Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 17, 2014 in Blog, Personal, World Series of Poker |
Every World Series of Poker is special. Attend enough of them, and each year becomes a well-defined moment and a new entry onto one’s personal timeline. What creates such indelible impressions? Not the poker hands. Not the prize money. Not even the coveted gold bracelets – and I have witnessed more than half of the final hands that have taken place in the tournament’s 45-year history. Rather, it’s the people. It’s all the interesting personalities and their unique stories that I remember, and even revere, the most. This year, I had the great pleasure of meeting two remarkable people who I believe you will find just as fascinating as I did.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 13, 2014 in Blog |
….Ken Lambert.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 8, 2014 in Blog, Video 1, World Series of Poker |
Thirty-six hours ago, my cell phone rang. Or chimed. Or whatever cell phones do.
It was Todd Anderson on the other end, the brains behind “Poker Night in America,” the new show which debuted last week on CBS Sports.
“We want you to film a segment which we’re going to insert at the end of each show,” Todd said.
Great, I thought. What does he want to film?
“We want to film you,” Todd insisted. “We want this to be like an Andy Rooney piece at the end of 60 Minutes.”
Wait a bleeping minute. Isn’t Andy Rooney dead?
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 7, 2014 in Blog, World Series of Poker |
If poker is a game of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror, then writing about poker is quite often a seemingly endless monotony interrupted by occasional episodes of exhilaration.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 6, 2014 in Blog, Politics |
Georgia should change its official nickname to “The Vigilante State.”
Think of how exciting all those sleepy magnolia-canopied streets are about to become with law and order — Dirty Harry style.
Out of my way, you punk! Bam!
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 4, 2014 in Blog, Las Vegas, Rants and Raves |
Let’s face it — just like everything else the Chinese have to come to own the Fourth of July. We’re all getting punked big time. We’re junkies. Check out the label on the box where your American flag is stored. You might be horrified to learn where Old Glory was made. That’s right, even the fucking flags are made in China.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 3, 2014 in Blog, General Poker, World Series of Poker |
With Henry Orenstein at the 2014 WSOP moments after he cashed out in eighth place in the Seven-Card Stud World Championship.
A few days ago, when Henry Orenstein entered the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud event here at the 2014 World Series of Poker, not many thought he had much of a chance playing against many of the best players in the world. Let’s face it, at 90-years-old, just making it through the grind of the three-day poker tournament would be difficult enough, let alone outplaying the rest of the field.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 3, 2014 in Blog |
Late last night, Chad Brown passed away in New York City, the place of his birth. He died at the excruciatingly unjust age of 52. I was asked to write a tribute to Chad, which appears HERE at WSOP.com. Writing that narrative reminded me of an afternoon with him earlier this year. I had the opportunity to visit Chad here in Las Vegas. At the time, he was staying with Vanessa Rousso. Although the pair had already been divorced for a few years by then, they remained very close and were good friends until the very end of his life. Accompanying me on that day was Rich Korbin, the longtime marketing executive at PokerStars.com. This is the story of that special time and place.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jul 1, 2014 in Blog, Talking Points, World Series of Poker |
Thanks to Remko Rinkema at Poker News for this nice feature and tribute to 90-year-old Henry Orenstein, who participated in today’s $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud Championship. This marks his first appearance at the World Series of Poker in several years.
I was interviewed by Remko and was asked about Mr. Orenstein. It was a great honor to speak about him, albeit briefly.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Jun 30, 2014 in Blog, Personal, World Series of Poker |
Who’s the evil trickster responsible for bait and switching the Blue Bunny ice cream machine? That’s the refrigerator full of frozen tasty treats inside the employee breakroom here at the 2014 World Series of Poker.
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