Casino Planet Cash

The news of that WSOP Tournament of Champions got me looking at the schedule for this summer once again, something I hadn’t really done much since it was first announced back in December. You can check out the 2010 WSOP schedule in full here.

A few items of note here as I look over the sucker once more.

No Main Event on Fourth of July. This year Sunday, July 4 has been scheduled as an off-day for the WSOP — the Main Event this year begins on July 5. If you recall, in 2009 the Fourth of July (a Saturday) was one of the four Day Ones for the Main Event (Day 1b), and drew only 873 players, the lowest of any of the Day Ones. That helped create the fiasco that was Day 1d, when 2,809 players ended up playing while hundreds more were turned away.

Then again, it isn’t quite right to call July 4 “off-day” for the WSOP this year, as it looks as though two other events — Event No. 54, the last of the six open-field $1,000 no-limit hold’em tourneys & Event No. 56, a $2,500 NLH event — will be playing their final tables that day. And the TOC final table (also scheduled for July 4) will make three. Am glad, though, that the schedule-makers saw the problem with trying to get folks out to start a new tourney — esp. the Main Event — on the Fourth of July.

Everyone who wants to gets to play the Main Event this year. Preregistration is open for all 57 bracelet events, and those registering to play in the Main Event will find a section of the form noting how “you may request which First Day you prefer to start.” All four days are listed (7/5, 7/6, 7/7, and 7/8), and one is directed to rank the four days according to preference. “Placement in the event is not guaranteed and will be based on availability,” explains the form, meaning you don’t necessarily get your first choice. Also, if you don’t indicate a preference, “you will automatically be placed based on availability.”

Seems like not too much to ask, and a simple solution to last year’s problem. There will be those who complain about having not their first choice come July, but those complaints won’t be nearly as loud or significant as what we heard last year from those who were shut out of the Main Event.

The juice. Glancing at the structure sheets for this year’s events, the “juice” — that is, the amount taken out of the prize pool as “entry fees” and “for tournament staff” — appears to be the same for most of the events with just a couple of exceptions. For the $1,500 and $2,000 buy-in events, a total of 10% will be withheld this year as opposed to 9% last year.

Of course, those $1,000 events (eight total this year) also have 10% taken out, as will the Casino Employees Event No. 1 ($500 buy-in). The larger the buy-in, the lower the percentages, e.g., the $50,000 “Poker Player’s Championship” (Event No. 2) will have just 4% taken out, just like the $40K event last year. A total of 6% is taken from the prize pool for the $10,000 buy-in events, including the Main Event.

All those $1,000 events. The addition of those extra $1,000 buy-in NLH events attracted a lot of attention when the schedule was first announced. If you recall, there was one — called a “Stimulus Special” — last time around, while this time there are six. The Ladies Event (No. 22) and the Seniors Event (No. 34) also remain $1,000 buy-in events.

One might think that adding all of those low buy-in events — while still keeping the same overall total of 57 events — might have altered the WSOP landscape, class-wise. That is, are the low buy-in events taking over the schedule? Actually, no. In 2009, there were 38 events with buy-ins $2,500 or lower. In 2010, there are 37. And we’re looking at the same number of $10,000 buy-in events (10), too, plus once again a couple of biggies (the $25,000 six-handed NLH Event No. 52 & the $50K “Player’s Championship).

The clock is ticking. The other thing that TOC announcement has done is made me more aware that we’re only a little over ten weeks away from the thing kicking off, thanks to that Jack Link’s Beef Jerky countdown clock staring you right in the face on the WSOP home page.

Won’t be long. Jeez, I can almost smell the beef, water, sugar, salt, dried soy sauce, maltodextrin, fructose, monosodium glutamate, flavorings, hydrolyzed corn protein, sodium erythorbate, paprika extract, and sodium nitrate now.

The news of that WSOP Tournament of Champions got me looking at the schedule for this summer once again, something I hadn’t really done much since it was first announced back in December. You can check out the 2010 WSOP schedule in full here.

A few items of note here as I look over the sucker once more.

No Main Event on Fourth of July. This year Sunday, July 4 has been scheduled as an off-day for the WSOP — the Main Event this year begins on July 5. If you recall, in 2009 the Fourth of July (a Saturday) was one of the four Day Ones for the Main Event (Day 1b), and drew only 873 players, the lowest of any of the Day Ones. That helped create the fiasco that was Day 1d, when 2,809 players ended up playing while hundreds more were turned away.

Then again, it isn’t quite right to call July 4 “off-day” for the WSOP this year, as it looks as though two other events — Event No. 54, the last of the six open-field $1,000 no-limit hold’em tourneys & Event No. 56, a $2,500 NLH event — will be playing their final tables that day. And the TOC final table (also scheduled for July 4) will make three. Am glad, though, that the schedule-makers saw the problem with trying to get folks out to start a new tourney — esp. the Main Event — on the Fourth of July.

Everyone who wants to gets to play the Main Event this year. Preregistration is open for all 57 bracelet events, and those registering to play in the Main Event will find a section of the form noting how “you may request which First Day you prefer to start.” All four days are listed (7/5, 7/6, 7/7, and 7/8), and one is directed to rank the four days according to preference. “Placement in the event is not guaranteed and will be based on availability,” explains the form, meaning you don’t necessarily get your first choice. Also, if you don’t indicate a preference, “you will automatically be placed based on availability.”

Seems like not too much to ask, and a simple solution to last year’s problem. There will be those who complain about having not their first choice come July, but those complaints won’t be nearly as loud or significant as what we heard last year from those who were shut out of the Main Event.

The juice. Glancing at the structure sheets for this year’s events, the “juice” — that is, the amount taken out of the prize pool as “entry fees” and “for tournament staff” — appears to be the same for most of the events with just a couple of exceptions. For the $1,500 and $2,000 buy-in events, a total of 10% will be withheld this year as opposed to 9% last year.

Of course, those $1,000 events (eight total this year) also have 10% taken out, as will the Casino Employees Event No. 1 ($500 buy-in). The larger the buy-in, the lower the percentages, e.g., the $50,000 “Poker Player’s Championship” (Event No. 2) will have just 4% taken out, just like the $40K event last year. A total of 6% is taken from the prize pool for the $10,000 buy-in events, including the Main Event.

All those $1,000 events. The addition of those extra $1,000 buy-in NLH events attracted a lot of attention when the schedule was first announced. If you recall, there was one — called a “Stimulus Special” — last time around, while this time there are six. The Ladies Event (No. 22) and the Seniors Event (No. 34) also remain $1,000 buy-in events.

One might think that adding all of those low buy-in events — while still keeping the same overall total of 57 events — might have altered the WSOP landscape, class-wise. That is, are the low buy-in events taking over the schedule? Actually, no. In 2009, there were 38 events with buy-ins $2,500 or lower. In 2010, there are 37. And we’re looking at the same number of $10,000 buy-in events (10), too, plus once again a couple of biggies (the $25,000 six-handed NLH Event No. 52 & the $50K “Player’s Championship).

The clock is ticking. The other thing that TOC announcement has done is made me more aware that we’re only a little over ten weeks away from the thing kicking off, thanks to that Jack Link’s Beef Jerky countdown clock staring you right in the face on the WSOP home page.

Won’t be long. Jeez, I can almost smell the beef, water, sugar, salt, dried soy sauce, maltodextrin, fructose, monosodium glutamate, flavorings, hydrolyzed corn protein, sodium erythorbate, paprika extract, and sodium nitrate now.

“And now to a little Texas hold’em up!”

That’s how Tony Kornheiser introduced a short segment on Monday’s “Pardon the Interruption” regarding the heist that occurred at the European Poker Tour Berlin Main Event last Saturday. After a brief summary of what happened, Kornheiser then opened up what would amount to a 90-second discussion of the story with his co-host Michael Wilbon by posing the following question:

“Wilbon, do you see this as a serious breach of the law, or an exciting new twist to televised poker coverage?!”

Kornheiser’s tone (and grin) made it clear he was being sarcastic, but bringing up the topic this way seemed to indicate the somewhat cynical view the hosts and other sports journalists have about poker butting its way onto ESPN and the sports section. And, as it turned out, Wilbon’s answer made it sound as though he understood the question somewhat seriously.

After starting with a joke asking about Norman Chad’s whereabouts at the time of the robbery, Wilbon described his thoughts when watching the video clip from EPT Live showing the tourney suddenly getting interrupted.

“Watching from afar, I’m like… this is like a wrestling promotion!” said Wilbon. “This was like a set-up to get more attention — to get goofballs like you and me talking about this stuff — and it seems like an exciting new development. Like a car chase on CNN!”

Kornheiser agreed it was exciting stuff, suggesting that the incident “will be a movie within a year.” The conversation quickly concluded after a couple of incredulous reactions at the level of security that allowed the theft to occur. (By the way, a tip of the fedora to Gary Wise for mentioning the PTI segment earlier this week in his ESPN column.)

I guess I can’t really blame Kornheiser or Wilbon for reacting this way. For those who have never participated in, covered, or attended a real live high-stakes poker tournament, there’s a lot of mystery about what goes on. In other words, I guess I am saying I am inclined to pardon “Pardon the Interruption” here. Though I ain’t necessarily congratulating them for any special insight, either.

Given poker’s storied history in the U.S. — a history filled with cheats and thieves and other “hold’em up”-style scenes — I can see how some hearing of the EPT Berlin robbery wouldn’t necessarily appreciate how uncommon an event it really was. (Heck, I remember the first time I went out to cover the WSOP getting asked about how I’d handle being around gangsters. No shinola!)

Obviously the robbery was not “a set-up” or some sort of promotional gimmick. (And, really, to think it was would require a heckuva lot of cynicism.) Not that the EPT or any of the other professional poker tours would even desire this sort of attention, or expect it to help stimulate their growth.

I had the chance to talk with one of the players who was still in the Main Event at the time of the robbery on Saturday — Ilya Gorodetsky. In fact, he was seated at the feature table when the interruption occurred. In my interview with the Russian player, he told me how some initially thought it might have been some sort of joke. But it soon became clear it was not.

You can read the full interview over on Betfair, where it was posted this morning: “Fright at the Feature Table: EPT Berlin.” Big thanks again to Ilya for taking the time to talk with me.

Here’s to a less exciting weekend this time, eh?

Was gonna write today about my having played a couple of sessions recently at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Also might’ve written something about Annie Duke taking down the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship last night, defeating Erik Seidel in the finals. But we had some breaking news over the weekend, so I’ll save those topics for now.

And when I say breaking news, I really mean it. Tables, equipment, cashiers’ boxes. And order, custom, routine — all breaking, in dramatic fashion.

Like a lot of us poker people here in the States, we awoke Saturday morning to learn something unexpected had happened at the European Poker Tour Main Event in Berlin. “There has been an unscheduled break in the action,” reported Danafish over on PokerNews. Understated, that.

Soon we’d discover an armed robbery had taken place. I read through numerous tweets from colleagues and friends reporting it had happened, and while it was quickly evident no one was seriously hurt, the news was nevertheless mighty troubling to read.

I had just worked with a number of those same folks at the NAPT Venetian a week before, and have myself had the opportunity to work an EPT event during this sixth season of the tour — the opener in Kyiv, Ukraine last August. I could quickly imagine the strangeness and uncanny feeling of a carefully planned and smoothly run poker tournament suddenly being interrupted by shouting, running, and other types of chaos. I could also imagine the fright of being around people with guns who were not there to preserve the order, but to disrupt it.

Of course, I didn’t have to use my imagination for long, as clips of the robbery soon surfaced online. I got a chance to view some of those vids before they were taken down. Here is a PokerNews report that includes what it looked like on EPT Live when the interruption occurred, as well as an interview with an investigating officer:

Kevmath quickly compiled more information over on Pokerati in a series of posts, some of which were additionally accompanied by more video and photos. Click on through for more interviews of eyewitnesses and other unsettling reportage:

EPT Berlin halted by robbery attempt (3/6/10)
EPT Berlin armed robbery attempt (3/6/10)
EPT Berlin final table (3/7/10)

I suppose ever since The Blair Witch Project and various “reality” TV shows we’ve grown somewhat accustomed to viewing shaky cameras and unedited, raw footage. But when it’s really real… well, it’s no fun at all. Especially when guns and machetes are involved.

A lot of misreporting, apparently, regarding what exactly happened, including some exaggeration of the booty — called a “jackpot” in some places (like on MSNBC) — as being as much as €1,000,000. Also some loose talk of machine guns and other what not, when that apparently wasn’t true, either.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that four men, armed with pistols and a machete, made off with “more than €100,000 ($136,000)” following the Saturday afternoon heist, and that they remain at large. The article reports that eight people were injured amid all of the running around.

Detectives are now on the case, looking at the various videos and photos taken, and having obtained fingerprints of one of the robbers. And while the robbers were wearing masks — making identifications more difficult — Michael Gassen, speaking for the investigators, says “I am confident we will solve the case.”

I’ve reported from tourneys in American casinos, where I’ve generally felt especially safe thanks to all of the surveillance cameras and security everywhere you turn. When I went to Ukraine last summer, the event took place at the Kyiv Sport Palace — not a regular casino — and while there was security present I’ll admit to having wondered a little about just how secure the place was.

The event at EPT Berlin was not at a casino, either, but in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. There were security guards present, though they were not armed. Most accounts suggest these guys acted heroically, despite the threats of physical harm to themselves. That picture at left (from the Berlin news site B.Z.), shows one of the guards temporarily subduing a suspect. Apparently the guard forced him to relinquish some of the money before the suspect was able to flee.

The WSJ article quotes Kirsty Thompson, an EPT spokesperson, saying how the tour “works closely with all its venues to ensure that appropriate security is in place” and that they “will continue to do so going forward, and step up efforts even further after this incident.”

After a delay of three hours or so, the Main Event was continued and played down to a winner on Sunday. I’m glad it was completed as scheduled, and especially glad the players and reporters all made it through in relatively good shape.

Like I say, something uncanny about a poker tournament, so carefully managed with rules of play, precise timing, and incessant order (or, at least, the effort to maintain such) being so brazenly disrupted. Then again, poker players and reporters are somewhat seasoned to expect the unexpected, which might explain why most seemed to have taken the incident in stride.

Tom McEvoy once characterized no-limit hold’em as “hours of boredom and moments of sheer terror.” He was of course speaking of surprise check-raises or awaiting a response to one’s all-in bluff — not uninvited, armed thugs suddenly forcing themselves into the game.

Even so, poker does encourage those who play to be able to adapt to unforeseen occurrences, including potentially violent ones. (Open up Doyle Brunson’s memoir, The Godfather of Poker, to just about any page for examples.) I’m guessing that skill served some or most of those who were forced to endure the 15 minutes or so of “terror” Saturday afternoon.

Even so, let’s hope no one will need to demonstrate that sort of adaptive ability on the circuit again anytime soon.

Was gonna write today about my having played a couple of sessions recently at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Also might’ve written something about Annie Duke taking down the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship last night, defeating Erik Seidel in the finals. But we had some breaking news over the weekend, so I’ll save those topics for now.

And when I say breaking news, I really mean it. Tables, equipment, cashiers’ boxes. And order, custom, routine — all breaking, in dramatic fashion.

Like a lot of us poker people here in the States, we awoke Saturday morning to learn something unexpected had happened at the European Poker Tour Main Event in Berlin. “There has been an unscheduled break in the action,” reported Danafish over on PokerNews. Understated, that.

Soon we’d discover an armed robbery had taken place. I read through numerous tweets from colleagues and friends reporting it had happened, and while it was quickly evident no one was seriously hurt, the news was nevertheless mighty troubling to read.

I had just worked with a number of those same folks at the NAPT Venetian a week before, and have myself had the opportunity to work an EPT event during this sixth season of the tour — the opener in Kyiv, Ukraine last August. I could quickly imagine the strangeness and uncanny feeling of a carefully planned and smoothly run poker tournament suddenly being interrupted by shouting, running, and other types of chaos. I could also imagine the fright of being around people with guns who were not there to preserve the order, but to disrupt it.

Of course, I didn’t have to use my imagination for long, as clips of the robbery soon surfaced online. I got a chance to view some of those vids before they were taken down. Here is a PokerNews report that includes what it looked like on EPT Live when the interruption occurred, as well as an interview with an investigating officer:

Kevmath quickly compiled more information over on Pokerati in a series of posts, some of which were additionally accompanied by more video and photos. Click on through for more interviews of eyewitnesses and other unsettling reportage:

EPT Berlin halted by robbery attempt (3/6/10)
EPT Berlin armed robbery attempt (3/6/10)
EPT Berlin final table (3/7/10)

I suppose ever since The Blair Witch Project and various “reality” TV shows we’ve grown somewhat accustomed to viewing shaky cameras and unedited, raw footage. But when it’s really real… well, it’s no fun at all. Especially when guns and machetes are involved.

A lot of misreporting, apparently, regarding what exactly happened, including some exaggeration of the booty — called a “jackpot” in some places (like on MSNBC) — as being as much as €1,000,000. Also some loose talk of machine guns and other what not, when that apparently wasn’t true, either.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that four men, armed with pistols and a machete, made off with “more than €100,000 ($136,000)” following the Saturday afternoon heist, and that they remain at large. The article reports that eight people were injured amid all of the running around.

Detectives are now on the case, looking at the various videos and photos taken, and having obtained fingerprints of one of the robbers. And while the robbers were wearing masks — making identifications more difficult — Michael Gassen, speaking for the investigators, says “I am confident we will solve the case.”

I’ve reported from tourneys in American casinos, where I’ve generally felt especially safe thanks to all of the surveillance cameras and security everywhere you turn. When I went to Ukraine last summer, the event took place at the Kyiv Sport Palace — not a regular casino — and while there was security present I’ll admit to having wondered a little about just how secure the place was.

The event at EPT Berlin was not at a casino, either, but in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. There were security guards present, though they were not armed. Most accounts suggest these guys acted heroically, despite the threats of physical harm to themselves. That picture at left (from the Berlin news site B.Z.), shows one of the guards temporarily subduing a suspect. Apparently the guard forced him to relinquish some of the money before the suspect was able to flee.

The WSJ article quotes Kirsty Thompson, an EPT spokesperson, saying how the tour “works closely with all its venues to ensure that appropriate security is in place” and that they “will continue to do so going forward, and step up efforts even further after this incident.”

After a delay of three hours or so, the Main Event was continued and played down to a winner on Sunday. I’m glad it was completed as scheduled, and especially glad the players and reporters all made it through in relatively good shape.

Like I say, something uncanny about a poker tournament, so carefully managed with rules of play, precise timing, and incessant order (or, at least, the effort to maintain such) being so brazenly disrupted. Then again, poker players and reporters are somewhat seasoned to expect the unexpected, which might explain why most seemed to have taken the incident in stride.

Tom McEvoy once characterized no-limit hold’em as “hours of boredom and moments of sheer terror.” He was of course speaking of surprise check-raises or awaiting a response to one’s all-in bluff — not uninvited, armed thugs suddenly forcing themselves into the game.

Even so, poker does encourage those who play to be able to adapt to unforeseen occurrences, including potentially violent ones. (Open up Doyle Brunson’s memoir, The Godfather of Poker, to just about any page for examples.) I’m guessing that skill served some or most of those who were forced to endure the 15 minutes or so of “terror” Saturday afternoon.

Even so, let’s hope no one will need to demonstrate that sort of adaptive ability on the circuit again anytime soon.

Was a busy end of February here at Hard-Boiled Poker, highlighted by that trip to help cover the NAPT Venetian. Spent the weekend catching up on various things, including reading through emails and listening to a few poker podcasts.

Among the latter was that highly disappointing 2/25/10 episode of PokerRoad Radio in which the “B-Team” (Jimmy Fricke, Bryan Devonshire, and Court Harrington) kicked off the show by offering a mostly misleading, unfocused criticism of some of the reporting done from the NAPT Venetian.

Am not gonna rehearse all of the details of what was said, nor explain the obvious irony of trying to support a charge of unprofessionalism with misquotes, misattributions, and profanity. (Also, I’m probably a little too close to the situation here to be entirely objective about it, anyway.) Read here for details, and see the comments, too, for further reaction/apologies/etc.

Speaking of misfires, there was another one among the items I found when going back through my email box. Again, others have commented on this one at length and so I’m not planning to do much more than just mention it here — that recent “special invite” to bloggers from PokerStars to write some posts about the upcoming Spring Championship of Online Poker in exchange for a ticket to play in an event. (By the way, click here to see the newly-revised schedule of SCOOP events, which takes place May 2-16.)

I’d noticed this email in passing last week, but only read it more carefully after the Poker Grump told me more about it when I saw him at the Venetian. The title of the Grump’s explanation and response — “Thanks but no thanks” — gives an idea of what he thinks of the promotion. Readers of this blog have no doubt already read the reactions of other poker bloggers, too, to the invitation to write not one but five separate posts containing particular phrases (with links) in return for a $22 SCOOP ticket.

Most of those who have written about the offer appear to have concluded the invite didn’t seem to represent a fair exchange — i.e., less than $5 per post (and we’re not even talking about actual money, but a non-transferable tourney ticket). Some additionally pointed out how the offer implies a kind of disregard for poker blogs’ editorial integrity — as though these were just so many words fired off into the intertubes, the primary purpose of which is to affect search engines or attract click-throughs and not to communicate actual thoughts or ideas.

Again, as with the PokerRoad incident, my instinct here is both to be disappointed and to recognize that having come into the debate a little late, I’m not seeing a lot of point in participating further in the piling on.

There is one common theme in both items, though, that might be worth pointing out. Something to do with that weird disconnect that occurs when people communicate online — via blogs, emails, podcasts, news sites, what have you. This is going to be hard to put into words, I think, but I’ll try nonetheless.

When we read or hear something online, it often seems like it takes a conscious, extra effort to appreciate the “reality” of the person communicating those words and ideas. That is to say, our instinctive response is not the same as occurs in more direct forms of interaction, but rather to take what we are reading or hearing as the product of a “persona” or “character” or something not necessarily fully human but mediated in some fashion that necessarily affects how we react.

I fully realize, by the way, that I am trying to communicate this idea to you via a persona (Shamus). Bear with me, though, and believe that what I’m saying represents a real idea thought up by a real human being.

Because of this “ethos displacement effect” or whatever you want to call it, people are much more willing to criticize or fail to appreciate the significance of a real live human “author” whose thoughts and ideas are represented by the words. The same effect tends to fuel the flame wars in forums, or cause chat box crack-ups. Not believing you’re communicating with a real live human tends to lessen the urgency to be humane.

Seems to me both of the examples of less-than-ideal-communication listed above could be said to have demonstratd this phenomenon in different ways.

The best bull riders and bulls in the world will congregate at the South Strip Hotel and Casino on March 26th & 27th, 2010 for a two night event full of thrills, chills and spills. The 2010 CBR Tour presented by Mahindra will bring some of the biggest names in bull riding will competing in a series of categories for cash and prizes, including current CBR World Champion, Hugo Pedrero, along with Clayton Williams, Cooper Kanngiesser and 08-09 PRCA World Champion, J W Harris.

Both events will feature lucrative payouts for stock contractors. On Friday, March 26th, a guaranteed $72,000 will be paid to “Bull Game” participants, which is only open to 3 and 4 year old bulls. On Saturday March 27th, CBR Bull Team owners will compete in a 3-bull team competition with a $75,000 in guaranteed prizes.  This event is the first of a 5-part CBR Bull Team Challenge Series which will pay $400,000 in prize money in 2010.

Led by bull riding icon, Tuff Hedeman, the 2010 Championship Bull Riding kicked off on February 6th,  2010 in Hobbs, New Mexico. Other dates on the schedule include the return of the CBR to Nashville in spring, plus stops in Texas in May, Del Rio, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma for two nights in April. The 2010 Tour Finale will return to the Kemper Arena in Kansas City once again in October. Each stop in the 2010 CBR Tour features a two hour show with more than 20 events and over 100,000 fans in live attendance.

Event Activities:
Friday, March 26, 2010
6:30pm - Doors Open
8:00pm - South Point Hotel and Casino Tuff Hedeman Vegas Shootout

Saturday, March 27, 2010
6:30pm - Doors Open
8:00pm - South Point Hotel and Casino Tuff Hedeman Vegas Shootout

Tickets and room packages are available now by calling the South Point at 866-796-7111. Ticket prices start at ONLY $15. To book rooms at the South Point Hotel, please click here.

Discuss this article in our forum

Parrotheads around the United States will be glad to hear that Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band have added more dates to their 2010 “Under the Big Top” tour this spring/summer. Buffet’s latest tour will kick off on April 24th with a total of 20 concerts announced so far.

Buffet’s latest tour is in support of his 28th studio album “Buffet Hotel”, which was released in December of 2009. “Buffet Hotel” hit its highest point on the Billboard 200 at the number 17 spot and took the top spot on the Independent Albums Chart.

Buffet is actually finishing up his 2009/2010 “Summerzcool Tour” at the moment, with the final dates set for the end of February in Florida and South Carolina. After the final concert on February 27th, Buffet will take a well-deserved break and resume his touring schedule on April 24th in Tampa, FL. From then on, he will be touring non-stop in cities such as Atlanta, Nashville, Cincinnati and Bristow.

Aside from his intense touring schedule, Buffet is also keeping busy with his chain of Margaritaville cafes, with locations in Key West, Orlando, Panama City Beach, New Orleans, Las Vegas and the first Margaritaville in Canada, which will open this summer-Margaritaville Niagara Falls.

Jimmy Buffet Concert Tickets

Discuss this article in our forum

Parrotheads around the United States will be glad to hear that Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band have added more dates to their 2010 “Under the Big Top” tour this spring/summer. Buffet’s latest tour will kick off on April 24th with a total of 20 concerts announced so far.

Buffet’s latest tour is in support of his 28th studio album “Buffet Hotel”, which was released in December of 2009. “Buffet Hotel” hit its highest point on the Billboard 200 at the number 17 spot and took the top spot on the Independent Albums Chart.

Buffet is actually finishing up his 2009/2010 “Summerzcool Tour” at the moment, with the final dates set for the end of February in Florida and South Carolina. After the final concert on February 27th, Buffet will take a well-deserved break and resume his touring schedule on April 24th in Tampa, FL. From then on, he will be touring non-stop in cities such as Atlanta, Nashville, Cincinnati and Bristow.

Aside from his intense touring schedule, Buffet is also keeping busy with his chain of Margaritaville cafes, with locations in Key West, Orlando, Panama City Beach, New Orleans, Las Vegas and the first Margaritaville in Canada, which will open this summer-Margaritaville Niagara Falls.

Jimmy Buffet Concert Tickets

Discuss this article in our forum

Long, long day yesterday, it turned out. Didn’t get out of there ’til 2:30 a.m. or thereabouts, as we tracked the field going from 147 down to 24 in the Main Event. For a general recap of the day, you can read my wrap-up and/or peruse the Day 3 live blog.

They made it down to the money somewhat quickly. About an hour to get down to 129, then another half-hour as hand-for-hand took about a half-dozen hands or so. A rapid exodus followed, but things slowed down big time once we reached 60-odd players left. Was noticing the average stacks creeping up toward the 60 big blinds level then, which helped explain the slowdown, I think.

Players also took a lot of time with decisions, something Benjo — who follows tours regularly — told me has become a trend of sorts over the last year or so. “First level of tournament, the button raises for 3x and the big blind thinks and thinks and thinks,” said Benjo, indicating how the brooding seems to happen with every decision, no matter how (relatively) routine or standard.

As we waited for more eliminations, I asked Benjo about his progress translating into French Dr. Pauly’s forthcoming Lost Vegas, which sounds like has been a fun but challenging task for him thus far. Lots of vocabulary for which the French equivalent is a bit elusive, it sounds like. I’m sure Benjo will figure out how to say “pharmies” in a way that successfully captures intended connotations.

A couple of other extracurricular items from yesterday to share. Brad and I had a long discussion about the future with the entrepreneurial (and friendly) Teddy “the Ice Man” Monroe. I say “conversation,” although I’ll admit I didn’t contribute much. I’m a listener, see. A learner. I also focus far too much on the near term, whereas the Ice Man is thinking big, with multiple projects currently, and plans for several more.

Joe Sebok happened by and we gabbed a bit as well. He’s in for the High Rollers $25,000 Bounty event that happens today. I’ll be covering that one with Macon Marc. Seven sit-n-gos, all with seven players each. Winners move on to a final table on Thursday. Plus, everyone gets a $5,000 bounty for eliminating another player. And PokerStars.net is kicking in an extra $100,000 to the player who collects the most bounties overall.

The line-up for the event is nuts. Gonna be like seven episodes of “Poker After Dark” going on all around me today. In addition to Sebok we will be seeing Justin Bonomo, Joe Cada, Annie Duke, Peter Eastgate, Antonio Esfandiari, Tony G, Phil Galfond, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand Grospellier, Joe Hachem, Isaac Haxton, Phil Hellmuth, John Hennigan, Phil Laak, Dario Minieri, Sorel Mizzi, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, Andrew Robl, Vanessa Rousso, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, J.C. Tran, and David Williams. And that’s just half the field… many more big names among the rest, too.

Not sure at the moment of the exact schedule today just yet, but I do know there will be two “flights” — one at 11 a.m. and the other 7 p.m. (PT). Check Brad’s post from yesterday for the table draws, and check out the NAPT site for live streaming television coverage today, too. The event will be filmed for ESPN2 as well, so that’ll come at some point down the road.

As I say, Marc and I will be on this sucker today, and so I better sign off and get prepared. ’Cos you know, the future… there’s a lot going on there. Better be ready. See you later over on the PokerStars blog.