Bird on the Rail

Residents of the State of Washington were shocked to find that their state assembly had very quickly and very quietly passed a law, effective June 7th, that makes playing online poker in the state a Class C felony. Technically, you could be prosecuted for playing poker online with your own money in your own living room. But before you pack your bags, insiders say that the reason the bill was hustled through is that a couple shrewd Indian tribes based in the state were going to try to negotiate online gaming into their next agreements. Still, other analysts say all the bill does is make it illegal to gamble on a website based in the State of Washington. Either way, if you play online for a living in Washington, and you don’t want to risk it, might we suggest calling U-Haul?

Readers of the May issue will remember that Full Tilt pro Erick Lindgren had a $60k bet with a couple of other top poker pros that he could/couldn’t dunk a basketball. After preparing for a few days and “measuring the rim” at the local gym, E-dog threw it down on the first try, winning the bet. When’s the next NBA draft?

We know you’ve been putting in those long hours at the poker tables, grinding your way to poker superstardom! However, while spending all that time at the tables, you’re probably missing out on all the poker news around the world. Who is the chip leader of the WSOP event going on right now?

Well, you will no longer have to be left in the dark when you’re not at a computer. Sentanta Mobile and Trajectory Sports are launching Poker! News – a mobile poker news channel accessible on WAP enabled-mobile telephone networks in the U.S. and Canada.

Poker! News is focused on entertainment and education for the increasingly popular sport of competitive poker.

It features live tournament updates and player rankings, including Power and Player-of-the-Year rankings, player profiles, tournament locations, poker news, rules of the game and tips from poker professionals.

Editorial content will come primarily from your friends here at Bluff, and Sentanta Media. During major events, the Poker! News mobile service will offer the latest news, chip counts, player standings, and payout information.

So, if you’re as much of a poker junkie as we are, it’s time to stop wondering what’s going on and get yourself all the finest poker content sent directly to your mobile phone.

Anthony Holden, the Brit poker player who gained fame for writing The Big Deal: One Year as a Professional Poker Player, has won a seat into the 2006 WSOP; potentially good fodder for his next book, The Bigger Deal, due to hit bookstores in time for the 2007 WSOP.

If you played at the RIO during any of the six weeks of the WSOP last year, there’s a good chance that you found frustration in the facilities. The men’s bathrooms were jammed, leaving scant time to “take a break.” And if you wanted to eat anything decent or avoid crossing the expansive grounds to get to a restaurant, you practically had to pack a sack lunch. Harrah’s heard your complaints and is preparing to make this year’s WSOP a much better experience. Bic is sponsoring a new Pavilion. Just outside the halls at the end of the poker room will be a new area for conveniences. Expect more food options and “perma potties” – a step above outhouses.

Get to know Brian Fidler’s name, because he’s going places in the poker world. Recently named as Daniel Negreanu’s protégé, 27-year-old Fidler from Derby, Connecticut partied until 1:30am the night before beating Saskatchewan’s Sol Bergren for that opportunity. There were ten finalists competing for Daniel’s mentorship and entry into four $10,000 tournaments. Daniel was quite the host, and even gave them a peek into his star-studded lifestyle, with dinner at Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant and VIP treatment at Toronto’s Club Budo.

Not since some guy named Moneymaker came along has an event enthralled the poker world as much as the Andy Beal versus the Corporation matches that were played earlier this year.

And when Liz Lieu challenged online poker legend Erik (Erik123) Sagstrom to a series of heads up matches worth $200,000 each, the poker world once again took notice. Bird on the Rail thinks there could be many more of these of matches coming, and declares it good for poker. Oh, by the way – Lieu won two out of the three matches, and lightened Sagstrom’s pocket by $200,000. Go ladies! Check out page 72 for a recap of the match.

With all the new poker rooms opening up on the Strip in Vegas, like the tournament room at Caesars and the classy Venetian poker room, it’s refreshing to hear that Treasure Island is doing something a little different. They’re offering more than the usual Texas Hold’em and Omaha games. Now players can mix it up with $4/$8 Crazy Pineapple, $3/$6 Limit Badugi, and a Tangerine Mixer – a $3/$6 Limit rotation of Hold’em, Omaha High, and Crazy Pineapple. For those new to these variants, Crazy Pineapple is almost like Hold’em, but you’re dealt three hole cards and are expected to discard one after the flop.

Several pros are rallying to raise funds for the family of a little girl who lost her 29-year-old single mom to Small Cell Ovarian Cancer. They’re hosting a silent auction www.forpeyton.com, which includes autographed jerseys from Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith, and Mark Seif as some of the items up for bid. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi has also added an autographed hat to the auction. Gavin Smith and Phil Hellmuth donated an extra $2,000 to the cause, and there are whispers of even bigger prizes to be tied to an upcoming Bash at the Boathouse later this year.

WYNN IS GETTING INTO THE TOURNAMENT CIRCUS. They’ve announced that their first annual tournament will take place in February 2007. Just after the Vegas Valentine’s weekend rush, the two-week tourney will begin on February 19 with various events ranging from $500 to $3000 buy-ins, and end with a $10,000 main event. Not to worry, the tourney will be held on Wynn LV premises, but cash games in the poker room will still continue.