Baron's Poker Blog

The World Series of Poker is know for creating superstars in the world of poker, and the 2006 WSOP is no exception. This year's WSOP thrown 21 year old Jeff Madsen hign into the spotlight.

Madsen became the youngest player ever to win a bracelet. He didn't just win a bracelet, however, he won two - and made it to 4 final tables in three different games.

Riding his recens success, Madsen has signed up as a pro with Full Tilt Poker, as well as being picked up by Poker Royalty, the talent agency that represents great poker players, such as Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu.

Not to be left out, late-night talk shows are clammoring to have the young poker player grace their stages. Jay Leno and David Letterman have invited Jeff Madsen to make appearances on their popular shows.

Certainly Jeff's success will keep other young poker players dreaming of riches themselves. Winning $1.5 million and achieving overnight fame is a dream many amateur poker players share.

Absolute poker is currently developing a new site - AP Lady, where the focus is on women poker players. AP Lady hopes to become a large community of women poker players, and they are even throwing in some Blackjack just to stir the pot.

AP lady will be featuring a lady's lounge. The lounge looks like it's going to be a very popular feature. ASK LACEY – POKER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS resides in the lounge. Lacey is the resident Poker Pro ready to answer your poker questions. Also in the lounge you'll find information about the top 10 women poker players, a Women Poker magazine and Gossip!

I don't know when this site is going to be launched, but I'll be first in line to check it out. You can check it out yourself at AP Lady. Remember, it's still in the development stage so all the features aren't online yet. I'll update when it's live.

I just hear news that Phil Gordon will be leaving the Celebrity Poker Challenge. His contract is up, and he wants to move on and explore other things.

Anybody who has watched the Celebrity Poker tournaments has benefited from Phil's professional commentary on the moves made by the players - I know I've picked up a few tips while watching. He did a great job, and he will be missed. (At least Ken Folley will still be there, peppering dry, technical commentary with humor and punch lines. Sometimes he even manages to be funnier than the celebrity players, who regularly put viewers in stitches.)

But wait, Gordon leaving the show isn't half the news here. Possibly the most interesting thing to come out of Phil's retirement from the Celebrity Poker Challenge is the notorious name being dropped as a possible successor - Phil Hellmuth!

Yes, you hear it right - Phil Hellmuth, the Poker Brat himself, may become Phil Gordon's replacement. In a recent interview with All In, Hellmuth revealed that he is in talks with Celebrity Poker, and it is possible he will become their new poker-pro commentator.

Sweet deal!

If this deal goes through, Celeb Poker is going to be raking in the ratings. Every poker player and their dog would tune in to catch some tips from Phil Hellmuth.

At this week's Bounty Tournament at Doyle's Room Players will be joined by Mike Caro "the Mad Genius of Poker" and WSOP Champs Dewey Tomko and Todd Brunson. It's happening this thursday, Feb. 23rd at 9:00 P.M. EST.

Knock out all three and Doyle's Room will pay you a bounty bonus of $25,000.00. Knock out two, and you'll receive $10,000. Knocking out one Bounty will get you $250.00. If any of the three bounties wins the tournament, everybody gets their money back!



Another handy feature at Doye's Room has to be the huge range of buy-in amounts at their SNG tournaments. You can play in a SNG tournament for buy-ins ranging from $0.10 + .01 all the way up to $2000.00 + $60.00! I think that's the biggest range I've seen in any online poker room.

I'm sitting in one right now that had a buy-in of $.20 + .02! The reason I'm in a tourament that cheap is I've wittled my bankroll down to under a dollar, and, being an addict and a cheap one at that, I want to build it back up without making a deposit! The tournament just ended, and I came in 2nd winning a whopping 67 cents. WooHoo!!

Another thing I like about the tournaments at Doyle's Room are the choice of speeds. They have a ton of regular games, where the blinds increase every 10 minutes, and they also have Speed (faster) and Turbo, where the blinds increase every minute. In turbo, by the time you get to the heads-up stage, the blinds are so high, it's pretty much dump luck that determines the outcome. But it's a rush to play in these fast games.

Poker Cam Girl has a pretty cool site. She's an avid online poker player, although she tends to seek out freerolls! (cheap, eh?).

Poker Baron and Poker Cam Girl are trying to get together a tournament and would love to have you join us. If you're interested in joining us - maybe we can put together a poker league of sorts - go to Poker Cam Girl's Blog, read up and - leave a comment! As soon as enough people show interest, we'll put a tourney together.

Hopefully this can become a regular thing.

Another very cool thing about Poker Cam Girl, is that she is expecting a baby in June! I'm really excited, because the baby will be my granddaughter or grandson.

If you're a woman who plays poker, Chicks 'n' Chips wants to interview you! You don't have to be a world-class player - just a chick who loves the game. Internet players are especially encouraged to contact Deanna Goodson, the editor of Chicks 'n' Chips. She is looking for as many lady players as she can find. She wants to hear your stories.

There's no compensation for your interview but you will be featured at Chicks 'N' Chips and will receive an entry into a special freeroll to be held at the end of May for all interview subjects.

Contact Deanna today at editor (at) chicksnchips.com for more details!