Posts Tagged ‘Las Vegas’

Daniel Negreanu picks well on Millionaire Matchmaker

Saturday, January 12th, 2013

A few weeks ago, we discussed how Daniel Negreanu was set to appear on the popular Bravo reality show “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” Well that day finally came as KidPoker sought out the advice of show host Patti Stangler in hopes of finding true love.

In the video introduction that he sent to Patti, Negreanu let her know that he’d dated a woman for four years, only to find out that “she’d been getting around” with other men. Because he was still hurt from this relationship, Stangler nicknamed him “Wounded Wally.”

Next up was an interesting trip to an astrologist, where the four-time WSOP champ learned that he wasn’t supposed to find his soulmate until at least 40 years old. The cosmic alignments must have been right in this case because Negreanu is 38 and still looking for that special lady.

After visiting the astrologist, Daniel went to a mixer that was set up by Stangler. The goal here was for Negreanu to meet a number of gorgeous women and find the one with an “Anna Farris” type of personality. He was eventually able to find one girl that met this ideal, and he took her on a date to Las Vegas.

The two seemed to hit it off right away as they checked out the set of a Vegas show and played blackjack. The latter actually led to the couple’s first kiss, and they only become more enamored with each other from here. Negreanu and his new blonde lover ended up spending a sexless night (at Patti’s request)  together at his Vegas house – thus sealing their perfect match. If you’re interested in seeing a few scenes from the episode, you can check out the video below:

Howard Lederer blew Millions on Cars and Homes

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

Howard Lederer is no doubt one of the most hated men in the poker world – and for good reason. Along with several other former Full Tilt Poker bosses, Lederer pillaged millions of dollars from player accounts and was a huge reason why FTP couldn’t pay back its members post-Black Friday. So if you couldn’t stand “The Professor” now, you’re really going to hate him after hearing where the money went.

According to an amended civil suit brought by the US Department of Justice, Lederer spent much of the $44 million he allegedly had access to on exotic cars and multi-million dollar properties. So those who’ve been waiting on their $10,000 bankroll can take comfort in knowing that their money went to a good cause.

Getting further into the details on Lederer’s purchases, he bought the following cars over the past few years: 2008 Maserati GranTurismo, 2008 Audi Q7, 2009 Audi A8, 2012 Audi A8-L and a 1965 Shelby Cobra. Being the bargain hunter that he is, Lederer traded in the Maserati when buying the 2012 Audi and made several expensive repairs to the Shelby Cobra.

As for his properties, the once-reputable poker pro paid $3 million to the Merlin Contracting & Development company to build his primary residence. Lederer gave another $7 million to various companies for additional work and upgrades to the Las Vegas mansion. As if this isn’t enough, he also owned six other pieces of pricey real estate.

Taking all of the ill-gotten assets into account, it’s no wonder why the US Department of Justice is seeking $42.5 million in retribution in their civil suit. Based on this high amount, it seems likely that Lederer would be cleaned out if he loses the civil suit. Other Full Tilt figures who might be paying up include Chris Ferguson ($42 million), Ray Bitar ($41m) and Rafael Furst ($12m).

Jesse Sylvia – 2012 Main Event Leader

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

A few days ago, we discussed how the 2012 WSOP Main Event final table has officially been decided. Furthermore, little known Jesse Sylvia currently leads this group with 43,875,000 chips, which puts him in the best position to win the $8.5 million first place prize. Taking this fact into account, it’s no wonder why much of the poker community is currently interested in Sylvia. We’re also pretty interested in him, which is why we’ve discussed the current 2012 Main Event leader below.

Strange Origins

Most people spend their lives trying to get a place on Martha’s Vineyard island in Massachusetts. However, Sylvia moved away from the beautiful vacation spot in order to further his poker career.

The Tisbury, Massachusetts native spent his high school days waiting tables and playing online poker on Martha’s Vineyard. Some time after graduation, Sylvia chose to move to Las Vegas because he wanted a better live poker scene. Following his move to Sin City, Sylvia has made a good living through live cash games.

First Poker Tournament Success

While Jesse Sylvia has no doubt proven himself in the mid-stakes cash games in Las Vegas, he’s just now coming into some poker tournament success. Before bolting into the Main Event final table lead, his largest cash of $15,078 came in a 2008 Mega Stack Series side event. He also took 175th in a 2011 WSOP NLHE tourney, which earned him $2,954.

The average grinder wouldn’t mind either of these cashes; however, it’s hardly enough to make one a poker star. But a Main Event title…..now that’s definitely a different circumstance. Of course, we may be getting ahead of ourselves here because Sylvia still has to win the WSOP Main Event, which has proven to be a tall order for chip leaders in the past. But Sylvia no doubt has the experience and skills to win if he runs good.

Ben Lamb, Tom Dwan 2012 WSOP Absences Explained

Saturday, June 30th, 2012

Every year, the WSOP is a virtual who’s who of poker since the game’s top pros descend on Las Vegas to compete for gold bracelets, glory, and of course major cash. The 2012 WSOP has certainly been no different – save for the fact that a couple of very notable stars have pretty much been MIA.

One of the world’s top cash game players in Tom Dwan and the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year in Ben Lamb have both been noticeably absent in the headlines this year, which had some people scratching their heads about the matter. However, these absences were recently explained after both players showed up to the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament.

Why Dwan was missing

Tom Dwan has never been one who hangs his hat on poker tournament accomplishments or WSOP gold bracelets. That said, it’s no surprise that he was in Macau for most of the 2012 WSOP playing in the massive cash games there. While people are tight-lipped about what happens in Macau high stakes poker games, rumor has it that the blinds reached $3,500/$7,000 at one point. Apparently, the only thing that brought Dwan back was the $1 million buy-in tourney that he registered for. And it’s been a decent decision so far since he’s ranked 10th in chips (out of 37 remaining players) after Day 1.

Why Ben Lamb was missing

Of all the players missing at the 2012 WSOP, Ben Lamb is no doubt the most puzzling. Actually though he hasn’t really been missing, but rather just dividing his time between cash games and WSOP tournaments. As for the latter, Lamb has yet to run good and cash in any tourneys yet. However – just like Dwan – he too is fairing pretty well after ending Day 1 of the Big One for One Drop with 5.77 million chips (currently 8th).

Daniel Negreanu back in Online Poker

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Like many people who live in the United States, Daniel Negreanu has not been able to play online poker at PokerStars. After all, the world’s largest online poker site pulled out of the American market following the US Department of Justice’s crackdown. Fortunately though, Negreanu was only kept out of the online games at PokerStars for a few months since he moved from Las Vegas to Canada.

Negreanu talked about the big move in his blog at FullContactPoker, and he began the post with the following:

It took a couple days, but I successfully set up shop in Toronto so that I can play on PokerStars again. I already had the Canadian passport, but just like everyone else, I needed to attain the necessary documents then wait for the call from PokerStars security to verify the phone number, and voila! I’m back in action! I jumped right into some $25-$50 PLO 6 max deep with ante games, and within 5 hands I lost my first buy in HAHA.

The last well-noted instance of Negreanu playing online poker was when he took on Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom in the PokerStars SuperStar Challenge; Kid Poker lost the first matchup after quickly blowing his $150k buy-in, but he came back to win a rematch after finishing with $25k more than Blom.

Getting back to the blog post, Negreanu got a little controversial as he discussed how little freedom the US is giving people by taking away online poker. The Toronto-born player wrote this excerpt about the subject:

During the Cold War, the “Big, Bad, Communist, U.S.S.R.” was seen as an oppressive regime, while the U.S.A. represented freedom. Who woulda thunk, that to enjoy the freedom of playing poker online you’d have to move away from Los Angeles and and head to Moscow. That’s just bizarre.

Poker has changed dramatically over the last 40 years, and in order to survive, you have to adapt to the newer forms of poker, as well as adapt to new locations. These days, that just means, stay away from the U.S. because poker is on life support, but there are tons, and tons, of games across the globe to choose from.

Seeing as how the US is still in the middle of working out possible poker legislation, it seems like Negreanu is making the right move by going to Toronto now.

Vegas Inc covers Online Poker Move to Canada

Monday, August 8th, 2011

As we discussed at the beginning of August, several prominent online poker pros like Phil Galfond, Cole South and Dan “Jungleman12″ Cates have either moved to Canada, or are in the process of moving to Canada. This being said, the website Vegas Inc did a good story on this subject entitled “Exodus of Online Poker Players under way.”

This article revolved around how lots of Las Vegas poker pros are seriously considering going up north because the live poker game just isn’t the same. Vegas Inc wrote the following:

Las Vegas became a favored home base for many poker professionals because of the concentration of big-money poker games, tournaments and all-hours access to amenities and entertainment. Many online players also play poker in casinos — although those who make most of their money in virtual poker rooms have little use for the typically slower and more expensive games offered in Las Vegas casinos.

Tony Dunst, who not only plays online poker professionally, but also works for the WPT, had plenty more to say on why Las Vegas-based online poker pros hate the live game so much. He said, “Live (casino) poker is really slow and monotonous, and the casino setting is generally unpleasant. You’re sitting in a chair for nine hours around people you might not like or want to listen to.”

He finished by adding, “For people like us who play eight to 20 games at a time from the comfort of our own home … your buddies are around and you can watch movies and order food. You can talk strategy and communicate with friends from all over the world.”

Shaun Deeb was also featured heavily in this article, and he looks to be the next big-time pro to make the jump to Canada. Deeb told Vegas Inc, “I used to play poker for 100 hours a week. Every day I sit around I get more motivated to leave.” With over $6 million in online poker tournament winnings, it would be stupid for Deeb not to leave for the greener pastures in Canada.

Assuming you want to see more from the Vegas Inc article, you can check it out here.