LA Poker Classic

For two years I’ve said I need a vacation. Good news, I’ve made progress…I’m now saying…I’m about to take a vacation.  Which brings to mind the WPT LA Poker Classic because then I can catch most of my friends in the same place at once.  Tough to do outside WSOP summer camp.

Despite several tempting Six-Handed Events, I may stick to the coffee shops. Even though I owe a few heads-up challenges.

Read the schedule here.  Read about hot women here.

WPT UPDATE: BEST. NAME. IN. POKER. EVER.

Today’s WPT Best Name In Poker is…

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WPT Update: Isildur1 is Tiger Woods… Theory

Check out The Entities on RawVegas.tv latest video at the WPT Five Diamond Classic as they ask players and BJ Nemeth “Who IS Isildur?”  I’m going with Andy Bloch’s Tiger Wood theory because Bloch received certified smart guy documents when he graduated from MIT.

Watch Who Is ISILDUR1? on RawVegas.tv

Ways Phil Ivey’s Elimination Could Have Been Better

When Phil Ivey was eliminated from the 2009 WSOP final table, there was a minor explosion because Phil Ivey…left the building. Ivey gave a couple of interviews then he, we’ll assume, drove home. That’s when the WTF’s started. Interviews are part of tournament coverage and it can be uncomfortable asking a player about a recent upset. But complaining a player left after a huge upset? So. Would it have made a difference in the world had Ivey stuck around to decline 50 people? Did Ivey owe his mourning time because the media created a job for Ivey or did Ivey create jobs in media? Or did he owe it because that’s what everyone else does, it’s standard procedure, it’s the norm. If that’s the case then that makes sense because everyone should do what everyone else is doing.

Maybe Ivey was in a hurry to beat traffic, maybe he wanted Daniel Negreanu to have an exclusive blog post or maybe, and this is kind of out there, maybe he was upset and wanted a break. I know, crazy isn’t it? Here’s a few ways Ivey could have made things better:

1. A painful career moment, equivalent to a national televised job termination, should’ve been given to anyone who wanted a piece of him. It’s more important to get a downtrodden AK interview than allow a human a little wound licking. I guess Ivey was unaware of the tournament elimination rules. Wait, do they have tournament elimination interview rules for players? Who cares, everyone should follow all non-law-breaking rules at all times whether they’re experiencing pain, humiliation, sadness or whatever. Human feelings should come second to media. In fact, Larry David might even be able to prove Moses said this to his people.

2. Living in Vegas, Ivey might show up for some interviews but didn’t he know Confucius say “He who hit enter first have big traffic.” And when it comes to traffic…well, first things first. Had Ivey given interviews, others could have benefitted from his night of gloom which might have turned around the economy. The fact that reporters were getting paid regardless of Ivey’s behavior shouldn’t matter. It’s more important to help the this-is-what-I-want-to-say-about-it-all rat race.

3. Ivey could have boosted his ego by stopping the tournament or at least taken precedence over any hands conducted at that time. Who cares about the other players pivotal hands, eliminations, chip counts when Ivey has been eliminated. The rest of the world should be a little more patient because hey, it’s Phil Ivey.

4. WSOP final table adrenaline is exhausting. Exhaustion causes people to think unclearly (hence this post on early Sunday morning). Ivey had the most final table experience, he should have written a memo on his hand that said… If you bust, make sure you bond with your teammates in the locker room before interviews. Wait, no team mates? You mean every move he made will remain in his own head forever?

5. Ivey should have used brutal honesty for a good story by saying something like “Hey, I know everyone wants to talk to me because I’m the biggest upset but I’m tired, need some space plus I’ve been talking to media for three months… so, I would prefer to be with people who don’t want anything from me.” Or at least, Ivey should’ve given one of those bs self-seeking humble statements like “I will interview tomorrow but for now let the other guys shine.” Seriously, that would have been sufficient… not many can see through lip service disguised as kindness. You know, attention-seeking, praise demanding statements that are actually ways to get a pat on the back. While it might take a stronger person to walk away while risking negative attention due to misunderstood higher intentions, no one cares about that crap when they’re just trying to do their job.

First Could Have Been Better Poker post.

My Pick Of 2009 WSOP November Nine

The 2009 WSOP Final Nine are officially playing. James Akenhead, Steven Begleiter, Eric Buchman, Joe Cada, Phil Ivey, Darvin Moon, Antoine Saout, Kevin Schaffel and Jeff Shulman are playing the first final table, IMHO, that has the most hype. While last year was the first final table delay, there was so much speculation on whether the delay was OK… it sort of deflated some of the hype. It was like no one wanted to come out of the closet and admit they liked the idea until a cool person gave a stamp of approval.

Anyway, my pick of the 2009 WSOP litter is Eric Buchman. Buchman and I became friends after we made a final table together at the 2006 WSOP. Actually, it was more like… when I made him lose his tough poker face and smile. In fact, Phil Ivey came close to making that final table with a 21st place cash. I didn’t play with Ivey very much but I did play with Eric quite a bit. And I can tell you… Eric is a very good player.

Of course, Ivey is a great player as well. If he had more chips, I may have picked him (sorry Eric). However, if there is anyone who can turn a short stack around… it would be Phil Ivey so I’m not exactly convinced Ivey won’t win. Sadly, all it takes is an underdog to hit his hand and if you don’t have the chips…well…you know. Either way, I’m happy to see both players at the final table and excited for today’s coverage here, here and here.

Way’s WSOP Coverage Could Be Better

ESPN’s latest WSOP coverage was pretty good. Here’s my list of how to make it better:

• Jc “Just Call” Tran is really still in the tournament (let’s hope he won his last longest).

• Gavin Smith should wear this banana costume (non-paid link) while sweating his PokerRoad compadre, Joe Sebok.

• Speaking of Sebok… more coverage of the guy to his left, Fabrice Soulier.

• Speaking of more coverage… more coverage of Julie (Tom Schneider’s wife) .

• Phil Ivey doing the Running Man dance while singing Ice Ice Baby.

• Tabasco uses Prahlad Friedman’s Rap and face on the singing pepperoni pizza commercial so the commercial wouldn’t be so freakin’ freaky. See Friedman’s rap video below.

• WSOP Honchos, Jeffrey Pollack and Seth Palansky, should feed their wild side and be in a Jack’s Links Beef Jerky commercial.

• We didn’t know we could buy a Snuggie for our dogs.  I already had to buy one for my daughter.

photo courtesy PokerRoad.com

New Poker Interview + WSOP Circuit

Special shout out and thank you to Lady Junkie who asked for an interview last week.  Read the poker junkie interview here.  Looks like LJ has her eyes set on women in poker.

Also, the WSOP Circuit is currently in Chicago turning out record numbers.  Read the whole story here.

Today’s Links Brought To You By…

Today’s Links (at the bottom) are brought to you by… Google Adsense.  Google Adsense, where I’ve been making cents for never making sense.

The FTC blog post news seems to have a few feathers ruffled.  The new rules will still allow bloggers to talk trash freely as long as they disclose who paid for the trash talk.  Oops, I meant…  New rules will still allow slander blogging but require compensation disclosure for all the blog’s positive posts.  Wow, excuse me…  New FTC rules cause blog panic as  readers realize blogger isn’t actually a topic expert but in fact… just a blogger.  Is this getting old?  OK, just one more… blah, blah, blah rules… Bloggers fear readers will realize they’re actually sell-outs and only posing to be independent thinkers.

I don’t know what I’m talking about. See? I never make any sense.  And now for some high-quality links…

A Dynamite link for this Kid’s FTC post.

Mike Sexton made the WSOP Hall of Fame.  Reactions to his new poker title should be far different than Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize.  Read more about Sexton + a video over on WCP.  Pauly also has a great read posted about Sexton.

Amy Calistri posted on the sad end of PokerPages.

Pokerati Dan has a video up of Lacey Jones which made me realize that Ms. Jones and I talk a lot about talking but never get the chance to talk.

Poker Priest Kicks Off PokerStars Challenge

Andrew Trapp, a Catholic Priest, will be the first contestant on the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge this Sunday.  Has he been nicknamed the Poker Priest yet?  Not sure, but it suits him well.

Trapp had to win a 1,000 player online tournament, then beat NBA Legend John Salley to grab a televised spot against Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso.  So far, Trapp has given his winnings to his church as they raise money for a new building.  The show airs on Fox this Sunday right after NFL.

Check out his audition video below, which is pretty funny.

Andy Beal Wins A Big Pot

Andy Beal articles are still popping up about his recent cash in buying up mortgage-backed securities for cents on the dollar.  Ironically, the banker/poker player made the conservative move waiting out the loan balloon era while other banks gambled away beeeallions (followed by the infamous debt assistance).  Sadly, Beal’s prudence landed him under investigation for not following the herd.  Translation… Beal passed on the over glorified AK, waited for AA and picked his spot.  The result?  Well, he isn’t exactly walking back to Houston or as I like to call AK… walking home.

While Beal moved on to increase his bankroll, it’s sad he was frowned upon because he didn’t help fuel the economic crisis.  According to The Business Insider:

These days Beal’s still fairly pessimistic and predicts that about half the country’s banks, 4000, would go bust if they were being honest about their books.

Thanks to Amy Calistri and Jason Kirk for their posts and reminder.  And my father-in-law for passing on the good story.

Photo Courtesy Amy Calistri

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