That’s All Folks for This Week

The week is over. Thanks for coming. I’ll have plenty of new stuff next week, some come back for your daily dose of juicy stories. Peace and love from Atlantic City party people. Be safe and enjoy your weekend.

World Series of Poker Quickie: 6/13/08

Image details: Aussie Millions Poker Championships: Holdem Invitational served by picapp.com
Negreanu Takes it Down Number Four

All-around good guy and poker ambassador Daniel Negreanu collected his fourth bracelet after beating the field in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em tournament. I have interviewed Daniel several times and he is truly a nice guy. He also cares very deeply for the game of poker and its well-being.

Congrats Daniel.

99 Problems But a Bitch Ain’t One?

According to Contactmusic.com, Jay-Z has been sued by New York hip hop artist and former pro boxer Mitchell Rose. The former pugilist has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit accusing Jay-Z of stealing his “whispering tone.”

 

Rose claims that Jay-Z copped his style after he gave him a demo after the William Joppy-Felix Trinidad fight. Apparently Rose firmly believes that Jay-Z’ style is the same on his demo and he claims to have taught other rappers the style as well. Unfortunately for those rappers, Jay-Z continues to blow up the spot and put all wannabes in their place.

 

Rose is suing Jay-Z for $88 million. Considering Jay-Z’s legal fire power, I have an odd feeling that this case may never make it to trial.

Gambling on a Vice President

Image details: Hillary Clinton Concedes Primary Election Campaign To Barack Obama served by picapp.com

Did you know that you bet on who is going to be our next vice president? I’ve heard of a lot of crazy things to bet on, but this just boggles my mind. According to a recent New York Times article, several online sites have “prediction markets” where participants speculate on things such as the outcome of political campaigns and election voter turnout.

 

According to website Intrade, Hillary Clinton holds a small lead over Virginia Senator James Webb. For the GOP, it is Mitt Romney with a 3.6 percent lead over Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

 

In order for the site to keep its wagering losses at a minimum, Intrade’s participants also believe there is a chance that none of the listed candidates will be elected. The possibility of none of the 14 prominent Republicans not getting the nod is 40.8 percent. For the Democrats the number is 28.5 percent.

Chris Rock Prank Goes Wrong

Image details: MTV Networks Upfront – Presentation served by picapp.com

According to news group AFP, Chris Rock was recently the victim of a prank that has drawn heat for the U.S. television show that pulled it. Although the television show has not been named, a number of Internet posts have called for the show’s cancellation even before it airs its first episode.

 

Rock, who was in South Africa doing a show for his “No Apologies” tour fell victim to the hoax after he was informed that the South African Police Service was after him for charges that he sexually assaulted a British female minor.

 

Having fallen for the prank hook, line, and sinker, Rock had his lawyers go to the Johannesburg High Court to get an explanation of the charges against Rock. As part of the prank, a fake prosecutor went to the court and asked that Rock be taken into custody. The court ruled in Rock’s favor because there was no proper warrant for his arrest.

 

I don’t think this is a funny prank. Maybe it’s me, but kids are sexually assaulted all the time and that shit isn’t funny. Plus, I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must have been for Rock to be in South Africa (of all places) and be forced to deal with this. This was so not funny.

 

****Editor’s Note: I would like to clarify that by Internet posts, I meant AFP reader’s opinions. There were no news groups that called for the show’s cancellation.

World Series of Poker Quickie: 6/13/08

Vanessa Selbst Once Again Proves That Girls are as Good as Boys

While many lady players were seeing action in the $1,000 Women’s tournament, Vanessa Selbst was making her way to the top of the chip counts in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Event #19. Arguably the most dominating performance by a female player since Annie Duke’s Tournament of Champions win, Selbst’s victory once again raises the bar for her fellow female players.

 

I’ve watched Vanessa play several times in the last two years and she has continually been in the hunt. She has a way of taking command of the table that manages to get opponents to make plays and calls that they shouldn’t make. It is no surprise that she was able to win a WSOP open tournament since she has always had the goods to hang with the tournament poker elite.

 

The Mouth Puts Up

I’ve watched Mike Matusow play poker many times. The majority of those times, he ended-up imploding, but the times when he arrived focused and determined to win, he was unstoppable. Fortunately for Mike, his “serious” persona took over during Thursday’s No Limit 2-7 Draw w/ Rebuys final table and he collected his third World Series of Poker bracelet.

 

When I was working at last year’s Borgata Poker Open (September) I picked Matusow as my dark horse in the media pool for the World Poker Tour $10,000 main event. Unfortunately, Matusow busted right before BJ Nemeth’ pick and I lost out on the $350 prize. After sweating Matusow during that tournament, I found a new respect for the guy. He may have a big mouth, but he has an even bigger heart. Congrats Mikey.

 

The Largest WSOP Qualifier in the World

Although I have a love-hate relationship with online poker, there is one tournament that has peaked my interest as of late. On June 15, 2008, PokerStars.com will be running a $370 WSOP qualifier that will put 200 players into the Main Event.

 

Sure, the turnout for this tournament will be sick and I probably stand a snowballs chance in hell of winning, but I’m thinking about playing anyway. There’s a lot of value for your buy-in here and if you can parlay it into a WSOP Main Event title, you’ll never have to work again for the rest of your life.