FOX Sports, Poker Rumors & Rules.

Today was a day away from the casinos, poker tournaments and professional players after the non-stop three weeks of events at the Five-Star. I almost stopped by the Plaza this evening but decided to stay in and catch up on Internet related chores so the post will be a collection of odds and ends from the past few days. I was most pleased to find our photos in a gallery on the FOXSports website. First time readers may need to know that we have an extensive Five Star Photo Gallery and new photos are added daily.

The PPT final table proved to be some of the best poker of the 5-Star. The heads-up between Lee Markholdt and Barry Shulman was mistake free and ended when both were dealt strong short-handed-game pocket pairs. The end came when the Poker Gods choose to send Lee a Queen instead of a winning Seven for Barry. QED.

I listened in on some controversial rumors floating around about the WPT $25,000 buy-in Championship event final table. A few of the players are questioning some of the calls or lack of calls from chip leader, Hasan Habib, They are mystified as to how an overwhelming chip favorite could loose all of his massive stack of more than $14 million, approximately two thirds of the total chips in play, while the shortest stack, about $100K, went on to win. Haven't they heard the cliche, "A chip an a chair?" I can't offer anything more to this dark tale, except to say that almost every tournament, especially the top money championships, have a group (disgruntled losers?) that questions some or even all of the plays and the outcome. I remind myself that this is poker and, as such, it does not follow the defined statistical path we predict or expect, more like predicting the weather, too many variables to be exact. It was all recorded for national television broadcast so the viewers can watch the show and decide for themselves if there may have been any funny business. More on this later if new information becomes available and can be substantiated.

Even though the typical tournament schedule is grueling, I always enjoy covering major tournaments. An opportunity to visit with the fans and players and learn whats happening in the industry. It is a pleasure to see new, young talent coming into these events with a strong game developed from dedicated study and concentrated experience often combined with play lessons from a reputable professional. The days of the smoky backrooms filled with the enlarged prostrate crowd has been replaced with energetic, sophisticated, well educated, aggressive young players. Every tournament finds more women entering and playing well. Players from all over the globe representing practically every nationality has made today's poker tournaments an international affair. The top European player, Marcel Luske, has been working closely with the IPF to develop and implement a standardized set of rules that will offer the professional poker player the same familiarity and atmosphere regardless of the global location of the poker room (more on this in a future post).

Tomorrow is another day of poker action here in Las Vegas and, of course, another poker tournament needs to be photographed. I did enjoy my day off, even watched a movie on the tele, The Rounders.

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