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Posted by on Oct 28, 2012 in Blog, Las Vegas, World Series of Poker | 0 comments

2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship Coverage

2013 October Nine

 

Note to Readers:  Poker’s world championship will be played out this coming Monday and Tuesday at the Rio in Las Vegas.  You can watch coverage on ESPN. 

As I’ve done the past 15 years or so, I’ll be engaged in covering the Main Event Championship during most of the next three days.

You can read live updates, starting on Monday at 4 pm PST — which will be posted at:  OFFICIAL SITE OF THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER

I’m doing something unusual this year, which is covering the championship from the audience’s point of view — which means writing and reporting on the atmosphere and happenings inside the Penn and Teller Theatre, rather than just the stage and final table.  I’ll also relate some behind the scenes news.

I’ll return next week with lots of new material.

 

— Nolan Dalla

 

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Posted by on Oct 27, 2012 in Blog, Sports Betting | 0 comments

NFL Plays — Week 8

NFL Referee

 

NOLAN DALLA:  2012 POSTED SEASON RECORD

40 WINS – 32 LOSSES – 2 PUSHES —– (+ 11.575 units / 1 unit = $100)

STARTING BANKROLL:  $10,000.

CURRENT BANKROLL:  $11,575.

BEST BETS OF THE WEEK:  4-3-0

5 wins and 4 losses (1 push) last week.  I did manage to gain +8.8 units which is the real goal.  As this NFL season approaches the midway point, it’s nice to be in the black in all categories.

On to Week 8 — Making 9 bets and wagering $3,330.

Note:  All wagers are for amusement-purposes only.  I bear no responsibility for those who may decide to follow my plays.

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Posted by on Oct 26, 2012 in Blog, Sports Betting | 0 comments

Throwing Sports Bettors Under the Bus

Las Vegas Sportsbook Photo

 

Yesterday, sports bettors got a rude awakening.  They weren’t just thrown under the proverbial bus.  They were mauled by a 16-wheeler of steel-belted radials encrusted with heavy snow chains.  Then, the bus cranked into reverse and the helpless collective known as the “American sports bettor” was flattened again.

In case you missed the news, sports gambling faced its own “vice squad-lite” version of so-called “Black Friday,” when authorities in New York went after several agents alleged to be involved in offshore sports gambling.  The net of dozens of arrests stretched all the way from the East Coast to Las Vegas, and even entangled Cantor’s head of sports wagering.

My reaction to yesterday’s news wasn’t so much one of surprise, but rather mild curiosity as to why it took law enforcement so long to clamp down on a blatantly conspicuous activity that’s unequivocally forbidden in most localities and states, as well as outlawed nationally by the infamous 1961 Wire Act.

A few years ago, I penned an editorial for Bluff magazine on the odd and uneasy connection between two gambling sectors — poker and sports wagering — when it comes to fighting for legalization.  Given the renewed timeliness of this issue, I thought it might be a good day to revisit this subject.

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Posted by on Oct 25, 2012 in Blog, Book Reviews, Essays | 0 comments

Staring Death in the Eye and Not Blinking: On Christopher Hitchens and “Mortality”

 

hitchens-book-review

 

Hitchens, who died nearly a year ago, penned some 15 books over the course a bombastically bountiful career that spanned nearly three decades — the first half spent in the U.K., the nation of his birth, and the later half in the U.S., the country to which he eventually attached himself as a naturalized citizen.  But his real citizenry was to free thought, ideas, and debate.

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Posted by on Oct 24, 2012 in Blog, General Poker, Las Vegas, World Series of Poker | 1 comment

Players Television Network — The Business of Online Poker (2005)

The short-lived Players Television Network debuted at the 2005 World Series of Poker.

I was asked to moderate two panel discussions, which were later broadcast via “On Demand.”  The first show was on the late-great poker legend, Stu Ungar.

SEE STU UNGAR FEATURE HERE

The second show (featured here) was a panel discussion about the business of online poker.

I wasn’t at all prepared to assume the role of moderator.  I recall leaving the rigors of my job at the WSOP for an hour or so, getting abruptly fitted with a microphone, and then walking out and taking a seat in front of a live studio audience and rolling television cameras with no script.

The good thing about the unrehearsed format is that everything was spontaneous.  The bad thing is the show could have been much crisper had I been prepared.  Looking back now, I certainly would have asked more penetrating questions than what appears here.

Fortunately, the three guests who appeared on the online poker segment were outstanding.  Tony Cabot (one of the world’s top legal experts on online gambling), Mike Sexton (then a consultant to PartyPoker), and Dan Goldman (then a consultant to PokerStars) were all in top form.

Even though this discussion might seem dated now seven years later, it holds up remarkably well over time.  Many of the things discussed that day have happened, just as predicted.

Here’s that panel discussion from 2005 that runs about 40 minutes in length.

TAG: Nolan Dalla poker writings
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