Poker News Bites: August 31, 2010

The latest poker news from around the world! (Photo by Steve Roberts.)"]

Las Vegas
ESPN's Gary Wise sat down and talked to Phil Laak, whose recent ATV accident sidelined The Unabomber for a few weeks. Laak maintained his typical jovial persona throughout the interview with the poker journalist, reflecting on the accident and his reaction to being transported to the hospital:
"I was in extreme pain, but I was really happy because I had my wits about me and that meant my brain was in good shape. The fact I was thinking about that was a good sign too. My eyes were working. I knew that my arm was bashed, but they could fix that."

It's a great read, whether or not you're a fan of Jennifer Tilly's boyfriend.

Boston
The Boston Globe featured a short piece by Steve Rosenbloom, a sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. In it he talked to Oliver Busquet about taking on Phil Hellmuth in the $25,000-buy-in WPT Championship at the Bellagio this year. In it, he talks about beating Hellmuth in a monster pot: “When it comes to Phil, I hadn’t really played with him; I just know what I’d seen on TV. But my sense is he’s rarely out of line in this situation."

It's always interesting to see stories that cover individual hands so well, particularly when it involves an up-and-coming player versus a monster like Phil Hellmuth.

New Zealand
He's won $160,000 in poker tournaments in the last two years and you'd think that meant that Danish whiz Soren Eriksen would be looking at Las Vegas as his next destination, but he's keeping it local to his adopted homeland and has started his own beer label, 8 Wired Brewing, according to the New Zealand Herald. He began offering the brew last October and he has managed to sell 20,000 liters so far, picking up a coveted gold medal at this year's BrewNZ awards.

Why go for beer instead of poker? Eriksen, whose Kiwi wife is expecting their first child, said that playing poker professionally was not compatible with his view of family life. While that's understandable, he's always welcome to play online poker with us.