For those of you wanting your own WSOP bracelet, you now have a new venue to capture your bracelet - Ebay. T. J. Cloutier has apparently sold his 2005 $5,000 NL Holdem bracelet to Plano Pawn Shop in Plano, TX.

The WSOP Circuit event kicked off this week in Tunica, MS and it looks like I will not be making a trip down there this year. Last year, I was fortunate enough to be asked to cover the Main Event of the Circuit, but in all honesty, that is the only reason that I went. I used to enjoy going to Tunica. In fact, it was the first place I ever played live poker.

The Microgaming Network announced this past Thursday that it is taking step to curb data mining of hand histories such as those that led to the Isildur1 controversy. From this point on, any sites on the network will no longer save hand histories on players computers and users will no longer be able to download hand histories in bulk. There are many players that are heralding this decision and thinks that sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars should follow suit. However, has anyone stopped to think about a few things that this type of policy could bring about? Remember the Pitbull Poker scandal? What was one of the things that tipped players off that something was amiss? The fact that the site would not give out hand histories.

In many sports, when a player makes a big mistake, many of us will forgive that player if they come clean and apologize. Earlier in the week, former St. Louis Cardinals superstar Mark McGwire admitted to using steroids during his career. While this was not a surprise to anyone, McGwire has dodged the question for a long time.

*Nothing gets past Google. If you’re a big name, and do something out of the ordinary, the biggest search engine will pick up on it. This is also true in the world of poker. * Predictably Irrational[http://www.

For those of you that didn’t watch ESPN’s WSOP Main Event coverage, Norman Chad cashed at the WSOP this year. Sunday night, I actually sat and watched about 3 hours worth of the Main Event for the first time in a long time. I must admit that part of it was due to the fact it was the only thing on among the paltry few channels my hotel room had. The other reason was the fact that Ivey was getting a lot of face time.

Apparently people are calling Daniel Negreanu an angle shooter for some actions that he took at the PCA. At the river, Negreanu raised a bet from his opponent. The opponent thought Negreanu called and then after being told that Daniel raised, the player attempted to reraise. Daniel then called for a ruling.

death-full.

I found out tonight that the poker world has lost one of its great characters.   Amir Vahedi has passed away from complications from diabetes.   For those that are not quite sure where to place that name, Vahedi finished 6th in the 2003 WSOP Main Event.   Vahedi was also known for his trademark cigar and his fondness of check-raising.