Poker News

2 Months, $2 Million: Tilt Room Debuts, Team Up $200,000

This week on the G4 online poker show “2 Months, $2 Million,” the Tilt Room made its premiere, featuring garbage cans, stuffed animals, and fresh fruit. When the smoke cleared on Week 2, the team of four was up $198,600.

“2 Months, $2 Million” followed G4’s airing of the comedy hit “Wayne’s World.” The online poker show, as usual, began, “Welcome to Las Vegas, where fortunes are made on the flip of a card.” Fortunes were actually made on the golf course to start this week’s “2 Months, $2 Million” episode. A variety of prop bets were featured, including Jay Rosenkrantz getting 4:1 odds that he could make a putt. In the end, he didn’t collect on the $1,000 bet and neither did Dani Stern, who was offered 13:1 odds that he could hit a fairway. However, he earned $2,000 from Brian Roberts when he purposely hit a tree. In the end, Stern owed Rosenkrantz, Roberts, and Emil Patel $1,000 each.

The foursome ended last week up $35,700, with the goal of boosting their bankroll by $2 million collectively. Roberts lamented, “That’s not that far off from $0. We need to be putting in a lot more hands.” Stern was the only player in the red last week and kicked off the episode by continuing to struggle. Down $10,000 early on in Week 2, Stern told “2 Months, $2 Million” cameras, “Lately, I’ve been losing a lot of money and it’s getting a bit frustrating.” Stern promptly headed for the Tilt Room, which was unveiled for the first time.

Patel gave the background of the Tilt Room: “The Tilt Room was Jay’s idea. It’s a place you can go to and take out your frustration.” The room, which appeared to be the garage, featured objects like watermelons, stuffed animals, and a full-sized aluminum garbage can. Meanwhile, Patel interviewed eight candidates to be Personal Assistants, giving the prospective employees various tasks to test their skills. They included a shopping run for exotic foods, removal of golf balls from the bottom of the swimming pool, organizing Patel’s closet, and cutting hair. In the end, Stephanie Tuggle was chosen as the new “2 Months, $2 Million” Personal Assistant.

By Week 2, Day 2, the team was up $122,000. To combat his losing streak, Stern planned a Lockdown Day, 24 straight hours of online poker. He claimed, “In poker, the more you play, the better your chances of winning assuming you’re a winning player. When you play tens of thousands of hands, the luck factor slowly dissipates.” Six hours into Lockdown Day, Stern had dropped $16,000. By hour number 12, he was $30,000 in the red. Consequently, halfway through the day, Stern began drinking instead of playing.

Roberts and the team elected to hire a harpist for Stern in hopes of improving his mentality towards the game. Rosenkrantz quipped, “I feel focused, sort of zenish.” Whether it was due to the dulcet tones of the harp or an attitude adjustment, Stern began winning and Patel’s fortunes turned for the worse. Patel was irritated at the harpist, asking the woman playing the large instrument to “turn it down.” Consequently, Patel and Stern edged closer to each other in bankroll over the week, leading to the first ever heads-up match for Week 2’s Penalty Stunt.

A best of five heads-up duel was held on Full Tilt Poker for the humiliation of carrying out the Penalty Stunt. After dropping the first two games to Stern, Patel righted the ship and won the next three. In the final hand of heads-up match number five, Stern pushed with A-3 and was called by Patel, who held pocket sixes. The better hand held and Stern was forced to carry out the Penalty Stunt. When the week’s results were tallied, Rosenkrantz was up $147,000, Roberts was up $46,000, Patel was down $11,500, and Stern was $18,600 in the red. Collectively, the team was up $162,900 for the week and $198,600 overall.

For his Penalty Stunt, Stern had to play the harp dressed as a fairy godmother on the Las Vegas Strip. In a scene reminiscent of an “Amazing Race” task, Stern had to generate $20 in tips before he could stop his serenade. A chorus of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” was featured, as was a woman telling Stern, “You look better in a dress than I do.” It was Stern’s second straight Penalty Stunt; both have involved the youngster donning a pink outfit.

Next week, a rival group of online poker players challenges the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast. Catch the show at 9:00pm ET on G4 every Sunday.

Poker heats up in Hollywood

A glimpse of the celebs into the game is available every year at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational and various charity tournaments, but many celebrities also scratch their poker itch at home games and online.

Anthrax lead singer Scott Ian has been playing poker for years and has seen several celebrity friends converted into players first hand.

"Keanu Reeves just recently got into Hold'em," Ian told PokerListings. "A few months back he said to me, 'Hey man, I was playing a lot of poker with this director on my last movie and he was just constantly taking my money."

Ian said Reeves is learning more and more about Hold'em and has become a semi-regular at a private game in Santa Monica.

"I know tons of people who play and when I'm home we all try to get together and play as much as we can," Ian added.

Keeping a weekly slot open for a real-life home game is tough for Hollywood types and rock stars on the road - a predicament that led Ian to move his home game online to Ultimate Bet.

"The first one had Kirk Hammett from Metallica, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, Slash, Vinnie Paul from Pantera and John Dolmayan from System of a Down," said the Anthrax frontman.

"What it means is just a lot of my friends in bands, these 'rock star' guys, who like to play Hold'em. It is a way for us to get to play together since we don't get to play together physically because of everyone's schedules."

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips has had a semi-regular home game running almost as long as he's been in show business.

Phillips put the skills he learned in that home game to good use this summer finishing 186th out of 6,494 at the WSOP Main Event.

"The home game has been crazy," Phillips told PokerListings. "It's been going on for 20 years."

Over two decades his game has seen a rotating group of actors and entertainers.

"George Clooney used to hang back in the day," Phillips recalled fondly. "Brad Pitt before he got Thelma and Louise, all the 90210 kids."

Like a lot of Hollywood home games the stakes are anything but astronomical, and the level of play is anything but professional.

"No, it's a lot of bullshit is what it is," Phillips laughed. "We're drinking a lot of beer and going, 'My two-three offsuit will kick your kings' ass.' "

Low stakes and a casual yet competitive atmosphere seem to be the norm in celebrity home games.

Actor and Simpsons cast member Hank Azaria has a regular game at his Soho, New York, residence where the buy-in is reported to be a modest $500.

Simpsons creator Sam Simon shares a similar attitude, one that he's taking to television this year with Sam's Game on the Playboy Channel.

Juxtaposing his casual home-game style with serious shows like GSN's High Stakes Poker, Simon is recreating the home game experience and expects to tap into viewers' natural love for the format.

While HSP relies on big names and big dollar amounts, Sam's Game uses the same things we all love about home games - Jokes, food, beer and a little bit of poker.

While celebrity home games are mostly about good times, poker's popularity in Hollywood circles could have a real effect on the vitality of the game.

With Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander and Phillips both running deep in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, much was made about what a celebrity at the final table could mean.

In 2003, Chris Moneymaker's victory catapulted poker into the public's consciousness.

Now, with the four month break before the Main Event final table, players are given an even bigger opportunity to take the poker word to the masses.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says having a poker pro like Phil Ivey at the final table this year will surely help grow the game, but the exposure someone like Alexander would garner in mainstream media could be staggering.

"I think anytime a big name makes the final table of the Main Event it's good for poker and good for the WSOP," he said. "At the same time, any personality that can crossover in that setting would also be great.

"Phil Ivey will be great, Jason Alexander would have been great and, last year, Tiffany Michelle would have been great. You have a top poker pro, a big Hollywood celebrity and a compelling newcomer.

"All three are different and all three have the capacity to crossover and that's something that's always attractive to have."

Visit PokerListings.com

Redtooth Sign with Rileys

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2 Months, $2 Million: Team Earns $35,700 in First Week

The new online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million” debuted on cable station G4 on Sunday night at 9:00pm ET. The half-hour program featured Dani Stern, Emil Patel, Brian Roberts, and Jay Rosenkrantz earning $35,700 in the first week of the two month challenge.

The thrill of Las Vegas life, the heartache of online poker, and the perks of being a self-made millionaire all took center stage on the show’s inaugural installment. The opening credits noted, “These four former math whizzes are four of the best online poker players in the world.” “2 Months, $2 Million” began with the quartet driving down the Las Vegas Strip to a luxury home in Sin City. When they arrived, the SUV erupted with a chorus of “Bing, bing, bow. Here is the house.” The new digs featured an outdoor pool, a spacious courtyard, and a high-tech war room complete with four desktop computers, leather office chairs, and oversized televisions displaying the action from the virtual felts.

The four youngsters introduced themselves and each gave their poker story. Patel told “2 Months, $2 Million” cameras, “At first, [my conservative Indian parents] were a little skeptical of me playing professionally, but when my mom found out how much money I was making, she said, ‘OK, you need to sit down and teach your dad how to play.’” Rosenkrantz admitted that it took him only a few years to turn a $100 deposit into a seven-figure bankroll.

One of the bedrooms in the house featured a princess-style room, complete with pink paint on the walls and a herd of stuffed animals. An Omaha poker tournament was held to determine who would become its resident for the summer in Las Vegas. In the end, Stern lost the sit and go and proceeded to rid the princess room of any toys before finally barely fitting on the bed. Patel received the master bedroom, which featured remote controlled curtains.

The crew then explained the “penalty stunt” to the viewing audience on G4: “The penalty stunt is the punishment for the lowest earner of the week and the purpose of those stunts is to force us to put in as many hands as possible.” Past penalty stunts have included Patel being pied in the face, Patel dressing up as a chili pepper and ordering food from Chipotle, and one of the cast donning a Smurf outfit for dinner.

“2 Months, $2 Million” then turned to Rosenkrantz’s struggles against fellow online poker player “Blewjob.” By the end of Week 1, Day 3, the team was down $38,000. However, Rosenkrantz alone had dropped $82,000, much of it seemingly ending up in the hands of Blewjob. He explained, “There are two days left in the week. I’m way behind everyone. I’ve stacked tons of money to this guy named Blewjob.” Roberts chimed in, “Jay has been playing a lot less poker this year. When he has played, his results haven’t been quite up to par.” A montage of pots won by Blewjob ensued.

The four poker players headed to AquaKnox at the Venetian for dinner. Roberts issued a pep talk to Rosenkrantz and Patel, the two lowest earners of the week: “No excuses. There’s nothing that should stop us from being the best players in the world from this point forward.” After a toast to “life,” Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond joined the foursome to lend advice. On Dwan, Rosenkrantz claimed, “My results aren’t as good as his, but what Brian said is right. There’s no reason I can’t dominate like they do.”

Rosenkrantz’s poker skills eventually took over, as he deciphered a timing tell on Blewjob. When his adversary took his time making a bet, he had a hand. If he checked the turn instantly, he didn’t have anything. If he stalled before acting on the turn, he was likely to check-call. Rosenkrantz commented on his eureka moment: “I know when I can steal pots from him.” Rosenkrantz, once down $116,000, ended the week up $4,600.

After Patel’s 25th birthday party at the Palms, the team’s tally for the week was revealed: Patel was up $8,600 and Roberts was up $42,000, the biggest winner of the group. Stern was down $19,500, the only player in the red, and he was forced to dress up in a leotard, tutu, and pink wig for his penalty stunt. A group of girls joined the cross-dressed poker player for dinner at a casino buffet, where he commented, “I do this to pick up women.”

Next week, Stern notes, “Sometimes the poker gods don’t smile on you” and he begins to drink when his session goes south. “2 Months, $2 Million” airs on G4 every Sunday at 9:00pm ET.

Vitaly Lunkin Shines in First 2009 WSOP on ESPN Broadcast

The kickoff event of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN played out on Tuesday night, with Russian Vitaly Lunkin taking home $1.9 million from the record $7.7 million prize pool.

Fans of poker on ESPN noticed several stark changes in the 2009 WSOP broadcast compared to years past. 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate now appears in the opening credits of the broadcast, which are otherwise the same as last year. The show began by highlighting the 40th running of the WSOP, featuring comments by several pros, including Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Sexton, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, Erick Lindgren, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Jennifer Harman, Joe Hachem, and Scotty Nguyen. Eastgate’s banner, which hung above the Amazon Room floor at the Rio during the WSOP, was then unveiled.

Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, the presenting sponsor of the 2009 WSOP, received a slew of product placement throughout the show. The foodstuff’s logo appears on the center of the ESPN featured table, on video monitors above it, and in a bevy of graphics during the broadcast. Everest Poker’s name continues to appear in the ring of the table. Commemoration of the 40th WSOP consisted of a series of “40th Annual Memories” vignettes, which honored players who have won three bracelets in one year (Jeffrey Lisandro won a trio in 2009) and Greg Raymer’s deep run in the 2005 Main Event after winning the tournament in 2004.

The hole card camera now bears the presenting sponsor’s name and a Jack Link’s Wild Card Hand of the Day allows viewers at home to see one player’s hand, but not their opponent’s. In one, Raymer held 8-7 of hearts and raised to 250,000 under the gun. Isaac Haxton, whose cards were unknown, asked for a count and then made the call. The flop came 7-7-9 and the action went check-check. The turn came a nine, leading ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad to note, “If Isaac has a small pocket pair or an ace, he’s playing the board.” Haxton checked, Raymer led out for 350,000, and Haxton called. The river was another nine. Haxton checked, Raymer bet 750,000 after seeing his full house counterfeited, and Haxton called, showing A-Q for a chopped pot. On the Wild Card Hand of the Day, Chad noted, “That was fun. We’ve found a whole new way for me to sound stupid.”

For an event featuring a $40,000 buy-in, the average age of the final table was lower than many expected. Six of the nine players were in their 20s, while Raymer, who finished third, was the elder statesman at just 44. Noah Schwartz, who finished eighth, was labeled McLovin during the broadcast due to his striking resemblance to a character in the movie “Superbad.” Lex Veldhuis was cheered on by his girlfriend, Evelyn Ng, as well as Team PokerStars Pro member Maridu Mayrinck and Karina Jett. Raymer’s wife and mother turned out to support him, while Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo’s mother and stepfather rooted him on from the rails.

Two one-hour episodes aired on Tuesday night. The second focused on a prop bet by Bonomo that at least one of 43 poker players who live in Panorama Towers in Las Vegas would win a bracelet during the 2009 WSOP. Bonomo gave 7:1 odds on the bet and watched in agony as heads-up action between Lunkin and Panorama Towers’ own Haxton featured several double-ups by the player on the short stack. Besides Haxton and Bonomo, Panorama Towers residents include David Williams, Ng, Barry Greenstein, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Veldhuis.

In one of the most memorable heads-up matches in WSOP history, which left viewers on the edge of their seats, Lunkin finally prevailed and banked $1.9 million. Even Chad was rooting his fellow American along. After one double-up by Haxton with K-10 against Lunkin’s aces, Chad yelled, “Take that, you Commies!” Chants of “Russ-i-a” permeated the Amazon Room following Lunkin’s win and WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack presented the commemorative bracelet to the Russian at the end of the first 2009 WSOP on ESPN broadcast. Here were the final payouts:

1. Vitaly Lunkin - $1,891,012
2. Isaac Haxton - $1,168,566
3. Greg Raymer - $774,927
4. Dani Stern - $548,315
5. Justin Bonomo - $413,166
6. Alec Torelli - $329,730
7. Lex Veldhuis - $277,940
8. Noah Schwartz - $246,834
9. Ted Forrest - $230,317

Other vignettes included Brunson, Adam Schoenfeld, and David Plastik battling in 40th Annual WSOP Trivia during the traditional segment “The Nuts.” Nine questions in three categories were asked, including Main Men, Dynamic Duos, and Famous Firsts. In the end, Schoenfeld prevailed and advanced to the next round.

Poker News Daily has learned that future WSOP episodes will feature sponsored vignettes from PokerStars (called “Straight from the Pros”) and Full Tilt Poker (called “Deal Me In”). Pros from each online poker site will explain why they played a hand a certain way, giving the viewer unique insight. The Wild Card Hand of the Day will also continue to appear in each episode.

Stay tuned for the latest from the 2009 WSOP on Poker News Daily.

Greg Raymer, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch Speak on PPA Fly-In

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) will host a fly-in in two weeks as part of National Poker Week. Greg Raymer, Chris Ferguson, and Andy Bloch are among a handful of poker pros that will meet and greet representatives of Congress in an effort to legalize and regulate the game in the United States. Poker News Daily caught up with the trio at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer

On Washington lobbyists:
“The whole thing is such a joke. If you look at the people who say they’re against gambling on moral grounds, the money funding those groups is from other gambling interests that are against online poker or online gambling. The horse lobby, which wants people to come to the physical racetracks, is giving money to the conservative Christian group that says they’re anti-gambling.”

“Online poker is easier to regulate than live poker. It’s impossible for the live venues to do some of the things you can do online in terms of tracking. On PokerStars, we can save every hand you’ve played and know how much money you put into the pot, how much you won or lost, and the hours you’re playing. We can even track the IP addresses to know where you logged in from. There’s so much tracking we can do, so if you’re worried about minors slipping in or problem gamblers who want to be stopped, the online sites can deal with those issues. We can do it more effectively than a brick-and-mortar casino.”

On why the issue is important: “I’m a Libertarian in terms of my general philosophy. I don’t think the government should ever tell me what to do with my own time and money. If you’re committing a crime against me, that’s where the government is supposed to stop you, but if you’re going to be at your own home doing something by yourself, the government shouldn’t have anything to say no matter what you’re doing. If a child is there, the government should step in and make sure you’re not doing something that’s harmful. The child is not old enough to give their consent to certain activities.

“Even things that I find totally ridiculous like methamphetamine, the government shouldn’t be stopping people from doing it. I think you’re a total idiot if you do that, but if you’re an adult and you want to do something stupid, it’s not the government’s job to step in.”

Full Tilt Poker Pro Andy Bloch

On the PPA Fly-In:
“It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks for me. Hopefully I’ll make it to the WSOP Main Event final table. If not, I’m flying to London for a poker event and then on the way back, I’m stopping in Washington, DC for four days. The PPA did a fly-in last year and it was a great success. I think we’re going to bring in more people and be able to talk to more Congressmen this year.”

On why being active politically is important:
“I went to law school because I thought I wanted to get involved in politics or human rights. If the government can stop you from playing online poker in your own home, what can’t they stop you from doing? That’s one of the reasons why Barney Frank is one of our biggest supporters: He believes in personal freedoms. That’s why we have Ron Paul and other Republicans supporting us. If the government can come in and say you can’t play $0.05-$0.10 poker or $5 sit and gos in your living room, what can’t they stop? Where does it end? They can tell you what you can do, what you can buy, what clothes you can wear, and what kind of food you can eat. I don’t want to live in a world like that.”

Full Tilt Poker Pro Chris Ferguson

On the PPA Fly-In:
“There has really been an attack on poker, particularly on online poker, during the last few years. We really think it’s unjustified. We think poker is a wonderful game and everyone should have the right to play it. We have casinos all over the United States where you can play poker. Why can’t you play online? What we’re doing is very good for poker and it’s going to bring the game to thousands of people all over the world.”

2009 WSOP Main Event to Pay $8.5 Million First Place Prize

Despite turning away more than 500 players on Monday, the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will shell out $8.5 million to its victor, who will be crowned in November. The total number of entrants nearly topped 6,500.

The top 648 places will pay out, with the 63 best on the leaderboard earning at least six-figures for their efforts. The tournament is the third largest of all-time, trailing only the 6,844 who turned out for last year’s feature event and the 8,773 who posted the $10,000 buy-in three years ago. The final starting day attracted a whopping 2,809 entrants, pushing the total to 6,494. Day 1A of the 2009 WSOP Main Event attracted 1,116 players, while Day 1B, which occurred on the Fourth of July holiday in the United States, generated a cozy field of just 873. A total of 1,696 poker players showed up for Day 1C on Sunday, leading to Monday’s sellout.

The Main Event’s runner-up will see their bank account boosted by $5,182,601. Third place will pocket $3,479,485, while fourth place takes home $2,502,787. The fifth place finisher in the 2009 WSOP Main Event will receive a check for $1,953,395, edging out the sixth place player’s payday of $1,587,133. Seventh place will grab $1,404,002, while eighth place will earn $1,300,228. The final member of the November Nine will receive $1,263,602. The event’s total prize pool swelled to just over $61 million. However, that figure does not include interest on the money paid out to November Nine members, who will reconvene at the Rio that month to play down to a winner after a 100 day respite.

A bevy of brand name poker pros were shut out of Day 1D after the field reached its capacity, according to the Associated Press. Among those left out in the cold were Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, who, along with Tom Dwan, has been blanked at the 2009 WSOP. Antonius made the final table and finished seventh in last year’s $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, earning $124,000. In 2007, Antonius finished third in the World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for $311,000. Antonius’ back has been ailing him for much of this year’s tournament series. Now, the Full Tilt Poker pro will likely resume his battle against Dwan in the Million Dollar Challenge, which is nearing its halfway point. Dwan played on Day 1D and finished with a stack of 24,000.

Also on the outside looking in was 2006 Poker Hall of Fame inductee T.J. Cloutier, who owns six WSOP bracelets. Cloutier was the runner-up to Bill Smith in the 1985 WSOP Main Event and won his first bracelet the following year in a $1,000 buy-in Limit Omaha tournament for $72,000. Other bracelets have come in Omaha High-Low, Pot Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Razz, and No Limit Hold’em. Ted Forrest joined him on the rails, unable to register for the sold out Main Event. Forrest has five WSOP bracelets, three of which he won during the 1993 tournament series (Limit Seven Card Stud, Limit Razz, and Limit Omaha High-Low).

WSOP officials employed 308 tables to accommodate players on Day 1D, the most for any tournament so far. The end-of-day report focused on turning away over 500 poker hopefuls: “This issue will most certainly be discussed following this year’s tournament as the WSOP attempts to accommodate as many players as possible, while encouraging and emphasizing the importance of early registration – particularly into widely-popular events such as the Main Event championship which are in serious danger of reaching full capacity.” The Miranda Room, Brazilia Room, Rio poker room, and Buzio’s Seafood Restaurant were all used to accommodate players.

The tournament now begins the first of two Day 2s. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

My How Things Have Changed at the WSOP

I walked into the Amazon Room at the Rio Hotel and Casino at 11:59am to play in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha/8 event at the 40th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). I’ve participated in 28 out of the 40 years that the WSOP has been in existence, and, as usual, I was filled with excitement at the prospect of winning another gold bracelet.

As play began, I found myself thinking about how much the WSOP has changed since the first time I played in 1980. The first thing that came to mind was how easy the registration process is now. I dropped by the Rio the day before the event to register and was thrilled to be in and out with my tournament receipt in hand in less than 10 minutes. There is a room dedicated for registration with clerks standing by to sign up players using an efficient computerized system. The days of writing and recording everyone’s name by hand like they did in 1980 are gone.

Next, I was happy to see the tournament start on time. Despite the fact that there was a record-setting 918 entrants (I didn’t know that many people even played Omaha/8) and it took a few minutes for speeches, Tournament Director Jack Effel still managed to declare “Shuffle Up and Deal!” at 12:06pm. In the old days, I remember many times asking at 1:00pm or later, “So what time does the Noon tournament begin?”

Other huge differences between the 1980 WSOP and the 2009 WSOP are the starting chip stacks and the structures. This year, all events start with triple chips, meaning, for example, that players get $4,500 in chips for a $1,500 buy-in. I can remember putting up $400 in my first event and getting $400 in chips to start. Today’s structures are extremely player-friendly. Each jump in blind levels is minimal. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many limits!

The number and type of events are obviously different this year than back in 1980. There were 13 events in 1980, including three Seven Card Stud events, a Limit Ace-to-Five Draw event, a Limit Draw High event, and a Mixed Doubles event (male and female team). There were no Omaha, Triple Draw, or Mixed games. This year, there are 57 bracelet events. I know the schedule is printed in a tiny font, but I don’t think I saw any Draw events on the 2009 menu.

There were 62 entrants in the first WSOP I ever entered. This year, Event #4 was capped at 6,000 and it sold out! Where does all of the money come from?

The prize payout structure is quite different today than it was in 1980. In the event I referred to above, I came in fifth out of 62 entrants. Back then, they only paid the top three spots, but I still quit my good job and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player two weeks after the event. In the Main Event in 1980, they paid the top five finishers in the 73 person field. By the way, there was no such thing as the “November Nine” back then.

One item that was actually better in 1980 than it is today is the food. Despite the tremendous improvement in the 2009 WSOP food selections, there still is no comparison to the free, lavish player buffets spread during the WSOP many years ago. Those buffets were legendary; the shrimp were the biggest I’d ever seen, there were lots of exotic meat choices, and the desserts were plentiful and sinful! Of course, they only had to feed a few hundred people back then compared to a few thousand in these times. Don’t take this as a slam on the Rio, though; it still does a good job of feeding the players.

In addition to all of the restaurants at the Rio, they’ve set up temporary food stations that sell snack items, salads, Mexican food, Chinese food, a variety of sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers, sushi, fruit, pizza, and a few food groups I am probably forgetting.

The 2009 WSOP has the biggest satellite room I’ve ever seen. There was no such thing as a satellite when I started playing. You had to pony up all the money if you wanted to enter a tournament. Satellites started in 1983 and, today, more than half of the Main Event entrants win their buy-ins through satellites.

The biggest improvement to date is the 2009 no-abuse policy. Not only is it different from the 1980 policy, but it also is different from the 2008 policy. Tournament officials made several announcements that a players’ behavior code is going to be strictly enforced this year. Any violation given is going to be recorded in a logbook and penalties will escalate with repeat infractions. Kudos to WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel for leading the charge to make our playing environment friendlier.

Yes, the WSOP has come a long way since 1980. For the frosting on the cake, they have a bracelet award ceremony every day during which the winner(s) from the prior day’s event(s) is brought to center stage and presented with the bracelet. The national anthem of the winner’s homeland is played during the ceremony. It actually brought tears of pride to my eyes to see how far the WSOP has come since I began playing 28 years ago. There is an incredible amount of media on-hand and everything is first class.

A full year of planning and preparation went into making the 2009 WSOP look easy. The systems are terrific, the staff is knowledgeable and friendly, the structures are great, and the experience is incredible. My hat is off to the WSOP. I’m looking forward to playing in many events this year. Now, if I could just figure out a way to win one.

Bankroll Management for the Casual Player

Let’s talk about bankroll management. But let’s talk about it in a different way than most advice-lenders do. Most articles about bankroll management discuss it from the perspective of a professional player, or at the very least, a semi-pro. What I want to do is discuss proper bankroll management for the casual player. The kind of player who plays to have fun first and to make money second. As a casual player, you may have dreams about that big score and winning that huge tournament, but in the end, you are happy if you can enjoy yourself at the poker table and scratch out a small profit in the long-run. Of course, if you are a more serious player, this article isn’t for you. Move along, there’s nothing to see here.

Poker Money is Poker Money

First and foremost, never, ever, ever, ever, never, never, ever, ever mix your poker bankroll with the money you need for everyday expenses. Your poker bankroll is just that – your poker bankroll. For you, the casual player, poker is an entertainment expense (true, you might never lose, but let’s be realistic), just like going to the movies, going to a baseball game, or attending a concert. Just like you wouldn’t skip a mortgage payment to go on a trip to Costa Rica, you shouldn’t skip a mortgage payment to reload your online poker account.

Not only is keeping your poker bankroll segregated from your household accounts the responsible thing to do, but it will also make your poker playing more enjoyable. Poker can be a stressful enough game to play under normal circumstances, even if you are primarily playing for fun, but having your child’s tuition hanging in the balance adds a whole new layer of pressure.

If you hit a bad stretch and have no more discretionary income with which to play poker, just stop playing for a while. It’s just a game. It’s not worth taking food off the table to play another hand.

Play Comfortably

When it comes to choosing table stakes, I recommend playing at a level that will make you comfortable, not one at which you think you “should” play. There are formulas out there that determine what blind levels you should play at based on the size of your bankroll, but I don’t really buy into that. Play at a level where you can handle the competition and where you won’t break into a cold sweat when all pf your chips are on the table because you can’t bear to lose that money.

That doesn’t mean play at stakes so low that they don’t mean anything. The element of risk is one aspect of poker that makes the game fun. You do want to be a little nervous, but you don’t want your stakes to be so high that it would severely damage your poker bankroll if you dropped a buy-in or two.

Many people would look at my poker bankroll compared to the low stakes that I play and consider me crazy. I should move up, they would say. But you know what? I’m not a pro. While I try to make money when I play, profitability isn’t the end all, be all for me. I could probably move up and do okay for myself, but I enjoy playing low-stakes because I feel comfortable there. The tables where I play allow me to make a moderate profit while having fun and not fretting on the occasions when I get stacked (those are rare, right?).

That all said, if you want to “take a shot” once in a while, then go for it. It can be fun to try your hand at a richer, tougher game on occasion, but don’t make it a habit and don’t shoot so high that it will drain your roll if you lose. Tournaments are a great way to take a shot while limiting your downside potential.

Reward Yourself

For the longest time, I would deposit and withdraw over and over and various online poker rooms, just building my poker bankroll. Through winning play or deposit bonuses, I pretty much grew my bankroll with no real goal in sight. But recently, I had part of my house remodeled and decided to pull out some of my poker bankroll and put it towards the construction. However lame it might have been, I finally used some of my winnings to reward myself.

Many players probably do the same thing I had been doing. Their poker winnings went right back into poker. And that’s fine. You want to keep building that roll, but you should treat yourself, too. What good is all of that money sitting in your poker accounts if you can never do anything with it besides play poker? Take some out and buy yourself something. Heck, pay down some debt that you wouldn’t have otherwise paid down if that’s your style. Reward yourself for your success.

Around the World in 150 Days, Day 33, All Drink and No Food

May 8th, Milwaukee: I wake up in the hotel in the early afternoon. I throw on a pair of boxer shorts and do 30 minutes of running around my hotel room doing boxing training. I’d have gone for a run but it seems I didn’t bring athletic shorts with …

President of Refugees International Reacts to Celebrity Apprentice Contributions

During the course of NBC’s hit reality show Celebrity Apprentice, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Annie Duke played for Refugees International, an organization she works closely with through her own charity, Ante Up for Africa. As a result, Refugees International earned over $700,000 throughout the 11 week season and met its fundraising goal for 2008.

Kenneth Bacon, President of Refugees International, sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss his reaction to show host Donald Trump hiring comedian Joan Rivers and the outpouring of support from the poker community.

Poker News Daily: Thank you for joining us. Share your thoughts on the ending of Celebrity Apprentice.

Bacon: I was certain that Annie was going to win and was shocked when Donald Trump fired her. The series is designed to test contestants for their entrepreneurial energy and effectiveness, which Annie demonstrated throughout the entire series. From my standpoint, both Annie and Refugees International were winners. Sixteen contestants started the second season of Celebrity Apprentice and the $700,000 Annie raised is substantially more than any of the others won for their charities. More importantly, in the final episode, Annie raised $465,725 for Refugees International during her auction, while Joan raised $150,830 for her charity. I was there with Annie throughout the planning for the silent auction and she did a fantastic job. Annie is smart, committed, and passionate about her causes. She is also a great organizer. That was clear throughout the series. We are extremely glad to have her on our team.

PND: Refugees International received over $700,000 from Celebrity Apprentice in an amazing showing. Talk about what that means to the organization.

Bacon: $700,000 is a huge amount of money for Refugees International. With this money, we can continue to save lives by witnessing firsthand the struggles faced by refugees in places like Sudan, Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia and find solutions to their plight. Right now, representatives from Refugees International are in Chad getting ready to travel to the border with Darfur, one of the most remote and undeveloped places in the world. Next month, they will come back to Washington and demand more action to protect and assist Darfur’s refugees, who live in sprawling  camps, completely dependent on international agencies for food, water, and shelter. The money that Annie raised makes this work possible.

Let me put the amount in perspective: Over the last three years, Refugees International has spent less than $700,000 on our efforts to help displaced Iraqis, who comprise 20% of Iraq’s population. That money has generated several hundred million dollars of increased assistance for displaced Iraqis, worldwide publicity to their problems, and changes in U.S. and Iraqi policies. That is the leverage of advocacy.

PND: How did your relationship with Annie Duke begin?

Bacon: Annie was drawn to Refugees International because of her interest in Africa, particularly Darfur. In 2006, Annie, Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein founded Ante Up for Africa, a poker event that has raised about $2 million to help end or alleviate suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan. Ante Up for Africa will work closely with Refugees International during its next event on July 2nd. As Annie wrote in a blog on our site, she chose to work with us because “organizations like Refugees International affect lasting change. Governments can do more to help refugees in Africa and around the world, but that’s not going to happen without pressure.”

PND: When you heard that you had a chance to spread the word about Refugees International on Celebrity Apprentice, what were your thoughts?

Bacon: We were thrilled. Nationwide publicity like this is impossible for us to get with our budget. The amount of time devoted to our organization during the final episode and “The More You Know” ad that Annie filmed were great moments for us. A world without refugees is a more peaceful and prosperous one, something that everyone in the U.S. and beyond benefits from. The more people who know about the plight of refugees, the more they will be motivated to act.

PND: On Celebrity Apprentice, Duke noted that raising $700,000 helped Refugees International reach its 2008 fundraising goal. What is your fundraising goal for 2009?

Bacon: In 2009, we hope to raise $4.6 million to support our lifesaving work. This will support efforts to help the people of Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Burma, Colombia, Somalia, and Sudan and will enable our staff to travel to these regions to understand the needs of the displaced better.

PND: Talk about the outpouring of support from the poker community during Celebrity Apprentice.

Bacon: The poker community has been fantastic. Throughout the Celebrity Apprentice series, Annie stressed how generous professional poker players are and we certainly witnessed that. Over the last few months, we have been privileged to work with Annie and many of her friends who are well-known in the poker world. Two pros - Howard Lederer (Annie’s brother) and Phil Hellmuth - were the biggest contributors at the celebrity silent auction featured in the last episode. Many of Annie’s friends flew across the country that night to help raise money for Refugees International. Many more contributed during the auction of Ivanka Trump’s jewelry in Episode 8, where we received $245,000. In addition, Annie’s friends in the poker community have launched a campaign on Twitter to match the $250,000 prize that Joan Rivers won. We can’t thank them enough.

PND: What outreach activities does Refugees International have planned in the coming year?

Bacon: Refugees International will soon be releasing a short video directed by Matt Dillon calling for more assistance to displaced people in South Sudan, where people are attempting to rebuild their lives after 21 years of civil war. In an area larger than the state of Texas, there are only 10 miles of paved road.  Providing access to clean water, education, and health care there are all major issues. We will also be releasing reports on the needs of displaced people from Darfur, Colombia, Iraq, and Pakistan following trips to these areas.

PND: Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins, the finalists from Celebrity Apprentice Season 1, revealed that their charities have seen long-term growth as a result of the reality series. What residual effect from Celebrity Apprentice do you expect?

Bacon: The number of people who know about Refugees International’s work since Celebrity Apprentice has skyrocketed and people are continuing to send us donations in support of Annie. After the finale, the number of visits to our website tripled. Clearly, more people are learning about the struggles faced by refugees around the world. We hope that this translates into more lifesaving assistance and protection for the nearly 42 million people uprooted by conflict around the world.

PokerPalooza to Debut at 2009 WSOP

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Gaming Life Expo is no more. In 2009, the world’s largest poker expo will be re-branded PokerPalooza and debuts at the Rio in Las Vegas on July 2nd, one day before the start of the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Main Event.

Harrah’s officials tout PokerPalooza as being geared towards “everyone from the professional to those who have not yet taken up the game.” WSOP bracelet winners and Main Event champions are slated to be on-hand signing autographs and imparting their poker knowledge on PokerPalooza attendees. A special “Bad Beat Bar” will also be set up, in addition to a full food court. The Rio Pavilion, which is around the corner from the Amazon Room at the Las Vegas hotel, will host PokerPalooza.

A variety of non-poker activities can also be found at the event formerly known as the Gaming Life Expo. Guests can try their luck on a mechanical bull, put their nerves to the test in the Richard Petty Driving Experience, don oversized sumo wrestling outfits, and take home prizes in a series of carnival games. Appropriately, Ty Stewart, Marketing Director for the WSOP, commented in a press release distributed by Harrah’s this week, “It’s going to be part trade show, part carnival, all fun.”

Last year, the Gaming Life Expo attracted 50,000 visitors to the Rio. A total of 165 booths could be found over the Pavilion’s 50,000 square feet of space. Exhibitors drumming up sales and awareness included New Balance, Bass Pro Shops, McFadden’s, Gamma-O, and All-In Energy Drinks. The Aussie Millions, a high-stakes poker tournament that takes place every January, even set up shop. In January, its Main Event attracted 681 entrants (down from 780 the year before) and was won by Australian native Stewart Scott. ESPN Radio broadcasted from the Expo; its television arm will air the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, the Ante Up for Africa charity festivities, the WSOP Champions Invitational, and the $10,000 buy-in Main Event this year. Television coverage begins on July 28th.

All-In and Poker Pro Magazine were two of a handful of industry publications scurrying around last year’s event to boost readership. Signing autographs were a bevy of poker pros including 10-time WSOP bracelet holder Doyle Brunson, Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen, Celebrity Apprentice runner up Annie Duke, 2008 HORSE Championship winner Scotty Nguyen, 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem, 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion Jerry Yang, and Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari. Master Toddy’s Muay Thai Academy dispatched its “Fight Girls” to the Rio to teach martial arts to guests.

One of the highlights from 2008 was a “Man vs. Machine” poker competition. The “Machine” in question was from the University of Alberta; it squared off against several brand name poker pros including Nick “Stoxtrader” Grudzien, the face behind the popular training site StoxPoker. According to the Rio’s website, Full Tilt Poker pro Matt Hawrilenko and StoxPoker instructor Jay Palansky also competed against the computerized poker mind. The crowd watching man and machine battle included belly dancers on loan from the Gaylord India Restaurant (which makes its home at the Rio) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) stars Josh Burkman and Grey Maynard.

Here are the hours of operation for the inaugural PokerPalooza:

Thursday, July 2nd: 11:00am – 8:30pm
Friday, July 3rd: 11:00am – 8:30pm
Saturday, July 4th: 11:00am – 8:30pm
Sunday, July 5th: 11:00am – 6:00pm

Booths run $2,500 each, with a $200 surcharge for a corner space. Vendors can pay using a major credit card. Interested companies are asked to contact Sharon Wayne, the WSOP’s Expo Manager, at (702) 777-2310 for more information. The event is free and open to anyone age 21 and up.

WSOP gaming expo returns as PokerPalooza

Returning as PokerPalooza, the event will expand the poker expo's focus on fun, social and interactive elements.

"It's going to be part trade show, part carnival, all fun," said Ty Steward, marketing director for the WSOP.

PokerPalooza will take place in the Rio Pavilion in the Rio Convention Center in Las Vegas July 2-5, overlapping with the start of the World Series of Poker Main Event.

This year the exhibit is split into several interactive zones with something to offer new poker players as well as those that have been in the game for years. The zones are:

• Poker Media
• Poker Education
• Arcade
• Poker Retail
• Poker Circuit
• WSOP History
• "Lap of Luxury"
• "Bad Beat Bar"
• Food/Beverage

PokerPalooza will bring in the usual tradeshow fare with plenty of poker wares and services on display. In the past there have been novelty chip sellers, poker bobble heads, poker rooms and more.

This year there is also expected to be autograph signings, book signings and seminars conducted by multiple WSOP champions.

For those looking for a little more action at the PokerPalooza, the expo includes a mechanical bull courtesy of Stoney's, the Richard Petty Driving Experience, sumo-wresting suits and several carnival-style games.

On July 4, PokerPalooza will also include a special hot dog eating contest.

PokerPalooza is free to attend and open to anyone age 21 or older. It will be open July 2-4 from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and on July 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Zach Hall (Umbrella Man) Interview with Poker News Daily

PokerStars, the largest poker room on the planet, sponsored the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) for the second consecutive year, which just concluded at the end of April. The largest tournament was the Main Event from Mar del Plata in Argentina that hosted a field of players from around the world. One of the noteworthy names in the event was Zach Hall, a cash game grinder who received a lot of attention from spectators and media alike because he wore an umbrella hat. His fame caught on like wildfire to the point where on-site media outlets gave his stack updates ahead of poker pros like Joe Hachem and Chris Moneymaker.

PokerNewsDaily.com caught up with Zach “Umbrella Man” Hall to talk about his LAPT experience and find out what it was like going from an online cash game grinder to playing in a live Main Event set in a foreign country.

PND: Can you give a brief introduction of your poker experience?

Hall: I’m mainly an online full ring cash game player and currently play $1-$2 and $2-$4 No Limit Hold’em. I started playing in home games a few years ago and online about a year and a half ago. This was my first big live tournament.

PND: When did you decide that you wanted to play in the LAPT’s Mar del Plata event and how did you get in?

Hall: Almost too late. I was talking to someone online who was going and just thought it looked like fun. I’d had a great month at the cash game tables, so figured I’d splurge on a vacation. I was able to sell half of my action in the tournament to friends, so that helped with the cost. PokerStars was great about responding to my e-mails and making everything work even though I basically booked it a week before the actual event. I wasn’t able to get a flight in until Day 1A, so I needed to make sure I could play on Day 1B; the staff at PokerStars was great about handling that specific request.

PND: We heard reports that a lot of players had trouble getting to the casino and going to extreme measures to get in.  What was your travel experience like?

Hall: Very smooth. I left myself a few hours in between each flight, so I sat around in airports a bit, but it all went according to schedule. The rush hour driving in Buenos Aires is a bit ridiculous compared with what I’m used to, but the driver got me there fine.

PND: How did you come into possession of the now famous umbrella hat and what possessed you to wear it during the tournament?

Hall: During orientation in my freshman year of college, we had one part where we went around to various departments of the university. During the tour, these departments had goodies they gave out, varying from a candy bar to a water bottle to … an umbrella hat.

I actually decided initially to bring it and said if I made the final table, I’d wear it. I found out that a few big news sites and PokerStars.tv were reporting live from the event. After reading about Day 1A I figured if I wore it the first day I played in and knocked out someone famous, they’d mention the hat I was wearing. I didn’t realize it’d turn into as much as it did, but it was kind of fun.

PND: Playing in Argentina in a PokerStars sponsored event seemed to bring out a highly diverse field of players and nationalities. At your first table, four different nations were represented. What was that experience like?

Hall: It was a very unique experience just being there and interacting with people from so many different countries. As for playing, the one minor problem was the language barrier. Not all of the dealers spoke English. I knew some numbers, but I didn’t want to try to say a number, mess up, and have it be binding, so I’d say it in English and use my fingers to make sure and someone at the table would translate. Of course, if I had the chips, I’d just put in my bet in and not worry about verbalizing it. It was also different because almost all of the table talk was in Spanish, which I don’t understand.

PND: You got a lot of attention from poker sites while in the event, including a video interview with the PokerStars.tv crew. Were you prepared for all of the attention that the umbrella hat would bring you?

Hall: Not at all. It was fun, but I thought one reporter crossed the line by shoving a microphone in my face while I was sitting at a table during a hand.

PND: Your popularity during Day 1B was to the point where updates of your stack were being mentioned right alongside players like Joe Hachem. What was the strangest thing that happened due to your newfound popularity?

Hall: Honestly, not much at all. I realized I was getting more interviews than other people, but didn’t realize that I was being reported on as heavily as I was and only found out about the “Umbrella Man” persona during the dinner break. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past Day 1B or perhaps I would have seen some more.

PND: What was your impression of the field and how did you run overall until busting out?

Hall: I always run badly in tourneys, so this was nothing new. In all seriousness, it was nothing special. I did not see any horrible players, but I can say without a doubt that the average player at a $1-$2 full ring No Limit Hold’em game online was better than the average player I saw in this tournament.

PND: Unless the pain is too fresh, could you talk about the hand you were eliminated on?

Hall: The final hand was completely standard. I was on the button with J-9 and 12 big blinds, which was about half of the average stack with antes. The action was folded to me, so I shoved, the big blind woke up with J-J, and obviously called. What made it worse was that I had shoved Q-Q and A-Q earlier and got no action.

PND: Will we see a return of Umbrella Man as you play more major live tournaments?

Hall: I won’t be 21 years-old until June of 2010, so I won’t be playing in the World Series of Poker until then, but I have been looking at the possibility of playing in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour and plan on playing in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure next year.

PND: Since you’ve gained fame and notoriety within the poker industry, do you have any words for your fans?

Hall: I can only hope my next step of fame is from winning a tournament rather than my apparel at the table. I’d rather be recognized for my success, not for my unique choice of headwear.

PND: Did you have a chance to do any sightseeing?

Hall: I explored a bit of Mar del Plata, but not speaking Spanish was a bit tough. Despite the language problem, I still managed to get to the beach, walked around the city, and ate at some of the local restaurants, which were all amazingly good and extremely cheap compared with similar food in the United States.

PND:  Now that the LAPT is done, what do you think is the biggest thing you’ve taken away from the entire experience?

Hall: I went into it knowing that I probably wouldn’t cash, but was hoping that it would just be a fun vacation to get away and do something different. Mission definitely accomplished and on top of that, I was able to meet a number of other online players, several who I had played with in the past.

Hollywood Humane Society to Host Casino Royale Charity Poker Tournament

On May 9th, a private Los Angeles residence will host Casino Royale, a fundraiser benefiting the Hollywood Office of the Humane Society of the United States. Online poker room PokerStars is co-sponsoring the event and has generously donated a choice of two $15,000 prize packages to the winner of its charity poker tournament.

“Casino Royale: Playing for a Change” will take place from 7:00pm to 11:00pm Pacific Time. The event bills itself as “an elegant evening of casino games, martini and wine bar, gourmet vegan food, silent auction, and a celebrity poker tournament to help us launch ‘End Dogfighting’ in Los Angeles.” Cocktail attire is required and the organization’s beneficiary program educates youth on considering their pit bulls pets instead of weapons. “End Dogfighting” has already been successfully launched in Chicago and Atlanta.

Appearing at the Humane Society fundraiser will be World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Vince Van Patten, 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, and “American Pie” actress Shannon Elizabeth. In exchange for a $350 donation, event attendees will receive one ticket to Casino Royale plus $25 in chips to play in all casino games. A $500 “Guardian” buy-in is good for one ticket to the event plus $225 in chips. For a $1,000 donation to the Humane Society, players will receive two tickets plus $250 in chips per person. For $5,000, patrons will obtain ten tickets to the event plus $300 in chips. For $7,500, 15 tickets and $300 in chips per person will be dished out. Finally, $10,000 “Top Dog” packages entail 20 tickets to the event plus $350 in chips for each person.

The buy-ins are tax deductible for the amount over $160. Donations and reservations can be made ahead of time using a check or major credit card. Event attendees will have a chance to play alongside some of the top names in the world of poker. Besides his $5 million payday for winning the 2004 WSOP Main Event, Raymer finished 14th in the prestigious $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament in 2007, cashing for $103,000. He made a deep run in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, nearly repeating as champion and grabbing 25th for $304,000. That tournament was ultimately won by Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Hachem.

Van Patten and fellow WPT Host Mike Sexton have brought the tournament series into the homes of millions of poker players across the world for seven seasons. In fact, the WPT Championship for Season VII just wrapped up from the Bellagio in Las Vegas, with Yevgeniy Timoshenko grabbing $2.1 million for the win. He became the second youngest WPT titleholder ever at 21 years and two months and already owns more than $3 million in career earnings. Prior to his WPT victory, Timoshenko took down the 2008 installment of the Asian Poker Tour’s Macau Main Event for $500,000. Elizabeth has been associated with Doyle’s Room, which now makes its home on the rapidly growing and U.S.-friendly Cake Poker Network. Its namesake, Doyle Brunson, is a 10-time WSOP bracelet winner, tied for the second most ever with Johnny Chan. Both trail Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth, who has earned 11 over his illustrious career.

Perhaps the most visible case of dog fighting in recent years involves former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. The Virginia Tech product is in the midst of serving a 23 month prison term for operating a dog fighting ring. According to an article that appeared on ESPN.com in August of 2007, investigators at Vick’s Virginia home “found 66 dogs, some of them injured, and items typically used in dogfighting. They included a ‘rape stand’ that holds aggressive dogs in place for mating and a ‘breakstick’ used to pry open a dog's mouth.” Vick may be suspended by the NFL once is he released from prison, although no official announcement has been made. On Tuesday, the Albany Firebirds arena football team offered Vick a contract once is he freed worth $200 per week plus a $50 bonus per win.

Competitive bidding for a seat in the charity poker tournament is currently taking place. Only the top five bidders will be able to play in the tournament against five celebrities. They will also receive two tickets to the event. Visit the Humane Society auction page for more information. The Hollywood Office of the Humane Society of the United States can be reached at 818-501-2275 or by e-mail at leigh@hsushollywood.org.

Annie Duke Comments on Being Compared to Hitler, Mussolini

This week on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, comedian Joan Rivers compared World Series of Poker bracelet winner Annie Duke to Hitler. It’s a comment that has not sat well with one of the top female players in the game. Duke sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her reaction.

Poker News Daily: In an interview with Amanda Leatherman during the World Poker Tour Championship, you stated that you were surprised Joan Rivers didn’t recant her comments after watching them unfold on television. Instead, she apologized to Hitler on Twitter.

Duke: We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been in heated arguments. There are things we wish we hadn’t said. You have a camera on you 15 hours a day on Celebrity Apprentice. You say things that you wish you could take back. I watched the first two episodes and the producers cut the aggressive parts together. I was trying to be aggressive and my perception was that I was spreading it out enough such that it wouldn’t be an issue. I wish I had laid back a little bit and thought about the editing.

In the cold light of day, after you are away from the weird emotions that come with the game, you see some of these things and you feel bad. When you see Joan saying that I have 16 faces, comparing me to Hitler, or insinuating that my friends are in the Mafia, I wouldn’t expect her to feel bad. Especially since she’s Jewish, I felt like comparing me to Hitler was the one thing she’d regret. Referencing Hitler trivializes the Holocaust. Instead of regretting it, she went one step further.

PND: Talk about the ongoing feud between Joan’s daughter Melissa and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick.

Duke: I wish I had seen what was happening between Brande and Melissa. After Episode 3, I was always away from Brande. I allowed what I was hearing from Melissa about Brande’s performance to influence me and I believed her. I felt Melissa was the better and stronger player and deserved to be there more than Brande. Instead of fighting Melissa, Brande just allowed others to make decisions and move along. I wish I had figured that out earlier. I felt bad that, as a poker player, I couldn’t read that situation better. I wish I had seen what Melissa was doing. She is very petty, talks behind people’s backs, and has a weird dynamic with her mom.

PND: Watching the Schwan’s episode, I felt as if you stuck your neck out campaigning for turkey meatballs more than you should have, especially coming off a win. How did you see the situation at the time?

Duke: I protected myself really well. The food was judged on taste and originality, but you also had to produce a marketing plan. Even if the food wasn’t good, the lack of a marketing campaign was going to be blamed. In the boardroom, there was a very long discussion about our lack of a marketing campaign, which was the responsibility of Melissa Rivers and Jesse James.

I was trying to get them to understand that originality was important and I was the only person on the team who could cook. Melissa has never cooked a thing in her life and Jesse wanted to do the marketing. I agreed to make three dishes and then let them choose. I made a batch of whole wheat pasta and a batch of regular pasta and had my team do a blind taste test. I said if the gluten-free pasta didn’t win the taste test, we wouldn’t do it; all three team members chose it. Now how am I going to get into trouble?

We walked into the boardroom and had no marketing plan, but won anyway. They don’t show me in my private interview freaking out that I hadn’t seen a marketing plan. We walked into the boardroom and Donald Trump asked how we did. Melissa hadn’t cooked and said, “If we lose, I think it’s because of the food.” The next think out of Trump’s mouth was, “Jesse, why didn’t you produce a marketing plan?” The food won us the task.

PND: Talk about the previous boardroom, which saw Joan Rivers defend an auction strategy of pooling the team’s money together to make a hefty profit margin on one item.

Duke: The poor quality of her auction came down to the decision to put all of the bidders on one item, which ensured there would be pieces that wouldn’t sell. I felt that it was disrespectful to Ivanka Trump, but Joan said the task was about making money. Trump jumped to her defense, which was interesting, but she raised the least amount of money on her team. If she wants to argue that it’s solely about money, then the person who raised the least amount should be fired. Joan raised $8,000. I think that it says a lot about Joan’s relationships with other people. It explains why she keeps disparaging my friends. How else can she explain it? She disparages her own friends for not coming out to bid for charity and disparages my friends for coming out with ulterior motives.

PND: Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers ardently defended each other despite being on different teams. Is that fundamentally against the rules of business?

Duke: This is a business task and it’s like competing corporations. There have been cases where brothers or fathers and sons are heads of different corporations. It would be grounds for removal by a Board if one person helped the other out. Do you think for a second that my brother (Howard Lederer) has ever called me up and said, “Full Tilt Poker is doing something big that is going to hurt Ultimate Bet?” Of course not. You can’t do that, which was Piers Morgan’s point. In business, you can’t do that. The fact that they’re doing it across the aisle is grounds for removal.

PND: Is being a good fundraiser enough to win Celebrity Apprentice?

Duke: Clearly, I’m a good fundraiser. Over the course of two years, I’ve helped raise $2 million for the crisis in Darfur with the help of Don Chealde, Norman Epstein, and the amazing poker and celebrity communities. I know how to get people to understand the importance of an issue. While that looks like the most salient thing about me, I think there’s more. I’m someone who works their ass off. You saw Melissa lying on the floor. You saw Jesse staring at his computer. I’m someone who’s very good at making sure my ideas are heard because I believe in them. The turkey meatballs idea is a good example. Managing the kitchen during the cupcake challenge is another example. I’m someone who is willing to take risks when I believe in an idea.

During the show, I’m not always right. During the ACN task, I didn’t have any ideas I believed in, so I didn’t speak up. I’m selective when I speak up and I’m willing to risk colossal failures if I believe in an idea. I’m also banking on my professionalism in the boardroom to win, but I think that’s a given. I happen to have someone who isn’t acting professionally acting as a foil.

Joan Rivers Calls Annie Duke Hitler on Celebrity Apprentice

This week marked a brand new chapter of the rift between World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke and comedian Joan Rivers on Celebrity Apprentice. The two hour show, which airs on NBC at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights, was highlighted by Rivers comparing Duke to Hitler.

Last week marked the first part of a task that challenged the teams to raise money for charity by auctioning off jewelry from Ivanka Trump’s line. Whichever team made the most profit would win. Duke served as Project Manager of her team, Athena, during the task. The opposition, Kotu, pooled the team’s money together in order to elicit a massive bid for one item. The rift between Duke and Rivers was initiated when the popular female poker player would not blame Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick for the team’s loss last week. Instead, Duke fingered R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was given the boot for being lackadaisical as Project Manager.

Professional golfer Natalie Gulbis called Duke’s Ultimate Bet colleague Phil Hellmuth to fundraise against her. In response, Hellmuth notified Duke of her opposition’s plans. Hellmuth commented, “Natalie called me and she wants to talk to me in a few hours, but you’re my girl.” Duke then stated to NBC cameras, “When I found out that a friend facilitated someone getting in touch with people to try to fundraise against me, you can imagine I was not happy.” Duke called the mystery middleman and lambasted him, stating, “Why the f--- would you do what you did? You were f------ played. I suggest you call [Natalie] and tell her never to lie to you again.”

The phone conversation played out in front of Joan Rivers and country music singer Clint Black, prompting the former to retort, “The venom that came out – This is a bad, bad, bad person.” The younger Rivers questioned if Duke was simply upset that her opposition was being creative in calling Hellmuth: “If Annie had thought of [the idea], it would have just been brilliant, but because someone got her, it sent her around the bend.” Hellmuth was a noticeable no-show to the live fashion show and auction.

Showing up to New York City on Duke’s behalf were Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian (who is also an Ultimate Bet personality), Perry Friedman, and Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch. The first item auctioned off was sold to the former MIT Blackjack Team member for $25,000. The second item brought in $52,000 as a result of a bid by Ian. West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James, who was on Duke’s team, commented about his Project Manager: “Once Annie knew where the money was, she went right after it.” The third item auctioned off by Duke’s team saw Roderick model a piece of jewelry that went to a donor for $50,000. Roderick commented, “Annie was a great auctioneer. She really knows how to take money from people, but that’s what she does for a living.”

Kotu’s strategy of pooling the team’s money together to turn a large profit on one item ultimately backfired. The first piece of jewelry went unsold, while the second went for just $12,000. The elder Rivers then intervened, sharing auctioning duties with Black, which helped generate larger bids. The third item auctioned off by Kotu fetched a bid of $83,500, the largest single amount raised. On the model donning item number four, Rivers joked, “Valerie is bulimic.”

In the boardroom, Duke and the Rivers family teed off on each other. On Kotu’s strategy, Duke commented, “I think it was disrespectful to Ivanka to not make sure that every piece got sold. It’s about being respectful to the charity. It’s about being respectful to the task. It’s about being respectful to Ivanka.” Joan Rivers did not take Duke’s criticism likely, firing back, “You’re a despicable human being. You’re a perfect poker player. You’d spit on the ground and drown your own mother in it… You’re not that smart. Your ego is so beyond where you are.”

After then comparing Duke to Hitler, the Poker News Daily guest columnist explained, “I’m the one who, when I call [poker players] and tell them to get on a plane at 6:00am to come help me, they do.” In the end, Duke’s fundraising efforts led Athena to a significant margin of victory, profiting $153,000 in comparison to Kotu’s $92,000. The win meant that Duke’s charity, Refugees International, received $245,000, the largest paycheck in Celebrity Apprentice history. To date, the show has raised over $700,000 for the contestants’ beneficiaries.

Duke took a side interview with NBC cameras as an opportunity to defend herself against Rivers’ attacks. She explained, “To out of the blue come up with the things Joan said – I’m nutty and I’m Hitler – I think she’s demonstrating the qualities she accused me of. This woman is completely f------ dead to me.” Rivers cried in the boardroom when prodded by show host Donald Trump as to who should be fired, but Gulbis took the fall for her lack of fundraising as well as picking jewelry that was not visible on the runway.

The second task of the Sunday night show asked teams to devise a new frozen food and marketing campaign for Schwan’s Live Smart line. Athena selected James to be its Project Manager, while Kotu saw Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker step up. Duke immediately suggested turkey meatballs and gluten-free pasta as a potential item to sell. Researching products online, she claimed, “The Italian style meatballs are one of their best-sellers and they don’t offer that on the low-fat menu.” Melissa Rivers once again attacked her teammate, telling NBC, “Annie mode is that she’s going to get her way come hell or high water. Her giving up on an idea is impossible.”

Duke and Roderick headed to the kitchen to work on creating several dishes in hopes of James picking one later. In the kitchen, Duke boasted, “I’m the total woman. I can cook, I raise my children, and I give a good ----job.” Walker and Black, meanwhile, devised a soy ginger chicken dish, which the elder Rivers felt was too salty. She suggested adding orange juice to spice up the flavor, creating the final product.

When asked by Trump in the boardroom about James’ leadership, Duke responded, “I think Jesse did well in some cases and not so well in others. I think he was relatively impervious to some suggestions.” Duke felt that she and Roderick were locked out of the marketing side of the task, which fell on the shoulders of James and Melissa Rivers. James finally settled on the turkey meatball concept and, in the end, Schwan’s executives liked Athena’s dish better, sending Kotu to the boardroom once again. This time around, Walker was fired from Celebrity Apprentice for coming up with the idea for the chicken-based dish as well as a dessert that could not be properly packaged.

Next week features more of the spat between the Rivers family and Duke. The preview shows the elder Rivers calling Duke “white trash.” The show airs at 9:00pm ET on NBC. Six contestants remain.

Jason Alexander Hosts Poker Tournament Benefiting Family Crisis Center

Former “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, who is a familiar sight at some of the world’s largest poker events, will lend his high-profile name to a special charity tournament benefiting the 1736 Family Crisis Center in Los Angeles. The festivities take place at Hollywood Park Casino on May 9th at 2:00pm local time.

Alexander took tenth place in the Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament held during the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Next month, he’ll be joined by Dianna Donofrio, the Nevada State Director for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), and Leyna Nguyen, an Emmy Award winning news anchor for KCBS and KCAL in Los Angeles. Poker players scheduled to partake in the May 9th event include 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion and Team PokerStars Pro member Greg Raymer, 2006 WSOP Main Event Champion and ACED Poker pro Jamie Gold, and WSOP veteran Chip Jett.

The charity poker tournament’s sponsors include Toyota Financial Services, All In Magazine, and Webexposure.com. A press release announcing the event explains that it presents a unique opportunity “for a fun-filled day of poker, laughter, food and celebration - and victory over domestic violence. Each hand played will be a strong step towards ending domestic violence and helping youth who have been abused and abandoned.”

1736 Family Crisis Center has been benefiting the community for the last 36 years and operates a total of five shelters. In addition, it also runs three outpatient clinics throughout the metro area and five around-the-clock emergency treatment centers. The press release explains, “The Center relies 100% on grants and donations to provide much-needed services to victims of abuse and abandoned youth. In this uncertain economic climate, non-profits have been hit the hardest and sadly, an unstable economy statistically fuels domestic violence. Please help us by joining in to play poker with Jason and his friends as we become part of the solution to end domestic violence.”

The tournament boasts a buy-in of $250 with $100 rebuys. For those who would rather catch a glimpse of the Hollywood and poker worlds colliding rather than actually play, spectator passes are available for $75. First place comes with a $10,000 cash prize, the runner up will receive an “eco-friendly” poker table, third place takes home a WSOP Boot Camp package donated by “Celebrity Apprentice” candidate and Ultimate Bet pro Annie Duke, and fourth place will receive a cruise for two. In total, the top ten finishers will receive prizes.

Interested poker players can purchase tickets through the 1736 Family Crisis Center’s website or by calling 310-543-9900, Extension 210. Alternately, donations and buy-ins can be mailed directly to the facility. Other opportunities available include an All-In Sponsor for $25,000, a Royal Flush sponsor for $10,000, a Straight Flush sponsor for $5,000, and a Table Sponsor for $3,000. Program advertising ranges from $100 for a quarter page ad to $500 for a full page spread.

On April 20th, 2008, “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett hosted a charity Texas Hold’em tournament benefiting the Crisis Center, which helped over 25,000 domestic violence victims last year. Hollywood Park runs a variety of poker tournaments that coincide with its horse racing offering, including weekday "Poker and Ponies" tournaments with a $30 buy-in and $4,000 in guaranteed prize money. On Saturdays and Sundays, the price of poker increases to $70. The card room spreads Limit and No Limit Texas Hold’em, Omaha High-Low, Seven Card Stud, and even a $20-$40 half Seven Card Stud High-Low half Omaha High-Low game. Hollywood Park also runs a full Bingo operation and casino.

Life on the High Seas by Linda Johnson

Recently, I returned from another spectacular adventure with Card Player Cruises aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Legend of the Seas. As I grow older, my interest in visiting new places and learning about other cultures grows. To begin the trip, I flew to Shanghai, China with my business partner, Jan Fisher, and Card Player Cruises’ operations manager, Rita Axel. There, we met up with my brother, mom, aunt, and Jan’s father.

The 14-day cruise was an eye-opening experience and made me so very proud to be an American. Visiting China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Singapore was a culture shock of gargantuan proportions. Although I had already been to Thailand and Singapore, I found China to be much more modern and Vietnam and Cambodia to be much poorer than my preconceptions of them. I don’t think anyone who joined us on this cruise wasn’t affected by what they saw. Many of the people in Asia work long days at back-breaking work and make less than $1,000 a year, yet they were kind and loving and seemed to enjoy our visits. They were proud of their homes and proud to tell us about their customs and history.

Here were some of the highlights of the cruise:

The Poker Room: The games (Omaha/8, Hold’em, No Limit, and a Mixed game) were lively and the players had a good time.

Shanghai, China: We enjoyed a trip to a Buddhist temple, a city tour, a river cruise, a two hour massage, and shopping, shopping, shopping!

Xiamen, China: The tour featured a scenic drive, a tea ceremony, shopping at a pedestrian mall, and a two hour massage.

Hong Kong: We went on a city tour before going to the Aberdeen fishing village to experience a sampan ride. Disaster struck while having lunch at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant: My mother didn’t see one of the steps and took a bad fall, breaking a bone in her foot. Ever the trooper, she insisted that we finish the tour to Victoria Peak and the Stanley Market before letting me take her to an orthopedic specialist. He made a walking cast for her and told her to stay off her foot as much as possible for six weeks. For the duration of the trip, she had to be in a wheelchair, but her spirits never dampened and she never complained. She is my hero!

Sanya, China: We finally got out of the modern cities and into the countryside. The roads through the local villages were rough; pigs and cattle roamed openly. We took a boat ride to Monkey Island, aptly named for the monkeys that roamed freely. Next was a short stop at the Nurian Hot Springs. One of my trip highlights was lying in a nibble fish pool and having tiny fish nibble away at my dry skin; it really tickled!

Danang, Vietnam: Mom and I rented a vehicle and a driver and took a scenic tour with a stop at China Beach and a marble factory.

Nha Trang, Vietnam: I had planned an excursion for the Card Player Cruises group that would really showcase how the people in Vietnam live. It began with a trip to a local kindergarten (the children were beautiful and so friendly), a visit to a mat-making village and a clay pot manufacturer, a traditional Vietnamese lunch by the river, and a stop at a temple.

Vung Tau, Vietnam: I stayed on the ship with my mother and we checked our e-mail and relaxed by the pool. Many of our cruisers made the long trek to Saigon.

Bangkok, Thailand: I planned an overnight trip for 20 of our passengers that began with a visit to the Sriachi Zoo before checking into the Royal Orchid Sheraton in Bangkok. It was a beautiful hotel on the river with spectacular views from the rooms. After some free time during which I had a traditional Thai massage (lots of stretching involved), we went to a great dinner and a production show that would rival the best in Las Vegas. Our night ended with a stop at the night market and an adult show. The next morning, we broke into two groups: one took a city tour and the other took a canal tour before we reunited for the two hour ride back to the ship.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia: Cambodia was very hot and humid. The poverty was more prevalent than we had seen in the other countries. We went to a temple, did a city tour, and stopped at a market. I actually was so warm that I passed up a two hour, $10 massage and went back to the ship for a swim.

Singapore: My good friend Vince Lau picked us up at the port and took us to the Meritus Mandarin Hotel where we checked into our rooms. Following a city tour and a great lunch, my mom, aunt, and brother headed to the airport. In the evening, we went to a local Hawker food court and then drove through the red light district and walked around Clarke Quay. The next day, Vince had arranged for a poker seminar and tournament. Twenty of our cruise passengers joined about 50 locals to hear Mark Tenner, Barry Tanenbaum, Jan Fisher, and me talk poker. After the chat, we played in a freeroll tournament. Sushi was on the dinner menu then it was early to bed so we could get up at 3:00am to head to the airport to go home.

Legend lost: Slim breaks his silence Pt. 2

Part two focuses on the legal proceedings with regards to the indecency charges, Slim's strained relationships with his family and the poker community's reaction to the controversy. If you haven't read part one catch up here.

NOLAN DALLA: Let's talk about the legal case. You ended up pleading guilty to assault charges.

Editor's note: Despite Nolan and Slim referring to his plea as "guilty," Slim actually pled no contest.

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes, to get this over with. God damn, it's breaking up my family. It was the best thing to do. All I had to do was accept the charges and get probation. That wasn't anything.

There were no felonies. I could accept that. And the main reason was I didn't want to be in the courthouse as an enemy to my wife and family, and especially my grandbaby. I'm going to end up being the enemy, if we go to court. I can't stand for that.

NOLAN DALLA: But the bottom line remains that you pled guilty to assault charges. You stated in a court of law that you were guilty. Why would you ever plead guilty to something you did not do if you were truly an innocent man?

AMARILLO SLIM: When my lawyer told me there's an easy way to end all this, I asked him "How?" And he said to do a plea bargain. So, I said yeah - go ahead and do it.

So, he came out of court and said I got you probation and you pay a $4,000 fine. I was told it was just a misdemeanor for simple assault, whatever that means.

I asked him what he thought about the plea bargain, and he said - this will keep your family out of the courthouse and end it. See, I was trying to protect my family.

NOLAN DALLA: You decided to plead guilty to assault. Before that, did you fear a felony conviction and being sentenced to prison?

AMARILLO SLIM: No! The felony charges were already dismissed. I didn't even have a bond set. Don't you think that if I'd had felonies against me they would have arrested me and made me post bail?

NOLAN DALLA: Some have speculated as to the reasons for your guilty plea. They suggest it might be justifiable for a man in his late 70s, facing possible jail time, to accept any deal which would keep him out of a Texas prison.

AMARILLO SLIM: That's not it. I would not have had to fight the case in court much. It would have been very easy for me [to win]. But I didn't want my family dragged through a trial and being made my enemy in the court. I didn't want my 12-year-old granddaughter to have to take the stand.

NOLAN DALLA: You must have known the public would hear about this controversy and suspect you might be guilty of worse crimes. Weren't you afraid of the harm this might do to your reputation?

AMARILLO SLIM: No, I'm not even scared of a big old grizzly bear. I just did what was appropriate - or at least what I thought was appropriate.

NOLAN DALLA: Were you depressed?

AMARILLO SLIM: [Expletive] yes. Everything I loved was gone. It was taken away from me.

NOLAN DALLA: But now you say you have your family's support. At what point did they come back to you and want to move on?

AMARILLO SLIM: Yeah. They came to me when they realized they had it all wrong. I can't remember when exactly that was, but all of a sudden everybody was calling and visiting and everything.

We were all sitting in the same room, eating the same food, swimming in the same pool. Everybody did a complete 360.

NOLAN DALLA: I think you'd acknowledge that you have a reputation as a master manipulator and a hustler. You know how to get things done. You can fix things. In short, you are capable of just about anything. Did you buy these people off?

AMARILLO SLIM: No. People might think that, but they can think what they want. Just so they know I didn't molest a child or fondle a child or anything like that. I didn't.

NOLAN DALLA: Let's discuss the public's reaction to the controversy.

AMARILLO SLIM: The Associated Press found out about it but they didn't want to touch it. Why not, I don't know. Then, John L. Smith [a writer with the Las Vegas Review-Journal] wrote the most damaging article you ever saw in your life.

But I never talked to him and there is nothing factual in the entire thing. He said they now call me "Amarillo Slime." I haven't heard that. I might interview him with a baseball bat.

NOLAN DALLA: But Smith was basing his article, as are most writers, on court records and ...

AMARILLO SLIM: On the word of an assistant district attorney.

NOLAN DALLA: Yeah, but also the fact that you did plead guilty to three charges.

AMARILLO SLIM: I already told you how that was.

NOLAN DALLA: Yes, I can appreciate and even respect that. But you did plead guilty - yes?

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes, because I was advised to plead guilty. Because - we needed to end all that mess. It was also to assault, not to being a molester or doing something like that.

Then, everyone got a hold of it and the next thing I read was that I had pled guilty to whatever it was, being a child molester, and a pedophile. It just got worse and worse.

And it wasn't true. I can't even say the word pedophile. I resent it. I resent it with every bone in my body. I was 77 years old and all of a sudden I'm going to start molesting kids?

Huh? Not a lot of logic there, is it? There was a site [WickedChopsPoker] which called me a pedophile. I'm considering suing them if they don't publish a retraction because none of it is true.

Back when I could have sex, I don't have it anymore - I can't help that - I would have had it when I could. How come I waited until I was impotent to do something like this?

NOLAN DALLA: But can you see how a writer or journalist following this story might conclude that since you pled guilty in a court of law, then that opens you up to speculation about what really happened?

AMARILLO SLIM: I guess so. But saying I committed molestation? No. That's when I fight back. You want to know how many psychiatrists and child counselors I went and saw? Five. The D.A. set all these up while I was being investigated. To a person, every one of them said "There's nothing we can do for this man. He's no more a sex molester than I am."

NOLAN DALLA: If you could do this all over again, would you do things differently?

AMARILLO SLIM: I have tried to have an understanding with all of my family about what I was doing [during the court case]. Now, they know what I was doing. I know it, and they know it. I was trying to protect my family. Hell yes, I would do the same thing over again.

NOLAN DALLA: But when you walk into a poker room today, some of the people in that room who once respected you might think differently.

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes, and that bothered me. But I have never had anyone say anything negative to me. Whether I was playing, or not playing. I think there are a bunch of hypocrites in the poker world and a lot of them are obligated to me.

Not a one of them has showed up and stood beside me ... I don't hear from them anymore. Some of them could have said something and shown their support. But they didn't.

NOLAN DALLA: Care to name any names?

AMARILLO SLIM: They know who they are.

NOLAN DALLA: Did you get support from anyone in the poker community?

AMARILLO SLIM: No, I didn't seek any. But I sure should have had some. I will say that one person did speak up and say that what I was charged with couldn't have possibly happened.

He told everybody that we had traveled together for years and slept in the same room. He said it never could have happened what was said about me.

NOLAN DALLA: Was Doyle Brunson the player who spoke up?

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes.

NOLAN DALLA: No matter what, some people are still going to say, he's Amarillo Slim. He beat the rap. He beat the legal system. That's who he is, and he's guilty. What do you say to that?

AMARILLO SLIM: They don't know the truth. They are wrong to condemn someone without any substance whatsoever. There's not one single person who ever got up and testified I did something wrong.

The little girl never saw any counselors, because it never happened. The [felony] charges were dismissed against me. The grand jury never heard that I passed a lie detector test.

All of my family is on my side now, including my grandbaby. I don't know how I can make it more clear that all of this was wrong. And now, I am ready to do something about it and speak out.

Special thanks to Michael Hirschensohn for his efforts in setting up the interview.

Click through to read part one of this exclusive story.

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Annie Duke Cleans Floors, Witnesses Rodman Alcohol Intervention on Celebrity Apprentice

I've been watching NBC's “The Apprentice” ever since its first season premiered back in 2004. Sunday's show was one of the most bizarre I've ever seen and ended with poker pro Annie Duke, a contestant on the show, witnessing the exposure of five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman's drinking problem. The board room became a real-life intervention.

Last week, the contestants were tasked with creating a promotional campaign for the launch of a video phone designed by ACN. From the onset, Rodman's erratic behavior was brought into the spotlight, as the basketball veteran clashed with teammate and country music star Clint Black, ending with Rodman throwing down his microphone and leaving the set. In the end, however, the men's team pulled out its first win of the season on the strength of a concert by R&B singer Brian McKnight, sending the women to the board room, where “Deal or No Deal” model Claudia Jordan was fired.

This week's task was to manage five hotel rooms at the Loews Regency Hotel in New York City. The teams would be graded on customer service and other factors such as room cleanliness. The winning Project Manager received $20,000 for the charity of their choice. Duke is playing for Refugees International, which she's worked closely with as part of Ante Up for Africa, the charity she founded along with actor Don Cheadle.

The women's team, Athena, selected TLC's Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins as its Project Manager, while the men's squad (Kotu) picked Rodman. Duke commented on Rodman taking on a leadership role: “That forces him to interact with the customers, which you know can only end in disaster.” Duke's comments would foreshadow one of the most unique endings in the history of The Apprentice, which is in its eighth season on NBC.

Watkins was quick to delegate tasks as the teams received crash courses on making beds, scrubbing toilets, delivering room service, and even taking care of guests' pets. Talk show host and New York native Joan Rivers was put in charge of Athena's concierge services, taking advantage of her local connections and top-notch interpersonal skills. By the time the men had decided to purchase treats for their guests at the popular Carnegie Deli, Rodman had already began ordering vodka cranberries from Loews' kitchen.

Rodman suggested parking a Ferrari outside of the hotel for guests to use, claiming “People look at cars! People look at people! They look at my ass all the time!” Meanwhile, Duke was among those furiously cleaning rooms in the minutes before guests checked in. She recalled, “We're just frantically trying to get it done and these stains won't come out. It was a lot of freaking work.” She joked that she would leave a $100 tip at hotels in the future.

Rodman continued to drink throughout the two hour-long episode and provided little direction for his team after the first few hours of the task. Guests of Kotu were waiting to be checked in, while the women were organized on the strength of Watkins' leadership skills. Duke served as the bellhop at the beginning of the task for her team and was extremely professional. She told NBC cameras, “I behaved like an employee the whole time. I was weird about it.”

Guests who checked in came armed with a bevy of requests, including on-stage tickets for Equus and dinner at the popular Waverly Inn. Each team welcomed a guest from the first season of Celebrity Apprentice. For the men, it was “Sopranos” star Vincent Pastore, who quit during the previous season. For the women, it was actor Stephen Baldwin, who was fired in Week 11. Rivers commented on the importance of fulfilling the needs of celebrities: “You really have to treat them like a celebrity. They expect a little more.” Pastore's special requests included cannoli and CDs.

With a lack of leadership, the men's team struggled to fulfill guests' orders. A bottle of chardonnay arrived more than an hour late and several room service orders were bumbled. Rodman, who swore profusely throughout the show, went to dinner at Tao with several of his guests and the team's driver. The women, meanwhile, struggled to keep pace with a needy room of men who requested Duke to bring them cart after cart of food. On her new fans, the Ultimate Bet pro commented, “I was really proud that I was being requested. I knew I was going to be judged on the quality of service.” The room in question was disappointed at the service received from pro golfer Natalie Gulbis.

After returning from dinner, Rodman grew tired of his team and once again walked off. This time, he proclaimed, “I'm out of here. They're too fucking cool.” He removed his shirt in the hallway of the hotel and exited the scene. Former “Monster Garage” host Jesse James told his teammates, “I think Dennis may have an alcohol abuse problem for real.”

The next morning, Athena offered complimentary breakfast to its guests, which resulted in numerous errors being made. Breakfast arrived to one room 40 minutes early and patrons in another room saw their massage bill double without being told. Reality star Khloe Kardashian took the fall for the first error and Rivers was to blame on the second. Duke explained, “Khloe had no friggin' clue and she's, for me, a little bit frustratingly laid back. We've got a lot of crap to do today and people need to be on task.”

In the board room, show host Donald Trump, who has gone to Duke early and often for objective advice, asked the World Series of Poker bracelet winner whether she thought her team won. Duke responded, “There's so much subjectivity from the guests, but I think that, as a hotel staff, we did fantastic particularly given the steepness of the learning curve we had to climb up.”

Instead of breaking down the task, the board room featured Rodman's drinking problem coming to life. One of the NBA's top rebounders lashed out at James, commenting on his former alcohol abuse (James has been sober for nine years). James, who was seated in between Rodman and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, pointed at both and said, “You have two of the greatest athletes in the history of American sports right here. Look at the contrast.”

In the end, the men's team scored 86 points out of a possible 100, well short of the women's total of 91. Dennis was fired on the spot in a rather unconventional board room. The show's credits included the text, “For problems with alcohol abuse, contact Alcoholics Anonymous.”

Celebrity Apprentice airs at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights on NBC and runs for two hours. Duke remains in the running after five weeks.