Love Nuke

The largest global brand in Paris, Bodog, began his series of 2011 World Series of Poker qualifiers. The Texas Hold’em poker players are invited to participate in multiple tournaments with the possibility of obtaining a seat for the start of the WSOP Main Event on July 7 in Las Vegas.

For as little as $1, players can enter Bodog Poker qualifying tournaments to be in with a chance of heading to Las Vegas, playing poker in the $9,000,000 Main Event and, of course, attending the legendary Bodog parties.

“Bodog has a long history of sending player to the WSOP and we would love another of our players to take a bracelet in 2011,” says Bodog Poker Manager Nicholas Sims. “Most poker players dream of ending up in Vegas partying, with a WSOP bracelet, not to mention the millions of dollars that can be won at WSOP.”

If you think you can’t, think again. Each Bodog poker player to participate in a qualifying tournament is 1 in 25 chance of winning a seat in the WSOP. But that’s not all, all players also benefit from custom Bodog poker experience at home.

With World Series of Poker (WSOP), just over three months ago, rumors began to swirl again on the sale of Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

According to Las Vegas noted journalist and gossip monger Robin Leach on the website Law Vegas Weekly, Caesars Entertainment is “about to” announce the sale of off-Strip casino that hosted the WSOP since 2005. Leach reports that sales are a major player in the development of Las Vegas and hospitality management worldwide, the Light group. A look at the Light Group’s portfolio shows that it plays an important role in Las Vegas “nightlife” scene, but lacking in one key area.

The Light Group, which was founded by Andrew Sassoon and Andy Masi, operates many of the high profile nightspots in Las Vegas, including the Bank at the Bellagio, Jet at the Mirage, and Haze at the brand new Aria Resort and Casino. Through the development of these venues, The Light Group has been expanding its notoriety throughout Las Vegas. What was lacking, according to Leach, is the ownership of a hotel property.

Leach states that he first heard about the possibility of The Light Group getting into the casino ownership business around Thanksgiving and that they picked up steam through Christmas and New Year’s. “The buzz began when TLG owner Andrew Sassoon reportedly looked with serious interest at buying the troubled Hard Rock Hotel,” Leach wrote in his article, but he also stated that this rumor was quickly denied. He believed, however, that there was something to the rumors: “I had a hunch that I’d gotten the right information, but the wrong hotel.”

Several rumors about the sale of the Rio have been floating around since last year. In an August article on Poker News Daily, Seth Palansky, the Communications Director of Caesars Entertainment and the WSOP, denied rumors of the sale at the time: “We’ve already been meeting about the 2011 WSOP and are planning on having it at the Rio with the Main Event final table in November at the Penn and Teller Theater.”

In the same article, Caesars Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman also dispelled the rumors about a sale, focusing instead on how the company had been in acquisition mode rather than selling.

In a Business Week article from April 2010, rumors named two groups that were looking into purchasing the Rio. Starwood Capital Group LLC and Colony Capital LLC were among those groups mentioned, with a reported price of $500 million for the Rio. In his article, Leach reports that The Light Group has never been mentioned in any of the discussion regarding the sale of the Rio.

Opened in 1990, the Rio has been the host of the WSOP since 2005 after Harrah’s purchased the rights to the tournament and moved it from its historical base at Binion’s in Downtown Las Vegas. It features over 2,500 suites, 120,000 square feet of gaming space, and is home to top shows such as Penn and Teller.

Leach reported in his article that neither The Light Group nor Caesars Entertainment has responded to requests for confirmation of the deal. Even if the two companies deny the reported sale, Leach stands pat behind what he calls “solid rumors” that the sale is soon to occur.

Poker Daily News spoke with Vice President WSOP Ty Stewart on rumors of sale of Rio. “The company (Caesars Entertainment) decided to listen to any interested buyer,” Stewart said, without confirming the action of society. As regards the status of the WSOP, “said Stewart,” We really believe that WSOP improving every year, with more space and more amenities. We recognize the advantages and disadvantages of Rio. If we were to pass, we move to better housing. “

“…gulp”

An ellipsis and four letters.  So simple, yet it says so much.  This was the Tweet made by Howard Lederer at 4:49am Las Vegas time in response to fellow Team Full Tilt member Phil Ivey winning his eighth World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.  Ivey out-dueled poker author and 2006 double bracelet winner Bill Chen to win the $3,000 HORSE event and $329,840.  Ivey has now pulled into a tie with Erik Seidel for fifth on the all-time WSOP bracelet list behind Phil Hellmuth (11), Johnny Chan (10),Doyle Brunson (10), and Johnny Moss (nine).

But that princely sum of just over $329,000 pales in comparison to the amount of money Ivey may have won in side bets with other poker pros.  It is not known for certain exactly how much Ivey will be collecting from top players such as Eli Elezra and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, but put it this way, word is that after winning, Ivey turned to someone and asked, “So how much is first, anyway?”

This brings us back to Lederer and his concise Tweet.  According to PokerListings, before this year’s WSOP, he bet Ivey $5 million that the young poker stud would not win two WSOP bracelets by the end of 2011.  Lederer is obviously starting to sweat now that Ivey is halfway there with all of next year’s WSOP plus 17 events this year still remaining.  After the tournament, the 33-year old Ivey told WSOP officials, “I think I can win 30 gold bracelets.  I think I can reach that if I keep playing and stay healthy.”

Ivey’s run to the title was one of the more impressive of the 2010 WSOP.  He was in decent shape when play started Monday with 25 players remaining, but when the field was narrowed to 16, or the final two tables, he was lagging behind as the shortest chip stack.  He then made a tremendous run and to reach the final table in second place behind only Chen.

He would need all of those chips to beat an extremely tough final table.  In addition to Chen, it included a combined eight bracelets from Jeffrey Lisandro, John Juanda, Ken Aldridge, and Chad Brown.  And those are just the final table players.  Bowing out Monday on the way to the final table were names like David Singer, Scott Seiver, Dan Heimiller, Farzad Bonyadi, and David Benyamine.

But even after knocking out Juanda in third place, Ivey entered heads-up play with Chen facing a 3-to-1 chip deficit.  After about 10 minutes, the gap had widened, as Ivey’s stack fell below one million.  But just over a half-hour into heads-up, Ivey took the lead, eventually flip-flopping the stacks that the two players had to start the one-on-one match.  Chen didn’t give up, though, and took the lead back, but Ivey turned the tables once again and didn’t look back.

After about two hours, the end came on a Razz hand.  On fifth street, all of Chen’s chips were in the pot and the two players showed their hands.  Chen had a strong one – a made 7-6 – but Ivey had him beat with a made 6-5.  Chen would need either a 3 for a chop or running 3-4 for a wheel to win the pot.  Both players received a 7 on sixth street, changing nothing, and Ivey was the one who made his wheel, drawing a 4 on the river to seal the deal.  Chen won $203,802 for second place.

According to TheHendonMob.com, the win gives Ivey $4,886,988 in total winnings in his WSOP history, putting him 12th on the all-time list.  The $329,840 in prize money for the tournament moved him back ahead of Daniel Negreanufor the top spot on the overall live tournament winnings leaderboard.  Ivey now has $12,836,394 in brick-and-mortar tournament earnings in his career, just ahead of Negreanu’s $12,633,218.

Former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has a new gig. After parting ways with Harrah’s last November, Pollack is the new Executive Chairman of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and will serve on the company’s Board of Directors, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Former PBR CEO Randy Bernard stepped down in February to make his way to the Indy Racing League (IRL). Pollack has already made an impact on the new company despite having little tenure. He told the Sports Business Journal, “We’ll take a fresh look at scheduling and where we hold our competitions” and added, “We may retire the title of CEO, that’s something we haven’t decided.” Pollack makes his home in Los Angeles and PBR is based in Colorado.

In addition to the WSOP, Pollack previously held down positions with the NBA and NASCAR, making him one of the industry’s top sports marketers. He once expressed his desire to have poker players competing at the annual WSOP look like NASCAR drivers, leading to the deluge of high-profile logos gracing the series’ telecasts. He joined Harrah’s in 2005 and was instrumental in serving as the primary liaison between poker players and WSOP management.

Three days following Joe Cada’s victory over Darvin Moon in the finale of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Pollack announced that he was leaving his post. Appropriately for the new-age WSOP Commissioner, he Tweeted his final statements to the poker world: “Thank you for allowing me to be part of the WSOP these last few years. I will always be a fan and friend to the poker community.” Pollack has not made a Twitter entry since November 13th.

On TwoPlusTwo, posters reacted to Pollack’s new gig with PBR. TwoPlusTwo member “PADRE24” questioned, “Congrats to Jeff! He did a great job and will be a good rep for bull riding. I wonder if he has to wear a cowboy hat now?” Meanwhile, “Eponymous” joked, “He probably just wants to meet Jewel, who is married to one of the PBR founders.” Jewel is married to Ty Murray, who is an advisor to the PBR’s Board.

Pollack is a half-brother of Gary Bettman, the Commissioner of the NHL, and was instrumental in bringing on several non-poker sponsors to the WSOP including Sirius Satellite Radio, AOL, Milwaukee’s Best, and Planters Peanuts. The latter sponsored the “Good Instinct Moment” during WSOP on ESPN telecasts. Current WSOP sponsors include Everest Poker, Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, and Bluff Magazine.

In a December interview with Poker News Daily, UB.com pro and reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke explained what Pollack’s departure meant to the poker community: “The community agrees that it may be bad for the players. What that speaks to, whether it’s true or not, was that he was a big friend to the players and that’s his legacy. What an amazing legacy for someone to have.”

WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart has assumed many of the front-line duties of Pollack, but no new Commissioner has been named. During the first bracelet ceremony of 2010, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel took on the duties of awarding the piece of hardware to Hoai Pham, winner of the $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em tournament.

Bluff Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lance Bradley told Poker News Daily that PBR was wise to Pollack into its ranks: “I think the PBR is lucky to have somebody like Jeffrey on board with them. Jeffrey will probably admit he knows as much about bull riding as he did about poker when he started with Harrah’s – and that’s a good thing. They didn’t bring him onboard for his cowboy expertise – they brought him onboard for his experience taking a brand to the next level.”