GULF COAST UPDATE (08/31/08)

GUSTAVE, WHICH MEANS GOD'S STAFF, BARRELS TO THE COAST.  Please be careful if you are in harm's way.  We wish you and your loved ones the best in the coming days.  Be smart, and if in doubt be overly safe and err on the side of caution. 

We hope this storm will come in with a whimper and go out with one too.  Anyway, stay safe folks.          -WB

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE (08/31/08)

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES TO BE AFOOT.  We have the official results of the first 2 events. You can see the official results here. Thanks goes out to Johnny Grooms for getting these to us.

Event #1

Event #2

I just left the event this morning and there were still lots of people there playing. They had some nice turnouts for the first couple of events breaking the 500+ mark. All the locals were there as well as several other named pros.

Here are a few photos:

Tiltin Texan and Gabe Costner

Southpawrounder

13th place finisher in the 2nd event Cody Carlino

Jared Leblanc from Lafayette who also cashed will have some more stuff up soon. I am being pressured into evacuating for this "Kite Flying" weather we are having. Peace out- GD

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP IS... STILL AFOOT.  Southpaw Rounder and the Tiltin Texan are in the money for event #2. 

Update:  27 left.  Southpaw just got aces cracked---would have been chip leader had they held.  Villain went all in with a medium stack (suicide bomber) with KJ.  In the small blind Southpaw wakes up with bullets.  Calls.  Flop is KKx.  Turn is a J.  Villain says, "He's drawing dead."  Davey is willing an ace to come because of his opponent's inability to understand hand rankings.  Arguably he also wanted an A to come because he desired to be chip leader in an event where first place pays over 30k... arguably.

Update:  Tiltin Texan is out in 24th.  Pictured, in happier times, this is another solid tournament performance for the man from the great state of Texas.        -WB

ALL KINDS OF POKER NEWS UPDATE (08/29/08)

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES TO BE AFOOT.  Southpaw Rounder busted early this morning in in 18th.  Great job by him and the Texan.  Look forward to both their blogs to recount the action. 

JASON KIDD TO GIVE HIS GOLD MEDAL TO THE WIFE OF A CASINO OWNER.   What?  Weird way to pay a debt maybe?  We are guessing Chris Paul won some pots off of Jason playing poker in China.  Chinese Poker?

BRIAN TOWNSEND ADMITS HE PLAYS POKER UNDER DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS ONLINE.  He comes clean and loses his red pro status at Full Tilt.  Said he was embarrassed to play the lower limits under his real...  fake... online name.   His online name is sbrugby you should have heard of him.  Click the link and you'll see him in his After Dark glory. 

BEN AFFLECK WINS PPA CHARITY POKER TOURNAMENT NEAR THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.  Andy Bloch came in second.  Affleck was great in Rounders, it's no surprise he's a successful player.  Wait.  That was Matt Damon?  Who's Ben Affleck again?  Anyway, this guy Affleck, whoever he is, was all but a lock when he got heads up with eternal bridesmaid Bloch.  He outlasted 180 other players (?) like Seth Meyers, Richard Dreyfus, and Montel Williams.  Alright, this just in we know who Ben Affleck is, he used to be Mr. J. Lo.  The event raised over $60,000 for Paralyzed Veterans of America which is a great cause.  And our apologies to Affleck and his duck.  We love those commercials. 

JOHN "RAZOR" PHAN WINS LEGENDS OF POKER CHAMPIONSHIP.  His career year continues.  Two WSOP bracelets and now a WPT championship.    -WB 

GCP.NET ADDS A NEW BLOGGER (08/27/08)

DAVEY "SOUTHPAW ROUNDER" BOURG JOINS THE GCP.NET BLOG TEAM.  

Davey,  a successful athlete with a competitive nature, started playing poker years ago.  It was after college, that he really threw himself into the game and started to play poker more and more as it seemed to get the competitive juices flowing without taking the toll on his body that sports did. It is now one of his main hobbies, and not only does he enjoying playing it he's become a consistent winner as his game is getting better and better.

He has two recent scores with the first being for 3rd place at one of the IP Poker Classic Main Events where he earned over $3500.00. I was there to sweat him and he came one (1) card from being a massive chip leader heads up, but took a brutal beat to get knocked out the tournament. His next nice cash was for over $4000.00 in the 08' circuit event at Harrah's where he he got 7th in a $300.00 buy in. He is a well respected player on the Gulf Coast online community as well as he is ranked 32nd in the latest Pocket 5's ranking for the state of Louisiana, and goes by several online names such as "Davey16" and "db16" on stars. He is a welcome asset to the GCP.Net blog team.

SPR will be playing a lot of the events in the Beau's Gulf Coast Poker Championship.  Please keep checking back as he will be updating his blog often during the series.  -GD

TUNICA POKER UPDATE    (08/26/08)

MID-SOUTH POKER OPEN IN SEPTEMBER. 

Those of you that wont get enough poker action at the Beau event can head north in Sept. Problem is ...We have been trying to get some information or docs associated with this event, and I tell you...it seems to be like pulling teeth. I have called the Poker Room at Harrah's in Tunica to get specifics on the events/buy-ins/dates...etc and continue to run into a brick wall. Robert McGovern, the poker room manager there, has posted something on 2+2, but besides that, the websites don't have any specifics.

What we know: There will be poker tournaments happening in Tunica Mississippi from Sept 4th thru the 24th. They will be broke down between 2 Casinos. Harrah's Tunica (Old Grand) will host the event from 4th thru the 14th, and it moves to the Horseshoe from the 15th thru the 24th. Hopefully they will get some specifics up on their website...although it looks like Poker Pages does have the events at Harrah's listed.           -GD

LOCAL NEWS UPDATE (08/28/08)

MATT GRAHAM BOWS OUT IN 28th PLACE AT THE WPT LEGENDS OF POKER EVENT.  Graham got knocked out when his AK didn't improve vs. KK.  Tough break.  The big stack is Paul Smith.  Layne Flack and Lee Markholt are within hailing distance.  Allen Cunningham and John Phan are closer to average with 27 players left.

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP IS AFOOT.  Reid Gilbert already has a tournament report up:  IF YOU'RE TOO CAREFUL.  Southpaw Rounder, Gene D, the Tiltin Texan, and DaRock of Aces are en route or playing today.  Good luck guys!          -WB

WPT /LOCAL PRO UPDATE  (08/26/08)

THE GULF COAST'S OWN MATT GRAHAM WITH $216,100 STILL ALIVE IN THE WPT LEGENDS OF POKER  AND ONE OF THE CHIP LEADERS.  Matt is joined by Layne Flack, Eric Seidel, Gabe Kaplan, Barry Greenstein, Danny Negreanu, Eric Lindgren, Mark Seif, Kathy Liebert, John Phan, Antonio Esfandiaridiariarifandiari, and Max Pescatori as being "alive."  He's got more chips than most of those pros, though there are some guys we've never heard of that have more than him.  We'll be tracking Matt's progress. 

Also, check out Monkey's Top 10 Poker Pet Peeves.  Quality stuff THE POKER MONKEY.              -WB

LOCAL POKER CRIME BLOTTER UPDATED  (08/26/08)

HOYT CORKINS LAS VEGAS' HOME IS BURGLARIZED.   Our second favorite pro from Alabama (though if Shannon Shorr doesn't ever do our interview, Hoyt may move into first) was in Florida during the break-in.  On the heels of the stories we heard in Vegas during the world series we are not surprised.  In fact, we are surprised more poker pros haven't experienced this kind of thing.

Updated with link:  Las Vegas Now also check out Wicked Chops they have pictures from the incident.

In other Vegas news, home prices are at an all time low and a guy robbed the Harrahs cage and got away with it.  Except for the picture they took.  He's got what two days until he's caught?                     -WB

CELEBRITY POKER UPDATE (08/24/08)

MICHAEL PHELPS IS A FISH.  The Asian Poker Tour seeking some free pub sent out an open to letter to Phelps inviting him to play, here's an excerpt: 

" I noticed recently that you have told your local newspaper that you were a big fan of poker and look forward to playing again. By a strange twist of fate, I represent the Asian Poker Tour and we are running Asia’s largest ever guaranteed tournament NEXT WEEK in Macau (WOW, THAT IS A STRANGE TWIST OF FATE). It starts on the 27th and runs until the 31st and guarantees a prize pool of $1,500,000 and a first prize of $500,000. This is the biggest prize pool ever offered in Asia! While you are already in China, why don’t you give it a go (Because he's got nothing better to do then stay in Asia for an extra five days when he's about to get drowned in endorsement opportunities stateside)? It would be our pleasure to fly you in, organize your accommodation and buy-you in to the tournament!

Some have said you are a ‘human dolphin’ but we’re keen to know if history’s greatest swimmer is really a fish. You may have feet that can reach angles others cannot to give you the ultimate swimming technique but just you wait until you’ve got sharks like Vegas poker legend Doyle Brunson chasing you. We’ll see how fast you really are then when they smell blood - get some flippers on those size 14’s!" 

Of relevance here is the fact Phelps is an online addict.  Seeing as how he'll make 20 million this year he could be very good for poker.               -WB

WORLDWIDE POKER UPDATE (08/22/08)

"ALL STRATEGY" FEATURING DANIEL NEGREANU AND JUSTIN BONOMO DROPS TODAY ON POKER ROAD.  You may have heard of Negreanu, if not, you are probably on the wrong website, but know that he plays by feel, and sometimes gives off an Edward Norton vibe but not a Worm one or a Hulk one.  His counter balance is Bonomo who is a self described math guy.  Not sure what kind of vibe he gives off but it's not Matt Damon.  This promises to be an interesting podcast.  Go to Poker Road for more details. 

FOR THOSE THAT MISSED SUPERBILL ON CRACK WITH A MULLET,  AND ON AN ESPN FINAL TABLE:  SCOTTY NGUYEN'S EMBARRASSING HIGHLIGHTS CAN BE FOUND ON YOUTUBE.  We saw them first on Wicked Chops so head there to check them out:  Wicked Chops.  Have to agree a reputation has been ruined.  Eric Lindgren comes off pretty well, not so much Layne Flack.

POKER PAGES CONTINUES ITS EXCELLENT SERIES ON ONLINE POKER AND THE MINUTIA OF GETTING A PRO-POKER BILL PASSED THROUGH CONGRESS.  The long and the short of it: six relevant bills will be before congress come September.  Don't be afraid to badger your local congressman to support poker.  Shari Geller's exhaustive examination here:  UIGEA AND CONGRESS.      -WB

WORLDWIDE POKER UPDATE (08/20/08)

DAVE CAIN WILL ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE WORLD RECORD FOR CONTINUOUS POKER.  He'll play heads up  poker in a bar for 100 hours straight.  Cain is a Brit and wants to break the record currently held by American who set it at Foxwoods playing low limit poker.  Larry Olmsted played for three straight days (roughly 72 hours) and turned $100 into $1000.  Is that $12.50 an hour? 

Harrahs should post this record in their poker room as there a lot of degens who get into their third day without even trying to set some sort of record.  Read all about Cain's attempt at 100 hours what are you crazy?. For those who enjoy this sort of thing he'll be streamed live playing.  I'm guessing he'll get his most hits somewhere near day 4.  It's all for charity. 

This is giving GCP some ideas anybody want to try for this record?  Email us at the contact link below if so.  -WB

WSOP NOVEMBER NINE UPDATE (08/19/08)

KELLY KIM THE SHORTEST STACK AND MAYBE BIGGEST OF THE NOVEMBER NINE HAD A SCORE ON SUNDAY.  Who cares if he can't see his main event chip stack through his belly.  The big guy finished 12th in FullTilt's FTOPS yesterday.

DENNIS PHILLIPS, THE BIG STACK AT THE TABLE, HAS AGREED TO PARTICIPATE IN PHIL GORDON'S CHARITY "PUT A BAD BEAT ON CANCER."   That means 10% of his winnings are going to Phil's charity.  It's a good cause because Phil probably hasn't named his left pocket Charity.  Yeah, used that joke yesterday.  We also had a plug about Mississippi Gulf Coast Rentals yesterday, for anybody looking for a condo during the Gulf Coast Poker Championship, too. 

We mention that only to be fully redundant and not to plug it again.  Though don't be afraid to tell them we sent you when you click the link below.  Rumor has it, even though Dennis has turned down all offers from pros to tutor him, he is mulling over a generous offer from Phil Gordon. Phil gives good advice, from celebrity poker we remember him often saying, "The first one to bet a paired board will generally take it down."  We also remember trying to figure out when there were going to be celebrities on celebrity poker.

Listen to Phil and Dennis on ESPN's July 24th's Poker Edge, podcast.   -WB

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (08/18/08)

ULTIMATE BET CREATES AND COMPLETES ANTE UP FOR AFRICA ONLINE EVENT.  Larger than normal fees allegedly going to Darfur.  Completely possible they have simply named their pockets Africa and Darfur.  Non-superusers wonder if they will ever create and complete an Ante Up for Suckers to charitably replenish the bankrolls of those they have stolen from.

BEAU RIVAGE GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP IS AROUND THE CORNER.  Need a great condo 5 minutes away contact our sponsor MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST RENTALS.  Sorry, we snuck a plug in there.  Won't happen again.  Scroll down for the banner link, oh and tell 'em we sent you.  Still mad about us slipping an ad in?  It's a slow news day, what can we say.  Need some real news?  Okay, let's look online.  First the good news, Pokerstars had an overlay in their warmup for the Sunday Millions.  First one in a while.  Now, the bad, FullTilt users are complaining they can't cash out.   Check out the 2 +2 forums, for the latest.  Probably just a technical issue as FullTilt seems above repute.  Speaking of repute, a group that is below repute, ceruesly is Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker who are still embroiled in cheating scandals which may or may not have involved their executives. -WB

POKER LAW UPDATE (08/02/08)

LOCAL STATE REPRESENTATIVE OF DISTRICT "O" RESPONDS TO GCP.NET OVER LOUISIANA POKER/GAMBLING LAWS.

We decided to ping our local State Representative Damon Baldone about his thoughts on the laws governing poker tournaments in local barrooms. We sent him the below quote to see what his thoughts were on the subject:

"Louisiana is in the center of a number of fights over free poker tournaments in bars. The problem is that the law can be read as putting a bar owner into the business of illegal gambling because he makes a profit from increased sales during the games.
To resolve the issue, bar-owners are taking their cases to the legislatures. In Baton Rouge, a majority of the House voted to make poker tournaments in bars legal. But Gov. Kathleen Blanco came out against the measure as being "an expansion of gambling." She must be shocked ... shocked! ... that anyone would suggest there is gambling in Louisiana.
Meanwhile, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported this wonderful exchange, apparently on the floor of the House, after the bill was defeated:
Rep. Warren Triche, D-Thibodaux, the bill's author, was asked by Rep. Jack Smith, D-Stephensville, "if it would still be OK to have legislative poker games."Triche replied that, "yes, it would"

Below is his comments back to GCP.Net

"Thank you for taking the time to write to me concerning your thoughts on poker. I understand that poker is a game of skill. Warren Triche is no longer a state Representative but was actually the author of the bill to allow the poker tournaments. We have already been told that any new bills considered gaming would be vetoed by Governor Jindal so there is little hope for any new legislation at this point. Governor Jindal vetoed legislation during the 2008 Regular Session that simply allowed parishes to vote if they were in favor of allowing gambling in their parishes. Should you need anything further please do not hesitate to contact my office.
Damon J. Baldone
State Representative
District 53

Well, first of all we want to thank Damon for replying to us. Second, We see that Damon does in fact know and understands that poker is a "Game of Skill". Third, looks like were screwed as Jindal is determined to veto anything that even resembles gambling. He would not even let us vote locally.  -GD

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (08/13/08)

EXCALIBUR CASINO SAYS NO MORE CROOKED DEALERS! 

No more honest ones either.  Excalibur is going dealer-less.  While that might save you money on tips, it also denies you the person to blame when you've given away all your money.  Computer viruses are the new idiot dealers.  For the record, we love dealers and do not berate them, but we will be happy to berate a machine.   We guess some people don't have computers at home.    -WB

WORLD OF POKER UPDATE (08/15/08)

WILD BILL'S FINALLY GOT HIS LATEST TIMELION UP BUT NO TONY PARKER AND EVA LONGORIA STORY,YET, PHIL HELLMUTH HAS ONE THOUGH:

Poker Pages Phil Hellmuth blog

DO YOU HAVE AN ADDICTIVE PERSONALITY?  If being unable to walk away from a three card poker table after losing your life's savings wasn't enough of a clue take this test:

http://www.menshealth.com/addictive/index.html -WB

Poker Book Update (08/12/08)

GUS HANSEN'S NEW BOOK, "EVERY HAND REVELED", SET TO HIT BOOKSTORES

I have mentioned in my blog about Gus Hansen carrying around a small voice recorder to log in his hands verbally for playback, and now we will all get to see how those dynamics are going to come together for his new book. The book will have Hansen's thought process from the first hand of the tournament through the last winning hand.

From what we are reading it will be based off the Aussie Millions in which Gus snapped off 1.2 Million over 5 days. There will be dynamics in there on shifting gears from extreme tightness to ultra LAG, and I personally am curious to see what was going through his mind once he gets heads up with Gobboboy and goes from, as Wild Bill would say, "The Outhouse to the Penthouse" in stunning fashion. There is also a tribute to Chip Reese which is must deserved...Look for it out soon!!!!  -GD

LIVE TOURNAMENT UPDATE (08/07/08)

BRANDON "RUTT" RUTTLEY CHOPS THE TOURNAMENT AT SHORTY'S

Received this picture from an "Unknown" source as it seems Brandon "Rutt" Ruttley may try to fly below radar as a top tournament player on the Gulfcoast....ala Wild Bill. We all remember that fatal hand with Phil Gordon a couple of years ago when he made that call with Jacks as an over pair on a 10 high board post-flop. Instead of Clint Shafer being the hometown gulf coaster to break out into the big-time...it could have been Rutt. Well we are glad to see he is still giving them hell in the local tournaments. This pic is after they did a chop for close to a grand. I like the pose...and the shirt.  -GD

TOXIC POKER CHIPS UPDATE (08/06/08)

LEAD POKER CHIPS MAY BE HARMFUL IF CONSUMED. 

California poker rooms are getting the lead out of their poker chips.  In a story reminiscent of the acid based paint on cards scare in the 70s that had players licking the backs of the cards before every fold, the question is are your chips toxic. Poker pages explores the west coast safety story here.  -WB

INTERNET POKER UPDATE (08/05/08)

LAWMAKER INTRODUCES BILL TO LIMIT ILLEGAL ONLINE GAMBLING TO JUST SPORTS BETTING.

That means BoDog, as reported yesterday is still screwed, that also means poker online, if the bill passes, may once again be in season. 

So too Craps, and that belly yell you hear is TJ Cloutier rejoicing, Blackjack, and whatever other leak you might have in a brick and mortar casino.  Just no sportsbook.  As always Bob Pajich of Card Player gives us the inside scoop on these legal issues.   -WB

GULF COAST UPDATES (08/02/08)

NICK CECI GOES DEEP...AGAIN. Looks like our Peachtree City Contractor decided to start playing poker. He made it deep in the Deep Stack Estravaganze at the Venitian Main Event.

He bubbles the Final Table and comes out 11th for close to 12,000. Looking forward to seeing him Biloxi at the end of the month.  -GD