 The much awaiting Hard Rock Casino "Poker Lounge" opened today. In a down gaming market in Las Vegas, this is the first of several new rooms to open late this summer. The hype had been about just how different the Hard Rock room would be. Yesterday, I got a pre-opening preview.
The good news is that this is a very player friendly room. The tables have as much room between them as can be found in the best layout in town, that would be at the Venetian. The new chairs are high back and very adjustable. The room itself is... well... Hard Rock. Done in black with rock star portraits throughout, the room lends itself to a party poker atmosphere. The dark blue table felts are very nice and give lots of contrast for both cards and chips. There are bathrooms inside the poker room, always a great addition and the much publicized poker bar is just at the entrance of the room, so the party atmosphere will be "near' but not "in" the room.
The new room begins with an aggressive four tournament-a-day schedule and a full compliment of games and limit spreads. I have only one negative and even this is not an issue for most Hard Rockers. I have heard many complaints from poker players about the music in the MGM poker room. Well, if you don't like music with your poker, then the HR room is going to be an issue for you. One very good thing is that the Hard Rock music selection is 100% Rock and that made all the difference for me.
I hope the very enthusiastic poker room staff can maintain their energy over the time it takes to build a room. I would remind them that the Venetian poker room took nearly a year to draw a faithful poker following; that being said, the new Poker Lounge at the Hard Rock Casino has all the elements in place to be a very successful room.
 There are more poker rooms in Las Vegas then in any other city in the world. If we have our count correct, there are 55 open and operating poker rooms in the greater Las Vegas area. But with the state of the U.S. economy, including the cost of gasoline to get all of those nearby Californians to Las Vegas; all is not well in the center of the gaming world.
Here is a current report on the poker economy in Las Vegas.
NEW ROOMS: Later this month the Eastside Cannery will open on the (naturally) East side of town. This is the first new casino opening in this area in a little over ten years. The Eastside Cannery Casino includes a "First Class Poker" room.
NEWLY, REMODELED ROOMS: Fresh locations and new tables have popped up at the Stratosphere and Sunset Station. The Orleans and Golden Nugget also had major face lifts in the last year.
FUTURE ROOMS: The Encore, Steve Wynn's second tower, did not go through with plans to have a poker room bigger and better than the one already in Wynn. MGM's City Center casino Aria, however, still plans to include a World Class Poker room that will rival Bellagio and Venetian as the premiere rooms in the city.
NEW and ELECTRONIC ROOMS?: Rumors continue to swirl that the new Station Casino at Aliante in North Las Vegas will open this fall with a completely electronic poker room. This has not been confirmed but as it turns out, Aliante would not be the first poker room in Las Vegas to embrace dealer-less electronic tables.
OLD/NEW ELECTRONIC ROOM: The Excalibur Hotel and Casino announced yesterday that they are closing the old poker room and opening a brand new, all-electronic room before the end of the month. This will be the first electronic poker room in Las Vegas.
LIMITED HOURS: Several poker rooms have gone to a late night "empty room" close, which simply means that after midnight if no tables are in action; the room closes until sometime the next morning. Both Treasure Island and Riviera have made this move and more rooms are expected to follow.
CLOSING ROOMS: There are always rumors about poker rooms about to close. Some are rumors and some are clearly leaks from corporate headquarters. Currently on the death watch list: Paris, Tropicana, Plaza and Hooters. On the doubtful list is a long-standing rumor that Caesars Palace management wants the huge space now occupied by the poker room for something more income producing, however, this remains only a rumor.
 I've been collecting some bits and pieces about the World Series of Poker that begins next week. Time to pass them on to you.
Want to know where the professionals will be playing; I mean other than the ones who play every event, every day and sometimes two at a time. Here is the list of "Championship" events on the 2008 WSOP schedule:
* $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold’em, May 30-June 1
* $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event, June 4-6
* $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud, June 7-9
* $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em, June 13-15
* $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold'em, June 15-17
* $10,000 World Championship Omaha 8 or better, June 19-21
* $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E., June 25-29
* $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha June 29-July 1
* $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Hold’em, July 3-14 and Nov. 9-10
 There are many tournaments running in Las Vegas this summer either in competition with the World Series of Poker or in an attempt to pick up some lower limit tournament players who may be in town as fans or satellite players at the WSOP.
Here is an integrated list for all of these tournaments.
Thursday May 29th
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $500 WPA Mega Satellite 1 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $330 NLHE (Casino Employees) 2 Day
2:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 NLHE 1 Day
Friday May 30th
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em 3 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $540 NLHE 2 Day
2:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 NLHE 1 Day
Saturday May 31st
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $1,500 NLHE 4 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $540 NLHE 2 Day
4:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 Pot Limit Hold'em 1 Day
June and July after the break.
 This report is offered without commentary or critique. Readers are welcome to draw their own conclusions and scathing commentary is welcome in the comment section. There is a new form of poker being tried in several casinos. The Mirage in Las Vegas is one of the largest poker rooms to give Texas Hold'em Plus a trial run.
"Plus" is played exactly like normal Texas Hold'em except that after the hole cards are dealt and before the first round of betting, each player in turn may discard one of their down cards and replace it for an amount equal to the small blind. The "Plus" bet goes into the pot and the deal then plays out like any other Hold'em hand.
One benefit, of course, is that the house is likely to get a full rake on the game with between $0 and $10 in a $2/$4 game or up to $20 in a $4/$8 game being added to the pot pre-flop.
We observed several tables of "Plus" being played at the Mirage and the most common play was for a player to buy a new down card and then still fold the hand. In effect, as many as 50% of the players were paying a small blind in nearly every hand. Players with an Ace-rag were always willing to buy a new card to go with their Ace.
Hold'em Plus is the first patented poker game played in a poker room, as opposed to table games like Caribbean Stud and Let It Ride. Rooms wishing to offer Hold'em Plus to have to pay a licensing fee to the developer.
 With the 2008 World Series of Poker now less than three months away, it is time to speculate what the future holds for this largest of all poker tournaments.
Certainly the WSOP managers seems to have settled at around 55 events a year, at least a $10,000 tournament for each major game. They also seem committed to having bracelets within the grasp of as many players as they can, with the low end buy-in of $1,500 or just a win in a $165 single table satellite.
Each year the tournament structures are reconsidered and improved. So the questions arises:
"What could they do next?"
How about moving the WSOP away from the Rio in Las Vegas.
We know the Series will be at the Rio this year (2008) and next (2009), those plans are in the books and the convention space has been set aside, but what about after that.
Well the Rio is one of several properties that many investment onlookers feel may well be sold off by the new owners of Harrah's Entertainment. There is always talk that WSOP staff want the tournament on the Las Vegas Strip, if only to keep more of the cash game action in the room. Most night during the summer WSOP months the "big games" have moved from the Rio back to Bellagio and other strip properties.
So what are the rumors about the location for the 2010 World Series of Poker:
a) Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, using lots of convention space;
b) Multiple properties on the strip, all centrally located. This would allowed the really huge registrants events to run more smoothly with multiple Days Ones, as needed;
c) Rotate the WORLD Series of Poker internationally with the first complete WSOP schedule outside of the USA being held in 2011 in Spain.
By: Lenny – December 18, 2007
 Back in October I wrote a post about Pamela Anderson hooking up with poker professional Rick Salomon. Remember she lost a bundle at the poker table and "paid up" with something other than cash. She and Rick had a marriage license then and tied the knot shortly after. I may have been being a bit flippant when I said:
"We wish them all the best but we also imagine the MTV Award Show in 2009, where the red carpet will feature a tag team match between Tommy Lee, Kid Rock, Rick Salomon and whomever comes after Rick on the Pamela 'ex'-list."
Well hold on there! We may need to update that cynical suggestion because good olde Pam might be able to fill up her ex-dance card by the 2008 MTV show.
Yes indeedy, Pam and Rick appear headed to divorce court, as Pammie has filed due to... well..... it's just been too long with the same guy. You gotta love Vegas and Pam & Vegas are just a perfect fit. What happens in Vegas to Pamela Anderson stays in Vegas and in every tabloid, newspaper, infotainment television show and every sleazy Howard Stern rerun.
There must be a moral here somewhere; something about betting over your head, or something about head. Or perhaps paying your debts or maybe it's not a moral we are looking for but an immoral?
 Harrah's has released the schedule for the 2008 World Series of Poker. Below is the bare bones schedule for the 55 event Series. I will follow this post with a statistical analysis of the new schedule and third post on how the WSOP staff are changing the organization and structure of the Series through the use of the event schedule.
Fri, May 30th 12:00:00 PM 3-Day Event
World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em (Event 1)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000
Sat, May 31st 12:00:00 PM 4-Day Event
No-Limit Hold'em (Event 2)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500
Mon, Jun 2nd 12:00:00 PM 3-Day Event
Pot-Limit Hold'em (Event 3)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500
Mon, Jun 2nd 5:00:00 PM 3-Day Event
Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit) (Event 4)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000
One of the guilty pleasures of living in Las Vegas is that about once a year they blow-up a casino. OK, so the other guilty pleasure is that my job requires me to play poker at least two or six times a week. This past week guilty pleasure #1 saw the implosion of the New Frontier Casino on the Strip.
As "Big Bangs" go, this one got a B-. About six minutes of fireworks followed by maybe thirty seconds of crash, bang, boom and then the usual cloud of dust and other carcinogenic debris. But if you are ever in town for one of these, they are worth the viewing. Below are some of the better YouTube submissons for your viewing pleasure.
#1 Eight minutes long, 6+ minutes of fireworks, shot from top of Stratosphere
#2 Short and sweet and a bit more professional with a little Elvis too.
#3 This is as close as you can get ground level, better viewing is often had from the roof of nearby hotels.
#4 Finally, the professional view as CNN Espanol reported the final moments.
By the way, should you ever get an opportunity to see a demolition, remember to check the windage. You do not want to be downwind in the path of that cloud of dust.
 It would appear that poker in Las Vegas has hit its first downturn in at least three years. That being said overall gaming revenues are down this fall in Las Vegas. While late summer revenues are generally lower in the scorching Nevada desert, these are yearly comparisons and clearly poker players are not playing like they were just a year ago.
Revenues from poker rooms throughout Nevada were down about 6 percent in July and August compared with the same period a year earlier, according to figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Staff and players all note the trend continuing and even increasing in September and October.
Most industry experts in Southern Nevada agree that the recent poker popularity explosion, fueled by Internet play and television coverage, appears to be waning, speculation is that the US government's ban on online gaming may be contributing to the decline.
Of course these year-over-year comparisons must stand up to three full years of double digit increases; numbers which obviously were not going to be sustained indefinitely. The Las Vegas Hilton became the first casino to close its poker room this year. However, several of the new properties under construction are said to be reconsidering placing yet another poker room into the valuable new space of their soon to be opened mega-casino.
Other casino operators are working overtime to keep their rooms going. I am working on several pieces comparing the newest incentives being offered by poker rooms but the old standbys of freerolls and cash giveaways seem to be popping up at more and more casinos.
A Poker War has begun in Las Vegas. With over 50 poker rooms competing to attract players the freerolls, promotions and gimmicks are on the rise.
Since the conclusion of the 2007 World Series of Poker this summer, the number of players interested in poker in Las Vegas has fallen dramatically. Overall gaming revenues are down across the board and poker rooms have been hit particularly hard. Unlike slot machines, poker rooms are not all the same and players who spend long hours seated in the various rooms are beginning to see more and more incentives to keep them in that seat.
Freerolls have always been a way to "reward" players for loyalty to a room. Not only are more rooms running freerolls, some are realizing that a monthly freeroll seat means nothing to a poker playing tourist in town for a long weekend. So now we are seeing weekly freerolls in some card rooms.
Comps are on the increase for poker players and so are outright giveaways. The Bad Beat Jackpots are growing, even though these come directly out of pot at the table, the more unique High Hand and Bad Beat Jackpots are just more signs that the casinos know they are in a war for the poker players bankroll.
The Poker Shrink will be doing the rounds of the rooms here in Las Vegas, checking on the new and old gimmicks to lure poker players into a room. I will be reporting to you here on all new incentives to our very old game.
By: Lenny – September 15, 2007
 Will the pin-up girl of the 90's every leave poker alone?
Do we want her to?
Are you even looking at the words on this page?
Anyways. Moving right along.
Pamela Anderson is back haunting the poker rooms of Las Vegas and apparently living her life according to yet another Hollywood script. Now whether the current script is Indecent Proposal or Honeymoon in Vegas is unclear. Rumors have it (that means Pamela actually say this to some tabloid reporter) that she dropped a bundle (or two?) at a Vegas poker table. A quarter of a million is the first number floated. The story sleazes on that a "famous poker player" offered to cover that debt if Ms. Anderson would let him cover her first.
 Fade to black or at least to a gauzey grey as the years creep up on all things silicon. Hmmm, maybe that would be 'creep down"? Anyways, a few days later the happy couple are getting married. Til death do them part, unlike Pamela's relationship with Doyle or Tommy or Kid Pebble. Don't you just love these happy ending stories full of love, romance and commitment; not to mention quarter million dollar debts and borderline prostitution storylines.
Pamela's disclosure came on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Pamela did not name the poker player in question but said:
"I was playing poker one night... and I was down about 250 grand. He said if I made out with him, that would clear the debt." Yada, yada, yada... I paid off a poker debt with sexual favors and I fell in love. It's so romantic."
The Las Vegas Review-Journal speculates that Pam's man is Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari,look for his bankroll to suffer and for his consumption of oysters to increase. However, insider information suggests that Rick Solomon is the more likely next Mr. Anderson, you remember Rick from the Paris Hilton tapes!
Pamela, herself, is nothing if not an entrepreneur, remember her last foray into the world of poker. Here's hoping her current poker endeavors led to a more lasting union or at least a bigger payday. 
In 2005 when Joe Hachem won the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, it was the last time the WSOP Champion was to be crowned at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. All the preliminary events of the 2005 WSOP were held at the Rio just off the strip as were the early rounds of the Main Event. In 2006 the WSOP moved completely to the Rio and last summer Binion's was without any summer special events. But this year things will change.
The Tournament poker staff at Binion's have set up the First Annual Binion's Poker Classic and they did it in a truly unique way. They took the 2007 WSOP schedule and picked one event from each day and then duplicated it but one day earlier and for 10% or less of the buy-in.
So on June 2nd at the WSOP, you can enter a $1500 NLHE event (3,000 starting chips) but on June 1st at the BPC, it's $150 NLHE (4,000 chips). The BPC will do this for 35 days beginning today with a Casino Employees event and include: Omaha8, Stud, HORSE, a Ladies event, Mixed Hold'em, Razz, Short-Handed Hold'em, PLO and more. I was downtown the other day and sat in on a dealer training at Binion's for dealers who had not dealt 2-7 Lowball. Yes, they are not only running lots of different events during the BPC; they are making sure that floor staff and tournament dealers are fully prepared for each event.
The Binion's Poker Classic runs everyday through July 4th. Here is the schedule.
 The first big event of the Spring/Summer Las Vegas Poker season has reached 27 players. The WPT Championhship at the Bellagio will play down today to the "Television Six" before tomorrow's Final Table. This has been a very interesting tournament for several reasons:
-there has been a lot of talk among players about this being "the second biggest tournament in the world." Referring, of course, to the WSOP Main Event as number one but fairly uniformly the players hold that a $25,000 buy-in held at the Bellagio as the culmination of a WPT season clearly makes this #2.
-Lyle Berman, the founder of WPT, went deep in this event; eventually busting yesterday in 29th place. Everyone was rooting for a final table appearance for Lyle, except Doyle Brunson, who was at the rail yesterday telling him to bust out and come to the "real" game over in Bobby's Room. For those who don't know--the high stakes room in the Bellagio is named after Bobby Baldwin and is the site of the big stakes game in town, which often finds both Doyle and Lyle taking seats.
-like most other casinos, the Bellagio has yet to figure out how to accomodate fans who would like to watch some poker. The mindset of nearly every tournament director in poker is to break tables like they have always done so, yet with just a little creative arrangement the fans on the rail could see a lot more of the action without inconveniencing the players. But poker remains first a game to accomodate the casino and then running a distant second to make the players comfortable; the fans, as yet, are not on the radar of the tournament organizers.
-at Bellagio, they have some unique rules on reseating, on stalling to end the day's play and a completely unique interpretation of the "Show One Show All" rule. Many players and other observers believe that Bellagio is actually attempting to circumvent the Tournament Director's Association by enforcing different rules than those being used by the TDA.
Spring is here in Las Vegas or at least what briefly passes for Spring before the inferno of Summer begins. Next week the WSOP Circuit hits Caesar's Palace.
 The Spring and Summer are clearly the "high" seasons for poker in Las Vegas. I have been looking over my schedule for the next three months and it basically says:
"ALL POKER ALL THE TIME!"
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Over the next several months, I am going to try and give you some of the flavor of what it's like during this period for players, for fans, for dealers and tournament staff and yes for a poker journalist during the "High Season of the Las Vegas Poker Year."
Today was a fun event: The First Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Tournament for the Nevada SPCA Sanctuary. A hundred professional players and lots of local amateurs all coming out for a great cause.
Tomorrow the final event of the 5th season of the World Poker Tour Championship kicks off at Bellagio. A big seven days $25,000 tournament to end the most successful WPT season to date.
Immediately following that event, the WSOP Circuit hits town at Caesar's Palace for another run. In fact, the preliminary events of this Circuit stop are already underway. Final Table will be May 2nd.
Take a short break and Season 6 of the WPT launches with not one but two back-to-back events. First, the Mirage Poker Showdown runs from May 7th to May 23rd and then the Mandalay Bay kicks off their Poker Championship on May 22nd with a main event final table on June 2nd.
Which takes us to the 2007 World Series of Poker running 55 events from June 1st until July 17th at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino.
And don't forget the Bellagio Cup III, which runs from June 11th to July 15th and has just been added to the WPT schedule.
Quite a Spring and Summer in Las Vegas - stay tuned.
HOLIDAZE NOTICE: If you are coming to Las Vegas in December and want to catch your favorite show or play some poker take a look at the following dates when the various shows and rooms will be dark.
Aladdin: Fab Four, 23-24 and 31; Nathan Burton, 24-25; Sopranos' Last Supper, 25; World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, 25.
Bellagio: "O," 5-21.
Caesars Palace: Celine Dion: A New Day, 3-28.
Excalibur: Louie Anderson: Larger Than Life, 30; Thunder From Down Under, 24- 25 and 31.
Flamingo: George Wallace: 17-31; Toni Braxton: Revealed, 26
Harrah's: Rita Rudner, 1-31 (Dec. 22-30 Wayne Newton substitutes, dark 25).
Las Vegas Hilton: Manilow: Music & Passion, 1-12 and 17-26.
Mandalay Bay: "Mamma Mia!," 3-22.
MGM Grand: "La Femme," 10-25.
Mirage: "LOVE," 1-14.
Monte Carlo: Lance Burton, 9-26.
New York-New York: "Zumanity," 3-19.
Rio: Penn & Teller, 23-26.
Wynn: "Le Reve," 6-20.
All poker rooms in all casinos: OPEN
Choose our entertainment wisely....
As some of you know I write a fair number of poker room reviews on various sites. Just thought we might do a little "Best of" for the rooms in Las Vegas. Here are some of my current choices.
Best Big Room: Mirage
Best Plush Room: Bellagio or Venetian (depends on how you feel about space)
Best Low Limit Room: there are too many
Hippest Room: MGM
Most Disappointing Room: Wynn
Best New Room: Red Rock
Best Remodel: Green Valley Ranch
Best Old Time Room: Binions
Best Omaha h/l game: Boulder Station
Fishiest No-Limit Game: Mandalay Bay
Got more categories? --that's what comments are for.
LAS VEGAS--As I write this the Stardust Casino is less than an hour away from closing down its gambling operations and less than six hours away from closing its doors forever. But last night was the final night in the historic Stardust poker room. There was no graveyard poker shift last night so, just after 10 PM, when the floor told the dealers to "Finish the hand you are on and hold up..." It was so he could get everyone's attention and make this final announcement:
"Dealers, please shuffle up and deal the final hands in the 48 year history of the Stardust poker room."
Now I, and thirty-three other players, can say forever that we lost the final hand ever dealt at the Stardust.
The Stardust closes this Wednesday.
The end of, yet another, era is a few days away. The Stardust shuts its doors this Wednesday at Noon. When it opened in 1958 the Stardust was the world's largest hotel. A multi billion dollar mega-resort called Echelon Place will replace the Stardust with its opening scheduled for 2010.
As part of my own personal Halloween on the Strip adventure, I will end up at the Stardust and play in the poker room one last time somewhere after midnight on Halloween night. This will officially put me in the Stardust on its last day. Report to follow right here on PokerBlog.
Oh and I will go back in February for the actual "Tumblin' Down" when the Stardust is set for one of those dust cloud implosions.
Stardust review and history lesson.
The fine folks at LasVegasVegas are reporting that a 25-year old poker professional was caught marking cards and arrested. This is, of course, all rumor at this point; and I do, of course, have calls in to try and get someone to spill the beans. You heard anything Shrinky? I'm trying to think of all the 25-year old pros I know, and I only know of one.... who does tend to play at the Wynn a lot... and I haven't called him yet, so, uhh... maybe I should do that.
UPDATE: PokerShrink writes in with a link to the aptly named PokerParty Blog, which has an alleged name for alleged cheater. We'll update if/when we find out anything more.
 Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn was a happy man ... showing off an original Picasso (Le Reve, 1932) that he had just agreed to sell for $139 million -- "the most money ever paid for a painting," he bragged. Then, as he was telling a group of onlookers the artwork's storied history and pointing out its phallic imagery ... his arm went into the air and his elbow went right through it. Put a hole the size of a silver dollar in the middle of Picasso's mistress's forearm. Yeow.
The new issue of the New Yorker has a story on the mishap, and blogger Nora Ephron witnessed the accidental puncture firsthand. An appraiser puts the damage at $40 million. That almost makes Andy Beal's losses at the Wynn look piddling.
Yes I could be unpacking and yes I could be getting the internet connection switched to wireless but instead, of course, I visited Green Valley Ranch early this morning and then played the 10 AM NLHE event at South Coast. Those two card rooms being the closest to my new digs in Henderson. Now where is that tournament list for this evening?
We will get focused on things other than poker soon, sure we will.
Welcome to Las Vegas.
Tim and Dan (and every other male reading), I have some bad news to break to you. Sports Illustrated is reporting that the World Series of Strip Poker has been cancelled. The event was to take place this coming Feburary in Las Vegas, where I'm sure a Pokerblog representative would have been on hand to catch all the action. The WSOSP was to feature several Playmates who would put their computer-assisted poker skills up against the finalists from this year's World Series.
Sports Illustrated sugests that perhaps the event's sponsor withdrew over fear of public blacklash for linking themselves to such an event. I'm not sure I buy that story - this is poker after all. I imagine the percentage of the poker-playing public that would feel righteous indignation over seeing boobies measures around 1% - hardly a blow to market share.
Perhaps the sponsor withdrew for concerns over the current legal troubles many of the final tablists are finding themselves in? Sex sells, but lawsuits and police raids usually don't.
Personally, I think the cancellation of this event is for the best, as the idea of seeing Jamie Gold even partially nude is kinda repulsive. But if Pokerblog should want to step up to the plate with sponsorship, I could support that, so long as you-know-who is in attendance.
Hey Steve and Dr. Tim, I've got a tough assignment for one or both of you. I'm looking for someone to play poker with semi-naked women. Cool?
Apparently the Sin Gentleman's Club is back in poker action, and obviously we can't count on CardPlayer when it comes to challenging chip counts. Do you guys know if Amy will happen to be around?
 As regular readers know PokerBlog.com was an experiment at this year’s 2006 World Series of Poker. The idea was that a group of poker writers, bloggers, commentators, and others of that ilk could and would cover the Series from a variety of perspectives. We thought that two things might happen: first, we hoped a multi-perspective viewpoint on the World Series, all on one website, would be informative and entertaining to our readers. Second, we hoped to engage readers and fellow bloggers in a conversation about poker, as the poker played out on a daily basis at the Series. We feel for a start-up venture we did pretty well giving you a taste of the WSOP.
Now we want to continue the conversation. So Dan Michalski has reassembled the team in a Dr. Frankenstein manner. Some of our members have gone back to their “real” lives and will only occasionally be joining us. Some are doing a part-time gig but will definitely be in on the conversation and still others are making a more permanent commitment to PokerBlog. I fall into this last category.
I have agreed to become the Las Vegas correspondent for the PokerBlog.com.
 I heard it first on Robin Leach's Luxe Life Vegas — George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and the entire Oceans crew will be filming in Vegas this week. New to the team this year is Ellen Barkin. And according to Clooney Studio, everyone but Elliot Gould will be on location.
So, where can you go to get a glimpse of your fave movie stars? The Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas, and McCarren Airport. Steve Hall, I hope you get photos at the Bellagio!
The question is, are these Hollywood hotties going to just stick to their rooms and the set while they're in town? Or are they going to venture into public view for some down time. If I were a betting girl, and I am, I would put my money on bumping into them at the Palms, Shadow Creek, Wynn, and really going out on a limb - Tao? Who doesn't go to Tao. Steaks at N9NE anyone? Say around closing time?
I can't wait for this movie to come out!
 This has little to do with poker or the WSOP, but surely some players and/or other pokery people were affected by it ... late last night a man climbed to the top of the backdrop of the MGM lion (using restoration scaffolding) and threatened to jump. He was probably 50 feet up ... hardly high enough to assure death, but guaranteed to painfully break many bones.
Not sure if it had to do with a gambling loss or problems with a girlfriend (perhaps a combination of both?), but a lady was seen crying and screaming up to him from the sidewalk outside the Tropicana before being ushered away by police. At the same time, they began backing up crowds shouting, "Jump!" (Is it even funny that the loudest screams were coming from people outside New York, New York?)
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