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.

Negreanu: Hellmuth is “delusional”

Daniel Negreanu has never been known to pull punches in the past when it comes to giving his opinion, so when the topic is Phil Hellmuth it should come as no surprise that Negreanu says the 11-time bracelet winner is “delusional” for his approach to the Poker After Dark cash game the two played with Patrik Antonius, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Gus Hansen.

Negreanu took exception to Hellmuth’s attitude that he’s “the best no limit hold’em player in the world by far” and could sit at a game with the aforementioned foursome and be a favorite, especially when even Negreanu admits that he himself is an underdog in such a game. Said Kid Poker of his Poker After Dark tablemate: “He’s either lying to the public when he makes those statements, or, he genuinely believes that. Either way, he’s either lying or completely delusional.” Negreanu was so sure that Hellmuth was in over his head that he booked Hellmuth’s action for the cash session, which he felt gave him the edge he needed to be +EV in a game where, by his own admission, his only expected value would normally be the competitive challenge of taking on the best in the world.

“If you want to be a successful poker player that reaches the highest levels, you simply can’t do that unless you are aware of your weaknesses and focus on plugging those leaks,” wrote Negreanu. “For most people, even after doing that, they’ll simply never be good enough to play at the highest levels. That’s just life. You have to accept that and find a game you can beat. Most people rise to their own level of ruin by always looking to play in games they can’t beat.”

This isn’t the first time Negreanu has called the Poker Brat out on his blog; in October he told the world that Hellmuth’s assertions that online poker rooms would gang up together to take on the WSOP were “all silly talk.”

(Poker This Week - Full Contact Poker)

Pennsylvania House approves poker and table games bill

After months of delay, Pennsylvania is one step closer to having legal poker at its state-licensed casinos - but as has been the case so often this year, that “one step closer” is still a pretty big one.

The Democratic-controlled state House approved the legislation by an almost strictly party-lines vote of 97-95 last night after six hours of debate, clearing the first major hurdle to opening up an estimated $320 million revenue stream for the state over the next two years. A surprise amendment attached to the bill earmarked a percentage of local gambling revenue for hospitals, community colleges, and libraries. The next step for the 649-page bill is the Republican-controlled Senate, which is expected to amend the bill to remove a provision for two new casino resorts and sent the bill back to the House. However, it’s unclear when the necessary changes will be made, as state lawmakers are scheduled to begin their holiday break tomorrow and are not due to return until January 25th of next year.

In separate legislation last night, lawmakers approved appropriations of some $700 million for public universities that had been held up as the bills to allow table games and poker, meaning that no one other than players waiting for a game - and casino companies looking to get into the market - will be affected by any delays in building a compromise to get the table games bill to the governor’s desk.

(Pa. House gives preliminary OK to table games - Philadelphia Inquirer)

Wise: Hastings’ discipline key to his winning ways

ESPN.com’s Gary Wise has an article up today looking at the success of 21-year-old CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings, who is the biggest winner to date in the high-stakes heads-up battles waged over the last month and a half with Swedish mystery man “Isildur1.”

Where Isildur1 has been all about the action, Hastings balances poker with a life away from the tables that’s currently dominated by a full course load in his senior year of college. And where the Swede has built and blown through a monster bankroll in a short time, Hastings has managed to be more successful than ever thanks to hard work - and a little help from his friends. Key to his $4.2 million win against Isildur1 was the preparation he put in with two of his fellow CardRunners pros, Brian Townsend and Cole South, who pooled their hand histories against Isildur1 together and studied his tendencies to construct a profile of what the Swede was doing at different spots in the game.

The full article is a worth a read - check it out here.

Tony Korfman, poker folk hero?

Finally, there’s an entertaining thread running in the 2+2 News, Views and Gossip forum right now concerning Tony Korfman. If you haven’t heard of him before, you’re probably not alone - he’s best known for his second-place finish at the 2007 WSOP Seniors Event, where he chopped the prize pool heads-up and let his opponent have the bracelet. But if the author of Texas Hold’em: Tournaments, Cash Games and Embarrassing Social Gas keeps assaulting other players at the table and then going online to discuss it with the poker world, he might just develop himself a fanbase.

Bryan Devonshire started the thread with his eyewitness account of the incident, which took place on the bubble of the nightly second chance tournament at Bellagio two weeks ago. Devonshire said that Korfman busted on the bubble, charged around the table, picked a younger player up by the neck, and began choking him and trying to lift him off the ground. Ssecurity was called in and escorted Korfman from the premises, but the other player refused to file charges. Later in the day Devo checked in with an update from his blog, where Korfman himself left a comment clarifying what happened:

“i did not bubble. said punk bubbled then slammed his stack toward the guy that won the hand. punk was pissed because guy rivered him with a gutterball. then he had the balls to question weather the guy had him covered with part of his chips in the pot, part on the floor and part in the guys stacks. i then mother ****ed him for being a prick and chaos ensued. i always defend the dealers, floormen and players that dont defend themselves. these types of punks should have been spanked when they were a kid. actually im sorry i didnt pants him and take him over my knee. that would have been a great lesson for him. tk”

Two days later, Korfman himself joined in the thread and began replying to previous comments. His responses, which read like they’re part Rodney Dangerfield stand-up routine, part cranky grandfather rant, and part Zen master teachings, have won him some new fans. He has already sent out multiple autographed copies of his book, scans of many of which have ended up in the thread, too. And Korfman continues to reply to new posts, too, shrugging off the negative comments with ease and keeping up the banter with those who ask him questions or try to one-up him.

Check out the 2+2 thread, now up to 14 pages, here. Watch Korfman flop a set and get maximum value from Todd Brunson’s overpair on Cash Poker here.

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