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WTF? Phil Ivey Suing Full Tilt and Skipping the 2011 WSOP

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

"Check Ivey's Facebook page," said KevMath.

I headed to facebook.com/philivey and scrolled down to the bottom of his page. He released a rather bizarre statement, so bizarre that most of the folks in the press box were dubious.

Among the most shocking sentences were...

"I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible."

"I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts."

Hoax? Hack? Legit? WTF?

Within an hour, the FB statement was confirmed by Phil Ivey's manager according to a post on Wicked Chops Poker.

By the way, whoever his manager is -- he has impeccable timing (waiting until the 2md half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals to release the statement). However, why the hell would his manager post a statement on Facebook (and in 6 wall posts)? Sure 70% of Americans have Facebook pages and most of them "LIKE" Phil Ivey, but that "press release" via Facebook was weak sauce, at best.

To add a little plutonium to the inferno, 2+2 is blowing up right now.

Ivey suing Full Tilt? How much money does he have tied up? I mean, is he really crying himself to sleep at night ("on a big pile of money with lots of beautiful women") thinking how his reputation was "dragged trough the mud"?

Ivey was one of the original investors in Full Tilt and is considered an owner. Did Ivey just set a precedent? And will more player-owners decide to sue Full Tilt as well?

Ivey will not be at the WSOP this year, squashing speculation about... 1) whether he'd want to put himself in the line of fire from angry players with funds stuck in FT, and 2) whether his bracelet prop bets in excess of millions were going to draw him to the Rio.

I mean... wow. The only comparison is that the situation reminds of when Michael Jordan retured from the NBA at the top of his game -- and then played minor league baseball. Makes me wonder if Phil Ivey is going to go slumming with us at the Gold Coast every night at 3am to compete in the World Series of Pai Gow.

Someone wondered if Phil Ivey was going to retire... I dunno if he'll do that. I mean, this is fucking Phil Ivey. As Change100 noted, "He's one of the few Full Tilt pros who can actually make money playing poker."

And this news might have killed any chance of Full Tilt repaying player funds. Without Ivey as the #1 show pony in the FT stable, the online poker room is substantially less attractive to potential investors. Over the last few weeks, FT honchos were desperately seeking potential buyers in order to improve their cash flow (and thereby be able to pay out players).

"See you in court, biatch!"
Stay tuned for more developments.

* * *
Update...

10:01pm PT.... @BarryGreenstein tweet'd that Ivey called up him and wasn't happy....

"Phil called me and screamed into the phone for 5 minutes, so I can't really say I talked to him."

10:10pm PT....According to Phil Ivey's website (www.philivey.com), his complete statement is now on the front page. IMHO, the statement should have appeared on his website first with a follow up post with links to the original statement. Well, at least, that's what I would have done if I was part of Ivey's PR team.

10:57pm PT... Check out Change100's post Phil Ivey Suing Full Tilt, Won't Play WSOP .

11:24pm PT... Looks like some tool at the PPA is against Ivey's actions, according to this 2+2 thread. That's reason #1,420 why the PPA is a bunch of ignorant twats.

11:45pm PT... We recorded a podcast. Listen to Ivey Drops Drama Bomb by Suing Full Tilt and Boycotting the WSOP .

Top 10 Poker Tips to Make You a Better Player

Want to become a better player, fast? Follow these 10 tips to boost your poker performance & profits. While geared to beginner players, there's poker tips that even seasoned pros should remind themselves of once in a while.

Here are tips for winning more money at Texas Hold'em

1. Don't Play Every Hand / Do Fold MoreProbably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play far too many hands. When you're just starting out playing poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren't very good just to be part of the action. But playing more doesn't mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you find you're staying in half or more the hands you're dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.

2. Don't Play DrunkCountless nights have I sat across a table from someone & watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of chips. I've been that person too - and there are nights where you're just playing with friends for low stakes and it's more about the fun than the poker - but if you're in a casino, watch the alcohol. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to you playing looser and less sharply, even if one's not 'drunk.'

3. Don't Bluff Just For Bluffing's SakeA lot of beginner's understand that bluffing is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There's is NO rule that one must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many players don't feel like they've won unless they've tried a poker bluff. Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It's better never to bluff than to bluff "just to bluff."

4. Don't Stay in a Hand Just Because You're Already In ItAnother common mistake beginners make is to think that "Well, I've already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now." Nope. You can't win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you're sure you're beaten, and there's no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right away. The money you've already put in the pot isn't yours anymore, and you can't get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.

5. Don't Call at the End of a Hand to "Keep Someone Honest"This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at another player's final bet, look at the hand, & say "I know you've got me, but I have to keep you honest," as they throw in a final call. It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you're not sure & you're gaining information that will help you later on, but if you really feel a player has the hand he's representing & you're beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up over an evening.

6. Don't Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood

When you play poker, you shouldn't do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt -- playing emotionally, not rationally -- and you won't play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take advantage of it.

7. Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table

When you first start playing, it's enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you've got that down, it's incredibly important to look at what's going on at the table. In Texas Hold'em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what's showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.

8. Do Pay Attention to the Other PlayersAs you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you're not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that's when you can bluff & steal a pot.

Tournament Tactics

When I first started playing tournament poker, I tended to bust near the bubble.
I would play very tight in the early stages, and then, as the blinds and antes rose, I’d wait for good hands and push in. This frequently resulted in me busting with good, but not great hands (A-J or 10-10).

Don't Bust Your Bubble

Busting with a hand like a pair of tens near the bubble is, in some ways, a respectable thing to do. When your friends ask you how you busted, you can say, “I was short-stacked and I reraised all-in for 12 big blinds with a pair of tens,” and they will say, “Oh, well. You had to push there.” They’d be right, and in my early days I’d take some consolation in their assurances that my bust out was unavoidable. But after a while, I started to ask myself, “Why did I only have 12 big blinds at that point?”

Watching tournament poker live and on TV, I’d seen players make moves that seemed incomprehensible to me. I’d watch pros reraise all-in pre-flop with hands like 7-8 or 6-8 and I’d think to myself, “How could they possibly risk busting out on that hand?”

That question, together with the question of why I never had chips near the end of a tournament, led me to discover a critical flaw in my thinking.

Ignore The Charts

I realized that most of my decisions about hand values had been influenced by charts in beginner poker books showing the probability of a particular hand, say 10-10, holding up against two random cards. I had neglected to fully consider fold equity and conditional probability.

The player who reraises all-in with 6-8 is, of course, hoping to take down the pot without a fight. The probability of doing this has to be reasonably high for this play to be correct, though perhaps not as high as one might think. Let’s say that the blinds are $400 to $800 with a $100 ante, and your stack going into the hand is $11,500. You are in the big blind. The button (chip stack of $15,000) raises to $2,400 and the small blind folds. I would rarely flat call in this scenario, but I’d strongly consider a push.

Push It

A fold leaves you with $10,600 in chips, whereas a successful push will increase your stack to $15,100 ($10,600 + $2,400 + $400 + $800 + $900 antes). The interesting thing is that almost every hand that the button might raise with in this scenario is a favorite over yours, but, conditional on a call, 6-8 plays reasonably well. An aggressive player might raise from the button 40% of the time in this scenario, but only call your all-in with the 20% of his raising hands. In this case, the EV of an all-in is clearly positive

2011 WSOP: Before the Madness Begins

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I'm slightly hungover.

That's a good sign. It means I'm starting the 2011 WSOP with a gaggle of positive and alcohol-drenched memories rattling around inside my head after an evening of beer bowling and Pai Gow. I gotta say, I didn't bowl a single frame and I only played a couple of hands of Pai Gow from 2:30 to 3:00am before the dealer made fun of me for almost falling asleep at the table. At least she didn't egg me on about playing the Fortune Bonus.

Fleeting flashes of images from last night are slowly coming into focus. Landon gave me guff for misspelling his name (Langdon). I met an avid reader and I kept calling him Andy because I forgot his name (my apologies -- I have a pothead's shot-term memory). I chatted with RJ Bell from PreGame.com about more topics related to sportsbetting than I could count. There was a Liz Lieu sighting. One of my friends offered to give me a book about marijuana cultivation.

The later the evening got, the weirder the discussions got, and that's when the hijinks occurred. I offered Chip Bitch $5 to piss in the sink. He obliged. Marty offered him money to drown a shot of motor oil...but we hesitated because we thought, "Shit, that might kill him. He's kinda small."

A drunk local named "C-Dogg" decided to crash our party (after his own friends ditched him) and I gotta admit, I thought he knew me or was a friend of a friend and I started talking to him before I realized we didn't know each other. I wanted to ditch him, but he pointed at Eric Morris and said, "I'm gonna kick his ass!"

"Whoa!" I interjected. "You don't wanna do that. He's a nice guy. He's my boss at Bluff Magazine."

C-Dogg made a bee-line for Eric and spent the next hour screaming drunk jibberish and dry humping his leg. C-Dogg was 86'd shortly later, but not before he ran behind me and said, "I think I'm going to jail."

That's when security walked into the dive bar at the bowling alley and escorted him out. C-Dogg apparently bled out after cutting himself and the security guards had to put on white gloves while hauling him out.

Just another Monday (as it bled into Tuesday morning) in Vegas, eh?

* * *
Before the WSOP kicked off, I found us a house to live in. My roomies this summer are Benjo and Change100. Someone told me that the majority of property and houses in Las Vegas is underwater, which meant there were hundreds of thousands of free places to stay if I had the balls to squat and could find a generator for power. Shit, the entire monetary system is on the brink of collapse, so why would I actually pay to live in a house when we had plenty of options?

Yes, we may or may not be squatting this summer. It will definitely make for an interesting sequel to Lost Vegas.

* * *
The WSOP kicks off today at the Rio. although a bracelet was given out on Sunday for the WSOP-Circuit grand champion. Some guy named Sam Barhart won it and a couple of Team Pokerati players advanced to the final table.

This will be my 7th WSOP. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I'll tell as many stories about the action (mostly off-the-felt action) here on Tao of Poker. I will be having a few guest posts along the way as the Tao All-Stars step in and pinch hit when I take a few days off to see 5 Phish shows at random intervals over the next month.

Oh, I do have some great news.... Change100 will be joining Tao of Poker as a regular contributor. So if you're a fan of her writing, you're in luck. Check out her most recent post Darkness on the Edge of Town.

FYI... there's a silly rule about hourly updates, so I am prohibited to post more than once an hour on Tao of Poker, which is why you need to follow me on Twitter to get updates throughout the day.

Just a reminder, my main Twitter account is @taopauly.

Over the last few years, I developed a routine where I tweet'd throughout the day and acquired as much info and notes for my juicy end of day recaps on Tao of Poker. You can (at least) expect that similar coverage this year, but who knows if I'm going to be posting a lot during the days on Tao. I guess you'll have to tune in and find out.

And not to fear, I will be recording podcasts with Michalski and Benjo for Tao of Pokerati, which as you know is the quickest poker podcast on the web. Here's the quick link to subscribe to Tao of Pokerati on iTunes.

Okay, that's it for now. I gotta get a couple of rum cocktails in my system to help cure this hangover. A wise man named AlCantHang once told me the best batch of Vegas advice I've ever heard: "Avoid hangovers... stay drunk."

Stay sloshed my friends.

Photo courtesy of Flipchip
So, are you ready? Seriously, are you really ready for the WSOP to begin? If so, it's time to eat whatever happy pills you have in your stash, smoke 'em if you got 'em, and keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. It's going to be a wild seven-week ride and I'll be your jungle guide. So just remember,under no circumstances should you feed the animals.

Stay tuned.

New Episode of Tao of Pokerati Podcast: We're Back and Woe Is Benjo

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I know you missed us, which is why I have amazing, stupendous, and sensational news! The fastest poker podcast on the web is back with a brand new episode. Yes, wake the neighbors because the Tao of Pokerati has officially returned for the 2011 WSOP. Dan, Benjo, and I recorded and episode during our reuinion meal at a sushi joint away from the Strip.

2011 WSOP - Episode 1: Woe Is Benjo (3:59) - Pauly, Dan, and Benjo returned for their first episode of the 2011 WSOP. Dan and Pauly are upbeat about the upcoming summer, meanwhile Benjo reveals he's not looking forward to the suicidal tendencies which crop up three weeks into the WSOP. Dan and Benjo also discuss a potential prop bet about whether or not Howard Lederer makes an appearance at the 2011 WSOP.

For more episodes, visit the Tao of Pokerati archives.

Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes here.

Glow in the Dark Dragons

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I made a triumphant return to the Gold Coast after finishing a much-anticipated screening of The Hangover 2. With visions of the smoking, drug-dealing monkey on my mind, all I kept thinking was: "I want a monkey as a mascot in the press box for the WSOP."

But my better sense suggested that WSOP suits would never allow it. For one, there's health reasons. For another, my pet monkey might go ape shit when he passes the Poker Kitchen and realizes they serve kangaroo meat as the base of the burger mix.

Depending on which starchild you talk to, humans are made of mostly monkey DNA with just a sprinkling of alien DNA. Even if you don't believe in aliens, and ignore your inner Agent Mulder and take a more scientific like Agent Scully, it's impossible to ignore the fine line between man and monkey. Even if poker players have no clue about genetics, they've seen peculiar monkey business happening at the tables.

If you've got your ass kicked during a donkament by inferior players, then you'd wonder if the person across the table has more simian DNA than human DNA. Ergo, monkeys can play in the WSOP, they can't be mascots for the press, nor chip counters. Oh well, so much for my idea of hiring cheap labor to actually publish chip counts on Tao of Poker this year.

Besides, where the fuck are we going to get all those bananas to feed the monkey?

My apologies for the tangent...

I turned on my phone as I exited the theatre. Homer sent me a message -- Pai Gow. How could I not indulge in a few hands on my first night in Vegas? Homer had fastened himself to the far corner seat at a Pai Gow table in the gambling pits of the Gold Coast, our humble home away from home every summer. Homer was ensconced in a serious session lasting several hours before I arrived with Change100. He was saucy, which was a total shocker because when was the last time you saw a Brit binge drink in Las Vegas?

Also at Homer's table were Timtern and Landon. At first I thought Landon was shithoused drunk because he talked kinda funny, but that's when I noticed he was sipping coffee and recalled he was Australian. This is his first WSOP as a member of the press corp and he dove head first into the late night madness.

"Get used to this," I mentioned to Landon. "We're do gonna this every fucking night for the next seven weeks."

I sat down in seat 2. Two civilians were also at the table, but we chased one of them off rather quickly and Change100 took that seat. We had a rail when KevMath and Marie showed up. The waitress brought me rum drinks and that's when the carnage began.

The first dealer was the slowest Pai Gow dealer I've ever experienced. Holy shitballs, I expect slow service when I go to a Waffle House in Bumblefuck, Georgia, but when I'm jacked up on pure Vegas adrenaline and have a stack of greenbirds in front of me, I want to see as many Pai Gow hands as possible.

The slow dealer was giving me questionable hands and the ones that appeared to have value were brutally ravished by the dealer's seven cards. Slow dealer and a bad beat? Talk about getting both your testicles sliced and diced.

They finally sent in a new dealer, but as per usual, she was a bot from the Nagai Corporation in Japan. I might have caught a break this summer because after Japan suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami (which cause a meltdown of multiple nuclear reactors), the country's industrial production shut down for many weeks and is slowly getting back online. The new line of Pai Gow bots will not arrive until late in 2011, which means I only have to deal with older version, which are prone to glitches and the occasional error. I guess that's the only good thing to come out of the Japan quake. Sure, Japan is drowning in radiation soup while traces of radioactive material flutter its way toward North American airspace, but at least I won't have to worry about an upgraded version of the Pai Gow bots.

Homer became my personal hero when he slowrolled a dealer. The dealer showed trip 4s. Homer had cheekily set his five-card hand. When the dealer turned it over, only four cards were exposed. Two of them were sixes, the other two were blanks. The dealer fished the covered card out of Homer's hand and flipped over the 6 of diamonds.

"Eat that you fucking bot," I muttered under my breath. "You just got slowrolled by a sschwated Brit who consumed his body weight in booze!"

Homer 1, Bots 0.

I lost a couple of $100 hands (yes I was betting 10 to 12 times the $10 minimum because I'm an action junkie), but I'll spare you the morose details. Bad beats, of course. I always get my money in good at a Pai Gow table.

It's gonna be a long summer.

Need a Poker Fix? Introducing Rise Poker

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

I'm going to be working on a new project this summer -- Rise Poker.

I'm sure you've heard whispers about Rise Poker, or maybe even you read the press release, but if you don't know, Rise Poker is a free poker site (totally legal and legit in the Nanny States of America) and it will launch on May 31st.

Rise Poker is a collaborative effort between a couple of heavy hitters in the poker industry. Zen Gaming will be providing the platform, so now you finally have a bit of methadone to get you through the horrendous shakes and cold/hot sweats after suffering from online poker withdrawal.

But be warned... I'm not gonna bullshit you... if you've an online grinder with a penchant for multi-tabling a dozen or more SNGs at once, or if you used to make six figures a year as an "online pro", then Rise Poker might not be your cup of tea.

However, if you're a casual (yet semi-serious) player who wants to play online poker with friends every once in a while, or if you're just an online poker junkie and you're jonesin' hard to see some sort of virtual flop, then check out Rise Poker.

Rise Poker is also giving away a WSOP Main Event seat, so if you're looking for a cheap option to get your golden ticket to the Main Event, then Rise Poker might be exactly what the doctor ordered.

Here's the tagline on the Rise Poker website:

Legally play online poker in the United States.
Compete for up to $100,000 in monthly cash prizes and choose from hundreds of daily Texas Hold'em tournaments.
Compete for entries into premium events like the $10,000 Main Event championship.
Instantly connect with fellow poker players at your tables, in our forums, and on our blog.
Rapidly improve your game with poker strategy and tips from our team of poker pros.
Earn membership benefits and rewards.
Interact with our RISE Poker Team Pros and compete against them daily in our pro bounty tournaments.

By the way, Rise Poker is full engaged in the social media world. Check out Rise Poker's Facebook page and follow @Rise_Poker on Twitter.

Don't forget that May 31st is the launch. Oh, and stay tuned for an announcement on the Rise Poker-centric project I'll be working on during the 2011 WSOP.

2010 WSOP Review Reprise

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Photo courtesy of Benjo
The 2011 WSOP begins on Tuesday and for a 7th summer in a row, I'll be live from the floor of the Rio providing coverage for Tao of Poker. I'll also be tweeting (@taopauly) updates, recording podcasts, selling both copies of Lost Vegas and my newly released novel Jack Tripper Stole My Dog, and doing press for the French release of Lost Vegas. I'm also doing a little work for Rise Poker this summer, and of course I'll be engaging in plenty of hijinks like beer bowling, Pai Gow, lime tossing, rum parties, and sharing new forms of silliness along the way.

Wow, hard to believe that in 2005 I moved out to Vegas to cover my first ever WSOP. To quote my favorite band, "What a long strange trip its been."

Anyway, I'm in the process of moving to Vegas as we speak. So since it's a holiday weekend, kick back and enjoy a recap of the 2010 WSOP by delving into last year's coverage on Tao of Poker.

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

* * * *

FYI... here's November Nine coverage:

Jonathan Duhamel Wins 2010 WSOP
Semi-Live Blog November Nine Heads-Up: Duhamel vs. Racener
Semi-Live Blog November Nine: 9 to 2
November Nine Episodes: Tao of Pokerati Podcast

That's it for now. Thanks for following along last summer and all of those previous summers. And I'll thank you in advance for following Tao of Poker this summer. I always say that this might be my last summer, but this year I'm more uncertain about my future than ever. That's why you have to tune it, because if it's gonna be my last WSOP, then I'm definitely going out with a bang.

BTW, after providing six summers of free entertainment, I think it's only fair that you purchase a copy of Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker, or help support independent writers and buy a copy of Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. Thanks and see ya Tuesday for comprehensive WSOP reporting.

Jack Tripper Stole My Dog Now Available

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

The moment has finally arrived. You can now buy a print copy of Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. The best way is to use this link:

http://tinyurl.com/JackTripperBook

Please note the Kindle/e-book version will not be available until mid-June.

In case you missed the trailer...

Click here to buy a copy.

Here's some info like the website, FAQs, Facebook page, and @JackTripperBook on Twitter.

I also recorded a podcast with Change100 titled The 10-Day Novel and Flushy.

Jack Tripper Stole My Dog Podcast: The 10-Day Novel

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

I recorded a brand new podcast (around 5 minutes in length) to promote the release of Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. Change100 interviewed me about the accelerated writing process surrounding the novel and she questioned me about the highly controversial scene involving someone's head getting flushed in the toilet.

Listen here...

If you want to download the mp3 and listen to it later, click here to obtain the link.

Buy your copy here.

Follow Jungleman, Find Jungleman, Win a Seat into the WSOP Main Event

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Ever want to play in the Main Event and get rewarded for your stalking abilities? Then follow Dan Cates aka @junglemandan on Twitter and if you track him down in Las Vegas, then you're eligible to win a seat into the WSOP Main Event.

It's a wacky promotion, but with so many broke dicks running around the WSOP, this stunt has the possibility of getting crazy with a flash mob of Twitter freaks knocking over old ladies in wheelchairs to find the elusive @JunglemanDan and secure the golden ticket for that day.

Then again, I can't think of a better way to win a $10,000 seat by getting drunk in different Vegas casinos fending off the advances of hookers, while compulsively refreshing Twitter every six seconds while waiting to ambush @JunglemanDan. You bet your ass I'm gonna do it.

Here's the skinny from Jungleman's blog...

I had a great idea to show all of the poker fans around the world how much I appreciate them. I decided to give away a $10,000 WSOP buyin to the main event to any poker player who’s never played a main event before. Lately with all the stuff that has been going on, it’s made me think about back when I was playing low stakes in college and made me grateful for all the success I’ve had. It’s made me want to give something back to the average poker player who is where I used to be, and stir some excitement as well. I included a video for all of you guys including some of the rules relevant to the giveaway. During the series I will be updating my blog regularly, so subscribe to my twitter to get updates. Come this WSOP and support me!

Here's the contest rules.

If you don't want to read the fine points, check out the video here.

Don't forget to follow @JunglemanDan and stalk him this summer.

Black Monday: Another Round of DOJ Indictments; Shutdowns Include Doyle's Room, TruePoker, Bookmaker.com, BetEd, and FunTimeBingo

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Hat tip to Kevin Mathers for the info on the latest round of indictments from the DOJ which targeted sportsbook, and in the process a few online poker rooms like Doyle's Roomwere nabbed as collateral damage. Here's the official press release.

The covert investigation is something out of The Wire or out of a Hollywood pitch meeting. The Feds (a joint task force with Homeland Security, IRS, and Customs Agents) created a fake payment processor, Linwood, and the online casinos, online poker rooms, and sportsbooks approached them to do business. The Feds acquired a plethora of inside info during their two-year sting, which they used to build a case and bring down a new batch of online gaming sites.

Domain shutdowns on Monday included DoylesRoom.com, BookMaker.com, BetEd.com, TruePoker.com, 2Betsdi.com, Funtimebingo.com, Goldenarchcasino.com, Betmaker.com, Betgrandesports.com, and Betehorse.com.

BookMaker is one of the larger online sportsbooks in the sportsbetting industry. I don't have an account there, but I had one at BetEd. Just last week I had the VIP manager offering me an unbelievable bonus to fund my account.

The even nabbed a Keno and bingo site. Professional Keno Player Neil Fontent just lost his sponsorship and I know he's pissed. And how about all those grandmas sitting at home and hopped up on pharmies? What are they gonna do now without Funtimebingo.com?

By the way, Doyle Brunson left Doyle's Room recently. The Godfather bailed before the shitstorm. Good timing for Dolly, eh? Or did he get tipped off ahead of time?

Will there be more indictments to come? Is this the end of everyone who ran over and migrated their online rolls to the Merge network? Is this the Black Friday for the sportsbetting world, or is this just one of many more shakeups in the online gaming world?

* * *
I'm starting a running link dump as info comes forth, feel free to drop links into the comments....

First of all, CrazyMarco and gang at QuadJacks Radio are broadcasting live about the breaking news of the second wave of indictments. Listen here.

Gambling web sites, international bank accounts seized in federal sting. (The Republic)

Online poker "payment processor" admits U.S. charges. (Portfolio)

Baltimore feds target online gambling. (Baltimore Sun)

More Domains Seized. (Subject Poker)

Inside the Indictments and Inside the Press Release (Subject Poker)

Black Friday continues-True Poker and Bookmaker indictments 5/23/11. (2+2)

Feds Seize More Online Gambling Websites (G911)

The Ghost Hand: Maryland law enforcers aim to take the pot by secretly sitting at the online gambling table (Baltimore City Paper)

Black Monday? has a list of the laws violated by the sites in question and links to the indictments. (Pokerati)

Linwood Affidavit. (Scribd)

Ten More Sites Seized in New Poker-Related Indictments (Bluff)

Thanks again to KevMath for his research assistance.

Stay tuned for more info...

Monday Morning Nugs: Eight Years Later, WSOP Flashback, Blackjack Whale, and the Monday Morning Pills

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

First of all,my condolences to BJ on the passing of his dog Rhapsody. He's in doggie heaven now. RIP Rhap.

Okay, now onto some pokery nuggets of news bits on this Monday morning. I don't have any time to waste, so here's a quickie...

Today in Poker History: Shamus waxes about Chris Moneymaker's momentous victory at the 2003 Main Event (back when the WSOP was played in May) eight years ago today in The "Boom" Eight Years Later. (Hard-Boiled Poker)

WSOP Flashback: Change100 shared a flashback from 2008 in Leaving Los Angeles. (Pot Committed)

Poker and the Law: I enjoyed this post from Grange95 that he posted a couple of weeks ago...Regulation, Segregation, and a Cereus Case of Déjà Vu. (crAAKKer)

Whale: Some random guy won $15 million at the blackjack tables in AC. H/T to KevMath for this tale of a little guy busting up the casinos. (Deadspin)

Fear Mongering: There's a brand new Monday Morning Blue Pill (compiled by Change100) and Monday Morning Red Pill (compiled by yours truly). (Tao of Fear)

That's it. Happy Monday. NGTFOOMO!

Sunday Nugs: Backroom Beatdowns, Size Matters, Account Segregation, and the Biggest Losers Worldwide

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Normally I'd tell you to enjoy these savory links while grinding out the Sunday tournaments, but now I'll just tell you to enjoy these links while killing time in between the Canucks-San Jose game and the Heat-Bulls game.

Some pokery nuggets...

Angry Poker Players: Here's video(s) of the infamous "Don't Touch Me!" nutjob from the Bellagio. Awesome paparazzi-like camera work from Micon.(DonkDown)

Vegas Backroom Beatdowns: Charles Oakley is suing Aria for getting a beatdown by security? Wait, Oakley losing a brawl? He should have had Anthony Mason watching his back and that never would have happened. (Vegas Inc, LasVegasVegas)

Sportsbetting: Here's a stellar post about the importance of bet sizing when it comes to sportsbetting... Sizing Matters (Buffalo Hold'em)

Dude, Where's My Money?: Bill Rini explains how player account segregation. (Bill's Poker Blog)

PPA Backlash: And while you're at Bill's site, check out his latest assessment about the PPA spiraling out of control. (Bill's Poker Blog)

Degens: I enjoy personal essays on addiction, especially gambling problems... The High Is Always the Pain and the Pain Is Always the High (The Morning News)

Old Vegas: The Grump bids adieu to the Sahara with a series of stories. (Grump)

International Degens: I want to open up a sportsbook in Australia and a casino in Singapaore. What? That's where the biggest gambling losers live. I love graphs and here's one that shows The Biggest Losers.

Stats: RIP Macho Man Savage. Here's a statistical breakdown of Macho Man's minor league baseball stats during his short stint as an aspiring professional baseball player. (Deadspin)

That's it for now. Go Canucks (and Bulls too). NGTFOOMO.

BOOM: The Trailer

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Here's the trailer to a new documentary film about the glorious poker boom, aptly titled...Boom...

For more info... visit Boom's facebook page.

Fading the Rapture

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

I made a bet with one of those May 21st Rapture freaks. He bet me that the world was going to end on May 21st because Rapture was imminent. The prop bet is win-win for me. When the sun comes up on Sunday morning, I'll be a little more wealthier (and even more cynical of religious zealots), but if by a slim chance the skies open up and army of angels arrives on the Mothership, then the entire world is fucked anyway and I'll die from a bombardment of fire and brimstone before I have a chance to settle up.

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about, then here's a witty video explaining the hysteria surrounding May 21st...

To answer your question... yes, at the end of the video, there's aliens smoking DMT.

Okay, so moving onto the apocalypse...

The world will end on May 21, 20111. It will also end on December 21, 2012. Then again, if you read Zero Hedge fourteen times a day like I do, you are well aware Tyler Durden has been preaching the end of the world will happen at the end of each trading day.

So who can you believe? Don't trust anyone, especially me.

The end of the world as we know it already happened the day John Lennon got whacked when he was gunned down in NYC by Mark David Chapman. Everything since that cold December day in 1980 has been nothing short of making tiny steps in a slow march toward Armageddon.

I'm envious at how the greatest fear mongers in the world successfully monetized paranoia -- from crooked corner street preachers to that company that created X-ray body scanners. Fear mongers rake in big bucks, because anyone scared shitless with a lot of material items to protect will pay top dollar and practically give up all of their individual freedoms to quell paralyzing psychological fears, whether it's buying a shotgun or enduring a cock check at the airport.

As much as I'd love bilk sheeple out of millions by scaring the bejesus out of them, my mission is altruistic, because I'm trying to use this corner of the web to unplug those whom want to be unplugged. In many ways, it's up to you to determine your path in life and I'm here to remind you there's always another way. Ergo, the Tao, which is translated into "the way" or "the road."

In case you were wondering, we're not going to experience a single cataclysmic event like 2012. There's no invisible brown dwarf or a Planet X (aka Nibiru) or a comet flying by Earth at the end of the year that will make Yellowstone Park explode. Even though the tin foil hat crowd chatter is hyping up a "false flag alien attack" orchestrated by the Illuminati to create a one-world government, well that's definitely not going to happen either.

So what is going to happen on May 21, 2011 and December 21, 2012? Business as usual. Ponzi schemes will continue to run rampant. Politicians will continue to lie to you. The media moguls will rake in billions providing you with propaganda and distractions, while bankers pilfer your retirement funds to pay for their coke and hooker habits. Meanwhile, old powerful men will continue to send young men off to foreign lands to fight proxy wars against rogue states corrupted by the same multi-national corporations that put our politicians into power.

The only difference is more people are waking up after finally exiting the denial stage of "life is rigged" and delving into a volatile phase of anger and rage. From this point forward in the age of instant communication, it will be tougher for the haves to retain their power as the have nots slowly wake up a few million at a time. As a result, the haves will ramp up brainwashing techniques, forge a deeper political and religious division amongst the have nots, and stay in power by any means necessary like creating a kill switch for the internet. Hence the backlash has begun as sweeping violent revolutions flared up in North Africa and the Middle East, along with the ongoing riots in Greece and Ireland as we speak.

Even Americans woke up from their deep opiated slumber as protest movements in Madison, Wisconsin inspired many more disenfranchised and pissed off citizens across the nation to stand up against government corruption. Millions more Americans are on the verge of exiting the denial stage and about to dive head first into a cauldron of anger. The system is broken and we need shake things up and remove the puppets backed by the oligarchs pulling the strings in Washington and in every state capitol.

And that's what the Mayans were trying to tell us -- not that the world is going to end, but rather we're experiencing a massive paradigm shift. For those whom cannot adapt to change, it will seem like the end of the world (e.g. old school newspaper editors) as the systems in which they previously found comfort is on the verge of collapsing. For those who rise to the challenge, it will seem as though they achieved a higher level of consciousness because they were aware of the changing market conditions and either went with the flow (and got lucky) or tweaked their life plan to prosper during the changeover.

Adapt or die.

But zealots like the Family Radio crew have such rigid beliefs that it's no wonder their interpretations of warnings are also rigid in nature. They are predicting rapture on May 21, 2011 because of a rudimentary mathematical formula that Bill Chen could have debunked in is sleep.

Whenever you hear about unproven theories about WWIII in the Middle East, 2012, May 21st Rapture, alien invasions, Planet X, nuclear meltdowns, earthquakes on the New Madrid fault line, or California falling into the ocean, then you essentially have four ways to react to the news.

Your four choices...

1. Accept the end is nigh and freak out by following around a religious zealot or building an Armageddon compound.

2. Accept the end is nigh and party like it's 1999.

3. Ignore everything and put your head in the sand. Rapture? Pffft... did you see what Kim Kardashian tweet'd?

4. Call bullshit on the fear mongers and keep living man. L-I-V-I-N.

I'm a hybrid of #2 and #4. I've been trying to wake up everyone in #3, but not about the Rapture, rather other more menacing things. Alas, some sheep don't want to be disturbed while grazing on mainstream fodder, which is probably best because the last thing you'd want is to see a caravan of millions of self-righteous Family Radio followers blocking traffic wherever they go.

I was going to treat Saturday like any other Saturday, but since I have a bet on the outcome of May 21st as the end of the world, I'm going to be listening to a Judgement Day mix a friend made and paying close attention to the skies to see if the Mothership has returned. I'm excited for an old fashioned stake out while on Armageddon Watch!

I'm making as many bets possible and I'm fading the Rapture.

14 More Fun Moments from the 2010 WSOP

By Pauly
Los Angeles, CA

Photo by Flipchip
The memory is a funny thing. Depending on your mood, you can focus on the light or darkness of a situation. Sometimes when you rewind a situation in your head, it's fuzzy. Other times it's as vivid as HD and you're locked into your consciousness at the present moment. But after you get shellshocked and spend seven weeks in one place (not to mention six WSOPs), some of the experience bleeds together. Thanks God for electronic documentation -- Tao of Poker and @taopauly on Twitter (and to a lesser degree, my Twit pics) -- because they can fill in the gaps where my memory goes blank. Sometimes it only takes a keyword or two to trigger a memory. On the contrary, sometimes I'll re-read an old notebook and flip through the pages and wonder what the fuck I wanted to say when I have a couple of unrelated words. Obviously, those keywords failed to trigger a memory or illicit an emotion.

Anyway, last week I posted about 14 fun memories from the 2010 WSOP that popped into my head as I quickly jotted them down. Each of the 14 bullet points could have trigger its own essay -- a few could even inspire a screenplay, a 17,000 word David Foster Wallace-esqu essay (with 4,200 words of footnotes), or in the case of Lesbian Kisses, a piece of gonzo porn.

With that said, here's a few that popped into my head shortly after chatting with some friends about the original (14) fun moments. Again, these are in no specific order, rather, it's just what I see when I close my eyes and play "Press Your Luck" with my memory banks. All of these images are rapidly flickering and I yell, "No Whammmmies! Stop!" And then this is what I get...

1. A couple of colleagues in the pressbox were on a baking kick. Kudos to Laney, Jess, and Gloria for sharing their home-baked goodies with the members of the press. Sweet treats go a long way.

2. Ty Stewart set aside an entire box of Jack Links Beef Jerky for me to share with the press box. We had a love/hate relationship with the jerky. In a pinch, the bags were a godsend.

3. I threw out my back in the press box. I was out of pharmies but luckily Matt Waldron cracked my back and Friedman scrounged up a few Percs for me.

4. The Grinder won the 50K Horse event to bail him out of trouble with the tax man, but more importantly, I saw Patrik Antonius (The Grinder's backer) actually smile when he shook his hand when the final table was finally set.

5. David Benyamine so concerned with losing a prop bet against Tom Dwan, that he spent a significant time sweating Durrrr on the rail.

6. After a month of tilt-inducing delays, the proofs of Lost Vegas finally arrived. Kara Scott bought a copy of Lost Vegas and spent Day 1 of the Main Event with the book underneath her chair.

7. Scoring VIP access to see Snoop perform at the PokerStars party.

8. Writing about Arvidas was one of my favorite pieces of the WSOP. I pissed off a few suits so I must have been doing something right.

8. Inspired by a picture of Winnie the Pooh beheading Eeyore, I wrote about the Scandi mafia and the comet that wiped out all the donkeys from the face of Rio.

9. Old lady with a disposable camera asked me to take a photo of that "jerk" Phil Hellmuth. Oh, speaking of grandmother types... a sweet old lady did some shit talking with Durrrr.

10. Appearing on the inaugural episode of This Week in Poker. I opened up for Jen Tilly...

11. Schwasted girls wandering down the hallway at 2:40am. Change100 saw one puke in a garbage can.

12. Mickey Doft's story about Phil Ivey's hoodie.

13. A well-dressed Gavin Smith won his first bracelet.

14. During the final table bubble for the November Nine, people were passed out all over the Amazon Ballroom -- including media row, the pressbox, the stands around the final table and the spillover area.

Just in case you haven't seen it, here's the original 14 Fun Moments from the 2010 WSOP.

Here's an index of Tao of Poker's 2010 WSOP coverage.