It’s hard to get to writing while the excellent coverage of the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament is going on. Matt Savage’s crew of WhoJedi and VeeRob, once again, cater to the online audience and are bringing us a great feature table.
There and on Twitter is where you’ll find me this week so if you want to get in touch about news or views, come find me and hit me up. Otherwise, I’ll try to post links when I have time…like these!
- Here’s the Global Poker Index as published in the USA Today for this week.
- Nate Silver talks to PBS and the topic turns to poker/online poker (as well all know he’s a fan)
- The Mirror UK thinks it knows five skills that separate the sharks from the fish on the felt.
- Leo Margets helps PokerStars give it’s Team Pro ranks a little more of a woman’s touch.
- Looking for something to listen to (instead of watch)? Check out Pokerfuse’s highlighted poker podcasts of the week.
That’s all I have right now…but check back as I may add more soon. We’ll be back to usual links and comments next week.
If you have your OWN you think I need to see…email me the link, your commentary and your Twitter handle and if I agree, I’ll post it!
[Day 1a is over and all the recapped action can be found here]
I knew this day would come. Day 1a of the 2013 Bay 101 Shooting Stars in San Jose…when I’m in New York. Which means that right now, I’ve got a really bad case of poker envy. Everyone’s stack is bigger than mine! OK, you get the joke. But really, so many of the players I played with day in and day out are sitting down with the pros and taking shots at one of the richest bounties in poker. Sure, the buy-in is down to $7500 with bounties being cut in half ($2500 for each of the 50 pros), but that doesn’t take the shine off this one for me and it doesn’t help me deal with the fact that I’m forced to watch it on a live stream.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE watching on the Live Stream and while it’s not the EPT or anything, for watching Day 1a’s, WhoJedi & VeeRob (plus Merchdawg yesterday) do a good job of keeping we railbirds informed but alas, this is but a band-aid for the gaping wound that is my poker heart. I’m literally, watching, typing this blog and listening to Morrissey.
Yes, I could have gotten on a plane and taken some shots at getting in. I probably could have pieced myself out (not that I’m really +EV but I have a decent rep in the Bay) but it all seemed like reaching too far. Excuses, excuses, I know but that said, I’ll be following the action all week and sending all the rungood I have to the locals who I hope, in this case, cooler the pro, collect the bounties and, for one of them, have a life changing score.
With 250 entries so far on Day 1a (via Matt Savage) and possible (1-time) re-entrys, this could still be a huge prizepool despite the dip in price. Should be great!
Here’s a couple Bay 101 Links for you today…
Join me in the chat on the Live Stream
Here’s the Bay 101 Live News and Photos Blog
More Links for you today…
- Andrew Feldman over at ESPN compiles a new edition of the top 10 list: “The Nuts”. Who’s up and who’s OUT? You gotta do better than win some WSOP event in November to hang around on this who’s who list.
- Sometimes the good guys do win! Over at Casino City Times, they’ve compiled a top ten list of their own…tourney results where the good guys take the lion’s share. I suppose that depends on who you think is good…but it’s a nice stroll down memory lane either way.
- Iowa is looking to crash the internet poker party as they advance a bill to try and join the big three (NV, DE and NJ) in the quest to raise revenue. (Video Included)
- What would you say are the most desirable traits of a professional poker player? How many of those are in you? Well, the Titan Poker Blog ALSO has a top ten list…check it out and see if how many of these characteristics you have in spades.
I’ll add on a little later, maybe tomorrow so check back, and let me know of a story or video that I missed that needs to be shared.
See you soon - JW
As I mentioned earlier, there’s so many links over the past 24 hours that you might be interested in, I had to break it up into two parts. Here’s the 2nd half of the day as I saw it…hope you find something you like! Again, do me the solid of Following on Twitter: @pkrgssp, giving us a RT or Reblog if you like it. I’m kinda, sorta close to 2k followers and I’d be pretty happy right there!
OK…let’s get to it - part 2 of your daily gssp!
- First up: If it’s 7:30pm PST on a Friday you know it’s time for live, streaming poker action with Live At The Bike w/ Bart and Tuck (and sometimes Nichoel).
- Victor Blom, aka Isildur1, talks with Pokerlistings about…well, everything. The highs, the lows, Phil and Tom, and his long lost anonymity. He’s young, great and still, to many, a mystery.
- Poker Royalty announces that Eugene Katchalov is going to remain a PokerStars Team Pro for at least another year. It’s a press release that only a real poker media guy could love. If that’s you, here it is.
- Virgina Supreme Court opts not to rule on whether poker is a skill game, ending the hopes of one man to open a card room there. Special appearance in the court room by Greg Raymer.
- Vanessa Selbst loves to cook! It’s a behind the scenes look, above and beyond her recent AMA, into what Vanessa likes to do when she’s not totally destroying your poker hopes and dreams. (via PokerStars Blog)
- Moshin Charania, aka chicagocards1, talks LAPC Fantasy Poker w/ Marco. Spoiler Alert: he picked Volpe who took 2nd in the event. But did he pick himself?
- Party Poker (and Revolution) move to segregating cash game players based on win rate in order to protect the losing players…aka: fish. Poker Room Ecology protection is what it’s called and essentially if you’re good, you can’t see where the bad players are playing to feed on them. If you’re bad, you can do what you please. The ethics of this are, of course, in dispute as what business is it of the poker room to tell you who you can and can’t play with, right? Only, when it hurts the bottom line…you can throw those notions right out the window. Interested? Check out these links from Pokerfuse, detailing the recent events on both sites.
- Party Poker Player Segregation and Revolution to introduce “Fair Play Technology”
Interested in seeing this in action?
Bay 101 Shooting Stars starts this week and it should be a good one. I’ve got a ton of friends in the field, so good luck to all of them and good luck to you as well, wherever you are grinding this weekend. So go RUN GOOD and hit me up with stories I missed that are worth it.
Until next time - JW
Oh Snap! Gus and “his cronies” Dwan and Blom accept Daniel Negreanu’s HU challenge at EPT London!
I mean, was there ever a doubt? Daniel and Gus are friends and Daniel would never call out Gus unless this stunt was already approved by all parties and, yes, OF COURSE it’s a publicity stunt. (Not sure Olivier Busquet got the message as he’s trying to get involved here) But, you know, I don’t mind. Sure, it’s trying to get you to come back to Full Tilt and yes, they might be playing with the house money but the only way in which this would suck is if these guys don’t put forth their best effort. If the bragging rights aren’t sufficient enough motivation to have these titans of the game give it their all - then it’s lame and they’re wasting our time. (Check out this article on CalvinAyre.com - Don’t Believe The Hype)
But Daniel doesn’t seem to half-ass many things and so I think if he’s putting his energy into committing to the drama, then he’s going to play hard and give the railbirds something to watch and both sides will have people rooting for them. Gotta remember, at some point, poker was fun.
OK, so let’s run down a ton of other stories and items that might interest you. Pick a link or two and check them out and, of course, let me know if there’s something I missed (or misspelled - which happens often) and if it’s worthy, I’ll add it. So let’s run it down on a Friday…it’s another daily gssp:
- Looking for structure sheets on the WSOP? Here you go (h/t to Kevmath)
- PokerNews Podcast w/ guest Alex Dreyfus talking about the new Global Poker Index, Fantasy Poker Manager and suspension of players for being bad. I think you know where I stand on this one, that said I’m a huge Rich Ryan fan, he’s one of the good guys IMO. Plus Alex Dreyfus looks a lot like Dana White in this photo, no?
- Speaking of PokerNews, Chad Holloway praises the new book “Ship It Holla Ballas” and gets to talk with it’s author. It’s a nice interview and a glowing review, worth checking out if you were thinking about getting the book. I sometimes wonder if PokerNews would allow Chad to publish a negative review of a book, you know? I was going to ask him, but I don’t really know him.
- How influential are the biggest names in poker? Barry Carter, this time for PokerStrategy, shares his votes in Bluff Power 20 list and talks about why most well-known players aren’t included on such a list. Interesting, quick read if for nothing more than to see who the Poker Media Pro voted for.
- Oh Boy…the ISPT finds a partner in Dusk Till Dawn and promises 1milly Euros to the winner, no matter how many people enter. In order to avoid overlay, they need to hit a 5mm prizepool total and it seems like DTD has been successful in the past. This really confuses the matter as a company with a seemingly good reputation is stepping in to validate the punching bag that is the ISPT. Can’t wait to see how this plays out.
- Are you a Cardrunners Member or someone who needs poker training everywhere, all the time? Check out Cardrunners Mobile - it’s not free, just FYI.
- Vanessa Selbst does a AMA on Reddit. Look, I don’t want to out myself as being a total noob, but while there’s some really, really interesting stuff in here on Selbst, who is one of my personal favorite poker players, it’s a little unweildy. Is it worth sifting through? Yes, if you’re a fan like me.
- Just for lulz. A recap from PokerLolz of JRB’s hair replacement surgery. Bellande is an open-book, just the way we like him.
- Short-Stacked Shamus remembers an Epic Anniversary - it’s one year since Epic announced it was belly-up! Shamus was tangentially wrapped up in the mess by being a writer for their website and takes a nice trip down memory lane about how this promising idea turned into another Annie Duke shit show.
- Michael Gentile, Pokerfuse’s Editor, Op-Ed’s off of the iGaming Player Panel from last week and breaks down what he thinks are the four biggest concerns, from a player perspective, of a new US online poker landscape.
Finally, and I know I’m missing a bunch, there was a lot of chatter over an article published by the AP about the decline of poker and how casino’s are removing poker rooms due to a declining popularity in the wake of Black Friday. This article is of such little concern and becomes almost trite without mentioning the recent movement in the online gaming legislation in NV, NJ and DE. Plus, the re-examination of these laws in any number of states as well to talk about the future of the game. I think it’s more likely that poker’s popularity is not waning but the casino’s need to make larger margins is increasing and there’s only so many ways to chop up the player rake. So sure, the Trop closed it’s room as did other smaller casinos. But only because there’s so many other, better offerings, no? Just because stores close, doesn’t mean people are done shopping. It’s silly. Call me when the Venetian or Bellagio can’t get a wait list. Kill me when Bay 101 doesn’t have an hour plus long wait on a Friday.
Hey, hey - follow me on Twitter: @pkrgssp and let me know what I missed. I’ll update this blog today with new stuff so check back if you get bored. Tell a friend and please, this weekend, go RUN GOOD, ok!? - JW