Jean-Robert Sihoki Asks About the ALL IN Button

I was walking by Bobby Sihoki Slot table yesterday when he pulled Tournament Director Jack Effel over to ask if it was his idea to have the All In button. Jack denied it and they had a laugh about it looking at one of the buttons from across the table. Read more about the button on the Poker Shrink's posts here and here.

A bluffer and a crooner

Marcel Luske had the ladies swooning Sunday night as he took the stage at the Joint in Hard Rock Casino to sing radio standards like “Endless Love” and his own “The Poker Song.”

“The Flying Dutchman” opened the musical performances with a three-song set that concluded with the tune he wrote, sung to the tune of the old western theme “Rawhide.” As Luske sang, a video was shown on the screens on either side of the stage featuring the Dane and others dressed as cowboys and playing poker in an old west saloon.

A sample of the lyrics:

“Poker, poker, poker”

“Everyone plays poker”

“Everyone plays poker these days”

8,778

Give or take a few, that's the number WSOP media director Nolan Dalla just passed along in the media room for the official number of entrants in the main event.

Now obviously the percentage increase from 2005 (when there were 5,619 entrants) to 2006 isn't as great as the one from 2004 (2,576 players) to 2005, when the numbers more than doubled (after tripling the year before.) However, the total number of entrants actually grew more this year than last.

There were 3,159 more players in 2006 than in 2005, give or take a few. There were 3,043 more players in 2005 than in 2004. ¿Is the game's growth slowing down? Not at the WSOP it isn't.

Gaz on a flyer and Two Party stacks

Each day so far in this sea of people an aussie or aussies has done extremely well. Well, there are a few starters but not too many. Day 1 it was Mark Vos, late of WSOP bracelet fame in an earlier NLH event and literally hot on his tail Jeff Lisandro both with over 80,000 in chips. Day 2 saw little known Sydney-sider Russell Davies complete the day with just over 61,000. I met Russell a few years ago, he’s part of the “quiet achiever” group from Sydney. Yesterday it was also another non-Melbourne guy who rose out of the pack. Gareth Edwards ( who looks so much like Eric Froelich it is frightening - I’m trying for a picture )