The Rake: NASCAR, Magic: The Gathering, and Our Eye On Pot
filed under Poker : The Rake
· How is poker not like NASCAR? Other than you won’t see a Antonio Esfandiari sticker in the back window of our truck? [Poker Player Newspaper]
· Charity tournament at PokerStars Sunday for Charlie Tuttle and cancer research. Details here: [Tao of Poker]
· “Young Guns” of poker are reportedly its new stars. 2004 WSOP second place finisher David Williams had previously made thousands playing “Magic: The Gathering.” Sadly, that’s not a punchline. [Los Angeles Times]
· Grumpy old guy laments how hard it is for good players who win smaller buy-in tournaments to make poker’s “A-List.” Maybe instead of complaining about it, he should get out of the kiddie pool and start making some moves with the big boys. [CardPlayer]
· Headline states “Female lawyer brings diversity to poker.” We think when a full ten percent of your starting field is named “Nguyen,” you’re probably not hurting for diversity. [MSNBC]
· Protesters in NYC to play poker on steps of NYPD HQ due to objections against recent police crackdowns of illegal poker clubs. Ghandi and MLK Jr rolling over in their graves. [WebIndia 123]
· Greg Raymer knocks out NYC Firefighter Pat Hayden in yesterday’s WSOP action. Hayden got a standing ovation from the room. Awesome. [New York Daily News]
· Canada’s Globe and Mail reports “WPT plays its cards with eye on pot.” We do plenty with our eye on pot, including picking up a second pack of Oreos, stocking up on purple Gatorade, and making sure we have our black light on and Pink Floyd kicking in the background.[Globe and Mail]
The Rake: My Left Foot, Anna Benson Has Big Cans & Filthy Mouth, and Psychic Hooey
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Disabled man plays WSOP with his feet. No sympathy here, we’d check-raise a grandmother on a respirator if we hit our flop. [Send2Press]
· Newspaper breaks story that Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP victory started a poker craze. Give them a break, it is an Alabama newspaper. [Decatur Daily]
· Buxom former stripper and MLB wife Anna Benson given time-out for excessive cursing at WSOP. Screw the news article, here’s her website with pics. [Anna Benson]
· Los Angeles Times explains Texas Hold ‘Em in five sentences. Takes us two sentences to look down our noses at the arrogance of this over-simplification. [Los Angeles Times]
· Ph.D. in letter-to-editor refutes claim that being a geek makes you a good gambler. We here at Oddjack are fantastic gamblers and have never worn a pocket protector, held a 20-sided die, or know pi past three digits. Maybe the secret is sarcasm instead. [News & Observer]
· Magazine publisher answers question, “What is the poker lifestyle?” Considering we haven’t seen sunlight in over three weeks, our Domino’s outlet is running us a tab, and we’re up over $100 playing $.50/$1 online, we couldn’t begin to guess as to what “lifestyle” is supposed to mean. [The Star-Ledger]
· Psychic admits that on “rare occasions” her “powers” help her poker game. Message to “spiritualist” Nancy Garber of West Roxbury, Massachusettes: Your dead cat Bosco appeared to us in a dream last night. He asked us to tell you to knock off the bullshit. [Newton Tab]
The Rake: Rashard Casey, Fox’s Commie Challenge, and Spider-Man
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Doyle Brunson’s WPT takeover bid in trouble due to difficulty in getting details about the offer’s credibility. Never could get a tell out of that guy. [Reuters]
· Former PSU QB Zack Mills is out at the WSOP. Obviously more Rashard Casey than Kerry Collins. [Centre Daily Times]
· Article details ESPN’s efforts to film WSOP action. 23,000 hours of film distilled to 12 one hour episodes. [NY Daily News]
· Full Tilt Poker Championship final table to show live at 6PM EST on Fox Sports Wednesday. Fox spokesman says those that don’t watch are, “patently un-American pinko commies.” [Inside Bay Area]
· NYC poker players organizing protest to draw attention against NYPD raids of poker clubs. Great idea, march to express your displeasure that law enforcement is, in fact, enforcing the law. [PokerNews]
· Stuey Ungar biopic in the works via Warner Brothers. It’s been less than two years since the last Ungar biopic, it’s probably time. [Rotten Tomatoes]
· Tobey Maguire confronts a photographer who takes his picture at WSOP. How this lands in the gossip section, we have no idea. [NY Daily News]
The Rake: Loneliness, Ladies, Zach Mills, and Ken Adams’ Panty Freakout
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Norman Chad writes about the disconnect online poker develops in lonely players. We’re still better than those Ultima: Online nerds. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
· Lou Krieger invites ladies to the upcoming Women’s Poker Convention in Vegas. There must be easier ways to get laid. [Poker News]
· Former Penn State QB Zach Mills playing in this year’s WSOP. Were he a former PSU RB, he’d have gotten injured in the first 20 minutes and never regained his form. [PSU Collegian]
· Pros lament luck factor after getting bounced from the WSOP. You know what they say about doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. [Pioneer Press]
· CBS’ Ken Adams blogs about putting his underwear in Clonie Gowen’s face. No, that approach didn’t work for us either. [CBS News]
· Little old lady makes good in poker. Their money may smell like Ben-Gay, but it’s worth as much as anyone else’s. [East Valley Tribune]
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The Rake: Serious Stuff, Poker Nicknames, and Johnny Five
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Poker Counselor John Carlisle returns with assurances to complaining boobs. Instead of counseling, we pay some chick named “Chrystal” $3.95 a minute to listen to our bad beat stories on the phone. [Poker News]
· Paper reports WSOP is “serious stuff.” Counterpoint: anything Jennifer Tilly can do capably couldn’t be that tough. [Chicago Tribune]
· In the spirit of enormously successful ventures like ChoicePoker and PlanetPoker, we welcome yet another online poker room to the fray. [Pressbox]
· Another local angle on the WSOP, but this kid claims poker is “an easy game to master.” Oddjack extends open invitation to our home game to 22 year old Justin Merrill of Tuckerton, N.J. [Asbury Park Press]
· Article complains that ESPN delays showing the WSOP main event on television. Doing the math… 6,000 players (x) nine days (x) twelve hours a day… They may have to pre-empt SportsCenter to carry this behemoth live. [Kansas City Star]
· Newly minted association of poker players offers to give you a “personalized nickname membership card” when you pay their $25 dues. In an effort to give you great service at low low prices, if you send Oddjack $15, we’ll make up a nickname for you (“Chuckles McPoker,” for instance) and send it back in the mail too. Always happy to help. [PR Leap]
· Newspaper helps you “talk like a card shark.” We prefer looking dumb by saying, “So how exactly is Hold ‘Em different from Pai Gow again?” [Winnipeg Sun]
· Robots to play their own World Series of Poker. We like Johnny Five from “Short Circuit” and HAL from “2001” in this spot. [Toronto Star]
The Rake: WSOP, Vince Van Patten, and Hefner’s Love of Moneymaker
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Plenty of WSOP swag is available for purchase just outside the poker room at the Rio. We advise, however, the “Doyle Brunson Colostomy Bag” and the “Josh Arieh Faux-Gold Chain” are horribly overpriced. [Casino City Times]
· Handicapping huckster extraordinaire Wayne Allyn Root to host talk show live from the floor of the WSOP. No word whether his toupee and ego are demanding separate trailers. [Arrivenet]
· Man wins entry fee into WSOP from $9 satellite on wife’s birthday. Imagine how pissed she’s going to be to hear his bad beat story in about a week. [Slam! Canada]
· WPT parent company World Poker Enterprises sees doubling in valuation since IPO in August, 2004. Vince Van Patten said to now be a Thousandaire. [Marketwatch]
· Fremont Street casinos lament loss of WSOP at Binion’s Horseshoe. Working on a program to teach transients politeness in panhandling in order to retain market share. [Casino City Times]
· Playboy Magazine partners with Chris Moneymaker for poker products. Apparently, Hefner prefers short tubby guy over statuesque Asian and petite French pro poker beauties. [Yahoo Biz]
· Software maker claims their tool can predict all cards in online poker hand with 80% accuracy. We’re wondering how traditional media missed this press conference. [Free Press Release]
The Rake: Rocco, Ladies, Dead Money, Party Gaming
filed under Poker : The Rake
· PGA golfer Rocco Mediate to play in World Series of Poker. Figures any field without Tiger Woods provides him a shot. [The Ledger]
· Headline trumpets “Poker no longer men’s domain.” Also reported, “Titanic sinks,” and “Hindenburg explodes.” [San Mateo Daily Journal]
· Another newspaper giddy that a local is set to be dead money at the WSOP. Notably, we wonder if “Miami Beach Actress” in this case is some sort of euphemism. [Miami Herald]
· Washington State volunteers requested to play poker with the elderly and infirm. Had nursing home staff not already cleaned them out of anything valuable, we’d sign up immediately. [Everett Daily Herald]
· CBS Sports announces “regular Joes versus professional pros” poker tournaments will be televised. CBS assures viewers poker won’t get in the way of the quality programming they’re used to like “Yes, Dear” and “Two and a Half Men.” [Reuters]
· PartyGaming stock lost 1% in trading yesterday. Traders claim online brokers are rigged. [The Sunday Business Post]
The Rake: What You Missed This Weekend
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Four more bracelets were awarded at the World Series of Poker. The big story amidst no-name winners this weekend is that professional player Allen Cunningham’s finish in Event #32 (Omaha Hi/Lo) pushed his total earnings for this year’s tournament over one million dollars. [PokerPlayer Newspaper]
· The “Small Town Poker Tour” is looking for the best amateur poker player in America, and will be basing a reality show around their search. If they can find a way to redecorate the family room of each city’s winner on only a $1,000 budget, they might be on to something. [PR Web]
· A pair of new poker magazines, “Deal” and “Top Pair” announce plans to hit the market soon. “Top Pair” proudly trumpets Rosie O’Donnell’s involvement atop their celebrity b-list. Immediate Over/Under line for “Top Pair’s” shelf-life is set at four issues. [PokerNews and PR Web]
· Real money gambling comes to your cell phone. In related news, Jamster reports sales of Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” ringtone hits 52 week high. [WKMG Local6]
· More handheld wireless gaming news: Vegas slot players may get PDA style wireless units to enable them to play slots from anywhere on casino property. Bathroom cries of “Jackpot” from America’s vacationing elderly no longer mean what you think. [AZCentral]
The Rake: Jesus, Chicago Sam, and Chocolate Chips
filed under Poker : The Rake
· A pseudo-news site for conservative watchdogs “Focus on the Family” insists the evils of gambling are receding in this country, but remains concerned about “this poker fad.” Our “I Check Raise Evangelicals” bumper sticker becomes more topical. [Family.org]
· “Chicago Sam” Petrillo, with two WSOP final tables to his credit, passes away at 77. [Poker777]
· A reader asks “The Poker Counselor” what to do about a girlfriend who’s getting on his case about his poker habit. Counselor fails to mention Annie Duke has recently divorced and is back on the market. [Poker News]
· Old lady laments TV-induced theatrics at the poker table. Game was purer in her day when they wore the short shorts, socks up to their knees, and didn’t have the cornrows and tattoos. [Detroit News]
· Tournament directors at the World Series became suspicious when Greg Raymer raked a pot, unwrapped a $100 chip, and proceeded to eat the chocolate coin inside. [ESPN]
The Rake: Old People, Lists, and Phil Hellmuth’s iPod
filed under Poker : The Rake
· If you happen to be in Chelmsford in the next couple of weeks, wherever the hell Chelmsford is, stop by the Senior Center for their Hold ‘Em lessons on July 8th and 22nd. The last couple of times we showed up we came away with two power scooters, a case of tapioca, and one of those walkers with the tennis balls glued to the front. [Chelmsford Life&Style]
· CardPlayer magazine today lists one hundred pros with a decent shot at winning the WSOP Main Event. Bodog is carrying odds on most of the big names. [CardPlayer]
· Poker reporting kamikaze just can’t find enough stuff to do to occupy his time. So, now he’s podcasting and finding out what is on Phil Hellmuth’s iPod. Sadly, there is no Megadeth to be found. [Lord Admiral]
· CBS’s Ken Adams does his best Jim McManus impersonation and tracks coverage himself facing off with pros in the WSOP.[CBS]
The Rake: Poker Stra-te-ger-y
filed under Poker : The Rake
· Mean Gene Bromberg unleashes another column on Bar Stool Sports letting poker dummies hung up on the kicker know what time it is. Yes, it’s kicker time. [BarStoolSports]
· Bad Blood plays poker lays off the Ritalin for little while and lays out some hand strategy. Plus he invokes “First Strike Is Deadly” by hi-top Reebok metal monsters, Testament. We’re more partial to “Over The Wall”, but that’s just us. [Bad Blood]
· Card Player takes a walk down memory lane for all of the former WSOP champions. [Card Player]
The Rake: The Full Tilt WSOP Onslaught
filed under Poker : The Rake
· The Full Tilt poker pros are dominating the WSOP with big money wins. Phil Gordon, Jennifer Harman, et al are making enough money at the series to feed 47 families for three years in Zimbabwe. [PR Media Wire]
· Seattle Times writes a groundbreaking article about the popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em. And by “groundbreaking” we mean “five years late”, of course. [Seattle Times]
· PokerStars.com toys with the idea of going public on the London Stock Exchange and getting into another game of chicken with the United States in terms of online gambling legalities. [Poker News]
One day, everything will be a wager, from a hand of poker to the likelihood you'll be struck down by a bioterror attack before the next brain backup. One day. For now, there's Oddjack. It's a sneak peek at the future of gambling.
