Oh, hello. Fancy meeting you here. Have you been sitting patiently, waiting for this wandering reporter to return from his new year sabbatical? What’s that? You’ve been reading all the other posts on Pokerati. This site has other writers!? Well, while I’m recovering from that bombshell, why not take a good long look at this selection of worldwide poker news and see what you can make of it.

Millions of Aussies

Stereotyping Alert! I’m sorry about this. As an Englishman, I am legally required to bring up barbies, funny accents, and convicts any time anything Australian comes with 4 feet of me. It’s a bother, but what can you do. Those British pros down at the Aussie Millions must be having a torrid time, the place is crawling with them. Even the Canadian Daniel Negreanu is obsessed with their the eccentricities.

Thankfully the Aussie Millions Main Event is currently providing an excellent distraction. For example, despite the fact than an antipodean gentleman currently sits atop the Day 2 standings, the world’s loudest nation has been characteristically hogging the limelight. First up, American Dan Smith won the 22-man $100k High Roller event for $1,000,000. Then Phil Ivey, who can make headlines by just turning up, went and put himself second in the chip count at the end of Day 2. [Poker News Report]

Bwin Bust-Up in Porto

Enough of that Southern Hemisphere nonsense, time to head back to Europe. More specifically to Portugal, the land of cocks. Their government has bowed to pressure from local casino operators and decreed that Bwin’s sponsorship of Portuguese football is illegal. The ruling stems from the fact that, as an external operator, bwin.party are subject to no regulations and pay no taxes in Portugal.

Bwin claim that the ruling contravenes EU free-trade laws, but have agreed to acquiesce to the command for now. As lucrative as Portuguese sports sponsorship is, panic may break out if the same idea occurs across the border in Spain. Bwin are the shirt-sponsors of Real Madrid, arguably the most popular soccer team in the world. [Card Player]

Bet Fairly at London 2012

If I leave my flat, wander out on to the street, and look to the North East, I can see the Olympic Stadium glowering above the rooftops. I’ve spent the last two years watching it progress through various stages of construction and with the big event just a few months away, other spheres of Olympic influence are making their final preparations. In the online gambling world, Betfair have teamed up with the International Olympic Committee to monitor suspicious betting activity which might indicate a rigged event. [USA Today]

South Korean Supercasino

The unfurling success story that is Macau is bound to inspire many imitators. First in line are South Korea, who plan to build a $3 billion dollar casino resort right next to their busiest airport. The Incheon International Airport Corp. hopes to shamelessly pray upon frazzled businessmen staggering out of long haul flights, by ushering them into land of flashing lights, comfy beds, and empty wallets. Hey, if it worked for China, it can work for you! [Yahoo]

Team Poker at the Pleasure Beach

And finally, a British city most famous for its tower is hosting a cool team poker event. With backing from lovely poker gent Neil Channing, the Team Poker Tour UK allows Brits to compete in small teams, with the top 3 aggregate squads taking the biggest chunk of the prize pool. It’s worth noting that Dan emailed me to specifically to flag this up and I really can’t figure out why he’s so interested. [Team Poker Tour UK]

I’m going to do my best to stay put from now on, so look forward to your regular dose of Wider World next week. Until then, do whatever the nurse tells you to and everything will be just fine.

World Team Poker is the next “big event” in Las Vegas … gets underway at the Golden Nugget with a party tonight (of course) and cards in the air on Wednesday. The WTP will be the third big-dollar, made-for-TV attempt to bring team poker to Las Vegas (fourth if you include one that was canceled the weekend of) … and like all the rest, as the WTP teams came together, the usual on-camera stars lined up to get their airtime register. We can tell there is a definitive desire for team poker somewhere — why else would the pros keep showing up? — and everyone who ever plays in these events reports having an absolute blast. But for some reason or another, they often tend to falter.

Will the WTP be a matter of someone finally getting it right, or is there something inherent to the game itself that makes team tournament poker a concept that just can’t stick?

More…

Man, 2009 sure has been a year full of lawsuits, no? People seem to need money these, and I suppose they gotta find it somewhere … and that may or may not alter their perception of who really owes what to whom. Beyond the frivolous, sometimes the big guy screwed the little guy, other times the little-guy with big-money poker dreams (but little experience in poker) defrauded backers and/or customers, and other times plans just didn’t work, and the parties can’t seem to agree on what they agreed on.

In this situation, Guardian Gaming is suing Montel Williams and the International Team Poker League in federal court over a $300k apparently investment gone awry.

The plan called for a team tournament concept attached to live casino events and a (new) online poker site. I dunno … sounds to me a little like the Poker Bowl meets WorldPokerParty.com, maybe with a dash of Sports Legends Challenge?

Without looking too deeply into the Montel case, we can tell you:

More…

Teams are 3/4 of the way there …

Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman

Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier, Patrik Antonius, Ilari Sahamies (aka Zigmund)

Also more on the format:

The Caesars Cup will feature the game No-Limit Hold’em with two teams of eight doing battle over a series of Heads Up and two-man doubles matches, with single points awarded for each match. The doubles formats will include alternate betting. The first team to 4 points will win.

The first match will be Doubles: Alternate Bet where two players compete per side. One player per side will play pre-flop and on the turn; the other player will play the flop and the river.

Once players are designated, their roles will not change. Two matches of this format will be played, so that 4 of the 8 players on each team will be featured.

The next two matches will feature Doubles: Same Stack where two new players compete per side. They share the same chip stack. They alternate playing two hands at a time so both have the button.

After the doubles matches conclude, the matches change to Heads-Up – if necessary. Team captains will select which members of their teams play heads up and it will be an alternate selection process, where if the European team names their player first for Match 1, the Americas team will have to name their player first for Match 2. That format continues until one team has accumulated 4 total points. The strategy of when to use a player and whom they match up with will be critical in determining which team will come out victorious.

LOL, and BJ thought my “family poker” concept event seemed gimmicky.

One skillucky Euro, of course, can still qualify for one of that team’s two remaining seats online at Betfair.

Play kicks off for this new-fangled made-for-TV event in London on Sept. 25.

Watching the latest episode of ESPN’s Inside Deal … Laura Lane had a question for Howard Lederer, about who would win between him and his sister vs. the Brunson clan. Though Howard’s non-committal answer shows he is definitely learnin’ himself some politics, it got me thinking … really, who are the biggest poker families?

Though naturally I see yet another Dream Team tourney possibility, there could be other ways to quantify the “first family” of poker. Off the top of my head — based on people who play at least semi-regularly and have had some semblance of decent results in biggish events — you have, in no particular order:

The Brunsons
Doyle
Todd
Pam

The Lederers
Howard
Annie (Duke)

The Greensteins
Barry
Joe (Sebok)

The Mizrachis
Eric
Robert
Michael

The Williams
David
Shirley

The Schneiders
Tom
Julie

The Nguyens (Master)
Men
Van

The Heimowitzs
Jay
Lonnie

The (Belcore) Zogmans
Dan
Mary Jo

More…

Amir Vahedi will be leading Iran whether Ahmadinejed likes it or not.

On the same day the APT had their inaugural international team poker event, the WTP (not to be confused with the WPT) announced their team leaders … with Phil Hellmuth taking the role of Captain America this time.

I may not be able to say it for long, but I’d like to point out that at the moment Pauly, Lana, and I have more team poker titles and prize money than Hellmuth does. Of course who doesn’t, but still … just sayin’.

The beginnings of the World Team Poker league:

Country Team Captain
1 USA – Phil Hellmuth
2 China – Johnny Chan
3 Vietnam – Men “The Master” Nguyen
4 Philippines – Toto Leonidas
5 Lebanon – Freddy Deeb and Dany Joe Georges
6 Australia – Jeff Lisandro
7 Iran – Amir Vahedi
8 Israel – Eli Elezra
9 Mexico – Mario Esquerra
10 Korea – Kevin Song
11 Egypt – Mark Seif
12 Switzerland – Chris Bigler
13 Greece – Chris Tsiprailidis
14 Russia – Ralph Perry
15 Germany – Dan Heimiller
16 Armenia – Chris Grigorian

Oh, huh, whaddya know … another international team event. Yep, this concept of national pride meets team poker ain’t going nowhere. (You know who you are who said that, dumbshit(s) ha ha.)

We’ve got the Caesar’s Cup coming up at WSOP-Europe, PokerStars has their America’s Cup of Poker, there’s another new op taking shape called World Team Poker … and at the APT-Macau tourney going on right now, they just had the JBET Battle of Nations, where the Koreans — represented by Brandon Wong, Chino Rheem, and Steve Sung — outmuscled the Vietnamese Le brothers — Nam, Tommy, and Allan — to take down an HK$406,000 first prize. (US$52,400.)

I don’t quite understand how it worked — teams of 3 playing macro-heads-up on 6-handed tables? — but click below for more details … I’m sure it was a good time; team poker always is … and with all these events I think it’s clear that team poker will indeed become a part of the true-to-life poker landscape … making the real question now: which format is gonna stick? I dunno, maybe I’m jumping the gun … but the Winter Olympics, World Cup 2010 … how can flags not be coming into fashion on the poker table and off?

More…

International team poker is just a fad, right? Maybe so … but this defending Dream Team Poker-WSOP champion who loves to monitor WSOP prowess by country is looking forward to the television coverage of the Caesar’s Cup — a special event at WSOP-Europe that pits the Canadians Americans vs. the Euros in an 8-player-a-side format. As the teams take shape, it’s looking to be quite the competitive experience vs. youth match-up:

Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (captain), Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda

Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier

I still don’t quite have a grasp on the format, or how the other four slots will be selected. But I do know Euros can qualify for a seat on their team via our good mates at Betfair Poker.

I’m of course looking forward to whatever Dream Team Poker’s next event is … and plausibly defending Team Tao of Pokerati’s title. Seriously, having played in three Dream Team tourneys now (winning one), and taken part as either a player or analyst (?) in a few other team-concept no-limit hold’em freezeouts, I have some genuine strategy thoughts on this format … and fugk, just as much authority on it as Matt Parvis or Jamie Gold.

Anyhow, check out their rockin’ new promotional vid from the WSOP team tournament … they’ve got a few different musical varieties on their site and YouTube, but I liked this one best:

Starring Kenna James … with splash appearances by Lacey Jones, Liz Lieu, Jerry Yang, Dennis Phillips, Susie Isaacs, Alex Outhred, Barry Greenstein, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Gavin Smith, Bryan Micon, Pam Brunson, Jose Canseco, et al.

ALT HED: Pauly Sniffs Cash

Watch Dream Team Poker at the 2009 WSOP on RawVegas.tv

While the 2009 WSOP Main Event pushes forward, the Dream Team Poker tournament rages on in the Brasilia Room at the Rio with three tables in play. It is an exciting event to watch, especially when friends capture the team prize!

Big congrats to Team Tao of Pokerati, which just found out that their team took down the first place team honors! Lana, Pauly, and Dan will split the $33,017 cashola for outperforming every other team in the tournament (there were 122 of them), and the guys are still in it to win it individually as well. About 20 players remain…

UPDATE: Looks like Dan cashed in 17th place for double his individual buy-in. Congrats! @Pokerati just twittered… “17th place individual. 1st place team. This cashout cage area is pretty cool!”

UPDATE 2: Pauly finished in 13th place for nearly three times his buy-in. Per his twitter… “out in 13th place. my A7 lost to kenna james’ 6-6. boooooo!”

Congrats to the team on a great showing!

Team Tao of Pokerati 2: Lana, Pauly, Dan.

It was a triumph for me individually — I’ve made the money with an about-average stack, and made my first Day 2 ever in any tournament. (Stop laughing.) But from a team perspective … that’s where the real money is, and Team Tao of Pokerati (Dan, Pauly, Lana) is the only team with more than one player remaining. (Pauly, Dan.)

We’re guaranteed a 5th place team finish, and would have to really screw up to not get at least 4th. We need a 15th and 14th place finish individually (or better) to win it outright.

Click below to see the full Nolan-esque official report.

DREAM TEAM POKER WSOP EVENT DAY 1 REPORT
2009 World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
Official Report
No-Limit Hold’em / Dream Team Poker Structure
Buy-in: $500 +60 per person / $1680 per team

Number of players: 366
Number of Teams: 122
Players Remaining: 27
Teams Remaining: 26

Total Net Prize Pool: $177,510
Top Payout Individual: $16,473
Top Payout Team: $33,017

Places Paid Individual: 36
Places Paid Team: 10

July 12-13, 2009

Tournament Highlights

Ø The Dream Team Poker Tournament started with 122 teams and 366 players. Play ended with 27 players remaining representing 26 teams.

Ø One team, Tao of Pokerati, has 2 players remaining and is the favorite to take the top team prize of $33,017 to split between the three team members

Ø There were 59 women entered into the tournament, comprising more than 16% of the entire field.

More…

They were at 152 teams as of about five hours ago registered for the July 12-13 Dream Team Poker event. This makes it already the largest Dream Team event ever, already …granted it will be only their third, but still …

I think for the Caesar’s tourney a few months ago, they had about 95 pre-regs, and ended up with something like 144 teams total. By that math, it looks like it should be a pretty close call on the over/under of 300 … but I still like the over.

Working toward that side is that it’s such a fun, relatively inexpensive event that only takes one person to really want to play in it for them to get three players. Working against: a lot of folks want to get the hell out of Vegas (and specifically the Rio) as soon as they (or their home game loved ones) bust from the main event.

That’s the unconfirmed word on the street … despite what seemed like a semi-big win for Team Aced/Gold at Dream Team Poker … Dream Team can probably go ahead and retire that jersey set, because the new online poker site and former WSOP main event champion supposedly have broken up.

No details yet … just third-hand information over here. But I’m hearing that either Gold said hey, time to pay up and they didn’t have the cash, or Aced said, yo, Jamie, where are all those players you promised us?

Either way … assuming that some element of the above is true, is it shocking that this didn’t last?

Team Tao of Pokerati hits Caesar’s Palace (and Bellagio) for the first open-field running (second overall) of Dream Team Poker. Have a listen to join Pauly and Dan + Shaniac on our ventures to the registration and jersey-issue cocktail party … a pregame breakfast at Cafe Bellagio (where we declare ourselves the favorites, or at least a Top 10 team) … and then back to Caesar’s for the tournament itself. Along the way we analyze the intricacies of team play, formulate an alliance against TJ Cloutier, negotiate a deal to off Jerry Yang, and show you how big bets on March Madness might be the secret antidote to tilt. Intense strategy talk and hand breakdowns to boot …

Chapter 10: Go Team

Episode 10.1: Gel Time
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_DreamTeam_01.mp3]

Episode 10.2: Shirts vs. Skins
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_DreamTeam_02.mp3]

Episode 10.3: Spam and Eggs
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_DreamTeam_03.mp3]

Episode 10.4: Karma, Villanova, and Thor
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_DreamTeam_04.mp3]

Episode 10.5: Bustout Strategy
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_DreamTeam_05a.mp3]

Episode 10.6: Better Luck Next Time
[audio:tao/TaoPokerati_DreamTeam_06.mp3]