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

LAPC Pro Update

Looks like there’s some hot players still in the LAPC hoping to catch one of the final six seats.  Ladies first… Liz Lieu, Nancy Todd Tyner, Erica Schoenberg, JJ Liu, Maria Ho and Anna Wroblewski (Go Ladies, Go) still have chips and chairs.

As for some men surviving today… Nick “The Second Hottest Guy in Poker” Schulman* and Fabrice Soulier (BJ – update his pic) are two of many, many, many hot guys who may or may not be considered hot by the many, many men who have been eliminated. 

Phil Laak is disguised as himself, Shannon Shorr and Jeff Madsen discussing curfews (oh right, they’re barely legal) and of course… Phil Ivey.  Phil Ivey needs no comment because the name Phil Ivey is almost like one name… like Madonna or Cher.  Or because Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Gordon are really all the same person. 

Antonio Esfandiari leads in chips but Chris “Sweet Baby Jesus” Ferguson, Greg Mueller and Paul Wasicka are hot on his trail.

Live Updates Here.

*See Amanda Leatherman Feb issue of Bluff Magazine.

Six Still Alive at the Five

The WPT Five Diamond Classic ends Day Five at 5:45-ish with six players.  Chino Rheem, Amnon Felippi, Hoyt Corkins, Steve Sung, Justin Young and Evan McNiff are the six who will duke it out on Day Six. Plus the average guy who sometimes looks like Vinny Vinh.

The big question is… has Amnon Felippi already won a last longest longer bet?  And if so… was he the guy walking around the Fontana Lounge collecting the funds from the last longer contestants? 

Check out half the table below with Amanda Leatherman.  And of course, best WPT Live Update view with the Bellagio Fountains in the background and a phone call from JC Tran.

Don't forget to get your chip counts here.

WPT Day 4 Underway

It’s Day 4 at the WPT Five Diamond and let’s hope BJ Nemeth is able to get some good WPT poker photos of these players (excluding Mr. Average). 

Big names in the game are… Chino Rheem, Nick Schulman, Amnon Felippi – A Stud of Poker, David Benyamine, Robert Mizrachi and Clonie Gowen.

Speaking of Felippi, check out his good times interview with Amanda Leatherman below.

WPT Day Three at the Five Diamond Classic

A few notable players surviving Day 3 of the WPT Five Diamond Classic.  Not only are these guys notable (or wiiiiilllll be) but they also have the best photos on the live chip count page.

• Jack Wu
• Daniel O'Brian
• Benjamin Straate
• Jared Rubin
• Steven Landfish
• Average
• Hunter Frey
• Timothy Vance
• Daniel Schreiber
• Elia Ahmadian

No worries fellas, its hard work keeping up with all the players unless they're showing a lot of skin or acting like a 2 year-old.  So, I'm sure you will have a pretty poker pic up soon. Get the live chip counts here, the live blog here and good times with Amanda Leatherman here.

photo courtesy the worldpokertour.com

Gotta Love the Festa

The World PokerTour’s Festa al Lago is for sure one of my favorite tournaments for several reasons:

1. It’s held at the Bellagio in the Fontana Room.  Quaint, quiet and when players bust out they might hear the Bellagio theme song see video above.
2. Great gelato is just steps away (If you get lost then ask Neil Channing for directions).
3. Alan Feiner can get a satellite going faster than a stripper can… on second thought… you can fill in that… blank.
4. It’s where I played my first casino tournament (thanks to Feiner).
5. Best weather of the year to hang out on the Fontana patio.

The downside of Festa al Lago?  You’re stuck eating at Bellagio restaraunts when you’re dying inside for some Sao Paulo Cafe. 

Check out the live updates here so you can follow the status of Dutch Boyd, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Phil Collins and Vinny Vinh.

WPTL Susan G Komen Saga Continues

Turns out I offended Shogun with my WPTL post.  I’m not sure if Shogun is a gamer fan or Mauricio Shogun fan but here’s what Shogun had to say:

Are you serious?

The World Poker Tour took 15% out of the prize pool which is generated by player buy-ins and includes no additional money from WPT. So it’s not that the "WPT would be reaching out to help the sick", but rather that WPT was taking money out of the players pockets to make it look like they, and not the players, "would be reaching out to help the sick". The WPT had no intentions of matching the donation, and when combined with the rake, the $25,000 withheld for the WPT Championship seat, and the 3% withheld for the tournament staff it made the tournament economically unplayable.

Second place money: $40,815
Money missing from the prize pool: $39,490

The decision was such an obvious mistake that Lyle Berman promised it would never happen again.

Tsk Tsk on fact-checking.

So, let me clarify after the jump. 

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Poker Chicks on WPT

Tonight’s WPT episode will air the final six ladies of the WPT Ladies Championship on GSN.  This event caused a stir when a few players were upset they learned a portion of the buy-in would be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation after they bought in to the tournament (I think they bought in rather early).  I guess those ladies wouldn’t have played the event at all had they known the WPT would be reaching out to help the sick.  Tsk Tsk.

Donna Varlotto, A.K.A. Steve Wong’s fiance who didn’t learn poker from Steve Wong, will be on briefly and don’t forget Vanessa Selbst, the chick WCP thinks has a hot girlfriend, will be on the show as well.  Selbst is also known as that chick who has made several WSOP final tables, won a 2008 WSOP bracelet and is a Yale graduate.

Don’t forget the World Poker Tour will be moving over to FSN soon.

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