I heard that one of Full Tilt’s competitors is trying to round up players to set the world record for the largest online poker game. I’m automatically in favor of this: I’ve been reading the Guinness Book of Records since the late-1960s and am a total proponent of anything involving excessive or compulsive behavior.

But it stings me that it’s a competitor. Therefore, if you guys show some support, I’ll go those other guys one better and break a record myself. MYSELF – I don’t need 35,000 people as back-up, either.

Continue reading »

My friend and assistant Shauna (who resembles a younger, even more attractive version of Sandra Bullock) called this morning and asked how it went on Sunday. “Ugh, terrible,” I told her. “I took the collar. Underwater about fifteen hun -”

“No, the Relay For Life Tournament! How did that go?”

I forgot for a moment that Shauna is my co-chair of Mission Delivery for Scottsdale Relay For Life and that the sun does not rise and set on my tournament poker record.

So here is a more accurate recap:

Continue reading »

My friends at ThePokerPod.com Forum have been encouraging their members to play my charity tournament, so they asked me to submit to a Q & A session with their members. (In case you forgot, I’m hosting a tournament on Full Tilt this Sunday, December 21, at 18:00 ET. It’s $5 + $5 NLHE with all the juice going to Relay For Life, an American Cancer Society charity. The password is “relay”.)

They just posted the questions and answers and I thought I’d do the same. There were some good questions and, if I say so myself, some good answers.

Continue reading »

After spending the day “winterizing” my Mercedes – scraping off the bird crap on the grill before it crystallized and outfitting the tires with highway-quality chains – it was a bittersweet ending for my friends in the final WPT event of the year, the Bellagio Five Diamond Championship. Both Mike Matusow and Clonie Gowen built chips, lost chips on tough hands, and made the final ten – but Clonie went out in tenth and Mike followed in ninth.

Kudos all around, though:

Continue reading »

I’ve been like a maniac today, watching the updates on the WPT’s web site for action from the Main Event at the Bellagio Five Diamond. As I mentioned yesterday, I have 1% of Clonie Gowen – an incredibly generous birthday present – and my friends Andy Bloch and Mike Matusow were hanging in.

What a day!

Continue reading »

Let me start by saying that I know you’re all dying to get my thoughts about the lawsuit between Clonie Gowen and Full Tilt. That’s one of the many items on my agenda. We’ve got Clonie, my fifthieth birthday, my Relay for Life tournament, and whatever else is building up in my “in-box.”

Relay tourney: Remember gang. I’m hosting a charity tournament for Relay For Life this Sunday, December 21, at 18:00 ET. It’s $5 + $5 NLHE with all the juice going to Relay For Life, a charity for the American Cancer Society. The password is “relay” and you can read my earlier blog if you want background information. (Special thanks to Railbirds.com, which has been supporting the tourney from Jump Street, and all the Full Tilt pros who are signing up.)
Continue reading »

[Reminder: my charity tournament on Full Tilt for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life is coming up on December 21 at 18:00 ET. Please sign up - it's under "private tournaments," password "relay". For information about the tournament and Relay For Life, check out my blog entry on the subject.]

It’s been over a week since I posted the first part of my blog about the SIXTY MINUTES segment on cheating in online poker. My remarks, which were novel for me but pretty uncontroversial, received a response like nothing else I’ve written in the blog. I’ve gotten e-mails, comments, and (mostly) table chat on Full Tilt like the following:

“Thanks for giving us your thoughts about Full Tilt’s honesty in the wake of this news.”

“It’s about time someone from Full Tilt said something about this.”

“I believe you and appreciate your sincerity but if Full Tilt is so honest, why are they so mysterious? Who owns them? Who runs them? Why isn’t there an toll-free number or live-online  customer-service site?”

Continue reading »

For a long time, I have known – as have many people involved in online poker – about the cheating reported by SIXTY MINUTES that took place at Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker.  To anybody who reads 2+2 or Pocket Fives or other forums, this was not brand new information.  Nevertheless, I have never written about these matters.

Continue reading »