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Here’s the skinny from the world of poker courtesy
of the lady who’s in a chattering class all of
her own.
The Court to Felt Transition:
Most professional athletes have a relatively
short career span. The more physical the sport, the
shorter the career, as age and injury quickly erode
a player’s edge. But what do guys and gals do
with all that competitive drive when they hang up their
professional gear? Well, if tennis players are any example,
they play poker. Poker is one of the truly competitive
activities that can be played well into the golden years.
Do you recall professional tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov
exchanging his racket for poker chips? I got a chance
to watch him play at this year’s WSOP and I’ve
got to say, the boy has game. He cashed in three WSOP
events, just missing the final table in the $1,500 Stud
event. Well, I’ve also heard that former tennis
pro Pete Sampras has also been dabbling on the felt.
Sampras was seen at the Wynn back in June, playing a
private no limit tournament with Matt Damon, Wayne Gretzky
and Warren Buffet. But rumors peg this as more than
just a one-time passing fancy for Sampras. In fact,
in an issue of Tennis Magazine last year, Sampras confessed
to playing in a regular home game with former tennis
pro Alex O’Brien.
NASDAQ Pink Sheet Bound:
Lakes Entertainment, Inc., Indian casino developer and
major shareholder of WPT (World Poker Tour) Enterprises,
Inc. was de-listed from NASDAQ on August 10th for failing
to file its last annual and quarterly financial reports.
Lakes had delayed filing its financial statements while
attempting to resolve SEC issues with its annual report
for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2003. The specific
issues relate to Lake’s representation of development
costs and advances to Indian tribes for the development
of casinos as assets on its balance sheet. Lakes plans
to appeal NASDAQ’s decision, but currently is
unable to predict when the requisite financial statements
will be filed. In light of the current situation, there
has been some speculation that the ephemeral, unsolicited
$700 million cash bid for WPTE (publicized on July 7th
and declared expired without validation on July 12th)
may bring new scrutiny from regulating authorities.
The Astronomical Influence of the WSOP:
In outer space, when you take a huge amount of mass
and cram it into an extremely small volume, you get
a black hole. A black hole’s gravitational pull
is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape
its grasp. This year, the WSOP was poker’s black
hole. Attracting record fields for 45 days and 45 events,
the WSOP sucked the life out of tournaments placed too
close to its gravitational field. In a year that still
claims to be a growth year for poker, the attendance
for this year’s final event of the Orleans Open
was down 42% from last year. And the participation in
the WPT event in Paris was down 22% from last year.
Lesson for next year’s tournament planners: drive
your starships away from the Series.
Staying Power:
Writer Jim McManus has bemoaned the dearth of women
in tournament poker in a New York Times article entitled,
The Biology of No Limit Hold’em. Purporting theories
that testosterone-based aggression and stamina may be
underlying causes, we wondered if Jim wanted to check
his own hormonal levels. McManus, who was scheduled
to cover the WSOP in its entirety, lasted a total of
14 days and eight events before bugging out. I think
my mom can
hang tougher than that.
Final Table DVD Sets Benchmark:
A plethora of poker books and DVDs were released during
poker’s high season, the WSOP, but you definitely
don’t want to miss Phil Gordon’s DVD, Final
Table Poker. The basis of the DVD is that you are inside
Gordon’s head while he plays a simulated final
table. It covers all the situational aspects that a
player needs to understand to navigate their way to
the bracelet. The production quality and content are
phenomenal, and the final table participants are painfully
realistic. Of the final table participants, Gordon and
Chris Ferguson play themselves. And it’s no stretch
to figure out who the charming and talented Harmony
Jensen is supposed to be. But the one that kills me
is ‘Butch Dude’, who is ‘young and
unemployed’ and a member of the ‘Cool Guy
Crew’. Guess who?
Risky Business:
Apparently some readers were put off by me reporting
the rumors that Gus Hansen may have been financially
challenged coming into this year’s WSOP (Aug issue),
but I’m not entirely sure why this created such
a stir. If the prevalent rumors were indeed true, I
put this in the temporary setback category. Gus is a
talented and marketable player, and I’m sure he’s
got resources to tap to see him through this. You know,
in poker, being financially challenged is not an indictment
or a judgment: it’s the equivalent of saying a
NASCAR driver had a wreck. Living with financial risk
is one of the realities poker pros face. They put their
livelihoods on the line every day. And they know the
consequences of a bad beat or a bad streak. It is not
an easy way to make a living, but if people have problems
with that, I suggest they watch televised poker, where
everyone’s a winner and Cinderfella dreams come
true.
Isle Be Seeing You:
Online site, PokerStars, is moving from Costa Rica to
the Isle of Man, a tiny British Crown dependency in
the Irish Channel. The decision to move was facilitated
by the Isle’s recent change in regulations that
now allow companies to accept online bets from Americans.
PokerStars is the second largest online poker site,
and speculation is that the company will follow PartyGaming’s
lead and go public via a London IPO.
Scotty Nguyen – Cool and Classy
Scotty Nguyen and Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen
(no relation) were spotted recently at a charity poker
tournament in Atlanta, GA to raise money for the Vietnamese
Children’s Fund. During a break, one particularly
drunk and obnoxious player, who had just busted out
from Scotty’s table, repeatedly challenged him
to play heads-up for $5,000. Visibly irritated at being
challenged in such a manner, Scotty replies, “Why
are you doing this? We’re just trying to have
some fun and raise money for children. I tell you what,
we’ll make this easy, let’s flip a coin
for the whole amount”. The guy, somewhat shocked
at having the tables turned on him, counts through an
assortment of $100s, $20s, $10s, $5s, and $1s (he didn’t
even have $5K…real high-roller). At this point,
Men calms Scotty down, “Somebody’s going
to lose and not be happy about it, this isn’t
a good idea”. Scotty agrees and security kindly
shows the drunk guy the door.
Later in the tourney, a younger guy in a wheelchair
(he must have been in his early twenties) is moved to
the seat to Scotty’s left. You can tell the kid
is having the time of his life playing poker with Scotty.
Now, for some reason, whoever busts Scotty or Men, receives
an autographed
Samurai sword (giving out sword at a bar…go figure),
but they are really nice swords,
and this kid in the wheelchair really wants the Scotty
Nguyen sword. Scotty went out of his
way to make sure the kid got the sword. Good job Scotty!
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