Today in the 3-Bet we’ll take a look at a tell-all book from a Hollywood poker hostess, a comprehensive Antonio Esfandiari Q&A and the ANZPT resuming with a record-breaking event in Queenstown.
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1) Back to the Grind: ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Begins
Poker always gets a little too quiet for our liking in the weeks following conclusion of the WSOP.
Fortunately this week PokerStars ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest started with 51 players showing up for Day 1a of the regional tournament.
It was the biggest starting day in the history of the event. It’s not exactly the 6,000+ player WSOP Main Event but at this point we’ll take it.
Noted players Minh Nguyen, Daniel Neilson, Richard Lancaster, Kristina Griffiths, Tristain Bain and WSOPE bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen all paid the NZ$3,000 buy-in to get their poker on.
The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour is currently in the midst of its fourth season with the Sydney and Perth events already completed.
After Snowfest the tour will wrap up with the AUD$5,000 Grand Final in Melbourne from Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2012.
2) Hollywood Hostess Molly Bloom to Release Book
It appears so-called “Poker Princess” Molly Bloom will release a memoir of her experiences hosting some of the biggest poker games in Hollywood.
According to the Associated Press, Bloom has a book deal with It Books, a division of HarpersCollins, with her book tentatively scheduled to come out some time next year.
Bloom allegedly high stakes games in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Las Vegas that included Tobey Maquire and various other celebrities and sports stars.
The publisher says the book will give readers a detailed look at what it was like hosting the VIP games.
Bloom was one of the many celebrities who was named in a series of lawsuits seeking to reclaim more than $4 million that was dumped in her unlicensed games.
Perhaps the book will shed some new light on why Maguire would always dodge our cameras like he had spider sense at the WSOP, despite playing in an internationally televised tournament.
3) Esfandiari Answers All on Reddit
It’s becoming more and more apparent that the $1 million buy-in BIG ONE for ONE DROP was enough to garner some mainstream attention.
Eventual winner Antonio Esfandiari, who officially took down $18 million in the tournament, hopped on popular social news website Reddit to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) feature on the website.
We were disappointed Esfandiari didn’t really answer any questions about what percentage of himself he had in the big one but there were a few interesting answers:
Esfandari once flew on a private plane with Phil Laak and Michael Phelps to play a private poker game in Baltimore. In his opinion the best poker training materials are available online these days. Tom Dwan and Brian Rast are the toughest poker players he’s ever played Still embarrassed by his Rocks and Rings website from a few years agoCheck out the entire Q&A on Reddit here.
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