Five Diamond World Poker Classic is Underway
Coverage of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic Tournament that started today at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino here in Las Vegas and continues through December 18th will begin tomorrow since I had to be out of Vegas today. J. Santos and I drove to LA today so I could see my cardiologist for a follow up from some problems I had earlier this year. I am most happy to report that everything is great and I am almost back to normal. My doctors in Los Angeles have taken great care of me and repaired and returned me to a healthy life, something I now cherish. Some of them read the blog so I wish to thank them for their great skill, respect and compassion; attributes that are often missing in today’s world of medicine. Thanks, from the bottom of my now normal heart, to all the med guys and gals in Santa Monica.
Returning to Las Vegas this evening I noted unusually light traffic on the Interstate from LA to Vegas. We are in a slow period following Thanksgiving; but the volume of visitors will steadily increase right up to our busiest day, New Year’s Eve. If you are planning to ring in the New Year’s here in the city of entertainment it would be a good idea to make plans and reservations now. The town will fill very quickly.
The National Finals Rodeo is in town and kicks off on Wednesday. The event runs through December 12th. 
The rodeo always brings the hat and boot crowd to the poker tables so the games are plentiful and the action is fast. One of our friends, a local poker room regular, refers to the cowboy poker players as “the cat-fish in the hat.”
The Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a WPT sanctioned event, runs November 30 through December 18th and is a magnet for all the professional poker players. A great time to visit Vegas and experience the decidedly western atmosphere from the rodeo influence and then take a stroll through the Bellagio’s Five Diamond Tournament area to see almost every known poker star on the planet. Better yet, enter one of the events and match your game with the people you see playing poker on TV every week. I will be there with the camera recording all the action close up and personal.
If you go to the Hard Rock and your drink is a long time coming blame our Flipchipro. He has found his calling in life. Photographing cocktail waitresses. I took a nice shot of waitress Robyn but she has green boobs! (Caused by the lighting I hope).
Saluting the Lord Admiral
The Hot Tex II at the Hard Rock is now over and we have a winner. Harry Karazian and Ian Kalman decided to split the first and second place money after Steve Novak went out in third. They each took home $16,097. Harry Karazian was declared the winner and received the first place trophy since he was the chip leader while Ian received the second place trophy. Steve Novak wins $10,935 for his third place finish. The two remaining professional player at the final table was the Italian Pirate, Max Pescatori, who finished fifth and collected $3540, while James van Alstyne received $2075 for sixth. Mai No was the last remaining female in the tournament, finishing fourth and winning $7290. The event was well run by Tournamnet Director Dave Lamb. The dealers and floor people did a great job during the tournament. Another Poker Tournament is in the planning stages and will be scheduled for sometime in the first quarter of 2005.
The Hot Tex II Photo Gallery should be available within a day or two. We are currently sorting, organizing and preparing the best images from the hundreds taken of the two day event.
The Hot Tex II tournament at the 
Tomorrow's action resumes at 7:30 pm in the Joint Night Club at the Hard Rock. The prize pool for the tournament is $60,750 and will pay nine places as follows:
The Poker Prof, Foiledcoup and I enjoyed the opportunity to visit and gossip with a well known professional poker player. We discussed many poker related topics (imagine that!) including Max’s opinion that the PPT (Professional Poker Tour) is a positive first step for the poker industry. We certainly agree. Thanks Max for the great conversation and dinner.
I am pleased to announce the contestants for the first Foiledcoup Fantasy Freeroll Tournament. This is the real reason the PPT has postponed their Bellagio event in January. Mormon missionaries will knock on the player’s doors at 7:00 am. I agreed to this so the programme will be televised on the BYU channel available to Cox digital customers. The players are, (with individual code of conduct):
5) ANDY BLOCH (He must wear a hooded sweatshirt. Full Tilt logo acceptable).
The poker action in Las Vegas will heat up this holiday weekend when the 
We have received more great news for everyone that will be at the December 11th Blogger’s Holiday Tournament at Sam’s Town. The 2003 WPT Battle of Champions winner, Ron Rose will be there for the event. He will be at the complimentary breakfast prior to the 1:00 pm start of the tournament. Ron is a well known professional poker player with many championships to his credit including a WSOP gold bracelet. He is also the author of one of the best Professional Poker Player biography books, “Poker Aces, The Stars of Tournament Poker.” I am getting quite excited about our little tournament and wish to thank all of our pro poker friends that have agreed to take time from their busy schedules to stop in and meet the poker blogger community. Also, without the tireless efforts of our friend and manager of 
Considering the previous poker rooms Steve Wynn has designed, the Mirage and the Bellagio, I am looking forward to an executive preview tour prior to the public opening.
With a high temp of only 45f and the overnight drizzle turning into permanent rain it was more like a Sunday in Portland than Vegas; minus the bookstores and cool locals. However, I was aching for a story and I had seen an ad in the UNLV in-house rag for a UNLV student NLHE tournament at the Golden Nugget. I don't know why, given the apathy of UNLV's student population; but, I had a good feeling about this event. Whenever I visit the fine, modern Lied Library I always see a number of students relaxing between classes with a game of online poker. Could these guys (and a few girlfriends) be tempted away from dollar beers and Sunday football or last nights take home from the Crown & Anchor?
The TD was Cathy Wood, a lovely laid back person, who has worked the WSOP and whose father, Bob Thompson, is also a TD. The Golden Nugget was concerned about underage gaming; but, Scott asked them to ID all students before play commenced. Cathy told me that to move into the old tented poker room would have presented her with an in house bill of $800 which she would have had to pass on to pokerpedia.com. Instead she allotted two tables, on a busy Sunday afternoon, in the main poker room. Each table was a one hour format of 15 minute rounds with each winner going through to the six player final table. Cathy allowed for a two hour final table but this was not needed as Dan Harrington did not play. They were more like six Gus Hansens, whom I was informed, is a regular at the UNLV's tennis courts. The winner was Joe Green, whom will make his fellow students envious of his $1200 prize.
The plan now is to contact Gene Trimble at the Palms poker room with details of how well this event was received and maybe a copy of this article to show the e-media are interested. With George Maloof a UNLV graduate, he hopes the Palms will be positive to the idea; if not, Cathy Woods would welcome them back to the Golden Nugget. Scott plans to venture into Sports handicapping tournaments in the future, for students who may not feel that poker is their cup of tea.
To start off this week, I noticed that it now takes almost 4 hours to go though the entire blogroll, that’s a lot of content! 
I watched Jennifer Tilley on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno a few days ago; and among other things she mentioned a new boyfriend that she never identified and remains anonymous. Jennifer did say he was a professional poker player she had met on a couple of occasions while attending Celebrity ProAm tournaments. She told an amusing story about telephone numbers and probability odds. The first time they met he gave her his phone number and she promised to call and did not. The second tournament he told her to give him her number since the odds of her calling him were only three percent while the odds of him calling her was ninety-seven percent. Apparently he did call, she answered and they are now a couple. So who is this mystery poker pro? Having been around a couple of ProAm’s with celebrity players including Jennifer I will offer one of my photographs. Of course, I don’t have any confirmation of the identity of Jennifer’s professional poker player boyfriend; but I am offering the photos anyway. You can make your on decision.
This is Thanksgiving week so I thought it is a great time to invite everyone to spend the holiday in Las Vegas. Not only will you have all the usual gaming temptations and mountains of food; but, Las Vgeas now offers world class shopping. As we have stated before the number one reason to visit Vegas is not the gambling; it is the shopping. The Las Vegas Strip shopping malls have expanded and added hundreds of new stores offering thousands of items in every price range from free to “bring your Visa card since you can’t wheelbarrow in enough money.” Whatever is your shopping pleasure you will find it in Las Vegas and what better day to start than the Friday after Thanksgiving. The shops located within the resorts at the Bellagio, Mirage, Venetian, Aladdin or the MGM are a great place to begin. The expanded Forum Shops at Caesars and the recently opened levels at the Fashion Show Mall offer a cornucopia of gift ideas and choices. What better way to work off all those calories than spending a few days hiking the miles of Vegas shopping malls.
I finally remembered to look up his 
The cancellation of the two PPT tournaments will make it more difficult for players on the one year qualified list to play in the two mandatory events for requalification. After today’s PPT event there will not be another PPT tourney until February at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.
I notice Mike Matusow is on the 1 year list of players eligible to participate in the PPT Freerolls. To requalify players must play in at least 2 of the first year freerolls. Someone has a sense of humour. Maybe Karina Jett and Max Pescatori do not see the funny side as they are not invited to play. I noticed subs were played at Foxwoods (Andy Glazer hagiographer Wendeen Eolis was one). So, Karina and Max, just be there on the day. 
That will be followed by 3 weeks at the Bellagio "Can you spare $5.50 for a latte?" With a bloggers tournament at Sam's Town somewhere in the mix; its a good thing we have prolific blogger, Charlie Shoten, on board to help!
The WPBT Holiday Tournament scheduled for Saturday, December 11th, is shaping up to be a mixed gathering of poker bloggers and professional poker players. Charlie Shoten came to town yesterday and stopped by to discuss the event with Sam’s Town poker operations manager, Dick Gatewood and The Poker Prof. During the meeting it was proposed to offer a complimentary continental breakfast at 10:00 am on the day of the tournament for everyone to have an opportunity to meet everyone else and chat with the professional players. Charlie indicated he may bring a few additional professional players whom will already be in town for the Five Diamonds Tournament at the Bellagio. Tom McEvoy, 1983 WSOP Champion and author of eleven poker books, will probably be at the event. The lucky players that eliminate a pro will collect whatever bounty is offered for that player. The tournament will be a No-limit Hold’em affair with a fifty dollar buy-in. We currently have seating for thirty players with a possible option to add another table and bring the total to forty entrants. Dick is busy searching for some outside funds to add to the prize pool. Our own contributor and art director, J Santos, is offering some of his original artwork, framed “
This event promises to be a great opportunity for the Internet poker blogger world to meet some of the poker stars from the live tournament circuit for a little social fun. A collection of web-scribes read by thousands of readers have signed up for the tournament. I will cover all of the events of the day from the pregame breakfast through the crowning of the first ever champion of the “Las Vegas Holiday Classic World Poker Blogger Tour Tournament.” Photos of all the action will be compiled into a permanent “Blogger Tournament Gallery.” Special room rates at Sam’s Town are available by calling the direct line to the poker room, (702) 454-8092 or 1-800 897-8696 (DO NOT ASK FOR RESERVATIONS), ask for Dick Gatewood. On a final note, Boy Genius over at 
Early this morning another piece of Las Vegas history was reduced to a pile of rubble when the final remaining building from the old Desert Inn was imploded. The 2:30 am event knocked down the building to make way for a second hotel tower for the Wynn Resort. I watched the precision pyrotechnics drop the structure floor by floor on TV from the comfort of my house, avoiding the huge, thick cloud of choking dust. I was there for the first implosion and it required a number of trips to my allergist before I could again breathe without the wheeze. Today I hiked down the strip to the DI site for photos of the pile of rubble. I continue to get e-mails telling me the new Wynn Resort’s poker room will not have a hundred tables, in fact, two people don’t believe it will have a poker room; while most think it will have less with thirty or forty tables. One person is sure it will be more, he says closer to one hundred fifty tables. I will locate a source close to the project for an interview and hopefully learn the actual size of the room, if it has been determined.
The 
The first day of this year’s final event at Foxwoods saw many recognizable professional players including 
The first ever Professional Poker Tour event is scheduled to be played at Foxwoods on Friday, November 19th. The final table has been determined and the players will be Chris Bigler, Jennifer Harmon, Dan Harrington, John Juanda, Casey Kastle and WPT Battle of Champion’s winner, 
The WSOP, the original poker tournament, will move out of its first and only home, Binion’s Horseshoe, and go to the new digs ‘uptown.’ The final two days of the Championship event will return to the downtown Horseshoe as part of the Centennial Celebration for the City of Las Vegas. Tournament officials are anticipating a record number of entrants in the $10K No-limit Hold’em event, perhaps more than five thousand players. This would create a prize pool of $50,000,000. The poker industry has become much more than a green table in a smoky back room; it is prime time television with poker players that have become stars and stars that have become poker players. I am most thankful to have been a part of this business for many years and for the opportunity to continue in such a dynamic, expanding sport.
Still waiting for the result of the first PPT freeroll at Foxwoods? The first 2 days were played last Tuesday and Wednesday, the final 6 will face off next Friday, a 9 day gap! The final 6, with chip counts,are:
There a few good ol' fashioned strategy and tactics posts from this week. First, A fool and his money has 
The 
Now there’s a headline to drive up traffic to the website! The Virgins I am writing about are from Virgin radio and listeners who won a trip to Vegas on the new direct flight from Manchester to Las Vegas on 
The first group of twenty-nine player bios are up and available so click 
Its vodkas all round as Finland's finest finished 1-2 with America's Phil Ivey 3rd in Monte Carlo. Jani Sointula has only taken gas money from his forays into Estonia; but, he will have enough to fly a Lear Jet back to his homeland with 2nd place Juha Helppi, who finished 167th in this years WSOP.
Most of the poker tournament action is taking place far from Las Vegas. The WPT events at Foxwoods are into the final days and the Monte Carlo bash is also winding down. The professional and not so professional players will return in mass to the Bellagio for the Five Diamonds Poker Classic. The satellites begin on Monday, November 29th, and the first event is scheduled for Tuesday, November 30. The kick off event will be a $2000 + $80 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. All of the tournaments will begin at noon in the tournament area just outside the Bellagio’s poker room. This three week long poker extravaganza will provide everyone with an opportunity to play in a tournament game they prefer. From 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo to Pot Limit Omaha and everything in between, players are guaranteed to find events they can play. The full tournament schedule can be found by clicking 
I always look forward to poker tournaments at the Bellagio and enjoy visiting with all the players and the crowds of fans. The property is first rate and the tournaments are professionally managed by the Bellagio’s card room staff under the direction of Doug Dalton, the Bellagio’s Director of Poker Operations. The Bellagio accommodates the media, us, and allows access to photograph the players at the tables and report on all the action so our readers can enjoy the tournament, even from afar. I will be there with camera and notebook throughout the run of the event working to bring in-your-face photos of all the drama that makes up a major poker tournament. Our contributing editor, FoiledCoup, will also be on hand providing his unique perspective from the casino floor and our resident poker professional, Charlie Shoten, will be playing in many of the events and providing his insights into the world of big-time high stakes poker.
I grabbed a copy of the new Card Player this morning and as usual the first column I read was Daniel Negreanu's. At the bottom I noticed the following...."Unfortunately because of an overwhelming number of e-mails he cannot answer any strategy or help related questions."
The project will be built on the Las Vegas Strip between the Bellagio Hotel and the Monte Carlo Hotel on 66 acres of land. The development will be the first that combines private residences with hotels and casinos on the strip. 
The final nine take to the stage in Monte Carlo on Wednesday. We have 4 Scandinavians, 4 Americans and a single Brit. Betfair market favourite, Phil Ivey, has had a commanding lead for the whole of the tournament. He will be joined by Full Tilt colleague and former WSOP champion, Chris Ferguson, Victor Ramdin who won Event #5 at Foxwoods last week and New Yorker, Vincent Napolitano, is the 4th American. The lone Brit is my hometown's (see yesterdays quiz) Kevin O'Connell. Since the Scandinavian poker players tend to be young and 18 is the legal gaming age in Monte Carlo, I am curious to see how old these guys are. I know they were not priced up by Joe Beevers so their presence at the final table in such numbers is a shock. Last remaining female at the Plaza, Ruth Graham (the "throw up girl"), nearly did it again. She played out of her skin to finish 15th. The best female was "Bad Girl" Pham who beat Joe Beevers in Dublin in October. She was the bubble girl in Monte Carlo, out in 10th.
Las Vegas will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the city on May 15, 2005. Many of the things that have made the city the gambling Mecca in the desert are still around; while others have been discarded or replaced with newer versions. The old reel type slot machines are now electronically controlled devices; even those that have retained the spinning mechanical reels are controlled by a state-of-the-art computer. Some of the traditional table games have survived relatively unchanged; but now share the casino space with a multitude of newly invented pit games. Many of the old casino names are nothing more than a fading memory; while some, the Las Vegas Flamingo comes to mind, have not only survived but prosper and grow. The old days of a ‘money tree town’ under the tight control of organized crime has become a who’s who list of well known corporations run by lawyers and MBA’s. The bent nose casino floor bosses have been replaced by young, upwardly mobile men and women with business degrees and strict P & L responsibility. The days of crowds waiting to have their picture taken in front of a million dollars in cash are now crowds waiting on the Las Vegas strip sidewalks to have their picture taken in front of a volcano erupting, sailing ships sinking and fountains dancing. Billion dollar projects with names like Mirage, Bellagio, Paris, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, New York New York, Venetian and Wynn’s line the strip like a gold plated, lifesize monopoly set. 
Do I miss the “Old Vegas?” Not much. I am a product of the Las Vegas influence and have evolved into a personality that craves change. Instead of becoming upset that the history of the town is destroyed everyday I am happy to see it replaced with the next attraction. I have become quite comfortable with measuring history in months instead of centuries. Las Vegas must continually reinvent it’s self and replace the present with a bigger, better, brighter future. I must admit that I do miss the mob stewardship of the city’s infrastructure, especially when I’m driving because we had far less potholes in our roads. 
The draw has been made for the Monte Carlo tournament that starts Monday in Monaco, a tiny country between France and Italy, whose leading lady was America’s very own Grace Kelly.
Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda are both absent from the line up. I know John had visa problems and probably decided to travel to Foxwoods. John’s place in the Team USA vs. England match will be taken by Andy Bloch. I wonder if Andy will be allowed to play blackjack in Monte Carlo?
Well, I noticed a few interesting things this week, first up 
Is online poker a fad? Will the current world wide interest in the game go away as quickly as it appeared? Depends on whom you are reading. Many think the thousands of online players will lose interest in the activity and find other ways to amuse themselves. This 
A 
I have had 2 days off after watching the conclusion of the Ultimate Poker Challenge. On Monday I attended a preview of the remake of Alfie starring Jude Law, courtesy of 
Apparently John Juanda has been having visa problems. It’s very sad poker pros have problems moving from country to country.
LasVegasVegas and the Poker Prof are happy to introduce our newest contributing editor, Charlie Shoten. You have seen Charlie on televised poker tournaments and he is rated in the top echelons of professional poker players. This debut article offers Charlie’s insights and wisdom as applied to life and poker. He introduces himself and his beliefs in living a better life and playing better poker by eliminating our “Thought Terrorist.” So what is a “Thought Terrorist?” A “Thought Terrorist” is a metaphor for the negative thoughts we harbor that have the same intention as any other modern-day terrorist, to destroy us. Charlie has provided a “Roadmap to Freedom” from the “Thought Terrorist” through application of “My Ten Commitments.” Charlie presents an excerpt from his soon to be published book as his first post below.
The 
The 
The first season of the 
Heads Up play between Jeff Stoff and James Van Alstyne was a blinds trading affair until Jeff went all in with As 9c and James called with Jh Js. The board showed Kh 6s 2c 10h 7c and the first Ultimate Poker Challenge Champion was crowned. James received $100,000 and a very large trophy for his win. Jeff takes home $50,000 for second place and Minneapolis Jim pocketed $25,000 for third. The Championship event is scheduled to be shown on national TV on February 26, 2005 so check your local listing to confirm the times and dates for your area. 
The $2 billion plus Wynn resort under construction on the strip here in Las Vegas began accepting online applications today to fill the more than eight thousand positions that are available. The property is currently scheduled to open in April, 2005 and Visionary, Steve Wynn, has promised the world the most palatial, luxurious destination resort the world has ever known. Our experience with former Wynn properties (Golden Nugget, Mirage, Bellagio, Treasure Island) says the Las Vegas Wynn Hotel and Casino will be the next generation of Vegas resort properties. If you would care to file an employment application you can do so online by clicking 
Jackie Gaughn should be black booked for the way he let his downtown casinos fall into disrepair and for making his employees endure such an uncomfortable working environment. Despite all the ballyhoo over the new owners, Barrick Gaming, apart from a new springy carpet providing foot relief for the cocktail waitresses this is still a casino to avoid. Money is tight and food prices have jumped 50%, the breakfast buffet now over $9.50 with tax and this is in downtown, the home of the 99c breakfast. Staff moral is low and customer service non existent.
Onto the poker! 8 women started day 2 of the Ultimate poker challenge, none survived. I would have offered 50-1 Ruth Graham being the last remaining female. Despite looking so nervous I thought she might throw up on the table the Denver resident outlasted Jennifer Harmon, Karina Jett, Allyn Shulman, Kristy Gazes, Nikki Harris, Renee Wexler and the effervescent Evelyn Ng to finish in 9th place. She lost most of her chips to Jeff Shulman with Ah 10h vs. Jeff's Ad Jd. A flop of Kh Qs 4c gave both players an equal shot at a straight; but, two low clubs on the turn and river left Ruth with just her next big blind. Again, Jeff played the executioner calling with A 10 against Ruth's Q 2o. The "Card Player" son and heir inherited the last of Ruth's chips when he made two pair 10's & 3's.