Like any other walk of life I suppose, Poker is full of myths and misnomers, but surely the answer has to be Las Vegas? Its the unofficial World Headquarters of Poker, and where many of the biggest pros live, including Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey.
[b]Khalil Mack Jersey[/b] .Those big cash games always centred around Bobbys Room, in the Bellagio on the strip, and the room was named after Bobby Baldwin. You may not have heard of Bobby Baldwin, even though he has won no less than 4 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, but that was a very long time ago. Later, he became involved in Casino Management, and very successfully too. In fact, he was President of Bellagio Casino and Hotel when it was decided to name Bobbys Room after him. You may be forgiven for suspecting there may be a connection between those 2 facts. Later, the big games in Vegas moved a few yards up the strip to the Aria Resort and Casino, this time, more appropriately, it took place in Iveys Room, named after 10-time WSOP winner Phil Ivey.Are the worlds biggest cash games still held there, in Las Vegas? Absolutely not.Big cash game Poker is a dynamic thing, it follows the money, and soon the game moved to China of all places, or more specifically Macau, which is a sort of political subsidiary of China, and it sits just across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. And we all know how the Chinese love a gamble, so that fits nicely.Soon, though, the game moved again, and remarkably, its next stop was the most densely populated city in the world, Manila, in the Philippines.Why does the game move so often? Quite simply, it follows the money, and this is where it gets interesting. It does not follow the big Poker pros like Phil Ivey, Dan Cates and the like, it follows players called whales. A whale is actually a rather unkind and unfair description of a very wealthy person who likes a game of Poker. Im sure you are ahead of me here, but you can see where this is going - the pros follow the whales, because they can smell easy money.Who are these guys? Well lets start with a chap named Richard Yong, who, really, is common to Las Vegas, Macau and now the Philippines. He was in all the big Las Vegas cash games, but then an odd thing happened - Richard was arrested in his Caesars Palace condo after an FBI raid, and accused of illegal sports betting. Slung in jail, with bail set at $1.5 million, he was bailed out by Poker pros Phil Ivey and Dan Cates. Thats how much they valued his cash game action. Happily, all charges were eventually dropped, and Richard was completely cleared. And so Richard decided it was time to dodge out of Dodge, and next popped up in Macau, as did - yup, youve got it, Ivey, Cates and Co.Soon, he relocated to the Manila, and obviously, the game followed him there, and as long as he and his ilk are in Manila, the game will stay there. And thats just how it works.There are plenty of so-called whales, of course, including a few from the UK.One such is Paul Newey. Paul made his name with Ocean Finance, who were a pioneer of pay day loans, and are based in the Midlands. He eventually sold out in 2004 for a whopping £250 million. Paul wont ever need a pay day loan, thats for sure.Since then, he has played the high roller Poker circuit, and very successfully too, with his biggest cash being $1.4 million, though the buy-in for that event was a staggering $1.1 million. He lives in Jersey now, for tax reasons, but spends his time travelling the global high roller circuit.He has another hobby too - high roller slots, both online and live. Earlier this year, he wanted to go to Melbourne to play the Aussie Millions, so he decided to go via Las Vegas, and play some slots en-route, and did very handsomely, too, collecting a most pleasing half a million dollar payout from a Vegas slot machine. It brings a whole new meaning to what a life, eh? Am I jealous and envious? You bet I am. Hes a nice fella though, so good luck to him. Talal Shakerchi is another UK based high roller, and he does pretty well at the game, too. If you met Talal, youd never believe he was a Poker player, he is quiet, unassuming, softly spoken, polite, and a complete gentleman. Dont mess with him at the Poker table though, hes a beast. Big sums of money dont bother Talal, as his day job is managing a high roller Hedge Fund. No scared money there, then.Canadas Guy Laliberte is perhaps the biggest of these whales. Guy is the founder and 95% owner of the fabulous Cirque du Soleil circus troupe, who have stage productions all over the world, including no less than 8 currently running in Las Vegas.Guy is a perfect example of why its a little rude and unfair to make the assumption that Poker whales have more money than sense. Guy founded the One Drop Poker tournament - the one with the $1.1 million price tag - but the whole thing is based around his One Drop Foundation. The aim of One Drop is to provide sustainable water supplies to those parts of the world where running water does not exist. Guess you might describe him as a whale out of water. So there we have it. Can anyone join these high roller cash games? Why yes, of course. You just need to pull up the minimum buy-in, which is usually about 2 milly. For you and me, think wed best stick to being fish, and tiddlers at that. So if you fancy some 5p - 10p cash action, Im your man. Pull up 2 million to play Poker? Err, PASS.
[b]Mike Brown Jersey[/b] . Yet heading to New York, the Habs remain positive as it all comes down to the one main ingredient that the organization has built its team on - character.
[b]Roger LeClerc Jersey[/b] . Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck.NEW YORK -- Major League Soccers referees and other on-field officials were locked out Friday, a day before the season openers. The Professional Referee Organization, which manages game officials for the U.S. Soccer Federation and MLS, notified the Professional Soccer Referee Association of the lockout and said replacement officials will be used. PRO said the union, which was formed last year, rejected a no strike-no lockout agreement that management had proposed. The sides have bargained since July without reaching a deal on a labour contract. "Our proposal represents a significant increase above current compensation for referees and places them above the average for officials around the world," said PRO general manager Peter Walton, an English Premier League referee from 2003-12. PRO said in the 1 1/2 years since its formation, it had increased full-time officials from two to nine and added 11 part-time officials. The PSRA has filed uunfair labour practice charges accusing the PRO of bad-faith bargaining and making threats against its members.
[b]Guy Chamberlin Jersey[/b]. "We have requested a plethora of information, including financials, that PRO and MLS have refused to provide, instead demanding we take their pleas of poverty at face value," said Lukas Middlebrook, a lawyer for the union. Replacements this weekend include former Ireland referee Alan Kelly (Kansas City-Seattle); former Greece referee Ioannis Stavridis (Philadelphia-Portland); current Puerto Rico referees Javier Santos (Salt Lake-Los Angeles) and William Anderson (Chicago-Chivas USA); former MLS referees Abbey Okulaja (New York-Vancouver) and Ramon Hernandez (New England-Houston); former MLS fourth official Jorge Luna (Montreal-Dallas); and current North American Soccer League referee Andres Pfefferkorn (Columbus-D.C.). Kelly is a veteran of five World Cup qualifiers and three Champions League matches. ' ' '
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