DAILY BUZZ: Moon’s Dark Side, Seidel’s Enthusiasm, 888 Eyes France

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DAILY BUZZ: Moon’s Dark Side, Seidel’s Enthusiasm, 888 Eyes France

Jason Kirk | November 10, 2009

Welcome to the BLUFF Daily Buzz, where we scour the entire internet for all the latest news in and around the world of poker. If it involves chips and cards, or people known to associate with chips and cards, we’re there.

Dark side of the Moon

The city of Baltimore has a fine journalistic tradition dating back to long before the days of The Wire, so it’s no surprise that an enterprising reporter there did a little digging on Darvin Moon’s background and turned up some interesting tidbits from the WSOP Main Event runner-up’s past.

Maryland court records show him pleading guilty, and receiving probation before judgment, for forgery and theft in 2003 (including a restitution order of $6,146) and for three counts of passing bad checks in 2004. Two other bad-check cases in 2004 were dropped, as was a criminal harassment charge in 2007. He also pleaded guilty and was fined for open burning, and he failed to appear for traffic violations, resulting in his license being suspended.

Moon has also posted bail for others twice, and has a number of liens worth somewhere in the region of $35,000 outstanding - though one has to guess they probably won’t remain outstanding for too long now that his bank account is about $5 million fatter than it was this time last year.

In the Slightly More Bizarre Moon Background Stories category, Wicked Chops pointed to this. It’s a strange, strange, strange world.

(WSOP’s Moon Owes Debts Back Home - Baltimore City Paper)

Seidel kept his poker face in the background of this scene

Seidel on Curb

If you’re a fan of the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, you can count yourself as having on more thing in common with Erik Seidel. But unlike the eight-time WSOP bracelet winner, you’ve most likely never been an extra in Larry David’s neurotic wonderland.

Seidel recently appeared in the background of a restaurant scene with David and poker aficionado Cheryl Hines, who plays David’s wife in the series. For those out there doubting it was actually Seidel in the background, he confirmed it on his Twitter account:

Yes, that was my ugly mug on Curb. From a charity auction, I’m a huge fan of the show.

The current season of Curb features a storyline following a fictional Seinfeld reunion, with Hines’ fellow celebrity poker player Jason Alexander portraying himself.

888 eyes French, Italian online markets

On the heels of its announcement of a strategic partnership with WSOP owner Harrah’s to provide online services for its brands in the United Kingdom, online gambling giant 888 is taking aim at the two of the largest unexploited online markets in Europe.

888 CEO Gigi Levy told the Financial Times today that his company will be applying for a license when the French government officially opens up its newly regulated online sports betting and poker market. The already-opened Italian market is seeing big expansion right now and 888 plans to have a significant presence there as well.

“We have pretty big plans for France and very big plans for Italy,” said Mr Levy. “We are going to continue to invest in the UK, but also in continental Europe.”

That’s great news for France and Italy. Meanwhile we Americans still have to dream of the day when we can play WSOP satellites from the comfort of our own homes.

(888 Targets France and Italy - Financial Times)

Mike Sexton’s induction ceremony

For those of you who weren’t on hand for Mike Sexton’s Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony, our friends at RawVegas have a condensed 12-minute video hitting the highlights that you might want to check out. There’s a great anecdote from Doyle Brunson and a few from Sexton himself, including one about his involvement in the history of PartyPoker and another time he was “between bankrolls” at the Four Queens Classic and ran into Scotty Nguyen.

ESPN Inside Deal final table special

Finally, the ESPN Inside Deal crew of Laura Lane, Bernard Lee, and Andrew Feldman was on hand at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio this weekend along with Bluff and the rest of the poker world. Today they posted their WSOP Main Event Final Table special featuring analysis of how the final table played out and interviews with all the players who busted before heads-up play began (except, noticeably Phil Ivey). You can check out the special here.

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