Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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Is J.J. Liu the same person mentioned in "Positively Fifth Street" as "J.J. Bortner"? The description of Bortner sounds exactly like Liu, but if Liu is married to Dan Alspach, what is the story here?

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Yes.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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Is J.J. Liu the same person mentioned in "Positively Fifth Street" as "J.J. Bortner"? The description of Bortner sounds exactly like Liu, but if Liu is married to Dan Alspach, what is the story here?

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Yes.

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Liu Jishun a.k.a. Liu Jishung a.k.a. Liu Chi-Shun a.k.a. Joanne Liu a.k.a. J.J. Liu was married to San Francisco Bay Area patent attorney Scott Bortner in the 1990's.

They had 2 children together prior to their divorce.

I understand that an ongoing financial dispute between Mr. Bortner and Ms. Liu still exists, with lawyers on both sides involved.

Ms. Liu married Dan Alspach last summer, prior to WPT Ladies Night IV.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

An English-language newspaper article from The Taipei Times in August 2001, which I dug up with the assistance of San Francisco-based reporter Helen Yan of Ming Pao, was the final straw which got me fired:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/loca...1/08/29/100597

I was the one who had arranged Ms. Yan to do a feature story on Ms. Liu after WPT Bay 101. Ms. Yan's article was published by the San Francisco edition of Ming Pao on March 26, 2007 (in Chinese):

http://www.mingpaosf.com/ftp/News/20...26pgSFB02m.jpg

Both articles made serious allegations against Ms. Liu and her mother:

1. An alleged extortion/blackmail scheme which lasted about 18 months, involving about USD$300,000 (10 million New Taiwan dollars.)

2. Ms. Liu and her mother fled to the U.S. to avoid prosecution, as the U.S. and Taiwan had no diplomatic relations due to the "one China principle".

3. Ms. Liu's lawyer in Taiwan was Chen Shuibian, the same Chen Shuibian who is the leader of the DPP party and the president of Taiwan since 2000.

Conclusion: Ms. Liu's marketability in Taiwan is virtually ZERO (i.e. at the level of O.J. Simpson's marketability in the U.S.)

President Chen and his family have been involved in a corruption scandal since 2006, with his approval rating now hovering around 25%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Shuibian

I expect the DPP to lose big in the 2008 Taiwan general election, with the Nationalist Party, or the KMT, being back in power in 2009.

That means the following:

1. The KMT will be the political party which will decide which company will operate the government-owned online poker site on behalf of the Taiwan Ministry of Finance (which holds exclusivity on legalized gambling in Taiwan) a few years from now.

That means WPTE, FullTiltPoker.net, PartyPoker.net, etc. will have to toe the KMT party line if they ever want to do business in Taiwan.

2. Poker player agents who want to apply for explicit licenses to represent Taiwan citizens and do business in Taiwan will have to toe the KMT party line.

Ms. Liu technically fired me on March 30 when she informed me that I would not be retained to negotiate the renewal of her endorsement deal with FullTiltPoker.net in December.

The firing was the result of my provocation, after I brought to Ms. Liu's attention of the 2001 article in The Taipei Times, a media outlet which is pro-KMT and anti-DPP.



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According to wikipedia, in 1987, JJ Liu was involved in a financial dispute with a Chinese Air Force Pilot who had defected to South Korea in 1982. Older versions of the page also talk about a sexual element to the scandal. My guess is, because of her notoriety in this scandal, JJ is wortless to Full Tilt Poker or the WPT in Asia.

From wiki :
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On October 16, 1982, PLAAF pilot Wu Ronggen flew his Shenyang J-6 from Wendeng to South Korean K16 air base in Seoul. Wu was rewarded 4,000 taels (approximately 200 kg) of gold. In 1987, Wu made headlines because he was involved in a financial dispute with Ms. Liu Jishun and the media claimed that this was part of the reason that after his honorable discharge from the Republic of China Air Force as a major, Wu emigrated to the United States. Wu was eventually married to Ms. Jiang Yuehui . (Note: Ms. Liu Jishun also emigrated to the United States, where she would become known in the world of professional tournament poker as Joanne J.J. Liu.)

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Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

Surely Victoria Coren who cashed for $1 million at the EPT London should get consideration for a place.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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Surely Victoria Coren who cashed for $1 million at the EPT London should get consideration for a place.

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Probably NOT.

Remember that WPTE and PokerStars.net/EPT/APPT are now in direct competition as online poker websites in many markets, including the UK, Spain, and the Philippines.

Both Victoria Coren and Katja Thater are politically and monetarily aligned with PokerStars.net, which withdrew from the WPT after Season 5.

(The 2008 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure has switched from the WPT to the EPT.)

Industry "politics" always play a role in invitation-only events.

Indeed, PokerStars.net had a sponsored player in each of Ladies Night II (Sharon Goldman), III (Isabelle Mercier), and IV (Vanessa Rousso).

One would assume that Barry Greenstein should have lined up a single-event deal with PokerStars.net for Mimi Tran to cover WPT Ladies Night V.

--

Many, including myself, thought that Shannon Elizabeth might have been considered for WPT Ladies Night V.

However, Shannon Elizabeth switched her sponsorship from FullTiltPoker.net to PokerStars.net prior to the WSOP.

--

Given that WPT and PokerStars.net now go head-to-head
(the EPT event in Prague, Czech Republic now overlaps with WPT Bellagio 5 Diamonds, and the EPT Grand Final has been moved to April and now overlaps with the WPT Championship), one will have to assume that PokerStars.net will steer its sponsored players to play EPT events instead of WPT events.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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Surely Victoria Coren who cashed for $1 million at the EPT London should get consideration for a place.

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Both Victoria Coren and Katja Thater are politically and monetarily aligned with PokerStars.net, which withdrew from the WPT after Season 5.

(The 2008 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure has switched from the WPT to the EPT.)

Industry "politics" always play a role in invitation-only events.



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Is this true?

Pokerstars withdrew from the WPT rather than the WPT kicking them out?

Surprising to say the least.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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Surely Victoria Coren who cashed for $1 million at the EPT London should get consideration for a place.

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Both Victoria Coren and Katja Thater are politically and monetarily aligned with PokerStars.net, which withdrew from the WPT after Season 5.

(The 2008 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure has switched from the WPT to the EPT.)

Industry "politics" always play a role in invitation-only events.



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Is this true?

Pokerstars withdrew from the WPT rather than the WPT kicking them out?

Surprising to say the least.

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Not surprising at all.

PokerStars.net bankrolls both the EPT and the new Hong Kong-based Australia-centric APPT (with stops in Manila, Seoul, and Sydney.)

PokerStars.net had hired WPTE on a year-to-year basis to produce TV for the Caribbean Adventure. PokerStars.net chose not to hire WPTE for 2008.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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[ QUOTE ]
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Surely Victoria Coren who cashed for $1 million at the EPT London should get consideration for a place.

[/ QUOTE ]



Both Victoria Coren and Katja Thater are politically and monetarily aligned with PokerStars.net, which withdrew from the WPT after Season 5.

(The 2008 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure has switched from the WPT to the EPT.)

Industry "politics" always play a role in invitation-only events.



[/ QUOTE ]

Is this true?

Pokerstars withdrew from the WPT rather than the WPT kicking them out?

Surprising to say the least.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not surprising at all.

PokerStars.net bankrolls both the EPT and the new Hong Kong-based Australia-centric APPT (with stops in Manila, Seoul, and Sydney.)

PokerStars.net had hired WPTE on a year-to-year basis to produce TV for the Caribbean Adventure. PokerStars.net chose not to hire WPTE for 2008.



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Yes, it's surprising.

Surely Pokerstars is after as much exposure as possible.. and the WPT provides the biggest stage of all.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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[ QUOTE ]
Surely Victoria Coren who cashed for $1 million at the EPT London should get consideration for a place.

[/ QUOTE ]



Both Victoria Coren and Katja Thater are politically and monetarily aligned with PokerStars.net, which withdrew from the WPT after Season 5.

(The 2008 PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure has switched from the WPT to the EPT.)

Industry "politics" always play a role in invitation-only events.



[/ QUOTE ]

Is this true?

Pokerstars withdrew from the WPT rather than the WPT kicking them out?

Surprising to say the least.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not surprising at all.

PokerStars.net bankrolls both the EPT and the new Hong Kong-based Australia-centric APPT (with stops in Manila, Seoul, and Sydney.)

PokerStars.net had hired WPTE on a year-to-year basis to produce TV for the Caribbean Adventure. PokerStars.net chose not to hire WPTE for 2008.



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Yes, it's surprising.

Surely Pokerstars is after as much exposure as possible.. and the WPT provides the biggest stage of all.

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No.

WPT Season 6 will air on GSN in the US and Canada.

Expected viewership of WPT on GSN will be around 500,000 viewers per episode during the first run, which is only about half what WSOP on ESPN can deliver in the US market alone.

The EPT has caught up to the WPT in many markets outside the U.S., including the UK and Canada.

In a market such as Germany, WPT is stuck on a digital cable channel in AXN while the likes of PokerStars.net/EPT, FullTiltPoker.net/Aussie Millions, and PartyPoker.net have purchased time on a basic analog cable channel in DSF, which also has the WSOP.

In other words, WPT is way behind its competitors EPT and the Aussie Millions in the German speaking markets (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

You have to consider much more than the U.S. There is another world out there.

Re: Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?
 

Wowza...I'm not gonna speculate on the J.J. Liu situation only to say that I thought that she wasn't gonna play it anyways b/c of her pending child birth upcoming soon. Ok back to who should be @ the table tho:

Oliver,

IDK how I missed those other 2 cashes: the other one from Melissa Hayden @ WPT Fallsview in Canada [21st/497 ($48,293)] and the 1 from Laura Fink @ the $15K Five-Diamond in December [22nd/583 ($50,745)] so they should be there, but the table I chose should be the one adding in Melissa for the "vacancy". I still stand by Anna over Laura on the merit-scale OVERALL. They can still put her in there and scratch Brandi if you like [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img].

Sorry Brandi [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

P.S. Erica has already done it (4th last year)