Live Poker

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.

There are a few people that seem to be surprised by the fact that the WSOP Circuit Regional Championship in Rincon this week only drew 98 players. Some figured that the added TV time and potential guaranteed seats for the National Championship would be enough to bolster this struggling stop. I'm surprised they hit 98. The WSOP-C stop at Rincon has been among the worst stops on the WSOP-C the last couple of years.

On Thursday, PokerStars announced the EPT Tournament of Champions, and that will run up against the first ever Onyx Cup event in May. This is just another example of the online turf wars that have spilled out into the live arena. Can you imagine what would happen if more online sites started to participate in the turf wars? Just imagine the screener questionnaires that would accompany tournament registration. Of course, I have put some thought into it and here is what you may encounter.

While I didn't think I would do so, I have watched every episode this season of High Stakes Poker on GSN.   Here are a few of my thoughts on the season so far. 1.   Is it me or does Doyle look like he isn't having any fun in this game?  He seems like he would rather be anywhere than on the show.

Often we see poker media or poker pros talk about doing things that are in the "best interest of the game" or in the "best interest of the poker community. "I was just reading a blog talking about the Onyx Series that Full Tilt is going to put on this year. They were talking about how that poker site rivalries are spilling over into the live arena due to the fact that poker sites are telling their pros not to play at other sites' live events. The comment was made that the people in charge of the sites should do what is in the best interest of the poker community.