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Money money money. It makes the world go round. Without it there would be no trees or air, all pigs would immediately expire, and tomatoes would turn blue. I think that’s right. Anyway, if you’re a fan of money, keep your eyes glued to this webpage because there’s a lot it floating about.

Worldwide Gambling Bonanza

Every click, stick, twist, and spin from last year has been totalled up and the results are in. The planet Earth generated $419 billion in gambling revenue, according to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants. Poker, in particular the online variety, makes up a very small component of that figure, but I don’t think it would be going out on a limb to suggest that the U.S. getting their regulatory act together might nudge it further up the list. [OnlinePoker.net]

UK Investors in for Full Tilt

After riding into the breach on a white stallion, Groupe Bernard Tapie appear to have stopped for a picnic. In case they decide to stay where they are and play Frisbee for a while, a UK private equity firm is poised to purchase Full Tilt’s old poker software. Please note, that means only the software and nothing else. They have no interest in reopening Full Tilt and are very unlikely to cover the site’s debts. That said, you would hope that the $35 million estimated price for the client would filter back into the pockets of jilted Full Tilt customers. I’m sure we can totally trust them, right? [Gaming Awards]

WSOPE 2012 Unveils Itself

I am still seething from when Caesars’ cruelly ripped the World Series of Poker Europe from my beloved London and gave it to the French, of all people. As difficult as it is to believe, the Gauls apparently did a good job last year. At any rate, the event is heading back to Cannes from September 21 to October 4 at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière. There will be seven bracelet events in total, including the €10,450 Main Event. [ESPN]

Haxton vs. Isildur

I think these SuperStar Showdown things are really good fun. For the most part, internet sensation Viktor “Isildur1” Blom has outmatched the gamut of famous grinders laid before him, but this weekend’s re-match features one of his few failures. Isaac Haxton, him of the stylish glasses and funny voice, will be sitting down to play four tables of $50/$100 NLHE this Sunday. [Card Player]

Shuffle Master Buys OnGame

Failed Transformer ShuffleMaster has decided to dip his toe into the world of online gambling by purchasing the vacant OnGame network. What? Oh, apparently Shuffle Master make card shuffling machines. Anyway, since forming their unholy union last year, bwin.party have been trying hard to offload their spare network. They’ve finally managed to shift it in a deal worth €19.5 million, plus an extra €10 million if online gambling is legalized in the U.S. within 5 years. [Poker News]

Keeping it Illegal in Asia

China is well on its way to becoming the world’s largest economy and even if gambling isn’t an explicit part of their financial system, it has built itself a huge underground following. Global Betting and Gaming Consultants estimate that illegal gambling in the country is worth $15bn to $18bn. [Intergame Online]

Meanwhile in Indonesia, gambling online means risking a lot more than your bankroll. Under the infamously harsh Sharia law, those caught wagering can be whipped up to 100 times. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Mafia bosses, accustomed to taking a big cut of all illicit gambling in the country, are putting pressure on online sites to shut down their operations. [Gaming Zion]

Phew, that was a big one. I’m going to lie down until next week.

Not sure what the 3N means. All I can figure is maybe he’s trying to say “Broadwayin’”?

Seen in the WSOP-valet lot at the Rio:

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“Gave myself a great chance to win today. Should be proud, but instead I feel absolutely horrible.”

That was a Twitter update from UB.com‘s Phil Hellmuth moments after he took seventh place in Event #41 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a $1,500 Omaha Hi/Low Eight or Better tournament this week. Hellmuth fell just short of capturing his 12th bracelet – which would have been his first in a non-Hold’em event – and silencing the haters who were on hand mocking and booing him during Thursday’s final table.

But it wasn’t meant to be for the 11-time bracelet winner. Hellmuth held on for dear life with a short stack for most of the day and eventually went down at the hands of John Gottleib, whose Ah-Ad-Qh-8c bested Hellmuth’s As-Th-3c-2h after all of the chips went in pre-flop. As usual, Hellmuth showed emotion after his elimination, but was gracious in defeat, shaking the hands of the six remaining players before he exited the ESPN final able arena.

Despite the regular criticism from his peers about his game, Hellmuth continues to make deep runs in events with large fields. Earlier this month, he took 15th in Event #8, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament that drew 2,341 entrants. His other cash of the series was a 50th place result in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Event, which attracted 792 of the top tournament players on the planet.

Hellmuth has also had a large degree of success on the World Poker Tour (WPT) this year, taking sixth place in the Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose in April. A month later, he finished seventh at the $25,000 Five Star Classic at the Bellagio, barely missing out on the televised final table. Those two scores accounted for more than $270,000, pushing his lifetime earnings over $9,000,000. Hellmuth has also cashed in the WSOP Main Event each of the past two years, taking 45th in 2008 ($154,400) and 436th in 2009 ($25,027).

He hasn’t won a tournament in three years, but his accomplishments on the live scene are still more impressive than most of his naysayers. Hellmuth has seven final table appearances on the circuit since 2008. Meanwhile, Full Tilt pro and friend Mike Matusow, who is always first in line to take a jab at Hellmuth, has made only three final tables during that time span. Hellmuth is also clobbered daily by forum members across the world, most of whom have never played a high-stakes tournament in their life.

His antics remain questionable at times, but Hellmuth’s unorthodox style has earned him enough success to label him among the top No Limit Hold’em tournament players in the game still today. Poker News Daily will be on the scene should Hellmuth make another deep run during the remaining weeks of the 2010 World Series of Poker.

As of this writing, the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a little over half over.  As for me, I’ve played in six events and will probably play another six or so.  To date, I have one cash – a 10th place finish in the $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better tournament – for nearly $35,000 and that puts me in the plus column at the WSOP by about $10,000.  Ironically, the two guys who knocked me out in the two $10,000 buy-in events I played in went on to win bracelets!  Congratulations to Frank Kassela, who won the $10,000 Eight or Better Stud tournament, and Sammy Farha, who captured the $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better bracelet.  Obviously, they took good care of my chips.

I live in California now, so I’m commuting back and forth to the WSOP this year.  I’m taking this week off to relax and spend time with my son, Ty (22 months old).  I love being with him and want to spend Father’s Day at home.  I’ll get back to the WSOP on Tuesday, June 22nd.

As for my upcoming schedule, I’m going to play in two Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better tournaments this week and then next Sunday (June 27th), I’ll play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions. I’ll probably play in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament as well as two or three more events in addition to the Main Event.

I’m excited about the WSOP Tournament of Champions (a $1,000,000 freeroll for 27 players) because it’s where I have an opportunity to defend my title!  I won this event in 2006, the last time it was played.  I look forward to finally getting a chance to defend my title.

The WSOP Tournament of Champions is supposedly poker’s All-Star event.  It is a made-for-television event that is guaranteed to have an amazing final table.  The three former WSOP Tournament of Champions winners (Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and myself) were awarded exemptions as well as the reigning WSOP champion, Joe Cada, and WSOP European, champion Barry Shulman.  Two qualifiers, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and Andrew Barton, are in, as are 20 players voted in by the public.

They announced the 20 top vote getters for the WSOP Tournament of Champions this week and there were virtually no changes from the first ballot that was publicized a couple of months ago.  Here is the list of players (in order of finish) that were voted into the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Huck Seed, Dan Harrington, T.J. Cloutier, Sammy Farha, Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, and Antonio Esfandiari.

I congratulate the 20 players that were voted in, but honestly, I feel that a couple of deserving people were left off the list.  Two guys that I feel should be in that aren’t are Carlos Mortensen and David Chiu.  Mortensen is a multiple WSOP bracelet winner and a two-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion.  He’s also the only player in the world who has won the Main Event at the WSOP and the Main Event of the World Poker Tour – a feat we may not see duplicated in our lifetime.

Chiu has won four WSOP bracelets and, like Mortensen, has a WPT World Championship title to his credit.  In addition, and perhaps most significant to this event, is that Chiu won the inaugural Tournament of Champions in 1999 (an event that I created).  Another player I believe deserves to play in the WSOP Tournament of Champions is Poker Hall of Famer and seven-time bracelet champion Billy Baxter.

I know some internet pros and young players feel slighted that none of them were voted into this event.  Even “if” they are better players than a number of players voted in – which I don’t disagree with – I don’t feel they deserve to be in poker’s All-Star game just yet.  They need to pay their dues over time and let their credentials speak for them.  In time, they’ll get their chance to play in this prestigious event.

There is a lot of buzz at the WSOP about the side bets a number of the top pros have on winning bracelets, cross-booking each other, etc.  I think these bets create an exciting atmosphere.  I’m also guessing that WSOP officials are happy about them because it gets the top players to literally play every event on the schedule.  And any time you have Phil Ivey and other top players playing in all of your tournaments, you have to love it.

I was pretty much exhausted and drained after playing in only a half-dozen events and am enjoying a little R & R.  I know how tough it is to play in all of the tournaments like a number of players are doing.  Those guys (and a few gals) are playing multiple events every day and are up until 3:00am many nights – and take it from me, it’s a grind.  It’s not easy to cash, let alone win, at the WSOP.

Playing 12-hour days so many days in a row is brutal on your body.   It also gets very cold in there in the wee hours in the morning.  I salute all those who play so many events and wish them luck in their quest to add to their bracelet count.

Let me take a moment to pay tribute to the foreign players and how well they do at the WSOP.  England is having its best WSOP ever and those Russians are really tough.  Although outnumbered significantly, there seems to be a number of them that show up in the money in every event!

I’ve been coming to the WSOP since 1984 and I can assure you that overall, the competition is much tougher today than yesteryear.  There are so many terrific young players as well as good foreign players out there.  Anyone who plays at the WSOP and goes home with a profit should be proud of themselves.  And to those lucky enough to win a bracelet, pat yourself on the back and enjoy it.  Trust me, they’re not easy to get.

Ask yourself which is more difficult: the ascent to the top of the poker world or the ascent to the top of the literal world. Sounds like a coinflip proposition to me. PokerStars has other ideas.

Today, PokerStars announced it will send of its players on a trip to Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

The climb to Everest’s summit has long stood as one of mankind’s greatest adventures and trials. PokerStars is sponsoring an Everest ascent by Patagonian Brothers Damien and Willie Benegas. Whoever wins the PokerStars Conquer Everest promotion will go along for the the trip (or, in actuality, to the base camp in the foothills of the Himalayas).

And because this is a PokerStars trip, there’s bound to be some cards played along the way. The two brothers intend to play poker on their journey, including at the top of the world (insert “high stakes” joke here).

The brothers will also be playing for charity, raising money for a foundation that works to keep Everest litter-free. PokerStars will be donating $5,000 to the foundation.

If you’d like your chance to see Everest up close, PokerStars will be holding a $1.10 tournament at 18.00 ET on May 30, 2010. The winner will be off to the Everest base camp see the sheer scale of the mountain themselves, and to play a few hands of poker with the Patagonian brothers.

Good luck.

And bring some oxygen.

For more details, check the Conquer Everest promotion page.