All Posts Tagged: Not Poker Related

Well first of all, I'd like to thank my New York Yankees for taking a little bit of the sweat out of the equation for me. I have $4,500 riding on the Yankees to win the World Series, and here's why:

1) The Yankees were nearly a 2:1 favorite to win the Series according to Vegas bookies (who seem to know how things will play out with scary/suspicious accuracy)

2) I have a ton of friends from South NJ and PA area who, for whatever reason, have decided to put themselves through the torture of being Phillies fans

3) I <3 $$$

The combination of these facts led to me doing the first significant sports betting of my life. Normally I bet sports very rarely, and when I do it's $20-$100 between friends just for shits and giggles.

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There's one thing that's stood out for us at the WSOPE and it's got nothing to do with poker. It's the massage girls. They call themselves the Ibiza Angels and there's a mob of them on rotation at the Casino at the Empire.

We've seen massage girls before, and there's been some hot ones, but the ones here are on average much better than what we're used to.

Even more amazingly, they work on the honor system. That's right. You get a massage for as long as you want and you pay them what you feel it was worth. We're not sure how it works out for the girls but if they massage as good as they look guys are probably forking over some cash.

Like I said, there's a steady stream of them so we'll be bringing you as many editions of this series as we can shoot. If you're on the main blog page right now click through to the post page for two more of today's pics.

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So after a long and unproductive FTOPS series, my roommate and I decided to go jet skiing on Lake Mead to relieve some stress and get away from the soft glow of our monitors.

Had I known what was to come, I'd have stayed home for some R&R instead ...

The day started out well, even though my roommate and I got split up from the start. I was still signing my contract for the rental as we were leaving the dock, and he left a few minutes ahead of me.

I couldn't find him once I got away from the docks, but I figured he'd headed over to the Hoover Dam to check out the view since that's what we were planning on doing.

Apparently I overshot the Dam...guess it wasn't big enough for me to see. But I was having so much fun jet skiing through canyons and finding new coves that I just kept going. I took a break for a little while and headed back in the direction I came from ...

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They sell a lot of poker-themed gear in the gift shop at the World Series of Poker.

But you'd have to travel to Japan to pick up this beauty, which we found on Engrish.com.

It reads in its entirety:

"Man Friend's Rule No, 1

NO GIRLS in the playing POKER GAME

When the playing poker game is done, the thing to call girl is a prohibition. It is because the game becomes not interesting." [sic times infinite]

With all due respect to the makers of the shirt, we beg to differ. The PokerListings home game would be far more interesting if we replaced Sevillano and Stirzaker with Liz Lieu and Liv Boeree.

But maybe that's just us.

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A few weeks ago, we told you about Doyle Brunson's retail therapy following his premature bustification in the $10,000 Mixed Event.

Dude bought a new Cadillac Escalade and Tweeted about it.

"New Escalade is beautiful, but maybe i'll get used to all the stuff on it," he wrote after taking delivery of the truck.

Then, a few days ago, a little of what we call foreshadowing:

"By the way, I loved my old Escalade but no comparison to my new one. It has 160 mph on the speedometer and it might really go that fast."

And then a few days later at the end of play on Day 2 of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, Brunson was caught apparently testing the limits of that speedometer.

"Still in with average chips. Todd is in 3rd place. got a freaking ticket coming home last night..Escalade runs too damn fast."

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Let's take a moment to discuss one of the best if not THE best food on offer at the Rio.

The official sandwich purveyor of the World Series of Poker is a small sandwich chain called Capprioti's. Their sandwiches are some of the best that can be had in all of Las Vegas, let alone the Rio.

But there is one sandwich that stands out a cut above the rest. It is known as the "Bobbie". It is a sinister mix of freshly roasted turkey, moist stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mayonnaise all on a soft roll. It's not your run-of-the-mill sandwich.

If you're thinking it sounds strange you might be right, but if you're thinking that it sounds disgusting - well then, you couldn't be more wrong.

A virtual Thanksgiving dinner on a roll, the "Bobbie" is a sandwich that will leave you feeling full and reminiscent of family dinners from years past all at the same time.

If you ever find yourself at the Rio or at a Capriotti's elsewhere in the U.S., don't even bother looking at the menu.

Pick up one of these hefty sandwiches and prepare for the wild ride that only turkey, mayonnaise, stuffing, and cranberry sauce can bring you.

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Mike Swick may have a 14-2 record in MMA fights and a smokin' hot wife but he does not have a real Breitling watch.

We noticed Swick sporting his $30 Chinatown special during the $1,500 PLO H/L event. We were tempted to go up and needle him about said contraband but we realized we would like our faces to remain un-shattered.

There are many occasions out in the Amazon Room where we notice people wearing counterfeit watches, including some people who have plenty of money.

PokerListings.com has no problems with people wearing such poor quality imitation merchandise, but we always reserve the right to call them out on it.

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The Poker Kitchen used to have a sign on it that advertised its hours. Open 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. it said. That would have been all well and good had it been true.

Several times during the past week the Kitchen has shut down early, leaving poker players to fend for themselves. Thankfully no riots broke out over the premature closures but many players were left scratching their heads and hungry.

One player took the locked doors especially hard. Perhaps he had just busted out of a tournament and desperately needed to fill the empty void in his stomach and soul with some greasy Chinese food or an overcooked burger.

He went outside and found the kitchen closed. He did the only thing he could do, and tagged both signs with a familiar (to many) acronym "FML". If you don't know what it means, google it.

The Rio sprung into damage-control mode and took down the graffitied signs and had them replaced with signs that simply say "Open at 11 a.m."

For now the actual closing time of the Rio Poker Kitchen will remain a mystery to all.

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We don't know much about hair here at PokerListings. But we do know mullets.

And we know this guy keeps coming back to the WSOP and taking Best Mullet honors year after year after year.

He was here in 2006. He was back in 2008 and has returned again, playing in the $1.5k NLHE Shootout and defending his mullet title in all of its mullet glory.

We've seen a lot of changes at the WSOP since 2006, but it's comforting to know that some things are forever.

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Doyle Brunson had high hopes for the $10,000 Mixed Event.

Coming into Day 3, Texas Dolly found himself with 335,000 in chips while son Todd had 374,500, putting both Brunsons in great shape for a deep father-and-son finish.

It was not to be. With fifteen players left, Brunson pater got all-in with queens against Scott Dorin's A-Q. But Dorin would bink an ace to send Doyle packing. Todd would bust in eighth after running into David Chiu's rolled-up kings.

So how does Doyle Brunson deal with a bad beat? A little retail therapy, according to his Twitter feed:

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Andy Black took a lot of ribbing for the massive beard he lugged with him to the 2009 WSOP. The man was bristly.

For whatever reason, the Irishman has ditched the caveman look just a week into the Series, showing up in the $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha mixer with (most of) that facial hair shorn.

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Greg Raymer might not think so, but there's a lot at stake at today's final table of the WSOP Champions Invitational.

Three-hundred sixty-five horsepower, to be exact.

Along with the Binion Cup, a restored cherry-red 1971 Corvette Stingray will be awarded to the winner of today's gathering of former Main Event champs.

And while it's not a bracelet, it's still a valuable heap of metal.

WSOP staff have quoted the car's value at anywhere from $20,000-$60,000 USD, but a bit of research shows similar cars selling for just over $30k.

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Sadly, no poker for me here in Las Vegas right now. Just the six-pack abs of some Thunder from Down Under to caress!

One of the not-very-fun parts of bouncing all over the world is when all the mail drops in your lap for the past three months.

I've spent the last few days dealing with FedEx billing errors, wading through hospital bills, and just trying to make sure my accountant is up to date on all of this.

Of course, that means a lot of time on the phone, listening to some jazzy elevator music while I wait for a human to finally pick up the line.

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Hey everyone! Well, I'm back in Las Vegas and off to a running start. Getting in from Philadelphia on a Sunday I went straight to the gym, then an appointment with Terry (my suntan guru), and finally crashed on top of the bed with my clothes and shoes on!

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I have grieved for my father the last 12 months, and I've suffered at times. Physically for part of the year, but mainly mentally and emotionally.

The one-year ceremony for the death of my father was conducted yesterday. For the last two weeks, I've worked hard to plan two special ceremonies.

Ninety monks from different temples all came to pray and participate in the ceremony. There aren't any Web sites where you order 90 monks for a ceremony - you have to invite each monk individually.

One of the highlights for me was my experience with a photographer for the ceremony.

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Da Nang is about as far away from Las Vegas as you can get on Earth. And it is here that I find myself for the one-year anniversary of my dear father's passing.

I arrived in Saigon on the 29th of July after connecting in London. It had been seven months since I'd been back to my homeland, and I'd forgotten the blaring horns at all hours of the morning, the neon lights, the smells and sounds of energy and excitement.

I have to say that I was almost in a fog that first day, partly from jet lag, partly from culture shock, partly from the stifling heat. Mostly for the task at hand - planning the ceremony for my father.

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With the WSOP Main Event final table now set, I have a lot of hopes for my friend David "Chino" Rheem. He's one of the first poker players I met when I started out.

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The other night I took a dark and twisted journey, to a place where few dare to tread, a journey so terrifying you wouldn't believe it if I told you, and if I did give you the details, your mind would simply be destroyed by the maddening implications of what would be unleashed.

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You or your buddy have just won a WSOP Bracelet! Hooray! Awesome! It's time to celebrate and blow some of that cash you won. The only decision left is how to blow the largest amount of money in the most efficient way possible on some top quality booze! Anybody can go into a night club and order up several bottles of booze for hundreds of dollars a piece but you just won a bracelet it's time to step up your game.

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Vegas is like a huge, hungry, monster, 50 feet tall, with a sculpture of the Eiffel tower for its nose, whose eyes are replaced by 3 sevens that periodically whizz round every time you push a bill into its flat, flashing-with-lights, mouth.

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A vacation in Vegas can be a ton of fun. If you're anything like most people, you would have probably set aside a few dollars to gamble with before coming. The only problem is what to do when you've lost it all on pai gow on your first night and you have three more days to kill. You don't have to be rich to enjoy Las Vegas. There are plenty of things to do that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

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One of my favorite bands always blasted in my ears during some heated heads-up matches is Thousand Foot Krutch.

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So, you wanna move to Vegas, but your poker skills aren't quite there yet. You're going to need a job. It's no secret that Las Vegas' only business is printing money, and there is plenty of it to go around. The only problem is: what are you going to do when you get here?

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I'd planned on arriving to compete in the World Series of Poker when the events began. But instead I'm here in my home state of Delaware preparing for possible jury duty.

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For this article, I wanted to explore some of the culinary delights awaiting anyone lucky enough to be visiting Vegas. There are a plethora of new experiences lying in wait to tempt the tastebuds of the intrepid traveler, and the massive and varied volume of choice available definitely merits a bit of exploration and exposition. First though, a little expansion on my own culinary background.

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