UPDATE: It’s official, both La n DC qualified! For the inaugural minor-league Champions League NIT 2011 WSOP-Freeroll World Championship. Whatever it turns out that people end up calling it … we can only hope here at Pokerati for a high-stakes poker lovers’ quarrel at the final table.

La N Dc
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! Finally heading HOME! After 3wks of grinding I am happy and proud to say my Baby has successfully crawled his way into the 10k seat freeroll. Great job Baby, so proud of you!! 😀 We now have 2shots at 300k 🙂

For at least a few players, today is a day kinda like when high-school kids wait to get their college acceptance/rejection letters … waiting to see the final points tally to be official, so they know whether or not they qualified for the WSOP-Circuit National Championship — the $1 million freeroll that will kick off the 2011 WSOP.

Click here for the national leaderboard to see who’s got a seat for sure, and who looks likely as we wait for WSOP officials to turn orange squares into red

Team Pokerati’s La Sengphet is a lock (8th among non automatic qualifiers with 155 points, 2 rings, 7 cashes, $67k) … yay La! You go girl! … and, of course, she also won a non-points pendant for her 1st place finish in the WSOP-Caesars ladies event. And it looks like her other half, David Clark, also will make the cut but just barely (112.5 pts – 1 ring, 9 cashes, $59.5k) … DC made a final table in a non-ring PLO/8 event at WSOP-NOLA for good measure without the points … and he finishes just ahead of Steve Zolotow, who qualifies with the same point total, no rings, just 3 cashes, and $43k in earnings to give you an idea who got in at the bottom of the field.

At the very bottom, interestingly enough, with 100 points, is John Riordan, who won a ring and $210k in Florida. But he will not get a seat this year because he is not yet 21. Will be curious to see how the WSOP handles this case … will he simply get a rain check for when he comes of age? Because if so, when will we see bona fide WSOP-Teen events?!? You know, of course, that I am in the minority willing to admit that I think poker is good for kids.

Another late qualifier is longtime friend of Pokerati’s Josh Evans … who finished 3rd in the WSOP Southern Regional championship last week at Harrah’s New Orleans. Thrilled about that, as it gives us another excuse to re-run that highly acclaimed but not quite award-winning film we created about Josh as he got 6-figure deep in the ’07 main event:

[CORRECTION: Josh got 3rd in the WSOP-NOLA $1,600 main event … which still gives him enough to qualify (140ish pts, 7 cashes $81k) but did not give him the guaranteed seat as just making a Regional Championship final table does.]

Use of Sally Anne Boyer’s image is what’s in dispute.

Sally Anne Boyer, 2007 WSOP Ladies’ World Champion, filed a suit Monday against Harrah’s and the WSOP Academy, claiming they’ve used her name and likeness without authorization, and falsely claiming she’s a graduate of the Academy.

Boyer contends that she only attended the first day of the two-day Ladies Academy event, never completing the course, so was not a graduate. Post Oak Productions, the company that produces the WSOP Academy produced an email from August 2007 from Boyer asking to mail a picture of her in ‘poker tournament attire’ to use for further promotions.

More details available from the Las Vegas Sun.

OK, I think this is the last of it … the 96 players who have bought in to the $50k HORSE event two years in a row, arguably enrolling them all in The Current Poker Elite:

More…

For some reason or another, the following 52 players participated in the $50k HORSE event last year, but not this year. Some of these names, of course, are more interesting than others:

Ariel Schneller
Bart Hanson
Bill Edler
Bob Feduniak
Carlos Mortensen
Charles Kaelin
Chip Reese
Chris Gentile
Cyndy Violette
Daniel Shak
Darrell Dicken
David Pham
David Sklansky
Erik Seidel
Gavin Smith
Harry Thomas
Jack Zwerner
James Owens
Jason Lester
Jeff King
Jerri Thomas
Jerrod Ankenman
Jesse Jones
Joe Tehan
John Cover
John Duthie
John Kabbaj
John Phan
Josh Arieh
Keith Lehr
Kirk Morrison
Kristy Gazes
Luke Neely
Marco Traniello
Mark Tenner
Mark Vos
Matt Lefkowitz
Maureen Feduniak
Meikle Partin
Neal Friets
Nick Frangos
Phil Laak
Q Knopow
Sam Farha
Sam Grizzle
Shih-Ping Sun
Ted Lawson
Tom Franklin
Tony Cousineau
Tuan Le
Victor Ramdin
Vladimir Troyanovskiy

Semi-related … do you know how much the WSOP spent on media food and water last year? Reportedly $440,000. Yeow! That means collectively, we sandwich-eating, water-and-Pepsi-product-slugging hacks grossed more than Tom won en route to becoming POY.

The key word in that sentence, of course, is “gross.”

I came across a certain post from the PokerNews Live Reporting log for Event #10 – Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better that sent me right back to 2007.

Eskimo Freezes
Paul “Eskimo” Clark was feeling pretty good about his hand on an Omaha board reading {K-?} {5-?} {6-?} {Q-?} — he was holding {A-?} {2-?} {7-?} {8-?} for the nut low draw and an up-and-down straight draw. But a cruel deuce on the river counterfeited his low, made him absolutely no straights, and his opponent scooped the pot. Horrified, Eskimo stared down at his cards for a while, unable to speak or move. This can be a harsh game sometimes.

Remind anyone of the mini-strokes he had last year? The time he collapsed at the table? The time paramedics had to come to the floor of the Amazon Room to check on Eskimo, but he refused to be taken out of the tournament?

When someone reports that the guy is unable to move or speak, ya gotta wonder if this is a bad sign. I’m sure Harrah’s has the paramedics on speed dial about now.

Take a little gander at Pauly’s Day 6 post called 2008 WSOP Day 6: Melting Eskimo’s Igloo and Erick Lindgren Wins First Bracelet. (The part about Lindgren’s bracelet is cool, but the Eskimo part is pertinent to this post. Focus, people.)

At the moment my background music is Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith on Spike the main event of the 2007 WSOP (Episode 4, part 2 of 5 according to YouTube):

It’s actually the first time I’ve seen this episode — if that tells you anything about the immediacy or lack thereof attached to current WSOP broadcasts … and it prominently features/follows Jamie Gold. Pretty impressed with how ESPN handled his storyline, and Gold does a pretty good job explaining the Crispin Leyser lawsuit … well enough that I start empathize for just a moment until Norman Chad follows up with a reminder of why he may not have had many supporters regardless.

(About 2:00 in.)

I wrote this post right after the 2007 WSOP, but I hadn’t pressed publish yet. With all the talk about structural changes and travel plans for the upcoming WSOP, now seem’s a good time for us to think about our (poker players’) behavior for the upcoming WSOP:

I have a request for all poker players. Anyone that wants to complain at the WSOP 2008, please STAY HOME! I don’t care how much dead money you bring to the tables, I don’t want to hear the yakking when I’m taking a leak.

At the 2007 WSOP, bitching was the theme. Here are just a few of the complaints that I heard.

• Harrah’s is making too much money. Have you seen how much juice they are taking out?
• The food is horrible
• The dealers are making too many mistakes
• It’s cold
• It’s hot
• The lines are too long
• The structures are too fast, too slow, too medium
• The walk is too long to the tournament area
• There are too many tournaments
• The cocktail service is bad.

Is that enough or should I keep going?

More…

The video of Shannon Shorr’s drunken shenanigans last summer in Las Vegas that almost led to his becoming the Christopher Reeve of Poker has been posted on YouTube. 22-year-old kids with lots of money are so funny in how they almost die … though I have to say, it is kinda refreshing to see the youthful purity of engaging in such prop-bettable pursuits for nothing but the glory. Gavin Smith wouldn’t do this for less than $12,000, I am sure.

Via Wicked Chops:

I find a new level of respect for Annie Duke every time I speak with her.

Last month, she taught the WSOP Ladies Academy I attended, and we had several chances to speak about life and ladies-only tournaments.

On life, Annie changed hers drastically after the 2007 WSOP. She admitted that she didn’t feel so great after smoking and drinking tons of caffeine throughout the Series, so she just stopped. Cold turkey. She went smoke-free and caffeine-free in one day, and she switched to eating only organic foods. On top of that she began running – not just a mile or two but ten or twenty. When we spoke in January, she was up to nearly 20 miles at a time and preparing to run the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon on June 1st in San Diego. She’s going to challenge herself with the run while raising money for Ante Up for Africa.

Her comments on ladies-only events in poker went into my article on PokerWorks. As always with Annie, she doesn’t mince words or filter herself, which is something I admire.

Now, I’m going to think about her healthy ways while I put on my workout gear and eat some fruit light up and drink my caffeinated tea.

The Montel Williams Show will be ceasing production after 17 years — and so where does one go from there but to a downtown Vegas poker room? Ever since he took the chip lead on Day 1 of the 2007 WSOP main event, Montel seems to have gotten hooked … and lately he’s been hosting $1,000 sit-n-gos at the Golden Nugget poker room:

More…

The issue of women holding ladies-only events and a separate Hall of Fame is certainly drawing attention. There are great arguments on both sides.

I happen to be on the anti-ladies-only side of the debate, as demonstrated in this article on PokerWorks. When I took this stand during the 2007 WSOP by writing an article for PokerPages, specifically about the WSOP Ladies Championship bracelet event, I received some harsh criticism by women in the poker community, but I also received more support than anticipated – from men and women.

It’s an issue that won’t be resolved any time soon, as women continue to turn out in droves for the ladies-only tournaments, but it’s an interesting topic for discussion.

Tom Schneider’s memorable 2007 is coming to an end — WSOP Player of the Year, 7th in CardPlayer’s POY, 96th in Bluff’s — oy, now he gets to start all over. But before he does, we get a sense of where this semi-regular blogger‘s accomplishments fit into the bigger word beyond poker (or, as Scotty Nguyen says, “Poker Beyond!”) … as Tom has been chosen as a finalist — and poker’s only representative — for ESPN’s 2007 All-SportsNation Team.

Click here to vote, preferably for Tom.

The Top 5 get the Espy honors. Currently the leaders are Randy Couture, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, and Brett Favre … with Tiger Woods following just a single percentage point behind. Yikes, tough competition for Tom — dare I say tougher than any he has seen at the poker table? — but kinda cool that he’s (at the time of this posting) right ahead of Dirk Nowitzki and tied with Kaká.

Seriously, click on over … for the sake of poker players everywhere to further boost the ego of everyone’s second-favorite Beyond the Table cohost.

CORRECTION: Tom is ranked 96th overall for the past two years by Bluff. For 2007 he finished 158th, compared to 76th in 2006.

I recently received a thoughtful email from a young guy who has great interest in playing poker for a living or finding a good job or possibly doing both. He has asked for my advice regarding various topics of passion and career. I thought that my response might be helpful to others figuring out where poker fits in their lives, and Pokerati readers might be able to provide genius insight or alternate feedback.

Here are some excerpts from what he sent, and my honest opinions:

My name is Ralph, and I am a very big fan of your book. I am an avid poker player who is hoping to become a professional in the distant future. I just wanted to commend you on authoring such a simple, yet brilliant book. It has reemphasized so much of the values that have already been instilled in my life, yet has reminded me so much of the important things that I have forgotten along the way. I just couldn’t put the book down.

Right away, you can tell that this young man has wonderful taste, and no, this is not a fictitious caller on Beyond the Table.

I was hoping you could pass along some winning wisdom to me if you had the time. I am 26 years old and graduated from college with a BA in Communications in January 2007. I have been unemployed during this time with the exception that I have been working part time for the past 7 years. I’m really struggling to find my place in the “real world” being that I don’t consider myself too business savvy, or intellectually smart.

More…

In a podcast interview with Gary Wise on Rounders Radio last week, Hevad Khan spoke about his online poker accomplishments, his sixth place finish at the 2007 WSOP, and his antics during the WSOP main event.

Gary put him on the spot about the controversy that Hevad’s monkey noises and other antics caused after the ESPN airing of the WSOP. (For example, Pokerati’s own Tom Schneider launched into an editorial about it here.)

Some of Hevad’s comments:

“There was one thing that I did regret, and that was when Ed de Haas told me to act normal. ESPN didn’t show it, but after I called his bluff and sang a song for awhile, I realized how much of a dumb ass I was being… I was so regretful… I was like, ‘I’m really sorry about that, man.’”

In reference to tournaments he’s played since the WSOP: “In my defense, I went to London and Austria, and I was drinking a lot of Red Bull but I wasn’t really crazy… It didn’t match up to the World Series, so I didn’t care.”

To answer Gary’s hypothetical about being faced with Humberto rivering a big pot against Hevad: “I would not have been happy with it. That’s rubbing it in someone’s face. To some people, the way I came across on ESPN, it kinda looked like I was going a little bit over the top… It looked childish and goofy as opposed to offensive…”

“I had a lot of time to reflect after the World Series, and there were times when I was over the top… I look at it different now… I’ve made it, so I can take the game competitively now and be more professional about it.”

While certain parts of the interview certainly show that Hevad is still very young and has a lot to learn about sportsmanship and a career in poker, others demonstrate that he may have learned something about human behavior after watching his performance. Only the future will tell…