Gilbert Arenas Essentially Loses $7Million on a Hand of Poker – Maybe More
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 28th January 2010

gilbertarenas gun handsPew! Pew!

Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas is drawing blanks after the league flop-slapped him with a season-long suspension following his earlier firearm indiscretions.

Agent Zero is set to lose $7Million in cash after pleading guilty to a felony weapons charge on Jan 15. Arenas was reportedly involved in a $25K argument with Jarvaris Crittendon over a poker debt (ed: I would love to see an NBA plane. I imagine them as a 1970s party). This lead to a Texas-Hold’em-Mexican-standoff, where Crittendon and Arenas waved guns around in a Wizards’ facility. Surprisingly, The Association looks down on team-based gunplay, and I’m sure this falls in line with Stern’s anti thug appearance movement.

Both players are out for the year, and this altercation puts Arenas’ (ridiculous) $111Million contract in jeopardy.

Losses like this on a poker game even make Isildur1′s crazy swings look reasonable.

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T.J. Cloutier’s WSOP Bracelet is for Sale on eBay
Posted by CarbonPoker on 21st January 2010

0106_NBC POKER AFTER DARK 2Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is one of the biggest achievements that a poker player can earn during their career.  And pro poker player T.J. Cloutier has been lucky enough to win 6 of them during his career.  However, he is only holding five of them after an unidentified person bought one of the bracelets off of Cloutier recently.

The seller has a gold bracelet from the 2005 WSOP listed on eBay, and is claiming that it’s the same one T.J. Cloutier won in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament.  A description for the item also mentions that it has 13 round-cut diamonds and is made out of 14K gold.  The auction ends on January 24th and the bidding starts at $2,999; so far, nobody has made a bid yet.

The fact that Cloutier was willing to part ways with the bracelet raises more speculation about his previous money problems.  T.J. is known to gamble in casinos quite frequently, and is especially fond of the craps tables.  Cloutier is also backed in many the tournaments that he plays in despite being ranked 10th on the all-time poker winnings list with $9,787,199.  Cloutier is also ranked 16th on the all-time WSOP winnings list with $4,322,186.

In addition to the WSOP bracelet he won in the 2005 $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, Cloutier has also captured bracelets in the 1987 Limit Omaha, 1994 $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, 1994 $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em, 1998 $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, and 2004 $1,500 Seven Card Razz events.

Cloutier has also finished in the top 5 in four different WSOP Main Events; he placed 2nd in both the 1985 and the 2000 Main Events.  Recently though, Cloutier has had a string of bad luck at the WSOP since he has only cashed once in the last two years.

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Poker After Dark Season 6 Opens with Announcers Playing
Posted by CarbonPoker on 7th January 2010

Poker-After-DarkSeason 6 of NBC’s hit show Poker After Dark had quite a beginning as the announcers hit the tables in what was entitled “Commentators III”.  High Stakes Poker hosts Gabe Kaplan and Kara Scott (who was just recently named a host), Joe Sebok, Mark Gregorich, and of course Poker After Dark host Ali Nejad all took a seat in the Season 6 opener.

Nejad was often the center of attention in his own show as he got involved in lots of action, and produced some really fun moments.  During one part of the episode, Nejad jokingly celebrated Joe Sebok’s appearance on TV by saying, “I had something special to do today in honor of Joe finally making a TV table.”

After delivering the quote, Ali Nejad gave each one of the players a champagne glass in order to toast Sebok’s ‘accomplishment’.  The joke is a reference to Sebok busting out right before the final table in numerous live tournaments.  Some of the tourneys where Sebok has busted out just before the final table include the Bay 101 Shooting Star, the WPT Fiesta al Lago, and the 2007 Legends of Poker.

All joking aside, the game was pretty competitive during Commentators III.  Each player began the game with 20,000 chips, and the blinds were set at $100/$200 so nobody was taking anything lightly.  Sebok quickly grabbed the chip lead after taking down a pot worth 7,900 chips against Gabe Kaplan.  Sebok hit trips queens during the hand, which prompted Kaplan to wisely fold.  The chip lead didn’t last long though as Mark Gregorich came out firing against Sebok with pocket aces.  Eventually, Gregorich forced Joe to fold with a bet of 3,000 chips.

This pretty much concluded the main action in the first episode of Season 6.  However, there is plenty of good poker to be played on Poker After Dark with 35 more scheduled episodes.

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Poker Movie: Shark Out of Water – Review and Interview
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 25th November 2009

Shark Out of WaterTypically, if you show me 5 poker movies, I can show you at least 4 bad poker movies. However, sometimes a film comes along that gets poker and gets film making at the same time.

Shark Out of Water is a new short film by Juan Riedinger, produced by Andrew Halliwell. It’s garnering some significant buzz and has been hitting the film festival circuits as of late.

It’s well-acted by Matty Finochio and Artine Brown (with a subtle, yet good, Phil Hellmuth cameo). It’s a poker movie made by guys that know and play poker. They were literally sleeping in a casino during some of the shooting. That’s dedication.

The film depicts what can happen when players put poker ahead of everything else, and then hit a bad run. It’s compelling and troubling at once.

Shot in Vancouver, Canada, the film reads like a proof of concept more than a complete movie. By that I mean, it’s a short and thus has its limitations. I would like to see a poker-based feature from these guys. After watching SOOW, I feel like it would be an instant hit amongst poker players and drama-lovers alike.

Our Affiliate Director, Atil, had a chance to sit down with Halliwell recently and I’ve included that invterview below. I really suggest checking out the piece and the film. Both are great.

When is the official launch date?
The film has already screened at a number of festivals across North America, but we officially launched our DVD with Special Features on November 15, 2009. The ‘launch’ became ‘official’ when we heard Phil Hellmuth himself “tweeted” about the film on his personal page, stating: “I have a scene in Shark out of Water, a short film that was a nominee for Best Short Drama at the Leo Awards.” This definitely started a buzz about the film and attracted A LOT of people to our website: www.sharkoutofwater.com.

Continue Reading »

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Cowboy Poker Players are Tougher Than You Are
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 16th November 2009

cowboypokerUnless you spent the weekend rasslin’ gators, curing diseases or base jumping with one of those bat suits you weren’t anything nearly half as extreme as playing Cowboy Poker.

More intense than Hold’em and crazier than Badugi, Cowboy Poker requires balls, tenacity and… bulls.

Featured at Rodeos across North America, Cowboy Poker is pretty beautiful in its simplicity: a few cowboys (see: totall bad asses) sit in some chairs around a poker table. A bull is then released down the chute to charge at the table. Last player sitting wins. And, yeah, the bull seems to hate their flush draws more than a red cape.

This past weekend at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton, Will Evans took down his third straight Cowboy Poker title and $500 in the process.

In truly awesome Canadian form, Evans compared the bull’s force to being about:

“tens times harder than a real hard bodycheck in hockey.”

I suppose that was approximated, but still. Holy @&$*.

The next time I sit down to an ‘intense’ SnG or cash game, I’ll think of Will Evans and realize onlinePLAYahh82930 isn’t nearly as intimidating as a bull.

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Erik Seidel is Latest Poker Pro to Hit Primetime TV
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 12th November 2009

Picture 1Pictured: Erik Seidel on Curb… he’s the OTHER bald guy in the frame.

For years, poker players only appeared on TV if it was related to the actual game of poker.  However, we’ve recently begun seeing poker players appear in a lot of mainstream television shows and movies.  Daniel Negreanu appearing in the movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, Annie Duke being one of the finalist on “The Apprentice”, and Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho appearing on the hit CBS reality series “Amazing Race” are just a couple of the latest examples.  Popular poker pro Erik Seidel added his name to the list this week.

Seidel made his mainstream television debut on the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” which revolves around the fictional life of Seinfeld producer Larry David.  The episode that Seidel appeared in was entitled “Officer Krupke”, and Erik is prominently featured in a shot where Larry and his onscreen wife Cheryl Hines are talking at a restaurant about a Seinfeld reunion.

Many have wondered how/why Seidel was on Curb Your Enthusiasm.  The 8-time WSOP gold bracelet winner explained that he is a huge fan of the show, and had been looking for a way to appear on it.  So basically, being able to appear on Curb Your Enthusiasm was a dream for Seidel since he is such a big fan of the show.

It has also been rumored that another poker pro might be making an appearance on a HBO show.  Daniel Negreanu will appear in an episode of the hit show “Entourage” along with fellow poker player/actor Ben Affleck.  Aside from his role as a poker player in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Negreanu also recently appeared in the “Body Issue” of ESPN: The Magazine.  Being on HBO’s “Entourage”, which is a drama based on the fictional life of a movie star and his friends, would only further cement Negreanu’s mainstream status.

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Kara Scott is New High Stakes Poker Host
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 5th November 2009

kara scottGSN created waves in the poker world when they decided to do away with one half of the High Stakes Poker broadcasting duo after firing A.J. Benza.  The move was not only a shock to Benza who publicly complained on his blog about it, but it was also a shock to fans of the show since Benza and fellow co-host Gabe Kaplan played quite well off each other.

According to many sources, GSN dumped Benza because they were looking to bring in an attractive female co-hostess.  At the time, rumors were swirling that poker pro Vanessa Rousso was the first choice by the network to fill Benza’s shoes.  Eventually, GSN would state that Rousso was not going to host HSP so former World Poker Tour hostess Shana Hiatt become another name thrown into the mix.

However, we now know that Hiatt won’t be the hostess either since it has been reported that poker pro Kara Scott will become the new commentator on High Stakes Poker.  Scott is one of the rising female professional players since she has earned $453,000 of her $500,000 career winnings in the last years and she’s also finished within the top 250 players in the last two WSOP Main Events.  In addition to her playing exploits, Scott has also done broadcasting work for the European Poker Tour and Poker Night Live.

The only thing that is standing in the way of Kara Scott being officially announced as the new HSP hostess is that she needs to obtain a permit which would allow her to work in the United States.  Without this permit, it would be illegal for Scott to work as the new HSP hostess according to US laws.  But it’s almost a given that Kara Scott will be able to get this permit since GSN is counting on it.

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Brunson Autobiography Scheduled for Nov 11 Release
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 3rd November 2009

doylebrunsonThere aren’t too many poker autobiographies that I would be excited about. Doyle Brunson’s upcoming book, however, is one I’ll be buying. Godfather of Poker is slated for a November 11, 2009 release and is building a healthy buzz.

No one in the game has the face, resume and likeability of the Texas Dolly himself. Winner of 10 WSOP bracelets, a Hall of Famer, and an ambassador for the game, I’m sure there was no issue with finding enough content to fill the 372 pages.

Godfather of Poker winds its way through Brunson’s beginnings in poker – far before it was covered by media outlets, legitimized and revered – when games were found in backrooms and were notoriously ‘wild west’. Through his career, Brunson was privy to shocking changes in how the game was perceived and played.

The only constant in poker has been Brunson.

The book’s forward was written by Mike Cochran and features backing from Sexton, Caro and many others in the industry.  Published by Cardoza, you can find this book for $26.95 USD.

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Betting Odds: Who Will Win the November Nine?
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 2nd November 2009

wsop chipsWith the November Nine FINALLY coming up soon, we’re ready to go with more coverage, news and whatnot. It seemed like it was so far away, and now it’s almost here. It’s like Christmas… gambling Christmas.

If you didn’t make the final table, and I’m assuming you didn’t, there’s no need to feel left out.

You can still make cash on the final table with a little bit of online wagering. Put your money where your picks are and look at the futures list for the winner of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

These are futures wagers, where you’re picking the winner. It’s not a horse race, so you can’t just bet to show. Pick the first place horse poker player.

Got a pick? Hit the comments to let me know.

WSOP 1st Place Finish**:

  • Darvin Moon +200
  • Eric Buchman +300
  • Steven Begleiter +500
  • Jeff Shulman +500
  • Joe Cada +900
  • Phil Ivey +325
  • Kevin Schaffel +900
  • Antonie Saout +1200
  • James Akenhead +1200

It looks like a lot of the public money is pouring in on Ivey, so that’s why the profitability is so low on a guy that’s 7th in chips. Sure he’s good, but his name is even better.

When looking at value, I like Shulman at +500. His family’s been hot lately, and this could be a winning wager. But what do I know?

** For those of you who don’t know, this is how the wagering works: Think of these numbers as being based on $100 Wagers. For example, if you bet $100 on Joe Cada to win, you’d win $900; $100 on Ivey to win it all, $325 in winnings.

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Christopher Walken Does Spoken Word ‘Poker Face’, Better than GaGa
Posted by Comb Over-Under on 2nd November 2009

I get a lot of “Poker Face” tips and news coming through my RSS and inbox, but this is clearly the best. I know last week that Cartman sang the GaGa mega-hit on South Park (great episode, btw), but this Christopher Walken clip is by far the best.

Walken is on a British show called Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and absolutely kills the delivery.

Enough talking, here’s the Christopher Walken Poker Face Video:

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