So I was planning to play the $1500 WSOP event today at the Rio, but at 11 AM I got a phone call, telling me the tournament was sold out

It is all my fault, all the other tournaments, I signed up the day before, but every tournament I played were only close to being sold out. So yesterday when I was at the MGM Grand with my friend Michael, I decided not to spend the 15 minuttes going over to the Rio signing up. BIG MISTAKE!

Well, I was all prepared for a long day at the poker table, so I decided to go play the $500 Deep Stack tournament at The Venetian. Another BIG MISTAKE!

When I got there at 11.55 AM, there was a line, at least 500 feet long. waiting to sign up for the tournament. Ofcourse all the people not being able to play at the Rio, had hurried over, as me, to play The Venetian $500 Deep Stack t0urnament.

I decided to hang out for a while, as I also needed to get myself a new players card, otherwise being unable to sign up anyways. At 12.30, the line had grown, and was now stretching all the way down through the casino, almost reaching the table games.

I can take a hint. I was not supposed to play poker today. Now I’m hanging out with my family and friend Michael, so it is not all that bad

First of all, I am sorry Michael for pushing your music video off the top of the page. I have been patient waiting for someone else to do it, but nobody seems to be in a writing mood.

Second, I am an old grumpy guy (not saying that I am pushing Tom off that throne, but almost as old and almost as grumpy), and as an old grumpy guy I have to write stuff befitting of such a person. I was recently looking at some information regarding the PPA – Poker Players Alliance, and my mind started to wander off, which it often does.

The idea behind the PPA was to have an organization that would protect the rights of poker players, as a sort of union, with members that would set the agenda. The main focus at present time of this so called alliance is to legallize poker in the US. I am definitely for legal internet poker, so I am not arguing against the PPA. I am just worried that this organization is nothing more than a front for the major internet poker sites. I received a mail from Pokerstars about a freeroll if I signed a PPA petition.

The PPA is mainly funded by poker sites and my worry is that when we get beyond the right to play poker, this organization will be another tool of the major poker sites and not the much needed union style organization players so badly need to argue for their rights. The rights I am mostly referring to that goes against the sites is an arbitration forum that will make sure Players get a fair shake from the sites. We see way too often that The poker sites (and yes this is also Full Tilt and Poker Stars) simply ignore the individual players and they refuse to listen to players arguments whenever problems arise. One thing is that the major sites have very limited regulations to adhere to, another is that they couldn’t care about the individual player. It is not until the individual creates some buzz in the forums and internet news sites that the sites do anything to address the issues, and that is simply not good enough.

One example of this is the Ultimate Bet Scandal. Nothing from the PPA’s side was done to try to help the people (Players) who had been cheated. There was almost no info and no way to obtain info from the poker site. Now Annie Duke is very active in the PPA, but she (and Hellmuth, both of whom I would risk my bankroll on have shares in the company) said absolutely nothing about this matter. This is of great concern to me. It is kind of Ironic that the big 3 sites are all licensed in locations with little to no regulation and almost no process for cheated customers to complain.

My hope is that once we get to legal online poker in the US, then the PPA will try to make sure thast the customers (Players) are protected. This means that the PPA will all of the sudden argue against the companies that are currently funding it’s existence. Another problem is that the people embedded in and associated with the PPA are people like Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Greg Raymer etc, all very good people, but with too close ties to the poker sites (Raymer is only a sponsored player, whereas the other two have likely ownership interests in the poker sites they represent).

I guess my reasoning for writing this story is to make sure poker players (all 3) reading this blog will be aware of this as soon as our common interest is achieved.

Long live the players,

Claus

One of my good friends Michael Miltersen, has published his first video from his new album Trenches. He is coming here to visit me June 20th and will be around for a little more than a month.

My name is Claus Nielsen and I will be writing about my views on various topics ranging from Poker to a complete historic perspective on the American political process and provide you with a comprehensive analysis of the term Due process. This first post, however, is just a brief introduction to who I am and why I have been invited to write about my thoughts on this website. First a little about why I have been invited to join Vegasvikings. I fulfill the only three requirements of Vegasvikings, I am Danish, I reside in Las Vegas and I have a very strong opinion on just about every subject imaginable.

Who am I? I was born in Copenhagen long time ago, in what seems to be a previous life. When I was 20 years old, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the Film Industry. I graduated from Film School, but never made the big impact on Hollywood that I had daydreamed about since I was a little boy, sitting too close to the Television watching and analysing Citizen Kane. I then decided that if I could not control the creative process, I would try to control the financial side of movie making. I realized that Hollywood was run by lawyers, so if you can’t beat them, join them. I graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law in New Jersey and moved back to Los Angeles. There I worked as an entertainment attorney for 6-7 years before I ended up back in Vegas (I lived here for a couple of years after film school, playing poker at The Mirage and working as a bartender at The Sands). I returned to Vegas in 2003, and made a living grinding fixed HE at Bellagio for 3 years.  I then got hired as a consultant by Martin Deknijff and ended up running his internet pokersite, Martinspoker, for a couple of years. I left that job in March 2008 and have since then been trying to figure out what to do with my life. I am currently working as an advisor for pokerplayers, where I help them with the business aspects of their career.

I really appreciate that I am allowed to write here and I am sure that it will save me thousands of dollars in Psychiatrist Bills that I now have a place to let my frustrations out, Thanks Vegasvikings.