The action picks up, with Craig Marquis and Kelly Kim busting out … Kim had some of the best fans, and for Marquis, it’s all sickness … sick to go out when he did, sick to go out how he did, and as a result, he goes home with nada, or at least nada más. Kim, on the other hand, has an extra $300k … and we can only assume his friends and fans are out celebrating that achievement.

Book 4: WSOP Final Table
Episode 4.4: Bustin’ Outs 2:43

PokerStars had the advantage coming to the final table today with six out of the nine players on their team: Dennis Phillips, Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate, Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto, and David “Chino” Rheem. The only three players on the Full Tilt roster were Scott Montgomery, Craig Marquis, and Kelly Kim. C’mon, math geniuses, calculate ‘dem odds.

With the elimination of Craig Marquis in ninth place, and the sudden eighth place elimination of Kelly Kim in the very next hand, Full Tilt is left to hang all of its WSOP champion hopes on Scott Montgomery.

All of the PokerStars players remain at the table… I’m notoriously bad at prop bets, but I’m thinking - work with me on this one - tomorrow’s champion might be decked out in PS gear.

I’m having some trouble with properly title-ing this stuff … but follow along, as “Book 4″ is definitely the event going on here at the Penn and Teller Theater that we are discussing. This time, Pauly and I witness a double-up by Kelly Kim, much to his fans delight, who are suddenly fueled with new hope for a better poker day.

Book 4: WSOP Final Table
Episode 4.3: Double Up! Double Up! 1:20

UPDATE: Kelly Kim just busted out in 8th place … $1.28 million. Nice job, nice guy.

As action gets underway, Pauly and I check out the crowds and the difference in expectation between Dennis Phillips’ and Kelly Kims’ fans before debating the name of the whole shebang — November Nine, bleh — while paying homage to Robin Leach and noting that the PBR Rodeo, which is also in town, is going nuts over the chance for a cowboy to win $1 million. Puhlease.

Book 4: WSOP Final Table
Episode 4.2: Root, Root, Root for the Short Stack 3:17

So action is about to get underway. Players are unbagging their chips now. A few thoughts on what we are seeing/hearing:

• Dennis Phillips has close to 200 fans — all of them are wearing the same shirt he is, with the same patch logos.
• He and all his friends are die-hard Ford supporters (as per their patchwork), though it is uncertain whether or not Ford paid for such a placement.
• Many of his friends and fans began drinking at 9 am.
• Dennis has a great URL pimped on his shirt — thechipleader.com. (I’m sure Karridy is jealous.)
• Kelly Kim’s fans are chanting out the letters of his name.
• Favorite Dallas transplant dealer Linda Tran will be dealing this final table. She was working with the felt yesterday to get her pitch right — because, after all, she has never dealt multimillion-dollar pots before.
• The Penn & Teller Theater is a pretty cool venue — very vertical. Jen and I are in the orchestra pit … but there’s also a press box way up top that requires taking an elevator to get to.
• Personal opinion: the whole stage set-up should be flipped 180 degrees. The way they have it now, the Milwaukee’s Best Light No Limit Lounge completely blocks the table view for all the fans in lower seating. They still can watch on 20-foot plasmas, but regardless, having the lounge against the back wall instead of blocking the stage would also allow ESPN to show 100s of fans in the background.
• They do have a hot-chick DJ spinning tunes, however, in front of the No-Limit No-View Lounge.
• Ivan Demidov’s fans are all Russianed up — wearing funky hats (they’re called Babushkas, I think?) and hammer-and-sickle garb.
• Ylon Schwartz is super quiet and subdued. He also looks like my old pot dealer, Booger.
• Gamma-O “testosterone booster” passed out those inflatable phallic thingies that people can bang together to make noise.
• Kelly Kim’s crowd is the loudest, now screaming “Double Up!”

Go Craig Marquis! (Even though I think you’re probably too young to pull off the victory. Prove me wrong!)

In a stunning development, one of the WSOP November Nine has cashed in a poker tournament. And it just happened to be Kelly Kim, the shortest stacked player waiting to head back to the Rio in Las Vegas to attempt an immediate double-up at the WSOP final table. But instead of stuntin’ around Los Angeles with his 9th place money, he’s honing his final table skills.

In Event #13 of the Legends of Poker tournament series at the Bicycle Casino in L.A., Kelly was one of the 252 players in the $335 NLHE w/rebuys. And he ended up finishing in 4th place for a $10,650 payday.

In other November Nine news, David “Chino” Rheem did make the trip last week to Uruguay for the LAPT Punta del Este, but he was busted early on Day 1 when his 9-6 ran into a 6-4 and a 4 flopped. (PokerStars reported the action here.) Chino, along with Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate, are scheduled to play the WSOP Europe next month, so it will be possible to see some results from them there.

This might be the most thought you’ve given the “November Nine” thus far, that is, if you really take a look at the numbers in this post. And I hope you do and analyze it for me. Thanks.

Bodog has put up the odds for the 2008 WSOP final table, and it’s looking pretty good for my STL player, Dennis Phillips. Never mind that he’s the chip leader, but he’s a 3-1 favorite. Kelly Kim from Southern Cali isn’t looking too good with 25-1 odds, but he’s the short stack. As for the rest of the pack, I’m not sure how the odds were calculated, which makes it a good thing I’m not a sports bettor.

Here are the odds and chip counts as of July 25th:

Dennis Phillips (3-1) - 26,295,000 chips
Scott Montgomery (4-1) - 19,690,000 chips
Ivan Demidov (9-2) - 24,400,000 chips
Peter Eastgate (11-2) - 18,375,000 chips
David “Chino” Rheem (15/2) - 10,230,000 chips
Ylon Schwartz (8-1) - 12,525,000 chips
Darus Suharto (17-2) - 12,520,000 chips
Craig Marquis (10-1) - 10,210,000 chips
Kelly Kim (25-1) - 2,620,000 chips

And just for kicks, here is a picture of them all. You are welcome to copy and use it as your screen saver, or you can Photoshop them all into pretty dresses - your call.