Phil Ivey Pulls Out of the 2011 World Series of Poker

Phil Ivey issued a statement on his Facebook page tonight saying that he will not be playing in the 2011 WSOP.  At issue is the lack of payment to the Full Tilt players, creating a situation where many of them can not compete in the WSOP this year.  He has initiated a lawsuit against Tiltware in an attempt to speed the process of player repayment.  The story was first reported by Wicked Chops Poker earlier this evening and according to them has been confirmed by Phil Ivey's manager.  Below is Phil Ivey's statement.

For many years, I have been proud to call myself a poker player. This great sport has taken me to places I only imagined going and I have been blessed with much success. It is therefore with deep regret that I believe I am compelled to release the following statement.

I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm.

I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.

My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others and on behalf of all poker players I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts. As I am sure the public can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me.

I wholeheartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

I sincerely hope this statement will ignite those capable of resolving the problems into immediate action and would like to clarify that until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment.

2011 WSOP Starts Tomorrow

The 2011 WSOP with all its grind and glory is finally here.

Tuesday the first 2 of the 58 scheduled tournaments start on Day 1;

Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em ($500 buy-in)
Event #2: Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship - 256 max ($25000 buy in)

I will be posting throughout the series to keep you up to date on which pros step up and which amateurs are living a dream of a lifetime.

For some of us at Pass The Dip - call it some pre-gaming for the real thing in 2012!

Random Rounders Quote

Mike McDermott: First prize at the World Series of Poker is a million bucks. Does it have my name on it? I don't know. But, I'm gonna find out. 


For more Random Rounders quotes, follow this link or click Rounders under Labels in the right column.

World Series of Poker - Coming Soon!

So the World Series of Poker is right around the corner.  I'll keep updates coming on this blog as the Series unfolds, but for now you'll have to enjoy pictures of some of the winners of years gone by...

Here are the last 3 main event winners...

Jonathan Duhamel - 2010

Joe Cada - 2009

Peter Eastgate - 2008

The biggest prize ever won at the WSOP was in 2006 when Jamie Gold won the Main Event and took home $12 000 000 for the win.

Jamie Gold - 2006

The poker revolution started in 2003 when Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from New Jersey won his way into the $10 000 tournament by playing a $39 satellite.  The rest is history...

Chris Moneymaker - 2003

And lastly, I'll leave you with a picture of Johnny Moss, reported by many to be the best poker player that has ever lived.  He won the first WSOP when it was a series of cash games in 1970.  After the last game, the players were asked to vote for the best player and of course each player voted for themselves.  They were then asked to vote for the 2nd best player and Johnny Moss won the title of World Champion of Poker.

Johnny Moss - 1970

We will definitely get a pool going for the Main Event.  So start following you favourite pros to see who is playing well going into the final.

The Perfect Flop

You wait all session for a flop to hit you smack in the face and when it finally does, it connects just as hard with two others.  Then it gets interesting!

Poll Results - I Want a Re-Count!

For the first time ever, we have a poll with unanimous results.  What could be so polarizing?

Well we asked who you thought was the biggest lucksack at our game.  Being a results oriented group,


 Someone Has Everyone Leaving Down On the Night and that is...

Sheldonkey

WHO IS THE BIGGEST LUCKSACK AT OUR HOME GAME?

Sheldon, I think that you should take this poll as an indication that what players thought they were voting for was "What player was luckiest enough to be born with a superior poker intellect".

I am very surprised that Brain Kramp didn't use one of his multiple computers to vote for 7 Nation Army at least once.

In a related subject, here is a picture I took at our home game shortly after you left with a big haul last time Sheldon...

It's been said that you if you are given lemons, you should make lemonade.  That being true, if given sour grapes, you should make whine.  (Check it off the bucket list boys...)

A new poll is up and running - check it out and vote like you mean it!

Poker Decor

Everyone loves a good man-cave and every good man-cave needs man stuff on the walls.  If you have manly aspirations but your walls are bare, I've got a great site for you.

High Hand Designs

This site has a lot of really cool things to browse through to personalize your man-space.  The have a large selection of Poker "art" (wood / tin / pictures / posters / metal wall sculptures / framed memorabilia).  The wood signs are particularly cool and most of them you can customize with the name of your man-cave.  They also have apparel that you can lounge around in as you eat your wings, drink your beer and scratch your butt.

I have not ordered anything from this site yet, but I am really hoping that one of you buy me a a present from this store to add a little more poker charm to the Pass The Dip poker pit.  (Let's face it, it's really Brain Kramp's money that you'd be spending on me...)

Here are a few of the many items High Hand Designs sell;

WPT Super High Roller Event 2011 Results

While Pass The Dip played for pocket change on Friday night, the world's best played a $100 000 buy in event in the World Poker Tour's first Super High Roller Event at the Bellagio.  29 players ponied up the massive buy in to play in the first ever $100 000 buy in event held on American soil.

Erik Seidel continued his amazing run in 2011 by besting the field and taking down the $1 092 780 first prize.  This gives him almost $5.5 million in tournament winnings this year alone.  And lets face it, it couldn't happen to a better pro!

The list of players in the money are:

1 - ($1 092 780) - Erik Seidel

2 - ($700 500) - Erick Lindgren

3 - ($448 320) - Daniel Negreanu

4 - ($336 240) - Vivek Rajkumar

5 - ($224 160) - Justin Bonomo

Erik Seidel takes down the Super High Roller Event, May 2011

I'm Gonna Clock Someone - May 20, 2011 Results and Photos

Last night's game started with the tournament.  To start the night Brain Kramp had been the subject of many ill-intentioned comments, so I offered him an olive branch and said that I would be in his corner and back him for the night.  This would be at no additional cost, although the lesson rates still applied.

I am thinking about running a promotion, or rather a punishment where the last person to arrive late has to wear the Flava Flav gear.  All but 2 people (well one and me) showed up for the posted time.  And the person that showed up on time thought the tournament started earlier.  The other players were Hellmuthian with their entrance.  But I digress...

Being late was not Flava Flav's only chronic problem

*Sigh - OK - Brain Kramp won, alright?  Whew, that hurt a little.  Sorry to ruin any possible suspense, but it hurts less to rip off the band aid than than to do the slow peel.

Blah blah blah, OK, moving along with the post...

The Money Shot

Kailey made the money yet again.  For those that didn't vote for her and Co in the last poll, go put your head in the corner for 1 minute before you read on.

There - purgatory over.  Kailey played great!  Another strong showing but she couldn't kick some ass* when faced with Kramp-a-Lamp-a-Ding-Dong heads up.  She did however knock off both myself and Papasan in the same hand...

These are not the first dudes Kailey has left looking like this.

Jason Spades did what Jason Spades does.  He makes money at poker.  He sweated a small stack for some time, but Kailey and Brain Kramp refused to give him any room to build and he made a bit of cheddar for finishing in 3rd.

The Cash Game

What we rarely see is how a true student of the game prepares for an action game of No Limit Hold Em like we run.  Dandy, fresh off multiple wins following his poker lessons in T.O. has agreed to let us "behind the scenes" during his prep session...

Dandy reviewing his video log of his lessons with Brain Kramp for inspiration.  I am Dandylion, hear me ROAR!

This week the cash game was locked and loaded and firing with both barrels right from the gate.  I think a small part of this might be attributed to Lemon chasing his 10+ish re-buys from the tournament and setting up camp in blufftown.  In all fairness, money kept flying onto the table as the deck set up victim after victim with big pair over big pair and big draws vs made hands.  You couldn't play with fear on this night.

Jason had AK, Lemon A9, the 9 windows, Jason yelped and the King-ball was the second card off the deck - sweet justice was served as a steaming pile of white chips!

Lemon AKA Russell Hantz and T-Mart played poker "Survivor" but Lemon's chips abandoned him at the merge.

I'm not going to write a smart comment about Dandy because frankly this picture frightens me, and I don't want to be accused of irony.

I am not kidding when I say that the above pictures were the cause of Lemon losing his mind.  He was rambling on to himself about how he is looking forward to going to Vegas with Dandy and wearing just sweater vests on the strip with each of them rocking a boom box on their shoulders.  Mildly amusing - sure, (probably funnier if Lemon just shaved his arms and neck and rocked a faux sweater vest) but I actually thought we were going to have to paper - rock - scissors to see who would have to drag his carcass out of the way so we could continue playing.

Ali and Bob flew in from Vegas during our tournament and we frantically texted game updates throughout.  When they landed, they drove into town during the first few hours of the cash game, and eventually made it to the table where BSB promptly picked up where he left off at the Flamingo hours earlier - shaking his head at his mis-fortune.

I want to give a shout out to Brain Kramp's brother Mikeweiser who came out for the first time and fit right in; he was making fun of Chris even worse than the rest of us.

Sheldonkey didn't show up this week - I suspect he wants to keep a clean sweep at the poll that's currently running and didn't want to have a couple of unlucky hands ruin all he's worked so hard to accomplish.

Several nicknames blossomed this week as well. First of all Brain Kramp was particularly snake bit by 7 Nation Army again this week and kept referring to him as The Anti-Chris.  Army seemed to take great pleasure in Kramp's pain.  Then Kramp turned his focus on Lemon wanted to name him "Easy Money Lemon" which got shortened to EML in short order.  It got thrown around like Lemon's stack and was great fun to needle with.  It also makes Lemon's eyes do a slow roll, which as we all know is bad poker etiquette, but we wouldn't want to tap the glass now would we?  If Brain Kramp spent as much time thinking about his poker game as he did thinking about giving poker names, he'd have less of an excuse when he lost.

AND FINALLY...the jackpot was won yet again this week, this time by T-Money Mart.  You can see the hand details here.  At the cash game she won a lot of chips and she won a lot of hearts (well heart draws really, but what's the difference?)

*ass - A quadruped of the genus Equus (E. asinus), smaller than the horse, and having a peculiarly harsh bray and long ears. The tame or domestic ass is patient, slow, and sure-footed, and has become the type of obstinacy and stupidity.  Also known as a donkey or a chris.

Negreanu vs Hansen - High Stakes Poker

This is probably the hand I remember most vividly from all the High Stakes Poker games I've watched. It hurts to watch. You've been warned.

Poker in Books; Check-Raising the Devil

Check-Raising the Devil by Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is one of the most borrowed books from my personal poker library.  To a man, the reviews from those that have read it, have been overwhelmingly positive.

Pass The Dip Review

This book is an incredible autobiography of Mike Matusow's life and poker career and doesn't pull any punches.  He details his battle with mental illness, drugs, jail and the ups and downs of a player gambling  for millions of dollars.  The story is an honest look at what some may see from the outside as a dream lifestyle, but addresses the truth behind what a professional poker player must deal with to live their dream.  This book comes in at 267 pages, but the story makes it feel much shorter than that.  This is another must-read Pass The Dip recommended book.

The Book Description From checkraisingthedevil.com 

Poker Champ Mike Matusow Offers the Inside Straight to the Highs and Lows of Living Life Full Tilt

When it comes to living on the edge, Mike Matusow is an expert.

A world-class poker player, and one of the game’s most colorful and polarizing personalities, he’s known as “The Mouth” to fans and detractors alike. A force of nature, and a force to be reckoned with, he is well known for being both wildly talented and wildly unpredictable. When it comes to reading players at the table, Matusow has few peers. But getting a read on himself and his emotions has proved to be a much tougher task, which is what makes his new autobiography so riveting.

In Check-Raising the Devil,Matusow, a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and favorite of the ESPN cameras for his outbursts and emotions, tells a story you have to read to believe. It includes Mike’s personal experiences with high-stakes poker, sports betting, drugs, sex, and jail – all told with unflinching honesty. It also sheds light on the internal conflicts Matusow faces every day, battling often crippling depression and mental illness.

Poker this Friday, May 20th - Game Will Be Taped

If you've been following the blog and in particular, the Upcoming Games / Events / Open Invitations page, you will already know there is a game at my house on Friday, May 20th.

The tournament will be a rebuy tournament starting at 7:45 (show up at 7:30).  You can buy in OR rebut for the first 3 levels.  A .25 / .50 cash game will follow.

But enough about that.  The real news is that this will be a tape night.  Now that's something to get your reels a-spinning!  I have plenty of tapes to choose from and you'll all get some input on what gets in the deck.  For those of you experiencing a slight hiss in your ears, it is not old age setting in, it is nostalgia wrapped in a 4" x 3" plastic case.

It's going to be sweet!  See you Friday...

Sin City Six - Our 2008 On-line Tournament Series

Back in early 2008, Mike Bakeman started a weekly series of on-line tournaments for our home game players.

Tournament Name:Sin City Six

Buyin:$14 + $1
Game:No-limit Hold'em
Password: 696969
Date: Every Wednesday starting Feb 20/08
Time: 11:00 PM (ET) keep in mind that this tournament will start 10:00 our time.

These tournaments only lasted about 3 months.  The first 2 1/2 months we had between 10 and 13 players, but then as a few dropped off, the domino effect took hold.  It was a pretty fun idea that might've  taken hold better if we weren't so full of shift workers amongst our players.

I imagine that some players also had trouble keeping their bankroll on-line between the tournaments...

Our final game was on May 14, 2008 and with 3 players, it lasted a whopping 11 minutes - Nigel Martin stands as the last Sin City Six tournament winner.

11 minutes of heart wrenching action

Here are some screen shots from some of the other action;

Straight flush baby!

I squish the pizza guy's avatar - The digital age of VooDoo

Of course I'll add a screen shot of a tourney I won...

The bright lights of the final table weren't hard to make in our tournament series

The tournament lobby following an average tournament

Federated Sports and Gaming Release Their Inaugural Season Carded Players List

Jeffrey Pollack of FS+G

Federated Sports and Gaming has released its list of players that they have provided cards to for the upcoming inaugural season.

Rather than provide a simple re-cap, I'll instead provide the below link to a well written article by Lance Bradley at Bluffmagazine.com.  It has the breakdown of the entire 218 player field and which players have a 5 year, a 3 year or a 2 year card.

FS+G 218 player list at bluffmagazine.com

Here is the link to Federated Sports + Gaming's home page with a player search option as well as a PDF version of the season one roster.  It also includes an overview, event schedules and structures as well as qualification criteria.

www.federatedinc.com

Annie Duke of FS+G

Strange Happenings in the Blogosphere

Clayton conducting experiments on Brain Kramp and Sheldon

Something strange happened in the blogosphere in the last 2 days.  The poll results I posted below had a bunch of mystery new votes, a blog post disappeared and the last 10 comments vanished into thin air.

I also lost the new poll I started on the right side of the blog.  This poll is now up again, but if you had voted already, you'll have to vote again.

Reading back to see what else was effected, I noticed that one of Kramp's comments was funny, so obviously the text has been altered as well.

A class action lawsuit has been initiated.

Poker Joke #1

There’s a guy who lives in Ohio. One morning, he hears a voice in his head. The voice says,
“Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.”

He ignores the voice.

Later in the day, he hears the voice again.
“Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.”

Again, he ignores the voice.

Soon he hears the voice every minute of the day.
“Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.”

He can’t take it anymore. He believes the voice.
He quits his job, sells his house, takes all his money, and flies to Las Vegas.
As soon as he steps off the plane, the voice says, “Go to the Horseshoe.”

He goes to The Horseshoe.

The voice says, “Put all your money into a World Series of Poker (WSOP) entry.”

He puts up his $10,000 and buys an entry into the WSOP.

He goes to his assigned tournament table.
The first hand is dealt and the guy is dealt AsAd.

The voice says, “Go all in.”

He pushes his entire $10,000 bankroll into the pot.
Three players call.

The dealer lays down the flop which is 8h9h10h.

The voice says, “Damn.”

Poll Results

The following poll had some really interesting pairings, any of which in reality could take down the title if such a tournament was played.  I think a couple of the groupings included people that don't often win, but usually place pretty well, a prime example being Kailey and Co who both have continually made the money lately.

Look to the side bar for the next poll - This one will determine once and for all who is biggest lucksack at our home game.

VOTE FOR THE PAIR OF PLAYERS THAT WOULD HAVE THE BEST COMBINED FINISH IN A PASS THE DIP TOURNAMENT. (PLEASE PICK 3 PAIRINGS.)

Poker Quotes 2 - The Black and White Version

"People would be surprised to know how much I learned about prayer from playing poker." - Mary Austin

"The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time." - General David Shoup

"I believe in luck.  How else can you explain the success of those you dislike?" - Jean Cocteau

"Shallow men believe in luck.  Strong men believe in cause and effect." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Maid Hands Clean Up - May 8, 2011 Results and Pictures

May 6th will go down as the sweetest run of cards I have ever seen by anyone at a poker table ever.  It will also go down as the day that Brain Kramp came (at least partially) to his senses.

The odds and the chips were stacked in Sheldon's favour.

First of all, we are all familiar with Sheldon's aggressive style.  Friday night he didn't need it.  The cards that he saw in combination with the way the boards ran, was a perfect storm.  In the 3 1/2 hours he played, he hit more full houses than I've seen all year, he hit quads, and spoiler alert, he smashed a straight flush taking down 60% of the jackpot.  The interesting thing is that sometimes a run of cards this good might never be seen because in 6 to 8 handed game, others may not have hands to pay the good cards off.  In this case it wasn't often that the second best hand was worse than a straight.  In the carnage that ensued, I do believe that all the other players were losers when he left.  These were hands that played themselves and we should all be so lucky at some point in our poker careers to run so sweet.

Good on you Sheldon!

"Go, fish"
"Who are you calling a fish, fish?

This night also marked the day that Brain Kramp, finally gave up his Leaf's Nation Membership card and decided to try and be "more like you, Clayton".  He proudly donned the Blackhawks jersey and smiled all night long, even as his chips slid towards Sheldon.

By the way, the above photo was the first one taken of the night and features Kramp and his father Dr. Kelly playing some hard-nosed Go Fish - an appropriate game selection for the combatants.

I think Dr. Kelly's longing look tells the night's story.

It was a smaller game with only 8 players making it out, and 6 players wishing they hadn't.  I give Army the nod for being thankful for showing up late.  He took over Sheldon's spot and developed a nice case of the chip-n-giggles.  He also can find a new poker problem to lament as his previous "I have never won a big pot where I've come from behind" was laid to rest as he runner runnered to crack Aces with K8 suited.  In all fairness, he played a mean game on Friday and his chips were well deserved.

Hordyk also made an appearance this night, before resuming his family taxi service.  He played steady as she goes, but had no cards to improve his chip count and in the end he finally got a big pair but got out flopped.

I wish I could photoshop this table so that it looks underwater with fishing lines descending from the ceiling.

It used to be that Dandy would start the night with chips by then end he would be down to the wood.  So far this year, Dandy has turned things around and is now like a woodchipper - cutting the dead wood from our poker game and turning them into chips.  I guess the lessons must have helped.  This week his poker confidence took a small step back as he butchered Kings...twice.....(hahahahahahahaha - zing - another sweet poker lessons reference!)

Co took the triple threat of bad beats, but played pretty solid to win back a good chunk of money.

I on the other hand, can only take away from the night the fact that I can tell myself that I played well.  But on the other hand what's the sense in lying if no one is listening?

Snake eyes = everyone loses.

As I mentioned earlier - Sheldon won the jackpot and you can  view the particulars by clicking here.  The jackpot page also contains what Sheldon's new suggested nickname is, defiantly worth the view!