Combat Poker is back at Commerce Casino! Join Mark Thompson and represent KFI as we take on players from other L.A.-area radio stations in a poker battle royale on June 29th, 2013. Registration begins at noon and the dealers take control at 2 p.m. 

The first 100 people to register below will join Thompson's Terminators. Meet Mark, play cards, and get this suh-weet t-shirt! 



There is no buy-in for players! 

All members of the last team standing will receive at least $50 and can potentially win $5,000 as Top Gun and a seat worth more than $2,000 at a future tournament. 

The 10 players at the final table will receive a total of $10,000!

Players and guests will receive a free meal voucher for a barbecue and $25 matchplay coupon.

Read the rules for participation here.

There will also be an auction to benefit Wounded Warrior Project.

Do you believe Californians will head back to the ballot box after SCOTUS rules on the constitutionality of Prop. 8?

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The fight over legalizing gay marriage in the most populous U.S. state may go back to the ballot box in 2014 with California voters asked once again to settle the matter even after the Supreme Court's expected ruling this month on the issue.

Experts believe the top court is unlikely to proclaim a national right to same-sex marriage in its decisions. The court is set to rule on a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriage and on a provision of federal law denying certain benefits for married same-sex couples.

At issue is California's 2008 prohibition on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8. Lower federal courts struck down the ban, and a high court majority appears likely to rule in a way that would affect only Californians.

A vast array of legal issues, from the procedural question of who can legally defend a ballot proposition to more consequential questions of states' rights, leaves room for continuing uncertainty over the fate of Proposition 8. That has prompted each side to prepare a Plan B. 

Read more at Yahoo News 

Is NSA surveillance of foreigners threaten US relations with other countries?

BERLIN — Challenged personally by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany about American intelligence programs that monitor foreigners’ communications without individualized court orders, President Obama said Wednesday that German terrorist threats were among those foiled by such operations worldwide — a contention that Ms. Merkel seemed to confirm.

Their exchanges, in private at the start of his state visit and later at a joint news conference, preceded Mr. Obama’s speech to an estimated 6,000 people at the Brandenburg Gate, near where the Berlin Wall once stood and other American presidents — John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — had paid tribute to the German-American alliance against outside threats from communism to terrorism.

“No wall can stand against the yearning of justice — the yearnings for freedom, the yearnings for peace — that burns in the human heart,” Mr. Obama said in his speech.

Read more at the New York Times 

Do you think Phil Mickelson feels better after avoiding a $400,000 tax bill?

Back in January, Phil Mickelson said he would “be making some drastic changes” to reduce his tax burden in California and lamented that his total tax rate exceeded 60%. He faced a firestorm from those who thought Mickelson should hold his tongue, as one of the ten highest-paid athletes in the world with earnings of $48.7 million over the last 12 months.

Holding a lead at the U.S. Open on Sunday would have been a change in the wrong direction. For a record sixth time in his career, Mickelson finished the U.S. Open as the runner-up. By tying for second place, he earned $696,104. Had he held on and won the tournament he would have made $1.44 million. He cost himself $743,896 in prize money by failing to close the deal on Sunday. Maybe Mickelson can take solace that he saved $76,100 in California income taxes?

In November, the voters in Mickelson’s home state chose to increase the nation’s highest tax rate from 10.3% to 13.3%, which with the new higher national rates triggered Mickelson’s comments in January. California’s tax on the difference between first and second place prize money would have amounted to about $98,900. Pennsylvania’s 3.07% tax on the difference (roughly $22,800) would have been taken as a credit on his California return to avoid double-taxation. Thus the net California tax difference between Mickelson’s first U.S. Open victory and yet another second would have been $76,100.

Read more at Forbes 

Say it ain't so...

Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday gave one of his most specific hints about his continuing interest in running for California governor -- telling KPCC radio host Larry Mantle that he wants the job and expects to run one day.

"You mentioned governor -- look, I believe in public service, I want to run for governor. In fact, I fully expect that I will," Villaraigosa said. "I'm going to tell you something. I will never have a job like this. This city has given me more than I could have ever hoped for."

Read more at the LA Times.

Would you find this entertaining, or is it just scary?

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Plastic grocery bags would become a thing of the  past in Los Angeles under an ordinance tentatively approved today by the City  Council, which will cast a final vote next week that would make the city the  largest in the nation to enact such a ban.

If given final approval, the ordinance would take effect Jan. 1 for  large stores, and six months later for smaller stores.

The council voted 11-1 in support of the ban, with Councilman Bernard  Parks casting the lone dissenting vote. Since it failed to earn unanimous  approval, the ordinance will need a second vote next week.

Under the ban, customers would be required to provide their own re- usable bags when they visit stores, or pay 10 cents each for paper bags.

Proponents said the ban would lead to cleaner beaches, storm drains,  rivers and other public spaces that tend to become the final resting places for  the non-biodegradable bags. But representatives for plastics companies  countered that it would cost jobs, while other opponents contend that reusable  bags are prone to germs and could pose a health risk.

Read more on the KFI News Blog