On today’s Daily Deal: the Mizrachi brothers make WSOP history, Eric Baldwin catches a lucky break, a household name in poker moves to a very different field, and a “household” name from a very different field makes an incursion in poker.
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson; welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
The fifty thousand dollar WSOP Player’s Championship marked only the second time in WSOP history that two brothers make a final table: Robert and Michael Mizrachi. The first time this happened was eight years ago, when Ross and Barny Boatman made the final table of a fifteen hundred dollar Pot Limit Omaha event. Robert Mizrachi was unable to parlay his final table chip lead into a victory as he busted in fifth place and notable pro John Juanda was eliminated in fourth. That made the final three players remaining Michael Mizrachi, Vladimir Schmelev and David Oppenheim. In the late hours of the morning it was Michael Mizrachi who pulled out the win, taking the trophy, bracelet and the much needed one point five five million dollars.
UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin almost tasted his second bracelet, as he sat atop a hefty chip stack entering Day Two of the one-thousand dollar No Limit Hold’em event. While we’re in no way implying he is not an outstanding poker player, Lady Luck definitely gave him a sick lap dance yesterday: he drew out on pocket tens with eight-seven, and more impressively, ran pocket nines into pocket queens and hit a two-outer on the river. As Phil Hellmuth said: “Poker is one hundred percent skill and fifty percent luck.” Apparently Baldwin’s good luck charm ran out of juice as he eventually was eliminated in 15th place. Late last night play was stopped down to the final table which doesn’t feature any household names. The winner of this one will take in a little over six hundred thousand dollars.
Former World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has a new gig. Is it with Harrah’s? No. MGM? No. Maybe as developer to the gaming industry in the Middle East? Couldn’t be farther from the truth. The man responsible for taking the WSOP to a new level will be now applying his legendary marketing skills to… bull riding. Seriously: Pollack is the new Executive Chairman of the Professional Bull Riders and will serve on the company’s Board of Directors. Consider that before the WSOP, Pollack had worked with NASCAR and the NBA, and you will join us in wondering: Whaaat!? The poker world wishes him the best.
UB.com is really thinking outside the box when it comes to sponsoring pros. The latest addition to their roster is adult entertainer Samantha Ryan. You may never heard her name before – I sure hadn’t – but Ms. Ryan is on top of her business, with over one-hundred and forty films to her name and four AVN Awards in as many years. For those who don’t know about these things, our official fact checker told me that the AVN is the adult film industry’s Oscars, and Ryan has starred in films including… “War of the Girls” and “French Confessions.” News of this sponsorship was posted on Twitter by Samantha herself:
“So it’s official! I WILL be playing in 5-6 WSOP Events sponsored by @ultimate_bet! A million thanks @RealAnnieDuke! C my fans there!”
If any of you want to check out her poker skills, her first event will be Friday’s fifteen hundred dollar No Limit Hold’em tournament at the WSOP. Can you actually imagine this? A young female porn star in a giant room filled with very lonely men. Yiiiikes.
That does it for today’s Daily Deal. Be sure to bookmark our site and check back every Monday through Friday for a new episode of this show as well as exclusive interviews and features with your favorite poker personalities. I’ll catch you tomorrow and until then, let those Aces hold up!
