They also talk with his “mindset coach” Sam Chauhan … and the process of keeping players focussed.

It doesn’t get weird until Andrew Feldman and Bernard Lee start to talk about Hellmuth shirtless.

(Not sure why that ep is no longer available … you’ll just have to trust my take on it.)

Half-penned on Nov 6-7:

Steve Begleiter — he’s eager and anxious to get playing, perhaps overly so. Just ask Karridy what that results in. Expect Begs to go out disappointingly early.
ED NOTE: Close!

Darvin Moon — he’s got more than a hundred friends and family members out here with him, some of whom he doesn’t know. Still too little info to call his fate. But he won’t win it. Probably 4th place. Maybe 2nd. But hey, if he gets there, than yeah … Moneymaker vs. Farha.
ED NOTE: Yep!

James Akenhead — good spirits, but joviality doesn’t matter when he’s still hung up on the bad luck that left him as the short stack. Even if he doubles-up twice, he won’t be prepared for being in that position. 9th or 5th.
ED NOTE: Got it!

Antoine Saout — too broken-English to call. He gives away little in this interview, so we’ll go with WCP’s take on why the Frenchman lacks the necessary killer instinct.
ED NOTE: Hey, French …

Joe Cada — just a kid havin’ a good time, enjoying it all. Care-free attitude could mean middle-of-the-pack, or if he runs good … 3.5 Months 8.5 Million baby!
ED NOTE: Boo-yah!

Eric Buchman — he’s all poker. He’s got experience and has clearly and carefully thought this thing through. Plenty of chips. It all means he’s a real real threat to take it down, but hey, gotta think his controversial handling of sponsorship deals could suggests he understands that even more’s at stake, and under pressure has a history of getting himself into non-ideal situations. 3rdish place. Maybe 6th or 7th.
ED NOTE: A little on, a little off!

Kevin Schaffel — he’s a lucky guy, enjoying it all, but in an older way than Cada. Congrats, Mr. Schaffel, on making the November Nine. You should be very proud, and hey, they were suited, right?
ED NOTE: Sorta right.

Phil Ivey — does not appear. But we all know what’s up — he’s got 40 big blinds! It’s Ivey’s table not just to win, but methodically destroy.
ED NOTE: Oops, wrong.

Jeff Shulman — also does not appear. We know, of course, he’s got a mathematical edge because he’sBut yeah, really, his to win, too, and he starts in a pretty good spot to do so. And we’re not saying. What is inevitable is he’ll put himself in a spot where he should win it, and he’ll suffer a bad beat for third place. Happy moans, Dad Barry smirks, Phil Hellmuth takes center stage.
ED NOTE: Wrong again, save for the bad beat.

Even earlier WSOP predictions here.

The first of a series of Inside Deal shows this weekend, along with daily episodes of the Poker Edge podcast.

Chad Brown, Liv Boeree, and some other stuff on this week’s show.

(Jeffrey Pollack bowed out with regrets, apparently claiming “tummy-ache”/swine flu.)

For a little preview of what’s in store — from the perspective of storylines, production, and a wee-bit of Darvin Moon sponsorship business …

ESPN 2009 WSOP Main Event Final Table Media Cattle Conference Call
Oct 29 2009
McNeilly, McEachern, Chad, White, et al.

download

SPOILER ALERT: More heads-up coverage, table/stage a bit closer to the crowd, welcome to the show ESPN Inside Deal, and play along online at ESPN.com. Go Phil Ivey or Darvin Moon, and really any of the other guys, too! Akenhead is kinda a funny last name. Presented by Jack’s Links Beef Jerky, yum. Let’s dance.

It’s Tuesday, which means a new episode of ESPN.com’s Inside Deal, featuring November Nine participant Joe Cada along with news spanning the poker community.

Episode #11 features Hevad Khan and news from around the poker world.

To answer a question asked at the beginning of Seebs’ interview, the thread on 2+2 is currently at over 200 posts.

Mark also discusses the scandal on ESPN.com’s Poker Edge podcast (starting at around 11:00), also available on Itunes.

Though naturally I see yet another Dream Team tourney possibility, there could be other ways to quantify the “first family” of poker. Off the top of my head — based on people who play at least semi-regularly and have had some semblance of decent results in biggish events — you have, in no particular order:

The Brunsons
Doyle
Todd
Pam

The Lederers
Howard
Annie (Duke)

The Greensteins
Barry
Joe (Sebok)

The Mizrachis
Eric
Robert
Michael

The Williams
David
Shirley

The Schneiders
Tom
Julie

The Nguyens (Master)
Men
Van

The Heimowitzs
Jay
Lonnie

The (Belcore) Zogmans
Dan
Mary Jo

The last two were the first husband-and-wife to both book wins on the Heartland Poker Tour. More than $300k worth of prize money between them — they count. (And I had no idea Lonnie H had so many cashes!) Who else am I forgetting? I’m not sure if Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly (+Antonio?) could count as a common-law family. But overall, I’m wondering … there’ve got to be what, hundreds, maybe a couple thousand true poker families out there in the world (active players, buying into at least the small versions of big tourneys). And one of them has to be the best …

ALSO:

The Les
Nam
Tommy
Allan

The Hachems
Joe
Tony

The Hinkles
Grant
Blair

The Shulmans
Barry
Jeff
Allyn (Jaffrey)

The Feduniaks
Bob
Maureen

The Sterns
Max
Maria

The Enrights
Barbara
Max (Shapiro)

The (Harman) Traniellos
Jennifer
Marco

The Browns
Chad
Vanessa (Rousso)

The Breneses
Alex
Humberto
Eric

The Jetts
Chip
Karina
Karina’s Mom

In other November Nine news, Kevin Schaffel and Steve Begleiter are 2nd and 3rd with just 24 players remaining at the WPT Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Todd Terry is the current chip leader with 850,000. Follow the live updates starting at 3pm PT over at the WPT live updates page as they play down to the final six players.

First, the EPT Kyiv (that’s how they insist it’s spelled) reached its final table today and will see it play out tomorrow. One of the most interesting aspects of the European Poker Tour is its EPT Live broadcast, with whole cards and great commentators to break down the action. PokerNews reporter Gloria Balding takes us behind the scenes in this video, with a cameo appearance from Benjo. (BTW, big congrats to Short-Stacked Shamus for taking down the media tourney last night/this morning!)

Second, ESPN’s Inside Deal show has kept me interested for three weeks and looking forward to each new show. It’s turning out to be an informative/funny/fresh idea that is pretty dang well done. Check out last Tuesday’s episode with Barry Greenstein as the special guest:

And finally, a few lot of words from Daniel Negreanu in his latest Raw Vegas video diary. He discusses many of the issues he addressed in his blog recently, such as Phil Ivey reaching the WSOP main event final table and his feelings about the Poker Hall of Fame (his nomination, etc.), but he also touches on a recent trip to Toronto to visit his still-hospitalized mother. Thoughts go out to Daniel as his decisions get tougher in the months/years to come.

Watch Daniel Negreanu: Phil Ivey is the Best Poker Player in the World on RawVegas.tv