Excerpts from a post that never quite saw the light of day … my outcome predictions based on ESPN Inside Deal\’s pre-Nov-9 episode and their interviews with seven of the players … some of my reads are quasi-spot-on!
(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.