Might as well start off with a response to a J. Santos cartoon from Call Raise or Muckit! I think he put more thought into this cartoon then anyone. The blogger tournaments are getting bigger, PokerGurb has a dedicated page for the upcoming PokerGrub Calssic and Maudie of Poker Perspectives has designed a catchy logo for the WPBT. I noticed an interesting post by Doubles A’s on smooth calling a pre-flop raise with a big pair. To close be sure to read the ever entertaining tales from Linda at Pokerworks and check out Quite Lion’s Festa al Lago trip report.

Today is Nevada Day here in the Battle Born State. The anniversary of Nevada joining the Union in 1864. Amazingly enough, it is also Halloween. We have always wondered if there is some significance to the coinciding dates. Happy birthday Nevada and Happy Halloween to our readers. Stay safe so we will see you tomorrow.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ultimate Poker Challenge is now down to a final Championship table. The roster of seven players was determined this afternoon when Matt Russel was eliminated in eight position. The seven finalist will return on Sunday at 1:00 pm to decide the Ultimate Poker Challenge’s first season Champion. The remaining players are David Pastik, Jeff Shulman, Scotty Nguyen, Jeff Stoff, Jason Buckley, Chip Lightman and Minneapolis Jim. The winner of the event will receive $100,000 in first place money, $50,000 for second and third will take away $25,000. The final table will be filmed for the TV season finale of Ultimate Poker Challenge. A reliable source tells us the series will return for another season with changes that should improve the viewer’s experience. The production company, Passport Entertainment, indicated they intend to hire expert consultants to improve and refine the series in its second season.

The Tournament Director is well known poker industry professional, Matt Savage. Matt handled the TD duties at the 2004 WSOP. The on-air host Chad Brown is a former soap opera star and a noted professional poker player. The female co-host is Brandi Williams. During the event today some notable professional players were watching from the rail. Miami John Cernuto, Evelyn Ng, and one of our favorite poker celebrities, Charlie Shoten. Most of the professional players are now off to the WPT sanctioned World Poker Finals tournament at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

Las Vegas will be celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of the city throughout 2005. Las Vegas has now been around for a hundred years providing visitors with a good time in the desert. This week’s Nine list covers the centennial slogans that were rejected.

9. Home of America’s toughest drug laws.
8. Turn your dollars into cents.
7. Where terrorists come to relax.
6. Better than sex.
5. Got money?
4. Hookers galore.
3. Spend a lot, get a little.
2. Retirement playground of the mob.
1. Las Vegas simply can’t be beat!

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ultimate Poker Challenge is the only major tournament happening in Las Vegas this weekend. Today, Friday 10/29/04, was the first day of the Ultimate Poker Challenge semi-final event with many known professionals included in the group of 100 qualified players. Some of the early eliminations included yesterday’s qualifying tournament winner, Joe Awada. Another well known pro, Andy Bloch, was knocked out when Minnesota Jim’s Ad-Qd made high pair with a Q on the river and beat Andy’s pocket Jacks. Eric Seidel made an early exit and so did Mel Judah. The play will continue tomorrow when the twenty-seven remaining players from today return to the Plaza tournament area for the noon start. Tomorrow the tournament will play down to the final table; which will be held on Sunday starting at 2:00 pm. The final table event will be filmed and shown on the finale of this season’s Ultimate Poker Challenge series on national TV.

The chip leaders after today’s play ended are James van Alstyne-$69,200, Jeff Stoff-$55,100, Jason Buckley-$35,425, Chip Jett-$33,800 and Chip Lightman-$31,875. Many of the professional players remain in the group including Jeff Shulman, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, Minneapolis Jim, Don Barton, Roxanne Rhodes, Renee Wexler, Ruth Graham, Kristy Gazes, Evelyn Ng and Karina Jett. Tomorrow will be another day of exciting big-time tournament poker in historic downtown Las Vegas. We wish Tahoe Andrew a very Happy Birthday. Tahoe spent his 87th birthday today playing in the Ultimate Poker Challenge semi-final event.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Actor Tobey Maguire finally wins a major tournament. I got a press release today providing the details of Tobey Maguire’s first place finish in the “Phil Hellmuth Poker Invitational” at the Hollywood Park Casino. The event on Wednesday, October 27 ’04, was a $2000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament and the eighth of twelve poker events that make up the Hollywood Park Casino’s eighth annual National Championship of Poker Tournament. The Hellmuth tournament attracted 123 entrants and had a prize pool of $246,000. Tobey outlasted the field in the 13 hour event and collected $95,480 for his win. He now joins fellow actor and tournament poker player, Ben Afflack, who won the California State Championship poker tournament earlier this year. Phil Hellmuth was quoted as saying, “Before the tournament, Tobey told me he would love for this to be his first tournament win. I am very proud of the way he played the game last night. He showed tremendous focus and determination. I predict he will become one of the better poker stars.”

The Ultimate Poker Challenge played the last of the 23 qualifying event final tables this afternoon at the Plaza Hotel and Casino. We pick up the action four handed with Nick Bouyea, John Phan, Barry Greenstein and Joe Awada. Within the first hour of play Barry Greenstein pushes all in with his pocket sixes and after a few moments Joe Awada calls with his pocket eights. Neither player improves with the flop, turn or river and Joe’s higher pocket pair eliminates Barry Greenstein in fourth place. Within minutes Nicholas Bouyea goes all in with his K-blank suited and again, after thinking over the play Joe calls with Q-Jo. Nick flops a King high flush and Joe is second with his two pair. The flop offers Joe no help, but the river brings him a full house and he severly cripples Nick's stack. A few hands later Joe again calls Nick’s all in and yet again comes from behind to win on the river and eliminate Nick Bouyea in third place. Joe and John play heads up trading chips with Joe slowly taking away John’s stack until finally John goes all in with A-9 and Joe calls with his K-Qo. The flop shows a nine giving John the lead. The turn is no help and the river is a Queen giving Joe the higher pair and the tournament win.

Tomorrow one hundred qualified players will begin the semi-final event at noon. They will play down to 27 and then resume play on Saturday and go until the final nine are left. The final table will be on Sunday and the first Ultimate Poker Challenge Champion will be determined. All of the UPC final tables are filmed and the series is shown on national television. The Poker Prof will compile all the photos and present the best in an Ultimate Poker Challenge Photo Gallery.

Posted by flipchipro at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Ultimate Poker Challenge is now down to one qualifying event. The semi-finals start Friday, 10/28/04, at noon at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Yesterday’s final table became a marathon event between Minneapolis Jim and Jaffrey Shulman after Max Pescatori was eliminated in third place. The two were evenly matched and traded chips most of the evening. Jeffery finally had the better hand and eliminated Minneapolis Jim for the win.

Jeff Shulman, CEO of “Card Player” magazine, is the son of Barry Shulman, publisher of “Card Player.” He is point qualified to play in the semi-final event on Friday. The semi-final tournament will be the top ninety players that have accumulated the most points during the twenty-three qualifying tournament. Play will begin on Friday and continue Saturday until nine players remain. The final nine players from the semi-final tournament will play on Sunday at noon in the final table. All of the final tables are filmed and shown on national television. The Ultimate Poker challenge will be back for a second season according to sources close to the production company. The Ultimate Poker Challenge second season will incorporate changes that will improve the series and provide the viewers with quality tournament poker. Matt Savage, veteran tournament director, and Chad Brown, on-air host, are slated to remain with the show. The Ultimate Poker Challenge provides the tournament player with an opportunity to play in a big time tournament for a $1000 buy-in; and, as an added bonus, making the final table guarantees you a spot on national television. Continue to play well and win through the semi-final and final event gives you a shot at a share of the large prize money.

Today’s final table included well known Las Vegan, Bob Stupak, along with Steve Simmons, Sean Rice, Jeff Bine, Mickey Seagle, John Phan and Dan Pugliese. Mickey Seagle won the event. Other notable professional players that started today’s play included Joe Awada, Jesse Jones, Tahoe Andrew, Max Pescatori, Paul Malgriel and Barry Greenstein. The final table for event 23 will play tomorrow, Thursday, at 3:00 pm at the Plaza. The semi-final will include well known professionals Andy Bloch, Kenna James, Chad Layne, Mel Judah, Chris Ferguson, Kristy Gazes, Jeffrey Shulman, Erik Seidel, Kathy Liebert, Miami John Cernuto, Thor Hansen, Minneapolis Jim, Evelyn Ng, Karina Jett and Chip Jett. The Friday semi-final event promises to be some great poker with all the noted players and characters that are qualified. I will be there with the camera to provide photos of all the action. This is a great opportunity to watch major poker action from close range.

Posted by flipchipro at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NLHE players dream of aces in the hole but the aces Max Pescatori, our featured player yesterday, played early in the Ultimate Poker Challenge could have cost him $15,000. Max didn't want Hinchcliffe to call but he did and Max was out with 0 points for the day when the burly Washington state pro made two pair.

The overnight standings were as follows:

1) Steve Simmons- 815 (40k best overall points)
2) Renee Wexler- 735 (21k)
3) Max Pescatori- 730 (11k)
4) H.Tahoe Andrew- 700 (7k)
5) Nick Bouyea- 660 (6k)
6) Dan Pugliese- 640 (5k)

Max with 8 final table appearances was so confident of second place he decided against a saver with Renee. The standings after today are:
1) Steve Simmons
2) Renee Wexler
3) Tahoe Andrew 740pts
4) Max 735pts or Nick (Nick would have to finish 2nd in todays tournie to overtake Max)
6) Dan Pugliese 720pts

The final table today (22/23) chip count was as follows.

1) Bob Stupak- 37k chips
2) Swawn Rice- 27k chips
3) Dan Pugliese- 14k
4) Mickey Seagle- 13k
5) Jeff Rine- 7k
6) John Phan- 5k
7) S.Simmons- 1.5k

Steve Simmons went on an incredible rush and overtook Bob Stupak who KO’d Melissa Hayden on the bubble in controversial circumstances. First out was Jeff Rine followed by John Phan who was also playing in todays tournament. He is a name to watch out for. Dan Pugliese who told me he hasn't played since the sixties before playing every one of the Ultimate Poker Challenge events and loving it was 5th. Playing today we had a high quality field with Barry Greenstein, Joe Awada and Scotty Nguyen making a late effort to score enough points to play in the semis starting on Friday. There will be an amazing opportunity to watch top poker pros at the Plaza with Chris Ferguson, Eric Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Evelyn Ng, Chip & Karina Jett, Kathy Liebert, Andy Bloch and Allen Cunningham all qualified to play.

Posted by at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ask fellow poker blogger Felicia Lee to name a positve to come out of her "Nightmare at the Orleans" and she would probably mention Max Pescatori's act of kindness first. When Max heard that she had driven from her home in Golden Valley AZ to cover the tournament and had not been paid by the WPPA he immediately offered her some gas money and informed other players of her situation.

When I first met Max at the 4 Queens tournament I used to tease him about his trademark Italian tri coloured bandana. In return he used to point out mistakes on the database that I was helping compile on players. Soon I was chatting with him on a daily basis, often during play, and found him to be one of the most likeable players in the room. He is also a rising star in the poker world. He has made 8 final table appearances at the Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza. His biggest win in the database appears to be $106,000 in LA; but, the players agreed to a 13 way split and Max's share was $27,750.

Max started in the $15-30 games at the Mirage and Bellagio in 1999, but will be concentrating on tournaments next year. I asked Max if he had a mentor and he replied, "Not really, but meeting Jennifer Harmon through Marco Traniello allowed me to talk poker with someone who was at a higher level. I was able to learn from her knowledge of situations."

Tomorrow he is involved in a nail biting battle for second place points in the Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas. Steve Simmons from Scottsdale AZ has a lock on the $40,000 first place; but, we then have the following contesting the $21,000 second place prize.

Renee Wexler- 735
Max Pescatori- 730
Tahoe Andrew- 675
Dan Pugliese- 640 + at least 50 from today.

If we have a large field and Renee & Max are eliminated early; then Tahoe wins, he takes 2nd. If Dan wins tomorrows final table and another 20pts from the tomorrow noon tournament he could finish 2nd. Otherwise its Renee vs. Max II. I wonder if Jennifer can advise him on this one (or ask Daniel)? By the way, Max lives in the same complex as Evelyn Ng. My next interview with him will be poolside there!

O/T I was sad to hear of the death today of legendary Liverpool radio DJ John Peel. John made household names out of bands like The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Undertones, the Ruts and this sites favourite band, THE SMITHS.

Posted by at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas is down to the final qualifying tournaments. Play began today at noon in the $1000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. Thirty-six entrants played for some cash and a seat in the semi-final event on Friday, 10/29/04, starting at noon. Qualifying tournaments will be held everyday at noon through Thursday. If you plan to play in the Ultimate Poker Challenge then head to the Plaza for one of the three remaining qualifying events. The final table of each day’s tournament is filmed and will be shown on national TV. Matt savage is the Tournament Director for the Ultimate Poker Challenge; while, Chad Brown handles the on camera hosting with a different color commentator each week. Today’s action included Andy Bloch, Karina Jett, Max Pescatori and Jim Miller.

Another auto driven by a couple in their eighties has gone off one of the upper levels of the Golden Nugget parking garage resulting in a car upside down in the alley. The first accident a few months ago resulted in the death of the octogenarian couple after their car broke through the concrete barrier on the fourth level and landed upside down in the parking lot below. Today’s accident was from the second level and although the couple survived they are in critical condition in a local hospital. I guess the two accidents make a case for more handicapped parking on the ground level of these structures. Handicap parking spaces are usually quite rare in Vegas casino parking areas and are always taken since Las Vegas has a relatively high ratio of retirees, many of whom suffer some physical handicap.

While I was downtown today covering the Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza I walked by the Clark County Courthouse and watched the media circus covering the "Ted Binion Murder Trial II, The Sequel." Brings back memories of the first “Ted Binion Murder Trial.” Millions of dollars in high tech satellite uplink mobile studios are parked around the block with the crews camping out on the lawn. If you are unfamiliar with this spectacle of justice a brief explanation is in order. Ted Binion, son of Benny Binion and lifelong druggie, died at his Las Vegas home of a drug overdose (at least, the county coroner originally ruled his death as an accidental drug overdose); then, the Binion money machine fired up and not only got the ruling overturned but also managed to have Ted’s long time live–in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy; along with a former employee, Rick Tabish, charged with Ted’s murder. A long and sometimes dramatic trial ensued with both being found guilty and sent to prison. The Nevada Supreme Court overturned the verdict and granted them a new trial which is in full swing. Although the prosecution witnesses are mostly the same ole people we are now learning that some of them collected large rewards from the money machine for a conviction. Some of them can’t remember what they said the first time so the testimony may vary from the original performance. But, hey! What’s the problem? A little variety will keep the sequel as interesting as the original, right? Who knows how this one is going to turn out, after all this is America, where you are guaranteed to get all the justice you can afford. An interesting footnote to this story: Ted Binion’s drug supplier, Peter Sheridan, testified in the first trial for the prosecution and amazingly enough he was never charged with any crime and remains on the street to continue his pharmaceutical endeavors, less his best customer. Eat your heart out Mike Matusow.

Posted by flipchipro at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The big poker blog news this week is, of course, the poker blogger/reader tournament, hosted by now full time player, Iggy. MtDewVirus took top honors with ToddComish in second, other blog writer money finishers include Poker Nerd in 9th, Ftrain in 15th and GeekandProud in 16th. It’s also worth nothing that poker nerd has a comprehensive write-up on his site well worth the read. Finally, on the subject of blogger tourneys I noticed the PokerGrub is planning a November PokerGrub Classic tournament. It's set for Sunday, Nov. 21 at 9 p.m. ET
for blog writers and readers.

A couple of anniversaries occurred this week with Chris Halverson celebrating one year since his first foray into poker and Hank celebrating the one year mark since the creation of his blog.

Felicia continues to write-up the whole story of the WPPA/Orleans and is a story that has to be read to be believed. To close, I noticed one of my favorite reads, the infamous PokerPenguin is back.

Posted by pokerprof at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The World Poker Tour is now gone from Las Vegas until the Five Diamonds II World Poker Classic tournament at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, November 27th through December 16th. I have enjoyed covering this WPT event and always find it a lot of fun to visit with the players and fans alike. The events are not only world class poker games; they are a gathering place for the poker industry to meet and discuss all things poker. These big-time tournaments bring together the movers and shakers of poker where they can conduct business, discuss new projects and socialize with their peers. The stars of poker, the players, enjoy movie star treatment from adoring fans seeking photos and autographs. In fact, some of the players are movie stars. Everyone that has an interest in poker and has ever dreamed of winning a WSOP or WPT event should make an effort to attend a big, live event. Make plans now to come to Vegas for the Five Diamonds II tournament at the Bellagio the end of November and be a part of poker history. You'll have a great time, even if you just watch and don't compete, after all, it is Las Vegas.

Our man in the field, FoiledCoup, spent last evening sitting on a very hard chair at the WPT's filming of the Festa al Lago main event, the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship. He spent the six hours observing the crowd and charting the action. His take on the happenings are in his article, Europe 1 the Rest of the World 0, below. Bear in mind, FoiledCoup is quite continental and he oftens gives the impression that those of us living in the "colonies" are just camping out.

Television series, such as the Travel Channel’s “World Poker Tour” and ESPN’s “World Series of Poker,” combined with the weekly proliferation of Internet poker casinos are responsible for the phenomenal increase in interest and popularity of all things poker. Poker tournaments fill hundreds of TV viewing hours, major tournaments are national news, poker logo clothing is everywhere, poker stars are household names and poker instruction books are best sellers. With the holiday season rapidly approaching, retailers are betting on poker related items to be high on most everyone’s gift buying list. Poker chip sets, table tops, logo clothing and, of course, poker books. We will be offering our “Poker Christmas Gift List” with suggestions for all the poker players on your list. This week’s Top Nine list offers the reason’s the cheap poker book you just bought should have been left on the bargain table.

9. Only covers playing strategy of Faro and Pan.
8. None of the listed authors are Tom McEvoy.
7. Refers to the “Old Maid” card too often.
6. Introduction written by Paul Malgriel’s lesser known cousin, X-21.
5. Didn’t make Oprah’s book club.
4. Author is Doyle Bronson not Doyle Brunson.
3. First five chapters details author’s weird fixation of Shana Hiatt.
2. Money management strategies endorsed by Martha Stewart.
1. The title, “Become an Average Poker Player.”

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon. Read the post below, FailedCoup's report direct from the WPT television set

Posted by flipchipro at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All the young bulls were in the Fountain room at the Bellagio last night to watch the Spanish "Matador,” Carlos Mortensen, kill off five opponents.
The field contained 4 Asian Americans and white boy, Eric Seidel.
This seems to be the most professional TV production of poker. The players entered to a backdrop of the Bellagio water show. The audience was entertained during breaks by Linda Johnson's trivia questions. The audience included Daniel Negreanu & fiancée, Jennifer Harmon & Mr. Traniello, Mr & Mrs. Bobby Baldwin, Mr. & Mrs. Paul Phillips and the Ariahs. When introduced, Josh was booed by the audience! His wife is as pretty as Shana who must have been cold out on the balcony at 1am.

First blood at 8.45 pm when John Juanda’s pocket 10's were beaten all the way by pocket queens.

Another 2 hours before Hung La went out in 5th place for $120,000 when his Q-10 was called by Carlos with pocket 8’s. No sooner had I written this hand down than Eric Seidel was all in and out with QJ against As-Ah. Eric only played two significant hands all evening, lost half his stack on the first one and the rest on this one. Still $165,000 to add to his earlier $217,000. I won't be seeing the Seidels in the 99c store soon.

The midnight hour passed, Paul Phillips shared a flask of the hard stuff with Daniel and Jennifer. Eric Lindgren didn't have to share with anyone!

3 handed, everyone was hovering around the 2 million chip count. Then Carlos regained his lead when he KO’ed David Pham’s Ac-Jc with pocket 3's. Unknown, Thang "Kido" Pham, who has a few moves, finally lost when Carlos’, who had been pushing all in every hand, K-10 beat Kido’s K-8. A king on the flop of no help. Kido mockingly pleaded with his wife to let him return to Bellagio in December.

Carlos, with one of the most beautiful wives in poker, had some catching up to do with the celebrity friends in the audience and I am sure he did!!!!

Posted by at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Festa al Lago III tournament is now history when the last hand was dealt a few minutes before 1:00 am. I decided to put the order of finish of tonight’s Doyle Brunson North America Poker Championship final table in the extended text so those that do not want to know the winner prior to watching the televised show will not have it spoiled for them. If you want to know the winner and the order of finish then click the continue reading link at the bottom of this post. The photo of the set shows the pregame activity just prior to the players coming in. Linda Johnson is warming up the crowd and the fog generators are providing the set with a soft focus touch.

The marathon event started play promptly at 7:00 pm before a full house and the first player was not eliminated for the first hour of play. Every seat in the stands was taken and some spectators were standing in the crowded space. The event was held in the Fontana Room at the Bellagio where the WPT television crew had erected the familiar WPT tournament set. In the crowd of fans I saw Daniel Negreanu, Paul Phillips and Kenna James watching the action. Tournament namesake, Doyle Brunson, had the honorary pole position seat. Linda Johnson handled the play-by-play while Mike Sexton and Van Patten provided the professional commentary and color. Shana Hiatt did the exit interviews as players were eliminated. Cameras are not allowed on the set so we did not have an opportunity to photographs after the event started. I did get a few shots prior to play commencing and the Prof will put them in the gallery. Our man in the field, FoiledCoup, will provide his unique commentary and insights of the event.

This WPT sanctioned event, as with all WPT tournaments, was well organized, managed and attracted all the top poker professionals. I was quite impressed with the players, the Bellagio’s poker room staff, the tournament facilities, the access and the courtesies offered to the media. I look forward to the Five Diamond World Poker Classic II Tournament, another WPT sanctioned event, at the Bellagio beginning November 27th and continuing through December 16th. Unlike the Festa al Lago, an all No-Limit Hold’em event, the Five Diamond will offer a variety of popular poker games.

Carlos Mortensen, 2001 WSOP Champion, takes home the $1,000,000 first prize after going heads up with Thang Pham. Carlos used his commanding chip lead he put Thang in aposition of being all in if he called any bet. The showdown finally came when Carlos bet his K-10 and Thang called with his K-8. The flop showed a king and blanks giving both a pair of kings. The turn and river didn’t offer any help to either player and Carlos won the hand and the tournament when when his 10 kicker played. Thang receives $496,400 for second. David Pham completed the top three and collects $255,000. Eric Seidel was eliminated in the forth spot for $165,000 while Hung La took the $120,000 fifth place money. John Juanda was the first player eliminated from the WPT TV final table this evening and won $84,000.

Posted by flipchipro at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NOTE:I've finished placing the third day group of World Poker Tour Festa al Lago III Photos into the gallery.-Prof

The World Poker Tour’s Festa al Lago III main event at the Bellagio here in Las Vegas is now down to the final table. The six players for the TV table on Friday are Carlos Mortensen, Hung La, Thang Pham, John Juanda, David Pham and Eric Seidal. Kenna James and Kathy Liebert were eliminated from today’s last table and will not be at the televised event. Carlos Mortensen, 2001 WSOP Champion, has $2.5 million in chips while Eric Seidel is sitting in second with just over $1 million.

Today’s action saw many favored players quickly eliminated from the tournament. The final table of nine was reached after only about four hours of play. The last six players for tomorrow's event were determined by early evening. The Championship event attracted 312 entrants paying the $10,000 buy-in for the No-Limit Hold’em tournament and the prize pool is just over $3 million. First place will receive $1,000,000; second place will take down $496,400 and third goes home with $255,000. The winner also receives a $25,000 seat in the WPT season-end Championship tournament. Space for Friday’s filmed event is limited so fans should consider an early arrival.

The crowds of fans, sometimes five and six deep, strained against the ropes throughout today’s play to get a better view of the table or a close up of one of the poker stars. Many of poker's best known names were in the area watching and encouraging the players. Annie Duke, winner of $2 million at the recent WSOP Championship tour event, was watching the action. David Williams, 2nd at the 2004 WSOP Champiobnship, posed for our camera. Men “the Master” Nguyen also stopped by to watch. Dutch Boyd was on hand with his media credentials covering the event. Ron Rose was there with his new book, “Poker Aces.” Mike Sexton took time away from the WPT hosting duties to visit with some of the fans. First Lady of Poker and WPT play-by-play announcer, Linda Johnson, also was seen working the crowd and visiting with many of the fans. Friday’s final table promises to be a classic showdown between six tough professional poker players. The Prof will add today’s photos to the Festa al Lago III gallery later this evening

Posted by flipchipro at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NOTE:I've finished placing the second day group of World Poker Tour Festa al Lago III Photos into the gallery.-Prof

The Festa al Lago III tournament at the Bellagio here in Las Vegas continued today starting at noon. The second day of play saw many of the popular poker pros out of the action and watching. Many have moved to the Bellagio poker room and are playing high stakes ring games. Conspicuous by their absence are Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Dutch Boyd, Phil Laak, Barry Greenstein, Karina Jett, Ron Rose and more. Remaining in the tournament late today with large stacks of chips: Chip Reese, Kathy Liebert, Kenna James, Carlos Mortensen, Ted Forrest, Eric Seidel. The tournament is still a possibility for those with a chip and a chair; although, allowing many of these tough pros to build a substantial chip lead makes the journey to the final table almost impossible.

Many of poker’s most notable names were in the tournament area late this afternoon. Phil Hellmuth was doing an on-camera interview along with Mike Sexton. Puggy Pearson was visiting with friends playing in one of the satellites. Antonio Esfandiari was chatting with friends. Dutch Boyd was wearing a Media badge and taking photos of crew members remaining in the tournament. The WPT sanctioned events are class affairs and typically bring out poker’s royalty and the Festa al Lago III is no exception. I have not seen some former WSOP Champions; notably, Moneymaker or Raymer. Greg Raymer did indicate in our interview shortly after his $5 million WSOP win that he would be taking a few months away from the tournament circuit.

This event promises to be another professional top heavy finish, as expected. Tomorrow the play will continue until the last nine players are determined for Friday’s final table. The event will be filmed by the WPT crew for national broadcast on the Travel Channel’s World Poker Tour Series. The Poker Prof will add today’s photos to the Festa al Lago III gallery. Check out the post below from FoiledCoup about his experiences at the Bellagio today.

Posted by flipchipro at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I saw Sir Elton John today at the Bellagio. However, I had left my camera batteries recharging at home so missed my chance to be seen with the chubby one in a pink tracksuit (him not me). Maybe he had come over from Caesars to check out his London neighbours, the Hendon Mob, in the Festa al Lago. However; Joe, Barny, Ross and Ram are in cold wet Europe whilst we are in a cool wet Las Vegas.

Another one wearing pink, but in much better physical condition, was Annie Duke who even used her own pen to sign my copy of Card Player. She was on her way to the movies at the Palms.

I saw Dutch Boyd playing mediaman, complete with pen, notebook and digital camera. I chatted with him at the bar and out of curiousity asked what he was up to. Seems his poker playing is on the back burner in the slow cooker for the rest of the year as he plans to launch an internet poker site. No, not another internet card room. I have always found him approachable. He is a little shot shy as a lot of people don't like him but if he talks to me I am not going to backstab him. He has a sharp business sense. His Crew idea received lots of publicity on ESPN.

Phil Hellmuth had flown in from the east coast. I expect he will play at Matt Savage's Bay101 tournament this weekend.

Posted by at 8:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

EDIT:I've just finished placing the first day group of World Poker Tour Festa al Lago III Photos into a gallery. -Prof

The Festa al Lago III played the first day of the final event. The Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship, the Festa al Lago III’s main event, is sanctioned by the World Poker Tour (WPT) and goes daily at noon through the final table to be played on Friday, October 22nd. The Bellagio poker room and tournament area is jammed with well known poker professionals. More than three hundred players anted up the $10,000 buy-in for this No-Limit Hold’em event, building a prize pool in excess of three million dollars. Throngs of poker fans crowd the ropes to get a view of their favorites and when they discover how many of the poker players are familiar faces straight from appearances on televised final tables the excitement is contagious. I was watching a table with Phil Ivey, Chip Reese, Gus Hansen, Kathy Liebert and Ted Forrest all seated together. Can you imagine drawing this table? As a friend said, “Thanks for playing, have a nice day.” Some of the early outs I am aware of were Scotty Nyugen and Annie Duke.

The list of today’s well known players I saw at the tables represent a who’s who of poker. Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington, Barry Greenstein, Hassan Habib, Johnny Chan, Joe Awada, Mel Judah, Phil Laak, Ron Rose, Eric Seidel, Amir Vahedi, Karina Jett and Doug Dalton, Director of the Bellagio’s Poker operation. Antonio Esfandiari and Mike Sexton were in the tournament area and Toby Maguire remained in the action at one of the tables. I have not listed many of the today’s pros but the Proker Prof will offer all of the photographs of the event in a WPT gallery. I will sort, process and have them available as quickly as possible. I will add to the collection as the event progresses.

Our new staff writer, FoiledCoup, is offering his unique view of all things poker in the post below. He even included a couple of his original photographs taken with his always present, stealthy digital camera. He certainly sees a different Vegas than the one I wander through, so, for a different take of the same events read his articles. I think, sometimes he is trying to make a case for the catch phrase, “What happens in Vegas should probably stay in Vegas!”

Posted by flipchipro at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was taken seconds after Kenna James rivered a flush to KO Karina Jett, who had made a 9 high straight on the turn. Friends, away from the table, watched the battle of the KJ's which was won by the male in a fast moving final table at the Plaza's Ultimate Poker Challenge on Sunday.
Both players are extroverts with Kenna singing for the televised event. The lovely Karina, who has a phone book that is like a dictionary of poker pros, was sweated by the fat free Evelyn Ng, curvy Kristy Gazes, husband Chip and...........me! Kenna was sweated by Marsha Waggoner from a nearby video poker machine. I hope his winnings covered her losses.

Karina played a "perfect 10" game, looking on as Chris Ferguson took an early exit from the final table; then, moving in to KO overnight leader X-22 when her full house was called by Malgriel's trip 8's (quack quack). Karina's 80 points for second place puts her into the top 100 who qualify for the semi-final next week.

Fox allows partial advertising, Karina wore a PokerStars blouse with an ace of spades covering up the .com and Ferguson was wearing a Full Tilt.net specially made jacket.

Then on to the Bellagio where I spotted WPPA's Louis Asmo. I know it was him as he has been wearing the same tracksuit for the last 10 years!

Watching the Yankees/Red Sox game was a wheelchair bound John Bonetti. A tough cookie, I wish him well with his battle to regain good health.

Monday at the Bellagio, film crews were at a table that featured Howard Lederer, sister Annie Duke looking like a million $$ or two, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Robert Williamson, the Unibomber and Doyle Brunson.

No sooner had the ink dried on my last blog about the lack of comps I am not getting; when, the Golden Nugget provided me with a free lunch at the comedy festival and a ticket to see a Friday night show that featured comedian, Judy Tenuta, who provided us with the best gag of the week. "How do you turn a fruit into a vegetable?.........Put him onstage with a white tiger."

Its Bellagio, Bellagio, Bellagio for me this week.Thanks for reading.

Posted by at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, the center of the poker world is here in Las Vegas at the Bellagio. The eve of the Fiesta al Lago Tournament final event, $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em, has everyone that is anyone in poker here in Las Vegas. All of today’s events are super satellites for tomorrow’s first day of the main event. The crowds are heavy with poker players and fans alike. Yesterday’s Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza ended when Kenna James beat Karina Jett for the win. Paul Malgriel, X-22, completed the top three with his third place finish. We will have a detailed article and photos later from FailedCoup, our newest staff writer.

I have written about the illegality of on-line poker in past posts and have described in detail all the existing statures and pending legislation that makes online poker room operators and players criminals. I worry about a massive push from the “moral right” (as describe by themselves) similar to the debacle that destroyed online music file sharing. If you are one of those people that believe it can’t happen to online gaming because everyone is doing it and they can’t lock up everyone; then, look closely at the downfall of Napster. Of course, they didn’t sue or lock up everyone sharing music but they certainly accomplished their mission. By publicly selecting and prosecuting a few they instill fear in the remainder of us. So much fear that the masses respond to the threat by avoiding the ‘offending’ activity, in this case, we are now talking about on-line poker. As with the music sharing, all of us that play on-line may be asking ourselves if sitting in a 0.50/1.00 hold’em game is worth our freedom, both financial and personal. Although I can’t name anyone that is in jail for playing on-line (I can’t name anyone that was sued as a result of the music files, either), I’m sure that sometime in the future I will probably know more than one.

Now is the time for actions to not only avoid the Napster fate; but, to strongly express our desire for the personal freedom to choose what is and is not “morally illegal.” I am primarily referring to US residents since most of the rest of the modern world has already determined that on-line gaming is simply another plateau in the evolution of man’s desire to entertain himself through competition. What can we do about this very real threat? As I have discussed before, we need to organize ourselves into a front of solidarity to actively lobby the powers in Washington and also at the individual state level to legalize this industry. Along with legalization will come regulation. Along with regulation will come customer trust. Along with customer trust will come a dynamic increase in the customer base. I see this as a win/win proposition for everyone involved, no matter what side of the table they occupy.

How do we accomplish this gargantuan effort? The problem is on-line so the nucleus of the project should be on-line. I believe the Internet poker room owners and operators must take the lead and underwrite the effort. Everyday, thousands of readers receive the latest on-line gaming news from a rather small group of popular, well read poker blogs. As such, we bloggers have a built in avenue to influence large groups that vote. One thing the political community understands, other than money, is votes. Demographic studies have shown the online poker community to be spread across many age groups and income levels. The one common thread is a love for the game and the ability to cast a vote in an election. Raising the funds to begin the lobbying efforts to legalize America’s favorite past time should begin now. Professional on-line gaming lobby experts will require large war chests to successfully take our fight to the source of the problem. Although the individual players can make a contribution to this effort, and will, the bulk of the money must come from the on-line site owners. On-line sites have the deep pockets to provide the means to win this one.

What does the poker blog community need to realize its full potential in this fight? Simple, money. Money to remain on the Internet and write the message that will make the Internet poker industry as legit as the land based casino. The on-line gaming sites should consider establishing a fund to provide qualifying blogs with a grant to ease the financial burden of maintaining and building these small businesses. The poker blogging community and the the on-line poker casinos should form a bond that will be mutually benefitting to the industry as a whole. And finally, legalization will bring taxation, an additional cost of doing business. Is it worth it? I believe it is a rather simple question: 80% of a huge, legal pile of money or 100% of an illegal pile of nothing? Your call.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

First, I want to make sure everyone is reading Felicia since she is going to put up the entire story of her WPPA experience. Next, the most moving post I’ve ever read is over at UpforPoker where Otis has shared a touching part of his life. Cardsspeak has a great post as Hank continues to share his wonderful writing and experience. Linda is putting up her tales from the Bellagio, as always, and Uwannabet has a memorable look at why poker bloggers end up with premature grey hair. Finally I want to correct a massive over sight from my earlier post about the All-In magazine, Dan at Pokerati gave me the opportunity to write the Medicinal Poker article and without his help it never would have happened, thanks Dan!

This week the poker action really comes on strong here in Vegas. The $10,000 buy-in main event of the Fiesta al Lago at the Bellagio begins on Monday with all the pros going after the big dollars and an apperance on the Travel Channel's WPT series. This weekend the Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas ends the qualifying tournaments and starts the semi-final rounds that will determine the final televised table. We will be on hand for all the exciting poker action scheduled to run for the next two weeks. This is a great time to visit Las Vegas and either watch, participate or do both. Take part in the high stakes tournament games and see your favorite poker stars in action upclose. You're guaranteed a memorable time.

Posted by pokerprof at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A quick note first and foremost Felicia Lee has switched homes again, her blog is now over at blogspot and she already has a new massive post up.

We attended the luncheon for the Laugh Across America groups Three Days of comedy in Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget. No poker but a great panel session with a group of comedians, including Shelly Berman. Shelly remains the razor sharp wit and perfectly timed master of comedy. I enjoyed the session and meeting one of the funniest people I have ever known was a special treat.

Back to poker. A short walk down Fremont Street and the Prof and I are at the Plaza Hotel where the Ultimate Poker Challenge is being played. The hotel has undergone some improvements in the last few days with all new carpet, new non-airlock entrances, general cleanup and new painting. Barrick Gaming Corporation, the new owner of the Plaza Hotel, is good for the place and their efforts are breathing life back into the original “Queen of Downtown” located at Number 1 Main Street. Many years ago I attended the grand opening of the Union Plaza and was fortunate enough to get invited to the VIP pre-public festivities. I recalled a buffet that was straight out of the movies. All the stars were in town for the gala bash. It was the first time I had been around so much Hollywood royalty so I wandered around in an awestruck state.

Really back to poker this time. Today’s Ultimate Poker Challenge was down to four tables when we arrived and some well known professional players were there. Chris Ferguson was giving lessons at his table while the Jetts, Chip and Karina, remained in the action. Matt Savage was handling the tournament in his usual professional fashion. He made a point of welcoming us to the event and assured me that we will have complete media access. The film crew was set up filming the host, Chad Brown, and this week’s co-host Amir Vahedi. One of the TV production managers took time to introduce himself and made us feel most comfortable. I guess that word has gotten around about the shabby treatment from the WPPA so this was particularly good for me. The final table from today’s tournament will be played tomorrow and I will get some photos. The Ultimate Poker Challenge Tournament is getting down to last qualifying event and will be moving on to the semi-finals so if you have entertained the idea playing in this one then show up soon and enter. The $1000 entry fee can turn into millions.

Our Poker Prof e-mail continues to grow in volume everyday. A few times each day we have to sort and respond to our reader’s thoughts and questions. This weeks Nines List was taken from some of the 'less than genius' e-mail questions we have received.

9. Are any Vegas poker rooms men only?
8. How much are poker chips worth?
7. Will you send me Clonie Gowan’s home phone number?
6. Why do they call him Jesus, is Chris Ferguson a priest?
5. Does Greg Raymer sell those glasses to anyone?
4. Can I buy a white tiger from Siegfried and Roy for my girlfriend?
3. What color are the black $100 chips at the Mirage?
2. Do Las Vegas poker rooms require shoes and shirts?
1. If I practice a lot how long before I win the WSOP?

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Upgraded the software and it moved The Mike Matusow Sentenced Article

We arrived a bit late due to another obligation but found many of the celebrities either still playing or hanging out to watch after being eliminated. The event was well managed and we were immediately greeted and briefed on the tournament and remaining players. There were no restrictions on access to the tables or players so I could shoot away. We will offer our photos in a gallery as soon as I get them prepared. I know this is not real, hard core poker and for some of the celebrities this was a first time at the tables. Considering it is primarily a comedy event with some very funny people playing or watching so we were continually entertained. We had many photo opportunities and didn?t encounter anyone that wouldn?t pose for a picture.

We also received comp tickets to tonight?s comedy performances at the Golden Nugget and an invite to tomorrow?s luncheon. I will be there and get some additional photos of the group. The Ultimate Poker Challenge continues tomorrow at the Plaza. This tournament is hosted by Matt Savage and will be playing another final table so I will stop by for information and photos. Then to the Bellagio for Saturday?s No-limit Hold?em event at the Fiesta al Lago. So much action here in the city of poker that I have a difficult time deciding where to go next. Back downtown tomorrow for the Golden Nugget celebrity, then down the street to the Ultimate poker Challenge at the Plaza then up to the Bellagio.

Today's visit to the downtown Golden Nugget was a great break from the problems we have had to endure this week trying to cover the poker action here in Las vegas. All of the celebrities on hand were cordial and approachable. Bill Peterson, Rodney Dangerfield impersonator kept the Prof and I laughing while he gave us a one man show doing a perfect impression of the the late, great Rodney. He discussed a possible one man show dedicated to the great comedian. The co-owner of the Golden Nugget, Thomas Breitling, remained in the hunt at one of the tables where he was seated next to Golden Nugget host, Tommy Sunstrum, of "The Casino" TV show fame. I promise to get more coverage of the real stars of poker playing in the Fiesta al Lago tournamnet at the Bellagio tomorrow. I had to take a day for some really fun stuff and the Golden Nugget was it. The photos from today?s celeb event makes me realize how damn lucky I am to live here in Las Vegas and cover the poker scene.

Posted by flipchipro at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The results of the WPPA final table at the Orleans Hotel are now part of the public record so guess we are safe to report the finishers and their prize money. The Game Show Network people were yelling threats of high dollar lawsuits at everyone in sight if any leaks resulted or our readership learned how the players finished. I guess GSN will be especially incensed when they look for a non-disclosure agreement from LVV (there is none), they never bothered to followup. We would have been happy to comply to their wishes even though we just don’t understand the logic. They apparently don’t understand the tournament poker business. We were grandfathered into the final table area in the Arena at the Orleans for both days of play, probably as a result of the many hours we gave covering all the events of the first (and perhaps last) WPPA Tournament of Errors. Our photographer and on-site representative was there the first day after driving across Las Vegas and he would hang out for hours to get the photographs and write the coverage of the daily WPPA events. We provided the WPPA with considerable free, positive publicity, even for those events that didn’t attract enough players to fill two tables. Needless to say, we are true to the sport and loyal to our readers. Amazing that this is the first problem we have encountered as media at a poker tournament. We covered the WSOP start to finish (we published the first interview with Greg Raymer after he won the $5 million), the Pro Am Celebrity tournament at the Hard Rock (many movie/rock stars and well known pros), The Ultimate poker Challenge (thanks Matt Savage for making us feel wanted), Final Table Challenge (beautiful set, great film crew, very professional), Four Queens Poker Classic (thanks Debbie Burkhead for your daily reports) and we are currently photographing and reporting the Bellagio’s Fiesta al Lago WPT sanctioned tournament (quality big time poker here). Wouldn’t you know that trouble would come from a second rate event paying less to their main Event Winner than some satellites.

Most of the problems came from a twenty-something Spielberg wannabe late in the evening when they couldn’t convince the pro players to speed up the action. He needed someone to lash out at and our guy and Felicia Lee were handy. Apparently this TV game show genius suddenly realized they were going over budget, and with six stubborn players remaining, there appeared to be no end in sight (the tournament apparently ended at 7:30 in the morning). This cinematic Einstein suddenly decided to demand that our photographer, as well as Felicia Lee, “get the hell off HIS set.” Our photographer had no choice, other than to go, after WPPA Honcho pro tem, Louis Asmo, suddenly had an attack of temporary amnesia (maybe it was a premature senior moment) and assured the young GSN film maker (?) that he had never seen our camera guy, even though he had asked if he could have a copy of the pics and a link to our permanent gallery of the WPPA photos. Of course our photographer said yes we could provide them even though we were not receiving any compensation nor were we offered any. Unfortunately for the WPPA and the GSN their unacceptable, rude behavior forced our photographer to leave the premises with all three hundred of the nights images of the final table. They will now be available only on our website to our readers. We will publish our gallery of photos from this event in the near future after I get them sorted and processed for publication. I will even publish some of the young GSN film maker guy looking into the lens of our photographer’s camera.

I was somewhat upset at the shabby treatment we received after all our efforts to provide positive coverage of this WPPA event. I no longer am all that unhappy and I am thankful I didn’t write the deserved flame last night. Always better to take the lemons and make the lemonade. We will no longer have to work the WPPA events into our already busy schedule. We will better utilize our time covering legitimate major poker events. For a complete recounting of all the “less than sterling” details of the WPPA problems read Felicia Lee’s first installment of a ‘probable’ novel length WPPA report. She was there from start to finish volunteering her time and money trying to make the WPPA a success. Take the time to read her accurate, well written account. You will also find the complete order of finish and prize money for the WPPA final table.

I wish to take this opportunity to introduce our latest addition to the editorial staff, FailedCoup. Of course, that is his chosen pseudonym since he wishes to remain anonymous, even though he is well known and read in the European poker community. Expect a refreshingly different take on Vegas and the Vegas poker scene. Our new guy knows his way around the tournaments and poker rooms and he always has a small, sneaky camera handy so you will also get some of his views of the Vegas poker landscape. The timely piece below is his first for us.

Posted by flipchipro at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Having worked on an internet start-up site for the WSOP (although one with strong family connections to help traffic) that attracted 40,000 hits per day, then was mothballed, I realized that interest in tournament coverage would not be limited to the World Series.
So armed with digital camera, casino pen and notepad I entered the poker media world. When you see that "Shoeless" Mike Paulle is at the top of the tree you realize it isn't a money tree (Although he does look well fed).

I found the top players to be avid readers of everything poker on the net and approachable. The tournament directors (TD), however, tend to be more old school and like to enforce the rules that they have dreamed up. They don't seem to appreciate that by reporting from a tournament the same day will result in attracting players the next day, if the report is positive of course. Binions asked me to ask players to sign a legal document before I could take their photos. The document would have had to imply that Binions had no liability over the photos use on the internet.

The WPPA at the Orleans posted 2 burly security guards at the door to exclude us from the final table. Matusow luck with your next tournament.

The Hard Rock attracted a thirty-something group for their tournament. It was so dark in there older players would have been unable to see their cards. Hence, no good photos.

The one exception is Matt Savage's Ultimate Poker challenge at the Plaza. I have not heard one dispute the whole time. Despite the presence of TV cameras I have had plenty of time to take photos during breaks in filming or after players are eliminated. Matt always welcomes me with a smile and a shake of the hand. I think he realizes that being nice to everyone is just as easy as being rude. His attitude along with a well groomed appearance has rocketed this former $10 buy-in player to the top of the lucrative TD market. He has attracted top poker stars such as Evelyn & Adam, Chip & Karina Jett, Jennifer Harman, Max Pescatori, Renee Wexler, Andy Bloch and Allen Cunningham to the downtown casinos weekend event. With only two more weeks until the finals stop by and say "Hi".

Other TD's must wake up to the fact that a blog, such as this one, can make a difference in whether a player travels to a tournament or goes elsewhere.

Posted by at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Festa al Lago III at the Bellagio Hotel is in full swing with 328 entrants paying $1000 + $60 buy-in for the No-Limit Hold’em tournament held today. The contest began at noon in the tournament area set up outside the Bellagio’s poker room. The Bellagio is one of the most luxurious hotels in the world and adds considerable class to any event, even poker tournament. I have to report that the management of the Bellagio quickly issued permission for me to photograph the event. Even though media people must remain outside the playing space I am able to use a short tele for our trademark in-your-face action photos. The barrier ropes are close enough to the action to offer fans an opportunity to watch some great big-time poker tournament play and to get a close up view of their favorite poker star. Speaking of stars, they were at the Bellagio today playing, visiting or just hanging out. The Festa al Lago III, a WPT sanctioned tournament, is the current epicenter of the poker world so if you enjoy poker and poker tournaments in a very plush setting then don’t pass on this opportunity.

Many of the great players and celebrities of the sport are on-hand for this major event. Looking around the area I saw Bob Stupak, Kathy Liebert, Charlie Shoten and Hassan Habib. I located Toby Maguire playing at one of the tables and watched him double up twice within a short time span after going all in and hitting the flop. The crowds soon realized the star was present and gathered four deep at the rail to get a view. Toby does not like to be casually photographed in public so the Bellagio security force was kept busy trying to control the entire camera wielding tourist crowd.

The Poker Prof and I received a call from visiting blogger, O.J. Alcaraz, in town for the Festa al Lago III. O.J is a geek, blogger and poker player; although not necessarily in that order. We met him in the Bellagio lobby and while we hiked over to the tournament area O.J. told us about his experience in today’s tournament. He was at a table with Kathy Liebert and Charlie Shoten when he was dealt pocket jacks. He and Kathy ended up heads up in the pot and the flop comes A-A-blank. O.J. bet $800 and Kathy smooth called. The turn and river didn’t improve O.J.’s hand so he checked both and Kathy raised all in, O.J. called. Kathy turned over pocket rockets for quad Aces. The hand severely crippled O.J.’s stack and he was soon eliminated from the tournament. While looking over the tournamnet tables Charlie Shoten came over to visit after he was eliminated from the action and loaned us a copy of his work-in-progress book. Everyone here at LasVegasVegas.com is reading Charlie’s book and the first opinion from the Poker Prof first read is very positive. A unique take on improving your poker game and your life. Charlie always draws a crowd, being recognized by fans and autograph seekers alike.

The problems we and others encountered at the Orlean’s WPPA final event being filmed by the Game Show Network (GSN) is becoming common knowledge throughout the poker community. We had some of the players voluntarily offer their opinions about the events of the previous evening and they expressed concern about the WPPA and especially the GSN treatment of players, unpaid volunteers and media. I will blog about this most unpleasant occurance after I have an opportunity to sort out everything. I have e-mailed the GSN people with my concerns and am awaiting their response. If they are true to form, as demonstrated by their rep at the WPPA, then we will probably be ignored, just another page in this sordid tale. Murmuring in the street says WPPA honcho pro tem, Louis Asmo, did damage to his already fragile credibility. We have decided to put some distance between LasVegasVegas.com and the WPPA, least we suffer collateral damage. There will be no more coverage of WPPA events by LasVegasVegas.com. We will allow the WPPA and the GSN a reasonable amount of time to respond before we write a final, detailed WPPA post and publish our gallery of WPPA final table photos.

A special Happy Birthday to a fellow blog, Iggy's Guinness and Poker Blog (aka: Party Poker Blog) is celebrating its first birthday. Iggy is holding the next poker blogger and their readers tournament: October 21st, Thursday, at 9pm EST. It's a $20 No-Limit tournament check it out, a lot of fun for very little money.

Posted by flipchipro at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I watched the latest installment of the Ultimate Poker Challenge from the Plaza here in downtown Las Vegas and was quite pleased that Kathy Liebert won. She is one of the best poker players in the world and brings a hard to beat game to any poker table. I saw the ads for Party Poker and I am curious as to how online poker sites can be a sponsor for the TV broadcast after reading this article. Throughout the telecast I saw ads for Party Poker.net saying I could play poker online for free so I went to PartyPoker.net and found the World’s Largest Poker School. This is nothing more than a thinly veiled ad for PartyPoker.com, the World’s Largest Poker Room. You go online at PartyPoker.net, learn to play and then what? Of course, the next step is to go to PartyPoker.com, fund an account and play for bucks instead of just fun. The ads are meant to attract new signups for an online poker site and as such they are borderline acceptable. How long before the feds force the networks running the Ultimate Poker Challenge to pull these ads? Will they be threatened with the same penalties that forced The Travel Channel to pull the Party Poker ads sponsoring the WPT series? Ironic that Mike Matusow was the co-host for the show. He projects well on the tube and with some coaching and experience could become an interesting and dynamic color commentator. He apparently needs some help in the wardrobe department.

The WPPA final event should be about over by now. Probably ended about the time Felicia Lee got home. I guess the WPPA got so many “Hollywood Style Stars” in their eyes they couldn’t see they were shooting themselves in the foot. Whatever they did they alienated and lost their hardest working supporter (Now an ex-supporter). I will provide the full story of what goes on with the WPPA once I work out all the details. This story has many twists and turns so will require some careful sorting of the facts. LasVegasVegas has been a strong supporter of the WPPA and we have offered numerous posts with a hyperlink to their website. We have on more than one occasion suggested signing up with this group even though we are in no way associated with or receive any revenues from the WPPA. Their charter seemed to be a great idea for the good of the poker industry and specifically the rights of the poker player. From what we observed this evening during the final table of the main event you may want to reconsider before joining this organization. I know another effort will come along that will embrace the player’s rights and then stand by their members, no matter what, and when this happens they will receive our vote of confidence and stamp of approval.

Posted by pokerprof at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The WPPA tournament at the Orleans began this day with twenty-seven players at three tables trying to get one of the nine final table berths. The Final table will play tomorrow at the Orleans’ Arena starting at noon. Today’s three table match was held in the Arena with a complete film crew from the Game Show Network on hand recording all the action. The contest was held on a closed set and all present had to agree to non-disclosure of results with the exception of the players, a somewhat confusing situation. Although I reported earlier that the WPPA is a poker player based organization that exists for the benefit and pleasure of the players it appears the GSN TV people are calling all the Main Event shots and, apparently, they have some ideas concerning player’s rights that differ from the WPPA charter. The players are not allowed to wear any logo clothing and those that came with shirts and hats that sport logos or writing had to cover them with tape. You will notice this when the show is televised. Some of the players were none to happy with this restriction that denies them the opportunity to collect sponsor money. The event will only pay nine places so anyone that doesn’t make the final table receives nothing for their appearance on national TV. I posted an article about this very problem that you may want to read.

There were some interesting rumors floating around about some of the ideas the TV people had to make the tournament more appealing to viewers. Again, I have to remember they are entertainment folks and not poker players. In fact, if some of the things I heard are true they have no knowledge of the high stakes tournament game or the players. I will investigate this story and blog my finding in a future post. Felicia Lee was on the set today providing her excellent play-by-play coverage. She has worked many long hours with no pay or gratuities (even paying her expenses out of the pocket) throughout this first WPPA World Championship Poker Tour, Tournament Players' Championship of Poker.

I had the opportunity to visit with Charlie Shoten after he was eliminated from the competition today. He is putting the finishing touches on a book he has authored that maps a route to a quality life. Although he relates to his professional poker play as the antidote that provides his peaceful, unencumbered existence, Charlie’s ideas will help anyone to achieve a quality lifestyle that takes the time to read his new book. It should be available at booksellers in the upcoming months.

Posted by flipchipro at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

People are heading to Vegas. Boy Genius has his list of 5 things to do while here, prompted by Al Can’t Hang who is also heading to sin city. O.J. will be here sooner then anyone to play in a Fiesta al Lago event. Cheap Thrills has a great write-up on the legality of poker while Felicia continues to provide excellent tournament reports from the first WPPA events. Finally, both A fool and his Money and Call, Raise or Muck it have excellent alternate perspectives on the Mike Matasow story.

The popularity of poker has spread into the retail sector with many of the giants stocking up on poker related merchandise. Casino quality chips, cards and table tops may be the hot, must have items this holiday season. A Wal Mart spokesperson believes decks of playing cards will probably be the most popular stocking stuffer this Christmas. Kmart indicated they are seeing people with little playing experience buying poker items and their poker game knowledge is primarily from the poker tournament shows on TV. With all the revenues that poker is generating and the potential to spill over into retail sales it should not be long before the Feds take an interest in making it a legit, tax paying business.

Posted by pokerprof at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The WPPA Main Event is down to 27 players after today’s action with many of the professional poker players remaining in the hunt for the final table and the $125,000 first prize money. The WPPA tournament format as described in yesterday’s post does allow the pros to play their game. The chip leader is Paul Wolfe with $105,150, followed by Amir Vahedi at $60,150 and Carlos Mortensen sitting in third with $44,825. Scott Fischman remains but is short stacked at $6,650 while Bill Carrol, Miami John Cernuto, Charlie Shoten and Terry Meyers are in the middle of the pack. Kathy Liebert, considered to be the number one female poker player in the world, played well today and has $20,275 in chips after eliminating always popular Scotty Nguyen. I had an opportunity to visit with Kathy for a few minutes after today’s session. This soft spoken, tough as nails poker playing lady is a good representative for the sport and I am sure we will be seeing much of her on future televised tournaments. Speaking of which, I enjoyed watching Kathy win the Ultimate Poker Challenge event that was televised this evening. Congratulations Kathy! The WPPA takes tomorrow off and returns on Monday, 10/11/04, for the third day of play. Nine of the twenty-seven players will make the final table to be filmed from the arena at the Orleans on Tuesday.

Where will the 2005 World Series of Poker go if the Rio Hotel and Casino property is sold by Harrah’s Entertainment? Rumor in the street here in Las Vegas is whispering that Colony Capital is seriously considering buying the Rio in the near future. Colony Capital can certainly afford most any asking price with their very deep pockets. They are already buying four casinos from the $9 + billion Caesars Entertainment sales of properties to Harrahs. The asking price for the Rio is speculated to be in the billion dollar range. Harrah’s Entertainment Company would probably be interested in such a deal although they are not expected to have any antitrust problems as a result of their recent gaming property buying spree. The sale would be strictly for the high margin, short term profits and not a condition of doing business here in the Las Vegas casino market.

Harrahs purchased the World Series of Poker tournament from Becky Behnen Binion for more than $20 million and the event is probably not for sale at any price. Harrah’s Entertainment did a great job of holding the 2004 WSOP at the downtown Binion’s Horseshoe Casino; although, the incredibly popular tournament overtaxed the old facility. Considering the time required to put together and execute such a major casino sale the 2005 WSOP will probably be held at the Rio even if the property is sold before next summer’s 2005 WSOP. The final table of the 2005 WSOP Main Event will be played at the downtown Horseshoe one last time in honor of the ’05 Centennial Celebration for the city of Las Vegas. Whatever happens to Harrah's Rio Hotel I am certain the World Series of Poker will be true to its roots and remain in Las Vegas.

I have made a list of some sites and included why each might be a good choice for a relocated 2005 WSOP. So without further ado this week’s Top Nine List.

9. Circus Circus- Free buffet passes to all losers.
8. MGM Mirage- Only facility large enough to hold Hellmuth’s ego.
7. Cabaret Gentlemen’s Club- Nude dealers.
6. Golden Gate Casino- 99 cent shrimp cocktails.
5. Imperial Palace- Those cocktail waitresses.
4. Antilles Islands- All those seat winning bots can play.
3. Hendon, England- The Hendon mob can go home at night.
2. Yankee Stadium- After all, it is the World Series.
1. Clark County Detention Center- Mike Matusow can play!

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The final event of the WPPA World Championship Poker Tour began today at noon with seventy-two entrants paying $5,000 + $100 for the No-Limit Hold’em tournament at the Orleans Hotel and Casino here in Las Vegas. The WPPA has designed its format to favor the better players with low blinds that increase slowly and longer sessions at each limit. This format will allow for the skilled player to practice his abilities without having to blind themselves broke. The group of players included a number of well known professionals. Spotted at the tables were Dan Harrington, Scotty Nguyen, Kathy Liebert, Scott Fischman, Charlie Shoten, Layne Flack, Mel Judah and Amir Vahedi. Today, the first day of the Main Event, was played down to 51 players before breaking for the day.

The prize payouts are as follows: 1st-$125,420; 2nd-$65,305; 3rd-$46,505; 4th-$32,125; 5th-$22,320; 6th-$17,285; 7th-$14,100; 8th-$12,000 and 9th-$10,540. Everyone at the final table will receive some of the prize pool. The Game Show Network film crew was on site today filming highlights for the final table show to be broadcast later this year. I will provide daily coverage of the final event through the last hand at the final table.

The Fiesta al Lago III Poker Tournament, a WPT sanctioned tournament started today at the Bellagio and runs through the 21st. All events at the Fiesta al Lago will be No-Limit Hold’em with the Main Event being the $10,000 + $200 three day The Doyle Brunson North American No-Limit Hold'em Poker Championship WPT. The final event will be filmed for broadcast on the Travel Channel’s World Poker Tour series.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today’s post is a collection of self promotion segments and an update of WPPA tournament news. I will start with the article written by the Poker Prof that appears in the latest issue of “All In Magazine". We were proud to offer our services and expertise to assist with a charity poker tournament for four-year-old Alec Drerup of Amarillo, Texas. The charity tournament, held to collect money for an operation for the young man, almost didn’t happen after local law enforcement authorities decided it would violate Texas law. Some creative fast footwork by the organizers allowed the event to become a reality without fear of arrest for the participants. The title of the Prof’s article on page 16 of the Aug/Sept 2004 issue is “Medicinal Poker.” The by-line lists the author as Joseph Smith, aka the Poker Prof. If you get an opportunity please read the article even thgough you may have to subscribe to the magazine to do so. You will also want to read articles by fellow bloggers including the Ben Affleck cover story written by blogger, Brad "Otis" Willis, of PokerPages.com. The "Vegas Baby" article covering the best poker rooms in Vegas was written by blogger, Hoyt "CJ" Luckman, of upforanything.net/poker. We have been unable to locate the magazine at any of the local newsstands here in Las Vegas but maybe you will have better luck finding a copy in your community.

The second installment in our “dedicated to us self-promotion post” is an article I wrote and illustrated with original photos titled, “Final Table Challenge Held,” that appeared on page 5 of the October 4, 2004 (volume 8 issue 7 page 5) issue of “Poker Player,” the poker newspaper available in most poker rooms. “Poker Player” left out our by-line for the article. “Poker Player’” published a correction on page 33 of the October 18, 2004 (Volume 8 issue 8 page 33) issue giving us, LasVegasVegas.com, the proper credit. Thanks Stanley!

The WPPA tournament at the Orleans Hotel & Casino is winding down to the final event which starts tomorrow, 10/08/2004, at noon. The main event will be a $5000 + $100 No-limit Hold’em tournament scheduled to finish on the 12th. Today’s events are $500 super satellites with entrants playing for seats in tomorrow’s main event. The WPPA completed a TV contract with the Game Show Network and the GSN TV people decided, as an added bonus, to pay for an three additional seats to be awarded to players in the noon satellite today and they are adding six additional seats for the 7:00 pm satellite. The noon satellite had a good turnout with more than fifty paid entrants. I will provide coverage and photos of the final event.

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I have just returned from a morning at the Clark County Courthouse and need to post while everything is fresh. I was in Judge Mosley's, Clark County District Court Judge Department 14, courtroom to offer my support to Mike Matusow on this black day in his life. He was there to be sentenced for his guilty plea to a felony count involving illegal drugs. Mike had agreed to a plea negotiating that required him to do six months detention and months of probation. The Judge was not bound by the agreement and could impose whatever sentence he deemed necessary to protect the good citizens of Clark County. His Honor chose to honor the agreement and Mike was sentenced to six months confinement in the Clark County Jail located in downtown Las Vegas. Mike was immediately cuffed and taken away to begin doing the time. Mike will be housed about a city block's distance from Binion?s Horseshoe where he has won multiple WSOP events and bracelets. His success at the high stakes tournaments made him a known entity throughout the poker community. His success is probably the biggest contributing factor to his current problems.

I chatted with Mike and watched the court proceedings progress with bad guy after bad guy appearing before the Judge. A stoic Mike had come prepared with his poker faced persona and carefully watched the room while awaiting his turn. One sentencing involved a young man that had participated in felony vandalism and destruction of private property, he and his friends wandered through a Vegas neighbor one night and torched autos parked in driveways resulting in thousands of dollars of losses. He was sentenced to supervised probation and told not to engage in destructive behavior again, no jail time. This guy is out on the street and I'm supposed to sleep well and not worry about my auto bursting into flames?

Mike and I talked about a number of topics including his final hand at the recently completed tournament in Aruba. Mike was in the small blind with a Q-9o and one caller. He completed his blind and the flop comes Q-8-5. Mike bet $120K and the other player raised putting Mike all-in with his call. The other player showed 8-6o for a pair of 8's against mike's pair of Q's. The turn didn't help either player and the river was a 6. Mike was knocked out of the tournament when his pair of Queens was beat by two pair. A three quarter million dollar difference. We discussed some of the details of his troubles and how he got into this trap. Although it's not a simple story, it is one I have had to deal with before when a close family member was caught up in a very similar, well laid trap. Mike was befriended by a friend of a friend more than a year before his arrest. Over the course of the ensuing months they became best friends. His new friend decided one day he needed some coke to impress his 'Mafioso style buddies' and leaned on Mike and his money to provide the drug. Mike found the drugs and when he handed them over he was immediately arrested and offered a deal to walk away if he would finger his source. Mike refused to do so and was promised he would do some long, hard time. Mike has never revealed the source of the drugs. I believe if the source was known, they would be another friend that is neither a major or minor distributor of illegal drugs, instead someone else doing a favor for a friend. This story is all too familiar and I'm beginning to believe it is a standard mode of operation among the narcs. Basically, if you can't catch a real drug dealer then create one. The undercover cop that befriended Mike and the narc that trapped my relative spent considerable time and public money trying to arrest a drug dealer. In both cases there just wasn't anyone at the end of the case so to justify their time and expenditures they had to create and arrest someone for drug dealing. That is why Mike is now in the Clark County Jail right now, to justify the thousands of dollars of public money spent on the undercover narc's investigation. This guy was well paid to spend more than a year being Mike's best friend. He got to live the high life without making a contribution to anything, community or otherwise. I have to keep reminding myself that many a narc is a former drug dealer that was too dumb to avoid getting caught and made a deal to join 'team narc' (regular paycheck and benefits) and rat out their former buddies, the bad guys.

I will visit Mike at the county lock-up and check on his well being often during the next six months. I know how lonely and depressing confinement can be for anyone, especially someone as sociable as Mike Matusow. I would not be at all surprised if someday someone wins a major tournament and when asked where they learned to play such great poker they will say, "I learned the game when I was in jail in Las Vegas with Mike Matusow, a champion poker player."

The drug laws have changed here in Nevada in 2001 and the possession of marijuana in certain instances is not as harsh as I reported. One of our astute readers was kind enough to tell me of my error and point me to the revised laws. Thanks Daniel!

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The Poker Prof and I spent a pleasant afternoon today at the top of the Stratosphere Tower with Check n Raise Poker’s Director of Marketing, Jeffrey Haas. If you do not know about Check n Raise let me provide a little background information. This new online poker site, located in the Antilles, has been in development and beta testing for a number of months. The management and engineers are finally satisfied with the operation so have scheduled an online Grand Opening debut for October 23rd. They are offering a wide variety of Grand Opening Bonuses to celebrate the big event. A 50% signup bonus, up to $250, for everyone that pre-registers and funds a real money account by the 23rd. The first three thousand new registrations will receive a seat in one of three free roll tournaments offering prizes up to $10,000. All pre-registrants will also receive 500 player points.

Jeffrey outlined some of the innovative features of the online casino beginning with the quality of the software and table presentation. The on-screen table will have certain player controlled functions not currently available at any of the existing online sites. You will be able to change your seat location at the table making it very convenient to play in multiple games. Perhaps the biggest improvement will be the clever method of funding your account. Most of us that reside in the US know the difficulty and risk of trying to transfer money into an offshore casino account. Not only can it be incredibly difficult and time consuming but in some instances it can become impossible and result in having your bank account seized or your credit card account frozen. We have some firsthand experience with this problem. Check n Raise has a simple solution. You can fund your account by purchasing prepaid cards (the same prepaid phone cards found everywhere) and then transfer the full value of the card to your account quickly and easily. Pretty slick! Another new idea in online poker will be the Player's Points, a bonus for frequent players to accumulate points they can trade for merchandise and cash. The Player's Point feature is quite similar to land based casino slot clubs. A final note for all the geeks that read our blog is the bandwidth required to operate and maintain a seamless movement of data. Check n Raise has three OC 48’s providing the pipeline to the servers located in the Antilles. One OC 48 will be capable of carrying the entire load so there should never be any slowdowns or high traffic disconnects.

We have previewed the beta software and I like the presentation. The screen is easy to navigate and anyone can customize the display to suit their personal preference. My personal experience with the software is positive and although I don’t play much online poker, I honestly prefer the CnR software. The CnR people have spent thousands of hours perfecting the game and many thousands of hours beta testing and correcting the problems. They are also providing an 800 number for help, another great feature. We also learned about some very advanced ideas that the code writers are developing. Check n Raise Poker is certainly worth a look if you enjoy playing online poker. The Check n Raise online site will continue to evolve, partner and provide the player with a complete poker experience that other sites cannot match for years.

Jeffrey, check out his website, was in Las Vegas to attend the Global Gaming Expo. A large convention of gaming industry employees and experts from around the world gather in Las Vegas every year to discuss and guide the gaming industry into the future. Much of the discussions will center around the legality of online gaming and the influence it has on land based casinos. I believe it is only a matter of time until the US gets in step with the rest of the world and makes online poker legal. The big casino owners are finally beginning to realize that just like the once feared and hated Indian Casinos, online casinos are not only a good thing, but are providing the fuel for the current incredible popularity rise of gambling and poker in particular. When the first major land based casino moves into the online market the online gaming industry will quickly become legal and the US government will be the benefactor of all those tax dollars now flowing out of the country. The feds or individual states can also regulate and control the industry providing the consumers with confidence in getting a fair, unbiased game. I believe that we online scribes with our worldwide reach must become part of the effort to organize this movement to legalize and regulate online gaming.

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The post for today begins on a positive note. We have completed enough of the Las Vegas Poker Tournament Schedule to release a beta version. The tournament database is quite robust and allows the user to locate events by dates, days or months. The tournaments may be regularly scheduled events or one time affairs. A major benefit to poker players will be the opportunity to quickly find events for days you are going to be in Las Vegas. Simply enter the dates of your stay here and you will see a comprehensive listing of poker events coinciding with your schedule. Remember, this new feature is in early beta and we will be filling out the details. Give it a try and if you locate problems please e-mail so we can get them corrected.

I’m writing the following with some degree of trepidation and disappointment. I’m disappointed with many things including the apparent problems that a very well known professional poker player, residing here in Las Vegas, is now involved. Before I go too deeply into this story I have to add the following disclaimer: “It’s only a rumor in the street.” I also need to give you some facts of life here in Las Vegas. Nevada, contrary to popular opinion, has some of the toughest drug laws in the nation. Possession of one marijuana seed is a felony here in the Battle Born state. In other words, if you do anything illegal with any drug (prescription or street) and get caught you are in big trouble and you will damn well do hard time (Another disclaimer: If you are well connected you may be excused).

My hobby is going through the traffic logs for LasVegasVegas.com and reducing the data through trend analysis to something useful. I often get a preview of breaking news events before they are out on the street. A search of our logs during the last few days has revealed an inordinate number of Google searches for arrest, drugs and Matusow. I know that Matusow is not a real common family name but I do know at least four unrelated people with the surname. I have researched the incidence of combining the words in a search and found that someone named Mike Matusow was arrested in 2003 by an undercover narc for selling drugs. This person was charged with seven counts, five of which have been dropped or set aside. I have done more research on the street chasing down rumors and can relay the following information. The clandestine drug in question was a prescription pill sold in small quantities to an undercover cop. Apparently the narc had convinced “this Matusow” that he was in considerable pain and needed it to return to a life without pain. If this is the Matusow I know he may have fallen for the story and provided the drugs if they were available. He would have done this out of compassion and not for profit, he doesn’t need the dollars realized from a drug deal The Mike I know would give you whatever he had if you convinced him you were in need. The Mike I know gave away much of the millions he has won at poker to anyone with a hard luck story, true or not, he’s that kind of human being. I know many people do not care for his table persona. I do agree that he sometimes gets close to the edge of acceptable behavior; but, I guess many of his critics never observed some of the old legends of the game and their table manner. If you think that table personality is the real Mike then you probably believe that the real Toby McGuire can spin webs and swing from buildings like a spider. I will stay very close to this story and report everything. I will get to the bottom of all of this and blog the real story complete with names and details.

On a positive note for Mike Matusow I learned the following. He finished third in the just completed Main Event in Aruba. This will be another WPT final table for Mike and I am sure I will enjoy watching his table antics. He is one of the new breed of characters in championship poker and viewers that like him tune in to see what he will do next and viewers that dislike him tune in to see what he will do next. Mike is good for ratings.

Posted by flipchipro at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Let’s start the week with a couple of well written Vegas trip reports, one from Genius of the Poker and the other from Wil Wheaton. Next Felicia deserves major props for her excellent write-ups of the first WPPA tournaments being held at the Orleans. I always like to point poker readers in the direction of Linda over at poker-works, her day-to-day experiences as a dealer are second to none! Finally, I’ve avoided blogging about the death of Andy Glazer for quite some time. I could not bring myself to blog the true story and I refused to utter a known falsehood. Well, the truth is now out there. Paul Phillips has the link to the Andy Glazner story. RIP Andy.

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Is poker on TV the most boring thing to happen to viewers since the political conventions? If you read this column you would certainly believe that to be true. I think the author, Gene Collier, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was having a vapor locked brain day and couldn’t think of anything to write about. He compares poker with the likes of pro wrestling (actually considers poker more boring). After reading his article I guess I don’t have to guess about his qualifications to write critical reviews of the sport. After all, he's been playing since he was seven and remembers every detail of his Grandmother winning a thirteen cent pot. He then says,"Now that was poker!" He does state that some of his favorite exciting TV shows are “Three’s Company,” “Green Acres” and “Major League Baseball.” Wow, with such sterling qualifications how far off the mark can this article be? Guess I should immediately stop watching televised poker before I begin suffering from poker boredom syndrome, PBS. No, wait , we can't use that acronym, its already taken by the Public TV people . I know I must be getting close to having some of the serious boredom symtoms since I did read his entire article with only a couple of coffee breaks. I guess my bottom line here is if you don’t like what’s on then change the damn channel. We only have about a million channel choices to choose from so grab the changer and entertain yourself. Hell, maybe you will run across some "Green Acres" reruns featuring Arnold, your favorite funny pig. Maybe you will really luck out and find a two day marathon of every episode of "Three's Company." I would bet that Gene doesn’t even like the Curling matches shown on Canadian TV. Curling, now there is some genuine cliff hanger sports TV.

I have though about this problem of televised poker being a boring game and have tried to think of some ways to liven it up. Make it as exciting as "Three’s Company," so I have done this week's Nines List about the top nine ways to make televised poker more exciting.

9. Guns are not only allowed but are encouraged.
8. Red Bull IVs for every player.
7. Quentin Tarantino directs all final table filming.
6. Two words: Exploding chips.
5. Suzanne Somers and Arnold Ziffel are at every final table.
4. Jackie Chan instead of Johnny Chan.
3. 1/2 Hold'em, 1/2 mud wrestling.
2. Replace lame commentators with exciting newspaper sports columnists.
1. Shana Hiatt nude!

That's it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos' "Muck It" cartoon.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While covering the WPPA tournament at the Orleans on Thursday I had the opportunity to meet Dan Heimiller for the first time. Dan won the Wednesday $1000 +$40 Limit Hold’em event. I researched Dan and was surprised by the many accomplishments this unassuming professional players has accumulated. He has remained so low key that most of us are not even aware of the incredibly solid game he plays. Dan goes quietly about his business of taking apart his opponents at the final table of high stakes poker tournaments. Checking out his record reveals a player that has made as many final WSOP tables as anyone around. He cashed six times in the 1997 WSOP and won the 2002 WSOP ½ Stud + ½ Hold’em event beating the likes of pro, Max Stern, and second place finisher, Ram Vaswani of the Hendon Mob. Dan collected $108,300 plus one of the coveted World Series of Poker Champion bracelets. During the final table play of the WPPA Limit Hold’em event on Wednesday Dan went into the three way match with practically no chips. He was down to $400 in chips at one point when the chip leader, experienced professional Greg Fund, made a serious error in judgment and folded his Ace instead of putting Dan all in. Dan later said he had been watching and knew greg was not paying close attention to chip stacks. dan kinew he could take advantage of this oversight refused to give up, then he began taking away large pots from over aggressive chip leader and eventual second place finisher. It was a classic show of Dan doing what Dan does best, making the final table and then getting all the chips. Not bad for a guy no one mentions when they talk about all the poker greats. He will certainly have a place in our Pro Player Bio Gallery as one of the great players.

I read this article on the regulation of on-line poker sites. eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance), a non-profit, non-partisan body with a full time staff in London, England provides client on-line gaming sites with inspections and certifications of accepted industry standards for customer fairness and satisfaction. eCOGRA has spent the last year developing Generally Accepted Practices (eGAP) that are relevant and effective to the industry. Internet gaming is moving toward legitimacy even without the help of the US government by developing and imposing self-regulation measures. Inspections to determine adherence to accepted standards will be carried out by independent auditors such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. Sites that pass the tests will be awarded the eCOGRA seal that will be dispayed on the site. Website operators believe players will be more inclined to play on certified sites and will search for websites displaying a seal of approval. Player confidence will reward those websites that have choosen to be under constant, independent surveillance. This sounds like a great idea whose time has come. I think this is the first step toward the goal of legalizing our favorite pastime and is a goodwill gesture to all the moral police.

Posted by pokerprof at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)