Casino Planet Cash

These days, who is, really?

In case you missed it, Manny Pacquiao was the victim of some relentless bashing and surprisingly, it didn’t come from yours truly this time around.

This time, it came from the Italian - American TV comedian Adam Carolla, who wasn’t shy on letting everybody know how fucking pathetic he thinks Manny Pacquiao truly is. In his podcast, Carolla poked fun at the third world moron, saying that Pacquiao’s bid for politics is the saddest thing that could ever happen for one country.

”He’s gonna run for Congress in the Philippines. Really? You want some guy with brain damage running your country? Why don’t you get your shit together? They got this and sex tours, that’s all they have over there,” Carolla commented.

Carolla was talking with a boxing fan over the aborted welterweight championship fight between Pacquiao and the pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. The talk later turned into some heavy bashing with Carolla questioning why Pacquiao just can’t submit himself to the Olympic-style blood-testing.

”It’s a cultural thing. We don’t realize how quietly racist we all are because Pacquiao says he doesn’t give blood the month of a fight or a week before the fight because somehow, it’s going to weaken him and what-have-you,” he said.

”I have to tell you, if that was a white fighter and probably a black fighter…”

College has traditionally been a time when young adults build upon years of schooling with more advanced study, rounding out their formal education in order to prepare themselves for future endeavors. Of course, college also generally represents a time when many learn other (more or less) valuable life lessons. Like how to do laundry. Or that it might be a good idea to defrost the freezer once in a while. Or, for some, how to play poker.

In Play Poker Like the Pros, Phil Hellmuth, Jr. tells about his introduction to the game which would ultimately become a source of fame and fortune. Like many before him and since, it was at college that Hellmuth first became serious about poker.

“I remember well my introduction to Texas Hold’em at the Memorial Union on the campus of the University of Wisconsin,” writes Hellmuth. “I was a poor (OK, broke!) undergraduate student at UW then, with nothing to lose (literally).” He goes on to note how even though “the powers that be” didn’t necessarily approve of the game being played, the students were nonetheless able to carry on with minimal efforts to conceal what they were doing.

Hellmuth reports that during those early sessions he would lose consistently. But as it turned out, the Poker Brat was investing in a different sort of education, one that would soon yield handsome returns. Just a few years later he’d capture the 1989 WSOP Main Event title, the first of his record 11 bracelets.

While Hellmuth’s story quickly becomes unique, its origin is quite common. Many first learn poker — or have their first experiences playing the game for real money — at college.

Some of the reasons for this phenomenon can be found in Hellmuth’s example. College is for many a time of trying new things, accepting challenges, and not necessarily shying away from risks the way we tend to do once we’ve grown older and find ourselves with families and mortgages. Indeed, many of us for whom those days are long past remember them fondly, recalling that we were never as “rich” as when we had “nothing to lose.”

Poker remains a significant part of college life in 2010, even more so today than when Hellmuth was in school. Many top young pros making their live poker debuts in the U.S. after turning 21 have emerged from an intense curriculum of online play while at college, 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada (formerly of the University of Michigan) being a notable recent example. However, not everyone who plays poker in college is looking to embark on a career. In fact, the game can serve many other purposes as well.

There was a story just this week about poker being played at Purdue University (in Indiana) — a tournament pulled together by the school’s Accounting Association involving both professors and students. Here poker provided a chance for meaningful interaction outside of the classroom, lessening the divide between faculty and students in order to improve communication.

As one faculty member explained, the game “helps improve the setting in the classroom and gives us [teachers] a better rapport with the students.” By all accounts the tournament — involving no cash but donated prizes only — was a great success, and the plan is to make it an annual event.

We’re also seeing examples here and there of poker actually entering the college classroom, too. Last fall, poker player and author James McManus contributed a piece to The Chronicle of Higher Education describing a class, The Literature of Poker, that he’s been teaching at the School of Art Institute of Chicago since the mid-1990s. In his article — “What Poker Can Teach Us” — McManus shares some of his thoughts regarding how studying poker’s role in history helps us better understand human nature, a thesis he advances much more comprehensively in Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker (reviewed here).

In his article McManus also alludes to another example of poker cropping up in higher ed — the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, a group founded at Harvard University in 2006 and headed by Charles Nesson, a professor of law at Harvard. The GPSTS takes as its mission a broader promotion (and defense) of poker as an especially useful means to support a variety of academic undertakings.

“We use poker to teach strategic thinking, geopolitical analysis, risk assessment and money management,” explains the group on its website. “We see poker as a metaphor for skills of life, business, politics and international relations. Our goal is to create an open online curriculum centered on poker that will draw the brightest minds together, both from within and outside of the conventional university setting, to promote open education and Internet democracy.”

The group boasts that chapters have been “formed and approved, or pending administrative approval” at 20 different colleges and universities, with nearly 30 more having shown interest in developing chapters.

While some may find the idea of poker as a subject of study in the college classroom less than obvious, one can readily see how the game and its place in contemporary culture intersects with a wide variety of disciplines often studied in higher education, including (but not limited to) psychology, math, politics, law, economics, logic, literature, history, and ethics.

College is not unlike a poker game, I suppose. People enter for a variety of reasons, coming in equipped with different skill levels and abilities. Some learn better than others, improving as they go. Others become distracted, form bad habits, and are forced to drop out. Some regard grades and degrees as chips, ready to be cashed in when done, though not all approach it this way, as there do exist other means by which to measure success or failure.

And if one happens to learn to play poker in college — or studies it while there — well, that can be a meaningful part of the experience, too. Few will “graduate” to a WSOP Main Event title like Hellmuth or Cada (neither of whom stuck around for the actual degree, incidentally). That said, like any other class or extracurricular activity, its ultimate value is going to be different for each student.

College has traditionally been a time when young adults build upon years of schooling with more advanced study, rounding out their formal education in order to prepare themselves for future endeavors. Of course, college also generally represents a time when many learn other (more or less) valuable life lessons. Like how to do laundry. Or that it might be a good idea to defrost the freezer once in a while. Or, for some, how to play poker.

In Play Poker Like the Pros, Phil Hellmuth, Jr. tells about his introduction to the game which would ultimately become a source of fame and fortune. Like many before him and since, it was at college that Hellmuth first became serious about poker.

“I remember well my introduction to Texas Hold’em at the Memorial Union on the campus of the University of Wisconsin,” writes Hellmuth. “I was a poor (OK, broke!) undergraduate student at UW then, with nothing to lose (literally).” He goes on to note how even though “the powers that be” didn’t necessarily approve of the game being played, the students were nonetheless able to carry on with minimal efforts to conceal what they were doing.

Hellmuth reports that during those early sessions he would lose consistently. But as it turned out, the Poker Brat was investing in a different sort of education, one that would soon yield handsome returns. Just a few years later he’d capture the 1989 WSOP Main Event title, the first of his record 11 bracelets.

While Hellmuth’s story quickly becomes unique, its origin is quite common. Many first learn poker — or have their first experiences playing the game for real money — at college.

Some of the reasons for this phenomenon can be found in Hellmuth’s example. College is for many a time of trying new things, accepting challenges, and not necessarily shying away from risks the way we tend to do once we’ve grown older and find ourselves with families and mortgages. Indeed, many of us for whom those days are long past remember them fondly, recalling that we were never as “rich” as when we had “nothing to lose.”

Poker remains a significant part of college life in 2010, even more so today than when Hellmuth was in school. Many top young pros making their live poker debuts in the U.S. after turning 21 have emerged from an intense curriculum of online play while at college, 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada (formerly of the University of Michigan) being a notable recent example. However, not everyone who plays poker in college is looking to embark on a career. In fact, the game can serve many other purposes as well.

There was a story just this week about poker being played at Purdue University (in Indiana) — a tournament pulled together by the school’s Accounting Association involving both professors and students. Here poker provided a chance for meaningful interaction outside of the classroom, lessening the divide between faculty and students in order to improve communication.

As one faculty member explained, the game “helps improve the setting in the classroom and gives us [teachers] a better rapport with the students.” By all accounts the tournament — involving no cash but donated prizes only — was a great success, and the plan is to make it an annual event.

We’re also seeing examples here and there of poker actually entering the college classroom, too. Last fall, poker player and author James McManus contributed a piece to The Chronicle of Higher Education describing a class, The Literature of Poker, that he’s been teaching at the School of Art Institute of Chicago since the mid-1990s. In his article — “What Poker Can Teach Us” — McManus shares some of his thoughts regarding how studying poker’s role in history helps us better understand human nature, a thesis he advances much more comprehensively in Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker (reviewed here).

In his article McManus also alludes to another example of poker cropping up in higher ed — the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, a group founded at Harvard University in 2006 and headed by Charles Nesson, a professor of law at Harvard. The GPSTS takes as its mission a broader promotion (and defense) of poker as an especially useful means to support a variety of academic undertakings.

“We use poker to teach strategic thinking, geopolitical analysis, risk assessment and money management,” explains the group on its website. “We see poker as a metaphor for skills of life, business, politics and international relations. Our goal is to create an open online curriculum centered on poker that will draw the brightest minds together, both from within and outside of the conventional university setting, to promote open education and Internet democracy.”

The group boasts that chapters have been “formed and approved, or pending administrative approval” at 20 different colleges and universities, with nearly 30 more having shown interest in developing chapters.

While some may find the idea of poker as a subject of study in the college classroom less than obvious, one can readily see how the game and its place in contemporary culture intersects with a wide variety of disciplines often studied in higher education, including (but not limited to) psychology, math, politics, law, economics, logic, literature, history, and ethics.

College is not unlike a poker game, I suppose. People enter for a variety of reasons, coming in equipped with different skill levels and abilities. Some learn better than others, improving as they go. Others become distracted, form bad habits, and are forced to drop out. Some regard grades and degrees as chips, ready to be cashed in when done, though not all approach it this way, as there do exist other means by which to measure success or failure.

And if one happens to learn to play poker in college — or studies it while there — well, that can be a meaningful part of the experience, too. Few will “graduate” to a WSOP Main Event title like Hellmuth or Cada (neither of whom stuck around for the actual degree, incidentally). That said, like any other class or extracurricular activity, its ultimate value is going to be different for each student.

The use of subtle (or not so subtle) pieces of advertising to influence people into behaving in ways they would not, is one of the most obvious and important aspects of modern advertising and politics. Although it is now in a different form to Nazi war propaganda or Kitchener’s World War One poster campaigns, it is still as ever present in society as it was then, and an understanding of these techniques is very helpful at the poker tables when attempting to influence other players.

Woo hoo! Canada won the Gold for men’s hockey too! Just like they did for women’s hockey. The country set a record by winning the most Gold Medals for any Olympics, winter or summer. I’m half Canadian, so this victory is great for my Canadian side, which sometimes resents living in the shadow of the side that bullies like, and pollutes on the scale of, an Empire. Living in the shadow of an Empire can be bad for your health and self-esteem too. The Olympic Gold for a game that Canada invented is good for my Canadian self-esteem. Oh, and another reason I’m glad, Robert Gibbs lost a bet and will have to wear a Canadian jersey for 15 minutes of a televised press briefing. Heh.

Made it back home safely yesterday afternoon. Quick flight, it seemed. Still amazes me how common it is for folks to wake up in one place and later that afternoon be 2,000 miles away. I’m simple that way. Easily amazed.

Got home and was very glad to be back with Vera and enjoy a quiet evening together. Had every intention to sit up and watch some Olympics — which I’ve lost track of over the past week — but zonked out by nine o’clock and slept ten straight hours. Needed that after averaging four or so over the last few nights.

Had kind of an interesting postscript to that final table of the NAPT Venetian event I was discussing last post. After watching Sam Stein enjoy the chip lead for the entire final table, Tom Marchese grabbed it away from him in a surprising hand during heads up, and then won the tourney shortly thereafter in a hand that involved another curious call from Stein.

You can see yesterday’s post for details of those last hands. If you do, you’ll see a comment from someone who viewed the NAPT.com streaming broadcast of the final table noting how Stein did not intend to show his hand in the one in which Marchese took over the chip lead. Rather, after he’d mucked face down, the dealer had flipped it over — that’s when we all saw it on the overhead monitor and the announcer confirmed that yes, Stein called the all-in bet with just fourth pair.

Those NAPT live broadcasts — like the EPT ones — are terrific fun for poker players. You get to see all of the hands at final tables (sans hole cards, of course). They also often will start showing action once the tourney gets down to three tables or so, with a feature table and secondary tables, if logistics allow it. For example, I don’t believe the NAPT Venetian Main Event was covered until that final table, but I know at EPT Kyiv they started broadcasting with at least three tables left.

As I mention in my response to the comment, we weren’t watching the NAPT.com stream Wednesday night. The images projected above the table were those being shot by the crew taking footage for the eventual ESPN2 broadcast of this Main Event final table, set to air on April 26th. And even though we were sitting just a few feet away from the table, those cameramen, constantly rotating around the table, were between us and the action, thereby obscuring from us the fact that the dealer had flipped Stein’s hand. Will definitely make watching that final table more interesting — and we’ve only a couple of months to wait!

Two other items to share before signing off today. That episode of Lou Krieger’s podcast “Keep Flopping Aces” on which I appeared (2/18/10) is now available for download either via iTunes or from the Rounders website. I’m writing up some of the latter half of the conversation for a Betfair piece that should appear soon, perhaps today if I can manage it.

Also, I might be turning up briefly on the next episode of ESPN’s Inside Deal in a segment where people ask questions of Daniel Negreanu. Show host Andrew Feldman rounded up a few of us Wednesday night to participate, and I came up with a question to ask. Dunno if it’ll be used or not, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the Inside Deal page to see if perhaps it was.

Great fun to travel and especially to reconnect with the many poker people with whom I’ve gotten to work, as well as those working for other media outlets that I worked alongside. Big thanks again to Brad, Jen, and Joe for a fun week, to Macon Marc Hodge with whom I got to work one night, to Donnie, F-Train, and all the PokerNews guys, to Mad Harper and Garry Gates of the NAPT, and to everyone else for all of the added support.

But it’s good to be home, too. Think I’ll be sticking within my usual 25-mile radius of activity here for the next few weeks. Have a good weekend all.

As were the photos in yesterday’s post, the one above is by Joe Giron. Check out his website for more cool poker & music pics.

Am sitting in McCarran Airport, readying for return home. Got a big cup of coffee here that is too hot to drink just yet, so I thought I’d file a quick report here while I wait.

Yesterday’s final table had some excitement, primarily provided by the eventual runner-up Sam Stein. A.k.a. the “Wrecking Ball.” Or, for those with an affinity for alliteration, “Steamroller.”

Chip leader coming in, Stein made quick work of the short stacks, including hitting a couple of unlikely hands that gave the impression he might well be invicible. Was during that stretch that poker blogger Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller (Bad Moon Rising) went out in sixth after a helluva run. Indeed, given the swiftness of Stein’s handiwork, it looked like we might be enjoying a short night of it.

The bustouts slowed down as we approached the dinner break, however, and it would end up being close to midnight before we had our winner. Got down to Stein and Tom Marchese — both a couple of 22-year-olds — for heads up, with Stein enjoying a big lead. They fought for a while, then came two relatively strange hands in quick succession and suddenly Marchese was the winner.

In both hands, the players had gotten to the river and Marchese had bet, with Stein left to decide whether to call. The first time, Marchese was all in, and the pot comprised something like 3/4 of the chips in play. The board read , and Stein was in the tank for four or five minutes before calling with just . Marchese only had for top pair, but he was good.

Writing up that one, I had to double- and triple-check with everyone that I had seen the cards correctly. Stein’s hand had been shown briefly and was called out by the announcer. (We were additionally wondering why he showed.) Was one of those head-scratcher hands that can prove a bit challenging for the person trying to report it — something I wrote about last summer in a post titled “Seeing is Believing.” Did he really just call with fourth pair? He had.

And then he did it again. He did! We all saw it.

In the next one the board read and betting on previous streets had gotten Stein down to a small stack. Again he tanked, and this time he called with . Marchese flipped over pocket tens for a set on the end, and suddenly we were done. Marchese had won the trophy, and the $827,648 that went along with it.

A couple of us immediately evoked the Poker Grump, champion of the deuce-four. I said I thought a good explanation for the call was that Stein must read Grump’s blog.

Actually, the story behind those last couple of calls would be interesting to learn. But even if one is sitting just a few feet away, able to observe every card and bet, there is a lot that happens in a poker tournament that no one sitting to the side can ever possibly see or report.

Hung out a bit afterwards with Otis, Jen, F-Train, and Joe Giron, our photographer (those are his pictures in this post, by the way), and managed to snooze about four hours or so before checking out and getting a cab. I realized when I walked through the doors of the Venetian out onto the sidewalk that I hadn’t left the place since I’d arrived last Friday.

Was a good week for the NAPT Venetian and I’m glad and grateful for having had the opportunity to help out with the PokerStars blog in the chronicling of it. Go back over there today to read Otis & Jen’s report on that $25,000 Bounty Shootout final table.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna see if that coffee has cooled down now. See you on the other side.

Am sitting in McCarran Airport, readying for return home. Got a big cup of coffee here that is too hot to drink just yet, so I thought I’d file a quick report here while I wait.

Yesterday’s final table had some excitement, primarily provided by the eventual runner-up Sam Stein. A.k.a. the “Wrecking Ball.” Or, for those with an affinity for alliteration, “Steamroller.”

Chip leader coming in, Stein made quick work of the short stacks, including hitting a couple of unlikely hands that gave the impression he might well be invicible. Was during that stretch that poker blogger Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller (Bad Moon Rising) went out in sixth after a helluva run. Indeed, given the swiftness of Stein’s handiwork, it looked like we might be enjoying a short night of it.

The bustouts slowed down as we approached the dinner break, however, and it would end up being close to midnight before we had our winner. Got down to Stein and Tom Marchese — both a couple of 22-year-olds — for heads up, with Stein enjoying a big lead. They fought for a while, then came two relatively strange hands in quick succession and suddenly Marchese was the winner.

In both hands, the players had gotten to the river and Marchese had bet, with Stein left to decide whether to call. The first time, Marchese was all in, and the pot comprised something like 3/4 of the chips in play. The board read , and Stein was in the tank for four or five minutes before calling with just . Marchese only had for top pair, but he was good.

Writing up that one, I had to double- and triple-check with everyone that I had seen the cards correctly. Stein’s hand had been shown briefly and was called out by the announcer. (We were additionally wondering why he showed.) Was one of those head-scratcher hands that can prove a bit challenging for the person trying to report it — something I wrote about last summer in a post titled “Seeing is Believing.” Did he really just call with fourth pair? He had.

And then he did it again. He did! We all saw it.

In the next one the board read and betting on previous streets had gotten Stein down to a small stack. Again he tanked, and this time he called with . Marchese flipped over pocket tens for a set on the end, and suddenly we were done. Marchese had won the trophy, and the $827,648 that went along with it.

A couple of us immediately evoked the Poker Grump, champion of the deuce-four. I said I thought a good explanation for the call was that Stein must read Grump’s blog.

Actually, the story behind those last couple of calls would be interesting to learn. But even if one is sitting just a few feet away, able to observe every card and bet, there is a lot that happens in a poker tournament that no one sitting to the side can ever possibly see or report.

Hung out a bit afterwards with Otis, Jen, F-Train, and Joe Giron, our photographer (those are his pictures in this post, by the way), and managed to snooze about four hours or so before checking out and getting a cab. I realized when I walked through the doors of the Venetian out onto the sidewalk that I hadn’t left the place since I’d arrived last Friday.

Was a good week for the NAPT Venetian and I’m glad and grateful for having had the opportunity to help out with the PokerStars blog in the chronicling of it. Go back over there today to read Otis & Jen’s report on that $25,000 Bounty Shootout final table.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna see if that coffee has cooled down now. See you on the other side.

Am sitting in McCarran Airport, readying for return home. Got a big cup of coffee here that is too hot to drink just yet, so I thought I’d file a quick report here while I wait.

Yesterday’s final table had some excitement, primarily provided by the eventual runner-up Sam Stein. A.k.a. the “Wrecking Ball.” Or, for those with an affinity for alliteration, “Steamroller.”

Chip leader coming in, Stein made quick work of the short stacks, including hitting a couple of unlikely hands that gave the impression he might well be invicible. Was during that stretch that poker blogger Thomas “GnightMoon” Fuller (Bad Moon Rising) went out in sixth after a helluva run. Indeed, given the swiftness of Stein’s handiwork, it looked like we might be enjoying a short night of it.

The bustouts slowed down as we approached the dinner break, however, and it would end up being close to midnight before we had our winner. Got down to Stein and Tom Marchese — both a couple of 22-year-olds — for heads up, with Stein enjoying a big lead. They fought for a while, then came two relatively strange hands in quick succession and suddenly Marchese was the winner.

In both hands, the players had gotten to the river and Marchese had bet, with Stein left to decide whether to call. The first time, Marchese was all in, and the pot comprised something like 3/4 of the chips in play. The board read , and Stein was in the tank for four or five minutes before calling with just . Marchese only had for top pair, but he was good.

Writing up that one, I had to double- and triple-check with everyone that I had seen the cards correctly. Stein’s hand had been shown briefly and was called out by the announcer. (We were additionally wondering why he showed.) Was one of those head-scratcher hands that can prove a bit challenging for the person trying to report it — something I wrote about last summer in a post titled “Seeing is Believing.” Did he really just call with fourth pair? He had.

And then he did it again. He did! We all saw it.

In the next one the board read and betting on previous streets had gotten Stein down to a small stack. Again he tanked, and this time he called with . Marchese flipped over pocket tens for a set on the end, and suddenly we were done. Marchese had won the trophy, and the $827,648 that went along with it.

A couple of us immediately evoked the Poker Grump, champion of the deuce-four. I said I thought a good explanation for the call was that Stein must read Grump’s blog.

Actually, the story behind those last couple of calls would be interesting to learn. But even if one is sitting just a few feet away, able to observe every card and bet, there is a lot that happens in a poker tournament that no one sitting to the side can ever possibly see or report.

Hung out a bit afterwards with Otis, Jen, F-Train, and Joe Giron, our photographer (those are his pictures in this post, by the way), and managed to snooze about four hours or so before checking out and getting a cab. I realized when I walked through the doors of the Venetian out onto the sidewalk that I hadn’t left the place since I’d arrived last Friday.

Was a good week for the NAPT Venetian and I’m glad and grateful for having had the opportunity to help out with the PokerStars blog in the chronicling of it. Go back over there today to read Otis & Jen’s report on that $25,000 Bounty Shootout final table.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna see if that coffee has cooled down now. See you on the other side.

David Cameron has talked about ending “Punch and Judy politics” but what about punch and moody? Paul Krishnamurty discusses what effect accusations of bullying against the PM will have on the election betting…