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.

Matt Savage profile in LA Times

The Los Angeles Times runs a regular feature called “How I Made It” that profiles people with interesting jobs, and last weekend the subject of the feature was none other than Commerce Casino’s tournament director, Matt Savage. If you’ve ever wondered what the life and work of a tournament director are really like, you’ll want to check the article out as it details the ins and outs of one of the toughest jobs in poker to get right. And if you’ve never played one of Savage’s tournament but still wonder why he has such a stellar reputation, this quote should go a long way toward explaining it:

“I’m a good listener,” Savage said. “I go to the table, make a decision and walk away. I’ve never disqualified a player from a tournament in my career. I’m able to resolve disputes before they get out of hand. That’s a very important part of the job.”

It’s that kind of approach that has led to Savage serving as tournament director all around the world, from the WSOP to the world’s biggest poker tours and one-off tournaments - and now at the world’s largest card room in Los Angeles.

(Directing Commerce Casino’s poker tournaments with a strong hand - Los Angeles Times)

Poker movie in the works

There hasn’t been a really good poker movie since Rounders, but producers keep lining up anyway to try and cash in on our favorite game. Most of the poker films in the last few years have been based on original scripts, but at least one producer is ready to take a different approach by adapting a novel about the game.

A new effort to raise money for the production of Life On Tilt: Confessions of a Poker Dad by John Blowers has already raised some $12 million, and Shannon Elizabeth and a well-known director are apparently already on board with the project. According to Blowers’ website, Life On Tilt is “a novel about those interests that have equal potential to complete or destroy us. Whether it’s another person, a hobby or a faith, each of us has consuming passions that, if left unexplored, would leave us unfulfilled; if explored too thoroughly, they could jeopardize everything else we hold dear. It’s a delicate balance. Poker is used throughout this work as a catalyst for change, conflict and character development.”

That doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as a Russian mobster facing a failing law student over a few stacks of high society and an Oreo cookie or two, but it looks like for now it will have to do.

(“Life on Tilt: Confessions of a Poker Dad” To Be Made Into Movie - OnlinePoker.net)

Mike Sexton Hall of Fame induction preview

If you’re aren’t one of the folks who will be attending Mike Sexton’s Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner this evening during the break from the WSOP Main Event final table - and if you’re reading this right now I have to assume you are, in fact, one of those people - you might want to check out this preview of the festivities from Poker News Daily. Sexton was the only player this year to receive votes on 75% of the ballots, and thus he will be the only player inducted in this year’s class.

Squeaky-clean Deadwood

And finally, for all the writing I do about poker-related crimes in this space, it’s worth noting one place where you shouldn’t expect to see a lot of crime around our favorite game: Deadwood, South Dakota. Besides being the setting for the historically-based HBO series of the same name, Deadwood is also one of the handful of jurisdictions in the United States where poker (and other forms of casino gambling) are fully legal and regulated. It maintains a “squeaky clean” reputation thanks to efforts to prevent the involvement of organized crime that began before the first cards were in the air at a South Dakota poker room, efforts profiled earlier this week by the Rapid City Journal.

SPOILER: None of the Deadwood government’s efforts involved trying to round up Al Swearengen, which to be honest sounds like a bit of a mistake.

(Prevention efforts kept Deadwood gambling ‘squeaky clean’ - Rapid City Journal)

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