Bird on the Rail
By: Jen Leo

CHIMP and a CHAIR
“The Chimp” isn’t just a poker moniker for Mikey. This chimpanzee is the first hairy primate in the world ever to be taught the game of poker. And while you aren’t likely to see him trapping Doyle on the river, he has been taught to recognize matching cards, meaning that he can distinguish a pair, set, quads or a flush. Because Mikey is trained to go all in on pairs of paint pre-flop, and he doesn’t bet anything but pairs, he is the only tight-aggressive player in the animal kingdom. Suited-connectors are proving more of a challenge.

According to his trainer, Mikey is actually the first chimp ever to be taught to recognize pairs of anything; and he learned his trade by being taught the children’s game memory, the object of which is to identify and match face-down flashcards. Once he got the hang of that, teaching him to play basic poker was easy.

PokerShare.com decided to back this furry talent, and brought the requisite $10,000 to buy Mikey into the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Unfortunately, Harrahs Entertainment put the kibosh on the idea, even though Mikey had the overwhelming support of the players, with one pro commenting, “He probably would have played better than half the guys at my starting table.”

But Harrah’s aversion to furry poker players didn’t stop Mikey from getting some action while he was in Vegas, and the Gold Coast Casino, located next door to the RIO, was happy to have Mikey playing heads up cash games in its poker room for the television crews and throngs of fans that rivaled those across the road at the Main Event.

Poker with Martha Stewart
Has poker jumped the shark? If you watch Martha Stewart Living, you would’ve seen her with poker-loving Whoopi Goldberg and Annie Duke. Whoopi was talking about how to prepare a poker party. The recipe for cheddar poker chips, and instructions for how to make “card coasters” are online at www.marthastewart.com.

Hunting the big game
Those of you who popped into the Bellagio during the WSOP hoping to get a glimpse of the Big Game may have been looking in the wrong place. The world’s richest cash game has long been held in Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio poker, but it appears that the elegant new room at the Venetian is fast becoming the destination of choice for poker’s highest rollers. One legendary big-gamer told us recently that it’s now rotating regularly between the two casinos.

Online Rooms One-Up Each Other in Freeroll Madness
The latest trend in the brutal battle for your online poker dollar is the megafreeroll. PokerStars recently announced a 2.5 million dollar freeroll, only to be trumped by Party Poker’s 5 million dollar-plus freeroll. Both of these tournaments require users to play and play and play in order to qualify. In fact, it may simply be a test of will to see who gets to the final table. The Stars final table isn’t until January 2007, and the Party Poker final table is well after that, in May of 2007. And we’re sure we’ll be hearing about it every second until then.

Pokeratlas: Where’s Your Next Game?
After more than a year of cruising around the US in a tricked-out Airstream, poker addicts Brian Easterling and Leigh Wetzel have designed a website to make their search for cardrooms a little easier.

ThePokerAtlas.com will have integrated maps to guide players to the nearest games in an area, with user and editorial reviews, poker room submissions, and ultimately, poker room manager tools - providing up-to-date live action information, tournament schedules, and promotions. Now you won’t have to work as hard as they did to find the felt if you’re outside of California, New York, Connecticut or Florida.

Full Tilt Has a Danish
Three-time World Poker Tour champ Gus Hansen has signed on with Full Tilt to bring their roster to an even dozen pros.

The Great Dane revealed at his press conference that, after trying on a few different outfits, he might be sporting a soccer jersey instead of the traditional basketball tank worn by the other pros. Gus said that he’s in the process of changing his Danish soccer team’s name to Full Tilt, too. We doubt it’s a coincidence that the poker-marketing powerhouse is focusing on a European pro. Gus is a nice Euro accessory to Tiltware’s move from Los Angeles to Ireland.

Pokernomics?
Bestselling author of Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt, was at the World Series of Poker conducting new research for possible inclusion (we hope) in his next book, SuperFreakonomics. Meanwhile, co-author Stephen J. Dubner was also in Vegas to investigate the science behind Phil Gordon’s Roshambo tourney. Dubner challenged Gordon to a side-match and beat the 6’9” poker pro and philanthropist-cum-potential Presidential candidate with an extremely effective gambit he calls the SuperSeamstress - endless scissors.

Live With the Pros in Las Vegas
Playing with the pros is so overrated. These days it’s all about living with the pros. But with so many luxury condos popping up around the Las Vegas corridor, how do you know where to put your down payment? Hint:

Panorama Towers has already won over Barry Greenstein, David Williams, Liz Lieu, Antonio Esfandiari, and poker playing glitterati Toby McGuire and Shannon Elizabeth. The Towers have everything you need wit hin their grounds and all the poker action on the Strip is only about three minutes away. Take a virtual tour of the nearly sold out swanky, swanky digs at www.panoramatowers.com.

Poker Players Alliance is Fighting Your Fight
Are online poker players on the Endangered Species List? It might not be far off. In July, the House of Representatives passed the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act with 317-93 votes. The proposed legislation is on its way to the Senate in an effort to amend the Wire Act to include the prohibition of internet gambling. Howard Lederer has joined the Board of Directors of the Poker Players Alliance and is leading the charge to fight for our rights. Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance (www.pokerplayersalliance. org), is hoping that the United States will follow the UK’s lead by regulating and taxing online poker, instead of banning it altogether. The PPA is a notfor- profit organization and they need poker players to join the alliance so that they can continue to lobby on Capitol Hill, as well as on the state level, to keep poker legal.