Party Poker Blog

"Proof that PokerStars isn't rigged

In case you believe that Lee Jones at Poker Stars has the power to "help" out players that he likes, tonights event #1 of the WCOOP (PLO8) has proven that idea wrong.

In case you didn't watch, a semi-literate caps-lock chatting grammar-challenged buffoon named "AustinKearns" played like a maniac, lucked into a huge stack, and bludgeoned the final table with it. He was the most unlikeable poker player I have ever seen. With all the crap he was spouting, surely anyone with the power to make him lose would have taken advantage of it."

The above is from my Fast Eddie post (see banner above) from almost exactly a year ago, when he scored at the WCOOP.

And guess what - the schedule for the 2005 PokerStars WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) has been announced. I'll copy and paste it below, k?

But for now, you need to know about Sunday. The fine folks at Poker Stars have done some fancy configuring of their software to allow us to run a charity event in Charlie Tuttle's honour. All the proceeds go to charity, so please, sign up and play with us.

WPBT "Charlie" Tournament
When: THIS Sunday - July 17th - 6pm EST
Where: PokerStars - Listed under the Private tab
Cost: $20 - Every penny goes to charity

I really want to thank PokerStars for making this happen. Their support and helpfulness goes above and beyond. Again, it's THIS Sunday evening - sign up NOW!

Also, I'll toss in five 2004 ESPN WSOP DVD's to the final five finishers.

Damn, between reading all the Championship Event updates and watching the 2004 WSOP DVD, I've got the poker bug bad.

Here's that WCOOP schedule:

DATE EVENT BUY-IN FEE GUARANTEE

September 4 (Sun) No Limit Hold 'em $500 $30 $800,000
September 5 (Mon) Pot Limit Omaha (rebuys) $200 $15 $200,000
September 6 (Tue) No Limit Hold 'em Match Play $200 $15 $200,000
September 7 (Wed) Pot Limit Hold'em Short-Handed 6/Table $200 $15 $200,000
September 8 (Thu) No Limit Hold 'em (rebuys) $200 $15 $700,000
September 9 (Fri) Limit Hold 'em $200 $15 $150,000
September 10 (Sat) Pot Limit Hold 'em $500 $30 $350,000
September 11 (Sun) No Limit Hold 'em $1,000 $50 $1,000,000
September 12 (Mon) Seven Card Stud $300 $20 $150,000
September 13 (Tue) No Limit Hold 'em Triple Shootout $1,000 $50 $700,000
September 14 (Wed) Limit Omaha High/Low $500 $30 $250,000
September 15 (Thu) Seven Card Stud High/Low $500 $30 $150,000
September 16 (Fri) Pot Limit Omaha $500 $30 $250,000
September 17 (Sat) Limit Hold 'em $1,000 $50 $400,000
September 18 (Sun) No Limit Hold 'em $2,500 $100 $2,500,000


Let's see, let's see . . .what shall we copy and paste today?
How about from today's NY Times?

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Poker's Popularity Doesn't Appear Ready to Fold


Poker's sudden ubiquity on television calls to mind the rush of figure skating programming that followed the hugely rated 1994 Winter Olympics and the tulip mania in Holland in the 17th century. Can the popularity of anything grow so quickly, as televised poker has in the past two or three years, without crashing?

Or has poker found the mother lode by appealing to youthful Texas Hold'em devotees who cannot get enough of stars like Doyle Brunson and Howard Lederer.

"I equate poker to Nascar," said Neal Pilson, a television consultant hired by Harrah's Entertainment to negotiate a new deal beyond 2007 for its World Series of Poker property, which has performed spectacularly well on ESPN. "Everyone drives, so they have an instant recognition for the skill and drama of Nascar. Well, there's a huge population that plays poker. It's reality programming, with drama, excitement and a tremendous amount of money."

If poker is headed for a collapse, then the market bubble appears to be in the distance. The World Series of Poker began play last month in Las Vegas, with taped coverage to start next Tuesday; CBS Sports joined many other networks by adding poker tournaments starting during Christmas; Brunson said he was part of a $700 million bid to buy the three-year-old World Poker Tour; and tomorrow night, Fox Sports Net will carry live the final table of a tournament in which the players will probably be wearing heart monitors to gauge whether their poker faces are hiding racing ventricles.

"We'll let you feel what they feel," said George Greenberg, FSN's vice president of programming and production, who cautioned that not all 27 players who will start at the final table of the FullTiltPoker.Net Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas have agreed to be wired. "If they're bluffing, we'll know."

There is, for now, little bluffing that poker is a strong television product. The Travel Channel's telecasts of the World Poker Tour are by far the network's most popular offerings, nearly doubling the ratings of its second-most popular show, "John Ratzenberger's Made in America."

But ESPN's 1.7 rating last year for the 22 episodes of the World Series of Poker was nearly twice that of the Travel Channel's, and up 42 percent from the year before, when it carried only seven installments.

"What started this poker phenomenon is the World Series on ESPN," said Mark Shapiro, an executive vice president of ESPN. "It has no peers. I'm not saying it for spin. It's the only true brand that carries a considerable audience week after week."

Shapiro's claim to peerlessness was challenged by Steve Lipscomb, the founder and chief executive of WPT Enterprises, the parent company of the World Poker Tour, which he views as poker's version of the National Basketball Association.

"Our show is still the best televised poker," said Lipscomb, who just launched an offshore Internet poker site that will not accept wagering from the United States. "We reinvented poker for television. ESPN is great at what they do; they use our format, put it on their air with the World Series and done extremely well."

ESPN would not disclose what it is paying to carry the World Series of Poker, but its fee is believed to be modest relative to the breakout television success. WPT, a public company, reported that it received $9.9 million from the Travel Channel for last year's second season of programming. Certainly, Harrah's will want more.

"The World Series of Poker was a dying brand before it came to ESPN," Shapiro said. "We've spent considerable effort and dollars to rebuild the brand."

WPT also disclosed last week that it had not received enough information about the Brunson bid to evaluate whether it would go forward. According to its current stock-market price, shares in WPT are worth nearly $500 million.

Poker's appeal to television networks is its hardiness. Live telecasts are rare; nearly all the shows are taped, which allows dull hands to be eliminated and drama to be accentuated. The tournaments often air months after they have been played - broadcasts of the main event of the World Series do not start until Oct. 11, with poker that was completed Thursday. But the ratings hold up, a situation similar to the early years of what is now the former figure skating glut.

"They may be taped, but for all intents and purposes, it's live," Shapiro said. "Aficionados aren't our core audience; it's the casual or amateur player."

The World Series is being covered by 18 cameras, with one person designated to spot a hot table.

FSN, which also carries the taped Poker Superstars series (on a three-month delay) did well enough last year with its live telecast of the American Poker Championship to consider going live again with the FullTilt event. Greenberg said he believed that a group of superstars might reduce the possibility of boring hands.

"We're rolling the dice that over four or six or eight hours, drama will unfold," he said, "with the stakes incredibly high and the players incredibly skilled."

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Random photo of my pony:



Not sure why Doyle pulled off the whole pump and dump on WPT stocks....
Press release:

LOS ANGELES, Jul 11, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As previously reported, on July 7,
2005, WPT Enterprises, Inc. (WPTE) received an offer for the acquisition of
WPTE. The offer failed to provide sufficient information for WPTE to determine
its credibility. Consequently, and as described below, WPTE still does not have
enough information to evaluate the credibility of the offer.

WPTE received the offer for the purchase of the company on July 7, 2005 from the
Las Vegas-based law firm of Goodman and Chesnoff, purporting to represent a
group of investors headed by Doyle Brunson. The term sheet proposed a purchase
price of $700,000,000 but otherwise failed to provide sufficient information for
WPTE's management and Board to determine its credibility. The term sheet
indicated that the offer would expire on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at 5:30 p.m.
(with a provision for WPTE to request a one week extension). The offer was
publicized by issuance of a press release that was released without consulting
with WPTE.

WPTE contacted the Goodman and Chesnoff firm in an effort to substantiate the
credibility of the offer but was not provided with any additional information.
After market close on July 8, WPTE was ultimately informed that the Goodman and
Chesnoff firm was no longer involved in the matter. WPTE made further attempts
through the weekend to obtain more information but was unsuccessful.

Therefore, WPTE currently is unable to substantiate the credibility of the offer
it received last week. If the offer cannot be substantiated and accepted by
Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., the offer will lapse by its own terms.

"While WPTE is not actively pursuing offers, it will seriously consider the
merits of this or any other offer once it receives the requisite foundation
information," stated Steven Lipscomb, WPTE's President and CEO.



Well, hey now, here's the latest news about Noble poker.

Congratulations to Douglas Evenhus from Montana, USA for winning $18,500 in our Maui Sit n Go Jackpot. You know it?s possible so now try your poker skill in our $25,000 Rio Sit n Go Jackpot.

To make things more exciting we've introduced this original concept to a 6 player Sit n Go tournament. Any player who wins 6 consecutive Rio Sit n Go tournaments, will walk away with $25,000. Not bad for just a $20 buy-in!

In addition, Noble Poker will also award a $300 prize to a player who finished in either 1st or 2nd place in six consecutive Rio Jackpot Sit N Go tournaments.

All you have to do to be eligible for this incredible $25,000 Jackpot Bonus is sit down and play at the special Rio table, already in the Noble Poker software.


$800 Signup Bonus!


And the best pieces of news I've heard in a long time came in today. Dutch Boyd is out of the tourney and Jackpot Jay is writing his last column for ESPN next week.

Thank God.

Also, DoubleAs is the freaking chipleader in event 43 with 27 people left!!! Check out Pauly for live WSOP updates.

Also, I haven't seen this talked about much so I'm gonna link up this ESPN article about phony chips being found in the WSOP.
Phony Chips at the WSOP.

Stay tuned.