More Odds and Ends

I hope you enjoy this collection of odds and ends! WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT?

The Hard Rock Casino and the new Wynn Las Vegas are experimenting with new casino chips developed by Shuffle Master and Progressive Gaming International that have radio-frequency identification technology embedded inside of them to enable the casino to follow the chip around, even when it leaves the casino. The chips will be given a unique player code that will enable the casino to keep track of a player's bets. Table-embedded antennas will record a player's wagers on the dealer's PC. Outfitting a table with the chips and the antenna costs about $8,000, so don't look for them anytime soon at the poker table.

$100 MILLION MILESTONE … The prize pool of more than $7 million at the PartyPoker.com Million IV tournament recently pushed the total prize money awarded on the World Poker Tour over the $100 million mark. It's amazing that in just three years, the WPT has seen such growth in prize money. Steve Lipscomb, president and founder of WPT Enterprises, said, "This is mind-boggling, and it sends a message that the WPT and poker are here to stay. If you look back at the PGA, it took more than 30 years to reach $100 million in prize money." The WPT has created about 25 millionaires in its first three seasons. HEARD AT THE TABLE …

Dan Lovegren sent me the following tale from the felt: "For your 'Heard at the Table' collection, the following was said at the Sport of Kings tournament at Hollywood Park Casino recently: 'There are enough captains at this table to sail the Pacific Fleet!' This refers to the practice that some players have of zealously aiding the dealer during the hand.

During Easter weekend, I paid a short visit to the Pechanga Resort and Casino. Not having been to Pechanga in many years, I was quite surprised to see how huge and luxurious it had become. The poker room has expanded to 54 tables and is very spacious and modern. I slept very well in the comfortable hotel room and enjoyed some fine dining while I was there. It was the perfect getaway location for some much needed rest and relaxation.

In the April 27 issue of Card Player, Thomas Keller wrote something in his column to the effect that the WPT had instituted a new rule in its tournaments penalizing swearing, particularly the "f" word. Actually, this is not true. The WPT does not have such a rule; it allows the tournament staff to enforce their local rules, which is what happened in this particular case. In other words, it was a Commerce Casino tournament rule that penalized use of the "f" word, not the WPT's rule.