I wrote an editorial for the site[http://www. pokerjunkie. com/pokerjunkie-editorial-more-girls-more-dunst-worst-of-wpt-changes] earlier in the week about the changes for upcoming season of the World Poker Tour.   In it, I wrote how I wasn't a fan of Tony Dunst and that the Royal Flush Girls was another concept I wasn't that fond of.

The WPT Hollywood Poker Open was destined to be a nearly forgotten stop on the WPT this year. The event only drew 97 players and early on the talk was about how poorly this event drew. That's all changed now that Erik Seidel has made the final table. As anyone not living under that rock in the Geico commercial knows, Seidel has won over $4 million this year including the NBC National Heads-Up Championship.

Mike Sexton had to give up his final table announcing duties at the Bay 101 World Poker Tour event on Friday. The reason was that he actually made the final table. He wound up finishing in 6th place. Mike Matusow also made the final table and ultimately finished in 3rd place.

Continuing our look at the 20 most influential people in poker, we come to #18, Linda Johnson. Linda has been a part of the poker world for over three decades and is affectionately known by her peers as "The First Lady of Poker. " [assets/Uploads/Blog/Linda-Johnson. jpg]As a player, Johnson has amassed over $323,000 in live tournaments winnings.

The debate on whether a WSOP Europe bracelet is indeed a valid bracelet or not has reached a new level.   Matt Savage was recently quoted on This Week in Poker as saying the following about bracelets won outside of Vegas: "I don't like it.  I don't think it's like a real bracelet. "  And "The World Series was founded in Vegas, and that's kind of what it's about.

Daniel Negreanu can't seem to hold onto the top spot on money lists lately. Carlos Mortensen is the new all-time money winner for the World Poker tour after taking down the Hollywood Poker Open in Lawrenceburg, IN. Where? What's next, a NAPT event in Shakopee, MN? How about moving the WSOP to Pamplin, Va. Actually, it would be funny as hell to see the WSOP in Pamplin.

Daniel Negreanu recently made a statement that PEMM wasn't going to help Phil Hellmuth play better but instead, Phil needed to employ LTPB or "Learn to Play Better. "  Well, whether it was PEMM, LTPB, or Diet Pepsi, Phil has made the final table of the Bay 101 Shooting Stars WPT Event.   He spent a good part of Thursday as the chip leader and will enter the final table 2nd in chips behind Andy Seth. Seat 1 - Hassan Habib - 455,000 Seat 2 - Phil Hellmuth - 1,433,000 Seat 3 - Andy Seth - 2,164,000 Seat 4 - Matt Keikoan - 371,000 Seat 5 - McLean Karr - 111,200 Seat 6 - Daniel O'Brien, 1,129,000 Personally, I am rooting for Phil.

[youtube]http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=CQDhDmP_aMo[/youtube] Barry Greenstein has a long night at the 2010 LAPC, shares a hotel room with a man for the first time, gets little sleep, and shops for a new pair of manties.

The WPT Celebrity Invitational is a charity re-buy tournament held during the LAPC at the Commerce Casino. The charity that benefits from the event is Chrysalis, a Los Angeles based non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless population become self-sufficient through job training and employment opportunities. This year the WPT event went heads up with the NAPT inaugural event happening at the Venetian. I can'€™t imagine why any respectable poker player would want to pass up a $5k buy-in with a field 872 players and a $4 million prize pool to play in a $200k crap-shoot freeroll.

Mike Sexton has been officially announced as the next inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame. Sexton was the only man to receive the needed number of votes necessary to guarantee enshrinement. I could go on about what Mike has done for the game of poker and how deserving he was, but instead, I thought I would share my own Mike Sexton story and some observations that I have picked over the last few years. I first met Mike Sexton at the 2006 World Series of Poker.