Yeah yeah, I know … this is really Episode 13. But Pauly and I figured this edition about hallway backing deals was a little more timely — we get ahead of ourselves sometimes — and I’m a faster typer than I am a click-and-dragger, so it’s easier for me to explain why the numbers don’t line up than it is to go in and actually change a couple file names, re-upload, click OK a few times … actually, huh, that probably wouldn’t have been too hard, but hey, I’m a busy guy … and we’re no PokerRoad.

Anyhow, a couple days ago, your ToP hosts camped out in the hallway between the Amazon Room, the Satellite Room, and the Payout Cage to discuss some hallway wheelin’ and dealin’, and end up in our own negotiation over a sliver of the action in $50k HORSE; the fine line between Layne Flack’s life coach and Eskimo Clark’s backer, too. Yep, Tao of Pokerati serves up lots for you to chew on in three minutes … but hopefully is giving you a good taste of the real WSOP.

Episode 14: Stakehouse

Go Batface!

They are so near the bubble in the $2k NL event — 102 players left. Tulsa is sitting comfortably below average with about 32k in chips (avg. is 50something). He’s playing so tight it’s sick. Little veins quietly pulsating on his bald dome.

I just got chased out of the playing area for the first time — something about that 13-table rule. Though I question its validity, I chose not to make a stink of it at this time and retreated. Will leave the shooting-your-face-to-spite-your-nose to Gonz.

Meanwhile Troy (Darling) is playing $10/$25 PLO at the Rio with Eskimo Clark. Batface is currently up more than $10k. Latest text: “quads again.”

UPDATE: The bubble has burst, and Eric Celeste (Tulsa) has survived. So has Brasilian media sweetheart Miradu … who was down to 1.5 big blinds.

UPDATE: They’re on break. Tulsa’s got 33k in chips … makes him pretty close to a short stack, but not terribly desperately so. We’ll try to keep you posted via Citizen Stack Reporter (beta), but are running into some Blackberry proper

Meanwhile, Darling has very few chips left on the 10/25 PLO cash table … not because he is losing, but because he has pretty much only stacks of 100s in front of him. 30ish k, it seems.

UPDATE: Tulsa has pooed and feels much better. He’s guaranteed a net +$3,381. Final table would be about $45k, and the winner will bank half a mil.

Happenings from yesterday with a preview of today’s action::

The two final tables yesterday have been covered enough here so on to the day 2 action. The $5,000 NL Holdem final table is now set for this afternoon under the ESPN360 cameras shortly after 2pm.

Seat 1: Anders Henriksson 311,000
Seat 2: Jacobo Fernandez 848,000
Seat 3: Rajesh Vohra 1,040,000
Seat 4: Ben Sprengers 441,000
Seat 5: Adam Geyer 645,000
Seat 6: Scott Freeman 423,000
Seat 7: Scott Seiver 2,512,000
Seat 8: Chuck Sklar 439,000
Seat 9: Dave Seidman 653,000

More after the jump:

More…

Teddy “The Iceman” Munroe: Watch out for this guy. Tough to play against.

Tom is was the chip leader in the $2k Omaha Hi-Lo. That’s pretty cool.

UPDATE: Tom is out. Not cool.

And that limit event he busted out of yesterday … Erick Lindgren just missed the final table, which is now set with some interesting players, including Teddy Munroe, Ali Eslami, and Vinny Vinh. (Teddy and I go way back — last year I’d be typing outside and “The Iceman” would fill me in on the $100-$200 cash action while taking a piss on the tournament tent air conditioners. “Makin’ money, baby!” he’d say before shaking himself dry and heading back to the table.)

Even the $10k 7-Stud World Championship is getting interesting … with Doyle still alive and both Bob and Maureen Feduniak with the potential to become the first ever husband-wife presumably non-collusive team at the final table. Never mind. Since typing this, all the above-mentioned have been eliminated.

I learned about this 7-Stud shape-up from the a WSOP-TV vid. And though I tend to detest any lack of imbeddability, I gotta say I like a lot of what this ESPN/WSOP/Bluff (?) crew has got going here. For example, Harmonie Krieger does a basic feature video interview set on the different jobs people come to the WSOP from. Nice enough, right? — but very real when one of the guys she talks with is Jay Columbo, who ran the legendary Mayfair and Playstation poker clubs in New York City, legally questionable status notwithstanding.

And then, perhaps most shocking to me, I enjoyed Jean-Robert Bellande’s “Surviving the WSOP” — where the young, aspiring Eskimo Clark chronicles his ups and downs at the World Series while his video-podcast editors comment Pop-up Video-style — follow along as he hustles high-rollers for buy-ins.

Even learned something from Phil Ivey’s less exciting V-log … and that is that he’s playing so many big-field, low-buy-in donkfests because he has a lot of side action pending on whether or not he’ll win a bracelet this year. We’ll see if we can’t find out more about this.

Speaking of donkfests, the Ladies Event has already lost 2/3 of its starting field, and of those still remaining, at least three of them are Pokerati MySpace friends: Lacey Jones, Kathy Liebert, and Mandy Baker are looking strong and pretty much representing the spectrum of all that is good about women. Go girls! I mean chicks … er babes .. uh bitches?

UPDATE: Lacey is nursing a short stack. Poker Roadie Amanda Leatherman has come on strong, however, and picked up the aggressive pace. Michele Lewis, Tiffany Michele, and PokerNews editrix Haley Hintze are all out.

In the meantime, primarily because it is awesomely embeddable, check out the debut episode of The Degenerate Report, from Neverwin Poker:

I came across a certain post from the PokerNews Live Reporting log for Event #10 - Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better that sent me right back to 2007.

Eskimo Freezes
Paul “Eskimo” Clark was feeling pretty good about his hand on an Omaha board reading {K-?} {5-?} {6-?} {Q-?} — he was holding {A-?} {2-?} {7-?} {8-?} for the nut low draw and an up-and-down straight draw. But a cruel deuce on the river counterfeited his low, made him absolutely no straights, and his opponent scooped the pot. Horrified, Eskimo stared down at his cards for a while, unable to speak or move. This can be a harsh game sometimes.

Remind anyone of the mini-strokes he had last year? The time he collapsed at the table? The time paramedics had to come to the floor of the Amazon Room to check on Eskimo, but he refused to be taken out of the tournament?

When someone reports that the guy is unable to move or speak, ya gotta wonder if this is a bad sign. I’m sure Harrah’s has the paramedics on speed dial about now.

Take a little gander at Pauly’s Day 6 post called 2008 WSOP Day 6: Melting Eskimo’s Igloo and Erick Lindgren Wins First Bracelet. (The part about Lindgren’s bracelet is cool, but the Eskimo part is pertinent to this post. Focus, people.)

Took a little trip over to the Rio today to check out the set up. Good things so far.

The Amazon Room was empty except for the ESPN crew setting up the stage, Harrah’s employees finalizing the set-up of the room, and a few cash game players wandering in. The Rio seemed to be trying to get the cash game players to the Amazon Room before they close the casino poker room for the WSOP.

The satellites were getting going around noon in their separate room (where the poker kitchen and media room were in 2007), and a handful of players were sauntering in. Greg Raymer was roaming around the hallways, already being stopped by the few tourists who walked down to see if the WSOP had begun.

While the poker kitchen itself wasn’t open for business, I could see that it is in a building where the poker tent was in 2007. It seems like a much sturdier structure than that tent - more like a shed, a really large shed. Don’t know what’s on the menu, though, since it was closed. BUT, there are numerous other food options set up at different points in the hallways. Besides the full bar (yum!), there was a Pizza Hut stand that offered its signature pizzas, along with salads, sandwiches, and fruit bowls. Directly across was a Java Coast coffee stand with a Krispy Kreme donut oven ($2 per donut!).

Best of all, there was a huge sign for a sushi and noodle kitchen! Set-up is not complete, but the thought of having some great sushi available makes this Cali girl quite happy.

It seems that the Harrah’s/WSOP folks have listened to space and food complaints and made some very positive steps in the right direction. Good times and food ahead!

(On the way to the car, Eskimo Clark was on his way in - alive and kickin’ and presumably lookin’ for backers! Some things never change…)

We hear about players going broke all the time — whether they are low- to mid-stakes grinders, semi-well-known pros (Eskimo Clark, e.g.), or total big shots (insert major pro’s name other than John Juanda here, as virtually all have been at least rumored to be broke at some point or another).

So here’s an interesting question: Of the tens of millions of poker players worldwide, how many do you think have netted $100k+ at the tables for three years in a row?

LAS VEGAS–Wolfman Eskimo Clark has collapsed three times thus far in the WSOP. Not sure what the doctor’s are recommending but it looks like the odds of Eskimo taking their advice are the same as Al Sharpton showing up to support the disbarment of Michael B. Nifong. Nonetheless, he’s fighting, going deep and proving to be as tough on the inside as the outside.

Phil Hellmuth has made another final table. Albeit, it’s a ten-handed final table rather than the normal nine-handed. How will this work Lance?
Thor Hansen ,who has been cashing like a mofo, introduced me to Norway Poker Pro Tore Lagerborgo in the hallway moments ago.

The World Championship $5,000 Heads-Up NL Hold’em event finally has cards in the air. Pros playing are David Williams, JC Tran, Jen Harman playing Ted Forrest, Freddie Deeb against Daniel Negreanu and a match between Clonie and Amir (like Madonna vs. Bono, no last names needed).

LAS VEGAS–Will be an interesting final table in the $1,500 Razz event. Not just because Men the Master should be sobered up by 3 pm (pacific) today when cards go in the air; and not just because German poker lass Katja Thater is showing she really knows her shiznit … The big question mark buzzing over lots of heads right now is about Eskimo Clark — who made the final table, despite collapsing twice en route, stopping tournament play while he received medical attention. Oh, and O’Neil Longson is going for his second razz bracelet in three years.

From Bodog Beat:

Paul “Eskimo” Clark collapsed at an earlier event while in the heat out in the “poker sauna”. The incident was attributed mostly to poor health triggered by the conditions in the tent. However, today in the air-conditioned Amazon Room during the $1,500 Razz event, the same convulsions put him on the floor again. Twice.

After both episodes (one of which involved Clark County Fire and Rescue), Eskimo was helped back into his chair to keep playing pursuant to his request to do so (he actually was gripping the bumper of the table, not wanting to leave). At the time, poker players around him were visibly upset at the decision to let him continue, but at time of publish he seems cognizant and well - although no one is sure for how long he will remain so. Whatever the issues are, he is also playing a mean game of Razz. He is currently second in chips with only 12 players remaining. Hopefully, he will remain well enough to play in the final table tomorrow.

When I walked up on it all, paramedics were making their way through the Amazon Room to tend to Eskimo, who had just suffered his second collapse of the day (third of the Series). With play temporarily suspended, players and fans were texting fiercely and making calls, presumably about more than just chip counts. “I don’t know why,” said one rubbernecker on the rail. “He just started twitching and shaking.”

Meanwhile, floor supervisors were keeping an eye on the tournament area as people got moved back. They were discussing rules and plans as it pertained to handling his chips. “That’s what we’ve gotta do. But still call Jack, he needs to know.”

It wasn’t mayhem per se. But there clearly was a frantic buzz inside the ropes. Rio security and Clark County medical were all professional and methodical as they moved (through) the masses. So were the dealers and tourney staff charged with protecting both players and chips. It’s times like these — with both money and actual lives on the line — that certain people’s jobs really matter, no?

At least a few folks in the media believe that, I know. And not to make it about media coverage — because really, it’s not, or at least it shouldn’t be. But there were those who were clearly aware that something newsworthy was happening and kicking into gear while others, just like old times, were physically trying to stand in our way. I suppose the difference is between those who see the WSOP as a public sporting event, and those who see it as a casino marketing event. If I coulda taken any picture, it would’ve been of a wife taking a souvenir photo of her smiling husband posing with a gracious Jennifer Harman, as Paul “Eskimo” Clark lay on the ground semi-conscious (but in the money!) about 12 feet away.

For different unofficial perspectives, check out Wicked Chops and The Poker Biz.

LAS VEGAS–Paul “Eskimo” Clark was playing in the $2,000 7-stud Hi Lo event today … Dallas pro Gregg Merkow was at his table, and it was two chips for Eskimo to call. He threw in one, and then sorta froze. After some seconds lapsed, players started trying to recapture his attention, letting him know he needed to throw another chip in the pot. That didn’t happen, and soon the other players at the table were helping him to the ground, where he lay as the tournament was stopped and medical help was summoned.

So not to be crass — because of course we hope he is recovering, as surely plenty of players who have fronted him do, too — but what happens to a player’s chips in this situation? Clark had about 4,275 when the apparent stroke happened. So when it was clear he would not be back anytime soon, floor staff removed his original 4,000 chips from play, and then anted off the remaining 275, so the table would not be at a disadvantage. Word is that the WSOP also refunded his buy-in.