Toys For Tots $10,000 Candy Canes of Cash Free Slot Tournament: First place wins $5,000 in cash. Bring a new unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. If the winner donated a toy, the Isle will also donate an additional $5,000 to Toys for Tots. IsleOne members who bring a new unwrapped toy to the tournament area will get a second chance round in the tournament. Noon to 6 p.m. Dec. 7.

Cool $25,000 Sweepstakes: 4-8 p.m. Dec. 14. Win up to $15,000 Cash and 10,000 in IslePlay. Five winners will receive $500 in IslePlay each at 4, 5, 6 and 7 p.m. One grand prize winner takes home $15,000 cash at 8 p.m.

Audi A5 and $10,000 IslePlay Giveaway 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. Dec. 26.
Win an Audi A5 and a share of $10,000 in IslePlay. Ten winners receive $500 in Isleplay at 6 and 8 p.m. At 10 p.m., the grand prize winner of an Audi A5 will be selected.

New Year’s Day Sweepstakes: 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Jan. 1. Win up to $50,000 in Cash and IslePlay. At 4, 5, 6 and 7 p.m, 10 winners will each receive $1,000 in cash. One grand prize winner of $10,000 cash will be selected at 9 p.m. The casino will open at 9 a.m. Dec. 31 and stay open until 3 a.m. Jan. 2

New member promotions: $25 in free play at time of signup in December.

Football frenzy: Pick the winners of every Sunday game and the winner and final score of Monday night game on any given week and win $10,000 cash.

Free Slot Tournaments: Noon – 8 p.m. Tuesdays in December: Top scorer wins $1,000 in IslePlay.

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Seems like some
legislators are softening on their stance regarding Florida and the compact between the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida.

The reason? Tighter state budgets.

Boy, this is complicated. Any thoughts on what our legislature should do?

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Gulfstream in Hallandale Beach is holding a $25,000 slot tournament at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Entry is $75.

Players will spin for five minutes, and the top 100 players receive cash. First prize is $10,000, second is $2,000 on through places 51 through 100, which pay $75.

Call 954-454-7000.

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This from John Tanasychuk over at Sup:

To kick off its new Chef’s Table dining option at the Fresh Harvest Restaurant, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek is bringing in something called Dinner in the Sky on Dec. 5 and 6. Twenty-two guests are strapped into leather seats that surround a dining table. A crane then lifts the entire table up 180 feet. Service staff, secured with harnesses, work from the center of the table.

Dinner in the Sky was developed in Belgium in 2006 and is now in 16 countries. It first came to the United States in July.

High rolling guests can pay $500 for the experience.

John has a YouTube video over at his Sup site.

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Steve Bourie of Dania Beach, in addition to being my video poker expert, is the man when it comes to knowing casinos.

His annual American Casino Guide hit bookstores this month, giving us info on what's where and how to get there.

Plus, it has coupons and tips on gambling.

This story made our Showtime print section on Friday.

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Blog issues: They're working on it

If you're tried to click on some of the links and the 'continue reading' portions of some of these posts, you might be getting a dead link.

Frustrated? So am I.

Our tech support is working on it. Meanwhile, I'll just post in full on the front page; you'll have to scroll more between items but at least you can read everything I wrote.

Sorry.

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Anatoliy Ayzenshtat (pictured below, with Dan Le Batard and tournament director Chris Maxfield of Dania Jai-Alai) of Hollywood won the November Dan Le Batard Celebrity Poker Tournament Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, I got caught up in a bidding war. And, lacking a microphone, I lost.

It was 50-50-50 night: 50-cent beers, hot dogs and sodas. 790 The Ticket executive producer Marc Hochman (in left of hot dog picture, with 790's Mike Ryan) started things by buying 10 random people hot dogs. Five bucks. Big spender. OK. Cheers all around.

I up it to 20 sodas. Ten bucks. Get the SunSentinel name out there, hyphen or no hyphen. More cheers.

So, Hoch repeats over the microphone that the host, Dan LeBatard, tells me to 'Shove those sodas up your a---, I'm buying 40 beers.' Card room explodes in applause.

I'd like to have countered with 20 more sodas to match. I'll yield the beer clientele to LeBatard, because if you like that guy you REALLY need to drink. But Hoch was nowhere to be found with the microphone. And I had a good run of cards so I didn't want to stray from the table.

But note to Hoch: I have a countermove already planned, for next tournament, that might take the room. If you're around with the mic.

(Also, yes, I walked over and tipped the servers for shlepping 20 sodas they otherwise would have sold. I didn't ask if Dan did. And I bought food and drink for the table as soon as the cards starting flying.)

Meanwhile, I learned another poker lesson:

I had about 10,000 in chips midway in at a table where people were going all-in with, like queen-7. I had ace-8 suited in late position and limped. Big blind goes all-in.

I call and my read was correct: he didn't have anything. I think it was King-7. So I'm ahead.
But lose the race.

Now, thinking back, I realize maybe you don't just take on a big pot by being 'ahead.' I should have been more patient. Agree or disagree?

More, from the Dania press release:

The Tuesday night tournament, usually played monthly on Wednesdays, drew 231 Hold’em fans paying $50 to enter.

"This tournament continues to be the most popular poker event going in South Florida because of the efforts of Dan and the other on-air guys from the station," said Marty Fleischman, assistant general manager of Dania.

"It is like a 4-hour party, with the celebs like Nick Sortal (OK, I added that part) buying from hot dogs to beers for entire tables, prize drawings throughout the night, and a let’s not forget the big prize money,” Fleischman said.

Dania Jai-Alai’s Cardroom is open Sundays through Thursdays from noon to midnight, Friday and Saturdays from noon to 3 am (or later).

The fronton is located at 301 E. Dania Beach Blvd in Dania Beach. They also have a high-definition TV promotion going on for those who log the most time in November.

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The Isle is going to themed buffets at dinner. Cost is $17.99 per person, except where noted.

The schedule:

Sunday: Traditional favorites;
Monday: Steak and shrimp ($15.95);
Tuesday: Tour of Italy;
Wednesday: Good Home Cookin’;
Thursday: Local Flavors with a Latin Flair;
Friday-Saturday: Seafood Fare ($23.99).

Hours are 4:30-9 p.m. weeknights, 4:30-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call 1-800-843-4753.

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Slot revenue is bouncing back.

The three Broward racinos is up $1 million this month, taking in $16.1 million in October. The casinos reported $15.1 million in revenue in September, their lowest since all three were open in April 2007.

They cited the economy and that people had less to spend.

In October, Gulfstream took in $3.3 million via slots (up from $2.7 million in September), Mardi Gras $5.2 million (up from $5 million) and the Isle $7.6 million (compared to $7.4 million).

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The monthly Dan LeBatard 790 The Ticket poker tournament at Dania Jai-Alai is Tuesday and carries a "50-50" theme: hot dogs, beer, soda, ice cream and even exotic bets are 50 cents.

Meanwhile, the 8 p.m. tournament is $50.

The fronton is also offering five TVs to its top point-earners.

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Under the cover of pre-dawn darkness, the Seminole Tribe quietly launched blackjack and other table games at its Tampa Hard Rock location on Thursday. The tribe expanded table games to a second location despite an ongoing legal battle over the validity of a gambling compact with the state.

The big question for South Florida: Will the Seminoles soon expand table games to their Coconut Creek and old Hollywood (a/k/a Seminole Classic) casinos?

To read more, go to my full blog entry at Mayo on the Side here.

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Gulfstream has a $25,000 slot tournament, a "food and fuel" promotion, a car giveaway and other promotions in November.

Among the promotions:

$25,000 Turkey Slot Tournament: The tournament is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 29. Early bird (get it?) sign up is $50 through Nov. 21. After that it's $75. Participants spin for five minutes. The top 100 get prizes, with $10,000 for first, $2,000 for second, down to $75 for places 51 through 100.

Food & Fuel Giveaway: Beginning at 10 a.m. on each Friday, when players reach 50 points on their players club card they will be able to choose a $25 Publix Gift card or $25 BP Gas card. They can earn an additional card with another 50 points.

The car giveaway is at 9 p.m. Nov. 23. It's a Lexus ES350.

Digital Camera Hot Seat: On Nov. 15, one player will be selected every 20 minute between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. to recieve a free digital camera.

$55 Free Play Tuesdays: The casino will give away $55 in free play every 20 minutes to patrons 55 and older. Also, seniors who visit the casino on Tuesdays and earn five points in play will receive $10 in free play.

$500 Every 20 Thursdays: One player will be selected every 20 minutes between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. to win $500.

Friday Free for All Slot Tournament: Noon-4 p.m. Nov. 14, 21, 28.

For all promotions, those selected come from the casino's Players Club, which is free to enter.

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There might be an older poker player somewhere in South Florida, but there aren’t many more dedicated than Teddy Mass.

Mass, of Weston, usually plays seven nights a week in the All In Free Poker league.

He turned 95 Tuesday. His poker pals from the league celebrated with cakes and small gifts twice: Sunday at Ye Olde Falcon Pub in Davie and Monday at Roy’s Sports Bar in Margate.
Mass also squeezes in trips to Gulfstream, the Isle, Mardi Gras and the Seminole Hard Rock to play the slots.

“What else am I going to do?” he asks? “Watch TV?

Mass grew up in New York City’s lower east side, graduated from New York University in 1934 and became a civil engineer. He and his wife moved into the Bonaventure neighborhood in 1986.

She died three years ago.

Mass broke his foot about three years ago on a cruise; the foot didn’t set properly, so he now needs a wheelchair. A driver and two helpers take care of him — although he still has a valid driver’s license.

“He’s constantly on the go. I can’t keep up with him,” his daughter, Michelle Mass says.

Bar poker leagues don’t involve money and run on points: the more you play and the better you do, the higher up the standings you go. Mass recently was No. 1 in the league, which has more than 500 players. He’s since slipped to 22nd, saying that he bluffs too much — because, after all, it’s free poker.

“Poker is what’s keeping Teddy as young as he is,” says Tom Dippel of Coral Springs, who Mass telephones daily to talk poker. They met playing bar poker about three years ago; he's the guy in the picture in the loud shirt.

“He’s just a lot of fun,” Dippel, 55, says. “It doesn’t matter if he’s 19, 59 or 95.”

“I’ve made some good friends playing here,” Mass says. “When you get old, you have no friends your age. Either they’re dead or they don’t remember you.”

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If you're planning on watching the World Series of Poker show tonight, click away quickly...

Peter Eastgate became the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker, taking down Ivan Demidov about an hour ago, at 2:42 a.m. Las Vegas time.

The Dane won $9.1 million, winning with an Ace-through-5 straight against Demidov's two pair, twos and fours. (I'm leaving their pictures off in case to avoid a visual spoiler.)

ESPN is doing a quick live-to-tape edit today; looks like they'll have about 14 hours to get this portion done. The final table ended early Monday morning, and that airs at 9 p.m.; the final two airs at 10 p.m. A preview show airs at 8.

Dennis Phillips, the chip leader going in, finished third. David Chino Rheem got knocked out in seventh, which I posted about earlier.

More info at www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

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The Seminole Casino Coconut Creek wraps up its Oil well giveaway, and has other promotions for November.

The Black Gold promotion runs through Nov. 22. Players get a share of Black Gold, Inc., stock for each 1,000 points they earn in a day.

MONDAYS: SWIPE & SCORE – 5-9 p.m. Nov. 10, 17, 24. Swipe Player’s Club
card & win up to $1,000 cash.

TUESDAYS: SWIPE & SCORE BOUNCEBACK – Nov. 11, 18 and 25. Redeem Swipe &
Score winning tickets from Monday night.

WEDNESDAYS: BLACK GOLD GIVEAWAY – Nov. 12 and 19. 10 a.m.- 10 p.m. Win part of $35,000 or a chance to win your own oil well. The first 1,000 players to earn 100 points receive one scratch-off card. One scratch card per person.

FRIDAYS: BLACK GOLD HOT SEAT – Nov. 14, 21 and 28. 100 tanks of gas will be given away throughout the day (while supplies last).

SATURDAY: BLACK GOLD GIVEAWAY – Nov. 15. 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Twenty-five guests (5 names drawn every hour) play the Oil Tycoon Game for a chance to win their share of $30,000.

SATURDAY: BLACK GOLD GIVEAWAY FINALE – 8 p.m. Nov. 22 in the tent. Qualifiers from Wednesday & Saturday return to play Black Gold Rush for a chance to win their own oil well.

Nov. 23: BLACK GOLD $25K GUARANTEED CASH GIVEAWAY – 2pm-6pm. Paper Ticket Drawing
2pm - ( 5) $1,000 winner
3pm - (10) $ 500 winners
4pm - (10) $ 500 winners
5pm - (10) $ 500 winners
6pm - ( 1) $5,000 winner

Nov. 25: BLACK GOLD SLOT TOURNAMENT

Nov. 26-28: SHOP IN STYLE (Paper Ticket Drawing)

Wednesday, November 26th: 8pm & 10pm. (5) $1,000 winners plus His & Hers Segways
Thursday, November 27th. 8pm & 10pm (5) $1,000 + (1) $10,000 winners
Friday, November 28th. 8pm & 10pm (5) $1,000 winners plus car (Mercedes)

Nov. 28: $20K COCO LOTTO: Every 1,000 points redeemed gets one entry into the 8 p.m. $20,000 drawing

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David "Chino" Rheem, who learned his poker here in South Florida, busted out at 8:30 EST and finished in seventh place in the World Series of Poker.

He'll take home $1.7 million. He's a former player at the Seminole Casino Hollywood and other spots, as well as a dealer.

You can follow the WSOP hand-by-hand on www.WorldSeriesOfPoker.com. Chino, who started with about 10 million chips, and he went all-in with about 4 million chips and lost.

And it was an ugly beat: He went all-in with Ace-King; Peter Eastgate called from the small blind with Ace-Queen. Guess what hit the board... Ouch.

That said, he doubled up just before from 2.7 million with Ace-King, hitting a King on the turn to beat Ivan Demidov's 9-9.

Chip leader Dennis Phillips slipped from 24 million to about 10 million, but as of 8:30 Sunday night EST, he built it back up to 21 million or so.

The event is being taped to be shown Tuesday night on ESPN.

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World Series of Poker Norman Chad is employed a.) to analyze poker, which isn't that hard because the cards are right there in front of all of us; and b.) to entertain, which is hard because you gotta think of stuff to say and be creative (which in the preceding phrase I was not).

So below is his take on the November Nine in the World Series:

Meanwhile, Casino City Times explains the machinations ESPN is facing.

Kelly Kim: Has to feel like he's on a free roll - he was the short stack when they got down to 10 players - but that doesn't mean he'll play recklessly. In fact, with a big gallery of friends and family on hand, he'll probably play it snug - you don't wait 117 days and bring all your supporters into town to go bust in 15 minutes.

Craig Marquis: He played smart, small-pot poker to get here. I like him because he stood up to Tiffany Michelle late in the Main Event. And I like him because he started playing in January 2007 after going to a New Year's Eve party and realizing how much money Tom Dwan and David Benefield were making at cards - on New Year's Eve, most people just get silly and make stupid resolutions.

David Rheem: He could go out first or he could end up first. He's not afraid to mix it up, he goes with his reads and he'll risk it all early if the spot feels right. Even when he bluffs off most of his stack, he has a great ability to not let the moment destroy him - he'll brush it off and move on. And, of course, most of the established pros are rooting for him.

Darus Suharto: At 39, the second-oldest player left in the field, which speaks to the youthful state of no-limit tournament hold 'em in 2008. He's quiet, respectful and a big fan of fellow Canadian Daniel Negreanu. Plus, he's a CPA - the last time an unknown accountant won the Main Event, it set off a poker boom; nobody would mind a second boom, or at least a boomlet.

Ylon Schwartz: He once was a top-flight chess player. I give him a point for that. He says if he wins the Main Event, he wants to go somewhere no one will find him "like Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption." He gets another point there. He's smart and strange - you've got to fear the smart, strange ones - and he'll wait for others to make mistakes at the table.

Peter Eastgate: Ah, to be young, fearless and playing for $9.1 million. In Europe, the poker community talks about uber-aggressive Scandinavian players like Eastgate. He is calm and icy at the table as he continues to shove big bets into the middle. Like many online young guns, his modus operandi is to keep putting opponents to tough decisions for most of their chips. Pressure, pressure, pressure. It seems to work.

Scott Montgomery: Another improbable product of the now-famed University of Waterloo poker factory in Canada - if it's such a good engineering school, how come everyone there is playing cards? Montgomery describes his playing style as "psychotically insane," and that might be an understatement. He doesn't play position, he plays preposterously. He can't help getting all his money in with the worst of it, and he's forever good-natured about it.

Ivan Demidov: Here's a calendar-year feat for you: Making the WSOP Main Event final table and the WSOP Europe Main Event final table. That's a stunning double. In recent years, Russians are making a bigger impact in poker. Demidov is seldom recklessly aggressive like other twenty-somethings; rather, he's smart and measured and overcomes his lack of live tournament experience with a steady countenance and solid reads.

Dennis Phillips: Perhaps no player could be more negatively affected by the 117-day final-table delay. When play was halted in July, Phillips was in a zone. He was running hot and reading well, getting all the right cards and pushing all the right buttons. Poker is a streaky game, and he was on a week-long streak. Heck, 3 ½ months later, he might not even be able to find his St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap.

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The Palm Beach Kennel Club has the following promotions for November:

25k Guaranteed Tournament: The kennel club will give away 300 tickets, valued at $100 each, to this event. They'll give one per hour per day for 10 hours, awarded on the basis of the highest hand for that hour.

Then, after Nov. 20, the club will give away two tickets per hour on Nov. 21-25 for a total of 300. The tickets will be awarded to the two highest hands for that hour.

$20,000 Thanksgiving Thanks for playing promo: On Nov. 29, the club will award every player who holds four of a kind or better using at least one card from their hand the following amounts: $300 for a four of a kind and $500 for any straight flush. The cash giveaways stop if the club reaches $20,000, promoters say.

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The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling reports a jump in poker calls to its helpline in October.

In October 2007, calls were more than 2-to-1 related to slots, the council's Pat Fowler said. This year, it was 50-50.

"With only 7 percent stating internet as the place of gambling, the increase cannot be attributed to online gambling," she said. "It's most likely due to increased opportunities at pari-mutuels and casinos with increased betting limits and tournament play in the state."

For gambling help, contact the council at www.gamblinghelp.org.

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The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's "License to Win" promotion in November includes 40 shots at $100,000 and one at $1,000,000, plus six tries at an Aston Martin DB 9 Volante, the car James Bond himself uses.*

The casino's “Crack the Code” promotion consists of prizes of from $250 up to $100,000 awarded four times a day at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesdays (5, 12, 19 and 26), Thursdays (6, 13 and 20) and Fridays (7, 14 and 21). Players must pick five "Hard Rock" logos from 10 choices in order to get the $100,000.

The grand finale is Nov. 28, with a chance to win up to $100,000 at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. with $1,000,000 up for grabs at 8 p.m.

At 9 p.m. Tuesdays (4, 11and 25) and Sundays (9, 16 and 23) the casino tries to give away an Aston Martin DB 9 Volante. Participants must match two logos from 15 possibilities. Additional cash drawings are 5 – 8 p.m.

* -- Well, Bond is actually a fictional person. So the Aston Martin is the kind the Bond character uses in the movies. Just clarifying.

Once, at Disney World, my wife suggested we eat at the pasta place in the front of the grounds, "where Lady and the Tramp ate," she said. I had to gently tell her the two dogs were fictional characters.

Meanwhile, the casino's free “King of the Rock” Slot Tournament continues on Mondays through Nov. 10. It's free for Player’s Club members and registration begins at 3 p.m. in the alcove across from the Hard Rock Cafe. Sessions start at 4 p.m. and occur every 20 minutes with the final sessions commencing at 8 p.m. Prizes are awarded to the top three overall weekly scores; first place: $1,000 cash, second place: $750 cash, and third place: $500 cash. Grand prizes are awarded at the conclusion of the final tournament and paid out to the top 25 overall scores.

Player’s Club members 55 and over are eligible to join the Classic Rockers and participate in free slot tournaments on Tuesdays (4, 11, 18 and 25) from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Non-smoking room. Twenty-minute sessions will be held with five minutes of play for up to 250 people. Cash and free-machine play prizes awarded to the top five overall scores per session.

And after the concerts on Nov. 9 and 18, the casino gives away $1,000 in free slot play to three people each night at 11 p.m. To enter, players must swipe their Player’s Club card from 5 p.m. – 10:45 p.m. on concert days.

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The Seminole Casino Hollywood, the old bingo hall just south of the Hard Rock, is having possibly its biggest promotion ever: 26 Mustangs in 26 days.

It runs from Nov. 5 (Wednesday) through Nov. 30.

Nightly drawings are at 9 p.m. Ten names will be drawn, with one person winning and the nine others getting $500 in free play. Patrons can earn drawing entries daily from noon to 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, the casino will also offer a "$100,000 Suitcase of Cash" on Saturdays. Drawings will be held at 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The winner will be escorted to the promo wall where he or she will choose one suitcase. Inside the suitcase there is anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000.

Seminole Hollywood also will have "Free Play Fortune" every 20 minutes from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursdays. Three guests will win $300 free play at every drawing. That’s 84 winners daily.

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If you're reading this blog you probably owe Henry Orenstein a great debt. Go with me here...

Orenstein, the man who patented the idea of showing hole cards in poker to television audiences, will be enshrined in the Poker Hall of Fame at the World Series of Poker main event Saturday in Las Vegas.

If it weren't for Orenstein, how many of us would be watching poker on TV? How many of us would then be playing poker? (Tell the truth.) How many gambling writers (Mirror, meet Nick. Nick, meet mirror.) would even be in existence if it weren't for the popularity of Texas Hold 'em? Bottom line: Wendy's would have at least one more employee. Me.

Trivia: Orenstein, of Verona, N.J., also created “Transformers” toys.

Three-time bracelet winner Duane “Dewey” Tomko also will be honored for his 35-year participation streak in the Texas Hold ’em main event. The former kindergarten teacher has $2.6 million in winnings in the poker series.

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