Can you ask pokerstars about the UK tax consultation. There is a thread in legislation about it here:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/57...e-you-1203662/

I especialy want to know if they could publish their input before the close date - 28 June to help those of us who will want to comment - their feedback would be published alongside the consultation anyway when it is finished.

Specific issues -
the impact of the proposed tax rate on Stars and players
would it encourage Stars to get a UK Gambling Commission licence
could it lead to player segregation
could it lead to Stars charging UK players more for tournies
could it lead to lower VIP incentives for UK players

Brad Booth's apology

+1

Would be great if you could get his 100k WSOP backer on too.

Shannon Shorr and/or Gavin Griffin. Both seem to be guys who have moved to a more balanced life and have some good stuff to share, I'm sure.

The guy that won 12 bracelets

This.

Mike, Adam, the time has come to get Mr Hellmuth on the show. I mean how hard can it be, you call him up, tell him all of your audience want to hear about his 12th bracelet and with an ego that big how could he resist.

It would be absolutely epic though if throughout the entire time he was on the show you 'forgot' to mention the bracelet, instead focusing on something like Phil Ivey's return to the WSOP, and then when he finally cant take it anymore and brings it up himself, claim to have no idea!

I gotta say...Im a PH hater...honest...

but his run last year and continuation this year has not been lost on me.

Im not sure all the years of being an idiot fr the Bay Area can be erased, but Id be interested in hearing if there's a 'new' Phil Hellmuth now, or if its the same ole crap in a brand new package

is #225 releasing today?

2-7 triple draw bracelet winner Randy Ohel, RolldUpTrips. Lives in Vegas.

Is that Bart Hanson's 1st WSOP final table? Even if it isnt...he had Ivey, Matusow. Scotty Nguyen, Joe Cassidy...thats some serious company...good for you Bart!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would think Bart would be an automatic get

Another poker millionaire is broke, along with Gavin Smith and who knows how many others. I think it's time for a serious money management/bankroll management discussion on the show.

There are PokerStars MTT pros playing with 300 buy-ins (one said a year ago that he actually keeps 400 BI), but when you do the math for 10k buy-ins and beyond, obviously almost no one can be doing this. (And of course, PokerStars pros aren't flying all over the world to play in their tournaments.) If you throw in high roller events, to play a 25K with just 50 buy-ins you would need a bankroll of 1.25 million. With tournaments going off even higher than 25K, the bankroll management math obviously complete breaks down.

But there is an even bigger issue than whether individual players are properly bankrolled. Since so many of the touring pros aren't properly bankrolled, what you have is a bunch of players who don't have the money to play who are staking each other, selling pieces, or whatever term you want to use. This situation comes with several problems:

1. This is usually done with no legal contract. The only remedy to a situation going bad seems to be shaming someone on 2+2. If someone doesn't get what they are owed, there is no remedy, and poker has no structure to sanction players that improperly take money from other players, whether it's because of cheating, negligence, or poor money management.

2. The more common selling pieces becomes, the more likely it is that players A and B will be at the same table when one has a financial interest in the success of the other. In almost any other individual sport, for example, bicycling or track and field, it would be a major scandal if A was in direct competion with B while at the same time having a financial interest in B's success.

3. Since players without a proper bankroll are selling pieces to other players in the same situation, you have a bubble that could break at any time. Instead of doing what Gavin Smith did, and what proper bankroll management dictates (dropping down to a level that he can afford) Brad Booth is stuck with no money, but he still wants to play with the hope of cashing and at least partially paying his backers. How many other Brad Booths and Gavin Smiths are out there, playing at the highest levels while barely hanging on financially?

I call it a bubble, or since it's poker, you could call it a house of cards. Either way, I don't think that the current pro poker economy is sustainable, unless you want to watch heads-up matches between Guy Laliberte and Bill Gates.

I believe this is a worthy topic of discussion for your show.

There are a plethora of BRM threads, articles, book chapters and podcasts. Somehow an online pro, a HS player or celeb pro punting off their fortunes and 'roll playing over their heads, holds little interest for me.

Now if Booth wants to sit down with the Pokercast gang and go Oprah with the details of his rise, fall and shame, I could get behind that.

Most of us play within our limits whether it be live or online and understand BRM practices. Albeit I'm not a tourney grinder either, but if I were, I wouldn't be playing 1k's if I were only rolled for $200's. Although I do understand shot-taking concepts too.

interview is a good suggestion...

I need to make a correction here. When I said that "the current poker economy is unsustainable", I was talking about touring pros, not the entire poker economy. It goes without saying that someone who doesn't live a "baller" lifestyle and/or doesn't travel all over the world to play is in a much better financial situation than are many touring pros.

I'd like to hear more about Gavin's situation. He is one of my favorite players.