Bird on the Rail
Hellmuth Dodges Another Penalty
In the closing hours of Day 2 of the WSOP Europe’s £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, those dedicated spectators who stuck around until the wee hours got to witness an eruption of Hellmuthian proportions. Once among the chip leaders, Hellmuth lost a series of hands, sending him into a tirade against his tablemates and the dealers. After one particularly disastrous Omaha 8 pot, Hellmuth declared his opponent, eventual winner Sherkhan Farnood, “the worst player in the world” (so much for that) and berated one young female dealer so badly that she ended up with tears in her eyes. Despite his antics, Hellmuth was not given an offi cial penalty, and his meltdown led to a twelfth-place fi nish. The following day, Hellmuth strode up to the fi nal table bearing a box of fi ne cigars and began passing them around to his former opponents (including Farnood) as well as Tournament Director Jack Effel. Hellmuth also bought bottles of Cristal champagne for the TD staff, but Effel ordered all the goodies immediately returned.
The WSOPE Fashion Report
This little bird did a triple-take when Andy Black took his seat at the £1,500 No Limit Hold’em event at London’s Empire Casino. The scruffy beard was gone. The Eminem T-shirt remained, but it appeared much more stylish worn under a perfectly tailored black blazer. It also looked to have been ironed, which is always a plus. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for another one of my favorite players, Annette Obrestad, who had a “what was she thinking?” moment as she walked the red carpet at Full Tilt’s WSOPE party. Though she chose a stunning tiered black chiffon skirt, it was paired with patent leather hooker boots and an unfortunate mustard and black metallic horizontal striped sweater. As we say after a bad beat, “aii ya…”
Ivey the Big Winner in Full Tilt’s Million Dollar Cash Game
With a strong contingent of high stakes pros converging on the WSOPE in London, Full Tilt’s televised Million Dollar Cash Game reconvened, drawing a lineup that included Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Andy Bloch, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Eli Elezra, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Howard Lederer, and Mike Matusow. Ivey emerged as the night’s big winner, coming out more than $500,000 ahead and taking down the trophy for the second time in three years. Matusow and Juanda also booked solid wins, and the night’s two biggest losers were Patrik Antonius and Phil Hellmuth, who we hear lost close to $200,000 each.
Who’s Got Sponsorship Now?
2008 WSOP Bracelet winner Jose-Luis Velador is now playing in red on Full Tilt Poker as “Luis Velador 7” along with high stakes fi xtures Matt “Hoss_TBF” Hawrilenko and Richard “CHUFTY” Ashby. Over on PokerStars, hockey star Mats Sundin has signed with the site as a sponsored pro and played in his fi rst EPT event in Barcelona, Spain. Though he didn’t cash, Sundin did make it to Day 2 – not bad for a beginner!
I Apologize, Baby
The day after ESPN premiered their coverage of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, bracelet winner Scotty Nguyen left a rambling message to his fans on several poker message boards apologizing for his behavior at the fi nal table. Nguyen’s expletive-laden, beer-fueled rants at everyone from his opponents to the tournament staff to the cocktail waitresses were sharply derided by poker fans, many of them baffl ed at why Nguyen wasn’t penalized for his actions (though he was sternly warned on several occasions). Haunted by his 2007 Main Event meltdown, where he blew the chip lead with twelve players to go and ultimately fi nished eleventh, Nguyen was seeking redemption at this fi nal table… though he went about it quite bizzarely. In his letter Nguyen takes the “He started it!” route, attempting to explain that it was actually his opponents doing the goading, and he was merely fi ghting back (though this little bird was ringside during the duration of the proceedings and saw nothing of the sort). Writes Nguyen: “This tournament I played the players’ game. They wanted to play a drinking game, and they couldn’t win, they say they can’t even beat a drunk, how can you beat a drunk if I’m not drunk. They can’t beat me in a drinking game, now they play the talking game to try to get under my skin like in 2007, and I gave it right back to them and got underneath their skin, and they couldn’t win. When it came down to playing a poker game, the best will win. Because they can’t beat me in a drinking game, a talking game and then we played poker, of which they can’t beat me, and I am the one who brought the trophy home.”
Townsend Confesses to Multi-Accounting
High stakes cash game player and CardRunners principal Brian “sbrugby” Townsend recently admitted to playing multiple accounts on Full Tilt Poker (where he is a sponsored pro) as well as PokerStars. Known as “aba20” on Stars and playing under his own name on Full Tilt, Townsend confessed to playing the Stars account “Makersmark66” and the Tilt account “Stellarnebula” in direct violation of both sites’ terms and conditions. In interviews following his apology-laden press release, Townsend said he’d been having a break-even year and needed to move down in stakes, playing $25/$50 No Limit and Pot Limit instead of the $200/$400 games where he’s been a regular for some time. Ego, however, got in the way and he chose to eschew the rules and the raised eyebrows from the poker world in favor of the advantages he’d gain by playing anonymously in the lower games. In what many considered to be a slap on the wrist for his actions, Townsend’s punishment includes having his red pro status at Full Tilt revoked for the next six months and being asked to donate $25,000 of his CardRunners earnings to a yet-to-be determined charity.
Hollywood on the Felt
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s longawaited Poker Lounge opened last month in Las Vegas and one of the room’s fi rst celebrity sightings was of Academy Award winner and Angelina Jolie ex Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton and his bandmates from The Boxmasters sat down for a game following a performance at The Joint. Strangely enough, a massive image of Thornton hangs on one of the room’s walls and Billy Bob, of course, obliged with a signing. In L.A., DreamWorks principal Jeffrey Katzenberg recently sat down for a session, buying in to a $100/$200 No Limit game at Commerce Casino. Joining him on the felt were billionaires Alec Gores and Bob Safai.
BLUFF POKER TOUR
Bluff is extremely excited to welcome back the Bluff Poker Tour which initially found success back in 2005. The new installment is brought to you by Pic Club, an all new deposit option that will be required for those looking to participate in the tour. Each tour stop will be held Wednesday nights at 9 PM EST, and consist of $10 + $1 buy-in. In the past the Grand Prize consisted of seats to the WSOP and WPT, and this years version promises to exceed expectations. For more informations be sure to check out www. bluffmagazine. com/bpt
