Chris Tessaro

“BRING OUT YOUR DEAD”    Ah, yes, the classic Monty Python sketch… a cart collecting dead bodies, with one body insisting he’s ‘not quite dead yet’.  Well, guess what poker fans? Poker is not quite dead yet either. In fact, I think it’s going to be okay.

 Coming into this year’s WSOP, predictions were running wild as to what the attendance was going to be like. Some predicted a near disaster. MANY predicted that numbers would slide a little lower from last year. Few predicted what actually came to be: a WSOP that was full of great numbers. From the very first $1500 buy in event, it became obvious that people still liked poker. LOTS of people. And it appears, at least on the surface, that poker is nowhere close to lying in the ditch, gasping for air.

 Sure, there are some things going on in the poker world that are less than perfect, at least as they relate to the overall health of the industry. The WPT appears to be on a slippery slide towards a cliff that may spell bankruptcy for the once dominant player. With their stock below a dollar and in real danger of being de-listed on the exchange, it will take a miracle to save the World Poker Tour.

 However, the EPT is a different animal entirely. Indeed, the EPT is leaving all other poker tours in the dust when it comes to numbers and success. In fact, all of the Pokerstars tours are doing quite well: EPT, APPT, LAPT… everyone of them a resounding success. Stars is now poised to make a move into Canada, with another grassroots poker tour. Anyone wanna lay some money down on the eventual success of THAT venture?

  And what about online poker? Well, despite repeated attempts by some online companies to hang themselves at every given opportunity, online poker is doing just fine, thank you very much for asking. The big companies are doing HUUUUUUUUUUGE numbers, and even the scandal ridden sites are managing to survive.

 So, doctor. what’s the prognosis? Is poker going to make it? Well…. hell ya. In spades. Bring out your dead, but leave poker alone. It’s not quite dead yet….

 As much as I like to claim that every brilliant idea since the invention of the wheel (and the subsequent invention of the broadway) comes fresh from my brain, occasionally someone else pipes up with an interesting thought. Just such a case came from a recent conversation with our brilliant web designer, Alan Rush. Alan asked me what I thought of Phil Laak’s day one appearance at the WSOP Main Event in full disguise as an old man. I thought it was great… Alan asked if I thought that these types of shenanigans took away from the prestige of the event.

  That got me to thinking: is the most prestigious poker event in the world becoming a circus sideshow? In a recent interview on the show with Mike Sexton, I asked Mike if he missed the old days when the Main Event was in Binion’s and the field was maybe a hundred poker pros, all of whom knew each other. Mike said that he would go back to Benny’s Bullpen anyday. And I think I understand what he was saying. In those days, it was just the best of the best, playing poker and shooting the shit. No clown suits, no disguises. No Hevad Khan’s dancing for the cameras. No players looking like NASCAR drivers, with logos stuck in every available space. And most of all, no disrespect.

 Don’t get me wrong: I love the WSOP, and the spectacle of the Main Event is wonderful. But I wish that players would treat it with a little more respect. To me, the really special moments of the ME are the appearances of past champions, and legends. I would much rather see Amarillo Slim than Phil Hellmuth crashing his race car. I prefer Doyle taking his seat to a round of applause over Mike Matusow screaming.

  In fact, if I had my choice, I would love to see the Main Event treated with the same attitude as the 50K HORSE event. This year, with Chip Reese’s name attached to the trophy, it seemed like the players had an even greater sense of decorum when it came to this event. Perhaps even they sensed the connection to the old days of poker: virtually every player in the event was a recognizable professional, and there was a real sense of the elite surrounding that tournament. No funny hats, no mugging for the cameras (well, except for Hellmuth, but whaddaya gonna do?). Just poker. Good old fashioned poker. Puggy, Slim and Treetop Jack would have been proud.

  NOTE: Speaking of proud, congrats to our fave ex-canuck bunny, Kara Scott. Scottie proved that she is more than just a pretty face with a Muay Thai attitude by going deep…very deep… into the Main Event. Kara finally busted out in 104th. Amazing performance, bunny girl!

 Once again, Pizzo and I took to the skies and headed for the friendly lights of Las Vegas. We touched down on Monday, the 30th, with the Main Event of the WSOP just a couple of days away, and high expectations for some great shows. I was contemplating playing the last $1500 NLHE event of the WSOP, if time and bankroll permitted. The first thing we noticed about Vegas this time was…. HOT!!! BLAST FREAKIN’ FURNACE HOT!!! Holy crap, we stepped out of McCarron and my shoes melted. Good news was, no taxis this trip: we had decided that a rental car was a must. So we popped by Dollar rent-a-car, and an hour later, we selected our wheels for the trip: a shiny white Dodge AVENGER!  (You have to say ‘Avenger’ like it’s a super hero- we did. All week. Just ask the valets at Wynn: even they got in on the AVENGER act!).  With the AVENGER as our protection, we headed off to our home away from home, Wynn Las Vegas.  Did I mention it was FREAKIN’ HOT??????  wow….

 Unfortunately, the combination of a late arrival, early rise, and questionable bankroll left me with little choice but to forgo the WSOP, at least as far as playing the event. I didn’t want to roll in late, tired, and throw a good chunk of my roll into an event. Common sense prevailed, and I skipped it. Rob and I had work to do anyway. Tuesday saw us working our way around the Rio again, prepping guests for the show. That night, we were invited to the Ultimate Bet Party in a pretty sick suite at the Palms. Phil Hellmuth was supposed to be the host, but he was busy final tabling the $1500 HORSE event, so he was a little busy. We didn’t stick long, and headed out. Rob wanted to play a little poker so we headed over to another casino to play a tourney. Things didn’t run particularly well for either of us, and I got knocked out when it was down to two tables by a horrific call by a guy with K-4 who went runner-runner to make a flush. Ah well…..

 The next day was the big Ante Up For Africa Charity Tourney, and we made our way there for the event. I have to admit, it was fun chatting it up with the ‘A’ list celebs. (http://www.hardcorepokershow.com/photos.html for photos!)     Ben Affleck, Mike McD himself Matt Damon, Adam Sandler, Ray Romano, Jason Alexander, Mekhi Phifer, and many more were in attendance, and we chatted with most of them. Listen to the show in the near future to hear some of them live!  Mekhi Phifer agreed to join us at the Wynn to be on that evenings show. Oh, and the best line we heard from the crowd? Charles Barkley busted out of the tourney, and Phil ‘MC’ Hellmuth made mention of it to the crowd. Several of the crowd shouted ‘REBUY’, but one smartass yelled out ‘Give him a marker!’  Ouch….

  That night’s show was great. Once again, John Strzemp of Wynn was a guest. Amazingly, John’s son final tabled a WSOP event this year, putting the Strzemp on the short list of fathers/sons who have made a final table. Brad Booth was kind of enough to sit in as a co-host once again, and the second half of the show with Brad and Mekhi was great radio.

 After the show was over, Pizzo and I once again headed out to play some poker. This time, things went a little more to plan, and I managed to win the tourney. Not a bad end to the day.

 Thursday was Day 1A of the Main Event, and Rob and I were in attendance at the Rio. After some ME watching, we headed to a different part of the Rio for something fun. Fox Sportsnet is putting ‘The Best Damn Poker Show Ever’ back on the air this fall, and I managed to wrangle an audition for it. So off I went, and, after a brief stint in the makeup chair (didn’t help!), I was on the set, sitting in front of Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, answering their questions in front of the cameras. I had written out a pretty damn funny application, and we played off of that a little. It was lots of fun, and the video will be up on www.hardcorepokershow.com before too long. I don’t know if I’ll get the part, but it was fun trying.

  From there, it was back to the Wynn for a nice steak dinner at the Country Club Steakhouse. Talk about fine dining…. amazing! And the service was as good as I’ve ever had. But we barely had time to digest before we were off running again (in the AVENGER!), back to the Rio. I had managed to snag tickets to Penn & Teller, and we were dying to see the show! I love their act, and they didn’t disappoint. Brilliant! It really was a lot of fun.

 Friday was show day again, and this time we were coming live from the Sports and Race Book at Wynn. And our special guest was Johnny Avello, the Director of the book. Seriously, this guy is everything you could ask for in a radio guest: funny, full of great stories, and a great guy. He handicapped the WSOP for us (I’m not going to win!), and a few other things. Once again, Brad was co-hosting, and we had a great time on the show. Best of all, since we were in a race book, I had to get a bet down on a race. Since three of us were Canadians, and it was the Fourth Of July, it seemed fitting to lay some money down on a horse called ‘RedorWhite’ (Canada’s colours!). Halfway through the second segment of the show, Johnny came running over yelling at us that our horse had won!!! Sweeeeeeeeeeeet! Score one for Canada!

 After the show, Rob and I went for dinner with Brad. I will say this about Brad Booth: he’s a man with an amazing story, and he’s simply a great guy. We had all been invited to Phil Gordon’s Fourth Of July Party, but we passed. We had to change hotels that night, since the Wynn was sold out. We had penthouse suites at the Sahara. Yeah. Nice. But not Wynn. That’s right, we’re spoiled. I know. Anyway, our contest winner from the spring, Scott Strable, was in town, so we hooked up with him for a night of gamboooooring. Scott is a good guy, and we had fun. Even sad Rob had fun. But he was still sad. But that’s a story for him to tell……

 After a lot of travelling this year, I finally landed in toronto and found that I actually have no trips booked. YAY!! Some time at home. Well…. we’ll see…… I know they’re playing poker SOMEWHERE…….

  BTW, congrats to Brad, who crushed his day one of the ME, and to our good friend Kara Scott, the best bunny in britain, who crushed HER day one. Both of them are in great shape heading into day 2. Go get ‘em guys!!!!!!!!!!!

 So where were we? Oh, yah…. I busted Pizzo!  Yeah, I know… cruel! But hey, we were living in the lap of luxury at Wynn, and, after all, he’s supposed to be the radio guy, and I’m supposed to be the poker guy, so I have to lay the hammer down on him once in a while!

 Aside from beating on my co-host, however, I have to say that I really love the atmosphere of the WSOP. So, after the Wynn event, it pained me to have to pull the chute and send Rob to the Rio alone. But my stomach was still complaining loudly, and I really had no choice. So Pizzo took off to wrangle some guests for Wednesday’s show. He did his best, but, as usual, it was difficult. Shannon Elizabeth, who had been on the show before, said she would be happy to do it, but wasn’t available. ANOTHER well known actress-turned-poker player, who shall remain nameless, was apparently a complete bitch to Rob when he approached her about doing the show. I can understand being busy, but no reason to be rude.

 However, it wasn’t that big a deal, because we already had a great guest in our pocket for Wednesday’s show. Orel Hershiser, Dodger pitching legend, and I had become friends in Costa Rica, and he had agreed to come down and do the show live with us. Joining him was a special surprise: a gentleman named John Strzemp. Now, John currently wears the hat of Executive V.P. of Wynn Las Vegas. Now, I know what you’re thinking: nice job stroking the Wynn. You couldn’t be more wrong. You see, John plays a little poker. In fact, John was heads up with STU UNGAR for the WSOP Main Event title in 1997, and Stuey famously sucked out on John to win his third title (YouTube the video just to hear Gabe Kaplan’s call…’Stuey needs a deuce or a trey here….it’s a deuce!’). John is a piece of poker history, and it was very cool to have him as a guest.

 So show number two in Las Vegas went down smoothly, with a couple of great guests. We also had Phil Gordon on right at the end of the show, just to congratulate him on his newborn son. Phil has been great to us, and it was nice to hear the happy news.

  And that was it for the show business end of Las Vegas. That night, Rob and I had dinner at the SW Steakhouse at Wynn. I only bring this up because I believe if it was legal, Rob would have married the steak he ate. He is STILL going on about how good it was. Get a room, already, you two…

 A quick flight home, and we are back in Toronto show mode. But just a couple of weeks from now, we’ll be in the air again, heading back to Sin City for the main event. This time, I think I’m going to play in the last $1500 NLHE event of the WSOP, and see how that works out. If it works out REALLY well…. well, we’ll see….

 I’m finally back in Toronto after an extended period on the road, and while I’m glad to be home, I have to say that the last week I spent at Wynn Las Vegas broadcasting the show was a pretty nice way to wrap up a trip. Wynn=Luxury, and if you have to live in a hotel, then living in luxury is the way to go.

 After arriving back in Canada just a few days prior, Pizzo and I hopped a jet and headed for Vegas on June 1st to dip our feet in the WSOP waters. We also had made arrangements with Wynn Las Vegas to broadcast our show live right from the Wynn Poker Room on June 2nd and 4th. Rob and I touched down at McCarron and headed for the Wynn. I’m really not one to recommend hotel rooms but if you get the opportunity to spend a couple of nights in the Tower Suites at the Wynn… DO IT!  Simply gorgeous. 

 After checking in at Wynn, Pizzo and I hopped a cab for the Rio, home of the WSOP. If you’ve never been, you simply can’t understand, and if you HAVE been, you simply can’t explain. The sheer size of the venues, the volume of the noise of chips, and the massive crowds create a poker environment that is simply second to none. And, baby, the stars come out for the WSOP. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in poker is there. Every celebrity who fancies themself a card chucker is there. Every player that has ever donned a logo is there. And the legends? Right in front of your nose. It’s exhilarating, it’s daunting, and it’s amazing. And you have to go to truly experience it.

 But that’s up to you: as far as Pizzo and I go? We were already there! And our job right off the bat was to round up guests for the show. Wanna know a problem with doing a show during the WSOP? Everyone is playing. And therefore, not available. So Rob and I had the task of hanging around the WSOP room like vultures waiting for someone to bust so we could kidnap them to guest on the show. Kenna James, always a great guest, agreed to do the show if he busted. So we found ourselves in the unfortunate position of hoping for someone we like and want to succeed…to bust. Well, either bust or win it. Anyway, Kenna ran into some bad luck, and we had guest number one. Kenna called Kathy Liebert, who had just finished third in event number one of the WSOP and won $300,000. Guest number two. And, Simpson’s co-creator and TV genius Sam Simon was barrelling his way to Vegas from LA. If he made it in time, he’d do the show. Guest number three.  We had a show. After Pizzo battled through some technical difficulties, we had show number one on the air, right from a poker table in Wynn’s poker room. It was great. (Possibly the coolest part, for me, was Sam Simon drawing a personalized Bart Simpson cartoon for me, and signing it. It’s already got a place of honour reserved on my wall. So cool….!)

 The next day, Pizzo and I planned to play in Wynn’s daily tournament, so that we could talk about it from a real perspective on Wednesday’s show. Tuesday saw me unwell. VERY unwell. As in, can’t eat unwell. I was a game time decision for the tournament, but opted to play at the last minute. I’ll be honest: early on, I really didn’t care if I busted. However, I ran into some cards, made some good plays, sucked out a little, and found myself with a big stack halfway through. Pizzo was doing well too, and when we ended up playing at the same table, we made a deal for 25% of each other’s action.

 Lo and behold, don’t my esteemed co-host and myself end up sitting side by side at the final table. I know we don’t usually talk poker hands specifically, but this one was one for the ages. The player to Pizzo’s right was a short stack, and moved all in pre-flop. Rob immediately pushes HIS entire medium sized stack into the middle. Before he finishes pushing them, I have MY large stack following it. Three consecutive players all in. The player to MY left, the big stack, goes into the tank for about five minutes before finally laying down his pockets sevens. What an idiot for even considering a call. ANYWAY, the guy to Rob’s right flips over a pocket pair, Pizzo flips pocket kings, and I roll over my pocket Aces. Flop is Ace, King, three. turn is a blank, and the river is a seven (yes, buddy bad player with the pocket sevens would have made a set-the third WORST set in the HAND). I rake all the chips, and Pizzo is off to the rail. I actually felt for Rob, since he played the hand pretty damn well. Anyway, suffice to say I took home a pocket full of cash for finishing third, and Pizzo got a nice piece. All’s well that ends well, but I have to say it looks pretty good when both hosts of the show final table the tournament. Good fun..

 Anyway, that was the first couple of days….. the rest of the trip, in a blog to come….   Stay tuned!

Wow.  That’s the first word that sprang to my mind when I heard that the field for the Pokerstars.net LAPT Costa Rica Main Event was 398 players, with a prize pool just south of a million dollars (That’s with an easy $2500 buy-in). Wow. That’s a pretty spectacular result, no matter how you slice it.

 And here in San Jose, the overwhelming response has been close to ectasy. Players are loving both the experience and the exposure to world class poker. Yesterday was another good example of that, with a minor tournament ($1100 buy-in) being offered, a field of close to 150 players jumped aboard. And I was one of them. After a fairly successful run at the cash games here, I decided to try my luck at the tournament. I have become friends with former Dodger baseball great Orel Hershiser down here, and we headed to the tournament together. On the way, we decided to exchange a piece of each other’s action. The tournament was excellent, and while I fought hard to keep alive, the deck was evading me. The best I could do was about 40th place, short of the payouts which started at 17th. Orel, on the other hand, played some tremendous poker (he has got some serious poker skills!), and managed to finish 9th, which booked a win for our ‘team’!

 It felt good to get some cards in my hands, though. I have been absolutely crushing the cash games here, with wins of four times my buy in and two times my buy in on successive nights. Nice to book some wins, as the WSOP comes at us quickly.

 In other REALLY interesting news, I have been informed that PokerStars is going to take their great success with grassroots poker tours all the way too…..CANADA. More on THAT story to come!

 I am, at this very moment, in San Jose, Costa Rica, for event #2 of the newly launched Latin American Poker Tour. The folks at PokerStars are behind the LAPT, and early returns would seem to indicate that it’s going to be every inch the success that the European Poker Tour has been. The first event in Rio was prepared for a field of 250 players, and had over 300. Here in San Jose, the same phenomona has occurred: expected field, 250 players. Actual field, over 300. It seems that Pokerstars may have found the golden formula: take the poker to the people.

 Up until recently, it seemed that the general attitude of people in the poker industry was to put on a tournament, and let everyone come to them. But, as the U.S. markets have become somewhat saturated, with companies like the WPT actually paring down on the number of events they are offering, a new approach was necessary. And voila… along comes Pokerstars with grassroots poker.

 Take the poker to the people, people. That’s the way to succeed. Europe is poker mad, and the EPT has provided the outlet for the cardplaying faithful to worship at the altar of big tournament poker. The results speak for themselves: sold out events across the continent. And now, the next evolution is under way with the LAPT.  People can’t sign up fast enough for the three main events of the LAPT season, and it looks like the tour will be as much a success story as the EPT.

 And that’s why I find myself here in San Jose. It’s been interesting to say the least to discover the enthusiasm level of the people for poker here in Costa Rica. Humberto Brenes is close to a national hero, and his extended family alone would probably be enough to fill a decent tournament field. But that’s not necessary here. There is no shortage of players who have the fever, and now that there is an outlet, it’s only going to get better. And, as I have discovered, there is a LOT to be said for playing poker in beautiful tourist locations as opposed to, say, Foxwoods! I will tail my trip here with a couple of days on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica to do some surfing. The surfing in Connecticut? Not so hot….

 More to come….

 My schedule, at the best of times, can be a little…. well….insane. But at this time of year, the insanity is actually the prelude to a lot of excitement. The WSOP is right around the corner, and that feeling of anticipation is sweet to say the least! This year we are taking the Hardcore Poker Show on the road, and we will be broadcasting live from the Wynn poker room during the series. Rob and I are both excited about doing the show live from such a great poker room, during the most exciting time of the year for poker players. UNFORTUNATELY, I’m not sure whether or not I can play in the WSOP this year, since the show will have me locked in to a lot of the time in Vegas. But, I have my eye on a couple of events, and I hope to be able to shake free long enough to take a run at a bracelet. One of the good things about NOT being Phil Ivey is I don’t really have to plan for final tables, so I’m pretty sure I can fit in at least one event. I love the first NLHE event (the $1500 event), so I’m going to try to find the time for that one. And of course, the Main Event, but I’m hoping to have a sponsorship deal worked out for that one.

  Last week was interesting on the show: Rob was sick and I had to do the show solo. Now, I’m not a stranger to radio or TV, so doing the show alone didn’t bother me. But I only found out I was doing it alone at 6 PM, which gave me a grand total of NO time to prepare for a solo show. One of the great things about working with a great partner like Rob is that it’s easy to roll with whatever comes your way, since we can fill spaces with conversation. But as a solo host, that becomes a little harder. However, I was lucky enough to line up a couple of great guests, and, in particular, Kenna James helped carry the show. All in all, it came off pretty well, I think, but I guarantee you this: I will be very happy to see Rob back in the chair again.

 On the 21st, I am off to Costa Rica for the inaugural season of the Latin American Poker Tour. The first event was in Rio, and by all accounts was a smash success, with the field actually exceeding the cap of 300!! The event is in San Jose, CR, and several of the Team PokerStars pros will be making the trip. Again, I’m hoping to play in the event, but we will see. However, I am going to take a couple of extra days after the tourney, and hit the west coast of Costa Rica for some surfing. All of this hard work has me hankering for a couple of days of relaxing before we hit the WSOP marathon, and I love to surf, so I can’t wait.

 In the meantime, we have some great show lined up, and some amazing guests. So tune in, and share the fun….

 So by now you’ve probably heard the big news out of the Harrah’s/WSOP camp: this year’s Main Event champion is going to be crowned (almost) live in November. 113 days after the final table is set, the final table will be played. The reason? Two letters: T V.

  So here’s the deal: the main event, $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Hold ‘em will kick off as usual at the end of the WSOP on July 3. Two weeks of hard fought poker, as usual, will provide us with a final table of 9 players who will be competing for the bracelet, the money, and the right to be called ‘World Champion’. BUT… the chips will be bagged, the table folded up, and the bracelet stuck under the sofa cushions until November. At that point, the lucky nine will compete for the title. The action, as always, will be filmed, but it will be produced and turned around in less than a day and broadcast almost immediately.

  This announcement, while not unexpected, has sparked quite a bit of debate. There are pros and cons for both sides of the discussion, and what kind of a writer would I be if I didn’t inflict my opinion on you?

 So here goes…

   I think it’s a great idea. Logistically, I hate it from a reporter’s standpoint, simply because it means we have to make another trip back to vegas to cover the final table. But, aside from that, I think there are a lot of positives for this new approach.

 And for those that argue against it, I have one simple question: Do you like money?  25 years ago, the winner of the WSOP Main Event got less cash than someone finishing about 100th in last year’s ME. And why is that? Because of TELEVISION. When the whole world got a chance to watch Chris Moneymaker go from nobody to EVERYBODY. And because of that, the prize money (and the number of entrants) in the Main Event has jumped to astronomical numbers. Almost 9,000 players, and 12 MILLION dollars for first place. Why? Television.

 Now answer me this question: who, outside of poker players, has ANY idea who the hell Jerry Yang is? The answer is most likely nobody. Why? Because there wasn’t a whole lot of hype about Jerry Yang. Everyone knew that Jerry Yang won the day after he claimed his title. But Jerry is about as exciting a story as a documentary on Norwegian Dog Cheese. So by the time the ESPN broadcasts rolled around, there was no added incentive to watch the play.

 But what happens if we give the PR machines over three months to spin, shape, sculpt, and script all of the storylines necessary to drive some drama into the final table? And then we get to watch all of those storylines play out (sort of) live? It’s going to make for some GREAT television. And not just for us poker loonies. It will be compelling viewing for EVERYBODY.

 And what does that mean? It could mean potentially millions of new converts to the religion of poker. Poker rooms, online and otherwise, will be packed with new players.  And that, my friends, means just one thing: NEW FISH IN THE POND. And in the end, isn’t that what we all want?

 Sign me up. I love money.

 Just back from a week in Vegas, and it was about as action packed as I can handle. As you may know, we ran a contest on the show to take a lucky listener to Vegas for the WSOP Academy. I also sandwiched in a bunch of other things for a couple of different projects on which I’m currently working. One thing that made this crazy schedule a lot easier was my first stay at the brand new Palazzo Hotel, next to its sister property, the Venetian. Let me tell you this: I’ve stayed in most of the hotels on the strip, and the Palazzo beats the hell out of ALL of them! This place is all-suites, and the suites are…well…. sweet. Believe me, spending a week on the road becomes an awful lot easier when you’re in love with your hotel.

 So the main reason for this foray into Sin City was the World Series of Poker Academy (www.wsopa.com). This is a great opportunity for anyone of any level to increase their skills and learn some new chops. In my eyes, a couple of great highlights were Phil Gordon’s lecture (funny, well thought out, and very instructive), and Joe Navarro. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Joe Navarro, all I can tell you is get in the game (www.navarropoker.com). Joe is an ex-FBI agent who specializes in analyzing human behaviour. In poker terms, that simply means that Joe Navarro is the king of reading body language tells. Simply brilliant, and Navarro alone is worth the price of the WSOP Academy.

  I did manage to squeeze in a little poker while I was there. On Friday, I took the afternoon off from the WSOPA to play in Jen Harmon’s charity tournament at the Venetian. Jen is a huge advocate of the Nevada SPCA, and holds a tournament every year to support them. With Jen being as well-liked in the poker community as she is, this tournament boasts a lineup of pros that is simply sick. Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Joe Hachem, Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Smith, Brad Booth, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, T.J. Cloutier, Mike Sexton, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately for me, I had five of them at my table for most of the day. Seidel, J.Pham, Jeff Madsen, Howard Lederer, and later on, Gavin Smith and T.J. Fortunately, I held my own and managed to hang on to finish 22nd. Which, by the way, paid exactly the same as last. But, glad to support Jen and her cause.

 After the academy, I did play a couple of tournaments at the Wynn, but really didn’t play very well in either of them. I need to regulate my sleep a little better in order to have some sharpness at the tables. My last day there, I played some cash game at the Venetian, and played quite well. However, I ran into one of THOSE guys: a dude who fell for every trap I laid, called every bet from behind, and misplayed just about everything. And ALWAYS got his card to save his ass. But hey… that’s poker. I got the money in good, and that’s all I really care about.

 Pizzo had the same run of bad luck, with maybe one questionable call thrown in. But the deck was treating him like a dog, and he took a beating. Just to add an exclamation point to the trip, we thought we’d hit Binions for a little old school. I won, Scott (our contest winner) won, and poor Pizzo got treated like crap. So… we decided that answer for THAT was…crap(s). Yes, we shot dice in Binions. No one said we were smart. But, fortunately we had an incredible steak dinner waiting courtesy of the Twin Creeks Restaurant in Silverton. The food there is simply BRILLIANT, and it couldn’t have been a better way to wrap up our trip. Except, of course, a big win. Oh well… next time….