http://www.biggerdeal.com Poker's Top Writers Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:55:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The date being the Fourth of July, players were issued with America (and other) flags as they entered the Amazon Room for Day 1b of the Main Event, which began with a country-n-western version of the US national anthem before reigning champ Jerry Yang intoned the ritual cry of ‘Shuffle ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/07/05/2008-wsop-%e2%80%93-day-1b/ Ambling down the long Rio corridor towards the Amazon Room, scene of the WSOP tournaments, I found myself ambling alongside Australian cricketer-turned-poker player Shane Warne. (In the flesh, since you ask, he’s bigger and burlier than expected). That puts a new spin on the state of play hereabouts. Tennis champ ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/07/04/2008-wsop-%e2%80%93-day-1a/ Way down below the picture-window of my 52nd-floor suite atop the Palms Hotel-Resort, framed by the stunningly beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains on the horizon, the Rio hotel-casino looks the size of a matchbox. Head downstairs and struggle across the road in the 110-degree heat, however, and it soon returns to ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/07/03/2008-wsop-%e2%80%93-the-year-of-the-pro/ I’m off to Vegas this weekend, and will start reporting here next week on this year’s World Series of Poker - including my own progress (or, just possibly, lack of it) in the Main Event. I’ll be playing as a ‘Friend of PokerStars’, a new category of player sponsored by the ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/06/24/the-tuesday-game-is-back/ Since taking over the World Series of Poker, and moving it to the Rio in 2005, Harrah’s hasn’t had the greatest press. Critics and players have complained about how corporate the event has become, with beer commercials on every table layout and ESPN dictating the scheduling of final tables. Some of ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/06/03/world-series-2008-let%e2%80%99s-hear-it-for-the-excessive-celebration-rule/ Expertise at poker used to be an unwritten job requirement for all would-be US Presidents. Proficient White House poker-players have ranged from Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding to FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ and Nixon. We poker players can only be expected to approve. Were I a ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/05/19/vote-obama-%e2%80%93-poker-player/ The World Series as we know it was born in 1971. Since then, player numbers have swelled, events have been added and the tournament relocated, but the format has remained largely unchanged. The pattern so far has been familiar: poker-mania in Vegas builds during the preceding events until a champion ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/05/10/wsop-final-table-the-debate-rages/ “If you start me up, I’ll never stop” Ever wonder why Mick Jagger is still touring with Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie, dancing across stages around the world, and certainly stressing his 60+ year old bones? Remember, this guy is a legendary businessman – he probably has the money to buy W1 ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/04/22/good-night-monte-carlo/ “In Poland there’s an inn, in Poland there’s an inn” You get in the elevator (“lift” to the Brits) at the Warsaw Hyatt, and right there, engraved into the door jamb, is the name “Schindler”. I have a confession to make: I’ve never seen the movie Schindler’s List. Whenever I’ve seen ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/03/21/schindler%e2%80%99s-lift/ From the beginning let me apologise for the trans-altlantic timing problem which led to the Tuesday Night Game starting at 7pm UK time rather than the planned 8pm. Due to clocks moving forward in the USA the PStars people forgot that we in Britain were still living in winter and ... http://www.biggerdeal.com/2008/03/19/timing-error/