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All three Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker will be playing in the WPT Invitational Saturday night.
Our one and only goal: to win the Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player of the Day.
Book it.
Follow the action (we think) over at WorldPokerTour.com starting around 10 PM EST.
Who better to be this week's Friday Night Parting Shot Girl than Chloe, the girl from that video the other day and the day before. Enjoy.
This post is for Cornel Andrew Cimpan's two kids and any other family he may have because we're pretty sure those are the only people who care that he won the 2009 WPT LA Poker Classic early this morning. The Romanian immigrant (we're guessing here) takes back to Somewhere, Texas a pretty payday of $1,686,760. Cimpan (seen at right, pic from this page) also wins a $25k entry into the WPT World Championship this April.
In the players you may care about department, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson came in the short stack and was the first to go to finish 6th. Chris Karagulleyan will keep his charter member status in the Temp Hutter Club as he blew his chip lead to finish 4th. And in third was Mike "SowersUNCC" Sowers.
For Amanda Leatherman's interview with Cimpan, click here.
For Owen Laukkanen's recap of the final table, go here.
For video of a bodypaint fashion show, go here.
So we're not too into gimmicky shit but this is pretty cool.
BLUFF Magazine is ready to kick off the Bluff Online Poker Challenge (BOPC). The gist is they've assembled 20+ of the best online poker players in the world, give them a $200 starting bankroll on Lock Poker, and see who can it up the most playing MTT's and SnG's during the month. If you go bust, no reloading, you're out.
The winner gets a Bluff cover (and of course, their winnings).
Participants include 2008 BLUFF Magazine Online Poker Player of the Year David "The Maven" Chicotsky, Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb, Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul, Gank, Brandon Cantu, Maria Hooooooo!!!!!!!! and more.
Get the full details here. Check back on WCP (or Bluff) over the month of March to see who is doing how.
In unrelated news, below is a video of a hot asian chick getting ready for work on a subway.
The website Starpulse is reporting that Celine Dion's kind of creepy perv husband Rene Angelil is teaching their eight-year-old son how to play poker, hoping that it will give him a healthy attitude towards gambling.
Says the site:
"Record boss Angelil has battled the vice for more than 30 years and fears young Rene-Charles will inherit his gambling genes if he doesn't learn to play cards responsibly. So the pair spend evenings playing poker together. In an interview with Canadian publication Le Journal de Montreal, Angelil reveals, "Our son has superior intelligence, and it's good that he's learning in a good way."
In one way this is pretty cool. Kids should learn poker. Teach them early that life is cruel and unfair.
And it isn't really surprising that Rene is doing this since he has a track record of getting in the pants intimately involved with the lives of young people. We're just not sure a gambling addict teaching his young son to gamble is the right way to go about doing it. Isn't this kind of like Danny Gokey teaching a group of kids how to exploit the memory of their dead wife one day? Regardless, this kid is going to be fucked up any way you slice it. His parents are Rene Angelil and Celine Dion. He would have a better chance growing up to be normal if he was raised by a herd of goats. Or Layne Flack. Same difference.
Read in full here.
Here's another hot video from that girl who was fun to watch yesterday. Her name is Chloe if you're into details like that. We're guessing that's her stage name, and if you're guessing we don't care, you're right. By the way, if anyone can explain why this video has like only 300 views but one of paint drying has 75,000 views, we'd love to hear it.
Those of you watching Season 1 of the World Poker Tour on Fox Sports recently or who have memories on par with elephants are probably familiar with Chris Karagulleyan. He was the guy in the suit with the facial ticks who won the second ever WPT event back in 2002.
Those of you not watching Season 1 of the World Poker Tour on Fox Sports recently or who have memories on par with trout have no idea who Chris Karagulleyan is, because after he won the second ever WPT event back in 2002, he pretty much went the way of Temp Hutter and was never heard from again.
In fact, Karagulleyan is one of the charter members of the Temp Hutter Club. However, he may be playing himself off that list today. [copy + paste] Karagulleyan brings the chip lead to the LAPC final table, stacked at 4,080,000.
[copy + paste] Karagulleyan is followed by Mike Sowers with 2,405,000. Joining them and making his first ever WPT final table is Chris "Jesus" Ferguson with 1,565,000.
Get full chip counts and reports (and follow the final table action starting at 4PM PST) here.
Hmm, the title is "red palms"? Is that because...nevermind.
We just found this video like 5 minutes ago and have already watched it three times. Make that four. Going for a world record now. Wish us luck.
Day 5 is now underway at the LAPC and they're down to 19 players already. Among them is noted hustler and regular on the poker scene Teddy "The Iceman" Monroe, who was in his usual form yesterday at the Commerce. Check out this video of The Iceman boasting he's the best player in the world. Or at least one of them.
While Iceman is hanging in there today at the bottom of the count, Chris Karagulleyan, Payman Arjang and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson lead the field, or as we like to say, they're winning. Play will stop at 6 for the final TV table. WPT is still on TV right?
Follow the action here.
Semi-related to the above, how to tell if diamonds are fake.
Photo of Teddy "The Iceman" Monroe courtesy of PokerListings. Check out Owen Laukkanen's Teddy write up from yesterday here.
As many of you know, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson didn't play World Poker Tour events for years, as he and a group of other (mostly) FTP'ers filed a pretty ridiculous lawsuit against Lipscomb & Co.
The parties settled said suit, and now Full Tilt more or less covers the production costs of WPT broadcasts. Maybe the Israelis and Palestinians could learn something from FTP and the WPT.
Maybe.
Ferguson, who is arguably one of the best no-limit hold'em tournament players alive and already makes more money than most of the highest paid athletes do in a year, is looking to add another milli plus to his sizable warchest, as he ended Day 4 of the LAPC as chip leader, stacked at 1,721,000.
Ferguson is followed by Payman Arjang with 1,488,000, and Chris Karagulleyan with 1,146,000.
Other notables remaining include Nick Schulman (850,000), Mike Sowers (626,000), Nordberg (423,000), and Teddy "The Iceman" Monroe (264,000).
Get full chip counts here.
All right, so a couple of days before the pictures were published of him smoking a bong, we were going to break the news that Michael Phelps was set to play in the 2009 NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship.
Then the aforementioned photos of Michael Phelps smoking a bong were published, and now his "handlers" won't let him even come to Las Vegas for paid speaking engagements, or even worse bang slutty cocktail waitresses. So let's just say the announced field is lacking poker player/Olympian Michael Phelps and acknowledge we won't be seeing him around for awhile.
On the card this year are far more Euros, including Bertrand Grospellier, 12 year-old fem phenom Dario Minieri, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Glen Chorny (Canadian but whatever), 2008 WSOP Main Event champ Peter Eastgate, and Ivan Demidov.
For the first time ever the NBC National Heads-Up will have a lesbian contestant in Vanessa Selbst. Not a lesbian but one half of the best lesbian scene in a movie ever (well in a non-hardcore-porn movie at least), Jen Tilly is back on the line-up.
Not making it on the list this year is Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth. However, Celebrity Apprentice's Annie Duke will of course be present.
Finally, Huck Seed is again playing and again our perennial pick to win it all. One time Huck. One time.
Look at the full line-up here.
Every single cab driver we've ever had
He's followed by Mike Sowers (741,500), who is known by most of the general poker public as the kid who made the 9-4o "hero play" on Mike Sexton at the 2008 WSOP $10k Pot Limit Hold'em event.
Play concluded after the money bubble burst, as 63 remain for Day 4. Among other big stacks is Chris Karagulleyan, who awkwardly ticked his way to fifth overall with 543,000. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (468,500), Nick Schulman (321,000), Nordberg (302,500), and Hoyt Corkins (233,500) are all above the average stack.
Get full chip counts here.
Doyle Brunson is tired.
Famous blogger/poker player Doyle Brunson should be writing for us. Seriously. The guy pens sheer gold almost every time.
In his latest and greatest, Doyle gives his argument on why torturing is OK:
"I just watched a clip about the terrorists that were being held at Guantanamo Bay... I can’t believe anyone would object to anything that might save thousands of American lives. It’s not that I believe torture should be used in most cases, but my gosh, if we can prevent another 9-11, anything should be accepted."
Better put than our argument, which is just us repeating "U-S-A! U-S-A!" over and over.
He then also says that Harry Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bomb while playing a poker game (maybe Doyle was the one who tilted him into it? Doyle was like 40 when that happened, right?)
He also explains why he didn't go to the LAPC, saying, "Maybe old age really is sitting in. Whatever it is, I sure don’t like it."
Is his kick the bucket prop bet actually in play now? And why does it feel kind of gross just typing that?
Read in full here.
Photo of UFC Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste in lieu of some hot Danish ring girl at the Hansen vs. Jorgensen bout. See more of Arianny in much less here.
The headline above is really all we have to say about the Theo Jorgensen vs. Gus Hansen boxing match that took place this weekend and was a PR stunt to promote Hansen's new online video channel GusHansenTV.com. Apparently it was a real snooze fest. No one was killed, maimed, bloodied, knocked out or ran around the ring like a girl. We hear the fight did have the requisite ring girls there, who we assume were Danish so we assume were hot but we haven't found any photos to verify this. We looked over at Hansen's new site and came up with nothing. Literally. Not even a video. Great start there Gus.
In other not-so-exciting news, some Fin named Jens Kyllonen won the EPT Scandinavian Open in Copenhagen. We're pretty sure the only people who care about this sound like aliens when they talk. Seriously, you ever hear a Fin talk? We'd have an easier time understanding a deaf dolphin.
Semi-relatedly, video of a Finnish guy teaching you how to disco.
Just kidding about that headline.
Antonio Esfandiari burst onto the poker scene 19 years ago when he won the LAPC and a WSOP bracelet just a few months apart.
He's poised for another deep LAPC run this year, as he takes the big stack into Day 3 play with 405,000.
Esfandiari is followed by every cab driver we've ever had Kofi Farkye with 395,000.
In all, 170 remain. Among those are Bertrand Grospellier (190,000), Haralabos Voulgaris (188,000), Jeffrey Garza (172,600), Phil Ivey (150,900), Greg "FBT" Mueller (145,000), Toto Leonidas (140,000), where the fuck you been Chris Karagulleyan (129,400), Paul Wasicka (129,000), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (128,000), Peter "Nordberg" Feldman (125,700), and John Phan (125,000).
Get full chip counts here.
The Celebrity Apprentice premieres tonight, which means there's about a zero percent chance that we'll actually be watching it since the Oscars are on (whatever, fuck you, like you're not tuning in too).
So we'll get out in front of this one and report that, according to Entertainment Weekly, "Poker queen Annie Duke is the Omarosa..."
Duke, who we know definitely made the final two of Celeb Apprentice and possibly won the whole thing (and who we have a standing steak dinner bet with), can't be too excited about the Omarosa comparison. Omarosa is basically considered one of the biggest c-u-next-tuesdays in the history of television. Fill in the blank with your Annie Duke/Ommarosa joke here: [ ].
UPDATE: We messed up. Looks like the premiere is next Sunday. Hey, look over there!
The LAPC Main Event got underway yesterday with 695 entrants, making the total prize pool just shy of the $7M Jamie Gold decided to skip out on to play his charity tourney (fyi, seats are still available, go here to sign up).
Lots of big name big stack among the 412 survivors. Not included among them is overall chip leader Kasey Nam with 141,000. He's followed though by Daniel Negreanu (128,000, more on him in a moment), Jeff Madsen (112,500), and Bertrand Grospellier (86,000). Nick Schulman (79,000) and defending champ Phil Ivey (75,000) are also among the people you probably have heard of and care about with fairly large stacks.
There are about 407 other people we haven't listed still alive, so get their chip counts here.
Capping off an impressive six month run that includes a WPT Borgata Poker Open title, Vivek Rajkumar won the LA Poker Classic $10,000 Heads-Up Championship, banking $350,000.
He defeated Chris Moore for the title. Get full payouts here.
The win boosts Vivek's career tourney earnings to $2,372,933. For shits and giggles, read Vivek's player profile on Poker Pages here. Wethinks he made some stuff up.
The LAPC Main Event starts today. Look for completely non-exclusive updates throughout the week only on Wicked Chops Poker.
This video purportedly shows a 2 year-old Chinese kid smoking and cursing in front of his parents. To this we say, "How do we know that he's really swearing?" Learning Chinese is like trying to read a woman's mind or mood. It's fucking impossible.
We have no idea whether or not Jamie Gold still uses the same monkey-fucking-a-football PR squad he did back during the
BruceCrispin Leyser days, but all current evidence points to "yes."
In an extremely poorly crafted press release with multiple spelling/grammatical errors, Gold's team let's us know that on Oscar night this Sunday you can play in a charity tournament as:
"ACED [Gold's new online sponsor] has donated an [sic] very generous award...the lucky winner will have a once in a lifetime priceless opportunity: a
$10,000 seat into the world's most prestigious poker event, along with an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas, private dinner and complete coaching by champion Gold prior to the main event, the best chance our winner can cash in for over 10,000,000 dollars and be poker's next world champion! The CUN Viewing event is to raise money and awareness for foster and at-risk youth through schools and mentorship programs."
Gold is quoted as saying:
"Some things are more important than trying to win $7 million dollars! These kids need our help."
Ok, no one is questioning Gold's charitable bonafides. He's done a great deal for a number of philanthropic organizations and should be applauded for it. However, where in this press release does it say howhe is giving up a shot to win some mythical 7 mil prize? Wtf? Sure, the LAPC Main Event is going on then, and maybe it'll have a $7,000,000 total prize pool, and maybe the winner will see around $1.5M or so. Is that what they're talking about? If so, that's about as misleading as a stripper pretending she really likes you and is even considering your offer to take her to dinner some time...while she's giving you a lapdance of course.
You know what they say about history...You know what they say about history.
Read the full press release here.
We just remembered why we cared about the EPT Copenhagen last year and ironically it had nothing to do with the EPT Copenhagen. Photo courtesy of Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog.
The EPT Copenhagen is on Day 3 and down to 16 players competing for 6,541,920 DKK which we think is around a million bucks because we recall dividing things by 6 when we traveled there. Not sure. Something else we're not sure about is who the hell these players are. Not one US American. No Tim Vance this year. Perhaps there's some Euro we should know about but we got dizzy after seeing all the consonants in the first player's name we read. We've successfully brought Starbucks and McDonald's to Europe, why can't we export a few simple names their way that don't look like something you'd come up with tossing darts at a keyboard?
In other EPT Copenhagen news, the boxing match between Theo Jorgensen and Gus Hansen is still on for this Saturday and wow did we lose interest in this fight long before it has even taken place. It's like that with us. Get all excited about something, think it sounds great and then lose interest. We're not going to say marriage has been like that for us, just in case our current/first wives are reading this, but you can read between the lines. Kidding (we're not). We really are (not really).
Okay, they're down to 13 now. Make that 11 now. Sort of took a nap while writing this post. You can follow the so-called "action" here.
In more exciting Copenhagen news, hot Danish girls are still riding bikes.
For more of our hot, sexy coverage of the EPT, click here.
HUGE technical difficulties today with the so-called "Internet," so we'll get the requisite hot girl photo to accompany this post up stat...or as soon as said technical difficulties go away. Whichever comes first.
:: Peter Eastgate is bleeding money online. [link]
:: In perhaps the least shocking news ever, Paul Magriel has to pay for sex. [link]
:: The World Poker Tour will be around for at least one more season. [link]
:: A couple of guys whose names end in vowels lead the EPT Copenhagen. [link]
:: Bluff's official Poker Power 20 press release is out, and fortunately no change of heart on their end about the Entities. [link]
:: Ok, well, despite being an occasional drunken buffoon, Scotty Nguyen is a helluva H.O.R.S.E. player. [link]
:: Speaking of horses... [link]
:: Wow wow wow...DW makes PerezHilton.com...unfortunately for him. Looks like that video just won't go away. [link]
:: And texasholdem.com gives you the five best ways to have a good time at a strip club. Amazing none of them involve, "pay stripper for blowjob." That's legal, right? [link]
:: And what the hell, for those of you coming to "Sin City," here are five of the top Las Vegas strip clubs. [link]
Now we're done. Almost. Listen to us on The Poker Beat here later today. Ok now we're done.
UPDATE: Okay, we have our requisite hot girl photo. Her name is Megumi Kagurazaka, and we have no idea who she is, or at least we didn't until we came across this fun gallery of photos of her five minutes ago. Now we feel very acquainted. Posing like you want to have sex with us and showing your boobs is such a great icebreaker. Relatedly, this video.
Mike Matusow is busting out and finally speaking about Russ Hamilton cheating him.
The guys on the Hardcore Poker Show landed an interview with Mike Matusow where The Mouth unloaded on Russ Hamilton.
To sum it up:
The much hyped Tom "durrrr" Dwan Million Dollar Challenge kicked off against Patrik Antonius on Full Tilt Poker today.
The two played 1,541 of the required 50,000 hands, with durrrr ending the session up $134,911.50.
In completed unrelated news involving the word penis being said repeatedly, this.
Let's add another ten cents to our "if we had a dime for every time a cougar gave us extra special attention..." piggy bank.
The Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker are the most recent profilees on Michele Lewis' (at right) Studs of Poker feature.
While we certainly don't consider ourselves studs (except for in the looks department and in the sack), it's flattering for the recognition.
Read the full interview here.
2008 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event winner Carter 'ckingusc' King has come forward and said it was his bong that Michael Phelps was snapped taking a pull from last November.
King is now facing a marijuana possession charge from South Carolina police.
Says King in a 2+2 thread:
“thats funny cause thats my house my bong and my computer in the background and the only thing that story got right was that its him in the picture. there i said it.“
King also said he did not try to sell the bong on eBay. Read more at Bluff Magazine here.
In related news, Phelps apparently is finding safe refuge in strip clubs now (link). In further related news, below is Bill Maher's take on the Phelps bong story. Thanks to reader Gravity King for the link.
Erick Lindgren's bankroll > Dane Cook's?
Listen, nobody likes Dane Cook. That's pretty well established. With the exception Dane's turn in Dan in Real Life (something we like to call the Tom Arnold True Lies Exception), Cook hasn't done one remotely redeeming thing in his entire entertainment career.
Apparently Erick Lindgren agrees. From the 2+2 forum:
Erick Lindgren and some friends went to a comedy show with Dane Cook as the headliner. Ten minutes into the Dane Cook set Lindgren et. al left the building because they didn't really think that Dane Cook was funny. Dane from the stage, in a large building, says:
"Where the hell are you all going?!?"
"We're leaving because your show sucks and you're not funny," responds Erick.
"Just walk back out that door to the unemployment line!"
"You know what? I am unemployed, have been for a long time, and make more money than you do. If I had my own Showtime special then I might even be funny too."
While we're not 100% sure what Dane did after that, we are 100% sure (with apologies to Tami from Real World II) that "it wasn't NOT funny."
UPDATE: Confirmed to be Erick Lindgren. He left after 15 minutes, retorting to Cook that he and crew were going down the street to find a funny comedian (i.e. nothing about a Showtime special).
Dramatization of what Aubrey O'Day likely looked like at David Williams' Panorama Towers condo sometime early Saturday morning.
According to Las Vegas gossip columnist Norm Clarke, poker player David Williams was getting it on with none other than Aubrey O'Day just a few hours after this red carpet interview.
Former Danity Kane star Aubrey O'Day, celebrating her 25th birthday and her March cover girl appearance in Playboy on Friday at Jet (Mirage). Her parents and a few friends joined her, as did poker star David Williams. They were seen getting fully involved in the Valentine's Day spirit.
Yet another nice score for Williams, who is known to pull more hot ass than just about any other poker player around (see Altice, Summer). Safe to say Williams has probably been laid more than all of the other Magic The Gathering players combined...and squared.
Maybe it's time for RawVegas.tv to get their reality vlog with Williams going again.
Aubrey O'Day was in some all-girl R&B group called Dannity Kane that P-Diddy put together, but then she left because she has perfect natural breasts. Actually we have no idea if that's why because what the fuck do we look like, detectives? If only there was some sort of way that one could enter in someone's name somewhere and a bunch of news and bio related information was then returned to you about said person. The day someone invents such a searching device or portal if you will, that individual will probably be a very rich person. Anyway, O'Day seems like a cool chick if you're into potty mouthed girls with morally casual attitudes, so watch the vid below and view NSFW pics of her here.
:: The Poker Beat had a spirited debate on the newsworthyness of the Russ Hamilton ambush video we did last week. We say if you spend over 20 minutes debating if a piece is newsworthy, then yeah, it's probably newsworthy. [link]
:: GoDaddy.com is sponsoring the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Rather them spend their money on that than more lame Super Bowl commericals. [link]
:: Poker Stars finds more creative ways to advertise, this time by having "Salty" Joe Hachem, Vanessa Rousso (who went to Duke), and Lorenzo Lamas giving dating tips on the Huffington Post. [link]
:: Mike Matusow sounds like he's ready to go O.J. on Russ Hamilton (go about 6 mins in). [link]
:: Looks like the durrrr challenge is about set to begin. [link]
:: The NHL thinks it's Eh-OK! for their players to be endorsed by dot-net poker sites. [link]
Okay let's keep our official "Vanessa Rousso Was in the 2009 SI Swimsuit Issue So Let's Post As Many Models From the Mag as We Can Week" going just a tad longer by making Brooklyn Decker our Friday Night Parting Shot Girl. As we said earlier, the 21-year-old Decker just might be the most perfect girl in the world. She's insanely hot, has a smoking body, loves sports, and even better, she's a Tarheel fan which means she frickin' hates Duke. Yep, Decker could give Keeley Hazell a run for her money as the Official WCP Girl of 2009, although that just may be the meth her photos and this video talking.
Check out Brooklyn Decker's SI Swimsuit Issue photos here and below.
Got our issue of Bluff Magazine in the mail today and in it is their new Poker's Power 20, a self-described "list of the most important entities and people who make the poker world go round."
The key word in that sentence must be "entities," as the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker cracked the list at #20. Says Bluff:
"As gossip sources like TMZ and Perez Hilton have [become] more and more popular, the minds behind Wicked Chops have seamlessly brought this addictive format to the poker world. Frequently the first to scoop a story and always there to cover the major events in the poker world, WCP's dedication to poker gossip, and hot women, allow the "entities" to crack the Power 20 for the first time."
So while we bring up the rear (if we had a dime for every time...), the World Series of Poker (justifiably) clocks in at #1.
View the full list here or grab it off the news stands.
Wrapping up our official "Vanessa Rousso Was in the 2009 SI Swimsuit Issue So Let's Post As Many Models From the Mag as We Can Week," below is a vid of the 2009 SI Swimsuit models from their cover party at LAX in Las Vegas.
Brooklyn Decker seems like she might be the most perfect girl in the world.
The bong that poker player/Olympian Michael Phelps was photographed pulling from was briefly for sale on eBay before "authorities" pulled it down.
The bong was listed around $100,000 (or as Phil Ivey likes to call it, "about 12 big blinds") before it got yanked. This is substantially more money than the urinal mint that Jamie Gold pee'd on was going for back in '06.
Between snapping and selling a cell phone pic of Phelps hitting the bong to the highest bidder and actually trying to fetch a brick for the bong itself, these are the most industrious/capitalist stoners we've ever heard of. What ever happened to just selling grilled cheese sandwiches at Dead concerts?
Source: NY Daily News
Tiffany Michelle's rack never looked bigger than at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
2008 WSOP Main Event Last Woman StandingTM Tiffany Michelle, a woman, has told us that she's been approached by Playboy Magazine. They wanted to see if she's interested in renewing her subscription for just $19.95 a year but she'd have to act today. No, we kid. The not-so-relevant-since-the-dawn-of-free-Internet-porn men's mag has asked Tiffany if she's interested in doing a nude pictorial.
Said Tiffany:
While we generally like girls to get naked for us this is probably a smart move for Tiffany. Unless you're banging Hef, land a reality TV show and then sleep with third-option NFL receivers and creepy Vegas magicians, Playboy doesn't do much to further a girl's career as it once did, which wasn't really much before to begin with. Just look how posing for Playboy catapulted Jennicide's career...to nowhere. Now dropping a sex tape on the Internet while expressing moral outrage that it got out even though you're the one who leaked it, that's money in the bank.
Relatedly, a current tally of hot poker players who've bared all for us: Shannon Elizabeth, Jennifer Tilly, Brandi Hawbaker, Erica Schoenberg, Rhowena Colclough, Jennicide and Joanna Krupa.
We had former FBI agent and current WSOP Academy instructor Joe Navarro take a look at the Russ Hamilton video footage from last week. Navarro is an expert in analyzing non-verbal communication, which is perfect since Russ didn't utter a fucking word.
Some interesting points, though the one that really sticks out is this: if Hamilton's golfing buddies (particularly Layne Flack) really thought he was innocent of cheating his friends and other people out of millions of dollars on UltimateBet, would they have dodged out of the camera's view as fast as they humanly possibly could?
Hey, we've given some shit to Vanessa Rousso, a woman, who went to Duke, in the past...but props for getting her bod in SI Swimsuit Issue shape. Even if it's a paid ad. That stomach takes some work.
2009 SI Swimsuit model Lucia Dvorska is a little bit more appealing in a bathing suit than Michael Phelps.
Not unlike his New Year's Eve party companion Phil Ivey, poker player/Olympian Michael Phelps likes to gamble.
Reports NY Post Page Six:
At the same South Carolina house party where he was snapped sucking on a bong, the Olympics hero lost a pile of money betting in a high-stakes session of the drinking game beer pong, in which players wing pingpong balls into plastic cups. "I saw Phelps pull out a roll, a bank-wrapped $2,000. He said, 'I'll match the $2,000,' " onlooker Michael Whitworth told the State newspaper. "Good ol' Phelpsie lost it, too."
Phelps, come on over here. Let's talk. You're a degen. Embrace it. Instead of holding back and just being a poor man's Gavin Smith, come on over to the dark side and embrace being the Michael Phelps we all know you want to be. Leave the whole "swimming" thing to Aquaman. He's got it covered. We know you have it in you, Phelpsie. And if you don't do it for yourself, then do it for the kids. Be a role model. Atta boy.
In related Phelps news, looks like his "people" are trying to keep him as far away from Vegas as possible. Read here.
Congrats Leo, you can now add "Banging SI cover model" to your resume.
We kind of buried the lead in the last post or maybe forgot to mention it specifically but poker player Leonard DiCaprio's girlfriend Bar Refaeli has been announced as this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl.
While we stopped masturbating getting excited about the SI Swimsuit Issue around
the time Elle MacPherson was on the cover wearing a one piece wedged up
her frontside and we were still getting hand jobs from the junior cheerleading squad, Bar on the cover has peaked our interest again. She's been a long time WCP fave thanks to her superb bikini wearing talents (some past posts/pics here, here, here and here) so it's nice to see her get the nod after getting bumped by Marisa Miller last year.
Of note, if you stare at her pulling down her bikini bottoms long enough in the photo above, you'll waste a good portion of your day.
Go straight to Bar Refaeli's SI video and photo gallery here.
UPDATE: Current favorite.
Bar Refaeli gets a little more face time in the 2009 SI Swimsuit edition than Vanessa Rousso...but did she go to Duke?
Albeit only a small pic in a Poker Stars paid for portion of the magazine, Vanessa Rousso, a woman who went to Duke, has made it into the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
We'll have that pic up soon (seriously if somebody is sitting in their underwear at home with an issue and a scanner, please send it to us...will save us a lot of work...thanks). In the meantime, enjoy some of these pics from the issue. View many, many more here.
Not sure if you've heard this yet, but Michael Phelps was caught hitting a bong recently.
Let's face it, Phelps probably isn't going to go within 50 metres of a bong for the rest of his life (fortunately for him, Dr. Pauly probably has a 50 metre bong, so hook him up good doctor).
Piling on the Phelps bong bashing bandwagon is SNL and Seth Meyers. This "Really?" segment is actually really funny, depriving us of the chance to make the requisite "SNL sucks..." jokes everyone feels compelled to make even though the watch the show anyway.
Get cougar Michele Lewis take here.
Figured we needed to bring some sexyness back on the homepage since you've been staring at Russ Hamilton's ugly mug the past few days. Enter Suelyn Medeiros, a Brazilian model who is so hot, that if it came out she was implicated in the UB super-user account scandal too, we'd be like, "Well, so what? What's the big deal? Who wouldn't do the same in her situation? Did you see her ass, btw?" View more below or the full set of pics here.
:: Tom Schneider's entertaining rant on Russ Hamilton sums up most people's thoughts on the guy pretty well. [link]
:: Jamie Gold signs with Aced.com, whatever that is. [link]
:: Among those who are victims of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme: Lyle Berman. [link]
:: Man it's a fucking slow day if we're fucking linking to this story. [link]
:: And Annie Duke, a woman, who we broke finished at least in the top 2 (pretty sure she won it) on Celebrity Apprentice and who we still have a standing offer of a steak dinner, is finally showing up in some Celebrity Apprentice clips. [link]
Less than a week after pictures surfaced of poker player/Olympian Michael Phelps hitting a bong, he's already lost a major sponsor (Kellogg & Co.) and is now serving a (mostly symbolic) suspension U.S. America Swimming.
Says Phelps about the suspension:
"I have nothing to say, but if that's they want to do, that's their choice. It's something that USA Swimming came up with. It's fair. Obviously, for a mistake you should get punished."
The bigger story here completely overlooked by the mainstream media is: what will this all do to Phelps' poker career? After final tableing a Caesar's event, and palling around with terrorists Phil Ivey and Jeff Madsen, many expected a run at some major tourneys in 2009. Can't see his handlers letting him hang with a bunch of degens now--well, unless he's managed by Jamie Gold's old PR team.
Below are a bunch of talking heads belaboring the same tired points about Phelps over and over again.
Wait wait wait wait. We thought we had the market cornered on cheap shots.
In a new blog post called The Poker Gossip, Poker News reports a couple of times that Daniel Negreanu's "bankroll is running low." This actually isn't remotely true. The article says the same thing about Barry Greenstein too (no idea on that one, but given his Poker Stars deal, doubtful).
Now we're all for posting of rumors on the so-called "Internet." Along with email and porn, rumor posting is the sole reason why the Internet exists. But suffice to say, we're pretty sure this post wouldn't have run if John Caldwell was still running things.
Read the full Poker Gossip post here.
Some interesting feedback and fallout from various forums and blogs on the exclusive Russ Hamilton video footage posted yesterday:
:: Layne Flack is taking his lumps, getting about as much venom as Russ is. Great post on Pocket 5's detailing some of Russ and Layne's ties (remember, Layne was once a UB sponsored player). [link]
:: Whoever signed up a "Russ Hamilton" account on 2+2 and posted on this thread, way to bring the funny. [link]
:: You know the Neverwin Poker Forum will do a good job capturing the general ID and rage most in the online poker community feel towards Russ. [link]
:: Just really like the "GoHabsGo" pic on Full Contact Poker. Oh yeah, for those asking, Daniel didn't provide the "tip" that Russ was golfing that day. Info came the old-fashioned way: some good sleuthing. [link]
:: Some awesome commentary over at Pokerati. Wish we had 10% as much interest in continuing commentary on stories as they do. Nice work. [link]
:: And for the 1% of people out there that don't view getting the one and only individual specifically implicated in the biggest online poker cheating scandal in history on camera for the first time since he was singularly named in the KGC report as newsworthy, there's always the Poker Road forum. [link]
We're working on a pretty amazing follow-up to this video that we hope to have completed by the first of next week. Stay tuned...
Below is exclusive footage of "alleged" UltimateBet super-user Russ Hamilton after completing a round of golf at a course he frequents (second to last paragraph) yesterday in Las Vegas.
One thing from this video is very clear: Russ Hamilton absolutely does not want to discuss his alleged involvement in the UltimateBet super-user cheating scandal.
Like, not even a word. And if you're innocent, even if your lawyers tell you not to talk, really, don't you just have to talk? How do you not?
Hamilton (wearing his clubUBT.com visor) teed off yesterday around 12:30pm with his playing partner Layne Flack and two other men. After completing his round right before 5pm, the foursome decided to drive their carts back out to the first hole for a little more golf action. They went inside after that to presumably have a drink and settle their bets, and walked out of the clubhouse with our camera crew waiting.
Special side note, notice how quickly Layne Flack bails out of the camera's view.
Wrapping up Daniel Negreanu day here, as a guy who knows both dudes pretty well, see who Kid Poker (can you still call a 34 year-old that?) is picking for the highly-anticipated Gus Hansen vs. Theo Jorgensen boxing match.
We asked for it, and thanks to the good people at the Hardcore Poker Show for making a Phil Hellmuth "Bale Out" Remix.
Ok, so maybe it wasn't inevitable.
Despite dominating play throughout the tournament and having more than 2x the chips of his nearest competitor at the WSOP-C Tunica final table, Matt "Allinat420" Stout did not walk away with the title.
The win instead went to Kai Landry of Biloxi, Mississippi. Kai banks $183,974 for his first major cashing plus an entry into the 2009 WSOP Main Event.
David Dao finished second, and the aforementioned Stout burned out in third.
Get full final table results and payouts here.
There seems to be two general consensuses (consensi?) forming on the Michael Phelps monster bong hit photo: 1) Who cares? He's a 23 year-old kid give me a break, or 2) If you had $100M in endorsements lined up, why risk it by smoking weed? Really?
Daniel Negreanu opts for #1, which isn't really shocking, but he is at least the first poker pro we've heard speak out about it.
After a long hiatus, Daniel Negreanu is back with another (few) vlogs. In this first one we catch him grinding it out at the .02-.05 tables, where he's padded his bankroll $9 today. Which means he's about $3,530,009 better this month than durrrr.
He also gives his out his thoughts on the 2009 WSOP schedule.
Watch for his thoughts on Michael Phelps and the Gus Hansen vs. Theo Jorgensen boxing match shortly.
Because you can only talk about poker so much . . . Click Here
We sort of have this thing for Keeley Hazell and ...
We're kind of digging the snorgtees girls. You should buy their shirts. Check 'em out.
