2010 -- The Year in Poker

It's now an annual event, going on Lou Krieger's show Keep Flopping Aces on Rounder's Radio to go over the naughty and nice list in poker.  This year was a bit more special because biliousbetil, one of the listeners in the chat room, wrote a poem for the occasion: 

Twas the night before FTOPS, And all thru the house

Not a freeroll was running, no use for the mouse.

The grinders were nestled all tucked in their beds,

While visions of Shari Geller danced in their heads.

That being the first, and possibly last, poem ever written for me, I was particularly tickled.  Less so after someone posted a link to my Facebook page and the illusion of a twenty-something hottie was replaced by the cold reality that I am, in fact, much older than the World Series of Poker.

As we went through the list, two things stood out as themes for 2010.  One, was the number of first-time WSOP bracelet winners who also fell in the category of the nice guys.  Not to say those who still lack that fine piece of jewelry are naughty -- Tom Dwan, who came pretty close in one of $1,500 No Limit Hold'em events, finishing in second place, and the sole remaining member of the best who haven't won, Andy Bloch, both seem like cool guys.  But having Michael Mizrachi, Gavin Smith, Phil Laak and Gus Hansen each pick up their first bracelet this year was good for them and good for the game. 

The other consistent theme was just how much the government is at odds with the poker community, especially those in favor of online poker.   Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts has tried unsuccessfully to get a bill legalizing and regulating online gambling through the House.  Whether it's lack of clout or the inability to draft a bill that can withstand attack from the religious right, Frank has been able to get dozens of co-signers to the bill, but not able to get a house vote for the bill.  At least his heart, if not the brain of his legislative drafting staff, is in the right place.

But opposing efforts to legalize online gambling for the past many years has been Nevada Senator Harry Reid.  That was until this election year when his ass was saved by a combination of a loony Republican opponent and massive campaign contributions from MGM and Harrah's (now Caesar's).  Suddenly, miraculously, Reid did a 180 and became a champion of the rights of poker players to play online. As long as they did so on a site owned and operated by MGM or Harrah's or one of the other brick and mortar casinos that supported his campaign.  But, Reid, despite having a majority in the Senate, a Democrat in the White House, and the perfect bill within which to put this bill -- failed.

He could have pushed harder.  He could have dug in his heels.  He could have stressed how online gambling would add millions in tax revenues which are desperately needed right now.  He could have been a leader and stood tall and did what he said he wanted to.  Instead, he was a typical politician.  Pretending to try to pay back the people who paid for his seat, while in reality doing nothing. 

Shaun "Tootsie" Deeb

There were other people and stories that shaped 2010.  One involved the continuing controversy about the existence of Ladies' Events, such as the annual one at the WSOP.  This year Shaun Deeb followed in the high-heeled footsteps of Rafe Furst by playing the women's tournament in drag, embarrassing himself and making a mockery of attempts to welcome more women to the poker tables. 

Women were shut out of bracelets in this year's WSOP, with their only win in the Ladies' Event. They were chided by wunderkind Annette Obrestad who memorably told ESPN that "women suck at poker." Notwithstanding, outside of the WSOP, women made some major strides, taking down a number of big tournaments throughout the year. In March, Annie Duke won NBC's National Heads-Up Tournament. The next month, Vanessa Selbst won the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event and Liv Boeree won the EPT San Remo. Obrestad put either her quote or her gender into question by winning the EPT London Heads-Up NLHE event in September.

Selbst came back in November to win her second major of the year, the Partouche Poker Tour in Cannes. In December, Leo Margets, the last woman standing in the 2009 WSOP, won first place in the Full Tilt Poker Masters Series at the Grand Casino in Costa Brava, Barcelona. Vanessa Rousso went into the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic final table as the chip leader, but fell in third place

On a less positive note, there was a rash of articles about WSOP event winners selling, hocking or auctioning off their bracelets.  Some, like T.J. Cloutier and Paul "Eskimo" Clark, were doing it out of financial need.  Recent main event winner Peter Eastgate put his up for auction because he was leaving poker and wanted to use it to raise money for charity.  Under either circumstances, I think it is an unfortunate decision.  The WSOP bracelet is the pinnacle of success for a tournament poker player.  Even with so many events per year, it is still that piece of hardware that signifies that you have made it.  You have left an indelible mark on poker and will be in the record books as long as people remember what books are.

The bracelet means something and it shouldn't be something that you can buy; it should be earned.  It should belong to the person who, through a magical combination of luck and skill, outplayed and outlasted everyone else at the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.  In the movie world, the Oscar is their gold standard, the award that has the most significance with the public as identifying the holder as special and unique.  Since the 1950's, the Motion Picture Academy has tied ownership of the statute to the award recipient and required that anyone who wants to sell it must first make it available to the Academy for the price of $1.  I think the WSOP should institute a similar legal requirement.

So here's the complete naughty and nice list for 2010:
Naughty: 
John Racener, whose third DUI arrest completely obliterated all that he had accomplished on the felt this year. 
Shaun Deeb, for his "Tootsie" turn at the WSOP Ladies' Event.  It wasn't original and it proved nothing other than the fact that he is in serious need of a bra.
WSOP bracelet sellers, for trivializing a significant accomplishment.
The State of Washington, for losing its rep as a forward-thinking state when its Supreme Court ruled in favor of its online poker.
Harry Reid, for being a weasel, a wuss, and a phony. 

Nice:
Michael Mizrachi, for giving us a great ride as he tried for the WSOP trifecta, and bringing along his entertaining family to share the experience with all of us.
Phil Laak, for his stamina, his resilience, and his sense of humor.
First-time bracelet winners, for making us feel sorry for MIT and Harvard educated, but bracelet-less, Andy Bloch.
Matt Affleck, for playing great poker, losing excruciatingly, yet accepting it with grace.
New Hall of Fame members Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel, for representing poker with grace and class and skill.

Check out my articles from the past year over at Poker Player Newspaper.  And Happy New Year!

How to Improve the WSOP Main Event Final Table Ratings

The ratings are in and they're not good. Viewership for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table fell 30% this year to 1.563 million from the 2.2 million viewers who watched last year. There were two significant differences between this year and last that may have contributed to this decline.  ESPN pushed back its airing of the final table to 10:00 pm EST from 9:00 pm and poker superstar Phil Ivey was not at this year's final table.

But neither of those differences tells the entire story of why ratings are not only down, but so low for what is the biggest event of the year for poker. Considering poker's popularity and wide-range appeal, its 0.6 rating in the key 18-to-49 demographic is particularly disappointing.

ESPN put all its eggs in the Main Event basket this year, broadcasting weeks and weeks worth of episodes of the Main Event, adding hours to its coverage, and bringing the final table on air within hours of its completion. In past years, most of the final nine were unknown.  With so many entrants and just one or two tables covered, it was unlikely that anyone who made it to the end would have been seen during the earlier broadcast. Yet this year many of the final nine had their odyssey followed by the TV cameras by the luck of the featured table draw or, in one player's case, by virtue of his celebrity.

Michael Mizrachi was the big story from this year's WSOP and he was featured throughout the months-long telecast, first as one of four brothers doing the impossible by all cashing in the Main Event and then later as he marched toward trying to accomplish the improbable -- winning the $50K Players' Championship, the Main Event and the Player of the Year (which he would have shared with Frank Kassela) in the same year. Mizrachi is more than TV friendly with his outgoing personality, strong table presence and adorable wife.  His inclusion in the November Nine should have more than made up for the absence of Phil Ivey this year.

In addition to Mizrachi, many of the other players who made it to November were already well familiar to the TV audience. Fililppo Candio had more than his share of face time in the early coverage.  From his post-win celebration that cost him a penalty round, to his singing, to his unorthodox play, he was a regular fixture in the early coverage.  He was first spotted on Day 3 when his pocket kings cracked an opponent's pocket aces on the river and he went from dejected to bursting with Mediterranean elation.  At the beginning of Day 4 coverage, ESPN's Lon McEachern pointed out Candio, whom he called "the excitable Italian," as among the chip leaders as they headed to the money and he was at the featured table for Day 5 coverage.

Also seen on Day 5 was Soi Nguyen going from all in to fourth in chips when his full house beat his opponent's rivered flush and Jonathan Duhamel seeing his stack shrink to just fifteen big blinds.  As each of the November Nine moved closer to their date with destiny, they had more face time on ESPN which meant more opportunities to help them connect with viewers.  But this great oppportunity was apparently squandered as the viewers did not appear invested enough in the players they'd been following  for so long to turn out on November 9 to watch them.

So where exactly did ESPN go wrong?

The Announcers
  
Lon McEachern and Norman Chad have been covering the WSOP since 2003.  Lon is an admitted novice when it comes to poker; he is an announcer and nothing more.  Norm is supposed to provide the color commentary and expertise since he at least knows what beats what without having to refer to a cheat sheet, but he is far from an expert commentator.  However, the bigger problem is not in their collective lack of expertise in the sport they are covering, but in the tone of their coverage. 

Norm puts out more effort in trying to come up with a joke than in analyzing the play around the table.  He acts as if he is on the ESPN Classic show Cheap Seats (the sports version of Mystery Science Theatre) where the announcers do a comic riff off of some old sports footage.  A little humor is fine, but the repetitive shtick of Norman Chad has cheapened the show into nothing more than a backdrop for his "ragin' Cajun" or "rambling wreck" jokes or another opportunity to work in one of his cutesy phrases.  We've been collectivel "whamboozled" into buying him as an announcer when he brings "squadoosh" to the telecast.  Lon, doing his best courtesy chuckle a la Ed McMahon, adds absolutely nothing to the broadcast.

Anyone who watched the ESPN3 live stream of the final table heard the commentators actually talk about position and chip stack and momentum.  It wasn't a Comedy Store routine, it was a sports broadcast.  That's what is missing from the ESPN.  The announcers need to take the game seriously, be knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and know how to build and sustain tension.  They need to add to, not detract from, what they are showing.  And they need to respect the game and approach it like any other sport.  Instead, they treat it like a joke, then are surprised when viewers don't take it seriously enough to tune in.

The production

The pacing of the show fails to tell a linear story and fails to build momentum.  It is choppy and unfocused.  It would be as if on Saturdays the college gameday telecast had one play from each of the NCAA football games that were being played that day.  Over here they gained five yards, over there they punted, over there we have an interception and now back over here we have a touchdown.  Hard to get excited without seeing the play in context. 

Here's some extremely telling perspective on what the televised WSOP looks like to the home audience.  This recreational poker player was told by someone who had seen the final table live that he wouldn't believe this one hand when it aired.  This was in reference to the stunning hand in which Matthew Jarvis went from a coin flip, nines versus ace-queen, was behind after two queens came on the flop, went ahead after a nine on the turn, then was knocked out when an ace came on the river.  As someone in the Penn & Teller Theatre during that hand, I can tell you that the audience reacted as if they'd seen a a train wreck with nuclear cargo on board. 

On TV, this hand for the ages paled.  He actually wrote, "I guess they didn't air that hand."  The TV viewer went on to summarize what watching the WSOP final table was like from his perspective.  "That's what they do with the broadcast. All in - player eliminated. All in - wow, player survived. All in - player eliminated. All in - wow, player survived. And now, a little human interest story. All in - we have a new champion. Great poker. I learned a lot."  And that was the review of a poker fan.

There should be summaries of missing hands, if only to say, someone lost a third of their stack here, or someone picked up some chips there.  Without numbering the hands and putting a clock in the corner to show how long action has been going on (two other good ideas), the viewers are left in the dark.  Hands just happen out of nowhere and  without any context of what happened previously.   

We need less jumping around from table to table, and less interrupting the action to give us some irrelevant back story.  We don't pause the action of a Laker's game to discuss Ron Artest's tough childhood neighborhood or update Derek Fisher's daughter's health.  During the game, the broadcast is focused on the action.

The marketing

When the WSOP first announced the development of the November Nine idea, it was sold as a way to build interest in the players.  And after the first year failed to do much to expand their reach beyond poker media, it was said that next year more would be done.  Well,  it's been two "next years" since then and still no one outside of the regular viewers of the WSOP on ESPN knew who was at the final table.  I wrote two years ago that they should use this time to get the players on the Ellen show, teaching her poker, get on Letterman showing him stupid human tricks with poker chips, get on any of the myriad talk shows that seem to need guests like the rest of us need air.  I even went so far to suggest the entire November Nine should be locked up in the Big Brother house.

You have to expose the public to something for them to learn to like it.  If the WSOP stays hidden away two hours a week on ESPN, and the members of the final table do not get their faces out there, they will never expand interest into who wins.  And that is crazy considering there is so much money at stake.  The November Nine need to spend less time with the poker media, who is preaching to the choir and not reaching any new potential viewers, and try to get on The View or Wendy Williams. 

Finally, leading up to the final table, ESPN could broadcast a episode that spotlights each of the nine, stringing together whatever they have of their hands during the earlier rounds.  Have them discuss the linear story, how they went from 30,000 in chips to where they sit today -- tell a story.  Then when they sit around the felt for the final time the audience will know how they got there, feel invested in the outcome, and be watching carefully for how they do.

The WSOP final table will never be treated like a sport so long as it requires any delay and will always be hampered by the necessity of showing hole cards.  Without that, it could be aired live.  Perhaps if the players where stashed in a hermetically sealed chamber buried deep underground in Burbank, California, and there was no risk of information being relayed to them, we could do that.  But barring that, there are steps that can be taken to make the broadcast more professional, more exciting, and more accessible.

The WSOP Main Event Final Table -- So How's My Predicting

I could have gone back and edited my last blog post, change my predictions, and look like a genius today.  The final two?  Well, that's easy.  Jonathan Duhamel, the overwhelming chip leader going into the final table, and savvy John Racener.  But, in the interest of honesty -- and since I couldn't edit the podcast with Lou Krieger where I made my fearless, and now feckless, prognostication -- let me say, you win some, you lose some.

Here's where I was right.  Soi Nguyen, the only true amateur at the table and one of the smallest chipstacks, did leave first.  Matthew Jarvis also did not make a deep run, as I predicted, but was dealt a cruel hand to be his last.  Jason Senti lasted longer than he should have considering how exceedingly shortstacked he was, and I thought he might move up a couple slots because he is a pretty good player.  Okay, so far, so good. 

Then we get to John Dolan.  The Allen Cunningham doppelganger let me down in a big way.  He went from second in chips to out in sixth place.  Sure, his play cost him some seven million dollars give or take, but he cost me my poker handicapping reputation (which I didn't have and now won't).  He won four of the first sixteen hands and I -- I mean, he -- was looking good.  Then in all started to unravel.  He (pun alert) "flushed" about 13 million chips down the toilet when he tangled with Joseph Cheong.  Dolan had pocket jacks in a hand that Cheong had reraised preflop.  Dolan slow-played his over pair on a ten-high flop, checked again when a queen came on the turn, but a third jack on the river got his attention.  Unfortunately, it also completed a runner-runner nut flush for Cheong. 

He never got anything going and only won a couple small pots, mostly slowly chipping away before letting Jonathan Duhamel finish him off when the now short-stacked Dolan pushed queen-five suited against Duhamel's pocket fours and the board blanked.  My first place finisher was out in sixth place.

I did not expect Candio to do as well as fourth and he probably wouldn't have had Mizrachi not made that ill-timed move with pocket threes.  If you're new to poker, let me tell you pocket threes is not a powerhouse.  If your a poker expert who was this close to player of the year after winning a prestigious bracelet earlier in the year, let me tell you pocket threes is not worth pushing with.  Even against someone you think is gunshy.  Even against someone who just lost half their stack.   Even against someone you know is holding pocket twos (okay, maybe then, but only then).  If you ever see pocket threes again, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.  They may be the only hand worse than pocket jacks.  But Mizrachi decided to make a move with those threes and paid the price with a disappointing fifth place finish.

But aside from my not being able to pick a poker winner, what I'll remember most from that night were the sick, sick hands that dispatched many of the players.   Matthew Jarvis moved all in with pocket nines, Michael Mizrachi calls with a suited ace-queen.  The flop a decisive queen-eight-queen.  Mizrachi has the hand locked up, right?  Jarvis is on life support.  Until a miraculous nine fall on the turn.  I gasped, everyone collectively gasped and for a moment I thought oxygen masks would fall down from the ceiling.  Then the river.  An ace!!  I turned to the people around me -- did they see what I saw?  Aliens landed, Big Foot attacked, Lindsey Lohan made a good career move.  I wasn't sure I still had a pulse. 

Here's the hand if you haven't seen it yet.  Even if you have, it's like a car accident, you can't not look:


That was the theme for much of the final table.  In another hand that tested how sturdy my heart is,  Jason Senti had battled back from his position as a super short stack to see two players out before him.  He was all in against Joseph Cheong, with ace-king against Cheong's pocket tens.  The flop seemed emphatic (where have I seen that before?) with king-king-queen.  A set of kings should be good.  A set should hold up.  Cheong has just two outs, a ten to make a full house.  Until the turn comes a jack.  Now Cheong has four additional outs, any nine will give him a straight for the win.  The audience again loudly acknowledged the sweat, and then the unthinkable happened again.  A nine of the river turned the loser into a winner and sent another player to the rail. 

There were other sick hands.  Senti earlier had chipped up against Cheong by catching running cards to make a flush after he was way behind after the flop.  Racener doubling through Duhamel when he went heads up way, way behind, ace-queen versus ace-king, and hit the queen on the flop.  All I could think was, live poker is so rigged. 

So congrats to the winner -- you didn't do what I thought you would do and use your huge chip stack to try, unsuccessfully, to bully the table.  And thanks to John Racener for making half my top two prediction come true.

Who Will Win the 2010 WSOP Main Event?

Predicting the winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event would probably be best left up to Paul the octopus.  But with his recent demise, I have weighed in with my own selections as to who will come out on top from the November Nine.  Keeping in mind that I never saw either Jerry Yang or Joe Cada as having a Republican's chance in California of winning, I'm probably wrong. 

On Lou Krieger's show Keep Flopping Aces, I predicted John Dolan to come in first, with John Racener as my next pick.  Surprisingly, Lou agreed with me and so we have nothing wagered on this outcome -- we're either both geniuses or both the victims of bad luck.  Here's the link to the podcast where Lou and I discuss all nine and make our fearless predictions:  Rounders Radio.  Here's the link to Lou's most recent blog article regarding the final table and our picks:  Keep Flopping Aces.  Please overlook the unnecessarily large picture of me and trust that my hair has moved into the 21st Century.

So why the two Johns?  Let's start with the premise that the chip leader going in is going to take too many risks, overplay his hands, and be the shorter stacks' target early on.  Add to that the fact that Jonathan Duhamel was ridiculously lucky to get all those chips.  That hand against Matt Affleck means Duhamel is out of luck, probably for the rest of his life. He made a bad call that turned into a stunning bad beat for Affleck and gave Duhamel a monstrous stack of chips. It is likely that what the poker gods gave, they will just as soon take away. Here's video of that hand.  Be warned, it's not for the squeamish. And to read more about Duhamel's path to the final nine, click here.



John Dolan reminds me a lot of Allen Cunningham -- he's calm, laid back, all business. I think a cool demeanor will help him at the final table just as it did following what was a disastrous Day 7 where he ended the day 24th out of 27. He fought back on Day 8, winning not by sucking out, a la Duhamel, but by putting it in with the best. And during the six-and-a-half marathon bubble play, he doubled his chip stack by showing fearless aggression -- exactly what he'll need this weekend. For more on how Dolan got to the final table, click here.

I like John Racener's position going into the final table.  He's fourth in chips and so has some chips with which to play, possibly at the expense of the short stacks, and some time before he needs to worry about the big stacks.  He's a solid player who has already amassed good results with four cashes in last year's WSOP and three others this year prior to the Main Eent.  His play was less than stellar the last half of Day 8 and that actually gives him the chance to learn from those mistakes and go to the final table better prepared.  Click here for a recap of Racener's run at the Main Event. 

Who doesn't want Michael Mizrachi to win?  Well, besides the eight other guys at the table, I'd say only Frank Kassela, who will have to share WSOP Player of the Year with Mizrachi if he pulls out that win.  Mizrachi has managed to overcome some problems with Uncle Sam earlier in the year to become the feel-good story of the 2010 WSOP, along with his many brothers.  His nickname "the Grinder" is not ironic and it's that steady play that may compensate for his rather anemic stack going into tomorrow.  With just a little over 14 million, fewer than thirty big blinds, Mizrachi will have to find some good hands early.  But if he does, watch out -- he could spoil Kassela's party.  Click here for the recap of how Mizrachi made it to the final table. 

Up until I watched the ESPN broadcast of Day 8, I couldn't have picked Matthew Jarvis out of a lineup, and I'd already written two articles about him.  He does not have much of a presence, which usually signals doom at a poker table.  On the other hand, he sits in the middle of the pack, which is actually a good place from which to make a move.  And he did show some muscle on Day 6, taking out four opponents before the dinner break.  What we've seen of him on TV shows a solid, deliberate, no frills player.  I should be more bullish on him, but for some reason I'm not.  Click here for my article on how he made it to the final table. 

Joseph "subiime" Cheong should be a favorite.  He sits third in chips, he's a darn good player, and he's even had success in the interim since making the final table.  Yet I don't see the killer instinct and bold aggression that the winner is going to need to take this down.  What impressed me -- his unflappability following that cruel bad beat at the hand of Filippo Candio -- maybe his undoing.  Poker players should get riled up from time to time.  He may lack the killer instinct necessary to win it all.  Read my recap of his play here.

Amateur Soi Nguyen has an all-star team of poker friends, but one of the shortest stacks at the table.  Filippo Candio is the first Italian to make it to the final table, but he's used up all his Ave Marias just getting there, as is evidenced by the sick whooping he laid on Cheong:


Finally we have Jason Senti.  I must apologize for mispronouncing his name repeatedly on Lou's show.  Apparently it's sent-eye, not sent-ee.  However you say it, with fewer than fifteen times the big blind, he'll need a good hand pretty soon for us to even worry about having to say his name.  But I like the guy.  He's a rocker, which already makes him a-okay in my book.  Plus, he's has a great, easy-going personality which can be disarming at the table.  If he doubles up quickly, he could be this year's Jerry Yang.

President Obama's Post "Shellacking" Speech

The White House YouTube channel not only has the entire speech and press conference from the day after the midterm election, but an interactive transcript. Wish I'd seen that before I started trying to transcribe what the president was saying. Here's the video in its entirety:


One of the parts I found most telling came at the 50 minute mark. The reporter asked the president "Are you willing to make any changes in your leadership style?" This is what the president said:

Folks didn’t have any complaints about my leadership style when I was running around Iowa for a year and they got a pretty good look at me up close and personal. They were able to lift the hood and kick the tires. I think they understood that my story was theirs. I might have a funny name and I might have lived in some different places, but the values of hard work and responsibility and honesty and lookin’ out for one another that had been instilled in them by their parents those were the same values that I took from my mom and my grandparents. So the track record has been that when I’m out of this place, that’s not an issue. When you're in this place it is hard not to seem removed. And one of the challenges that we've got to think about is how to I meet my responsibilities here in the White House which requires a lot of hours and a lot of work but still have the opportunity to engage with the American people on a day-to-day basis and give them confidence that I’m listening to them.

So the president admitted what many of us have been saying for years -- that he is a better campaigner than he is a president. He admits that he was successful in Iowa, shaking hands and giving speeches, but not as successful in the White House. Interestingly, this seems similar to his experience in Harvard Law School, where he first showed his talent at campaigning and also showed that, once elected, he leaves the actual work to others.

Unfortunately, while we have a political system that requires a person be a good campaigner as a prerequisite to getting into office, we will often have people running the government whose talent stops at the point that they are sworn in. It would be nice if we as a voting public weren't so swayed by personality and charm and poise and looks, but we are. We often wrongly conclude that if you are good enough and smart enough to run a good campaign, that will translate to your talent once you've taken office. But as our current president has proved, this is a false syllogism.

Barack Obama had no policy ideas, no plans for America, no solutions. What he had was the ability to tap into the national zeitgeist at just the right time. Plus, the Republicans helped him out with a lackluster campaigner in John McCain and a divisive lightning rod in Sarah Palin. And George Bush did much to inflame the anti-Republican passions with his disconnected affect and inability to articulate. This plus the excitement that Obama engendered led to his big win in 2008. But this win was misinterpreted as a shift to the left in America -- and the election Tuesday confirmed that the country does not want to move in that direction.

Many in America have been feeling buyer's remorse since Obama was sworn into office and Tuesday was the first chance to demonstrate that dissatisfaction. They had believed his campaign rhetoric about change only to discover that their trust was misguided. His was as one-sided an administration as Nixon's, distrustful and rejecting of the other side, patronizing the opposition, full of hubris. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thought they could belittle and marginalize the Republicans and restructure the government in their image, regardless of what the American people really wanted.

Their liberal agenda received the shellacking -- his word -- that it deserved. Now it's up to the Republicans to take their mandate and turn it into some real change in government. Go back to the original Republican values that were abandoned during much of the Bush administration. Bring spending down, help businesses create jobs, streamline the government, and keep our nation safe. They have two years to make good on their promises and to justify the faith the American people have placed in them.

Republican Party Moving Toward Greater Diversity

As a Jewish female it has often bothered me that my party of choice is mostly led by a collection of old White guys. When Michael Steele became the new face of the Republican Party, I was happy with the change, yet worried that he was still the exception that proved the rule.

Yesterday’s landslide victory for Republicans may be the big story, but lost in that headline is the fact that the Republicans elected a number of candidates outside the usual white, male stereotype. With the election of Marco Rubio, Susanna Martinez, Brian Sandoval, Nikki Haley, Mary Fallin, Kelly Ayotte, Tim Scott and Allen West, the Republican Party is starting a move towards looking more like America.

Marco Rubio, a second-generation Cuban American, was elected Senator in Florida, fending off both the Democrat opponent but also a run by independent Charlie Crist. In Nevada, while Democrat Harry Reid held on to his Senate seat, Republican Brian Sandoval defeated Reid's son to become the state’s first Hispanic governor. In nearby New Mexico, Susana Martinez became the first female governor of her state and the first Latina governor in the country.

Allen West’s win in South Florida’s 22nd Congressional District makes him the first African-American Republican to represent Florida in Congress since the 1870s. Similarly, in South Carolina, Tim Scott -- who defeated Strom Thurmond's son -- became the first African-American Republican to represent that state in Congress since the Reconstruction.  Speaking about their historic wins, Timothy F. Johnson, the founder and chairman of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, told an interviewer last night that "we can say with pride that America is a diverse and unique country. Its people are not monolithic looking, thinking, or voting." But in an effort to deflect attention away from race and on to policy, he added, "The best candidates won, and that includes the black Republicans who will take their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives January 2011."

Nikki Haley, of South Carolina, and Mary Fallin, of Oklahoma, became the first female governors of their states. Haley, an Indian-American, became the second Republican of Indian heritage to win a major election, joining Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Kelly Ayotte adds her name to the growing list of female Republican senators which also includes likely write-in winner Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, and Maine’s Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. While they were unsuccessful in their bids last night, other women running as Republicans included former CEOs Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California and Tea Party favorite, but polarizing, Christine O’Donnell in Delaware.

Before yesterday’s election, Republican Party chairman Steele discussed his party’s move towards greater diversity, running ten African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and more than 100 women for Congress. "I think we've made great strides in that regard." He added a hopeful note, "I think we will see - and have seen over the course of the past year - more and more people of color, people of diverse backgrounds, identifying with our party."

I share that optimism and welcome more people to join us under what will increasingly become a much bigger tent.

Vote Tomorrow!!!

One of the more interesting biennial occurrences in America is the midterm election. It is usually not so much about the candidates or issues of that election cycle, as much as a response to what happened two years earlier. The midterm election is the electorate’s response to the President and Congress’ symbolic “How’s my driving?” bumper sticker.

We’ve had the “contract with America” election of 1994 in which the voters told Bill Clinton and the Democratic-controlled Congress we’re not happy. In 2006, it was the Republican president and representatives who heard the deafening “NO!” from the voters. It’s time again for the disgruntled and disillusioned to have their say, and pollsters and prognosticators are predicting a landslide victory for Republican candidates in the house with strong gains in the Senate and the State houses.

I would think that this year, it would be hard to find a voter who wasn’t angry with those in power. On the Liberal side of the spectrum, you voted for “change” only to see most of your key issues not addressed. Yes, a form of health care restructuring was passed, but it was not as extreme as the Liberals wanted. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is still being supported by this administration in the courts, we’re still in Iraq and Pakistan, even Gitmo is still open.

Moderates who believed that Obama would bring bipartisan change to Washington have seen him lock Republicans out of meetings and promote divisiveness. They’ve seen money poured into solve every problem, the administration giving more handouts than a pedophile at Halloween.

Conservatives have seen every core value they hold dear come under attack and they’ve been ridiculed and marginalized as crazy extremists. Those who wanted limited government and tax relief have been labeled as evil or uncaring. Our president has recently told Republicans, they can get on the bus, but they’ll have to sit in the back.

So if no one is happy with the direction this President and this Congress are taking America, what will happen tomorrow? Much depends, as it always does, on voter turnout. There is no clearer way to make your opinion known that to vote. For all the water cooler talk, blogging, posting, tweeting, calling into talk radio, it is only what you do tomorrow that really matters.

I live in California where Republicans have put up two candidates for the major contests that have failed to ignite voter excitement. Meg Whitman has run a confusing campaign for Governor, spending too much time trying to court unlikely voters rather than rallying the Republican base. This is not the year to pander or run as a moderate. Carly Fiorina could have won in a landslide if she just ran commercials of Senator Boxer talking. Whether she was a godsend at Hewlett-Packard or just another overpaid executive, she would be infinitely better for California than the “reliably liberal” Boxer.

As a Republican, I hope the turnout of other Republicans in California will be great enough to overcome the less than electrifying campaigns these two women have run. And if they have to win by virtue of anti-Obama, anti-Brown and anti-Boxer votes, rather than based on any voter enthusiasm for them, I’ll take it.

If you want to have your voice heard, if you are not happy with the direction the country is moving, then say something where and when it counts. VOTE tomorrow.

California Proposition 19 -- Is the State Going to Pot?

According to the most recent polling information, California State Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana possession, is likely to go down to defeat.  The nonpartisan Field Poll results for October 31st show only 42% of likely voters support Proposition 19, while 49% oppose it.  This is a reversal from polling in September which showed the initiative leading 49-to-42%.

Currently, possession of a small amount of marijuana, if prosecuted at all, is dealt with like a traffic fine.  And marijuana is legal for medicinal uses.  So why the need for the initiative?  Some support legalization to end hypocrisy and double standards (why is possession of pot criminalized at all while alcohol is not, they'll say), while others believe the state is missing out on the potential revenue that taxation would afford.  Proposition 19 would not just legalize pot, but would also allow local governments to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana in the State. 

Candidates for statewide election on both sides of the aisle have indicated their opposition to the proposition as have the police chiefs of every county save San Francisco.  Some oppose the initiative because they don't want to appear soft on drugs or on crime.  Others, such as the L.A. Times, think the law would create an unnecessary additional level of governmental bureaucracy by requiring each of the 536 separate cities and counties in the State to impose their own rules.

The outcome for this proposition may be affected by the turnout.  If Republicans, motivated to send an anti-Obama message to Washington, come out in droves, it is likely that Prop. 19 will go down to defeat.  Latest polling shows Democrats support Prop 19 by a slim majority (51%), while Republicans oppose it 65% to 25%.  Voters under 40 years old (who lean Democrat) support the initiative 54% to 38%, while voters 65 or older (more likely Republican) are against it, 63% to 29%.

This may not be the year that pot becomes legalized in California, but proponents will surely try again.  Perhaps a rewrite that better establishes regulatory policies would overcome some of the more mainstream opposition.  But it is surprising that a State that looks to be sending one of the most Liberal Senators back to Washington is too conservative to support legalizing marijuana.

Getting ready for the WSOP Final Table -- The November Nine

The final table will start on November 6th, at 12:00 noon, in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio.  They are starting out on Level 36 with blinds of 250,000/500,000 and antes of 50,000. The average chip stack is just under 24 million. Action will be broadcast on a five minute delay, without hole cameras, on ESPN3. The final two players will return at 8:00 pm on November 8 for the final heads up match. ESPN will air the final table on November 9.

Here are the seat assignments (and chip counts) for the final table: 

Seat 1: Jason Senti (7,625,000)
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong (23,525,000)
Seat 3: John Dolan (46,250,000)
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel (65,975,000)
Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi (14,450,000)
Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis (16,700,000)
Seat 7: John Racener (19,050,000)
Seat 8: Filippo Candio (16,400,000)
Seat 9: Soi Nguyen (9,650,000)

I did a series for Poker Player Newspaper on how each of the final nine got there, looking at their chip counts each day and significant reported hands.  You can check out those articles here:  http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/category/authors/shari-geller

Here's a quick rundown on the final nine.

In Seat 1 is Jason Senti, a 25-year-old online pro who plays under the name PBJaxx and works as a poker instructor at BlueFirePoker.  He goes into the final table as the short stack, with just fifteen big blinds left.  But he's been down before and battled back.  He had just 15 big blinds on Day 6, finished 69 out of 78, was all in on Day 7 after losing half his starting stack, then went on a tear.  His stack ballooned to fourth place, before being ground down during the long Day 8.

Unlike most at the final table who heeded poker's call early, Senti graduated from college (the University of North Dakota) with a degree in engineering before turning pro.  Not surprisingly, he credits being good at math with much of his poker success, as well as "understanding psychology."  He's concentrates mostly on cash games, but did have one other WSOP cash in the event just before the big one, he finished 32nd in the $10K NLHE Head's-Up event.  But he recently tweeted that he was under the weather.  This would not be an opportune time to be sick!

Seat 2 begins the murderer's row of big stacks. Joseph Cheong is the third in chips, but is one of the best, most experience, most feared players at the table.  He had two prior cashes in this year's WSOP, a 24^th in $1500 six-handed event and 29^th in the $5,000 six-handed event.  As the table shrinks, he can use this experience to his advantage.  And Cheong has been on a roll, with two cashes in the European Poker Tour, since making the November Nine.  He had a 24th place finish and was runner up in the High Roller Turbo event.  He also recently won the Festa al Lago at the Bellagio. 

Like Senti, he's a college graduate, having earned a combined psychology, economics and math degree from UC San Diego.  Cheong's, whose first name is Saguhyon, was born in Seoul, South Korea, but now makes La Mirada, California his home.  He plays online under the name “subiime” and won a mini FTOPS last year earning $55,000.

In Seat 3 is John Dolan, second in chips.  He plays live tournaments and online under the name JRD312. The 23-year-old Floridian dropped out of Florida State University to concentrate on poker full time.  He's done pretty well for himself, with $216,556 in live tournament cashes, including a 6th place finish in one of the $1K NLHE events at this year’s WSOP for $82,804. He’s also cashed for over $1.1 million dollars on FullTiltPoker and PokerStars.

Dolan will be in the unenviable position of having the massive chip leader to his left, and has Cheong, to his right.  So it will be interesting to see how this, and his relative lack of experience compared with some, leads him to handle such a substantial starting stack.  This is especially true when you consider he began Day 8 in 24th place out of the remaining 27 and yet managed to surge to second in chips.  He has played in the big tournaments since the WSOP -- the WSOP Europe and the EPT -- and had just one cash, at the EPT, outlasting fellow November Niner Filippo Candio.

Seat 4 will be hard to see behind his massive stack of chips.  But Jonathan Duhamel will likely make his presence known, continuing the aggressive play that put him on top.  While the rest feared the bubble, he went on a rampage, tearing up for the last five hours before the tenth place finisher was knocked out.  The French-Canadian Duhamel dropped out of college where he was studying finance to focus on poker full time, a decision that right now looks brilliant. But what's interesting is, if you watched all of the ESPN coverage of the main event, Duhamel almost didn't make it to the end.

Duhamel shoved for his last 1.715 and was in a race AhKc against the pocket sixes of Robert Pisano. The flop was a blank, 7d3cJh, and the 5c turn left him with just six outs to stave off elimination. But the dealer showed a near-miraculous Kh and Duhamel was still alive and sitting on about 3.5 million.  He survived another all in about an hour later and now is the monster chip leader.  Will he sail to the end, or will some other short stack get lucky against him and start chipping away at his lead?  Time will tell.

Seat 5 is the best known player at the table, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.  Known earlier in the year for an unfortunate tax problem, he rewrote his own 2010 by first winning the $50K Players Championship then helming Team Mizrachi which saw all four brothers cash in the main event this year.  If Mizrachi wins the main event, he ties Frank Kasela for Player of the Year and basically rewrites the WSOP record book.

He was nearly down so many times during the main event, you wonder how he could bounce back.  But there is something to being a seasoned pro, and something to the power of having your family supporting you.  He brings all of that, if not an impressive chip stack, to the final table.  I wouldn't count him out.

In Seat 6 is Matthew Jarvis and I hate to admit it but after having written about him twice, I still have to look him up.  It's only when I remember he's the Ginger of the group that I can at all recall his play over the previous eight days.  Jarvis is of the lesser known players, whose hands were not covered extensively by ESPN, and this may work to his advantage.  He is the second Canadian at the final table, living in Surrey, British Columbia.  He is 25 and his father is a golf pro who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

He had the chip lead when it was down to the last 15, but his stack spiraled downward from then.  But he was the one who dealt the fatal blow, knocking out Brandon Steven in 10th place.  Since making the final table he has won the Canadian Open Poker championship in Calgary for just under $100K, came in 40^th place at a WSOP-Europe event, and won the Festa al Lago $1,000 buy-in NLHE event at Bellagio earlier this month.

Seat 7 has John Racener who, based on what I've seen of him during the ESPN coverage, would make an excellent model for art students.  Or a corpse for a very long CSI episode.  The guy doesn't move.  He gives away nothing.  He is the anti-Filippo Candio (see below).  I doubt he has a pulse.  Even though he's under the chip average and behind the massive stacks of Duhamel and Dolan), I like Racener's chances to go all the way.

The twenty-four-year-old Florida native John Racener may be young, but he already has an impressive poker resume. He had four cashes and one final table in last year’s World Series of Poker and three cashes in this year’s WSOP preliminary events including one in PLO and another in 7-Card Stud.  He also came in 5th at a PLO event at the WSOP-Europe.

Seat 8 has the fiery Italian, Filippo Candio.  First noticed on the ESPN broadcast for an exuberant celebration after winning an all in that landed him in poker time out, he was later part of that insane hand against Joseph Cheong.  Candio has made himself known and whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen.  He wears his heart and other internal organs on his striped sleeve and will be the most entertaining of the final nine.

What is interesting about Candio's run is the fact that he finished Day 1 second in chips.  It is a rare feat for someone who peaked early to stay around till the end.  He was involved in a number of questionable hands, including one apparent slow roll and another hand where he pushed chips forward then tried to pull them back (the floor was brought in and it was ruled a call; he lost the hand).  The native of the tiny island of Sardinia chose not to follow in his father's footsteps and become a lawyer, but to try poker.  He is already guaranteed a nice payday even if it all ends on the first hand.  But this unpredictable player may have staying power.

The last seat is occupied by Cuong "Soi" Nguyen, this year's Darvin Moon.  The untested amateur is going in with just under twenty big blinds, but also with low expectations and less known about him than some of the other players.  All this will work to his advantage.  The old man at the table at 37, he plays mostly at local LA clubs including Bicycle and Commerce.  But he will have help along the way as our "amateur" counts among his friends such poker luminaries as Tuan Le, Nam Le, JC Tran, and Steve Sung.

Born in Vietnam and currently residing in Santa Ana where he works as a manager for a medical supply company, Nguyen developed a reputation during the main event as an aggressive player and also made some good reads down the road.  At one point during Day 7, he was in the chip lead after calling pro Theo Jorgensen with just top pair.  His read was good, Jorgensen was on a draw, and when the board ran out safe, Nguyen was out on top.  To get back there, he'll need a little luck in addition to his aggression and good reads.   
 
I'll be on Lou Krieger's show Keep Flopping Aces tonight discussing all this and our predictions for the November Nine. You can find it on Rounder's Radio, starting at 6:00 pm PDT.

Inspiration from the Rail

This was published in two parts by Poker Player Newspaper, but because of the limitations of space, it had to be cut down. Here's the complete article:

Donnie Vann started playing poker in the ninth grade on a junior high trip to Washington, D.C. His cousin Lamar had taught him the fundamentals of the game – basically what beats what and how you make the best hand – back when he was about ten years old. Donnie played off and on, but about five years ago, he became caught up in the poker excitement like so many others in the wake of Chris Moneymaker’s astonishing win in the 2003 World Series of Poker. He started playing online and in casinos near his home in Jacksonville, Florida.

Little of this would be noteworthy, were it not for the fact that Donnie Vann is paralyzed from his shoulders down. Injured in a diving accident when he was just 15-years-old, Donnie broke his neck and has been a quadriplegic ever since. To see his cards at a live game, he needs the assistance of one of his round-the-clock nurses who has to show him his cards while not exposing them to anyone else at the table.  He tells them what he wants to do and they make the moves that he cannot.  He plays mostly at local casinos, but this summer he set out to make a dream come true. He got a trailer, loaded it up, brought along his nurses, and headed out west to play in the biggest poker tournament of them all, the World Series of Poker.

I had a chance to catch up with Donnie in the middle of the West Coast part of his adventure. He was very upbeat and excited about the trip so far and looking forward to the next couple of weeks. He told me that he set out from his home on D-Day, June 6th, in a van with a trailer attached. That seemed like a fitting choice of a start date as travelling for someone with such a serious medical condition would seem to require preparation on a military scale. It took five days to make the trek and he started a blog to record his experiences along the way – http://dvann.blogspotcom/.

Once Donnie arrived in Las Vegas, he quickly met up with people who heard of his story and wanted to help, dispelling the stereotype of Las Vegas as seedy and uncaring. He had actually met one of these people, poker pro Susie Isaacs, some months earlier when she and fellow pro Tom McEvoy were teaching a poker seminar on tournament play at the Orange Park Kennel Club in Jacksonville, followed by two days of tournament play.

“After I was knocked out of the tournament, I was sitting next to Susie and we started talking and just hit it off," Donnie told me. "We went to dinner and we have kept in touch by email and phone calls here and there. She is wonderful. She has done so much for me. She’s really made my experience out here through the moon. Without her, I wouldn’t be able to do half the stuff I’m doing now.”

And what Donnie is doing is having the time of his life. Thanks to Susie, he was able to get a sponsor for his first WSOP appearance. Susie then told her friend Doralee Rae, aka Lady Pink, about his story. Lady Pink, in turn, offered to pay his buy-in to one of the $1K tournaments if he would wear her logo. Susie also put Donnie in touch with the people at FullTilt Poker. “She told them my story and they liked it and then put their logo on the trailer that I brought with me to carry all my stuff. They gave me clothes to wear. She really helped me in so many ways.”

But Donnie also helps himself. He was not coming to the WSOP unprepared. He had entered a satellite at his local casino, a $150 buy-in that, if it attracted at least 100 players, would award one seat to the Main Event. 132 players entered that tournament – and it was Donnie Vann who took it down. “I was prepared to pay the $10,000 if I had to in order to play, but I ended up winning the satellite. I’m really looking forward to playing in the Main Event. My mom, my nurses, and my best friend will all be there on the 6th” when Donnie was scheduled to play Day One.

Donnie finished the $1K event in the middle of the pack, happy to get his feet wet, even if he didn’t cash.  With his first WSOP event under his belt, Donnie was ready for more. First, he entered the Pot Limit Omaha 8/b event. Then, it was time for the big show -- the WSOP Main Event.

Like so many other poker players, Donnie Vann has wanted to go to Las Vegas for the WSOP for some time, “It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the World Series of Poker,” he told me during our interview last month. Watching the broadcast on TV, he set his sights on being one of the many at the Rio vying for the most prestigious title in all of poker.  But, for Donnie, a quadriplegic who relies on around-the-clock nurses to help him with even the most mundane matters the rest of us take for granted, it was a dream that took quite a bit more planning and effort.  And his presence at the series has drawn a bit more attention than the average recreational player.

Once he arrived in Las Vegas, Donnie had the chance to meet many of the poker players he had followed on TV for years. “I met several of them so far. I got to get my picture taken between Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. I also met TJ Cloutier, Joe Hachem, and Jerry Yang.” As his blog will attest, he also had the chance to meet and take pictures with Carlos Mortenson, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein and many other well-known poker pros.

But even more exciting than just meeting them, was actually getting to play against these pros. Donnie played in one of the pot limit Omaha 8/b events and “sat right next to Phil Hellmuth for about three hours. I had him all in, but his hand held up.” He also sat next to Greenstein for about an hour. “It was something you definitely never dream you’d do. There they were [these players he’d followed on TV] sitting right next to me.”

I asked Donnie about the  horrible accident that caused him such devastating injuries, robbing him of all movement and sensation from the shoulders down. “When I was fifteen I dove into a lake, hit the bottom, and broke my neck,” he recounted. Just one sentence to describe how fast and irreversibly your life can change.  No doubt, he’s relayed the story countless times, but it is still jarring hearing him recount it so matter-of-factly. Donnie said it took him many years to get over the anger at what had happened to him. But today, remarkably, there is not a hint of anger or self-pity.

“It took me about seven years to get adjusted to my situation, being paralyzed. But the lord blessed me. I have a wonderful life. I have a great mom and dad and wonderful nurses and friends. I’m very blessed. I just enjoy life. I just have to sit down to do it, that’s all there is to it.”

It is this upbeat attitude as much as anything else that makes Donnie so inspirational. But he doesn’t see his attitude as that unusual. “They way I look at life is that you look at your situation, it could always be worse. I try to make every day as fun as possible because you never know, it could be your last day. So you enjoy – to the best of your ability – each day.”

Donnie's positive attitude extends beyond his physical limitations, encompassing everything in his life. He talks lovingly about his parents and how close they are, and believes that their connection was preordained, but not the way you might think. “I was adopted. It was set up before I was born. My parents couldn’t have children so they adopted me three days after I was born. I always say, the lord’s been looking out for me since before I was born. I’ve got two of the greatest parents in the world.”

He shared how much they did for him after his accident with pride and appreciation. "When I first got hurt, I was in the hospital for six weeks and I was in a rehab center for another six months. Every single day they were there, every hour they could be there. It was hard on them because at first I was very mean and bitter and they stood by me and took care of me always made sure I had the best care possible."

Before the accident, Donnie had wanted to play baseball and was a typically active teen. Discovering poker gave Donnie a great outlet for his competitive spirit and craving for excitement. He plays about three times a week at the Poker Room in Jacksonville. Josh Zuckerman, Director of Poker Operations at the St. John’s poker room, part of the Jacksonville Greyhound Racing and Poker, has known Donnie since the poker room opened in 2004. He was intrigued the first time he saw Donnie.

“When I saw Donnie walk in I thought, oh, this is going to be interesting,” Zuckerman told me. “I wondered how this will work.” But he soon found out that Donnie needed little accommodation, just enough room for his chair and his nurse to sit nearby and show him his cards. “I went over, introduced myself and we’ve been friends ever since. He’s just an outstanding person with an outstanding outlook on life, regardless of his condition and how he got there.”

Not only is Donnie a great guy, but he’s a pretty good poker player as well. Like many amateur players, Donnie not only plays but he enjoys watching poker on TV. What shows does he like? "I watch them all. Of course, the World Series is my favorite and I like the World Poker Tour and I watch High Stakes Poker and Poker after Dark." Donnie says that you may think you learn strategy from watching all those shows, “but once you get to a live table you just can’t play as well as them, but you do pick up pointers here and there. But, I definitely learn more by playing, especially online where you get to see more hands."

Zuckerman said Donnie goes deep in most of their tournaments. Donnie’s first major tournament cash was two years ago in Biloxi on the World Poker Tour. And he can now add a WSOP cash to his stats, finishing 33rd out of a starting field of 847 in the PLO8/b tournament.

The culmination of his trip to Las Vegas, though, was his chance at poker immortality -- guaranteed to the winner of the WSOP Main Event. Donnie started on Day 1B and, though he lost about half his chips due to “a bad run of cards,” did what many failed to do -- headed for Day 2A. After the end of Day 1, Donnie put this experience, win or lose, into perspective. “I'm still having the time of my life!”  And though he was eliminated on Day 2, Donnie is a true winner!

Washington Takes on the Issue of Legalizing Online Poker - Again

Today is an important day in the effort to officially legalize and regulate online poker. The House Financial Services committee is hearing testimony today on Barney Frank's Bill, H.R. 2267, the “Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act,” which would establish a licensed, regulated Internet gaming market in the United States.

Frank's bill has 69 co-sponsors and has received the support of an array of interests including banking institutions, brick and mortar gambling establishments and others concerned either about the difficulty in enforcing the current UIGEA limitations on online poker, or those who have a more libertarian view opposing what they view as governmental interference with private citizens.  Frank's Bill has gained the support of the Chamber of Commerce, which issued a letter today endorsing the Bill.

A number of people will be speaking in favor of the bill today including poker pro and mom Annie Duke. Thanks to the Poker Players Aliance, the leading lobbying group support poker players rights, here is the transcript of Duke's testimony today.

[HR2267] Annie Duke Testimony (07/21/10)

The Dodgers Year Almost at an End

Let's play Jeopardy. The answer is: Sinking faster than the Titanic, Mel Gibson's career and BP stock prices. The question: What are the Dodgers?

There was so much that went so wrong for the Dodgers in last night's heartbreaking loss to the San Francisco Giants, it's hard to know where to start. But when a costly two-run error is not the worst of your problems, you know that you are in deep trouble. And there is no way of ignoring that fact now, the Dodgers season is very close to being very over.

The Dodgers took an early 3-0 lead thanks to a run-scoring double by Xavier Paul and a two-run home run by the newly clean-shaven Andre Ethier. They picked up two more in the third thanks to dueling singles by the two Blakes (Casey and DeWitt), giving them a comfortable 5-1 lead against Giants ace Tim Lincecum.

It wouldn't be a Dodgers-Giants game without the hostility betwen the two organizations seeping into the game.  The simmering tension between these two rivals started a-bubbling in the fifth inning when the struggling Lincecum brushed back Kemp, then hit him.  Since Dodger pitcher Vicente Padilla had fractured Aaron Rowand's cheekbone in a beaning incident earlier in the year, some thought Lincecum was retaliating.  The home plate umpire warned both benches.

In the top of the sixth, the hero of the first inning Xavier Paul misplayed a hard hit deep fly ball to left and what should have been a run-scoring second out, instead put another man on base with just one out. The Giants capitalized on the error thanks to a double by Pablo Sandoval.

In the bottom of the sixth, Giants reliever Denny Bautista threw way inside to Russell Martin, however, despite the earlier warning, nothing was done. Dodgers bench coach Bob Schafer gesticulated his displeasure in no uncertain terms -- and was promptly ejected.

In the seventh, as Kershaw took to the mound, reliever Hong-Chih Kuo was seen warming up in the bullpen. So when Kershaw hit Giants center-fielder Aaron Rowand in the leg it was hard to pass off as accidental. So the youngster received his first ever major league ejection -- and a number of high-fives from the Dodgers bench. As is the rule, Dodger skipper Joe Torre left along with his pitcher.

The Dodgers took their 5-4 lead into the ninth where All Star closer Jonathan Broxton was poised to give the Dodgers a desperately needed win. Howeve, he quickly got behind, loading the bases with just one out. Pitching coach, and Torre's stand-in, Don Mattingly went to the mound to talk with Broxton. After saying a few words, he walked off the mound and onto the grass. Just then, James Loney decided to ask a question of Mattingly. Mattingly, forgetting for a moment where he was, turned around and came back on the mound to answer the question. I hope it was a really important question like what is the meaning of life or how can I save money on my auto insurance, because that pirouette cost the Dodgers their closer.

Baseball loves its rules. It has some so obscure (I'm looking at you, balk) that the most loyal, lifelong fan has no clue what they mean. But this one is clear. Rule 8:06 prohibits managers or coaches visiting the mound from making a return trip. If they do so, the pitcher must be pulled. Giants manager Bruce Bochy is a big fan of this rule -- he used it against the Dodgers four years ago to get Brad Penny removed after then-Los Angeles manager Grady Little made a quickie two-step around the mound.

Not only did the Giants get rid of the pesky Broxton, but the Dodgers apparently had no choice but to bring in Geoerge Sherrill, someone who does not appear able to grasp what it is that a reliever is supposed to do. To make matters worse, there was miscommunication among the umpires and the home plate umpire did not realize that Sherril should have been give extra time to warm up.  He's shaky enough under the best of circumstances (like when the Dodgers have a ten-run lead), but without enough time to warm up it was not a surprise that he gave up a two-run double to Andres Torres.  The Dodgers went meekly in the bottom of the ninth, and that was that.

"The rules are the rules," Mattingly admitted after the game. "Obviously at that point, it's my responsibility to know not to turn and take a step off. He [home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson] just said, 'No, no, no.' I didn't realize I was off."

He's not the only one who's off. The whole team is in a freefall and the only good sign is that the ground is getting closer. It's going to be painful, but at least it'll be over soon.

Dream Final Table for the WSOP Main Event

With just over 200 players left, it's about time to start focusing on who has a shot to make it to the end -- and who you want to see at the final table.  Not always do these two groups overlap.  Still in the race are many online pros with notable screen names from Roothlus, to OMGClayAiken, to Dan Druff.   The man who helped make the WSOP the monster event it is with his screen debut in Rounders, Johnny Chan, and someone who is as famous for the game based around him as his poker playing, Johnny Lodden, are both moving on to Day 6 as well.

Youngsters Alexander Kostritsyn and John Racener are old compared with last year's winner and have no shot at setting any record, but we still have two Mizrachis vying to be the first pair of siblings at a Main Event final table. You have televised tournament alum Juha Helppi, Scott Clements, and Theo Tran, as well as their alliteratively-named counterparts Russell Rosenblum and Hassan Habib.
 
Based on names alone, who wouldn't want to hear Norm and Lon have to say Fokke Beukers or David Assouline or Flavio Ferrarizumbini or Vazgen Terpogosyan during their play-by-play?  And give the last woman standing, Breeze Zuckerman, kudos not just for that feat, but for having one of the great names of all time.
 
Now if you want to focus on something as irrelevant as chip counts when there are still so many players in, fine.  Here's the top ten starting the day:

1	Evan Lamprea	3,564,000
2	Michael Skender	3,527,000
3	Joseph Cheong	3,357,000
4	Duy Le	3,186,000
5	Theo Jorgensen	3,088,000
6	Bryn Kenney	2,902,000
7	Matt Affleck	2,896,000
8	Alexander Kostritsyn	2,564,000
9	Johnny Chan	2,559,000
10	Sebastian Panny	2,442,000

Not on that list are at least two I want to see at the final table.  The first is former Survivor contestant and all around cool guy, Jean-Robert Bellande (currently with 946,000).  He's great TV -- this would not be as quiet a final table as the last one! -- and wouldn't do anything as boring as investing his money were he to win it.  A Bellande win would be great for the economy.

My other pick is French hottie, David Benaymine, who has a paltry 353,000.  Yes, I know his chance to make it past the next two levels, let alone the next couple of days, is as good as my chance with him (and I'm competing with Erica Schoenberg who is younger, cuter, thinner, and blonder than me.  And I do have that pesky husband to deal with.)   But I can dream, can't I?  I enjoy watching him at the table, a lot more than some of those with a lot more chips right now.  Benyamine's got a sly, devilish (not to be confused with Devilfish, who would lose in a "who would you rather" to Matt Affleck) demeanor at the table and, if he can stay focused, can be an excellent player. But he's going to need some luck, and quick, to make that happen.

Jean-Robert Bellande -- Can he win this reality show?

I love one thing more than anything else -- reality TV.  Oh, you say, what about your husband, what about your children?  Hey, this is a family-wide obsession.  If Jeff Probst and I were both drowning and you could save both of us, my son would dive in, grab Jeff, pull him to safety, and start talking to him about  Boston Rob, Russell Hantz and Richard Hatch till someone came to drag my lifeless body out of the water.

I also happen to love poker.  Watching it, playing it, reading about it, writing about it.  It's a borderline obsession -- my resistance to watching the show 2 Months, 2 Million the only thing that's keeping me from starring in next week's episode of Intervention. 

So when these two worlds collide, to say I'm euphoric would be like saying Phil Hellmuth has a bit of an ego.

When Jean-Robert Bellande was on Survivor it was like eating a hot fudge sundae on top of a brownie on top of a birthday cake served on Clive Owen.   Jean-Robert provided many entertaining moments on the show, he was both calculating and clueless.  He thought his strategic wiles would carry him to the end, but his hubris led to a too-early exit.  Yet I enjoyed his character on the show.

In the years since, I've discovered by following his tweets that he wasn't playing a character -- that's him.  He doesn't take himself or what he does too seriously, yet he is very competitive.  He's had some tournament success and has made a splash with his brash talk and over-sized personality.  But he has no bracelet and no WPT wins.  Could that dry spell come to an end this year?

As I type this, Jean-Robert has been on a roller coaster of a Day 5 at the World Series of Poker Main Event.  He's already in the money, at least in the top 300, beating his prior best finish in the Main Event.  But, of course, like any poker player, he wants more.  I'm rooting for him to go all the way.  And, from the tweets I've seen, I'm not alone.

Well, Heck, Yes! -- FCC policy on swearing overturned

In a sign that we have finally embraced the first amendment, ratified 209 years ago, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the policy of the FCC to crack down on "vulgar" speech in live TV and radio broadcasts.  The ruling did not address the U.S. Supreme Court decision empowering the FCC to police the airwaves for objectionable content in general, but at least recognized the reality that swearing done spontaneously, that is out there for just a moment, is not so detrimental to society that the broadcasters need be punished for having it aired.  The court's ruling is a good first step in finding a balance between protecting the unwary public from expletives and preventing a chilling effect that will limit free expression.

This case arose as a result of a spate of instances as awards shows and other live events where a brief obscenity was uttered by a presenter or winner. In past years, performers such as Bono and Cher, and  others with last names, uttered fleeting expletives while on live broadcasts.  Bono has said the phrase "f---ing brilliant" at the 2003 Golden Globes and that was enough to rally the full power of the federal government to punish the broadcaster for airing such vulgarity.

Under rules implemented the next year, profanity referring to sex or excrement was deemed always indecent.  Broadcasters were fined for any use of any word or phrase that fell within this broad, generalized definition, even in just an unplanned and momentary manner.  This policy was brought up for review before the appeals court in a case brought by Fox and other networks. 

Speaking for the three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Rosemary Pooler wrote, "The FCC’s policy violates the First Amendment because it is unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here.”

"By prohibiting all 'patently offensive' references to sex, sexual organs and excretion without giving adequate guidance as to what 'patently offensive' means, the FCC effectively chills speech, because broadcasters have no way of knowing what the FCC will find offensive," the appeals court wrote.

The opinion went on, "To place any discussion of these vast topics at the broadcaster's peril has the effect of promoting wide self-censorship of valuable material which should be completely protected under the First Amendment."

The panel determined that the existing policy, penalizing broadcasters and implementing fines for any suspect utterance was implemented inconsistently and in situations where the alleged harm was so small as to not outweigh the interests of free speech.

The panel noted that swear words were permitted in the broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan but not in a PBS miniseries -- leaving broadcasters in the doubt about what was permitted when.  As Judge Pooler wrote, "Under the current policy, broadcasters must choose between not airing or censoring controversial programs and risking massive fines or possibly even loss of their licenses, and it is not surprising which option they choose."  It was clear to the panel that the fear of the power of the FCC was affecting broadcast decisions detrimentally.  "Indeed, there is ample evidence in the record that the FCC's indecency policy has chilled protected speech."

Viewers of live, unscripted shows should realize that spontaneity comes with some risk and if they are worried about seeing or hearing something that might offend their senses, they can choose not to watch or listen.  But to penalize broadcasters for the actions of others, often made in the heat or excitement of the moment, will discourage broadcasting of these live events and will leave us with more prepackaged, rehearsed and unreal shows where there is little risk of anything surprising happening.

No one was seriously damaged by Bono's fleeting utterance of a curse word.  There was a real moment of joy and exuberance and there should be more of that aired.  There are hundreds of TV and radio channels and if you're worried about what you might hear on one in a "live" moment -- then change channels.  But let's trust that our country will survive a little cursing now and then more than we will the slow curtailment of our rights of free expression.

Latest article for Poker Player

Twitter has taken over the WSOP.  Everyone is sharing the up and down movements of their chip stacks, their bad beats (but, coincidentally, almost never their suckouts), and their great (but never ill-advised) bluffs.  This is a brave new world embraced by young (Annette Obrestad) and old (Doyle Brunson) alike.  You can follow along with the action from the comfort of your smart phone or your home computer, reading in 140 characters or fewer about Mike Matusow's early exit or Phil Hellmuth's theatrical entrance.

Below is my latest article for Poker Player newspaper on the topic of Tweeting at the WSOP. 

http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/back-issues/pp100705S.pdf

WSOP Main Event Starts Today

For poker players, today is the grown-up version of Christmas, your birthday, last day of school, and your first trip to Disneyland all rolled into one. It's a day full of excitement and anticipation and hope for good things to come. Today, you start out even with everyone else and you, technically, have the same shot as anyone else. Of course, as in Animal Farm, and life, some are more equal that others and it is highly unlikely that Joe and Jane Schmo will be coming back in November for the final table. But as Darvin Moon will tell you, it's not out of the question!

There are, of course, a number of players to follow at the Main Event proceeds. Since, in my last article, I predicted an end to Daniel Negreanu's two-year bracelet shut out, I will of course be following him to see if I'm still right. I'd love to see Erik Seidel add the big one to his already impressive collection of bracelets. I can't explain why, but I'm a sucker for Mike Matusow and would love to see him at the final table again. And, those of us who are Tom Dwan fans -- a group that has probably grown during this WSOP -- would like to see him get his first bracelet this year, especially in the daddy of all tournaments.

But my attention will be directed, in particular, to Day 1B and one player you haven't yet heard of. His name is Donnie Vann and he traveled across the country from Jacksonville, Florida just to make his dream of playing in the World Series of Poker come true. Donnie won his seat in a $150 satellite at his local casino. But it is not because of the distance he's traveled or how he earned his seat that I'll be following Donnie. It's because of what a terrific guy and inspiration he is. You see, while some poker players complain about bad luck, Donnie has had more than his share of bad luck in the past. Because, as a result of an accident when he was a teenager, Donnie is a quadriplegic.

But Donnie doesn't complain and, instead, has the most positive outlook on life I've ever heard. I had the chance to interview Donnie for Poker Player Newspaper and will post the link when the article is up. Until then, good luck to Donnie and everyone else who is hoping to make their WSOP Main Event dream come true.

Sending Good Karma to Daniel Negreanu

Way back in 2008, I was writing for PokerNews.com doing, among other things, event recaps during the World Series of Poker. I was assigned the $2,000 Limit Hold'em event which Daniel Negreanu won. I wrote the following first paragraph:

Daniel Negreanu went into the final table of this event the most experienced player in the field by far. For six of the other players, this was their first time at a WSOP final table. Negreanu not only had three prior WSOP wins, but had won this event before, back in 2004. So, despite not starting the day in the chip leader, it was not a surprise when Negreanu emerged as the winner of the 2008 WSOP $2,000 Limit Hold'em event. Negreanu won every hand in heads up play to earn the victory, his fourth WSOP bracelet and the first-place prize money of $204,874.

That has been on the front page of Daniel's MySpace ever since. It has been, I'll admit, something that has tickled me. I'm a huge fan of Negreanu's and I was glad that it was my voice that told the story of his most recent bracelet. I liked having my name on his page -- especially since it was spelled correctly, something that happens less frequently than Negreanu is spelled right. It's all about "a's" and "e's" -- I'll discuss that some other time.

So this is, I fear, how the curse worked. I apparently was a little too glad to be quoted and even remotely, tangentially associated with Negreanu’s bracelet, because as he proceeded to make deep runs in 2008 and 2009, I found myself having decidedly mixed feelings about it. While I think he's a terrific player and certainly wanted him to do well, I knew that when he won his next bracelet mine would be replaced by some other writer's recap.

Now you might think this is silly. But have you followed Negreanu the last two years? He’s had some good runs yet somehow fell short. Fellow Canadian Scott Montgomery won a bracelet this year and Negreanu still hasn't -- now that's what I call silly.

So last week I was on Keep Flopping Aces with Lou Krieger (on Rounder’s Radio) and I mentioned the curse and how I was lifting it. Honestly, part of me expected to read about a Negreanu bracelet the next morning. Well, it’s been a week and still nothing. Perhaps by putting it in writing that will be the final step in erasing it for good. I hope so, I’d like to see him win another. I look forward to reading the recap.

Gavin Smith Wins First WSOP Bracelet

I'll admit it. I have a bit of a crush on Gavin Smith. Others can drool over Patrik Antonius, but not me. I'll take the mischievous, twinkle in the portly poker player's eyes over the chiseled good looks of the Greek god. But then, this could be practicality speaking. As a middle-aged mother of two, at least with Gavin I have a shot. My husband promises he wouldn't stand in the way. But, as usual, I digress.

I had Gavin as my pick going into this World Series of Poker to take down his first bracelet. When I mentioned that in the ESPN chat room, let's just say no one was jumping on the Gavin band wagon. Of the list of "best who hasn't won" Gavin, they said, was not holding down the top spot. Andy Bloch -- he of the MIT and Harvard Law pedigree -- he was the next to get his first. Or Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, the online phenom who already had a pretty good run. But Gavin? Sure, he may have been WPT player of the year in the past -- but that's not the WSOP.

What people forgot is that Gavin is a savant when it comes to limit hold'em and he's not too shabby in the no limit either. The FullTilt pro knows what he's doing at the table. Like many great players, he has sabotaged himself at times or lost the killer instinct when it counted. But the ability has always been there.

As he said after the win, "I seem to be pretty good at screwing things up. In the past, I sometimes went out and got drunk or hung out. But this year, I decided to come in and try to play my best the whole time." There's never been a question about his raw talent. When Gavin is on, he's on.

He's aggressive, yet so affable that he can easily knock down his opponent's defenses. I remember one of my favorite Gavin moments when, during a WSOP Circuit event, he famously remarked, “I’m sorry for the bad beat that I’m about to give you.” He is disarming in every sense of the word.

So Event #44, $2,500 mixed hold'em, was right up his alley. Of course, not only did he have the smarts and skill to win, but his attitude was good. "The last three days everything just clicked. I played well and things went well and everything clicked at the right time."

Aided by the support of his many friends and fans, and with a determination to not let this opportunity slip away, Gavin took and kept control of the final table. But how could he lose, he had me in his corner. Well, not literally in his corner, I was railing from up above the final table, hanging over the balcony. I told everyone in earshot he'd win and then, risking jinxing it, I shook his hand during one of the breaks, told him I had predicted he'd win a week earlier. He promised to make me look smart.

And he did. The Canadian with the ready smile, who seems to enjoy life just a little bit more than the rest of us, has reason to smile even bigger. He now has his first WSOP bracelet. Congrats Gavin!