Believe it or not, I’m playing online poker again. I’ve bought in three times already, so yay, it works (and is super-easy to play for real money), but cannot yet report on the cash-out process, because you know … damn river.

But now that we have online poker in Nevada definitively running and here to stay, I’ve started paying a little more attention, and it seems a lotta eyes are on New Jersey right now. Not only do you have Gov. Chris Christie making an aggressive, courts- and DOJ-challenging push for fully legalized and legitimized sports betting inside his borders, but also you have poker-loving state senator Ray Lesniak committed to making the state a global leader in online gambling (sports betting included) and start welcoming international players into the virtual borders of the Garden State without having to show a passport. Sure, Atlantic City may be closing down casinos, but sometimes you gotta get rid of the chaff. And that’s kinda what we could be seeing as two big poker tournament main events in New Jersey — one live and one online — coincide with all the semi-related New Jersey casino-world buzz.

The live tournament is the WPT Borgata Poker Open — a poker-world stalwart that has been serving up big-time televised final tables since Season 2 of the World Poker Tour. (They’re now in Season 13.) This year’s main event is a $3,500 buy-in, with $3 million guaranteed. They expect a good turnout based on preliminary events and online qualifiers that have been running on partypoker in New Jersey as well as partypoker worldwide.

But also going on simultaneously is partypoker’s Garden State Super Series — an online event open to anyone within New Jersey borders that’s shaping up to be the largest online tournament series in New Jersey history, and for that matter US history of the licensed and regulated sort. Both main events kick off on Sunday, with the GSSS guaranteeing $250,000 in prize pool — it’s a $200 buy-in — and $50,000 minimum for the winner.

More…

Rocco Palumbo
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Rocco Palumbo $180,097 – 2013 WPT Venice Main Event
Zachary Donovan $48,112 – WSOP-C Foxwoods Re-entry
Daniel Chan $48,521 – WSOP-C Foxwoods Prelim

With that subhead above, thus concludes the only attempt on my part to do anything for April Fools’ Day. Carry on.

There was plenty of potential for a first-class WPT Venice final table but instead it was just relatively historic. With just two tables remaining, the field still included WSOP bracelet winner Mike Sexton, former November Niner Martin Staszko, former EPT Champion Ludovic Lacay, poker player/producer/writer extraordinaire Matt Salsberg, and our bestie Kara Scott.

Unfortunately for televised poker history, all of them would be eliminated before the official final table except for Mike Sexton. This was the 2nd final table for the WPT commentator on their tour after his 2011 Bay 101 appearance. He collected just shy of $70,000 for his 3rd place result with the victory ultimately going to Italian Rocco Palumbo.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – I feel bad for poor Geno, friend of Pokerati and former professional poker writer. Not only is he stuck living in Pennsyltucky but he also fell for a prank on this of all days.

Just fell for an online April Fool’s joke. Want to burn the Internet to the ground, salt its fields, foul its wells, etc.

— Gene Bromberg (@genebromberg) April 1, 2013

‘Ship It Holla Ballas!’ … Tracing The Rise And Fall Of Internet Poker And Its Most Unlikely Stars – Considering the date, and this was published on a Yahoo! Sports pages, I could be forgiven in thinking this was an internet April Fools’ Day gag. I seemed to have missed the news about a book coming out named (cringe) “Ship It Holla Ballas!” about the young guns of online poker back in the golden days just a few short years ago.

Apple’s poker app may be illegal here – News from Australia isn’t all sunbeams and wallabies. Word from Down Under that some bigwigs in government aren’t too happy with Apple and PokerStars since their mobile app is available for download in Australia complete with real money deposits and games.

Digging into the AGA / PokerStars New Jersey War – Missed this link a few weeks ago but worth a spot in the link dump. Haley Hintze gives her opinion on the battle in New Jersey between the American Gaming Association and PokerStars. Nothing is ever clear cut when it comes to all the players involved.

Google Glass At the Poker Table? – There’s been some interesting oh-god-we-are-living-in-the-future talk about Google Glass, headgear which looks/acts like something out of Star Trek. The gang over at CardChat took an amusing look at what it would be like have Google Glass at the poker table.

Shooting Star Champion Kai Chang
Photo: Bay101News/WhoJedi

Today’s Boxscore

Kai Chang $1,138,350 – Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event
Nick Schulman $270,480 – Bay 101 Shooting Star High Roller

Another big WPT event finished up, this time in North Cali at the Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament. The price reduction from $10,000 buyin to $7,500 had a double positive impact with both an increased field and prizepool. Paul “paulgees81” Volpe (West Chester, PA represent) continued his hot streak with his 2nd straight WPT final table and 3rd place finish for $435,610. That puts him just over $1,000,000 in tournament earnings for $17,500 worth of buyins for the last two WPT events, not a bad ROI.

Kai Chang won the tournament for $1,138,350 plus a seat in the WPT Championship for topping the 643 entrants. No word on how many bounties he collected during the event but it probably was a decent addition as well.

Some big results expected in the next few days from the Heartland Poker Tour and WSOP-C. The HPT had another successful event at Black Hawk with over a $1,000,000 prizepool and the WSOP-C Caeasers Atlantic City Main Event will give away another ring within days.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – Euro-Schecky tweets from the completely spontaneous, not-at-all corporate set up, Full Tilt Poker versus PokerStars Heads Up competition. Rumor has it PokerStars stars won the day.

The winners are Tweeting!Spot the guy who didn’t win… #TiltVsStars twitter.com/ScheckTwit/sta…

— John Caldwell (@ScheckTwit) March 10, 2013

My Choice Center Experience – Daniel Negreanu responds to the article from Bryan Micon about the Choice Center. It’s totally not a cult and completely legit, guys, because he said so. I was finally convinced after he also told me I inherited a million dollars from some guy in Nigerian.

Illinois Bill Would Legalize Online Poker – Another state trying to get into the online poker business. Keep expanding and maybe we’ll all be back in business before too long.

As States Embrace Online Gambling, Questions Arise – But somebody has to be Chicken Little during the online poker discussion and NPR presents their “questions” in a short, relatively benign article.

Dusk Till Dawn to Guarantee €1 Million to the Winner of ISPT Wembley! – More news from the International Stadiums Poker Tour, now with a €1,000,000 guarantee for first place. Points taken away from PokerNews by our impartial judges for using @#$^@$ exclamation point in a headline.

Poker Terms IRL-London Edition – PokerNews and Sarah Grant with a fun video from the EPT London.

Christina Lindley
Photo: Venetian Poker Room

Today’s Boxscore

Christina Lindley $4,920 – Venetian DSE Ladies Event
Matt Giannetti $298,304 – WPT Lucky Heart Poker Open
John Dolan $19,200 – 2013 LAPC $1,600 Bounty Event

Nothing like a little friendly competition to get legislation on the fast track. With New Jersey governor Christie getting close to putting his state in the market, Nevada moved quickly yesterday to pass an online gambling bill and get it signed into law putting them ahead in the game.

Amazing how fast the system can work when they want it.

Opinions vary about the impact of the new law including how soon and how effective the systems will be without opening up their games to other states. Success will depend on the size, diversity, etc of the player base and this law allows Nevada to negotiate with other states to offer internet poker. Even more companies are now lining up in Nevada to get in the game and hopefully other states follow along.

Smarter people than myself will be posting here soon with their thoughts.

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Tweet of the Day

.@briansandoval signing Assembly Bill 114, internet gaming legislation. twitter.com/BrianSandoval/…

— Brian Sandoval (@BrianSandoval) February 22, 2013

Dusty Schmidt: This Is My Brain, This Is My Brain On Poker – Who knows what any of this CardPlayer post means for all the other players, but Dusty Schmidt thinks online poker is frying his brain and willing to use an old drug commercial catch phrase to get your attention.

PokerRoom.com Closing – End of an Era? – They gone.

The Poker World Reacts to the Passing of Jerry Buss – This week saw the passing of LA Lakers owner and legendary poker player Jerry Buss. TimTern pulled together a fine list of the statements from around poker.

Meet the world’s top NBA gambler – ESPN the Magazine with an excellent (and lengthy) article on gambler/poker player/handicapper Haralabos Voulgaris.. Despite it’s length, only one mention of poker

WPT Baden – Day 1B : Sledding and Snowboarding – Kara Scott (and company) on the slopes during WPT Baden. Yes please, and thank you.

The holiday season always brings a nice in the tournament circuit giving players a chance to recharge their batteries, rebuild their bankroll at the local cash game, and a few even spend that time with their family. But things are ramping up now that 2013 has rolled around with a bunch of new festivals kicking off.

The latest running on the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure begins it’s schedule on the 5th, a couple WSOP Circuit events in Los Angeles and Choctaw, and the marathon festival of the LAPC is on the horizon. Minor tournament series continued to run in Vegas and Atlantic City even during the holidays but now it’s time to strap it up and get to work.

The turn of the year also brings in a new batch of U.S. lawmakers, so the poker world will continue to look towards Washington for some hint that online poker might return to the States. The odds are still long and not exactly the most pressing matter for the country but there will be debate this year.

# Everything you always wanted to know about online betting but were afraid to ask! #

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – I really really need to learn this game. Perhaps Deebs can teach me at a rate affordable on an unemployed poker hacks salary.

I’m stuck in an Open Face Chinese Poker time vortex.

— Bryan Devonshire (@devopoker) January 4, 2013

Bitcoin: Making Online Gambling Legal in the U.S.? – This article should send Bryan Micon into spasms. Using the magical, mysterious internet currency to circumvent U.S. online gambling laws.

How I almost went to jail as a terrorist – Fun writeup from Dan Goldman about a crazy situation getting ready for the first and only PokerStars cruise when he had a little visit from Homeland Security. (With a h/t to @BryanMicon)

Texas Poker Gaming Act of 2013 Introduced in State Legislature – Another state, another poker bill. Maybe the federal government will start taking notice that it’s something people are thinking about. Also, shouldn’t you be able to play Texas Hold’em in Texas?

Lottery chief opposes online gambling proposals – Meanwhile in Iowa, the head of the their lottery flew all the way to our national seat to tell the federal big boys to oppose all online gambling.

Happy Holidays From PokerNews – Hello there Sarah Grant, Kristy Arnett, and Melanie Weisner. A little holiday video from our friends over at PokerNews.

Adam Teasdale
Photo: WSOP.com

Today’s Boxscore

Adam Teasdale $194,040 – WSOP-C Atlantic City
Marcin Wydrowski €318,295 – WPT Prague
Ramzi Jelassi €835,000 – EPT Prague
Marvin Rettenmaier €365,300 – EPT Prague HR

It’s been a rough few days in the States but life goes on and the poker games keep flying. The latest stop on the World Series of Poker Circuit passed through scenic Atlantic City just a few weeks after Hurricane Sandy tore it up. Adam Teasdale is the latest WSOP-C Main Event champion and picked up nearly $200,000 along with a seat in the National Championship.

The powers that be in Prague finally had a brainstorm which hopefully spreads to the rest of Europe. The city held a World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour, and other events throughout most of December. This kept a lot of top poker players within their city for much longer than a hit and run. Marvin Rettenmaier, Ramzi Jelassi, and Marcin Wydrowski were just a few of the big winners.

# Learn to play the pokies! Secrets to winning at Australia’s national pastime. #

Link dump

NJ Assembly passes online gaming bill – New Jersey tries again to get online gaming in state when the Assembly passed another online gaming bill earlier today. Governor Christie took time away from his meat lovers pizza last year to veto the previous effort.

Internet poker bill effort dead, Reid says – The other side of the coin show the Reid/Kyl effort to legalize online poker has reached the predictable end of it’s run for 2012. Soon the U.S. Congress will go on their hardly earned, lengthy holiday.

Mass. Treasurer: Internet Gambling On Horizon – Massachusetts throws their name into the mix as the state Treasurer says their state in looking into the possibility of offering online gambling within the state.

WSOP Europe on the Move – Poker players are never completely happy with an event or festival, WSOP-E in Cannes was no different. Next year they’ll have a chance to check out a new venue as they move the series to Casino Barrière Enghien-les-Bains in Paris.

Happy Anniversary Bovada!! – If you don’t love Melissa Costello, you haven’t met Melissa Costello or you just don’t like to have fun. Here’s her attempt to earn a gig with Bovada and shows off her sick/crazy/twisted sense of humor. Team Trainwreck! Click here to vote for Melissa.

The World Poker Tour made its Chinese debut this weekend at the MGM Grand in Sanya. That’s some 400 miles down shore from Macau, where PokerStars recently hosted the inaugural “Asia Championship of Poker”, and next month will hold something similar called the Red Dragon. These events come just as Caesars, unable to get properly licensed in China, is officially retreating from the Communist gamblers’ promised land.

Meanwhile, Stars is apparently trying to  get (back?) into North America by buying a distressed brick-and-mortar casino in storm-ravaged New Jersey — this according to an announcement that may or may not have been conveniently timed to steal buzz from a WSOP circuit event going on in Atlantic City.

Game of Risk: Live Poker in an Online Age
Redrawing the Battle Lines

Check out how the three biggest brands in poker (and the online gaming sites behind them) stack up against each other. I make no claims of these maps being to scale nor anything more than “pretty accurate, I think,” but look past my amateur cartography to see how three Poker World superpowers — the biggest American casino corporation, the biggest European internet gaming company, and the biggest “offshore” online poker operator — have been competing fiercely to corner your neighborhood tournament market.

 WSOP / Caesars / 888
 WPT / BwinParty / MGM Resorts
 PokerStars.net / PokerStars.com

See below to for some historical perspective on how the current live-tourney landscape took shape over the first decade of the 21st century.

More…

Ravi Raghavan
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Ravi Raghavan $1,268,571 – WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic
Marcin Wydrowski €325,000 – WPT Prague Main Event
Paul Berende €119,974 – PokerStars Hold’em Challenge
Dan Murariu €110,000 – Unibet Open St Maarten

The World Poker Tour and all those who call the shots must have been really happy as the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic field played down to its final table and saw the names remaining. Just missing out on the TV table were Jon Aguiar, Jason Somerville, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Freddy Deeb, Greg Mueller, Andrew Robl, and Scott Clements. They all crashed out on the final two tables but Antonio Esfandiari, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Shawn Buchanan will once again see themselves on the small screen.

Ravi Raghavan, recently of the Borgata Fall Open Main Event final table, was the last player standing as he knocked out Buchanan in 2nd place to increase his bankroll by nearly $1.3 million. Thanks to some structure tweaking and reasonable PR by the Bellagio staff, there was far less complaining about this year’s Five Diamond event as last year. Baby steps.

Link Dump

Maria Ho Joins Heartland Poker Tour Broadcast Team for Season 9 – Good move by HPT because everybody loves Maria Ho. Those poor fanboy souls hiding in Iowa and Minnesota are going to lose their minds when she shows up in the their local poker room.

‘Isildur1’ Bests Dwan in $400k HU Match – Full Tilt Poker is back which means we now have the platform to witness huge HU matches between the biggest names in poker. This weekend it was Viktor Blom slicing off a piece of Tom Dwan.

Casino operators gearing up for online poker – Things are starting to move right along with online poker in Nevada. I’m still skeptical about how successful it will be but it’s better than moving backwards.

Women Business Execs Learn When to Hold and Fold ‘Em – Presented without comment, because I have no idea what to think about this article on ABCNews. I think I will wait until Amy Calistri straightens me out.

The Micros: The Lost Episode – They’re back! At least for one episode but tell me you didn’t miss the opening tune. Seems this episode has been steeping for awhile during the PokerStars/Full Tilt negotiations but it’s now ready for your viewing pleasure.

Giacomo Fundaro
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Giacomo Fundaro $166,704 – WPT Mazagan
Sam Grafton £102,700 – Grosvenor UKPT Grand Final
Jeremy Ausmus $78,572 – WPT Five Diamond Prelim
Dwyte Pilgrim $43,453 – WPT Five Diamond Prelim

It wasn’t the most exciting week in poker but there was a nice turnout for the Deepstacks tournament at Mohegan Sun and there were also a bunch of current/former/rockstar poker bloggers tearing around the bars in Las Vegas for the annual WPBT blogger drinkfest and tournament. While most of those fine folks were indulging their bacchanalian impulses at various bars, restaraunts, and games of chance, there were a few crazy people who ran in the Rock n’ Roll Vegas Marathon.

Things were also ramping up at the Bellagio this weekend as they prepare to host the full WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. A full roster of iffy structures, smokey tables set up in the casino, and various other legitimate complaints. It’s probably time to unfollow Allen Kessler on Twitter.

# Wherever you are, the game is 21. #
Get ready to play real blackjack online by playing free blackjack at onlineblackjack.com.

Link Dump

Tweet(s) of the Day – Even though that whole Epic Poker Standards & Conduct thing went swirling down the drain, looks like Matt Glantz has kept up his role in the poker world and brought together David and Goliath.

Regardless of how @savagepoker feels about me right now, I still have the utmost respect for him as a TD & the impossible job he has.

— Allen Kessler (@AllenKessler) December 1, 2012

While I do believe all of my points are still valid,I would like to apologize to my friend @savagepoker if I upset him in any way.

— Allen Kessler (@AllenKessler) December 1, 2012

Thank You @allenkessler, I will speak to you @bellagiopoker and please know that your “concerns” were not ignored by me or @playgroundpoker.

— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) December 1, 2012

Poker Pro Theo Jørgensen Shot Three Times in Home Invasion – Horrifying breaking news this morning about Danish PokerStar pro Theo Jørgensen. He was the victim of a home invasion, robbery, and shot several times in the leg. Injuries are said to not be life threatening and a full recovery is expected.

American Gaming Association ups the ante on online poker – Another day, another press release about freeing the world from the oppressive online poker prohibition. This time it’s the American Gaming Association saying let my people go.

Pokie headphones banned in Victoria – Before now I had never heard of video poker machines with headphone jacks built in so the player can fully concentrate on the action. The Canucks want to ban them and I imagine the Vegas hookers wouldn’t like them very much either. Tough to scam when the mark isn’t paying attention.

Ghaziabad man arrested for gambling wife – I hope this doesn’t become a trend in Las Vegas or there are going to be some very unhappy wives, or a whole new way of paying off gambling debts. There is a bad “makeup” joke about staking in there somewhere I’m just not willing to make.

TB5 “Poker Face” – I hate HATE the orginal version of this song by something called a Lady Gaga. Here’s a version I can sort of get behind because it isn’t her but mostly because it includes Clare Grant.

Jonathan Roy
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Jonathan Roy $779,710 – World Poker Tour Montreal
Brock Parker $372,568 – Borgata Fall Open
Geoff Smith NZ$80,502 – ANZPT Auckland

The World Poker Tour Montreal stop may not have been a televised event, but that didn’t stop it from drawing all kinds of interest over the weekend. Things started off well when it was obvious attendance was going to be great well before the first card was dealt. Nearly 1,200 players traveled to the Great White North and Playground Poker venue received plenty of kudos from the players.

That was until Allen “King of the Endless Needle” Kessler decided to have one of his first-class hissy fits, even going so far as post his complaints on Facebook, the home of cat videos and high school bullies. Kessler took issue with the 60-minute levels and voiced his complaints publicly on Twitter and once again made a joke out of a real issue.

This final table would have made for some great TV as Canada’s drunkest son Gavin Smith was there on the last day along with Jeff Gross and Pascal Lefrancois. Gross had easily the most famous rail birds in the room as his best friend, and most decorated Olympian ever, Michael Phelps make a surprise visit for support. Eventual winner Jonathan Roy’s rail wasn’t too shabby either with 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel among his supporters.

Link Dump

Tweet(s) of the Day – That’s what hell of a cheering section, beats Gavin Smith’s section which probably consisted of bartenders, drunkards, and off duty strippers.

Pumped for the kid today!! Just surprised him for the final 6 of the #wptmontreal @playgroundpoker !!!! #weeeeneedit

— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) November 27, 2012

Man the kid!!! Can’t be more happy for what @jgross5 did!! Proud of u man!!!!

— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) November 28, 2012

Could Online Poker Help Avert the Fiscal Cliff? – I find all kinds of interesting articles throughout the week in terms of poker, gambling, and people who should be nominated for the Darwin awards. This is good read questioning whether online poker, instead of raising taxes, is a valid way to avoid the “fiscal cliff”. It’s also an SEO bonanza. (Warning, they make you enter an email address to read the entire article.)

Will online poker fall off the fiscal cliff? – On the other side, a horseracing blogger asks if the “fiscal cliff” will kill the chances of online poker in the near future. I’ve officially hit my quota of using the term “fiscal cliff”.

Pro Poker Player Embraces #GivingTuesday – Faraz Jaka, one of the good guys in poker, has a nice bio piece on the Huffington Post about his charitable side. Nice to see poker players being in the news for something positive.

WPT Montreal: Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps – Jeanine (Freddy not Shaun) Deeb was the lucky one to grab an interview with the 18-time Olympic medalist while he was on the rail for his best friend.

James Carroll
Photo: Heartland Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Noah Schwartz $402,970 – WPT bestbet Jacksonville
James Carroll $104,253 – HPT Palms Las Vegas

It was a fine weekend for a couple of young poker veterans at tour stops swapping locations. The World Poker Tour not-televised event was playing a small room in Florida while the televised Heartland Poker Tour made it’s return to the Palms in Las Vegas. James Carroll shortstacked his way to the final table and worked his way up the board until he was the last player at the table. The HPT had a nice uptick since their last Vegas event, even after professional nit-monster Allen Kessler tweaked the structure.

Noah Schwartz began the WPT final table in Jacksonville in a different position than Carroll, holding more than half the chips in play at the 6-handed final table. He was playing his 4th World Poker Tour final table, the most recent being a 4th place finish at the LAPC, but nothing stopped him from picking up the elusive title to boost him near $3,000,000 in career earnings. Other notables at the final table included Lee Markholt, Hans Winzeler, and Byron Kaverman.

Link Dump

Tweet(s) of the Day – PASSION TO WIN! (except in cases where I degen it up, lose some money, and slep through it)

People asking why @realkidpoker & I playing WPT-Jacksonville when long flight, no TV, & small prize pool: PASSION TO WIN! #Loveofthegame

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) November 9, 2012

Flew to Jacksonville to play WPT, BUT sadly I derailed myself. Took Big loss playing Open Face until 9:15AM, then slept through WPT, sigh

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) November 11, 2012

Reid/Kyl in the Lame Duck: What You Need to Know – Chris Grove at PokerFuse has a nice little writeup about the online poker bill over the next few months, none of it terribly positive.

One of China’s most ingenious bribery schemes: the professional poker loser – You mean to tell me poker in China isn’t completely on the up and up? Using the game as a convenient way to bribe corrupt officials. h/t Otis.

Co-CEO Of Nevada Online Poker Applicant Questioned By Belgian Authorities – Norbert Teufelberger (Norbert!) went to Belgium for a responsible gaming convention and ended up having a nice conversation with the authorities of bwin.Party business.

DOJ, PPA Meet to Address Remission Timeline, Player Points – In case you missed it yesterday, Dan posted a statement from the PPA after they met with the DOJ about Full Tilt U.S. player accounts.

The Final Table – Episode 6 – The last episode of an excellently produced series of web videos about Russell Thomas preparing for the WSOP Main Event final table.

Amanda Musumeci
Photo: WSOP.com

Today’s Boxscore

Vanessa Selbst $90,693 – Festa Al Lago $5,000 NLH
Melanie Weisner $41,289 – WPT Johannesburg $1,000 NLH
Amanda Musumeci $31,851 – WSOP Hammond $580 NLH
Greg Raymer $72,089 – Heartland Poker Tour Iowa

It was a very good weekend for the fairer sex* at the poker tables, with three of the top women poker players earning victories within hours of each other.

Online grinder Melanie Weisner picked up her first open tournament victory in the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em side tournament at the World Poker Tour South Africa event. East coast grinder Amanda Musumeci won her first WSOP Circuit ring at the Hammond Horseshoe, defeating Wendy Freedman heads up to collect. Finally it was uber-grinder/mad poker machine Vanessa Selbst casually winning the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the Festa Al Lago series against a few decent players like Negreanu, Justin Young, Andrew Lichtenberger, Dan Shak, and Chris Bjorin at the final table.

* – Yes, I am a knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing, neanderthal

Their success overshadowed another top result for 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, again capturing a title at a Heartland Poker Tour stop. He topped the 185 player field in metropolitan Altoona, Iowa for his third HPT title in his last three attempts. Not a bad batting average. Raymer’s last four results:

1st place Heartland Poker Tour Albuquerque – $71,875
35th place The River Poker Series – $1,288 (slacker!)
1st place Heartland Poker Tour St. Louis – $121,973
1st place Heartland Poker Tour Iowa – $72,089

Link Dump

Tweet(s) of the Day – The twitter world got their haunches up when a Mr. Howard Lederer decided to play Festa Al Lago at the Bellagio. Christian Harder was the first I saw mention it, including standing next to him in line, but word spread quickly. This is the first time he has been seen in a tournament room, although Lederer has been seen playing cash games recently.

Howard Lederer is in the building, rumor is he will play. — Christian Harder (@realcharder30) October 23, 2012

Howard Lederer is next to me at the cage. Just asked if you sign up for the tournament here so I’m guessing we will see him in there. — Christian Harder (@realcharder30) October 23, 2012

And Howard appears at my table. — Christian Harder (@realcharder30) October 23, 2012

Sorry, Mr. Online Poker. Nobody Cares About You – Most have already put eyes on this article but it’s worth a rehash. PLO expert Jeff Hwang penned this article DailyFinance.com looking at the real numbers behind possible online poker legalization/regulation.

Would Romney Smack Down Online Gambling? – A look at how a Mitt Romney win in the Presidential Election might impact current/future online gambling bills.

EU tightens up online gambling controls – Looks like the European Union will turn the screws a little more, all in the name of “money laundering” and “match-fixing”. Tough to feel bad for our Euro friends since they can still access PokerStars.

Full House with Johnny Chan – This trailer for a new poker show with Johnny Chan is horrible beyond words, not even the good kind of unintentional comedy horrible.

Ari Engel
Photo: WSOP.com

Today’s Boxscore

Ari Engel $55,503 – WSOPC Hammond $1,125 NLHE
Eddie Ochana $44,281 – WSOPC Hammond $1,125 NLHE
Matthew Weber $135,475 – Punta Cana Poker Classic

Another week in the books and players are scattered around the globe 5-bet shoving their way to glory. The World Series of Poker Circuit Hammond Main Event is underway with an impressive showing while a several hundred players have taken the long flight to Johannesburg, South Africa for their first World Poker Tour event. Players in Hammond have to worry about less than stellar facilities/rulings while those in South Africa are going on safaris and dodging wild animals.

Coin flip if you ask me.

After these festivals are done, players will blast off to populate other tournaments in Florida (WPT), Barcelona (WPTN), Albuquerque (HPT), and Iowa (MSPT) for the next in eternal search of temporary glory.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – So the oldest kid in poker would not kick Howard Lederer out of his game but probably forgets telling his fanboys that he deserved “few swift baseball bat swings to the groin area”.

To answer other questions: if HL sat down in my game I would not run him off. The other players want him in the game for obvious reasons.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 19, 2012

Poker Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2012 – After the public and media rounds of voting, the WSOP announced Eric Drache and Brian “Sailor” Roberts as the latest inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame. Disappointed to not see Scotty Nguyen or Chris Bjorin on the list but these two are worthy. The induction ceremony will once again take place during the Main Event final table circus.

Its problem! PokerStars announces it will not pay Full Tilt Poker affiliates – They still don’t know how to write a damned headline, but an interesting look at some possible snags in the FTP repayment situation. I think it’s pretty close to tin-foil hat time, but still worth the read.

PokerNews Op-Ed: What Happened To Poker? – Donnie Peters penned an Op-Ed lamenting the demise of fun at the poker tables. As someone usually having too much fun at the tables, I generally agree with him. Although if serious money were on the line, I’d likely be up on assault charges when Ted Bort barked in my ear.

Liv Boeree @ WSOPE Cannes 2012 – This video runs a lot longer than most videos but since it involved Liv Boeree, metal, and Liv Boeree playing metal I deem it worthy of your attention. Fast forward to around the 3:30 mark if you just want girl on guitar action.

Liv Boeree playing Fade to Black (Metallica) -… by poker52

Yorane Kerignard
Photo: World Poker Tour

Today’s Boxscore

Yorane Kerignard $182,292 – World Poker Tour Malta
Daniel Chaky $40,773 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #4
Lance Garcia $18,449 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #5
Robin Vannucci $17,711 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #6
Jonathan Taylor $16,201 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #7
Walan Kite $16,350 – WSOPC Bossier City Event #8

Plenty of action around the poker world, both on and off the tables. This week has one new WPT winnner, a boatload of new WSOP Circuit ring owners, and a new WPT Borgata Poker Open champion at some point later today. That final table has an interesting cast of characters including Steve Brecher, David Diaz, and Tyler Patterson after fan favorite Matt Brady was eliminated on the TV table bubble after a nasty beat. They are playing for over $800,000 and a shiny trophy.

The big news is off the table as PokerNews released their 7-part interview with Howard Lederer talking about the Full Tilt implosion, Black Friday, and pointing fingers at the entire universe with barely a mention of his role in the mess. There is a lot of information to get through and it is sometimes tough to listen. The interview does not provide many new facts not known already inside the poker world but it does confirm some stories.

It also provides plenty of ammunition for those who refuse to blame everyone responsible. Lederer and Bitar deserve every ounce of venom spewed their way (except for the death threats, those are childish/dangerous) but there is a set of people unwilling to spread it around. Phil Ivey and his ridiculous lawsuit. The list of people who gladly took massive “loans” against the player funds. The board members who didn’t immediately remove Bitar the moment they realized the mess they were in. They all deserve to be put on blast.

You can catch all 7 parts on the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Link Dump

Tweet of the Day – Sweet holy mother of collusion. And right there on the Twitter machine for everyone to see.

That’s annoying!!! My horse opens and I have AA so I can’t 3bet,cuz I don’t Wna bust him,haha! Then ignored my gut and stacked off on Q52 ss

— Sam Trickett (@Samtrickett1) September 20, 2012

Two legends speak out in support of “Sailor” Roberts’ nomination for Poker Hall of Fame – (All caps title rewritten to save mine eyes) Nolan Dalla has been pumping out all kinds of top notch content since relaunching his website covering everything from politics to poker to sports. This time around he gets the opinion of Doyle Brunson and Crandell Addington about why Brian “Sailor” Roberts should be inducted this year.

Canadian man pleads guilty to conspiracy and gambling charges in NY Internet poker crackdown – Another one of those indicted on Black Friday will be heading off to lovely white collar prison when former Full Tilt payment processor Nelson Burtnick plead guilty to conspiracy and gambling charges. What do you mean it’s illegal to make gambling transactions look like something other than gambling transactions?

Phil Galfond Sues For Share Of Bluefire Poker Profits – I’ve often wondered what kind of traffic/business/signups these training sites pulled in and now we may have a little insight. Galfond was part of the Bluefire startup and made ~$400k over the first two years and now suing for his 2011 share.

BOOM documentary blog – After a few hiccups along the way, like a little government action on 15 April 2011, it looks like those behind the documentary BOOM are about ready to release their work product. I look forward to see it when released, below is the trailer they released over a year ago, and they have submitted the documentary to the Sundance Film Festival.

Josh Hale
Photo: WorldPokerTour.com

Today’s Boxscore

Josh Hale $500,000 – WPT Legends Main Event
Terrence Chan $34,437 – Canada Poker Open Heads Up
Marc Wilson $24,511 – $1,000 Canada Poker Open NLH
Michael Frazin $130,505 – Summer Splash Main Event

The WPT Legends final table at the Bicycle Casino should make for some fun TV with Jeff Madsen, Greg “FBT” Mueller, Max Steinberg, and Ali Eslami all in the mix. More so if Madsen brought up some of his nutball opinions, even if he was only there for a little while. Madsen out in 6th, Full Blown Tilt out in 5th, Ali Eslami out in 4th, so thank the heavens Max Steinberg stayed alive long enough to make it a little entertaining.

It still lacked the greatest of the Will Failla final table/win at last year’s event.

On the other side of the country, Michael Frazin was the last player standing at the end of the Hard Rock Seminole Summer Smash main event. The delayed, moved, un-guaranteed tournament drew a respectable 198 entries despite Tropical Storm Isaac threatening the state.

Link Dump

Defense Request for Status Conference – It seems the lawyers for Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst also noticed the court ruling last week saying poker is a game of skill. They are now jumping up and down saying “look, look, look!”.

2012 Republican Platform (PDF format) – I rarely mix politics and poker, the game doesn’t rate very high in getting my vote aside from freedom infringement. I prefer to concentrate on pressing issues such as the economy, healthcare, etc but it’s worth noting the GOP’s Platform statement includes “We support the prohibition of gambling over the Internet” hidden among it’s 50 odd pages.

Math, Game Theory Can Help A Gambler’s Strategy, Study Says – The Huffington Post is a pile of crap from both a technical and creative standpoint, but a lengthy game theory post which showed up in their science section grabbed my attention including a pre-theft interview with Chris Ferguson. I’m sure the author was paid a few pennies for the effort.

Inside Warren Buffett’s Private Poker Game – Poker found it’s way into another main stream publication, this time it’s an article on Forbes talking about mega-money manager Warren Buffett’s poker tournament with such cringe worthy lines like “Texas Hold ‘Em is nothing more than a betting and bluffing game, and tournaments like this appeal to the same primal instincts as in an ancient battle royale, combated via brains and daring” and “I flopped three sevens, with a pair hidden, enticing Mayers to throw in most of his pot”.

The Straddle: Special EPT Barcelona Edition – Kristy Arnett and a behind the scenes look at EPT Barcelona.

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