Danny Dropped?

READ MORE: Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, James Woods, Jennifer Tilly, Johnny Chan, Poker

Interesting gossip from Prof at Las Vegas Vegas last night:

“I heard earlier today that Daniel Negreanu is, “…as of this week he is no longer with them (the Wynn).” This newsflash comes from a 100% reliable source.”

If Negreanu is no longer with the Wynn, will the casino attempt to find a replacement for him? After the jump, we’ll handicap the probabilities…

WHO’LL REPLACE DANIEL AT THE WYNN?

· Doyle Brunson - While there is no better ambassador of the game, Wynn would have a hard time prying him loose from Bobby Baldwin and the Bellagio, where Doyle hosts “The Big Game” - 100-1

· James Woods - We talked to Prof about some possibilities last night, and he thought Woods would be a good pickup for Wynn. He’s recognizable, engaging, and obviously loves his poker. Whether or not he’d be willing to dedicate himself to spending a ton of time in Vegas would be the question - 30-1

· Jennifer Tilly - Tilly is an underrated presence in tournament poker right now, but if she really does have talent and can increase her face time as a player on TV, her popularity will go through the roof. Plus, she’s charismatic and past her prime as a starlet. Interesting choice to say the least - 25-1

· Chris Moneymaker - In a totally unscientific measure of popularity, Googling Moneymaker’s name returns more results than Greg Raymer or Joe Hachem, proving he’s at least a bit more marketable than either of the two WSOP champs that followed him. Why wouldn’t Wynn take the likeable Moneymaker, play his Cinderella story to the hilt, and turn him into the face of poker at the Wynn? The only knock is Money’s “Everyman” story might not play well with the high-end Wynn image - 20-1

· Phil Hellmuth - If we’re Wynn, we start negotiating with Hellmuth immediately. People know the name, and anyone who watches poker has an opinion of the guy. While you can absolutely give your poker room legitimacy by bringing a Main Event Champ into the fold, the underrated aspect of choosing Hellmuth for your ambassador is that people from all over the country would want to sit with Phil, beat him with a bad hand, and go home to tell all their friends they set Phil on tilt. Imagine the possibilities - 15-1

· Johnny Chan - Speaking of legitimacy, picking Chan up allows the Wynn to say they’ve got as many WSOP bracelets on their poker room ambassador as anyone else. Johnny’s still a huge name in the game, with his two-time Main Event Champ resume and the reverence shown to him by the writers of Rounders. Not only that, but you’ve got to figure that having the most well-respected Asian poker player in the world under your roof could do good things with Asian tourists - 10-1

Daniel Negreanu no longer with the Wynn? [Las Vegas Vegas]
Wynn Las Vegas

The Rake: Kid Poker, Tilly Takes It To Aruba, and Reuben Food Pron

READ MORE: Jennifer Tilly, The Rake

· Daniel Negreanu now has a blog and a weekly newspaper column? Well, now that he’s married, he probably needs some excuse to get down to the computer and not be bothered. [Detroit News]
· Jennifer Tilly’s in Aruba, but don’t look for her pool-side in a bikini. She’s chasing a WPT title instead. [Business Wire]
· Do Canadians need their own poker tour? Maybe they are tired of multiplying American bets by 1.3 to figure out how much it is to call. [PokerNews]
· Here’s a tip: If you’re going to burglarize more than 600 cars and don’t want police to chase you down, don’t tell everyone you know how much ass you’re going to kick at the poker tables in Atlantic City this weekend. [Bridgeton News]
· Did you know ESPN once wanted to show reruns of the WSOP 2003 rather than the WNBA? And this is a reason for hand-wringing? [Myrtle Beach Sun News]
· Did you know the Reuben sandwich was invented to feed poker players in the 1920s? This guy loves Reubens so much, his article is basically spank material for fat kids. [Springfield News-Leader]
· Speaking of, a mom was recently sentenced in California for sex with teenage friends of her daughter. She used strip poker as foreplay. Best friend’s mom ever. [Fairfield Daily Republic]

Famous People Are Better Than You - Especially Jennifer Tilly

READ MORE: Jennifer Tilly, Poker, WSOP 2005

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. The actress turned professional poker player is proving her ability to play the game and win tournaments. Jennifer’s interest in poker was originally sparked by her chance meeting with Phil “Unabomber” Laak at the Hard Rock’s 2004 Pro-Am Celebrity Tournament. Apparently, the Unabomber is one great playing coach. He brought Jennifer along rather quickly; attesting to his ability to teach poker’s winning fine points while Jennifer’s “quick read” talents allowed her to rapidly grasp and master advanced elements of the game. Her acting experience plays perfectly at the poker table, where the art of deception is an essential element of winning.

Somewhere this weekend Phil Hellmuth was signing up for lessons in the Strasberg Method and trying to orchestrate a lesbian sex scene with Gina Gershon. Maybe that’s the secret.

Tilly Wins #2, Violette Finishes #2 + WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s [LasVegasVegas]
Previously: Jennifer Tilly Wins WSOP Bracelet [Oddjack]

The Rake: Hammer Time, Flaming Moes, and Joe Hachem Is Not A Dingo Orphan

READ MORE: Jennifer Tilly, Joe Hachem, The Rake

· Newsweek trots out the usual “Poker: Is it legal? Should we invest anyway?” article. Notable, though, for calling Deuce-Seven offsuit “the hammer,” turning a poker blogging meme into mainstream acceptance. [Newsweek]
· Strategy article encourages you to ask yourself, “How am I going to make money with this hand” before you act. We suggest playing that hand online, where it’s nearly impossible not to make money no matter what you’re dealt. [CardPlayer]
· From the “beating a dead horse” files: Poker leagues are catching on in Springfield, Missouri bars and taverns. In related news, sales of Flaming Moes are up 58% in the area since 2003. [Springfield News-Leader]
· Charity poker tournament to feature Buffalo Sabre alumni. Without confirmations from Hasek, Satan, and Andreychuk, organizers would like to remind you that great seats are still available. [Poker777]
· The Degree All-In Poker Camp is coming to a town near you. Last year we hooked up with the girls from the Bingo Camp across the lake. They liked our Oakleys and PartyPoker hats. [Online Poker News]
· Poker Player Newspaper profiles WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem. Turns out we were wrong, he wasn’t raised by dingos in the Aussie Outback. We regret any stereotypes we have continuted to perpetuate with that falsehood. G’Day. [PokerPlayer]
· New Pottsboro, Texas restaurant can’t have poker tournaments because they serve alcohol. Shouldn’t be able to call itself “Scores” either, that’s just false advertising. [Texoma Herald Democrat]
· Hey! It’s another Jennifer Tilly poker piece! We promise, just this once, we’re not going to talk about her tits. We’ll think about them, but we’d be doing that anyway. [PokerPages]

The Rake: Fixating On J.Tilly’s Ta-Tas

READ MORE: 2005 WSOP, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Hachem, Poker, The Rake

· News4 WOAI’s Dale Blasingame reports the poker gods are against him. Focus momentarily taken off of missing girl in Aruba, to dismay of housewives everywhere. [WOAI]
· One of the space shuttle Discovery astronauts is nicknamed “Vegas” due to a lucky poker streak a few years back. Still isn’t as cool as Jennifer Tilly, who won a poker tournament AND showed us her tits in various movies. [MLive]
· A look at the Aussie underbelly of casino poker, at the casino where Joe Hachem developed his chops. We assume an “Aussie underbelly” is fuzzy and cute like a koala bear’s, and your average gambler just can’t resist petting and stroking it. [Bulletin]
· WPT Enterprises garners settlement for intellectual property infringement from various sources. Once they said “intellectual” we knew they weren’t talking about Vince Van Patten. [Poker777]
· “Poker” again the top Lycos search term for the week, narrowly edging Britney Spears. Nowhere to be found on the list - Wynonna. [Marketwatch]
· In case you missed it, Rocco Mediate bounced out of the WSOP holding Ten-Four. Also compares lacing a three-iron stiff to reading your opponent’s hand. We never could hit our three. [Detroit News]
· Recent survey says 18% of all American adults played poker in the previous twelve months, up from 12% last year. We’ll credit Jennifer Tilly’s tits for the increase. [Gambling Magazine]

The Rake: Seven Gets You a Mil, Worst Poker Gift Ever, and Tilly/Gershon On Our Mind

READ MORE: Jennifer Tilly, Poker, Rake

· Online website Noble Poker offers $1M to anyone who can win seven consecutive sit-n-go tournaments. Should be offering $1M to anyone willing to stick it out on their crappy site for seven consecutive days. [Emediawire]
· New “Shuffle Zone” Hold ‘Em playing surface features clearly marked spaces for the flop, turn, and river. Now taking the lead in the “crappy poker-related gift your mom thinks you’ll like this Christmas” sweepstakes… [ArriveNet]
· Jennifer Tilly is being credited as playing a part in poker’s popularity. Between that and the “bringing hot lesbo action to the big screen” thing she did with “Bound,” Jennifer Tilly gets a lifetime pass from the wrath of Oddjack. [Las Vegas Sun]
· Now competing for poker’s online gambling dollars: online backgammon. What’s next? Shuffleboard? Do we need to wear socks with our sandals and those big elderly sunglasses to fit in with this new fad? [Business Wire]
· Poker blogger Asia K makes the case for why she could give a shit if there are women-only events or not in the WSOP. We assume all Internet girls are hot until their webcams prove otherwise. [aK(a): asia K]
· How about a headline that needs no punchline: Entrepeneur (sic) Invests Life Savings into “Poker Player Cologne.” [Emediawire]
· Sears to offer poker chip set branded with your favorite NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers. Lines already forming outside Sears stores in Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi. [Truck Series]
· University of Alberta’s poker AI robot “Poki” lost the World Series of Robot Poker to an amateur program. Actual quote, “We have some analysis that shows that we played better…” Robot poker is so rigged. [Pokerfilter]

Fun With Polls: Which Celebrity Poker Player Would You Like to Bang?

READ MORE: Estella Warren, Gabe Kaplan, Jennifer Tilly, Laura Prepon, Mena Suvari, Poker, Polls, Shannon Elizabeth

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you’re viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

All In With Leno’s Chin

READ MORE: Jennifer Tilly, Joseph Hachem, Poker Popularity, WSOP 2005

Dust off your jump the shark jokes once again as WSOP 2005 champion and crocodile hunter Joseph Hachem hits the couch at the Jay Leno show next week as well as poker player, WSOP bracelet champion and puppet-humper Jennifer Tilly. Will Hachem get treated like a legitimate sports guest that won a major championship or like an old Dutch woman that won a yodelling contest? A watershed moment for poker-popularity enthusiasts that should not be missed.

Tonight Show Guests [NBC]

Previously: Joe Hachem, Your Life Is Calling [Oddjack]; Jennifer Tilly Wins WSOP Bracelet [Oddjack]