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Introducing the nosiest little bird in the Sin City.
Here’s all the best babble from the poker world. Just keep it to yourself...
The Poker Diva
Liz Lieu knows how to sell herself! She’s recently
finished her website, and it’s as hot as she is. LizLieu.net
comes complete with downloads of professional model
pics to set as wallpaper on your monitor, a list of
press links, and a fun blog, complete with photos of
her partying with other named poker celebs like Michael
“The Grinder” Mizrachi, Jenocide, and Evelyn Ng, among
others.
$1,000,000 BAD BEAT ON CANCER
Phil Gordon is leading the charge to raise
$1million in 2006 for the fight against cancer. Chris
Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Doyle
Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel,
Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Phil Hellmuth, Annie
Duke, Paul Wolfe, Mike Matusow, Marcel Luske, and Jennifer
Harman have already agreed to donate 1% of their 2006
winnings to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation.
But you don’t have to be a pro or a poker star to contribute.
Gordon is hosting a Powder and Poker weeklong retreat,
April 22-29, with Canadian Mountain Holidays at Adamant
Lodge – a place only accessible by helicopter. Thirty-three
guests will heli-ski and heliboard by day, and play
Texas Hold-Em by night. And the $5,600 goes straight
to the CRPF. Of course, there are many low-level buy-ins
for the Bad Beat On Cancer; just check out www.preventcancer.org.
SAVEMYFINGER.COM
I find it interesting that Carl Valentine chose
to offer up his right index finger in a bet, rather
than his right pinky, or left pinky, or even his right
ring finger. Nope, Carl decided that if his rich pal
was offering up $1,000,000, against the fact that Carl,
a laborer, couldn’t send 2,000,000 unique visitors to
a single website, then he ought to get the best finger
possible. Don’t let me confuse you; Carl DOES NOT want
to lose his finger in this bet. In fact, it’s up to
all of us to save his right pointer. Just go to SaveMyFinger.com
to see if he’s going to make it. The deadline for getting
the 2,000,000 visitors to his site is April 18th, 2006.
At press time, he was right around 430,000. That means
that he must get 41,315 unique hits a day to make his
goal. If he falls short, then Carl will be required
to “play” for his finger against his friend on PokerRoom.com.
Now are you conflicted? Of course we want him to keep
his finger, but wouldn’t it be much more fun to watch
him sweat bullets on the 18th?
WSOP Announces $50,000 Event
You thought $10,000 was a steep price to pay
to enter a poker tournament? How does $50,000 sound?
Since the poker world exploded, many top pros have been
missing the days where only the cream of the crop could
enter certain poker events. Those players’ voices have
been heard, as the WSOP has added a $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E.
event to the schedule for this year’s series. H.O.R.S.E.
is a mixed game format in which five games – Limit Hold’em,
Omaha/8, Razz, Seven-card Stud (high), and Seven-card
stud Hi-lo (the ‘E’ standing for Eight-or- Better) are
rotated throughout the tournament. The $50,000 buy in
is expected to separate the studs from the duds.
POKERSTARS TO SELL?
One of the biggest online sites in the world,
Poker Stars, is essentially owned by one family. Bird
on the Rail hears that that may be about to change;
as rumor has it the company has hired a London bank
to look into a possible sale or public floatation of
the company. Isai Scheinberg, a former IBM analyst,
turned a big dream and a little tech savvy into one
of the world’s largest online poker sites, currently
valued at (analysts say) somewhere in the range of $2
billion (that’s with a b). Bird on the Rail is currently
investigating getting into the “friends and family”
portion of the stock offering.
Who Needs to Play Poker When You’re Phil Hellmuth?
Even though most tournament players spent the
first part of the year racking up frequent flyer miles,
scuttling between the Caribbean, Australia, Tunica,
Atlantic City, and Los Angeles, the Poker Brat was jet
setting on a different schedule. First he kicked off
2006 at the Rose Bowl, winning big after betting on
Texas against sports betting legend and 1992 World Champion
of Poker Russ Hamilton. Later on in the month, he was
off to MC A-Rod’s sports and rap star-studded charity
event in Miami. With no time to rest, Hellmuth went
on to the W Club poker tournament with Michael Jordan,
Jen Aniston, and tons of A-list stars. Then on the 24th,
it was time to party with Jen Aniston and friends. If
you think Hellmuth doesn’t like playing poker anymore,
that’s not the case. The Brat told me, “Aniston, Jordan,
A-Rod… private poker games with the biggest names in
entertainment and sports? What’s not to love?”
WHO IS THE BEST CANADIAN POKER PLAYER?
Gavin Smith has put out an open challenge to
Daniel Negreanu. On his blog, GavinLive.com, Gavin said
that he’s tired of hearing that Daniel is the best Canadian
Poker Player and offered him a 20k bet that he will
have a better 2006. Gavin followed this up with a variety
of proposals on how they could measure their year. Will
Daniel accept? I don’t know. Mr. Full Contact Poker
might be too busy finding a protégé or sponsoring the
Daniel Negreanu Canadian Collegiate Poker Championship
(www.lifeofsports.com/ccpc/).
Wynn Macau
Steve Wynn is taking his resort to Macau. The
island, fast becoming known as Vegas of the Far East,
will add a Wynn resort to its collection. Yes, the golden
brown curve will open this fall on Macau’s equivalent
of the Strip, Avenida da Amizade, which means Friendship
Avenue. The hotel will have 600 rooms and all standard
rooms will have views of either the Nam Van manmade
lake, the South China Sea, or the impressive Macau skyline.
There will be a public casino, as well as a VIP gaming
area, and a Sky Casino for high rollers. Expect the
same high caliber amenities you’ve become accustomed
to at Wynn Las Vegas, and witness history in the making
as the former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong goes
through its metamorphosis. It’s not Vegas, Baby.
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