Archive for the ‘World Series of Poker’ Category

“World Series of Poker: Full House Pro” Game Comes to Xbox 360 and Windows 8

A new video game, “World Series of Poker: Full House Pro,” based on the world’s most recognizable poker tournament, will come to Xbox 360 and Windows 8 in spring 2013.

The new game is touted as “the most visually-stunning digital poker game on the market.”

WSOP

Complete with WSOP bling.

The World Series of Poker, of course, happens each year at Rio Las Vegas. The most recent winner, 24-year-old Greg Merson, won $8.5 million of real-world money. (The video game version is “for amusement purposes only,” of course. The good news: At least you won’t have to deal with the IRS.)

Here’s a preview of the new “World Series of Poker: Full House Pro” game, in all its chip-flippin’ glory.

“World Series of Poker: Full House Pro” expands upon the popular Xbox Live Arcade hit, “Full House Poker.” Players can build their bankrolls and compete against opponents from around the world, creating their own chip tricks and playing against backdrops inspired by real-world casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Yes, in one part of the video, participants are even playing in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. Hey, it could happen!

WSOP

Just like the real Final Table at the Rio. Just with fewer craps tables nearby. Sad face.

The game will feature a single-player mode, single-table games and full-blown tournaments. To give the game an added element of realism, “World Series of Poker on ESPN” announcers Lon McEachern and Norman Chad provide the play commentary.

Get more details at the official World Series of Poker site.

Posted on January 16th, 2013 by sroeben  |  1 Comment »

Greg Merson Wins World Series of Poker, Snags $8.5 Million

Poker pro Greg Merson, a mere 24 years old, bested 6,598 contenders to win this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event at Rio Las Vegas.

Merson, who hails from Maryland, won $8,531,853 (yes, we counted it) and a coveted WSOP gold bracelet valued at infinity dollars, because WSOP bracelets are just that flipping awesome.

WSOP

"Cha," meet "ching."

The WSOP Main Event, the world’s largest and most lucrative poker tournament, costs $10,000 to enter, but the return on investment can obviously be substantial if you play your cards right.

The marathon Final Table event lasted 12 hours, starting at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30 and ending at 5:44 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Play at the Final Table spanned 399 hands, which is kind of bugging this blog, because we have OCD a little.

The Main Event victory was Merson’s second seven-figure prize at this year’s WSOP (which encompasses 61 separate events). He won a No-Limit Hold’em tournament this summer with a prize of $1.1 million. Merson was the only player at the 2012 World Series of Poker to win more than one gold bracelet. Somebody’s going to need a really good tax attorney.

WSOP

This blog couldn't play poker professionally. The massive stacks of cash would impede our arm movements.

Thanks to Joe Giron for the pics.

The second and third place Final Table finishers were Jake Balsiger and Jesse Sylvia. Balsiger won $3.8 million for his third place finish, and Sylvia won $5.3 for coming in second. Lovely parting gifts, you might say.

The total prize pool for the 2012 World Series of Poker was $222 million, with participants from 101 countries. (Seriously? Not 100?)

Congrats to Greg Merson, and find out more about the World Series of Poker.

Posted on November 2nd, 2012 by sroeben  |  3 Comments »

World Series of Poker Sets Main Event Final Nine

What began as a massive field of 6,598 players vying for poker’s most prestigious prize has been whittled down to just nine.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently announced its “October Nine” who will battle it out (starting Oct. 29) for the No-Limit Hold’em Championship at Rio Las Vegas, as well as a first-place prize of $8,527,982. Yes, exactly $8,527,982. That extra $82 is to tip the valet.

October Nine WSOP 2012

It's time to hire accountants, fellas.

Thanks to Joe Giron at the WSOP for the pic. Related: Think getting nine poker players to look at the camera is difficult? Try photographing six dogs playing poker.

Although the WSOP draws players from around the world, 83 countries in all, the Main Event’s final nine are nearly all Americans, with the sole exception being a Hungarian. (Chanting “USA, USA, USA!” at this juncture would be entirely appropriate.)

The October Nine are, in order of chip count (most to least): Jesse Sylvia, Andras Koroknai (from Hungary), Greg Merson, Russell Thomas, Steven Gee, Michael Esposito, Robert Salaburu, Jake Balsiger and Jeremy Ausmus.

Dog

We were not kidding.

Catch up on all the WSOP drama on ESPN. Coverage begins July 31, and will continue in two-hour blocks each Tuesday for 16 weeks, and Main Event final table coverage will commence Oct. 30.

Visit the official WSOP site for all the details. And please ignore all the stuff we clearly cut and past for this blog post. We are very busy interviewing showgirls and stuff.

Posted on July 19th, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

WSOP Hosts Dogs Playing Poker Photo Op

If you think herding cats is challenging, try poker-playing dogs!

Yesterday (July 11, 2012), this blog worked with a group of Las Vegas dogs, and the World Series of Poker, to pay homage to those iconic “dogs playing poker” paintings done by artist C.M. Coolidge as far back as 1903. Read more.

Wild times ensued at Rio Las Vegas, but we got our shot!

Dogs playing poker at WSOP

This blog loves it some poker-playing dogs.

The idea for the photo shoot came via our friend, the Go Vegas Dog, Arbor (pictured below). Oh, and her humans, Bryce and Jennifer Henderson.

Arbor is quickly becoming a Sin City celebrity based on her charm and recent forays to The Strip which have been immortalized in an entertaining series of videos. Here’s a video of Arbor visiting Flamingo Las Vegas.

Dogs playing poker Arbor

This blog is not allowed to play favorites, except to say Arbor is our favorite.

Arbor (she’s a she, by the way) also paints, recently appearing on “Good Morning America,” as well as at this blog’s birthday party. Hey, full disclosure. The sweet pup spends her time helping to raise awareness about pet adoptions, among other things.

Joining Arbor were a furry band of pooches: Cyrus (below, and it’s a fake cigar, of course), Bella, Jack, Jeeves and Toby.

Dogs playing poker

Every poker player we've talked to has had days like this.

You can ask us how we got Cyrus to wink at the camera, below, but it’s a trade secret. (Translation: Dumb luck.)

Dogs playing poker

It's not hard to guess his "tell."

A World Series of Poker dealer, Shaun Harris, also joined in the fun, and by “fun,” of course, we mean, “completely covered in drool and dog hair by the end of our session.” Modeling is so glamorous!

Dogs playing poker at WSOP

Shaun, the "Dogs Playing Poker Whisperer." Not to mention being a great sport.

Arbor and friends also dragged Jack Effel into a pic (below), mainly because of his impressive title: Vice President, International Poker Operations and Director, World Series of Poker. Which, we should add, the Guinness World Records folks might want to take a look at the next time they’re in town.

Dogs playing poker

Our human subjects were pretty well-behaved, too.

Follow the adventures of Arbor on Facebook, and thanks to all our slobbery friends who took part in our dogs playing poker photo op, as well as to the World Series of Poker for not having us removed by security. Actually, Rio Vegas is part of the Caesars Entertainment PetStay program, so we were in good hands.

More photos in our exclusive gallery, of course. Proof positive the world of professional poker is dog-eat-dog!

Dogs Playing Poker at WSOP

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Posted on July 12th, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

Magician Wins $18.3 Million in WSOP Charity Event

You know how sometimes you pony up a million bucks to enter a poker tournament, and then you win the biggest prize in poker tournament history, more than $18.3 million? Yeah, it happened for Antonio Esfandiari, too.

Antonio Esfandiari Big One for One Drop

Antonio Esfandiari pitches some woo to his giant stack of cash.

Esfandiari, a pro poker player and magician, made history when he outmaneuvered a field of 48 millionaires and billionaires to earn the richest payday in poker tournament history at Rio Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker.

Each of the players bought into the event for a cool million, with a portion of the pot ($5.3 million) going to One Drop, a nonprofit that fights poverty by supporting access to safe water. Read more about One Drop.

Antonio Esfandiari WSOP

Best part of a magician winning? New summer homes for the bunnies and doves.

Esfandiari’s prize makes it the largest single payout in poker tournament history. Second place goes to Jamie Gold for his $12 million win at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event.

A few words with Antonio Esfandiari.

“I just wanted to win so I could give my dad the bracelet,” he told CardPlayer.com. Yeah, we’re thinking the 18 mil never entered his mind even once!

The World Series of Poker Main Event starts this weekend. There are so many participants, the opening rounds have to be spread out over three days, July 7-9, 2012. This is the 43rd WSOP, with a buy-in of a mere $10,000. A bargain compared to the One Drop fundraiser, right? Visit the official WSOP site.

The prize pool for the WSOP Main Event is expected to be in the $60 million range, with the winner taking away about $9 million. Not too shabby.

A big, sloppy, saliva-saturated welcome to everyone taking part in the World Series of Poker Main Event at Rio Las Vegas. Just make sure you’re in poker shape, folks.

Thanks to our pal Brandon Muller for the great video he made awhile back to help promote the WSOP (ignore the dates, the event started May 27 and runs until July 16).

Special note to Antonio Esfandiari: This blog would not turn down the offer of a cocktail and/or a Lamborghini. FYI.

Posted on July 6th, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

Irascible Phil Hellmuth Wins 12th WSOP Bracelet

It’s a pretty big deal in the poker world.

The polarizing Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth, one of the most colorful characters in the realm of professional poker, won a record-shattering 12th World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet at Rio Las Vegas in the early morning hours of June 11, 2012.

Phil Hellmuth

Temperamental is the new charismatic.

WSOP bracelets are the most coveted prize in poker, sometimes even eclipsing an event’s prize money. In this case, Hellmuth stated he didn’t even know what his winning payout was going to be.

He told ESPN, “I can honestly say that this is the first tournament in my life that I have no idea what the prize money is. It’s all about the bracelet.”

For the record, his prize money for winning the $2,500 buy-in “Seven-Card Razz” tournament (Event #18 of the many that make up the World Series of Poker) was $182,793. Not a bad payday!

WSOP bracelet

Unlike Phil Hellmuth, a WSOP bracelet doesn't clash with anything.

Hellmuth’s victory wasn’t walk in the park. In the tournament’s final table, there were six former gold bracelet winners, with 20 combined victories. At 12 WSOP bracelet wins, he’s two ahead of his closest competition, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.

For anyone wondering if the popularity of poker has waned at all, consider that the weekend of June 15, 2012 marked a new three-day WSOP attendance record with nearly 10,000 players (9,734 to be exact) taking part in WSOP events at the Rio.

The World Series of Poker takes place at Rio Las Vegas through July 16, 2012. Visit the official World Series of Poker site for more.

Posted on June 18th, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

World Series of Poker Shuffles Into Rio Vegas

The 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has kicked off its 43rd installment at Rio Las Vegas.

The longest-running and richest poker event in the world features 58 events spanning 50 days, through July 16, 2012.

This year’s World Series of Poker even has a fancy new Main Event winner’s bracelet.

WSOP 2012 bracelet

Nobody does bling like Sin City, baby.

Learn more, and possibly far too much, about the redesigned WSOP bracelet.

The new Main Event bracelet features rubies and black diamonds, as well as more than 160 grams of 14 karat gold, which would be truly impressive if anyone in America knew what a “gram” was.

Let’s watch a video about the new bracelet, shall we? Because what visit to this blog would be complete without a video about jewelry-making?

Last year’s WSOP drew more than 75,000 participants, at least 26 of whom didn’t wear either sunglasses, a hoodie or earbuds at some point during the tournament.

Read our stunningly inept coverage of last year’s World Series of Poker Final Table thingy.

WSOP 2011 Final Table

Pius Heinz, a 22-year-old college student, won the 2011 WSOP and $8.7 million. That's a lot of pizza and kegs.

Get all the latest tournament news on the World Series of Poker Web site, on Facebook or Twitter.

Posted on May 28th, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

World Series of Poker Now in the Total Rewards Fold

The premiere name in poker, World Series of Poker, is now officially part of Total Rewards, the premiere name in casino loyalty programs. As reported by the premiere Las Vegas blog. (Note: We may have just made that last part up.)

For the first time, World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament entrants will get Reward Credits (sometimes called “loyalty points”) for playing in gold bracelet events. They’ll also get Reward Credits for playing in daily “Deepstack” tournaments and mega-satellite events at the Rio Las Vegas, where the World Series of Poker takes place each year.

This year’s World Series of Poker begins May 27. See the full schedule.

Pocket aces

In poker parlance, being dealt a pair of aces is called a "Cha-Ching!" hand. Probably.

Following this year’s WSOP, poker players will also receive Reward Credits for tournament play during the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit tour at Total Rewards (Caesars Entertainment) casinos around the country.

Reward Credits can be redeemed for a variety of perks, including WSOP tournament entry fees, hotel rooms, dining, shows and merchandise. They can also be used to buy this blog a cocktail. Not that we think you should do that. Just tossing out some hypotheticals here.

Find out all the details about the WSOP and its partnership with Total Rewards.

Posted on May 7th, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

Deal Us In for “All In: The Poker Movie”

The world of poker is a fascinating one, and “All In: The Poker Movie,” a new documentary about that world, is one this Las Vegas blog would be inclined to watch.

The film’s billed as, “The definitive story of the rise, fall and rebirth of poker.” It features many of the game’s most prominent figures, including Chris Moneymaker, the man whose 2003 Main Event win at the World Series of Poker is often cited as the reason for the boom that’s kept poker in the spotlight ever since.

The person pictured below is not him.

Matt Damon poker

Matt Damon is a great poker player. We hear he also acts a little on the side.

Here’s the trailer for “All In: The Poker Movie.”

“All In” was directed by Douglas Tirola and includes segments with Matt Damon, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu and others.

All In Poker movie

The World Series of Poker happens each year at Rio Las Vegas.

The film is currently available on iTunes and through Video on Demand. It didn’t get rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but this blog doesn’t live by society’s rules, and we’re watching it, anyway.

Get all your poker needs met at the official World Series of Poker site.

Posted on May 2nd, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

The Real Deal: World Series of Poker’s 2012 Schedule

The world’s premier poker tournament, held each year at Rio Las Vegas, the World Series of Poker, has announced its schedule for 2012.

The event will begin May 27, 2012, with the gathering’s first open event on Memorial Day (May 28), a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament.

WSOP final table

In Vegas, poker's a pretty big deal.

The World Series of Poker got its start at Binion’s in downtown Vegas, back in 1970, several years before they had those player “hole card” camera thingys that make watching poker on TV so much more fun.

This year’s event, which runs through July 16, will be televised exclusively on ESPN from the Rio. Sixty-one WSOP gold bracelets will be up for grabs in 2012, three more than last year.

The 43rd annual WSOP concludes with the always-entertaining $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship, also known as “The Main Event.” Play begins on July 7, and will reach its final table (with nine players) on July 16. The Final Table will take place earlier than in recent years, in two stages, with the nine finalists playing down to two on Oct. 28, and heads-up (one-on-one) action taking place to determine a WSOP champ on Oct. 30.

An event to watch: For the first time, the WSOP will have a $1,000,000 buy-in event. This high-stakes event will start July 1 and last three days. It’s likely to result in the largest first-place prize in poker history. Bonus: The event will benefit Onedrop.org.

The 2011 World Series of Poker had 75,672 entrants from 105 different nations. (Hint: There are 105 countries?) Players competed for more than $192 million in prize money. See this blog’s stunningly inept coverage of the 2011 World Series of Poker.

World Series of Poker

Last year's WSOP Main Event winner, Pius Heinz, won a cool $8.7 million. He was 22.

Pre-registration for the 2012 WSOP will be available online starting Feb. 8, 2012. Register here.

Visit the official WSOP site for all the details, including the full schedule of events.

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

Pius Heinz Wins WSOP Final Table and $8.7 Million

A 22-year-old student and professional poker player, Pius Heinz, has won the World Series of Poker Main Event inside the Penn & Teller Theater at Rio Las Vegas.

WSOP Final Table Pius Heinz

German Pius Heinz wins the World Series of Poker Main Event at Rio Vegas. Like that earlier paragraph said.

Heinz, of Cologne, is the first resident of Germany to win the prestigious poker tournament.

This Las Vegas blog was there to capture every minute of the action. Well, not every minute, because there were a whole lot of them. The Final Table ran about six-and-a-half hours.

World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is a pretty big deal.

A memorable moment from the Final Table was the elimination of one of the three finalists, Ben Lamb, a mere (wait for it) four hands into Final Table play. Hey, in Vegas, you go big or go home. Or in some cases, you go big AND go home. Still, Lamb walked away with $4 million as a consolation prize.

World Series of Poker

If you blinked, you quite possibly missed poker pro Ben Lamb's bold strategy.

Then there were two.

Pius Heinz would play Martin Staszko, the first player ever from the Czech Republic to make a WSOP Final Table, head-to-head for six more hours, with the chip lead switching from one player to another nine times.

The new WSOP champ was crowned at 12:15 a.m. (Nov. 9, 2011).

WSOP Main Event 2011

A few million in cash on the table? No pressure.

International groups of supporters kept things lively, thankfully, since Heinz and Staszko rarely showed emotion or spoke (if at all) during long stretches of the Final Table.

WSOP

The stoic Martin Staszko, who lists chess and "long periods of glaring" among his hobbies.

There’s a reason it’s called a “poker face,” folks.

WSOP

There was a lot of this.

The crowd at the Penn & Teller Theater was on its feet for the dramatic final hand.

WSOP

A suspenseful moment as Heinz waits for the "river" card.

The final hand of the 2011 Final Table? Heinz had an ace of spades and king of clubs, and those cards held up against Staszko’s 10 of clubs and seven of clubs.

With that, Heinz nabbed a highly-prized World Series of Poker bracelet, as well as some pocket change. To be exact, $8,715,638 in pocket change. Did we mention this bubble-gum chewing player is just 22 years old?

WSOP

We weren't making up the bubble gum-chewing thing.

Interestingly, the last four WSOP world champions were 23, 21, 21 and 22 at the time of their wins.

Staszko (below right) got $5.4 million for second-place. Not a bad pay day!

WSOP

Two words: Cha. Ching.

A memorable moment from the WSOP Final Table event? Once Heinz was announced the winner, his group of supporters began doing a chant his opponent’s friends had done throughout the evening, a sign of great sportsmanship. Staszko’s supporters did the same, honoring Heinz for his historic win.

WSOP

Warning: It's probably best to wait before accepting proposals made after you just won $8.7 million.

The Final Table was the culmination of a Main Event that began in July, with a field of 6,865 players from 85 different countries. The WSOP Final Table was televised on ESPN with a 15-minute delay.

In other notable poker news: Earlier in the evening, Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. Read more.

Get all the details of the World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table at the official WSOP site.

WSOP

To the victor go some serious tax implications.

Now, please enjoy our exclusive photo gallery from the WSOP Final Table that we risked being Tasered by security to bring you.

WSOP Final Table 2011

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Posted on November 9th, 2011 by sroeben  |  4 Comments »

World Series of Poker at Rio Vegas: It’s Down to Three

After nearly eight hours of play on Nov. 6, 2011, the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is down to its final three players. Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko will return to the Rio Las Vegas on Nov. 8 to compete for game’s top prize: $8.7 million and a sweet WSOP gold bracelet.

The second-place finisher will receive $5.4 million, with the third-place finisher snagging a mere $4 million. We kid. That’s a lot of clams.

All the WSOP action will be carried nearly live (15-minute delay) on ESPN and ESPN3 beginning at 9 p.m. (Eastern).

World Series of Poker

Pius Heinz: "Re-raise." Ben Lamb: "Oh, no, you di'int." (We're paraphrasing.)

Thanks to Jon Boncek for the great Final Table pic.

For the final day of play, German Pius Heinz has the chip lead. Ben Lamb, a 26-year old poker pro, is second in chips and Martin Staszko, 35, of Czech Republic, has the short stack, which is not a euphemism for anything as far as this blog knows.

The players who filled out the “November Nine” went out as follows: Sam Holden (9th place), Anton Makiievskyi (8th), Badih Bou-Nahra (7th), Eoghan O’Dea (6th), Phil Collins (no relation, in 5th place) and Matt Giannetti (4th).

WSOP bracelet

The aforementioned sweet bracelet.

The 2011 WSOP Main Event began in July with 6,865 entrants. The World Series of Poker (made up of 58 events), as a whole, attracted a record 75,672 players from 105 different nations this year.

Good luck to the final three, and not for nothing, but it’s probably time to hire a tax lawyer, guys.

Posted on November 7th, 2011 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

World Series of Poker Names November Nine

This year’s World Series of Poker at Rio Las Vegas started as the third-largest live poker tournament in history, with 6,865 entrants. Now it comes down to just nine players.

The November Nine, a truly international bunch, are pictured below, left to right: Badih Bounahra (Belize City, Belize), Phil Collins (Las Vegas, NV), Matt Giannetti (Las Vegas, NV), Pius Heinz (Cologne, Germany), Samuel Holden (Sussex, UK), Ben Lamb Tulsa, OK), Anton Makiievskyi (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine), Eoghan O’Dea (Dublin, Ireland) and Martin Staszko (Trinec, Czech Republic).

November Nine 2011

Nine very happy, and exhausted, campers.

Four countries have a finalist in poker’s world championship for the first time: Belize, Czech Republic, Germany and Ukraine, only one of which this blog can actually locate on a map. Probably.

The tournament now takes a recess. Players will get three months to gear up for the Final Table which will be played Nov. 5-7, 2011 at Rio Las Vegas.

Each of the players who made it this far are guaranteed at least $782,115 in prize money. The top prize will be a whopping $8,711,956. Oh, let’s just say $8.7 million. What’s a few tens of thousands between poker buddies?

The winner will also receive the coveted, custom-designed WSOP gold and diamond bracelet.

WSOP bracelet

It's all about the WSOP bling! And the stacks of cash. But, you know, mostly the bling.

You can catch comprehensive TV coverage of the World Series of Poker starting July 26 on ESPN. Coverage will continue in two-hour blocks each Tuesday for 16 weeks, culminating with Main Event Final Table coverage on Nov. 8, 2011. No, we did not read that in a news release. We are a Las Vegas blog, so we know this stuff off the top of our head. Hello.

A final WSOP fact: In the 42-year history of the World Series of Poker, the prestigious tournament has given out more than $1.4 billion in prize money.

For more information about all this, visit the official WSOP site, or check out articles in the Las Vegas Review-Journal here and here.

Posted on July 29th, 2011 by sroeben  |  No Comments »

World Series of Poker Main Event Takes Off at Rio

The Main Event of the world’s largest poker showdown, the World Series of Poker, began today (July 7) at Rio Las Vegas. The “Shuffle up and deal!” opening ceremony honors were performed by poker legend Doyle Brunson, greeted by an enthusiastic standing ovation.

The top names in poker will battle it out until July 19 for a shot at millions in prize money and the highly-coveted WSOP gold bracelet. By July 19, the field will be narrowed down to just nine sleep-deprived players, nicknamed the “November Nine” because the final group returns in November (long story) for the tournament’s grand finale.

The cost to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event? A mere $10,000. Hey, poker is serious business, folks. Last year’s winner, Canadian Jonathan Duhamel (pictured below), snagged the $8.9 million top prize.

Jonathan Duhamel

Jonathan Duhamel fights the temptation to roll around in his winnings. In public, anyway.

Players from more than 100 countries are expected to participate in the Main Event at Rio Vegas.

Upcoming appearance worth noting: On July 10 at noon, the sonsy Holly Madison, star of Peepshow at Planet Hollywood, will take part in a “Shuffle up and deal!” photo op. As if our interest in poker weren’t already piqued.

Jason Alexander

Actor Jason Alexander is among the WSOP Main Event's hopefuls.

In other WSOP news, submissions are currently being taken for the 2011 Poker Hall of Fame. Find out more and nominate your favorite poker virtuoso. Inductees include names like Benny Binion, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Barbara Enright (the only woman to reach the Final Table of the WSOP) and even “Wild Bill” Hickok.

If you’re in town for the World Series of Poker, here’s a little insider tip. Text “NOV9″ to 227466 (through July 20) and you could win a prize package featuring a three-night VIP stay at Rio Las Vegas, limo transportation, a $100 dining certificate at Martorano’s at Rio and a VIP seat to view the Main Event Final Table. And possibly an intimate backrub from this Las Vegas blog. (Subject to availability and level of intoxication.)

Find out all the details about the most prestigious event of its kind in the world, the World Series of Poker, at the official site or follow the WSOP on Twitter. There’s even a WSOP blog. Blogs are the greatest thing ever.

Posted on July 7th, 2011 by sroeben  |  1 Comment »

WSOP Hosts $1 Million Buy-In Tourney for Charity

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has announced it’s adding a new $1 million buy-in poker tournament (that means it’s going to cost a cool $1 million to enter) as part of next year’s World Series of Poker at Rio Las Vegas.

The new tournament, set to launch in 2012, will benefit One Drop, an organization which aims to fight poverty worldwide by providing access to water and raising awareness about water-related issues.

The “Big One for One Drop” tournament is expected to generate one of the largest prize pools in tournament poker (outside the WSOP’s Main Event).

One Drop charity

One Drop helps people drink. This Las Vegas blog strongly approves of that concept.

The tournament is slated to begin Jul. 1, 2012 at the Rio and will be a three-day tournament. Officials say 11.1% of the tournament buy-in will be donated to One Drop, with $889,889 of each buy-in going toward the tournament prize pool.

This blog knows what you’re thinking! A million-dollar buy-in? Well, One Drop has already gotten commitments from 15 participants so far.

They include Guy Laliberte, Chair of One Drop and founder of Cirque du Soleil; Bobby Baldwin, four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and President & CEO of City Center Group; Phil Ruffin, owner of Treasure Island and poker pros Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Tom Dwan and Tony Guoga.

Poker chips

Note: "Riffling" your chips is much more difficult when you're riffling a million dollars worth.

WSOP gold bracelet winner Gus Hansen said, “Supporting [fellow poker player] Chris Ferguson’s charity, I spent four weeks in Africa last year, and I came to realize what a precious resource water is. Therefore, it is a pleasure to enter the biggest poker tournament ever and at the same time support the One Drop organization.”

Caesars will offer additional entries to two lucky poker players. One will go to the winner of a Mega Satellite, whatever that may actually be, and the other will be given away in a yet-to-be determined promotion.

Learn more about One Drop at its official site, and find out more about the World Series of Poker. Get more details about the new tournament from ESPN.

Posted on June 2nd, 2011 by sroeben  |  2 Comments »