AimlesslyChasingAmy

I try to spend less time now pondering the search words that lead people to my blog, because I’m fairly sure they won’t unlock the secret to traffic.  But they do surprise me at times.

“Cheerleader crotch shots”: This is why I should spend less time researching search phrases and another reason why blogs take so much time.  It’s hard to find a good cheerleader crotch shot on the internet; they’re either all skirt or a gyno exam.  Television has mastered the “wholesome” crotch angle, but to date this subtlety is lost on the internet.  Uh…and what the surfer found on my blog, I have no idea.  I suspect they left unsatisfied. 

“Washington State escorts”:  This is easy.  It was obviously Richard Brodie looking for love in all the wrong places.  It’s hard to believe that he hasn’t scored with all the TV time he’s been grabbing lately, but according to Michael Craig’s blog, the Quiet Lion is still on the prowl.  FYI, both Michael and Richard will be attending the WPBT.  

“He grabbed my boob”: I collectively blame Pauly and Gavin Smith for this.  And sadly, this search phrase comes up every month.

“Midget ninjas hunting fish”:  This appears to be someone searching for a picture of Jay Greenspan at the WSOP Bodog party…or another fetish I have yet to learn about.

The searches that trouble me lately are ”Lon McEachern” and “WSOP 2 million extra”.  I’m in a quandary over Harrah’s and their introduction of 2 million extra chips on the second to last day of the Main Event.  They have privately admitted that they put in at least two million extra chips during the 5K color up.  They have reviewed the tapes.  They have said that they were able to verify that two players got approximately one million extra chips each.  They said that they were unable to confirm one way or another whether others may have received extra chips.  On PokerNews.com, Gary Thompson said that Harrah’s would investigate and release their findings.  That was over two months ago.  At the end of September, a Harrah’s official told me that they would be releasing the report within a week.  That was now six weeks ago.  I heard that the WSOP Advisory Committee was going to take up the issue with Harrah’s at their meeting this month.  Apparently it got pushed off to the side until next time.

I know Harrah’s has a lot on its plate; the private equity bid and the UIGEA.  It’s not like I’m looking for public vindication.  I’m looking for improvement and closure.  I’ve heard Harrah’s say that they had a process in place that protected against just this type of “error” but that it was bypassed during the “richest sporting event in history.” I suspect they think that their current process will protect them in the future - and yes, they’ve been very careful during color-ups during the WSOP Circuit events.  Any process that can be bypassed by just one person offers little safeguard.  And “being careful” is hardly enough.  If another screw up happens using the same procedures, I have to believe the corporate liability would be huge.  

I feel like I’ve given Harrah’s every opportunity to deal with this gracefully.  I feel like I’ve checked the turn after they flopped an open ended straight flush draw.  When the hell are they going to take the out?  Every time I see an “extra chip” search phrase, I feel guilty that I haven’t pushed hard enough to see this through.  I wanted to travel the responsible route ever since Tim Lavalli and I took up this issue, but I’m beginning to fear that that the players are just being played; swept under the guise of UIGEA carpet.

Maybe when I’m out in Vegas I’ll corral Tim for a sitdown with Harrah’s.