08 31st, 2010
Happy Monday to everyone! On today’s Daily Deal, the Commerce Casino receives support from several of its competitors, fires insults at , and an important figure in the Senate comes out in favor of online poker legislation. It’s all ahead… right now!
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
Let the battle lines be drawn. Several days after the issued a petition to reverse the Commerce Casino’s stance against pro-internet gambling legislation in the United States, more casinos have come onboard to strike down the bill. In a letter issued to the press late Friday night from Commerce Casino Board members, it was revealed that the Bicycle Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, and Hollywood Park casinos also oppose Congressman Barney Frank’s HR 2267.
The press release claimed, “Californians wager an estimated thirteen point four billion dollars annually. That makes California the largest internet gaming market in the world, and without state legislation to protect it, critically-needed billions will be captured by offshore and out-of-state operators never to return.”
Why the Commerce Casino, Bike, or any other California casino wouldn’t just apply for a license under HR Two-Two-Six-Seven remains to be seen. PPA Executive Director John Pappas speculated in an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily, “They don’t want to compete with existing online operators or Harrah’s or Wynn or Google or anyone else who may get involved in internet gambling. They prefer to have their own fiefdom in California… A lot of lawmakers went out of their way to address their concerns via amendments, yet they still continue to oppose the bill.”
Moving over to another bitter dispute, in an interview with PokerPlayer, pro Daniel Negreanu fired off what many have deemed inappropriate comments against Annie Duke. In an article entitled “The Evolution of Daniel Negreanu,” he was asked about the two-thousand ten Ladies Event in which more than a dozen men played.
Negreanu voiced his disgust at the whole situation and then went on a tirade about Duke, who has never been an advocate of the tournament:
“What irked me is that this woman has the audacity on her website to call herself ‘the best female poker player in the world.’ So I’m like ‘how offensive are you, you f***ing c***? You want to say you’re speaking for women, yet you claim superiority over all of them.’”
Wow. Well … after afterwards Duke issued an open letter to PokerStars about the use of the c-word and the site ultimately responded, “PokerStars does not support the use of derogatory or hurtful language directed at any other player. While this was a personal matter between two players, we wish that better judgment had been used in the choice of words.”
Duke’s brother and Tony G have been among those pros weighing in on the spat.
Finally, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid claimed he would support the legalization of online poker in the United States. Reid also stated he would not support any other form of online gaming, including sports betting.
Reid also won’t support anything that hurts Nevada jobs, but the Senate Majority Leader will play a huge role in whether online poker is legalized. No progress has been made on legalizing internet gambling or online poker in the Senate, so having Reid as an ally could go a long way.
That does it for today’s Daily Deal, be sure to check back every weekday for a new episode of this show. Also be sure to check back with Poker News Daily throughout your day to find out the latest in poker news. I’m Sean Gibson hoping you have an amazing week at the tables!
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08 29th, 2010
Team Pro member ‘s hurtful remarks about ‘s during interview with PokerPlayer.co.uk have sent the poker community taking sides between the two superstars. Negreanu called Duke a “f***ing c***” during what Negreanu thought to be an “off the record” conversation with writer Mark Stuart last week. His comments were published, however, and a verbal spat between the two sides followed.
In the article, titled “,” Negreanu was asked what irked him about the 2010 Ladies Event in which more than a dozen men played. Negreanu voiced his disgust at the whole situation and then went on a tirade about Duke, who has never been an advocate of the Ladies Event as a believer of sexual equality at the poker table. “What irked me is that this woman has the audacity on her website to call herself ‘the best female poker player in the world.’ So I’m like ‘how offensive are you, you f***ing c***? You want to say you’re speaking for women, yet you claim superiority over all of them.’”
The article was quickly passed through forums and other social media networks and eventually made its way to Duke, who was astounded by the comments made about her. Responding to the verbal assault, Duke wrote on Twitter, “Thank you for the support. I was certainly shocked at the language myself. I welcome criticism, but not abuse.”
PokerStars received word of the remarks made by Negreanu, the site’s most famous spokesperson, and one member of the PokerStars support team replied to an e-mail sent by a player on the site: “Although Daniel Negreanu is a Team PokerStars Pro, he is an entity to himself and as such will always be encouraged to express his views and speak his mind as he would otherwise do so, PokerStars Pro or not.”
Needless to say, Duke wasn’t satisfied with that response. She fired back with an “Open Letter to PokerStars” on her website demanding some sort of reprimand: “I am not offended by Daniel’s opinion. He has a right to disagree with me and dislike me. And I, just like PokerStars, would encourage him to express his views and opinions. This is not about his views. It is about a particular word he chose to express those views. The word “c**t” is not an opinion, it is an abusive epithet, and PokerStars is completely ignoring the use of that term in their response.”
Duke continues, “But more distressing is the use of the word ‘encouraged’ here. So, PokerStars, you are encouraging Daniel to continue to express views in this manner, to conduct these public attacks using offensive slurs and inappropriate language? I am more than dismayed that PokerStars is making a statement here that they encourage this kind of behavior, this kind of language use. According to PokerStars, this kind of behavior enriches our community.”
PokerStars then answered with an official statement in response to Duke’s letter, saying that the first e-mail was not PokerStars’ official statement on the issue: “PokerStars does not support the use of derogatory or hurtful language directed at any other player. While this was a personal matter between two players, we wish that better judgment had been used in the choice of words.”
Several high profile poker players have weighed in on the conflict, including Duke’s bother and Poker pro , who came to her defense with a Twitter update shortly after the article was posted. “Hey Daniel, nice job representing poker and reinforcing that our attitude towards women is still Neanderthal,” Lederer said. “I understand some agree w DN on the ladies poker event issue. Many do. But abusing those you disagree with is never cool.”
Even the brazen Tony G offered to act as a mediator. “Let’s smooth over this situation, let’s try and forget that it ever happened. I know this fantastic place in Utah where you can get away from the world and I will pay for you to both go there and relax and chill out,” the pro said in his blog Wednesday. “You are both important ambassadors for the game we love – please let’s resolve this in a diplomatic manner otherwise someone is going to get really hurt.”
Negreanu has yet to offer an apology to Duke, which will certainly cause even more tension at the tables in the future. It’s public knowledge that the two haven’t gotten along since even before the poker boom of 2003 and it’s certainly keeping the community talking. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more high-stakes drama.
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Recently, the (PPA), the main lobbying force for the poker industry, launched a petition at to reverse the Commerce Casino’s stance on critical internet gambling legislation. HR 2267, dubbed the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, was successfully marked up in the House Financial Services Committee last month and now waits for its time to be debated in Congress.
Nearly 7,000 players had signed the online petition at the time of writing and the PPA was shooting for 10,000. The push came as a result of an action alert sent by the PPA to its members and followed testimony in the House Financial Services Committee from the Commerce Casino’s Tom Malkasian. His testimony claimed in part that HR 2267 is “based on false revenue assumptions that would require removal of the right of any state or tribe to opt out of the bill in order to achieve the advertised tax revenue of $42 billion over ten years.”
Malkasian also highlighted that allowing illegal operators to receive licenses under HR 2267 equates to “locking in unprecedented market advantages that can undermine and destabilize the land-based casino gaming industry.” He also voiced concerns over HR 2267 conflicting with tribal compacts and allowing internet gambling sites to be located outside of the United States. The latter three concerns were each addressed during markup as part of a dozen amendments tacked onto the bill.
PPA Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily, “They don’t want to compete with existing online operators or Harrah’s or Wynn or Google or anyone else who may get involved in internet gambling. They prefer to have their own fiefdom in California… A lot of lawmakers went out of their way to address their concerns via amendments, yet they still continue to oppose the bill.”
The PPA’s action alert merely called for players to contact the Commerce and express their disappointment with the casino’s stance towards the sweeping internet gambling legislation. Players took it upon themselves to suggest a boycott, which the PPA did not initially ask for. Pappas explained, “We felt that poker players can make those types of decisions on their own. We want to reserve a boycott and I don’t think it’s something we intended to call for. Should the Commerce continue to be obstinate, then we might revise our stance there.”
Pappas questioned why the Commerce wouldn’t be content to apply for a license under HR 2267 if the bill were to become law. The PPA’s main face speculated, “For a long time, they dominated the poker scene in California and they feel entitled to California’s online poker players’ money. Maybe they don’t feel that they’re as strong and won’t be able to compete.” On Friday night, Commerce Casino officials distributed a press release claiming support from the Bicycle Casino, Hawaiian Gardens Casino, and Hollywood Park Casino in opposition to Congressman Barney Frank’s bill.
As part of his House Financial Services Committee testimony, Malkasian likened legalizing internet gambling to legalizing marijuana, a comparison Pappas did not look kindly upon: “In essence, they’re calling the pro players endorsing sites drug dealers. That would offend me, especially when it comes from our purported friends. It wouldn’t have been shocking if it were from Focus on the Family or Congressman Bob Goodlatte, but when it’s coming from a supposed friend of poker because it doesn’t fit their business model, of course we’ll voice our concern.”
After an internal debate on the proper course of action, the PPA launched PlayersBeforeProfits.com. “We came to a decision after hearing from so many of our members,” Pappas told Poker News Daily. “We felt obligated to inform our members about it. Our goal is to get 10,000 signatures. We’ll go back to the Commerce and see if they’ve revaluated their position after we do.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest legislative developments.
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08 27th, 2010
is the announcer for NBC’s Poker After Dark as well as the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He joins us from The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, where he talks about poker, his career and where he is hoping to branch out to in the future. He attended the ‘s recent “Raw Deal” open auditions which were held on August 19th, 2010. Nejad stated he felt he was a great fit for the segment because he knows poker and has a great sense of comedy.
Nejad is also a commentator on ESPN’s Pro-Am Poker Equalizer series and has done with with Ultimate Poker Challenge and on PCA 2009 episodes, working alongside poker pros Chad Brown and along the way. Nejad was able to participate during an episode of Poker After Dark and was the first player knocked out as his flopped set of 4s were beaten by Gabe Kaplan’s flopped set of 10s. Nejad is a sponsored red pro over at Poker and has done work with Poker Road Radio.
In this interview, Nejad jokes around and shows off his comedic side on many different levels. He also talks some smack about some fellow poker players that auditioned for the part including Clownie Gowan and close friend . This interview is a rare inside look into one of poker broadcasting’s rising stars.
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In recent recent weeks, an interview was published with Daniel Negreanu that has been the center of controversy. In the interview, Negreanu made a statement about Annie Duke, which he said in a later interview was off the record. The comments that…
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Tuesday nights on ESPN are poker nights, and this week is no different. ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker continues tonight. In other news, Annie Duke responds to comments from Daniel Negreanu in an open letter to PokerStars. We…
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08 24th, 2010
Brand new episodes of the -sponsored “Big Game” are airing this week on Fox. The high-stakes cash game series pits five poker sharks against a “Loose Cannon” online qualifier staked with $100,000. Each “Loose Cannon” plays 150 hands, with a $50,000 North American Poker Tour passport on the line plus whatever spoils they’ve earned from the table.
The action on the “Big Game” is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter. The blinds are $200/$400 with a $100 ante paid entirely by the player on the button. Every player began the week with a $100,000 bankroll, save PokerStars front man , who came armed with $200,000.
This week’s “Loose Cannon” is Andre Capella, a 76 year-old retired racecar driver from Tennessee. Appropriately, the action was fast-paced from the starting line. Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky” Stern made it $1,200 pre-flop with K-Q and Eugene Katchalov came along with A-K. Capella also called and the flop came 5-5-4. Stern fired out a continuation bet of $2,300 and Katchalov called.
The turn was a 10 and didn’t change matters. Stern fired a second barrel, this time $6,200, and Katchalov once again called to bring a king on the river, pairing both players. Stern bet $16,600 and Katchalov called with the better hand. In the second hand of the week, he scooped a $54,600 pot, the largest of Monday night’s “Big Game” episode.
Negreanu peeked down at pocket aces and pocket kings in the first three hands, perhaps solidifying his table image for the rest of the one-hour episode. Then, poker rapper raised to $1,200 pre-flop with K-9 of hearts and ’s came along with A-8. The flop came K-2-8 and both players rapped the table.
The turn was the seven of hearts, putting two of the suit onboard, and Hellmuth fired out $2,600 with second pair. Friedman, now holding top pair and the second nut flush draw, called behind. Hellmuth called for a three of diamonds to hit on the river, but instead, another king came. In an interview with “Big Game” staff after the fact, Friedman revealed that Hellmuth’s comment signaled that he held a hand like A-8.
On the river, Hellmuth bet $4,400 and Friedman min-raised to $8,800. Hellmuth reluctantly called, saying that Friedman’s queens were good, and Friedman raked in a $26,000 pot. Despite the battle between Hellmuth and Friedman, Katchalov remained the most active at the table, sporting a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 50% and a PFR (Pre-Flop Raise) of 31%. He was also up $24,000 about three-quarters of the way through Monday’s kickoff episode.
In the final pot of the night, Negreanu raised to $1,500 with pocket fives and Katchalov called with 10-9. The flop came 4-9-6 with two diamonds and Katchalov donk-bet $2,200. Negreanu called and the turn was the deuce of diamonds. Katchalov bet $2,600, Negreanu raised to $11,100, and Katchalov tanked for a minute before electing to call. The river was another deuce and both players checked. The $30,400 bounty was pushed towards Katchalov, who raked in the two largest pots of the night.
At the end of Monday’s installment of the PokerStars “Big Game” (29 hands), Katchalov was up $39,000, while Stern had dropped $42,000 of his $100,000 buy-in. Meanwhile, the “Loose Cannon” had lost $10,800. Catch the PokerStars “Big Game” nightly on Fox. The show airs at 1:00am ET or 2:00am ET in most markets.
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08 22nd, 2010
After its buy-in was slashed from $10,000 to $5,000, the 2010 installment of the () Legends of Poker attracted 462 players. Last year, a total of 279 entered, meaning that the field grew by 66%. However, the total prize pool of the marquee WPT event dipped from $2.63 million to $2.15 million, a fall of 18%.
The top 45 poker players will finish in the money, with the top spot scheduled to pay out $750,000. Last year, poker rapper banked a little over $1 million after besting () Main Event November Niner heads-up. Todd Terry, Toto Leonidas, Sam “KingKobeMVP” Stein, and Mike Krescanko also made the final table in 2009.
Nearly 300 players – including 16 former WPT champs – took to the felts on Saturday for the second of two starting days in the Legends of Poker, which emanates from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. The day began with WPT officials honoring , who was playing in her 100th WPT tournament. According to the WPT’s website, Liebert is the female record-holder for most final tables made with six, most cashes logged with 15, and most money won with $1.75 million. However, she lacks a WPT title.
Despite the fanfare, Liebert was eliminated late in the day, as was Lock Poker’s Matt “All In At 420” Stout. The internet player dropped his stack with A-J of diamonds against Shawn Buchanan’s pocket sevens to hit the rails. pro , meanwhile, took a three-hour dinner break on Saturday and returned to chat it up with fans rather than play cards. He finished the day with a stack of 66,850, or 167 big blinds, good for the 50th largest tally in the room entering Day 2.
pro lodged a particularly memorable Day 1B. Negreanu dropped to 10,000 in chips after running into a royal flush and eventually hit the rails after his A-J fell to 8-2. On the latter hand, the flop came A-2-3, giving his opponent bottom pair, but another deuce on the turn and an eight on the river didn’t help matters.
and stepfather have both made waves in the WPT Legends of Poker, entering Day 2 in 17th and 19th places, respectively. Also vaulting up the leaderboard on Saturday was , who tripled up to 90,000 after cracking pocket aces and pocket kings by flopping a boat. Cunningham candidly Tweeted following the monster pot, “Holy Macintosh, I just flopped a full house vs AA and KK to triple from 30K to 90K.”
Here are the top 10 players in the WPT Legends of Poker entering Day 2 on Sunday:
1. Manuel Reyes – 205,350
2. Vinny Vinh – 180,000
3. Raymond Dolan – 165,500
4. Justin Young – 138,950
5. Max Casal – 138,500
6. Micah Raskin – 135,000
7. Philip Stark – 132,575
8. Ari Goott – 129,000
9. Ken Michelman – 125,200
10. C. Zadfar – 125,000
Other players remaining in the top 50, including their chip counts, include:
17. Joe Sebok – 108,650
19. Barry Greenstein – 100,675
32. Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar – 78,125
33. – 77,250
36. Allen Cunningham – 76,500
37. Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese – 76,350
39. Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson – 75,225
45. – 70,800
47. J.J. Liu – 70,700
50. Phil Hellmuth – 66,850
Day 2 kicks off at 1:00pm PT on Sunday from The Bike, with 241 players remaining in the hunt for the WPT title. The Legends of Poker will crown a winner on Wednesday.
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08 22nd, 2010
The 276 Day 1b players helped make the tournament total 462, dwarfing last year’s 279.
Former Legends champs John Phan and Prahlad Friedman were among the starters, but they were also among those hit the bricks early, joining a long list of big names busting that included Daniel Negreanu, Matt Stout, Lee Markholt, Scott Seiver, David Chui, Daniel Alaei, Eric Baldwin and - Who just happened to be playing her record 100th WPT on the day.
Although it was the likely cause for the rise numbers, the fact the buy-in was dropped from $10k to $5k means there will be no WPT made millionaires walking out of the Bike this time around.
The 462 entrants helped create a $2,151,072 prize pool from which 45 places will be paid with $750k reserved for first.
153 players survived Day 1b including names like Justin Young, Phil Hellmuth, Joe Sebock, Allen Cunningham, Jeff Madsen, Jonathan Little, Shane Schleger and Adam Levy.
But while he might receive more notoriety for the vanishing act he pulled at the 2007 WSOP than his more than $2.5 million in career earnings, it was a suddenly resurgent Vinny Vinh who grabbed the end of Day 1b chip lead.
A total of 243 players will hit the felt for Day 2 at the Bike Sunday.
For all the action click through to PokerListings’ .
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08 19th, 2010
On Tuesday night at 9:00pm ET, coverage of Days 1C and 1D of the 2010 () Main Event aired on cable station ESPN. The first hour of coverage was devoted to Day 1C and featured reigning Main Event champ and 11-time bracelet winner .
Eight former Main Event champs took to the felts for Day 1C and Cada was seated at the feature table. ESPN aired several hands in which Cada flopped sets, perhaps playing on his “lucksack” image from 2009. Meanwhile, back-to-back Main Event winner scooped a massive pot in a set-over-set situation to move to 61,000 in chips. Chan is part of the $50,000 buy-in Doubles Poker Championship, which is airing on Saturday nights on GSN.
Elsewhere, fellow Main Event winner was seen living it up on Day 1C, while a 3bet from pro was good enough to take down a pot. Then, Hellmuth was seen entering the fray dressed as an MMA fighter and took a seat at Table 2. ESPN commentator Norman Chad was not impressed by Hellmuth’s entrance, which featured several hundred spectators.
pros Eric “” Baldwin and Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp found camera time, as did , who was sweating . High-stakes cash game pros and Tom “” Dwan were also seen competing for the top prize of nearly $9 million. The latter donned a button that displayed fellow pro Peter Jetten hugging a koala and hit quads with pocket fives. Dwan played in 52 events during the 2010 WSOP in an attempt to collect on a variety of high-dollar bracelet bets.
Cada scooped a 39,000-chip pot after flopping a boat against Nils Bardsley’s nut flush. Then, in a lively Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, in which the hole cards of one player at the table are concealed, online poker pro James “croll103” Carroll spiked the nut flush against Hellmuth, who spouted off, “Worst player at the fucking table.”
At an outer table, doubled up courtesy of Victory Poker front man . However, Esfandiari had the last laugh, making a full house on the river to send Giang packing. Despite his heralded success in high-stakes cash games, Giang has cashed in just one WSOP Main Event in the last 14 years.
Back at the feature table, Cada rivered a boat against Tommy Miller’s king-high diamond flush to rake in another 21,125 chips. Cada then knocked out Bardsley with pocket queens against A-J to shoot up to 61,000 in chips. Next door, Hellmuth hit the rails in a three-way pot with pocket jacks against A-K and pocket queens when an opponent hit a flush on the river. Hellmuth was less-than-gracious in his exit. Also finding the rails was Dwan, who promptly threw his button onto his chair and left the Amazon Room.
The second one-hour episode featured coverage of Day 1D. After railing one day prior, Moon took center stage this time around and played relatively tight poker. He tangled with Miguel Gonzalez in pot after pot, dropping the first one shown. Then, viewers railed eight-time bracelet winner . Also in the field were fellow 2009 November Niners Jeff Shulman, , and .
NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith gave the “Shuffle up and ‘play’” command, but was later sidelined. Back at the feature table, Moon checked the nuts on the river in order to see what his opponent had, but due to an anti-collusion rule, was given a one-hand penalty. Moon claimed he didn’t know about the rule and added, “I learn something new every day.”
Actors Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) and Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”) were shown in the Day 1D field, as was namesake , who took a seat at Table 2. Elsewhere, hit a boat on the river to bust an opponent holding a straight and Bob Lang, a Vice President of In-N-Out Burger, eliminated 2009 WSOP Player of the Year . Lang flopped a set with pocket queens to draw out on Lisandro’s aces.
2010 WSOP Player of the Year contender Frank Kassela tangled with Penn Jillette’s wife Emily, while sent 2005 Main Event winner to the rail. At the feature table, Moon led out for 2,500 with A-9 on a flop of 10-8-5. Gonzalez check-raised to 7,550 with pocket kings and Moon made it 17,000. Gonzalez came all-in over-the-top for just 4,300 more and Moon called despite knowing he was dominated. Last year’s runner-up caught lightning in a bottle on the river when an ace hit to send Gonzalez packing.
The Day 2s of the Main Event will begin next Tuesday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN. If you missed this week’s episodes, they will repeat throughout the week on ESPN’s family of stations.
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