Friday Night Parting Shot: Keeley Hazell Shows Her Breasts Again

Thanks to reader Brian late this afternoon for the link to new Keeley Hazell photos on egotastic.com where she is, amazingly, topless.

How Keeley, our official WCP Girl of 2007, hasn't won a Nobel Prize for something by now is beyond us. Peace Prize. Boob Prize. Breast Prize. Titty Prize. Any of the big Nobel Prizes.

The photo at right from her latest spread is the only one we can post.

More NSFW pics here.

All right what the hell, a couple of the NSFW ones after the jump too.

UPDATE: Tossing curves at us like she's Lefty Gomez, if that analogy makes any sense, Keeley Hazell has released not one, but two Official 2008 Keeley Hazell calendars. While we already knew about and previously linked to one of the calendars, which surprisingly has her enormi-boobs covered up in every photo, there is a newly hyped one that is being billed as X-rated. Check out some of the photos from this "X-rated" version calendar here. For somewhat crappy scans of all the photos from both calendars go here.

Jerry Yang to Actually Appear In a Poker Tournament

The National Poker League (NPL) Vegas Open is in full swing at the Venetian right now. And while the big shocking news would normally be that Kathy Liebert, a woman, won the NPL Event #1 (banking $55,619), even more outrageously shocking is that Jerry Yang, the most anonymous WSOP winner ever, is actually going to play in the $5,000 buy-in event and possibly even in the $15,000 buy-in Championship Event.

Yang, as you may recall, was last seen not showing up to the APPT tourney in Maccau.

The $15,000 NPL Championship Event begins on Monday the 3rd with an expected first place haul of just over $1M.

Get "full" NPL coverage here. Watch the latest webisode of The TOKE, where host Dave Farra (who co-hosts NPL high-def tournament action with Kirk Morrison) interviews NPL Exec Producer Sam Riddle below.

Full Tilt Poker Busts Chris "BluffMagCV" Vaughn for Cheating

Last month, Chris Vaughn, an employee at Bluff Magazine, captured the Full Tilt Poker $1M Guaranteed Tournament and Poker Stars $1M Guaranteed on consecutive weekends.

This week, FTP stripped Vaughn of his title and winnings, as they believe online poker phenom Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi (seen pitting it out at the 2007 WSOP in our photo at right) took over his account during the later stages of the event to take down the tourney. Sorel had already been knocked out of the same tournament.

The latest online poker dramabomb blew up on 2+2 after Soren Kongsgaard, a Euro pro who was runner-up in the Full Tilt event, posted that FTP sent him an email stating that he would be awarded first-place money as he was "among the victims of one player using more than one Full Tilt account in the tournament."

Read Kongsgaard's full post and ensuing thread here.

More developments in this story are expected in the next few days.

Read more about the scandal here and here. Read what Vaughn had to say about his wins on Poker News here.

UPDATE: Mizzi vaguely responded to the Full Tilt cheating allegations this morning on the Pocket Fives forum, saying:

"As far as the situation with FTP goes I hope that everyone can understand the intense scrutiny that I am under and be respectful and patient at this time. I currently am in the process of finalizing a formal interview with a major media outlet to explain the situation that has been discussed. Please understand that it would be impossible to address everyone’s questions/comments by responding to each one individually. Obviously, I am doing this interview so that I can hopefully answer all of your collective questions and concerns. I am hopeful the interview will take place this weekend, but it will certainly be as soon as possible. I promise to be fully open and honest about the situation.

Read his entire response and ensuing forum banter here.

Wayne Allyn Root Can Talk For 5 Minutes Without Taking a Breath, Wants Your Vote

We wouldn't vote for Wayne Allyn Root. Because we don't vote. Unless they figure out a way to bring Ronald Reagan back from the dead and have the Gipper go for a third term, you won't find us near a "pole" that doesn't have a stripper in front of it.  Unless Hillary of course gets the Democratic nod, in which case we'd feel it was our civic duty to keep the apocalypse from happening. 

Anyway, famed sports handicapper Wayne Allyn Root has officially registered with the Federal Elections Committee and will run for President of the U.S. America as a Libertarian. In the latest TOKE vid, he talks about the UIGEA and what he thinks of Greg Raymer running as his VEEP, something the Fossilman has expressed interest in doing.

Without taking a breath, Root says:

"Maybe we'll see...Greg is a great guy great speaker very intelligent a lot of wisdom and I think when you meet Greg and you meet me you go those aren't gamblers those are professional kind of guys."

Watch the full interview below.

Boris Becker, A Ginger, Joins Team Poker Stars

It's been pretty well documented that gingers are scary as fuck, have no soul, and will kill you in your sleep if they get the chance.

So you can only imagine how difficult it will be to sit across from a ginger while at the poker table...his soulless, vacant eyes staring you down and giving you no clue--none--as to the strength of his hand...knowing that if you make the wrong move, he will kill you--dead. Because that's what gingers do.

And Boris Becker (at right, with girlfriend Sharlely Kersenberg in Ibiza) is banking on your fear of gingers as he enters the poker world. The former tennis champ has signed on with team Poker Stars, joining the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, and "Salty" Joe Hachem, all of whom are non-ginger, in a quest to become one of the world's best rounders.

Says Becker:

"...I want to develop my poker skills and challenge myself to become really competitive at the highest levels in poker."

He continues:

"Plus I figure I have an advantage. First, I'm a ginger, which means I have no soul and can run a stone-cold bluff better than a Roger Federer first serve. And second, I'm German, which means I really enjoy porn involving poo and pee."*

Read more about Becker joining team Poker Stars here.

* Rough translation. Since Becker speaks German and has a heavy accent, we took some liberties (just like how Nazi Germany took some "liberties" away from its citizens in the 1930's) with his real quote, which was something more like, "When I was still playing professional tennis, I started learning to play poker casually in between games because it helped me to improve my concentration."

WPT Hostess Layla Kayleigh is a Vlogger

World Poker Tour Season 6 hostess Layla Kayleigh has amazing breasts posted a video blog today starring her amazing breasts on MySpace that gives her fans a look at her amazing breasts life on poker's most popular televised tour. The video, which she filmed alone with her amazing breasts in her room at Foxwoods, is the first of a series of video diaries that the British born beauty with the amazing breasts plans to post on her MySpace page, which you can visit to see photos featuring her amazing breasts here.

In related news, Layla Kayleigh has amazing breasts.

Poker News and Great Bimbo Card Sharks or Whatever Gay Tony Calls Hot Chicks

:: More proof that online poker is all the rage with Krauts, PokerStars.com has added the "Baron Von Slam" of tennis Boris Becker to its team of sponsored players. [UK.PokerNews.com] :: Czech stunner Olga Kurylenko has been the number one search on Wicked Chops Poker the past week thanks to her role as a Russian president's mistress in the movie Hitman and because she's ridiculously hot. [Olga Kurylenko - Parting Shot] :: Vietnam's Dinh "Daren" Le won the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau, becoming the first ever poker champion in China. 2005 WSOP World Champion Joe Hachem finished in 8th place. [Bluff Magazine] :: Russian model, singer and former figure skater Anna Semenovich has something in common with JC Tran and Keeley Hazell and it rhymes with "smectacular creasts." [CamelTap (NSFW)] :: The Swedish government/poker monopoly has hit online poker site Multipoker.com with a €4.3 Million ($6 kajillionbazillion US) claim after concluding that its offices in the BVI were only a front. [LaunchPoker] :: Southern hottie Juda Jennings is one of the Maxim Hometown Hottie Finalists who gave winner Erin McKinnon a run for her money. [Maxim Online] :: Doyle Brunson, who hates Canadians, settled the score with billionaire Canuck Guy Laliberté by winning a $800k pot off him on High Stakes Poker. [PokerListings.com] :: Francesca Lukasik is the hottest Italian girl we've seen in the past cinque minuti. [DoubleViking.com] :: Daniel Idema won the BC Poker Championship held at the River Rock Casino and Igloo in Vancouver, Canada. FOWCP Lacey Jones was one of the US Americans who braved the year round sub-zero temperatures of the glacier lands north of our border to play the event. [Vancouver Sun]

Bombs Away, Mate!

A bomb planted in a poker machine exploded in the Wentworth Hotel in Cessnock (somewhere in Australia, look at the map at right) today.

The blast occurred at 1:30am. Luckily, no one was in the pub in the hotel where the bomb exploded at the time.

Says the Wentworth Hotel manager:

"Police believe there was an explosive device thrown through the window and then it was detonated. It's blown the cabinet and window to pieces and we're just dumbfounded."

Firefighters did recover an explosive device, and detectives from Sydney have brought in bomb specialists to search the pub and hotel.

The Cessnock area has seen increased crime lately, which should come as no surprise, as Australia is a country originally populated with criminals.

Read more about it here, here and here.

Some Things We're Thankful For...Part II...The Joanna Krupa 2008 Calendar

A lot of people ask us, they say, "Entities, we're truly thankful for all of the hot girls you post on this site. From being the first to showcase April Scott and of course Keeley Hazell, to nailing the MAXIM hometown hottie," and then they eventually get to the question part, "But Entities, could you please give us more pictures of Joanna Krupa? After all, she was the Official WCP Girl of 2006 and stuff. And she plays poker, like at the 2006 WSOP Main Event. I mean, seriously, please? Also, can I buy some meth from you?"

Listen, we haven't forgotten about Joanna Krupa at all. And we stopped selling meth four hours ago. But Krupa couldn't be any more top-of-mind. When she announced that she was releasing a 2008 calendar (something even one of our favorite sites emailed us about), we didn't even wait to make it a Parting Shot. We put that shit up right away.

The calendar is officially out now, and Krupa threw a party at JET Nightclub in Vegas last night to promote it. She was interviewed by the also hot Andrea Tiede about it, where she reveals that yes, she's still playing poker. And that there's a topless version of the calendar.

Watch the interview below or here. Read about the red carpet here. Buy the calendar here. And get some pics from the interview after the jump.

Some Things We're Thankful For...

From what we gather, Thanksgiving is a time to "give thanks."

And if there's one two three things the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker are thankful for, it's morally casual girls with big boobs who know how to work a stripper's pole.

RawVegas.tv resident hottie and Playboy model Denise Pernula was on hand at JET NIGHTCLUB to find out what Vegas girl can work a pole the best (below).

And after the jump, learn what it's like to work in an office with a girl who has been in Playboy.

Jerry Yang's Quest To Be Most Anonymous WSOP Winner Ever Continues

Thanks to an anonymous reader tip for first pointing out to us (and then to PokerNews.com for Blue Boxing the details) that 2007 WSOP Main Event champ Jerry Yang (at right) has finally reappeared, but only because he didn't show up to a poker tournament.

Yang, expected to play in the PokerStars APPT tourney in Macau, had some visa issues, and wasn't able to attend the event. When Yang arrived at the airport, he was told he'd need a visa to fly into Hong Kong. This is not something typical for U.S. American residents traveling to Hong Kong. Our anon tip said that it was Yang's refugee status that caused the issue.

Yang, who has only surfaced in these pics since his WSOP win, can now comfortably drift back and not be heard from again for another five months.

We Nailed the Maxim Hometown Hottie Winner

We're not so much into bragging about our Nostradamus-like prognosticating skills as we are into pointing out when we we're frickin' geniuses at picking things. And the latest in the growing list of picks we've nailed is Maxim's Hometown Hottie of the Year contest.

Yep, Erin McKinnon (at right), who a few months ago we chose from the 100 girls left as a favorite to win the contest, was officially named Maxim's 2007 Hometown Hottie of the Year last week. The 23-year-old Univ. of Central Florida student beat out thousands of other chicks who ambitiously like to get half naked and pose for photos, and just like so many girls we dig (eg. Carrie Stroup, Katie Rees, Tara Conner, Danielle Lloyd, Caitlin Upton, Brandi Hawbaker) Erin is a beauty pageant chick (she is currently the reigning Miss Ormond Beach USA). It's funny, we never really considered tiara wearers our type, but when we looked beyond the superficial stuff and instead saw that they were the kinds of girls who shagged judges, made out with other hot chicks, posed for Playboy and said really stupid things in public, we saw their true inner beauty and they're now among our favorite kinds of girls, alongside promo/booth babes at conventions and supermodels with funny names.

For more of Erin, see photos after the jump from her MySpace page. Also check out her Maxim photos here.

For a video of the 2006 Hometown Hottie of the Year Kerry Suseck saying she'll never bare all (obviously not an ex-pageant chick), go here.

T.J. Cloutier Wins 60th Major Poker Title

T.J. Cloutier won his 60th major title today by capturing the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge (held logically in Tulsa, OK).

Cloutier defeated Ray Henson heads up for the title.

For the win, Cloutier banked $240,560. Other notable finishes include Gavin Smith (fourth), Scotty Nguyen (eight), and Bill Edler (ninth).

Get full final table payouts here.

For our heads-up interview with TJ, go here.

The World Series of Poker Doesn't Really Rank as One of America's Most Popular Sports

In what has to be viewed as a crushing blow for the push to make poker more mainstream, a recent Turnkey Sports and Entertainment survey of 12,000 sporting fans revealed that the World Series of Poker is only the 11th most popular sports league in North America.

The WSOP ranked behind the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD, the East coast family, NASCAR, and the PGA Tour.

Said WSOP commish and world renown blogger Jeffrey Pollack of this disappointing finish:

"We're honored to keep company with the best sports brands in North America. Thanks to our players, sponsors, media partners, fans and staff, we've entered the mainstream in another new way."

Wait. Huh?

The WSOP did outrank American sporting powerhouses like the National Hot Rod Association, Indy Racing League, PBA, Arena Football League, and the LPGA. Poker is more popular than chicks golfing...we're almost to the mountain top, baby!

Read more about the survey here and here. For pictures of the 11th hottest waitress in Ft. Lauderdale, here.

Scotty Nguyen Makes Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge Final Table

For some reason, 124 poker players traveled to Tulsa, OK [to play the Scotty Nguyen $5k Poker Challenge].

Final table play began today at noon Tulsa time. Among the remaining nine included, just this, Scotty Nguyen! The very same Scotty Nguyen whose tournament this is. OMG!!! LOL!!! :P

Nguyen wanted to have the final table play through the night, as he had to catch a flight to Macau for another poker event. Instead, play start time was moved from 3pm to noon.

And Scotty must've really wanted to catch that flight, as he was recently eliminated in 8th place. Bill Edler was eliminated shortly before him in ninth.

As of post-time, seven remain with Ray Henson as the chip leader, stacked at 622,000. He's trailed by T.J. Cloutier (519,000) and Gavin Smith (208,000).

Get full chip counts and live blogging from Poker Pages here.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Works Miracles, Wins Third WSOPC Title

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson earned his nickname because he looks like one of those crazy homeless men with long hair who desperately needs a shower that people jokingly call "Jesus" and you'd certainly keep your kids way away from if you saw him walking down the street, especially if you were in Salt Lake City or Provo. But clearly, there are more similarities.

"Jesus" Jesus turned water into wine. "Jesus" Ferguson turned pocket tens into a set to crack pocket Aces on the final hand of the Harvey's Lake Tahoe event to win his third WSOPC title. "Jesus" Jesus died on a cross for our sins. "Jesus" Ferguson...uhh...turned pocket tens into a set to crack pocket Aces on the final hand of the Harvey's Lake Tahoe event to win his third WSOPC title.

Similarities = endless.

As you may have picked up, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson won his third WSOPC title when he turned his pocket tens into a set to crack pocket Aces of Dustin Fox on the final hand of the Harvey's Lake Tahoe event to win his third WSOPC title.

For the win, Ferguson banks over $203k. Fox will take home $119,333.

Get final table results here.

Jesus Kicking Ass at WSOPC Lake Tahoe

Only nine remain at the WSOPC Harvey's Lake Tahoe event, with Chris "Jesus" Ferguson taking a monster chip lead to the final table.

Stacked at 426,500, Jesus is nearly 200,000 ahead of his nearest competitor, Mark Bonsack (252,000).

A bunch of dudes you've never heard of round out the rest of the field.

If Jesus can close the deal, he'll bank $203,649.

Get full final table chip counts and live reporting here. To watch Right Here, Right Now, here.

Shawn Sheikhan Is Still Around

It's been almost three months since Shawn Sheikhan was arrested and faced deportation to Iran due to a new Homeland Security law that looks to oust convicted foreign national sex criminals.

Since then, the Sheik has done something he's not accustomed to do...go silent. On the advice of his lawyers, Sheikhan is not discussing the case with anyone.

And now it appears that Sheikhan will not be able to talk about the case for awhile, as proceedings are stalled. Launch Poker has learned:

In 1995 Sheikhan was arrested and charged with misdemeanor sexual battery charges, but thanks to the Contra Costa County practice of not keeping misdemeanor files for more than ten years, a U.S. Immigration Court Judge could not tell if he was actually convicted of the crime. As such the deportation proceedings have been halted.

Read the full article here.

While Sheikhan could lose everything if deported, at least he doesn't have to worry about losing a lot on the golf course, mostly because he doesn't wager much. High Stakes Golf wrapped last week, with Sheikhan losing "peanuts," as he was never willing pony up the same amounts as Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith (who had a bad last hole), and Daniel Negreanu. The big winner for the event was Negreanu, banking over $74,000. Watch the final webisode below.

Vincent Procopio, 8th at 2007 LA Poker Classic, Among Mobsters Busted in Atlantic City

Poker player Vincent Procopio, who finished 8th at the 2007 WPT LA Poker Classic for a $151,870 cash, was one of the 23 men arrested this week for a Philadelphia mob-run gambling ring inside the Borgata poker room that took in more than $22 million in illegal sports bets.

The 41-year-old Procopio, who also finished 34th this past January at the WPT Borgata Winter Open, is being described as an "alleged mob associate" despite not having a good mob nickname like the other guys nabbed, including Michael "Mikey Lance" Lancelloti, Steven "Stevie Gongs" Casasanto and Anthony "Itchy Balls" Nicodemo.

We may have made one of those up.

The alleged ring leader of the gambling operation Andrew Micali is also an avid poker player and has played major tournaments this year including the WPT Bellagio Five Star in April.

Also among those arrested were Borgata poker-room supervisor Paul Parks, two Borgata poker dealers and Tropicana poker-room supervisor Jeffrey Ebert.

According to Philadelphia Daily News, the arrests were the result of a 18-month probe called "Operation High Roller" that began after an informant, aka "rat", tipped off police in March 2006, telling them what to look for in the overhead surveillance cameras in the poker room. The arrest of Lancelloti, a reputed mob capodecina, marks the highest-ranking mobster arrested in New Jersey since 2004.

Reportedly, the juice on gambling losses was a ridiculous 50% annual interest.

After the jump watch a video of the lovely Tiffany Michelle interviewing Vincent Procopio at this year's LAPC.

To learn how to play bocce ball go here.

Naked Thursday, a Case of the Ugly and the Right to Play Crack

So Naked Wednesday at the WCP compound rolled into Naked Thursday and will likely last through the weekend if all goes as planned and our stamina holds out. That likely means we'll be slim on content from here on out.

For those who've noticed that Wicked Chops Poker has had a bad case of the ugly lately (just scroll down) we're very much aware of it. Find a temporary cure here, here, here but not here.

For now, we suggest checking out Andrew Leonard's excellent wrap-up piece at Salon.com on the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Internet gambling. Read it here. By the way, did fun cop Tom McClusky really call online gambling "the crack cocaine of the Internet?" Damn, if that's true we're scared to know what YouPorn.com is.

Finally and most importantly, check out the below video of our new hero Congressman Steve Cohen schooling McClusky and others on the absurdity of their views. You can watch all of the testimony from all of the witnesses yesterday including Annie Duke's on the PPA's YouTube page. You can also fold a towel elephant. Your choice.

Harrah's Mulls Launching Online Poker Site in UK, Europe

The Associated Press is reporting that Gary Loveman (at right), the chairman, president and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment who you may recognize as the chubby, slow-talking guy from the responsible gaming commercials, told an audience at the Global Gaming Expo today that he's looking at taking the World Series of Poker brand into the realm of online poker in Europe.

"If you take a look at the legal landscape in continental Europe and the United Kingdom, there are countries where it's demonstrably legal and there's absolutely no encumbrance. Those are areas that are very attractive to us," said Loveman, who also denied today reports that he and US Attorney Catherine Hanaway are the same person.

WSOP spokesman Gary Thompson added that Harrah's would not enter the online poker market "where there are any gray areas." He also said don't eat poker chips but that may be unrelated to this story.

Loveman's remarks come a month after the announcement that PartyGaming, the parent company of Party Poker, was looking for a potential buyer and "would like to hear from the major [casinos] in Las Vegas."

While there's a lot to be said here about a WSOP-branded online poker site being launched in the UK and mainland Europe, it's Naked Wednesday here at the WCP compound so we're kind of busy right now. Feel free though to share your thoughts below. Or somewhere random. Like here.

Source: BusinessWeek.com

Congressional Hearing on Internet Gambling Wraps, DoJ Says Online Poker Legal

A month after the Poker Players Alliance DC fly-in, the House Judiciary Committe held a hearing today on Internet gaming, and according to Casino Gambling Web:

"The simple conclusion of the Hearing is that, at the very least, Internet gambling is a fascinating subject that has many facets which each should be studied and examined more closely by the legislative body, state Governors, and state attorneys."

While that is exciting news, almost as exciting as watching lesbians fight over a midget MySpace star, which isn't really as exciting as you'd think, the most interesting news from the hearing is that US Attorney Catherine Hanaway (miss pretty in the pic), who you may know as the conservative crusader behind the David Carruthers indictment, reportedly declared Internet poker legal for US citizens. At the same time she apparently also said that it is illegal for companies to accept bets that are deemed illegal. Yeh, doesn't make sense to us either but we weren't so much watching or listening to the hearing as we were Wii bowling while gorging ourselves on Ho Hos. Busy hump day for us at the WCP compound.

For a synopsis of the hearing from someone who actually was paying attention, go here.

For a transcript of Annie Duke's testimony today go here.

For audio clips from the Judiciary meeting go here.

For Ho Hos recipes go here.

BREAKING: Mafia Gambling Ring Run Out of Borgata Poker Room Busted

A mob-linked sports gambling ring run out of the Borgata poker room in Atlantic City was busted today. A total of 18 people were arrested, including four with mob ties out of Philadelphia.

Six of the 18 were Borgata employees.

The Associated Press reports:

"If the charges are proven, the ring would be among the most serious mob incursions into the Atlantic City casino industry since the first casino opened in 1978. Fear of organized crime prompted New Jersey to institute tight controls when legal gambling began, but regulations have been loosened over the years."

The Borgata is the same casino where card cheating expert Steve Forte was arrested this past July for using some high-tech ploy involving observing hole cards during a live video feed.

AP article here.

Developing...

Man Arrested Then Freed in Fatal Robbery at NYC Poker Room

Days after being arrested in connection with the fatal shooting at a Manhattan poker room, William Delvalle, 35, was set free yesterday after a grand jury failed to indict him.

Despite being released without having to post bail, Delvalle still faces second degree murder charges and two counts of robbery.

According to police statements, Delvalle, a career criminal from The Bronx, was one of the three masked men who robbed the underground poker game in Midtown Manhattan 10 days ago and made off with $100,000. During the course of the robbery, one of the gunmen dropped his weapon, which then fired and fatally struck Frank DeSena (at right) in the chest. Delvalle is not believed to be the gunman.

Because all masked men look alike, police have very little to go on besides a single eyewitness.

According to the NY Post, Delvalle served eight years for the 1992 manslaughter killing of a 21-year-old women in the Bronx. His parole from the sentence ended just weeks before the poker game murder and robbery.

Kimberly DeSena, Frank's widow, is obviously not pleased with Delvalle's release, telling the NY Post, "I'm not happy . . . I hope this guy doesn't do something again." She also said that she does not believe in the death penalty, which officially makes her a better person than us, because we think even the bus driver who didn't put his left blinker on at the intersection of 10th and Northside this morning should be shot. Asshole.

For more on the story, read the NY Post article here.

Schulman, Medic Make WPT Final Table, Deeb Comes Up Just Short (Zing!)

Since it is nearly impossible to write a well-structured lead sentence about the final table being set at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals without using the word "final" in the sentence at least twice, we'll make this post short, one because our brains are hurting from trying dammit, and two as a tribute to our little buddy Freddy Deeb.

Last year's champ Nenad Medic and 2005 champ Nick Schulman are among the remaining six. Schulman is second overall in chips with 4,395,000. Medic is short-stacked with 555,000.

Speaking of short-stacked, the aforementioned half-man, half-amazing Deeb bowed out in 9th place, banking $108,081.

Get full final table chip counts here.

SEXY UPDATE: Kimberly Lansing interviews three of the final table-ist, including Schulman and Medic (after the jump) and Tom "durrrr" Dwan below. Note: Sexy referencing KL, not the dudes, in case there was any confusion.

Absolute Poker Insider Cheating Scandal Downgraded to "Boring"

The Absolute Poker insider cheating scandal that first rocked the poker world a few weeks ago, or at least a few poker forums here and there, has gone from the stuff movies are made about (i.e. super user account, rogue employee swindling $7 mil, unicorns, plane loaded with cash crashing on take off, gay sex love fest between Montana frat boys who run AP*) to a total snoozefest.

Putting us asleep most recently was news that Nat Arem, one of the forum-ers who blew the scandal wide open, flew down to Costa Rica on PokerNews.com's dime to "investigate" the matter, and he came back unscathed and alive. Yep, no kidnapping, no roughening him up, no smoking gun found after sneaking into someone's office and going through their desk drawers only seconds away from being caught. Nope, the only thing we got was Arem signing a NDA and Absolute Poker releasing an "interim" statement from some nameless person that doesn't name names and says as little as possible to as few people as possible (statement, which you can read after the jump below, was sent primarily to a couple people on the forums).

The only thing that really woke us from our slomber was Arem saying on 2p2 that he thinks Scott Tom has retained "his ownership interest and is probably at least more removed than before from operational control." Not that we didn't expect this but it's just that with all the focus on AJ Green, not many people seem to be talking about Tom anymore even though it seems obvious that he was very much in the know with what Green was doing or had done and did everything he could to protect his friend (photo at right of Tom and Green in Montana last winter). It's also obvious that online poker players are still playing on Absolute Poker and thus don't really give a damn that with every hand they play they are still putting money in Tom's pocket.

We guess we'll just have to rely on karma for Tom to get his due.

Check out part 1 of Arem's account from his Costa Rican trip over at PokerNews.com here.

Also check out Nat's own blog for the cliff notes version of the above here.

For the exact opposite of the above photo but just as scandalous go here.

* The Absolute Poker frat boys may not engage in gay sex frequently with each other a lot.

Governor Deval Patrick Wants to Send Online Poker Players to Prison

Cadillac pimpin' Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat and new Davidson Matthew Club member (seen in pic leaning far to the left with Howard Dean), has recently proposed a bill that would allow the licensing of three resort casinos in different parts of the state while subjecting those who gamble on the Internet, including online poker players, up to a maximum term of 2 years in prison, a fine of $25,000 or both.

Gov. Patrick's anti-online gambling provision, which is similar to the one enacted in Washington State, is buried deep in the legislation, a la Goodlatte-Frist snow job style, and like any absurd, lamebrained law that attacks our freedom to do what we want in our own home, it does not state how the law would be enforced.

Responding to the trying-to-have-it-both-ways legislation, pro-online gambling advocate Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told the Boston Globe, "Why is gambling in a casino OK and gambling on the Internet is not? He's making a big mistake. He's giving opponents an argument against him."

The PPA is asking online poker players in Massachusetts to send letters to Gov. Patrick and their local representatives to bring attention to "this attack on our rights." On the PPA site is a standard letter that will automatically be sent to the politicians. Get on it by clicking here. Get it on bang a gong by clicking here.

Half-Man, Half-Amazing Freddy Deeb Takes Chip Lead at WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

As the WPT daily recap put it, it was a "dog fight," for Freddy Deeb today at the World Poker Finals. This is good news for Deeb, as a dog fight beats actual fighting, which for a man of Deeb's size, would inevitably lead to something like this.

After enduring a sick runner-runner full-house bad beat, Deeb buckled down and did what he does best: play great poker. Freddy ended Day 4 play as chip leader, stacked at 1,865,000. Trailing Freddy in second overall is T.J. Cloutier with 1,614,000.

Nineteen remain, including the previous two past champs, Nenad Medic (522,000) and Nick Schulman (1,100,000).

Get full chip counts here. Get info on hiring Beetlejuice for your next party here. Watch Kimberly Lansing interview our chip leader below, where Deeb does a great job demonstrating what he does second best: act paranoid.

Howard Lederer Apologizes to Jimmy Fricke for Calling Him a "Freak"

Showing some good PR sense, Howard Lederer has apologized to Jimmy Fricke for calling him a "freak" and a "weird dude." Smart move on his part, because Lederer needed to nip this Fricke flap in the bud before it got out of control and generated 800 posts on 2+2.

Whoops.

Anyway, the whole ordeal pretty much drew to a close when Freak Fricke posted the following message:

ATTENTION.

I just received an apology letter from Mr. Lederer himself. He asked to keep it private, so I won't be saying anything other than the fact that he sent it and I accepted. He regrets saying what he said and said some other nice things. I think this thread has run its course now.

T-minus one hour until bacon sushi.

Good to see Lederer own this at least, do the right thing, and apologize.

Get caught up on the thread here. Photos of bacon sushi here. Thanks again to reader 4Dragons for keeping us posted.

Half-Man, Half-Amazing Freddy Deeb Making a Move on Day 4 at WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Day 4 play is underway at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals. Matt Graham ended Day 3 as chip leader, a spot he still holds with 1,610,000. Early in Day 4, half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb is making a move, currently second overall with 1,071,500.

Other notables remaining include two-year ago winner Nick Schulman (665,000), T.J. Cloutier (325,000), Hevad Khan (123,500), AlJason KruxLester (112,000), Michael Binger (105,000), and last year's winner Nenad Medic (69,000).

Get full chip counts here. For more on what people think about the tragic loss of Jean-Robert Bellande on Survivor: China, here.

SEXY UPDATE: Kimberly Lansing interviews chip leader Matt Graham, who let's just say isn't going to win the 2007 WCP "Mr. Personality of the Year" award.

As Poker World Continues to Mourn the Loss of Jean-Robert Bellande on Survivor, Meaningless WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals Continues

While the elimination of Jean-Robert Bellande from Survivor: China continued to weigh heavy on the minds of every single poker player on the planet, the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals managed to buckle-down and move on...somehow.

While fans held a round-the-clock candlelight vigil outside the casino,* 23 year-old Internet pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham stormed to the chip lead, ending Day 2 play stacked at 587,300. This lead to rampant speculation inside the Wicked Chops offices on how one day, an Internet pro will have an unprintable or super embarrassing handle, like "Big Dick McGhee," "deeznutzinurmouth," or "punechaser" that the WPT will be forced not to include in their updates.**

Graham is trailed by half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb with 451,900.

Other notable big stacks include Victor Ramdin (316,000), Nick Schulman (307,900), Justin Bonomo (271,400), T.J. Cloutier (249,300), and Darrell "Deep" Dicken (218,800).

Get full chip counts here. For Jean-Robert's final words...sniff...here.

* Unconfirmed.

** Also unconfirmed...or actually completely unsourced.

What the Muck? JC Tran and Vinny from Staten Island Hand Controversy at World Poker Finals

The spectacularly breasted JC Tran (photo at right) was involved in a bit of a controversial hand on Day 1a of the 2007 World Poker Finals that has some players "absolutely heated" and others like us wondering what we're going to eat for lunch after we write this post.

As PokerListings.com reported:

"On a flop of 9-9-5 rainbow, J.C. Tran and an opponent who insisted he remain nameless get all-in with Player 2 holding the shorter stack. Tran turns up J-9 for trips and P2 insta-mucks, but the dealer retrieves the cards from the muck and turns them face-up, exposing A7o.

"The board finishes 8-6 to give Player 2 the runner-runner straight and Tran goes nuts and rightfully so, claiming that his opponent mucked his hand and the pot should be his."

The floor ruled in favor of the nameless player--who we'll call Vinny from Staten Island for one reason or another--because he had called Tran's all-in, so regardless if he tossed his cards towards the dealer face down or his cannoli dripped on them or he spilled spaghetti sauce on them or whatever...as long as his cards were distinguishable (i.e. didn't get mixed in the muck) the dealer was forced to turn both players' cards up, pursuant to the rule designed to prevent collusion (i.e. chip dumping). Or something like that.

Judge for yourself by watching CardPlayer's full video of the controversial hand presented by Lizzy Harrison.

Or you can watch video blogs by WCP fave Kimberly Lansing all day that have nothing to do with the controversial hand but everything to do with Kimberly Lansing being fun to watch.

In related news, singer Jewel is the opposite of being spectacularly breasted.

Howard Lederer Thinks Jimmy Fricke is a Freak

One time at a previous job, a friend of one of the Entities, a nice, normal, smart dude we'll call "Jackson," was dating a friend of one of the Entities, a nice, attractive, cool girl we'll call "Penelope."

With two emails open at once, one a "Reply to All" to his team (around 10 people), the other a "Reply" to his girlfriend, "Jackson" begins typing a message to "Penelope." It started, "Hey Honey Bunny..." and then went on to discuss dinner plans or something faggy that guys do for chicks when they're in love and first start dating.

The other email contained a bunch of corporate mumbo-jumbo.

You see where this is going.

"Jackson" accidentally emailed the "Honey Bunny" email to his team, and no one could look at him quiet the same afterward.

The point to this story is that email errors happen. Even to sharp dudes like "Jackson." And we can all probably agree that in poker, there's almost no smarter dude than Howard Lederer. So when Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke (at right), he of second place finish at this year's Aussie Millions, emailed team FTP about a possible sponsorship for next year's Aussie event, he could reasonably expect a kind reply back. Which makes it very unfortunate that one of Howard's employees, while telling Fricke that a sponsorship is not in the cards, accidentally forwarded The Professor's internal response regarding a Fricke sponsorship, in which he calls him a "freak" and "weird dude." Fricke then proceeded to put the correspondance on 2+2.

Read more on the 2+2 thread here. Read more on Jimmy Fricke here.

* Thanks to 4Dragons for the tip and the image above. Larger version here.

As World Mourns Jean-Robert Bellande's Elimination from Survivor: China, Khan, Deeb, Krux Among Day 1B Chip Leaders at World Poker Finals

With the news of Jean-Robert Bellande's elimination from Survivor: China, things like the WPT's World Poker Finals kind of take a back seat, becomes secondary.

Really, it's just a wake-up call...a reminder about what's important in life. It gives perspective.

Teddy Adalis ended Day 1B as chip leader, stacked at 186,775. But like Linkin Park said, "in the end, it doesn't really matter."

It's all secondary, really, to Jean-Robert Bellande's demise.

Other notable big stacks if trivial things like "poker" meant anything to us anymore include Hevad Khan (118,575), Freddy Deeb (114,600), and AlJason KruxLester, who are essentially the same guy (112,600).

If you haven't realized what's important in life yet, get full chip counts here.

Jean-Robert Bellande Does Not Survive Survivor

In what is shaping up as possibly our last post ever about Jean-Robert Bellande, Jean-Robert Bellande, that kind of obnoxious poker player with the French sounding name who is on Survivor: China right now, is no longer on Survivor: China right now.

Bellande was voted off tonight, losing a close tribal council to James, an African-U.S.-American.

Multiple castmates commented on how they were simply, "sick of hearing him talking." Art imitating life? Or life...imitating...life.

Read the recap here.

Poker News That Isn't as Confusing as an Eva Mendes Calendar

:: The Godfather of poker Doyle Brunson hates Canadians or at least French speaking billionaire ones who suck out on him. In related news, we just learned that a "Canadian billionaire" is actually a true billionaire and not just some watered down version of a billionaire. [PokerListings.com] :: South African swimsuit model Candice Boucher is so perfectly hot, she just may be our new favorite favorite of all-time favorites. Link includes bonus pics of Madlena Krasimirova. She's Bulgarian. [DoubleViking.com] :: In a Fristian like move, Massachussets Governor Deval Patrick buried an anti-online gambling law in a bill supporting brick-and-mortar casinos. [PokerNews.com] :: Although she isn't as morally casual as say Katie Rees or Danielle Lloyd, former Miss USA Susie Castillo still ranks up there as one of our favorite pageant girls. [Maxim.com] :: The raids on underground poker games keep coming, this time at a half a dozen or so gambling operations in Suffolk County, NY. [Newsday.com] :: If you told us Eva Mendes was a Puerto Rican post-op tranny, we'd probably just shrug our shoulders and say "oh, hmm ... ok." Not that we don't think she's hot at times but if you stare at her face long enough . . . anyway, none of this has to do with why her new calendar is gay. No you can blame that on the duece of spades and the three of clubs. [DerekHail.com] :: ABC News turns to poker bloggers Dan Michalski (pokerati.com) and Dr. Pauly (Tao of Poker) as experts in its story on the 'deadly gamble' of underground poker. [ABCnews.go.com] :: A lingerie company turns to British babe Gemma Atkinson as an expert on having massive boobs. [TheGrumpiest.com]

Two Chicks Rob Poker Game In West Virginia

Kimberly Steinbrecher, a woman, and Jacqueline Dennis, another woman, robbed a poker game in Hurricane, West Virgina the other day, making off with $27,000, which is approximately double the yearly household income of the average West Virginian according to what we just made up.

The duo, who we're guessing are part-time truck-stop hookers based on their looks, stormed into the underground game brandishing handguns and wearing camouflage, the official state color of West Virginia.

One of the woman, Steinbrecher, 44, was arrested and is being held on two counts of armed robbery and one count of "the ugly."

Dennis (miss pretty on the left above) is still on the run.

Source: Charleston Gazette

Edler at It Again, Among Chip Leaders at WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Pretty sure we can all agree that Bill Edler is having one helluva year. He's won more money than any non-WSOP-ME-final-table-ist on tour this year. He won his first WPT title in September at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship. Before that, he won his first WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 buy-in NLH short-handed event. And he started the year off with a win at the First Annual Heads Up Championship.

Edler ended Day 1a play at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals third overall in chips, stacked at 109,450. He trails Michael Farris (157,750). Other notable bigs include Kevin Saul (99,325), Tuan Le (98,400), and Roy Winston (94,450).

Get full chip counts here.

SEXY UPDATE: Kimberly Lansing talks to Bill Edler about the chip lead and going back to Vegas to see the Latin Grammy's.

Daniel Negreanu Talks About Stuff

Watch Daniel Negreanu talk about stuff.

Mike the Mouth Matusow Was On Kathy Griffin's D-List

This probably came out a year ago, but we don't watch "My Life on the D-List" with Kathy Griffin. And going by the old rule that, "if we just saw it, then it technically qualifies as breaking news to us," then we are proud to first report that Mike "the Mouth" Matusow made a [recent?] appearance on Kathy Griffin's "My Life on the D-List."

Mike takes Kathy on an obviously staged blind date. In between staring at Kathy's boobs (respect) and A.D.D.'ing up, Mike managed to leave a great impression on Kathy.

Says Kathy: "He emotionally is about four."

Says Mike: "I'm a complete moron."

Matusow appears not to have been able to close the deal, which is really no knock on him anyway, since the date was obviously staged. Having said this, any of us Entities would've totally closed the deal, staged or not. Fire in the hole!

At the end, a "paparazzi" shows up, and by "paparazzi" we mean Card Player's Rich Belsky, who also doubles as Mike's agent.

Watch the clip here.

Cigar McKinney Arrested in Tennessee Gambling Raid

Paul "Cigar" McKinney, our favorite octogenarian poker player who famously attributed his 2005 WSOP Seniors Event win to a lifetime of "moonshine whisky, big cigars, and young women," was 1 of 16 people nabbed during a gambling raid in Kingsport, Tennessee last Friday. According to WAVY-TV, the 82-year-old Cigar McKinney was charged with aggravated gambling promotion for allegedly organizing the game, and police also found pills identified as Schedule III narcotics in his pockets. Schedule III narcotics include everything from amphetamines to codeine to methcathinone and barbituates (yum!). In lieu of a Oops! I Crapped My Pants joke, we'll honor Cigar and his penchant for young women with photos below and after the jump (NSFW) of our favorite Aussie top-dropper Emily Scott. For more on the story, including how one man was charged with moonshine possession, go here.

Joanna Krupa 2008 Calendar Makes for a Good Post

Joanna Krupa is making up for her disappointing no-show at this year's World Series of Poker.

The Poland-born supermodel and occasional poker player with perhaps the finest body in all of Christendom is living up to her "I'd rather go naked" mantra by dropping the top for her 2008 calendar. It's pants-down the best we've seen from the class of 2008 and that's saying a lot considering she's up against the likes of Keeley Hazell, Vikki Blows (NSFW) and Gemma Atkinson.

After the jump, check out a few of the more modest months from her 2008 calendar as well as a video from the photo shoot.

U.S. American Reuben Peters Wins EPT Dublin, Annette Obrestad, a Girl, Finishes Second

Reuben Peters, a 45-year-old father of two from Colorado, has won the EPT Dublin, besting a field of mostly European players with unnecessary letters in their names to take home €532,620. He also earns a spot at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo next year.

Peters, whose name comes oh so close to Davidson Matthew status, started the day as one of the shortstacks but doubled early and eventually found himself heads-up against WSOPE champion Annette Obrestad, a girl. The Norwegian teen phenom, who had already taken out four of her final table opponents, held a nearly 4-to-1 chip advantage over the U.S. American when it came to heads-up play but like a wife at Target on a Saturday afternoon, or Monday after work, or whenever, Obrestad ended up squandering her lead away on useless crap. She finally saw her run towards another European championship come to an end when she called Peters' all-in with pocket sevens on a board of 10-6-3. With A-10 in the pocket, Peters would hold on to win the hand and EPT Dublin main event.

With her runner-up finish, Obrestad wins €297,800, putting her ahead of Jennifer Harman on the list of all-time women money winners. Only two other women, Kathy Liebert and Annie Duke, have won more than Obrestad's $2,052,688 in career tournament winnings. Not turning 21 until September 2009, Obrestad still won't make her WSOP debut on American soil until the summer of 2010.

Read more about the EPT Dublin here and here.

Photo of EPT Dublin winner Reuben Peters courtesy of PokerStarsBlog.com.

Shooting in Midtown New York Poker Game Leaves Man Dead

Frank DeSena, a 55-year-old mathematician and former professor from Wayne, N.J., was shot and killed at a Midtown NYC poker game yesterday.

The game was held on the seventh floor of a commercial building at 251 Fifth Avenue, at 28th Street, just a few blocks from the Empire State Building.

According to the report:

"There were dozens of people, mostly middle-class or well-to-do, playing poker, with a guard posted on the ground floor in the lobby, other players said yesterday. Three or four men in ski masks and dark clothes entered the room after 11 p.m. to rob the players, the police said. The police would not say how much, if any, money the robbers had taken."

It has not yet been determined if this was a legal game (no rake, which is allowed in New York) or illegal (rake), although it is rumored that the organizers did charge $5 for every 30 minutes of play. However, there were 24-hour surveillance cameras set up and guards described as "nightclub bouncers" at the door. Also, one man was quoted as saying, "It’s like Atlantic City up there." So we'll briefly put on our detective caps and say this was the "illegal" variety.

Regardless, yet another terrible poker robbery tragedy, 1) because robbing poker games just ain't right, and 2) by all accounts (in this story, at least), Frank DeSena was a really good guy.

Read the full New York Times article here.

The Intense Stare of Scott Clements Captures First WPT Title

When play was finished, all the drama surrounding the WPT North American Championship final table was no match for the intense stare of Scott Clements.

Yesterday we reported how two of the final table-ists, Kofi Faryke and Jeff Garza, had a bad history from their online days, as "actionjeff" had Faryke ("redsoxsux") banned from Poker Stars for possibly cheating.

But the drama wouldn't last at the final table, as Garza and Faryke were eliminated in sixth and fifth place, respectively.

With the eliminations of Garzi and Faryke, that left Barry Greenstein, David Cloutier, Jonathan Little, and the intense stare of Scott Clements to battle it out for the title at what was widely regarded as one of the toughest WPT final tables in history. Eventually, the intense stare of Scott Clements won out, taking Jonathan Little down heads up for the crown. For the win, the intense stare of Scott Clements banked $1,387,224, his first WPT title, and a bump up to third in Card Player's POY standings. Little takes home $680,862 and moves up to second in Card Player's POY standings.

Get full final table payouts here.

Friday Night Parting Shot: Natalia Paris

Remember that really really bad Paradise Poker commercial with the chick in the rain who bumps into that guy who drops a coin and then she ends up coming out of a Mayan ruin in a bikini and plays poker on the beach with some card playin' sensei? That girl is Natalia Paris, a 29-year-old model from Medellin, Colombia who, as far as we can tell, makes a living wearing thongs to promote various things. We really don't have much more to say about Natalia except that if Colombians didn't like kidnapping rich people so much we would have spent more time there over the years because of Colombian girls like Natalia who make a living by wearing thongs. They're really some of our favorite kind of people. For more of Natalia, click on the images below as well even better photos after the jump. For our favorite Colombian thong-er, check out Karen Carreno. Also head over to this post for some more of Colombia's finest. If that's not enough for you, you may want to call up Introductions by Consuelo.

Tony G is Getting Slim(mer)

Not to say that a lot of poker players are fat from sitting around on their asses playing poker with their sausage fingers eating KFC all day but let's just say that there are a lot of them who could lose a few lbs, and by few we mean a lot. Like shed the weight of small child. Or three.

And we won't name names. That ain't cool . . . to Erica Schoenberg's boyfriend.

So it's good to hear that self-proclaimed plus-size poker pro Tony G is planning on taking a break from live tournaments to focus on getting fit by swimming, lifting weights, playing tennis and the newest fitness craze, betting on pari-mutuels. In his latest video blog, the PokerNews.com and now HealthNews.com guru even filmed himself doing all these things, which you can watch here and which we first read about here.

In related news, we learned today that the term "fitness model" doesn't always mean "stripper" or "girl who gets naked in magazines." Amazingly, sometimes it actually does mean fitness model. Case in point the athletically hot Kim Strothers, who you can watch do her Swiss ball workout here or her squats, lunges and push up video here or her jump rope video here or her triceps dip video here. And all of her other videos. You really could make a day out of watching her videos. We did.

What the Faryke? Garza Thinks Kofi May Be a Cheater

With the WPT North American Poker Championship, which for some reason is being held in Canada, which would be akin to holding a European Poker Championship in Albania (a very Angelina Jolie-looking Miss Albania, Eralda Itaj, at right), and not just because their currency (goats?) is probably worth more than the U.S. American dollar now too, but whatever, where were we going with this, oh yeah, with the final table just hours away, a dramabomb has developed around two of the remaining six, Kofi Faryke and Jeff Garza.

And remember, before reading further, EVERYTHING reported in forums is true.

All right, in a nutshell, on the 2+2 Official WPT Niagra Thread, "actionjeff" Garza posted how Kofi, well-known on Poker Stars as "redsoxsux," was playing multiple accounts (or possibly colluding with his brother under the handle "opobi43") in Poker Stars $100 re-buy tournaments. Says Garza:

"...[kofi] and another new player, opobi43, would play a very similar style and put a ton of money into the rebuy periods but also win the tournament with a very high frequency. Opobi and Redsoxsox would often be placed at the same starting table as the fields were smaller a year ago, and would always both build huge stacks and play giant, absurd pots with each other dumping off enormous amounts of chips. I emailed PokerStars about this blatant collusion in the rebuy period and received no response."

In one tournament, it got down to three-handed, and Garza claims it was Kofi's two accounts against his. Garza won. This happened not once, but twice. Garza emailed Poker Stars complaining that Kofi was colluding, and Poker Stars eventually had Kofi banned.

Now Garza and Kofi are at the same final table with Poker Stars rep, Barry Greenstein. Sounds like a certain Alanis Morissette song, who also happens to be from Canada, making it even more like a certain Alanis Morissette song.

We can hear Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten now.

Sexton: "Boy this is a heated final table. As Kofi and Garza have a heated, unpleasant history."
VVP: "That's right Mike. These two have had some huge battles online. I'm sure Garza is glad that Kofi's brother isn't at this final table too."
Sexton: "Heh heh. You can say that again. Let's get back to the action!"

Also in the thread, it's rumored that Cliff "Johnny Bax" Josephy backs Kofi. Take that for what it's worth.

Read the entire 2+2 thread here (go about 3/4 down). Read Garza's full post here. NSFW European commercial with Eralda Itaj here. 

Annette Obrestad, a Girl, May Be Good at Poker

So perhaps her turning nothing into a few hundred thousand dollars online, winning tournaments without looking at her hole cards and beating out the world's best to take down the inaugural WSOPE Main Event wasn't all a fluke, like we thought.

Maybe 19-year-old Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad, a girl, is actually good at poker.

Stranger things have happened. Like Nickelback* selling millions of records despite sucking. Or that time one of us didn't have to take a poop in the morning. Or when that Czech supermodel didn't give it up after a night of partying in Prague. That was strange. Obviously a lesbian. But still.

Anyway, going into Day 3 of the EPT Dublin, Obrestad is second in chips with 284,700, and from all reports, or at least those at PokerListings.com, the young Norwegian has been steamrolling the competition with the same aggressive play she showed in London this past September.

At the top of the count is 2005 WSOP final table-ist Andy Black, who starts the day with 350,300. Other players still in include a bunch of guys with names that look like a bunch of consonants and vowels randomly thrown together like Michiel Brummelhuis and Ziad Kaady and Csaba Malnai.

For live updates head over to PokerListings.com, who's all over the action at the EPT Dublin like Sheiky on underage girls at a high school party.

Also check out Raise.TV for video streams from the EPT Dublin.

* A band loved by ALL Canadians.

UPDATE: Totally missed this but FOWCP Simon Munoz of Poquer-Red.com, who just yesterday commented on this post, was third in chips at the start of Day 3 but was just sent to the rail after being crippled by Annette, then getting it in bad against Andy Black, according to PL. Check out an interview we did with Simon back in 2006 here.

Little Leads WPT North American Championship Final Table; The Intense Stare of Scott Clements Close Behind

Down to six at the WPT North American Championship, Jonathan Little enters final table play as the chip leader, stacked at 2,616,000.

Little, who is already leading the WPT Player of the Year standings, looks to effectively lock up that honor with a win today.

In second overall is the intense stare of Scott Clements at 2,483,000. Clements (at right), who owns two WSOP bracelets, looks to glare down his first WPT title, or at least scare the shit out of it.

Also remaining include David Cloutier (1,614,000), Kofi Farkye (1,504,000), Jeffrey Garza (1,320,000), and Barry Greenstein (447,000).

Watch Kimberly Lansing's interview with Jonathan Little here.

* Photo from Poker Pages.