ONLINE POKER UPDATE

09/19/09

TIM "TK" MILES MAKES ANOTHER STRONG FINISH  BY SNAPPING OFF THE WEDNESDAY "QUARTER MILLION GUARANTEED":

Tim "TK" Miles comes out the box following his 29th place finish in the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) earlier in the week...to snap off the Wednesday Night "Quarter Million Guaranteed" tourney several nights after the WCOOP finish. There were 779 runners that jumped off with a buy-in of $320.00. TK watched Tyler and Fish step up to make their nice scores earlier in the week and just decided it was time for him to step up...and make it happen.

 He was 2nd in chips with 25 left when "GeneD" fell asleep while sweating TK in this tourney...only for "GeneD" to wake up to see the sweet results as TK took home a cool $46,800 by winning this tourney very early in the morning. The interaction between TK and "GeneD" on text was classic...All he could text was "I had so much fun"... GCP.Net wants to congratulate TK on this strong finish and wish him good luck in the future WCOOP...and other tourneys...GO GET EM BROTHA!!!!!!!!!!

POKER NEWS UPDATE

09/18/09

DARRYL FISH GETS PUMPED UP IN CARDPLAYER.  It appears Fish is getting some pub for his first place finish.  What a wild couple of days for him as he went to railing Tyler Smith in his heads up battle for the GCPC Main Event title, and by railing we mean heckling his friend, to having all the railbirds he can handle in winning his first WCOOP event.  Cardplayer does him right, right here. 

GENE D, THE MAN.  At the same time, as he was tracking Tyler in the Main Event,  GeneD played to the final three and negotiated a chop in the second chance tournament.  Congrats to GeneD for wrapping up the GCPC in style.  Wild Bill got a little wild and min-cashed two spots earlier in the same tournament.

JAIME GOLD, GIRLIE MAN?  Only a girlie man doesn't pay back his debts, and he may be the most sued main event champion ever.  Considering Russ Hamilton has won the main event that's 1. Surprising and 2.  Sure to change.  Gold's main event winnings are once again up for debate in a court of law.  His strategy of defer, defer, defer only slightly different than rule number one for liars (deny, deny, deny) has caught up to him again.  Read Bluff for the details here.

"IF I AM NOT ME, THAN WHO DA HELL AM I?"--YOU THOUGHT ALL THE DEMS WERE IN LINE WITH BARNEY FRANK ABOUT LEGALIZING ONLINE POKER? Think again, friends.  Nolan Dalla exposes many of the leaders of the democratic party who stand in staunch opposition to legalizing online poker.  Lots of powerful Californians in there, where oddly the state itself was recently considering legislation to legalize the online game, yet, it's national representatives are blocking it on a national level. 

No word on where the Governator (pictured above and quoted throughout) stands on the issue, though as far as poker is concerned word has it when he gets felted he always says the same thing as though headed for the ATM machine.  But sometimes you just know he won't be back and you are just holding a seat for no good reason.  Though, it's better than when he's winning and has rockets and always says, "Wanna be a farmer?  Here are a couple of acres."  Those Euros just lack table etiquette sometimes.

SAY HASTE LA VISTA TO PAYING ENTRY FEES FOR POKER TOURNAMENTS.   Power Poker Club, a new club site, will be offering a chance to win a Main Event seat this September and at least one every month until the WSOP.  To play, simply go to www.powerpokerclub.com and sign up.  Because it is a club with a monthly membership fee of $19.95, it is completely legal and based in the United States. 

All tournaments are essentially free rolls.  This weekend they are hosting a special $4000 tournament on Sunday.  There are over 30 multi-table cash paying tournaments, including a $2000 leader board tournament, a Sunday $2500 tournament and Twin $500 tournaments on Saturday.  Check them out.

IF IT BLEEDS, WE CAN KILL IT.  Pokerati continues their outstanding reporting on the Houston Poker Club robbery and death.  The killing has been ruled self defense in the thwarted robbery and police will not release the shooter's name  (probably for his own safety).  Read here for more

IT'S NOT A TUMOR, OR A VIRUS, BECAUSE IT'S POKER ON A MAC.  Macs have less viruses (allegedly), so playing on a mac is safer (presumably) fortunately Bwin has a mac ready platform, go here for details.  They are also running a package to go to Macau and their Magic Moments of Poker Tour with stops throughout Europe is still going.

ENJOYING SCHWARZENEGGER QUOTES?  Watch a ton of them here.  Do It!  My favorite are the Mr. Freeze compilation.  Nobody does, cheese, or "freeze" better than Ah-nold.

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/16/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE UPDATE AND WCOOP UPDATES: 

Tyler "Tydean" Smith, Gulf Coast Native,   gives Chad Brown "Hell" at the Final Table of the Gulf Coast Poker Championship. Tyler made a great run and played well...but took home 2nd Place for a nice score of right at $125,000. Tyler had a nice rail rooting for him since he was the local favorite which included ...Matt "MattG1983" Graham...David Diaz...His girlfriend Ashley...Jacob "Nocko" Naquin..."The Honest Player" (GCP Blogger) and a host of other local who were sweating the Gulf Coast Poker star. The heads up match lasted several hours and Chad Brown really earned his 1st place finish as Tydean played tough...but Brown finally flops a straight to Tydeans straight draw to take down the young star.

One of the people who were also sweating Tyler Monday night made his own "waves" online last night as Darryl "DFish" Fish (pic) took down his biggest online score of his career...snapping off event #33 in the Pokerstars...WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) poker series. Fish was on fire last night, and was able to take down a stacked final table to take home over $200,000. The Gulf Coast Native and Vegas transplant outplayed the Final table which included... Jeremiah "Believer82" Vinsant, who grabbed third place for $114,000...and Jordan "Scarface_79" Smith who took home $84,000. Smith claimed a World Series of Poker bracelet this year and was the bubble boy for the 2009 November Nine in the Main Event. WAY TO GO FISH!!!!!! ...GIVE EM HELL BROTHER IN THE REST OF THE WCOOP EVENTS!!!!.

Another Gulf Coaster made a nice score also in a WCOOP event earlier in the week also as Tim "TK" Miles was shooting for the $500k first place prize in event #28. TK would have to settle for 29th place for some more fuel to his online bankroll while taking home a little over $7300.00.

FROM THE GCP CREW...WAY TO GO GUYS...CONGRATS!!!!!!
 

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/14/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE UPDATE: 

The Final Table is set with some local star power and one big name pro.  Chad Brown, husband of Vanessa Ruosso, television and movie actor, poker commentator, and one hell of a poker player is back to one of his favorite haunts the final table.  Brown is sitting on a little over 200k. 

Tim Bullard of Houston, TX unlike Day 1 Chip leader Mark Gallagher stayed afloat and stayed alive with 420k.  Ron Romano of Acworth, GA is just under 350k.  Local standout Tyler Smith, of Smithdale, MS is in a good spot and ready to snap off his opponents with a little over 300k. 

It's good day for all those fellas but they are still looking up at Ron Haveard of Pensacola, FL.  Haveard (pictured left) has over 629k.  David Diaz of Memphis, TN has 207k, and is playing steady as always. 

Aaron Rhodes of Slidell, LA is one of the relative short stacks with 113k.  Peja Niyati of Dallas, TX is in the thick of things with 459k.  Chris Orourke from Tampa, FL is hanging in with 162.5k.   . 

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/13/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT UPDATE:  1:00pm

Mark Gallagher of Houston, TX is your chip leader with almost 169k.  He's followed by another Houston, TX native, Tim Bullard with almost 160k.  David Clancy of J'ville, FL is one of five other players with over 100k, sitting on 134.  Mitch Franks of Tupelo, MS (131k), Tyler Smith of Smithdale, MS (130k), Matt Overstreet, Vegas (119k), and Tony Lay of OK City (117k) are the others.

Just under the 100k benchmark is Ky Macpherson of Austin, TX.  Jeremy Gaubert of Thibodaux, LA is 9th in chips and Morris Barret of of Ryan, OK 10th.  Each with a little more than 70k.

Vanessa Rousso, Jos Arieh, and Chad Brown are all name pros still hanging on.  Rousso's boot camp was well received and you have to wonder if any of her students are applying the lessons they learned this week on the felt to her. 

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/12/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT QUICK UPDATE:  11:00pm

There are already several GCPers that are running good in the Main Event:

Dave Weinstein, Financial Advisor from Baton Rouge, is currently the Chip Leader in the tournament going on 11pm. Dave just told me he doubled up twice before the last break to get to a little over 70k. Dave is pictured on the left while chatting with one of his Buddies Will. Nice story in that both of them finished 1st and 2nd in a mega earlier in the week to get their entries into the main Event...Good Luck Dave

Other runners that jumped off included Vanessa Rousso and her husband Chad Brown...Tim "TK" Miles...Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (Who spent the first couple of levels feverishly filling out entries into a free drawing the casino was having at 4pm...Dan Walsh did the honors to take down a huge gallon size ziploc bag to deposit them for Chainsaw in the drawing bin downstairs)...Matt "MattG" Graham...Darryl "Fish" Fish...Tyler "Tydean" Smith (Who over took the top spot on Pocket fives as the #1 online player in Mississippi)..."Loveshack" Dave Gafford...BJ McBrayer...Jeremy "The chemist83" Gaubert...Adeeb Harb...Justin "Lockdowntex" Allen...just to name a few

CHAD BROWN TAKES DOWN  EVENT #11 WHICH WAS THE $550.00 PLO WITH REBUYS:

Gulf Coast Poker Player... and Houma, La Orthopedic Surgeon Arthur "Dr. Dell" Walker (pic) ...winds up coming in 4th in that event for a cool $7k.

GULF COAST POKER PLAYER RESULTS

09/11/09

LITTLE SECOND IN CHIPS WITH 10 PLAYERS LEFT.  Tomorrow they play down to the final table.  For a recap of the last couple of days go here.  Gotta figure Little's experience makes him a favorite to go to yet another WPT final table.  If Huck Seed, Layne Flack, and Nenad Medic (though he's the short stack) can join him, this might be the most compelling WPT final table in years.  Lots of TV value.

WHO PULLED THE PLUG AT THE GCPC?  The tournament directors and staff are scrambling to accommodate last night's power outage and kudos to them for working as hard as they have been.  We hope nobody threw a  wrench into the power station last night, though the list of suspects is probably short .  After a couple of delays today, we hope things will get back on track for tonight and tomorrow.

WSOP AND IP TO TEAM UP THIS FALL.  Yeah, you heard us right, back to Biloxi in late October November, with a 34 event schedule with reasonably priced buy-ins all along it looks like an interesting event.  We found Jimmy Sommerfeld's take on it at two plus two.  We only hope the same structures Harrahs used in the fall will be employed at the Beau.  Looks to be a little of everything, including a free-roll.

GULF COAST POKER PLAYER RESULTS

09/10/09

WITH 21 OUT OF 181 LEFT, GCP BLOGGER JONATHAN LITTLE 7th IN CHIPS AT WPT CYPRUS CLASSIC.  Little has 393k.  Layne Flack is the chip leader with 915k, Huck Seed is 5th with 456k, Nenad Medic 8th with 378k, and former November Niner Kelly Kim is hanging around in the middle of the pack with 223k. 

SPEAKING OF EUROPE.  If you couldn't make it to Cyprus maybe you can get to Madrid.  Bwin is continuing their Magic Moments of Poker Tour complete with a visit with the Galacticos of Real Madrid.  Go here for more.  If Riga Latvia is more your speed they also got packages there.

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES...  OR DOES IT.  Weird power outage that shuts down the entire Beau, puts the tournaments on pause, meanwhile the results have filtered in...

LOCAL RESULTS.  EVENT #1

EVENT 2:

EVENT 3:

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/08/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES:

Secretive cash pro Joe Buesche who is almost as camera shy as Wild Bill (wasn't there a picture of that guy up here yesterday?) cashed in the double 550 tournament on Monday.  Hopefully, the Tiltin' Texan will fill us in how things went as he saw things firsthand.  Also, our thoughts are with the Texan who after beating up on an Arkansian on the cash tables this weekend is headed for surgery in Houston. 

SEXY POKER ROCK VIDEO AND SHOOT-OUT AT POKER GAME IN HOUSTON.  The guys at Pokerati linked to this video last week.  The song ain't that bad but the video is good enough to justify having a channel on TV devoted just to music videos.  Like a Music Television channel or something.  They could call it MTV. 

Speaking of Pokerati, they also have some quality reporting about a poker club shoot-out.  Hopefully the Texan will be packing when he visits.  Follow the link for more information.

FINDING THE ZONE.  One of the topics of debate this past weekend was playing when you weren't feeling it.  How do you capture or recapture that killer instinct?  Joe Beevers, who isn't a porn star, but is English and good at poker shares his thoughts here.  John Carlyle, who isn't English but might be a porn star, shares his thoughts here.  If you need to get your head right before heading down to the Gulf Coast Poker Championship, get it right and get down there.

CHEATING AT CHINESE POKER, CHESS AND BACKGAMMON WILL GET YOU... NO TIME?  In Atlantic City, at the Borgata in June of 2007 an elaborate cheating scam was planned and everything went wrong topped off by being raided by the state police.  That being said why expend police resources if the guys you nab don't even go to jail and just get a slap on the wrist.  We are all for protecting poker players and the game from cheats but this entire fiasco seems screwed up on every level.

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/05/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP STARTED ON FRIDAY:

There are already several GCPers that have made small scores:

Bill "Wild Bill" Phillips (GCP.Net Co-Owner) makes it to day 2 of the first event. There were almost 600 runners that jumped off in the first $340.00 event, and GCP's own Wild Bill makes the deepest run. There were several other GCPers that were at the starting line when things kicked off which included..."Cobra" Kai Landry, Southpaw Rounder, Tyler Smith, Tim "Rasin Cajun" Hebert, Timmy "Thomkat17" Thompson, Matt Bryant and Da Rock as well as the  the "Tiltin Texan" just to name a few. Matt "Pobody's Nerfect" Bryant (GCP Blogger, pictured) scores a min-cash...and Wild Bill pulls off a 30th place finish.

2nd Chance $200.00 Tourneys also had a couple of GCPers. Phillip "Quatersack" Walsh does an 8 way chop in the Thursday night 2nd chance tournament for $2000.00...and Timmy "Thomkat17" Thompon does a 9 way chop in the Friday night one for $1900.00.

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/04/09

GULF COAST POKER CHAMPIONSHIP (THE GCPC?) HAS QUASI-REBUY FORMAT THIS WEEKEND.  A tournament a lot of players are talking about is this weekends double buy in tournament.  Here's how it works: 

**Event #2 will be a 3-day event. Players eliminated on Day 1A will have the option to buy in on Day 1B. Players remaining from Day 1A and Day 1B will return on Monday September 7, where the field will be combined and played as a standard multi-table tournament."

I CALL WITH THE ACE HIGH, HIGH UP IN THE SKY.  Saw this PokerStars campaign/TV Show whatever it is on Pokerati first.  Basically, in Copenhagen 22 players will be hoisted up to a table hanging from a crane in the sky to play poker.  They will play in a four hour long poker tournament.  You may ask why, but why not.  Thing that sucks is when they get knocked out, they can't go anywhere.  Look for this format to be as popular as inline roller hockey.  Also, wonder how are the scandis going to keep the chips and cards on the table?  Did they borrow a table from exclaber?  Are they going to be playing on laptops?

500k POTS ALL OVER FULL TILT.  The Pokernews online railbird report dishes on the nosebleed cash games.  Sahamies and David Benyamine splash money around and this time they drowned it in raking over 500k pots.  Read here for more.

WANT TO PLAY A JOKE ON POKER PLAYER/FAN?  There's a quality little video up right now that you can customize for whomever you like.  Go here for more.

THE NOVEMBER NINE CHARMED EFFECT CONTINUES.  Antoine Saout joined the startling success of November Niners at the Legends of Poker, when the frenchman ended day 1B as the chip leader in a tournament in Europe.  There are only 521 entrants so it's like a home game for a guy that's already gone deep in the WSOP Main Event.

GULF COAST POKER  CHAMPIONSHIP

09/02/09

GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS ON FRIDAY: Thats right GCPers...The latest Major tournament on the Gulf Coast...kicks off on Friday 8/4/09 with a $340.00 Deep Stack event. It culminates with a $5000.00 buy-in Championship Event that starts on 8/12/09. We will see you guys there!!!

LEGENDS OF POKER VIDEO UPDATE

08/28/09

PRAHLAD FRIEDMAN SHOWS HE'S NOT JUST AN ANTE NARC.  The talent-stricken ESPN rapper won the Legends of Poker tournament (though we have to say his rap was better than the Jeff Madsen fiasco aired on Tuesday). Friedman bested November Niner Kevin Schaffel in Heads-up play.  Friedman doesn't sing the "I call with the Ace High" song, but he did just that and won the bracelet, over 1 million dollars, and entry into the 25k WPT Championship in April by doing so.

Schaffel won half a million for second place.   Decent write up here.  Steve Begleiter also a November Niner, on break for the WSOP Main Event table, finished in ninth.  Pokerpages suggest Jonathan Little was railing him as his new coach.  Wonder if he'll blog about that soon or not.

WHILE ON THE TOPIC OF POKER SONGS.  Barry Greenstein has a starring role in a more recent video that is already played out on the forums.  Still for those that haven't seen it you might enjoy seeing Bling Blang Blaow.  Caution some borderline NSFW material.

WITH THIS UPDATE AND WILDBILL'S RECENT ENTRY YOU'D THINK WE JUST DISCOVERED YOUTUBE.  Well, we did just discover youtube. Now if somebody could explain this facebook and twitter thing, we'd greatly appreciate it.

NEVER TOO EARLY TO WIN A WSOP MAIN EVENT SEAT FOR 201O.   Power Poker Club, a new club site, will be offering a chance to win a Main Event seat this August, and at least one every month until the WSOP.  To play, simply go to www.powerpokerclub.com and sign up.  Because it is a club with a monthly membership fee of $19.95, it is completely legal and based in the United States. 

All tournaments are essentially free rolls.  This weekend they are hosting a special $4000 tournament on Sunday.  There are over 30 multi-table cash paying tournaments, including a $2000 leader board tournament, a Sunday $2500 tournament and Twin $500 tournaments on Saturday.  Check them out.

PARTY GAMING BUYS WPT.  At first it was Gaymania Ltd. that were going to buy the WPT (sorry that's Gamynia Ltd.) but Party Gaming swept in with their own offer for a little bit more at 12.3 million.  Read more here.  Still can't get over how a couple of Main Event winners could get together and buy a poker tour.  Lot's of poker tours these days.

FINALLY A COP ON ULTIMATE BET.  Unfortunately, it's not the real Johnny Law rather it's Billy Kopp, who went deep at the circuit event at Harrahs New Orleans and placed 12th in this years main event.  He's also done well on the internet poker playing with a handle that plays on his last name.  We'd never do that.  We hate bad puns.

LEGENDS OF POKER UPDATE

08/26/09

GCP BLOGGER JONATHAN LITTLE GOES OUT IN 44th SPOT.  Read all about on his latest blog.  You can go to the column to your left to find it or just follow this link right HERE.  Also making news at the Legends of Poker, two of the November Nine, Kevin Shaffel and Steve Begleiter are sitting on big chip stacks.  They go down to six today.  Go to WPT for more.

Also, on Little's blog we've added an odds counter game, courtesy of online poker site bwin.  It's fun, it's educational, and teaches you to quickly understand the odds.

DURRRR CHALLENGE REVISITED.  Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius took time out of their busy schedules of playing each other in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio to play each other online.  The Swede cut into the wunderkind's sizable lead.  Dwan was leading by over 700k and now Antonious has trimmed it by more than half to just 334k.  The hand total now stands at 21,442 played out of the 50,000 predetermined to determine a determined winner.

UP TO NO GOOD IN NEW ORLEANS?  Don't be surprised if Steven Seagal is one of the men who arrests you.  Yeah, Steven Seagal:  Lawman.  No word yet if punishment will be meted out with a swift kick to the jaw, jail time, or listening to his album "Songs From the Crystal Cave" on a loop.  You think we're joking about the last part?  Watch the video for yourself.

For those not following the link, watching the video, or well versed in medicore movies from ten years ago, Steven Seagal is the guy from Under Siege and umm... Under Siege 2, and other borderline good action movies in the 90s.  Not quite Stallone or Schwarznegger but a little more than Jan Claude Van Damme at least in the waistline. 

These days John Cena of the WWE is making the kinds of films Seagal made 15 years ago.  Oddly, the last Cena pic that came out was 12 Rounds featuring Cena as a New Orleans cop.  His forefather in celluloid dreck, Steven Seagal is doing it for real.  Should be an interesting show and make viewing A&E less painful.  Word has it Mike Caro was sighted at Harrahs this past weekend (so sayeth Tex--blog below right), Wonder when Seagal will step up to the felt on his off hours?

ESPN TONIGHT TO FEATURE SOME BIG NAMES.  Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivy, and Scandinavians who simply have big names in terms of number of letters or as Hellmuth calls them Northern European Idiots.   Preview here.

LEGENDS OF POKER UPDATE

8/23/09

GCP BLOGGER JONATHAN LITTLE GOING INTO DAY 2 WITH A HEALTHY STACK: "FieryJustice" going into day 2 with a healthy chip stack with right above 81k at the Legends of Poker. It looks like he is in the top 20 in chips right below Mark Seif and Nick "The Takeover" Shulman...but right above Bryan "Devo" Devonshire.

WORLD POKER OPEN RECAP

WORLD POKER OPEN RECAP: 

Tim "Misisimachine" Burt caps off a stellar WPO with a win in the PLO/Rebuy event. This makes the Machine from right there in Robinsonville, MS finishing the event with 2 (two)... 1st place finishes in the Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better (Event #10) and the PLO/Rebuy...and a 4th place finih in the 7 card stud Hi/Lo 8 or better event.

Brian Rutland from Saltillo, MS wins 2 events also ...one in the Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better event that was event #24...and he bested Mike "Carwash" Schneider from Atlanta, Ga to win the $340.00 No limit Holdem event.

Baton Rouge's own Dave Weinstein gets a generous chop 3 ways to bring home well over $3000.00 in the $340.00 Limit event. I have to make sure to give props to his Limit "Coach" ...David Poor as Dave was the one giving him pointers on the plane ride up to Tunica...Poor...your the man brother ...  ;-)

WORLD OF POKER NEWS

(08/16/09) 

TWO MONTHS TWO MILLION DEBUTS ON G4.  Yes, it's a real cable network.  Here's an interesting clip below.  It's time for us all to build a tilt room and to invite over these interviewers. 

TOM DWAN TELEVISED CHALLENGE HAS AN OPPONENT.  N,o it's not Patrick Antonious, no they are not finishing the Durrrr Challenge finally, instead it's a new challenge.  Rules are simple:  Each player buy-ins for 500k.  Blinds are static at $500/$1,000.  The match is played in four sets of 500 hands.  The match is over once a player has lost his buy-in or the 2000 hands complete.  The first opponent?  Sammy George.  Yeah.  No idea either.  Apparently he's a fixture on Euro poker shows. 

SPEAKING OF DWAN...  Cardplayer is doing excerpts of Phil Hellmuth's new book Deal Me in (which profiles 20 of the biggest names in poker right now).  The Dwan excerpt can be read here.  A more entertaining excerpt of Daniel "I'm Not A Racist!" Negreanu can be found here.  The bit where Todd Brunson recognizes his talent and tosses his the $500 chip being a highlight.

GEORGE WILL ON ONLINE POKER'S SIDE.  Finally, some conservatives are seeing the light.  Apparently, a chat with Howard Lederer motivated Will to write this op-ed piece.  Seeing as the Professor was one of the poker pros lobbying like hell in washington during National Poker week, we can only hope he swayed some voters.  By the way, you know how hard it is to convince some conservatives that any bill led by Barney Frank is a good thing?  You probably do.  Let's get both parties involved in this.  

BORGATA OFFERING A GUARANTEED $2 MILLION PRIZE POOL FOR MAIN EVENT WITH ONLY A 3.5k BUY-IN.  They are also offering television coverage with the WPT.  Tournament starts September 9 and runs through the 24th.  Pokernews has the details here. 

BWIN's MAGIC MOMENTS OF POKER TOUR GOES TO POLAND.  In conjunction with EuroBasket 2009, the latest installment of the Magic Moments of Poker offers a sweet traveling package to Europe.  The winner qualifies for the grand final in Vienna.  Read here for details.

WORLD OF POKER NEWS

(08/21/09) 

MURDERER GIVES MURDER A BAD NAME BY PLAYING POKER.  In yet, another black eye for murderers this alleged murderer allegedly played poker before killing his playmate wife.  One of the GCP regulars actually watched his terrible VH1 show, the one Layne Flack was rumored to be cast for (but wasn't), and the alleged killer was creepy (allegedly).  Granted this show made our eyes bleed faster then Steve Schirpa on Face the Ace, but we do remember the allegedly creepy guy as definitely being allegedly creepy. 

Course, despite the fact that this case has as many salacious details as an OJ crime, still there is all this chirping about the guy playing poker.  How long 'til the first story blames the murder on a lost bet?   Granted we felt like killing after watching Face the Ace but why is the fact he played poker earlier in the night pertinent at all?  We were going to right a detailed account but Wicked Chops beat us to it.  And they have video.  We have a picture of the prize the alleged murderer was vying for on VH1 (above).  So, go here.  

ESPN AND WSOP TEAM UP FOR SEVEN MORE YEARS.  Pokerati has the story here.  Looks like they are going back to 32 hours of yearly coverage.  Which is a good thing.  The slide in this years ratings has been a bad thing.  Didn't know the ratings were down?  Well, they have been.  Final tables featuring Vitaly Lunkin and the Internet set, plus a celebrity tournament with an explosive blind structure will do that to you. 

DOYLE BRUNSON'S SHAMEFUL SIX FOR THE HALL OF SHAME.  Puggy Pearson?  Check.  Doc Holliday?  Check?  Stu Unger?  Check.  The only stipulation for Doyle is they must be dead.  Read the article.  Wonder if Gambling911 has already posted a Daniel Negreanu has friends in hate story.  Read Doyle's take right here.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MENEDEZ BILL AND THE FRANK BILL?  Good question.  Apparently, there are a number of differences many benefiting the consumer.  Like that poker is grouped with mahjong, bridge, chess, and backgammon.  Risk fans and Connect 4 advocates have joined with Battleship devotees and Checkers connoisseurs to join the bill.  We are half joking.  Pokerpages has the details here.

WANT TO PLAY POKER ON YOUR MAC?  Bwin has a mac ready platform, go here for details.  They are also running a package to go to Macau and their Magic Moments of Poker Tour with stops throughout Europe is still going.

WORLD OF POKER NEWS

(08/17/09) 

FTOPS MAIN EVENT CONCLUDES:

Here are the top 5:

COURT'S LINE OF QUESTIONING SEEMS TO BE BAD FOR POKER.  Essentially, they focused on whether or not online poker was legal in a state vs. federally, which is kind of a good thing if you state doesn't expressly state online poker is illegal.  It's kind of vague though as it's still just in an information gathering phase.   Go here for more.

NO ONLINE DRUNKEN POKER.  Here's some regulation you can use at home.  The merits of having some sort of P.U.I. (Pokering Under the Influence) lock on your computer is debated on this 2+2 thread.  Not ones to tilt off money drunkenly, we have to say we are not in in favor of this potential product.  Though if you can marry a breathalyzer to a bwin, FullTilt, or Pokerstars log-in you may have a customer base.  

WORLD OF POKER NEWS

(08/15/09) 

DANIEL NEGREANU RESPONDS TO BEING CALLED A RACIST.   I guess all poker players are bigots, according to Joan Rivers Annie Duke is comparable to Hitler, now Negreanu is a racist, next somebody will tell us Clown Prince of Poker Eric Seidel isn't funny. 

Okay, maybe the third one doesn't equal the other two.  First gambling911 got a ton of traffic by labeling Negreanu a racist and now we are giving them more when he defends himself here.  (Photo from 2+2 thread, may be photoshopped)

THE CHEMIST GETS SOME LOVE FROM CARDPLAYER.  Basically a rehash of his World Poker Open win but nice to see a local get some pub.  To read more of the story go here.  Gaubert is definitely one of the top players in the state and has produced results consistently over the last few years.

SOME OF THE BEST POKER QUOTES.  You won't find "I can dodge bullets baby,"  "All you can eat,"  "Pay the man his money,"  "If there was no luck in Poker I'd win every one,"  "You call it's all over baby" or any of those great in the moment quotes.  Maybe we should do a list.  This list here is a more philosophical look at poker. 

DEBUTING TOMORROW NIGHT 2 MONTHS 2 MILLION.  Online poker pros come out of the shadows and their parents basements.  9:00 pm ET (that's 8:00 pm CST) tomorrow night on G4, that's a cable channel way down on your dial.  Here's a good interview previewing what's in store for us who plan on watching the show. 

Here's the G4 site with more info.  Granted they might look like the roster of an Academic Bowl team, and that may have been the last time they've been on TV but they are far better poker players than you are.

WORLD POKER OPEN

(08/12/09) 

THE CHEMIST PRACTICES ALCHEMY IN CAPTURING WORLD POKER OPEN.  Jeremy Gaubert overcame a big chip deficit literally turning a few lead based chips into gold.  Steve Hamontree of Chattanooga, TN lost the final hand as Gaubert's pocket rockets held vs. his T8. This score comes right after Jeremy final table in a FTOPS event in the past couple of weeks.

Memphis area man, Chris Moneymaker, went out in third.  The Chemist caught a flush to send Moneymaker's top pair to the rail (need to remember that sentence if Jennifer Tilly ever busts out... of a tournament).    This high finish may refute Moneymaker's claim that he runs bad in tournaments, or rather the viewpoint some 2+2ers assigned to him after taking him a little too seriously after his WSOP 40k bubble bust out (read here). 

For the record we are Chris Moneymaker fans, and if 11 time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth can bitch after every bust out Chris can bitch about bubbling the 40k.  He, the movie Rounders, and lipstick cameras created an industry.  We should be nothing but grateful to the guy.  The other big name at the final table, Chad Brown, finished in 4th.

Gaubert, a Thibodaux native (but not this Thibodaux man), won almost 193k plus a 10k seat for the Beau's main event and a trophy.  As for the others: Hamontree 109k, Moneymaker 60k and Brown 48k.  Thomas "Crusher" Creel of Monroe, LA ended up in 5th for 36k.  Paris "Ya" Heard couldn't overcome his short stack and was first one out at the final table.  9th place paid Heard 12k.

WHY DID ASSETS FREEZE.  Pokerati gives a run down on the recent freezing of online poker players assets in New York.  Documents have been released, a Canadian has been indicted and forfeiting over $566 million, and the timing of the arrests coincided with the release of Senator Menendez introducing a Senate bill on online poker.  Go here for more.

NEVER TOO EARLY TO WIN A WSOP MAIN EVENT SEAT FOR 201O.   Power Poker Club, a new club site, will be offering a chance to win a Main Event seat this August, and at least one every month until the WSOP.  To play, simply go to www.powerpokerclub.com and sign up.  Because it is a club with a monthly membership fee of $19.95, it is completely legal and based in the United States. 

All tournaments are essentially free rolls.  This weekend they are hosting a special $4000 tournament on Sunday.  There are over 30 multi-table cash paying tournaments, including a $2000 leader board tournament, a Sunday $2500 tournament and Twin $500 tournaments on Saturday.  Check them out.