The local metrologists are making the odds of the multi-million dollar fireworks show going off as planned at midnight no better than fifty-fifty. The show requires the wind be below 10 miles per hour before the pyrotechnics are launched from the roof tops of ten strip hotels (not fourteen as previously stated). The weather guys are saying the wind will certainly be a factor as the same weather front that came ashore in California moves across Las Vegas. The fire department will be keeping a close eye on conditions and standing by since the last Vegas firework's show for the grand opening of the new South Coast Casino set the joint's roof on fire.

Living in a city that parties every day of the year can make it difficult to know when a holiday like New Year's is here. I've prepared a list of the ways to know when its new Year's in Las Vegas. This weeks Nines...

9. Entire Hilton family in town to host endless strip parties.
8. Room rates require signing a second mortgage.
7. Fremont Street Experience holding first ever combined bottle throwing & throw-up contest.
6. Texas frat boys playing sng's during Vegas stop-over of Rose Bowl trip.
5. Caesars Palace fountains filled with cheap Champaign.
4. Fireworks show is a giant salute to gambling and other vices.
3. Entire town goes dark while a bunch of cool movie dudes rob all the casinos.
2. Steve Wynn's careless handling of fireworks sets neighboring Aladdin joint on fire.
1. At the stroke of midnight, Vegas Metro cops firing their guns into the air!

Posted by flipchipro at 3:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time for my end of the year summations of the poker business, the players, the tournaments and the great moments, along with some personal milestones and waxing poetically. 2005 was a year of walking, waiting, watching, listening; but, mostly watching. Watching the thousands of poker players during the thousands of hours of play in poker tournaments offering the top finishers hundreds of millions of dollars in prize pools. I was there when poker created its latest millionaires and I was close, so close I could smell the cash piled on the table. Of course, I was seeing all of this through the viewfinder of the Nikon.

During the 45 days of the 2005 WSOP I pressed the shutter over twelve thousand times. I've taken photos of poker legends, poker chips, poker cards, poker fans, poker stars, stars playing poker and anything else remotely related to poker. many of the images are available in our Photo Gallery. 2005 was a good year for my photographs. I have done numerous cover shots for our print affiliate, Poker Player. I did the magazine cover shot of Cyndy Violette. More of my photos Woman Poker Playerwere used in Tricycle the Buddhist Review magazine. Others have been supplied to newspapers and organizations. Many are given to players and fans.

Needless to say, photographing people playing poker is my life. I'm very fortunate to do something I find so entertaining. What better life for a poker playing adrenalin junky?...but, it's a tough job requiring the stamina of a stone statue and the eye of an eagle. The photos I'm offering today are some of my '05 favorites of poker players and they are good examples of how tough the life of the poker photographer has become. Additional photos are in the continue reading section below.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Boulder Station Hotel and Casino on the Boulder Strip was the place where bad beat jackpot history was made early Wednesday morning. The $418,870 Jumbo Hold'em Bad Beat Progressive Jackpot winning/losing hands were dealt at 4:15 AM to a couple of local Las Vegas poker players sitting at table #6 in the Boulder Station Casino's poker room. The jackpot is certainly the largest to be offered in Nevada and possibly the all-time record for live poker hold'em games.

The jackpot hand came down to two diamond straight flushes. The losing hand and winner of the largest share of the bad beat jackpot held the 7-8 of diamonds. The winning hand and winner of the second largest share held the Queen-King of diamonds. The board brought the three needed cards, the 9-10-Jack of diamonds and the word went out to all the other Station Casino's poker rooms that the jackpot had been hit. Considering the early morning hour the crowd of 265 hold'em poker players at all of the Station poker rooms demonstrates the attraction power of a big pile of money.

The bad beat jackpot winner's share (losing hand) of the money was $35,000 plus a table share of $1,370 for a total of $36,370. The second place (winning) player, holding the King high straight flush, went home with $21,370 including a table share plus whatever was in the table pot he won. The huge jackpot took approximately nine weeks to build to a record level after starting at $200,000. The payouts of table shares to the other 263 players, receiving $1,370 each, took approximately four hours. The jackpot reset at $200,000 and had grown to a little over $208K during the first twenty hours, an indication that the crowds of poker players are playing on.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm taking this week of in-between holidays as a time to catch up on reading, eating, sleeping and re-visiting Las Vegas. The city expands on a daily schedule so having time to leisurely cruise around town and see all the new stuff keeps the adrenalin rush going, the same high I've enjoyed since settling in Las Vegas way more than two decades ago. Driving about the city makes me feel like a tourist with a good sense of direction.

I read an article today that stated, Las Vegas is the number #1 New Year's Eve party destination. This really didn't come as much of a surprise. This city will let you walk down the boulevard sidewalk while carrying and consuming your drink of choice. Celebrate as loudly as you please with no fear here. Gamble non-stop at almost any game you can name. Play slots till you drop. Shop till you're broke. Just sit and watch the thousands of people crowding into Las Vegas this holiday week, all here to do the same crazy stuff that brought you to Vegas. Sleep all day, play all night or for the hard core Vegas visitor, don't sleep at all. Am I surprised that Las Vegas is the number one destination to welcome in the New Year? Absolutely not, only if it wasn't number one would it be a surprise. Where else do they give away the booze, the food and insist you have as good a time as is possible? The New Year celebration is a special time in Las Vegas, it's our biggest holiday. Las Vegas goes totally insane for a few days...and don't forget this year's special Las Vegas Centennial fireworks show coordinated from the rooftops of fourteen of the major hotels along the strip at midnight on New Year's Eve.

I stopped by Palace Station for the steamed clams and noticed the huge poker room bad beat jackpot. All Station Casino poker rooms share a single progressive bad beat jackpot which is now at an all-time record high of $418,000 and going up. Tuesday at Noon the qualifying 'beat hand' was lowered from four deuces to Aces full of Kings. The holder of the losing hand will receive $35,000 form the jackpot while the winning hand takes $20,000. The remainder of the jackpot is then distributed evenly among everyone playing hold'em in a Station property poker room. If the jackpot had hit on Tuesday that would be approximately $365,000 being divided up, making a player's share a nice chunk of cash. The poker room at Palace Station was filled to capacity with long waiting lists.

I read another article that investigates the decline in the popularity of poker or at least the decline in sales of poker chip sets at Walgreens. I'm not sure I believe the game is nothing more than flash in the pan and will retreat into obscurity in the near future. I don't believe poker will have another year of such spectacular overall growth, but it won't crash. I do believe the WSOP will set records in 2006 and I do believe poker is a fad and has been for more than a century.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Wynn Poker Room

The Wynn Resort is the latest addition to the Las Vegas skyline from master resort designer, Steve Wynn. The tallest building in Nevada provides guest with 2,716 luxurious rooms and suites to satisfy the most discerning visitor. Located on the north end of the fabled Vegas Strip tucked away behind the only alpine mountain range in the city the great curved copper mirrored monolith rises above it all. The Wynn Resort represents the state-of-the-art in accommodations, entertainment, food, service and shopping. Steve Wynn brought all of the best from his previous projects and combined these elements to create this imposing property. Typical of Wynn designs, he provides guest with a visual overload of colors, views and art. Plush gardens fill the public spaces and extensive use of live trees and exotic plants throughout the resort provides guests with an experience of unmatched splendor. Steve Wynn's attention to even the smallest of details is quite apparent in his latest Las Vegas project. The accommodations are not only high-end but they offer cutting edge digital technology from the flat panel digital large screen displays to super high speed Internet access, its all here now in your room.

The highly anticipated opening of the property was only eight months ago and already the Wynn has a Five Star Restaurant included among the more than two dozen food offerings, there's always something to please even the most fickle of international paletes. Strolling along the mosaic tiled work-of-art footpaths winding through the gardens circling the casino finds concourses lined with exclusive shops. Clothes from the great designers, jewels to please royalty, priceless art exhibits, trendy restaurants and, yes, you can buy a Ferrari or Maserati. Come to the Wynn for dinner and a show, perhaps some baccarat, and then leave in your very own 200 mph, Italian bauble. A full-service Ferrari-Maserati dealership is located inside the Wynn Resort and it has quickly become a must-see for Las Vegas visitors.

The Wynn Resort is behind the heavily wooded mountain fronting the Las Vegas strip. You have to come into the property to experience its' many features and that is by Steve Wynn's design. Waterfalls cascading down the rocks into an alpine lake bordered by restaurants and bars provides each of the eateries with its own unique setting. The Wynn is the Las Vegas Resort that quickly becomes a world unto itself.

While you are mulling over your decision of colors for your Ferrari walk directly across the corridor to the Wynn's Poker Room. Located a few short steps from a parking garage the Wynn Poker Room has the most convenient access around. Drive into the garage, park and in less than a minute you are in the poker room. The room has 26 tables offering a variety of games and limits. The No-limit Hold'em crowd will find $1-$3 blinds with a $100 minimum buy-in, $2-$5 blinds with a $200 minimum buy-in and $5-$10 blinds with a $500 minimum buy-in. The No-limit Hold'em games have no maximum buy-in cap. Limit Hold'em is offered with all of the popular blind structures: $4-$8, $8-$16, $15-$30 and $30-$60. The poker room usually has a $10-$20 mix game going that is typically a variety of H.O.R.S.E. and will spread any of the poker games that have enough players for a table.

Poker operations for the Wynn are under the expert guidance of Deborah Giardina, Director of poker Room Operations for the Wynn. Deborah has more than fifteen years in the poker industry including nine years with Lyle Berman's enterprises. She follows a simple business plan of providing every poker player with a truly pleasurable playing experience. The spaciousness of the room, digital player red cards, shufflemaster tables, a well trained friendly room staff and a rare Las Vegas poker room commodity...you can order from a menu and have food delivered to directly to your seat at the table. Players can earn food comps by playing in the room. Rake games provide $1 per hour of play and timed games offer $1.50 per hour. No cap is placed on the comp amount.

Players staying in the Wynn Hotel can put their name on the waiting list for any of the active games and watch their progress on the in-house poker channel from the comforts of their room. When you're next up, come down to the poker room without having to stand around waiting for your seat to open. Monitors are conveniently located so waiting players can check their progress. The layout of the poker room provides great views of the action from the rail and there's always a crowd watching the games and players.

Tournament Director David Eglseder brings 13 years of poker tournament management experience to the Wynn's poker room. He constantly monitors the feedback from the players and dealers to provide the best tournament limits and schedules. The Poker Room offers three No-limit Hold'em tournaments each week: on Tuesdays at Noon a $300 +$30 buy-in, Thursday at Noon a $300 + $300 rebuy/add-on and Fridays at 3:00PM a $500 + $30 buy-in event. Single table satellites are available on tournament days beginning at 8:00AM. Phone the room at 702.770.7654 for complete information including any recent changes. The Wynn Poker Room is currently working on plans to offer a major tournament event that will be offered at different times throughout the year. More details will become available after plans are completed.

The Wynn Resort is the latest example of Steve Wynn's ability to create world class destinations. A trip to Las Vegas is not complete until you take the time to visit and experience this magnificent resort.

Wynn Las Vegas
3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
702.770.7100 or toll free 877.321.WYNN
Email: roomreservations@wynnlasvegas.com
www.wynnlasvegas.com

Posted by flipchipro at 2:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Christmas Day in Las Vegas was an abbreviated affair for me after sleeping through most of the daylight hours. Having spent the last few days fighting with some derivate virus from parts unknown, today was the first time I've ventured out voluntarily. It was a typical Vegas holiday for us. Instead of being home cooking we prefer to let one of the hotel kitchens do the work. Dinner today included octogenarian FlipChip Sr., the elder family patriarch and full-time Vegas poker player. Typically, everyone orders different dishes which are normally shared, so, I've had King Crab, Steamed Clams, Shrimp Salad, Oysters Rockefeller, chilled asparagus, three kinds of soup and a terrific aged sirloin hamburger. I am quite stuffed and lazy so will share some of the Christmas Day in Vegas observations, conversations and views.

Driving across Las Vegas we noticed that one of the signs at the Stardust had lost part of the logo so the sign read 'dust." Is this a precursor to the future of the property? After all, the Stardust has become long-in-the-tooth and it really shows. Once the Stardust and its colorful sign was the favorite hangout for locals and tourist alike, and the poker room was the most popular place to play in all of the land. Back then the Stardust was located in the center of the Vegas Strip; but, today, the Stardust is too far north to be a part of the 'new' high end real estate. The recently opened Wynn property has certainly helped to upgrade the neighborhood so I expect we are seeing the last days of the 'dust. The center of the Vegas Strip has continued to march south and this past week it took another major lurch toward the California side when the same people that own the Stardust, the Boyd Group, opened the $600 million plus South Coast Resort. The new South Coast was our next Christmas Day stop.

Driving south on the Las Vegas Strip about two miles from the Las Vegas airport, I was amazed with the mass of buildings that have appeared in the last few months. The South Coast resort was busy with holiday and grand opening traffic. Lines everywhere waiting to get into the property, the parking garages, elevators to the casino, the food outlets, the gift shop, cage, movie theaters...everywhere. Flipchip Sr headed to the poker room and finally got a seat in a limit hold'em game. Lady Flip tried the flat panel video poker machines and decided the displays were two dim, being overwhelmed by the brightly lit graphics, she also pointed out the bah-humbug lack of any holiday decorations in the joint. I tried to find a day-old NY Times since I have a photo in the issue, but was unsuccessful. Flip Sr's first hand was big slick and his button raise was called by an Ace,Deuce off suit. Flop was an Ace, and another Ace completed the set on the turn. of course, the river was a deuce, just another bad beat story to go with the million or so he's already experienced.

Back into Vegas on the Strip and into some of the most jammed up traffic I've driven in all year. Guess everyone in LA came over right after the kids opened the Christmas stuff, we counted twenty-two CA plates out of a group of thirty cars. Some week this is going to be. Next stop the Rio. Flip jr. decided the only thing to have for the Christmas meal was eggs benedict on biscuits with sawmill gravy from the All American Bar & Grill at the Rio. As always, the place was operating in the 200 dB range so any conversation is a shouting fool's convention. The place was jammed with holiday revelers enjoying the original Vegas party place. I noticed the WSOP Store at the Rio is having a 70% off sale on 2005 WSOP merchandise including clothing.

Our trip home took us across town accompanied by one on the Metro Police ghetto birds overhead with its large spotlight. Guess the helicopter was tracking some alleged bad guys also driving across town with us. I'm happy to be home although I didn't get my NY Times, the second time this year I've had photos printed and didn't see them. Christmas day was another enjoyable Las Vegas experience, but now I look forward to my favorite day of the year, December 26th although considering the late hour I'll probably sleep through it.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twas the Night Before Christmas in the Poker Room

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the poker room,
Not much was moving, quiet as a tomb,
The chip racks were stacked on the side in a row,
Hoping some good luck would fill them with dough;

The players were sitting hunched in their seats,
Telling their tales of all the bad beats,
The dealer looked at me and ask,
Do you plan to bet or will you pass?

From out in the casino I heard a shout,
I jumped from the two seat to see what was about,
And what to my surprise did appear,
A fat guy drinking a bottle of beer,

He came into the room all in a bustle,
No one guessed it might be a hustle,
He slid into the six seat and yelled for a rack,
Then looked around and said, "I'll leave when I've filled my sack,"

Through the air the cards did fly,
Lady Luck had blessed this red suited guy,
He played every hand never folding a one,
The outcome was always the same, he won and won,

When he had taken most of our chips,
He said I'm going to give you some poker tips,
I've played them all, the good and the great,
And let me tell you I can relate,

I've sat across from Hellmuth, Luske and Chan,
Brunson, Nguyen, even a guy called Fossilman,
They remind me of a boxer with a glass jaw,
They can't even play me to a draw,

Now please excuse me, I really must go,
I gotta make a stop at the Bellagio,
I left my Mercedes in their valet,
Don't look so surprised, I traded the sleigh.

I hope you all have a very prosperous year,
I'll be back next Christmas to play right here,
Maybe you should read a poker book or two,
The way you play you don't have a clue,

Under you're pillow tomorrow you must look,
That's where I'll leave your copy of Brunson's book.
And with that he turned and walked away,
Have a Very Merry Christmas Day!

I hope you enjoy our effort at a little Holiday humor. The Las Vegas poker scene is a great place to spend some of your holiday time, play poker, relax and make some new friends. Crowds fill the poker tables, even on Christmas eve. The festive atmosphere has taken over the city and will continue to build to a fever pitch for New Year's Eve. Consider giving yourself a special holiday present and come on down to Vegas.

Las Vegas parties everyday of the year; so, we decided it would be a good idea to offer a list of ways to know it's Christmas in Vegas. This week's Nines...

9. Instead of an olive your martini has a sugar plum.
8. All the food at the Circus Circus buffet is red or green. No, wait, that's normal.
7. Big Red sleigh in valet parking.
6. Frosty the Snowman hitting on the cocktail girls.
5. Downtown Vegas decorated as giant lump of coal.
4. Hotel security dressed as nutcrackers.
3. Elves playing the slots.
2. The coffee shop daily special... roasted reindeer.
1. Santa playing No Limit Hold'em in the card room!

Have a Safe & Happy Holiday!

Posted by flipchipro at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions will be broadcast on Saturday, December 24, 2005, beginning at 1:00 PM PST on ESPN. Three hours of some of the best tournament poker played this year. This one has everything including the Mouth, Mike Matusow and the Brat, Phil Hellmuth. The invitations went out to qualified poker players that had already won championships in the WSOP's series of tournaments. The list of entrants is a who's who of professional poker players. The WSOP TOC crowns a champion of champions and is one of poker's most coveted awards.

I've covered many tournaments this past year and this one was the most exciting and well attended. The all-star list of 119 players insured some great poker from the sports great players. The grand ole master of poker, Doyle Brunson, was in the crowd and finished on the final table bubble. The audience really got into the final table and no one left the standing room only final table held at Caesar's Palace over three days with the final table played on November 9th. Our complete final table wrap up is available here. Photos from the event are available in our TOC Photo Gallery. A complete list of money finishers in the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions is available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

This tournament will provide a real treat for poker players and fans, a great way to spend Christmas Eve. The final table includes the two bad boys of the sport, Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth. Check out the "donkey" Christmas present Matusow and Steve Dannenmann gave to Hellmuth at the start of the play. Mike received a small world globe card protector from Dan and used it as a prop when he would serenade the players and audience with "He's got the whole world in his hands..." Hoyt Corkins, David Levi, Tony Bloom Grant Lang, Keith Sexton and Brandon Adams complete the final table roster. TOC final table participant Steve Dannenmann, the second place finisher in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, was interviewed recently by wickedchopspoker.com.

Set aside the time or set the TiVo so you don't miss any of the show. You'll be entertained throughout the three hours of poker. The show is scheduled for 1:00 PM PST on ESPN, but check local listings for times in your area.

Posted by flipchipro at 3:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First, some bits of Las Vegas poker news for this Thursday. Station Casino's progressive bad beat jackpot has climbed above $325,000. The jackpot is shared among all of the Station Casinos and everyone playing in a Station Casino poker room when the jackpot is hit will go home with a share. The wait list for all of the poker rooms is usually long with players vying for a chance at a six figure Christmas present. Station Casinos operates fourteen properties around Las Vegas in off-strip areas convenient to local players.

Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas opened its much anticipated poker room on Wednesday to much pomp and fanfare. The facility located next to the sport's book was completed at a cost of $12 million and features eleven LeRoy Neiman original paintings commissioned by Harrah's especially for the poker room. The area is divided into two spaces with the main room at 8,500 square feet and an additional 6,000 square feet of tournament space holding 33 tables.

Major tournaments for the new Caesar's Poker Room will probably begin in March, 2006 when the Heads-Up Poker Championship is played there. Harrah's recently purchased the Heads-up Championship and it will showcase the new tournament facility. The WSOP Circuit series has scheduled a stop at the property in April, 2006. Harrah's management has made no mention of the World Series of Poker event moving from its home at the Rio Resort.

I got a press release form ESPN today announcing the creation of a Fantasy Poker Challenge. ESPN and Bluff Magazine have teamed to offer poker buffs a free opportunity to prove their knowledge of professional poker and win some nice prizes. Participants choose a team of professional players that are charted through thirteen circuit tournaments over a six month period. The participant that accumulates the most points will win an all expense paid trip to Australia to attend the Howard Lederer and Annie Duke's Fantasy Poker Camp. Complete details and sign-up information can be found at ESPN Fantasy Poker Challenge. Sounds like fun and best of all, it is free.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by flipchipro at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Plaza Hotel and Casino
Number One Main Street
Las Vegas, Nevada
Toll free 1.800.634.6575 or 702.386.2110
www.plazahotelcasino.com

The Plaza Hotel and Casino opened more than three decades ago to much fanfare and promotion. I was there for the VIP opening preceding the public grand opening as a guest of one of the contractors that had helped in the construction of this new "Queen of Downtown." The Union Plaza was simply elegant and newer than anything on the Las Vegas Strip. The crowd was definitely upscale and the event was one giant free party. Trays of food were everywhere, Champaign was flowing from fountains and everyone was excited about the future of downtown Las Vegas with this new jewel of a resort at Number One Main Street. The original Union Plaza housed the train station for the passenger trains that serviced Las Vegas then, bringing visitors to downtown from all points.

Fast forward to the present and even though the property is into its fourth decade and the trains no longer bring passengers to Las Vegas it remains the anchor of Main Street and the best place to view the Fremont Street Experience show. The 1037 hotel rooms provide guests with great accommodations at rates that are much easier on the budget than many of the strip hotels. All of downtown is within easy walking distance to the Plaza Hotel and Casino. The property has changed ownership over the years and is now owned by the Barrick Group. They have begun a renovation program that has brought the hotel up to modern standards without sacrificing the friendly feel and comfortable atmosphere long associated with the downtown Casino.

The spacious casino provides visitors with a selection of hundreds of the newest slot machines, a full compliment of table games, Keno, Race and Sports book, a fast food court, and restaurants to please every taste and budget. The Center Stage Restaurant located in the mirrored dome covering the entrance to the hotel is one of the most filmed places in all of Las Vegas. Many movies have used the spectacular setting to convey the spirit of Las Vegas. During the Fremont Street Experience Light Show the lights in the restaurant are dimmed and the show's music is piped into the room. Next time you're in Las Vegas make an effort to have dinner at the Center Stage Restaurant for one of the original Las Vegas dining experiences. The second floor of the hotel is the location of the men's barber shop where the master barber still provides a straight razor, steaming towel shave, another unique experience that has become difficult to find. Live lounge entertainment is always happening at the Plaza, and always free. The groups are typically well above average including an Asian Rock group that you won't soon forget.

The Plaza Poker Room is located in the casino area close to the main cashier's cage. Convenient to valet and self parking makes the spacious room popular with tourist and locals alike. Plaza poker operations are managed by poker industry veteran, Kenn Bennett. The room has 9 pan tables and 19 poker tables spreading all of your favorite games. The Plaza Poker Room is one of the last places anywhere to offer pan. The Plaza Poker Room even offers the occasional pan tournament. The poker room offers $3-$6 Omaha Hi-Low Split, Texas Hold'em with $2-$4, $3-$6 or $4-$8 limit, and $1-$4 Seven Card Stud. A $1-$2 blind No-limit Hold'em game with a $40 min up to $500 max buy-in and a $2-$5 blind No-limit Hold'em with a minimum $100-No max limit buy-in.

Tournaments at the Plaza are numerous with a daily 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Single Table $25 & $50 Sit-n-Go's plus $25 Shoot-Outs. Tuesday through Sunday play in the daily 7 PM $35 buy-in w/rebuys No-limit Hold'em. Monday's at 7 PM the Plaza Poker Room offers a $35 buy-in w/rebuys Omaha Hi/Lo Split tournament. A $55 buy-in No-limit Hold'em w/rebuys tournament is offered at noon and every night at midnight, a great tournament for the late night crowd.

The Plaza hotel is the home of the Ultimate Poker Challenge tournament series now into its third season. The Ultimate Poker Challenge is filmed for broadcast on TV and includes a championship event that always draws all the top name pros. The 2005 UPC is scheduled for November 16th through the 29th at the downtown Plaza Hotel with $500 No-limit Hold'em buy-in events offered daily. The Ultimate Poker Challenge is a great series of tournament to break into major Las Vegas poker tournaments and play your best game for a shot at a nationally syndicated TV show.

The Plaza Poker Room offers players comps at the rate of $5 after 4 hours of play, better than average. Come to the Plaza Hotel and Casino to experience the personal service, hospitality and friendliness of downtown Las Vegas. Enjoy the historic old Vegas spirit of gambling and entertainment at Number One Main Street.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said it is investigating the actions of poker superstar Doyle Brunson concerning the $700 million take over bid for WPT Enterprises Inc. The SEC said the formal investigation is focusing on the legalities of Brunson's offer and the subsequent decision to publicize it. The WPT stock increased more than fifty percent to a high of $26.50 on July 8th after the disclosure of the offer was made public; but, quickly lost the gain once the credibility of the offer was questioned after the WPT said it was unable to reach Brunson or his attorneys. The take over offer then expired with no action from either side. WPT (WPTE on Nasdaq) stock closed Friday at $6.32.

The Travel Channel's most popular shows ever, The World Poker Tour Series, is owned by WPT Entertainment which is a part of Lakes Entertainment Inc. Lakes Entertainment is a casino operator based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The company went public with an IPO in August 2004 at $8 a share.

The Las Vegas law firm of Goodman & Chesnoff represented Brunson and delivered the unsolicited bid to WPT. The firm then withdrew from the proceedings. According to the SEC Brunson has instructed the law firm, using the attorney-client confidentiality privilege, to withhold certain documents including backup materials with details of the offer and not to testify concerning critical details of the offer. Government regulators said on Friday they had filed an action in federal district court in Fort Worth, Texas to enforce the subpoenas issued to attorneys David Chesnoff and Charka Henry for the documents and testimony. Doyle Brunson refused to testify in the investigation and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the SEC said.

Doyle Brunson is one of the best known professional poker players in the world and holds a record ten World Series of Poker gold bracelets including two WSOP main event championships. He continues to play in major poker tournaments and on Friday he made the final table of the Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic's WPT Championship at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas where he finished third to collect $563,485 in winnings. He regularly host the world's highest limit poker players in his 'Doyle's Game' in the private 'Bobby's Room' at the Bellagio Resort.

Brunson's attorney, Alan Isaacman was quoted as saying, "We're confident that after the investigation it will be seen that the offer was a sincere offer and that there were no laws violated."

Additional details of the investigation can be found at MSNBC and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Flipchip and I returned to the historical Fontana Room at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas where the final table of the latest World Poker Tour event took place and was taped for the upcoming season of the World Poker Tour. The buy-in for the final table of the Five Diamond Poker Classic main event was $15,000 and 555 players began on Monday. Five days later, we're down to six players including the legendary Doyle Brunson, the always entertaining Phil Laak, Joanne "J.J." Liu, the best player in Europe in Patrik Antonius, internet player Darrell Dicken, and Rehne Pedersen of Denmark.

Tickets were in such high demand that rumors circulated that people were scalping seats for over $1K because everyone wanted to see the Unabomber take on Doyle Brunson at the final table. Plus Joanne Liu was chasing history in an attempt to become the first female to ever win a WPT event. There are plenty of big time pros in the audience including Billy Baxter, Marcel Luske, Chau Giang, Todd Brunson, Johnny Chan, Joe Hachem, Gus Hansen, Jen Harman, Tom McEvoy, The Grinder, and Marco Traniello.

Here were the payouts for the final TV table:

1. $2,078,185
2. $1,046,470
3. $563,485
4. $362,140
5. $241,495
6. $160,995

Here's the final table seating including chip counts courtesy of Poker Wire:

Seat 1: Darrell Dicken $3.510M
Seat 2: Patrick Antonius $1.755M
Seat 3: Rehne Pedersen $3.225M
Seat 4: Joanne "J.J." Liu $3.63M=chipleader
Seat 5: Phil "The Unabomber" Laak $2.505M
Seat 6: Doyle Brunson $2.025M

During the first orbit Joanne Liu moves all in over the top of Phil Laak. He quickly folded and offered Liu $4 to see her hand. Liu told him that he needed to wait to see it on TV. By the end of the first hour of play, Doyle Brunson was the short stack with $1M and Joanne remained the chipleader with over $4M. But the biggest mover was Patrik Antonius, who took down two big pots. One was over 900K and the other was over $1.5M.

Phil Laak was the first player busted. He ran into Patrik Antonius' A-A. Patrik raised and Laak moved all in with K-3o. Patrik quickly called and his hand held up despite Laak flopping a pair and turning a gutshot straight draw. Phil Laak finished in 6th place and won $160,995. Antonius took over the chip lead with $6M.

Doyle Brunson doubled up at the right time when he moved all in with A-K and Darrell Dicken called with A-J. Brunson's Big Slick held up. Brunson then had over $3M in chips and was int he middle of the pack after he crippled Dicken.

Darrell Dicken came from behind and doubled up against Rehne Pedersen. Dicken had J-10 and Pederson had A-Q. Dicken flopped a ten and his hand held up. Pedersen slipped to the short stack with just $1.1M. Pedersen got his revenge a few hands later when he doubled through Darrell Dicken's Q-J versus his A-J when he flopped an ace. Dicken would be eliminated when his 4-4 lost a race to Patrik Antonius' A-J when Antonius flopped a Jack. Dicken won $241,495 for 5th place. Antonius' stack hovered around $8M.

Rehne Pedersen doubled up against Joanne Liu. He had been playing tight all night long when he moved all in with K-K. Liu called with 4-4 and her hand did not improve. On a flop of 8-4-2, Brunson moved all in. Antonius called with 9-9. Brunson paired his kicker on the turn, but that gave Antonius a flush draw. The river didn't help Antonius and Brunson's two pair held up. He doubled up and had almost $5M in chips.

Joanne Liu moved all in with A-3. She was up against Patrik Antonius' A-10s. Her hand did not improve and she was eliminated in 4th place. She won $362,140 and missed her shot at becoming the first female to ever win a WPT event.

Doyle Brunson took over the chip lead after his 3-3 held up against Patrik Antonius' A-2. He rivered a full house to cripple the young Antonius. With three players remaining, Brunson had a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Patrik Antonius $4.3M and Pedersen's $3.5M. He had more chips than both his opponents combined. His lead would dwindle after he doubled up Rehne Pedersen. Brunson's A-7 lost to Pedersen's 2-2. Brunson lost some more chips when he moved all in with A-6 and Patrik Antonius called with A-9. They both flopped and Ace but Antonius' hand held up. The young man from Finland doubled up against Texas Dolly. With a shortstack, Brunson moved all in with K-J and Rehne Pedersen quickly called with K-K. On the turn, Doyle picked up an open ended straight draw but he didn't improve on the river. Doyle Brunson was eliminated in 3rd place. He won $563,485.

When play reached heads up, Rehne Pedersen had $9.39M to Patrik Antonius $8.27M. It was the battle of Northern Europe with Pedersen representing Denmark and Antonius representing Finland. During the money presentation one of the Bellagio girls dropped some of the cash off her tray and landed right in front of Flipchip and me. They had to do a second take. Gus Hansen made a rare appearance in the Fontana Room and gave some encouraging words to his fellow countryman Rehne Pedersen and to Patrik Antonius who he battled it out with at the final table in Barcelona a few months ago.

Rehne Pedersen moved into the chiplead 10M to 7M when he took down a pot on the flop. Antonius even out things but lost the biggest hand of the tournament when he was a huge favorite. Both players were all in pre-flop. Patrik Antonius had As-Ks and Rehne Pedersen showed Ad-4d. The flop was 5-6-7 and Pedersen caught an amazing board. The turn was a 3s and he turned a straight, but that gave Antonius a flush draw. It didn't hit and Antonius was crippled. With just $150K left, on the very next hand Antonius was all-in with Ks-7s. Pedersen had 8-8 and his hand held up. Pedersen won $2,078,185 and a $25K seat in the WPT Championships in April. Antonius won $1,046,470 for second place.

When Mike Sexton asked Pedersen how he felt after his massive come from behind win, the quiet Dane said, "I don't know what to say except I just won $2 million." Not too bad for someone who won a $100 satellite.

Congrats to Rehne Pedersen and to Patrik Antonius for playing excellent poker all week long. Also special congrats goes out to Texas Dolly himself who took on two young guns who were almost 1/3 his age. This marks the final tournament that both Flipchip and I will cover in 2005. Have a great holidays and we'll see you in 2006!

Tao of Pauly...http://mcgrupp.blogspot.com
Truckin'...http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com
Tao of Poker...http://taopoker.blogspot.com

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."-Hunter S. Thompson

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Pauly is at the Bellagio with camera and laptop for tonight's Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic WPT Championship. He will be live blogging the event at his website, TaoPoker.blogspot.com, beginning at 7:00PM PST, 10:00PM for the East Coast. Check it out-FlipChip

The final table for the 2005 Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic is set with the top six finishers in the $15,000 + $500 buy-in WPT sanctioned Championship Event. The survivors from the 555 entrants that began on Monday will gather at 7:00PM Friday evening to determine the champion. The table will seat the following players, listed according to seat assignment with hometown and chip count:

1. Darrell Dicken, Waterloo, IA, $3,510,000
2. Patrick Antonius, Helsinki, Sweden, $1,755,000
3. Rehne Pedersen, Aalvong, Denmark, $3,225,000
4. Joanne 'J.J.' Liu, Palo Alto, CA, $3,630,000
5. Phil 'Unabomber' Laak, Los Angeles, CA, $2,505,000
6. Doyle Brunson, Las Vegas, NV, $2,025,000

The six finalist include two great European players, Rehne Pedersen and Patrik Antonius. Although Patrik had been the tournament chip leader thoughout the event he suffered some devastating hands on day #4 and comes into tonight's final table as the short stack. The always entertaining Phil "Unabomber" Laak will be in top form with plenty of chips to back up his often unpredictable aggressive style of play. The crowd's favorite will undoubtedly be the reining Godfather of poker, Doyle Brunson. The grand master of the green felt may be adding another major championship to his long list of victories that includes a record ten World Series of Poker championships. Darrell Dicken, fabled Internet player from Iowa, is sitting in the second spot on the chip list after cashing three times during the WSOP this past summer.

The chip leader is none other than Joanne 'JJ' Liu of Palo Alto, California. JJ made her first final table in a major poker event during the 1996 WSOP. Since then she has cashed in more than three dozen tournaments and is guaranteed to have her best money finish to date tonight since even sixth place pays $160,995. JJ's previous personal best cash was $85K.

The players are vying for a purse of $8,075,250. The winner will take home $2,078,185 in cash, a $25,000 + $500 seat in the 2006 WPT Championship scheduled for April 18 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Tonight's second place finisher also becomes a millionaire with $1,046,470 in prize money. The action begins at 7:00PM in the Fontana Room at the Bellagio Resort. The final table will be filmed for later broadcast on the Travel Channel's WPT Series.

Posted by flipchipro at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Day 3 of the Five Diamond Classic main event continued at the Bellagio Casino. 555 players bought in on Monday for $15K each with everyone gunning for the $2M first place prize. When action began on Wednesday 121 players remained. The top 100 players made the money. Patrik Antonius began Day 3 as the chipleader. By the time action was halted, 26 players were left and Antonius slipped to 5th place in chips. Joanne "J.J." Liu is currently sitting on the big stack with almost $2 million in chips. Both Doyle Brunson and Joe Cassidy have stacks well over $1 million.

Here are the current chipleaders courtesy of Poker Wire:
1 Joanne Liu $1.98M
2 Rehne Pedersen $1.46M
3 Joe Cassidy $1.207M
4 Bengt Sonnert $1.194M
5 Patrik Antonius $ 1.121M
6 Doyle Brunson $ 1.11M
7 Ron Kirk $873K
8 James Van Alstyne $831K
9 Brad "The Poker Assasin" Booth $666K
10 Mike Gracz $577K
11 Jeff Littlefield $566K
12 Eskimo Clark $479K
13 Peter Costa $476K
14 Phil Laak $475K
15 Barny Boatman $446K
16 Adam Friedman $419K
17 Dwayne Moyers $392K
18 Rod Hurlbut $323K
19 Dennis Waterman $316K
20 Darrell Dicken $316K
21 Michael Yoshino $312K
22 Jeff Rine $288K
23 Brian Lamkin $241K
24 Jeff King $238,000
25 David Levi $204K
26 Woody Van Stratum $131K

Marco Traniello was busted when his 10-10 ran into the Hilton Sisters. He finished in 30th place. Joe Sebok took 31st place when his 5-5 ran into trip 8s. Barry Greenstien finished in 38th place. Alan Goehring was busted in 52nd place. Other notable money finishers included Denis Ethier, Dewey Tomko, Kenna James, Martin de Knijf, Bruno Fitoussi, David Plastik, and John Gale. Clonie Gowen was busted just before the bubble along with actor Oliver Hudson, who is also the son of actress Goldie Hawn.

With several top names still left like Doyle Brunson, Phil Laak, Barny Boatman, Mike Gracz, Eskimo Clark, and David Levi, there is going to be a lot of exciting poker on Thursday.
Action will resume at noon and won't stop until 6 players remain. The final table will be taped on Friday.

Posted by pokerprof at 6:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The second Day of the Bellagio's Five Diamond Classic main event ended on Tuesday night with one of Europe's hottest young guns, Patrik Antonius from Finland in the chiplead for the second consecutive day. In the past few months, Antonius took third place at the EPT Barcelona Open, won the EPT Austria event in Baden, and won the Scandinavian Poker Championships. He's looking to make his first WPT final table.

The buy-in was $15,000 + $300 and 555 players entered the last WPT event in 2005. About 350 players began Day 2 and only 121 remain. Several big guns are sitting in the Top 10 in chips including Doyle Brunson and The Unabomber.

Here are the Top 10 chipleaders courtesy of Poker Wire:

1 Patrik Antonius $644,700
2 Darrell Dicken $542,200
3 Alan Goehring $434,600
4 Doyle Brunson $418,000
5 Phil "The Unabomber" Laak $364,100
6 Barny Boatman $330,500
7 Ron Kirk $321,900
8 Jeff Littlefield $307,500
9 Don Zewin $305,300
10 Jeff Rine $299,000

There were plenty of top names still remaining such as Denis Ethier, Joe Sebok, Eskimo Clark, Bruno Fitoussi, Marco Traniello, Mike Gracz, John D'Agostino, David 'The Dragon' Pham, Dewey Tomko, Barry Greenstein, Clonie Gowen, Peter Costa, Joe Cassidy, Fabrice Soulier, David Levi, Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy, Bill Edler, David Plastik, Oliver Hudson, Martin de Knijff, James Van Alstyne, Maureen Feduniak, John Gale, Davood Mehrmand, and Kenna James.

The Grinder began Day 2 second in chips and ended up getting busted. Other notable eliminations on Day 2 included: Liz Lieu, Mike Wattel, Erick Lindgren, Max Pescatori, Layne Flack, Thor Hansen, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Mark Seif, Joe Hachem, David Singer, Scotty Nguyen, Freddy Deeb, Hoyt Corkins, Erik Seidel, Chau Giang, Cyndy Violette, John Juanda, and Paul Darden.

Action resumes at Noon on Wednesday in the Fontana Room.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hope to have some semblance of a post about the WPBT up later this week, in the mean time the photos from FlipChip are in the WBPT 2005 gallery. (caption's to come)

Below are the shots from Poker Resource Network, thanks to Corne van der Stelt (photographer) Wendy and Annie for stopping by.

Phil of StudioGlyphic won and Gracie of She-Verb took second congrats!

That's alot of poker bloggers!

Hi-Res Image

It was amazing.

And here are the posts I'm using to try to piece together the events of the weekend:

Bad Blood - Tidbits
StudioGlyphic
She Verb
Tao of Poker
Table Tango 1
Table Tango 2
Table Tango 3
G-Rob (Up For Poker)
Human Head
Donkey Puncher
Mr. Subliminal
Infant Days Sleepless Nights
Poker Doctor
Weak Player (Part 1)

[Stop by Iggy for a more complete listing]

Posted by pokerprof at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looking like a gathering of poker's who's who, the Fontana Room at the Bellagio wasn't big enough to hold all the inflated egos. The Bellagio's main poker room was pressed into service to handle the overflow from the 555 players that paid $15,000 + $500 for the opportunity to play in the championship event of the Fourth Annual Five Diamonds. The prize pool topped out at $8,075,250, a number attesting to the popularity of this prestigious poker event. Scheduled continue for five days the tournament will create two more WPT millionaires on Friday when the final table is played before the television cameras for later broadcast on the Travel Channel. The Champion will receive $2,078,185, a championship bracelet and a $25,000 + $500 seat in the 2006 WPT Championship scheduled for April 18 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Both tournament areas were packed with all the well known professionals from the sport. The man himself, Doyle Brunson, holder of a record ten WSOP bracelets was cruising along at his table, comfortable behind his stacks of chips. Doyle should charge the players at his table the going rate for a playing lesson. I'm not sure of the collective number of WSOP bracelets today's crowd owns but you could easily stock a jewelry store. Co-holder of the bracelet record with ten of his own, Johnny Chan. Phil Ivey sitting at the feature table on the stage holds 5 bracelets, T.J. Cloutier in the main room has 6 and three tables over is 7 bracelet man Eric Seidel. The list goes on and on, so you get the idea, this is one tough crowd with a winning pedigree.

The atmosphere on the first day of play was upbeat with a holiday spirit much in evidence, at least for those still in the hunt. Play began today a few minutes after Noon and five hours later 476 players remained. The quota for eliminations was reached a few minutes before 9 PM and play was suspended for the remaining 350 or so players that still had any of the $30,000 in play money they started with. The contest will resume at Noon on Tuesday.

Obvious by their absence was professional's Andy Bloch and 2000 WSOP Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Both of the players from the Full Tilt stable are passing on WPT events until problems are worked out with the WPT people concerning the release forms players must sign in return for the privilege to participate in WPT events. Additional details of the problems are available at Andy's website.

I included a mini photo gallery in the 'continue reading section' below of some of the sights from Monday's first day of the Five Diamonds WPT Championship.

Additional photos from the floor of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

Posted by flipchipro at 1:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Senior's No-limit Hold'em event #9 was especially crafted to allow the seniors a more leisurely pace. The event was spread out over three day's instead of the usual two and play was suspended promptly at 8:00 PM each day. This is a most welcomed privilege for some of the toughest players around. Unlike sports such as tennis or golf where senior's tournaments translate to easier; poker seniors are the toughest poker players around. Many of the senior legends have age related issues that preclude sitting for long hours so this is a thoughtful consideration.

The Five Diamond Senior's Event #9 attracted 135 entrants and offered the winner $137,375 from the $327,375 prize pool. The second day of the scheduled three reached a final table well before the 8:00 PM scheduled stop time and was down to heads-up by the 8PM quit time; but, by mutual agreement the surviving two players, Minneapolis Jim Meehan and Tommy Lock, continued until a winner was finally crowned almost three hours later. Both played the end game mistake free. Even though this was Tommy Lock's first major tournament win he brought years of experience to the table and battled with Minneapolis Jim, both players practicing a tight, cautious game. At one point in the heads-up play Tommy got dangerously short stacked, but a small run of cards allowed him to double up a couple of times, then coming all-in over the top of Jim to collect the blinds and raise money. Tommy's big break came when he doubled up and took the chip lead going all-in with suited Ace, Queen, called by Jim's suited Ace, Four. The final hand came when Tommy's Ace, Queen eliminated Jim's all-in King, Queen. Congratulations to Tommy Lock for the win and to all the eighteen players that collected money. As always, Minneapolis Jim kept the fans and players entertained with his stories and table overviews.

Complete results of all the events from the Five Diamonds World Poker Classic are available online at www.PokerPlayerNewspaper.com, poker's easiest to read source for all major tournament results plus thousands of pages dedicated to all things poker.

The $15,000 + $500 WPT Championship No-limit Hold'em event begins its five day run on Monday. The final table will be played before the WPT cameras for broadcast on the Travel Channel's WPT Series. More than a hundred seats have been awarded in the super satellites so expect a large field for this one. All of poker's elite will be here in Las Vegas chasing the millions that will be offered from the prize pool. The cards go in the air at Noon.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The WPBT Winter tournament is under way at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. The welcome introductions begin at 9:30AM and in order of appearance we heard from Tournament organizer Bill Rini, IP Poker Room Manager Mike Fay, Professional Poker Player Barry Greenstein, writer and poker pro Charlie Shoten, Austin Blogger Amy Calistra and author Michael Craig-The Professor The Banker & The Suicide King. The cards went into the air a few minutes before Noon in the $50 buy-in No-limit Hold'em . A capacity crowd filled the available 100 seats and seven of the alternates made it into the contest. Poker Stars provideed plenty of give aways and added a couple of thousand to the prize pool, a rare poker tournament overlay.

The room is crowded with more than one hundred of poker blogging heavy weights. Looking around the tables are Wil Wheaton, the Poker Prof, Iggy, Dr. Pauly and his brother Derrick , Hank Hdouble, Amy Calistra, Mr. and Mrs. Al Can't Hang, our own April (Week in review), and many, many more. We will provide a mini photo gallery of the event.

We have the winner of the fast draw award, Tanya 'Miss T74.' Tanya has the honor of being the first player to be eliminated and for this dubious honor she received the Dr. Pauly 'Gigli' video. Many thanks to the poker room staff and especially Mike Fay for hosting the unruly crowd of scribes. Oh yea, the open bar ran out of SoCo rather early and had to get an emergency delivery of that liquid tribute to all those Southern Greek Planter Estates. More from this event later today.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Christmas in Las Vegas is everywhere you look. The Vegas casinos jump right into the thick of the holiday spirit with decorations, red and green costumes, and much singing and dancing. That's right, singing and dancing over at Party Las Vegas, the Rio. I wanted to survey the poker room and check out the Holiday Show in the Sky. The Rio is a full-time party without the holidays so this time of year it's crowded with NFR rodeo people, Five Diamond poker tournament people and poker bloggers.

Rio Fact #1: it's loud, like the Hard Rock, it's always cranked up.
Rio fact #2: You will see acres of bare skin-both defined genders and some that aren't catalogued yet.
Rio Fact #3: The whole Santa thing takes on special meaning at the Rio.

The WPBT is set for Saturday morning at 9:00AM and will continue through the day until only one has both a chip and a chair. The crowd is in town now and some of the poker rooms around town should see a spike in their drop at the tables and the bar should see a spike in the free drinks going out. Aaaahh...the power of poker blogging is virtually intoxicating, and with this bunch, literally, too.

Cowboy hats everywhere. The National Finals Rodeo is doing their annual Champion of Champions year end show over at UNLV's Thomas and Mack. The NRF recently signed another contract that will keep the bronco busting set camped in Vegas in December for years to come. Nothing like being in a traffic jam in a hotel parking lot with a bunch of diesel fired, crew-cabbed trucks pulling trailers with Texas plates.

The Bellagio Five Diamonds World Poker Classic will began the seniors championship event on Friday at Noon. Jack McClelland spread the event over three days and imposed an 8:00PM stop time. After some of the senior events that have required the old pros to play fifteen hours or more, sometimes all night, this is a schedule that has some thought behind it. Just another reason Jack is at the top of the TD heap. Super satellites for the $15,000 main event are happening on Saturday and Sunday prior to the Monday Noon start time. The event will conclude before the WPT cameras on Friday.

Come to Vegas for the Poker, stay for the shopping, move here for the free shows. The Holiday Show in the Sky at the Masquerade Village in the Rio is a perfect example of fun in Las Vegas during the holidays.

Posted by flipchipro at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The 2005 WPBT Winter Classic is two days away. The poker blogging community descends upon Las Vegas and the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in mass on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of the 9:30AM start of festivities on Saturday, December 10, 2005. The early morning meet and greet, then the cards in the air at 11:00AM. The tournament is a roaring success and sell out with all 100 seats filled. The one hundred plus poker playing bloggers can thank Volunteer Tournament Organizer and poker blogger extraordinaire, Bill Rini, for all his hard work and perseverance to make this event a realty. Poker blogging royalty will be in the house and some of professional poker's royalty will also be mingling with the crowd after taking time away from the Bellagio's Five Diamond World poker Classic.

I do hope the bar at the IP has laid in some extra stock of SoCo, they'll need it. I also wish to thank the Imperial Palace for having the fortitude to host this fun-loving bunch. The Imperial Palace poker room is one of the more popular tourist poker hangouts on the strip. The Imperial Palace daily poker tournaments are typically filled with players.

I'll be wandering around toting the lbs of photo gear to document another important chapter in the history of America's most popular past time, blogging poker. It is always a pleasure to visit with the bloggers, listen in on the talk and feel the pulse of the poker blogging community.

Some Las Vegas information for those traveling from afar. The weather here is currently cool, below normal with daytime max near sixty and night lows in the thirties and forties. Bring something warm to hike around in and if you're staying at the Imperial Palace you can easily walk to many of the major strip casinos and some of the world's most exclusive shopping malls. Of course, the whole of Las Vegas is one big party, but it pales in comparison to the party aura that surrounds Al Can't Hang. Remember, Al's not the life of the party, he is the party.

See you at the IP on Saturday. Have a safe journey to Vegas.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Listen, if you didn't know you're bein' scammed, you're too fuckin' dumb to keep this job. If you did know, you were in on it. Either way, you're out. Get out! Go on. -Ace Rothstein

Posted by pokerprof at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"...and our winner is David Plastik, a player that hasn't won a tournament since 1947," Tournament Director Jack McClelland jokingly announced when the river hit the board of the final hand of event #7 on Tuesday evening. David's pocket Jacks were never behind when Gioi Luong went all in with A,8o. The flop brought the 9s,5d,7c giving Gioi a few outs with a 6 for a straight or an Ace for top pair or runner-runner 8; but, he remained behind needing to catch to stay alive. The turn brought a 9, the river was a 4 and David had won the top prize of $212,730, plus an engraved 2005 Five Diamond gold bracelet and a $25,000 + $500 buy-in seat in the 2006 WPT Championship at the Bellagio next April. Gioi Luong of Westminster, California received $115,645 for second. Robert Durant takes third place money of $57,820 back to Los Angeles, California. Clonie Gowan, the only female at the final table, was eliminated in the 4th spot for $33,035.

The complete order of money finishers in all of the events of the Bellagio's Fourth Annual Five Diamonds World Poker Classic are available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com. A small gallery of photos from Tueday's Five Diamonds is offered in the continue reading section below. The 2005 Five Diamonds Photo Gallery is now being populated with images of the tournament.

Marcel Luske is now in-town and playing in events at the Five Diamond's tournament. He told me about a charity tournament for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that is happening this week at the Morongo Casino in California. Marcel and his 'Circle of Outlaws' will be hosting and playing in the event to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Marcel is one of the most recognizable poker pros in Europe and America, always giving of his time for projects that benefit the greater good.

More photos from Tuesday at the Bellagio's Five Diamond Tournament.

Posted by flipchipro at 5:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The 2005 Poker Prof Blog Awards

Once again December is here and since awards tend to be an annual tradition I feel an obligation to present my personal picks from the ever expanding world of poker blogs, this is just one of my ways of saying thank you to the bloggers that really go the extra mile to make the community exactly that, a community.

First I present the Hall of Fame inductees. Last year Iggy's Guinness and Poker and Linda's Table Tango were honored with this, the highest praise I know how to bestow, now I give you two more. In the interest of diversity once a site is enshrined in the Hall of Fame it's ineligible of future awards.

Up For Poker-The Blog Dream Team of the South. CJ, G-Rob and Otis.

All exceptional writers and people, always giving the extra effort to make things as cool as possible. From organizing the 2005 Summer event then convincing Poker Stars to help out the bloggers the Up for Poker Team has transcended the poker blogger realm and now it's authors can be found preaching the gospel of the game in many publications and outlets.

The best part is that they keep moving forward and now have an amazing blog called Tri-clops, where a question is posed and each of the three bloggers of the Up for Poker team respond. Everything is fair game from whether or not they are going to hell all the way to their personal thoughts about the best way to enjoy Vegas.

Poker Grub-For anyone that doesn't understand this I have just two words, "The Hammer". Indeed the guru of gambling and grub was the creator of a term which every poker blogger has burned into their poker playing soul's. One of the longest running poker blogs on the net, the Grub goes back to the beginning of poker blogging.

2005 Golden Prof...Bill's Blog, Bill Rini-This was an easy decision, Bill Rini has expended incredible effort for the blogger community. His passion, dedication, perseverance and hard work are the reason the December blogger tournament is possible. Bill's excellent, long standing poker blog and scuba blog have long been a fixture in the community and his newest creation, Poker Filter is nothing to sneeze at, so here's to the 'Jacques Cousteau' of Poker Blogger's.

2005 Silver Prof...Paul McGuire, Tao of Poker-What more can be said about Dr. Pauly other then he is the quintessential poker blogger. A top writer with an in-your face often gritty style that has found favor and Pauly is now in more publications then I can name (check his bio for the latest info) Dr. Pauly is a community keystone who has helped many a blogger find their feet and the ground to put them on.

Dr. Pauly is, without a doubt, living his dream of traveling the world following poker and its champions, all the while keeping a close watch on the escort service and night club industries. Pauly's efforts extend well past the world of poker and his efforts seem almost superhuman with his personal blog Tao of Pauly, his e-zine Truckin' and even a Phish Blog. Dr. Pauly, I salute you.

2005 Bronze Prof...Boy Genius,Gambling Blues:
-I have to say it's good to have BG back, OJ was what it was and I'll keep my own counsel on the matter suffice to say BG was most certainly not the problem. In retrospect, I much prefer reading journeyman poker writer Boy Genius on Gambling Blues.

There you have it, the 2005 Poker Prof Poker Blogger Awards. Congratulations to those selected to be honored for their outstanding contributions to the poker blogger community and the poker industry. A big thank you to all the poker scribes laboring away to provide timely information, helpful advice and a lot of great reading. Happy Holidays to all from all of us here in Las Vegas!

Posted by pokerprof at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Illustrated Guide to No Limit Texas Hold'em: A cool format for learning strategy in Texas Hold'em.

The Illustrated Guide to No Limit Texas Hold'em is formatted to offer a series of hands (150) in real-game playing situations, then giving the reader an opportunity to make a decision. This is followed by the suthor's best strategy with the hand in the defined circumstances and why. The first example is the top hold'em hand, a pair of Aces, and the second offering is the worst hand, the hammer (7,2o). I respect the author paying homage to the hammer; but, I disagree with the presented reasoning and recommended action for this particular hand.

Most of example starting hands and their analysis are completely agreeable and just like in a real game a few are certainly debatable. A varity of situations are examined from the often confusing tricky hands like pocket Jacks to big slick, Ace/King, all in differing circumstances. The simple format allows the reader to quickly understand the presentation and one can go through the examples in rapid fashion without having to read the paragraph of description; but, the first time through it's advisable to read everything since some of the theoretical players may have been categorized.

A reader will pick up quite a few key skills to winning at poker after a couple of reads through the book, especially with regard to pot odds,tricky hands, the importance of position, all of the basic strategies for playing winning hold'em.

Someone whom has never played or hasn't been active for years and has not read many how-to poker books will find the Illustrated Guide to No Limit Texas Hold'em a good read, especally if you already have the some of the classic how-to poker books by Cloutier or Sklansky.

The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em by Dennis Purdy is another poker book you should consider adding to your playing library. One feature of the book's layout I found particularly valuable is using the illustrations like flash cards. Thumbing throught the text prior to a play session is a great way to prepare your game winning mind-set. If one of the examples results in a marginal hand becoming a winner or perhaps you muck a loser then the nominal cost of the book is repaid, even in a low-limit game setting. I rate the Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em as a good how-to poker book and a welcome addition to your game library.

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Posted by pokerprof at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the end of the year is quickly approaching the professional poker community is scrambling to score points for the poker player of the year award. The formula for determining the best player is quite complicated and requires an in-depth knowledge of quantum mechanics and calculus. Black magic and witchcraft also lends some understanding of how the player is selected, and don't forget, that the selection is based in-part on a ranking of inverse proportionality as applied to order of finish in various major tournaments (tournaments vary according to whomever is doing the calculating).

Unfortunately most of us don't have a ghost of a chance of making the list or understanding how those that did got there. Most of us never even meet a Player of the Year. To help out with a basic understanding of the entire player of the year thing I am providing a list of ways to know you're not going to be the Poker Player of the Year. This week's Nines...

9. You've never won any chips, cash, trophies, bracelets or anything playing poker.
8. You're never been to Texas, much less lived there.
7. You can never remember...straight beats flush?...flush beats straight?
6. You constantly annoy the other players by jumping up and yelling Bingo.
5. Not enough 'Go Fish' tournaments.
4. Other players won't let you see their cards.
3. You lost to a table full of dogs playing poker.
2. Your nickname...Rebuy King
1. You don't play poker!

Posted by flipchipro at 1:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Event #4 of the Fourth Annual Five Diamonds World Poker Classic at the Bellagio completed play of the final table Saturday. Quinn Do of Seattle, Washington outlasted the field of 266 players to take home the $266,935 first place money from the $678,030 prize pool. He eliminated final table chip leader Ben Roberts of the UK to claim the victory and the loot. Quinn also received a custom engraved gold bracelet and a $25,000 + $500 seat in the 2006 WPT Championship scheduled for next April. Ben heads back across the pond with an extra $143,555 in winnings. Vernon Martin of Severna Park, Maryland finished third and received $71,780. A complete list of the finishers in this and all of the Five Diamond events is available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

Saturday's $5,000 + $150 No-limit Hold'em event started at Noon with 200 paid entrants vying for a piece of the $970,000 prize pool. By 7:00Pm the field had been reduced to 69 players with chips and a chair. Seen at the tables was Barry Greenstein, Davood Mahrmand, Dan Alspach, Mike Mizrachi, Gavin Smith, Layne Flack, Mimi Tran, Men 'Master' Nguyen, David Levi, Minh Ly and 2005 WSOP Champion, Joseph Hachem, all hoping to make the 3:00 PM final table on Sunday and go on to win the $374,965 first place money. The event will pay the top 18 players.

Sunday's event is another $1,500 + $70 No-limit Hold'em that gets under way at Noon in the Fontana Room at the Bellagio. A great opportunity to plkay in a major tournament with many of the professionals at a minimum price. Give yourself an early Christmas present and get to the Bellagio for a shot at becoming a part of poker history. The experience alone is worth the price.

Many of the professional players from around the world are in town for the Five Diamonds which runs through the 16th of December. Satellites are held daily for the events and super satellites for the championship $15,000 + $300 WPT Championship event scheduled to start on Monday, December 12 at Noon.

Posted by flipchipro at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The final table of Event #3 was played Friday at the Bellagio. The start time for all final tables of the Fourth Annual Five Diamonds Poker Classic is 3:00PM. The players coming to the final table included 1998 WSOP World Champion Scotty Nguyen and common to most of the WSOP Main Event winners they are dangerous adversaries with any number of chips and Scotty had plenty. J.C. Tran, a smart young champion with a calculated aggressive style of play, can take your chips away. A tough bunch of poker players with the common goal of eliminating everyone else. The last player sitting at the end of the afternoon's play was Orlando Maldonado of Tampa, Florida.

Orlando had to square off with Scotty Nguyen in the heads up after another Florida player, Jeff Cohen of Parkland, was eliminated in the third spot and received $62,015. The two way session came to a quick end after both players saw the flop come 4s,10d,7d giving Orlando two pair with his 10h,4c and Scotty making a pair holding of 4's with his 4h,5h. Orlando bet and Scotty called. The turn was a 5c giving Scotty two pair, he moved all-in and Orlando quickly called. The 9d on the river didn't change anything and Orlando wins his first Bellagio Five Diamond gold bracelet. He also receives a $25,000 + $500 seat in the 2006 WPT Championship at the Bellagio next April and a nice pile of cash, $234,095. Scotty collected $124,030 for his second place finish. A complete list of Five Diamond event results including payouts are available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

Friday's Event #4, $3,000 + $100 buy-in No-limit Hold'em, attracted 266 players and offered a prize pool of $678,030 with $266,935 slated for the winner. The final table will be played on Saturday at 3PM. Saturday at Noon event #5, a $5,000 + $150 No-limit Hold'em tournament is expected to draw many of the top pros.

Posted by flipchipro at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Fourth Annual Five Diamonds World Poker Classic at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas completed the second event on Thursday. Steve Diamantas of Tampa, Florida bested the field of 261 players in the $2,000 + $80 buy-in no-limit Hold'em event and takes down the top prize of $188,985 from the $506,340 prize pool. Steve also received a $25,000 + $500 buy-in in the 2006 WPT Championship at the Bellagio and one of the custom engraved Five Diamond gold bracelets. Ken Einger of Las Vegas placed second in the tournament and received $100,975 in cash while Keith Gipson of Huntsville, Alabama was third and goes home with $50,490.

Ken Einger is the 2005 World Champion Blackjack player. The sixth place finisher, John Hoag, has made 17 final tables in major tournaments. Men "Master" Nguyen, taking a leave from his seat in event #3 went out in seventh place in event #2. Liz Liu came to the final table with the short stack and was eliminated in the ninth spot. A complete order of finish for all of the Five Diamonds events and prize money won is available at PokerPlayerNewspaper.com.

Thursday's event #3, a $2,500 + $100 buy-in No-limit Hold'em contest began at noon with a field of 243 player vying for a piece of the $589,275 prize pool. The winner will receive a $25,000 + $500 seat in the 2006 WPT Championship, a gold bracelet and $234,095 in cash. Seen among the 73 surviving players late in the afternoon was T,J. Cloutier, Tony Ma, James Van Alstyne, Tom McEvoy, Captain' Tom Franklin, and Ted Forrest. The final table will be played on Friday beginning at 3:00PM. Event #4, a $3,000 + $100 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament has a Noon start time. A great time to visit the Five Diamonds and watch all of poker's stars playing for the big money.

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

The first event of the 4th Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio ended late this afternoon when Lars Bonding of Denmark took advantage of pocket rockets during the final hand of Heads-up play to take all of Tony Ma's chips. Lars received $199, 870 in cash plus a $25,000 + $500 seat in the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in April, 2006. Tough Tony Ma received $107,700 for his afternoon of Five Diamond's poker at the Bellagio resort.

Lars overcame a field of 370 players including many of poker's elite to claim the victory. He also received one of the Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic engraved gold bracelets. The 5 Diamond's events are drawing crowds of players, even more than last year's well attended tournaments. Everyday the events cater to a room full of tough, talented poker players.

Today's event #2, a $2,000 + $80 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament began at noon with 261 paying customers playing for a prize pool of $506,340. The winner will receive a $25,000 + $500 buy-in in the 2006 WPT Championship at the Bellagio, a custom engraved Five Diamonds gold bracelet and $188,985 in cash. Moving through the room today I photographed some of the poker talent that only comes around for the big ones. WPT Tournament of Champions' Champion, Ron Rose, playing at one of the tables. Liz Liu was holding down the end of her table while James Van Alstyne was looking very determined in his quest for another big win. Event #2 will pay 27 places.

Thursday's noon event is a $2,500 + $100 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament. The final table for event #2 will get under way at 3:00 PM. All of this is happening in the Fontana Room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. A great time to be in the poker capitol of the Universe. Come to the 4th Annual Five Diamonds World Poker Classic with your "A" game and play live Las Vegas tournament poker with the big kids.

Posted by flipchipro at 4:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)