Poker Pros

Several professionals players at the table were talking about the number of cashes they have at this year’s WSOP. It was actually quite interesting to realize that so few players could have over twenty cashes between them. After the conversation Men “The Master” Nguyen walked over to me and said:

“You know how many cashes I have this year.”

“Yes, I do Men, you have four.”

“Right and that amounts to how much.”

I held up my fingers about an inch apart.

“Right” said Men “Poquito.”

By the way, Men now has five cashes after his 4th place finish in the 2-7 Draw Lowball event for a not so poquito $128,045.

Is Forrest burnt out? That could be a question on some lips as Ted has yet to cash this series. Does he look burnt out in the photo taken yesterday in a suite at the Rio? Not to me. Even though it is the WSOP and he is Ted Forrest, the action junkie, Ted has been spending time with his 18 year old daughter Kristen.

Kristen lives in NY, not a regular stopover on Teds casino to casino drives. She is on summer vacation so Ted took poker break after the HORSE event to spend time with his tennis loving Daughter.

Ted is a shrewd businessman and it is common knowledge he has shares in a lot of gaming companies.

I asked him if he was worried about recent developments (both in Washington and Texas). " I may be able to make it work to my advantage.I will give you the scoop in a few weeks. "

Good luck in the big one.

Ray Bitar, CEO of TiltWare, announced today in the closed Full Tilt Suite that Gus Hansen will make the Full Tilt team a perfect dozen. Bitar said that they had just signed the deal and they'd get Gus's picture up on the big board as quickly as they could.

"Gus is one of the last best players," said Bitar.

If only Gus knew that all he had to do was take a free picture, (see our photo). The Great Dane took the mic and said that he's been doing his own thing for the past few years, but that he's happy to be a part of the team.

"I've been friends with Howard for a long time. I've learned a lot from Howard and Phil Ivey, and I've also taught them some things, too." said Hansen.

If you found yourself in need of big money to save your home or business, what would you do? Take a second job, sell some items on eBay, cut back on expenses? How about hitting the poker tournament trail and trying your hand against the best in the world, all in hopes of hitting a big score and securing your American Dream?

Sound crazy? It didn't to Susan Genard and her then boyfriend Tim Rhys. Together with their 4-year old son they set off in 2003 for a life on the poker circuit - hitting Foxwoods, Bellagio, Commerce Casino, and finally, the 2004 World Series of Poker. The goal? To win enough money to save their struggling independent film company.  They decided to document their journey, and as a result have assembled an impressive collection of candid interviews with many of poker's big names.

Daniel Negreanu's got a good new video blog up. In it, he outlines a proposed schedule for the WSOP 2007.

The most interesting new event he talks about is a bracelet-only heads-up event ... meaning you have to already be a bracelet-winner to participate -- heads-up format. Brilliant. Not sure how his proposed $5k heads-up idea would work out -- logistically it would be a difficult tourney to run on a WSOP scale -- but the other one would create excitement similar to what the HORSE event added this year.

He's also got video of his stand-up comedy routine performed at the 2003 PartyPoker Million, which includes funny impressions of Phil Hellmuth, Ming Ly, Erick "E-dog" Lindgren, and Ziggy Marley. Well worth the click. (Just wait for it to download in full, then come back to watch ... damn streaming video.)

The pictures aren't quite exact, but I swear if you saw Carl Olson yesterday, you would've seen him with his mouth hung slightly open, head tilted nearly the same, and wearing el mismo blue Full Tilt hat that Phil Ivey wears. Dominating his table in the $2,000 NL Event, Carl Olson is the Blonde Ivey. Quiet, 24 year-old hunk that he is, Carl Olson finished Day One 14th in chips with $54,700. I had a chance to talk to him before he started today: "I went from $40,000 - $75,000 when they were playing down from 215 to 198. Over the course of three orbits I basically doubled my stack without having to show down. I volunteered to show AK and 99 once, but I never had to show a hand," said Olson. The bubble, like usual, had most of the players on guard, and Olson took advantage.

change100 has been kicking butt on the WSOP fashion scene, so I knew I had to jump on this the minute Gavin Smith said, "Have you seen poker's new Urkel?" He pointed over to Phil Ivey...or at least I thought it was Ivey.

Sure enough, Ivey is sporting a new look today. The contact lenses, hat, and the probing glare all appear to gone. Time will only tell if this is a permanent shift toward geekdom, or just a a temporary ploy to psych out his opponents.

Yesterday I walked through the sea of players in the $2,000 NL Event and was startled when I saw Howard Lederer seated at a table in his Full Tilt jersey. With all the legal battles flaring off this week, I just thought he'd be working on those, instead of bracelet. How silly of me, this is poker.

But I still think that the rights that Howard, and many other pros, are fighting for are worthy of more attention. Earlier this week Amy reported on the players that filed the Antitrust Lawsuit against the World Poker Tour Enterprises, and you can find a longer article about it on Poker News. Please also read Howard's own words about the struggle on the Full Tilt Blog, "It Was Time To Do Something."

So you're coming out to Vegas for the WSOP and you want to really live it up, but you're not exactly sure how. In Vegas, you can get just about anything for the right price, but how about a couple of once in a lifetime poker offerings that will make your trip really memorable?

For Peyton is a charity dedicated to raising money for the family of Natasha Novoa, who passed away earlier this year after a battle with ovarian cancer. Several big names in poker have been working to raise funds for this worthy cause, donating books, lessons, and other poker items for a charity auction. Two items are up for auction right now that would complete any WSOP experience - tickets to a WSOP gala at PURE, complete with Gavin Smith to make sure you meet every pro you want, and the 4th Annual WSOB, hosted by Howard Lederer.

Auctions end soon, so get your bid in now!

There are lots of "confrontations" on the felt at the World Series. The ones between the professionals and the amateurs are often fun. The classic ones, however, are usually when we see the pros toe-to-toe; head-to-head; mano-a-mano; or in this case mano-a-womano. These can be truly inspiring, a real learing experience for the up & coming players. Then again, sometimes they are just down right funny or sick. You be the judge.

Evelyn Ng was riffling her chips pondering a call, when David “Devilfish” Ulliott, who was at the table but not in the hand, said:

“Make your move Asian Persuasion. That is what they call you, isn’t it.”

The superstars of poker were out in droves today as the $5000 shorthanded NLHE event kicked off, and I combed through hundreds of tables in search of poker fashion's most fabulous AND most offensive. I'm pretty sure Kristy Gazes thinks I have a foot fetish, as it took six tries to get a good shot of her black and white snakeskin heels. Semi-live and in color, here are my picks for today's poker fashion winners and losers.

People have different goals in tournaments.

That was the theme of a seminar given recently at the World Series of Poker by Barry Tannenbaum, a professional limit player in Las Vegas and a longtime Card Player columnist.

Some players just want to make the money while others will be unhappy with anything less than first place.

“If you’re playing to make the final table or to win you won’t cash as often,” Tannenbaum said. “If you’re intent on winning, at some point you will have to sacrifice safety for gain.”

Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble, Rivers Burn and Roommates Couple?

Jean-Robert Bellande had an “interesting” day this past Sunday. First, he joined the House of Cards reality television show as the “new surprise roommate” then he managed to bubble in not one but two events on the same day.

When most people think about the World Series of Poker, they think about the Main Event - that grueling poker marathon that tests the best players in the world while simultaneously giving the anyman a chance to make a name for himself. Televised coverage of the Main Event was what brought tournament poker to the world and as a result, that's the game that has fueled the poker boom. Walk in to any casino these days and you'll have your pick of No-limit games, but if you're looking for any other form of poker, you're likely out of luck.

Everyone tells me it’s his lucky hat. Some even think it makes him look pretty bad-ass, adding some needed edge to his good-guy image. I don’t care how many final tables Andy Bloch has made in that black and gold snakeskin cowboy number. It’s the most tragic piece of headwear I’ve seen so far at the WSOP AND I’m including state school fratboys in furry pimp hats. He’s gonna look at those photos from the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event in two years, turn to his lovely wife and wonder, “what the hell was I thinking?"

I saw a Rubenesque woman shaking Paul Darden's hand and telling him he's her hero. He was tremendously gracious, letting her keep his hand in perma-shake. I think Paul is great, too, but I wanted to hear it straight from her—Lucy from Lubbock, Texas.

"I started watching poker on TV when my husband started playing, and I can't stop. It's on the travel channel in Lubbock. And I just love watching Paul," she said.

"My husband is out there playing and this morning he took some credos with him. One is about patience."

"I told him before he started, 'Be like Paul.'"

I was starting to feel for this husband, being told to play like Paul Darden. I think I'd be walking home if I said, "Honey, can you please play like Paul Darden today? Oh, and tonight, can you still pretend to be him?"

But Lucy was genuine. Her affection truly heartfelt. She explained, "Paul is so patient. He waits and waits and waits for a good hand, and then he wins with it. He does it again and again, and then 3-4 hands later he bluffs and it's just great."

So, cheers to Lucy from Lubbock, and all the best of luck to Paul at table 56 today!

With two WSOP cashes already in the bank this year to go with two last year, Allen Kessler is a well known face on the poker circuit. What he may be better known for, among us media types, is his 'always ready with a quote' personality. So I couldn't pass this story up, even though I might be accused here of sloppy seconds.

The HORSE event is a very tricky beast to structure. With the five rotating events the blind and betting structure can be just fine in one event and then be totally out of whack in the next. The problem is that Hold'em and Omaha have a flop and you see 71% or 78% of your total hand after just one round of betting. In the Stud and Razz events you have five rounds of betting with a single card addition in each of the last four rounds.

This little story comes from WSOP event #14: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys. Rebuy events with a load of pros playing are more fun to watch than bartender at the Parisian Palace.....OK nevermind, you had to be there for that one, I mean two.

You all know Phil Gordon, what you may not know is that Phil loves to chat, talk, cajole and generally have a good talkative time at the table. You may not know Mike Odeh but to know him is to love him or not. Mike is also a great table talker; so when the two of them were seated at the same table to start the Rebuy event, I thought it might be a good place to hang-out for a spell. Phil was the first to try and convince the table that rebuy meant "loose" as in "if we don't get some rebuy chips on this table early, we might as well go home, those other tables are moving chips and making those rebuys."

One advantage to being a poker player from Alabama is that Hoyt Corkins by default takes a liking to you and invites you to his summer barbecue.

The “Alabama Cowboy�? and his longtime girlfriend, Natalie, hosted the ‘cue at their Spanish Trail home for a number of friends and fellow players on Saturday afternoon.

Among the guests were Greg Raymer and his wife, Cheryl, David Plastik, Richard Brodie (a.k.a. Quiet Lion) and Ted Lawson, who won a WSOP Omaha tournament on ESPN last year. There were also a number of friends and associates, including former Playmate and Top Pair magazine proprietor Jill Ann Spaulding and her little poodle named Hold’em, complete with pink painted nails.

Two top pros were among the speakers at a gathering of poker bloggers in Vegas earlier this week.

Howard Lederer took the microphone to discuss the current anti-online gaming legislation being considered by the House of Representatives.

One aspect of the bill that Lederer believes hasn’t been discussed enough is the provision that “forces banks to essentially become the cops�? by monitoring financial transactions. He believes the move could increase the costs of the financial institutions, which would then be passed on to customers.

He also mentioned the provision that requires internet service providers to censor the internet.

“This is a practice that our government criticized China about,�? Lederer said. “Apparently it’s ok if it’s something our government [doesn’t want on the Internet.]�?

OK, I do promise some deep, insightful observations on the antics and actions of the thundering herd of Poker Professionals as we progress through the grueling seven weeks of the World Series 2006. But first let me be the one to leap to the most talked about images from the first two weeks of the Series and that would be Clonie Gowen's "spread" in Maxim Magazine.