Poker Blog & Poker Forum

A very unusual strip poker tournament has been organized in London next month. It is a part of the London Poker Festival, which kicks off on August 28 and runs till September 30. Apart from the strip poker event, the London Poker Festival will be hosting the London leg of the WPT, the WSOPE events and Poker in the Park, which will be inaugurated by poker babe Liv Boeree.

The strip poker event is called the Baller Strip Poker Championships. It will take place at the legendary Stringfellows gentlemen’s club in London’s Covent Garden on September 21. Stringfellows is the most famous gentlemen’s nightclub in the world and the ideal location for the event. However this strip poker tournament has a twist. The poker players will not be relieved of their clothing when they lose. According to the Baller Strip Poker rules, the Stringfellows girls will be doing the undressing on their behalf. Each player will be assigned a Stringfellows dancer and she will strip by removing an item of clothing instead of the player. The Baller Strip Poker Championships will raise money in support of cancer awareness charities. London hosts the regular type of strip poker championships as well. It was started in 2006 by Paddy Power. Today the World Strip Poker Championships have become an annual event. Each player begins wearing five items of clothing, supplied by the organizers and the event continues until only one player is left partially dressed. Towels are provided for modesty but there is only so much a towel can do.

In strip poker players end up naked, but in a recently announced event players will start that way. This is a regular poker tournament that will be played at Cap d’Agde, one of the world’s most popular naturist resorts located on the French Riviera. The resort features restaurants, bars, gyms, bakeries and a casino, all of which can be enjoyed au naturel. The nude poker tournament is being held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the resort’s casino. No date or tournament structure has been announced yet. Those interested should track the resort’s web side and be prepared to lose their inhibitions.

In April 2010 the process of selecting appropriate women associated with poker for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame (WiPHOF) had begun. The selection is over and three women will be inducted into this august group on September 3 in a glittering ceremony at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.

The first of the inductees is being given the honor posthumously. She is Billie Brown and would perhaps be unknown to today’s poker generation. Her profile at the WiPHOF web site states that Billie pioneered the marketing of tournament poker in Las Vegas during the 1980s. The guaranteed prize pool concept was invented by her. Billie also created the California State Ladies Poker Championship.

The second inductee is Kathy Liebert. Kathy is a well know figure in poker circles but would not exactly fit into the poker babe mold. With a haul of over $5.7 million in tournament earnings, she has won more money playing tournament poker than any other woman in history. Add to this one WSOP bracelet, one WPT win, seven WPT final tables and the distinction of being the first woman ever to win $1 million in a single poker tournament and you have the perfect recipe for a WiPHOF inductee.

The third inductee, Jennifer Harman, is an out and out poker babe. Her poker achievements are many. They include two WSOP bracelets, three WPT final tables and $2.6 million to her credit. She is among the few women poker professionals who participate regularly in the biggest live high-stakes mixed cash games in Las Vegas, and win. But what endear her to the poker loving public are her antics as a poker babe. Jennifer recently flashed a very attractive cleavage in order to get voted into the WSOP Tournament of Champions. She not only was voted in but did not disappoint her fans by cashing in this prestigious event.

Though a regular at Twitter, there has been no reaction to this stupendous news so far from Jennifer. Her latest message on August 3 said, “Hanging out in Italy with my husband @marcopoker. A lot of beach time.” She deserves the privacy and the rest. The kudos can wait till she is back all rejuvenated and tanned.

Poker babes have an affinity for reality shows. Annie Duke acquitted herself fabulously on Celebrity Apprentice. Then Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho paired up for The Amazing Race, where they did not fare as well. The latest to join the reality television bandwagon is poker babe Beth Shak. A report in the New York Post says that poker pro Beth Shak has signed up for the next season of Millionaire Matchmaker.

Millionaire Matchmaker, as its name suggests, sets out to match single, certified millionaires with potential spouses. It is based on Millionaire’s Club founded by Patti Stranger in Beverly Hills, which caters to wealthy men looking for partners. Patti is the presenter of the television series. After three successful seasons Millionaire Matchmaker is moving to New York City, where Beth lives. Beth is an intriguing candidate for this show because she is a divorcee and a mother of three children. Beth was married to poker player Daniel Shak. The New York Post report states that accompanying Beth on the show could be DJ Sky Nellor and Christopher and Albie Manzo, the sons of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” matriarch Caroline Manzo.

Beth Shak is not that prominent a figure in poker circles, meaning she does not hog the headlines as many of the other poker babes do. The response to the news of her being a part of Millionaire Matchmaker has been quite demeaning. One of the more printable ones at a poker forum said, “Based on what I have seen of her, I find it hard to believe she is an overall winning poker player. It is laughable to see some of the people who hold themselves out “professional poker players” these days. As far as whether she is attractive or not, I like the fact that she is putting out photos of herself in G-strings and garters …” This is an obvious reference to Beth’s line of exclusive shoes and lingerie that can be seen at her stylish web site.

Poker wise she cut her teeth at Full Tilt Poker and between 2005 and 2008 she notched up 11 cashes the best being a 2nd place at a WSOP 2007 event, which was not a Ladies Only event. Maybe Millionaire Matchmaker is her way of making a comeback to the limelight.

PokerStars is one of the biggest online poker rooms and lives up to its reputation by hosting a big party during the WSOP tournament. Like every year, the 2010 party was held at the Rain Night Club at the Palms. The party was held on July 12 and though Snoop Dogg was performing the hot topic of the day was Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in the football World Cup finals. Juan Maceiras, a Spin supporter, would drink in celebration, while Fatima Moreira, a Dutch supporter, would drink even more to drown her sorrows.

The party was held smack in the middle of the Main Event and despite the fact that most of the poker pros had chips on the table they were there in full attendance and full of exuberance. Michele Lewis was there feeling “extra girlie” with make up and without her Chuck Taylors. She was also feeling “mildly uncomfortable” in this mode, which is not surprising because it was not too long back that she was mistaken for a hooker at WSOP.

Daniel Negreanu loves the PokerStars parties because they always have someone good to perform and because he is their brand ambassador. He likes Snoop Dogg and even sang, more correctly recited, lines from Gin & Juice at the red carpet. He had special empathy with the words “Laid back with my mind on my money and my money on my mind” because that is how he functions. Negreanu was not the only one with money on his mind. Jason Mercier said that he would be enjoying himself more if he did not have a big stack in the Main Event. Also in his clinical way he pointed out that the red carpet was actually white.

Not much has been said about what happened at the party. The cameras were not allowed inside and the liquor was flowing and the music was loud. But Dr. Pauly was dancing better than the scantily clad girls at the poles.

The parties are over and the business end of the WSOP Main Event is on. The cash bubble has burst and soon we will have the November Nine. Notables left in the fray include Theo Jorgensen, Johnny Chan, the Mizrachi brothers and David Benyamine.

Poker babe Michele Lewis, who describes herself with an unending list of attributes, had this story to tell in her latest blog. Last week she went to the NHL Awards with close friend Lacey Jones. She told Lacey that she disliked wearing a dress and heels in Las Vegas because people looked at her as if she was a hooker. Little did she realize then that before the evening was over not only would she be called a hooker but also have a price set.

It happened after the NHL party as the two poker babes entered the Rio to check out the proceedings at the WSOP. A guy called out to them, “Hey, Ladies. I love these ladies.” Michele did not know him from Adam but his breezy familiarity let her assume that he was a fan of Lacey. So she gave him a high five. The guy responded with “Hey, how about $300?” Michele saw red. But her ex-marine friend was not around to dislodge the guy’s teeth. As she walked away the guy in the presence of 100 people yelled at them “Hey! Hey, hookers!”

At the WSOP Michele and Lacey posed for some naughty snaps together. Then Michele met up with fellow poker blogger Benjo. When she told Benjo the story he was outraged. In his French accented English he said, “Zree hundred? Zats booshit. You, MeeShell LooWeez, could charge 2k and Lazey could charge 10k.” The difference in price is understandable. Whereas Michele has qualms about appearing in a dress and heels, Lacey is willing to wear nothing but body paint. In a recent interview Lacey spoke about “Full Tilt, ballet and boobs…the usual ” She has just quit Absolute Poker. Speaking about the avatar that she would be donning at Full Tilt she said that she had not decided. Maybe it will be a cheesy one or a funky one. She added that liked their regular one of a girl in a yellow bikini with huge boobs so maybe they could enhance her image.

Coming back to Michele’s story, Benjo said that she could charge more offering up her mind for intellectual conversation. Now is that an insult to her body or a compliment to her mind?