WSOP 2008 Rules Changes
The new, modified, reemphasized and yes, even unchanged, rules for the 2008 World Series of Poker have been released. Here are a few highlights from my first pass at the rules.
In 2007, there was a poorly enforced rule called: "Show One, Show Both", which simply said a player mucking their hand could show no cards or both cards in Hold'em; no cards or all four in Omaha. They players hated the rule, no one saw any reason for the rule and now the rule has been abandoned. "Show One, Show All" is still in place but now you can "Show One" or I guess in Omaha, show "One, Two or Three".
What is being called the Hevad Khan rule, there is a new statement of what will be considered "excessive celebration":
"excessive celebration through extended theatrics, inappropriate behavior, or physical actions, gestures, or conduct may be subject to penalty." ...."any player that engages a member of the tournament staff during the celebration or utilizes any property of Harrah's will be penalized… Harrah's property includes but is not limited to chairs, tournament tables, and stanchions."
We find no mention of abusing or terrorizing Mr. Peanut, as Mike Matusow did last year.
The Cell Phone rule is finally clear. You use it, you lose your hand. You must be one table length away from your assigned table to make a call, take a call or text and anything else. If there is a question, your hand is dead.
There are also new rules on logos and patches but basically, who cares. If you make a final table, fear not, someone will give you lots of money to wear their stick-on logo.
Barney Franks Stupidest Thing I Ever Saw
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Photo shot on location at the home of the World Series of Poker
Barney Frank, D - MA, has been working toward exempting Internet poker from the 2006 Internet Gambling Ban, that same exempt status already enjoyed by other forms of gambling, notably, horse racing and lotteries. Barney Frank is one powerful politician due in part to his Chairmanship of the prestigious House Committee on Financial Services.
Frank's committee will take up the Department of Treasury's rules proposed to enforce the 2006 gambling ban through control of financial institutions, mostly banks and credit cards. The hearing will take place very soon, probably within a couple of weeks. A draft of the Treasury's proposed rules has been available since last October and has received hundreds of comments, many from financial institutions concerned that the rules will do nothing to stop US citizens from gambling with foreign-based Internet operators, while creating a compliance nightmare. An interesting article with observations and links from the UK website itweek.co.uk
Check out Barney, man of action, with this archived webcast of a Full Committee Hearing taking up the issue of "Can Internet Gambling Be Effectively Regulated to Protect Consumers and the Payments System?" back in 2007. Makes for an excellent digital meet and greet of the principals. Did you know that Ron Paul, self-proclaimed champion for rights of citizens, is the ranking Republican on the Committee? A live webcast will be available at the Committee's website during the hearing or you can see it later from the webcast archives.
I agree with the smart money about nothing happening during this presidential election year and I think an exemption is close to a done deal for 2009 (the newly elected clean-up crews will need the billions in tax revenues). Are you an Internet poker player? Wanna make sure this goes your way? Get involved. Let your elected leaders know what you think about your eroding personal freedoms. Remind them you not only vote; but, you're informed about the issues and you network with other concerned voters. "That's about the stupidest thing I ever saw." Barney Frank referring to the 2006 Internet gambling ban.
WSOP Poker Players receive special RIO room rates, check it out at the Las Vegas News blog.
photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Photo shot on location at the home of the World Series of Poker
All Africa Poker Tournament
John Tabatabai is the 12th All Africa Poker Tournament Champion and has earned himself One Million Rand and a seat to the World Series of Poker valued. Second place was taken by Kyri Patsalos, who won R400,000 and a WSOP package. WSOP 2007 3rd place player, the legendary Ray Rahme gained another third position winning R300,000 and a WSOP package.
The 12th All Africa Tournament was held at Piggs Peak, Swaziland.
John Tabatabai is only 22 years of age but now has several big time tournament accomplishments. He finished second to Annette Obrestad in the main event of the 2007 WSOP of Europe. Now he adds the All Africa title to his poker resume.
John has described his WSOPE experience as the best and the worst experience of his life. He loved the challenge and the great players that he played with but second was heartbreaking. It left him shell-shocked and took him more than two months to recover from the disappointment. It seems he may have fully recovered at Piggs Peak. His next event is the EPT event in San Remo.
I Bet You, said the Unabomber to the Magic Man
An April 10 premier opens the second of season of I Bet You on MOJO HD TV, an exclusive channel to High Def cable TV subscribers (satellite viewers are SOL). Tune in at 9:30 pm ET/PT for the first of fourteen original shows starring poker pros, Antonio "Magician" Esfandiari and Phill "Unabomber " Laak, two poker guys proving once again that traveling around the country doing nothing more than hanging out with celebrities and betting on anything and everything in sigh is a lot of fun; and, I'm talking about the stuff you don't see, the side wagers that happens when the cameras are off. You'll see the production set-ups of "I'm bigger, faster, better, longer, smarter, harder and can be slickly packaged up for a TV time slot... and best of all, I've got xxx $'s that sez so."
This season the shows will include an invited celebrity or a poker professional to join in and take part of the action. Scheduled to appear are Elizabeth Shannon, Jennifer Tilly, Lance Burton, George Segal, Frank Stallone, Richard Carn and more.
Season II episodes synopsis after the jump...
Upcoming I Bet You episodes:
Sperm Bank (Miami): Who's the more "manly" man when it comes to sperm motility, quantity, lifespan and fertility potential? Also, which of our guys can best wrestle an alligator (and maintain all limbs) and talk to a paint salesman for five minutes about everything except paint.
Modeling (Miami): Taking direction from two beautiful runway models, which of our illustrious gentlemen can excel on the catwalk? Under water, which man can hold his breath the longest?
Firefighters (Miami): Will Phil or Antonio make a better fireman? Competitions include lifting, dragging and rescuing victims alongside the Miami-Dade Fire Department during drills. Also, can Phil get a stranger to photograph him five times and can Antonio get a beautiful woman to give him her phone number?
Air Combat (Los Angeles): Antonio and Phil team up with air combat instructors and learn how to dogfight. Who will be shooting who out of the air? Also, Jennifer Tilly plays charades and poker with our fearless competitors.
Songwriting (Los Angeles): With a little help from Frank Stallone ("Staying Alive") and Tiffany ("I Think We're Alone Now"), our itinerant gamblers each write and perform a song. Who's got the stuff to climb the charts? Also, E's! Joel McHale joins our gentlemen in an amusement park, betting to see who the best "ride" champion is.
Camping (Nashville): Out in the Nashville woods, there's fishing (who'll catch the first one), rock climbing (who'll climb higher) and fire building (one guy can't even ignite). Which guy will come out on top? Also, who's more attractive to puppies and who can fit more marshmallows in his mouth?
Demolition Derby (Nashville): Phil starts the day with a broken toe and Chris, from the production group, substitutes for him in head-to-head automotive smash-ups against Antonio.
Formula One Racing (Las Vegas): Ready, get set, go! Phil and Antonio go around the track at the Mario Andretti Racing School to see who the fastest and most adept driver is. Also, fellow poker pros Howard "The Professor" Lederer and Eli Elezra join the guys to play poker and bet on a phone sex operator's knowledge of politics.
Murder Mystery (Los Angeles): Somebody's dead (not really) and Phil and Antonio play detective to guess which fictional character has been up to no good. They bet on the outcome.
Fencing: En garde! When the boys draw foils, there's a point and parry to be made. Who walks away the winner and who just gets stuck? Also, celebrities George Segal, Richard Karn, Charles Durning, Tony Denison and Lance Burton join together to play poker with Phil and Antonio--but who bluffs better than our boys?
Loveline Radio Show (San Francisco): Antonio and Phil host a radio show and bet on who's the best host. Also, they build ice sculptures and race mice through a maze with special guest Shannon Elizabeth.
Ballet's the Thing (San Francisco): Our gentlemen wager on who can be taught to be the best ballet dancer (with a little instruction from professionals). They also compete in jousting and sumo wrestling.
Welcome to the Circus (San Francisco): Who's the better circus performer--trapeze artist, clown and/or "somersaulter"? Also, an I Bet You contest winner pits Antonio and Phil against each other to sell the most lemonade.
Viva Las Vegas: Who's the better pole dancer? And the biggest bet of all: the $20,000 coin toss--no whining allowed.
BIO: Antonio Esfandiari, nicknamed "The Magician" because he began performing magic professionally at age 21, hails from Iran where, ironically, playing cards is outlawed. Only 29, Antonio is characterized by his entrepreneurial spirit. At age 25, Antonio won $1.4 million at the World Poker Tour® (WPT) Los Angeles Poker Classic, making him the youngest million dollar prize winner and the youngest WPT Champion in poker history at the time. Less than 5 months later he went on to beat 356 players to win his first bracelet at the World Series of Poker. His poker winnings exceed 2.7 million. Last month, WPT announced that Antonio will officially represent the company in land-base and online tournaments as the face of the WPT Poker-Made Millionaire(tm) (the group of players who have won at least $1 million on the WPT). He is known for his networking powers and was recently voted by Bluff Magazine as King of Nightlife in Las Vegas.
BIO: Phil Laak, nicknamed "The Unabomber" because of his trademark hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, is a championship poker player. Phil won the 2004 World Poker Tour (WPT) Invitational, placed 2nd in the 2005 World Series of Poker Pot Limit Hold 'Em Event, and took home £150,000 (more than $290,000) in London's first annual William Hill Poker Grand Prix. He has made six WPT final tables and 6 WSOP cashes since 2003. A regular on GSN's "High Stakes Poker", he is well known for his unique personality and entertaining antics. In 2007 Phil and another pro narrowly beat the world's leading poker computer program - Polaris for the second time. Leaving his engineering degree behind, he made the move to games and there is no turning back for him.
Final Table Weekend for Poker
Within a space of less than 36 hours the three major poker tours will all have final tables going off. The World Poker Tour is already down to the final six at the Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose, California. The European Poker Tour at Casinos Poland in Warsaw will hold its nine player final table tomorrow and the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars in Atlantic City, New Jersey has a final table of ten set for tomorrow afternoon.
Here are the lucky players who have survive to these three final tables:
European Poker Tour; Warsaw
Michael Schulze 1,162,000
Ricardo Sousa 756,000
Juan Maceira 437,000
Mehdi Ouakhir 360,000
Mathias Viberg 229,000
Trond Erik Eidsvig 220,000
Niclas Svensson 174,000
Daniel Woolson 164,000
Christian Öman 110,000
WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, San Jose
Noah Jefferson - 842,000
John Phan - 374,000
Brandon Cantu - 3,323,000
Steve Sung - 474,000
Jennifer Harman - 541,000
Mike Baker - 1,964,000
WSOP Circuit Event Caesars Atlantic City
Dan Hicks 1,182,000
Eric Haber 927,000
Soheil Shamseddin 855,000
Steven Merrufield 624,000
Sumeet Batra 579,000
Nicholas Binger 546,000
Scott Blackman 391,000
Steven Greenberg 251,000
Marc Morris 185,000
Four WSOP Seats Every Week from Bodog - Guaranteed
You read that right. We said four seats. A week. This means your chances of attending poker's biggest event have increased exponentially. Need a little inspiration?
Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, the winners in 2003 and 2004, both qualified for the main event through online satellite tournaments...and Jerry Yang, last years winner, had only played poker for two years and won his seat in a satellite tournament as well.
Satellites to the WSOP semifinals are running daily and start for as little as $1. Semifinals run at 7:15 p.m. on Mondays, 9:15 p.m. on Thursdays and 3:15 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. All times are Eastern.
Check out the Bodog Poker Schedule for the times and buy-ins of all the various cheap seats, qualifiers, quarterfinals and semifinals.
The Future of the World Series of Poker
With the 2008 World Series of Poker now less than three months away, it is time to speculate what the future holds for this largest of all poker tournaments.
Certainly the WSOP managers seems to have settled at around 55 events a year, at least a $10,000 tournament for each major game. They also seem committed to having bracelets within the grasp of as many players as they can, with the low end buy-in of $1,500 or just a win in a $165 single table satellite.
Each year the tournament structures are reconsidered and improved. So the questions arises:
"What could they do next?"
How about moving the WSOP away from the Rio in Las Vegas.
We know the Series will be at the Rio this year (2008) and next (2009), those plans are in the books and the convention space has been set aside, but what about after that.
Well the Rio is one of several properties that many investment onlookers feel may well be sold off by the new owners of Harrah's Entertainment. There is always talk that WSOP staff want the tournament on the Las Vegas Strip, if only to keep more of the cash game action in the room. Most night during the summer WSOP months the "big games" have moved from the Rio back to Bellagio and other strip properties.
So what are the rumors about the location for the 2010 World Series of Poker:
a) Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, using lots of convention space;
b) Multiple properties on the strip, all centrally located. This would allowed the really huge registrants events to run more smoothly with multiple Days Ones, as needed;
c) Rotate the WORLD Series of Poker internationally with the first complete WSOP schedule outside of the USA being held in 2011 in Spain.
Montel Williams MS Foundation Charity Poker Tournament Live from New York
A reminder that the Montel Williams MS Foundation Pro-Celebrity Poker Challenge happens this Thursday, March 13, in New York City. Cipriani on 42nd Street in the City is the place and the arrivals start at 5:30 PM. I've photographed Montel Williams at various poker tournaments including the WSOP and can report he plays poker quite well so be advised to bring your A-game. Did you know Montel Williams is a retired US Navy Lieutenant Commander and he graduated from Annapolis?
Join him in his dedicated fight to slay the MS enemy of health. Even if you can't play the tournament you can still be part of the fight by bidding on some great stuff at the online auction, Thursday March 13, beginning at 11:00 AM ET. Use this handy link to pre-register as a bidder, then follow this link to the auctions at the appropriate hour Thursday. You'll find a 2000 Plymouth Prowler in mint condition, a New York Jets Ultimate VIP package for four fans includes field passes, and a really big Playboy Poker outing that includes all the amenities for your trip to the Playboy Mansion and a paid $1,500 seat in the Third Annual Celebrity Poker Tournament held at Hef's house.
EU, Online Poker’s Best Friend?
Monday the BBC reported the EU has agreed to assess European online gaming firm's complaints of discrimination imposed against them as a results of the 2006 US Internet gaming ban. The complaints claim the US allows US companies to provide Internet gambling services to its citizens while excluding any US rivals from doing business. The EU firm's complaints continue with claims that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutes foreign gambling operators even though US gambling firms continue to do business as usual.
Internet gambling trade organization, the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), filed a complaint with the EU in December. It is expected the EU inquiry will take several months to reach a conclusion. An EU spokesperson reported the EU is looking forward to debating the US in an effort to reach a solution.
The World Trade Organization ruled against the US last December in a similar case involving Antigua and Barbuda complaints of banning them from offering Internet gambling to the US. The action resulted in a $21 million sanction against the US.
In other Internet poker news, the Finns are considering an Internet poker ban of sorts that would make winning players, credit card companies, and online poker rooms open to claims for losses by Internet poker players. According to this proposal, a winning online Finnish player could be held responsible to return any winnings from fellow Finns. Since the online poker rooms would also be responsible for this unacceptable liability the end result would be the banning of Finnish players from online poker rooms.
Germany already has an online gambling ban in place; but, the EU is challenging the ban and some internal German factions are also complaining. A German court recently favored an Internet gambling firm by throwing out a prior judgment against them and allowing them to resume offering their services in Germany.
When it comes to Internet gaming the EU has taken the side of the gaming Industry and ruled against those that would take away our freedom of choice. Let's hope they continue through with their latest investigation of the US online poker bans and not settle for some apples-for-oranges trade sanctions compromise.
If history serves me, the US will get it's way. After all, we are the biggest, baddest dude on the block and in the final analysis, it's our way or the highway and that's the American way. In past dealings between the US and the EU over the US gambling ban the Eu has proven to be a toothless paper tiger. Don't expect any relief anytime soon.
As we have stated in past posts, the return of real money Internet casinos to US players will probably come form online casinos operating as a division of a major land based US casino company. The Vegas movers and shakers have made public their interest in developing an Internet presence. Some have already proofed their concepts and software so when the day finally arrives they can quickly open the door for business. Wouldn't it be ironic if that day came right after the last European based Internet casino had closed as a result of all the gaming bans? That would be a coincidence akin to a miracle.
Las Vegas Poker Tournament Directory Update
What's the easiest way to plan your poker tournament schedule for your next Las Vegas vacation? How do you find the closest poker rooms? Know the tournament structure and buy-ins? Know you're getting information that is updated daily making it the most accurate on the net? Look no further than the Poker Prof's Las Vegas Poker Tournament Directory.
A complete tournament search function provides you, the user, with a simple format to quickly find poker tournaments tailored to your exact parameters. So easy even a donkey can do it. Input any combination of dates, game formats, selectable casinos, and buy-ins structures for access to your personalized, easy-to-read tables of information of all poker tournaments that meet your requirements. Another plus is the option to select the sort functions to present the data in your chosen format.
Take a few minutes to test-drive our tournament directory and learn what thousands of poker players already know...if its a Las Vegas poker tournament find it fast with the Las Vegas Poker Tournament Directory. Get all the information you need for the hundreds of daily Las Vegas poker tournaments. Map out the tournaments that's right for your next Vegas trip and print out a map to find the places. And the best feature? Its a totally free service for all poker players, donkeys to dynasties. Know why the Poker Prof's Las Vegas Poker Tournament Directory is the #1 poker tournament directory on the Internet.
FlipChip has posted a photo essay on the Las Vegas News Blog of the
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WSOP Info is your source to online poker news and information regarding the WSOP 2008. The World Series Of Poker is the largest Poker event in the world.
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