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.

Dude looks like a lady redux

Once again, a man has won a ladies tournament. No, Abraham Korotki isn’t traveling the country trying to break the hearts of women everywhere. This time Greg Sessler, a 22-year-old communications and film major at the University of California at Davis, irked the female poker-playing public when he took down the $340 WSOP Circuit Lades Championship at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.

The next target for women poker players everywhere

Sessler told the WSOP afterward that he only played the tournament because it was on his day off. He was one of four men in the 96-player field, and the only one who cashed. “Me playing in this tournament really had nothing to do with trying to take advantage of the ladies or thinking it was a softer field,” he said. “If (poker pro) Jennifer Harman would have come and played in the ladies event, she would have been much tougher competition than me.  I came here because I only had one day, and I really like the structures and the payout.  This was the only tournament I could play.”

Of Sessler’s participation in the tourament, Nolan Dalla wrote:

How is this possible, you may ask?  Easy.  The WSOP isn’t a political organization and can’t be expected to get involved in debates about sexism, discrimination, or other polarizing issues which may be applicable to poker tournaments.  While the WSOP makes a sincere effort to promote women in poker and offers quasi-exclusive tournaments designed to increase female participation in the game, officials generally do not turn away those who want to play in the event, based solely on gender.  In short, the WSOP hopes that by offering and supporting ladies-only poker tournaments and providing an event for which there is considerable interest (by women), others (namely men) will respect and understand the spirit of competition.”

Mega-mainstream outlet USA Today picked up on Sessler’s win this morning and ran a story on it.

Jeffrey Pollack’s exit interview

Last Friday was WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack’s final day on the job before heading for greener pastures. The initial news didn’t offer much insight into his departure, but RawVegas sat down for a three-part interview on Friday to talk with Pollack about his reasons for leaving, what he accomplished during his four years with the WSOP, his appreciation of the poker media (thanks Jeffrey!), the future of the poker industry, and his plans post-WSOP.

Pollack’s departure was met with a sense of loss from almost everyone in the poker community, and the reasons why come across very clearly in the interview. He

Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the interview.

Another bad beat for Pa. poker game organizer

Sara Lazzaro can’t catch a break. First she took a pistol to the head a few weeks ago when her poker tournament in a Volunteer Fire Department hall outside Pittsburgh, Pa., was raided by armed robbers. Now she’s been arrested on 69 counts of illegal gambling for running the tournament where she was assaulted and robbed.

Police served a search warrant on Lazzaro’s home this weekend and seized 21 poker tables, thousands of poker chips, a computer, and numerous tablets and notes related to the game that was raided in Heidelberg, a suburb of Pittsburgh. That was the game where the 54-year-old Lazzaro was pistol-whipped by the robbers, who made off with $5,900. Lazzaro was not home when police served their warrant, but she later turned herself in and was released on her own recognizance.

Lazzaro will have a preliminary hearing before this Thursday before District Judge Gary Zyra.

(Texas hold’em hostess arrested for gambling - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Golden angles on the Tao

As if anybody needed another reason to avoid downtown Las Vegas, this morning Dr. Pauly posted a sordid tale from the Golden Nugget poker room called “Golden Angle Shooters at the Nugget” over at the Tao of Poker.

Pauly was at the Nugget for a fun night of poker with some friends from the poker media and ended up having the fun ruined by an angle-shooting local. Anyone who has ever played poker on vacation has invariably seen a ruling from the floor incorrectly go to a local player and will empathize with the good doctor’s treatment at the hands of Nugget floorman. It had to have been pretty bad, because it takes a lot to make Pauly write something like this:

It goes without saying that I’ll never return to the Nugget to play poker again. I hope the poker room manager reads this because he needs to know what type of environment he’s condoning. This post should have a sub-heading “Why I’ll never play at the Golden Nugget ever again.”

Check out the full post at Tao of Poker.

Jeffrey Pollack

Jeffrey Pollack’s run as World Series of Poker Commissioner is over after four years.

Pollack first joined Harrah’s in 2005 and set about to increase the global awareness of the brand. Under his watch the WSOP added events in Europe, partnered with Annie Duke and Don Cheadle to build a top flight celebrity poker event and increased corporate sponsorship of the WSOP.

Pollack also was at the helm when Ty Stewart, Craig Abrahams and Seth Palansky were hired. His final day on the job is Friday, November 13.

“We appreciate Jeffrey’s contributions over the past four years and wish him the best in the future. The World Series of Poker remains the market leader with this year’s tournament exceeding all expectations, and we are well positioned for the future,” said a WSOP spokesperson.

“There is no intention at this time to replace the Commissioner role,” the spokesperson said.

The split comes as little surprise to some observers given that the official website, WSOP.com, is being turned into an online poker room. The hiring of form PartyGaming CEO Mitch Garber put him in charge of the monetization efforts and operations leaving Pollack with less control.

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.

Marc Goodwin vs. Planet of the Apes

In a new episode of Late Night Poker that aired tonight on England’s Channel 4, recent EPT Barcelona runner-up Marc Goodwin lays into some smack-talk about online poker players.

Goodwin, a longtime British poker pro with over $2 million in career tournament earnings, appeared on Late Night Poker at the table with Ram Vaswani, Sammy George, Andrew Feldman, Dave Colclough, and the bane of sandwiches everywhere, Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz. In this clip Goodwin’s barbed comments about online poker players begin at the 4:10 mark, right after he donk-calls about most of his stack off to Schwartz before folding on the river. (Nice job, LNP producers!) It’s there that he says:

Internet players - well, if they ever leave the house I judge them as normal, but I know that most of them don’t. So they are like subnormal primates who just sit in front of a TV and gamble in their underpants.

Chances are that the online poker community, who gamble naked just as often as they do in their underpants, will take Goodwin’s slam about as seriously as Goodwin himself will take this comment from poster CCx on the 2+2 NVG thread about the Late Night Poker episode:

man i could listen to bri’ish people toulk ool daiy

(Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz Meets His Arch Rival Andrew Feldman On Late Night Poker Tonight - 2+2 NVG Forum)

Pollack turns down LPGA job

Women’s golf nearly stole the World Series of Poker’s commissioner away, but it looks Jeffrey Pollack is planning to stay put for a while.

Golfweek says that Pollack was a “dark horse” finalist for the open job of Commissioner of the Ladies Pro Golf Association but has now withdrawn his name from consideration for the position. That’s great news for his nearly 2,800 Twitter followers, who know that poker enjoys a tweetability vastly superior to that of women’s golf, and for the WSOP, which has seen significant growth in both attendance and television ratings under his stewardship.

Pollack has been the WSOP Commissioner since January 2006. A jump to another realm of organized competition wouldn’t have been out of character for him. Before coming to the WSOP, Pollack worked as a Vice President for both the National Basketball Association and for NASCAR. You could also say that commissioning, whatever that entails, is in his genes; Pollack’s half-brother is Gary Bettman, the Commissioner of the National Hockey League.

(Candidate pool shrinks for LPGA’s top job - GolfWeek)

See who else in poker might have turned down the LPGA’s advances on our Poker Tweets page.

KY Supreme Court revisits 2008 domain name seizures

Tomorrow is a big day for Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear. After claiming that domain names were “gambling instruments” in violation of state law last year and essentially claiming jurisdiction over the entire Internet, Beshear’s legal reasoning was overturned in court. But the state appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which decided to give the governor a final opportunity to argue his case on more time on Thursday morning.

Of course, Beshear won’t actually be the one in front of the court. But lawyers for both the state and a group of online gambling proponents will have at least 15 minutes to argue their case before the state’s Supreme Court. Arguments begin at 11 a.m. ET tomorrow in Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky; they will also be streamed online at the Court’s website.

(Supreme Court to hear online gambling case - Louisville Courier-Journal)

It’s major tournament time at Bellagio (again)

Bellagio, the MGM flagship casino in Las Vegas that seems to host a huge-buy-in poker tournament every other month, is kicking off its latest huge-buy-in poker tournament today.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier won the $15,000 Festa al Lago main event last year, grabbing just over $1.4 million for finishing atop a TV table that included some fierce competition in the forms of Nam Le, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Nenad Medic. ElkY won’t be back to defend his title since he’s still alive at the EPT event in Poland, but one thing is for sure: whoever emerges as the new Festa champion will have serious poker chops. Bellagio’s tournaments have a much higher pro-to-amateur ratio than the average poker tournament held anywhere else on the planet.

There won’t be a final number of players available until midway through play tomorrow; registration at the Bellagio is available through the end of the eighth level of play, which gives players until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow to get a seat in the tournament. Among those who decided to start piling up chips in the early levels were Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, David Benyamine, Michael Mizrachi, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, David Chiu, and Jonathan Little.

Live Festa al Lago updates are available from the World Poker Tour.

Dikshit donates Party proceeds

Yesterday I told you that PartyGaming founder Anurag Dikshit was cashing out his remaining 28% stake in the company. It turns out that Dikshit, whose name I swear to you is actually pronounced “Dix-it,” is handing over the entire sum to a charity he founded a few years ago called Kusuma Trust. According to the organization’s website, Kusuma focuses on humanitarian and educational projects that provide for the unmet needs of at-risk children in Gibraltar and India. The proceeds from Dikshit’s sale of will be added to the $80 million or so that’s already in the Trust.

A tip of the hat here goes to Dr. Pauly at the Tao of Poker, who noted:

This isn’t the first time that Dikshit has given away money to a charity. He heard that the U.S. Department of Justice was having a bake sale, so he bought $300 million worth of DOJ cookies.

(Online Gambling Billionaire Cashes In - Forbes)

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.

Hellmuth ready for another grand entrance…

Anyone who hasn’t been living in a cave for the last few years knows that Phil Hellmuth has developed a taste for big entrances into the WSOP Main Event. Whether it’s been a race car, a tank, or a chariot, Hellmuth’s arrival on the scene has always gotten attention. Now he’s getting ready to do it all over again in London.

The 11-time gold bracelet winner announced on his Twitter feed today that he’ll be duplicating his 2009 WSOP Main Event entrance when he arrives at the WSOP Europe Main Event on Day 1A “dressed as Julius Caesar, in a Chariot w horses, and 11 models!!” The big difference, of course, is that Julius Caesar only made his grand entrances after returning from conquest, while Hellmuth hasn’t quite conquered London yet. Still, the spectacle should be worth a look when the inevitable video footage of his entrance hits the web.

See what Phil’s up to in London tonight with Layne Flack and Jean-Robert Bellande on our Poker Tweets page.

…And perhaps a grand exit

While Phil prepares for his imperial entrance, he’s quietly steaming about the implications of Harrah’s and the WSOP preparing to open their own online poker site. Or at least, he was quietly steaming before opening up to the hosts of the Hardcore Poker Show. Now his frustrations are out in the open for the entire poker world to consider.

“I think there’s a huge battle brewing,” he said during his interview. “And I’ve never talked about this in public, but I see now, in my discussions with Jeffrey Pollack, knowing that the World Series of Poker is going to start an online poker site. And talking to the guys at Full Tilt, and talking to the guys at UltimateBet and talking to the guys at PokerStars, it looks like the World Series of Poker and Harrah’s are going to be in a tough position.”

“You know, there’s going to be some mistakes made by Harrah’s, and just mark my words - they’re going to risk losing the World Series of Poker, which is estimated at $200 million. It may actually become worth nothing if they force the players, all the great Internet sites to say, “Look, we’re going to start our own deal, because Harrah’s is restricting logos. They’re actually taking logo use out of the picture, or trying to press their position as a site owner.”

“I’ve always been a Harrah’s proponent, but I’m afraid they’re going to make some mistakes. And it won’t be Jeffrey Pollack or Ty Stewart. It’s going to be some Harrah’s management that doesn’t understand the value of the World Series of Poker I believe. And they’re going to be trying to make their billion-dollar poker site, and they’re going to risk damaging the World Series of Poker.”

Hellmuth also complains in the interview about the fact that Harrah’s uses his photo in promotional materials but didn’t pay for his room at the WSOP this year - which he says they can more than afford considering they rake from the WSOP $15-20 million every year, amounting to a second place finish in every tournament they host. With nearly $8 million in tournament winnings and sponsorship deals out the wazoo, you’d think Phil would have enough money to pay for his own hotel.

(Phil Hellmuth Fires First Shot At Harrah’s - Pokerati.com)

Sebok highlights UB hand history release process

When Joe Sebok announced his new affiliation with UltimateBet he made it clear that one of his top priorities would be securing the release of the names of all the people involved in the superuser cheating scandal as well as all the relative hand history files from incidents. It’s only been a few days since his announcement, but Sebok addressed the latter issue in a blog post at PokerRoad today.

UB is sending out the hand histories in a two-part process. First players will receive a spreadsheet detailing hands they played against any of the 117 cheating accounts, allowing them to verify their refunds independently. Then UB will ship out the actual hand history files for all the hands detailed in the spreadsheet. According to Seebs the reason for the two steps is that processing all the individual files takes a long time, and UB wants to get some kind of useful information to players while they wait for the hand histories.

“Please be a little patient with getting this information out and back to you once you have requested it,” wrote Sebok. “I know you have all been waiting for quite a while, but this kind of project takes some time to run through.”

This is just the first move, of course, but optimism about the situation at UB might be warranted if Joe can continue to press ahead at this kind of pace.

(Process for Release of UB Hand Histories - PokerRoad)

Amazing Race producer praises Michelle and Ho

And finally, Entertainment Weekly’s Hollywood Insider blog posted an exclusive reveal of The Amazing Race’s route around the world today. All the poker fans who plan on watching the show to track the progress of Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho will want to check out the article to see where the ladies will be traveling in future episodes, but they’ll also be interested in the quotes about them that EW grabbed from executive producer Bertram van Munster.

“They are incredibly shrewd. They are tough as nails,” van Munster said of the pro poker duo. “They’d do anything to win. They blew me away.”

That kind of quote suggests the two won’t be making an early exit from the show, giving their fans - and all the Tiffany Michelle haters on the internet - plenty of chances to catch them in action throughout the season. The new season of The Amazing Race begins on CBS this Sunday.

(‘The Amazing Race 15’: Exclusive reveal of the route, plus teases - Entertainment Weekly)

ESPN and the World Series of Poker have committed to keep coverage of the storied tournament series on the air through most of the next decade.

ESPN and WSOP owner Harrah’s Entertainment announced Tuesday a new seven-year deal worth an undisclosed amount. The latest contract between the two parties was set to expire in 2010.

“The WSOP is proud to call ESPN home for another nine years,” said Jeffrey Pollack, President of Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment and the World Series of Poker. “This long-term agreement ensures that our content will continue to reach sports fans around the world through a wide variety of platforms.”

The news comes on the same day as the first two of 24 episodes covering the 2009 Main Event are set to debut. Ratings for the initial 2009 episodes - those covering the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em event, the Champions Invitational, and the Ante Up For Africa charity event - are down 8% from the previous year.

The cable sports giant has long been associated with the WSOP. For ten years from the late 1980s to the late 1990s the network aired one-hour episodes covering the main event final table. More modern coverage, complete with hole cards, began in 2002. The next year, ESPN’s coverage of the WSOP Main Event became a mainstay when Tennessee accountant Chris Moneymaker became the improbable champion.

Mike Sexton addressing the crowd of shut out players.

Approximately 500 players arrived at the the Rio today with $10,000 in their pocket and the dream of winning untold millions and fame as 2009’s World Champion. But their dreams were shattered at the cashier’s cage when they were told the World Series of Poker Main Event had sold out.

Day 1d of the Main Event had reached capacity with every available table being used in the Amazon, Brasilia and Miranda rooms. There were even 13 tables set up all the way back towards the casino in the area by Buzio’s Seafood restaurant.

At the beginning of Level 1 a semi-angry mob assembled outside of the 7 Star & Diamond registration office. A line of nearly 100 people snaked around a hallway at the general registration office. Notable pros, amateurs and every type of player in between started to gather. It seemed that Mickey Appleman, Minh Ly and Capt. Tom Franklin would be shut out of the biggest tournament of the year.

Tension in the hallway grew as one player said, “I have $10,000 that I won in satellite chips that are now completely useless. Is the WSOP going to give me a refund?”

Josh Sorenson, an amateur, said, “I don’t understand why there is no communication between the players and the WSOP staff. We’re not being told anything, besides the tournament is closed.” He continued, “Sometimes we need a gray area in life. Nothing is ever simply black and white.”

As players gathered and griped, somehow Mike Sexton found his way into the middle of the group. Several members of the shutout group asked Sexton if he would talk to WSOP Comissioner Jeffrey Pollack or WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel. Having already played on Day 1a, Sexton was a reluctant spokesperson, but he held true to his “Ambassador of Poker” title and agreed to speak for the crowd.

At issue was players believed that 3,000 entrants had been advertised for Day 1d to play.  Sexton invited Franklin to accompany him to meet with Effel. The three found a quiet spot near the feature table to discuss the matter. With a large crowd of disgruntled players building by the rail, the three moved into a back hallway for privacy.

After about 30 minutes Sexton and Franklin emerged and told the growing group that Pollack had agreed to meet with them. All concerned players that were shutout were to go to the Pavillion in the Rio and Pollack had a prepared statement.

About 100, mostly angry, players gathered to see if their Main Event dreams would come true. Pollack and the senior staff of the WSOP all gathered for the explanation.

Pollack opened his statement, “We are sorry, I am sorry. The last thing we wanted to do is deny entry to any player for the Main Event. But we are unable to accommodate anymore people.” He continued, “We pledge this won’t happen again and will be the first topic we discuss for next year. This is the biggest challenge we have faced in four years.”

The crowd was clearly displeased with Pollack’s statements. One requested if they could start at midnight and play all night to join Day 2a. Another asked why they couldn’t be accomdated and play ten-handed at some tables or allow alternates.

Pollack said, “We have not had alternates for the 56 previous events and the first three days of the Main Event and we’re not going to start now. We’ve had sellouts already this series.”

The hostile crowd grew louder as each player wanted Pollack to hear their complaints. Melissa Hayden grew impatient with crowd and urged them to quiet down and speak civilly to Pollack.

Pollack dismissed the rumor that two very high profile players were allowed entry after registration had been closed. He furthered his point by saying,”The decision has been made. Operationally, we cannot accommodate anymore players.”

Pollack answered questions for several minutes and the crowd seemed unwilling to accept anything he had to say. Pollack stepped away from the podium and exited the room. One very angry Australian player shouted “Shameful!” as Pollack left.

The players that were just officially told they would not be able to play lingered and remained very upset. None of them appeared to be happy with the explanation. The previously mentioned Aussie even suggested that they could sue the WSOP.

Being the commissioner of the world’s longest-running, largest, richest and most prestigious poker event in the world isn’t meant to be a cakewalk for most people, but if you’re Jeffrey Pollack the cake is even sweeter everytime the World Series of Poker begins its annual tournament.

Since 2005, Pollack has been instituting his own style into the WSOP where he’s been steadily increasing its popularity not just in the United States, but throughout the world.

Using his past experience as a Director of Broadcasting and New Media for NASCAR’s digital entertainment, Pollack has brought his innovative, tech-savvy spirit to each and every WSOP he’s commissioned since he first got on board.

BluffMagazine.com caught up with Pollack on Day 1 of the WSOP for an exclusive Q&A about another exciting summer of poker and his insider’s take on all those Obama haters protesting outside Caesers Palace this past week:

We’re in the 40th year of the WSOP. How special is it to be a part of something so significant?

It’s an honor. We take our stewardship of the WSOP brand very seriously. We’ve worked hard over the last 4 years to grow this event and I think we did a good job in doing that. It’s a great moment to put the light on the history, tradition, and heritage of the WSOP. We got some good events related to the 40th year so it’s going to be a good summer.

Looking back on history, what changes have you seen that have impacted the Series the most?

There have been a lot. The $50,000 HORSE event was something really special and our delayed final table was a complete game changer for us. Our improvements of the schedule year after year have been meaningful along with our refinement of the overall player experience at the WSOP.

With the economy the way it is, were you guys persuaded by the crisis in any way to offer certain events, like the Stimulus Special?

As far as the schedule goes, we made a conscience decision not to program the World Series of Poker around the recession. We decided to pick up where we left off from last summer which was our best event ever. We wanted to move forward with the broadest pallet of poker events on the planet and create that spectacle we’re responsible for.

So last night you had a chance to meet President Obama. How did that come up and how did it go?

It was great. I was invited by our head of Government Affairs, Jan Jones. We presented him with an embroidered WSOP jacket and I invited him to visit the WSOP and it was just a great opportunity.

Do you think Obama is a big poker fan? Did he like the jacket?

He was excited. Rumor has it that he plays. He didn’t want to confirm or deny that for me.

He probably would never confirm that?

Yeah.

Now there were a bunch of protesters outside Caesers Palace yesterday regarding his recent comments about Las Vegas. Do you believe his comments will directly affect the business here in the city?

He didn’t address his comments last night, but the fact that he showed up says a lot.

The Champions Invitational is going to be a great event. It’s going to be good to see most of them in the same room, but maybe not Russ Hamilton. If he did show up…

He won’t show up.

But if he did…

He won’t show up.

In recent years, the WSOP has offered charity events to help its brand improve and stay close to the community. With the Ante Up for Africa on this year’s schedule again, why is it important for the WSOP to host tournaments like these?

I think it’s incumbent upon any global sports property to have a meaningful community relations plank. The Nevada Cancer Institute is our official community relations partner. We have a three year standing relationship with Ante Up for Africa. Plus, we’re going to further integrate Bad Beat on Cancer into the WSOP. In the end, you need to give back.

You’re on Twitter a lot reporting on the WSOP. So how has the technology improved over the years to better communicate your WSOP messages to the fan base?

Over the years? Forget it. How about the last 12 months? Last year I was struggling to just hack together a blog every week or so. Now, I’ve been liberated by the freedom of Twitter so that I can report on what’s happening in real time and it’s just much more natural. It’s a brilliant, brilliant technology.

So with technology improving and everything in place, how much bigger can it get?

We want to grow, but we want to continue to be the best. If we can continue to be the best, then we’ll be the best.

And finally, what’s left for Jeffrey Pollack out there? What more do you want to accomplish?

All I’m focused on right now is having the best possible WSOP this year and continuing to humbly making contributions to this great brand.

Harrah’s Entertainment, the parent company of the World Series of Poker, today announced that it has formed a new subsidiary company, Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment, Inc. (HIE).

HIE will be tasked with managing global growth of the WSOP and creating a strategy for the growth of Harrah’s in the online European market. The Harrah’s Total Rewards customer loyalty program, familiar to poker players at Harrah’s-owned properties around the world, will be employed in HIE’s online expansion into Europe.

Joining the company as Chief Executive Officer is Mitch Garber, the Canadian-born former CEO of PartyGaming. Garber has plenty of experience with the internatonal gaming industry; from 1990-1999 he worked as an attorney specializing in gaming matters, and during his time with PartyGaming he focused on expanding the company’s international reach through mergers and acquisitions.

Taking on the role of President of HIE will be a familiar face from Harrah’s, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. He will retain his position at the WSOP in addition to his duties with HIE.

“As the world’s largest gaming company, Harrah’s is taking a proactive approach toward international and interactive expansion,” Harrah’s Entertainment Chairman, President and CEO Gary Loveman said of the formation of HIE. “It is important we position ourselves to explore new markets as well as new technologies with our best in class brands.”

The 2009 World Series of Poker kicks off next week and poker fans will be coming to BluffMagazine.com to see the final table broadcasts of 12 events beginning with Event #4 ($1,500 Pot Limit Omaha) on June 3.

“We’re very happy to be able to bring poker fans and players alike exclusive coverage of these final tables,” said Eric Morris, publisher of Bluff Magazine. “We promise to raise the bar for live streaming coverage.”

The 12 final tables available on BluffMagazine.com are being combined with another 12 available exclusively on ESPN360.com. The highlight of the ESPN360 schedule will undoubtedly be the final table of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event, considered to be the players’ championship.

 ”We are proud to provide the culminating action of so many prominent events to a worldwide audience in real time,” said WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “This online initiative will complement our spectacular television package on ESPN and deliver even more of this year’s milestone WSOP to fans who want the most immediate coverage possible.”

Complete 2009 WSOP Live Streaming Final Table Schedule

• Event 4 - $1,000 No-limit Hold’em June 2 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 5 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha  June 3 - BluffMagazine.com  
• Event 7 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em June 4 - BluffMagazine.com
• Event 10 - $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Pot-Limit Hold’em  June 5 - BluffMagazine.com
• Event 11 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em June 6 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 15 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-handed June 8 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 17 - $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em  June 9 - BluffMagazine.com    
• Event 19 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-handed June 10 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 20 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em June 11 - BluffMagazine.com
• Event 22 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout June 12 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 24 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em June 13 - BluffMagazine.com   
• Event 29 - $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads Up June 15 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 30 - $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha  June 16 - BluffMagazine.com
• Event 33 - $10,000 Limit Hold’em   June 17 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 34 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em June 18 - BluffMagazine.com 
• Event 35 - $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em June 19 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 36 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em June 20 - BluffMagazine.com
• Event 40 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha June 22 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 41 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout June 23 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 45 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em June 25 - BluffMagazine.com
• Event 47 - $2,500 Mixed Hold’em June 26 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 49 - $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. June 30 - ESPN360.com   
• Event 51 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em June 29 - BluffMagazine.com     
• Event 54 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em July 1 - BluffMagazine.com

The 40 Greatest Champions is down to the final ten WSOP champions.

Six weeks ago BluffMagazine.com began counting down the 40 Greatest Champions campaign on WorldSeriesofPoker.com to help commemerate the 40th Annual World Series of Poker kicking off on May 27. As the Series nears closer the list is now down to the 10 Greatest Champions.

“The final ten players are all names that are very familiar to poker fans,” said Lance Bradley, Managing Editor of BLUFF Magazine and WorldSeriesofPoker.com. “The ranking however is likely to be the source of great debate.”

The final 10 WSOP champions will be announced each day between Friday and the day before the Series begins. The criteria for the ranking includes bracelets won, Main Event performances, overall contributions to the WSOP and historical importance.

“As the World Series of Poker turns 40, we will use this milestone to celebrate the history, heritage and tradition of the great game of poker,” said WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.  “We look forward to a very special 2009 WSOP, and will use it as a platform to commemorate the great champions and characters of the game who made the WSOP what it is today.”

Profiles of each member of the 40 Greatest Champions have been running exclusively on WorldSeriesofPoker.com and will continue to do so until the list reaches #1 - the greatest champion in WSOP history. To follow the list to the conclusion check WorldSeriesofPoker.com daily.

Here are the champions ranked #11 thru #40

WSOP 40 Greatest Champions #11 - 20

11. Berry Johnston, 12. Tom McEvoy, 13. Jay Heimowitz, 14. Scotty Nguyen, 15. Gary Berland, 16. Ted Forrest, 17. Bobby Baldwin, 18. Dan Harrington, 19. Men Nguyen, 20. Barbara Enright

WSOP 40 Greatest Champions #21 - 30

21. Allen Cunningham, 22. Layne Flack, 23. Annette Obrestad, 24. Phil Ivey, 25. Mike Sexton, 26. Daniel Negreanu, 27. Mike Matusow, 28. John Juanda, 29. Sailor Roberts, 30. Peter Eastgate

WSOP 40 Greatest Champions #31 - 40

31. Chris Ferguson, 32. Susie Isaacs, 33. Mickey Appelman, 34. Jack Strauss, 35. Amarillo Slim, 36. Nani Dollison, 37. Puggy Pearson, 38. O’Neill Longson, 39. Carolyn Gardner, 40. Jamie Gold.

In less than ten weeks the 2009 World Series of Poker will kick off with the first of 57 bracelet events and poker players around the world can now register for each of these events online.

Each event is now open for pre-registration on WorldSeriesofPoker.com and tournament organizers are encouraging people to register early. Once an event has reached the capacity the tournament will be considered a sell out.

“As is now customary, no alternates will be seated at the 2009 World Series of Poker,” said Jack Effel, WSOP tournament director. “We encourage players to pre-register early to guarantee their seats.”

In past years the most popular events have been the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em bracelet events but Harrah’s has added a “stimulus special” event this year, a $1,000 buy-in four-day No Limit Hold’em event on the first weekend of play May 30 - June 3.

To ensure their seat players can take care of the pre-registration at the Rio cashier cage or online via www.worldseriesofpoker.com/registration. Payment can be made using cash, Rio casino chips, wire transfer or cashier’s check. Foreign players will have their exchange rate locked in at the time of the transfer to potentially allow them to take advantage of shifting currency values.

Third party registration by anyone other than an official WSOP sponsor is prohibited.

Harrah’s Entertainment released the schedule for the 40th Annual World Series of Poker Monday morning and if there’s a theme to it, it’s a very Obama-like “change”. Poker players are bound to spend the next weeks and months discussing whether the changes are for the better or not.

The 2009 WSOP will take its usual summer slot and run from May 27 until July 15 when the final nine players left in the Main Event will go on a 118-day hiatus and return as the November Nine. The final table is currently scheduled to take place November 7 – 10. The first event this year will also include a return to tradition after a one-year hiatus. The opening event will be the annual $500 buy-in Casino Employees event, a two-day No Limit Hold’em tournament. Last year the event was held in the middle of the Series.

One thing that won’t be returning this year is any of the five rebuy events that dotted the 2008 schedule. Many of the game’s top pros, including some of those who are part of the WSOP Player Advisory Council, have voiced displeasure with the rebuy events in the past as they believe it allows heavily bankrolled players to buy their way to a bracelet.
A total of 57 events will award gold bracelets in 2009, up from 55 last year. Harrah’s also increased the number of $10,000 buy-in World Championship events from 8 to 10 with the addition of a 2-7 Draw Lowball event and a Seven-card Stud Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better tournament.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of poker’s most prestigious event a special one-time only $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event will be held in the opening days of the WSOP. And while that tournament might only be for the high-rollers Harrah’s management also showed they’re aware of the current economic climate. A special $1,000 buy-in “stimulus special” will be held on opening weekend and a field of over 5,000 players is expected.

“Whether you play poker around the kitchen table or consider yourself a professional, you will find a comfortable seat at the 2009 World Series of Poker,” said Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the World Series of Poker. “This year’s schedule offers more variety than ever before and we look forward to welcoming players from around the world to the Rio for our 40th annual extravaganza this summer.”

If a player were to play every single event the total cost would be $295,500. To view the complete schedule visit www.WorldSeriesofPoker.com.

This July marked the two-year anniversary of WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack’s relocation to Las Vegas, which he describes as “interesting and eye opening.” Showing up to the Amazon Room on Day 5 of the World Series Main Event wearing a suit but no tie, Jeffrey sat down with me at a recently vacated tournament table in the Amazon ballroom. Pollack is often accused of spinning his answers; however, common sense should explain he can’t guarantee anything nor disclose much due to common corporate confidentiality agreements during a leverage buy-out with new owners on the horizon. While we didn’t toss cards, we did toss ideas about the Amazon Room hosting in 2009, the Gaming Life Expo strippers, the ladies bracelet event is here to stay and what he’ll be doing in August before he jets off to Europe.

ML: Being here (in Las Vegas) sometimes one is just so out of touch with reality and the world, is it hard?

JP: (nodding in agreement) Different rules apply in Las Vegas. I’m very big on vibe and Vegas is a city… Jeffrey is suddenly interrupted by the tournament director’s announcement of a break schedule revision. Vegas is a city… T.D. announces at ninety-nine players they will quit for the evening. One word sums up Las Vegas, Permission. It is a city predicated upon people coming from all over the world to enjoy themselves richly and thoroughly for an intense period of time. And that energy permeates the city. So, when you’re here full time or close to full time you have to absorb that energy. Which, it isn’t a bad thing it’s just different, it’s unlike any other city in the world.

ML: Do you get much time off and if so what do you do?

JP: I take off whatever time I need but out of habit and being a workaholic I probably don’t take off as much as I should. But I will take some time off in August before I go to Europe at an undisclosed location. It will be seaside, I will say that and I will be able to see whales. (Laughing) But not casino whales, actual big swimming whales.

ML: Your goal was to make 2006 better than 2005.

JP: And I did

ML: I think most would agree that goal was attained. How do you feel about 2007 so far?

JP: Absolutely better than 06, for a few reasons. The tournament room finally looks like a hall where tournament champions are made. It has a prestige feel to it, we think that’s a big step forward. Bigger stage for ESPN and the spectators, HD coverage from ESPN, Quicker tournament turn from tape to air from ESPN, 55 bracelet events expanding the offering for poker players, Poker kitchen now inside as opposed to outside and a VIP lounge for the players willing to make the necessary investment.

Last year we didn’t raise very much money for charity; this year combined about 1 million between Ante Up for Africa, Nevada Cancer Institute, Queen of Hearts and Put a Bad Beat on Cancer. We’re now doing what we should to start giving back to the community. Better trained dealers than last year, maybe not subject to as much training as they should have but certainly more than they did have, we still need to make sure the skill level is as high as it could be. If you put all those together I think that makes for a better 07 than 06.

ML: The dealers definitely seem happier this year

JP: Dealers are happier, we still need to make sure the skill level is as high as it should be but we’ll get there.

ML: I do find that you will get different rulings for different dealers.

JP: (nodding in agreement) yep.

ML: A lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to control so many things at once.

JP: We welcomed 54k players into one room over 48 days. Fifty-five different events, it’s a massive, massive undertaking; the fact that there aren’t more bumps along the road is pretty amazing.

ML: You had announced there would be a footprint for an 09 location, but people are going around saying that it’s going to be moved in 09 and you clarified that’s not the case as of yet, so what’s the deal with 09?

JP: I’m not saying it is or it isn’t. I’m saying …08 will probably be the last year that the Amazon ballroom is our primary tournament room. 09 I would expect that we would have a completely new footprint for the wsop. Hopefully, it’s at the Rio but there’s no guarantee. But to that I would say the Rio has been/is an incredible home to the wsop in three short years it’s become beautifully equated with the wsop and I hope we are here for a long time going forward.

ML: I’ve been hearing for two years “Oh they want to move the wsop to Caesars but it’s a parking issue.” I originally agreed with the parking theory; however, there are so many hotels in walking distance there would be a lot less need for a car.

JP: It is easy to get in and out of the Rio; since it is a stand-alone structure we can sort of own it for the 48 days in a different way than any other property. So being here has its charms and advantages.

ML: User friendly…

JP: Yeah

ML: Let’s talk about the infamous tent. Do you see a future for the tent?

JP: Not a good one. I give us a ten on intentions behind the tent I give us a one in terms of on result. We tried. We outgrew the Amazon last year and we thought this would be a good fix. It wasn’t. I don’t know if there will be some other ancillary structure but I’m pretty sure if there is you won’t see any tournament play in there. We haven’t come up with a plan yet but the tent, as it existed for this year will not be back for tournament play for next year if at all.

ML: Could you use another ballroom for satellites because I know a lot of players who come to the World Series want to be in the energy of this room?

JP: Yep, it’s interesting, one thought I’ve had is that maybe we should run all of our satellites at Harrah’s, Ballys, Flamingo or Caesar’s but the challenge there is that I think the satellites here do well because of the energy, the vibe and the reflective glory from people playing in the tournament. It’s a tough one.

ML: I liked the tent.

JP: You liked the tent. (Knowingly)

ML: I think it would be best for satellites or cash games where people are not there for long and or have the option to get up.

JP: (nodding in agreement) we may do that. Or maybe we’ll have some other temporary structure, a log cabin, I don’t know, igloo.

ML: A yacht? A zeppelin?

JP: A big yacht or some buses. I don’t know, we’ll figure it out.

ML: Maybe a double-decker with a tournament table on top.

ML: “Games, Girls and Gear,” will the Gaming Life Expo keep this name for next year and if so could we have some male strippers for the ladies…possibly, some of the Chippendale dancers?

JP: If the GLE comes back next year I suspect it would just be “Games and Gear” based on this year’s experience. Some elements of that show were not The Rio’s prouder moments.

ML: I didn’t really find it that offensive.

JP: Well, you’re an open-minded Texan.

ML: I’m the only one. No, just kidding. I’m Jewish too. Actually, I converted.

JP: Really? Welcome to the Tribe. How does all of the guilt feel?

ML: It’s less now.

JP: That’s unusual.

ML: Well, I have kids (to pass it on to…) Do you have kids?

JP: No

ML: You’re married right?

JP: Yes

ML: Let’s see…so no more strippers?

JP: No, they won’t be back.

ML: No? No Chippendales? (Disappointed)

JP: No. Not my style…not my….No.

ML: There were some complaints about the ladies event having a make-over, what are your thoughts on that?

JP: Yeah, there’s been miscommunication on that. What happened was the Queen of Hearts team, led by Lisa Tenner, is a wonderful group of women that play and donate winnings to charity. To make it a little more fun for the team members, Lisa arranged a sort of morning make up session. No one was forced to do it, I believed every team member welcomed it and enjoyed it and since when is make up and women and poker an ill-advised combination?

ML: Well, I was under the impression that first place was awarded not only the money and bracelet but also a make over package.

JP: Yes, first place was awarded the money, the bracelet, a Corum watch, a signed WNBA Sparks jersey, VIP introduction and court-side seating at a WNBA game and a New You seminar weekend at a Harrah’s property. The New You is a new show about health, beauty and wellness that’s launching on NBC this year. So, this was part of a promotional partnership we have with them.

ML: Did Lisa Tenner get it (The New You) donated?

JP: I got it donated. I think some people just heard the creator of The Swan was there and some people were obviously offended by that.

ML: There are also rumors …

JP: I love rumors. (Smiling)

ML: I know that’s why we’re here. You’re going “On the Record.” This is the no spin zone.

JP: [laughing]: Ha, Good luck.

ML: There are rumors that this year was the last bracelet for the ladies event.

JP: Absolutely not true. As long as women continue to turn out in droves, which they have for this tournament, this was the largest women’s tournament in history. This was the first ever million-dollar tournament. I love it; I think anyone who is offended by it is improperly embracing a sense of political correctness with little regard for the history of the tournament. If women were offended by it they wouldn’t play. I think it’s something that’s unique to us; it’s no different than saying women shouldn’t have their own basketball league or softball league. Women here, unlike other sports, are able to compete against men in any tournament. But there’s nothing wrong with celebrating women in poker through a specialized event. It is one of my favorite days at the tournament and as long as I am commissioner and women continue to turn out it will be a bracelet event.

ML: What are your goals for WSOP EUROPE?

JP: To launch it successfully this year, that’s the only goal. To get it up and running, we will have a number of years to perfect it, but we just want to get the flag in the ground, open up the doors and get them running.

ML: Are you going to call it the WSOPE Beta version?

JP: No, it’s WSOPE

ML: Europe 1.0?

JP: (laughs) right.

ML: Do you think, in a basic economic sense, increasing the amount of bracelets awarded each year decreases their value?

JP: Too many bracelets each year we will commoditize the bracelet which I refuse to do. I think that 55 events is not too many. I think when we throw in the three bracelets that we will give out in London – 58. Assume at some point we go to Asia and Latin America, once bracelet each there – 60. Sixty bracelets world wide each year, I don’t think we’re commoditizing the bracelet. But that being said…we may decide next year not to have 55 events but to have 50 events. We may decide 58 events makes sense. You won’t see us push 70, so I think we still have some room but I’ll never allow the bracelet to be commoditized. It’s a very subjective view, some think that 40 bracelets should be the top number and some may think that 70 is ok. So, as Steward of the brand I reserve the judgment on when we’re close to commoditizing. I don’t think we’re there yet.

ML: This pocket PC is hard to read. I need to put on my glasses.

JP: You’re too young. Increase the font

ML: Yeah, well I’m not there yet, I haven’t used it enough. Hey, I’m 36, I’m not that young. How old are you?

JP: 42. Do you want me to read them for you? (Joking)

ML: (joking) yeah, would you?

ML: Will the Player’s Advisory Counsel (which he started Jan 06) change every year and how does one become involved?

JP: We will continue to expand the council, it’s a very informal selection process, and it’s basically if a player strikes me as having an interesting point of view then I invite them. This summer I have invited Steve Z, Mickey Appleman & Cyndi Violette. I may add a couple more before long.

ML: What exactly do they advise?

JP: This year their work focused largely on the over all schedule, structures, payout schemes, rules, card design (that didn’t go very well but that was not there fault) and some tournament operations. It’s an open book; there isn’t any topic I won’t discuss with the council. They have no formal decision making authority, it’s simply to provide advice and council but we take what they say very seriously and they’ve added tremendous value.

ML: Will you and the council accept question from the public?

JP: Always. To me or to the council. My public email address is JPLT@Harrahs.com and I answer every email personally that goes to that box.

ML: The room is freezing…is that to increase sweatshirt sales?

JP: No, it’s very tough to regulate a room this size and I personally, and I don’t spend a lot of time on the temperature of the room, but I personally err on the side of a little colder is better than a little warmer. It’s easier to warm up than cool down but we’ll never make everyone happy on this issue that’s for certain. I think it’s refreshing, but that’s me.

ML: But it’s so cold.

JP: (laughing) Wear a jacket or sweatshirt. A scarf or muffler.

ML: One complaint was that most of the 5pm events were limit events. You really didn’t get as much play and then you had to come back late the next day to make the money while the noon NL events usually played to the money on day one.

JP: We have to get back and take a look and see if those five o’clock events really work the way they should.

ML: Someone wanted me to ask you why you have this job when you’re not a poker player?

JP: When was the last time someone saw David Stern (NBA Commissioner) on the basketball court. The fans perspective will always be that you have to be a fan to work at a sports league or a team. The fact is in sports the last people you hire are the fans because they are not critical enough. They allow their passion for the game to cloud their business judgment and I’m probably the only true dispassionate member of the WSOP team. Everyone who works on the WSOP is a poker player. I’m not. And I won’t become one and there’s no need for me to become one.

ML: How long will you stay here?

JP: As long as Harrah’s will have me.

ML: Where’s your pink tie?

JP: (laughing) No tie today. It’s Friday, I figured casual Friday, and I may actually be in jeans this weekend.