It was a meeting of the minds of the top sports blogs online, in Vegas. Things wrapped up on Friday the 16th with the Blogs With Balls Charity Poker Shootout.

The mix on the tables was as varried as possible — out of the 100 person field, there were 10 pros, absolute rookies, bloggers and Captain Morgan (the dude from the commercials. He’s hilarious, btw).

Congrats to Andy Best (a blogger, not a pro!) for being the eventual winner. He took down $1900 for the win. Andy’s from FanSided.com.

I got bounced by Andy Bloch just after the rebuys stopped, which I can deal with. The event raised $10,000 for Ante Up for Africa.

Look out for online versions of the BwB tourneys coming soon to CarbonPoker.

I’m excited to network with other bloggers, hit the ESPN party and listen to the panelists… but, as far as I’m concerned, the crown jewel of the week will be the Blogs With Balls Charity Poker Shootout.

We’re a sponsor of the event and couldn’t be happier. The tourney was put together by Dan Levy at OnTheDLPodcast (one of the best podcasts online, imo) and is raising cash for Ante Up for Africa.

Also — since this event is in Vegas, there is a 50% chance that I’ll be floating face down by the end of the week. Look forward to photos and updates throughout.

Tourney Details:

When: Friday, October 16, 2009 • 8pm
Where: Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Buy-in: $50+10
Winners: Prizes for table winners, knockout bonuses and finalists. Cash prizes for top finishers.
Charity: Proceeds will go to Ante Up for Africa
Including Charitable Contributions From: Carbon Poker, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated, Jose Cuervo, Crown Royal

That’s not all! In addition to bloggers that have played in our Invitational Blogger Tourneys, this event is featuring some of the most legit pros in the business.

The Pros:

• Annie Duke
• Jennifer Harman – seen naked earlier today
• Joe Sebok
• James Van Alstyne
• Marco Traniello
• Jeff Madsen
• Karina Jett
• Chip Jett
• Layne Flack
• Me

PUNTE from WithLeather will be repping CarbonPoker and wearing our gear. Despite his poker play, he’s actually a good friend of the site. When he eventually gets knocked out, whoever does it will be awarded some CP swag!

We’ll also be awarding winners, and losers, some pretty exclusive Carbon stuff. If you’re in Vegas next week, be sure to stop by.

If you missed out on BlogsWithBalls 1.0 in New York then you should definitely check out the second iteration of this blogging and media conference that will be packed with sports writers, athletes and the biggest bloggers in the industry.

Look for players from CarbonPoker’s Invitational Blogger Tourneys and an Carbon-funded, pro-packed charity poker tournament on Friday the 16th. We’ve got more coming on this soon — including how to satellite into the tournament.

All five of these are Satellite Poker Tournament winners who will be going to a live event from online action. It’s every online players dream, and these five will be proudly sent to Melbourne, Australia for the October 2 Main Event.

The PokerNews Cup is an Australian Tourney that features nine events from September 27 – October 5th. With buy-ins that range from $100 + $15 to $2,000 + $200 (all funds in AUD, mate), you can expect a range of players, and some top-notch talent.

This is all taking place at the Crown Casino.

The CarbonPoker Players:

• impser
• xxMTVxx
• las2as
• jerem1986
• Forouzandeh

The Main Event:

• PokerNews Cup Australia Main Event
• $2,000 + $200 Buy-in
• October 2 – Day 1A @ 12:10 pm
• October 3 – Day 1B @ 12:10 pm
• October 4 – Day 2 @12:10 pm
• October 5 – Main Event Final Table @ 2:10 pm

Good luck to all those great players. If you want your shot at live event glory, check out when the next Satellites are taking place at our Satellite Tournament Schedule.

Competitors started out with 3000 chips, and Chavez now has a reported total of 107,700 for a minor lead. There are about two dozen others within 20,000 chips. Action resumes in the Employees Tourney at 2pm, Vegas time, this afternoon.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for the first WSOP bracelet winner of the year.

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Event #2 — 40th Annual No-Limit Hold’em Event kicks off today. The 4-day event has a $40K price tag and a massive payout.

Buckle up for the 2009 version of the World Series of Poker. As you probably know, there are 57 bracelet events this year with things kicking off as we speak. Las Vegas is buzzing with excitement – you can even hear it over the flicking of Girls! Girls! Girls! handouts on the Strip.

Things get rolling with the $500 buy in Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em event today.

Check back regularly for coverage of the 2009 tournaments here. Good luck if you’re in Vegas for the events… and better luck if you’re already thinking of qualifying for next year.

Froliche, a Carbon regular, is going to be in the $1K No Limit Hold’em event on Saturday, May 30. This is a four-day event that brings out some of the best minds in poker. Froliche punched his ticket in one of the satellite tourneys at Carbon recently.

As a 22 year old, froliche splits his time between playing poker online and occasionally going to college. I think we all know what he’s better at.

I got the chance to sit down and chat with the man and here are some of the words of wisdom that helped earn him the WSOP seat:

On tips/strategy:

“play loose and use reads off your opponents to make key bluffs. [you have] gotta play loose aggressive so that you’re not so dependent on your cards. That’s something I only learned recently and it’s improved my game a lot.”

On comfort during long online poker sessions at Carbon:

“You should always talcum powder your n*ts to keep them from getting uncomfortable while you play”

Sage words from a great player. Follow froliche’s progress at the CarbonPoker Blog and feel free to cheer him on in the comments and use his Talcum powder advice.

Thursday, May 28th – 40th Annual No-Limit Hold’em – $40,000 buy in. ‘Nuff said

Sat, May 30th – No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 buy in featuring CarbonPoker players froliche and sliekas. Do it up, guys!

Mon, June 1st – World Championship Seven Card Stud — $10,00 buy in

Sat, June 13th – World Championship Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em – $10,000 buy in. Lets see the big dogs battle it out to see who’s the best. It could get ugly.

Fri, June 26th – World Championship HORSE – $50,000 buy in. You know this event always gets crazy and it’s a blast to watch.

Thurs, July 2nd – Ante Up For Africa Charity Event – $5000 buy in. This is the kind of event you can really feel good about… You know, if you’ve got a soul.

Then of course we’ve got the $10,000 buy in World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold’em 13-day event. It stretches from July 3rd – July 15th. I think you might have heard of it. If not, are you sure you’re in the right place right now? Do you need someone to help you get home?

The final table takes place again from November 7th – 10th. Although the time is TBD, clear your schedule for those days. This is the can’t-miss event of the year.

Sure there are a ton of events, and it loses some of the mystique of the six-man, winner take all event of 1970…but, get with the future, man. You’ve got the internet on your cell phone; you can handle more poker as the WSOP.

As we said before, there are eleven CarbonPoker players hitting the WSOP tables at the Rio this year. If you’re in the neighborhood, look for them in their slamming new Carbon gear. It’s great to see our guys go from online to live action at one of the biggest stages in poker.

Here are the 2009 members of the CarbonPoker 2009 Army:

• ALLINLE
• Ikee01
• robin1989
• DrextheTex
• Diablo09
• Pako3000
• davegk
• k54321
• KikiGreg
• Sliekas
• Froliche1

Make us proud, boys. Because if you don’t win, you can’t come back. I guess you can come back; Just bring me a present.