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There was a time in poker—and it really wasn't all that long ago—when men played cards like men, goddammit. A time before sponsorship deals and under-the-table cameras and sanitized modern-day casinos. In this earlier era, poker players honed their skills and filled their pockets working illegal games that could often turn violent, especially if players were armed. (And weren't they always back then?) Poker hall of famer Doyle Brunson knows something of those days. Brunson has been playing cards for more than half a century and, like most old-timers, has a few tales to recount. More »
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Tipster Calvin writes in, frankly: More »
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The Justice Department dropped another bombshell in their assault on online poker, alleging that Full Tilt Poker ran a Ponzi Scheme that saw owners being paid nearly half a billion dollars, while player accounts were filled with "phantom money" to the tune of more than $300 million. The original Black Friday complaint, filed in April, alleged that poker companies had violated laws ranging from wire fraud to money laundering, but today's amendment goes a step further. Now, says the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Full Tilt Poker was defrauding its players. And more sexily, it adds to the complaint top poker pros like Howard Lederer and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. More »
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Your morning roundup for April 18, the day a famous surgeon resigned for suggesting that unprotected sex was "a better gift for [Valentine's] day than chocolates." More »
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Heavily-armed assailants stormed the Berlin's Grand Hyatt hotel, which was hosting a live televised poker tournament and made off with an untold amount of money. Wow. That was an exciting sentence to write. Thanks to tipster Wisky_and_Coke. More »
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And the always inquisitive Dan Levy asks the questions about her poker-playing causes. Seriously, this was a great event and Mr. Levy should be commended for pulling it all together — and dealing with drunk bloggers in Vegas. [OntheDL] More »
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Due to an obscure legal loophole called The Constitution, business can't restrict ladies' nights promotions to women. So when a man entered a ladies' poker tournament in Atlantic City, guess what happened? More »
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Billiards and high-stakes poker are not exactly riveting spectator sports, but you know what would make them surefire TV entertainment? If at the end of each contest, players beat the crap out of each other. More »
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ESPN has spent months building up to tonight's broadcast of the final table of the World Series of Poker. They even convinced organizers to take an unprecedented 117-day break before settling the final table so that they could broadcast a "plausibly live" show tonight, just hours after the champion was decided. It was an incredible effort to turn an extremely tedious and dull spectator sport into a dramatic TV event—until Josh Elliott gave away the whole thing on SportsCenter this morning. More »
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ESPN's gambit to shut down the World Series of Poker for four months to give them time to pump up the nine participants at the final table (and position the final table action in a better time slot and month for them) seems to have paid off, with ratings up on the shows leading up to the main event's final table. That table took their seats today at 10 am local time and will play until two are left, allowing for another round of television love on Monday Tuesday (see after the jump for proper details). More »
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There was this couple-of-month stretch when poker on TV was actually sort of cool, right before the world discovered the ancient game of Bejeweled. But now poker needs a renaissance. It needs a voice. It needs — you guessed it — radio coverage. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=347826&view=rss&microfeed=true Another reason we don't like to place wagers: We know we'd end up doing something idiotic on a dare. This is a few days old — holiday, you see — but poker player Erick Lindgren wagered some poker friends that he could "shoot under 100 for all four rounds at one of the toughest courses in Vegas, carry his own bag, and do it all between sunrise and sunset - in 108 degree heat." After a night out partying in Vegas. He did it and won $340,000. We're still not sure it was worth it. More »
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It's a logical idea whose time has obviously come: Televised golf wagering. In a move that could only be made by a network desperate after missing out on the Barbaro documentary, NBC is going to televise a full golf tournament made entirely of degenerate gamblers. And Fox is doing it too. More »
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We haven't had any Anna Benson updates for a while, mainly because her husband is in baseball purgatory in Baltimore, they haven't made a divorce announcement in a few months and her handlers have apparently asked her to slow down on the slaughter of bunnies and other adorable animals. More »
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It's Day 1C at the World Series of poker, and I still can't find any evidence of Bill Simmons have played a hand yet. He must be in the field tomorrow, though I'd like to think that he was somehow responsible for Louie Anderson's profane outbursts. Some notes, arranged in handy bulleted lists: More »
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The World Series of Poker main event kicked off last night. About 1/4th of it, anyway. 2,138 players began play, and they played until they were down to 800. Some factoids from Day 1A (days 1B, 1C, and 1D run through Monday): More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=190742&view=rss&microfeed=true I've gotten a few tips about this Mikey the Chimpanzee who's apparently going to be entered in the World Seris of Poker's main event. There's some lady who travels with him, and has "trained him" to play "poker." More »
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OK, we're gonna go ahead and call bullshit on this whole World Series of Poker business. More »
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Next year's World Series of Poker final table is going to be available on pay-per-view, which is great news for those of you who embrace gambling and a nocturnal lifestyle. The cost is $24.95, and if you break it down to cost per hour, it will probably be the best pay-per-view value of all-time. More »
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Well, OK, I guess I am. But she's admitting it, so it's okay. More »
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