Poker News

Are Poker Players a Good Fit for the Business World?

Perhaps focusing on a subject that many in the poker community would view as obvious, many news outlets have recently begun to discuss the skills of top poker players not only on the tables, but also in the business and financial worlds. They have also analyzed the pros of regulated internet gaming, reflecting that the added revenue could reduce strain on the budgets of state and federal governments.

One of the members of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine, Steven Begleiter, was a guest last week on Bloomberg Financial News. The sixth place finisher in the WSOP Main Event, who had a previous career on Wall Street as an employee at the now-defunct Bear Stearns stock firm, entertained questions from Bloomberg news hosts Mark Crumpton and Lori Rothman and stated that there were many players he met during his run who were qualified to work in the business field.

“I got to meet a lot of people in their 20s who were very good card players that, were we still at Bear Stearns, I would have tried to get them to come join the firm,” Begleiter opined. He especially pointed out that the overall skills of his coach, former World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, would have made him an excellent businessman: “People like him would do very well here on Wall Street.”

In a November 25th article in the Newark Star Ledger, the discussion of poker players in the business world was discussed. In an interesting point, it was brought out that a number of hedge fund companies and brokerage houses were looking to the younger players in the poker world to be potential analysts. In the article, former poker pro Aaron Brown, who now works on Wall Street as a risk manager at AQR Capital Management, said, “Someone who has made a successful living as a poker player for a few years would more likely be a good trader than someone who hasn’t. They know to push when they have the edge and they know how not to bust, and that’s a tough combination to find.”

Meanwhile, another cable business program, CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” discussed what the world of poker could do for the country’s financial state. During a discussion last week on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), two analysts, Andrew Parmentire of Height Analytics and David Katz, an Oppenheimer gaming analyst, agreed that the online poker world, if regulated and taxed by the government, would be a boon to the business world. The duo focused on tax benefits, stating that the extra revenue could be put towards several problematic issues and increase activity in the markets.

These thoughts are well-known by many in the poker community due to the number of players who have come from the business side and been successful in the world of poker. One of the top female players in the world, Kathy Liebert, graduated from college with a business and finance degree and worked with Dun & Bradstreet before embarking on a highly successful poker career. Phil Hellmuth and Howard Lederer are a couple of players who have been able to parlay their business acumen beyond poker.

Perhaps the success of not only the “Old Guard” of the poker world, but also its “Young Guns” is best explained by Brandon Adams, who teaches behavioral finance at Harvard University’s Department of Economics. In the article in the Ledger, Adams explains, “They’ve essentially been the survivors in the system, a very difficult system where 95 percent of people lose money. Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world.”

UIGEA Regulations Officially Delayed Six Months

Online poker players in the United States have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. On Friday, CNBC and the Associated Press confirmed that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had granted requests to delay the mandatory compliance date of the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by six months to June 1st, 2010.

Word of a potential delay first broke on Wednesday from Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) Executive Director Joe Brennan. However, no official comment had been handed down from Geithner, Bernanke, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), or the office of Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Around 12:15pm ET on Friday, cable station CNBC ran a segment touting the successful six-month delay and an Associated Press article had hit cyberspace 15 minutes earlier.

The six-month delay will take the internet gambling industry to June 1st, 2010. In the interim, the theory goes that sensible legislation governing the industry in the United States will be passed. Frank introduced HR 2267 back in May. The bill, which has attracted 63 co-sponsors, establishes a full licensing and regulatory framework for online gaming outfits to solicit U.S. customers.

An Associated Press article sourced both the Treasury and Federal Reserve as saying that the UIGEA’s regulations would indeed be pushed off until mid-2010. The news service explained, “The delayed rules would curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. The financial industry complained that the new rules would be difficult to enforce because they did not offer a clear definition of what constitutes internet gambling.” Since the UIGEA was approved in 2006, a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stated that the legality of internet gambling may depend on state law, similar to the way that the brick-and-mortar version is governed.

Next Thursday, December 3rd, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing discussing the merits of HR 2266 and HR 2267. The former bill delays mandatory industry compliance with the UIGEA regulations by one year to December 1st, 2010. Its relevance given Friday’s confirmation that the regulations would be pushed back six months is up in the air. The hearing kicks off at 10:00am ET in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses for the informational hearing have not yet been announced and the proceedings can be followed via a live webcast accessible from the Committee’s website.

Potential overblocking by credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard led the PPA, two horse racing organizations, and members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation to petition Geithner and Bernanke, urging that the regulations of the UIGEA be shuttled back to December 1st of next year. PPA Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily, “Many believe what you’ll see is overblocking of legitimate transactions. It’s not a good thing for players. It won’t just affect poker; it’ll affect horse racing, lotteries, and other online entities.”

Around 1:00pm ET, the PPA confirmed the news. The organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release, “The PPA is extremely pleased with the decision by the Federal Reserve and Treasury to grant the six month extension. This is a great victory for poker, but an even greater victory for advocates of good and fair public policy.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news and events from Capitol Hill.

WSOP Main Event Runner-Up Darvin Moon to be Featured During Patriots/Saints Game

On Monday night, Week 12 of the National Football League (NFL) will conclude with the 7-3 New England Patriots visiting Louisiana to take on the undefeated New Orleans Saints. Featured during the game will be 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30pm ET and the contest will air on cable station ESPN in the United States. It was believed that Moon would be present for the on-field coin toss, when teams choose whether to kick or receive and which goal to defend. However, the rumor ultimately proved to be false. Instead, Moon will be present in the Saints locker room during pre-game festivities and will be recognized on both ESPN as well as the Superdome’s massive screen. The stadium holds 70,000 rabid fans and is completely sold out for the primetime contest.

The game marks one of two Monday night tilts for the Saints this season. The club defeated the division rival Atlanta Falcons earlier this month 35-27 in front of a national viewing audience. Greg Bensel, Saints Vice President of Communications for the NFL team, told Poker News Daily, “Darvin is a guy that we have followed while he made his miraculous run in the Main Event. He first came to our attention as the lone guy in the tournament that refused money so he could keep his Saints hat on. He is a typical Saints fan – passionate and in love with his team – and we are proud to call him a friend of our team and a true Saints fan.”

In the early morning hours of November 10th, Moon fell to Michigan pro Joe Cada heads-up in the finale of the $10,000 buy-in tournament. In the process, Cada became the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever at the tender age of 21, eclipsing Peter Eastgate’s standing record, set in 2008, by one year. Moon banked $5.2 million in the process and outlasted all but one player in the field of 6,494. He elected not to sign any logo deals for the final table or throughout the tournament, instead wearing a Saints hat and a Wheeling Island Hotel Casino shirt. Moon purportedly requested a one-off logo deal for $350,000, but could not reach an agreement with any company.

Moon will be seated in Bensel’s box during the game. The Maryland logger has been discussing the event with the media for some time now and also claimed that the Saints granted him season tickets. The Saints have been a juggernaut on offense this year, reminiscent of Moon’s run down the stretch in the Main Event. The club has scored 30 points in all but three games this season and bested the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week by 31 points. Quarterback Drew Brees, a Purdue product, is sixth in the NFL in passing yards with 2,746 and first in touchdowns with 22. He was the first quarterback taken in many fantasy football leagues this season coming off a career best 34 touchdown performance in 2008; he’s on pace for 35 this year.

Monday Night Football airs on ESPN, the same station that owns the broadcast rights to the WSOP. The longtime football staple formerly aired on ABC before making the move to its sister station, ESPN; Disney owns both. ESPN formerly carried Sunday Night Football, which now makes its home on NBC.

We look forward to seeing Moon on Monday night. Are you ready for some football?

CNBC Closing Bell Tackles Internet Gambling

The Global Gaming Expo is currently unfolding from Las Vegas and, as part of its coverage of the event, CNBC’s “Closing Bell” aired a four-minute segment entitled, “Odds Favor Online Gambling?”

Two industry experts joined CNBC “Closing Bell” host Melissa Francis on Thursday, Andrew Parmentire of Height Analytics and David Katz, an Oppenheimer gaming analyst. The former began the discussion, which did not take in a debate form, but rather featured both parties agreeing that legalized internet gambling in the United States is inevitable. Parmentire explained, “Barney Frank has put a bill out there and the stars are lining up in a lot of ways. Harrah’s has shown that they have an online strategy, Congress and states are in desperate need for money, and $50 billion can offset a lot of social programs that Democrats are pushing these days.” The proposed health care initiative, for example, could come with a price tag approaching $1 trillion.

Katz told CNBC viewers, “Gambling in the U.S. has become a far more acceptable consumer product than it was five or ten years ago. That said, we really are much more focused on the publicly traded companies and that would be the brick-and-mortars like Harrah’s as well as the game providers and the technology companies that support those industries.” Katz added that Harrah’s has become a major proponent of licensing online gaming. The Las Vegas-based private company recently launched Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment (HIE), based on Montreal, to oversee its online brand, with former Party Gaming CEO Mitch Garber as its lead figure.

Harrah’s inked an agreement with 888, the parent company of Pacific Poker, to fill its online gaming needs. 888 is a publicly traded company in London, where it can be found under the same three-number acronym. Katz explained that with casinos slowly reaching their limits in the live space, the switch to the Web is inevitable: “If you go to the Bellagio, they have a couple of hundred seats to sit in, so there’s a physical constraint. If you look at the number of states out there that are considering legalizing gaming, they’re going down every year. There’s a finite opportunity for the brick-and-mortar guys to expand in the United States and at some point, they have to start thinking globally.”

The CNBC spot occurred about two weeks prior to December 1st, the date by which the financial services industry in the United States must fall into line with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the industry’s main lobbying voice, issued a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to postpone the date by one year while effective legislation can be crafted. However, the two government officials have not yet responded.

The UIGEA was passed during the waning moments of the 2006 Congressional session at the direction of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (D-TN). It was approved by a 3:1 margin in the House of Representatives and by unanimous consent in the Senate after being attached to the SAFE Port Act. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the UIGEA did not in and of itself make any sort of internet gambling activity illegal. Instead, the legality of an online activity depends on a player’s jurisdiction. Parmentire candidly explained, “There is a lot of anger as to how this happened in 2006.” The PPA has expanded its membership from 50,000 in 2006 to over 1.2 million today.

Concurrently with the Global Gaming Expo, 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada, who represents the online poker room PokerStars, has spread goodwill by appearing on mainstream outlets like the “Late Show with David Letterman,” ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” and USA Today. Cada, an online poker pro, became the youngest winner of the $10,000 buy-in tournament ever at age 21, breaking Peter Eastgate’s record of 22 years-old set in 2008.

Live Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge Kicks Off in London

Tuesday marks the beginning of the live version of the Tom “durrrr” Dwan Million Dollar Challenge, which is unfolding in London. The festivities will see Dwan battle Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Sammy “Any Two” George, and Marcelo “luckexpress” Marigliano.

The match’s format is simplistic. Dwan will take on each opponent across 500 hands of No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. The series has a buy-in of $500,000 and neither player is permitted to leave the table until they are broke or the requisite number of hands has been played. The price of poker is $500/$1,000.

Eddie Hearn, who is organizing the gala on behalf of Matchroom Sport, commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “The stage is set for Tom to make history in London this week. The opponents are ready. Tom Dwan is the biggest draw in poker and to have a TV show in his name at such a young age shows the commercial power of the man. Poker is changing and we are delighted to be at its cutting edge.”

Tuesday’s action will see Dwan tangle with George in No Limit Hold’em. Dwan will then return on Wednesday to face Marigliano, also in No Limit Hold’em. The final match of the week occurs on Thursday, with Sahamies electing to play Dwan in Pot Limit Omaha. The action runs from 2:00pm to 2:00am daily at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair. The gala will be filmed for television and can be seen on Sky Sports next year in the U.K. It is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, which recently signed Dwan to its stable of sponsored pros.

On the prospects of facing one of the most hyper-aggressive players in the game today, Sahamies told Matchroom Sport, “I am always excited to play my good friend Tom. He is one of the best Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha players in the world and when I heard about the challenge, I couldn‘t wait to sign up. With the gambling, the side-bets, the partying, and the drinking in London, this is going to be a whole lot of fun.” Dwan issued a challenge to Swedish online poker player Isildur1 to take on the American in London, but, as of the time of writing, Isildur1 has not yet obliged.

The live Durrrr Challenge was originally scheduled for two months ago following the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule in London. However, Dwan reached the semi-finals of the Poker Million, creating a scheduling conflict. Las Vegas was then brought up as a possible site for the competition before Hearn and company settled on mid-November in London. Dwan finished seventh in Heat 3 of the PartyPoker World Open last month and took ninth in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in March for an even $25,000.

Last week, Dwan was in Downtown Las Vegas filming the sixth season of the GSN poker franchise “High Stakes Poker” at the Golden Nugget. The series, which will air in February, was also slated to feature George, who wound up not participating. Those facing off on the sixth cycle of the popular cash game program include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Dennis Phillips, and Lex Veldhuis.

The online version of the Durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Patrik Antonius has come to a screeching halt as a result of Dwan’s hectic schedule. After 27,185 hands, Dwan leads by $779,000. If the youngster is up by at least $1 at the conclusion of 50,000, Antonius will owe $500,000. If Antonius is up by at least $1, Dwan will pay $1.5 million. In either case, the victor keeps the spoils of the 50,000 hands.

Shark Out of Water Poker Movie Released

Over the weekend, a brand new poker movie debuted, “Shark Out of Water.” The film, which stars Matty Finochio and Artine Brown, also features poker pros Brad Booth and Ultimate Bet front man Phil Hellmuth.

“Shark Out of Water” is a Made in the Shade and Strangeways production showing the ups and downs of professional poker life. Producer Andrew Halliwell told Poker News Daily how the flick came to fruition: “The director and I worked on a small project before this, a television pilot. He approached me with a script he had written. He’s an avid player and he wrote a script for a short film and asked if I would produce it. I gave it a read and we went to work on it. That was two years ago.”

“Shark Out of Water” was nominated for Leo Awards for Best Short Drama, Best Direction, Best Performance, and Best Musical Score. It weighs in at 18 minutes and its DVD is available for purchase via Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and PayPal for $9.95. It will ultimately be released through iTunes to ensure wider distribution, but is currently only available through the “Shark Out of Water” website.

In the movie’s trailer, Hellmuth, clad in Ultimate Bet attire, is seated next to Brown. Upon seeing his opponent’s shark card protector that looks like a keepsake Humberto Brenes would use, Hellmuth inquires, “That’s a nice shark you have there. Is that what you are, a shark?” According to Halliwell, Booth sucks out in a hand against one of the protagonists and Hellmuth gives the viewing audience a top-tier “Poker Brat” moment.

Hellmuth requested a fee to appear in “Shark Out of Water” and his part of the movie was recorded in a casino in Vancouver. Halliwell recalled, “Phil Hellmuth was in town to do an event with Annie Duke. We sent a taxi to bring him to a local casino. After we finished shooting his scenes, we got one of our directors (Juan Riedinger) to play him heads-up for a fee. You have to watch the DVD’s bonus features to find out what happened.” Hellmuth is the all-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner with 11, one more than Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan. His last piece of hardware came in 2007 in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event.

On Finochio’s and Brown’s performances in the film, Halliwell noted, “They brought the realism of poker to life. It’s a double-edge sword and that’s what we were trying to convey with the film. A lot of people enjoy the game and have no problems, while others get too deep.” The 50-second trailer available on the movie’s official website includes such memorable quotes as “I guess sometimes luck comes into play” and “I’m having a bad run. It happens.”

“Shark Out of Water” was an Official Selection at the Miami Short Film Festival, the Edmonton International Film Festival, the Tacoma Film Festival, the Mississauga Independent Film Festival, and the Nevada City Film Festival. Despite its 18-minute runtime, the movie’s bonus features add a considerable amount of content. Its website explains, “The DVD is jam-packed with bonus features which include behind-the-scenes footage of ‘Yukon’ Brad Booth and Phil Hellmuth.”

“Shark Out of Water” isn’t Hellmuth’s first gander onto the silver screen. The pro also appeared in “All In,” Woody Harrelson’s “The Grand,” and the Eric Bana classic “Lucky You.” He could be spotted on the NBC reality franchise “Celebrity Apprentice” earlier this year supporting Duke and has also appeared on a variety of poker television programming including NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.”

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.

Erik Seidel Appears on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm

Normally, poker players are seen on television only within their element, in a poker tournament or cash game. Recently, however, a top pro took the time to appear on one of the most popular programs on cable television.

In last Sunday’s episode of the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” entitled “Officer Krupke,” Erik Seidel appeared in a non-speaking role on the show. Seidel was seated behind “Curb” star and creator Larry David and his on-screen wife, Cheryl Hines, as the couple dined in a restaurant. David and Hines discussed her auditioning for a role on the “Seinfeld” reunion, which has been a prominent part of this season’s storyline. Seidel’s prominence in the shot – he is framed by both David and Hines as they perform the scene – has led many to discuss how he got on the program.

On the poker forum TwoPlusTwo, some answers are given on how Seidel got his “moment in the sun.” A tweet from Seidel himself that was posted on the site admits, “Yes, that was my ugly mug on Curb. From a charity auction, I’m a huge fan of the show.” Also noted in the discussion on TwoPlusTwo were the appearance of actor/poker player Ben Affleck and that Daniel Negreanu will have a spin on another HBO program, “Entourage,” also because of a charitable cause.

Seidel’s charitable actions have been quite apparent over the past year. When poker pro and friend Annie Duke battled her way to the final two on the past season of the NBC reality series “Celebrity Apprentice,” Seidel was prominent in several of the tasks. Not only did he appear during the final episode pitting Duke against eventual winner Joan Rivers, but Seidel also contributed to one of the early tasks on the program. In that episode, Seidel was among several poker players that donated to Duke’s cupcake drive. Seidel purchased one of the cupcakes created by Duke’s Athena teammates for $5,000, helping the team to victory.

The latest sighting of Seidel on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” continues a long-running theme of poker players appearing in mainstream television, movies, and magazines. In addition to Duke’s “Celebrity Apprentice” appearance this year, the team of Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho on the current run of “The Amazing Race” has drawn attention to poker personalities. After battling valiantly through several difficult physical stunts, the duo was eliminated two weeks ago, finishing in sixth place on the Emmy Award-winning program.

Negreanu has been able to parlay his poker stardom into a cameo role in one of the top films of this year, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” where he played poker against the character Gambit. Fellow poker players Scotty Nguyen, Jennifer Harman, and Phil Hellmuth joined Negreanu in the recent “Body Issue” of “ESPN: The Magazine.” In addition, popular recent poker films and television series such as “The Grand,” “Lucky You,” and the highly controversial ESPN series “Tilt” have featured some of the biggest names in the game such as Doyle Brunson and Antonio Esfandiari.

It is good to see poker players such as Seidel in an arena outside of the poker table and even better that Seidel was able to parlay his appearance on the program into a charitable cause. The “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode with Seidel appears nine more times between now and November 15th, so there are plenty of opportunities for poker fans to check out his turn on one of the most popular programs on cable television.

Vanessa Rousso to Appear On E!’s Bank of Hollywood

This past month, rumors were flying that Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso was going to be the new co-host of the GSN poker show “High Stakes Poker.”  While that TV gig ultimately went to Kara Scott, poker fans and others will be seeing Rousso’s face on their screens in the very near future, as she will be a member of the panel of judge’s on the new E! reality game show “Bank of Hollywood.”

Rousso broke the news of her involvement on her Twitter feed earlier this week and a write-up on the new show in the Hollywood Reporter confirmed that she would be a part of the Ryan Seacrest-produced show.  Joining Rousso on the judging panel are Candy Spelling, Wilhemina Models President Sean Patterson, and Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton.

The basic premise of the show rings similar to the NBC vehicle “Shark Tank,” but instead of business proposals, contestants come to the judges with more personal matters.  “Bank of Hollywood” allows contestants to ask the celebrity panel for money for a variety of causes ranging from charity to personal gain.  Participants in the upcoming show will be pleading for money for everything from an engagement ring for their fiancée to funds for charity.  If the judges feel the cause is worthwhile, they will award the contestant with at least $2,000 from their own pockets.

Seacrest elaborated on the show to the Hollywood Reporter: “The idea’s simple. We are giving away tons of money to everyday people to alleviate the stress of today’s climate.”  E! Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Berger elaborated on Seacrest’s thoughts: “We’re giving real people the opportunity to garner life-changing sums of money and, at the same time, fulfilling our judges’ desire to make a difference in the lives of others – one person at a time.”

The eight-episode series will be hosted by comedian Bryan Callen, who has also appeared on shows like “Sex and the City,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Entourage.”  The show is scheduled to premiere at 10:00pm ET on December 14th.

This is just the latest TV appearance for Rousso, who keeps developing an increasingly higher profile both inside and outside of the poker world.  This past spring, she signed on as a spokesperson for GoDaddy.com and appeared in a PokerStars-sponsored spread in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.  Rousso was also heavily featured on NBC’s 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, where she finished as the runner-up to Huck Seed.

2009 has been a landmark year for Rousso on the tournament scene as well.  In addition to her showing in the Heads-Up event, she also had a deep run at the Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi in February, a win at the European Poker Tour High Roller event in Monte Carlo in May, and four cashes at this summer’s World Series of Poker.  She married longtime boyfriend Chad Brown this past spring.

“Bank of Hollywood” is the latest E! reality vehicle from Ryan Seacrest Productions. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “Denis Richards: It’s Complicated,” and the recent “Leave it to Lamas” are just a few of the E! shows currently on the network’s lineup that are produced under the Seacrest banner.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Cast Released, Kara Scott Confirmed as Co-Host

In a press release distributed by cable station GSN on Thursday, Kara Scott was confirmed to be the new co-host of “High Stakes Poker,” replacing A.J. Benza. In addition, a list of 17 players was revealed.

Scott replaced Benza, who had flanked “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” announcing booth for the first five seasons. Scott’s role will not be play-by-play; instead, the television personality and expert poker player will “report from the High Stakes Poker suite, interviewing poker players about poker strategy, big hands, and the table dynamics,” according to network officials. The show will take on the same feel as NBC’s “Poker After Dark” for its sixth season. The two franchises are produced by the same company, Poker PROductions.

Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” will begin airing on Valentine’s Day – Sunday, February 14th, 2010 – at 8:00pm ET. Encore presentations will air at 11:00pm ET and 2:00am ET on Sunday nights, meaning that poker fans have three chances to catch new episodes every week. Each of its contestants coughed up $200,000 of their own money as a minimum buy-in.

Five players are making their first appearance on “High Stakes Poker,” including Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. The youngster has been on a tear on the live poker circuit despite only weighing in at 21 years of age. Timoshenko was born in the Ukraine and won the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million. In September, Timoshenko took down the Main Event of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for another $1.7 million and is a former winner of the Asian Poker Tour’s (APT) Macau feature tournament.

Also making his debut on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” is Dennis Phillips, who gained notoriety by making back-to-back deep runs in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Last year, Phillips finished third in the $10,000 buy-in gala for $4.5 million after entering the final table as the chip leader. Phillips came armed to the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio with a throng of followers donning red St. Louis Cardinals baseball caps and white button up shirts. This year, Phillips finished 45th for $178,000 after being sent to the rails when an opponent made a flush with A-K suited; Phillips also held A-K.

High-stakes cash game player Sammy George will be right at home in the Golden Nugget when filming of the GSN poker franchise kicks off next week. George, who has earned the nickname “Any Two,” was scheduled to face off against Tom Dwan in the live version of the Durrrr Challenge in London back in September. However, the festivities never took place, although organizer Eddie Hearn noted that the mano-a-mano live contest may occur in December in Las Vegas. Dwan will take to the felts once again as part of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 after making his debut last season.

Returning to “High Stakes Poker” after a two season hiatus is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who currently appears on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.” Ivey last appeared on the GSN series back in Season 3 and is seeking his third WSOP bracelet of 2009 when the Main Event resumes on Saturday from the Rio. Ivey has career tournament winnings in excess of $12 million and is the horse of many pros in this weekend’s Main Event final table.

Andreas Hoivold and Lex Veldhuis will both be appearing on “High Stakes Poker” for the first time during Season 6. Returning to the program are Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, and Daniel Negreanu. The season will once again be taped at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas from November 11th to 13th.

James Akenhead - Exclusive video interview (Poker After Dark Spoilers)

Ilari Sahamies loses a bet - has to take an icehockey team tattoo!

Poker players are known to make crazy bets. Ilari Sahamies is famous to be a huge HIFK (Helsingfors IF, a Finnish icehockey team) fan. Ilari and Heikki Paasonen, a famous Finnish TV host and poker player, were watching an icehockey game where they hooked a bet with a fan of the opposing team. Loser of the bet has to tattoo their team’s logo somewhere onto their body.

According to the official HIFK site the bet took place when JYP HT and HIFK were on 3-3 situation. Opposing team’s fan offered the tattoo bet to Heikki Paasonen and after a while he got Ilari Sahamies to take the bet as well.

Needless to say that JYP HT won the game 4-3.

So, on the next morning Sahamies and Paasonen proved to be men behind their words and went to Blue Dragon Tattoo Studio in Helsinki to take the tattoos. Sahamies took the HIFK logo onto his side while Paasonen took it on his caif.

Ilari Sahamies - Mr. “I bet on everything”

Source:HIFK.fi

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Ilari Sahamies loses a bet - has to take an icehockey team tattoo!

Face the Ace: Charles Campbell, Will Liberman One and Done

The Halloween installment of the NBC poker franchise “Face the Ace” saw two contestants go one and done. Savannah firefighter Charles Campbell and cell phone salesman Will Liberman both failed to win $40,000.

Campbell, whose initials affectionately earned him the nickname “CC,” donned a jacket that said, “Face the Ace? I am the Ace” on the back. Campbell selected the ace of spades and, desiring to face Mike Matusow, watched as Phil Gordon emerged. Each player received 20,000 in chips and blinds began at 200/400. The match saw small-ball poker played, as Campbell and Gordon both carefully guarded their chip stacks. In one hand, Campbell called pre-flop with pocket sevens and Gordon made it 2,400 with pocket eights. Campbell pushed it to 5,400 and Gordon shoved all-in for 17,400. Campbell tanked before electing to fold face up and Gordon commented, “That was a great laydown,” showing the higher pocket pair.

Campbell doubled through Gordon holding A-K, including the king of clubs, against K-10. With the studio audience of about two-dozen gathering in wait, the flop came J-2-A with two clubs. The turn was the queen of clubs, giving Gordon the nut straight, but another club on the river improved Campbell to a flush. However, the challenger would drop most of his chips back to the pro when his A-Q could not hold up against Gordon’s Q-10. Gordon flopped top pair on a 4-10-3 board and quickly pushed. Given the number of chips in the pot, Campbell called with ace-high. The board ran out 7-2, giving Gordon all but 400 of the 40,000 chips in play, or 99%.

Campbell doubled up from 400 to 800 before ultimately falling with J-7 to Gordon’s K-5 of diamonds. The board came 6-8-3-9-9 and Gordon earned $10,000 for his charity, PreventCancer.org. He agreed to place the grant to the organization in Campbell’s mother’s name, as she is a two-time cancer survivor. Host Steve Schirripa, of “The Sopranos” fame, applauded the gesture.

The second contestant to take to the “Face the Ace” stage in Las Vegas was Liberman, who hails from Atlanta after moving from Russia a decade ago. Liberman selected the ace of clubs and faced Erick Lindgren, who, like Gordon, was making his second appearance on the poker television show. Lindgren was the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year after earning his first bracelet in the $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event. He also took third in that year’s $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship for $781,000.

In a key hand, Lindgren made the call pre-flop with 7-4 of spades and Liberman raised to 1,200 with K-Q. Lindgren obliged and the flop came 6-7-Q, giving both players a pair. The action, however, went check-check to another seven on the turn, improving Lindgren to trips. Lindgren led out for 1,500 and Liberman called to see a king on the river. Liberman checked, Lindgren bet 3,800, and Liberman called with top two pair, shipping a pot of 13,000 to “E-Dog.”

In the match’s final encounter, Liberman called with 7-4 of spades hoping to get lucky with the same hand as Lindgren did and the pro checked his option with 10-8. The flop came J-8-2 with two spades and Liberman pushed for his last 3,500 in chips. Lindgren called and the turn and river blanked out. Lindgren earned $10,000 for his charity, giving the pros a sweep of the “Face the Ace” Full Tilt Poker qualifiers for the first time this season.

“Face the Ace” will return on Saturday, November 14th at 3:00pm ET on NBC. The series will then air one month later on December 14th, also at 3:00pm ET, and then on January 2nd at 2:30pm ET.

Shana Hiatt Will Not Be Next High Stakes Poker Host

Poker News Daily can independently confirm that former World Poker Tour (WPT) and “Poker After Dark” hostess Shana Hiatt will not reprise her role on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” Instead, it appears that Kara Scott will be signed.

According to Hiatt’s publicist, Creative Management Entertainment Group, the former WPT hostess will not join the cast of “High Stakes Poker.” Hiatt has been taking care of her one year-old child and traveling the world with her husband, Todd Garner. Hiatt was one of the original voices of the game for much of today’s poker playing population, joining Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten on Travel Channel broadcasts. Hiatt departed the WPT scene in 2005.

Hiatt formerly appeared on NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and “National Heads-Up Poker Championship.” Both are franchises of Poker PROductions, the Mori Eskandani-led outfit that also produces “High Stakes Poker.” Consequently, many in the industry believed that Hiatt would sit alongside former “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan in the Season 6 “High Stakes Poker” broadcast booth. Poker PROductions is in the midst of preparing the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for airing on cable station ESPN in early 2010.

Former host A.J. Benza, whose dismissal by GSN executives sparked a considerable amount of controversy, noted in a blog post that the next “High Stakes Poker” host would actually be a hostess. In a post authored by Kaplan on Friday, the ousted host explained, “I hope the chick they get to do some table interviews during the three-days of play at the Golden Nugget really, truly compliments and adds a great dose of comedy that was apparently lacking up in the booth manned by Gabe Kaplan. Does GSN realize they have apparently copied ‘Poker After Dark,’ the show that feels like a marriage between a Xanax and a Valium?”

On a Mediocre Poker Show podcast, Benza fingered Scott as his replacement. Scott is a sponsored PokerStars player and has taken on commentary duties for European Poker Tour (EPT) events. She finished in the top 250 in both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events and won the PartyPoker Sports Stars Challenge in early 2008 for £26,000. She is fresh off hosting the PokerStars.net Ante Up for Africa tournament that aired on CBS and was filmed during April’s EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final in Monaco.

Poker PROductions and GSN officials could not comment on who would be the next host of “High Stakes Poker” because contract negotiations are ongoing. A GSN representative told Poker News Daily, “We can’t announce the new co-host until his/her deal has been signed and finalized, which hasn’t happened yet.”

In threads on Full Contact Poker, site front man Daniel Negreanu, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, commented, “I like how a guy says he’s 99% sure it’s Vanessa [Rousso] when I’m actually 100% sure it’s not! It’s not Amanda [Leatherman] or Lacey [Jones] or Tiffany [Michelle] either. It’s not an actress either. I can tell you who it isn’t but can’t tell you who it is. Fun game for me!” Negreanu also reinforced that the next hostess is not Hiatt, Sabina Gadecki, Kimberly Lansing, or Jennifer Harman. Poker News Daily can also independently confirm that Leatherman will not be the considered, although she told us she’s love the opportunity.  PokerStars will sponsor “High Stakes Poker” for Season 6.

The show is set to begin filming its next cycle in November from Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the search for the next “High Stakes Poker” host.

Poker Community Reacts to 2 Months, $2 Million Finale

Season 1 of G4’s “2 Months, $2 Million” came to a close last week and the result was an outburst of chatter in the poker community regarding the innovative reality show. The cast landed well short of its $2 million goal, but the majority of viewers seem to be pleased with the overall product that G4 presented.

Jay “SEABEAST” Kinkade, a high-stakes tournament specialist from Australia, followed the series closely all the way through the season finale and was able to relate to the lives of the cast members as a fellow professional poker player. “I think the show did a great job of striking a difficult balance and as someone who has stayed in a house in Vegas two years in a row, it rings very true to my own experiences,” Kinkade explained. “I expected the show to suck and I think it’s awesome. I think all four guys came across great on TV.”

The main subject that has generated speculation since the season finale is whether G4 would bring along the same four members for a potential Season 2 or reach into the bag of high-stakes cash players for a new group. Online poker player “QuadSuited” gave his input on the matter: “Not that I wouldn’t like to see the same cast again in Season 2, but I would like to see at least three seasons a year with a different cast of players every season. I think it would be a great move for keeping a fresh interest in the show on a consistent and growing basis. That being said, I did enjoy this season, although I would have liked to see more poker.”

Some names being mentioned as possible replacements or full-time additions include Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger and Aaron “aejones” Jones, both of whom made cameos during the show’s first season. Lichtenberger gained fame following one episode when he sweet-talked a female into giving him her underwear in order to win a bet against members of the “2 Months, $2 Million” crew.

“I think Krantz (Jay Rosenkrantz), ansky (Dani Stern), and flawless (Brian Roberts) are all awesome,” said poker player “ryanaw19.” “The only person I’d change would be whitelime (Emil Patel); I would swap him for someone who plays higher stakes. It would give them a better shot at actually winning $2 million. I’d go for someone like luckychewy, who plays $25/50 and higher and grinds high-stakes tournaments… chewy would also bring a ton of laughter.”

TwoPlusTwo poster “ralef” enjoyed the show, but agrees that the team should focus on reaching its $2 million goal in Season 2. “The show works because the life of super successful online poker players is interesting and fun,” ralef commented. “Want to make next season better? It’s pretty easy: play bigger against bigger names and do absurd things with your money. Maybe if you don’t want to show poker all of the time, throw in a bunch of prop bets. Also, the drama of ‘Will they or will they not reach $2 million?’ disappeared pretty fast. For most of the season, it felt like ‘Can Krantz carry them to $2 million? No, he can’t.’ Everyone else was usually up or down $10,000 to $50,000… until the last two episodes. Even then, the results depended mainly on how Krantz did.”

An issue that became a concern for many viewers was the length of each episode. “2 Months, 2 Million” ran for 30 minutes, as compared to NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker“, which air for an hour. “Next season: longer episodes,” said TwoPlusTwo member “StraddleBet.” “Everything seemed so rushed.”

As of yet, there is no news regarding another season, but Poker News Daily will be there with any updates about the future of “2 Months, $2 Million.”

Annie Duke Recaps Aruba Poker Classic, Previews WSOP Main Event

Ultimate Bet’s Annie Duke, fresh off her trip to the annual Aruba Poker Classic, comments on the tournament, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table, and the latest cast list for “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Poker News Daily: You missed most of the Aruba Poker Classic last year to film the NBC reality series “Celebrity Apprentice.” Tell us about your trip this year.

Duke: I went into Aruba and was actually excited about playing. In the first two levels, I had aces seven times, kings twice, and queens twice, and I was out. I’d make a big re-raise and someone with 8-5 would call. That goes to show you when you have hands that good, you’ll end up with a huge stack or be out. I was sad because I was looking forward to playing in that tournament. I don’t think I’ve ever had that good of a run of cards, so I was sad to waste it.

PND: What did you do instead of playing in the Main Event in Aruba?

Duke: I ended up in a lot of meetings. I didn’t get to go out too much. At the opening night party, I’ve always managed to avoid getting thrown into the pool. It usually starts off with Phil Hellmuth offering people money to get thrown in. This year, a couple of UB pros came up to me and said they were going to throw me in the pool. I told them not to and they backed off, except for Joe Sebok, who threw me in. He was the first person to get me in the pool in my clothes in years. By the time the closing party came around, I was sick, so I asked people not to throw me in and they didn’t.

I scheduled one day on the back end of the trip where I knew everyone would be gone. I spent the whole day with my seven year-old and we decided to go tubing. She doesn’t like tubing, so [my boyfriend] Joe and I went and she stayed in the boat. The driver’s goal is to knock you off the tube, but Joe and I were in good shape. Finally, the driver began starting and stopping the boat to create turbulence and then pulled us over it. At that point, the tube was flipping over. Joe’s heel flew into my neck and snapped my head back. There was a progressive event of my lower jaw snapping into my upper jaw. We stopped and there was Annie sobbing in the water. The inside of my throat swelled up like I had a bad case of swollen glands. Joe said his only regret was that he didn’t do it on purpose.

PND: That’s quite a story. I notice you’re not playing in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago. Can you talk about the tournament’s extended registration policy, which allows players to buy in until halfway through Day 2?

Duke: It’s excruciating to play with the number of blinds they give you, so you definitely want to show up late. The problem is that I’m not sure you can be better than even equity if you do. The soft players in there – the satellite winners – are not waiting until Day 2 to play. You’re given the choice between saving time and losing equity or torturing yourself and picking up equity. I’m not sure there’s a right answer. I don’t want to miss out on soft money, but it’s hard to sit there and play.

PND: It appears that the cast for the third season of “Celebrity Apprentice” will not include a poker player. Is that a good move by NBC officials?

Duke: In the end, I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a poker player. I don’t know that tapping into that community again makes sense from a fundraising standpoint. On fundraising challenges, everyone conceded the fact that whatever team I was on would win. They might think that any poker player might be able to bring that to bear, so I’m not sure that creates any suspense for the show. In the finale, it was like they discounted the fact that I had raised so much more money than Joan Rivers. There wasn’t as much weight to it because people assumed that poker players would come through that way, which is amazing.

PND: The cast includes former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne. Who’s your horse?

Duke: You have to decide between competence and fame and competence versus who will make for good television. My recollection of Helen Robinson Peete is that she’s smart. On competence, she’d be a good choice. Carol Leifer also seems like she’d be competent. If I had to predict, I’d say that it will be Sharon versus Rod in the finale. I don’t have a lot of interest in watching it, but I might because I have friends who work on the show. I developed some close friendships while filming.

PND: What are your thoughts heading into the WSOP Main Event final table?

Duke: Ivey has about 5% of the chips in play and he’s definitely much better than the average bear, but anyone who gets there is playing well. It’s a weird final table because it’s so top-heavy. When it’s top-heavy, the chip averages and table play get screwed up. You have Darvin Moon and then two others close to him. What people have to remember is that Darvin only has a 30% chance of winning (since he has 30% of the chips in play) if he’s a par player, so 70% of the time, he won’t win.

PND: We understand that you’re going to be doing some radio commentary during the final table. How are you preparing for that?

Duke: In the beginning, I’ll be looking at how people deal with the fact that there’s this monster at the table. It’ll be interesting to see who’s panicking and who’s not. There’s no reason to panic. You have a lot of people with around the same number of chips and they’ll be equally afraid of each other. None of them are true short stacks and any of them can damage any other player besides Darvin. They can play relatively straightforward poker and not short-stack poker, so it’ll be interesting to see who knows that.

PND: Is it fair to draw a comparison to the 2006 WSOP Main Event, when Jamie Gold held a monstrous chip lead over the rest of the table?

Duke: There are definitely some similarities. What you saw is that the people who were patient got rewarded.

Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast May Not Feature Poker Players

In 2010, the third installment of the NBC reality franchise “Celebrity Apprentice” will hit television airwaves. The show, which featured comedian Joan Rivers best poker pro Annie Duke in the finale last time out, will likely not include a poker player this time around.

Ever since Duke finished as the runner-up to Rivers in May, the poker community has been abuzz that one of its own may appear in the third edition of the popular series. However, according to Huliq.com and the New York Post, the ensemble cast, which will likely once again pit men against women, does not appear to include a poker player. No official cast list has been released by NBC. The show is hosted by real estate mogul Donald Trump and raises money for charity.

Last season, Duke played for Refugees International, an organization that she worked closely with as part of her own charity, Ante Up for Africa. In the process, the poker community was instrumental in raising $730,000 for the charity. Poker players who made cameos throughout the season included Ultimate Bet front man Phil Hellmuth, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, 2009 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Erik Seidel, and Perry Friedman.

Embattled politician Rod Blagojevich headlines the “Celebrity Apprentice” cast in Season 3. His wife, Patty Blagojevich, appeared on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” when Rod was unable to attend due to ongoing legal action. Blagojevich is the former Governor of Illinois and was impeached in January for, among other misgivings, allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by current U.S. President Barack Obama.

Joining Blagojevich on the men’s team will be another controversial celebrity, former baseball great Darryl Strawberry, a member of the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and New York Yankees. Strawberry exited the league in 1999 and was the National League Rookie of the Year 16 years earlier. Chef Curtis Stone will join the “Celebrity Apprentice” cast, as will popular comedian Sinbad, whose credits include “A Different World” and “The Sinbad Show.” He has also appeared in movies such as “First Kid” and “Jingle All the Way.”

Former professional wrestler Bill Goldberg, who stormed onto World Championship Wrestling (WCW) scene with an undefeated streak in the late 1990s, will be a part of the new “Celebrity Apprentice” cast. Rounding out the men’s team is “Rock of Love” star Bret Michaels, who is also known for his work with the band Poison.

The women’s team features “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osborne, whose fellow judge on the show, Piers Morgan, was the winner of Season 1 of “Celebrity Apprentice.” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Time After Time” signer Cyndi Lauper will join the squad. Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders, who took down hardware in swimming in 1992, will also make her way to New York City to film “Celebrity Apprentice.” There, actress Holly Robinson Peete, wife of former NFL great Rodney Peete, will join her.

World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Maria Kanellis will also be a part of “Celebrity Apprentice,” as will comedian Carol Leifer, who has written scripts for hits like “Seinfeld” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” Finally, Selita Ebanks, a model, will round out the new cast.

The names of more cast members may be released, but for the meantime, it appears that the poker community will not be a part of the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice.” Over on CBS, Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, respectively, are competing as part of the Emmy Award winning reality series “Amazing Race.” The show airs at 8:00pm ET on Sundays and viewers will see the poker playing duo race around Dubai, United Arab Emirates on this week’s edition.

The Post reported that the “Celebrity Apprentice” cast was seen recording the opening credits in the Meatpacking District of New York City and that the show would begin airing in March.

Ultimate Bet Sponsors MMA Connected Television Program

Ultimate Bet’s relationship with the increasingly popular sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) continues to grow stronger, as the online poker site has secured title sponsorship of Rogers Sportsnet’s weekly sports show “MMA Connected” for another season.

“MMA Connected” launched in April 2009 and is hosted by esteemed MMA analyst Joe Ferraro. The magazine-style program previews upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fights and delivers all of the news from around the Octagon, including fighter profiles and interviews.

The “MMA Connected” title sponsorship will see UltimateBet.net receive exclusive exposure via in-program promotional spots during the telecast, on-air mentions by the program’s hosts, and high visibility for the brand with the company logo incorporated into the set design.

Ultimate Bet first dabbled in the sport earlier this year when it sponsored welterweight fighter Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann for a UFC match against Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit. The online poker site followed that up with a sponsorship agreement with the UFC, which saw the Ultimate Bet logo appear in the Octagon during UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada on April 18th.

Ultimate Bet’s latest online UFC promotion is giving one lucky poker player the chance to be in the audience and experience all of the action of UFC 106 in Las Vegas on November 21st. Players can qualify to win by registering and playing online poker at Ultimate Bet. Free qualifying tournaments will run daily on Ultimate Bet between October 19th and November 7th. The top 27 players from each daily qualifier will earn automatic entry into the November 8th UFC 106 Main Event, where the top prize is a pair of tickets to UFC 106 plus $2,000 for travel and accommodation. The promotion is only open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec.

The competition’s Main Event winner and their guest will hop a flight to the Mandalay Bay Events Center to watch Brock Lesnar defend his UFC title against the undefeated challenger Shane Carwin. Sharing the UFC 106 Main Event spotlight is Tito Ortiz, set to make a much-anticipated comeback bid against Forrest Griffin, who has stepped up as replacement for the injured Mark Coleman.

Ortiz, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, was recently a guest host on “MMA Connected,” as the 34-year-old discussed the top moments from his career and his opinions on the biggest stories around the UFC. He also reacted to various UFC fighters’ predictions about his upcoming return to the UFC. Ortiz was a former contestant on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

“MMA Connected Presented by UltimateBet.net” can be found on Monday nights on Rogers Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet.ca.

Poker Community Speculates on High Stakes Poker’s Next Host

With the news that A.J. Benza will not be returning for Season 6 of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” gossip waves have hit the poker community about who the next host of the highly popular cash game program will be.

Benza, who hosted “High Stakes Poker” for the show’s first five seasons, made an appearance on the “Miserable Men” show on Sirius Satellite Radio last month and claimed that he was being replaced by a female to join Gabe Kaplan in the commentary booth. He later confirmed in his blog that he was being dropped for a “chick” in the upcoming season.

“I hope you like the female they toss in front of you,” said Benza. “And I hope the repartee between she and Gabe works likes ours did.”

Several members of the TwoPlusTwo online poker forum were infuriated by the decision and put together a petition to bring Benza back to the show. At the same time, rumors involving the next host have been circling the discussion boards and several names are being thrown around.

PokerStars will be the new sponsor of the show for Season 6, so early rumors of the new host included PokerStars Team Pro members Vanessa Rousso and Vicky Coren. Rousso, however, denied any likelihood of that happening, telling Poker News Daily, “I’m not sure where the rumor started, but I’m not the new co-host of HSP.”

Fellow PokerStars Team Pro member Daniel Negreanu commented on the subject yesterday at FullContactPoker: “Guess who KNOWS the answer to this? YES ME!!!! LOL. Relax people, Gabe will be doing the commentary alone, but there will be a female addition to the crew, not for strategy discussion, and you all know her and everyone likes her.”

Several poker buffs feel that former World Poker Tour (WPT) host Shana Hiatt is the favorite for the job. Hiatt worked for three seasons on the WPT and also hosted NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and “National Heads Up Poker Championship.” An avid poker enthusiast, Hiatt left the show in 2008 due to pregnancy.

One particular poster on TwoPlusTwo went into depth in their logic behind GSN’s potential decision to hire Hiatt: “From Negreanu’s comments it looks like they’re bringing in the PAD format, a hostess on the floor with only Gabe in the commentary booth. This sounds like an improvement to me. Gabe’s been the voice of the show all along, he’s funny by himself and he can explain things in layman terms for the novices… I’m going to guess that the host is Shana. She’s had the baby, Leeann (Tweeden) has settled on Poker After Dark, so (producer Mori Eskandani) is giving her HSP.

Poster “blink20″ agreed with his assessment: “If they booted (Benza) and somehow get Shana Hiatt on this show, then it would be the greatest move ever! SHANA FTW one time!”

Another female being mentioned as a possible replacement is television personality, journalist, and poker pro Kara Scott. Her selection would make sense on multiple levels, as Scott worked with PokerStars as a host for the European Poker Tour (EPT) in 2007 and 2008. More recently, Scott hosted the PokerStars Ante Up for Africa event, which aired on CBS earlier this month. She is also an accomplished professional at the tables. She was the only woman who cashed in both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, taking 104th in 2008 and 238th in 2009. She also finished second at the 2009 Irish Open, winning €312,600.

Many in the online poker community feel as though Scott would be perfect for the position, filling both the “eye candy” and poker knowledge requirements that regular viewers are looking for.

Other potential fill-ins being mentioned include WPT host Amanda Leatherman, model and Absolute Poker spokesperson Lacey Jones, and actress and poker player Shannon Elizabeth.

GSN is expected to make an official announcement by Friday. Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” is scheduled to begin filming in November and will air in February.

Doyle Brunson Blasts Face the Ace, Million Dollar Challenge

In a recent blog entry that appeared on DoylesRoom.com, site namesake Doyle Brunson blasted two poker franchises to hit television airwaves in recent months: NBC’s “Face the Ace” and FOX’s “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.”

As talk show host Jim Rome would say, any time a person begins a sentence with “No disrespect intended,” someone is going to be disrespected. On the two poker game shows, which air on network television stations on weekend afternoons, Brunson commented, “No disrespect intended, but these poker shows are awful. Full Tilt’s ‘Face the Ace’ and Poker Stars ‘Million Dollar Challenge’ are so bad, it’s embarrassing. There is no skill involved in either show and I can’t imagine getting an audience that will watch the shows.” Both series saw online qualifiers take to the felts to play heads-up against heralded poker pros.

“Face the Ace” began airing on August 1st and originally claimed the 9:00pm ET hour on Saturday night. It aired for two episodes in prime time before a planned decision to move the poker franchise to afternoons on the weekend day. The first episode of the Steve Schrippa-hosted show featured Don Topel taking home $200,000, but it mustered just a 0.4 rating with a 2 share, which meant that only 1.59 million viewers had tuned in. Its competition included “America’s Most Wanted” and the movie “Red Eye,” which aired on ABC.

One week later on August 8th, Topel lost the $1 million match to Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith and walked away with nothing. The news was equally grim for NBC, which saw the second installment of “Face the Ace” generate a 0.3 rating with a 1 share, the equivalent of 1.46 million viewers age 18 to 49. “Face the Ace” airs once per month on the network, with future one-hour episodes scheduled to be shown on October 31st, November 14th, December 12th, and January 2nd. NBC also broadcasts the National Heads-Up Poker Championship as well as “Poker After Dark,” which airs Monday to Saturday at 2:05am ET.

The “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” premiered last Sunday following NFL on FOX coverage, or around 4:30pm ET in most markets. Daniel Negreanu serves as the face of the franchise, helping contestants battle PokerStars-sponsored sports figures and pros in the first two rounds. Then, Negreanu transitions from friend to foe, taking contestants on heads-up in the third round with $100,000 on the line. All $100,000 winners advance to the Table of Champions, whose victor faces Negreanu for $1 million. Last week, Father Andrew Trapp earned $100,000 after defeating former NBA star John Salley and professional poker player Vanessa Rousso.

“Million Dollar Challenge” returns this Sunday following the NFL on FOX. Then, like “Face the Ace,” it will air once per month, with November 22nd, December 13th, and December 27th serving as its remaining dates. “Face the Ace” and “Million Dollar Challenge” exclusively feature Full Tilt and PokerStars pros, respectively.

Brunson also commented on the recent departure of A.J. Benza from GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” On the televised ring game series, Brunson explained in his blog, “As I travel around, the High Stakes [Poker] cash games are the ones all the fans talk about and I agree with them that they are by far the most interesting. Speaking of that, I read where A.J. Benza is being replaced on GSN’s High Stakes Poker show. That’s too bad, I like A.J.’s subtle sense of humor. Vanessa Rousso is named as his likely replacement. I’m pro-Vanessa so I think she will fit in nicely with the old comic Gabe Kaplan.” Rousso told Poker News Daily that she is not the next host of “High Stakes Poker.” To clear the air, GSN is scheduled to make an announcement by the end of the week.

Next High Stakes Poker Host is Not Vanessa Rousso

Poker News Daily can confirm that Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso will not be the next co-host of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” The revelation comes on the heels of the news that longtime host A.J. Benza will not return for Season 6.

A cryptic message posted on Rousso’s Twitter feed set the industry ablaze with rumor that she would be the next host of “High Stakes Poker” alongside Gabe Kaplan. The entry, which was posted last Tuesday, read, “PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge is wrappppped! Woot! Meetings today about another TV project, will keep you all posted.” Rousso is one of four PokerStars pros to compete on the FOX “Million Dollar Challenge” franchise, joining Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, and the show’s front man, Daniel Negreanu. The show debuted following the NFL on FOX last Sunday.

When prompted for comment on whether she would make her GSN debut when “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 begins airing in February, Rousso told Poker News Daily via e-mail, “I’m not sure where the rumor started but I’m not the new co-host of HSP.” Rousso was the runner-up in the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which aired on NBC, falling to Huck Seed in the finals. That event saw the 26 year-old poker whiz defeat Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu, and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier en route to the final pairing.

Just before the National Heads-Up Poker Championship began, Rousso inked an agreement to become the next Go Daddy Girl. She joined a star-studded lineup of faces that represent the domain name reseller, including Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, and Candice Michelle. Rousso has a wealth of poker experience under her belt, including final table bubbles in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship during Season IV and the Southern Poker Championship during Season VII; those earned her a combined $342,000.

In a recent blog entry posted on DoylesRoom.com, site namesake Doyle Brunson commented on the future host of “High Stakes Poker,” saying, “Vanessa Rousso is named as [A.J. Benza’s] likely replacement. I’m pro-Vanessa so I think she will fit in nicely with the old comic Gabe Kaplan.” Benza reported that the next host of “High Stakes Poker” would be female. Other rumored replacements include Kara Scott, Shana Hiatt, and Leeann Tweeden.

GSN officials expect to release more information on Friday as to the future co-host of “High Stakes Poker.” The cash game is scheduled to begin filming in November from Las Vegas.

High Stakes Poker Axes AJ Benza

According to his personal blog, A.J. Benza revealed that GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” will return for Season 6 featuring Gabe Kaplan and a female co-host. New episodes will begin airing in February on the popular cable station.

A flood of support from fans of Benza follows his High Stakes Poker blog entry, which was published on Sunday. In it, he noted that on a conference call last week, GSN executives Barry Nugent and David Shiff hinted that Benza might be replaced by a female co-host. Benza, as expected, did not take the news lightly, telling the two GSN “suits” on the call, “If you got the best pizza in town for 5 seasons, why try and add licorice to it?” The fifth cycle of “High Stakes Poker” began airing in March and featured a veritable “who’s who” of the poker world, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, and newcomers Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.

Facing the possibility of being replaced, Benza reminded GSN officials that he publicizes the show on his own watch “because GSN has never set up not even as much as a radio interview for me.” Benza also asked if Nugent and Shiff were fathers, which the former host explained in his blog entry that they were. He continued, “So surely they would know the hardships of losing a top-rated gig while raising little children in the process. (Oh and did I mention that I have a son who is a Freshman in college). So armed with my track record on giving GSN 5 seasons of a No. 1 rated show, I decided to hit them in the spot where it’s supposed to make a father go mush.”

Benza told Nugent and Shiff that he would take a pay cut to remain the host of Season 6 of the popular poker cash game show, which survived a management change at GSN that resulted in the network declining to pick up its option to carry Season 7 of the World Poker Tour (WPT). Consequently, WPT officials were left scrambling to find a new television partner in the middle of 2008 before finally settling on Fox Sports Net, which will also air the eighth season of the WPT. Benza lamented, “I just want to put it out there y’all. This is the kind of shit that goes on in Hollywood.”

On his future, Benza told readers that he will have a face to face meeting with Nugent: “I will have my meeting with Nugent - and I promise I won’t stab him with a butter knife. He and I go way back to my E! days, and honestly, he’s a good guy.” As to who will sit alongside Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” booth this season, Benza hinted, “I hope you like the female they toss in front of you. And I hope the repartee between she and Gabe works likes ours did.”

As expected, the online poker forums have been buzzing with the news that Benza may soon find his way out of “High Stakes Poker,” although no official announcement has come down from GSN. Speculation on Benza’s replacement has ranged from Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso to ESPN announcer Norman Chad’s crush Kara Scott. Despite not necessarily footing the bill as “eye candy,” posters on the TwoPlusTwo forum clamored that Ali Nejad, who hosts “Poker After Dark” and the “National Heads-Up Poker Championship” on NBC, should be considered.

On October 6th, Rousso posted a curious Twitter entry that read, “PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge is wrappppped! Woot! Meetings today about another TV project, will keep you all posted.” Just before the start of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas in March, Rousso inked an agreement to become the newest GoDaddy Girl, joining Danica Patrick, Anna Rawson, Marina Orlova, and original site symbol Candice Michelle.

We’ll keep you posted right here on Poker News Daily.

Nevada Gaming Revenues Fall for 20th Straight Month

According to figures released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, statewide casino revenue, or “win,” fell 9.32% in August of 2009 compared to August of 2008. The total gaming win reported was $847.0 million, representing the 20th straight month of decline. Read the Board’s August revenue report.

Last year, Nevada casino licensees hauled in a gaming win of $934.1 million. In Clark County, which includes the famed Las Vegas Strip, Downtown Las Vegas, Laughlin, Boulder, and Mesquite, gaming win in August was $708.1 million, down 6.73% year over year. On the Strip, which includes a bevy of poker-friendly gaming establishments like the Bellagio and Venetian, revenues were $449.5 million in August, off 9.00% from the same period in 2008. In Downtown Las Vegas, which includes the Golden Nugget, home of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and NBC’s “Face the Ace,” revenues were $41.9 million. That total represented a decline of 3.87% year over year.

The news wasn’t so grim in North Las Vegas or the Boulder Strip, where revenues were up in August of 2009 in comparison to August of 2008. In the former, gaming win came in at $22.1 million, up 21.93% year over year. In Boulder, a similar increase occurred, as revenues of $63.4 million represented a 21.53% rise over the $52.2 million posted last August. North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip were the only two locales to post revenue gains year over year. In Laughlin, revenues sank 13.85% in August to $38.1 million, while Mesquite saw its gaming win tumble 21.59% to $8.5 million.

In Washoe County, which includes Reno, Sparks, and North Lake Tahoe, combined casino revenues were $73.9 million in August, a drop of 20.95% compared to the $93.4 million posted last year. In “The Biggest Little City in the World,” residents saw the influx of money from casino gamblers dive 21.19% in August to $53.6 million. In Sparks, revenues sank 19.66% to $11.5 million. Meanwhile, North Lake Tahoe casinos suffered a similar fate, as revenues of $3.4 million two months ago represented a 24.69% dip year over year. In South Lake Tahoe, revenues plummeted 28.92% in August from $30.9 million in 2008 to $21.9 million in 2009.

In Elko County, gaming win in August totaled $22.2 million, a sum that meant a fall of 14.98% year over year. In Wendover, revenues dipped 17.61% to $13.4 million in August. Rounding out the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s report was the Carson Valley Area, which includes Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and all other areas of Douglas County except South Lake Tahoe. That location saw its revenue slide 17.12% in August to $8.7 million.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board also reported fee collection figures for the month of September that are derived from revenues accrued by casinos in August. In September, the State raked in $49.6 million in fees, which equated to a slide of 9.03% year over year. Last September, the month before the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted from 10,800 to 8,400, fee collections totaled $54.6 million.

August marked the 20th straight month of casino gaming win in Nevada decreasing year over year. The last month that casinos posted a rise in revenue from one year to the next was December of 2007. Here are the results since then:

August, 2009: (9.32%)
July, 2009: (12.48%)
June, 2009: (13.82%)
May, 2009: (8.34%)
April, 2009: (14.07%)
March, 2009: (11.61%)
February, 2009: (18.12%)
January, 2009: (14.62%)
December, 2008: (18.94%)
November, 2008: (14.80%)
October, 2008: (22.33%)
September, 2008: (5.44%)
August, 2008: (8.10%)
July, 2008: (12.97%)
June, 2008: (1.11%)
May, 2008: (15.17%)
April, 2008: (5.05%)
March, 2008: (1.52%)
February, 2008: (3.93%)
January, 2008: (4.75%)

Hellmuth, Nguyen, Harman and Negreanu Nude

Annie Duke Comments on Ultimate Bet Scandal Findings

In an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily, “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up and Ultimate Bet pro Annie Duke discusses the findings of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), the Aruba Poker Classic, and Tiffany Michelle’s appearance on the CBS reality program “Amazing Race.”

Poker News Daily: Talk about the release of the screen names associated with the Ultimate Bet investigation.

Duke: I think that the release of the user names is nice. One of the main things was naming Russ Hamilton. That was probably the most gratifying part of the report. It’s good to come out and say who it was. It puts to rest any questions people might have. If the KGC is going to put that name out there, then he’s the one who masterminded it. That puts the nail in the coffin, which is a good nail to have. Someone who perpetrated something like that should be identified.

PND: Has there been any fallout from not naming the other 31 individuals who were potentially involved?

Duke: I know that in terms of the way it was executed, Russ had access to opening accounts. I think they’re not revealing the 31 names because the level of involvement is unclear. It looks like Russ was using other names to open accounts for cheating. Russ had so much access that it’s hard to say whether the other people were involved.

PND: What has been the reaction you’ve received to the KGC’s report?

Duke: I got some feedback on Twitter of people saying that the report’s release was great. I also had some people calling for the other 31 names. That was the main comment and it’s a tough call. Russ had complete access.

This summer at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), everyone was happy with how things had proceeded. There was a lot of money refunded and Ultimate Bet wasn’t trying to hide anything. People were asking me about the superuser list and my response was that they should write the KGC. It’s a big relief because that was the last piece of the puzzle and Ultimate Bet had to wait for the KGC. Everyone can see that Ultimate Bet wasn’t trying to hide or cover up anything. The present management wasn’t implicated and that’s important. Everyone understands that this management was a victim just like everyone else. This management refunded $22 million and they didn’t have to.

PND: What are you looking forward to the most in Aruba this year?

Duke: Being there the whole time. Last year, I was only there three days and it was all meetings because I had to pack it all in. I didn’t even get to enjoy anything. I can have some time this year to hang out with players, do water activities like tubing, and hang out at the pool. I’m bringing one of my kids and it’ll also be productive in terms of work. It’s funny because there’s also a poker tournament, but it seems like an afterthought.

PND: Does the Aruba Poker Classic lose any luster not being a part of an organized tournament series?

Duke: I don’t think so. In some ways, it gains something from that. I’m not sure right now that the World Poker Tour (WPT) seems to be that huge of a draw anyway. Aruba gets the same attendance as WPT tournaments. The difference is that the people are there because they want to be there, not because they’re just trying to get television coverage. I think it enhances the communal feel of it. That’s in some sense why Aruba feels like a more intimate experience than the Bahamas.

PND: Has there ever been any talk of the Aruba event becoming part of an organized series?

Duke: There’s no reason to worry about it because the attendance has been good. They have television opportunities if they wanted to air it. I sort of feel like if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s a beautifully run tournament and Matt Savage always does an amazing job. We’ll get between 400 and 600 players.

PND: Have you had a chance to check out “Face the Ace” on NBC? What are your thoughts on the show?

Duke: I watched the first episode and I don’t like it, but I think it could be fixed. My understanding is that they’ve changed things in the new episodes they’ve filmed. I’m not a huge fan of the host and I wish they used Ali Nejad in that role. It’s important to cast contestants and I understand why they can’t because they’re using online qualifiers, so there isn’t much you can do. Instead, you need to have a host that brings the contestants out. With the pros they’re using, some are good at getting players to talk and some aren’t. That’s another issue. When you get a contestant who isn’t gregarious and they’re paired with a pro who isn’t gregarious, it’s dead air. It’s all a learning experience, though. Full Tilt does some of the best poker programming in the industry.

PND: Will we see an Ultimate Bet version of “Face the Ace” anytime soon?

Duke: Phil Hellmuth would be very good television in those heads-up matches. I think moving out of their circle of pros might help Full Tilt and it wouldn’t hurt them. “Poker After Dark” has been a successful property for them and it features lots of people who aren’t Full Tilt pros. Phil Laak would be really good and there are others who are very big television people. It would help when you have an introverted contestant.

PND: Are you heading to WSOP Europe this year?

Duke: No. I am speaking at an ideas conference. It’s all about nurturing my intellectual pursuits. I’m talking about decision-making and ultimatums. I’m really excited about that and trying to get back to my economic roots. Ideas conferences are cool and feature some of the smartest people in the world.

PND: Are you looking forward to watching Tiffany Michelle on the new season of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race”?

Duke: She’s a fellow pro at Ultimate Bet and I want to support her. I’ll set my Tivo and will be rooting for her. It’s an exciting opportunity for her and for poker.

PND: Does it feel good to re-sign Michelle?

Duke: Tiffany is a very enthusiastic pro. She interacts well with customers and is a good team member. She also blogs a lot, shows up, and does everything we ask her to.

Sunday Night Football Dominates Amazing Race Premiere in Ratings

The National Football League (NFL) game between the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals garnered an 8.2 rating on Sunday night during the 8:00pm ET hour to lead all programs. The CBS reality series Amazing Race, which features poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, premiered at 7.1.

Amazing Race began around 8:15pm ET as a result of a late finish of a football game that aired on CBS. During the 8:00pm ET hour, Sunday Night Football generated an 8.2 rating according to HitFix, Amazing Race came in at 7.1, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition mustered a 6.4 rating, and Fox’s The Simpsons came in at 4.5. Another show that aired during the first of two hours for Amazing Race was The Cleveland Show (5.3 rating), which premiered on Sunday night at 8:30pm ET on Fox.

Amazing Race’s 15th season premiere featured a two-hour episode, seeing a 5.8 rating during its second hour, a sharp drop-off. Sunday Night Football, which was approaching halftime at 9:00pm ET, attracted a solid 9.7 rating during its second of three hours. Fox again ran two half-hour programs, with Family Guy grabbing a 5.7 rating and American Dad chiming in with a 4.1. Meanwhile, Desperate Housewives returned to score an 8.4 rating. The hour-long program airs on ABC and bumped Amazing Race to third in the ratings during the time slot.

The number of viewers of Sunday Night Football dwindled during the 10:00pm ET hour, when the game became a blowout, generating an 8.7 rating. Indianapolis won 31-10, with quarterback Peyton Manning tossing four touchdowns in primetime; the Colts led 21-3 at the intermission. The game generated additional interest given that Arizona is the defending National Football Conference (NFC) champions and narrowly defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in January’s Super Bowl.

HitFix noted that NBC averaged 12.7 million viewers during the three-hour time period and mustered an 8.0 rating. CBS, which carries Amazing Race, was in second place with a 7.3 rating and 11.7 million viewers. Amazing Race is regularly one hour in length, but aired for 120 minutes over the weekend for its debut episode. Next week, Pittsburgh will host the San Diego Chargers on Sunday Night Football, which will surely lead to another ratings-rich affair for NBC.

Previously, ESPN held the rights to Sunday Night Football before the honor went to NBC in time for the 2006 season. The NBC version originally featured Al Michaels and John Madden in the broadcast booth. Madden retired before the start of the 2009 campaign and was replaced by Cris Collinsworth. Amazing Race has aired on Sunday nights since Season 10 in the 8:00pm ET hour. Previous versions have aired on Thursday night, Wednesday night, and Tuesday night. The latter has been the traditional evening for new episodes of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN.

Amazing Race once again won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2009. In fact, Amazing Race has won the honor every year the award has been given out and, this time around, it bested American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway, and Top Chef. Amazing Race features Executive Producers Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, and Jerry Bruckheimer, who has been behind movie blockbusters like Top Gun, The Rock, and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Michelle and Ho were nearly sent home from Tokyo on the season premiere of Amazing Race, but finished last in a non-elimination leg. Despite having to complete a Speed Bump, an extra task only they had to perform, Michelle and Ho rallied to finish seventh out of 11 teams. Now, 10 remain as the cast heads to Cambodia. Check out Amazing Race at 8:00pm ET on CBS every Sunday.

Team Europe Wins Inaugural Caesars Cup

Team Europe emerged victorious in the first ever Caesars Cup, claiming the heads-up and two-on-two matches by a 4-1 margin. Daniel Negreanu captained the American team, while Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad headed the European squad.

Four two-on-two matches were held, with Patrik Antonius and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies defeating November Nine member Phil Ivey and Huck Seed in the first pairing. The format saw one team member play before the flop and then pass their hole cards to the other team member, who played the next street. The action alternated like this until the hand was completed. Only 50 big blinds were in play, ensuring an overly-aggressive style of play. In addition, blinds increased every 10 minutes and the aim was to complete each match within 45 minutes.

With the European team up 1-0, Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth took on Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and Betfair qualifier John Harvey. In the key hand of the match, Harvey pushed pre-flop holding A-3 and Hellmuth called despite only seeing an ace in his hand. Sure enough, Hellmuth’s other card was also an ace, making the American squad a dominating favorite pre-flop. However, the first three cards ran out K-2-4 and the five of diamonds fell on the turn to give Harvey and Grospellier a straight. Eventually, the European team took a 2-0 lead.

Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harman took to the felts for the American team, defeating Dario Minieri and Obrestad. The European team won a sizable pot holding A-8 against A-6. However, Brunson and Harman made four of a kind after being dealt a wired pair of aces, vindicating the earlier bad beat. The American squad narrowed the lead to 2-1, avoiding what likely would have been an insurmountable 3-0 deficit in the first ever Caesars Cup.

In the fourth and final two-on-two match, John Juanda and Barry Greenstein teamed up to take on Gus Hansen and reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate. In less than 20 minutes, the match was completed, as Greenstein raised with K-Q and Hansen pushed with A-8. Greenstein called with his tournament life on the line and the board bricked out, shipping the pot to Hansen and improving the European team to a 3-1 lead.

A heads-up match occurred for the fifth encounter of the Caesars Cup. To compete, the American squad appropriately picked Seed, the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner and the holder of the top record in the NBC tournament series. The Europeans countered with Obrestad, the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion and up-and-coming internet sensation. The match lasted a short nine minutes. After missing a flush draw in an early hand, Seed was all-in with A-3, but ran into Obrestad’s A-7. Obrestad spiked a seven and the Europeans triumphed in the best-of-seven series by a 4-1 score.

The Caesars Cup was filmed for ESPN and will be shown on February 7th in a two-hour broadcast. Obrestad commented on the future of the Caesars Cup, which WSOP officials note has not yet been determined: “I think the Caesars Cup is a really cool concept. It is something that has never been done before. I hope the Caesars Cup goes on for every year, from now on.” Greenstein was a last-minute replacement for Full Tilt Poker pro Chris Ferguson. The American team could have been drawn from North America, Central America, or South America. However, seven of its eight members hailed from the United States (Negreanu is from Canada).

Here were the final rosters that made up the Caesars Cup, which was held the day before the start of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event:

Team Europe: Annette Obrestad (Team Captain), Peter Eastgate, Dario Minieri, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and John Harvey (Betfair Qualifier)

Team Americas: Daniel Negreanu (Team Captain), Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein

ESPN Inside Deal Features Joe Sebok

This week, the ESPN.com poker program “Inside Deal” welcomed new Ultimate Bet pro and media consultant Joe Sebok. Regular host Bernard Lee was absent, as he was competing in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open.

The show kicked off with “The Soup” and “Community” star Joel McHale serving as a guest host from what appeared to be the E! studios for his “Soup” television franchise. ESPN.com “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane inquired, “Don’t you have two shows of your own and a movie coming out?” Once the opening credits rolled and McHale plugged his movie “The Informant,” ESPN Poker Editor Andrew Feldman took the reigns with Lane for the half-hour.

“Inside Deal” began with discussion of Tom “durrrr” Dwan scooping a $1.1 million pot during the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game at the expense of World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey. Dwan also took down a $919,000 pot against Barry Greenstein during filming of the fifth season of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” Then, the ESPN show turned to two lawsuits surrounding Full Tilt. One involves the dismissal of former employee Jason Newitt, who alleges he was wrongfully dismissed and denied distributions. The other concerns “Face the Ace,” a Full Tilt-sponsored game show that airs on NBC.

Meanwhile, attention turned to the Borgata, where a man took down the ladies’ event during the casino’s Poker Open. Lee appeared via telephone and told “Inside Deal” hosts, “Federal and State laws mandate that they can’t discriminate against a player.” On the reaction of casino patrons, Lee revealed, “Let’s just say that most players aren’t running over to congratulate him.” Nicole Rowe offered a heads-up chop with Abraham Korotki, who refused. Rowe, the sentimental crowd favorite, was set to undergo breast cancer surgery and ultimately finished second. In response, the Borgata donated $5,000 to breast cancer research.

Sebok then joined “Inside Deal” and revealed the timing for joining Team UB: “I took some time to fly down to Costa Rica. We met with the management team to hash out a number of things. I like to think that me coming onto the team is a symbol that we’re moving on and things are getting better.” The list of screen names associated with the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal was recently released, as was a continued emphasis on Russ Hamilton as its mastermind. 11Management orchestrated Sebok’s signing.

Sebok heads PokerRoad, a multimedia company best known for its assortment of poker-related podcasts. He explained the origins of PokerRoad: “It rose out of various radio shows I had done. I wanted to do something else. Playing poker is a blast, but there’s so much more to get into.” On the source of PokerRoad’s content, Sebok candidly explained, “It comes out of our relationships with each other. We spend so much time together, [so] it inevitably comes from that.” Sebok revealed that Ali Nejad has a yet-to-be-completed prop bet that challenges him to eat $45 worth of food at Taco Bell.

On the November Nine, Sebok claimed the bottom three had the two best players in the field, Phil Ivey and James Akenhead. On Jeff Shulman, who sits in the middle of the pack in chips, Sebok noted, “Let’s hope that if he wins, he doesn’t throw the bracelet away.” In the top three, Sebok reiterated that Darvin Moon remains a “wild card.” Many of the industry’s questions about Moon may be answered next week when he joins the “Inside Deal” crew.

Finally, discussion on the ESPN.com poker franchise turned to whether seven celebrities had more or fewer followers on Twitter than Sebok, who has 830,000. Celebrities included McHale, Bill Simmons, Katy Perry, UFC President Dana White, MC Hammer, Justin Timberlake, and LeVar Burton. Sebok is on a “suggested friends” list when new users sign up for the popular social networking tool.

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

ElkY ships WCOOP bracelet

PokerStars pros came out in force with Chad Brown, Humberto Brenes and Grant Levy all finishing in the money.

Baseball legend and PokerStars sponsored player Orel Hershiser also made a deep run to finish 49th.

With play down to two tables, the field in the WCOOP event was still thick with world-class pros, including James "mig.com" Mackey, who eventually went on to finish in 11th place.

After the elimination of Mackey it only took a few hands to play down to the nine-handed final table.

Perhaps the greatest threat to ElkY at the final table was Hafiz "hafizzle" Khan who finished runner up to Grospellier in his 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure win.

Khan managed to double up through cashryders22, only to double up Grospellier a couple hands later, eventually finishing in fourth for $93,092.

It was Ginsash who took on ElkY heads-up and although he managed to grind himself into the chip lead, ElkY's unrelenting aggression saw the French pro turn things around.

ElkY's first place finish earned him $232,730, and one more impressive poker victory to add to his resume.

Since 2008, ElkY has been one of the hottest poker players in the world.

He started the year by shipping the PCA for $2 million.

He then took first at the WPT's Festa Al Lago for $1.4 million, third in the NBC Heads-Up Championships, and third in the $25k WPT Championship earning him WPT Player of the Year honors.

The 2009 WCOOP is into its final weekend with the $5,200 2-day main event beginning Sunday.

Former Full Tilt Employee Jason Newitt Files Suit

The list of people and organizations that have a bone to pick with Full Tilt Poker keeps growing.  Two new lawsuits involving Full Tilt have brought the online poker room into the legal spotlight.

First, news broke that Brandon McSmith is suing Poker PROductions, the production company behind “High Stakes Poker,” “Poker After Dark,” and NBC’s “Face the Ace,” the latter of which features a roster of Full Tilt Pros facing off against contestants trying to win $1 million.  McSmith alleges he came up with a similar idea for a poker-themed game show called “The All Star Poker Challenge” and is suing Poker PROductions for $85 million.  No legal action is being taken by Smith towards Full Tilt directly, but the company’s close ties to the show mean they will have a vested interest in the matter should it go any further.

The other lawsuit that came to light this week involves Full Tilt Poker in a much more direct capacity.  Pokerati.com broke the news that former Full Tilt employee Jason “JDN” Newitt is filing suit against Full Tilt Poker, Tiltware, Pocket Kings Consulting, and both Howard Lederer and Raymond Bitar.  According to the case filing in the Nevada court system, Newitt is claiming that “he was unfairly fired and that his distribution payments were unfairly ceased.  Defendants then took control of his ownership.”  In other words, Newitt allegedly owned a percentage of Full Tilt Poker and is no longer receiving payments that stem from that percentage.

Prior to filing suit, Newitt was best known in the poker world for accidentally leaking internal correspondence between himself and Howard Lederer regarding potential sponsorship of 2007 Aussie Millions runner-up Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke.  Newitt inadvertently forwarded an e-mail to Fricke in which Lederer referred to Fricke as a “freak” and a “kind of a weird dude.”  Fricke then posted it on the TwoPlusTwo poker forum.  In addition to simply revealing Lederer’s candid thoughts on the young online pro, the e-mail, which was copied to Bitar and Robert Wolf, shed some light on exactly how big of a role Lederer and Bitar play in the day-to-day dealings of the popular online poker site.

Newitt was let go in the wake of the Fricke faux pas and just recently filed suit for wrongful termination.  Newitt is being represented by the law firm Howard & Howard, the same firm that represented Clonie Gowen in her lawsuit against Full Tilt.  The two cases bear some resemblance to each other, as both individuals claim their distribution payments were ceased without just cause.  A U.S. District Court dismissed the bulk of Gowen’s lawsuit back in May, but Bitar, Lederer, and Tiltware LLC were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that Gowen can re-file against them in the future.  Her claims against several other individuals, including members of Team Full Tilt, were dismissed with prejudice, meaning Gowen can no longer pursue legal action against them in the matter.

At the time Gowen’s case was dismissed, Howard & Howard announced they disagreed with the court’s decision and were considering filing an appeal on Gowen’s behalf.  So far, there has been no announcement from Newitt, Gowen, or Howard & Howard on whether or not Newitt’s case will prompt Gowen to re-file against Lederer, Bitar, or Tiltware.