Six days and counting. Every day we get closer, I get more and more excited. A few nights ago UltimateBet gave away a free Aruba package to one of my Rounders Radio listeners. Congrats to ” _MARTY_”, you’re coming to Aruba. On top of that, you’re coming to Aruba for FREE BABY. Marty won his seat through a free-roll promotion. He listened to the Ultimate Poker Show 9pm Sunday nights on http://roundersradio.com/ And now is on his way to Aruba to hang out with Phil, Annie and the rest of us for what I guarantee will be the best week of his life. Not only will Marty get his 3k for travel and a $5500 main event seat to the Aruba Poker Classic, but also a weeks worth of parties, beaches, great food, non-stop poker/drinking…and the best part of all, the people he will meet. Friends for life…now that’s priceless Congrats again Marty cya there.
Last weekend I was in Vegas teaching at the http://www.wsopacademy.com/ with Mark Seif, Paul Wasicka and Joe Navarro. I love to teach along side of these instructors. I get to learn so much at each Academy and it’s so good for my game. Don’t tell these guys but I would do it for free. We are going to be running a new free-roll promotion on Rounders where one of our listeners will win a free trip to attend one of these camps. Do yourself and your game a favor and win this trip. It is the best way to take your game to the next level
A few days later we had our annual poker bash at my bar here in Madison. It was a blast. Susie Q and Scott brought up their crew from Chicago and Evil Crusher came up from Atlanta, along with 50 more from the area .I want to thank all who came and my bar manager Wendy for making it a great weekend. And congrats to “Momma H0″ for winning the tourney, good job mom!
It’s September and summer is “officially” over, the kids (if I had kids) are back at school and we’re on a fast train to Xmas, with one really nice stop on the way…Aruba.
I can’t believe it’s that time of year already. Twenty-five days until I’m in Aruba for UB’s tourney of tourneys. This is the big one my friends and it’s not to be missed.
This is going to be my third time in Aruba and I am looking forward to this trip even more than the previous two. It definitely doesn’t get old. It’s the one place I can play poker and relax at the same time. The poker environment in Aruba is as intense as anywhere but it’s much more kickback at the same time. I can only guess it’s the sea, the sun, the air, and the DRINKS! Can I get a bucket of Balashi’s over here right now?? If this is going to be your first time to Aruba, Balashi is the local beer and it’s good. There’s my tip of the week.
My first trip to Aruba was in 2007. I won my seat after winning the VH1 Rock & Roll Poker Tourney. I had just started playing poker seriously at the time and I have to admit I was really intimidated about Aruba. I had no idea what it was going to be like. It was also going to be my first big live tourney!! I was going there without knowing anyone except Phil Hellmuth Jr who I had met for five minutes. My fiancé Pearl and I got there and were immediately welcomed by Jo Priam and all of the UB pro’s, management and staff into the family. It’s that kind of atmosphere. UB really goes out of its way to make everyone feel like a part of the team in Aruba. You’ll see. There’s a reason for such strong brand loyalty and it all stems from how cool everyone that works for UB is. This may sound kiss-assy but it’s true. The hospitality provided for all is five-star.
We became fast friends with Phil and Debo and Poker Ho and Shawn Rice and Annie and her man Joe and Hollywood Dave and Wisco and Jim “Krazy Kanuck” Worth and Robert Williamson III etc etc. I got to play a lot of poker and even got some lessons from these masters while having a blast every night. It was a great way to go to poker school.
My first big tourney started OK and about half way through level three I ended up getting all my money in post flop with a set of J’s on a Q high board. Poker Ho was standing across the table from me and saw me shove and gave me a “You got the nuts?” kind of look. I raised my brows back at him thinking I was about to double up when the caller turned over his pair of Q’s and I was done. Oops. My first tourney and I’m out set over set. I wasn’t bummed at all; at that point in my poker career there was no way I could’ve folded. These days my Spider-Sense would’ve been going off like a fire alarm and I’d make an amazing lay down. At least in my dreams that’s what happens.
So I bust out on day one and I’ve got a week in paradise. That’s what’s great about Aruba. And, there’s so much poker going on non-stop that you’ll never be looking for a game. Last year I was heading to Aruba a different poker player. UB had signed me and I’d had a year of lessons and tourneys and thousands of hands played. I also knew everyone going in so it was basically going to be a poker vacation with my friends. Once again the whole operation was first class. I have to mention Matt Savage and his crew as well because he is a huge part of making this a great event. Matt’s tournament philosophy is to give the players great value for their money and this structure provides that.
I made it to day three last year and was grinding towards the bubble. I was short stacked about twenty-five from the money when I shoved UTG with KK. The BB talked and talked for three minutes and he finally calls with AJ. I was hoping to take the blinds and antes and keep grinding but a double up would’ve gotten me past the bubble for sure.
He flops and A and the turn and river show me no love at all and I am out. I couldn’t believe it. I had never made it to a day three before and I just couldn’t accept that I was done after all that work. I was going to win it; I couldn’t be out. I got up quickly and headed out of the room. I dimly remember Debo saying something to me from his table as I descended into a darkness that I was not familiar with. The walk back to my room took five minutes and by the time I got there I didn’t know what to do with myself. Pearl was in the room and she asked me what happened and I couldn’t even speak. I was sitting there with my head in my hands in disbelief that someone pulled the emergency brake and my tourney was over. Pearl told me she’d be down by the pool and to come meet her and the rest of our friends down there when I was ready. She’d also never seen me like this and decided it was probably best to get out of the way. It was the weirdest feeling, my sane brain was saying “dude, calm down it’s just a game and you’ll get’em next time” and my insane poker brain was saying “SCOTT SMASH AJ, SCOTT DESTROY YOU AAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Interesting conversation my brain was having with itself. After a half an hour of trying to calm down crazy Scott-Hulk I got off my sorry ass and found Pearl at the pool. I grabbed a lounge chair, set it down in the shallow end of the pool, was handed a GIANT Pina Colada by Victor Bigio and I let Aruba wash the insanity away. And it did! Twenty minutes later my anger had melted away and it was all fun the rest of the trip. That’s Aruba.
Last week I was in Chicago to teach a WSOP Academy in Hammond, Indiana right across the border. I generally make it a rule that I don’t teach camps outside of California or Vegas because I don’t like traveling away from my kids but I made an exception for this because I really like Chicago and thought it might be a nice weekend getaway for me and Joe. Now, I don’t think many people know that I am a huge cooking show fanatic. My two favorite cooking shows are Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Top Chef. I am pretty sure that Joe is completely jealous of Guy Fieri’s job which is just doing around to dives around the country and trying the food. We both watch that show together and, in fact, are planning a trip to Memphis in the next couple of weeks which is built just on BBQ places we have seen on Triple D (as Guy Fieri calls his show).
As for Top Chef, I just finished watching Top Chef Masters which was a version of Top Chef where the best chefs in the country were competing for charity. Like a celebrity chef version of the show. So two of the finalists have restaurants in Chicago, Art Smith who has Table 52 and Rick Bayless who has Frontera Grill. Bayless won the whole competition and his food look incredible. He does authentic Mexican and man I really wanted to try it. But, alas, as hard as we tried and as many strings as we pulled we could not get a reservation. I was so sad. We did manage a reservation at Table 52 and what was hilarious is that two of the other couples sitting next to us in the restaurant were there because they has seen Top Chef Masters, too! I thought that was pretty funny.
People in Chicago are much friendlier than in LA and the people sitting near us were striking up conversations with us which was a really nice change. I particularly enjoyed the older couple who were fascinated that Joe ordered every side dish on the menu. That’s right. Every single one! Corn pudding, fries, candied yams, mac and cheese and greens. He figured we were probably never coming back so he wanted to try everything. In case you are wondering, his order from best to worst was greens, corn pudding, mac and cheese, yams and fries. The sides were awesome but Joe’s favorite was the ridiculous desserts, particularly the root beer float which was actually a sandwich made from homemade sugar cookies with homemade root beer ice cream in between them.
I wish we had time to go to some of the Diners in the Chicago area that are on Guy Fieri’s show. That will have to wait till next trip. BTW, the camp went great. But I gained like 5 pounds!D
That’s right, rockstars — after months in the Vegas desert, I’m back in the land of milk and honey… Hollywood, baby. Unfortunately this trip is just a quick 4-5 days, after which its back to Sin City for another few weeks. So naturally I’ve been packing in as much LA action as I can handle!
Started off with a long-delayed trip to the beach, Santa Monica pier style. Hung out with my dad for his birthday, my 2 bros, and of course my hottie gf MB (hey, any excuse to get her in a bikini…yum). After spending the day there we had dinner on the pier and then back to Hollywood for late nite drinks at my fave hangout, Birds, with some other friends. Good times.
Then yesterday I had lunch with my manager Glen and caught up on all the bizness in my life, and all the exciting things coming up soon. Top of the list is the fact that as of yesterday, I finally received the 100% completed copy of the pilot I’ve been working on all summer: Grifting w/ Hollywood Dave Stann! I watched it like 3x and man is it awesome, exactly how I pictured it all those years ago when I started to dream up the idea in my head. For those of you tuning in late, ‘Grifting’ is my new tv show, in which every week I set out to a new destination around the globe to track down the heart of a particular game, spend time learning it from the masters, then go out into the field to see if I can beat it. Plenty of gameplay, but what I really love about this show is the cultural component — seeing all the ways in which people who are obsessed about the strangest games around the globe eat, sleep, and party!
At this point our production company has done a real bang-up job creating this amazing pilot, and from here we start walking in to networks both domestic and foreign, in order to find a home for the show. I would LOVE to put a link up to the pilot here for you guys to check out, but until we finish the meeting process with it, I have to keep it under wraps. But believe me when I say this show totally rocks!
Other than that, one of the best things about coming back to LA is being able to take some continuing poker lessons with Annie Duke, which is where I’m headed tonite. Years ago I traded blackjack and poker lessons with her, and she gave me the tools I needed to do so well in no limit holdem events… but over the past year or so I’ve been specializing more and more in the HORSE games, and so always look forward to anything more she can teach me in that regard as well. I keep pretty detailed records of my play, both live and online, and feel that although certain areas of my game are pretty solid, I’ve got a few leaks that need special help to correct! And no I won’t tell you guys where the leaks are — until the’re fixed, that is!! lol
In the meantime, I will be putting up some new vidz on my youtube page very soon so chekkit out: www.youtube.com/HollyDeezy
Oh yeah and ps, I booked an audition for the tv show ‘House’ tomorrow so lookout! Also, just over a month til Aruba and I am set!!! See you guys there!
I really love to play online poker, but one of the things I really have a hard time with is how some players handle bad beats. When a lot of players lose with what they think is the best hand, their first reaction is to berate the other player…. call him a donkey, a fish, even an idiot from northern Europe. Here are a couple reasons why I have a problem with this. One is if a player is playing bad, why do you feel it is your responsibility to tell him that his play is bad? Wouldn’t you want that player to continue to play bad? You should know that he’ll eventually lose all his chips if he continues down that path. That’s more chips for your stack! Second, just because you think what he did was wrong, might not necessarily be wrong! Poker has a lot of gray areas. For instance, if you flop top set and the Donkey flops a flush draw, when you bet and he shoves and then gets there, you want to break your laptop! However, in a lot of situations his shove was not a bad play. You have to take into account chip stacks, type of tournament you’re playing,etc. I was talking about this last Sunday with Annie Duke on the “Ultimatebet Poker Show” on RoundersRadio. She made another really good point. Annie said that when you see a player playing “bad”, try to see what he is doing well, because he must be doing something really well to compensate for what you think is bad play. After all, he’s still in the game! If you focus on the positive in what that player is doing well and forget about what he is doing bad, it will help your game. There’s a ton of information to be had. It’s always important to remember that you can even learn things from a “bad” player. It’s never too late to learn! Be a sponge, and try and soak up all that you can. This will help you take your game to the next level. See you at the tables……H0
So I have been back from DC now for a week and really feeling settled in for the first time since the WSOP ended. I left for Vegas at the end of May and came back mid July. That is a long time away from home and I really wanted to just settled back in to my routine in LA. But I turned around less than a week later to head to DC to lobby for the Poker Players Alliance (www.joinpps.org) and for Refugees International and Enough Project (www.refugeesinernational.orgwww.enoughproject.org) . That all went great with movement on both fronts. I am happy to say that Senator Menendez dropped his bill to legalize peer to peer games this week. You can read all about the bill at http://theppa.org/special/s1597/ This kind of movement on the legislative front is huge and is what the PPA has been working towards for the past three years. On the House of Representatives side of things, the frontier is looking rosy as well with Rep. Frank introducing H.R. 2166. http://theppa.org/special/dc/ which calls for the licensing and regulation of the online gaming industry which would bring us in line with hour The UK and 25 other countries handle online gaming. These pieces of legislation both have bipartisan support which shows that this is an issue that crosses party lines because across the board from the standpoint of consumer protection, civil liberties, protection of minors, world trade, etc. UIGEA is just bad government policy and members of both parties are recognizing that. It is really gratifying to see the work that many of us have done taking frequent trips to Capitol Hill to talk to lawmakers coming to fruition. And the support of the over 1 million people who have joined the PPA is responsible for those efforts and the powerful voice that poker players have in our nation’s capital. We should all be patting ourselves on the back for taking action.
On the Sudan front, the people we met with were very receptive to reexamining the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan. It was a very educational day for me listening to Omer Ismail and Melanie Tiff talk about the issues. I am very familiar with how to lobby the poker issue. Watching these passionate individuals talk the Sudan issue was incredible and really reaffirmed my passion for the issue.
After I was done lobbying, my family and I spent the rest of the vacation doing the monuments and Smithsonians. The Holocaust Museum is a must for anyone going to DC. Obviously, it is so moving to see the artifacts and stories from Nazi Germany but they also have a section in there on Sudan and I was able to bring my children through there and touch them about the work that Ante Up for Africa does in a way that just talking to them about it could never do. They have an amazing interactive section of the museum where the kids could read personal stories from people affected by the conflict there. And the fact that it was related to the holocaust really helped bring it home for them. They saw the idea that when we say, “Never again” that we really need to live that because if we let our guards down then “never again” means nothing as it will happen again and again as it has throughout human history.
Anyway, the whole experience was really moving. But we are all happy to be home. And I am ecstatic to be sleeping in my own bed every night, doing Bikram everyday and cooking dinner for my kids in my own kitchen again.
I just got back from DC from yet another lobbying trip. But this time I combined it with a vacation with the kids to explore the seat of our nation. I have been to Washington so many times but never during the summer months when the kids are out of school. As soon as the PPA contacted me and asked me if I would be willing to come out and lobby during National Poker Week I thought, “Awesome! I can take the kids with me this time!” And so I did that. The kids got to see a bit of what Mom does when she is in DC but they also got a great vacation trip, experiencing The Smithsonians, The Capital Dome Tour, The Floor of the House of Representatives and all sorts of other cool crap.
So first the lobbying. The Poker issue is really seeing some movement now. Granted, the Health Care Legislation is slowing things up a little right now as Congress is focused on matters that are certainly more important than the poker legislation. But I felt a real difference in the legislators on this issue. On this trip there was much less educating of members on the issue and why it is important, something we had to do a lot of over the past couple of years. This year seemed to be more talking of attack plans, how to get legislation moving forward and how to get other programs paid for using the poker revenue. The $3 billion to $10 billion dollar tax base that would be generated from taking and regulating the poker industry was definitely creating a lot of buzz on The Hill as Members are needing to find ways to pay for the health care program. That much tax revenue is attractive to a country in financial crisis and is most likely one of the big reasons that the support for poker is much more bi-partisan.
There are a few pieces of legislation swirling around Capitol Hill. The first is a piece of legislation that would delay the regulations for UIGEA being put into effect. Those regs are set to go into effect in January. What Rep. Frank is asking for is that that deadline be delayed while a court decides what is or is not legal under UIGEA. The problem is that UIGEA, while admonishing payment processors that they cannot process illegal transactions, does not define what is a legal or illegal activity. HR 2166 would ask the courts to define what is legal so there is clarity on that issue. Put poker up in a court of law and we will take the chance that it will be determined a game of skill and, therefore, a legal activity. I am happy to hang my hat on the courts on this one.
HR 2167 is the full on legalization and regulation of Internet Gaming in all its forms except for sports betting. This bill would put a system in place similar to the system they have in England and 25 other countries already. It would create a licensing process for online gaming companies so they could legally operate in the US. Along with this would come better consumer protection measures and majority verification measures as licensed companies would have to use best efforts to comply on those issues. It is what the companies want and what the consumers want. There is also a bill on the Senate side from Sen. Menendez that would license peer to peer games of skill only…lucky for us, poker falls in that category.
I came away from this trip the most optimistic I have been from any lobbying trip. Hopefully, I am not just being a Pollyanna
In my next blog I will post pictures of all the cool crap we saw at the Smithsonians.
Another Friday – wow the Summer is flying by. It won’t belong before the weather starts getting cooler – and we all know what that means…..Aruuuuuuuuuuuba bound! I just booked my flights yesterday so I’m on my way. This will be my 5th year in Aruba and it truly feels like a family reunion. I am so blessed to have met so many players that return each year with a smile on their face – just happy to be on one happy island. Well this year will mark UB’s 10th birthday so I am assuming there will be many opportunities to celebrate. We have a few big music folks in attendance this year too. Very exciting. I hope to see a huge turnout this year – all 0f the pros will be there and of course Mr. Hellmuth will be hosting a private VIP party in the penthouse. Be there or be square!
So Annie Duke was Washington last week lobbying for poker players around the country. She met with a number of key players in congress with the goal of educating them on everything poker. By the sounds of things, her visit (along with other key poker players) has made an impact. I guess time will tell but thanks to you Annie for stepping up and making a statement!
Before Aruba we have the WSOPE and I know many of my pros are headed across the pond to play some poker and no doubt have some pints while they are there. I LOVE England and would do almost anything to go live there. I love the people, the architecture and the history. I only wish I was headed over there myself with the guys! Oh well – cheers anyway!
Our very own Hollywood Dave played and WON the VIP tournament last Tuesday. Kudos to you HD!! This coming Tuesday watch out for the great Michael Binger to see if he can do the same!
Well I am off to the gym – wow you say?? Yes! P0ker J0 has started working out. I do need to get in shape and I do need to be healthy but most of all – I have to be able to run and catch any person seen running away with my shoes in Aruba!!!
You can be excused for thinking that once the November Nine was set and the WSOP went on hiatus till autumn that poker would enjoy a bit of downtime. Bu that wasn’t the case–the Poker Players Alliance declared July 19-25 “National Poker Week” and took the fight to legalize online poker to Washington, D.C. Thirty of the PPA’s state directors and seven poker players (UltimateBet’s Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Greg Raymer, Dennis Phillips, Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher) went to the seats of power in America and spoke directly to members of Congress to make the case for online poker.
And it would seem that elected officials are a bit more inclined to listen to the case for online poker. As Annie Duke said in an interview:
It’s definitely different than a year and a half ago. Then, it was a lot of education and telling people what the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is. Now, I think people are much more familiar with the legislation’s problems. They realize that it’s a piece of legislation that doesn’t work. It’s fortuitous timing with the health care reform because you get to talk about how it’s going to get paid for. When you point out that internet gambling can bring in a conservative estimate of $3 billion per year, they listen.
The events of the week generated quite a bit of interest in your traditional poker news sources, and as several of my poker-media friends were in Washington it was quite amusing to hear about them putting on power suits and trying to tie a Windsor knot for the first time in a decade before marching on the Capitol. But in addition to poker-centric outlets National Poker Week got a lot of play in the mainstream media as well. To start with, PPA Chairman Alphonse D’Amato went on the Howard Stern show and, after chatting with Stern about why he’s so passionate about poker, Howard announced on the air that he’d become a member of the PPA. After the show D’Amato had this to say about Stern signing on:
“I can’t think of a more fitting way to kick off National Poker Week than having my friend, Howard Stern, become a member of the PPA. I thank him for having me on his show this morning and for supporting the PPA’s efforts to protect the freedom of American citizens to play the great game of poker at the time and place of their choosing – a freedom Congress voted to take away… With Howard Stern as a member of the PPA, it shows Congress and the public that protecting Internet poker is about more than just poker – it’s about protecting Internet freedom and personal responsibility.”
But that wasn’t the only time that National Poker Week earned the attention of a major news outlet. On Wednesday PPA Executive Director John Pappas appeared on CNBC, and here’s how host Mark Haines introduced the segment:
“Washington is cracking down on fun! I guess that’s nothing new…”
Pappas appeared opposite Les Bernal, who fronts for an organization called “Stop Predatory Gambling”. As if someone out there is advocating predatory gambling, sheesh. Pappas did some rhetorical ju-jitsu to start with, saying that we need online gaming legalized so that children aren’t preyed upon by unscrupulous operators and adults can play on sites that are regulated and safe. Which left Bernal in a bit of a predicament because his argument is that online poker should NOT be legalized and regulated because that’s the best way to protect the children. That argument didn’t make sense before and Bernal didn’t make it any better during this interview. Bernal also seemed to think that poker players wager money against the house, not against other players, and then he made the bizarre claim that some USB study showed that the online poker business model is “unsustainable…that short-term they made money but long-term they did not”. Uh, what? I searched the Google for that study but found nothing, but to refute Mr. Bernal’s claim I would like to introduce him to…UltimateBet, which is celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary this year. And every year more and more people around the world play online poker. Bizarre. If you’d like to see the bizarreness first hand here’s the segment, with Pappas scoring a decisive TKO:
Greg Raymer did a chat on with the readers of the Washington Post (he had a great line when asked when we could expect a repeal of the UIGEA–”Predicting this stuff is always tough, as politicians are difficult animals to deal with. Animal trainers have it much easier.”). And there was a piece on Newsweek’s site as well. But while generating a lot of media buzz is a good thing, it doesn’t necessarily translate into legislative success. There’s still no guarantee that Congress is going to repeal the UIGEA and legalize online poker, but as you can see the balance of the discussion has definitely swung in our direction. Now it’s the opponents of online poker who are being grilled about why they think law-abiding Americans shouldn’t be allowed to play, it’s Washington who wants to keep Americans from having fun. Members of Congress who perhaps were content with opposing online poker to placate a small number of vocal social conservatives now have to deal with the 1.2 million-member Poker Players Alliance and fed-up constituants who have had enough with the federal government dictating how they can and cannot spend their time and money. Dan Michalski at Pokerati published some numbers from National Poker Week to show how the PPA was able to mobilize it’s membership:
Poker-related letters sent to members of Congress in July 2009: > 150,000
Poker-related letters sent to Congress in 2008: 77,000
Issues other than health care reform that have generated more letters to Congress in 2009 (including war in Iraq, recession, and gas prices): 0
Meetings scheduled between PPA representatives and Congressional offices in a two-day period: 110
At the end of National Poker Week there was a $100 charity tournament to raise money for the USO and wounded veterans. Around 180 people played, including 31 wounded veterans and seven members of Congress. It was a rebuy tournament and many of the professional poker players there rushed around the room re-buying for the soldiers who’d busted out (Annie apparently out-rebought her brother Howard by a 15-10 score). The tournament raised around $35,000 for the USO, people had a great time, and a veteran named Bret Chevalier won the tournament and a trip to Las Vegas. Many of the soldiers who played in the event won their seats in tournaments held at Walter Reed Hospital. Wounded soldiers playing poker in the hospital…a charity tournament to raise money to help them…folks sitting around a poker table having a great time…and there are people who think this is wrong? That the federal government should BAN it? It beggars belief.
But though the passage of the UIGEA was not a shining example of democracy in action, we at least have the opportunity to fight for a repeal of that bad law. Poker players can band together, lobby Congress, and get poker legalized as it should be. Unlike, say, in Russia, where Vladimir Putin the Russian government shut down casinos across the nation this week. At first it was thought that poker, which was classified as a sport in Russia, would be exempted. Ah, nyet–all the poker rooms in Russia were ordered shuttered as well. The government says that this was done because of the pervasive influence of organized crime in the thousands of casinos scattered throughout the country, though one wonders if the Russian Mafia will have any compunctions about opening (even deeper) underground casinos and cardrooms.
The Russian government decreed that gambling will only be permitted in four zones…one of which is in Siberia, while another is near the North Korean border. Those places sound…lovely. And these areas have none of the infrastructure in place to host casinos, the roads, airports, power stations, whatever you need for a major tourist attraction. It’s estimated that 400,000 people were put out of work by this decree, some of whom probably would’ve worked the first stop on this year’s European Poker Tour, which was to be begin August 18th in Moscow. But no more–yesterday it was announced that the tournament has been moved to Kiev, Ukraine.
So perhaps this is an argument that can be used here in the United States–you want to ban poker? That’s what they do in Russia. Jingoistic to be sure, but to get online poker legalized it’ll probably take every arrow in the quiver. The House bill Representative Barney Frank has introduced won’t come up for discussion again until the Congress returns from vacation in September, and then it faces a very crowded legislative docket. In case you haven’t heard there’s talk about national health insurance, the economy still teeters and totters, there are wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…legalizing online poker is still way down on the list of priorities. But National Poker Week no doubt did a lot to keep it ON that list, and in these difficult times one would hope that Congress will take a more reasonable and pragmatic look at legalizing the game we love.
I attended UltimateBet.com’s 10th Anniversary Party at Studio 54 in the MGM. A group of us met up beforehand at a bar inside the MGM for a round of drinks before we rolled over to the party. As we got to 54, we ran into Annie Duke and Joe Reitman who showed up simultaneously. Before, we actually went inside, I shot PokerListings.com’s “Rail Rewind”, as I had the #4 rewind story, “The $50k H.O.R.S.E. Final Table Begins Today”.
UB’s party was a great time. Not only was I able to spend time with fellow UB pros, but I was able to meet some of the UB staff and put faces to names. Being there and reviewing my sponsorship decision, I am realizing I have found a good home in UB. I really feel like I am wanted, that everyone is working together, and that the future is bright. I do not feel like I could be shelved like other pros are with other sites.
The scene at the party: Hellmuth was lowered on a platform to open the night, naked body paint models in Roman theme, acrobatic dancers, live music performance, open bar, lots of pros, media and UB staff. Ultimate Bet put on a good show. It was a great way to kick off the start of the Main Event which began shortly after and to celebrate their milestone anniversary.
As it got later on into the night, I heard that some friends had tables at XS in the Encore. A group of us left the UB party, grabbed some cabs, and headed over for a little after-party. XS was amazing, as usual, and the good times continued.
As it got late, I decided to head out with a couple of people who were remaining. I had to be up to play in the morning and now is not the time to party until the sun comes up. I did, however, sit down for a few hands of black jack, which turned out to be quite profitable. Every once in a while it is nice to sit down and gamble a little bit, just release and forget about life for a bit.
Congrats again Marty cya there.
