It might be April Fool’s Day but we’re giving it to you straight on who deserves applause and who’s a lost cause this week in poker.
Today's In List features a hard-earned win for Terrence Chan in his first professional MMA fight, an invitation to what’s sure to be the party of the year and a mainstream feature on high-stakes pro Brian Hastings.
Out this week are a group of overzealous poker players who spent tens of thousands of dollars on MegaMillions lottery tickets, and a so-called "scientific study" by Concordia University in Quebec.
Poker’s In List: March 26 – April 1, 2012
Terrence Chan for Winning his First Pro MMA Fight: IN
Terrence Chan is so In this week it’s ridiculous.
Not only did he win his first pro MMA fight, submitting Alex Lee by armbar less than halfway into the second round, but he was sporting a Vancouver Canucks jersey when he entered the ring.
We’ve had the chance to talk to Chan about MMA in the past but nothing beats seeing it for real.
Chan took the fan experience one step further by starting an open thread on his blog where he will personally respond to any questions you might have about the fight.
See it for yourself right here:
Two Plus Two Users Partying IRL: IN
Being yourself has always been In as far as we’re concerned so we’re eager to see what happens at the annual Two Plus Two party, announced for July 6 at the MGM in Las Vegas.
Mason Malmuth posted an open invitation on the forum a few days ago, and since PokerListings.com will be on location for the WSOP, we’ll be sure to check it out and report back.
Maybe it’s because we only read NVG but we’re picturing a giant room full of people yelling clichéd internet memes at each other and derailing conversations by holding up pictures of naked women.
Keep an eye on the developing thread right here.
Brian Hastings for Making $600/hour Playing Live Cash: IN
Brian Hastings was featured in a recent article on Huffington Post and he revealed that even without online poker, he’s still raking in cash to the tune of $600-$700 an hour.
The mainstream media is always a little behind the curve since we were talking to Hastings about basically the same stuff six months ago when he was in Vancouver, but it’s still nice to see the spotlight shining on young, successful poker pros.
Hastings laments the loss of online poker but is generally optimistic about eventual regulation in the US.
The interview is very standard fare, complete with the ubiquitous nod to Chris Moneymaker’s apropos surname.
At what point can we assume mainstream news audiences have heard of Chris Moneymaker?
In our experience even the most sheltered of people you’d find on the Huffington Post know Moneymaker, and have a vague idea about his role in the poker boom.
That said, the article does give you a glimpse of what millions of dollars in poker winnings can do for your freedom.
Poker’s Out List: March 26 – April 1, 2012
Spending $30k on Mega Millions Tickets: OUT
We spent a long time debating whether spending $30,000 on lottery tickets belonged on the In List or the Out List.
On the one hand, over-the-top gambling is pretty cool. But on the other hand, the lottery is basically the least fun way to dump money we can think of.
And to make matters worse, even if you you do win you’re paying taxes on the winnings.
Without sounding anti-government, we don’t agree with an organization that lets their citizens spend $1.5 billion on tickets to a single lottery, but refuse to allow the same citizens to play online poker.
Josh Arieh was the ringleader in this massive ticket-buy, and he posted this picture of his plunder.
During the countdown to the draw Arieh tweeted:
@golferjosh: May the next 36 minutes be the brokest I'll ever be in my life #WhyNotUs
Needless to say, they didn’t win.
Science, and Pointing Out the Obvious: OUT
We’re usually the ones pushing the science agenda, even though our “understanding” of it is comprised mostly of CSI and Popular Mechanics for Kids.
But when we see science being used to slag off the game we love we’re not above throwing the entire Scientific Method out the window.
A recent study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, led by Sylvia Kairouz of Quebec’s Concordia University has linked online gambling with alcohol and marijuana.
Talk about stating the obvious.
You don’t need science to know that the kind of people who are playing online poker and casino games are more likely to be drinking and smoking pot.
In truth the study does indicate that people who gamble on the internet and live have a higher incidence of frequent substance use than people who only gamble live.
While mildly troubling it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since your average online poker player could be studying at the same University that published the study.
Read more about the study here.
Visit www.pokerlistings.com