A Brit in Vegas » Maria Ho

Four eras of poker babes in one place

Steve — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:26:30 +0000

Walking through the three rooms holding Day1a of the $1k I realised we had four eras of my blogging present. From my days of the UltimatePokerChallenge at the Plaza we had Denver’s Ruth Graham and Connie Kim. Then from ,when I was famous, Maria Ho,then pokerfolio days the lovely Jenny Lam and from 2009 LAPC days Sara Chau.Not quite sure what tomorrow can bring.

Neil Channing is putting his team in one of those 10 bedroomed party houses. Depending how deep he plays in the $40k he may be freerolling already. I watched the first hand of the $40k today and Andrew Robl bust.

I noticed two casinos offering all day buffet passes for $20 + $25. Unfortunately, it isn’t the Rio,Wynn or Bellagio.

It appears that Sara Chau 18500 and Connie Kim 11400 are through to Day2. George Bronstein (Full Tilt cap) has 22400.

Mary Jo Ho blog

Steve — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:13:41 +0000

Welcome to the web, pokergossip. I have been on the road most of the month. Like I say to my mom when she asks about rent “Shut up biatch and is my laundry finished yet?”

Tiff and I went out with Mr Flack in San Jose. Or should I call him NV prisoner # 3666666? He still smells of prison. He spent the evening with his face up against the glass pleading his innocence to the hockey players. All the time he was double fisting beers. Layne, do what Tiff and I do, hire a limo when you go out .

This weekend Miss Lacey J, Tiff and I have entered the Dream Team poker event at Caesars. Well, I have to tell you those two are in my dream team!!!

I was pleased to hear Santa Anita owners have filed for bankruptcy. I can’t goÂ to the adjacent mall without expecting Steve Hall tapping me on the shoulder asking for $5 to buy a racing form. I am giving him a gift certificate for Dr Jack Kervorkian for Christmas. Steve did buy me a poker book for my birthday. I keep expecting to turn the page and see an Arcadia public library stamp. Yes, I had a birthday and I am now officially too old to date Jerry Buss. His private jet would be very useful though.

It is happy hour at “Lucky Baldwins” so must go down a few Newcastles with the chaps. xoxo. Mary Jo ho.

(Note: This is a spoof blog and does not reflect the views of the real Maria Ho.)

Owners of Santa Anita file for bankruptcy.

Steve — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:36:55 +0000

MagnaÂ the, Canadian based, owners of pokergossips favourite racetrack, Santa Anita, today filed for Chapter 11 protection after failing to make a substantial payment to a Canadian bank. Magna has up to 25000 creditors similar to poker player Bobby Bellande.

I was at the track today and rumours of cutbacks were circulating. The good news $1 coffees are now being offered in addition to free admission on Fridays. I could go racing Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week for free with Saturdays superb Big Cap day only costing $1 which includes a Santa Anita overnight bag. Of course, the racetrack takes up to 20% of all money wagered but this has to cover the many expenses of running the track plus prize money, I believe.

I hope L.A. turns out in record numbers this Saturday to show support for its finest track.

Magna also owns Pimlico, Golden Gate, Gulfstream and Lone Star racetracks plus Xpress bet an online wagering service.

Asked if she was to bail out her hometown racetrack billionheiress poker player Maria Ho answered, “I would rather own the Mall.” By the way it was Marias 26th birthday yesterday. A happy one, I hope.[[Show as slideshow]]

Players at the Invitational

Steve — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:41:19 +0000

Rainy days on Monday…

Steve — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:12:10 +0000

It is just seven days away from the most needed gift from Santa Anita to its patrons…an umbrella. Inside the $2k NLHE attracted some names to the upstairs tournament room. Only 188 bought in. Lakers fan Maria Ho was originally seated at a table with Jerry Buss, Brandon Cantu and Scott Clements. Other notables: Chris Bjorin, Robert McLaughlin, Mike Katz, Barry Greenstein, Scott Montgomery, David Pham ,Chris McCormack + Big Tom D.

Tyson Marks is dominating the final day of the $550. Starting the day in ninth place with 79k he has catapulted himself into a huge chip lead. Tyson has already won a tournament here the LHE. Sara Chau, complete with cough, visited the final table again. She has all the qualities to become the new media darling. Also poker is her life at this time.

14) Max Nguyen
13) Brian Small
12) Jim Holtz
11) Phong Le
10) Michael Emerick
9) Reza Payvar
8) Sara Chau
7) Amir Ghazvinian
6) Jerry Garver
5) Nick di Leo
4) Ira Horning
3) Robert Mason
2) Brian McCann
1) Tyson Marks

So its two for Tyson.1)$57k 2)$30k 3)$21k 4)$14k 5)$11k
Predictably, Robert Williamson made it deep into the PLO yesterday.
Robert III finished third to take home $14k. The winner was Jason Mercier
who usually reserves his best for european tournaments.

Where did all the big names go?

Steve — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:24:40 +0000

I waited until dinner break yesterday before naming all the pros in the six handed. I was surprised to see that, with the exception of Canadian Scott Montgomery, the final, at 4pm today, consists of complete unknowns. In fact most of them don’t even have a Hendonmob database entry the bible or encyclopedia for all tournament results. Only Mike Schneider in 16th finished in the money of the recognizable pros .

Good luck to all of them today. First short break at 4:45; Unofficial chip counts: Mike Kamron 450k, A Krisak 185, Victor Sobrepena 180k, Kris Martonik 125k Brian Bumpas 125k + Scott Montgomery 100k.

10) Dean Gilford
9)Â Â Josh Bergman
8)Â Benny Wan
7)Â Mike Kamran
6) Alan Knutsen
5) Alex Krisak
7:00pm
Kamran lost his 450k, most of them to Brian Bumpas. The other big stack Alex Krisak is also out. Four players survive.
Brian Bumpas 480k, Kris Martonik 360k, Victor Sobrepena 250k, Scott Montgomery 100k.

1) Brian BumpasÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $46k
2) Victor SobrepenaÂ Â $22k
3) Kris MartonikÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $13k
4) Scott Montgomery

Today would be my favourite tournament to play the stud8/omaha8. Should be some old school entries. 188 entered. 64 remain at 9pm so a long night ahead. Maria Ho, Gary Do, Mark Gregorich, Tony Ma , Bob Golick and Terry are among the survivors.

Downstairs Ralph Perry, Eli Elezra, Chino Rheem, Fabrice Soulier + Barry Greenstein have joined the Chinese/High Limit fun.[[Show as slideshow]]

Matt Savage is in the house

Steve — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:41:26 +0000

No disrespect to young Sam who has kept the tournament running smoothly in Matt’s absence but with Matt in the house today even I have to look busy! Matt was checking that the finalists names were correct. Yesterday,in Matts abscence, a woman was allowed to cash as Alejandra Muropiaz when the previous evening she was Sexy Alexandra and at a previous FT Guadalupe Murodiaz. It makes the jobs of the database people so much harder.

More pros showed up for the six handed. Maria Ho, Thor Hansen, Sam Simon, Young Phan, Ray Davies , Hevad Khan,Â Al Barbieri, David Danesghar,Chris McCormack+ Mike SchneiderÂ joined Frankie O’Dell and Mimi Tran to add some star quality to the LAPC. 308 paid the $500 and tomorrows winner will take home $46k. Ralph Perry was downstairs.

Maria Ho actually has a tan but I have to have my photos of her approved before posting. So much for the freedom of self employment. The downside of all the pros being here is that it is not easy to secure the services of a food server downstairs.While waiting for my food order I noticed 22 names on a $10k buy in cash game.

Todays final is LHE. In a replica of last Fridays LHE final we reached three in the first level then the needle stuck. Still playing are Eva Neumann, Jeff Heiburg and Tommy Thung Huynh.

Eva is now parading the trophy downstairs. I believe a three way deal was struck.