EPT Budapest Final Table Set, Zoltan Toth Leads

Super hot Kocsis Orsi is from Hungary where the EPT Budapest is wrapping up. We suggest skipping the below post and head here (NSFW) for more pics of her.

They are down to the Eight Best in Budapest (TM) at the European Poker Tour stop in Hungary and leading the way is some guy from the home country named Zoltan Toth with 1,059,000 in chips.

We're not sure who Zoltan Toth is but he has a pretty sweet name. Sort of sounds like the villain in a super hero flick. We did a half-ass search on the so-called "Internet" for Zoltan Toth and all we came up with was a video of some bodybuilder. Probably not the same guy.

Stacked in second is Romanian Ciprian Hrisca with 1,038,000. Yeh, we don't know him either.

Some decent Euros are among the final eight with the biggest name of the bunch being Johnny Lodden of Norway who's stacked in the middle with 500,000.

Not notable but worth noting is William Fry (572,000), who starts the final table in fourth. Is this the same William Fry who owned the condo at Panorama Towers that Jill Rockcastle killed Bill Gustafik in? Anyone?

Stay track of the final table action over at the PokerStars blog here.

Happy Halloween

A look at the top five sexy Halloween outfits this year. We vote for "Sexy Nymph."

Top 5 Super Sexy Halloween Costumes for 2008

The Poker Player Presidential Pick Post

Here's a compilation of all the poker player picks for President from our interviews over the past few months. While Barack Obama comes out slightly ahead, two of those votes are from Canadians, which while ACORN probably registered them, their votes still wouldn't count in a U.S. American general election.

For a look at celebrity presidential endorsements, go here.

Poker Stars Presidential Endorsements on RawVegas.tv

Caption This

Venue For The WSOP Main Event Final Table

So this is where the magic will happen.

 

Does The Job Come With A Super User Account?

The snakes at Ultimate Bet and Absolute are hiring.

h/t LB

Lacey Jones and Christina Lindley Bluff Magazine Spread Is Here

Oh look, the new Bluff has a 2008 WCOOP wrap-up. Sweet!

Critical-thinking poker intelligentsia like us know that the true measure of a woman poker player is not the superficial shit like how much money she's won or bracelets she's snagged. No, the real measure of a woman's success in poker is how much clothes she has taken off for our viewing pleasure and how good she looks doing so.

It's something women poker players like Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh (Playboy, FHMonline), Liv Boeree (Loaded), Shannon Elizabeth (Playboy, American Pie, Stuff, Maxim, etc.), Jennifer Tilly (Bound), Erica Schoenberg (Carmen Electra’s Strip Poker DVD), Chantel McNulty (the Internet), Kathy Liebert (Wicked Chops personal collection) and Clonie Gowen (Maxim) have understood.

And perhaps no two girls have appreciated this better than the hottest woman in poker Lacey Jones and her hot poker friend/occasional shower partner Christina Lindley. Sure the two know a thing or two about playing cards. We respect that. But more impressive is their deftness at showing us how unbelievably hot they are in as little clothing as possible (see Lacey's nothing but body paint photo and Christina's lingerie video for examples).

Anyway, all of the above is a long way to get to the point that the much-anticipated Lacey Jones and Christina Lindley Bluff issue is out now on magazine stands and you should go get it. Now. You should also close your door and click on the image above for a bigger, hi res shot of the cover.

Kudos to Bluff for the cover and spread. There's a reason why WCP writes for the magazine.

See our ridiculously hot lingerie video of Lacey and Christina here.

Clonie Gowen, A Woman, Wins World Poker Open In Tunica (not as impressive as it sounds)

So how do you make it easy for a woman to win a World Poker Tour event when it's never been done before (in an open event)?

You lower "the hurdle", so to speak, by cutting the buy-in in half, getting the number of players down to about a 100 or so, and keeping as many big name pros away as possible.

And oh yeh, you drop the event from the tour so it's not an actual World Poker Tour event anymore.

That's what happened in Tunica yesterday when Clonie Gowen, a woman, beat out 106 players and a final table that read like a who's who of who knows these guys but friends and family to win the World Poker Open, the Southern staple of the WPT for the past six seasons but dropped this past year because, we're guessing, Tunica isn't so much a vibrant city as it is an island of crappy casinos in a sea of cotton fields.

For the win, Gowen takes home $183,224 and a seat in the WPT event in Biloxi this January.

Finishing in second, and only worth noting because he's a friend of FOWCP Brian Heptinstall, was BJ McBrayer, who grabs $96,701 but has to play his next tournament with his pants down for losing to a woman.

Read more about the WPO here.

Daniel Negreanu Checks Back In

Daniel Negreanu is taking a little time off after his recent tournament successes (highlighted by capturing the coveted Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day) and is back in Las Vegas. In his latest vlog, he talks about The Real Deal, politics (surprise), and an invite to go out and party with Antonio Esfandiari.

Daniel Negreanu vlogs on The Real Deal, Politics, and More...

Rick's Caberet Las Vegas PSA For Our Readers

If you listen to the Howard Stern show, you know that Rick's Caberet had its grand opening in Las Vegas last week.

If you don't listen to the Howard Stern show, then hey, Rick's Caberet had it's grand opening in Las Vegas last week.

Since most of you readers are frequent or semi-frequent Vegas travelers, we feel it's important to show you some places to go on occasion when you're away from the felt. Hence the below video. It's like our own little public service announcements for you, because that's how much you mean to the Entities.

We also know you like hot strippers. So there's that too.

Ricks Cabaret Las Vegas Grand Opening

Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier Wins WPT Festa al Lago

Given his chip lead going into final table play, no real shocker that Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier captured the WPT Festa al Lago championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas yesterday.

Elky weilded is big stack aggressively (not as hot as it sounds^TM), moving all-in in (not as hot as it sounds^TM) time after time, pounding the rest of the guys at the table into submission (definitely not as hot as it sounds).

By the time Elky got heads-up with Nam Le, he held a 15-1 chip advantage, and wasted little time closing out him out and claiming the championship.

Elky banks $1,411,015 for the win and his first WPT title.

The rest of the final table pay-outs went: Nam Le ($943,215), Oddie Dardon ($506,245), Nenad Medic ($373,010), Adam "Roothlus" Levy ($266,445), and William Mietz ($186,510).

Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier Leads WPT Festa al Lago Final Table

What was supposed to be a short session dragged out for awhile, as it took 9 hours for 12 to play to 6.

But the TV final table for the WPT Festa al Lago is set, with Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier as the chip leader, stacked at 6,420,000.

The rest of the final table is lumped together, with Nam Le second overall (2,275,000), followed by Odie Dardon (2,070,000),  Nenad Medic (2,035,000), Will Mietz (1,400,000), and Adam "Roothlus" Levy (1,370,000).

Joe Sebok just missed out on another TV final table, getting knocked out in 9th place.

And that's that.

Sarah Palin Look-a-Likes Not Really Less Intelligent Than Sarah Palin

Not sure if this is encouraging or not, but these Sarah Palin look-a-likes (at last night's Sarah Palin Look-A-Like Contest at Club Paradise in Las Vegas) don't necessarily come off as that less intelligent than Sarah Palin.

Then again they're barely wearing anything so we weren't paying too much attention to what they were saying.

Watch Sarah Palin Look-A-Like Contest at Club Paradise on RawVegas.tv

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier Leads WPT Festa al Lago With 12 Remaining

Should be a short day tomorrow, as the remaining 12 at the WPT Festa al Lago will play down to the TV final table of six.

Leading Day 4 was Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (this guy) with 2,039,000. He's followed by Odie Dardon (Garfield's dog?) with 1,959,000. Speaking of Garfield, if you haven't seen Garfield Minus Garfield, go there right now.

Other big names remaining include Michael DeMichele (1,717,000), Joe Sebok (1,470,000), Nenad Medic (1,435,000), Nam Le (1,149,000), and Andrew Robl (1,087,000).

Play begins at noon PST Saturday. Get full chip counts here.

Kenna James Wants to Borrow a Feeling

If this poker thing doesn't work out for Kenna James, it looks like he's found his fall-back plan. While Kenna's "Dream This Dream" is not Kirk Van Houten's "Can I Borrow a Feeling," it's no "Friends in Low Places" either.

And since "Friends in Low Places" exhausts our country music knowledge (seriously can't think of another song), just watch Kenna's "Dream This Dream" below. He's working on a full CD. Not kidding.

Michael Phelps Parties in Vegas with Poker Players

The ho's (or at least Maria Ho) were out in full force with Michael Phelps last night.

Some pics today on tmz.com of poker player/Olympic athlete Michael Phelps partying with poker players. He's been making the rounds with Madsen and the like, so no big shocker there. But good to see how committed Phelps is to the poker lifestyle.

View more here.

Scotty Nguyen Explains His Behavior at the $50k H.O.R.S.E. Final Table

As Scotty Nguyen explains off his drunken behavior at the 2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table, love seeing the beer bottle pop up at 1:05 in...

Watch Scotty Nguyen Addresses His Table Image at the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. on RawVegas.tv

Plenty of Big Names Remain in WPT Festa al Lago

The money bubble burst yesterday in the WPT Festa al Lago after a three-way all-in knock-out (not as hot as it sounds) between Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Tilly, and Ted Lawson. All three split the 50th place money prize of $21,315.

Play ended with 34 remaining and many big names. Not included in the "big names" category are the two chip leaders, Ryan Fair (1,331,000) and William Mietz (1,217,000). They're followed by Bertrand Grospellier (1,151,000), Joe Sebok (1,100,000), and Nenad Medic (925,000).

Others still in the mix include but are not limited to Brad Booth (616,000), Nam Le (557,000), the Intense Stare of Scott Clements (552,000), Daniel Alaei (546,000), Bryan Devonshire (485,000), Michael DeMichele (475,000), Andrew Robl (400,000), Dutch Boyd (366,000), Isaac Baron (325,000), Justin Bonomo (300,000), Sabyl Cohen-Landrum, a woman (282,000), Erica Schoenberg, a woman (140,000), and J.J. Liu, a woman (21,000).

Get full chip counts here.

The Real Deal Premieres at the Venetian

The Real Deal had a private premiere at the Venetian in Las Vegas this week. While reviews of The Real Deal, which mixes poker with some comedy and game-showy elements, were pretty positive, mostly people were talking about the upcoming Presidential election.

And it sounds like most poker players are John McCain fans.

Even Scotty Nguyen.

Watch The Real Deal Premiere at the Venetian Hotel on RawVegas.tv

Daniel Negreanu WPT Festa al Lago Chip Leader, Will Eat the Almonds

Daniel Negreanu has won just about every possible accolade one can win in poker...except...the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day.

Until now.

Because now he's won the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day. And he's actually the first person truly stoked about it, since he likes almonds (explained below). Blue Diamond Almonds, hook Negreanu up with a sponsorship or something. Make it happen, Blue Diamond Almonds.

Hook us up with one too, while you're at it. We even just gave you a new content category.

Negreanu ended Day 2 at the WPT Festa al Lago as the overwhelming chip leader stacked at 515,000. Speaking of overwhelming chip leaders, yesterday's overwhelming chip leader, Antonio Esfandiari, failed to make it to Day 3. So there's that. Anyway Negreanu is followed by (unofficial but close counts) Justin Bonomo (345,000), Jennifer Tilly, a woman (330,800), Joe Sebok (320,000), Isaac Haxton (320,000), Dutch Boyd (317,000), and the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (285,000).

104 of the initial 368 remain. Get full chip counts here.

Not Necessarily Just Poker News Brought to You By Inna Meremerenko

Hot girls smoking are smoking hot. Double points for smoking on the toilet, as the toilet has a special place in our hearts since that's where most of these posts are written. So when we saw these photos of Russian model Inna Meremerenko, we thought, "Ok, we gotta get a link dump together to share the gift that is Inna Meremerenko with the rest of the world." View more here.

:: The Ted Binion murder gets the Lifetime TV-movie treatment this weekend. [link]

:: UFC ring girl Rachelle Leah gets the "getting naked in Playboy" treatment this month. [link]

:: ClubWPT launches dedicated MySpace channel...wait...people still use MySpace? [link]

:: The five hottest girls from the Sarah Palin Henderson, NV campaign rally begs the question...why isn't someone taking photos like these at every single campaign stop? [link]

:: Google is taking U.K. gambling ads after staying away from a sure-fire big revenue stream for the past four years. [link]

:: CryptoLogic & PartyGaming to pool their poker businesses? [link]

:: Ouch. [link]

Brian Rast Leads Day 1B of WPT Festa al Lago, Yet Fails to Capture Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day

Starting Day 2 second in chips didn't taste nearly as sweet for Nenad Medic without winning a year's supply of Blue Diamond Almonds.

With 211 players entering Day 1B play (raising the total to 368), the WPT Festa al Lago is breaking records, people. First place will bank over $1.4M, meaning Mike Sexton is about ready to cream himself knowing he'll get to say that "a new WPT millionaire will be crowned!" during the final table broadcast.

The big story yesterday was that Brian Rast ended the Day 1B as chip leader, stacked at 206,225, yet failed to win the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day. So you'd think it'd go to Nenad Medic, who was second overall with 167,250, right?

Wrong.

Instead Ryan Young won the coveted year supply of almonds, finishing third overall with 156,725. Find out why by watching the below vid. But you know Rast is thinking, "Who do I have to blow to win a year's supply of almonds around here?" We feel ya, Rast. We feel ya.

In other tournament news, the above few paragraphs indicate that nobody came remotely close to Antonio Esfandiari's redunkulous Day 1A chip lead of 313,000. Let's see if Esfandiari can ride that out to his first WPT final table appearance since the Reagan administration.

Other big to semi-big named Day 1B big stacks include Toto Leonidas (149,775), Doug Lee (144,500), Brad "Yukon" Booth (123,,500), uber-hot Vivek Rajkumar (108,550), David Chiu (103,300), Erica Schoenberg (97,750), and Shawn Sheikhan (93,750).

Get full Day 1B chip counts here.

Michael Phelps Making the Rounds at WPT Festa al Lago; Antonio Esfandiari Leads Day 1A

After taking a year off while the Fontana Room in the Bellagio was getting a face-lift, the WPT Festa al Lago returned yesterday, brining in 153 players for Day 1A.

While Antonio Esfandiari jumped out to a "redunkulous" (copyright Dr. Pauly) chip lead with 313,000 (nearest guys is Nicholas Sliwinski at 209,800), the main talk all around was Michael Phelps' appearance during level 3 of tournament play.

Phelps showed up escorted by (big surprise) Phil Hellmuth. We imagine the conversation had a very Mark Wahlberg Talk to Animals feel to it:

Hellmuth: "Hey I'm Phil Hellmuth, you know me. So you're Michael Phelps right, what's that all about? You won 8 gold medals. I have 11 bracelets."

Players gawked. Phelps shook hands. Life went on. Rumor is Phelps may sign up for Day 1B. We'll see.

Other notables big stacks include Jennifer Tilly, a woman (195,050), Joe Sebok (142,050), Johnny Chan (138,000), Isaac Baron (116,825), Chau Giang (115,025), Allen Cunningham (105,825), Daniel Negreanu (99,325), Doyle Brunson (94,200), Johnny "World" Hennigan (76,825), and the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (71,550).

Get a full recap here.

Howard Lederer Kind of Wishes Eli Elezra Would STFU

Lots of talk lately about a recent Poker After Dark cash game where Edwin James Olmos Eli Elezra talks to Patrick Antonius about having 17 Full Tilt Poker accounts.

This is amazing because:

1. You're not allowed to have multiple accounts on FTP; and
2. FTP pays for Poker After Dark, so you'd think they'd have some sort of say on what makes it in the final cut, right?

Anyway, the look at Howard's face at 2:50 in is priceless.

Michael Phelps Cashed at Caesars Palace Poker Tournament

Michael Phelps was making the rounds in Las Vegas this weekend.

But instead of solely banging the hundreds of skank groupies that throw themselves at him wherever he goes, he spent much of his time at the poker tables.

Phelps, an avid online poker player, final tabled a $1,570 buy-in event at the Caesars Poker Classic (at Caesars Palace). Phelps banked $5,213 for his efforts.

According to Norm Clarke, Phelps was "letting it be known" that he wants to play in the 2009 World Series of Poker. Only question now is will he be wearing a Stars or FTP cap.

In related news, we're working on landing a TOKE interview with him right now. Developing...

UPDATE: So Phelps signed some sort of exclusive deal for vid coverage with...Card Player? CARD PLAYER? What a douche move. Who does that? And Card Player hasn't been relevant for about two years now. Still working on it though...

Lacey Jones and Christina Lindley Lingerie Photo Shoot Video

Back in September the hottest girl in poker Lacey Jones and fellow poker hottie Christina Lindley did a ridiculously hot photo shoot for the cover of Bluff Magazine in nothing but lingerie and high heels, and as promised we have video.

Take the rest of the afternoon off and watch it below or on RawVegas.tv here.

Gavin Smith Does Not Win WPT North American Poker Championship

An on-the-wagon Gavin Smith falls short of his second WPT title at the NAPC in Canada.

The only storyline we were interested in at the WPT North American Poker Championship, ironically being held in Canada, was if Gavin Smith won the event while remaining sober, but he didn't, because like we said yesterday great things don't happen to you when you're not drinking. Sure "good" things may happen, like actually making it home safely at the end of the night, but that isn't nearly as fun as waking up with a hangover in the backseat of your car in some alley outside a night club with some hot naked girl named, well, who cares what her name is. It's not like you're going to marry her. Or at least you didn't plan to. Hi honey, if you're reading this.

The win in Canada went to hometurfer Glen Witmer, a 67-year-old retired igloo salesmen/real estate broker who was playing at his first televised final table. Smith finished second and Kathy Liebert, a woman and the sole US American at the table, ended up third.

Full final table results below:

1. Glen Witmer $1,090,589
2. Gavin Smith $532,545
3. Kathy Liebert $277,684
4. Ryan Fisler $228,234
5. Mark Karam $171,175
6. James Trenholm $133,137

Check out the WPT live blog from the event here.

Gavin Smith Guns for Second WPT Title; Kathy Liebert, A Woman, Goes for #1

All of our experiences with heavy drinking led to positives things in life. It magically turned slightly unattractive girls into dime models and helped us beat up guys twice our size with the help of about a dozen of our fraternity brothers. It was like some mystical beauty pill and liquid spinach all rolled up into one.

So hearing stories about good things happening when you're not drinking barely even computes to us, but apparently Gavin Smith is breaking the mold here. He's like a sober Lewis & Clark.

Gavin had a good late run at the WPT North American Poker Championship (ironically being held in Canada), chipping up to 2,815,000. That's good for second overall going into final table play. For those keeping tabs at home, this makes Gavin's fourth WPT final table, and he's the only one of the remaining six with a win (the Mirage Poker Showdown in '05).

Gavin, who is focused (see below) and our official pick to win it, only trails fellow Canadian Glen Witmer, who is making his first WPT final table, and at 67 years old, let's face it, could be his last. Witmer is stacked at 3,710,000.

The rest of the final table is filled out by Canadian Ryan "gotskillz" Fisler at 2,285,000, Canadian Marc Karam at 1,850,000, the sole U.S. American, Kathy Liebert, a woman, at 1,620,000, and Canadian fire-fighter James Trenholm at 1,365,000.

Samuel "Gramps" Oberlin Wins WSOP Circuit Event - Horseshoe Southern Indiana

Is that SNL's Fred Armisen playing Barack Obama above or Barack Obama playing Fred Armisen?

Let's make this short and sweet because the chances of you actually caring who won the WSOP Circuit Event at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana are about the same as the MSM declaring John McCain the winner of tonight's presidential debate. Barack "Bam" Obama could smoke up meth at the table in front of Bob Schieffer while answering every question with "Uh, I, um have a plan Bob, and that plan is change, and um that's what the voters, um want to hear," and Tom Brokaw, Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric would all be like, "Obama really hit a home run tonight showing Americans that he's in touch with their financial woes and the high cost of health care by getting bombed out of his mind on cheap over-the-counter drugs."

What was this post about again? Oh yeh, 22-year-old Samuel Oberlin, whose friends call him "Gramps" because they're clever like that, won the WSOP Circuit Event at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana. He takes home $143,064. A bunch of other "friends and family" guys were also at the final table.

Get the write up here.

Vivek Rajkumar, Gavin Smith Leading WPT North American Poker Championship

Vivek Rajkumar may be hot right now, but he's no Riya Bamniyal.

This Vivek Rajkumar guy is hotter than really hot, spicy curry right now. Like the kind that makes you sit on the can for an entire evening.

As we wrote yesterday, Rajkumar already has one WPT win under his belt this season, and could practically wrap up Player of the Year honors if he rides out his big stack of 1,080,000 to another title.

Not far behind Rajkumar is season three or maybe it was four WPT POY Gavin Smith with 979,000.

Plenty of big names among the 27 remaining. In third overall is MIT Yale math geek Matt Matros with 943,000. Kathy Liebert (879,000) and Erik Seidel (851,000) follow him.

Get full chip counts here.

Gavin Smith Soberly Stacked on Top at WPT North American Poker Championship

Day 3 of the WPT North American Poker Championship, which we're still waiting for an explanation why it's being held in Canada (what's American about Canada?), gets underway today at noon and sitting down the big stack will be the remarkably still sober Gavin Smith, a Canadian, with 405,900. Smith has a prop bet that he can stay sober for six months, which is like asking Amy Winehouse to give up blow for a day, or asking David Benyamine to give up tasty gooey cinnamon rolls, or  us not to breathe air.

Second in chips (383,800) is MIT Yale math geek Matt Matros, who's coming off a good run at the 2008 WSOP where he cashed five times, made one final table, finished 78th in the Main Event and solved the Collatz Conjecture.

Running uber sick  and making us hungry for some chicken tikka masala and a hot dog from 7-Eleven for some reason right now, Vivek Rajkumar sits in third with 342,100. The 22-year-old Rajkumar just took down the Borgata Poker Open and has earned 8 cashes at the WSOP the past two years.

Other big names above average heading into Day 3 include Kathy Liebert, a woman (298,300), Miami John Cernuto (210,200), Sorel Mizzi (209,200), and the spectacularly breasted JC Tran (165,000).

Get full chip counts/follow the action here.

November Nine(TM) Hostage Darus Suharto Among WPT North American Poker Championship Chip Leaders

J.C. Tran's rack...of chips...is growing and growing at the WPT North American Poker Championship.

Day 2 has just gotten underway at the WPT North American Poker Championship, which ironically is still being held in Canada. As of post time, 246 of the 454 starting field remain.

Lee Markholt-Watkinson, aka the Tyler Durden to Lee Watkinson's Ed Norton, is sitting with the big stack at 198,000. Maybe Watkinson is busy with Hardcore Elegance and couldn't make it or something, so he unleashed his alter-Markholt-ego. Really, we'll never know. This Markholt-Watkinson-Hardcore-Elegance thing goes fucking deep, man.

Markholt-Watkinson is closely followed by November Nine^TM hostage Darus Suharto, who we totally forgot was even a captive, with 193,000. Seriously we'd have a better chance naming Iranian hostage crisis members than November Nine^TM hostages right now.

NN = Chino Rheem. Dennis Phillips. Errr. IHC = Michael Metrinko? Richard Queen? Mike Eruzione? It's close.

Other big named to somewhat recognizably named big stacks include the spectacularly-breasted J.C. Tran (above, 159,300), Erik Cajelais (109,800), Pat Pezzin (107,500), Matt Matros (106,900), Vivek Rajkumar (99,600), Mike McDonald (87,000), Joe Sebok (84,700), Barry Greenstein (81,300), Vanessa Rousso (72,100), and Erik Seidel (71,800).

Get full chip counts/follow the action here.

Liv Boeree in Loaded Magazine is the Friday Night Parting Shot

Liv Boeree is smoking hot in the Nov. issue of Loaded magazine. Get it? She's smoking for real, and she's hot. She even has flames on her too, and well flames are hot. It's a play on words. Why do we need to explain this to you? Are you stupid?

British badass poker hottie Liv Boeree may never win a major poker tournament, earn millions of dollars in winnings or gain the respect of her peers for superior play at the poker table*, but there's no question that she is unequivocally the most accomplished woman poker player in the world right now, and it's all thanks to her outrageously hot 3-page photo spread in the November issue of Loaded Magazine.

Yep, you don't need to win tournaments to gain our respect girls. Actually, as Annette Obrestad proved, women winning stuff just scares the bajeezus out of us. No, to impress us, all you have to do is just get sort of close to naked, pose all hot and smile for the camera. We're simple like that.

Click away at the thumbnails below.

* Liv does have some serious wicked poker chops at the table. She cashed twice at the 2008 WSOP and won the 2008 European Ladies Championship all while looking super hot like this.

H/t to reader Brian for the photos.

An Equivalent Seriously WTF Moment

Slow poker news day, so we're sitting around racking our brains trying to figure out what an equivalent "seriously wtf" moment would be to seeing a shirtless Lee Watkinson with panthers on a billboard outside McCarren International in Las Vegas...

...and that moment would be sitting on a sofa in 1983, watching Mtv, and this fucking thing comes on for the first time.

Seriously WTF

We've been meaning to write about the ridiculous billboard just outside McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas with Lee Watkinson and some panthers for months, but kept forgetting.

Fortunately someone had the above photo posted in the 2+2 "Poker players that look like animals" thread and it reminded us, seriously wtf is up with Lee Watkinson? Panthers? Can you at least get a real website? 

Lacey Jones Is The Real Deal!

We have a healthy amount of skepticism regarding The Real Deal!.

Tickets for the Las Vegas (held at the Venetian) show have just gone on sale. In case you don't remember, the concept of The Real Deal! is pitting two of the world's best poker professionals (Gavin Smith, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, and others have signed on) against a group of randomly selected audience members on stage, where said audience plays poker using handheld "state-of-the-art" technology for a chance to win $1 million will actually be anything anyone gives a shit about is beyond us. But when Freak & Geeks, Undeclared, and Arrested Development get canceled and Two and Half Men and The George Lopez Show stay on air for years, we may be a little out of touch with what the U.S. American public really likes.

What we are pretty sure of is that The Real Deal! co-host Lacey Jones will at least pique our interest enough to check it out.

Speaking of, read more about how to buy tickets here.

Not Necessarily Just Poker News Brought to You By Kristina and Karissa Shannon

Kristina and Karissa Shannon are the latest lucky ladies to have to play with Hef's wrinkly old decrepit penis every day. And if that sentence sounds like we're filled with spite towards Hef, it's because we are.

One month from tomorrow on November 9th^TM, The November Nine^TM will finally be released from their current hostage situation, be allowed to play poker again, and compete for the 2008 WSOP Main Event title.

In honor of that but not really, here are nine poker and not-really-poker links for the day:

:: As mentioned, here's who Hef is banging now that he's broken up with Holly Madison. [link]

:: Speaking of Playboy, this chick Rachelle Leah is going to be in it next month. [link]

:: Speaking of breasts, don't forget that it's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. [link]

:: Michael Martin won the WPT London Main Event. [link]

:: GoDaddy.com capitulates like the French and lets Kentucky seize the domain names of UltimateBet, DoylesRoom, and Cake Poker. Network Solutions fights it like the Brits, and won't relinquish shit. No ruling will take place till next Wednesday if the seizures are legal. [link]

:: The best of SI's Hot Clicks. [link]

:: The way these Human Wrecking Ball guys plow through shit, it reminds us of ourselves. Except we'd be crying a lot more, followed by lots of "You go next!" "No YOU go next!." [link]

:: Who cares who won last night's debate when you have hot Russian models making out on a toilet. [link]

:: Playing poker for 72 straight hours is a world record? Really? [link]

Poker News Made Better With Gemma Atkinson 2009 Calendar Photos

Bodaciously breasted Brit Gemma Atkinson gives us 12 reasons to celebrate 2009. Enjoy 4 below, the rest here.

:: The asshats at Duplicate Poker, which just two weeks ago claimed it increased its revenues six-fold since its launch (0 x 6=0?), blame the "global financial crisis" for its shutdown. [link]

:: We'd tell you about how Christian Lusardi got busted for running a crack house/poker room in North Carolina but we're distracted by that stupid-looking Charlie Chaplin-esque, 5 'o clock shadow stache he has going on. [link]

:: We're guessing FIPA was taken already. [link]

:: Poker player/political pundit Daniel Negreanu giving Sarah Palin props? [link]

:: The highly reputable newshounds at Gambling911.com live blogged today's online poker domain seizures hearing in Kentucky. [link]

:: Jimmy McSweeney, whose name sounds like something we'd make up if we had to make up an Irish name real quick, won the Irish Poker Festival. [link]

:: Gutshot Poker makes its official move from Microgaming to Cake this Wednesday. [link]

:: FOWCP and poker playing hottie Leilani Dowding gets naked and soaps up with Lucy Becker in a ridiculously hot LOADED magazine spread. [link] (NSFW)

John Juanda Is Running Good, Does Not Win EPT London High Roller Event

On the heels of winning the WSOPE Main Event, John Juanda, who if he was of Latin decent would be named Juan Johanda, placed second in the £20,000 EPT High Roller Event, banking an additional £327,000 to the £868,800 he claimed last week.

Juanda lost heads-up to Jason Mercier, who is actually running even better than he is. Mercier banks £516,000 for the High Rollers win. Mercier final tabled WSOPE event number three last week and won the EPT San Remo earlier this year. Dude is running so good, we're even giving him his own Category tag. Welcome to the big time, kid.

Others in the money included Scotty Nguyen (fifth, £137,000), Isaac Haxton (sixth, £103,000), David Benyamine (eighth, £69,000), and Isabelle Mercier, a woman who according to some so-called "Internet" forums is still dating Dario Minieri wtf (£51,000). We'd do the U.S. American conversions for you but that would require math.

November Nine^TM hostage Dennis Phillips was eliminated on the bubble.

In not really related news, below is Daniel Negreanu talking about the High Rollers event. Watch out for Boris Becker, a ginger, at the end of the vid.

Daniel Negreanu Video Blogging in London at EPT High Rollers

Not Necessarily Just Poker News Brought to You By Steve Sanders' Wife

Nikki Ziering has aged well. She's on a Jennifer Tilly-esque aging continuum. 37? Wow. View more pics here.

:: This new poker rap is > "Poker is Fun" (not hard) but < "The Poker Rap." [link]

:: Fernanda Ferrari has gotta be a fake name and her boobs have gotta be fake too but ultimately who cares. [link]

:: Dr. Pauly is a professional cooler. [link]

:: Prepare to projectile vomit at the thought of/image of sentence number two of Doyle Brunson's latest blog. [link]

:: Vote for who you're blind shoving with this November...even though they all kind of suck. [link]

:: The greatest insurance video of all time, hands down, nothing even remotely comes close. [link]

:: Lesson learned from Chantel McNulty's plastic surgery: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. [link]

:: The Sarah Palin porno, awesomely titled "Nailin Paylin," is cumming. [link]

22 Hours Later, John Juanda Wins WSOPE Main Event

Here's what happened during the time it took to John Juanda to play out the final table and win the WSOPE Main Event:

• The OJ Simpson armed robbery trial finally went to jury, meaning he'll very soon finally do some jail time. [link]
• Citi was set to acquire Wachovia... [link]
• ...but that was scrapped when Wells Fargo swooped in with $15B. [link]
• Sarah Palin had completely lost all credibility with most of America... [link]
• ...then regained it (somewhat) with an above-average VP debate performance. [link]
• The Senate passed along an economic bailout bill to the House loaded with pork. [link]
• California decided they needed a $7B loan too. [link]
• Rachael Ray might've given "handjobs" a new nickname: buttering the corn. [link]
• Bill O'Reilly goes after friend-of-online poker Barney Frank, calling him a "coward." [link]
• Steve Fossett's remains are found after he goes missing...a year ago. [link]
• And it turns out the main reason men cheat is because we're so sensitive. Wtf? [link]
• And it's actually business as usual for the Chicago Cubs. [link]

Otherwise nothing happened.

Get full payouts here.

Here's What Daniel Negreanu Had to Say Before the WSOPE Main Event Final Table

He was knocked out in fifth. 17 hours after it started, the final table is still going on.

Daniel Negreanu at the Final Table of the WSOPE Main Event

John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu Lead WSOPE Main Event Final Table

The WSOPE Main Event final table is stacked. Sort of. Better than most final tables recently at least.

Kicking it 2004 old school style, John Juanda, who if he was Spanish would be named Juan Johanda, is big stacked at 1,349,000. Continuing his huge year, Daniel Negreanu is third overall with 1,002,000. And in the middle of the pack is ex-Crew member Scott Fischman with 732,000.

Negreanu will be going for his fifth bracelet overall and second this year. Juanda is gunning for his fourth overall and first since 2003.

A victory would put Negreanu just shy of Jamie Gold as poker's all-time tournament money winner.

Bunch of friends and family (from other countries) round out the rest.

Get full final table chip counts here.

Learn all of Daniel Negreanu's poker secrets here.

EARLY MORNING UPDATE: November Nine^TM hostage Ivan Demidov, released by his WSOP captors for this one event, has surged to the chip lead in early play. Follow the action here.

Rounder Magazine Cover Shoot with Playboy Playmate Tamara Witmer

As mentioned earlier, days like this one are the "fun part" of the job.

Tamara Witmer is a Playboy Playmate who is so cool her website cues "Cherry Pie" upon loading. It might've played "Unskinny Bop" had Bret Michaels not shunned her on Rock of Love. But he did. So consider us the winners since "Cherry Pie" is by far the better song.

Anyway, Tamara is the latest cover model for Rounder Magazine. We were on hand for the photo shoot. Just as we were last week for Bluff Magazine's Lacey Jones/Christian Lindley feature.

Glad to see these poker mags finally learning how to make issues literally fly off the racks. Hopefully this means covers with a grinning Robert Williamson III and the headline "Winning Omaha Hi/Lo Strategies" have come to an end.

Rounder Magazine Cover Shoot with Playboy Playmate Tamara Witmer

This Girl Wants to Know If She's a Poker Hottie

Days like this one are the "fun parts" of the job (more on this later).

So this photo (and two others) were posted on our poker forum today. We don't know who she is or what she does, but we can only surmise that she plays poker.

She would like to know if she qualifies as a "poker hottie." Maybe not necessarily on par with Lacey Jones or Christina Lindley, but a poker hottie nonetheless.

And since we don't like to "label" or "judge" people, we rely on others to do that for us. Like you. Gives us a little something we like to call "plausible denial."

Man lots of air quotes in this post.

Anyway, vote on whether this girl is a poker hottie here.

Not Necessarily Just Poker News Brought to You By Chelina Manuhutu

We're big fans of the Dutch. They gave us Gouda cheese, Santa Claus, and the Dutch Oven. They also gave us super-hot model Chelina Manuhutu. In a way, these photos are kind of like Santa Claus in that they're the gift that keeps on giving. That really didn't make sense. Get more pics here.

:: The first ever online poker bill introduced by the Senate. Glad there's no economic crisis going on they should be more worried about and working on. Good for us. (link)

:: Poker Players Alliance likes what the Senate is doing. (link)

:: Farren from Daytona State College looks like a hotter, more fun, less lesbian brunette version of Lindsay Lohan. (link)

:: Reason #11,497 why U.S. America is still the greatest country in the world. VP nominees in a beauty pageant! (link)

:: It always sucks being the new guy. (link)

:: This would be your typical uppity celeb PSA except Jonah Hill just kills it. (link)

:: If they had only invented cell phones earlier we wouldn't have had to sit through Forrest Gump. (here)

:: We didn't realize there was such a thing as SFW porn (SFW). (link)

:: The Ultimate Bet scandal is getting some mainstream media mentions in Australia, as one of the sleuths, Michael Josem, hails from down under. (link)

:: Jessica Burciaga really must not want you to see her nipples. Of note, we're big fans of the smoosh-your-boobs-into-another-girl's-boobs hide-your-nipples technique. (link)

:: We knew it! MSNBC left-winger Rachel Maddow is a dude. (link)

:: And finally, this chick could rear-naked-choke us any day. (link)

John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu WSOPE Main Event Chip Leaders

What is this, 2004?

The WSOPE Main Event Day 4 is just underway, and in the top five in chips are overall big stack John Juanda (875,000), Daniel Negreanu (766,000), and Scott Fischman (400,000).

As of post time 20 remain from the initial starting field of 362. Still grinding it out are Justin "BoostedJ" Smith (310,000), Brandon Adams (255,000), Brian "sbrugby" Townsend (215,000), Mike Matusow (127,000), and Erik Seidel (28,000).

Follow the action live here.