Brandi Hawbaker Suicide

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Brandi Hawbaker Brandi Hawbaker playing at the 2007 WSOP


According to our friends at NeverWinPoker, Brandi Hawbaker committed suicide on Sunday. Here's the statement from Micon:

"Brandi Hawbaker to some, Naami Dea to others, took her own life on Sunday. This news has been confirmed through Brandon and Brandi's family. Brandon, Brandi's family, and friends have asked the poker world to respect their privacy while they grieve. When the time is right we will have Brandon's statement on NWP..."

Stay tuned for more information as this story develops.

To bring you up to speed, Brandi Hawbaker took the poker world like a category five hurricane when she was involved in the "Capt. Tom's Penis" debacle. Most recently, her former boyfriend posted a thread on 2+2 detailing their sordid relationship. Since then, rumors floated around that Brandi had left Las Vegas and relocated to Southern California where she converted to Islam and changed her name. She was reportedly seen playing cash games in L.A. based casinos.

WSOPE Comes to Sky Sports TV

wsop98The first ever World Series of Poker Europe played last fall comes to Sky Sports television this week. This was the event that forever changed the poker insult: "You play like an eighteen year old!"

Several opportunities will be available to view all of the action:

April 21st 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 22nd 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 23rd 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 24th 9 PM Sky Sports 2
April 25th 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 26th 11 PM Sky Sports 2
April 22nd 9 PM Sky Sports Xtra
April 22nd 9:30 PM Sky Sports 2

The 2nd edition of the World Series of Poker Europe will take place this year, again in London, on Sept.

Stud at the 2008 WSOP

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Seven Card Stud World Championship 2007 WSOP $5K Seven Card Stud World Championship final table


When I first starting playing poker in a casino environment, Seven Card Stud was the game. That was when the riverboat casinos first opened in Biloxi, MS in the early 1990s. I also played a decent amount of low-limit Stud in Atlantic City in the years prior to Rounders popularizing Texas Hold'em.

I wish there were more opportunities to play Stud at the 2008 WSOP, but sadly there are only four pure events (and two of those are 8 or better) and six Stud-centric events including the only Razz event and Event #10 is a mixed tournament consisting of half Omaha 8 and half Stud 8.


Here's the schedule of Stud events at the 2008 WSOP:

Event #10 Thursday, June 5, 2008 5:00 PM
$2,500 Omaha 8/b and Stud 8/b

Event # 14 Saturday, June 7, 2008 5:00 PM
$10,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud

Event # 26 Friday, June 13, 2008 5:00 PM
$1,500 Razz

Event #33 Tuesday, June 17, 2008 5:00 PM
$5,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud 8/b

Event #35 Wednesday, June 18, 2008 5:00 PM
$1,500 Seven Card Stud

Event #47 Thursday, June 26, 2008 5:00 PM
$1,500 Seven Card Stud 8/b


Of course, I did not include the three HORSE events at the 2008 WSOP. You get to play Stud or Stud 8 in 40% of the games. With the exception of a hundred or so people on the planet, the $50K HORSE Championship might not fit into your budget. However, there's a couple of lower buy-in HORSE events that seem appealing...

Event # 22 Wednesday, June 11, 2008 5:00 PM
$3,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Event # 45 Wednesday, June 25, 2008 5:00 PM
$50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E.

Event # 51 Sunday, June 29, 2008 5:00 PM
$1,500 H.O.R.S.E.


And then there's the Mixed Game Championship on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 5:00 PM. It's a new this year and has a $10,000 buy-in. It's listed as Event #8 on the WSOP schedule. It has some Razz, Stud, and Stud 8 play in there.

According to BJ Nemeth...

The World Championship Mixed Event is a mix of several different poker games, like H.O.R.S.E., but without a cool name. Event #8 is much more confusing than H.O.R.S.E, however.

In Event #8, there are three different types of levels, and within each level, the game switches every eight hands. (One pass of the button, for games with a button.) Levels last 60 minutes.

LEVEL A
Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw
Limit Hold'em
Limit Omaha Eight or Better

LEVEL B
Razz
Seven Card Stud
Seven Card Stud Eight or Better

LEVEL C
No-Limit Hold'em
Pot-Limit Omaha

For the first hour of play, you're playing deuce-to-seven triple draw, limit hold'em, and Omaha eight or better, switching every eight hands. The second hour of play, you're playing razz, seven card stud, and seven card stud eight or better, switching every eight hands. The third hour of play, you're playing no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha, switching every eight hands.

Here's a direct link to the structure sheet.

EPT Championship Monte Carlo Day Three & Four

EPT7Eight Hundred and Forty-One players started the European Poker Tour Championship two days ago and now 124 have survived to Day Three. Despite the dominance of Norwegian players at the very top of the leader board; there are many notable names still in the running. Here are the top 10 and other names you may know:

Oyvind Riisem Norway 441,400
Johnny Lodden Norway 380,300
Borge Dypvik Norway 296,000
Andreas Hagen Norway 276,800
Joe Hachem Australia 255,300
James Campbell USA 241,700
Luca Pagano Italy 229,000
Amit Makhija USA 219,100
Andreas Fluri Switzerland 205,900
Sorel Mizzi Canada 203,200
Benjamin Kang Germany 179,900
Freddy Deeb USA 153,300
Marcel Luske Holland 128,700
Antonio Esfandiari USA 121,400
Raymond Rahme South Africa 104,200
Eli Elezra USA 77,500
Jan Heitmann Germany 63,400
Surinder Sunar UK 51,600
Anna Wroblewski USA 51,200
Leonardo Fernandez Argentina 47,600
Alexander Kravchenko Russia 42,200
Ted Lawson USA 30,000
Mel Judah UK 19,300

Going into Day Four, the Magician leads the way.

Antonio Esfandiari USA 1,198,000
Robin Keston UK 916,000
Denes Kalo Hungary 642,000
Johnny Lodden Norway 623,000
Maxime Villemure Canada 600,000
Mostafa Belkhayate Morocco 523,000
Gerasimos Deres Sweden 494,500
Henrik Gwinner Denmark 487,000
David Shade Kruger USA 486,500
Thomas Boekhoff Germany 465,000
Luca Pagano Italy 279,500
Joe Hachem Australia 214,500
Freddy Deeb USA 140,500
Raymond Rahme South Africa 133,000

EPT Championship Monte Carlo Day Three

EPT7Eight Hundred and Forty-One players started the European Poker Tour Championship two days ago and now 124 have survived to Day Three. Despite the dominance of Norwegian players at the very top of the leader board; there are many notable names still in the running. Here are the top 10 and other names you may know:

Oyvind Riisem Norway 441,400
Johnny Lodden Norway 380,300
Borge Dypvik Norway 296,000
Andreas Hagen Norway 276,800
Joe Hachem Australia 255,300
James Campbell USA 241,700
Luca Pagano Italy 229,000
Amit Makhija USA 219,100
Andreas Fluri Switzerland 205,900
Sorel Mizzi Canada 203,200
Benjamin Kang Germany 179,900
Freddy Deeb USA 153,300
Marcel Luske Holland 128,700
Antonio Esfandiari USA 121,400
Raymond Rahme South Africa 104,200
Eli Elezra USA 77,500
Jan Heitmann Germany 63,400
Surinder Sunar UK 51,600
Anna Wroblewski USA 51,200
Leonardo Fernandez Argentina 47,600
Alexander Kravchenko Russia 42,200
Ted Lawson USA 30,000
Mel Judah UK 19,300

World Poker Tour Report Card

Report CardI have been thinking a lot about the World Poker Tour this past week. In formulating this "Report Card" I have tried to not come off as completely negative and critical. To be fair the WPT has done a lot for poker but therein lies the first problem. The chief spokesperson for WPT is Steve Lipscomb: the founder, CEO, public relations spokesperson and all around face of the WPT. Let me say what everyone in the poker community knows: Steve Lipscomb does too much and says too much without benefit of a cool, calm, trained public relations staff and that invariably leads to trouble.

The infamous "Open Letter to the Poker Community" from a few years back is only the most notorious of his PR gaffs or was that his comments about Capitalism in Communist China? Either way, it is all well and good to promote your product, even to the point of some exaggeration but honestly does anyone except Steven Lipscomb believe that the WPT sole-handedly created the world wide poker phenomenon? Certainly, the televised WPT poker tournaments were a major factor in the increased public interest in poker; there really is no need to inflate that fact beyond all reason.

I will leave to the various poker forums the high and low lites of: WPT and Traktor Poker in China, WPT having "never made a profit"; WPT Academy and other spinoffs; WPT and the revolving hostess; WPT on the Game Show Network or the Travel Channel. To my mind the World Poker Tour does two things: they put on poker tournaments and they produce them into a television program. So I will stick with those two central items.

First, the tournaments. Other than the ongoing dispute with several professional players, which the WPT could have and should have settled several years ago. Other than that, I think the WPT tournaments have addressed most ongoing issues rather well. The ever changing schedule is a fact of life in the ups and downs of the current poker landscape. I have no issue with the schedule nor its reliance on Bellagio in Las Vegas for five tournaments. After all, it would make sense to go where the players live and where the tournaments are consistently well run and well attended. Say what you will about Jack McCelland's interesting tournament rules, he and his staff at Bellagio run a player friendly event with style and minimal sideshows.

The WPT was slow to respond to the player's complaints about the small chip stack to blind structure at the WPT final tables. But respond they have and as of now the WPT final tables offer the finest example of big stack professional poker of any tour or tournament structure. Props where props are due and the WPT has done well with this critical aspect of tournament poker.

Now to the televised show. The show as it now is presented on GSN has not kept up with the changing face of poker. This is not a harsh criticism, simply because editorial and directorial decisions about the show are really tough calls. Clearly though, I have some suggestions.

First a question: Is the show aimed at more new audience members or at the continuing audience from the first five years? The answer is probably: both! And therein, lies another problem. Too much basic information, annoys and bores the poker literate audience; not enough and new viewers get lost in the subtleties of professional poker. But the show needs some new blood. Here are my suggestions.

Do not fire Mike and Vince, but quit wasting their time by having them sit through and talk through the live event. You don't use 90% of what they say live anyway. It is in post-production when they can see the hole cards where you get the bulk of their commentary, so drop the pretense and get them out of there. If you want some live quotes, Linda Johnson's live commentary is always entertaining; oh wait, you lost Linda Johnson; now that was a mistake.

Second, if you are going to put microphones on the players at the final table; then you need to use that dialog in the show. A most recent example will illustrate. During Bellagio Cup III, Mike Matusow carried on a six hour conversation about deep stack poker. He was praising the new structure of the WPT, so good promotion for the tour from one of the best known and most critical players in the world. And his comments were very informative about how deep stack poker is different from other types of poker, he illustrated by commenting on several key hands. At times the other players joined in the conversation with Mike (I know I was there), it would have been perfect for Mike Sexton and Vince to build a entertaining and informative conversation around those comments. But all we hear of this, in the televised show, are two or three of The Mouth's comments, all of which are being talked over by Vince on some completely different topic.

When Bellagio Cup III got down to heads up, a lot of talk table was aired between Mike and Kevin Saul; but that had been going on all night. Another strong and entertaining thread to make this final table unique and different from all the other WPT final tables. All I am saying is that the WPT format has gotten stale but they actually have a unique and fresh product if they would only choose to show it. Quit trying to force the broadcast into some formula that makes all the final tables look the same.

So overall, on this report card, I give WPT a B minus. They can do better, they have shown the ability to adjust to the changing market but the market is changing again. Who if anyone will catch the second wave of the poker boom and who will get swamped by the splash of the already descending shark?

New U.S. Poker Legislation

capitoltackyJust when all the cynics were lined up to disregard, dismiss and trash talk the U.S. Congressional hearings from last week; it appears there is new legislation has been introduced in the United States Congress that would effectively prohibit the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act.

The new legislation, H.R.5767, would prohibit the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System from "proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations related to the current ban on Internet gambling, as required by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" (UIGEA). The bill was introduced April 10th by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).

The new legislation appears to be in direct response to the testimony heard before Congress last week that "financial services institutions would face serious regulatory burdens in attempting to enforce UIGEA and related regulations" and the unmistakable fact that the UIGEA has not prevented millions of Americans from engaging in internet gaming.

Once again U.S. poker players (and other interested parties) are reminded to let your voice be heard either by directly contacting Congress or by using the Poker Player's Alliance directed action letters.

World Poker Tour Recently

wpt78The World Poker Tour has been making some news recently; let's see what they have been up to. First, they announced that as part of the WPT Championship of the current season six, currently underway at Bellagio in Las Vegas; as part of that celebration, they would be giving all former winners (96 of them!) a WPT Championship bracelet. There will be a big ceremony and nearly everyone has said: "So what? The WSOP gives bracelets, why is the WPT coming out with a copycat bit of bling at the end of six years of tournaments?"

Next, WPT Enterprises announced that Grup Peralada's Casino Barcelona will host its second World Poker Tour event May 21 – 27, 2008. But it really isn't on the official WPT schedule, it will not be taped for television and, well and what? Seems a bit like a placeholder and not a real tour stop.

Finally, there was the announcement of the World Poker Tour Canada. A completely separate Canadian WPT, which will begin on May 5th with the Coast to Coast Poker Tournament at the River Rock Casino Resort. The Coast to Coast Poker Championships will be the first stop for World Poker Tour Canada but no further sites or dates have been announced.

Perhaps before the World Series of Poker gets underway late next month, perhaps we should take a look at the World Poker Tour and see just how well they are doing. Time for a World Poker Tour report card. Coming next time.

Jenifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament at Venetian

photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Jennifer Harman Jennifer Harman playing the 2007 WSOP


Less than a week remains before the Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament at the Venetian poker room. The second annual Jennifer Harman hosted poker event to benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Last year's tournament raised more than $130,000, enough to add much needed space to Nevada's No-Kill Sanctuary.

Come to the Venetian on Friday, April 18, to join Jennifer and more than a hundred professional poker players, celebrities, and sports figures for this year's gala event. The red carpet reception is slated for 2 - 3 PM and the tournament will begin at 6 PM. A suggested $330 donation will get you a seat in the event; but, you best hurry because the limited seating is rapidly filling. Players can take $200 re-buys the first hour and a $200 add-on at the end of the hour. The lucky winner is guaranteed a $10,000 seat in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

The Venetian Resort poker room provides the perfect venue for this star studded gathering. Don't forget to check out the the silent auction of sports memorabilia and a dinner Pete Rose - Jennifer Harman dinner package. Join the crowd by registering now at www.nevadaspca.org or by calling 702.327.7250; then, show up at the Venetian next Friday afternoon before 6 PM. Bring your "A" game, some extra pocket cash for the rebuys, and a winning attitude to claim the 2008 $10K WSOP seat. You'll be happy, we'll be happy and every day this year you can smile knowing your participation helped out our animal buddies.


photos by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com
Puff
Poker Puff
1987 - 2008

Bellagio Pays Tribute to WPT Champs

photo courtesy BodogLife.com
WPT Online Poker

In less than two weeks, the Bellagio will play host to the Ceremony of Champions, the World Poker Tour event will pay tribute to 96 champions from the tour's previous six seasons.

The World Poker Tour has even had infamous jewelers Tiffany & Co. design titanium and diamond bracelets, personalized for every champion.

"There are so many incredible stories to celebrate from the six World Poker Tour seasons and we are thrilled to pay tribute to each of our WPT Champions," said WPT founder, president and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. "The championship bracelet has become synonymous with poker as a symbol of achievement and respect, and we are honored to continue the tradition that Benny Binion began over 30 years ago."

All future World Poker Tour champions will receive a bracelet along with their cash winnings. Could you be the next World Poker Tour winner? Try your luck at a WPT online poker. That next bracelet could very well be yours.

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