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Hotline: ESPN puts on a (new) poker face
Published: 2005-07-19
 Hotline: ESPN puts on a (new) poker face
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - Updated: 01:24 PM EST
After watching Chris Moneymaker and Connecticut's Greg Raymer win again and again and again in repeats from previous tournaments, ESPN finally delivers new episodes tonight from the 2005 World Series of Poker.
Highlights from the main event, which paid out $7.5 million to the winner last week, won't air until October. Until then, ESPN will air final tables and highlights each Tuesday night from the other 40-odd competitions that make up the World Series of Poker. And viewers likely will lap it up.
As ESPN's poker commentator Norman Chad told the Herald, ``I could do the commentary in pig Latin and we'd still be OK.''
Tonight's episodes, which begin at 8 p.m., cover the circuit championships from the Rio hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Look for Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, T.J. Cloutier and Doug Lee among the final competitors.
What makes televised poker so popular?
``This is 10,000 times more real than reality TV,'' Chad said. ``When we put the camera on them, nothing changes.''
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Taxman deals in on poker bounty
Published: 2005-07-20
Taxman deals in on poker bounty
Danny Buttler, gaming reporter
20jul05
AUSTRALIAN tax collectors could be singing "Viva, Joe Hachem" when the Melbourne poker ace returns from Las Vegas.
Hachem, who won $10 million in the world no limit hold'em championships last weekend, could be forced to pay almost half in tax.
Having already handed over 6 per cent of his winnings to the Las Vegas casino that hosted the game, the West Preston card shark could now pay the highest Australian tax rate of 47 per cent.
That would leave the former chiropractor about half the $10 million purse.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Taxation Office would not comment directly on Hachem's case, but explained that luck was the crucial element in deciding how such money would be taxed.
"If it's a business skill, it's classified as income; if it's chance, it's not income," she said. "With a business skill and chance, it can be a combination of the two, so that's where it comes down to personal circumstances."
As he played in a tournament, it is likely Hachem's winnings will be taxed on similar lines to sporting wins, rather than winnings from a lottery or other game of chance.
Hachem's professional status is likely to be questioned, as he made conflicting statements about his commitment to poker playing. He first admitted to playing professionally for about three years, but also claimed poker was merely a hobby.
However, Hachem has the capacity to earn millions more on the lucrative world poker circuit.
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