You know me, I want to lambast and ridicule any Tom Schneider endeavor — because that’s how we show our friends we care — but gotta say, this is pretty damn good. Very different:

According to Eric Ulis, the host of this in-development show, the current poker-on-TV offerings are a bit “stuffy” … and that’s where they supposedly come in — to talk about the poker news of the day in a different way. It’s all part of a derivative of Ulis’ Continental Poker Championship, and the plan is to film it regularly with this crew of Arizona high stakes pros — Tom Schneider, Hooman Nikzad, and Jesse McGinty — at the Gila River Casino Wild Horse Pass, just outside of Phoenix.

A recent blog [sic.] on CardPlayer by a former guest on my “The Tournament Trail” show at Hold ‘Em Radio (http://www.holdemradio.com/), WPT champion Roy Winston, indicated that no one has contacted him regarding his offer of coaching for the Main Event.

Sorry, Roy, but I’m laughing. Because no one has contacted me, either, about my offer to put a Pokerati patch on them in exchange for guaranteed internet coverage! No offense, but whothefugk are you? A WPT champion? Big deal! The final nine — whether by luck or skill or some combination thereof — have outlasted 6,400 players to get to where they are. Have you ever done that? I didn’t think so.* Why would someone want to potentially mess their game up by receiving “coaching” from someone other than Phil Hellmuth (who clearly knows how to win WSOP final tables with any starting chip ratio) or maybe Erik Seidel? If I were one of the Nueve de Noviembre, I gotta say, I’d be feeling pretty good about my poker skills in general … and would be having many talks with the poker friends who helped get me there (The Arizona Posse, Batfaces, et al.) and probably just about any other poker player I ran into between July and November. But hire an outside coach? That would be like an athlete qualifying for the Olympics and hiring someone in the interim who happened to win a similar event in the Pan-Am games.

The story here isn’t on whether or not the final table delay was a right idea for the sake of marketing … it’s about how the remaining WSOP main event players are somehow smart enough not to fall for sales pitches from interlopers trying to get in on their action.

*Note: Roy “the Oracle” Winston has come close — outlasting more than 6,300 players in the 2007 main event, but going out early when it got down to three tables. So maybe it should be the other way around and he could get some coaching from one of them?

Roy’s website: www.OraclePoker.net

Though it won’t help Mike Wattel feel any better, the Arizona guys are out celebrating, as Ryan Hughes won a bracelet tonight — in $1,500 7-stud Hi-Lo. Woot! (Uh-huh, yeah, we go like way back, Ryan and us … we all play 1-to-1,000, baby. OK, but seriously, anyone who even kinda-sorta knew him knew it was only a matter of time before Hughes hit big.)

He’s chronicling his own pursuits, his observations from the tables, and Pat Poels’ already being hard at work trying to win his way into the $50k HORSE event.

Despite slightly lower numbers, the WPT World Championship will still likely end up being one of the five biggest tournaments in the Milky Way this year … and Day 2 has just gotten underway. Pokerati would love to beyotch about not having access to the makeshift WPT TV studio at Bellagio to do our brand of non-chip coverage, but we’ve been invited to a WPT Party tonight with free food and booze, so we’re obviously all good with the status quo.

421 of 545 starting players remain … A few names that I’ll be paying attention to for various reasons, and where they stand in relation to their starting 50k chipstack include Carlos Mortenson (defending champ – 172,075), Tom Schneider (25,400), Clonie Gowen (93,975), Gregg Merkow (40,075), Nenad Medic (12,425), Rodeen Talebi (18,000), Ray Henson (89,550), and David Sklansky (41,050).

Click below to see how the whole pro-studded field shaped up as of noon-Pacific today, and click here to follow the action throughout Day 2.

1. Jeff King – 211,575
2. Paul Chauderson – 200,900
3. Kenny Tran – 193,025
4. Robert Mizrachi – 173,375
5. Carlos Mortensen – 172,075
6. Jordan Morgan – 171,750
7. David Benyamine – 169,350
8. Billy Baxter – 167,150
9. Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken – 163,675
10. Steve Billirakis – 156,800
11. Tom “Durrrr” Dwan – 155,675
12. Nashaat Antonius – 153,375
13. Andrew Shack – 150,300
14. Scott Epstein – 147,800
15. Charles Kelley – 147,325
16. Brandon Cantu – 145,125
17. Joe Tehan – 143,275
18. Jonathan Kalmar – 140,325
19. Michael Katz – 138,500
20. J.C. Tran – 138,350
21. James Mordue – 137,500
22. Michael Sohayean – 134,275
23. Greg “FBT” Mueller – 132,675
24. Soheil Shamseddin – 131,300
25. Jayde Tran – 129,025
26. Thomas Wahlroos – 127,875
27. Jimmy Tran – 125,125
28. John Hillman – 124,550
29. Rock Cloutier – 124,025
30. Abe Mosseri – 123,400
31. Victor Ramdin – 122,675
32. Martin Hansen – 121,125
33. John Celii – 121,075
34. Josh Arieh – 120,250
35. Dario Minieri – 118,650
36. Marcel Luske – 117,225
37. Vanessa Selbst – 117,025
38. Will Wilkinson – 116,050
39. Eli Elezra – 115,000
39. Jim Bechtel – 115,000
41. John Hoang – 113,350
42. Anna Wroblewski – 112,450
43. Michael Gracz – 111,650
44. T.J. Cloutier – 110,525
45. Gus Hansen – 110,325
46. Brian Rast – 110,175
47. Eugene Katchalov – 109,900
48. Rhynie Campbell – 109,675
49. Tommy Hang – 108,000
50. Ron Levi – 106,775
51. Keith Tilston – 106,425
52. Thayer Rasmussen – 106,400
53. Steve Sung – 105,800
54. John Kincaid – 105,600
55. Peter Neff – 104,275
56. Jimmy Dowda – 103,925
57. Steven Koplow – 103,000
58. Steve Zolotow – 102,750
59. Joe Cassidy – 102,725
60. Karga Holt – 102,100
61. David Tran – 101,500
62. Mike Sexton – 101,325
63. Robert Wisiak – 101,000
63. Roy Winston – 101,000
63. Edwin Ting – 101,000
66. Dino French – 100,750
67. John Hennigan – 100,250
68. David “Devilfish” Ulliott – 100,000
69. Alex Melnikow – 99,775
70. James Van Alstyne – 98,350
71. Kathy Liebert – 98,250
72. Nadim Shabou – 97,850
73. Eric Kesselman – 97,325
74. Jordan Rich – 96,975
75. Shawn Lampman – 96,425
76. Rafael Perry – 96,325
77. Andrew Robl – 95,800
78. Zvi Shiff – 95,325
79. Jonathan Westra – 95,025
80. Weikai Chang – 94,675
81. Gary Kainer – 94,125
82. Clonie Gowen – 93,975
83. Freddy Deeb – 92,300
84. Paul Wasicka – 92,250
85. Erik Seidel – 92,025
86. Shawn Buchanan – 91,950
87. Jeff Madsen – 91,350
88. Yan Chen – 90,775
89. Bruce Corman – 90,500
90. Cristiano Blanco – 90,225
91. Burt Boutin – 90,025
92. Ray Henson – 89,550
93. Richard Fohrenbach – 89,250
94. Daniel Negreanu – 89,200
95. Lars Bonding – 88,750
96. Mario Silvestri – 88,225
97. Nicholas Binger – 87,975
98. Scott Fischman – 87,625
99. Eric Hershler – 87,075
100. Matthew Vengrin – 86,775
100. Vijayan Nagarajan – 86,775
102. Layne Flack – 86,325
103. Chris “Armenian Express” Grigorian – 85,850
104. Pat Madden – 85,700
105. Patrick Bruel – 85,175
106. Kwang Min Lee – 85,025
107. Phil Ivey – 85,000
108. Tim West – 84,925
109. Amir Vahedi – 84,475
110. James McCrink – 83,600
111. Martin de Knijff – 83,500
112. John Baarstom – 83,225
113. Alex Bolotin – 82,875
114. Gary Margadonna – 81,925
115. Todd Keikoan – 81,525
116. Mike Chow – 81,425
117. John Esposito – 81,275
118. Doyle Brunson – 80,850
119. David Grey – 80,350
120. Tony Hartman – 80,275
121. Francois Safieddine – 80,200
122. Tad Jurgens – 79,800
123. Will Failla – 79,500
124. Jonathan Depa – 79,475
125. Huckleberry Seed – 78,900
126. Steven O’Dwyer – 78,675
127. Surinder Sunar – 78,650
128. Gavin Smith – 78,400
129. Daniel Zogman – 78,200
130. Danny Fuhs – 77,875
131. Humberto Brenes – 77,650
132. Jared Okun – 77,375
133. Barry Greenstein – 76,950
134. Loi Phan – 76,625
135. Steve Dannenmann – 76,400
136. Philippe Rouas – 76,325
137. Jeff Bayles – 76,275
138. Larry Wright – 76,100
139. Tim Phan – 75,900
140. Art Duncan – 75,700
141. Herman Zango – 75,575
141. Eugene Todd – 75,575
143. James Mettler – 75,050
144. Narendra Banwari – 75,000
145. Ralph Rudd – 74,975
146. Cary Katz – 74,825
147. Steven Weinstein – 74,500
148. Art Peacock – 73,600
149. Keith Gipson – 73,225
150. Gary Horn – 73,000
151. Billy Pilossoph – 72,550
152. Padraig Parkinson – 72,075
153. Howard Lederer – 71,975
154. George Abdallah – 70,925
155. Isabelle Mercier – 70,750
156. Jared Hamby – 70,125
157. Chris McCormack – 70,000
158. Curt Kohlberg – 69,850
159. Nicolas Levi – 69,650
160. Jeff Shulman – 69,225
161. Alex Jacob – 68,750
162. Praz Bansi – 67,800
163. Hyon Kim – 67,750
164. Donnacha O’Dea – 67,725
165. Arnaud Mattern – 67,700
166. Cory Carroll – 67,625
167. David Goad – 67,500
168. Nikolay Losev – 67,450
169. Nam Le – 67,400
170. Vivek Rajkumar – 67,175
171. Emeline Boich – 67,100
172. Stan Jablonski – 66,950
173. Kevin Haeri – 66,750
174. Vanessa Rousso – 66,500
175. Hoyt Corkins – 66,400
176. Eric Cloutier – 66,125
177. Champie Douglas – 65,925
178. Saifuddin Ahmad – 65,850
179. Paul Smith – 65,600
180. Sean O’Donnell – 65,250
181. Jason Lester – 65,150
182. Vadim Trincher – 65,050
183. Arthur Azen – 65,000

AVERAGE – 64,727

184. Rich Salomon – 64,700
185. Mikael Thuritz – 64,650
186. Steve Wong – 64,600
187. Dewey Tomko – 64,500
188. Eric Richards – 64,400
189. Berry Johnston – 63,250
190. Bryan Devonshire – 62,650
191. Philip Galfond – 62,300
192. Balint Barta – 62,100
193. John Monnette – 62,100
194. Dan Shak – 62,000
195. Ted Forrest – 62,000
196. Mimi Tran – 61,800
197. Sylvester Geoghegan – 60,675
198. Brandon Adams – 60,550
199. Robert Cheung – 60,525
200. Stuart Fox – 60,500
201. Matthew Hyman – 60,350
202. Mike Matusow – 60,275
203. Bruno Fitoussi – 60,050
204. Ross Boatman – 59,925
205. Michael Hudson – 59,900
205. Kelly Kim – 59,900
207. Cliff “Johnny Bax” Josephy – 59,700
208. Benjamin Springer – 59,650
209. James Calderaro – 59,500
210. David Chiu – 59,100
211. David Redlin – 59,050
212. Karl Mahrenholz – 59,000
213. Thang Pham – 58,900
214. Ray Coburn – 58,775
215. Mark Appleman – 58,650
216. Michael Ellis – 58,125
217. Shawn Cunix – 57,750
218. Chau Giang – 57,650
219. Ted Kearly – 57,625
220. Mikiya Takitani – 57,625
221. Gary Gibbs – 56,975
222. Michael McKenna – 56,925
223. Noah Schwartz – 56,575
224. Mark Muchnik – 56,525
225. Hevad “Rain” Khan – 56,425
226. Scotty Nguyen – 56,175
227. Danny Shiff – 56,000
228. Jean Gaspard – 55,825
229. Antonio Salorio – 55,500
229. Kevin O’Donnell – 55,500
231. John Strzemp – 55,475
232. Robert Suer – 55,075
233. Nathan Doudney – 55,000
234. Noah Jefferson – 54,850
235. Mats Rahmn – 54,725
236. Terry Akins – 54,700
237. Alan Vinson – 54,325
238. Mark Teltscher – 54,000
239. David Peters – 53,650
240. Wayne Boich – 53,525
241. John Roveto – 53,500
242. Toto Leonidas – 53,275
243. Douglas Janney – 53,000
244. Andreas Krause – 52,775
245. Vincent Bartello – 52,350
246. Grant Lang – 52,175
247. Amit Makhija – 52,100
248. Joseph Fallows – 52,025
249. Robert Fitzpatrick – 51,875
250. Joe Awada – 51,575
251. Scott Seiver – 51,175
252. Dan Harrington – 51,000
253. Darren Kramer – 50,875
254. Larry Karambis – 50,700
255. Vincent Procopio – 49,950
256. Peter Jetten – 49,700
257. Scott Mayfield – 49,425
258. Shane Schleger – 49,400
259. Soren Jensen – 49,250
260. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – 48,900
261. Marco Traniello – 48,850
262. Vincent Shaw – 48,750
263. Jerry Yang – 48,325
264. Uri Kadosh – 48,175
265. Tommy Legend – 48,000
266. Christopher Bush – 47,925
267. Tony Grappo – 47,750
268. Heather Sue Mercer – 47,550
269. Bob Stupak – 47,175
270. Tony Ma – 47,150
271. Bill Gazes – 46,900
272. Joseph Risi – 46,625
273. Steve Brecher – 45,875
274. Sudhakara Kattamuri – 45,875
275. Allie Prescott – 45,850
276. Mike McClain – 45,700
277. Jon Turner – 45,650
278. Kristy Gazes – 45,000
279. Alan Sass – 44,675
280. Jennifer Harman – 44,625
281. Jonathan Aguiar – 44,475
282. Alven Zeidenfeld – 44,275
283. John Murphy – 43,925
284. Glynn Beebe – 43,625
285. Daniel Moorman – 43,575
285. Dan Lu – 43,575
287. Antonio Esfandiari – 43,400
288. Eric “Rizen” Lynch – 42,850
289. Sam Farha – 42,800
290. Alan Goehring – 42,500
291. John Smith – 42,500
292. Danny Wong – 42,325
293. Shannon Shorr – 42,250
294. Corwin Cole – 42,250
295. Joe Beevers – 41,650
296. Haralabos Voulgaris – 41,600
297. Tim Chauser – 41,575
298. Cory Zeidman – 41,375
299. Barry Berger – 41,275
300. Thomas McCormick – 41,075
301. David Sklansky – 41,050
302. Dustin Dirksen – 41,000
303. John Myung – 40,850
304. Tuan Le – 40,800
305. Alan Smurfit – 40,700
306. Matt Brady – 40,650
307. Raffi King – 40,375
308. Gregg Merkow – 40,075
309. Mark Newhouse – 39,675
310. Samuel Hiatt – 39,350
311. Danilo Sahiune – 39,225
312. John Juanda – 39,225
313. Peter Feldman – 39,100
314. Roland DeWolfe – 38,975
315. Christian Pereira – 38,975
316. Phil Hellmuth – 38,075
317. Jon Friedberg – 38,025
318. Allen Kessler – 37,800
319. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – 37,475
320. Sirous Jamshidi – 37,125
321. Eric Baldwin – 37,075
322. Louis Werman – 36,650
323. Minh Ly – 36,350
324. Quinn Do – 36,350
325. Gary Dolenga – 36,175
325. Ting Li – 36,175
327. Ryan Daut – 35,300
328. Joe Hachem – 35,300
329. Herb Montalbano – 35,125
330. Raymond Davis – 35,000
331. Abdo Lattouf – 34,900
332. Ira Mazie – 34,725
333. David Farber – 33,950
334. Dennis Waterman – 33,825
335. Lee Markholt – 33,600
336. Mike Wattel – 33,275
337. Jean-Robert Bellande – 33,250
338. Andrew Pierz – 33,200
339. Rhett Butler – 32,875
340. Matt Lefkowitz – 32,600
341. Elia Ahmadian – 32,175
342. Erik Sagstrom – 32,100
343. Roy Thung – 32,000
344. Amnon Filippi – 31,750
345. Mark Stubbs – 31,700
346. Marcus Gonsalves – 31,325
347. Barny Boatman – 31,325
348. Mark Dickstein – 30,775
349. Mark Seif – 30,625
350. Johan Storakers – 30,550
351. Thor Hansen – 30,475
352. Jyri-Petteri Linna – 30,450
353. Franco Brunetti – 30,000
354. Russell Rosenblum – 29,850
355. David Rheem – 29,600
355. Robert Zeps – 29,600
357. Parviz Razavian – 29,250
358. Fred Berger – 29,075
359. Adam Levy – 28,925
360. Aaron Been – 28,525
361. Markus Lehmann – 28,500
362. William Klein – 28,325
363. Florian Langmann – 28,250
364. Stuart Christerson – 28,000
365. Karl Tretter – 27,850
366. Erica Schoenberg – 27,250
367. Bill Kontaratos – 27,200
368. Dan Barry – 26,800
369. Matt Giannetti – 26,625
370. James Dawick – 26,500
371. Alexander Kravchenko – 26,225
372. Thomas Wolfinger – 26,125
373. Benedetto Bianco – 26,100
374. David Gregory – 25,975
375. Samuel Korkis – 25,475
376. Tom Schneider – 25,400
377. David Kim – 25,325
378. Gary Burrell – 25,150
379. Michael Graffo – 24,425
380. James Cornell – 23,775
381. Matt Russell – 23,500
382. Mark Cole – 23,475
383. Serena Liu – 23,100
384. Bertrand Grospellier – 22,725
385. David Rubin – 22,325
386. Kenna James – 21,975
387. Chad Brown – 21,850
388. Hooman Nikzad – 20,875
389. Simon Moussa – 20,675
390. Edwin Kim – 20,475
391. Tony Cousineau – 20,350
392. John Duthie – 19,625
393. Scott Ross – 19,500
394. Michael Binger – 19,275
395. Mark Gregorich – 18,550
396. Rodeen Talebi – 18,000
397. Christopher Bach – 17,700
398. Scott Paust – 17,125
399. Jeff Langdon – 16,950
400. Lance Oliver – 16,525
401. Jason Potter – 16,225
402. Erick Lindgren – 15,800
403. Adam Geyer – 15,675
404. Brian Haveson – 15,575
405. Sorel Mizzi – 15,475
406. Alexander Kostritsyn – 15,450
407. Andrew Rosskamm – 13,900
408. Joe Sebok – 13,300
409. Theodore Park – 13,250
410. Enrique Leigue – 13,100
411. Brian Powell – 12,850
412. Nenad Medic – 12,425
413. Andrew Black – 11,800
414. Bob Cole – 11,575
415. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 10,725
416. Dennis Burns – 10,625
417. Erik Haakenson – 10,375
418. Van Nguyen – 9,100
419. Nick Schulman – 8,400
420. Albert Huang – 7,875
421. David “The Dragon” Pham – 4,750

Click here to follow the Day 3 action – where because of legally questionable exclusive media deals, you have no choice but to read coverage from a guy who clearly would rather write in a way that reveals he can’t wait to go home (or to the tables, or the bar) as opposed to figuring out the names of fewer than 30 players left in a field?

(If it’s fair to expect NFL television announcers to know every name on two rosters, is it really too much to ask that any “reporters” know every name once a tourney gets below four tables? There are breaks, after all, where you theoretically could go find out what you don’t know by asking someone. But whatever … it’s not Pokerati’s job to bitch about crappy, uninspired coverage just because we happened to have a conversation with someone else about whether or not we have a right to post numbers and letters like the ones below and/or haven’t had our coffee yet this morning.)

And click below to see the starting stacks going in:

1. Jason Potter – 351,700
2. Jordan Rich – 327,900
3. Ron Linden – 301,400
4. Zach Hyman – 298,000
5. Phil Ivey – 286,100
6. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – 255,900
7. Chris Back – 244,300
8. David “The Dragon” Pham – 195,100
9. Lee Markholt – 183,700
10. Bryan Devonshire – 182,500
11. Chau Giang – 159,800

AVERAGE – 145,000

12. Erik Seidel – 138,600
13. Brian Green – 134,100
14. Don Dooley – 119,100
15. Pat Poels – 101,300
16. Tim West – 89,300
17. Jamie Robbins – 73,900
18. Steve Conigliaro – 71,800
19. Jonathan Westra – 69,300
20. Jeff DeWitt – 65,500
21. Marty Wong – 56,600
22. Keith Carter – 45,000
23. Jason Gray – 44,600
24. Boriz Zivotov – 34,000
25. Joe LePorre – 34,000
26. Becky Makar – 22,200
27. Stephen Ladowsky – 20,700

6:03 — Funny, he just made it over to the Tom vs. Gavin table … pointed out that Tom was trailing by “a little more than a few thousand chips.” He then seem confused by why Gavin had some book on the table. “Oops! I Won Too Much Money,” he said over the microphone, surprised to discover the author was right in front of him.

6:05 — “Gavin Smith takes down another nice pot. No one at this table is very afraid,” he said, presumably referring to Tom’s questionable call.

6:06 — Robert Goldfarb is on the other side of the room, not responding to my texts inquiring about what is going on over at his end.

6:09 — Chris Ferguson hits a three-outer on the river … I know see a hot blonde girl standing up and clapping, and am pretty sure that is his modeltastic Brazilian girlfriend.

6:13 — TJ Cloutier shows up and is laughing tickled upon hearing the report from Robert Williamson’s little sister (and favorite Pokerati stalking victim) who informs him that indeed, Hellmuth went out on the third hand. “Heh-heh-ha,” says Cloutier in his Hank-Hill chortle.

6:14 — Oh no! My personal sleeper pick and Arizona Posse-ite Hooman Nikzad is out. He got it all-in with the best, but Greg Raymer turned a set to advance.

6:20 — Tom pushes all-in, Gavin folds … to give the Donkey Bomber a 24k-16k lead. Last time these two played heads-up at the same time, both were competing for WSOP bracelets (in different events). Tom won his match, and Gavin lost his. Just sayin’ …

6:22 — At least two very Hammery flops have come in this 8-match quadrant of first round action. Both 7-7-2 flops have resulted in bets followed by folds. Very interesting.

6:30 — There are seats for about 90 spectators in this makeshift Caesar’s viewing coliseum. Twelve media spots (not counting the dozen or so NBC folks who have the run of the floor.

6:31 — Kenny Tran doubles up against Scott Clements thanks to running clubs. “The turn always gives you extra outs,” the announcer said. No it doesn’t, at least four of us in the room are thinking.

6:33 — Back to counting … there’s standing room only for about a dozen squeezed in around the rails.

6:34 — Greg Raymer can’t seem to leave, even though he’s already one. It’s clear (imho) he’s looking for camera time … not Phil Hellmuth-style for ego … but presumably to get some HD-pixel time for his patch-friends at PokerStars.

6:36 — As Raymer loudly mentioned PokerStars, a headphone-wearing producer woman just informed Fossilman that he was getting in the camera’s way and needed to leave. “Aww, c’mon,” Raymer unsuccessfully plead.

6:40 — Scott Clements’ AK holds up against A7, and California Jen’s pick to win it all moves on.

6:41 — Gabe Kaplan knocks out Antonius.

Had I known that I would come in 8th, I definitely would have taken a shot at it. Had I tried to do it and made it through the first day of the WPT, I would have been able to blame my 8th place finish on being distracted, or at least Angry Julie would have reminded me many times.

I like Tunica because of its friendly environment, loads of PLO and the food. The food is pretty good but very fattening. I did happen to lose weight on this trip because I have totally changed my eating habits. I am now eating a very balanced diet with big emphasis on vegetables. I hate them, but I do like the way I’m starting to feel.

Late in December of ’07 I declared that ’08 is going to be the year of health. I weighed more than I ever have, and I was starting to feel it. In the past, I have always lost weight by working out hard and always being hungry. I haven’t been hungry once and have lost about 10 pounds since the beginning of the year. I have changed my ways of eating to something I think I can sustain for the rest of my life, at least that’s the plan.

A few comments about Tunica …

The Gold Strike tournament and cash game area has to be the coldest indoor facility in which I have ever played poker. I wore sweat pants, a sweat shirt and even a ski hat and was still freezing. People were sneezing and hacking the whole time I was there. I can’t believe I didn’t get sick. I estimated the indoor temp at 60 with prevailing winds coming from the vents. I did see a players teeth chattering…huge tell that he was cold. The Grand Casino, host of the circuit event was probably around 65 degrees, just a tiny bit better. It was so cold that even Hillary Clinton would’ve warmed the place up.

[Rimshot!]

I hate it when you ask someone to make it warmer, the whole table agrees in harmony and then they say they will give them a call like they are a teenage girl about to ask their dad if they can go out with a 22 year old guy. They know that calling won’t do any good, and it doesn’t. Do we have to get NASA involved at the Gold Strike to help them figure this out? I know I sound like a pussy, but it was unbelievably cold.

A rule that favors locals …

Julie was playing in a juicy 20-40 limit hold’em game at the Horseshoe Casino. They have a rule that if 2 people are walking from the table the 3rd person that needs to get up can only be gone for one round. If they don’t make it back to the table in time they will be picked up. The first 2 people can be gone for about an hour and 45 minutes. This does suck real bad but it’s not the worst part. They also have a rule, that if you are gone from a must-move table and you are next on the list, they won’t move you, they move the next person on the list.

Julie was 3rd up on the must-move list. The game she was in was sweet and the main game was rock solid. What happens? Two locals in Julie’s game, one of whom has the button on the next hand, see a guy racking up from the main game. They jump up like Michael Jordan and leave the table immediately. Julie asked if there was a fire. Then the floor comes over to read the must-move list and what a surprise, the 2 jacks-in-the-box were 1 and 2 on the list. The floor tells Julie she has to move and explains this local rule…would have loved to have the recorder for this one. Julie gets moved and these 2 locals get to stay in the juicy game.

It is very wrong to have a rule which favors regulars. It sends a horrible message to players and makes them wonder what else is going on or what other rules do they not know about that could potentially screw them.

It was a good trip. It was fun to see some people and play PLO. Now back to Phoenix for a break then maybe off to San Diego to play at Harrah’s Rincon circuit event.

Make sure you listen to the next Beyond the Table for a great story about Devilfish in Tunica.

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• Robert G drinks the BTT Kool-Aid.
• WSOP scheduling, the Houston poker bust and felony charges, an Illinois amateur poker crackdown, Charles Nesson as the Timothy O’Leary of Poker.
• Gratuitous pimping: Up for Poker and the PokerStars Blogger Championship.
• Action junkies and Karridy’s online sit-n-go multitabling master plan — big screens and upside-down calculator words.
• Tom goes to Spain in search of plaques and CardPlayer points.
• Karridy hits the Stockyards in search of family values and professional online poker dreams.
• The Fort Worth police vs. Beyond the Table.
• Dan tries to take credit for bringing the Mob into Texas poker.

After the first break, Karridy (“Karridy”) is out — in 1,048th place out of 1337. But it wasn’t him playing … was a “friend from work” he insists. By the way, for those wondering, that does fall within the PokerStars substitution rules. (Scroll down to the bottom.)

California Jen (“Cookie_555″) was briefly 3rd in chips … and is still sitting pretty in 76th out of 770something remaining. She contends having this many chips is a relatively new experience for her. UPDATE: She just moved up to 37th, out of 730 remaining.

Big Robert won’t tell me what his screen name is/was … but he reports:

All in on 8 hi flop. had kk v qq…q on the turn. out.

Ouch, Robert. You woulda done better had you had the queens. But like Princess Leia as a Jedi, there is still hope for the Arizona Posse, as Green Lisa (“HelloCity”) hit her 10-outer on the river to get comfortable.

Ed the Commenter (“hungerfan”) is out in 800somethingth place.

The prizes everyone is playing for haven’t been released yet, but it’s : about $40k worth of assorted cash and goodies. (Thanks Lisa!)

Big Robert won a 300-player multi on Full Tilt last night–paid about $7,000–and tonight he’s sweating Pat Poels and Ryan Hughes, who are both at two different WCOOP final tables on PokerStars.

Poels is chip leader with seven left in 2-7 Triple Draw, and Hughes is sitting solid in Pot Limit Omaha (6-max). Both are playing for big five-figure payouts … actually Poels Hughes is already there.

Meanwhile, I’m deciding whether or not to drive home … or to Arizona.

UPDATE: Poels — pstarfish – finished 2nd (out of 649) to win $18,821. Hughes — elycash41 – finished 3rd (out of 1,818) to win $27,379. Nice job, Arizona! Way to represent. So wanna party like you guys.

Click here to listen.

On this week’s episode:

• The Arizona State Poker Championship
• Fake Karridy interviewing Fake Doyle Brunson
• Tom goes to Wyoming to golf with drunken naked old men
• Other poker pros opt for Doyle Brunson & Dewey Tomko High Stakes Golf
• Dan comes to Phoenix for intense poker training
• Dan loses his bankroll
• The grow-your-money:lose-your-money time ratio in poker
• Going almost-broke with Brad Booth, Brian Townsend, et al.
• Bankroll management: How to avoid losing $3 million
• Fake Karridy interviewing Fake Brian Townsend
• The Education of a Poker Player: Plunge the Toilet
• Public pooping etiquette and mad plunging skills
• The problem with satisfying your sexual desires at the poker table

Again, obviously, if you haven’t already … click here to audio it up. Or here to get your podcast on and keep it that way.

And as always, feel free to call 888-820-8091 — or email — to let us know what you think of the show, the people on it, and our topics for expostulation. There’s even talk of an “Oops I Won too Much Money” hat for someone.

For now, here’s a picture of Tom in a bathrobe:

Table 13
Seat 1 – Mike Jung – 191,000
Seat 2 – Thu Nguyen – 490,000
Seat 3 – Franco Brunetti – 218,000
Seat 4 – Mike McClain – 684,000
Seat 5 – Lee Markholt – 873,000
Seat 6 – Raymond Davis – 539,000
Seat 7 – Brian Powell – 248,000
Seat 8 – Shi Jia Liu – 476,000
Seat 9 – Joe Sebok – 1,057,000

Table 17
Seat 1 – Peter Feldman – 853,000
Seat 2 – Dan Harrington – 370,000
Seat 3 – Robert Goldfarb – 296,000
Seat 4 – David Pham – 1,007,000
Seat 5 – Don Zewin – 378,000
Seat 6 – Sean McCabe – 183,000
Seat 7 – Wayne Chang – 281,000
Seat 8 – Tom Schneider – 803,000
Seat 9 – Billy Pilossoph –788,000

Place Prize
1 $1,600,365
2 $800,185
3 $388,660
4 $228,625
5 $182,900
6 $137,175
7 $114,310
8 $91,450
9 $68,590
10-12 $57,155
13-15 $43,440
16-18 $34,295

]]> http://pokerati.com/2007/08/wpt-legends-day-4-preview/feed/ 17 http://pokerati.com/2007/08/give-me-money-or-give-me-death/ http://pokerati.com/2007/08/give-me-money-or-give-me-death/#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:19:58 +0000 Dan Michalski http://pokerati.com/2007/08/28/give-me-money-or-give-me-death/ The Legends of Poker tourney is at the money bubble, and Pokerati’s two Arizona bitches “main men” are still alive. Tom Schneider seems to have floundered a bit, but that’s probably just a ploy, as he claims to be in some sort of “zone.”

Robert Goldfarb is hanging on via my favorite strategy of getting the money in when you are behind and taking full advantage of a favorable board:

2nd to last hand of night I moved all in for 17,500 with QT. Dutch Boyd called me with TT. When the cards were turned up I said ‘im pretty good at these’ 44k.

Awesome. Can you see why I love this guy?And then most recently, today, as in like a few minutes ago:

Pushed 34k with 55, Ali [Sarkeshik] calls with KK. What was he thinking. 74k.

Click here to follow the action as they play down to 18(?) tonight.

UPDATE from ROBERT:

$

Can we get a Boo-yah?

NOTE: Condolences are in order for Arizona’s Mike Wattel, who obviously needs to work on his card-catching/dodging skills.

]]> http://pokerati.com/2007/08/give-me-money-or-give-me-death/feed/ 11 http://pokerati.com/2007/08/big-roberts-first-punch/ http://pokerati.com/2007/08/big-roberts-first-punch/#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:44:00 +0000 Dan Michalski http://pokerati.com/2007/08/27/big-roberts-first-punch/ As Tom Schneider stays near the top of the field in the Legends tourney, our embedded reporter Robert Goldfarb picks his first spot as he tries to claw his way up the leaderboard:

All in for 6000…3 callers…cunningham raises 20..all fold…he has jj, i have kj…he never stood a chance. 30k.

Awesome. All he needs to do now is quadruple up and he’ll be an average stack!

UPDATE:

Moved in from c/o w/33 dutch called with aT. 58k.

Go Big Robert! I’m roo … er … you do what you gotta/know-how-to do. You are still small enough that they won’t even see you coming. Nine-touple up and you’ll be even with Tom!

UPDATE:

AA in the bb. 90k.

Ahh, welcome back. Maybe the CP-WPT crew will notice you now. It’s my lunch hour, so I gotta step away from the computer and drink.

NOTE: Actually just noticed the average stack is now 140k, and the leaderboard hasn’t been updated to include Danny Wong’s elimination … so it could be hire than that. Keep punching, Robert!

]]> http://pokerati.com/2007/08/big-roberts-first-punch/feed/ 0 http://pokerati.com/2007/08/the-other-big-event-this-weekend/ http://pokerati.com/2007/08/the-other-big-event-this-weekend/#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:06:04 +0000 Dan Michalski http://pokerati.com/2007/08/27/the-other-big-event-this-weekend/ Day 2 of the $10k main event of the WPT Legends of Poker is well underway in California (aka the Oklahoma of Las Vegas).

Click here to follow the chip-by-chip coverage.

The Arizona contingent of Pokerati is representin’ … Donkey Bomber is second in chips right now (behind Dutch Boyd) and Big Robert is hanging on, trying to make it to Day 3. With 89 players left, he’s a shortish stack with 30k. Blinds are 800/1600 +200. Other Arizona peeps doing well/on fumes include Danny Fuhs and Mike Wattel.

Beyond all those guys, I’m watching the fake Todd Phillips and Batface fantasy-teamer Danny Wong — who’s got a plenty healthy stack as he guns for his third WPT final table in a row.

By the way, there’s also lots of crazy poker media stuff going — this being the first WPT event with semi-closed coverage after a legally questionable deal between Berman/Lipscomb Inc. and CardPlayer. California girl Jen Newell over at Wisehand should have some decent insight … as she used to work with the WPT, has covered their events before, and knows her way around the back-halls at The Bicycle Casino, unlike Gonz, who gets kicked out when he goes there.

Sent an encouraging message to Robert G (who is not being covered by the WPT-CardPlayer junta) while typing this post regarding his 30k: You are definitely good enough to work with that. M=11? Please.

His response: 15k.

I suggested he shift into panic-and-pray gear, but he tells me he’ll find a spot to 1-2 punch his way out. Alas, I also told him yesterday that I was “rooting for him.” Oops … kinda forgot, as plenty of old Lodge players can attest … that’s kinda the kiss of death.

]]> http://pokerati.com/2007/08/the-other-big-event-this-weekend/feed/ 1 http://pokerati.com/2007/08/az-state-championship-final-table/ http://pokerati.com/2007/08/az-state-championship-final-table/#comments Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:28:35 +0000 Dan Michalski http://pokerati.com/2007/08/19/az-state-championship-final-table/ I guess it shouldn’t surprise us that a bunch of top players in Arizona made the final table of the Arizona State Championship today. Though Pokerati’s horses keep dropping, it’s good to know we can keep adding horses from the soon-to-be-recognized and reckoned-with Arizona Posse. (OK, that name is starting to grind on me — perhaps we need something else — like the Scottfaces?)

Our embedded reporter Robert Goldfarb went out in 130somethingth place.

Our favorite Chinese Poker champion Jesse McGinty made the final table and finished 9th. Still waiting on the payouts.

Danny Fuhs finished 8th.

CORRECTION: Hooman Nikzad (also an AP player) finished 8th. You can see how we confused the names. It’s kinda a shame that a state championship doesn’t count in the various tournament-ranking databases, no?

Still alive from the Scottsdale-based crew are Ben Tang and Ryan Hughes (pictured), who won his first WSOP bracelet this summer. According to Tom Schneider, Ryan went to the final table with “a monstrous chip lead and will probably win it.”

UPDATE:

from Goldfarb
10:27 pm
Ryan out 3rd. 50k

It just occurred to me … did this tournament have an asterisk by it, because Gonz didn’t play?

]]> http://pokerati.com/2007/08/az-state-championship-final-table/feed/ 3 http://pokerati.com/2007/08/sunday-tourney-sunday/ http://pokerati.com/2007/08/sunday-tourney-sunday/#comments Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:50:47 +0000 Dan Michalski http://pokerati.com/2007/08/19/sunday-tourney-sunday/ As action gets underway today at the Arizona State Poker Championship, the Arizona Posse’s last man standing is Jesse McGinty. So wow, he’s like good or something. With 20 players left, they’re well into the money, and the Chinese/Irish/Italian master has 490k in chips … average stack is 225k. Pat Poels will be doing commentary for a local TV station not on the internet. I know a lot of you readers don’t really care about these guys yet, but really, they are nice dudes, smart and funny, tough like Rumble Fish. And they actually win a lot, so c’mon, get on the bandwagon now! (Or at least once McGinty makes it to the final table.)

By the way, Lisa in Scottsdale sends along a picture of one of the buttons from this event, with its familiar looking crest:

Meanwhile, in Dallas amateur action, Sang will be competing today in the quarterly Lodge Tournament of Champions in pursuit of a $1,500 WSOP seat rebate on his stripper tab/pole taxes.

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