Another Alpha8

Was reminded a couple of days ago about having spent a week in December at the Bellagio just a couple of years ago. Was there helping cover the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic, which I believe was the last time that particular event had Doyle Brunson’s name on the sucker.

There were 639 entries for the $10,400 buy-in event this time around, making the prize pool close to $6.2 million. That’s up from 586 entries and a $5.68 million prize pool last year, and way up from the 449 and $4.36 million prize pool in 2013 when I was there.

Meanwhile there’s a new $100K buy-in WPT Alpha8 tournament starting today, also at the Bellagio. This one kicks off the third season of the Alpha8. A year ago they managed 55 total entries for this same event (including re-entries), the most they ever were able to get for an Alpha8, so it should be interesting to see if they manage to match or exceed that total.

Funny to think how it wasn’t that long ago that a $10K event was something relatively unique, while today even a $100K one fails to register as something all that unique. It’s still an exclusive, “boutique”-type affair, however, as indicated by the small fields and the fact that the player pool tends to be largely the same with each one that takes place.

Showing that event $100K isn’t enough for some anymore, the WPT is in fact putting on a $200,000 super high roller just after the new year as part of the WPT National Philippines Festival in Manila. There was a presser a week or so ago saying they’d already had a dozen players confirmed for the event.

Wonder how many they’ll ultimately draw. One thing for certain -- the player pool will likely include several businessmen and others we haven’t seen on the super high roller player lists before.

Travel Report: WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts 2, Day 2 -- Come Open! Up Here!

Am sitting in the small St. Kitts airport with Vera Valmore as we wait to board the first of two flights that will take us back home. Looks like our first one is delayed a bit, but we’re hopeful of making the connection in time to get home late tonight.

Yesterday saw the World Poker Tour Alpha8 St. Kitts event finish up with Jason Mercier ultimately taking away the trophy and $727,500 first prize. He outlasted a couple of non-pros at the end who claimed the other two cashing spots, Kathy Lehne who finished second (for $436,500) and Tony Guglietti who took third (for $291,000).

I know Lehne is the president and CEO of Sun Coast Resources, one of the nation’s biggest petroleum marketing companies that operates out of Houston. The first woman ever to play in a WPT Alpha8, I think Lehne has a home at St. Kitts not far from where the tournament was played at Christophe Harbour. Don’t know as much about Guglietti’s background, other than he played Alpha8 at St. Kitts when they first went there a year ago and didn’t make it past the first day.

There were some dramatic hands that led to that threesome occupying the final spots. Lehne spiked a four-outer against Olivier Busquet (who’d later bubble in fourth) once to survive, then in hand against Antonio Esfandiari won with A-K versus his pocket queens after a tantalizing 4-3-J-5-2 runout gave her a wheel.

Once Guglietti went out in third, Lehne battled with Mercier for a short while before they took a dinner break, with Mercier chipping up to increase his lead without too much resistance. Then after the break Lehne had a more aggressive approach and in fact had rattled off a streak of hands won before finally losing the last of her stack to the pro.

The weather was glorious for much of the day, with blue skies and warm temps all around. That increased the mosquito count a bit, although we all endured. Later came an afternoon shower, then the weather cleared as night fell. That’s when the whistling tree frogs came out, their squeaky chorus having by the third night become quite familiar to hear.

Got back to the hotel to reunite with Vera who spent the day at the pool, the beach, and exploring elsewhere as well where among the sights she saw was the warm invitation at left for a “Monkey Donkey and Horse Tour.” Despite the enticing exhortations (“Come Open,” “Up Here”), Vera didn’t take the tour, although we did spot a couple of monkeys during our stay, which I heard someone say outnumber the humans by about two-to-one on the island.

With our late flight out today we had a chance to hang out at the pool a bit, which is where Vera snapped the pic of me up top. Was a nice, relaxing finish to a busy, fun few days, made even more so by the friendly folks everywhere we turned while here. A great time, but we’re both anxious now to get back to our four-legged friends on the farm.

Travel Report: WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts 2, Day 1 -- Pants on the Ground

More rapid-fire posting this morning as we’re only about a half-hour away from the start of Day 2 of the WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts here at Christophe Harbour.

It rained fairly heavily yesterday, which scattered the mosquitos but dampened the view a little all around the resort. The tournament provided a lot of fun and interesting moments, though.

There were 11 players total, with a couple re-entering once and Antonio Esfandiari ultimate buying in three times after he was knocked out twice before the cutoff point. Esfandiari’s last re-entry made for an interesting twist as they had gone to a single nine-handed table, then when he returned they had to redraw and go back to two five-handed tables -- as though the tourney was running in reverse.

Esfandiari also provided some grins by going pantsless for most of the day, shedding them early on thanks to the heat. The five non-pros in the field -- Bill Perkins, Talal Shakerchi, Kathy Lehne, Michael Singh, and Tony Guglietti -- additionally made for some fun hands and a lot of enjoyable banter about the tables as the discussions ranged all over the place.

It was fun, too, to witness the large crew of WPT folks pulling together the show again as the tournament progresses. So much creativity all around, and you get the sense that everyone is constantly coming up with new ideas as it goes for ways to shape the program that will later be aired on Fox Sports.

Today the skies are a deep, rich blue and the forecast calls for sun all day, which is making for a nifty view from our perch here as we’ll watch them play down to a winner. Come over to the WPT live updates today to see Joe Giron’s photos of what we’re seeing and to follow the reports as they play down to a winner.

Travel Report: WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts 2, Arrival -- Cruising to the Caribbean

The flights down to St. Kitts were on schedule and without hassle, and Vera and I made it through customs and to our hotel in time to meet a group from the WPT heading out for a scheduled “sunset cruise.”

The drive took us over to Christophe Harbour, where the tournament is scheduled to play out, a long, winding voyage through the green hills and overlooking the lapping ocean waves. Alas by the time we got there the gathering clouds had conspired to produce some precipitation, and after a short while it was decided to scrap the cruise.

All was not lost, however, as we were able to enjoy some finger food and good conversation among those who had come along. Vera and I had fun chatting with Alec Torelli and his wife, with Vera and Alec finding a lot of common ground between dressage and poker. Both have a keen interest in sports psychology, and Vera was able to recommend several titles she’s enjoyed.

We got back to the hotel and after a short rest made it downstairs for a little get-together for the players and staff, eventually getting back to the room for what turned out to be a full night’s rest.

I write today from Christophe Harbour where the set is being constructed and we’re in the middle of getting everything together to report on the first day of action from the WPT Alpha8.

Stunning views all around here (see above), and it’s definitely a different vibe to be covering a tourney in shorts with a warm wind wafting through rather than in a cold casino. Sun’s coming out today, too, making for an even more picturesque setting.

Check over at the WPT site for live updates today to see who ends up participating and how they fare.

Skedaddling to St. Kitts

Quick post this morning just to report I’m heading south once again, this time to St. Kitts to help cover the World Poker Tour Alpha8 event. This’ll be a first trip there for your humble scribbler, and while it will be a quick one (it’s just a two-day tourney), I’m especially looking forward to it as Vera is accompanying me.

I’ve covered one Alpha8 before, the first one that took place at the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida in August 2013. That one drew 18 players and 21 total entries for the $100,000 buy-in event (with re-entries), and I imagine it’ll be a similar-sized field this weekend in St. Kitts. They’ve been there once before and in fact had 28 entries total, which I believe is the most they’ve drawn for an Alpha8 thus far.

Gonna be a busy one and I doubt I’ll have too much time to spare for reporting here along the way, but I’ll try to stop in some and perhaps once I get back will be better able to share some pictures and stories from the trip.

Meanwhile, as you can see above, I’ve packed three buy-ins for the tournament. Wish me luck!

WPT Alpha8 High Rolling into a Second Season

Among the poker news items here at week’s end is that the World Poker Tour’s Alpha8 is coming back for a second season, that “high roller” series which featured four stops during its first season in Florida, London, St. Kitts, and Johannesburg.

The new season will begin with a return trip to London in October, where the buy-in will be £60,000, roughly the equivalent of the usual $100K price tag for these tourneys. For the first go-round for the Alpha8 in London the buy-in was £100,000.

Then in December the tour goes to the Bellagio for a $100,000 event. That stop will coincide with a regular WPT stop, which may well help increase the overall turnout there.

With the first season done, I was curious to look through just who played those first four Alpha8 events, all of which featured small fields with many of the same players showing up to more than one of them.

The Florida stop (which I had a chance to cover) drew 18 players and 21 total entries. In London there were again 18 players, and with two re-entries a total of 20 buy-ins.

St. Kitts was the most popular Alpha8 stop during the first season, with 28 total entries and 23 individual players. Then only nine players made it to South Africa for the final stop, with one re-buying to make the total entries 10.

I’ve been watching some of the shows on Fox Sports 1 which have been entertaining, though very different in feel from most other poker programming thanks largely to the small fields -- more Poker After Dark or High Stakes Poker, I suppose, than the usual WPT shows or the WSOP broadcasts.

A total of 43 different players have taken part in WPT Alpha8 events thus far. Three have played all four of them -- Jeff Gross, Philipp Gruissem, and Erik Seidel. Gruissem won twice (London and St. Kitts), Gross finished third and in the money once (Florida), and Seidel went 0-for-4.

One other player has spent more than Seidel on Alpha8 buy-ins so far, with Antonio Esfandiari firing five times total in three events, including twice in London where the buy-in was £100,000. That adds up to about $640,000 total (with no cashes for the Magician).

A total of 14 of the 43 players who have participated in Alpha8 events have cashed in at least one, with Scott Seiver the only one besides Gruissem to make the money twice (finishing second in London and fifth in St. Kitts).

Here’s a table showing the entries and results for the 43 Alpha8 players (click to embiggen):

Will be interesting to see if the second season attracts different players and/or if fields grow or remain in the usual two-to-three table range.

Checking in Before Chile

Airport blogging again, this time from a quiet terminal in the Hartsville-Jackson Atlanta International airport where I have a bit of a wait. No free wi-fi here (boo), but I can make do for a short while to deliver a brief report explaining why I’m here.

This is my transfer point, and I have a few hours to kill before boarding my flight to Santiago, Chile. From there I’ll be shuttling it over to Viña del Mar for the Latin American Poker Tour’s Chile event, the first stop of Season 7 (following the PCA which gets cross-listed).

Have been to a few LAPT stops before, but never to Viña del Mar and so am curious to see some new sights as well as to reunite with the great staff, media, and the players, too, who together make LAPT events especially fun ones to cover.

I’ve already been asked if I’m a wine drinker -- alas, I’m not -- as the “Vineyard of the Sea” is a good destination for such. Am a lover of all seafood, though, and so am hoping to enjoy a few good meals amid the poker.

Am also looking forward to seeing one of my favorite poker couples, Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen and Lynn Gilmartin, who I know will be there. Word is Lynn is gearing up to play her first LAPT this week. Besides being a great presenter and interviewer, Lynn’s a good player, too, having a few scores to her credit. I’m remembering as well her deep run in last summer’s media event at the WSOP, where if I’m not mistaken she took third, matching the finish of another poker media type who always likes to bring that up whenever possible.

Was thinking of Lynn last night as I tuned in over at Fox Sports to catch the premiere of the WPT Alpha8 that had been scheduled and for which Lynn hosts. You’ll recall the kickoff event in that new $100K buy-in tourney series took place in Florida late last summer, and I happened to have been there to help cover the sucker. Thus was I especially curious to see the edited product, but alas bad weather caused NASCAR went late with its Sunday race and the show was preempted.

But now Lynn will be on the other side of things, and I’m already thinking I’ll have to interview the interviewer at some point this week. (That’s her, of course, with Joe Hachem from the Aussie Millions a year ago.) Stay tuned here as well as I’ll be checking in with updates and pointing you to the PokerStars blog for all of the reporting on where the chips end up in Chile.

Barcelona Bound

Am packing once more here as I prepare to fly out this afternoon to join the PokerStars crew and help cover the European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event for the PokerStars blog. This is the start of Season 10 of the EPT, and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding both the tour getting going again and the fact that Barcelona -- seemingly everyone’s favorite stop -- is the site of the coming week’s proceedings.

Will be an especially busy scene there. Besides the EPT Barcelona series (with 27 different tournaments), the Spain-based Estrellas Poker Tour is having its stop at Barcelona as well (with eight more events). The Estrellas events got going on Wednesday, and I believe all of these tournaments will be completed by next Saturday, September 7.

The EPT is thriving. Just looking at the turnouts for the EPT Barcelona Main Events for the last few years, they’ve been increasing at a rapid clip. Since they changed the buy-in to €5,000 + €300 for Season 7, the field sizes have been 758 entries (EPT7), 811 (EPT8), and 1,082 (EPT9). Talking to players both at the WSOP and afterwards and overhearing some of the table talk earlier this week in Florida, it definitely sounds like the ME will at least challenge last year’s total.

As I try to remember my passport, power converters, and other essentials, I’m currently tuning into the EPT Live stream on which they’re already showing action from the Casino de Barcelona at Hotel Arts where the €48,500 + €1,500 buy-in “Super High Roller” is already underway.

Kind of funny to see the same guys I was reporting on just a couple of days ago in the World Poker Tour Alpha8 Florida event sitting around the tables there in Barcelona, including that event’s winner Steven Silverman. Like the Alpha8, this EPT Super High Roller also features unlimited re-entries (up until the beginning of Day 2).

As I’ve mentioned here before, I lived in France for a whole year once but somehow never made it to Spain despite having thought about tripping down there on more than one occasion during that time. Am thus very excited about getting this opportunity.

Gonna have to cut things off here now. Talk to you again from the other side of the Atlantic.

Travel Report: WPT Alpha8 Florida, Day 2 -- Florida Finale

The second and last day of the $100,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Alpha8 Florida event played out in relatively rapid fashion, with play starting a little after noon yesterday and wrapping up around 11 p.m. or thereabouts. Steven Silverman ended up winning the sucker, outlasting current WSOP Main Event chip leader J.C. Tran to take the title after a brief heads-up battle.

That up above is a shot Joe Giron took yesterday for the WPT from up in the bleachers looking down on the playing area I was describing before. Kind of an uncanny-looking scene from that vantage point.

Josh and I arrived and set up late morning, then mostly were behind the laptops entering hands, our day broken up a couple of times by breaks. One came early on after Bill Perkins busted in ninth, at which point the crew took some time setting up to shoot the official eight-handed final table. Then another short dinner break came later after start-of-day leader Matt Glantz busted in fourth for a “min-cash” of $243,180.

During that first break Josh and I took a walk around the Seminole Hard Rock property, taking a look at the modest water fountain show play out (kind of a mini-version of the Bellagio’s) while noting the small lizards positioned in the greenery around the water’s perimeter. With temps in the 80s it’s definitely a pleasant time to be in south Florida, and I can imagine a trip to the Seminole might offer a lot to entertain visitors with its sights, shopping, shows, and of course, the casino.

Following that second break for dinner Jeff Gross went out in third for a $364,770 cash. Silverman led Tran slightly to start heads-up play, and Tran even grabbed an early lead before Silverman earned a big double-up and then finished off Tran shortly thereafter. Tran took away $526,890 while “Zugwat” won $891,660. (Hell of a year playing out for Tran, eh?)

Silverman also won a huge trophy shaped as the number “8” -- not sure what it is made of, but it looks silver, man.

None of the four cashers had re-entered the event, and none of the three players who bought in twice cashed. Isaac Haxton was one of those who’d fired twice, and he unfortunately finished fifth after leading with five to go then experiencing some misfortune to fall on the bubble.

As I was saying earlier in the week, more Alpha8 events are certainly in the works, so it’ll be curious to see how this “super high roller” tour fares and whether it ultimately manages to attract the participation of those who regularly play the six-figure events elsewhere during the year.

After all was done and the final interviews were shot, the whole “WPT family” assembled around the table for a final group picture and before too long we were packing up and heading back to the hotel. Got a reasonable night’s sleep, then this morning was able to meet an old student of mine who lives in the area and had contacted me not long ago. Kind of a highlight of the trip to reunite and catch up with him.

Overall it was a fun few days and I got a kick out of getting to know some of the WPT folks and seeing how a yet another group -- an especially well-seasoned and talented one in this case -- puts on and covers a poker tourney.

Looking forward now to getting home and resting up today and tomorrow before flying to Spain on Friday where I’ll again see a lot of the players and other media folks who were here in Florida this week. I guess this was sort of an end-of-summer bash for a lot of folks, with “school” (or the regular curriculum) about to be back in session starting with the always popular EPT Barcelona stop.

Then again, to paraphrase that Emerson, Lake and Palmer quote on the wall at the Seminole Hard Rock, the traveling circus that is the professional poker tourney circuit is kind of the show that never ends.

Travel Report: WPT Alpha8 Florida, Day 1 -- Lights, Camera, Action

Was a long one yesterday, starting well before noon and not ending until around 2:30 a.m. as the first day of the two-day, $100,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Alpha8 Florida event played out at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Will probably be another lengthy day today as a winner will need to be found from the nine players who remain in the event.

The day started quietly with only seven players gathered around one of the secondary tables. Soon a couple more showed and they redrew for two tables, then several more trickled in to build a total field of 18 unique players. Three would end up re-entering the event, making 21 entries altogether and a prize pool of just over $2 million.

The final total might have been higher if not for the fact that a few players were still alive over in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10 Million Guaranteed Main Event. For example, both Justin Bonomo and David “Doc” Sands might have played had they not continued their runs over there into yesterday evening (both are still among the 21 still fighting for the $1.7 million-plus first prize over there). In fact Matt Glantz who currently leads the Alpha8 might not have been able to play if he hadn’t been knocked out late in the afternoon in the SHRPO at which point he came over to late register.

The tourney is being held in the “Hard Rock Live” arena where concerts are staged. Posters of Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, and some others due to perform there in the coming weeks greet players and staff as they enter and walk past the box office. Once inside there are tall bleachers rising up all four sides of the large space, with the tournament housed inside curtained walls in the center of the floor. Within those walls are tables with the main feature table sitting in what almost resembles a high-end living room with a large area nearby for the show’s presenters to shoot their segments.

The small field and lavish set helped create a somewhat unusual atmosphere for a poker tournament. At one point Josh mentioned it reminded him of the high-stakes poker tourney in 2006’s Casino Royale. Later we ran over to visit the guys covering Day 3 of the SHRPO Main Event and I mentioned to B.J. Nemeth how the bright white chairs and spotless set seemed kind of like sterilized environment, resembling one in which surgery is performed.

The scene appeared quite relaxed especially early on when the stacks were all super deep (they started with an average of 250 big blinds). Even when players began getting short and eventually busting, there was little drama or theatrics from anyone with all being friendly and professional throughout as is often the case in these huge buy-in events.

Meanwhile the table talk came and went, and was often interesting to overhear.

Tom Hall -- a.k.a. “Hong Kong Tom” -- talked some about the big games in Macau, comparing notes with others who’ve made the trip and also contrasting those games with other big ones around the world.

Isaac Haxton shared an idea with his table for re-entry events that involved giving players who re-enter after the blinds have increased more than the original starting stack, something which seemed to intrigue the others.

Philipp Gruissem told Matt Glantz how they’d played against each other in Gruissem’s first ever “high roller”-type event, the $25K 6-max. at the World Series of Poker back in 2010.

The always entertaining Bill Perkins was there, too, surviving to today albeit as the short stack. He often had tablemates smiling and laughing with his banter, and indeed the general mood was reserved but upbeat throughout.

I haven’t even asked anybody specifically about that name -- “Alpha8” -- although watching the action yesterday it became somewhat apparent that besides the reference to eight-handed play, this was kind of an “alpha” group of players we were watching, both in terms of talent level and having the rolls with which to play in an event such as this one without being affected too greatly by the expense.

The reporting side of things went well, with lots of support from the very friendly and helpful World Poker Tour folks who have had many years of putting on tournaments. More than once I’ve had people referring to the “WPT family” as they welcomed me and offered whatever assistance I might need. Speaking of the WPT regulars, I saw and spoke briefly with tourney director Matt Savage who I’m very glad to report seems to be doing well following that scary water slide-related injury he suffered not long ago.

As mentioned nine made it through to today, although only the top four will be making the cash. At eight-handed they’ll begin the official final table, at which point the live stream will crank up over on the WPT website. They were shooting all day yesterday for the later Fox Sports 1 showing of the event, and that will continue in earnest again today, too.

Should make for another interesting day, I think, and as I say likely a long one, although not as long as had been originally anticipated had the field turned out to be twice the size it was. Joining Glantz and Perkins will be Haxton, Daniel Alaei, Steven Silverman, Jason Mercier, Joseph Cheong, Jeff Gross, and current WSOP Main Event chip leader and November Niner J.C. Tran.

If you’re curious to see how it plays out, click over today to the WPT site for both the live updates and the streaming video.

Travel Report: WPT Alpha8 Florida, Arrival -- High Rolling

A travel day yesterday as I flew down to Ft. Lauderdale for a quick trip to help cover the inaugural Alpha8 event at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood that starts today.

As you’ve probably heard, these Alpha8 events are all going to be “high roller” -- or, really, “super high roller” -- tourneys with big, big buy-ins. This one is for $100,000, with re-entries possible, too, until the start of the fifth 60-minute level (I believe). Other stops haven’t been announced yet, but I know there are more coming.

Got in early afternoon and after hanging out for a while at the nearby hotel where I’m staying finally got some dinner and went over to the SHR for a quick looksee. A very nice property, with a nifty outdoor pedestrian mall which was quite pleasant to walk through on a warm Florida evening. Looking up at the open sky I was reminded of the Venetian’s faux ceiling and couldn’t help making a joke to Eric and Josh, my partners in crime on this adventure.

“The sky looks so real! Uncanny!”

Our visit last night included stopping over at a party at Matarano’s to socialize a bit and watch Steve Matarano himself deliver a quick lesson how to make mozzarella (or “mooz-arella” as he calls it). We also ran by to see the now-completed, immaculate Alpha8 set. (That’s a teaser pic above tweeted out from the @WPT_Alpha8 account yesterday.)

The tourney will be televised on Fox Sports 1, and so there’s quite the set-up in place in order to capture all of the action. There will be live streaming over on the WPT site tomorrow for the final table as well, which will give those who are interested a chance to get a look at how everything has been staged.

The Alpha8 is actually positioned on the opposite side of the casino from that ongoing $10 million guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open which did, in fact, successfully attract more than 2000 maniacs to play the $5K tourney and thus met its guarantee. We took a stroll over there, too, to visit with Mickey and Paul and some other familiar folks as that tourney played down to 100 players last night.

Our event will begin and end before the SHRPO completes on Wednesday, which means we’re definitely going to be having a couple of super long days both today and tomorrow in order to complete the Alpha8 on schedule. No idea how many entrants there will be. I’m hearing estimates ranging from 20 on up to 40, so it will definitely be an intimate gathering with many of the usual high-rolling suspects involved.

Kind of interesting to be here, and fun to reunite with lots of buds while meeting some new ones among the WPT crowd. Does feel like the great majority of the poker world has descended on the Seminole Hard Rock this week, as they’ve snuck these events in during a convenient gap between other events and tours, with that $10 milly guarantee having done the job getting players’ attention.

Click on over to the WPT site today for our live updates as Josh and I report and our friend Joe Giron snaps the pics.

Two Thousand Maniacs!

A half-century ago, a former English professor turned movie maker named Herschell Gordon Lewis collaborated with a carnival worker named David Friedman to make what at the time were some of the most popular and most vile films to receive wide distribution. They’d already collaborated on a few so-called “nudie cutie” films by then, but it was their launching of what would come to be known as the “gore” genre with 1963’s Blood Feast that ensured them a permanent, curious place in B-movie history.

Blood Feast presents a crazed food caterer named Fuad Ramses who butchers a lengthy series of victims in preparation for the feast of the film’s title, some sort of sacrificial meal designed to further his worship of an Egyptian goddess, Ishtar. The film stars June 1963 Playboy Playmate Connie Mason whose acting ability is as severely limited as most of the others in the cast. The script is laughable, the direction incompetent, and the story only barely coherent.

It was an enormous hit. With a budget of $24,500, the film is said to have made about $4 million at the box office, mostly at the hundreds of drive-ins then in operation. All because of the film’s outrageously graphic gore effects and subsequent word-of-mouth that worked a lot more effectively in those pre-VCR days.

The pair would swiftly produce a second “gore” flick starring Mason, a kind of demented reworking of the famous musical Brigadoon in which some unwitting Northerners get themselves lost in the deep South, ultimately getting lured to a strange town called Pleasant Valley where some sort of centennial celebration is happening. Turns out the town is full of crazies seeking vengeance for a Civil War massacre that occurred at Pleasant Valley a hundred years before. Bad news for the Yankee tourists!

The film’s title you might have guessed -- Two Thousand Maniacs! It’s better made than Blood Feast, although so are most home movies. It’s also a more genuinely disturbing film, or at least it was when I first saw it as a teenager many years ago. Again with a miniscule budget (just $65K), they filmed it in two weeks down in St. Cloud, Florida. And once again the movie made a huge return at the box office, helping further establish a template for low-budgeted horror that has been followed repeatedly ever since.

Like Deliverance, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and countless other “hillbilly horrors” would later do, Two Thousand Maniacs! portrays the South as a nightmarish hell which those from the North should avoid at all costs. Ironically, the film was hugely popular in the South, especially around here in North Carolina where Charlotte and the surrounding towns were a kind of focal point for drive-ins during their heyday.

Speaking of people traveling south and taking risks, this Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open that got underway yesterday has interestingly grabbed the poker world’s attention, the tournament playing out about three-and-a-half hours south of St. Cloud. Most of the buzz stems from the fact that the $5,000+$300 buy-in event is sporting an eye-popping $10 million guarantee.

That means in order to make that guarantee they’ll need to attract exactly 2,000 entries. Madness incarnate!

Or is it? Yesterday saw 634 entrants all told, and it sounds like they’ve already got more than 500 during the first couple of hours today. There are three Day 1 flights. Players who bust the tournament are able to re-enter as many times as they wish, including re-entering on the same day if they’ve yet to reach the dinner break when late registration closes. Those ending one of the first two Day 1s with less than the starting stack can forfeit their stack and re-enter on a subsequent Day 1, too, with the full starting stack.

Will they make it 2,000 entries? Appears as though they might. In a piece yesterday for PokerNews, Rich Ryan sounds like he thinks they’ll get there, with one of the reasons being the significant growth of poker in Florida of late. Indeed, poker has been booming in the state over the last three years since the passage of legislation to allow for uncapped no-limit games.

I’ll be traveling down to the SHR this weekend to help report on the first ever Alpha8 tournament being staged there by the World Poker Tour, a $100,000 buy-in event that should attract a few of those maniacs already there for the $10 milly guaranteed. Looking forward to that as well as to get a glimpse of the other action and reunite with my many buds already there.

Will be on the lookout, though, for any sketchy-looking detour signs on the way down.

Poker All Over As Tours Start Back

Taking note these days of the various tours all starting to crank back up now that the 2013 World Series of Poker is now just a speck in the rear view mirror.

The 2013-14 World Series of Poker Circuit is off and running with the first of 22 scheduled stops already completed. Like last year, each stop of the WSOP-C is following a similar format with 12 events highlighted by a $1,675 buy-in Main Event in which the winner earns a spot in the season-ending WSOP National Championship along with the first prize cash.

The Foxwoods Main Event completed yesterday with Jason Strasser topping a field of 591 to earn the ring and $186,600 first prize. Seems like I was just at Foxwoods for the last WSOP-C ME there, won by Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul back in April, one of the last stops of the 2012-13 WSOP-C campaign. Saul beat a field of 615 to win $194,178.

Was perusing the WSOP’s live updates from the Foxwoods event today and saw the inclusion of a nifty replayer in which one can watch all 218 hands from the final table. That’s in addition to extensive reporting from all three days of the tournament as well. Seek that replayer out among the WSOP site’s live updates (I can't link directly to the replayer).

Here’s the full 2013-14 WSOP-C schedule:

Aug. 8-19, 2013 -- Foxwoods (CT)

Sept. 5-16, 2013 -- IP Casino Resort & Spa (Biloxi, MS)

Sept. 19-30, 2013 -- Horseshoe Cincinnati

Oct. 3-14, 2013 -- Horseshoe Southern Indiana

Oct. 17-28, 2013 -- Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago)

Oct. 24-Nov. 4, 2013 -- Harveys Lake Tahoe (Stateline, NV)

Oct. 28-Nov. 8, 2013 -- River Rock (Vancouver, Canada)

Nov. 7-18, 2013 -- Horseshoe Bossier City (Lousiana)

Nov. 13-24, 2013 -- Casino Montreal (Montreal, Canada)

Nov. 29-Dec. 9, 2013 -- Harrah’s Atlantic City

Dec. 5-16, 2013 -- Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego area)

Jan. 9-20, 2014 -- Choctaw Durant (Dallas/Oklahoma)

Jan. 23-Feb. 3 2014 -- Harrah’s Tunica (MS)

Feb. 6-17, 2014 -- Palm Beach Kennel Club (Florida)

Feb. 20-Mar. 3, 2014 -- Caesars Palace (Las Vegas)

Mar. 6-17, 2014 -- The Bicycle Casino (Los Angeles)

Mar. 20-31, 2014 -- Horseshoe Cleveland

Apr. 3-14, 2014 -- Harrah’s Cherokee (NC)

Apr. 10-21, 2014 -- Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa/Omaha)

Apr. 17-28, 2014 -- Harrah’s Philadelphia

Apr. 24-May 5, 2014 -- The Lodge Casino, Black Hawk (Colo.)

May 8-19, 2014 -- Harrah’s New Orleans

May 2014 -- Caesars Atlantic City, National Championship

Meanwhile, the World Poker Tour’s Season XII has already gotten underway with the bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel Casino in Kyrenia, Cyprus.

Today they played down to a final six-handed table from a starting field of 262 in the $4,400 buy-in event with Alexey Rybin leading. Rybin led at the end of his Day 1 flight and at the end of Days 2 and 3 as well. First prize earns $258,000 in that one.

From Cyprus the WPT hops over to the Bicycle Casino in California for the Legends of Poker then the WPT Foundation Ladies’ Night Invitational, then continues to hop around from continent to continent until the season ends with the $25K WPT World Championship at the Bellagio next May.

Here’s the schedule for the first half of WPT Season XII:

Aug. 16-21, 2013 -- bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2013 -- WPT Legends of Poker (Bell Gardens, CA)

Sept. 5, 2013 -- WPT Foundation Ladies’ Night Invitational (Bell Gardens, CA)

Sept. 15-20, 2013 -- WPT Borgata Poker Open (Atlantic City, NJ)

Oct. 25-30, 2013 -- bwin WPT Grand Prix de Paris

Nov. 7-11, 2013 -- WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic (Johannesburg, S. Africa)

Nov. 15-19, 2013 -- WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble

Nov. 19-24, 2013 -- WPT Caribbean (Maho Bay, St. Maarten)

Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2013 -- PartyPoker WPT Montreal

Dec. 6-Dec. 11, 2013 -- WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic (Las Vegas, NV)

Dec. 16-19, 2013 -- WPT South Korea

Dec. 15-21, 2013 -- bwin WPT Prague

The WPT also has a pretty full “Regional & National Schedule” of events with a dozen stops all over the U.S. and in Morocco, Spain, France, and China. The WPT additionally has that new “Alpha8” schedule of high-roller tournaments with buy-ins of at least $100,000 that gets going next week down at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. I’ll be heading down to do some reporting for that one, actually, and like many am looking forward to seeing how that new series plays out.

Finally, many in the poker world are excited about Season 10 of the European Poker Tour getting underway next week in Barcelona, Spain. All of the EPT 10 stops feature many events, with the Barcelona one including 27 different tournaments plus eight more Estrellas Poker Tour events going on as well.

Highlights from the EPT Barcelona stop will include the €50,000 Super High Roller event, a €10,300 regular High Roller event, and the €5,300 Main Event. I’m actually getting a chance to go report on the EPT Barcelona Main Event as well, and so expect I’ll be sharing some observations from that trip here, too.

Here’s the full EPT Season 10 schedule in which the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure gets included:

Aug. 26-Sept. 7, 2013 -- EPT Barcelona (Spain)

Oct. 2-12, 2013 -- EPT London (England)

Dec. 8-18, 2013 -- EPT Prague (Czech Republic)

Jan. 4-13, 2014 -- 2014 PCA (Bahamas)

Jan. 22-Feb. 1, 2014 -- EPT Deauville (France)

Mar. 12-22, 2014 -- EPT Berlin (Germany)

Apr. 6-16, 2014 -- EPT San Remo (Italy)

Apr. 23-May 2, 2014 -- EPT Monte Carlo (Monaco)

A pretty packed calendar for tourney players, and that’s not even including the many other tours, including the the Latin American Poker Tour (Season 6), the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (Season 7), the United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (Season 4), the Heartland Poker Tour (Season 9), and others already ongoing.