In May, iconic poker figure Doyle Brunson publicly distanced himself from the online poker site that bore his name. Following the DoylesRoom operators’ decision to continue serving US customers post-Black Friday, Brunson announced he would “terminate my endorsement contract with DoylesRoom.com … Although they believe they have the right to market the name DoylesRoom and to use my name and likeness for a period of time, I have asked them not to.” On Wednesday, Texas Dolly will finally get his wish. At 7am EST, DoylesRoom is rebranding itself as America’s Cardroom (AmericasCardroom.eu). Because nothing says America like a .eu domain.
Brunson is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. The nominees for the Hall’s Class of 2011 were announced last week, and among them was current Epic Poker League commissioner Annie Duke. Daniel Negreanu would likely be nominated for the Hall, only they changed the rules a while back so that you had to be 40 to get in. Not that Danny’s bitter, mind you. Asked by PokerListings.com to comment on this year’s nominees, Negreanu questioned the reasoning behind Duke’s presence on that list.
“For what? Robbing people at UB? Owing Russ Hamilton money and never paying him back? For stealing money from people at the poker table? For representing poker in the worst light imaginable when she was on Celebrity Apprentice? For all those things, then yes. If you took out the ‘F’ and added a “Sh’ in the word ‘fame’ then yes, I think she should be inducted.” Hey, at least he didn’t use the C-word this time. “Along with her brother [Howard], the Lederer family would be the king and queen of the poker Hall of Shame.” And just in case you think Danny was merely having a bad day, here’s another Howard Lederer dis from just last month (the ‘buffoon’ and ‘arrogant idiot’ comments begin around the 1:15 mark).
