February 21 2012, Rich Ryan

This past week, Daniel Negreanu recorded a rant and then final-tabled the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final, Drew McIlvain gave his side of the chip-dumping story, Jason Somerville made a big announcement, and online poker legislation failed again in the United States.

We’ve got some thinking to do.

1. Kid Poker rehashes hatred, then crushes São Paulo

On Feb. 15, Negreanu uploaded a vlog on his YouTube channel titled, “Real Talk.” During the ten-minute video, Kid Poker talks about his upcoming trips to Brazil and Ireland, the World Series of Poker schedule, and, of course, Full Tilt Poker.

“I’ve come to realize that those comments are pretty harsh,” he admits, alluding to a past blog post where he advocated for old-school Vegas punishment for Ray Bitar, Chris Ferguson, and Howard Lederer. “I’ve had some time to think about what I said, and..um…yeah! I think they’re absolutely appropriate! I do, Howard! If you’re listening and watching this, I do! I don’t think I would have any problem with somebody who had $15,000 of their hard-earned money or your site, come up to you and bash you in the nuts with a baseball bat.”

This vlog – like everything Negreanu does – received mixed reviews. Some people just can’t stand him and how open he is, while other people, including some of the Negreanu-haters, champion his stance and hatred of FTP. Unsurprisingly, Matt Glantz served as the voice of reason, tweeting the following to Kid Poker:

Negreanu will always be vocal, and that turns people off, but right now he has more support than ever because (1) he’s right, and (2) he’s playing well.

What FTP did was inexcusable, and the repercussions will be felt for a long time. That being said, advocating violence isn’t always the best course of action, Daniel. I love that you’re honest, and that you’re not afraid to be yourself, but there are times where self-censorship is necessary. Please, bash FTP all you want, but don’t tell everybody that it’s OK to bash Lederer’s genitals. There are better, more productive ways to solve this problem.

Right or wrong, Negreanu’s opinions will remain in the headlines as long as he’s producing. This year alone, Kid Poker’s finished fifth in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller, bubbled the Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller, and finished sixth in the LAPT Grand Final. That’s an impressive two-month résumé.

I’m positive that we’ll hear more from Negreanu in the future, and I am certain that one of his recurring topics will be FTP.

2. It’s not about intent

Last week, I had a chance to talk with both Drew McIlvain, the player who was banned from Harrah’s Tunica, and Seth Palansky, the vice president of corporate communications at Caesars Entertainment. McIlvain, while his interview was interesting to say the least, says he did not intend to cheat or steal “Terry’s” chips. It’s not about intent however; it’s about following the rules.

“The definition of collude in the dictionary that I have in my hands,” Palansky told me. “Is two words: conspire together.”

McIlvain admits to having multiple conversations with “Terry,” but this doesn’t allow him to plead ignorance. After the first conversation, he should’ve known something strange was going on. After the second conversation, you have to tell somebody. If McIlvain called the floor at that point, what’s the worst that could happen? They tell him he’s wrong, and when “Terry” donks off his chips, he gets to keep them.

Some are arguing that only a small percentage of players would notify the floor in this situation, and that these types of things happen “all the time.” I don’t believe either claim is true. Had these people been in McIlvain’s shoes and were told the things McIlvain was told by “Terry,” they would’ve done something about it. Likewise, this doesn’t happen regularly. Sure, we’ve all seen someone get crippled then say something like, “I’m either going to triple-up or bust in the next orbit,” but that scenario is clearly different. “Terry” and McIlvain spoke player to player, away from the table, and there was a plan in place.

McIlvain didn’t make the plan, but he didn’t turn it down either.

Should McIlvain have been disqualified? Yes. Should he be banned from all Harrah’s properties? No. Will he be banned? I don’t think so. I think he’s learned a valuable lesson, and, after the appeals process, he will be welcomed back.

I hope he’s learned something from his mistakes, however, both on and off the felt.

3. Jason Somerville is a courageous man

Upon entering the poker media at the 2009 WSOP, Jason Somerville was one of the first players I met. He was very cordial, and didn’t act like he was above me in any way. As a rookie in the game, I appreciated that greatly. And, despite making four WSOP final tables, winning one bracelet and racking up over $1.6 million in live tournament earnings since our first encounter, Somerville hasn’t changed. He’s still one of the nicest players in the game.

Last week, on his blog, Somerville admitted that he was gay. More importantly, he said that he’s “honestly happier now than I’ve ever been.”

To those of you who don’t believe this is news, I ask you to name another high-profile male poker player who is openly homosexual. OK, now can you name an openly gay NFL player? NBA player? MLB player? NHL player? Golfer?

Having trouble?

It’s 2012, and while we’d like to think that things like race, creed, and sexuality don’t matter, they do. There are still stigmas, there are still arrogant people, and, above all, there is still fear.

“That same year, the second and third people I came out to were my parents (probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done),” Somerville writes.

Pressing “post” on this blog was probably in Somerville’s top 10, but the response from players and fans has been overwhelmingly positive. Even Perez Hilton reached out to Somerville:

There may not be a ton of homosexual poker players, but if there are any who were previously afraid to be themselves, I hope that Somerville’s post will make them more comfortable. We can’t change who we are inside, but it should be mandatory for us to live life to the fullest. It’s impossible to enjoy life while living in fear, however, and I commend Somerville for his courage.

4. Gullible is written on the ceiling

The millisecond I filed last week’s Five Thoughts, I came across something – I forget if it was a tweet or an article – that basically said online poker had no chance of making it on the payroll tax cut extension. A few days later, the ship sailed, and online poker was left on the dock again.

Optimism is the worst, and I really have no reason to be optimistic. Senator Harry Reid has been rumored to save the day twice now, and both times we were woefully disappointed. Even if something was passed, it would take months for anything substantial to occur, and that would be on a state-by-state level. It’s a never-ending bureaucratic nightmare.

I’m here to formally announce that Five Thoughts will no longer be optimistic towards online gaming legislation in the United States. Five Thoughts’ official stance: I’ll believe it when I see it.

This will be a hard-line stance, and I promise it won’t change until the next rumor pops up.

5. Carnival!!!

Enjoy

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February 14 2012, Brett Collson

Now that you’ve emptied your wallet on flowers and dinner for Valentine’s Day, our gift to you is to catch you up on the latest poker news from around the world. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’re covering an upcoming poker series hosted by Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari, a mobile poker app for PokerStars players in the United Kingdom, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Kurt Jewell won his third World Series of Poker Circuit ring on Monday. Get all the details in our recap from the WSOPC Harrah’s Tunica Main Event.

The World Series of Poker’s Jack Effel joined the PokerNews Podcast this week. Effel and the crew discussed everything you need to know about the 2012 WSOP.

Could federal online poker be a last-second bill attachment? Rich Ryan discusses that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

We all know what poker players do on the felt, but what about in “normal” life? In the latest from the Off the Felt series, we talk to Dennis Phillips about prop bets, the world champion St. Louis Cardinals, and more.

World Poker Tour CEO Steve Heller is the latest industry exec to be featured in The Insiders series. Heller discussed online poker legislation and the WPT’s expansion into Europe, among other topics.

Gigi Gagne was the chip leader going into the final table of the World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open. Find out how she accumulated her massive stack in our WPT recap.

So Sick!

It’s only fitting that we bring you news about Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari on Valentine’s Day. The two poker superstars and longtime BFFs will be hosting the Laak & Esfandiari Open from March 1 through 4 at Montreal’s Playground Poker Club.

The first event on tap is a $2,200 heads-up tournament, which features a best-of-three format and will be capped at 32 players. Notables likely to attend the event include Erik Cajelais, Marc Karam, Mike “Timex” McDonald, Pascal Lefrancois and former NHL player Guy Carbonneau.

Part of the fun during the festivities will be the friendly prop bets between Laak and Esfandiari. The two friends have already agreed on a last-longer bet for the heads-up event, and the loser will be humiliated by the other in front of everyone at the Playground on Sunday, March 4th.

There will also be a $550 Deepstack event beginning on Friday, March 2. The field will be broken down into two days – Day 1a’s players will represent “Team Laak,” and Day 1b’s players will represent “Team Esfandiari.” Depending on which day the winner of the tournament advanced from, the loser will again be humiliated in front of everyone in attendance.

Laak and Esfandiari love to torment each other, so we’re looking forward to this one.

For a full schedule and details on the Laak & Esfandiari Open, visit www.PlaygroundPoker.ca.

Take PokerStars Wherever You Go

On Tuesday, PokerStars announced the launch of a new mobile poker app that will allow players in the United Kingdom to play free and real money games on Apple and Android devices.

Just like the desktop software, the PokerStars Mobile app offers real-money games in varieties like Texas hold’em, Omaha and Omaha hi-lo. Players can compete in multi-table tournaments, sit-and-gos and ring games, and they’ll even find familiar features like multi-tabling and hand histories.

“PokerStars Mobile is more than just the migration of the existing PokerStars game product to the mobile platform,” said PokerStars’ Director of New Platforms Jeffrey Haas. “It’s an intentional product designed specifically for the form factors of mobile and tablet devices, and the different ways people play games on them. This is the best authentic poker experience available for mobile devices today.”

Check out the full story at PokerNews.com.

BubbleProtection Signs Ylon Schwartz

Former November Niner Ylon Schwartz is the latest pro to join forces with BubbleProtection, a company that offers tournament players the opportunity to purchase insurance against busting on the money bubble. Schwartz has been appointed the company’s third spokesperson, joining Chris Moorman and Will “The Thrill” Failla.

“I am proud to be associated with a company that has introduced the most innovative new poker product I have seen in many years,” said Ylon Schwartz, who took fourth place at the 2008 WSOP Main Event. “BubbleProtection presents a new wrinkle in how to play tournament poker. It offers a user a significant strategic advantage during the most crucial stages of tournament play, allowing you to accumulate chips leaving you in a powerful position for the endgame. “

Bubble Protection is available to all non-U.S. players for all regularly scheduled tournaments on PokerStars, Party Poker and the iPoker Network. Its purpose is to safeguard online poker players from landing on the money bubble in tournaments.

Read the press release about Schwartz at PR.com.

Online Poker Traffic Report

On Monday, PokerScout.com released its online poker traffic rankings for the previous week. The tracking site reported an overall drop of 4 percent, mainly due to a falloff at two of the industry’s heavyweights.

PokerStars saw a significant decline after its 75 Billionth Hand promotion ended the previous week. The world’s leading poker room dropped 11 percent following an 18 percent gain the week before. PartyPoker, the world’s No. 2 real money poker room, dropped 3 percent, but still held a comfortable lead over the rivaling iPoker Network, which landed at No. 3 this week.

As for year-over-year numbers, online poker has seen a worldwide decline of 27 percent since this time last year. Most of that falloff can be attributed to the departure of Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network, but the International Poker Network (down 45 percent) and PKR (down 26 percent) have also seen a significant decline.

The biggest climbers over the past year are the Merge Gaming Network (up 100 percent), 888poker (up 76 percent) and Bodog (up 59 percent).

The full report can be found at PokerScout.com.

The Life of a Poker Reporter

On Monday, we brought you a meme created by Dan Dedich breaking down the perception of poker players. Our very own Rich Ryan responded by making his own about poker reporters:

Way to blow our cover, buddy.

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