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.

ESPN Covers Ivey, Ivey Covers ESPN

Never one to seek out the spotlight, Phil Ivey has nonetheless gotten plenty of face time on ESPN during this year’s in-depth coverage of the WSOP Main Event. Now the notoriously private man whom many consider to be the best poker player in the world is raising his profile a little higher with an appearance on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine.

The November 2, 2009 issue of the magazine sports Ivey on the cover and a story inside by Chad Millman, who writes:

Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world. This is a statement of fact, undisputed by anyone who would be considered the best poker player in the world if not for Phil Ivey. And poker players — at least the best of them — credit their success to an ability to live in the moment. What is the one move that this situation demands? Call. Check. Raise. Fold. They do not, cannot, consider the stakes or the consequences. The best poker move is the best poker move, and each decision reveals a truth about the player who makes it. “That’s why this is the greatest game,” Ivey says. “Every day that I play, I learn — about it and myself.”

Given that poker players live in the moment, and given that the 32-year-old Ivey is the best player in the world, the following statement should also be true: Phil Ivey is as good as anyone at living in the moment.

I set out to prove it.

ESPN “Insiders” (is that like having a black card at the Borgata?) can read the whole thing online here, while the rest of us will have to hope there’s a copy of ESPN: The Magazine lying around in the dentist’s office or something.

(Phil Ivey on Cover of ESPN The Magazine - Wicked Chops Poker)

2M2MM Season 1 comes to a close

Last night saw the end of the season for the Two Months, Two Million crew, after after the full two months the boys came up a bit short of the show’s goal - though not without giving it everything they had in the last week to try and hit the magic number. Emil Patel got off to a quick start against “jiacstrap” but saw his run end at $18,000 when the power went out. Dani Stern racked up a $71,000 win against “CADX2”, while Brian Roberts had the misfortune of losing $93,000 against Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro.

All told the four were up $676,700 over the two month period followed by G4TV, thanks in large part to Jay Rosenkrantz, whose win against David “Viffer” Peat in the seventh week helped him to earn a total of $406,500. Patel won $161,900, Stern finished up $101,000, and Roberts cleared just $7,500 after his disastrous final session with LarsLuzak.

G4TV has yet to announce whether another season of Two Months, Two Million is in the cards, but the foursome who put their money on the line for the cameras will be returning to the World Series of Poker next summer one way or another.

Eastgate hit-and-run

Don’t be surprised if you read someone talking smack about Peter Eastgate in the near future the way that Patrik Antonius talks about Mark Vos. It seems that the defending world champion, whose reign is set to expire in a few weeks, pulled a hit-and-run on the $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em tables on PokerStars the other night. Eastgate bought in with $8,000 and left the table once he’d doubled up, only to buy back in shortly afterward with $8,000 again. That irritated the champ’s opponent, who had this to say:

FiSHeYe1984: don’t you have millions ?
FiSHeYe1984: why do you hit and run like a girl ?
PeteEastgate: to make them last longer
FiSHeYe1984: shotstacking mainevent winner
FiSHeYe1984: at least show some etiquette and give me some buttons

All that’s missing now is a 2+2 post from “FiSHeYe1984″ issuing a throwdown and we’ve got the perfect plot for Rounders 2.

(Peter Eastgate did a hit and run - Coinflip.com)

Prince Edward Island: buy some scratch tickets instead

Residents of the smallest Canadian province, Prince Edward Island, are having most of their favorite places to play poker taken away from them - by the people who run the lottery.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation told bars across the province that if they continued to host popular Texas Hold’em tournaments on their premises, they would have to remove their Video Lottery Terminals owned by the Corporation. According to the CBC, the poker games were popular enough that you could find one any day of the week. Bar owners are angry but feel they have no choice but to comply with the order because the lottery makes far more money for them than the poker tournaments. That leaves only two casinos for PEI poker players to enjoy their favorite game.

Accompanying the CBC story was an unscientific poll asking if PEI residents should be allowed to play poker in bars, with answers ranging from “Yes, it’s harmless fun and good for business” to “No, the game is addictive and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere on P.E.I.” As of this afternoon, the leading option with 47% of the vote was “Yes, it’s harmless fun and good for business.”

(Atlantic Lotto bans bar poker - CBC News)

Mixed martial arts and poker - a natural combination?

MMA and poker have enjoyed a little overlap in the past few years as the popularity of both with the American public has grown. Like other professional athletes, MMA fighters are known to enjoy the game; Randy Couture hosts charity poker tournaments every year, and Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell have played at the WSOP. Online poker rooms, for their part, have gotten good exposure through sponsoring MMA broadcasts. And did I mention there’s this publication called FIGHT! Magazine?

It comes as no surprise, then, that the two pop culture phenomena continue to stay connected. The mainstay of MMA, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is jumping into the online poker arena with a subscription-based service that will let players compete for prizes, including VIP tickets to live UFC events. Meanwhile online poker room UltimateBet has decided to pick up sponsorship of MMA Connected, a cable TV show covering MMA on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.

UFC Poker Room details here. More on UB’s sponsorship of MMA Connected here.

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