Negreanu, Sebok, Smith Star in 'RawVegas' Launch
"Are you sure?" --- Daniel Negreanu's wife Lori, to Daniel, hair clippers in hand
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, fire it up, before I change my mind." --- Daniel, in reply, moments before his head is shaved for the camera
Daniel Negreanu, Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith are three big poker names who make starring appearances in yesterday's launching of RawVegas.tv. Under the leadership of Steve 'Chops' Preiss, the president of RawVegas, the slick new site is already serving up Vegas with an attitude, with an added emphasis on the life and lifestyles of several big name poker players.
Smith and Sebok are featured in the debut of RawVegas's new reality show "Prop Bets," already up on the site. In the video, Smith and Sebok first recall their famous wager resulting in the loser, Sebok, wearing a number of outlandish costumes at last year's WSOP, and then they get down to the ongoing business of the show --- a series of bizarre, ongoing challenges between the two, made, in the truest spirit of proposition wagers, just for the joy of the bet.
The first episode shows Sebok and Smith in a mechanical-bull riding contest held at the famed Gilley's bar at the Frontier in Vegas, with $10,000 on the line. We won't give out spoilers, but we do note that at least one famous poker pro's brief bull ride ends in a hilarious face plant to the mat. As RawVegas.com president Preiss noted, "Gavin and Joe are two of the most creative prop bettors out there, and are pretty much game for anything." Preiss also noted that, "They're also two of the funniest guys on the circuit. So we'll keep the cameras rolling as they make ridiculous wagers involving lots of cash and outrageous dares." Another announced episode in the ongoing Gavin-vs.-Joe prop war involves Chinese "drop" water torture in the form of a last-longer bet. According to Preiss, Smith and Sebok have had a very active hand in creating the various prop bets to be contested, with between 40 and 50 ideas already in the bank.
The recent rumors about Daniel Negreanu shaving his head as part of a new attitude for the 2007 poker year also turn out to be true. Site visitors can enjoy a strange video showing the start of the new look, shot just before Negreanu's departure to the Aussie Millions. Negreanu even cites Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver as inspiration for the new look. The "Webisode," titled "Negreanu Reality," is part of another poker-centered series called "Raw Reality," intended to show what life can be like for Vegas poker pros when they're not at the felt.
Negreanu's videos for the site are intended to appear as often as once a week, and will be joined by similar glimpses behind the scenes of players Erick Lindgren and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, among others. The Lindgren and Mizrachi videos will also appear on a weekly basis, once travel schedules allow for the filming of more episodes. As Preiss noted, "These guys are the rock stars of the city, and people want to see what they're doing when they're not playing."
The site's other early entries range from the trendy and sexy to the bizarre, including an interview with, of all things, porn-movie clown "Dick Chibbles." Other early video entries include a general-interest gambling show, "Wager Wars," and "Raw Daily News," which focuses on the Vegas scene.
Editors Note: photo courtesy Dr Pauly.
