Josh Arieh has awakened from his pastry-induced slumber and given us a great entry today on his blog about watching himself in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament on the ESPN’s World Series of Poker. He reminisces about last year’s outing by wormy Norman Chad as poker’s new King Twat, questions the generous amount of coverage to Chris Ferguson, and then, in what surely must’ve been a Jesus toast-like epiphany, he considers how he comes off on television:

Anyway…. I have come to realize that being an asshole on TV is much more entertaining. Maybe Phil Hellmuth was on to something when he thought of being a baby….. Where do I go from here??? I dont know… I’m not sure what to do… people say that its always easiest and more entertaining to just be yourself….

Read More » Josh Arieh: Promises More Cinnabon Tantrums on TV

It’s a blessed life for Jennifer Tilly. She’s aging, but her looks haven’t left her. Her talent and, um, talents, are enough to keep getting her work around Hollywood. Then again, if recent results are any indicator of future performance (ask your broker for a prospectus), maybe Jennifer Tilly’s ride into the cinematic sunset takes her from La-La-Land to Sin City to wipe the floor with Texas Dolly. Yeah, Tilly won herself another poker tournament. From Las Vegas Vegas:

Jennifer Tilly wins another final table and captures her second title of the summer at the World Poker Tour Ladies Night III at the Bicycle Casino in LA.

Read More » Famous People Are Better Than You - Especially Jennifer Tilly

Tonight’s ESPN coverage of the WSOP features two hours of No Limit Hold ‘Em events. The first hour is Event #7, the $1K NL Hold ‘Em with rebuys, and the second hour is Event #9, the $2K NL tournament - which conveniently ignores the Seven Card Stud event in between. At least we get plenty of name players tonight, with Phil Gordon, David Pham, Mike Gracz, Erik Seidel, Perry Friedman, Harry Demetriou, and Cyndy Violette all taking a crack at earning a bracelet. As always, Las Vegas Vegas has the rundown, along with links to the Dr. Pauly live blogging of each of these final tables.

Read More » WSOP 2005: Events #7 and #9 on ESPN

Jason Kirk had a late night last night. The Main Event final table from the WSOP Circuit Series Event in Tunica, Mississippi was underway, and they were going to play until John Juanda picked off the other eight players one-by-one. Problem was, JJ finished in eighth, running into pocket Aces with King Six […]

Read More » Not WSOP 2005 - Tunica’s Main Event Wraps Up

Meet Kathy Liebert, who only looks like that because she finished 12th last night in the WSOP Circuit Series Main Event in Tunica when her Ace Queen suited ran into a pair of sevens. Kathy and John Juanda were the only two pros left at the table, and that dazed look from Kathy just says "I can’t believe I didn’t wipe the floor with these knuckleheads." Your final ten, courtesy of Jason Kirk:

Jeff Wood - 212K
Brian Ahern - 38K
John Juanda - 140K
Bobby Law - 260K
Johnny Clements - 240K
Sonny Perry - 75K
Darrell Struck - 85K
Gregg Merkow - 175K
Bryant King - 352K
Steve Rassi - 200K

Read More » Not WSOP 2005: Tunica Plays To The Wee Hours

ESPN is back tonight with another WSOP episode, but this time they’re not just teasing us. This broadcast of Event #2 marks 2005’s first telecast from the Rio, and the beginning of the run through the events to Joe Hachem’s eventual victory. Shit, did we just ruin the main event for you? We forgot to say "Earmuffs." Anyway, a couple of big names made Event #2’s final table you’ll see tonight, including former tubbster Allen Cunningham, Scott Fischman, Devilfish Ulliott, and poker hottie Liz Lieu. Hour two? Reserved for a little $1,500 Pot Limit action, giving you a bonus final table tonight - not to mention more big names in Gavin Smith, Tony Ma, and Layne Flack.

Read More » WSOP 2005 - ESPN Hits The Rio, No More Fake Poker

After well over a week of watching roadkill-eating yokels knocking out victories in Tunica’s WSOP Circuit Event, poker reporter Jason Kirk must be as thrilled as we are to finally have a few pros showing up to try and take down the Main Event’s $572k top prize.
“The list of players who began reads like a […]

Read More » Not WSOP 2005 - Tunica’s Main Event Kicks Off

The WSOP Circuit Series from Tunica, Mississippi has finally started to show promise, with Jason Kirk (pictured) chronicling the arrival of various pros as he spots them. What? Recognizable names in Tunica? Thank god. While you were drunk this weekend, the $1,000 No Limit event (#8) paid off some dude you’ve never heard of, the $1,500 No Limit event (#9) was won by a guy named Fledderman, and a fat guy in a motorcyclin’ t-shirt ended up taking the prize in the $2,000 No Limit event (#10). We did, however, see a few recognizable names including Karina Jett, Mark Seif, and Barry Greenstein getting ready for the bigger buy-in events. Hopefully, this starts to get more lively from here.

Read More » Not WSOP 2005 - The Pro Players Trickle In To Tunica

Is this what you look like after you get Aces cracked, losing to a gutshot straight draw? A big, hulking albino? Or is that the look of today’s Internet wunderkind - pasty and doughy from that combination of Cheetos and a lack of sunshine? Unfortunately, Jason Kirk, reporting live from Tunica on the WSOP Circuit Series beat, didn’t get that question answered, so we’re left with nothing but wild assumptions. Like a guess that today’s posterboy, Matt Smith, must have some fantastically rare body temperature condition to be rocking a parka in the Mississippi summer.

Read More » Not WSOP 2005: Rumors and Innuendo

It’s not the World Series of Poker no matter how many times you use "WSOP" in the title, but they are playing poker down in Tunica, and Jason Kirk is blogging the final tables as they happen. Since we still have an event devoid of pros (and with a $340 buy-in, it’s no coincedence), we’ll introduce you to one of the final table participants as we did yesterday. Meet Ray Norcum, poker player and Tunica’s third-most successful Willie Nelson impersonator. Ray took eighth in the Tunica event when he ran into another player’s full house. To be fair, he did come into the table shortstacked, but any man who can wear leather on their head with that kind of panache probably isn’t all that down over a good run through this field anyway.

Read More » Not WSOP 2005: On The Road Again