Poker Blog & Poker Forum

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.

There’s more news about Shannon Elizabeth. Just two weeks ago, Perez Hilton and some anonymous writer were slinging mud about her taking rakes at her own house games. Apparently, the folks at Carbon Poker know nonsense when they see it, because they’re pretty happy to have her on board as the newest face of Carbon Poker.

I mean, who wouldn’t want American Pie’s ‘Nadia’ promoting their product. It doesn’t hurt that she’s cashed a bit at this year’s WSOP either. She took home around $80,000 at the Ante Up for Africa event. It may not be a huge cash, but she took second place, so she certainly has nothing to be ashamed of. If she makes the final table at the main event, Carbon Poker’s higher-ups will pretty much be in heaven. Even if she doesn’t, though, she’s already built up a name for herself in the poker world. She hit semi-finals in the 2007 National Heads Up Poker Championship, beating out Humberto Brenes, Barry Greenstein, and Jeff Madsen.

When Carbon Poker announced that Shannon Elizabeth was going to be the new face of Carbon Poker they saidd that they wanted a poker player who is well-respected, and a star that everyone knows. They certainly got both with Elizabeth, and when you compare her to the icon whose face is plastered on DoylesRoom, for example, you can see why some people might be more attracted to Carbon Poker these days. The Texas Dolly may be a brilliant poker player, but he’s far from beautiful.

For players who really want a chance to get to know the attractive Ms. Elizabeth, there will be chances to play against her and chat with her over the next few months. If you were lucky enough to get a seat at the WSOP through Carbon Poker and you got an invite to their VIP party, Ms. Elizabeth will be there too, so you certainly don’t want to miss it. Just be sure not to stare too hard, especially if you’re there with a date!

If you don’t get a chance to meet her in person, you can also follow her on the Carbon Poker blog, because she’ll be posting there from time to time about events and promotions.

Apart from perhaps the Main Event, the Tournament of Champions (TOC) will be the most watched event of the season. The interest has been enhanced because the TOC has been reintroduced after a three year gap. 20 players voted by the public and 7 nominated players will vie for one of the most coveted crowns in poker.

The 27 players were drawn into three tables of nine each. Mike Sexton the 2006 TOC winner and “poker’s greatest ambassador” started the proceedings by calling “Shuffle Up and Deal”. Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer and Huck Seed did not turn up on time. Hellmuth and Seed are habitual late comers. Hellmuth’s delay agitated Mike ‘the Mouth’ Matusow, who cannot get into the groove unless he has a slanging match with Hellmuth. He had to be content with telling everyone that Hellmuth’s behaviour was disrespectful to ESPN, to the other players and the game of poker. On the other hand Greg Raymer showed great respect to the occasion. Never seen in anything but shorts even in the coldest weather Raymer turned up in a pair of slacks.

The table talk was not all poker. Daniel Negreanu offered Cloutier $1 million if he would kiss Esfandiari. Cloutier did not pick up the gauntlet. Esfandiari was willing to French kiss Cloutier for $1 million, but this time Negreanu was not willing. The slanging match did materialize and the tournament director had to intervene. But it was impossible to keep Matusow down. “These are my fans,” he boomed. “Stand up when I make fun of Phil Hellmuth!” And his fans responded.

John Juanda was the first to go. It is always a bad feeling. Juanda Tweeted, “Just like that, I’m out of TOC. Tried to get Harman to lay down 2nd set and it didn’t work! Thx again4 all the supports &loves, guys! ” But the shock defeat was that of Phil Ivey. He went all in with a pair of Kings. Chris Fergusson had a Queen pair. A Queen on the turn knocked Ivey out. After winning his eighth bracelet Ivey has offered 7 to 1 that he will win his ninth in WSOP 2010 as well. Well it will not be in the TOC.

At the time of writing 17 players remain. The Grand Old Man of poker, Doyle Brunson, is out. Both the poker babes Annie Duke and Jennifer Harman are in. Matusow is at the head of the table. So it is not only big talk from him.

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?

One of the most disturbing aspects of the Internet is that people can say anything without any substantiation and get away with it. Shannon Elizabeth has been at the receiving end of one such accusation. A post at on the Internet said that Shannon regularly invites people to play poker at her home and then extorts rake from the table. In the first instance rake at private tables is illegal and Shannon has been accused of snatching so much rake from the pot that the winner is left with little more than his or her own contribution.

The post was apparently made privately to Perez Hilton who immediately put it in the public domain at his blog web site. Hilton’s credibility is so poor that no one really believes this. In fact it has been suggested that Hilton could have well fabricated the post from a so called reader of his blogs. The writer mentions that the incident took place “in Loz Feliz last Friday”. He thought he would be playing poker with Shannon, but that did not materialize. Then a rake of $25 was taken from a pot of $70 and the following altercation was reported.

I was like “WTF? Why are you taking that out?”
He said, “It’s for the house.”
“What the hell is there left to play for, why is it so much?”
He said, “You’re in the presence of greatness,” referring to Shannon.

The writer then called Shannon “…just a naked girl in a popular movie. Nothing more.” And he called her many other names not worth repeating.

Surprisingly Shannon’s response has been measured and responsible. Though it is difficult to judge who is telling the truth. On June 18 she simply Tweeted, “In response 2 the Perez thing-it’s so silly & untrue cause U can go back & look at my postings & see I was in Vegas @ The WSOP competing.” Shannon has devoted very much more space on Twitter rooting for “her girl” Liz Lieu. In the Maven Poker Awards for women poker players Liz has been nominated for the Humanitarian Award and for the Outstanding Professional Player of 2009 Award. The Maven Poker Awards are not to be confused with Women in Poker Hall of Fame.