LAS VEGAS–Defending Pokerati Invitational champion Tom Schneider will be fighting for a bracelet today, as he has made the final table of the $1,500 NLH Shootout. The six remaining players have all won two sit-n-gos in a row. After level 1 it looked like some big names might find their way to the featured table … Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, Mike Caro, John Phan, and Eric \”E-fro\” Froelich all won their first leg … but none of them could do it twice. Tom did, and he was the last to qualify, as he faced off against a kid who even when severely outchipped played great poker and just wouldn\’t go away.
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All this was going on in the shadow of the crowd growing around the Phil Hellmuth final table.
In the first two rounds it was an all-or-nothing affair. Now, each and every player you outlast comes with a five-figure difference in payout.
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(He better finish quickly, because he\’s got a radio show to do tonight!)
UPDATE: Tom is out. 5th place. $28k. Nice job, Tom. But seriously, so many final tables lately without a win? We gotta work on a certain part of your game.
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Schneider showed up more than a week ago … but unlike so many others here, not with plans to actively hustle his book. No, it was clear he was here to play. And he was playing at the big-game cash table … which I believe was a $200/$400 mixed game. He certainly wasn\’t tearing it up, but he wasn\’t exactly doing poorly either — about an average stack. At the table with him was Shawn Sheikan, Andrew Black, Eskimo Clark, and a few unknowns (to me) … with Scotty Nguyen and Ming Ly on the rail, chomping at the bit in Vietnamese.
Anyhow, Tom takes his seat at the final table today at 4 pm central. I think somebody\’s gonna win a bracelet.