The Muck: Brawlin' in Bobby's Room, Negreanu's WSOP Milestone
Every summer when the World Series of Poker comes to town, the high-rollers are quick to grab a seat in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio. You might catch glimpses of Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Scott Seiver, Brian Rast and Jennifer Harman. And, of course, the buzz gets a little louder when Phil Ivey lands in the desert and joins the game, which he did a few weeks ago.
On Sunday, news came via Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke on Twitter that a fight broke out in Booby's Room.
With the big game ($2,000/$4,000) running twenty-four hours a day and the players running on very little (if any) sleep, it's not surprising that tempers flare from time to time.
We have not been able to confirm the details of the altercation, like who exactly was involved and why, but here's a video captured by someone in the room.
Maybe it's time for a time-out. Or at least a nap.
Daniel Negreanu Reaches a Milestone
Daniel Negreanu was sitting on the bubble of Event #48, $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship with a small stack, while the rest of the tournament field was rooting for him to bust so they could get paid. No hard feelings or anything, it's just the nature of tournament play.
Negreanu had other plans, however. It was Richard Chiovari who bubbled the tournament and Negreanu went on to claim his 100th career WSOP cash, eight of which have come this summer.
Shortly after reaching the milestone, he posted a little video to Instagram:
Negreanu currently sits in third place for the most WSOP cashes behind Phil Hellmuth (124) and Erik Seidel (101). Based on Negreanu's results so far this summer, it is probable that he will be sitting in second place by the end of the summer.
The latest cash also moved Negreanu into fourth place on the Player of the Year leaderboard. After a very present and opinionated few weeks on Twitter discussing the POY formula, it seems as if Negreanu figured out what he needs to do to win the award.
Congratulations, Daniel! Here's to the next 100.
Fidget Spinners
Forbes calls them "the must-have toy," and if you know a middle-school kid, chances are they have shown you their collection and displayed their spinning skills with some clever tricks. Fidget spinners are taking over the nation, and that includes here at the Rio. Well, at least the vendor booths in the hallway of the Rio.
The original target market for fidget spinners wasn't our youth; it was stressed-out adults. You'd think fidget spinners would be perfect for the poker world. Can you think of anything more stressful than making decisions with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line?
Some claim that using a fidget spinner can help increase focus and reduce anxiety. But is it enough to give someone an edge? Well, if it does, poker players haven't caught on yet. In many passes through the Rio, one has yet to be spotted in use.
PokerNews contributor Dr. Tricia Cardner responds to the claim that it increases focus.
"No clinical research supports the claims that fidget spinners are valuable in reducing clinical symptoms," she said. "A few studies have found that children with ADHD report improved focus as their level of leg fidgeting increases. But there is a big difference between actual physical movement and a toy that moves for you. These few studies are also correlational in nature, so it's not possible to determine causation."
Not that we don't trust Dr. Cardner, because we do, but we were curious what WebMD had to say. Maybe we should have had a fidget spinner while reading the results. There was some slight trepidation that we would find out fidget spinners can cause death - like almost everything you look up on the medical site.
Luckily potential death was not listed as a possible side effect. Instead, we found this:
"There’s not really a negative side effect to trying it. If they are playing with a fidget spinner or tapping with a pen or a pencil, it automatically forces the brain to work harder. The only side effect here is distracting other people around you."
Helping you focus and distracting those around you? Maybe there's something to this fidget spinner thing, after all.
