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LUCKY US (FINALLY)
After much hype, and many postponements, the Lucky You poker movie is expected to release May 4, more than a year after its original expected release date. It felt like Warner Bros was teasing us poker fans, and there is even an online petition to Warner Bros to release the movie. Starring Eric Bana, Robert Duvall, and Drew Barrymore, the father/son poker rivalry story also includes appearances from Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, John Juanda, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, and Matt Savage. Visit Luckyyoumovie.warnerbros.com for more info.
STRIP POKER ROOM AT O’SHEA’S?
Say you’re in Las Vegas cruising down the Strip with your window down, and all of a sudden you hear the sounds of a little person calling out, “Strip Poker!” Don’t waste your time jumping out of the car to rush in. Instead of finding tables full of bare flesh and strewn clothes, you might be disappointed to find four tables of full-clad players. O’Sheas is pushing its [on the] Strip Poker as a way to promote its low limit Texas Hold’em and 7-card Stud games.
JOHNNY CHAN TO OPEN L.A. HOTEL
The Orient Express is about to travel down a different track.Ten-bracelet-winner Johnny Chan has teamed up with hotelier Liko Smith to open a chain of poker hotels. Smith, of Rogue Hospitality, is best known for THE BLOCK, a growing chain of hotels branded for snowboarders. Fifth Street, “The World’s First Poker Hotel,” is set to open in Los Angeles sometime in 2007, with plans for more hotels in California, Illinois, New York, Florida, and Macau. Let us guess: The lobby will smell of oranges…
RENT A CASTLE IN LAS VEGAS
With the six-week World Series of Poker coming up, why not stay at an oasis away from the frenetic buzz of casino hotels? There are a variety of luxury vacation homes for rent in Las Vegas year round. Whether you win a bracelet or lose it all, wouldn’t it be nicer to come back to a large house with a private swimming pool and entertainment room? Here are some resources to help you get started.
www.lasvegasretreats.com
www.lasvegasminicastle.com
www.travilliant.com
MOVE OVER GOLF; POKER AND TENNIS IS THE NEW BLACK
There are whispers circulating that Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius have talked about playing a high stakes tennis match. The game was delayed because Patrik had some back problems. Both players were standout junior tennis players in their native countries of Denmark and Finland. Wouldn’t a little clip of that match make for a great YouTube video, or better yet, a commercial for GSN’s High Stakes Poker? In other Patrik news, the strapping Finnish hunk is soon to be a daddy – Congrats! Sorry, ladies.
ACES FOR ATLANTIC CITY
Atlantic City is making its move on Las Vegas in the gamblers’ tourism game. Nonstop flights between America’s two most bestloved gambling cities begin May 3 on Spirit Airlines. New Jersey’s gambling town will also be more accessible from the East Coast. A two-and-a-half-hour express train from New York to Atlantic City is scheduled to begin late this year or early 2008 at the latest. The service is being called ACES (Atlantic City Express Service).
TRENT TUCKER AND MICHAEL JORDAN TAKE OVER THE HARD ROCK
Vegas was a-buzz with basketball fans and pros in February during the week leading up to the NBA All-Stars. Former basketball great Trent Tucker hosted his Hoopology celebrity Party and charity poker tournament at the Hard Rock. Michael Jordan, who won last year’s first annual event, was the big draw to the $10,000 buy-in tournament. Comedian Katt Williams, two of the three men from the Oscar-winning rap group 3-6 Mafia, and poker pros Gus Hansen, Michael Mizrachi, Mike Sexton, Robert Williamson, Patrik Antonius, Hoyt Corkins, Liz Lieu, and Marcel Luske were also there. MJ actually went out first, busted by none other than The Grinder who said before the event, “He knocked me out at the last Trent Tucker tournament so I’m going to try and get him back.” And that he did.The tourney played late into the night with Robert Williamson winning. Those who stayed up followed the party to Body English where Grammy award-winners Roots played.
WSOP STRIKES US DOT.NET SITES
Don’t expect the WSOP to be the circus it was last year. Officials have decided that they can’t take advertising from dot.com sites that accept US players nor the dot.net sites affiliated with them. So keep your dot.net stickers at home. With fewer avenues for players to win their seats online, expect the number of entrants in the Main Event to go down… way down.
ONLINE PLAYERS FRANTICALLY SEARCH FOR FUNDING OPTIONS
Online “eWallet” NETeller was the funding method of choice for many US-based online poker players. With the sudden and somewhat unexpected demise of NETeller in the US, players who had gotten used to the convenience and security of NETeller were suddenly in the lurch. Sites like Epassporte and Click2Pay, long in the second tier of choices among online poker players, now became very sexy options. These payment alternatives, along with WebATM, launched first on Full Tilt and incorporating many of the advantages that NETeller had, created a solution for players. But many in the online poker business wonder if this solution is only temporary, considering that the US government is on a clear mission to put a stop to the free flow of poker players’ money in online gaming.
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