serious and competitive: when he plays, he plays to win.”

As Obama’s campaign led him to the nomination of his party, poker references popped up here and there, for geeks like me those who were paying attention. In June of 2008, Obama revealed a number of good luck trinkets given to him by supporters that he carried in his pocket, one of which was a poker chip. In July of 2008, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey took a break from the WSOP to attend an L.A. fundraiser for Obama, and Obama recognized the poker pros, as Negreanu discussed in this RawVegas.tv video:

Watch Daniel Negreanu Finds Himself in the 50K HORSE Event After a Meeting with Barack Obama on RawVegas.tv

Most recently, Obama made a little poker reference in his September 26th debate with Senator John McCain when addressing the economy, war, and dealing with the country’s problems, approximately 1:35 into the debate:

“So we have to put all chips in, right there, and nobody is talking about losing this war. What we’re talking about is recognizing the next president has to have a broader strategic vision about all the challenges that we face.”

And in a speech just last week, Obama brought up his own penchant for poker as compared to McCain’s love of craps:

“I read the other day that Senator McCain likes to gamble. He likes to roll those dice. And that’s OK. I enjoy a little friendly game of poker myself every now and then. But one thing I know is this – we can’t afford to gamble on four more years of the same disastrous economic policies we’ve had for the last eight.”

I know chip tricks are like soooooo 2003, but I had never seen this one before. Nothing too fancy about it, but still … clever:

If you kinda-sorta liked that one, here’s a related trick from the same family of pre-stacked flips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0sSsWNqxPI

Change 100 reports (via PokerNews):

25,000 Chips Introduced

“Hey, what are those green chips in your stack?” asked a surprised Maya Antonius. A small stack of forest green chips sat atop her tablemate’s stack of yellows and oranges.

He showed the chips to a curious Antonius– at the last color-up dark green 25,000-denomination checks were introduced into play.

Ms. Antonius looked a bit disappointed that she didn’t have any… yet.

The arrival of these chips have been highly anticipated — not just because they are big — but because of the color troubles last year with orange, off-orange, and pinkish-orange all on the table at the same time.

All the denominations higher than 5,000 have changed this year, and even the floor staff doesn’t now what they will be until they come out for color-up.