Jim McManus appeared on All Things Considered the morning the November Nine was getting underway, to offer a little cultural (and presidential) history of the game, based on his new book, Cowboys Full.

Not to be a spoiler, but the closing line features a sound clip from Darvin Moon, with weekend host Guy Raz saying, “That is Darvin Moon, and he’s about as far away as you can get from poker royalty.” That is a funnier line than Raz even realizes, considering Moon’s resistance to all things sponsorship.

Raz does a follow-up the next day, just on Darvin Moon:

For more academic intellect surrounding Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker, check out our favorite new older-than-25 Betfair blogger Shamus’ interview with McManus here.

And for a little low-brow historical perspective on McManus from a pre-Darvin Moon era, here’s my interview with the author of Positively Fifth Street from 2004.

(Yikes, 2004!?!)

Pat Poels went out yesterday. And TBR, relying on the scurrilous poker media’s “reporting” that I am a cooler and getting antsy about making the money today, requested, “Don’t come anywhere near my table today.”

So fine. I didn’t. And in returning the favor, The Big Randy gave me confirmation that people who are superstitious are measurably less likely to win the main event. He had one guy to be really careful of today, sitting to his left, and on the third hand he got it all-in on a race … and lost … QQ < AK.

OK, I swear I feel bad. But this really is what today's all about -- the crushing of hopes and dreams.

And unless Team Pokerati can sneak up on some remaining big stacks to slap a patch on them -- which I'm pretty sure is near impossible with all the Poker Royalty agents circling healthy-chipped unknowns -- that means it's up to Tom "1-for-20" Schneider to survive past the bubble, go really deep to re-save the family farm his 2009 WSOP, and hopefully make a final table for my personal branding benefit.

Go @DonkeyBomber!

UPDATE: What I meant to say was good game, Randy. You played very well and gave it a valiant effort. Sometimes you just get unlucky. Better luck next year. You always have our encouragement and support. lol.

Peter Eastgate won it. Age 22. New Great Dane. It’s too late, of course for the newspapers (East Coast, at least) to get the results into the paper … so you’ll have to watch it plausibly live on ESPN!

(Actually, I suspect a few midwestern papers, at least, will be able to get something in at the last moment — or they’ll just use the internet … bummer that it didn’t go a bit longer?)

A few notes from the coronation:

The Poker Royalty agents exchanged little smiley fist bumps upon Eastgate’s victory. Not sure what that means — but I gotta think a young online Scandi pro has got to be relatively marketable.

Where’s Norman Chad? Nick Geber is taking on the role as post-game interviewer.

Eastgate doesn’t speak fantastic English, and though the Danes will likely be taking some hefty tax (an issue broached by Geber), he can still probably afford a lot of Rosetta Stone. The Danish early-career Dirk Nowitzki of Poker? OK, bad comparison … but it’s late, people are tired, and, frankly, there’s kinda an eerie calm in the Penn & Teller Theater, as the enormity of Eastgate’s achievement still seems to be setting in.

Supposedly the 2008 WSOP has been the “Year of the Pro”. Arguably so … but that puts a lot of pressure on Mike Matusow to make the final table. Otherwise, might we be looking at something in November that ain’t too different from a deep-stack donkament? Think about it … take a typical 1500 WSOP tourney and multiply by … yikes! 6.66 — ooh, there’s that number again! Evil-creepy!

But hey, numbers are numbers, and investigative math leads us to some pretty damning evidence:

$1,500 NLH x 1% of Satan = $10k main event.

Now factor in all the skulls seen in 2008 poker apparel … uh-huh, exactly. So it’s all on Matusow now, obviously, to be the Charlie Daniels of Poker.

Meanwhile, hallway rumors are that Poker Royalty is trying to negotiate a deal to represent the Antichrist as we get closer to the final table.