Having no limit hold’em available to watch 12 hours a day for 2 weeks was the best! I don’t have 12 hours a day to watch, but it was comforting knowing that I could watch the best of the best play NLH at almost any time of the day.

I like the structure they used switching the commentators and analysts every couple of levels and mix-n-matching different combos of personalities. Most of the commentary was great to excellent, and I enjoyed the insights immensely.

Of course, there is one immature donkey who turns the conversation around to silly grade-school stuff or turns it into a convo about himself… His giggle drives me crazy. I cannot believe that a company lets him represent their brand. I guess no one else is available for those hours. In fairness to him, when he is good…he’s GOOD!

I’ll continue with the series watching the PLO because I’ve become accustomed to seeing my high-roller friends…one more day!

• AND, how about Vladimir Korzinin‘s performance? What a sly fox that player was!
• Bryn Kenny is an excellent player, but this year, I thought he was more luckbox than skill.
• My ears hurt after watching the tables that had Haralabos Voulgaris. Nice guy…but give me a little time to rest.
• I loved Ren Lin‘s spirit.
• I found it interesting that a number of the whales were so uninformed about the rules.
• I loved how many countries were represented on the tables.
  

I hope PokerGo reviews the series and sees that you can present 5 hours in a row without a glitch.

The heads up was between my fourth choice for heads up. From the start, I had wanted Holmes to be one opponent. Loved his home-game story.

I would have liked to see him play Lococo, Park, or Remitio before Aldemir. Not that they have the experience nor the skills of Aldemir, but, the “every-man story” would have resonated deeper and further. For sure, we would have the 2021 version of the Moneymaker Effect.

It’s still a good story. I loved how Holmes played. It is a good reminder of how free we are when we have nothing to lose.

I look forward to seeing Holmes play again and to see how his self-expectations (after this exposure) impact his play,

Congrats to Aldemir.

On the contrary. In 2018 I got caught up watching all the pros on Twitch. I guess there was plenty of action and trash talking there so I lost steam for writing here. Went to Miami in January, then Cozumel. Later in 2018, I scheduled a trip to Reno to participate in the October Run It Up Reno tournaments. Cancelled last minute in order to stay on East Coast for other events.

In 2019, I continued to watch Twitch and play Pokerstars. I was in Vegas in January and made a little ‘fun’ money. Not a ton, just enough to pay for the trip, the first class tickets, a couple of nice meals including Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Caesar’s Palace, and a Celine Dion show.

Had much fun during the days hiking the Valley of Fire, driving over to Isis, Utah to check out the Red River Ranch, and hike the Snow Canyon State Park in St. George, spending a day outdoors at Hoover Damn… doing absolutely nothing but talking trash and breathing. Clearing my head during the day sure did keep me sharp playing poker at night. I made some great ‘hero’ calls during those sessions.

In 2020, I’ve spent much less time on Twitch. Kinda feel that that has run its course – for me. It’s an interesting business model for grinders/streamers. Spent a ton of hours end of May – early Sept watching YouTube and whattevah other ‘channel’ that would deliver the 2020 WSOP tournaments. It is not summer unless you have the WSOP and @tuchonsports. Dave was at the top of his game as usual. Didn’t enjoy all of his guests. Some just blubbered not knowing what to say or started conversations about unrelated topics – but – others were stellar analysts, and I learned a ton from those.

I especially enjoyed Ryan “joeyisamush” Depaulo‘s win inside his car parked outside of a whole foods market. I happened to be online and that was hilarious!

I think players not having to reveal themselves from the start probably had a large negative impact on the 2020 WSOP viewership. I’m a poker fanatic and even I didn’t hang in there when there was no one I recognized – unless the flops or play was extraordinary.

After the WSOP presentation, I watched mostly Daniel Negreanu who was streaming every day from Cabo on his GG Poker. It’s 2020 and U.S. citizens still have to leave the country to play poker on line… so ridiculous.

Kudos Grandes go to Mike Matasow for this summer’s tribute to Mike Sexton just prior to his passing. It was a good change to hear The Mouth stop whining and do something compassionate for someone else. I’m a big Mike Sexton fan, so, appreciated that session a ton.

Was sad to learn of Darvin Moon‘s passing as well as Mike Sexton’s this summer. Oh, and the horrible death of Susie Zhao. I followed all the scuttlebutt about Brad Booth‘s disappearance, and, was happy to learn of his re-appearance 60 days later.

Been keeping up with poker news on YouTube, Dat Poker Podcast, JoeIngram1, and… many many more.

Watched the Dnegs vs Polk Heads Up challenge last night, and, will continue to keep up with that.

Adios for now amigos. Hasta nos vemos.

The strike was authorized by the workers in a vote taken May 22, 2018. Workers may or may not strike, depending on the progress of contract negotiations since then. The contract expires at midnight May 31, 2018. Workers could strike as early as June 1.

A glimpse at the magnitude of the strike as reported in the article:

“50,000 hospitality employees who are preparing to go out on strike after June 1 include: Bartenders, guest room attendants, cocktail servers, food servers, porters, bellman, cooks, and kitchen workers employed at the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.”

How will a strike impact the 2018 WSOP?

The 2018 WSOP started May 29, 2018. The annual WSOP attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Las Vegas over its 47 day run. A recent Cardplayer magazine article comments about the number of visitors to the city just to play in the poker tournament,

“The 2017 WSOP saw a record turnout, and numbers are expected to grow again this year. There were more than 120,000 entries combined between the 74 tournaments on the 2017 schedule. Players from 111 different countries traveled to Sin City to compete on poker’s biggest stage.”

Then there are those visitors who come to observe, admire, and dream!  Visitors and players rely on the services provided by the union workers: Help with luggage. Food to eat. Clean bathrooms. Clean sheets. Toiletries, snacks and water in hotel shops.

And at the RIO where the WSOP is played? Well, the RIO is not listed as one of the hotels that will be affected. Well, maybe not on paper. However, with food not being prepared in other places, wouldn’t it be reasonable for people staying in other hotels to wait until they arrive at the RIO to eat? I can see that each group of people might do this once, then realize everyone else is doing it, and then, seek an alternative. If it plays out like that, does the burden become too great on the RIO?

It is quite common that WSOP players complain about the food that is available and the time it takes to retrieve and eat it. It will be interesting to see how players feed themselves this year. Will there be less food? Will they have to travel further to get it? Will we see “pop up” food suppliers along the lines of All-American Dave ?  (Surely, Dave will experience a stellar year.)

I have visions of entrepreneurial types driving out of town, stocking up on cellophane-wrapped lunches and dinners, returning to hang out on the perimeter of the Rio, and making a fortune selling their stash to players who are coming and going. Hell, why am I still sitting in Boston? I could be a runner for the Summer.

I joke, but, I am very interested to see how this plays out.  The RIO is notoriously freezing. The “RIO cold” is a common malady experienced at one time or another by all the well-known players, so, it is already important to not let yourself get run down. This year, players will face the extra challenge of making sure they get properly prepared food, eat right, and stay germ-free when out and about.

Are you heading into Las Vegas?

Culinary Union 223 maintains a website to keep Las Vegas visitors and meeting and convention planners abreast of the progress,

“The Culinary Union, Nevada’s largest union, maintains www.VegasTravelAlert.org, a website intended as a service for meeting and convention planners and all other travelers who need to know whether labor disputes could affect their plans in Las Vegas.”

Per this article, Citywide Strike Could Disrupt Vegas Casinos Starting June 1, on travelagentcentral.com,

“Members of unions representing Las Vegas casino workers will hold a citywide strike vote on Tuesday, May 22, which, if it goes through, will authorize strikes affecting major Las Vegas casino resorts as soon as the morning of June 1.”

There are over 50,000 union members. Voting will take place in two waves on May 22nd.

“The unions noted that the last citywide strike vote was in 2002, when 25,000 workers voted to authorize a strike. Another citywide strike in 1984 lasted for 67 days.”

The Las Vegas Sun reports in an article on the strike, Scholars: Vote to strike by Culinary Union doesn’t mean stoppage is imminent:

“In the most likely scenario… the union will “overwhelmingly” vote in favor of the strike Tuesday but not end up striking when their current contracts expire June 1. Werner said he expected the vote to be 95 percent or higher in favor of a strike.

As with some previous labor disputes over the past three decades, the UNLV scholars said they expected the contract to be temporarily extended without a strike as the sides continue to negotiate. When a deal is reached, they said, workers will likely be paid retroactively for any days worked after June 1.

The process could take up to a year to be finalized, Werner said, but the 17-year UNLV professor said 90 days would be a more realistic estimate.”

If the union members call for a strike, the hotels that will be impacted are:

• Bally’s Las Vegas
• Caesars Palace, including Nobu
• Flamingo Las Vegas
• Harrah’s Las Vegas
• Paris Las Vegas
• Planet Hollywood
• The Cromwell
• The LINQ
• Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas
• SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, including W Hotel
• Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower
• Treasure Island Hotel & Casino
• Tropicana Las Vegas
• Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
• Aria Resort & Casino
• Bellagio Hotel & Casino
• Circus Circus Hotel & Resort
• Excalibur Hotel & Casino
• Luxor Hotel & Casino
• MGM Grand Las Vegas
• Mandalay Bay, including Delano
• The Mirage
• Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino (Park MGM)
• New York-New York Hotel & Casino
• Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel
• Fremont Hotel & Casino
• Main Street Station Casino Brewery & Hotel
• Four Queens Resort and Casino Las Vegas
• Golden Gate Casino
• Golden Nugget Las Vegas
• The D Las Vegas
• Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
• Plaza Hotel & Casino Las Vegas
• El Cortez Hotel and Casino

Independent players and PokerStars-backed players stream their online play for hours upon hours, commenting on hands, plays, strategies as they go.

I watched Jason Somerville, Kevin Martin, Jeff Gross, and the Staples brothers stream live at the Run It Up tournament in March. LIVE table action… although no hole cards and sometimes did not show players’ faces – but – showed their own hands when they could.

While I am typing this, I am watching a final table of a tournament being played in Montreal.

This final table is fast and furious. Everyone is going for the win. No cautious play. Victor Ramdin, Viktor (Isildur1) Blom, Kevin Hobbs, Ami Alibay, Parker Talbot, David Eldridge, Jon Van Fleet.

So far, my favorite poker streamers to watch on Twitch.tv are,

1. Spraggy
2. Jeff Gross
3. Jaime Staples
4. Matt Staples
5. Live at the Bike
6. tonkaaaaP

(Subject to change as I learn more.)

Those 6 will pick up today, Monday, June 20, 2016. The Senior NL Hold’em Final table will be live streamed at a special time: 11:30 PST (2:30 EST).

Satellites

This year’s schedule highlights onsite and online satellite tournaments starting May 31, 2016 and continuing through July. See the official 2016 WSOP schedule for those dates and times.

Poker Tournament Registration

Registration for 2016 WSOP tournaments are now being accepted. Registrations are being processed via Bravo Poker Live. Depending on the method used to pay, requirements change. Good news for credit card users, once you go through the online verification process, you will be able to use the WSOP Fast Track Kiosks. From the WSOP website:

•Wire-transfer (requires registration at least 14 days prior to event’s start date)
•Cashier’s Check (requires registration at least 14 days prior to event’s start date)
•Credit Card – for buy-ins $1500 and under only (requires registration at least 72 hours prior for first time use) ◦Once a credit card has been verified for WSOP 2016, this same card can be used for online registration until the end of late registration for that event. Once a participant has gone through the complete online registration and verification process, they will then be able to continue to register and pay for events online if they properly fund those transactions and can then utilize the “WSOP Fast Track Kiosks” to print seat cards and receipts.