Phil Gordon

Oh yeah, I finally found out who the "Secret Guest" was at the Everest Poker night a few weeks ago. As I mentioned in the Nov 2 post, the only clue I had was that there was a suspicious name listed in the tourney results for that night. "Philip". There are too many poker players out there named Philip that it certainly kept me in suspense.

I finally broke down and sent a private message to the JPPA guys to find out who it was. Phil Gordon. Apparently he came into town for discussions about a Japanese Celebrity Poker Showdown - a one-shot at first but maybe a series later if it catches on. They'll be taking selections of the various "Talent" actors on Japanese tv variety shows and running a full-on Celebrity Poker Showdown episode. It is unclear if Dave Foley will be involved, but apparently Beat Takeshi will be there with Phil to provide comic commentary and surprisingly bad translations.

Dunno who will be guests on the show yet, but first choice would probably be Tamao Satoh, the WSOP veteran who looks good on tv.

Phil was apparently checking with the JPPA to find out who can train the actors to play poker and maybe handle the dealing duties if it is filmed in Japan. I think they might film it in a casino in the Philipines though, so they can get a real casino feel and professional dealers.

They didn't really say too much about his visit to the JPPA card room (of all the days for me to miss going) other than that he banged his head on the top of the doorframe in the stairwell, which is at a normal Japanese height. And that they took him to Roppongi to chase Japanese women afterwards. MAN, did I choose the wrong day to not bother with the poker game!