ACADIANA SERIES OF POKER,

 ONLINE GRIND REWIND:  John Dolan went deep in another Full Tilt Texas Holdem poker event this past Sunday… and it’s become a weekly thing for him to cash in an online poker tournament.  Meanwhile, Bazeman chopped the Sunday Second Chance over on Pokerstars for 35k.  He beat 1326 entrants to  make it to a three way first place chop.  Congrats to both players.

ACADIANA SERIES OF POKER IS ALMOST HERE:  January 28th, the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, LA becomes the poker dome.  Come out and play for a good cause, the United Way, and try to take down one of those huge cardboard checks.  First place in years past has been 10k.  Click here for more details and to register right now.

LUCKY IN KENTUCKY:  Just a shout-out to site in Kentucky with similar goals as ours.  They are a local site dedicated to service their group of players.  If you are headed to Kentucky, one stop place to find out where you can get lucky.  That didn’t come out right but you know what we mean.  Everything Poker in Kentucky in one place right here.

IMAGEMASTERS AND TOURNAMENT MASTERS:  Just another shout-out to the stellar photography of Eric Harkins over at ImageMasters.  He took all the great winners shots we got from the Beau.  He and Brian Heptinstall, along with all the Beau staff, have been working thankless hours and doing a terrific job.  Really have been enjoying the twitter updates that Brian puts up and appear in our right hand column (with a little scrolling down) very easy to sweat final tables.  The pictures are always first rate.

 The tournament staff as usual are also logging the extra long hours so kudos to Johnny Grooms, Eric Comer, Shaun (Four Aces) Johnston, Kurt and everybody at the Beau Rivage (including the dealers and cocktail servers) for pulling off a great event.  Nice structures too!

EVENT 17:  GOOD GOLLY MISS HOLLY.  Holly Raba of Fort Lauderdale Florida took down one of the more interesting Ladies final tables we’ve seen in a while.  Raba won 7k for first place.  Our facebook buddy Kerri Dorsey of Gautier, MS was there and finished third for 2.44k.  Good job Kerri!  (Speaking of facebook, are you our facebook buddy too?  You should be.  Click “like” on one of our facebook widgets on this page and make us feel better about our selves). 

Congrats also to Julie Dawson of Daphne, AL (2nd for 3.8k) and Theresa Gex of Baton Rouge who finished 4th for 1.6k.  Janet Clark of Gulf Breeze 5th for 1.4k.  Congrats to another buddy in the business, Gretchen Holzhauser of New Orleans who proved not only does she know the game but she can play it by finishing 6th for 1.22k.  In 7th place Rita Little of Pensacola, FL.  Wonder if she’s any relation to our blogger over there in the left hand column.  Maybe it’s time we sign Rita up to do some blogging of her own.

EVENT 18:  TERRY LAKE GARNER IS OLD?  The guy doesn’t look like a senior citizen in person (or in that picture or in that suit), but the Hattiesburg, MS native took down the Seniors event.  He made another 23k to spend on senior items like a car with a big bumper. 

EVENT 13:  WILEY WILDS WINS AGAIN:  Mark WIlds, of Biloxi, MS played seven hours of heads up poker, a contest one of the owners of GCP got to watch a bit of after completing the seven pm tournament.  Fred Sigur of Chalmette, LA was the unlucky second place finisher who made almost 30k on the day. 

Bob Harrison of Gulf Shores, AL finished 8th for 4.8k and Danny Doucet of Lafayette, LA 3.2k for 9th.  Captain Tom Franklin and Bruce Little also cashed in the 1k Event. 

–And also congrats to Charles Chan of Panama City for his 4th place finish for 3.1k in the Limit Omaha 8 or better tournament.

EVENT 10, BRAWL WON BY BRAWLY IN $340 LIMIT HOLD’EM:  You should recognize the face if you play on the Coast and take in some cash games at the Beau.  One of the better dealers now can say he is one of the better players too and use a large trophy as a chip-protector should he want to.  Michael Brawley, originally of Missouri, and a big fan of Duke Basketball, did just what his beloved Blue Devils did last year.  He took it down.   Brawley won 6.39k by winning more hands than opponents like Larry Welker of Praireville, LA (6th, 1k), Carol Farley of Ocean Springs, MS (8th $710) and Justin Carey of Metairie, LA ($533).

EVENT 9, LIPPERT WINS 28k:  Adam Lippert of Brooklyn, NY won the $230 No Limit Hold’em with Re-entry tournament, beating 199 other players.  At the final table Lippert outlasted a couple of big local names, Mark Rose (a recent Main Event champion at the Beau), and Eskimo Clark. 

Eskimo Clark has been making his presence felt and tearing up this series of tournaments seeming to cashing in every other event.  Brian Bass of Pensacola, FL took down 5th for 5.2k.    Rose bagged 3,5k for 7th, and Eskimo Clark 1.7k for 9th.  BJ McBrayer also added another cash to his resume. 

KAI LANDRY WINS EVENT 8 AND AUTOMATIC MEMBERSHIP TO AARP:  Feeling like he had aged 20 years in a previous tournament when the dealers were forced to “wash” the deck almost every hand, and probably wondering why some players weren’t forced to wash between levels, Landry played with his aged peers and took down the Seven Card Stud 8/ob tournament. 

Landry made a deal with local notable Baron Whipple, the second place finisher, who he had a sizable chip lead on because Landry had an early-bird special to catch.  The once (and future?) GCP blogger also dispatched Captain Tom Franklin (4th 1.7k), Sal Mortillaro (Metairie, LA 7th $989),and Johnny Livingston of Selma, AL (8th $792) enroute to the title.

 BEUCHE-WHACKED:  Legendary local cash game grinder, Joe Beuche, came up just short of his first title.  The Houma, LA native, who also sublets in the Harrahs parking garage, pocketed 7.2k for third place in Event 7 $340 No Limit Hold’em.  The illusive Beuche is rarely pictured but we nabbed this shot of him a couple of years back (two other GCP bloggers(?) also in the shot, your guess who Joe B is). 

Sean Williams of Dallas won $24k for first place.  John Alredge of Guatier, MS finished 6th for 4k.  Michael Husar of Metairie, LA clawed his way to the final table finishing 9th to win 1.6k. Carwash king Michael Schneider and motel magnate Mohammed Moeini also cashed in the tournament.

MERLE BOURGEOIS CHOPS HARRAHS WEEKLY WEDNESDAY TOURNAMENT:  Bourgeois and one of the co-owners of GCP joined several others in an even chop.  Bourgeois is adjusting to a new schedule of 14 days on a rig and 7 days off and struggling to make time for poker.  Lucky for him, he found time this week.  Congrats Merle! 

While at Harrahs we learned there is also chatter of a weekly Saturday tournament, a $10,000 freeroll for the players that log the most time on the felt, and other promotions.  As they come to us, we will pass them on.

ACADIANA SERIES OF POKER IS COMING:  January 28th, Lafayette, LA in the CajunDome to benefit the United Way.  Click the banner on the right column to take you directly to the site registry.  If you haven’t received our emails about the tournament sign up for our email list right now.  Email this guy.

SOUTHERN POKER CHAMPIONSHIP, ONLINE LOCALS WINNING, ACADIANA SERIES OF POKER

 

MONEYMAKER IS BACK:  Probably the strongest critics of Chris Moneymaker are the Internet kids.  It’s fitting he’s making headlines in their biggest tournament of the year.  Mike Matasow once told an opponent the kiddies’ pool is down the street but a lot of old pros are finding out they would rather not swim in that pool because playing Texas Hold em poker with the kiddies can leave you broke.  The PCA is the new kiddies pool and you better bring your A game if you want to have success.

At the PCA, in the Bahamas, where young online qualifiers descend on the Atlantis resort like a Star Wars clone army (a series of movies many of these kids still needed an adult to get them into), Moneymaker was one of 1560 entrants.  Right now there are only 22 left and Moneymaker is second in chips, so much for the revered online poker strategy. 

Even as he hopes to make redemption the story line of the tournament a girl by the name of Ana Marquez is first in chips.  She’s seeking to win the most money ever by a woman in an MTT (Annie Duke’s Tournament of Champions was a sit ‘n go).  Mike Sowers is keeping pace fifth in chips.

Even if Moneymaker were to hit the implode button, he would still cash for at least 75k.  That would be his third largest cash behind the 2.5 million he won in WSOP championship and the 200k he won, in his second cash, the 2004 WPT Shooting Star tournament.  Last April he bagged 35k in Monte Carlo which he’s guaranteed to out-earn.  Top four places at the PCA all pay one million or more.  If he were to win the PCA, he’d nearly match his 2004 WSOP title take with another 2.3 million.  That would bump him all the way up to about Hoyt Corkins on the all time live tournament earnings list around 45th with about 5.2 million.

SPEAKING OF HOYT:  Corkins cashed in the PCA Main Event too.  Corkings made the money along with Dwyte Pilgrim, Super High Roller Eugene Katchalov, Bertrand Grospellier, Marcel Luske, Ted Lawson, Michal Binger, JP Kelly and Faraz Jaka, Hoyt Corkins spoke with Pokernews about his time at the PCA and heading to the Beau Rivage for the Southern Poker Championship.  Click the link to read more.

EVENT 5, ALEX TASSIN THIRD:   Luke Priour (pictured above) of Austing, TX won the event and the 31k and bragging rights to go with it.  Joe Greene (what is this 70s Sports Icons Week at the Beau) of Panama City, Florida finished 2nd for 17k.  Alex Tassin of Houma finished third for 9.4k.  Thomas Doussan of Metairie 6th for 4,7k.  Frank Alpandinar of Baton Rouge 7th for 3.7k. 

EVENT 6, RYAN LENAGHAN JUST SHORT AGAIN:   Joe Poole of Loris, SC won the Pot Limit Omaha tournament prevailing over Ryan Lenaghan, (pictured to the right) of New Orleans.  Lenaghan took a break from playing online poker room.  Joe won 12k and Ryan 6.4k.

EVENT THREE, YANKEE THESE NUTS:   Ron “Don’t You Dare Call Me Don” Mattingly took down the event and pocketed 34k for his trouble.  Seen here holding the world in his hands, Mattingly, finally won the big one. Doug Cox won 7k for 5th.  Deanna Laurence of Bossier City won 3.5k for 8th.  John Durio of New Orleans 2.2k for 9th.  George Bronstein and BJ McBrayer also cashed outside the final table.

EVENT FOUR, KAI LANDRY GAGS:  ‘Despite the presence of noted bracelet winner Eskimo Clark and the desire to give him some breathing room in every pot, Roland Israelashvili of New York prevailed in the 340 Limit Seven Card Stud.  Kai Landry came to the final table as the chip leader but didn’t make the top four to cash.   We have a feeling… spoiler alert… you haven’t heard the last of Kai at these old man events.

IT’S BEEN A GOOD YEAR OF SUNDAYS FOR TK:  Tim “TimKrank” Miles was at it again.   Different site, same result.  TK who has been blowing up online poker including Full Tilt on Sundays got a big result on PokerStars yesterday.  in the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold’em ($300k Guaranteed) TK made another final table and another 5 digit score.  Miles pocket 12.2k for seventh place. 

JOHN DOLAN DOING DOUBLE DAMAGE:  Under the screen name JRD312, John Dolan finished 11th in PokeStars Sunday 2nd chance.  He made 2.5k.  The Full Tilt sponsored pro was also busy on his home site finishing 6th for 18.3k in the Full Tilt Sunday Brawl.   Erica Schoenberg (pictured, because why not) and Allen Cunningham also cashed in that event.

MCKLEAN KARR GETS SOME FACETIME ON A SCOOTER:  In the PokerNews series, the Sunday Grind, one time Gulf Coast resident McLean Karr, showed what his Sunday playing online poker during the PCA is like.  He shares the video with Victor Ramdin and Faraz Jaka.  He’s got a broken foot but dodges the question how he broke it.  We are guesing it’s from living dangerously as he does say he drives his scooter at Rabbit, Rabbit speed.  Go here to watch the video.

BEN “THE DESTROYER” MAKES MINTZ MEAT OF ALL BUT ONE:  Ben Mintz of New Orleans, LA chopped the $550 Event one with Carl McGowan.  Terms of the chop awarded first place to McGowan (pictured), a Pearson, GA native.  Mark Wild of Biloxi finished fourth for just under 10k.  Kenny Milam was back in the money finishing 7th for 5.6k.  Ryan Cox of New Orleans, 10th.  Also in the money were Rodney Shows of Hattiesburg and Robert Quinn of Metairie.  Joseph Erwin, Raymond Bonavida, and Brandon Guillory, added to the Louisiana logjam at the tail end of the “In The Money” finishers.

TIMMMMMMBURT FINISHES 7th IN EVENT TWO:  It was Timber! for Tim Burt in the $340 Limit Omaha 8 or Better.  After nine made the money, Burt, a Grenada, MS local went out in seventh.  No word yet if he asked the cage to fork over his crumbs.  Anthony Bellao of New Orelans finished 5th.  Todd Burrows of Friendswood, TX finished first for 11k.

SOME NEWS NUGS FROM THE BAHAMAS:

-Viktor Blum is Isildur1.  As much mystery in that one as there was in who got shot… in the Who Shot J.R. Ewing cliffhanger.  Think about it.

-GCPers atwitter.  UPDATED: Bad news for Shannon Shorr, and Jonathan Little in the Main Event.  See their twitter feeds with the gory news in the column on the right.  Jason Mercier still alive.

-Eugene Catchalot Katchalov catches a lot of hands.  Katchalov won the 2011 PCA Super High Rollers event for 1.5 million.  Buy-in was a measley 100k.  Nick Schulman and Humberto Brenes also tasted the money by finishing 4th and 5th. 

-Daniel Negreanu’s second translates to first.   Negreanu finished second in that same Super High Rollers event (interesting name for a poker event for a lot of young internet players in the Bahamas…  Super High Roller…  just saying)  and now has passed Phil Ivey again for first all time in Live tournament winnings.  Negreanu got it all in with pocket fives to the fours of Catchalot.  Turn brought the set for Katchalove and cost Negreanu half a million.  Yes, he still pocketed one million for the tournament. 

COGAN’S TRADE, A “POKER” MOVIE STARING BRAD PITT, TO BEGIN FILMING IN NEW ORLEANS IN MARCH:  Thou ght the genre was dead and then comes news about Rounders 2 and now this.  Other stars rumored to be involved include Casey Affleck, who is not bad-beated Matt Affleck’s less successful brother, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Bill Murray, Mark Ruffalo, and Sam Rockwell.  The plot is centered on the George Higgins novel about a “professional enforcer who investigates a heist that takes place during a high stakes poker game under protection of the mob.”

At any moment, we expect the producers to be firing us an email (now readily available in our Contact Us section) to ask for a guided tour of just such games in New Orleans and to help with filming locations, hand selections, how to spot a rigged poker game etc.  Okay, we don’t expect that but we are available for just such consultation for a nominal fee.  And we know capable realistic poker playing extras.  No word yet if Brad Pitt is playing the role of Patrik Antonius.

 

BELLAGIO ROBBED AGAIN!  Okay, if this blog is to believed, they didn’t get robbed but a player got robbed of slightly less than the 1.5 million taken from  Bellagio at gun point recenly.  This guy didn’t even see the thief.  He got up from the table and his stack was gone.  All told $430 to the bad.  If it is true makes you a little uneasy about leaving you stack unattended next time you are at the casino.  You’d hope they ran a tighter ship than this.  No word yet if the two incidents were connected. 

OT:  IT TOOK A COUPLE OF YEARS FOR RED SOX FANS TO BECOME ANNOYING:  Basically, when they became the evil empire light.  Still, hard to dislike them unless you are a Yankees fan.  But everybody hates a winner and it seems it took even less time for the haters to come out in force after the Saints victory in the Superbowl last year.  This guy really seems to have his head up his ass.

FLORIDA’S GAMBLING INDUSTRY CAN THANK POKER FOR SAVING IT AND IF THEY ARE SMART THEY’LL EXPAND THAT RELATIONSHIP.  Lots of stories out there on the internet giving weight to this Time Magazine piece.  It can best be summed up by this quote “But there’s an added reason the Seminole Hard Rock complex is drawing such a horde of gamers these days:  poker.  Really high-stakes poker.”  We all know that several Gulf Coast located pros have relocated to Florida to chase the deep pockets and action in the poker venues there.  Yes, because of new laws upping the buy-ins and upping the action poker is going through a Sunshine State mini-boom.

Seems so many people are flocking to Florida it’s saving dogtracks and Jai-Alai venues.  Yes, people other than on the opening montage of Miami Vice actually play Jai-Alai, but soon that many be the only archive of the sport.  Miami is undergoing a bit of a gambling revolution.

The Jai-Alai stands used to pack in 10k worth of fans and now can only muster 100 semi-interested spectators.  It’s like the Buy-ins on the high-stakes poker tables only in the inverse.  This Miami Herald piece talks about how a once proud sport is reduced to offering poker to save their venue.  

It’s not just Jai-Alai that has turned to poker for a save, it’s dog tracks too.  The Sarasota Kennel Club’s card room One-Eyed Jacks has figured out a way to get customers in, and while they are playing poker take a wager or two on the races too (Bradenton.com).  Seems like the smart thing to do would be to line up the poker room, like a luxury box, right over the race track and allow wagers to be made from the table.  Also, put the dealer’s back to the track but allow the players to sit in a semi-circle like a black jack table.  The games can pause as the races fly-by.   Sounds desperate but it may the tracks’ and jai-alai venues’ only hope.

Shannon Shorr, Acadiana Series of Poker, Bluff Player of the Year

 SHANNON “BLUFFFORRENT” SHORR 7TH IN UB $200K GTD:  Shorr pocketed nearly 7k for seventh place in the  online poker tournament.  He did everything right in the MTT portion of the event but couldn’t take down the sng aspect of it. First was chopped between Eric “SHEETSWORLD” Haber and Jonas “N)1TK” Lennartsson.  Shorr has also updated his blog with an interesting year in review.  And we have twitter now, scroll down the column to the right.  Shorr is one of many local players featured on twitter.

SOREL MIZZI WINS BLUFF PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Congrats to Mizzi but what we are interested in is how friends of GCP and Gulf Coasters fared this year.  Dwyte Pilgrim and Gulf Coaster Jason Mercier cracked the top ten.  Joe Cheong and fellow November Niner Michael Mizrachi were 11th and 13th respectively.  Gulf Coaster McLean Karr finished in 18th one ahead of WSOP Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel.  John Racener 23rd, Allen Kessler 24th, Frank Kassela 27th, Mike Beasley 40th, Justin Young 42nd, GCP Blogger Jonathan Little 44th, Vanessa Rousso 56th, Hoyt Corkins 57th, Kevin Eyster 62nd, Harrison Gimbel 69th,  Robert Mizrachi 74th, John Dolan 83rd, Gabe Costner 161st, and Jared Ingles 228th.

UB MISSING?  Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke did not finish in the top 250 this year.  They are coincidentally also absent from the rolls over at UB.  No word on where either of them will wind up or what drove the decisions to part ways with the company.  Likely one of the has a lot of options and possibly both do.   Speaking of updated blogs, PokerBat weighs in on the UB leavings down there on the right.  So does Scotty Clark.

  PHIL HELLMUTH AND ANNIE DUKE WILL LAND SOMEWERE:  Pokerbat had some suggestions in his blog, but missed a key one that’s gathering steam in the rumor mills.  WSOP.com is going to become a force on the internets just as soon as legislation allows it.  Its muscle will make it a pretty big online poker player.  Either Pokerstars anticipated that with the development of all their Poker Circuits or fueled a realization in WSOP to go digging in the fertile soil of online poker, either way WSOP.com will be a competitor in American markets sooner than later, Tournament legend Phil Hellmuth seems like a natural fit to spearhead the new consortium.  With more advertising might than UB, WSOP would have Hellmuth front in center in ads on just about every poker telecast.  Annie Duke who is naturally a good foil for Hellmuth (though she’s shaken the good-girl image a while ago) could come along for the ride.

GERARD BUTLER FILMS AD AS ULTIMATE DUDE:  PLAYS POKER AND GOOD WITH WOMEN, 2+2 AGREES AND WORLD WILL TOO, SOON:  Yes, take heart online players who are still looking to friend your first girl on facebook, playing poker is part of what makes you the ultimate dude.  So says L’Oreal hydra-energetic anti-fatigue moisterizer ad.  Oh, it’s an ad for a dude-moisterizer.  Nevermind.  Go here to learn more.

 

IT’S A SEASON OF GIVING:  Why not make plans to play a little poker to benefit the United Way, January 28, 2010.  Gulf Coasters right after the Beau Rivage’s big January event, there is a little tournament in Lafayette, LA which has paid up to $10,000 to first.  We are talking about the Acadiana Series of Poker, of course.  We’ve done it the last couple of years and it’s a great cause with a great chance to win some real cash.  Look for our email blasts with more information in the weeks to come.  We’ll add their logo to our columns section until then.  Pictured is former GCP Blogger Dave “SpiceRack” Spicer and his giant Happy Gilmore third place check from ’09.

NOT MUCH POKER NEWS TO REPORT SO SOME JUICY LINKS:

-Wicked Chops has some Holiday Blessings in the form of pics their kast few Wicked Chops Girls of the Year here. 

-PokerNews is reviewing the top 10 stories of ’10.  Number ten includes the mentions of guys like Will “Monkey” Souther, Shannon Shorr, and Captain Tom Franklin.

-Official World Series of Poker Dates announced.  Of course we are going to redirect you to the WSOP.com.  On a related tangent, ever seen the SNL skit “Wassup Wit Dat?”  It’s just itching to be made into a pseudo-poker Youtube video, maybe Phil “Dancing With the Stars” Hellmuth’s head should be superimposed on a the guy doing the running man in a tracksuit in the background.

POKER ODDS AND ENDS FOR THE NEW YEAR

MATT WAXMAN WAXES AC:  The young Parkland, Florida pro just went over the $1 Million mark in lifetime winnings.  He took down the WSOP Atlantic City Circuit Event, his fifth WSOP cash on the year.  Better known as an online Texas Holdem poker player, his handle is BigStackBBQ, Waxman recently won the FTOPS XIII Main Event and is having a great year.  We’ll see him in the WSOP National Championship.

MIRAMAX TO MAKE ROUNDERS SEQUEL:  Confirmation from industry insiders say Miramax and the Weinstein Company will make a number of sequels that we are excited about:  Bad Santa 2 Check, Rounders 2 Check, Swingers 2 Check, Shakespeare in Love 2 Check… uh…  yeah, you know for the ladies.  FirstShowing.NET has the details. Wonder if it will be about online poker specifically? Hmm… how will they make online poker strategy interesting to the average movie-goer?

BANDIT STEALS OVER A MILLION IN CHIPS BUT PROBABLY CAN NEVER GET RID OF THEM:  Guy walks into a casino with his motorcycle helmet on, brandishing a handgun (aside, is a gun the only thing you can brandish, you never hear of a guy brandishing a carrot or a kitten), strode up to a craps table and swiped over 1.5 million in big chips, but…  probably will never be able to cash them in.   You’ve probably heard about this, but here’s an interesting article on why the casino didn’t open fire on him, and why he’ll probably never be able to unload his loot over on Yahoo.

  GO AHEAD AND MARK A SPOT ON YOUR CALENDAR RIGHT NOW FOR THE ACADIANA SERIES OF POKER JANUARY 28, 2010.  We know a lot of you will be at the Beau Rivage, but that wraps up just before this, so you have no excuse. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to lend your support to the United Way in Lafayette, LA at the Cajun Dome.  It’s also a chance to win a nice chunk of change in a poker tournament.

This is another year of us supporting the event and we hope to have a huge turnout of our readers.  Last year first place was paid $8,000 and this year it should be even higher.  Their goal is to have 500 players.  There are is always a goodie bag, t-shirts and extras for those that come.

Look for an email blast with more details and a reminder to come.  Not on our list?  Email wildbill to get on it.

OBAMA NOT A BLUFFER:  What do you want as a President, tight aggressive, NIT, LAG, passive?  We ask that question on our facebook page, click the badge to the right to visit, and to “like us.”  If you want to know how the current guy does, The Daily Beast details Obama’s poker skills here.  Whether you like the guy or not fairly, interesting read.

HARRY REID ONLINE POKER BILL DEAD DUCK DURING LAME DUCK SESSION:  Good news, bad news kind of thing.  Andrew Feldman at ESPN offers his take here.  Sounds like things are back to status quo.

COUPLE OTHER TIDBITS:  GeneD continues to play well and chops the nightly at the Beau Rivage.  Also congrats to Mike “Yardjob” Prestenback, a Friend of GCP, for chopping the last nightly at the Harrahs Winter Classic.  Great job guys.

 GOLD STRIKE WINTER CLASSIC MAIN EVENT RESULTS:  We have some Gulf Coasters making a splash in the Main Event.  Though, we didn’t have any results to report of locals cashing in any of the prelims, nice to see everybody waiting until the Main to pocket some loot.  

Thanks to Brian Heptinstall for the heads up:

	Name:			Hometown:		Prize:
1st	Terry Coleman			Muscle Shoals, AL		$55,698
2nd	Timothy Scooros			Daytona, FL		$30,718
3rd	Ryan Enis			Corinth, MS		$16,878
4th	Roland Bell			Hernando, MS		$13,502
5th	Alfred Theriac			Shreveport, LA		$10,127
6th	Travis Eller			Cookeville, TN		$8,439
7th	Dale Hinson			Byhalia, MS		$6,751
8th	David Rylander			Colliersville, TN		$5,063
9th	Andy Alina			Hernando, MS		$3,376
10th	Mark Fleddermann			St. Louis, MO		$2,363
11th	Dina Rylander			Collierville, TN		$2,363
12th	Ross Rehrig			Franklin, TN		$2,363
13th	Daniel Shelbo			Bethlehem, PA		$2,025
14th	Chad Branton			Cartersville, GA		$2,025
15th	Martin Warren			Rolla, MO		$2,025
16th	Larry White			Braxton, MS		$1,688
17th	Jeff Reuter			Jackson, TN		$1,688
18th	Travis Blackwell			Greer, SC		$1,688

SOME MORE CONGRATS TO LOCALS GOING DEEP AT THE BAYOU POKER CHALLENGE:  That’s Tyler Smith with the customary Alligator head above, figured we had to have his winner’s shot on here.  Congrats again to Tyler, and also to poker locals Michael Dufrechon (16th), Owen Bradley (13th), and Jeff Wyatt (10th) for cashing in the Main Event.

ABBE GARFINKEL WINS THE LADIES EVENT:  Congrats to Abbe and to local Trish Marks who place 4th.  Nobody showed up in drag this time, or at least none were detected.

DAVID “LEFTY” DIAZ WINS OVER 82K:  Diaz finished second in the $400k Isle Guarantee in Pompano Park.  That’s another solid score from a former Biloxi native.  Congrats Lefty, by coming in second you made more than your buddy Tyler when he came in first.  Sometimes second is sweeter.

MONKEY WINS A NIGHTLY IN ATLANTIC CITY:  Word is, the tournament got shipped it to the colonel.  Congrats to Monkey!

WILD BILL SOLICITING OPINIONS:  Over on his blog he’s taking thoughts on a poker hand.  He’s already got a number of responses from bloggers, locals, and some well known pros.  He will put them together in a tidy little blog post or two in the next week or so.  If you want to weigh in, feel free to do so in the comments section over on DINE ON THE WHALES.  Surprising that you can take a fairly standard hand and have a lot of divergence on what you should do.

KAI LANDRY PLAYS WITH LITTLE PONY AND OPPONENTS

GCP-ER KAI LANDRY IS OFF TO PLAY WITH HIS LITTLE PONY:  As the talented Nolan Dalla detailed in his Texas Holdem games report:

“Kai Landry, who says he has no skills and no ability to hold a real job, was the winner of Event #9.  The modest semi-pro has an incredible track record at tournaments throughout the South.  He has won more events and made more final tables than any player over the past two years.  Landry’s two previous wins were at the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Tunica (2009) and a WSOP Circuit win here at Harrah’s New Orleans (2009).  When asked what he liked to do in his spare time, he replied:  “I like to play with my little pony.”  At press time, it could not be determined if Landry actually owns a horse.” 

What could be determined was the Biloxi native added more than 7k to his lifetime winnings which are almost 1/3rd of a million.  Congrats Kai!

Ronnie Hoover, taking some time off from playing poker tournaments online, won a little over 2k for 4th, and John Julien of New Orleans was third for 2.7k. Anita Vasquez, a Lake Charles rounder finished 6th. Captain Tom Franklin came to the final table with the chip lead but he couldn’t hold off Landry and ended up 7th for 1k.  Tai Cao of Lafayette, LA was 9th.  Bobby Mayfield of Lafitte 12th.  David Babin of Norco, LA and Brian Franklin of Gulfport, MS were 14th and 15th.  The last to cash, actually the first to cash was BJ McBrayer who got the min cash in 18th.

TIM BURT MISIPIMACHINE WINS MIXED GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP:  Don’t think you want to play Mr. Burt in a Horse Championship or Mixed games tournament.  He’s making a habit of winning these things.  He bagged up 2.9k for first.  His second title in the last couple of months.  Matthew Bourgeois of Baton Rouge was second for 1.7k.

VITALIE CAT UPENDS RICHARD BERGER IN HEADS-UP PLAY:  The two locals battled it out, but it was the youngster from Metairie, Mr. Cat that got the ultimate glory.  Richard Berger collected his third cash and third final table of the week winning 4.3k.  Cat slurped up 6.9k for first.  Robert Quin of Metairie, LA finished in 4th place after his pocket rockets were cracked by Cat.  Paul Distafano of Plaquemine, LA won 1.5k for 5th.  Charles Chan of Panama City, FL was 6th for 1.3k.  Andrew Becker of Chalmette won 1k for 7th place.  Brian Hennick of Franklinto, LA was 8th for just under 1k.

JUNCA PUTS A RING IN HIS TRUNK:  New Orleans native Jonathan Junca won 3.1k for first in the Pot Limit Omaha/8 Championship.  David Key of Baton Rouge won 2k for 2nd and Franklin Dawkins of Lafayette, LA 1k for 4th. 

CONGRATS GOES OUT TO MICHAEL “KINGS POKER” KING FOR WINNING THE SENIORS EVENT: Local poker media person Michael “Kings Poker” King wins the Seniors…with a huge chop it looks like. Local Players who also cashed…Ken McAllister in 4th place and Houma Attorney Barron Whipple takes home 7th. Please check out Mike’s syndicated poker radio show once a week…do a quick Google search and you should be able to find it.

LOCAL POKER PRO JACOB “NOCKO” NAQUIN TAKES DOWN 5TH PLACE IN A SUNDAY MAJOR YESTERDAY:  Local poker pro Jacob “Nocko” Naquin scoops 5th place in the “Sunday Brawl” on Full Tilt yesterday taking in a nice 5 digit score of over $27k. Jacob is known for putting himself “in good spots” whether playing or backing in the poker world…and this couldn’t be a better spot to be in. Of course he is not happy about getting 5th…but he has just been playing/backing seriously for a few years now…you will see his name in some bigger headlines soon…you can count on it.

LITTLE, MCBRAYER WSOP POKER RING WINNERS

BRUCE LITTLE SHORT-HANDED CHAMPION:  Bruce Little won the 6 Handed No Limit Texas Hold’em poker event for 6.5k.  He bested Dustin Wertz of New Orleans (2nd 4k), Charles Morris of Harahan (3rd 2.5k), Joshua Billingsley of Houston (4th 1.6k), Owen Bradley of New Orleans (5th 1.1k) and Ruven Rivera of Houston (6th 843).  Little has proven again he is one of the better local tournament players.  After a 9th place finish in event one Little has been on a bit of a heater, and figured out which side of the Sit’n go he wants to be on.

A WIN FOR BJ:  BJ McBrayer (pictured) won his fourth tournament title and denied Metairie’s Curtis Lee his second of the series (keep reading to find about his first).  McBrayer pocketed 7k for first, Lee 4.4k for 2nd.  Bill McClary was fifth for 1.6k.

Caufman Talley also came up just short of another bracelet finishing in sixth for 1.3k.  Ruven Rivera cashed again (7th for 1.1k).  Two other locals Hedgemann Carter (Slidell) and Danny Dorcey (pictured and from Chalmette) came in 8th and 9th.

CURTIS LEE TAKES RING IN EVENT 1:  Curtis Lee of Metairie, LA, ended up with the ring after a deal was made with second place Huy Nguyen.   This is the tournament Gene D kicked off with a cash.  Congrats also to Blake Barouse of the APP who finished 10th.  The final table was a locals affair with Bruce Little of New Orleans first one out for just over 1k.  Brian Champagne of Metairie, Josh Rosto of Baton Rouge, and Ralph Reid of Meridian, MS went out 8th, 7th, and 6th.  William Prejean of Gonzales, LA, Ron Held of Metairie, and Danny Doucet of Lafayette were 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

NO RALLY FOR TALLEY TO WIN EVENT TWO TITLE:  Lafayette, LA’s Caufman Talley won 14.8k for first in the $500 buy-in No Limit tournament.  He pretty comfortably went wire to wire with the chip lead at the final table.  He edged Frank Alpandinar (Baton Rouge 8.9k) in heads up play.  Bill Hobbs (New Iberian) finished third for 5.7k.   Congrats to APPer Alex Tassin for coming in 14th.  Corrie “Slim” Wunstel of Baton Rouge was 5th for 2.8k, Michael Dufrechou (Baton Rouge)  6th for 2.2k, Kip Scarsone (Plaquemine, LA) 7th for 1.8k, Gerard “Tree Dr” Rodriques of NOLA 8th for 1.5k, Greg Benoit of Lake Charles 9th for 1.2k.  Wendell Salley of Mobile won 1.2 for 10th.

VANESSA ROUSSO AND JOHN RACENER HEADLINES DOYLE BRUNSON 5 STAR DIAMOND WPT CLASSIC FINAL TABLE:  The all star affair is the best WPT TV table in a long, long, long time.  Fans of live poker will enjoy seeing Antonio Esfandiari, Ted Lawson, Kirk Morrison, and Andrew Robl duke it out for the title.  Speaking of Duke, Vanessa went there, and Annie Duke may have to accept that Vanessa has surpassed her as the World’s best female poker player.  The two Floridians, Rousso and Racener have 5.8 million and 3.3 million respectively and are 1st and 2nd in chips. 

ONLINE POKER BILL IN CONGRESS:  We tend to ship you to Pokerati a lot because they seem to have a better grasp on the bills than anyone else.  The latest tidbit they offer is that Reid’s Bill would block the existing online offshore sites, like FullTilt and Pokerstars, from legally getting into the American market for two years.  Meanwhile the land based casinos will have first crack at the American gamblers.  Hardly seems fair right?  On one side, you could argue they are punishing the existing poker sites for operating when maybe they shouldn’t have, though skilled lawyers at Full Tilt and elsewhere would tell you it’s legal to play online in the States. 

So, the other side is they are giving their fat cat casino friends first crack at an enormous market.  Wonder how high the rake will get to when the land base corporations take over?  To be an optimist, perhaps this just increases competition and actually favors the players over the next two years.  Realistically, it just means in two years the online sites will be merging with land based casinos.  For better, more informed analysis head over to Pokerati.

GENE D A POKER MACHINE

CONGRATS TO GENED:  The co-owner of the site, and not the guy writing this so don’t think he’s patting himself on the back, has been on a bit of a Texas Hold’em poker heater.  Gene has been assaulting  the Harrahs Bayou Poker Classic Tournament Challenge MidWinter World Series of Poker Satellite Whatever The Name of It In New Orleans poker tournaments Tournament Challenge fields.  Gene won one of three Main Event seats in the opening Mega-Satellite and then cashed in his very next tournament in Event one.  GeneD just missed the final table coming in 12th and Southpaw Rounder also enjoyed a deep run. 

Like all of us Gene has endured some heartache on a lot of bubbles so it’s nice to see the cards hold up for once, the bluffs prevail, and the better hands get paid off.  Continued good luck to Gene.  By the way, in that mega the Honest Player, J. Parfait took a break from dodging the minefields in online poker, also bagged a seat by being Johnny on the Spot and getting a more than 50% discount on the seat.  Lots of ways to win in and around poker.  We’ll have more coverage of the Harrahs events as the information comes to us in the coming days

ALSO CONGRATS TO SOFA KING WE TODD DID:  He enjoyed a chop at the nightly.  Go to his blog to read the details.  Apparently, the Baton Rouge native is makng a habit of winning the nightlies.  A habit of winning, no matter the event, is a good thing.

ISILDUR1 SIGNED BY POKERSTARS:  The masked (by the Internet) man, who made his name battling Durrrr in high-stakes action is going to Pokerstars.  It’s almost consensus that Isildur1 is Viktor Blom, a young Swede, but Pokerstars is going to make a show of announcing his true identity.  Which is smart because they basically get to do two rounds of PR for one guy.  Question is will people flock to Stars to play high stakes cash games or tangle with Durrrr on our favorite American online poker room Full Tilt.  

WILL SOUTHER GETS A SMALL STEP CLOSER TO WSOP CIRCUIT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FREEROLL WITH AC CASH:  Monkey finished 19th and in the money to gain some more WSOP satellite points in his quest to join blogger Shannon Shorr in the National Championship.  Considering the field was 1250 players it’s another monumental accomplishment for the Biloxi, native.  Think he’d have a shot in the swollen WSOP Main Event?  We do too.  Hopefully, we’ll see him there this year.

JONATHAN LITTLE 12th IN CHIPS AT WPT 5 DIAMOND CLASSIC:  After Day three at the WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship at the Bellagio,  the ;eaderboard is a Who’s Who of tournament poker with Antonio Esfandiari the chipleader, 2+2′s favorite toolbox (their name for him, not ours) Doug Lee in second, Vanessa Rousso third, and Freddy Deeb fourth.  Little is just ahead of Doyle Brunson, Sorel Mizzi, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Kirk Morrision.  John Racener and Allen Kessler are on the short side of things with 54 players left.  Friend of GCP, Dwyte Pilgrim, regional “locals” Keith Lehr, Hoyt Corkins and Jason Mercier finished in the money but are out of the tournament.

THANKSGIVING POKER MURDER IN FLORIDA:  Two brothers were killed playing poker on the front porch of their friend’s house.  A man who identified himself as a police officer and was wearing a sheriff’s T-shirt told everybody to lie on the ground.  Then he started shooting.  Read here for more.

IF YOU NAME YOUR BOOK “DON’T LISTEN TO PHIL HELLMUTH”  CAN YOU SELL IT FOR $50?  Apparently if you are Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt you can.  Well at least you can list it on your website for $50, not sure how many copies he’s actually peddled.  Does sound interesting though.  Go here for more.

THE CHEMIST AND OTHER POKER KINGS

 JEREMY “THECHEMIST83″ GAUBERT CASHES IN USA COOP:  Gaubert, an Online Texas Holdem savant
finished 6th and won 5.9k.  The $50_$5 Buy-in over-reached the guarantee of 150k buy almost 50k.  Not that there weren’t overlays in other USA COOP events on PokerStars.  John Racener and Shaun Deeb were busy cashing again with Racener winning 3k for 19th and Deeb 2.6k for 32nd in the USA COOP $320 NLHE event.  The guarantee wasn’t met in that prize pool, and Christina Lindley who came in first reaped the benefits.

Noah Schwartz and Matt Graham both cashed in the USA COOP $320 PL Omaha poker 1R1A.  Graham pocketed 2.6k for 12th and Schwartz took home 9k for 5th.

WELCOME BACK TO SOME GCP BLOGGERS THAT HAVEN’T POSTED IN A WHILE:  Fresh goodness from Shannon Shorr, Bobby Toye, and Brandon Jarrett.  Lots of interesting reads.

POKERNEWS DECLARES A NOREASTER OF POKER EVENTS:  Likely with the Jersey Shore and up fragmented with the Harrahs WSOP Circuit Regional Championship, the Borgota December Mini-Series, and the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge all overlapping, we won’t have too many visitors down from the frozen Northeast to our little Harrahs satellite event.

Go here for those tournament structures, but why when you should just go to the Harrahs New Orleans event (but don’t start comparing the “juice” because it’s a lot cheaper elsewhere).  You won’t see Darvin Moon (pictured) despite his fondness for New Orleans  as he is hosting one of the Norester’s event. 

BTW, weigh in on your favorite dealer at Harrahs, or your least favorite as some have chosen, on our facebook page.  One of our bloggers (former blogger?  future blogger?) had some interesting (surely tongue-in-cheek) ideas about dealers.  Maybe he’s just mad they banned whipped cream there.  Wonder if he’s heard of this new alcoholic whipped cream–sounds perfect for Irish coffee.

OLD NEWS, YOUNG HARRISON GIMBEL TOOK DOWN HIS SECOND MAJOR TOURNAMENT:  He’s not even 21 yet and can’t play the WSOP until 2012.  Don’t you feel old and unaccomplished?  Gimble adds another 500k to the 2.2 million he won at the PCA.  No telling how much he wins when he sits down to play online poker too.  This was the tournament that Shannon Shorr and Allie Prescott also went deep in at the Seminole Hard Rock (WPT Regional Series).   

WANT A BRUSH UP ON ONLINE GAMING LAW?  First step head to Pokerati, they consistently have the best updates about where the industry is headed.  Recently they steered us to this Motley Fool article which was a worthwhile read. 

DURRRR CHALLENGE REBOOTS:  Durrrr made some headway on Daniel “jungleman12″ Cates.  Hand of the night was Durrrr cracking Cates’ pocket kings with 36.  Must be fun to flop 366 with that.  Go to Bet and Win Poker for more on the challenge.

DOLAN AND EYSTER JUST MISS SUNDAY MILLION GLORY:  November Niner John “JRD312″ Dolan was 10th in the PokerStars Sunday Million winning 9.1k.  The $200 +$15 tournament (imagine that a 7.5% juice, if only live poker was anywhere close to that) had 8,653 entrants and a prize pool of 1.73 million.  Kevin “1$ickDisea$E”  Eyster finished 18th for 4.4k.

DEEB DEEP AGAIN:  What a way to come out of young retirement.  Shaun Deeb has lost none of the magic.  Another top ten finish, this time in the PokerStars $215+R NL Hold’em event.  Deeb finished seventh for 6.8k in a field of 231.  Jason Mercier 25th for 1.7k.

RACENER WINNING MORE RACES:  November Niner and Main Event runner-up John Racener cashed in the PokerStars Sunday 500 winning almost 1.9k for 32nd.  1,081 entrants created a prize pool of over half a million.

LOCKDOWNTEX CASHES IN UB $200K GTD:  Justin Allen (pictured) finished 33rd out of 1,022 players to win about $900.  Congrats to Justin, and all the Gulf Coasters making a splash online this past weekend.

DURRRR CHALLENGE, POKER GLORY FOR LOCALS, AND MORE

 

DURRRR CHALLENGE REBOOTS:  Durrrr played some Texas Holdem online and made some headway on Daniel “jungleman12″ Cates.  Hand of the night was Durrrr cracking Cates’ pocket kings with 36.  Must be fun to flop 366 with that.  Go to Bet and Win Poker for more on the challenge.  Maybe he’ll restart his Partik Antonius challenge and there will be some Omaha poker online
to discuss as well.

DOLAN AND EYSTER JUST MISS SUNDAY MILLION GLORY:  November Niner John “JRD312″ Dolan was 10th in the PokerStars Sunday Million winning 9.1k.  The $200 +$15 tournament (imagine that a 7.5% juice, if only live poker was anywhere close to that) had 8,653 entrants and a prize pool of 1.73 million.  Kevin “1$ickDisea$E”  Eyster finished 18th for 4.4k.

DEEB DEEP AGAIN:  What a way to come out of young retirement.  Shaun Deeb has lost none of the magic.  Another top ten finish, this time in the PokerStars $215+R NL Hold’em event.  Deeb finished seventh for 6.8k in a field of 231.  Jason Mercier 25th for 1.7k.

RACENER WINNING MORE RACES:  November Niner and Main Event runner-up John Racener cashed in the PokerStars Sunday 500 winning almost 1.9k for 32nd.  1,081 entrants created a prize pool of over half a million.

LOCKDOWNTEX CASHES IN UB $200K GTD:  Justin Allen (pictured) finished 33rd out of 1,022 players to win about $900.  Congrats to Justin, and all the Gulf Coasters making a splash online this past weekend.

HARRAHS WSOP SATELLITE STARTS THURSDAY NIGHT:  Action begins with a $300 + $5 Mega Satellite.  They will be running single table satellites throughout the event.  Starting as low as $35.  Friday’s first event starts at 1 pm (1 pm?  Yes, schedule says 1 pm) with a $300 +$45 event.  A six handed event is on Sunday.  PLO w/rebuys on Monday.  PLO 8/B Tuesday, Mixed Game Wednesday, and next Thursday is a Mega Satellite day.  For hotel call 1800-Hiltons and mention WWS for a $70 daily rate.

PETER EASTGATE BRACELET BIDDING:  A couple of days ago it was up for sale for more than 100k.  Now the bidding has concluded with the Main Event’s bracelet fetching $147.5k.  Proceeds go to UNICEF.  Wonder if Eastgate is rethinking giving ALL proceeds to charity.  Even for a Main Event champion 147k is a lot of money.  That’s a healthier profit than most make at online poker.  Makes you wonder if other players are going to get in on the act….

ESKIMO CLARK AUCTIONING OFF BRACELET:  Okay, sounds like it’s not Eskimo doing the auctioning but a third party.  His 1999 WSOP bracelet has 13 bids, and is up to $3.85k.  It’s less extravagant than Eastgate’s but it may come with that authentic pre-owned smell which is hard to put a price on.  Interesting in bidding?  You only got about a day left.  Go here to get in on the action.

TK GOES DEEP AGAIN IN FULL TILT TOURNAMENT:  It’s easy like Sunday Morning for Timkrank.  He bags a 4th place finish for 41k.  He’s pretty good at that online poker thing.  Thanks to Ross Leitz for the heads-up on this on our facebook page.  Incidentally, you can go there and weigh in on our query of the week, your favorite Harrahs dealer.  Click our facebook badge below to get there.

WE’VE UPDATED OUR WHO’S WHO PAGE:  Congrats to Jared Ingles for taking down the Pot Limit Omaha event at the NAPT Los Angeles and for making Who’s Who.  He and Jackson Niolet are two of our latest editions. 

GULF COAST POKER TOURNAMENT?  BG Lanoix suggested it on our facebook page and it’s not a bad idea.  Head over there to join the conversation if you are interested in playing.  We’ll probably also do a lower buy-in starting in December so we can get more entrants.  Let us know what you think by joining the conversation.  Follow the facebook badge to get there…

TK, SHANNON SHORR, LOCALS POKER PLAYERS WINNING AND LOSING

 

CALL HIM TIM MILES, TK, OR TIMKRANK BUT ALSO CALL HIM FTOPS WINNER.  TK took down a final table that included Annette Obrestad (also pictured), “foldimo” (nice name), Matt Berkey, and Sam lola.  TK won 184k for first in event #33 NL Hold’em Rebuy at one of our favorite Texas Hold em poker rooms. 

Doc Sands finished in 14th place.  Nice job, TK!  This has been a good year for him especially in online poker tournaments as this is his second big online win in the last couple of months. 

Are we missing any gulf coasters’ online scores?  Email wildbill to keep us in the loop if you’ve taken down a tournament and we didn’t know your handle was a friend of ours.

WPT REGIONAL CIRCUIT FEATURES SHANNON SHORR AND ALLY PRESCOTT.  With 23 players remaining Shorr and Prescott are two of the shorter stacks returning at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Florida.  They along with Harrison Gimbel will have tough hills to climb to win the first place prize of over 381k.  289 entries plopped down at least 5k apiece to battle for WPT glory.  At least 5k apiece?  Tried to slip that by you, but you were too quick.  Yes, it was a two day 1, re-entry format.  You bust on day1a you can buy in and try again on day 1b. 

The chipleader is Raj Vorha with 1.34 million.  The Gulf Coasters we have are tracking Gimbel (15th 193k), Shorr (17th 182k) and Prescott (19th 126k) got a lot of work to do, but can take comfort in the fact, the rest of the field is closer to them than they are to the chip leader with second in chips under 800k.

NAPLES FLORIDA MAN ABOUT TO “WIN BIG JACKPOT” ARRESTED:  At the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound track police pulled from the table one Mr. Nicholas Cosmo (not to be confused with Cosmo Kramer another erratic and boisterous disturbance).  Charged with disturbing the peace, Cosmo claimed he was being loud because he was about to win a jackpot and that’s why security pulled him from the table and asked him to cash in his chips.  Hmmmm.

HOW MUCH IS A MAIN EVENT BRACELET WORTH?  Right now 56.7k.  Peter Eastegate charity auction to beneefit UNICEF originally listed the bracelet at 16k and it has since been upped to 56.7k.  Want to big on the 168 grams of 18 karats white gold, with over 290 diamonds?  Go to eBay or just click this link.  Warning it’s pre-owned.

HARRAHS CANCELS IPO:  The owners of the WSOP, and New Orleans’ biggest casino and poker room, canceled their IPO with a statement on Friday.  Market conditions were cited as the primary concern.  Harrahs, highly leveraged in debt, were to ask for $15 to $17 a share to raise half billion dollars in capital.  They were fearful the market conditions, of people not wanting to buy debt-burdened companies, would make their asking price embarrassingly too high. 

Rumors persist that Harrahs is continuing to try and sell the Rio, home of the WSOP since it moved from Binions, and might move the tournament to their Caesars or Planet Hollywood property.  No word if Harrahs will try an IPO  again soon or if it’s shelved for the long term.  

MICROSOFT X-BOX 360 OFFERING POKER IN AUSTRALIA:  The new Full House Poker featuring Avatar Superstars is a “massively multiplayer” title.  It garners a “G” rated for very mild content.  Interesting…

 BLOGGERS STILL BLOGGING:  Sorry we had some server issues last week, but that didn’t keep a lot of folks from blogging even if the front page wasn’t as lupdated as often as we would have liked.  Check out Scotty, Poker Monkey, Wild Bill, the Poker Bat, Heptinstall, Benton, Jena, and Bobby Toye’s latest entries in either column.