Sorry for the delayed notice, folks, but I've been carshopping and IT SUCKS.
Anyhow, The Strip is live at noon PT and The Petcast is live at 1 p.m. PT at LVRocks.Com. This week's Strip guest is longtime Strip magician Rick Thomas.
Then, on The Petcast, we'll chat first with Dr. Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University. Then we're hear from Alan Zimmelman, vice president of ITEX.Com, the nation's largest barter exchange, on how pet owners can barter -- yes, Sue Lowden haters, barter -- for vet care and other services.
Join us live at LVRocks.Com to listen live, see us via webcam and join us in the chat. You can also listen via mobile device. Or you wait for the podcast version, of course, and subscribe via iTunes or Zune to The Petcast or to The Strip in iTunes or Zune.
Poker Politics and Business: Party Bwin Merger and HT2267 Markup
By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA
I'm still on an extended holiday, but there's been a bit of somewhat important poker news that transpired over the last few days on the business/financial and political front. Here's a few links that I used to catch up to speed...
Oh, and this is huge: Party Gaming and bwin are merging. Check out what the financial sector is saying...
OK, that's it for political and business news. NGTFOOMO.
Los Angeles, CA
I'm still on an extended holiday, but there's been a bit of somewhat important poker news that transpired over the last few days on the business/financial and political front. Here's a few links that I used to catch up to speed...
For an update about the murky waters of the American online gaming market, start with the Guide to HR2267 Markup day and check out a proper link dump of other bits and pieces including a spankworthy pic. Boobs (and Vicodin) makes political scribblings palatable. (Pokerati, Wicked Chops Poker)
And then read Shamus' take... House Financial Services Committee Passes H.R. 2267 (Hard-Boiled Poker)
Oh, and this is huge: Party Gaming and bwin are merging. Check out what the financial sector is saying...
2 Big Internet Gambling Companies to Merge (NY Times)And before we go, Milton Friedman sounds off on greed...
Party Gaming to Merge With Rival (The Guardian)
PartyGaming, Bwin Announce Merger (Wicked Chops Poker)
PartyGaming to Take Control of Bwin in $1.76 Billion Deal (Bloomberg)
Party Gaming stock shot up 20% in one trading day after the merger was announced. I hope you gobbled up shares a few weeks ago and made a nice profit off of this merger. (Financial Times)
OK, that's it for political and business news. NGTFOOMO.
This week's LVW Col: the R-J Copyright Suits
While the rest of the media takes cheap shots derived from their ideological or personal differences, I present the other way on the R-J lawsuit drama for this week's Las Vegas Weekly. And bravo for the Weekly for letting me do it, given the blood feud between its owner and Sherm Frederick. Read on. -sf
Sherm Frederick is right.
Stew in that for a moment. I know, it’s hard to digest. You can’t imagine how difficult it is for me to write. But the publisher of the Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media has hit on something that may, in fact, help clean up the freewheeling world of Internet intellectual property theft.
Frederick has tasked a company called Righthaven to file dozens of lawsuits against website owners who lift and post entire or huge passages of R-J stories without authorization. Righthaven buys the copyright from Stephens Media, then pursues damages. While some site proprietors claim all they did was link to the R-J’s website, most of the evidence in court filings indicate they reproduced entire articles.
That, you see, is called stealing. And while those who dislike the R-J’s editorial views or feel personally assaulted are crying that they’re Davids being extorted by Goliath, the fact is I’ve got no more right to steal from Walmart than I do from your sister’s crafts shop.
Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com.
Defending the R-J’s copyright suits
By STEVE FRIESS
By STEVE FRIESS
Sherm Frederick is right.
Stew in that for a moment. I know, it’s hard to digest. You can’t imagine how difficult it is for me to write. But the publisher of the Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media has hit on something that may, in fact, help clean up the freewheeling world of Internet intellectual property theft.
Frederick has tasked a company called Righthaven to file dozens of lawsuits against website owners who lift and post entire or huge passages of R-J stories without authorization. Righthaven buys the copyright from Stephens Media, then pursues damages. While some site proprietors claim all they did was link to the R-J’s website, most of the evidence in court filings indicate they reproduced entire articles.
That, you see, is called stealing. And while those who dislike the R-J’s editorial views or feel personally assaulted are crying that they’re Davids being extorted by Goliath, the fact is I’ve got no more right to steal from Walmart than I do from your sister’s crafts shop.
Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com.
Recap: 50K Players' Championship on ESPN
By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA
The 50K Final Table
The WSOP returned to ESPN with the final table coverage of the 50K Players' Championship. 441 Productions, the crew responsible for putting together the WSOP broadcasts, are the best in the business. They don't get enough credit for their diligent work, and a lot of uninformed people mistakenly give ESPN accolades instead of 441 Productions.
Inherently speaking, poker tournaments are boring affairs, but the producers at 441 (Matt Maranz and David Swartz) are fantastic story tellers. They have a difficult assignment -- make tournament poker appealing to an audience that is comprised of players from different levels of poker acumen and expertise -- and they manage to rise to the occasion year after year. The WSOP on ESPN appeals to a wide range of demographics from hardcore junkies to the causal observers. As much as poker is sports entertainment, it's also a advertisement for the entire industry. For almost a decade, the WSOP broadcasts on ESPN have been an introductory course for many new poker fans. It's the most popular gateway and portal into the poker world for players aged 17 to 77.
Poker needs a constant flow of new players in order to survive, otherwise we'll become like the horse racing industry with many of their constituents in the twilight of their lives. When they die off, the racing industry is fucked. In poker terms, players die off when they go busto. Some reload, others are done for good, which is why we need a new stream of players. The WSOP on ESPN helps attract these new players by providing a friendly and non-intimidating environment.
Before cards went into the air of the final table of the 50K Players' Championship, it was pretty easy to guess that the main plot line would surround the Mizrachis after Robert and Michael (aka the Grinder) advanced to the final 8. And if one of them happened to win, especially the Grinder, it would enhance the story even more so and be the cherry on top of the sundae.
And let's look at this in broader terms with the November Nine. Considering that ESPN is only airing the 50K, Main Event, and the TOC, they couldn't have scripted a better story than what the Mizrachis accomplished during the Main Event -- all four brothers cashed, with Robert and the Grinder both went deep. Everyone in the poker media was thrilled because they had a sensational story to report on -- without having to hype it up. The story really wrote itself. With 7,319 runners in the 2010 Main Event, everyone had their fingers crossed about the potential final table. Would there be one or more familiar faces or will we have nine unknowns playing for $9 million? Last year, Phil Ivey advanced to the November Nine what seemed like a gift-wrapped miracle from the poker gods. As each day progressed in the 2010 Main Event, the list of "known pros" became smaller and smaller as the definition of what a "named pro" grew wider and wider. But one name on the list was circled -- Michael Mizrachi. In the back of everyone's mind, if the Grinder advanced it would be a sensational ending to what ended up being an epic summer for him and his family.
When I sat down to watch the first episode of the 2010 WSOP, I couldn't help but think about that the Player of the Year needs to be revamped. Frank Kassela is currently the Player of the Year leader. He can't lose it, but he can share the crown with the Grinder -- only if the Grinder wins the Main Event. Kassela played the best poker of his career and had a better all-around series than the Grinder, but how could the Grinder not win the POY outright if he takes down both the 50K and the Main Event? As is, Kassela is the top dog for now.
Moving on...
The 2010 version of the $50,000 Players' Championship shifted from the original HORSE format to 8-Game. The winner still gets awarded the Chip Reese Trophy, but the final table was exclusively NL instead of the 8-game. I wasn't thrilled with the decision to play NL at the final table. I know why it was done because NL is more appealing for TV viewers than Mixed Games -- but that doesn't mean I agree with it. Question to ponder -- we all know that the Grinder won the bracelet, but would he have still won if the final table was Mixed?
441 Productions is always enhancing their screen graphics and the information that they are providing. For someone who has to wear glasses, I appreciate the fact that I can distinguish a spade from a club without the benefits of an HD TV. They also did a better job with providing more chipcounts and letting the viewers know the position of the players still in the hand. They even added the kitschy "hijack" to the mainstream poker vernacular.
Random thoughts that I jotted down while watching the 50K Players' Championship...
* * * * *
In case you wanted some background info to accompany the broadcast, check out the Tao of Poker's coverage from the $50K Players' Championship...
Los Angeles, CA
The 50K Final Table
The WSOP returned to ESPN with the final table coverage of the 50K Players' Championship. 441 Productions, the crew responsible for putting together the WSOP broadcasts, are the best in the business. They don't get enough credit for their diligent work, and a lot of uninformed people mistakenly give ESPN accolades instead of 441 Productions.
Inherently speaking, poker tournaments are boring affairs, but the producers at 441 (Matt Maranz and David Swartz) are fantastic story tellers. They have a difficult assignment -- make tournament poker appealing to an audience that is comprised of players from different levels of poker acumen and expertise -- and they manage to rise to the occasion year after year. The WSOP on ESPN appeals to a wide range of demographics from hardcore junkies to the causal observers. As much as poker is sports entertainment, it's also a advertisement for the entire industry. For almost a decade, the WSOP broadcasts on ESPN have been an introductory course for many new poker fans. It's the most popular gateway and portal into the poker world for players aged 17 to 77.
Poker needs a constant flow of new players in order to survive, otherwise we'll become like the horse racing industry with many of their constituents in the twilight of their lives. When they die off, the racing industry is fucked. In poker terms, players die off when they go busto. Some reload, others are done for good, which is why we need a new stream of players. The WSOP on ESPN helps attract these new players by providing a friendly and non-intimidating environment.
Before cards went into the air of the final table of the 50K Players' Championship, it was pretty easy to guess that the main plot line would surround the Mizrachis after Robert and Michael (aka the Grinder) advanced to the final 8. And if one of them happened to win, especially the Grinder, it would enhance the story even more so and be the cherry on top of the sundae.
And let's look at this in broader terms with the November Nine. Considering that ESPN is only airing the 50K, Main Event, and the TOC, they couldn't have scripted a better story than what the Mizrachis accomplished during the Main Event -- all four brothers cashed, with Robert and the Grinder both went deep. Everyone in the poker media was thrilled because they had a sensational story to report on -- without having to hype it up. The story really wrote itself. With 7,319 runners in the 2010 Main Event, everyone had their fingers crossed about the potential final table. Would there be one or more familiar faces or will we have nine unknowns playing for $9 million? Last year, Phil Ivey advanced to the November Nine what seemed like a gift-wrapped miracle from the poker gods. As each day progressed in the 2010 Main Event, the list of "known pros" became smaller and smaller as the definition of what a "named pro" grew wider and wider. But one name on the list was circled -- Michael Mizrachi. In the back of everyone's mind, if the Grinder advanced it would be a sensational ending to what ended up being an epic summer for him and his family.
When I sat down to watch the first episode of the 2010 WSOP, I couldn't help but think about that the Player of the Year needs to be revamped. Frank Kassela is currently the Player of the Year leader. He can't lose it, but he can share the crown with the Grinder -- only if the Grinder wins the Main Event. Kassela played the best poker of his career and had a better all-around series than the Grinder, but how could the Grinder not win the POY outright if he takes down both the 50K and the Main Event? As is, Kassela is the top dog for now.Moving on...
The 2010 version of the $50,000 Players' Championship shifted from the original HORSE format to 8-Game. The winner still gets awarded the Chip Reese Trophy, but the final table was exclusively NL instead of the 8-game. I wasn't thrilled with the decision to play NL at the final table. I know why it was done because NL is more appealing for TV viewers than Mixed Games -- but that doesn't mean I agree with it. Question to ponder -- we all know that the Grinder won the bracelet, but would he have still won if the final table was Mixed?
441 Productions is always enhancing their screen graphics and the information that they are providing. For someone who has to wear glasses, I appreciate the fact that I can distinguish a spade from a club without the benefits of an HD TV. They also did a better job with providing more chipcounts and letting the viewers know the position of the players still in the hand. They even added the kitschy "hijack" to the mainstream poker vernacular.
Random thoughts that I jotted down while watching the 50K Players' Championship...
- The episode kicked off emphasizing the word "players". I was too stoned to count the number of times, but it was a lot. Maybe I can get Kevin Mathers or Timtern to give me an accurate count?With the Grinder's victory in the 50K Players' Championship, his comeback was set in motion and he crossed his name off the list of outstanding debtors to the IRS and the list of "best players who never won a bracelet." Stay tuned for future episodes of the WSOP Main Event where the second act of his epic story gets played out in front of the cameras as he makes his journey to the November Nine.
- One of the dealers at the final table is someone that we nicknamed "Schecky Lite" because he's a doppelganger for John Caldwell.
- David "Bakes" Baker was playing this final table without his girlfriend, Maridu, to sweat him. The Team PokerStars Pro from Brazil had a prior work obligation and had to fly to South America for an event on the LAPT. Norm Chad mentioned that Bakes had hired Vanessa Selbst as a coach a few years ago. It obviously paid off.
- The Mizrachis held a family reunion in the stands surrounding the featured TV table. They couldn't even fit everyone in allotted area so many members of their vast entourage had to hang out in the beef jerky lounge. Both Robert and the Grinder are rather quiet players. They don't say much which would normally make for bad TV, but their vocal supporters picked up the slack. Mama Mizrachi's boisterous voice carries all the way across the room.
- A few of my friends in the media are in love with the Grinder's wife, Lily. She's a beautiful woman and when she got face time on cameras, she looked like a nervous wreck. Every year have an awkward experience with Lily. Here's what happens -- I spot her on the rail, but I don't immediately recognize her so as I struggle to recall who that is, I get caught staring at her. Of course, she thinks I'm scouting out her mountainous regions and I get the stink eye, which makes it even more frustrating because nothing is worse than getting caught by a hot chick sneaking a peak when you weren't sneaking a peak!
- On the first hand of the broadcast, the Grinder opened with A-10 and Bakes called with pocket sevens. Bakes was ahead on the flop despite one overcard, but check-called a C-bet from the Grinder. The turn was an Ace. Bakes checked and the sneaky Grinder checked behind his top pair. A seven spiked on the river, giving Bakes a set. He fired out and the Grinder insta-paid him off. Bakes wondered aloud what would have happened if he had checked his set... would the Grinder bet, and then call a check-raise? Who knows what would have happened if Bakes played the river differently. Maybe the Grinder loses more of his stack which affects the outcome of the rest of the tournament and perhaps alter the future of the November Nine?
- The Lone Scandi, Mikael Thuritz, had his ass violated in two tough hands. He was ahead with Jacks when he called an all in against short stacked Danny Alaei's Big Slick, but an Ace on the turn saved Alaei and he doubled up. Thuritz then got ambushed by a cooler when he four-bet shoved with Kings against Vladamir "Rich Russian Guy aka RRG" Shchemelev's Aces. Thuritz couldn't suck out and he got crippled. The RRG doubled up and rocketed into the lead, while Thuritz was down to the proverbial "chip and a chair." The Scandi eventually busted out in 8th place.
- I love a classic "suck/re-suck" and one such hand was aired. David Oppenheim got it all in with Aces on a King-high flop. Danny Alaei had called with K-Q. A Queen on the turn gave him the lead and Op was on the brink of elimination until an ace on the river saved his ass. Alaei was crippled and Op rocketed into the lead. He had started the final table as one of the shorties.
- The Grinder really came from behind in order to win. He was crippled to under 1M in chips after he overvalued his A-Q. He got it all in with TPTK against Oppenheim's set. Op improved to 9M on that hand while the Grinder had around 900K. That's how the first episode ended -- with the Grinder on the ropes and Op on top with 5 to go.
- You can call this one... Cain vs. Abel. The Grinder got involved in a hand with his brother where he had to call an all-in with Q-J. They were both low on chips and the Grinder was priced in. Robert was ahead with A-10 and was surprised that his brother called with such marginal holdings. A Jack on the turn put the Grinder in the lead. His hand held and he busted his older brother Robert in 5th. The final table lost a Mizrachi, but the cheering section gained another supporter.
- Rich Russian Guy's (RRG) pocket tens held up against John Juanda's Kd-9d. How come I always lose in that situation (running nines or a flopped flush is the usual outcome for me online when I have Jacks versus K-9 sooted). RRG's tens held up and Juanda bowed out in 4th. In his couch interview Juanda admitted that he was suffering from burnout and lost his motivation until Daniel Negreanu talked some sense into him. I wonder if Juanda is motivated by bracelet bets or if he really refocused himself?
- Ah the benefits of real time condensed for TV purposes! Change100 pointed this out in a hand between the Grinder and Oppenheim that took over ten minutes to complete with Op in the tank for over five minutes. Op made a bad call, well more like a cash game call with 7h-6h vs. Grinder's K-7 on a A-A-7-5-3 board with two hearts. Op flopped a flush draw but never got there. The Grinder bet on the river and an indecisive Op wanted to show the Grinder his cards to gauge a reaction. Robbie the floor guy told him that he'd get a penalty. You can do that in a case game, but not in a tournament. Anyway, Op called and was beat as the Grinder gobbled up more chips.
- When action got short-handed the Grinder seemed to have Oppenheim's number. The Grinder made an astute call on the river in a hand that was the battle of the blinds. The Grinder trailed with 10h-8d vs. Op's Jh-7s. The flop was As-Qd-8s and both players checked. The turn was the 5c. Grinder fired out 100K and Op called. The 4d fell on the river. The Grinder bet 300K, Op raised to 850K with Jack-high, and the Grinder called with third pair. He must have sniffed out that Op held Jack-shit.
- "Fuck it, I'll gamble." That's the mantra of so many players I know, but that's what the Grinder uttered as he called Op's all in. The Grinder held Kc-Qs versus 8d-8c and was flipping for his life -- in more ways than one. "What a call, man," mentioned Op who knew that although he was ahead, that he was about to die. The flop was 9-6-4 rainbow. The turn was a 7 and Op was still ahead, but the river was the Qd. The Mizrachi clan went berserk. Op shrugged his shoulders and made his exit in 3rd place.
- Heads-up battle was set between Michael Mizrachi and Vladamir Shchemelev. Shit, let's just say the Grinder vs. RRG. It was really the battle of the bling. The Grinder had his shiny collection of accouterments while RRG sported a pair of alligator boots that probably cost more than the Grinder's net worth (pre-WSOP).
- RRG's couch interview was in Russian, but one of the best from the final table players. I loved some of his quote like "I am only interested in first place." Ha, he's so rich that the money meant nothing to him -- he just wanted to win. He boasted that Russians excel at "intellectual games" and I would like to think that poker can be intellectual at times despite its pedestrian and egalitarian nature. RRG also said that he's always ahead at the end of the month -- thanks to the oil barons and mafioso types who lose millions of rubles to him in a game in Moscow where they play Pot-limit Stud.
- At the beginning heads-up play, it looked like RRG was going to cruise to a victory after winning a couple of sizable pots. He essentially silenced the Mizrachi clan. But that was just for show to add more drama to the Grinder's eventual comeback. Like any Hollywood action hero, he must overcome a last second obstacle before defeating the evil Russian bad guy dressed in a track suit with snakeskin boots more apt for a pimp than a businessman.
- Rigged? That's what the Russians in Schemelev's corner thought after a suspicious hand. Here's some back story that you couldn't tell from the broadcast -- this particular hand was the first hand played after a break, which is why the Russians called shenanigans. They felt as though a cold deck was set up during the break. The playing action was all-in preflop. RRG held a dominating Ad-Js against the Grinder's Ac-7s. The flop was Kc-10s-9c and the Grinder flopped a draw. His supporters unleashed furious chants of "Club! Club! Club!" The turn was the Qh as RRG improved to a straight. He failed to fade the flush when the 5c spiked on the river. Grinder was all smiled as he got smothered in kisses from his wife and mother. Afterward, he was mobbed by his brothers, fellow pros, and his boys. RRG and the Russians huddled and were not pleased. RRG's supporters called booshit. BJ was snapping photos nearby and overheard a heated RRG and the man in the mysterious satchel discussing the possibility of foul play. It wasn't the case, just a bout of lingering Soviet-era paranoia. Alas, the crowd woke up after the hand. The once sedated Mizrachi clan was rejuvenated. The Grinder knew that he got lucky, but sometimes that's what it takes to get you back on track. RRG had a 3-1 lead before the hand started, and still retained a slight lead after the Grinder doubled up.
- Ah the magic of TV. The Grinder all of sudden held a 3-1 lead. It happened over a series of uninteresting hands, otherwise it would have been televised. Let's just say that the Grinder lived up to his namesake and grinded out 3-1 lead over a stretch of 40 or 50 hands.
- RRG's hopes quickly vanished during a hand where he got runner-runner'd by the Grinder. He thought his Q-5 and top pair would be good enough to beat Grinder's 3-2, but, running treys became RRG's demise. The Grinder grossly overbet the river which worked because he induced a call from RRG. That was the beginning of the end of the RRG.
- On the 78th hand of heads-up play (I dunno how many they actually aired, ahem Mathers, a little help?), a winner was finally decided. The Grinder was behind with Qs-5c against RRG's Qd-8s, but everyone knew he was going to win the hand. The Grinder took the lead with a 5 on the turn and he never looked bacl. The Grinder won, shipped the bracelet, and defeated the unknown rich Russian businessman, Vladimir Shchemelev, who finished in 2nd place.
$50,000 Players' Championship 8-Game Mixed Final Table Results:
1 Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi - $1,559,046
2 Vladimir Shchmelev - $963,375
3 David Oppenheim - $603,348
4 John Juanda - $436,865
5 Robert Mizrachi - $341,429
6 David "Bakes" Baker - $272,275
7 Daniel Alaei - $221,105
8 Mikael Thuritz - $182,463
In case you wanted some background info to accompany the broadcast, check out the Tao of Poker's coverage from the $50K Players' Championship...
Day 1: The Cold OpenPhotos by Benjo.
Day 2: Not So Easy Rider
Day 3: Scandi Mafia and Donkulus' Comet
Day 4: Band of Brothers and Here Come the Russians Reprise
Day 5: Redemption Song - The Grinder Wins Player's Championship
EXCLUSIVE: Tony Curtis Illness Cost A Role
Legendary actor Tony Curtis will make a full recovery from his breathing-difficulty episode, but reports by TMZ.Com and others cost the 85-year-old actor his first film part in years, his wife complained.Jill Curtis told me today that Curtis is now in a rehab center after being hospitalized three weeks ago because of an asthma-like attack at a CostCo. It's a symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the result of decades of smoking, she said. He was in a hospital for two weeks and in the rehab center for a week, and Mrs. Curtis expects him to remain there for two more weeks.
"This happens sometimes and it was serious but he has to deal with it," she said. "He was able to talk a little bit today. He's 85, they just want to keep a close eye on him. gone through this before. He's not been asked to walk yet, they're just taking it slow with him. ... He should make a full recovery. We're know we have a long road ahead. He'll be back to doing the things he does soon."
The illness could not have come at a worse time for the Academy Award-nominated actor and Henderson resident, given that he was expected next month to shoot scenes for the Sigourney Weaver film "Vamps," a satire by "Clueless" director Amy Heckerling. Tony Curtis had even done wardrobe fittings, his wife said. He did a bit part in an independent flick in 2008 but this would've been his first Hollywood picture in many years.
"He was very excited about it but unfortunately, TMZ and National Enquirer got false information and before we could say anything, they dropped him," Curtis said. "There were rumors that he had passed away."
I can't find any reference to Curtis' possible death from any legitimate news source. In fact, this overly optimistic TMZ report says he'll "be released soon" which was not true unless "soon" equals five weeks of care.
Anyhow, could he have really done the role, given his rehab?"He probably would have been able to," his wife said. "That's why we didn't want to say anything but the damage is done. We just move on."
This is a great moment to trot back out this classic shot of the Curtises with me and my pal Amy at a fundraiser in 2009. Yeah, I can see the vampire-flick potential.
Pictorial: Holly's Backstage World
Last week, I went backstage at Peepshow for a piece I'm working on and hung out for a little while with this blog's very own pin-up, Holly Madison. While I was in her dressing room, I shot a bunch of photos because the place had all sorts of tchotchkes and wall, uh, art. It is quite colorful.
All my pix can be found in this Flickr set, but here are some of the highlights. That, above, is Holly about to glue on her false lashes.
I also learned while I was there that Holly's under contract through the end of December and sales for Peepshow have improved with the success of her new reality show, Holly's World. So various reports of the show's demise have been exaggerated, again.
Her famous dogs weren't with her, but when they are, here's where they chill:
The door...
...and her bobblehead, pez and some boobs:
Check out the Flickr set to see the sheep-humping art, the Peepshow Prayer and more.
Psycho Killer: Ron Fanelli the Mad Yank
By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA
"Bit concerned about how many people I know turn out to be murderers."
It all started with a cryptic tweet from Dana, one of my friends back in London. I thought it was snarky British humour and supposed to be a back-handed compliment to a mutual friend. We often joke around that our colleagues in the press are mentally deranged. Well, joke is the wrong word, because mostly everyone I know in the poker circles is batshit crazy. You have to be in order to do what we do, so yeah, we're all a few cans short of a six-pack, but despite everyone's mental instability, no one has gone off the deep end -- yet. We've had a few incidents when people disappear for days, weeks, and months without a trace, but they resurface a bit later. However, no one has actually succumbed to violence, although I did once threaten two drunk German railbirds to a fight in Leicester Square at the WSOPE in London. But aside wanting to beat the shit out of a few loudmouths in the pressbox in Vegas over the years, it's a fairly mellow scene.
Getting a gig in poker media is sort of like becoming a union member because you have a job for life no matter how hard you fuck up. It's more similar to being a cockroach during a nuclear war. No matter how massive the blast, you get nuked to all hell, yet still scattering across the scorched Earth in search of some scraps.
Yeah, you can do anything short of killing someone without getting fired in poker media. Heck, I still have a career and I'm a known drug fiend. Most of my peers are outrageous alkies who spend most of their lives drinking away the misery in hotel bars (have you seen the "expense reports" from the EPT?), but compared to all of the basket cases, drunks, pill poppers, and known-plagiarizers, I'm still employable.
As you can tell, the poker world is somewhat forgiving. Heck, even if you steal millions from your fellow poker players, you can still get away without any semblance of retribution. Thieves in poker don't get imprisoned, whacked, or have a hand severed with a butcher knife. Heck, if anything, the more of a lying stealing douchebag you become in poker, the more press that you get.
With that said, poker is a forgiving community because many of us are misfits and outcasts who took up refuge in the poker world for whatever reason, so we tend to look the other way when we come across a fellow fuck up. I know a few folks in poker who actually come from well-adjusted former lives, but they are well aware of the hazards involved. I guess they want to travel on the road less traveled, and seeking out something alternative than the proverbial rat race.
And then you have people like me who have no other place to go.
But despite frolicking in the darkness with the vampires, zombies, and urchins, I've never actually come across someone who took another life. After the EPT Berlin robbery, scenarios were hypothesized among the British about a Columbine Massacre at the WSOP or at a regional poker tournament. That's everyone's biggest fear, isn't it? Someone losing their shit? I've never worked at the post office, but I read enough Bukowski to know that that job can drive civil servants mad to the point of rampant alcoholism and in the worst case scenario -- an outburst of violence. But postal workers killing with weapons have since calmed down a bit, and the term "going postal" is so early 90s that you kinda roll your eyes when you hear it, just like an old Pearl Jam record.
We have come a long way since the days of the wild wild west and having to keep a loaded gun nearby as both a car protector and a life protector during a card game. Over the last few years, murder has popped up in the same breath as poker. Home game robberies or underground card room heists gone bad are the usual culprit. A few years ago, a woman killed her husband who was a (broke dick) poker pro in Vegas. Then there was the incident at the Taj in Atlantic City that involved a stabbing when two players go into a spat. Considering the testy nature of poker, usually the worst thing you have to worry about is getting flamed on 2+2. You don't think for a second that someone would actually carry out premeditated manslaughter.
One of my friends pointed out an article by Vicky Coren titled Ron Fanelli was my friend. How did he go on to be a murderer? The PokerStars pro from the UK is also a fantastic columnist at The Guardian. Coren gave some insight into Ron Fanelli, the American known as "Mad Yank" whom she came across during the early 2000s at the Gutshot Club, renown poker room in London.
Fanelli was under arrest in Thailand for murdering Wanphen Pienjai. In a drunken rage, Fanelli plunged a knife into the back of the bar girl. He attempted to dispose of the body by cutting up parts of the corpse and breaking her wrists and ankles in order to stuff the remains into a suitcase, which he carried on his scooter before dumping it alongside the road. He told police that it was an "accident."
"You remember that guy from the 2006 WSOP," said Benjo. "He (Fanelli) was sitting in the hallway in front of the Amazon Ballroom playing nonstop poker. That was years before Unabomber's attempt at the endurance record."
Once I saw Fanelli's photograph (the ones above circa 2006 courtesy of Benjo), the handlebar mustache was a trigger to an instant flashback. I don't have my of notebooks from 2006 with me, but I'm sure somewhere in them, there's an entry about the "dude who looks like the Super Size Me director" who is probably jacked up on speed while playing nonstop heads-up poker.
At the time, Fanelli was an American ex-pat living in the UK. He was a frequent player at the Gutshot, although the regulars were not particularly keen on the "Mad Yank." Benjo pointed out the defunct blog, Poker Bastard, which was penned by an anonymous British pro who was not fond of the Gutshot. In a post from October of 2004, the anonymous pro didn't have too many nice things to say about Fanelli and referred to him as "That Cunt."
Poker pros make a living at reading people. But it seems as though many of them dismissed Fanelli's quirkiness because having propensity of kinky and violent sex with multiple prostitutes hardly constituted him as a criminal. Obviously, he became somewhat detached from the poker scene and drifted away from London when he moved to Southeast Asia full time. A series of bad relationships and dissolved marriages sent him spiraling out of control. He eventually snapped.
Dead hookers have become such a cliche that I drove my Lost Vegas editors crazy with that hackneyed phrase. But in this case, the cliche fits.
Glancing at Fanelli's scant Hendon Mob database will tell you that he was hardly a pro with less than $45,000 in live winnings, and nothing since 2004. He's supposedly had a few scores online, but nothing to sneeze at. If anything he was one of thousands of players who took his shot and missed. His fifteen minutes of fame came and went. Well, until now, as he pops up in Google alerts as that crazy poker player who chopped up a dead Thai hooker.
I hope the mainstream press chooses not to sensationalize this as a "poker-related" murder, when it's far from it. That shouldn't be too hard right now. Lindsay Lohan is in jail, so the jackals running the MSM are distracted with a starlet in distress. But if you're an anti-poker politco type in search of ammo, then expect one of those Bible-beaters to wrongly utter Fanelli's name in congressional hearings when preaching about the evils of online poker.
Fanelli was another bad drunk with too many demons to overcome who reached the end of his rope. It just happened by sheer coincidence that this guy traveled in the same circles as friends from the UK. Many of them thought he was an asshole, while a few others, thought he was just another oddball miscreant amidst the poker fabric.
Except... they were wrong.
I get paid big bucks to write fabricated rubbish about the dozen or so players who take the shot and succeed. We put them up on pedestals but we often ignore the plight of those who take a shot and fail. Ron Fanelli is a causality of war, but what about the collateral damage that happens in the wake of his implosion? This time it was a young woman, who will eventually be forgotten because no one cares about another broke-dick poker player disposing a prostitute's mutilated corpse.
* * *
Update: Check out Bill Rini's post Should We Feel Sorry for Him?. He pointed out an organization where you donate money to a scholarship fund that will assist Wanphen Pienjai's children.
Los Angeles, CA
"Bit concerned about how many people I know turn out to be murderers."
It all started with a cryptic tweet from Dana, one of my friends back in London. I thought it was snarky British humour and supposed to be a back-handed compliment to a mutual friend. We often joke around that our colleagues in the press are mentally deranged. Well, joke is the wrong word, because mostly everyone I know in the poker circles is batshit crazy. You have to be in order to do what we do, so yeah, we're all a few cans short of a six-pack, but despite everyone's mental instability, no one has gone off the deep end -- yet. We've had a few incidents when people disappear for days, weeks, and months without a trace, but they resurface a bit later. However, no one has actually succumbed to violence, although I did once threaten two drunk German railbirds to a fight in Leicester Square at the WSOPE in London. But aside wanting to beat the shit out of a few loudmouths in the pressbox in Vegas over the years, it's a fairly mellow scene.
Getting a gig in poker media is sort of like becoming a union member because you have a job for life no matter how hard you fuck up. It's more similar to being a cockroach during a nuclear war. No matter how massive the blast, you get nuked to all hell, yet still scattering across the scorched Earth in search of some scraps.
Yeah, you can do anything short of killing someone without getting fired in poker media. Heck, I still have a career and I'm a known drug fiend. Most of my peers are outrageous alkies who spend most of their lives drinking away the misery in hotel bars (have you seen the "expense reports" from the EPT?), but compared to all of the basket cases, drunks, pill poppers, and known-plagiarizers, I'm still employable.As you can tell, the poker world is somewhat forgiving. Heck, even if you steal millions from your fellow poker players, you can still get away without any semblance of retribution. Thieves in poker don't get imprisoned, whacked, or have a hand severed with a butcher knife. Heck, if anything, the more of a lying stealing douchebag you become in poker, the more press that you get.
With that said, poker is a forgiving community because many of us are misfits and outcasts who took up refuge in the poker world for whatever reason, so we tend to look the other way when we come across a fellow fuck up. I know a few folks in poker who actually come from well-adjusted former lives, but they are well aware of the hazards involved. I guess they want to travel on the road less traveled, and seeking out something alternative than the proverbial rat race.
And then you have people like me who have no other place to go.
But despite frolicking in the darkness with the vampires, zombies, and urchins, I've never actually come across someone who took another life. After the EPT Berlin robbery, scenarios were hypothesized among the British about a Columbine Massacre at the WSOP or at a regional poker tournament. That's everyone's biggest fear, isn't it? Someone losing their shit? I've never worked at the post office, but I read enough Bukowski to know that that job can drive civil servants mad to the point of rampant alcoholism and in the worst case scenario -- an outburst of violence. But postal workers killing with weapons have since calmed down a bit, and the term "going postal" is so early 90s that you kinda roll your eyes when you hear it, just like an old Pearl Jam record.
We have come a long way since the days of the wild wild west and having to keep a loaded gun nearby as both a car protector and a life protector during a card game. Over the last few years, murder has popped up in the same breath as poker. Home game robberies or underground card room heists gone bad are the usual culprit. A few years ago, a woman killed her husband who was a (broke dick) poker pro in Vegas. Then there was the incident at the Taj in Atlantic City that involved a stabbing when two players go into a spat. Considering the testy nature of poker, usually the worst thing you have to worry about is getting flamed on 2+2. You don't think for a second that someone would actually carry out premeditated manslaughter.
One of my friends pointed out an article by Vicky Coren titled Ron Fanelli was my friend. How did he go on to be a murderer? The PokerStars pro from the UK is also a fantastic columnist at The Guardian. Coren gave some insight into Ron Fanelli, the American known as "Mad Yank" whom she came across during the early 2000s at the Gutshot Club, renown poker room in London.
Fanelli was under arrest in Thailand for murdering Wanphen Pienjai. In a drunken rage, Fanelli plunged a knife into the back of the bar girl. He attempted to dispose of the body by cutting up parts of the corpse and breaking her wrists and ankles in order to stuff the remains into a suitcase, which he carried on his scooter before dumping it alongside the road. He told police that it was an "accident."
"You remember that guy from the 2006 WSOP," said Benjo. "He (Fanelli) was sitting in the hallway in front of the Amazon Ballroom playing nonstop poker. That was years before Unabomber's attempt at the endurance record."
Once I saw Fanelli's photograph (the ones above circa 2006 courtesy of Benjo), the handlebar mustache was a trigger to an instant flashback. I don't have my of notebooks from 2006 with me, but I'm sure somewhere in them, there's an entry about the "dude who looks like the Super Size Me director" who is probably jacked up on speed while playing nonstop heads-up poker.
At the time, Fanelli was an American ex-pat living in the UK. He was a frequent player at the Gutshot, although the regulars were not particularly keen on the "Mad Yank." Benjo pointed out the defunct blog, Poker Bastard, which was penned by an anonymous British pro who was not fond of the Gutshot. In a post from October of 2004, the anonymous pro didn't have too many nice things to say about Fanelli and referred to him as "That Cunt."
Poker pros make a living at reading people. But it seems as though many of them dismissed Fanelli's quirkiness because having propensity of kinky and violent sex with multiple prostitutes hardly constituted him as a criminal. Obviously, he became somewhat detached from the poker scene and drifted away from London when he moved to Southeast Asia full time. A series of bad relationships and dissolved marriages sent him spiraling out of control. He eventually snapped.
Dead hookers have become such a cliche that I drove my Lost Vegas editors crazy with that hackneyed phrase. But in this case, the cliche fits.
Glancing at Fanelli's scant Hendon Mob database will tell you that he was hardly a pro with less than $45,000 in live winnings, and nothing since 2004. He's supposedly had a few scores online, but nothing to sneeze at. If anything he was one of thousands of players who took his shot and missed. His fifteen minutes of fame came and went. Well, until now, as he pops up in Google alerts as that crazy poker player who chopped up a dead Thai hooker.
I hope the mainstream press chooses not to sensationalize this as a "poker-related" murder, when it's far from it. That shouldn't be too hard right now. Lindsay Lohan is in jail, so the jackals running the MSM are distracted with a starlet in distress. But if you're an anti-poker politco type in search of ammo, then expect one of those Bible-beaters to wrongly utter Fanelli's name in congressional hearings when preaching about the evils of online poker.
Fanelli was another bad drunk with too many demons to overcome who reached the end of his rope. It just happened by sheer coincidence that this guy traveled in the same circles as friends from the UK. Many of them thought he was an asshole, while a few others, thought he was just another oddball miscreant amidst the poker fabric.
Except... they were wrong.
I get paid big bucks to write fabricated rubbish about the dozen or so players who take the shot and succeed. We put them up on pedestals but we often ignore the plight of those who take a shot and fail. Ron Fanelli is a causality of war, but what about the collateral damage that happens in the wake of his implosion? This time it was a young woman, who will eventually be forgotten because no one cares about another broke-dick poker player disposing a prostitute's mutilated corpse.
Update: Check out Bill Rini's post Should We Feel Sorry for Him?. He pointed out an organization where you donate money to a scholarship fund that will assist Wanphen Pienjai's children.
Rotary Club of Patong Beach Charity AccountThanks for the follow up, Bill.
Siam Commercial Bank
46/3 Chao Fah Rd
T. Taladneung, A. Muang
Phuket Thailand 83000
Account: 633-2-49363-2
SWIFT: SICOTHBK
Phone: 076-222010
This week's LVW col: Expand?!?
Here's this week's LVW col. -sf
True confessions time: I pretty much never think about the South Point Casino. We don’t live anywhere near it, I’ve never noticed anything that interested me on the entertainment schedule and I can’t say readers have ever asked about it. I don’t mention it in my travel writing and it’s possible that the last time I was there was for a 2006 interview with Jerry Lewis—made famous when his publicist was fired for trying to charge me $20,000 to speak to him.
It’s just one of those seemingly bland locals spots, off on its own, doing its own thing, and that thing hasn’t been all that compelling.
That is, not until its owner, the plaid-wearin’, big-belt-buckle-sportin’ Michael Gaughan, did what nobody else does these days: He expanded.
Uh, dude? Haven’t ya heard about the recession?
“Well, cutting back hasn’t worked,” Gaughan said on Monday, which, coincidentally, was the day Nevada’s unemployment rate hit an all-time high of 14.2 percent. “I decided to try something new. I got tired of hearing about everybody cutting back.”
Truth be told, this expansion wouldn’t normally stop the presses.
Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com
Michael Gaughan’s solution to the recession:
Expand the South Point
By STEVE FRIESS
Expand the South Point
By STEVE FRIESS
True confessions time: I pretty much never think about the South Point Casino. We don’t live anywhere near it, I’ve never noticed anything that interested me on the entertainment schedule and I can’t say readers have ever asked about it. I don’t mention it in my travel writing and it’s possible that the last time I was there was for a 2006 interview with Jerry Lewis—made famous when his publicist was fired for trying to charge me $20,000 to speak to him.
It’s just one of those seemingly bland locals spots, off on its own, doing its own thing, and that thing hasn’t been all that compelling.
That is, not until its owner, the plaid-wearin’, big-belt-buckle-sportin’ Michael Gaughan, did what nobody else does these days: He expanded.
Uh, dude? Haven’t ya heard about the recession?
“Well, cutting back hasn’t worked,” Gaughan said on Monday, which, coincidentally, was the day Nevada’s unemployment rate hit an all-time high of 14.2 percent. “I decided to try something new. I got tired of hearing about everybody cutting back.”
Truth be told, this expansion wouldn’t normally stop the presses.
Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com
2010 WSOP Begins Tuesday on ESPN With 50K Players' Championship
By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday night poker returns to ESPN.
The 2010 WSOP officially kicks off Tuesday with the $50,000 Players' Championship featuring the Brothers Mizrachi. This event attracted 166 runners and started as an 8-Game Mixed event, but switched over to only NL once the final table of 8 was set.
Check local listings for the exact time. Here's a teaser...
In case you wanted some background info to accompany the broadcast, check out the Tao of Poker's coverage from the $50K Players' Championship...
Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday night poker returns to ESPN.
The 2010 WSOP officially kicks off Tuesday with the $50,000 Players' Championship featuring the Brothers Mizrachi. This event attracted 166 runners and started as an 8-Game Mixed event, but switched over to only NL once the final table of 8 was set.
Check local listings for the exact time. Here's a teaser...
In case you wanted some background info to accompany the broadcast, check out the Tao of Poker's coverage from the $50K Players' Championship...
Day 1: The Cold OpenYes, sorry to spoil it for you, but The Grinder wins. But watch ESPN Tuesday to find out how.
Day 2: Not So Easy Rider
Day 3: Scandi Mafia and Donkulus' Comet
Day 4: Band of Brothers and Here Come the Russians Reprise
Day 5: Redemption Song - The Grinder Wins Player's Championship
Review-Journal Editor Flips!
On Friday, Review-Journal editor Tom Mitchell had a brief blog post in which he took note of the fact that a Vegas-based company is upset to have been included in a controversial database that the Washington Post published online this week. The Post did a three-part series about the huge intelligence and homeland security apparatus in DC and created a searchable way to learn what companies are doing what for the feds.The end of that blog post included this snark:
The Post said it obtained its information from publicly available sources. I guess terrorists prefer someone aggregate the data for them.
This struck me as strange because Mitchell spends most of his Sunday columns arguing for the values of open government and a free media. He's a zealot on those points, in fact, and he earns my loyal readership for that. Now he's buying the line that the Post is helping Al Qaeda?
So here's the weirder thing: By today, Mitchell had evidently reverted to form. His Sunday column is headlined "A 'right to know' only if we can show a 'need'?" and it argued, as he usually does, that more information is almost always better. He used two examples, one a Jeff German report that showed the security cameras at the Vegas courthouse were blocked by shrubs and stuff, and that very Washington Post project that has been under such fire all over the conservative blogosphere as somehow aiding and abetting the terrorists. You know, the very smark Mitchell concluded his blog post with just two days ago.
Mitchell cited in the column the same notice to the public posted on the website of the Vegas company in the Post database, DownRange Global Solutions, which called the Post "a treasonous organization [that] should be viewed as a danger to the national security of this country."
This time, though, Mitchell offers this conclusion:
On the other hand, the taxpayers now have some idea that they are funding a massive bureaucracy hidden behind a veil of secrecy with no possible way to determine whether it is effective, whether it is capable of preventing anything or what it costs.
So on Friday morning, the guy thought the Post was helpful to terrorists, but by Friday afternoon when he would have filed his Sunday column, Mitchell realized that the Post had helped expose a redundant and expensive system.
Umm, OK.
* * *
P.S. You know how I love to mock the R-J's idiotic website and complain that they almost never link to anything off their site the way most publications do? Well, I just realized something: They also don't even link from one story to another on their own site. None of the links above provide links to the other work of the paper that would help the reader know more about what they're writing about. Another job for the crack team run by Al Gibes after he figures out how to provide video that can be embedded. Which is to say, never.
How Dan Choi's Reid Protest Went Awry
Here's what actually happened on Saturday at Netroots: Ousted openly gay Army Lt. Dan Choi had moderator Joan McCarter give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid his West Point ring, his discharge papers and two letters that Reid had written vowing to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell by the end of 2009.It was meant, Choi told me before it happened, to embarrass Reid, to expose the Nevada Democrat to the liberal crowd as having failed to fulfill his promise. Choi received his discharge papers on Thursday, a year after he came out on The Rachel Maddow Show in defiance of DADT.
And yet, here is how what happened between Choi and Reid was reported by CBS News:
Before Reid began to answer questions from the conference audience today, the discussion moderator handed him Choi's West Point ring as a gift. Reid expressed his gratitude but said he could not accept the gift.
"He earned his ring," Reid said. "I'm going to give it back to him."
Choi joined Reid on stage and gave the majority leader a hug. Audience members shouted at Reid to keep the ring until "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed.
"When the bill's signed, I'll keep it safely and then give it back to him," he said.
And by Talking Points Memo:
And the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Except you know what? The message was loud and clear. It was unambiguous, the media reported it exactly as it was intended and it provided striking visuals. Mission accomplished.
Choi's protest at Netroots on Saturday? Not so much. It was nuanced and complex, it was so easily misinterpreted that even the person Choi wanted to embarrass didn't get it. And in the end, the media got this warm moment of Reid and Choi embracing, and the idea of boiling into a soundbite everything I've written here was absolutely impossible. Mission failed.
There is another example of protesters being too clever by half at the same session Saturday. Four Hispanic activists donned black graduation caps and gowns and stood in the front row as Reid answered questions about immigration reform, which he has also not managed to advance in any meaningful way. The students wanted to call Reid's attention to support for the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship or permanent residency for undocumented students who came to the US as minors, graduated high school and have lived here for 5 years.
I have yet to read a mainstream media account other than my own about that protest. It was just too subtle. Reid didn't even react to it -- it's possible he didn't even notice -- and the press found it far to confusing to summarize even if they understood it at all.
What would have worked? Well -- and I'm not recommending these, just making an observation here -- some really raucous shouting. Someone rushing the stage. Something dramatic and visual and unambiguous. All of that would have gotten the point onto the evening news loud and clear. And, yeah, it would have pissed off a lot of people at the event.
But in a way, Saturday was a useful lesson in the art of protest. These didn't work. At first I blamed the media, but when I realized I was about the only one in the MSM who got it right, it dawned on me that it wasn't my colleagues' faults. Had I not been forewarned by sources of what was about to take place and why, I probably would have interpreted it very similarly.
Choi-Reid photo credit: Queerty.Com
Choi, discharged this week under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military, hopped onto the stage during Reid's Netroots Nation speech and gave Reid his discharge paperwork. The two agreed that Reid would hang onto the ring until the repeal is passed and the new law of the land. Choi also gave Reid letters containing the original promise the Clinton-era policy would be repealed in 2009.
And the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Choi jumped onstage to give Reid a hug and his West Point class ring. Reid said he would return it after Obama signs away "don't ask, don't tell."
And on and on it went across the media.
So how did an effort to embarrass Reid turn into something of an emotional triumph for him? Let's go to the videotape:
As you can see, both the R-J and TPM had factual mistakes, TPM being the oddest because they provided this YouTube (that's where I got found it!) and showed their own readers that Choi never gave Reid the ring or papers at all.
Yet when Reid went all I'm-not-worthy and tried to give it back to Choi, there was so much noise and clatter (not heard quite as well on the video) that there was no way to successfully clarify for Reid that he had actually been dissed, not honored. McCarter made no effort to fix the confusion, either. And then Reid announces that, OK, he'll keep it until he could return it after DADT ends, and the audience erupted in admiration and emotion.
There was nothing left for Choi to do at that point but to hop on stage, embrace Reid's gesture and hope it would actually mean something. But make no mistake he's still pissed, telling me for AOL News afterward: "I find it very difficult to understand any kind of senator or leader who would make a promise to the LGBT community and, because of whatever fears are latent inside of this person running for re-election or unable to show the leadership to manifest the American promise, we're still getting fired."
Except you know what? The message was loud and clear. It was unambiguous, the media reported it exactly as it was intended and it provided striking visuals. Mission accomplished.
Choi's protest at Netroots on Saturday? Not so much. It was nuanced and complex, it was so easily misinterpreted that even the person Choi wanted to embarrass didn't get it. And in the end, the media got this warm moment of Reid and Choi embracing, and the idea of boiling into a soundbite everything I've written here was absolutely impossible. Mission failed.
There is another example of protesters being too clever by half at the same session Saturday. Four Hispanic activists donned black graduation caps and gowns and stood in the front row as Reid answered questions about immigration reform, which he has also not managed to advance in any meaningful way. The students wanted to call Reid's attention to support for the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship or permanent residency for undocumented students who came to the US as minors, graduated high school and have lived here for 5 years.
I have yet to read a mainstream media account other than my own about that protest. It was just too subtle. Reid didn't even react to it -- it's possible he didn't even notice -- and the press found it far to confusing to summarize even if they understood it at all.
What would have worked? Well -- and I'm not recommending these, just making an observation here -- some really raucous shouting. Someone rushing the stage. Something dramatic and visual and unambiguous. All of that would have gotten the point onto the evening news loud and clear. And, yeah, it would have pissed off a lot of people at the event.
But in a way, Saturday was a useful lesson in the art of protest. These didn't work. At first I blamed the media, but when I realized I was about the only one in the MSM who got it right, it dawned on me that it wasn't my colleagues' faults. Had I not been forewarned by sources of what was about to take place and why, I probably would have interpreted it very similarly.
Choi-Reid photo credit: Queerty.Com
Godfather of Online Poker, Girls on the Rail, Reporters Notebook, and Andy Bloch aka Internet Freedom Superhero
By Pauly
Malibu, CA
Good morning boys and girls (and the odd alien or three). Welcome back to the Sunday Morning link dump... just a little something for you to enjoy before your Sunday brunch, or something to masticate on while grinding out the Sunday tournaments...
Malibu, CA
Good morning boys and girls (and the odd alien or three). Welcome back to the Sunday Morning link dump... just a little something for you to enjoy before your Sunday brunch, or something to masticate on while grinding out the Sunday tournaments...
The amount of photoshop talent on 2+2 amazes me. Another epic thread... The Godfather of Online Poker, which stars some of your favorite photoshopped pros and personalities. A+ all around. (2+2)That's it. NGTFOOMO!
The best of tits and ass (mostly ass, but some glorious tits) at the 2010 WSOP. Without further ado, the Best of the Girls on the Rail. (Wicked Chops Poker)
Snoopy's ruminations about food at the Rio gave me a hearty chuckle. Just thinking about that disgusting food gave me heartburn. (Black Belt Poker)
Andy Bloch is Superman meets Green Lantern meets Captain America. He returned to the Rio last week to defend Internet freedom. (Pokerati)
Shamus indexed all of his posts from this summer at the WSOP which he titled "A Reporters Notebook", and of course, it is a must read. (Hard-Boiled Poker)
I forgot to mention this installment of the Life of Ivey called Suited Up and Slow Rolled by Barry. (Poker Road)
If you're a music freak or if you're someone who is seeking out new music, then you should download the latest mix from BTreotch. He's one of my musician buddies who has turned me onto an eclectic mixed bag of music over the last few years. He posts four (quarterly) mixes a year and the 2010 2nd Q Mix is up for your enjoyment. (Coventry Music)
I recently published the (always late) July issue of Truckin'. I contributed two short stories. Everest was inspired by one of those hoarding reality TV shows. Free is an excerpt from a novella about a serial killer from Seattle that I started, but never finished. This month's issue features stories from Kat, Waffles, and Ernest. (Truckin')
Petcast But No Strip Today
As referenced in last week's show, we're going to skip a new episode of The Strip this week because I've got to be at Netroots Nation today to hear Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. But I am skipping out for an hour to do The Petcast from 12:30-1:30 p.m. PT because we've got Dog Fancy editor-in-chief Ernie Slone coming on, we've wanted to speak to him for a while and I didn't want to jerk him around after setting a time with him. So please join us at LVRocks.Com to listen live at 12:30 p.m. PT to hear Emily and me chat first with Animal Planet host Keegan-Michael Kay ("The Planet's Funniest Animals") and then Slone in the second show. Or wait for the podcast, which you can subscribe via iTunes or Zune to The Petcast.
The Daily Beast Exclusive, Behind The Scenes
So I'm in the press room at the Rio today charging my computer while covering the liberal blogger confab called Netroots Nation for AOL News and I listen in as Fox News interviews DailyKos contributor Dante Atkins. He has some things to say that are germane for the tack I'm planning to take -- and, in fact, he makes the bold prediction that the Democrats will PICK UP seats in this fall's election.When he's done on camera, I ask him to sit with me for an interview. He does. When we're finished, Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron immediately strikes up a conversation with Atkins about some of what he had said on camera.
The rest is what you can read on TheDailyBeast.Com right now, comments in which he tacitly agrees with Atkins' claim that conservative Fox News personalities essentially created the Tea Party Movement, Cameron's raising the Shirley Sherrod drama as an example of an effort by some at Fox to influence the news and about his remark that Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle.
AOL News passed on this bit, so I moved on to pitch it elsewhere and The Daily Beast grabbed it eagerly. I emailed Fox's spokeswoman for comment and got a response that Cameron claimed I had taken his comments completely out of context. When Cameron reached me, he claimed all he was doing was sticking up for the integrity of Fox's news division. Evidently at the expense of the rest of the schedule.
Thing is, Atkins, the blogger, was there, too, and not only backed up accuracy of the quotes but the context in which I wrote them. And Cameron claimed first that I didn't hear the whole thing and then that it only lasted maybe 40 seconds, and Atkins said it lasted at least 4 minutes. I thought it was even longer, but OK.
Now, those of you who follow this blog know I'm not new to analyzing and reporting on the media. I routinely defend the Review-Journal against charges of conservative bias in its news pages, I've taken journalists to task at the Las Vegas Sun, The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. I've appeared on KNPR and several TV stations discussing media matters as an analyst. In this case, I don't even know if I believe what Cameron said was inappropriate because I don't actually have a problem with reporters expressing certain types of opinions.
But I did know it was news. And so did Cameron, which is why he moved the conversation with Atkins out of the room and away from my observation.
You may wonder if it's ethical or appropriate to report on overheard conversations. Journalists do it every day. It is not necessary to be a party to a discussion to find its contents newsworthy, but as you can read in the piece, I became a party to this conversation and Cameron began it while I was still interacting with Atkins. Plus, he said stuff about his own news organization within earshot of journalists, and there were others in the room, though I don't know who they are or what they heard.
Also, Cameron hasn't questioned whether I should have been listening or even whether the quotes themselves are accurate. He just has an elaborate explanation for what he was really saying that makes little logical sense. He chose to raise the Sherrod matter and he offered the snark about Angle. If there was some deeper, more complex point of view he hoped to express, he didn't express it in this discussion.
He also complained to me that I wasn't being fair with him because I was refuting his version of events. The good news is, I was there. I heard it. I'm not taking stories from witnesses and reconciling them as journalists normally must. So when he gives his version and it is so clearly different than what I witnessed and what the other person in the conversation had to say, I am comfortable saying that Cameron is either misremembering or being deceptive. If I wasn't there, then I certainly would be dutibound to assume his version was as likely and valid as Atkins'. In this case, that's not necessary.
Will be interesting to see where this one goes and if Atkins offers up his version of the situation on his considerable forum on Daily Kos.
As an aside, I have defended Fox's news division as well. I went to college with Brett Baier and think the world of his work. Just as with the R-J, the opinion shows and the news shows are usually significantly different and differently managed. I haven't seen Cameron much, but I suspect he's a fair reporter who strives to be accurate and balanced. Then again, he did try to rewrite an entire conversation that two other people bore witness to, so now I'm not so sure.
2010 WSOP Tao of Poker Review
By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA
Photo courtesy of Benjo
After another insane summer in Las Vegas, I'm on the cusp of heading on a much needed vacation. I'll be taking a couple more days off in order to detox, recharge, and refocus. In the meantime, use this specific post as a launching pad for reviewing the Tao of Poker's coverage of the 2010 WSOP as it progressed.
Enjoy...
That's it for now. Thanks for following along this summer. See ya in November.
Also, if you liked what you read, then I encourage you to purchase a copy of my book, Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker.
Los Angeles, CA
Photo courtesy of Benjo
After another insane summer in Las Vegas, I'm on the cusp of heading on a much needed vacation. I'll be taking a couple more days off in order to detox, recharge, and refocus. In the meantime, use this specific post as a launching pad for reviewing the Tao of Poker's coverage of the 2010 WSOP as it progressed.
Enjoy...
Day 1: The Cold Open - Opening lines to several great novels inspired the opening post of the 2010 WSOP, but none more fitting than Charles Dickens. The 50K Players' Championship also kicked off the WSOP, while many scribes and photographers were on alert just in case the federales were going to drag away a couple of the poker pro owners of Full Tilt Poker.
Day 2: Not So Easy Rider - The official WSOP live updates page crashed more times to count due to a crush of traffic. It turned out that a hamster and a drunk Lithuanian was to blame. Editor's Note: This particular piece got me into a little bit of hot water with the humorless powers to be.
Day 3: Scandi Mafia and Donkulus' Comet - The first potential headache of the WSOP arrived with the field in the $1,000 Donkulus event got decimated at a much faster pace than expected. Could the elusive donk get extinct at the 2010 WSOP? Meanwhile, as the 50K Players' Championship progressed, the Scandi Mafia arrived on the rail to keep a keen eye on the outcome.
Day 4: Band of Brothers and Here Comes the Russians Reprise - The Brothers Mizrachi made waves when two of them (The Grinder and Robert) advanced to the final table of the 50K Players' Championship. Also advancing to the final 8 was a mysterious wealthy Russian businessman named Vladimir Schmelev. I hopped on the phone, made contact with an old friend in Moscow, and got him to spill the vodka-infused beans about the unknown Russian.
Day 5: Redemption Song - The Grinder Wins Player's Championship - The Grinder achieved redemption, something very few poker players have a shot at. Along the way, he had to knock out his brother and survive a heads-up battle against the mysterious Russian, Vladimir Schmelev, who proved to be a worthy adversary.
Day 6: Welcome to the Sausage Factory and the Return of Triple Draw Fargis - I arrived at the Rio in the middle of a massive dealers' shift change. That got me wondering and thinking that the WSOP reminded me of a factory -- a sausage factory -- to be precise. Meanwhile, a blast from the past, Chris 'Triple Draw' Fargis, re-emerged after stepping away from the pro circuit to take a real job on a trading desk down on Wall Street.
Day 7: The Marvelous British Invasion - After a conversation with one of the British scribes, Snoopy, I was convinced that he was warning me that the Brits were going to make a waves at the WSOP and gobble up as many bracelets as they can while the Scandis were sitting out the preliminary events. Little did we know, that Snoopy was being overly conservative about the potential British dominance during the opening weeks of the WSOP.
Day 8: Darth Hellmuth - The Dark Lord returned to the WSOP. He's the villain that everyone loves to hate. Hellmuth went deep in a donkament which got everyone inside the Rio buzzing during his hot pursuit of bracelet #12.
Day 9: God Save the Queen Reprise and Seven for Men - Less than a week after his prediction that a British player will win a bracelet, Snoopy looked like the oracle when his fellow countrymen, Praz Pansi and James 'Flushy' Dempsey shipped events. Oh, and much to the dismay of Men the Master haters (or I should say, people who despise cheaters), the slow-rolling controversial figure won his 7th bracelet.
Day 10: Most Likely You Go Durrrr's Way (And I'll Go Mine) - Tom 'durrrr' Dan had the entire high stakes poker community by the collective balls when he went deep in one of the donkaments. They all had to squirm on one side of the Amazon Ballroom, sweating millions of dollars in potential lost prop bets, as durrrr took center stage and played heads-up for a bracelet. Looking back, Day 10 was one of the most exciting nights at the WSOP that I ever experienced.
Day 11: Durrrr Hangover, Hooker Quota, and Orange Tossing - The night after the durrrr saga left many at the Rio walking around in a daze. Not much to report aside from everyone experiencing a durrrr hangover. I managed to squeeze in a bit of commentary on the decline of working girl sightings at the Rio and a witty story from Flipchip about pros betting on orange tossing during the olden days of the WSOP at the Horseshoe.
Day 12: The Kassela Chainsaw Massacre - The 10K Stud World Championship included a stacked final table featuring six known pros and two Russians: Jen Harman, Steve Zolotow, John Juanda, Frank Kassela, Chainsaw Kessler, Dario Mineri, Vladimir Schmelev and Kirill Rabtsov. After several hours of brawling, it came down to a heads-up battle between Frank Kassela and Chainsaw Kessler. The event went late into the night and was not settled until 4:20am as Kassela emerged victorious. That win would thrust him into competition for the Player of the Year race.
Day 13: The Carter Phillips Show - Going into the final table of NL six-handed, everyone assumed that Carter Phillips was going to win the bracelet at one of the youngest final tables ever assembled at the WSOP. It was essentially a race for second place as Carter joined an elite group of players who won an EPT event and a WSOP bracelet.
Day 14: No Soup for Yellowsub - I had fun writing this post which included a brief history lesson about the origins of the Beatles album Yellow Submarine. Meanwhile, Jeff 'yellowsub86' Williams made a deep run in the 5K NL event but got sunk in third-place, despite the echos of his friends chanting the chorus to Yellow Submarine.
Day 15: Dude Looks Like a Lady and Get Baked - Every year, the Ladies Only tournament stirs up controversy. How come most people are silent 364 days a ear (and 365 on leap years), and then only bring up the issue on the eve of the event? At any rate, even though at the root, I'm against Ladies events, I sounded off on the reasons why I would never play in a Ladies Only event (simply put -- out of respect). As long as it's on the schedule, let them play I say.
Day 16: God Save the Queen... Thrice - The third Brit, Richard Ashby, collected a bracelet in a two week period and by that point, the mainstream poker press caught onto the British Invasion, even though thanks to Snoopy, we were chatting about this story before it even happened. Oh, and all of this happened on the same day that the US tied the English's squad in World Cup play.
Day 17: Durrrr's Grandma, Dutch Boyd 2.0, and the French Win...a Ladies' Bracelet - A little fun with captions after I saw a hysterical photo of an old woman sitting at the same table as Tom 'durrrr' Dwan. Oh, and just in case you missed it... new bracelet were awarded to the (still) controversial Dutch Boyd and a French woman who won the Ladies Event.
Day 18: Sammy Farha Wins a Bracelet, Flushy Leading the POY Race, and Orphaned Notes - The ever cool Sammy Farha took down a bracelet, meanwhile one of the British bracelet winners jumped out into the POY lead. I also shared a bunch of orphaned lines from my notebook. I figured that even though they didn't fit in anywhere specific, they were too good to flush down the toilet.
Day 19: Shorthanded Eels, the Russian Surge, and the Year of the Yang - I hoped that I bet on the right side of the fix as the NBA finals were coming down to the wire, and everyone's favorite degen sports bettor, Phil Ivey, took center stage as more media were interested in what he was betting on, than the cards he was playing. Alas, I embedded myself on the rail and noticed some unusual things such as the run that former world champion Jerry Yang was making.
Day 20: Femme Fatales, Hallway Punches, and the Bubbling Eel - Another dull day inside the ropes, but lots of action outside the ropes. I caught a pro bringing a hooker back to his room and someone sucker punched David Levi in the hallway. Meanwhile, a friend from Madrid, Spanish pro Javier 'anguila' Etayo, had bubbled off the final table of a 6-handed event.
Day 21: Pappa Johnny Road - The official end of the third week mark of the WSOP was not without any side drama not to mention -- drunken girls roaming around the Amazon Ballroom and the Rio's hallways. I also breakdown the game plan that different pros have when deciding what events to play in the WSOP.
Days 22-24: OFF
Day 25: Phil Ivey Beats Supercomputer for Bracelet Ocho - Phil Ivey is the real fucking deal after he beat a supercoputer heads-up for his 8th bracelet. Ivey also collected an unknown sum (worth millions I'm told) in prop bets. One thing is for sure, humans prevailed over the machines in this battle as Ivey proved that he is truly superhuman.
Day 26: Dispatches from the Razz Event - Swollen Testicles, Ivey's Hoodie, and Vigorous Confusion - Razz is never fun to watch, but one good story to come out of this event was the Phil Ivey hoodie story involving Mickey Doft.
Day 27: Kassela Wins Dos, Sinking Norwegian Queen, and Ivey's Bracelet Ceremony - Frank Kassela distanced himself from the rest of the pack when he won his second bracelet inside of a month. And the pavilion was a buzz during Ivey's bracelet ceremony, meanwhile, Annette Obrestad came up short in an attempt make a final table American WSOP debut.
Day 28: About My Very Tortured Friend, Phil Hellmuth - I couldn't believe that I was going to write about Phil Hellmuth again, but I did trying to fully understand what it's like to be the tortured soul.
Day 29: Redemption Songs, Part II: Gavin Smith and Dean Hamrick - Bracelets were won by two people seeking redemption. Las Vegas is a city where a lot of people are looking to exorcise past demons, but very few people get an actual shot at doing so.
Day 30: The Sun Wields Mercy; Gavin Smith Wins First Bracelet - Breakthrough day for Gavin Smith as he won his first bracelet.
Day 31: TOC Hoopla, Flashmob of Brazilians, and Erik Seidel Goes for Number Nine.... Number Nine... Number Nine... - It was TOC day at the Rio, and I sound off on all of the controversy surrounding the event from the voting to players trying to big-time the event thereby changing the schedule of the event. I also gave my suggestions for three different versions of the TOC.
Day 32: Le Boucherie, Ripple In Still Water, and TOC Day 2 - The donkanments have turned into something that would resemble a butcher shop, meanwhile, the TOC seems like it's more of nuisance than a celebration as the middle of the fifth week of the WSOP becomes a dead zone.
Day 33: You Are What You Eat and Watch What You Tweet - Food and social media are among the topics of discussion. Ah, I also three everyone a bone and included an installment of Last 5 Pros I Pissed Next To...
Day 34-38: OFF
Day 39 - Main Event Day 1A: The Seekers - The Main Event is off and running and I pay homage to the courageous souls who said, "I don't give a fuck!" and plopped down $10,000 in pursuit of a dream.
Day 40 - Main Event Day 1B: Great Expectations - Annette Obrestad's first WSOP Main Event and all of the hoopla surrounding the 21-year old Norwegian wunderkind's first appearance on US soil is the subject of my musings. I also wondered if she could ever live up to the hype and hysteria that we created for her in the media? It also made me question how much of an impact that we the media have in potentially setting up certain pros to fail?
Day 41 - Main Event Day 1C: The Odium of Hellmuthstein - Ah, the spectacle of the Phil Hellmuth Entrance. If you hate him you can skip this one. If you really hate him, you'll end up reading it twice.
Day 42 - Main Event Day 1D: The Unluckiest Champion in the World - Robert Varkonyi took his seat in the Main Event, but without the pomp and circumstance of other former champions. I examine the story of the unluckiest champion in the world.
Day 43 - Day 2A: Moneymaker - The Shadow of a Dream - I love comparing Chris Moneymaker to Jay Gatsby. While Robert Varkonyi chases Moneymaker's shadow, Moneymaker has to constantly chase his own shadow. Will he ever win a second bracelet or does it not even matter because after all, he's Chris Moneymaker?
Day 44 - Day 2B: The Last of the Mohicans - I was wicked hungover after getting hustled in bowling the night before. I phoned it in for this piece. Don't even bother reading it. My apologies.
Day 45: OFF - Media Day
Day 46 - Main Event Day 3: Johnny Fucking Chan, the Butcher Shop, and Here Come the Scandis - Johnny Fucking Chan made a run and I got to proudly write "fucking" instead of bleeping out his infamous nickname. The field continued to thin itself out on Day 3 while a couple of Scandi sleeper cells were activated and sprung into action.
Day 47 - Main Event Day 4: I Want to Take You Higher - Inspired by a Sly and the Family Stone song, I riff about the ghosts wandering around the Amazon Ballroom, brutal casualties of the killing fields.
Day 48 - Main Event Day 5: Fookin' Bonkers, Scandi Ambush, and Disco Inferno - Tony Dunst began the day as the leader while most of the Amazon Ballroom began to empty out as the field was thinned to just 204. The Scandis continued their assault while a Dutch pro named Fokke Buekers became everyone's darling. Meanwhile, California's Breeze Zuckerman became the Last Woman Standing in the Main Event.
Day 49 - Main Event Day 6: Never Mind the Mizrachis, Here Come the Scandis - The Scandi sleeper cell was in full effect as everyone remaining in the Main Event was jockeying for a spot during the homestretch of the November Nine. Meanwhile, all four Mizrachi brothers cashed in the Main Event, but Robert and the Grinder could not replicate their 50K Players' Championship feat with both of them advancing to the final table.
Day 50 - Main Event Day 7: Shine A Light - With 27 players remaining, the next superstar was sitting in front of me. I reflect on previous Main Events specifically on the first hand that I can recall watching from the rail that each former champion played leading up to the final table.
Day 51 - Main Event Day 8: Meet the November Nine - The Grinder advanced to the final table after a marathon November Nine bubble.* * * * *
FYI... 2010 Main Event Semi-Live Blog Links: Day 1A - Day 1B - Day 1C - Day 1D - Day 2A - Day 2B - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8
That's it for now. Thanks for following along this summer. See ya in November.
Also, if you liked what you read, then I encourage you to purchase a copy of my book, Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker.
The 4 Jewish Poker-Playing Brothers
This picture sorta says it all, doesn't it? That's Michael Mizrachi, 29, at the World Series of Poker table on Saturday, when he qualified for the November Nine and won himself at least $800,000. Behind him is older brother Robert, twin Eric and little bro Donny from left to right. They are the poker world's answer to the Williams sisters. Or maybe the Osmonds.As readers of this blog well know, when I come across a human interest story that fascinates me, I mine and mine and mine it until there's nothing left. That is, of course, how I pay the bills. So expect more from me on these guys, but below is the top of my piece for a very popular Jewish-interest web magazine, TabletMag.Com, that posted today that must be, as of now, the definitive story on these guys. But you can hear the whole interview with their mother -- and trust me, it is absolutely amazing -- by clicking here or right-clicking here to download it and hear it at your leisure. If you already picked it up when it posted Sunday, I apologize for the audio error and promise this version works great.
Full House
Michael Mizrachi and his three brothers are observant Jews
and champion poker players
By STEVE FRIESS
Michael Mizrachi and his three brothers are observant Jews
and champion poker players
By STEVE FRIESS
The boys were being irksome and unruly on that night 20 years ago. As their mother and her friends were playing gin rummy late into the evening, they ran wild around the table, announcing to the room what cards the women had in their hands, until, finally, they were banished to their bedrooms. With that, the house grew quiet. Susan Laufer Mizrachi had proved she could control her brood.
Except that, as anyone with young sons knows, silence is a good clue something’s up. And sure enough, at 3 a.m., when Susan’s friends went home and she checked on her four sons, then aged 4 to 12, she found them playing their own card games and keeping track of their accumulating debts to one another on pieces of paper that she still has.
“Their father would say, ‘Look what you’re doing to these kids, you’re playing cards every night and they’re just gamblers,’ ” she recalled. “And I said, well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Two decades later, those apples have grown into a quartet of Jewish card sharks who have taken Las Vegas by storm.
Read the rest at TabletMag.Com
The Show(s) is UP: Johnny Chan/Mama Grinder
It's a poker kind of week around here, so we grabbed the legend Johnny Chan for a chat and he let loose on Harrah's for taking a cut of the WSOP pot. Then, of course, I chatted with Susan Laufer, mother of the four Mizrachi sons who cashed in the WSOP Main Event. You decide which is more fascinating. Click on the date below to listen or right-click to download and listen at your leisure or subscribe via iTunes or Zune.
July 19: Johnny Chan's WSOP Complaint
Special: Mama Grinder Explains Mizrachi Mania
The current generation of professional poker players generally have little regard for those who ruled the game prior to the big boom, except when it comes to at least one guy: Johnny Chan. That’s because Chan was the champ who appeared as the idol successfully bluffed by Matt Damon’s character in “Rounders,” the seminal 1998 poker flick frequently credited with inspiring thousands of young people to take up the game. Chan, the last player to win back-to-back World Series of Poker Main Event championships 22 years ago, was back in the news this week when appeared briefly in the top 10 in this year’s tournament before hitting a few bad beats and busting out in 156th place. The outspoken pro spoke to Steve this hour about why he’s unhappy with the current management of the World Series, why he was unimpressed by Phil Laak’s recent 115-hour poker-playing spree and why he’s never played a hand of cards at Aria.
In Banter: Steve’s new boob job, it’s fucking hot, Veer opens, South Point expands and thoughts on the Vegasness of Top Chef and Holly’s World.
Links to stuff discussed:
Johnny Chan’s website
The Johnny Chan-Matt Damon video clip from Rounders
Steve’s piece for AOL News on the 2010 World Series of Poker’s final table
The special edition the Strip with the mother of the Mizrachi brothers
The R-J’s coverage of the opening of Veer
The website for Holly’s World
The Top Chef profile of Stephen Hopcraft of Sea Blue at MGM Grand
The image of the chefs on that Mandalay Place wall and the chalk Justin Bieber worship
The Las Vegas Sun on the expansion at Suncoast
WSJ blog on Steve Wynn buying the Plaza Hotel
Steve’s AOL News coverage of Phil Laak’s 115-hour poker feat
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