If you’ve got broadcasting chops and would like to be a commentator for Events 1 and 10 of the upcoming Borgata Poker Open, hit up Tournament Director Tab Duchateau.

It’s the very rare opportunity that comes along…getting paid to commentate on poker events. We’re going to guess that a professional poker player is going to land this gig, but we have all sorts of talented readers so don’t be shy – follow and tweet at Tab.

Get it!

Looking for something to do this weekend while waiting for the Borgata Poker Open to start? Well, online stat-masters, PocketFives, and the Borgata are hosting a Deep Stack Open Challenge that promises at least $150K in total prizepool.

With two starting days, beginning on July 27th, and 25K stacks they shouldn’t have a hard time meeting and exceeding that guarantee. It’s a $350+50 buy-in and just in case you decide to get 100+bbs in with TT and go broke, you can re-enter. No problem.

Come for the poker, but stay for the party as those online grinders like to get loose aggressive. On July 28, go to the Gypsy Bar and meet the faces behind some of the online names. Don’t play online? Hey, you can still play in this event…it’s an Open.

PocketFives is tossing in a little swag bag in should you bust one of their bounties. Some of the website’s writers, owners and notable members (like Matt Stout and Steve Gross) will have bounties on their tournament lives. Knock one out and you’ll have a P5 T-shirt you won’t know what to do with.

We didn’t make that sound that good, but it’s an added freebie, so why not call those bounties down light, right?

Lucky enough to live in New Jersey and play online? There’s still time to win your way into this one through BorgataPoker.com. Tonight and tomorrow night at 8pm EST, take your $10 shot at winning a seat in the live event.

Still not convinced? Need more info? Borgata’s got you covered.

Like Antonio Esfandiari before him, Daniel Negreanu is having a hosted birthday party that is open to everyone of age…as long as you have a few bucks.

While there’s no guarantee that you can get close to Kid Poker, or even a guarantee for how long he’ll be there, this weekend, Daniel is letting Marquee Las Vegas wish him a Happy Birthday and you can be there for it.

And if it’s anything like how Antonio’s turned out, he’s going to have a pretty great time.

See: Antonio Esfandiari’s Baller Birthday

Want to join Daniel during the Marquee Dayclub this Friday? $20 for dudes and only $10 for the ladies. Not a pool party person? Hit up the Nightclub Saturday night – $40 for the fellas, $20 for females.

So Happy Happy to Daniel Negreanu this weekend as he officially turns eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame.

Maybe you didn’t have the best World Series of Poker, no worries – it’s ok man.

Even if you didn’t, you can’t wallow in the post-WSOP depression forever. You gotta make new plans, get back up on the tournament h.o.r.s.e and feed that poker beast.

Where to start? Bluff Magazine's Paul Oresteen has the hook up for you. Pretty much no matter where you live there’s an event (of varying size) coming soon to a region near you that is going to provide a nice guaranteed prize pool for you and the chance to chase (with your discretionary income, not your rent) the summer glory you hoped for in Las Vegas.

Highlights include: Multiple WSOP Circuit Events, EPT Barcelona and the $10M Guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

Make some plans: Upcoming Summer Events to Cure Post-WSOP Blues

It’s the final table of the $100K Super High Roller as Vanessa Selbst, Dan Shak, Antonio Esfandiari, Fabian Quoss, Ole Schemion*, Tony Gregg and Matt Glantz battle for the $1,600,000 first place prize.

James and Joe are on the mic as these elite players determine the winner.

Well, they’re all winners, but you know what we mean.

Want more televised poker? PokerStars EPT 2014 PCA Super High Roller – Episode 3

If you never picked up your “I Knocked Out A Pro At Full Tilt Poker” T-shirt during the FTP heyday, now may be your shot.

Over at J. Sugarman Auction Corp, they are helping facilitate the selling of the, allegedly, over $3,500,000 worth of old Full Tilt Poker promotion items. You know, the shirts, caps, pen, golf bags, footballs and other massive-profit-margin carnival bullshit that they used to ship you in exchange for your completely unsegregated rake dollars.

So, on Saturday August 2nd in San Dimas, CA (the same city Bill And Ted are from) at 11:00am PST all this stuff is getting put on the auction block. According to a sales rep at J. Sugarman, auctions typically last 2-3 hours and you can place bids in person or online. The items are doled out depending on the demand, so if someone wants to try and pick up everything in one swoop, it may be put up like that. On the other hand, if someone just wants to try and grab a few of the over 15K keychains they may parse this out.

The breakdown looks like this: over 193,000 items (they say over 200K) spread over 28 categories. To be fair, some of these categories are duplicates as there’s a few different “pens” and separate “mouse pads”, etc. Still, there’s a TON of stuff.

Want to see what’s up for grabs? Check it out right here.

Or you can just go on eBay…there’s a ton of stuff out there.

It’s that time of year again. The Poker Hall of Fame, brought to you by the WSOP, is letting your voice be heard. Who do you think should make the short list for induction in 2014?

There’s a few ground rules, nothing too heady. They gotta be 40 (like the age that Daniel Negreanu will be Saturday), have played for high stakes, played against top tier talent, stood the test of time and, and this is important, they have to have been good at poker.

Right? Can’t have played high against the pros and be a lifelong loser.

Be Heard! Submit Your Nomination for the Poker Hall Of Fame

The other option is if the person is a non-player but contributed to the overall positive growth of the game. But you probably don’t really care about that.

The top 10 nominations will then be put on a short list for review by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council. Then all the existing PHoF members and a “blue ribbon media panel” will cast their votes.

No, F5poker is NOT “blue ribbon media”...we ARE “Pabst Blue Ribbon Media though” which qualifies us for a different vote.

Then, enshrinement will take place during the ceremonies of the November Nine in Las Vegas and a person or persons will join the 46 person roster currently bestowed with the honor.

You might know Joe Rogan from his hosting duties on Fear Factor, his role on News Radio, his redux version of The Man Show, his standup and, perhaps most notably, his color commentating over at the UFC. What you may not know is that Rogan hosts one of the most popular podcasts currently being recorded.

This week, good guy Isaac Haxton and his fantastic glasses, join Joe in studio for a conversation about poker and everything else under the sun. Sit back, relax and kill some time with Joe and Ike.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Looking for a little midweek poker programming? We found some for you. For some reason, we haven’t been posting the action of partypoker's Premiere League 7. We’re happy that it’s now on our radar, even if it’s a little late. So join Jesse May, Kara Scott and some of your favorite arm-folding poker pros as they jockey for position in the $125,000 buy-in tournament.

By the way, this is Episode 17. If you haven’t seen any of the other ones, you can start here with Episode 1.

Bonus: Here’s the hand between our guy, Phil Laak, and Brian Rast that’s been making the rounds in the past couple of days.

You probably know all you need to know about 2005 World Series of Poker champion Joe Hachem, but just in case you didn’t, Calvin Ayre put together this little artsy montage of his life and poker career accomplishments.

Whether you call him “Diamond Joe” for his accomplishments or “Salty Joe” for his sometimes “rough” table demeanor, Hachem has made a massive impression on the game of poker, especially lately with his candid talk about the up and coming wave of young pros and his views on ambassadorship.

More Hachem: Mr. Ambassador Joe Hachem to Dan Colman – Love It Or Leave It and also “Poker Is Dying”

East Coast grinders (and beyond) have something big to look forward to.

The Borgata Poker Room just announced it’s 2014 Borgata Poker Open schedule and there is, pretty much, something for absolutely everyone in the mix this September.

View: Borgata Poker Open Schedule of Events

The 17-day, 24-event poker festival is featuring deep-stacked NLHE, PLO, O8, H.O.R.S.E., a 6-max, a HU, a $25K guaranteed Ladies Event and the inaugural Mike Sica Memorial Seniors Event.

Watch: Mike “Little Man” Sica Tribute Video

In addition, of course, partypoker and the World Poker Tour will be town to feature their $3M guaranteed Main Event. In total, during the course of the schedule over $6,500,000 worth of guaranteed prize pools will be offered. Pretty nice way to cure those post WSOP blues.

The buy-ins start at right around $200 and cap at the $3300 + $200 Main Event. Sound good? Check the schedule, count those chickens (pre-hatching) and make your way to the Borgata on Sept. 2.

Think they’ll be running sattys on BorgataPoker.com? Yea, probably.

A daring early morning robbery took place at Caesars Atlantic City yesterday as two masked thieves stole a pair of plastic cash boxes which, according to reports, contained more than $180,000.

The USA Today reports that around 6:00am on Monday morning the two suspects entered, at least one of them carrying a firearm, where they swiped the cash boxes and fled in a car. Police have yet to reveal more information on the suspects, but that could be available later today.

The New Jersey State Police Gaming Bureau is on the hunt for the pair of suspects and ask that if anyone has any info on the heist, please call the Casino Gaming Bureau at 609-441-7464.

It no secret that we are big fans of Mike “Timex” McDonald.

Besides having won an EPT while still in braces, getting himself banned from PokerStars and having a better Justin Bieber impression than Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon – Timex is a stare-you-down felt thug of championship proportions.

[ Note: This is a post of poker interest, not an endorsement to get you to go crazy and spend money, so don’t do it and don’t put that on us. ]

So, while it’s not always newsworthy when some poker player sells action, when Timex unloads shares on the public, it’s something people may want to know about. This week, McDonald took to the Two Plus Two forums to sell off 50% of his upcoming buy-in for the EPT Barcelona $50K Super High Roller.

Here’s his credits, in his own words:

In the last year I’ve been running insanely well and have final tabled all 7 super high rollers I’ve played(Barcelona, London, St Kitts, PCA, 2 in Aussie Million and Monte Carlo) as well finished 2nd place in the PCA main event, and had my biggest career online scores on both Stars and FTP.

Selling shares at $750 for 1%, Mike was able to get rid of 33% in 72 hours.

Mike calls the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller “one of the softer super high rollers” and why wouldn’t he. Timex has cashed in this event in the past two years. Back in 2012, Mike took 5th for $264,283 and then last year he moved up a spot and bnked 4th place for over $360K. Not a bad track record.

EPT Barcelona kicks off Season 11 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour on August 16, with the $50K Super High Roller starting on August 18.

Bonus: EPT Barcelona is the 100th EPT event and PokerStars is pulling out all the stops. Check out: EPT 100: Barcelona Blowout

Just playing the odds here, we’re going to guess that you – in general – are a No Limit Hold’em player.

Just about everyone, when they think of poker, thinks about NLHE. But if you want to win a WSOP bracelet in 2015 (or beyond) your best bet may be by playing (and playing well) in a different discipline – like Stud 8.

Stud 8 is Daniel Negreanu's “favorite poker game” and so, in order to help encourage others to take a shot at learning (and potentially find new fish to feed on) he’s posted a “How To” guide for Stud 8 as well as some basic strategy tips.

Read: Daniel’s Poker Journal – Stud 8 Basic Strategy

Stud 8 is a game of inches, making the slightly better decisions in tight spots then your opponent. When to squeeze value with a raise, when to force a player out, when to get a hand heads up, when to lay down a hand against dangerous boards.

So, cool it with the pre-flop aggression for a moment and see how it feels to make it to 6th street and beyond with these helpful tips from a guy who’s made over $7M this year alone.

More Daniel: Daniel Negreanu’s Not-So-Humble WSOP Earnings Brag

Can’t watch on CBS Sports Network? Watch Episode 2 right here.

Looking for a read to fuel your fire? Check out this recently published trip report from NY Daily News features editor and self-described “hardcore, degenerate, and quite successful gambler,” Chris Baud.

While not being new to poker, he’s a Vegas virgin and as soon as he touches down in Sin City, Baud is ready to get it in the middle. From hanging out with his pal, history-making Melissa Burr, to running it up in the WPT500, Chris’ report of his week in Vegas will make just about any grinder both jealous and eager to get back at it.

Read: Daily News editor heads to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker

Bonus: Chris appears at 2:10 in this Day 4 WSOP recap from Calvin Ayre

So, you say you want to join journalism’s elite of the elite – the poker media.

Well, friend, it’s not all fun and games and statements of sarcasm, it’s not all partying with Daniel Colman and champaign brunches with Kevin MacPhee:

You got it Kev.

No, it’s not all pleasantries. There’s hard work that goes into bringing you stories about the difference between crumpling and crumbling cards and Mikey Matusow's one round penalty. Real hard work. Don’t believe us? We don’t blame you. Maybe you’ll listen to prolific poker writer Steve Ruddock. Steve works for best of the best (well, not the best, holla), bringing you coverage and commentary and in this latest piece he talks with his poker peers in order to 'Pull Back The Curtain on the Poker Media’

[Note: this article resides on Titan Poker, which is looking to sign you up, so if you hate that, don’t click]

Three of the most well-known poker scribes – the bracelet-winning lead reporter for PokerNews, Chad Holloway, the ballsy Lee Davy and the straight-shooting Jennifer Newell – about what it really means to break into the “thankless” job of keeping you up-to-date on the business and bullshit of poker.

Interested in a little extra info on how the poker media works? Read these candid views on how to break in and what you need to do if you want to make it in the jam-packed world of poker reporting.

If you don’t have a percentage of your favorite November Niner, there’s always another way to sweat the World Series of Poker Main Event – place a wager. If you are located in the part of the world where this is allowed, Carbon Sports will be happy to take your action.

Last week, the initial odds for the November Nine came out and there are not too many surprises. Chipleader Jorryt Van Hoof leads the way with his +250 line (meaning that if you bet $100 on the Hoofster to win and he does, you collect $250) and, for the most part the odds decrease right along with the stack sizes. Here’s a full list of the player and the line being given them:

Jorryt van Hoof – +250
Felix Stephensen – +350
Mark Newhouse – +400
Andoni Larrabe – +700
Dan Sindelar – +700
William Pappaconstantinou – +1000
William Tonking – +1200
Martin Jacobson – +750
Bruno Politano – +1500

F5Poker Trading Cards – The Entire World Series of Poker November Nine*

As you can see, the major exception is for Martin Jacobson, his 8th place stack is commanding, essentially, 4th place odds.

For some additional analysis of these wagers check out this article from our guy David Huber over at pokerfuse which breaks down some of the odds-to-chips discrepancies of the final table.

Read: Odds to Win the World Series of Poker Main Event Released for November Nine

Everybody knows that 13-time WSOP Champion Phil Hellmuth loves to name drop. But this weekend, while in Michigan celebrating his 50th birthday, when he mentioned that he got bit by a “pitbull” – he wasn’t talking about the oft-criticized, thin mustachioed latin rapper – he meant he got bit by a real pitbull.

The Brat went toe-to-toe (or shin to mouth rather) with the pup and got a puncture wound for his troubles so the next time you see Hellmuth foaming at the mouth over some random bad beat, now you’ll know why.

More Hellmuth: Hellmuth andl Negreanu Are Seeing Stars

Two masked gunmen, armed with rifles, infiltrated an invite only Houston area private game this past Thursday night, endng in the shooting death of participating player, 45-year old business man Donald Leonetti.

The high-stakes game was robbed for somewhere between $7,000-$8,000 and, in addition to the tragic death of Leonetti, 56-year old organizer of the game, Charles Olsen was also wounded by a bullet.

According to KHOU.com, there were somewhere between 14-19 people playing in the unmarked office location. Police have not yet ruled out this crime being an “inside job.”

Currently, police do not have any suspects in custody.

More: Poker Heist Gone Wrong Becomes A Family Affair

This isn’t the most exciting thing you’ll see today, but it’s a small glimpse into what it means to be tight bros with the current #2 ranked tennis pro, Rafa Nadal.

In addition to being a top tier tennis god, Nadal is also an amateur poker player sponsored by PokerStars and, as we’ve seen in the past, he loves to prey upon his non poker playing pals. In this short clip, Rafa grills by the pool and then challenges his crew to some NLHE where if you bust first – you gotta flop in the pool with your clothes on.

Check it.

More Nadal: Rafa Nadal Gets Served In Heads-Up Match v. Selbst

“Getting new people into the game at a $10,000 buy-in level is harder than it’s ever been.” – Seth Palansky

There’s a good chance you’re officially “over” the 2014 World Series of Poker. It’s a long summer and once the November Nine has been set and the industry takes a week breather, most players and fans are ready for something different.

But, before you move on we want to share this article that appeared in the Casino City Times by Vin Narayanan (aka @casinocityvin). In it, Vin talks about the health and longevity of both the biggest tournament of the year, The WSOP Main Event, as well as the growth of poker in general and how promising big money in a $10K is probably a marketing strategy that needs a little tweaking.

Registration was up at this year’s Main Event, but whether the $10 million guarantee can generate consistent growth is an open question.

The Main Event fields are too strong and too competitive for an amateur player to plunk down a few bucks in a satellite and win $10 million. And everyone knows it. The last time we had a “true” amateur at the final table was Darvin Moon in 2009.

So, if it’s not the promise of hitting the motherload, how can the WSOP get people from watching the Main Event on the couch to participating in it in person? Vin thinks that we tell it like it is – the Main Event is the ultimate poker experience, win or lose and it is something you just have to do before you die.

Not only is it a compelling article which talks about the longevity of the Main Event, there’s some pretty interesting information on why there’s probably NOT a new poker boom coming right around the corner to save it.

Check it out: Main Event needs new identity to attract new players

In case you missed their debut on CBS Sport Network a couple weeks ago, you can now check out the premiere episode of the new televised poker series.

If playing in this cash game looks like fun, and you have the poker acumen and personality to pull off playing in this game, you can always apply to be a part of it yourself.

Read: Poker Night In America Casting, Yet Again, For Televised High-Stakes Cash Game