DAILY BUZZ: Ante Up On CNN, Schaffel On ESPN, Harrah’s 3Q Results

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DAILY BUZZ: Ante Up On CNN, Schaffel On ESPN, Harrah’s 3Q Results

Jason Kirk | October 27, 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.

CNN spotlights Don Cheadle & Ante Up for Africa

The mainstream media got a look at one of the better sides of poker today when CNN today featured a story about Don Cheadle and his efforts to raise awareness of the human rights crisis in Darfur, Sudan, through the Ante Up For Africa charity. Cheadle tells CNN about his initial surprise at how much money the first AUFA tournament was able to raise and about the generosity of most of the tournaments’ big winners, while his AUFA co-founder Annie Duke lets CNN in on the secret of why poker tournaments are such great fundraisers.

“Everyone wants to give. I think there’s a variety of ways to do that that are effective, but I’m not sure anything is more effective than a poker tournament,” says Duke. “People come and they can genuinely hang out with celebrities and some of the famous poker players, and just have a really fantastic time while they’re giving.”

“Some people look at that and are cynical about it and think, that’s just frivolous celebrities trying to give themselves some sort of gravitas,” says Cheadle. “But I still say, even if it is that, there is still something going on over there, and we want you to look over there. So you try and take the opportunity whenever you can.”

The new AUFA event, sorting a $150 buy-in with rebuys, is set to be held this Thursday at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino outside San Bernardino, Calif. The casino has already kicked in $500,000 for the charity and the players are expected to donate tens of thousands more.

(Don Cheadle’s poker playing has benefits - CNN.com)

Kevin Schaffel on ESPN Inside Deal

It’s Tuesday and that means it’s time for ESPN Inside Deal. Today’s episode is one of the last before the November Nine get back to action and play down to a winner. Kevin Schaffel, who sits in the middle of the pack but has scored a few nice cashes since going on hiatus in July, sits down with Laura Lane and Bernard Lee to talk about how making the final tables of the WSOP Main Event and the Legends of Poker has changed his life, his previous tournament experience, and who he’s bringing to the Rio with him in November.

Mike Sexton also calls in to talk with Lane and Lee about his impending induction to the Poker Hall of Fame. “It’s pretty flattering…to be up there with the legends and icons of the game,” Sexton said. “It’s really pretty special.”

Check out the full episode here.

ESPN deal a bright spot in downbeat Harrah’s 3Q results

World Series of Poker parent company Harrah’s Entertainment issued its earnings report today and the company’s business is down from this time last year. According to the report, the continued slump in business was due to the recession eating into its customers’ wallets. Revenues were down to $2.28 billion from $2.65 billion in the third quarter last year, while the loss from operations was $1.05 billion, compared with income from operations of $349.6 million in the 2008 third quarter.

While everything else at Harrah’s seems to be following the broader economic downturn, one of the bright spots for the company continues to be the WSOP. Among the the third quarter highlights singled out by CEO Gary Loveman in the report was Harrah’s new seven-year deal with cable network ESPN to continue its annual coverage of the WSOP. Loveman noted in the report that the company was looking forward to the November Nine completing play at the WSOP Main Event in a few weeks.

(Harrah’s Entertainment Reports Results for 2009 Third Quarter, First Nine Months - MarketWire.com)

Florida poker blues likely to keep playing

Poker players in Florida have been stuck with less-than-adequate live cash poker games for a long time now. There was once a $2 cap on all bets, though that changed a while back when the state decided to allow maximum buy-ins of $100. Still, the games pale in comparison to those available in California, Las Vegas, the East Coast, or nearly anywhere else in the United States with a poker room.

Players in Florida were given some hope earlier this year when the legislature considered a bill to allow true no-limit poker throughout the state, but that bill was tied to a yet-to-pass revised compact with the Seminole tribe which would allow the Seminoles exclusive rights to offer blackjack and table games in the state. So while everyone appears to be for passing no-limit poker, the political bargaining game between Gov. Charlie Crist and the state’s legislature means the issue probably won’t be dealt with anytime soon. In the meantime, several airlines are still offering plenty of cheap flights from Florida to Las Vegas…

(I told the governor to hustle it up with poker - Action South Florida Gambling)

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