Poker News

Amazing Race 16 Cast Does Not Feature Poker Players

The cast for the 16th cycle of the Emmy Award winning CBS reality series “Amazing Race” does not include any poker players. In its last season, the show featured Maria Ho and UB.com pro Tiffany Michelle.

Ho and Michelle represented the last women standing in the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, respectively. The duo finished sixth in the around-the-world competition after their journey abruptly ended in the Netherlands, where a series of intense physical challenges proved to be too much for Ho and Michelle. A high striker, a common carnival game, proved fatal on one-half of the leg’s Detour, while windy conditions made a unique game of golf using wooden shoes unbearable on the other half.

A total of 11 teams will set out on the “Amazing Race” course for Season 16. Headlining the group are two “Big Brother” cast members from Season 11, Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder. The couple is “newly dating” according to CBS and will mark the latest pair to join “Amazing Race” after appearing on another CBS reality franchise. Schroeder is 31 years-old and from Norridge, Illinois, while Lloyd is nine years younger and hails from Charlotte, North Carolina. Lloyd lists her lifetime goals as, “to be a dental hygienist, and to get married and have kids.”

Also appearing on the 16th running of “Amazing Race” is Caitlin Upton, who will travel to the four corners of the Earth with her boyfriend, Brent Home. Upton was Miss Teen South Carolina USA 2007 and famously uttered the following response to a question about people being unable to locate the United States on a map: "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our children."

Upton’s phrases “the Iraq,” “U.S. Americans.” and “like such as” have become staples of modern lingo, although the beauty queen is now three years removed from her escapade. In a video posted on CBS.com, Upton commented, “I’m stubborn and I hate losing, probably more than he does, and I have a very short fuse, so if somebody gets in my way, there’s going to be some trouble and I’m going to need somebody there to calm me down.” The couple may soon be engaged; both are models.

Cleveland Indians third base coach Steve Smith, 57 years of age, will run the “Amazing Race” with his daughter, Allie Smith, who is 23 and works in marketing. Smith was a coach on the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team that won it all in 2008 and also worked with the Florida Marlins and Texas Rangers. The elder Smith lists his biggest challenge as “not getting lost because we tend to get lost in our own neighborhood.” “Amazing Race” requires a keen sense of direction, as racers travel to countries where English is not the primary language, so road signs and other markers can often be confusing.

Rumored locations that teams will travel to this season include Bariloche, Argentina; Puerto Varas, Chile; and Singapore. The rumored departure city is Los Angeles. The show premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET on CBS, the same time slot as it held last season.

Dating couple Meghan and Cheyne took down the 15th installment of “Amazing Race,” whose finish line was ironically in Las Vegas. Besides Ho and Michelle, notable cast members vying for the $1 million top prize last time out included Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy and Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap, who ran the race with her husband, Brian.

Dusty Schmidt (Leatherass) Recaps Drag the Bar Signing

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on signing with Drag the Bar. Give us the background to joining the site after leaving StoxPoker.

Dusty Schmidt: I started as a member at StoxPoker, got promoted to coach, and they made me an equity holder. It was exciting, we had a good group of guys, and post-merger with CardRunners, they sometimes lost sight of what got them there. I did my best to stick in there, but StoxPoker wasn’t headed in the same direction as it was before. I wanted to go with a newer and more enthusiastic company that was similar to the product that StoxPoker was a few years ago.

PND: In your opinion, how was StoxPoker changing for the worse?

Dusty Schmidt: It’s more or less the commitment to the product. I didn’t feel like the site was getting the tender love and care it needed to be successful. StoxPoker didn’t have the flashiest players, but we had a solid group of guys who put out some killer content. I tend to be pretty enthusiastic and making coaching videos is typically not the best thing financially for a high-stakes player. If I am going to be taking time away from doing something that’s more profitable for me, I want to be enthusiastic about it.

PND: Tell us about your new role at Drag the Bar.

Dusty Schmidt: Basically the same thing as at StoxPoker. At StoxPoker before we merged with CardRunners, I was involved in the decision-making and a lot of the direction of the site. I didn’t have the ability to do that post-merger. At Drag the Bar, I’m producing content, writing blogs, and helping people’s games out.

PND: Who is Drag the Bar best suited for?

Dusty Schmidt: It’s well-suited for the grinder. I pride myself on making money through hard work. People who are willing to put in the hard work and surround themselves with good people can be a great source of inspiration.

PND: What poker training videos have you produced so far?

Dusty Schmidt: We’re just getting going. I have a video up there of a mid-stakes game and there are low- and high-stakes videos by me coming out soon. Drag the Bar most certainly aims to perform as well as or better than other coaching sites. We’re going to start with humble beginnings and build from there.

PND: Can Drag the Bar compete with sites like CardRunners and PokerXFactor?

Dusty Schmidt: I think we can. We’re going to take a few people by surprise.

PND: How can poker training sites differentiate themselves nowadays given that the industry is pretty saturated?

Dusty Schmidt: What CardRunners did with TrulyFreePokerTraining was definitely an angle that no one had taken before and it worked out really well for them. We'll look at some of the things that the successful training sites do and try to do everything as well as them.

PND: Does it feel good, in a sense, to get back to your roots?

Dusty Schmidt: I love being a part of something. I don’t want to be #1682 with the company. I like to be part of a smaller group and root each other on. That’s what it’s all about. I’m not thumbing my nose at money from coaching videos, but I do this because I want to interact with members, teach, and get messages from people thanking me for videos. That type of stuff is really rewarding. I don’t do this because it pays me better than poker.

PND: You’re in the midst of a one-year suspension of your amateur status by the United States Golf Association (USGA). How excited are you to get back into the game?

Dusty Schmidt: I am really excited. It’s definitely one of my true loves. I always wonder whether I should be playing poker or playing golf.

Leatherass Dumps Stox to Drag The Bar

Poker training site DragTheBar.com announced Tuesday Schmidt has joined the company as its lead instructor.

“Dusty is one of the top mid-to-high-stakes players in the world, period,” said DragTheBar.com CEO Hunter Bick. “But as good a player as he is, he’s an even better instructor. It’s unusual to find someone who can do both.”

Schmidt spent three years as lead instructor with StoxPoker, which merged with CardRunners in 2008.

He resigned the post last week citing “irreconcilable differences” with the sites.

“I couldn’t be more excited about coming to DragTheBar.com,” Schmidt said. “I was feeling as though I was getting away from my teaching roots a little bit and this allows me to do what I love and do best. The relationship just feels really, really good. They support my interests, and in turn I’m looking forward to watching this site become the finest in the world in very short order. I can’t wait to get involved with their members and watch them improve as poker players.”

Bick, who founded DragTheBar.com in June with partners Phil Nagy and Korey Gillis, said Schmidt will blog, make instructional videos and participate in member forums on the site.

“Dusty is a huge asset,” Bick said. “Just a few years ago he was playing low stakes, so he knows where those players are coming from and he can help them accelerate their learning process. Our members will benefit greatly by having such an incredible instructor at their disposal.”

Schmidt, 28, has played nearly 7 million hands online over the past five-years winning more than $3 million.

In 2007, he achieved Poker Stars’ SuperNova Elite status in just eight months playing high-stakes cash games exclusively.

Prior to his start in poker, Schmidt was a top-ranked golfer, but gave up the game and turned to poker at age 23 when he suffered a heart attack.

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Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt Resigns From Stoxpoker/CardRunners Team

Much of the attention of the poker community in recent days has been focused on the amicable parting of Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo and Bodog. In another announcement that came out earlier this week, a top poker teacher has announced that he will no longer be a part of the poker training team he helped reach its current prominence.

In a blog posting earlier this week, noted poker player/golfer Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt used his 400th post on the popular Stoxpoker/CardRunners site to announce his departure from the training team: “I will admit I never really thought this day would come, but due to irreconcilable differences with Stoxpoker/Cardrunners, I am resigning as a lead coach."

While he doesn’t go into detail about what the “irreconcilable differences” are, Schmidt is gracious in his departure: “I want to thank everyone who watched my videos and followed my blogs over the past three years here at Stoxpoker.com. It was you guys who kept me going during some of these difficult times with Stoxpoker/Cardrunners.”

Similar to Bonomo’s situation – in which he stated that there are several sponsorship opportunities available to him – Schmidt is looking to the future of his poker teaching career. “In the coming days and at an appropriate time, I will announce which training site I will begin making videos for”, “Leatherass” tells his readers. It was quickly revealed that Drag the Bar would be his new home.

Schmidt started out on Stoxpoker as a low-level grinder who was looking to improve his own poker game. After intense participation in the forums, Dusty became a co-owner of the site and began to provide his own instruction to others. Along with fellow Stoxpoker members Nick “Stoxtrader” Grudzien (who was one of the founders of the site), Bryce “Freedom25” Paradis, and Matt Matros, Stoxpoker became one of the top poker training sites in the world.

In September 2008, the merger of Stoxpoker and CardRunners was finalized, with both the Stoxpoker team and the CardRunners team – Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Andrew “muddywater” Wiggins, Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, Brian “stinger85” Hastings, Mike “Schneids” Schneider, Cole “cts” South, and Eric “p3achy_keen” Liu – offering training that crossed their respective borders. While continuing to teach on Stoxpoker, Schmidt made other news in the poker world through a prop bet he proposed.

A top-notch golfer, Schmidt made a $1 million prop bet in April 2009 that he could beat anyone in a 72-hole golf match and in 10 heads-up poker matches, which no one accepted. At the time, Schmidt was a noted amateur player who, by his own admission, had broken some of Tiger Woods’ amateur records. The proposed prop bet, however, incurred the wrath of the United States Golf Association (USGA), which yanked his amateur status over the wagering and the promotion of the event.

Schmidt challenged the USGA's decision, even threatening to take the leading authority in the golf world to court in July. After losing a preliminary hearing on the subject, Schmidt dropped his suit and decided that, eventually, he would attempt to play on the PGA Tour while continuing to play poker. He is currently suspended from amateur play for one year.

Dusty finishes his blog post by saying, “Thanks again to everyone for all of the fantastic experiences. I really enjoyed my time here helping out so many members. Stoxpoker.com truly is a great community and I will miss it greatly.” Poker fans can now catch up with Schmidt at Drag the Bar.

Dusty Schmidt (Leatherass) Plays Online Poker for Charity in Portland

Poker player Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt, known for his spat against the United States Golf Association (USGA), played 30 hours of online poker in Portland, donating $21,000 to Transition Projects as part of “Playing it Forward.”

According to The Oregonian, the proceeds will fund six months’ worth of rent, basic supplies, and even furniture for three homeless people in the Portland area. He dragged his arsenal of laptops outside in the cold for a portion of his campaign, attracting the attention of passersby and the media alike. Schmidt told Poker News Daily, “The idea was to play for 30 or 40 hours. A lot also depended on how I was doing. I went out there four times and didn't get to play for more than a few hours each day because the batteries on my computers drained. I ended up bringing a few laptops as a result.”

Ground zero for Schmidt was O’Bryant Square at Southwest Washington Street and Park Avenue, where he noted that, due to the cold, his computer batteries did not hold up. On the first day, he was at empty within a few hours. On the second day, Schmidt said he was able to play for five hours. Despite the elements, Schmidt told Poker News Daily that he was happy to give back to the community: “I do quite a bit of philanthropic stuff in Portland. This was the first one where it made sense to draw a little bit of attention to it.”

The Oregonian explained the origins of Schmidt’s Playing it Forward campaign: “The 2000 movie ‘Pay it Forward,’ in which a boy comes up with the idea to do something kind to three people, who each have to pay forward the favor to another three people, had always stuck in his head.” The poker player and golfer told us that he’s received more than 100 e-mails in recent days during the holiday season from people who have paid it forward to others. Schmidt relayed, “I know there could have potentially been thousands of people affected.”

Another inspiration for Playing it Forward was Schmidt’s daughter, Lennon, named after Beatles great John Lennon. Schmidt told Poker News Daily what the correlation was between the rock legend and helping those in need as the calendar year ticks over to 2010: “John Lennon was a lot of the inspiration for me doing this. If John Lennon were a poker player, I could see him doing something like playing in the streets.”

As it stands, Schmidt lost his amateur status after a prop bet involving poker and golf landed him in hot water with the USGA. He’ll be eligible to return in mid-2010 and, in the meantime, has ramped up his poker game. Despite his lofty goals, several comments left on The Oregonian’s website were critical of Schmidt’s efforts. One poster, “cheez_wiz,” noted, “That's nice of him but isn't online poker illegal?” Others critiqued the charity that benefited from Schmidt’s efforts: “Giving money to TPI, Inc. is like throwing it away. Not one homeless person will ever see one penny of that money.”

The $1 million prop bet consisted of 72 holes of golf plus 10 heads-up poker matches. In July, the U.S. District Court in Portland heard his appeal after Schmidt lost his amateur status. No one took Schmidt up on his challenge, but he promptly dropped his lawsuit. According to Schmidt, a judge “equated it to a church excommunicating a member unfairly and there not necessarily being a legal remedy under which a judge can force the church to reinstate that member.”

According to the USGA’s website, actions that would cause amateur golfers to become professionals include “accepting the position of a professional golfer,” receiving services from an agent, entering into a sponsorship agreement, and “agreeing to accept payment or compensation, directly or indirectly, for allowing his name or likeness as a player of golf skill or reputation to be used for any commercial purpose.” USGA rules specifically forbid certain forms of gambling and golfers are advised to consult with the organization for clarification.

Golf Magazine Features High-Stakes Golf with Poker Players

It is well-known that top poker players do not limit their bets to just the green felts. Many players like to step to the pits in a casino and hit the table games, like 2009 November Nine member Phil Ivey, whose craps exploits were featured in a recent issue of “ESPN: The Magazine.” Others like to make outlandish proposition bets to feed their adrenaline rush of high-stakes betting. A recent magazine article focused on one of the other betting outlets that poker players have flocked to.

In the November 2009 edition of “Golf Magazine,” an article entitled “The Golf Sharks” by Josh Sens documents a foursome that, if seen on the poker tables, would send most players heading for cover. Phil Hellmuth, Layne Flack, Erick Lindgren, and Gavin Smith are the featured players as they play at stakes of $10,000 per hole. The game is a two-man best ball event, with Hellmuth and Flack taking on Lindgren and Smith.

Because the focus of the article is on the quartet’s golfing abilities, Sens dissects each player’s style with an unwavering eye. For Hellmuth, Sens comments, “His stance is shut, his backswing is a spasm and he sways through impact.” Hellmuth is confident, though, that he and Flack can take the match, commenting, “(We’ll play) well enough to win.”

Flack was able to get the athletic Lindgren (who won almost $350,000 in a golf bet during the 2007 World Series of Poker) and the former hockey player Smith to give two shots a side. In addition, Hellmuth would hit off the white tees, which feature a shorter route to the green than the more difficult pro tees. Lindgren comments, “They (Hellmuth and Flack) have no shame.”

Sens then documents the historical connection between golf and poker (and its high-stakes wagering). He mentions the now-defunct Professional Gamblers Invitational, which was active in the 1970s, was run by Jack Binion and featured some of the top golfing gamblers from across the country. He also invokes the names of two of the legends of the game, Dewey Tomko and Doyle Brunson, as connections among golfing, gambling, and poker.

In the end, the match looks as if it is going to end “all square,” the golfing vernacular for tied, when Hellmuth pulls off an incredible shot into the wind and over water. Landing it ten feet from the pin, he guarantees that his team will hold onto its one-hole edge and take home the money. “How’s that for clutch,” Sens quotes Hellmuth as saying as the round ends with no money exchanged. “We’ll wait until the poker tables,” Smith says, “and pay them with chips.”

What was surprising about this outing is that one of the most golf-mad poker players around, Daniel Negreanu, wasn’t part of it. His attempts to perfect his game have led to a never-ending series of jokes from Brunson on his blog, such as the oldie but goodie, “Daniel: Do you think it’s a sin to play on Sunday? Caddie – The way you play, it’s a sin on any day.” Negreanu can often be found during poker tournaments pantomiming his swing, searching for tips in his approach.

With such events as the World Series of Golf and the continued escapades of foursomes like the ones Sens features in “Golf Magazine,” it is easy to see that the connection between golf and poker isn’t going away anytime soon.

Dominating Fantasy Football Week 17 with Online Poker Skills

Week 17 of the National Football League (NFL) will feature a hodgepodge of players competing for their spot on rosters in 2010. Players like Curtis Painter and Arian Foster will become household fantasy names on Sunday. How can you use your poker skills to navigate the murky waters?

Live and online poker players are top-notch when it comes to researching their competition. Ask any player in tournaments like the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and they’ll tell you that they research their foes prior to every match. Although Full Tilt Poker recently punished Brian Townsend for compiling hands Swedish poker pro Isildur1, the practice, even though it may be against the Terms and Conditions of many sites, is still somewhat commonplace.

Think about how much information exists on players. Online, sites like PokerTableRatings.com and HighStakesDB.com offer a significant amount of information on a player, including major hands played, notorious opponents, and career earnings. Behold the power of the internet, as more information than you can possibly stomach is at your fingertips. To survive Week 17 of the NFL in a one-week league or in the traditional fantasy playoffs, a bevy of research is needed.

Poker News Daily has partnered with Fantazzle.com, which specializes in one-week fantasy sports games, to bring our readers a free Week 17 contest with a $20 prize. If you win this “freeroll” and make a deposit of $50 using PayPal or a major credit card, you’ll take home five times the value of your prize. Fantazzle.com founder Ryan Parr told Poker News Daily, “Week 17 is all about strategy and skill. At a high level, any poker player thinks they have a chance of winning money. You know football, you think you know fantasy football, and you come on Fantazzle.com to win money because you’re more intelligent than the guy sitting next to you. Some days may be a little rough and some days you won’t get a feel for the guys you’re playing against.”

Fantazzle.com offers football, baseball, racing, golf, hockey, and basketball. The latter two sports are just getting into full swing, so even as the football season winds down, there’s still plenty of fantasy action to be had. Baseball is the second most popular fantasy sport behind football and its season kicks off in April.

If you think Week 17 in the NFL is a breeze to navigate, think again. In Week 16, the Indianapolis Colts, gunning for an undefeated season, pulled their starters in the third quarter and, as a result, were thumped 29-15 by the New York Jets and handed their first loss of the season. Fantasy managers who had their seasons riding on players like Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark instead watched Donald Brown and Joseph Addai scamper for touchdowns and Painter throw a pick-six. Clark had four grabs for 57 yards, while Wayne had a paltry three catches for 33 yards.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears versus Minnesota Vikings game turned out to be the shootout of the week, as the Bears won 36-30 in overtime. Minnesota had given up more than 30 points just once all season. Chicago quarterback and Vanderbilt University graduate Jay Cutler threw for four touchdowns for just his second multi-touchdown performance since Week 9. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who leads all tailbacks in fumbles with six, coughed the ball up in overtime to set up the game-winning score. If you think you know what’s going to happen on the field, think again.

Put those researching skills to the test. Who will dominate Week 17 in the NFL? Will the Colts, Green Bay Packers, and Arizona Cardinals rest their starters? Poker players should head to Fantazzle.com and give it a shot.

Erica Schoenberg Interview with Poker News Daily

Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker?

Schoenberg: I came off of playing blackjack with a team. Our team disbanded and we were getting a lot of heat from the casinos. I was asked to do a poker show on GSN with Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and David Williams and I played terribly. From there on, I decided I was determined to get better at poker.

PND: Talk about the blackjack team. Did any part of your involvement with it help groom you for the game of poker?

Schoenberg: I met the original members of the MIT Blackjack Team and they referred me to someone in Los Angeles. Aside from the ability to process a lot of information at once, which you have to do in card counting, the time I spent loitering in casinos and the late nights helped me. Poker can end up in long hours for tournaments and late nights. Blackjack helped me get used to that.

PND: Why was poker appealing to you?

Schoenberg: I couldn't imagine sitting in an office or a cubicle for the rest of my life. It's crazy that poker can be a career. It's living the dream if you have a little bit of gamble in you.

PND: Talk about having David Benyamine in your life, who also excels at poker. Does having him help you fine-tune your game?

Schoenberg: Sometimes I get tired of poker because it feels like that's all we talk about and do. For the most part, it's 90% helpful and 10% annoying. Being able to watching him play online and hearing him talk through hands is huge for me.

PND: What makes Benyamine's game above and beyond the rest?

Schoenberg: The way he thinks about the game is on a higher level from anyone I've ever watched. I really believe that and I'm not just saying it. I've met a lot of brilliant people in my life. He has this ridiculous gift for card games and is good at rummy, gin rummy, and backgammon. He has a mind for it.

PND: You're a member of Team Full Tilt. Talk about what makes Full Tilt Poker a premier online poker room.

Schoenberg: I think their software is the best. Getting hand histories is much easier. It's helpful when you're playing to go back over hands. Full Tilt makes that simple and is the premier online poker site.

PND: Talk about being associated with members of Team Full Tilt like Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, and Allen Cunningham.

Schoenberg: It's such an honor to be associated with them. It's great to have your name in the company of some of the world's best poker players.

PND: In your eyes, what is your greatest poker accomplishment to date?

Schoenberg: Winning a $2,500 World Poker Tour preliminary event at Mandalay Bay in 2007. It was an open event, not a women's only event, but I got heads-up with Anna Wroblewski. I have total respect for her game and she's a great poker pro in general. My third place in a $1,500 Hold'em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker was a bit of a sick burn.

PND: What advice do you have for women looking to get into poker?

Schoenberg: Play as much as you can online before stepping foot in a casino. The minute you get into a poker room with all males, it's going to throw off your game. Get as firm of a grasp on all of the rules and be comfortable with the game before you sit down. I think for a beginning female poker player, being in a roomful of males could be really disconcerting. You don't want to be spastic because you're surrounded by men.

PND: Tell us about what you do away from the game.

Schoenberg: David and I golf a ton. We love it. I'm also a huge animal lover and I do things with my dogs. I like to go at the beach and spend time outside for a healthy and clean living. I have a Golden Retriever and a Jack Russell Terrier.

Phil Ivey Files for Divorce

In breaking news from TMZ, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey has filed for divorce from his wife of seven years, Luciaetta. Ivey finished seventh in the $10,000 buy-in tournament this year and earned $1.4 million.

On Tuesday, a report that appeared on TMZ read in part, “Ivey and Luciaetta filed the joint petition in a Nevada court on December 22 ... three days before Christmas. The divorce was granted today - both parties were present for the ruling.” The couple wed in 2002 and has no children. TMZ added that Ivey has made $12 million over the course of his poker career. The “Tiger Woods of Poker” appeared on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine” in November.

Ivey earned two WSOP bracelets during the 2009 tournament series to ratchet his total up to seven. Interestingly, none of the seven has come in Hold’em, as he has instead taken down Pot Limit Omaha, Limit Seven Card Stud, Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low, Limit SHOE, Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball, and Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low events. In the latter, his most recent bracelet win, Ivey trumped Ming Lee heads-up in a final table that also included Carlos Mortensen, November Nine member Eric Buchman, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, and Dutch Boyd.

TMZ was quick to point out the irony of Ivey being compared to Woods. Its news story detailed, “Ivey is known in the card community as the ‘Tiger Woods of Poker’ - [insert your own joke here].” Woods was involved in a now-famous auto collision with a tree in front of his home. His wife purportedly smashed the SUV’s window with a golf club to help Woods exit safely. What led to the incident is anyone’s guess, but a handful of women are alleged to have had extra-marital affairs with the professional golfer.

Earlier this month, Woods announced that he was taking a leave of absence from golf. In addition, companies like Accenture and Gillette ended their advertising and sponsorship agreements with Woods. In fact, a Reuters article released on Tuesday noted that Woods’ infidelity could costs the shareholders of companies he endorses up to a colossal $12 billion. Researchers explained the enormous loss of value: "Our analysis makes clear that while having a celebrity of Tiger Woods' stature as an endorser has undeniable upside, the downside risk is substantial, too."

Ivey’s first eight in the money finishes on the World Poker Tour (WPT) were all for final tables and he picked up a win in the Season VI L.A. Poker Classic for $1.6 million. All told, Ivey has just under $3 million in career earnings from the WPT circuit.

Meanwhile, posters on the popular online poker forum PocketFives.com reacted to the TMZ story. “33mikemcg” noted, “I had no idea he was married. Nice life for that ex-wife I am sure she will get plenty to last a lifetime.”

Poker players, who travel around the United States and the world to live tournaments, seemed to be able to sympathize with Ivey. “ImaLuckSac” explained that the pro’s lifestyle may not have been conducive to a stable marriage: “All jokes aside, who can really be that surprised? These guys are constantly traveling, stressed, and still making the big bucks. Personally I think they deserve a lil' strange.” Others jokingly speculated as to whether Ivey had any prop bets on how long his marriage would last.

Ivey is a member of Team Full Tilt, a group that also includes poker pros like Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, and Jennifer Harman. He was the inaugural opponent on the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace” and seemed to strike up an accord with Maryland logger Darvin Moon at the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Top Ten Poker Events of the Decade: Part 2

We’ve reviewed half of the top ten poker events of the soon-to-be-completed decade. Now, let’s take a look at the top five events that have shaped the game as we know it during the past ten years.

5. Taking America’s Game to the World

As the middle of the decade approached, poker, and more particularly tournament poker, was still primarily an American pastime. With the introduction of the European Poker Tour (EPT) in 2004, the rest of the world increased its awareness of the game. Like its predecessors in the United States in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT), the EPT brought the game to a new audience and further heightened the “poker boom.”

The EPT, developed by the online poker giant PokerStars, started small in 2004 with only seven events on its schedule. By the time it was in its fourth year, the EPT had grown to 11 tournaments with buy-ins that rivaled its brethren in the U.S. and had proved that a poker tournament schedule outside of the United States could be tremendously successful. It also led to the creation of many of the international tournament schedules that exist today, including the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), and Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour (GUKPT).

4. Poker Faces its Strongest Challenge, the UIGEA

The steamroller that online poker had become would, in 2006, face its strongest challenge ever. Passed through the halls of Congress in the United States as a rider to a key port security bill, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) threatened to kill the growth of online poker just as it was reaching its pinnacle. Since that time, the poker world has, at the minimum, reached a plateau.

While many inaccurately suggest that the UIGEA makes online poker illegal in the United States, the bill successfully scared many people who would either enter into the game or who had played it. It also had a significant effect on many poker tournaments in the United States; the WSOP Main Event has never returned to its peak numbers of 2006 and other poker tours have either seen a drop in the number of entrants or no growth.

3. Lights, Camera, Action… Poker Comes to Television

Turning on the television at the start of the decade to watch poker was literally impossible. The 2000 and 2001 WSOP Main Events were filmed as documentary-style broadcasts instead of an actual sporting event and appeared on the Discovery Channel. There were no other poker television broadcasts that could be found.

Perhaps sensing the coming wave, ESPN bought the rights to the television broadcasts of the WSOP and, in 2002, presented a more sports-friendly coverage of the tournament series. In 2003, ESPN expanded even further, covering preliminary events and dedicating extensive coverage to the Main Event. After the “Moneymaker Effect” of that year and the ensuing “poker boom,” ESPN has stuck with the WSOP and, in 2009, signed an extension of its broadcast contract with Harrah’s that ensures the WSOP will be on ESPN airwaves well into the next decade.

Add into the mix the wealth of celebrity poker shows, the debut of “High Stakes Poker” on GSN, and network television’s continued dalliance with the game and there is now poker on the “idiot box” at all hours of the day.

2. World Poker Tour Comes into Existence

In 2002, the entrepreneurial minds of Steve Lipscomb and Lyle Berman convinced the Travel Channel to sign on to an innovative idea of a worldwide poker tour, much like what professional golf has. Their creation, the WPT, took viewers to exotic locales that people might never have a chance to experience. In coordination with these picturesque areas, the broadcast of high-stakes poker tournaments captivated audiences. When it hit the airwaves, the WPT forever changed what had once been the exclusive world of high-stakes gambling.

In the eight years since it first was broadcast, the WPT has not only made poker players household names, but also created the first exposure to poker that many people had experienced. The WPT has also created many new millionaires from previously unknown poker players and pointedly exposed the strategy of the game through the innovative “hole card” camera. Without the creation of the camera, it is entirely likely that the WPT would have never seen the light of day.

1. The Birth of Online Poker

In 2000, there were literally only a handful of poker rooms in existence and, with a few exceptions, none of them made an impact on the world of poker. As more poker rooms opened, more people became accepting of a virtual “poker world.” As internet connections became more reliable, the online poker world was the major impetus for many to enter into any involvement with the sport.

As of 2009, there are hundreds of online poker rooms with tentacles that reach every corner of the globe. Poker enthusiasts can now hook into the internet and play with millions of like-minded people at any time, day or night. Add into the online poker room explosion the wealth of poker training sites, forums, and news outlets and it is easy to see that, without the internet and online poker, we may never have seen the renaissance in the first decade of the 21st century.

CNBC Investigates Illegal Gambling, Online Poker

A one-hour CNBC program entitled “The Big Business of Illegal Gambling” aired on Wednesday night, featuring discussion of “illegal” land- and internet-based operations. “The Call” anchor Melissa Francis hosted.

The show began with Francis telling viewers, “The same computer used to connect with work or friends can be used to wager outside the law.” In 2005, when the Chicago White Sox won baseball’s World Series, a man simply named “Vegas Runner” bet $4,000 on 50:1 odds that the team would take down the sport’s most coveted title. He told CNBC cameras, “It’s a gray line. Sports betting is the one topic no one wants to talk about, but everybody does it.”

R.J. Bell, founder of PreGame.com, told CNBC that just 1% of wagering on sports comes from Las Vegas, meaning that the other 99% is purportedly illegal. Meanwhile, a man known solely as “Paul,” whose face was not shown on camera, runs his own online sports betting website in Nevada as part of a conglomerate based in Costa Rica. He revealed that he makes between $80,000 and $100,000 per year and that collecting on bets is the most difficult part of the job.

CNBC’s attention then turned to the Chicago Mob, including Nick Sarillo, whose van was blown up because of illegal gambling, but he survived. Francis narrated, “Illegal gambling is the Mob’s number one moneymaker, the grease that keeps the wheels turning.” Meanwhile, Scott Damiani, the Executive Director of the Outreach Foundation, relayed his tale of excessive gambling, eventually losing his house and business. Upon owing members of a football league $50,000 at the end of 1994, Damiani attempted to drive his car off of a bridge, but hit a guardrail and was unsuccessful.

Attention then turned to Jay Cohen, the first American prosecuted for running an online bookmaking operation under the Wire Act of 1961. From his home in Antigua, Cohen told CNBC cameras, “We didn’t feel we were doing anything illegal. We were not hiding from anyone. We were using our real names and operating in plain daylight.” The site in question, World Sports Exchange, booked more than $200 million in wagers at its peak and received favorable press in publications like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

In 1998, the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted Cohen, who faced up to five years in prison. Cohen voluntarily traveled to the United States to fight his case, claiming that the Wire Act did not apply to the internet. However, a jury disagreed and he found himself behind bars for 21 months.

Upon passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, Antigua lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) alleging unfair gaming practices by the United States. The tiny island nation was successful, but the U.S. ignored the decision. Cohen remarked, “The last administration was so intellectually dishonest about all of this that even when Antigua won, they put out press releases claiming victory.”

Attention then turned to the cheating scandals at the online poker sites Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Todd “Dan Druff” Witteles, who appeared on the CBS news program “60 Minutes” in November of 2008, discussed his encounter with “Graycat” on Absolute Poker: “This was someone who seemed that he had no clue what he was doing. He was playing all the wrong strategy to be able to win.” Then, David Paredes battled “NioNio” on the virtual felts of Ultimate Bet, telling CNBC, “This player was playing a wide variety of hands. It’s so hard to play profitably playing so many hands.”

CNBC claimed that UB.com was “operating in violation of U.S. law” and then the COO of the site’s parent company, Paul Leggett, explained who Russ Hamilton was. Hamilton declined to talk to CNBC despite being fingered as the main person responsible for the multi-million dollar cheating scandal on Ultimate Bet. The now-infamous RawVegas.tv footage of Hamilton leaving a Las Vegas golf course also aired. To date, no one has been prosecuted in either cheating incident.

Finally, two Congressmen took to the airwaves, Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). McDermott candidly explained, “Usually, when we talk about putting a tax on people, we get all kinds of [pushback]. They’re saying, ‘Legalize it, please, and tax it.’” Goodlatte, one of the brains behind the UIGEA, evaluated the law: “It certainly hasn’t eliminated all internet gambling by any means, but surveys that I’ve seen indicate that fewer than half as many online gambling operators are offering their services in the U.S. than before this law was passed.”

Recognized in the credits were a variety of industry veterans, including World Series of Poker Media Director Nolan Dalla, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas, Sue Schneider, and iGamingNews.com.

Poker Community Comments on Tiger Woods Infidelity

Much like the rest of the world, the poker community can’t help but comment on professional golfer Tiger Woods’ recent personal problems.  The world is buzzing about Woods’ car accident and various personal problems, including allegations of infidelity with at least a dozen different women.  While Woods has been busy issuing public apologies to his wife, Elin Nordegren, as well as his family, the poker community has been passing the time by poking fun at his unfortunate circumstances.

Ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson has been leading the online conversation about Woods with round-the-clock jokes about the golfer on his Twitter feed (@TexDolly).  Brunson took a break from his now infamous string of dumb blonde jokes to post a series of Tiger Woods-related barbs.  “Ping just made Elin an endorsement contract for a set of drivers to be named Elin Woods… ‘Clubs you can beat Tiger with.’” Brunson, an accomplished golfer in his own right, even got into the festive holiday spirit with his most recent Tiger-related post: “Santa said, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’…Tiger said, ‘Where, Where, Where.’”

Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel also got in on the fun via his own Twitter account (@Erik_Seidel).  The accomplished poker pro, who is renowned for having one of the funniest poker-related Twitter accounts on the web, has posted a couple of Tiger Woods Tweets of his own.  “Breaking News,” Seidel deadpanned on December 5th, “Las Vegas Review Journal reports rumors of a VIP hostess from Vegas who has not slept with Tiger Woods.”    Other people who couldn’t resist getting in a jab or two include Howard Lederer, Alex Outhred, and “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff.

The online poker crowd got in on the fun as well.  When asked to comment on the Tiger Woods scandal, Adam “akat11” Katz couldn’t help but crack a joke.  “With a name like Tiger Woods, how could he not have a chick in every state and be well-endowed,” he joked with Poker News Daily.

Poker Savvy instructor Justin “jurollo” Rollo finds the Tiger jokes entertaining, but also expressed a little remorse over making fun of a man’s personal life.  “I'm conflicted on the Tiger issue,” Rollo explained to Poker News Daily.  “Part of me thinks he deserves the media blitz for what he did to his family, considering that he makes about 90% of his income from hawking products to the public. The other part of me feels bad for him and his family because they have to go through a terrible situation in front of cameras.”

Whether or not the media spotlight will let up on Woods any time soon is still up for debate, although it appears that the cable news networks’ obsession with the golf pro is not going to let up any time soon.  Perhaps the more interesting bet will be how long Brunson will keep up with the Tiger jokes before reverting back to the dumb blonde ribs that have become a trademark for him these days.

Team PKR Signs Rising Russian Star

The 21 year-old from Moscow, who beat Johnny Chan heads-up to take the title and $266,690 first-place prize in Macau, then went on to crush Finnish veteran Juha Helppi to become the PKR Heads Up champ and collect $120,000, will now represent PKR at live events across the globe and online in PKR’s tournaments and cash games.

"We have been following Vladimir's progress for some time,” said PKR Marketing Director Simon Prodger. “He is an excellent poker player, charismatic, and fantastic to watch at the tables.”

Geshkenbein, who plays under the screen name 'beyne' on PKR, spent two years playing low and middle stakes tournaments until January of this year when he moved to Malta to play professionally.

Matchroom Sport Managing Director Eddie Hearn, who produced the PKR Heads Up Grand Slam, said his performance as a pro has been more than impressive.

"Poker viewers are in for a real treat when they see Vladimir in action in the upcoming PKR Heads Up Grand Slam on Sky Sports in January,” Hearn said. “The game is all about personalities and 'beyne' has it in abundance."

As a member of Team PKR Pro, Geshkenbein will be posting in the PKR forums, providing commentary on PKR.TV and writing blogs from live events.

The other eight Team PKR Pro members include Henrik 'Pokey85' Eklund, Ashley 'Ashleyhames1' Hames, Raymond 'callmebabe' O'Mahoney, Kai 'Kingkai84' Paulsen, James 'James666' Sudworth, Andrew 'Golfpro699' Teng, Karl 'discomonkey' Fenton and Adrien 'zlatan35' Allain.

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An Inconvenient Truth of the Poker Industry

With the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next week, the topic of the environment has never been hotter.

The common assumption is poker players know how to protect a stack of chips and think of little else, let alone the environment.

In most cases, that may be not far from the truth, but should it be?

With the growing threat of global warming and climate change, poker players are not exempt from having to care about the environmental consequences of their actions.

And if you’ve ever been around a major poker tournament, you know the poker community has room to move when it comes to reducing its environmental impact.

The Big Picture

With hundreds of major tournaments around the world, the poker industry is a prominent offender when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Perhaps no more than any other travel or sports industry, but between flights, rental cars and straight-up energy consumption in casinos around the world, it’s safe to say there’s a surprising volume of negative environmental issues involved with simply playing cards.

Poker tournaments generate a large amount of waste. Disposable plates, food wrappers, cigarette butts, soda and water bottles are just the beginning.

Combine this with a lack of proper recycling programs in Las Vegas and most casinos around the world, and the landfills get a little larger with every one.

Of course, bringing a few thousand people to one location for any big event will likely create a similar amount of waste.

But that’s no excuse for poker players, according to Kristen Ostling, Communications Specialist in Climate Change for the world-renowned David Suzuki Foundation.

“This is the way of the future and not just for individuals,” said Ostling. “Businesses, organizations and individuals should all be looking at ways to reduce their carbon output. It’s also good for the bottom line in terms of dollars in most cases.”

Airline flights are among the fastest growing sources of global warming gases and air travel is a necessary evil on the world’s poker tours.

EPT Prague drew 555 players in 2007, but fewer than 20 actually resided in the Czech Republic. 

Even if every player were to fly from relatively close Barcelona, Spain to the event, almost 150 tons of carbon dioxide would be created.

Long-haul flights are one of the worst violators in terms of carbon emissions and a trip to Melbourne, Australia from North America for the Aussie Millions could conceivably use up an entire year of sustainable per-person emissions in just one flight.

“From a green perspective it’s good to do things online, but obviously sometimes you can’t beat face-to-face interaction,” Ostling said.  “The first thing a business has to do is make an assessment of what kind of environmental impact they are having.”

One suggestion Ostling has for the jet setting poker player is to buy carbon offsets to lessen the impact.

A carbon offset is essentially a certificate that represents a reduction of carbon emissions. Concerned individuals can buy a wide-variety of carbon offsets ranging from solar-power generators in India to reforestation or tree-planting in Ecuador.

Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the David Suzuki Foundation offer comprehensive guides on buying carbon offsets and buying enough could make it possible for even a well-travelled poker pro to achieve carbon neutrality.

The View from the Poker Industry

It’s impossible to consider the environmental impact of the poker industry and not start with Las Vegas.

Vegas is the Mecca of the poker world and a flashy, 24-hour city in the desert is obviously a hard sell when it comes to environmental sustainability.

A number of studies have ranked Nevada near the bottom of environmentally conscious states, and water consumption always seems to be a hot topic.

In 2008, environmental blog Treehugger ran a story claiming the Las Vegas strip could run dry by 2021 citing a recent study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimating there is a 50% chance the city will run out of water if no significant cutbacks are made.

Combine water consumption with the sheer amount of electricity it takes to run the Strip and you’re looking at a city that’s universally frowned upon by environmentalists.

Despite the bad reputation, there have been some efforts in Las Vegas to go greener.

In 2009, Harrah’s announced it was joining Dell, Starbucks and Wrigley as founding members of the Team Earth initiative aiming to unite businesses, non-profits, scientists, educators and individuals to address pressing environmental issues.

In 2008, Harrah’s also began offering carbon offsets to its customers to help reduce the environmental impact of taking a Las Vegas vacation.

Plus, the massive 16,797,000-square-foot CityCenter development, set to finally open its doors this winter, appears to be going green.

Despite the considerable environmental impact of such a large casino, hotel, retail and residential project, the development was recently given a gold rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

CityCenter will use reclaimed water, an onsite power plant and other green technologies that are estimated to save the equivalent of 7,700 homes worth of energy, making it one of the largest sustainable developments in history.

There are also a few businesses trying to carve out a niche in the poker world with eco-friendly poker products.

Eric Hansel runs EGM Green, which he jokingly refers to as the only “green” company in poker. His company produces a variety of environmentally-conscious gambling products including poker tables, craps tables and lounge furniture.

Each table is made with 96-97% naturally sustainable materials and 100% post-industry recycled synthetic fiber. Harrah’s allowed EGM Green display one of its tables at the 2008 WSOP to mixed reactions.

“I think the macro view is that poker players don’t care about the environment, but there are some that do,” he said.  “It’s steadily been getting better over the last two years. We keep letting players know they don’t have to give up luxury to buy a green poker table.”

Earlier this year, the company won an International Gaming Award for being the most eco-friendly in the industry.

“Sustainability will change the way casinos run,” Hansel said. “There’s no way the casinos of 10 years ago can operate 10 years from now.”

The View from the Players

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not all $1,000-bottles-of-Cristal ballers and high-stakes prima donnas blowing through money in the poker world.

Several noted poker pros are personally involved in environmental work.

Full Tilt pro David Singer, a WSOP bracelet winner, had a brief career as a lawyer at a non-profit environmental organization before getting into poker.

“I sometimes joke that I was going to save the world, but now I take people’s money,” said Singer.

Considering the self-serving nature of the game, it’s easy to see why some players are naturally apathetic to causes like the environment. But Singer said the poker world isn’t that different from the general public.

“I think poker players run the gamut of being concerned about global warming to not really caring about it,” he said. “Yesterday I was in Bobby’s Room and I overheard Prahlad Friedman telling Daniel Negreanu that golf courses are generally bad for the environment. At least they were talking about it in a positive way and voicing their concerns.”

But the week before, Singer said there was also a guy in Bobby’s Room who didn’t understand why Al Gore had received the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental work.

However, Singer believes poker players can help the environmental cause.

“Poker players bring a unique perspective because they are good at strategizing and environmental organizations can always use volunteers to help plan campaigns,” he said. “There are also some poker players who are lucky and have a decent amount of money and donating to these organizations is always helpful.”

Singer agreed carbon offsets can be a viable option for the jet set and that volunteering for environmental groups is almost always a good idea.

Fellow Full Tilt pro Amanda Baker is heavily involved with wildlife and environmental conservation while Team PokerStars pro Humberto Brenes works with the PRETOMA Shark Conversation program, an organization dedicated to protecting sharks in their natural habitat.

Singer reiterated the common ecological notion that everything starts with the individual – even in poker.

“What I would say to people is to just start something,” he said. “Even if you think it’s just a drop in the bucket. Personally I think the only way we’re going to get around global warming is if everyone’s attitude changes.

“If we keep going the way we’re going we’re headed for a disaster.”

This is a brief introduction to world of environmentalism, sustainability and the poker industry. For more information please check out the links presented below:

Links:

World Wildlife Foundation

http://www.worldwildlife.org/

David Suzuki Foundation

http://www.davidsuzuki.or

EGM Green

http://www.egmgreen.com/index.html

Treehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/

Guide to carbon offsets

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/carbon_offsets.asp

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Face the Ace: Andrew Weinstein, Adam Drescher Leave Empty-Handed

The challengers continued to struggle on the NBC poker franchise “Face the Ace.” On Saturday, tax attorney Andrew Weinstein and poker novice Adam Drescher each left the show’s Las Vegas set with nothing to show for their efforts except some network television face time.

Weinstein, a 40 year-old from Washington State, selected the ace of clubs for his $40,000 match. Out strolled Erick Lindgren, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner whom Weinstein has played with before. Each player received 20,000 chips in the opening round and blinds escalated quickly, beginning at 200-400.

Weinstein came out firing, raising pre-flop with gems like 5-10, 7-3, and 2-6 before getting his chips in with A-7 against Lindgren’s A-4. However, the two chopped the pot when the first four cards came 8-A-10-8, giving both players the Dead Man’s Hand with a 10 kicker.

Weinstein doubled after calling all-in with A-10 against Lindgren’s K-Q of diamonds. The ace was the door card, keeping Weinstein in the lead in the hand for good, and the challenger built his stack to over 31,000. Then, Lindgren doubled with pocket sixes against Weinstein’s J-5 of hearts. On the match’s final hand, Lindgren shoved with Q-7, including the seven of clubs, but ran into Weinstein’s A-6, including the ace of the suit. Four clubs came and Weinstein earned the nut flush and a win in the $40,000 match.

The Full Tilt Poker qualifier could play on for $200,000 or take his money and run. He chose the former option after very little debate, selecting the ace of diamonds. Jennifer Harman emerged from the smoky “Face the Ace” façade and, in a hand that had the audience buzzing, Harman was dealt 10-8 and raised to 3,000 pre-flop with a starting stack of 100,000 and blinds at 500-1,000. Weinstein peeked down at Q-9 and made the call. The flop came J-Q-5, giving Weinstein top pair, and he check-called a 4,000 bet from Harman. The turn was a three and Weinstein once-again check-called a bet from the pro, this time totaling 13,000. The river was a nine, giving Harman a miracle straight, and Weinstein check-called a small bet of 12,000. Harman sheepishly scooped the pot and the mood of the match changed dramatically.

Weinstein avoided disaster in a hand with A-7 against Harman’s pocket kings. Harman raised pre-flop to 3,000, Weinstein made it 11,000, Harman bumped the action to 22,000, and Weinstein called to see the flop come 10-6-Q. Harman led out for another 30,000 and Weinstein quickly released his hand.

Harman’s A-K of hearts withstood Weinstein’s A-9 offsuit on the match’s final hand after the pro made a flush, sending Weinstein home from Sin City with nothing. Harman, a 73% favorite pre-flop, called feverishly for a nine to hit, but the board of 5-2-Q-6-8 with three hearts ensured that no upset would occur.

Drescher then took to the stage. The poker player from Bethesda, Maryland had only been playing the game for six months and his inexperience proved fatal. He selected the ace of diamonds, Huck Seed, who won the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship over Vanessa Rousso. Only a few hands into play, Drescher open-shoved with 10-9 for 19,400 chips into a pot of only 600 and Seed picked up pocket kings. Seed was an 83% favorite to send Drescher packing and the board ran out 3-7-2-9-3. Drescher made top pair, but it wasn’t enough, as the qualifiers were blanked on the November 14th episode of “Face the Ace.”

The show, which is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, aired preceding golf coverage on NBC and went head-to-head with multiple college football games. “Face the Ace,” hosted by Steve Schirripa, will return on December 12th. Check local listings for more information.

The Nightly Turbo: More High-Stakes Golf, FTOPS, and More

We're just going to get right into it today. It's Friday and this is going to be a big weekend for poker. Read this. Go work on your game and don't forget to follow the Live Reporting Team for the play-by-play as we find out who the next World...

All eyes on Ivey: The legend speaks

They call this the November Nine, but as ESPN's George McNeilly suggested last week, in the minds of many, it's just Phil Ivey and eight other guys.

Consensus is Ivey is the greatest player in the world and this coming Saturday he will have a legitimate shot at poker's most prestigious title.

In an exclusive interview with PokerListings, Ivey himself said no one wants it more.

"It would be a dream come true to win it," the Team Full Tilt Pro said. "Making it to the final table is great, yes, but I really, really want to win it.

"It's very important to me. I remember the first time I watched poker on TV I saw Scotty Nguyen win the Main Event. That was the very first time I watched, I thought then that it would be cool to win that tournament and now I have a chance."

While Nguyen's 1998 win was the first time Ivey watched poker on TV, it certainly wasn't his first introduction to the game.

"I just always loved to play cards," he said. "I started playing I Declare War when I was four or five years old and then my grandfather taught me how to play poker, he kind of like taught me the rules and everything. We used to play with pennies. I loved to play every chance I got."

The California born and New Jersey raised Ivey started playing small cash games in High School, got himself a fake ID and soon hit the casinos in Atlantic City.

When he turned 21, he started flashing his real ID and began to take the game a little more seriously.

"I was playing in casinos before that, but I wasn't really trying to make a living at it," he said. "I just liked to play. It was something I would just do as a hobby. I would sneak down there and play because I loved it. I just thought it was a fascinating game. I didn't really think too much about making a living at it.

 

 

"But then when I started making money and I started looking at the other players that were playing, I just said 'wait a second, I could beat these guys,' and that's when I said 'let me put everything I have into this and see where it goes.'"

Success came relatively quickly, as Ivey won his first WSOP bracelet in 2000 at age 24, final tabled another event and narrowly missed a third.

He made a another final table at the WSOP in 2001, but 2002 was truly his breakout year. Ivey won three bracelets, tying the record for the most wins in a single series.

Another WSOP win and more final tables, million dollar scores in Europe, and a win after an amazing eight WPT final tables would soon follow as Ivey developed into one of the most feared tournament players on the planet, while also taking on all comers in the biggest cash games in the world.

This past summer, he added two more WSOP bracelets to his wrist, becoming the youngest in history to hold seven at age 33.

He also became poker's third leading money winner all-time with more than $12 million in career tournament earnings.

But despite the fact he's done almost as much as anyone in the game's history, Ivey seems to have a keen understanding that poker is more about losing than winning.

"I don't like to lose, but poker, it humbles you, because you realize that no matter how good you are, you are going to have losing days, you are going to have losing weeks and you are even going to have some losing months," he said. "I haven't had a losing year yet, thank God. But you are going to have to learn how to deal with losing in order to become a better winner.

"That's why I think poker is such a wonderful game. There are guys that play certain sports that hardly ever lose, but in poker, you are just going to have to lose."

Through both the winning and losing, Ivey says he's learned some valuable lessons.

 

 

"You learn about yourself," he said. "You teach yourself how to deal with the ups and downs, and also how to control your thoughts, your negative thoughts, how to control what you're thinking and realize why you think what you're thinking. You really realize a lot about yourself if you get deep into poker.

"You have to learn a lot about yourself in order to become one of the best players in the world."

Ivey's road to Main Event glory is actually littered with missed opportunities.

He finished 23rd in 2002, a heartbreaking 10th in 2003 and 20th in 2005.

Although he's a little short on chips coming into Saturday's final, he truly believes this is his time.

"Now I have a shot," he said. "I'm seventh in chips, but you know what, I feel pretty comfortable with the close to ten million that I have. I don't feel like I'm in a rush. I can just take my time and get a hold of some chips. If I have to go all in I will. But whatever comes to me, I'm just going to take it."

While the rest of the November Nine is a good mix of seasoned pros and surprisingly savvy amateurs, Ivey is the only one who really puts fear into the hearts of his competitors.

In fact, chip leader Darvin Moon told PokerListings if Ivey even looks at him the wrong way, he's likely to muck his hand.

Part of what creates that fear is that Ivey is a bit of mystery to the poker world.

He doesn't do a lot of interviews, but says that's more of a personal choice than an attempt to help cultivate an imposing image at the table.

 

 

"It's not like I'm against interviews," he said. "I'm not. I don't mind doing interviews. I don't mind sitting down and talking to you about poker and other things. But there are things I'd rather be doing besides talking about poker when I'm playing poker 15 to 16 hours a day."

Ivey says the average player just simply isn't logging the hours that he is.

"These guys that do all these interviews, they're able to do all these interviews because they don't play as much poker as I do." He said. "When I get knocked out of a tournament, I'm rushing to the Bellagio to play poker. I'm rushing to the Internet to play poker, or going to the golf course, or going to play blackjack or whatever, because that's what I'd rather be doing."

Regardless, the fear his opponent's feel works to his advantage, although Ivey claims he hasn't made any deliberate attempt to create it.

"When I sit down and play with someone, it's not like they say 'Hey, Phil, I fear you,'" he said. "Maybe some people do, but it's not like they say it. So you've got to kind of figure it out, and you figure it out by how they're playing hands against you and everything else.

"The thing is, people try to create these table images, but that hurts them because you can't really create a table image. It has to be based on your results and how you do. People try, some people want to talk, they want to do this, they want to that, I just think people more or less know that my image is, if you mess with me, and you play a certain way against me, I'm going to get your money."

Ivey hasn't written any how-to books. He doesn't make the training videos that have become so popular with so many other professional players.

But again, he says it's not an attempt to conceal his strategy or perpetuate his dominating table image.

He's just too busy playing poker.

"I play poker all the time and I think that's what gives me my edge and what keeps me as sharp as I am when I'm playing," he said. "I love to play poker, I still do. I think a lot of these guys, they wonder why their games are suffering and everything else. It's because they don't work as hard as I do."

 

 

But despite the fact he has deliberately avoided the spotlight in the past, finally winning the WSOP Main Event title this weekend might change all that, as he learns to embrace a role as an ambassador for the game.

"As far as me being an ambassador for poker, I don't know; maybe if I win the Main Event it'll be something that is forced upon me and I don't really mind that," he said. "As I'm getting older I'm starting to understand how important my place in history, in poker and doing the right things by everyone, is.

"But at the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy too. I have to be a happy person. I'll take the interviews and I'll do the things to help grow poker as a sport, I have no problem doing that, but I'm also not going to give up my life to do that.

"I want to keep some type of balance and I think that's important."

To follow Ivey and the entire November Nine, tune into PokerListings 2009 WSOP Main Event Live Coverage beginning at 12 p.m. PT Saturday, Nov. 7.

If you want to hear everything Ivey had to say check out the full video interview in the blog section.

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The Nightly Turbo: High Stakes Golf, High Stakes Poker Lineup, and More

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Antonius and Negreanu golfing - Watch the video

RawVegagas.tv went to see how Daniel Negreanu and Patrik Antonius handles golf.

Daniel updated his Twitter during the play as well:

RealKidPoker: We shot 29 on the front 9. They shot 28! Close match so far.

RealKidPoker: We shot 59. They are on 18 now. If they birdie it they shoot 58.

RealKidPoker: They made birdie on 18 for a 58. We lost day 1 by one stroke. Same time tomm

So it seems that they will continue today. We’d like to know the amount of prop bets they made.

Source: RawVegas, Twitter

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Antonius and Negreanu golfing - Watch the video

Amazing Race: Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle Speak on Elimination

In the Netherlands, professional poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were eliminated from the CBS reality series “Amazing Race” when the duo was unable to complete either side of the leg’s Detour. The last women standing in the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events sat down with Poker News Daily to recap their journey.

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on finishing sixth in the 15th cycle of “Amazing Race.” The show was filmed during the WSOP Main Event. How do you feel now after watching it unfold on television?

Ho: It definitely took some time after the fact to cope with, but watching it on television was hard for both of us. We’re living it and feeling those emotions all over again.

Michelle: We made it so much further than we thought we would. At any point, we were willing to accept our fate.

PND: Several in the poker community have labeled the Netherlands’ Detour as sexist due to the presence of a high striker and whipping winds at the golf course. Do you agree?

Ho: From a production standpoint, it’s so hard for them to come up with all of these tasks. We’re not going to call it unfair. All we knew is that we gave it everything we had, but what we had wasn’t enough to complete it. In golf, the elements were too much to overcome. For us to try the high striker 70+ times, it obviously wasn’t the easiest thing to do. It might have come off like we didn’t give it our best shot, but we did.

Michelle: We spent three hours giving each side of the Detour a decent shot. If you can’t finish a Detour, you got a penalty of 24 hours. At one point, EMTs had come out and assess that we weren’t getting hypothermia. Either way, we knew it would be tough to come back from that.

PND: What was the most memorable part of the race?

Ho: Every moment was memorable. We got to go to so many good places and do things that we would never be able to do under normal circumstances. It was memorable when we got a four-hour penalty after losing two tourists and also had a speed bump to overcome. I feel like people were going to count us out and we wanted to show that we could compete, so we gave that next leg of the race our all. It was so great to come in the middle of the pack on that leg.

Michelle: Any time I was able to do a challenge that the guys were doing, like in the Dubai desert, it was incredibly rewarding.

PND: Was it tough seeing that two Harlem Globetrotters were among your competition?

Ho: We definitely tried to size them up a bit based on what we saw. Once we got to know who they were, they didn’t physically intimidate us. It’s not always about being the strongest or the fastest.

Michelle: We started calling them the “Lakers” because they looked like basketball players. We knew that they were going to have a lot of strength physically, but we could use our intelligence and creativity to counteract that.

PND: Do you feel that you represented the poker community well?

Michelle: All that we can represent is ourselves. It’s a big burden to take the poker community on our shoulders. A lot of poker didn’t come into play and this is a very physically intense game. All that we can hope is that our friends thought well of it. All we could do is represent Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle the best we could.

PND: Are you changed after this experience?

Ho: The “Amazing Race” was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s life-changing in the sense that you get to push your limits physically, emotionally, and mentally. This race gave us both the opportunity to do that. Given any situation we encounter, we know what’s inside of us and what we’re capable of. In addition, the bond between Tiffany and I will last a lifetime. We were close friends leading up to this race and there’s nothing like having a person to lean on.

PND: The finish line of this installment of “Amazing Race” is in Las Vegas. How disappointed were you to hear that given you’re both professional poker players? Also, who’s your pick to win?

Ho: You have some strong teams left. Sam and Dan are tough boys. Meghan and Cheyne won a lot of legs. The Globetrotters have been in it to win it. Matt and Gary have sneaked by. Any of the last five teams are going to be tough competition. We got so close with those top teams. We’re excited to see how it ends.

Michelle: This was ours to lose. Las Vegas is our second home. It’s a place we’re very comfortable and familiar with. It broke our hearts that we couldn’t be a part of it. Lady Luck was on our side for parts of the race. If we made it that far, we would have given the other teams a good fight to the finish.

Ziigmund loses a bet to land a new tattoo

Poker players, eh? If they’re not betting six figures on the flip of a coin or a round of golf, they’re betting it on sports. If they have no money on them, it’s not a problem – the loser simply has to get a tattoo.

Poker girls eliminated from The Amazing Race

Poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho have finally bowed out of TV show The Amazing Race. The pair couldn’t complete a pair of challenges relating to golf and a fairground test your strength machine and paid the penalty with elimination. The duo exceeded the expectations of many though, remaining in the competition until the middle of week seven.

Amazing Race: Reaction to Eliminations of Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho

Professional poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were eliminated during the latest episode of “Amazing Race” when the pair was unable to complete a challenging test of physical strength. The only all-female team on the show decided to quit after concluding that they would never finish the challenge.

In the leg’s Detour, teams were given the choice between two tasks, Farmer’s Game or Farmer’s Dance. Michelle and Ho failed to complete either mission, as the team couldn’t hit golf balls with a wooden mallet far enough in Farmer’s Game and ring a high striker in Farmer’s Dance. Rather than checking in at the Pit Stop, Michelle and Ho announced that they were quitting the race when met by host Phil Keoghan at the golf course.

Female poker pro “PeachyMer” is a regular viewer of the show and was critical of Michelle and Ho following their elimination. “Neither one of them were putting their weight into it right,” said PeachyMer, referring to the golf-like section of the Detour. “Maria was half-heartedly hitting it so Tiffany could have another go. Tiffany almost got it a few times and although I hadn’t cared for them, I was rooting for her to get it there. I know it’s different when you are freezing, exhausted, and annoyed in that situation, but it looks like if she had thrown a little more of her weight into it and swung around longer, they would have been golden. With that money at stake, let alone the drive to win, I would have been swinging it from the ground behind me with everything I had and hope my angle hit if nothing else.”

Michelle and Ho were the only team made up of two females and at times had trouble contending in physically demanding competitions. While the duo managed to stave off elimination for several weeks, the grueling nature of this episode’s challenge proved to be too much to overcome.

“It wasn’t a very fair Detour,” said TwoPlusTwo poster “True North.” “You were screwed without upper-body strength. You put any all-female team in the history of the show on that Detour and they don’t finish it at least three-quarters of the time. They should have had just the dancing and the fish for Farmer’s Dance; the bell was what made it unfair.”

Fellow TwoPlusTwo member “Jeff M” agreed: “It really looked like the designers of the course didn’t take into account the fact that one of the teams was composed of two 90 pound women. They could barely lift the sledge, much less hit the button with any real force. And the golf game wasn’t much better. They really had no shot at hitting the ball hard enough to make par.”

Others felt a lack of effort was the reason the two poker pros couldn’t keep pace with the other teams left in the race. “This was one of the most pathetic teams ever,” said online poker player and “Amazing Race” fan “medici.” “They quit twice. And they managed to sneak in once because a team lost its travel documents… How they managed to not even finish this week when the other couple couldn’t count the bells or read their clue and incur a 30 minute penalty is beyond pathetic.”

With the elimination of Michelle and Ho, the remaining five teams will travel to Sweden for the next leg of the 15th season of ” Amazing Race.”

Amazing Race: Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Eliminated in the Netherlands

Sunday night marked the end of the road for professional poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho on the Emmy Award-winning CBS reality series “Amazing Race.” The duo quit the race after encountering two insurmountable Detours in Groningen, the Netherlands.

The episode began in Dubai with all six teams traveling on the same flight to Amsterdam. There, teams made their way to a causeway and located a statue to find their next clue. On departing in second place, Michelle told “Amazing Race” cameras, “Second place is awesome, but we’ve learned from poker that it’s really, really easy to get comfortable and get involved in pots that you shouldn’t.”

After landing in Amsterdam, Michelle and Ho arrived in fifth place at the statue, where their clue instructed them to head to Martintoren, the town’s church. There, the leg’s Roadblock tasked team members with counting the number of bells inside its massive tower. Michelle breezed through the task after Sam, one-half of brothers Sam and Dan, told her the correct number when they passed each other on the stairs of the structure. Sam explained, “It was a smart move, in my opinion, because they’re a team we can beat.”

Meanwhile, former Miss America Ericka Dunlap struggled to count accurately, ultimately causing her husband and her to fall considerably behind. Meanwhile, teams arrived at Vierhuizen de Marne, where the town’s windmill served as the route marker. There, they encountered the leg’s Detour, a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons.

The options this time around were Farmer’s Game or Farmer’s Dance. In the former, teams had to strip down to their underwear and swim across a creek. Then, they had to use modified golf clubs with wooden shoes affixed on the ends to play three holes of golf. Team members had to alternate shots and complete each hole in eight or fewer strokes.

In Farmer’s Dance, teams had to ring a high striker (a carnival game requiring hitting a mallet to ring a bell, usually dubbed a test of strength). Then, they had to learn a traditional Dutch folk dance, perform it up to snuff, and eat a salted herring. Michelle and Ho elected to dance, but after 30 failed attempts at ringing the high striker, switched tasks and hit the links. Meanwhile, Dunlap finally completed the Roadblock. However, her team neglected to travel by bike around the Detour as instructed in the clue.

Upon arriving at the golf course, the last women standing in the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events realized that completing each hole in eight strokes or fewer was challenging given the oversized ball in play and a stiff wind. Consequently, they elected to head back to the high striker and try again. After 50 failed attempts at the carnival game, the pair “hugged it out” and tried to rally.

At the end of 72 unsuccessful rounds at the high striker, Michelle and Ho headed back to the links. Michelle commented, “We were back at the golf course weaker than we were before and more freezing than we were before.” Meanwhile, Brian and Ericka were penalized 30 minutes upon arriving at the Pit Stop in fifth place due to not riding bikes as instructed, setting up a dramatic finish to this week’s installment of “Amazing Race.”

However, Michelle and Ho could not overcome the elements or muster up the strength to bash the high striker. Instead of checking in at the Pit Stop as is customary, Michelle and Ho were met by host Phil Keoghan at the golf course, where they announced that they were quitting the race. The duo finished in sixth place in the show’s 15th installment (out of 12 teams) and represented the only all-female team to compete.

“Amazing Race” airs at 8:00pm ET on Sunday nights on CBS.

Phil Ivey Appears on the Cover of ESPN: The Magazine

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey graces the cover of the November 2nd issue of ESPN: The Magazine. The expose, entitled “4 Days, 3 Nights, $1 Million,” chronicles Ivey’s jet-setting exploits at the craps tables in casinos around the world.

Chad Millman followed Ivey from Foxwoods to Austria, with his article explaining Ivey’s stature in the industry: “Phil Ivey is a poker pro, but to call him that limits the scope of his game. It’s like saying Jay-Z is just a rapper. Ivey is an all-around player, a man with the need and nerve to wager obscene amounts on poker, pro and college sports, craps, or his own golf game.”

The tale began at Foxwoods in Connecticut, where Ivey, a whale, was put up in the Mashantucket Suite, a two-story gem. Instead of heading to play poker, his bread and butter, Ivey hit the craps tables in a private room, ordering the most expensive bottle of wine in the house (worth $2,100) to get the evening started off on the right foot. After 25 minutes at the table, Ivey was up $185,000, betting $30,000 to $50,000 per place bet. The wine didn’t even arrive until Ivey was ready to head out, leading Millman to comment, “We [got] it to go.”

After Ivey’s personal jet was grounded in Groton-New London Airport, the facility’s manager came out armed with a magazine featuring Ivey on its cover. On aviation officials questioning Ivey’s erratic flight pattern, he noted, “I guess they don’t know you.” Ivey signed the airport manager’s magazine copy before the poker pro and November Nine member tipped him $1,000 for having “to stay open so late.”

In Montreal, the crew headed to the local casino, where Ivey cashed a check for $1 million to seed his bankroll. Shortly after the start of his craps session, Ivey had bled $360,000. Then, Chris “Gotti” Lorenzo, his manager, took to the felt and rolled point after point, number after number, boosting Ivey’s arsenal of chips to $2.5 million after just 20 minutes of play. Then, Millman stepped up and lost Ivey $240,000 after hitting a seven with several place bets out. Ultimately, Ivey left Montreal up $752,000, or nearly $1 million after just 24 hours on the trip.

Ivey and company then headed for Amsterdam, where Millman painted a picture of Ivey’s social life: “Now that he’s made the WSOP’s final table, Lorenzo has pushed him to pull back the curtain a bit. He’s an A-list celeb among A-list celebs, texting with Michael Phelps about attending D.C. charity events, going backstage with Jay-Z, golfing with Michael Jordan.”

Millman also recapped the source of some of Ivey’s wealth, explaining that he took $16.6 million off of billionaire Andy Beal as part of the “Corporation” three years ago. He continued, “Last year, [Ivey] reportedly won more than $7 million online. And while he has already won $1.2 million for making the final table – and stands to earn $8 million more if he wins it all – he’s made side bets worth another $4 million with people who doubt him.”

The article also spotlighted several aspects of Ivey’s unique high-stakes lifestyle. Besides jet-setting around the world seemingly at will, Ivey drives an SLR McLaren worth $500,000 and a Rolls-Royce Phantom worth $400,000. He lives on a golf course in Las Vegas and put his sister through law school. He’s one of the key faces behind Full Tilt, the second largest online poker room in the world. Ivey’s “office,” so to speak, contains three computer monitors, five flat-screen televisions, and the arcade version of Pac-Man.

The journey ended with a Full Tilt Poker function in Salzburg and the poker pro having earned a crisp $1 million over the course of four days. Check out the November 2nd issue of ESPN The Magazine featuring Ivey.

ESPN Inside Deal Welcomes WSOP November Niner Kevin Schaffel

This week, the ESPN poker franchise “Inside Deal” welcomed 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Kevin Schaffel. New Poker Hall of Fame nominee member Mike Sexton also called into the show.

The 13th installment of “Inside Deal” began with a discussion of Daniel Negreanu’s breakdown of World Poker Tour (WPT) tournament cashes. Negreanu’s analysis revealed that very few players are actually winners on the WPT circuit, emphasizing the importance of satellite and cash game aptitude. “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee explained, “You don’t cash very often and what [Negreanu] is saying is that when you do, you’ve got to make it count.” Lee noted that Gus Hansen has nine WPT cashes, eight for final tables. Phil Ivey has notched eight WPT final tables out of 11 cashes.

Ivey, a WSOP November Nine member, is camped out in Cabo San Lucas, allegedly in “exile” preparing for his run at the $8.5 million first place prize. Lee explained, “What he’s going to be able to do is prepare himself mentally and physically for the biggest challenge of his life.” Ivey has a variety of prop bets on the line, making for a potentially enormous payday next month.

Sexton joined “Inside Deal” via phone and gave his take on being the lone member of the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009: “It’s pretty flattering and certainly an honor to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame with the legends and icons of the game.” Sexton’s enshrinement ceremony will take place during the dinner break of the WSOP Main Event final table on November 7th in an $800 per plate affair. The WPT host has already begun preparing his speech and revealed, “I’m getting my thoughts together now on what I’m going to say. Certainly, I’m going to acknowledge the other nominees and thank people who have been very important to me in my poker career and life as well.”

Schaffel, an avid golfer, then came on and told Lee and fellow “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane, “The guys at my golf club tell me I smile a lot more.” Schaffel sits in sixth place on the leaderboard entering the Main Event final table and recently completed the purchase of a home. He made deep runs in the 2004 and 2008 WSOP Main Events, cashing for nearly $100,000 combined, and told viewers, “I definitely can attribute some of my success to things I’ve learned in the past.” He’s bringing 90 fans to Las Vegas, where his 12 first cousins will convene for only the second time ever.

Part of Schaffel’s good luck may have been due to an image of 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate that the future November Nine member stashed in his wallet. A gift from a family member, the image was doctored with PhotoShop to feature Schaffel’s head pasted on Eastgate’s body. Schaffel remarked, “There were a couple of times when I thought about the photo while playing.” Schaffel played alongside Eastgate on Day 7 and showed the youngest WSOP Main Event ever the image to break the ice.

ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman joined the set for a game of Poker-dy, the “Inside Deal” version of the classic television game show “Jeopardy.” For the clue “This is the funniest player in the poker industry,” Lee answered ESPN commentator Norman Chad, Schaffel said Antonio Esfandiari, and Lane suggested Negreanu. For “This starting hand has by far gotten me into the most trouble,” Lane answered K-Q, Lee answered A-Q, and Schaffel tossed out pocket queens.

Finally, Schaffel was asked if so many of his hands being recorded during the WPT Legends of Poker meant that opponents would be able to diagnose his game. Schaffel finished second in the event for $471,000 and explained, “Not really. The difference is that I might make a play as the chip leader that I might not make otherwise.” Schaffel was among the pacesetters throughout much of the event, which took place shortly after the WSOP Main Event final table was determined.

“Inside Deal” is released every Tuesday on ESPN.com.

Amazing Race: Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho Finish Second at Atlantis Dubai

Poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho posted their highest finish to date in the CBS reality series “Amazing Race.” The duo arrived at the Pit Stop in second place at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dating couple Meghan and Cheyne set out on the leg in first place, leaving at 8:17am, well ahead of the other teams as a result of completing the Fast Forward last week. Their clue instructed them to grab a briefcase and travel to the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, where they had to search the marina’s boardwalk for their next clue. There, teams encountered the leg’s Roadblock, a task that only one person can perform. In it, racers had to row inflatable boats to a yacht anchored offshore and find a sheik, who would present them with a watch. Then, they had to return to the dock and unlock their briefcase by cracking its three-digit code. What teams had to discern for themselves was that the time frozen on the watch, 8:35, represented the three-digit code to their briefcase.

Michelle and Ho departed in sixth place out of seven teams remaining at 11:47am and did not appear on “Amazing Race” until 15 minutes into the episode. Ho told Michelle at the Roadblock, “It might be physical. You’re faster.” Tiffany powered out to the parked boat and back, telling “Amazing Race” cameras, “Every time I accomplish something all of the other guys did, it’s definitely very rewarding.” Ho and Michelle are the only all-female team this season and Michelle was the only woman to perform the Roadblock.

Michelle quickly figured out the code to the briefcase and lapped Flight Time and Big Easy, members of the Harlem Globetrotters, who struggled with the lock after leaving the Pit Stop in third place. The next clue prompted teams to head to the Abra water taxi station, where the leg’s Detour awaited. The Detour, which is a choice between two tasks, asked teams to complete Gold or Glass. In Gold, teams had to find a jewelry store and use a precision scale to weigh out $500,000 worth of the commodity. The exchange rate to use changed every minute, making the task complicated. In Glass, teams had to visit to a local spice market and assemble a dozen hookahs.

Ho and Michelle elected to put their thinking caps on to complete Gold, with the latter noting, “Maria and I know how handle money, so this should be good for us.” Brothers Sam and Dan, who had been in a loose alliance with the poker pros, also elected to do Gold and told “Amazing Race” cameras that they purchased a $2 calculator at Wal-Mart before leaving to film the show. Ho and Michelle borrowed the device and shouted out the correct weight in gold to put on the scale before the exchange rate changed. The quartet appeared to breeze through the task as a result of the teamwork, while racers performing Glass struggled with the intricacies of the hookahs.

The next clue instructed teams to head to the Atlantis water park, similar to its sister site in the Bahamas that plays host to the annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and look for the Leap of Faith, a six-story speed slide that takes riders through a shark tank. At the bottom, teams were told to look for Dolphin Bay Beach, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. Ho and Michelle quickly completed the plunge and checked in second, their highest finish so far. Sam and Dan arrived right behind them and upon seeing the siblings run down the beach in their swimsuits, Michelle commented, “Sam and Dan had a ‘Baywatch’ moment today. They were looking kind of cute in their matching red shorts.”

Meanwhile, at the top of the slide, Mika and Canaan raged war over Mika’s fear of heights. In the end, she could not bring herself to complete the task, walked down the steps to the bottom, and the Globetrotters checked in sixth. Mika and Canaan were eliminated and the former commented, “I feel like I let [Canaan] down.”

Next week, the six teams remaining in the hunt for the $1 million first place prize head to the Netherlands. “Amazing Race” airs at 8:00pm ET on Sundays on CBS.

The Life Of Ivey - WSOP Preparations In Paradise

This time Pokerroad’s “The Live of Ivey” visits Ivey in Cabo San Luca, Mexico. Ivey retreated to the paradise and prepares for the WSOP ME Final Table by relaxating.

Behind the two locked gates lies a mansion which seems like a dream come true. Ivey’s Mansion has loads of room height, swimming pools, nearby golf course and a beach. Barry Greenstein flew over to Ivey and made an interesting interview. You can find the video here.

Source: Pokerroad

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The Life Of Ivey - WSOP Preparations In Paradise

Mike Sexton Previews the WSOP November Nine

The entire poker world is anxiously awaiting the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which will be played this November.  The finalists have been dubbed the “November Nine” because of the four-month delay of the final table.  It’s a final table that has created tremendous interest because it has everything – an amateur with a massive chip lead, three guys in their 20s, and great players from around the world.  It’s also got Phil Ivey – and that is huge for the WSOP.

I often get asked, “Who do you think is the best poker player in the world?”  Well, when asked the same question years ago, Doyle Brunson said, “You judge a hunter by the number of furs he brings home”  (I love that phrase).  Well, nobody has brought home more “fur” than Phil Ivey.  I consider Phil Ivey to be the best player in the world.

Ivey is the best in every poker category you can come up with – cash games, tournament poker, and online poker.  I would bet that he’s the most successful cash game player of all-time and he will become the all-time tournament money leader if he finishes in fourth place or better at the WSOP Main Event final table.  If he’s not the most successful online player out there, then he’s certainly one of them.  When it comes to playing poker (and that includes all games), put Ivey at the top of your list.

One thing’s for sure – in addition to most players, Harrah’s, the WSOP, and ESPN are thrilled that Phil Ivey is at the final table. Because he’s there, I look for ratings for the WSOP final table to at least double from last year.  And that’s good for poker.

OK, here are the November Nine and their chip counts:

Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
James Akenhead – 6,800,000

The November Nine chip leader is Darvin Moon.  He’s a 45 year-old amateur poker player from Oakland, Maryland.  Playing in his first-ever big-time tournament, he could become the next Chris Moneymaker.  Moon is an amazing story.  He won his seat in a qualifying tournament in West Virginia and thought about taking the $10,000 first place prize and putting it in the family business.  His brother talked him out of that and encouraged him to go ahead and enter the WSOP (brother knows best).  Experience or not, with nearly 60 million in chips, I can’t imagine anyone being a bigger favorite than him to win.  Will it be a “Full Moon” in November?

Starting in second chip position with nearly 35 million is Eric Buchman.  Eric is a 29 year-old pro from New York.  He’s been a pro for about 10 years and this marks his 23rd cash at the WSOP.  Prior to this tournament, he had nearly $1 million in career tournament cashes.  With his experience and chip count, he could be the man to beat.

In third chip position with nearly 30 million is 47 year-old Steven Begleiter from Chappaqua, New York.  He was a strategist for the investment bank Bear Stearns for nearly 25 years.  He qualified for the WSOP Main Event on the Newcastle Poker Tour and poker league.  He’s really popular there, as he plans to donate 20% of his winnings to his poker league.  Now that is a friendly game!

The only guy who has been to the WSOP Main Event final table before is 34 year-old Jeff Shulman, the editor of CardPlayer Magazine.  He’ll be starting out in fourth chip position with nearly 20 million.  Shulman created a controversy by saying he would “throw the bracelet in the garbage if I win”  (that’s because of his strong opinion of unfair media treatment by the WSOP).  Like most, I’m shocked by that statement considering Shulman is in the business of promoting poker.  Shulman’s experience could bode well for him in November, but hopefully he’ll change his mind about throwing the bracelet in the garbage.

On a side note, that 2000 WSOP Main Event is still vivid in my mind because I felt I had a real shot to win it.  I ended up finishing in 12th place and was knocked out by Shulman (who was the big chip leader at the time and won a race for all of my chips).  It turned out to be a heartbreaking tournament for Shulman as well because, for the first time in WSOP history, only six players made it to the TV table and Shulman was the massive chip leader with seven players left.  He ended up going out seventh.

The youngest player at the table, 21 year-old Joe Cada from Michigan, will be starting out in fifth chip position.  If he wins, he will break Peter Eastgate’s record of being the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever.  Cada plays a lot of heads-up poker and likes his chances if he gets short-handed.  He’s young, confident in his abilities, and believes he’s got a good chance to win.

Kevin Schaffel, 51, has been playing poker for 30 years.  This super nice Floridian claims to be “semi-retired,” but he is a scratch golfer and plays a lot of poker.  Do you think he works much?  Kevin recently finished second in the WPT’s Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino and, I can tell you, he played very well there.  If he doesn’t dub any shots on the green felt in November, he could very well be crowned champion.

Phil Ivey is “the man” at any poker table.  Although he’s starting in seventh chip position with less than 10 million in chips, many are wagering on him to win.  I’m sure he feels pretty good about his chances and why wouldn’t he?  He’s already won two bracelets at the 2009 WSOP and then bet $20,000 on himself to win the Main Event at 100-1 odds when there were still 2,400 players left!  Like many, I would love to see Ivey win.  I think it would be great for the poker world if the greatest player in the game won the biggest event in poker.

Antoine Saout, 25 years-old and from France, will be starting in eighth chip position.  He qualified for this tournament by winning a $50 online satellite.  Word has it that he crushes online tournaments.  I know some French players who really respect his game.   When he told his mom he wanted to become a poker pro, she was not happy.  With this finish and becoming a guaranteed millionaire, mom has changed her mind.  “Bon chance,” Antoine!

James Akenhead, 26, from England, discovered poker a few years ago while he was pursuing his other love, pool.  He practiced pool 10 hours a day and was ranked 15th in the U.K. in nine-ball at one time.  Akenhead has been a poker pro for three years and several top players from England have told me that he’s a very tough player.  Although he’s starting on the short stack, if he can double up early, they really like his chances.  A Hall of Fame poker player once said, “Poker is like pool.  Some days you make every shot and other days you hit nothing but the rail.”  Can this pool player parlay the short stack into the title?

One thing’s for sure:  It’s going to be a great final table in November.  Like all poker players, I can’t wait.

Top prizes to be won in tonight’s William Hill Poker Bounty Special

Many a poker player enjoys swinging a club on the golf course and William Hill Poker is giving players the chance to mix the two in a special tournament tonight. In addition to the usual cash payouts, the winner of the William Hill Poker Bounty Special will win a golf day with former England midfielder Trevor Steven.