Lifestyle

I am presently blogging to you from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ. I decided to make my almost annual trip up here during the United States Poker Championship to check out the cash game and the tournament action. A lot of people complain about the Taj Mahal, but personally, I love the poker room here. While I do not long for the days when you had to carry a gun on you to a card room, I do not like what many poker rooms have become.

In the sports world. having a great agent can mean the difference between getting what you are worth and getting taken advantage of by your team. In 2003, the concept of a poker agent did not exist. However, Brian Balsbaugh changed this when he created Poker Royalty.

The first player on my list of the 20 most influential people in poker really needs no introduction. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker came out of nowhere to win the Main Event after winning his entry via PokerStars. His win ushered in a whole new era known as the "Poker Boom" during which players numbering in the millions turned to the game of poker. [assets/Uploads/Blog/Chris-Moneymaker.

I'm not a normal poker scenester so you won't catch me at many of the charity events, unless there's a hefty open bar, I'm working, or both. However last week Power Balance, the new performance enhancing bracelet company, threw a charity tournament at Drais in the W Hotel Hollywood and I was asked to help with stats on the final table. The W Hotel is amazing and Drais is much different than the after hours club I'm used to in Vegas. The table was set and quickly loads of celebs and poker pros filled the rooftop lounge.

Snoop Dogg rocks the PokerStars 2010 WSOP party at Rain in the Palms. [youtube]http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=hG3b1UVCT-8[/youtube].